May 15, 2013: Volume LXXXI, No 10

Featuring 301 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction and Children's & Teen

KIRKUS VOL. LXXXI, NO.

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REVIEWS Rick Yancey

His YA thriller The 5th Wave has no agenda but to entertain—and it succeeds. p. 104

CHILDREN'S & TEEN

The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

by L. Tam Holland

Bicultural high schooler Vee's quest for identity is funny, nuanced and moving—and as individual as he is. p. 95

NONFICTION

The Telling Room

by Michael Paterniti

A beguiling, multifaceted narrative larded with delightful culinary, historical, political, psychological and literary layers p. 75

FICTION

Until She Comes Home

by Lori Roy A beautifully written, at times lyrical, study of a disintegrating community p. 24

I f i r s t m e t p e t e r w o r k m a n sometime between 1976 and 1980, while I was a bookseller. He was always accessible, and I found him a generous spirit. As noted below, he was an active philanthropist, especially concerned with the educational opportunities of those less fortunate than our own kids. He was wonderfully creative and an inspiration to many. When Herb Simon and I were researching the purchase of Kirkus, Peter was helpful and encouraging. I am blessed that Peter was my friend.

—Marc Winkelman, President and Publisher, Kirkus Media

In Memoriam: Peter Workman It is with great sadness that Kirkus mourns the death of Peter Workman, founder of Workman Publishing. He died on April 7, 2013, in his home in New York. Peter leaves his wife of 51 years, Carolan Raskin Workman; their two daughters, Katie and Elizabeth; their sons-in-law, Gary Freilich and Mark Williams; and four grandchildren: Jack, Charlie, Madeline and Charlotte.

He was, in so many ways, an extraordinary man.

He was the founder, president and CEO of Workman Publishing Company, one of the largest independent publishers of nonfiction trade books and calendars. He served on the boards of the Goddard-Riverside Community Center and Prep-for-Prep; he was a member of the Publishing Committee of UJA-Federation of New York and chairman of the Board of Governors of Yale University Press. Peter was a generous supporter of the Human Rights Watch, the ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League, among many organizations.

In honor of his late brother, he developed the David Workman Grant Program at Deerfield Academy, a charity to help students fund and implement their own humanitarian projects. His love of music and art prompted his support of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was a passionate golfer and skier and a keen poker player, and he took great pleasure in the company of friends, colleagues and family.

Born in Great Neck, Long Island, on October 19, 1938, to Jeanette and Bernard Workman, Peter graduated from Deerfield Academy and Yale University. After a stint in the sales department of Dell Publishing, he founded Workman Publishing Company as a book packager in 1967 and within two years published its inaugural list leading with Richard Hittleman’s Yoga 28-Day Exercise Plan, a title that is still in print.

His vision and drive grew Workman into a wholly unique and fiercely independent book publisher.

Among its iconic best-sellers are B. Kliban’s Cat, The Official Preppy Handbook, The Silver Palate Cookbook, What to Expect® When You’re Expecting, Brain Quest®, Sandra Boynton’s children’s books and 1,000 Places To See Before You Die®. A trendsetter in the calendar business, Workman invented the boxed Page-A-Day® Calendar.

In 1989, Workman Publishing acquired the Southern literary publisher Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, known for discovering new writers such as Julia Alvarez and Jill McCorkle. And in 1994, Workman launched Artisan, an imprint known for finely produced, illustrated books, including The French Laundry Cookbook and other cookbooks by Thomas Keller; The Medal of Honor; and Design*Sponge. Other Workman companies include Storey Publishing, Timber Press and HighBridge Audio. Workman also handles distribution for Black Dog & Leventhal, Greenwich Workshop Press and The Experiment.

Peter was moved by the beauty and expanse of nature—Yosemite, Zermatt, Patagonia, the heaths of Scotland. He was a man driven by big, innovative thoughts. And yet, when it came to bookmaking, he paid attention to the smallest detail: the size of a folio, the use of an ampersand, the quality of the paper. A visionary, an inspirational leader and true friend, Peter will be deeply missed.

for more re vi e ws and f eatures, vi si t u s on l i n e at kirkus.com.

Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N # President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N mkuehn@kirkus.com Editor E L A I N E S Z E WC Z Y K eszewczyk@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Features Editor C laiborne S mith csmith@kirkus.com 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 Editorial Assistant CHELSEA LANGFORD clangford@kirkus.com Copy Editor BETSY JUDKINS Director of Kirkus Editorial P E R RY C RO W E pcrowe@kirkus.com Director of Technology E R I K S M A RT T esmartt@kirkus.com Marketing Communications Director SARAH KALINA skalina@kirkus.com Designer ALEX HEAD #

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This Issue’s Contributors

Maude Adjarian • Mark Athitakis • Michael Autrey • Joseph Barbato • Gerald Bartell • Adam benShea • Amy Boaz • Lee E. Cart • Derek Charles Catsam • Marnie Colton • Perry Crowe • Dave DeChristopher • Kathleen Devereaux • Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer • Lisa Elliott • Julie Foster • Peter Franck • Bob Garber • Amy Goldschlager • Jeff Hoffman • Cicily Janus • Robert M. Knight • Christina M. Kratzner • Paul Lamey • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Peter Lewis • Elsbeth Lindner • Georgia Lowe • Joe Maniscalco • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Brett Milano • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Mike Newirth • John Noffsinger • Sarah Norris • Mike Oppenheim • Jim Piechota • Christofer D. Pierson • William E. Pike • Gary Presley • Kristen Bonardi Rapp • Karen Rigby • Erika Rohrbach • Lloyd Sachs • Bob Sanchez • Sandra Sanchez • William P. Shumaker • Rosanne Simeone • Elaine Sioufi • Arthur Smith • Wendy Smith • Margot E. Spangenberg • Andria Spencer • Bill Thompson • Claire Trazenfeld • Steve Weinberg • Rodney Welch Gordon West • Carol White • Chris White • Joan Wilentz • Alex Zimmerman

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contents fiction Index to Starred Reviews............................................................5 REVIEWS.................................................................................................5 Gail Godwin gets down to the essential in Flora........14

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

Mystery............................................................................................. 29 Science Fiction & Fantasy..........................................................36 Romance............................................................................................38

nonfiction Index to Starred Reviews..........................................................41 REVIEWS...............................................................................................41 Jimmy Connors’ memoir reveals the personality behind The Outsider.....................................................................56

children’s & teen Index to Starred Reviews......................................................... 85 REVIEWS.............................................................................................. 85 Rick Yancey’s alien thriller is set to conquer the world...................................................................................... 102 interactive e-books...................................................................115 Continuing series.......................................................................118

indie Index to Starred Reviews........................................................ 119 REVIEWS............................................................................................. 119 Former TV writer Ken Levine’s tale of his generation.............................................................................. 126

Leading American mystery writer Martha Grimes and her son recall their lives as alcoholics and their diverse paths to sobriety. See the starred review on p. 59. |

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on the web the source of her mother’s strange fears or tremendous strengths.

Looking to unearth the truth after Paula’s death, in She Left Me the Gun, Brockes begins a dangerous journey into the land—and the life—her mother fled from years before. We interview Brockes on the Kirkus site about how and why she’s telling the story of her hunt for her mother’s past now.

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

Photo Courtesy Marcia Wilson

When Walter Mosley burst onto the literary scene in 1990 with his first Easy Rawlins mystery, Devil in a Blue Dress—a combustible mixture of Raymond Chandler and Richard Wright—he captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of readers (including future president Bill Clinton). Eleven books later, Easy Rawlins is one of the few private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called iconic and immortal. We last saw Easy in the 2007 Blonde Faith, fighting for his life after his car plunges over a cliff. True to form, the tough WWII veteran survives, and soon, his murderous sidekick Mouse has him back cruising the mean streets of LA, in all their psychedelic 1967 glory, to look for a young black man, Evander “Little Green” Noon, who disappeared during an acid trip. In the incendiary and fast-paced Little Green, Easy Rawlins returns from the brink of death to investigate the dark side of LA’s 1960s hippie haven, the Sunset Strip. This month, Kirkus writer Amy Goldschlager asks Mosley about his ambitious genrehopping career (Mosley’s sci-fi book Stepping Stone/Love Machine: Crosstown to Oblivion was released earlier this spring).

A chilling nonfiction book of psychological suspense and forensic memoir, Emma Brockes’ She Left Me the Gun is a tale of true transformation: the story of a young woman who reinvented herself so completely that her previous life seemed simply to vanish and of a daughter who transcends her mother’s fears and reclaims an abandoned past. “One day I will tell you the story of my life,” promises Brockes’ mother, “and you will be amazed.”

Brockes grew up hearing only pieces of her mother’s past—stories of a rustic childhood in South Africa, glimpses of a bohemian youth in London—and yet knew that crucial facts were still in the dark. A mystery to her friends and family, Paula was clearly a strong, selfinvented woman; glamorous, no-nonsense and frequently out of place in their quaint English village. In awe of Paula’s larger-than-life personality, Brockes never asked why her mother emigrated to England or why she never returned to South Africa. She never questioned Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/print-indexes Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/advertising-opportunities

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George Packer’s The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America is a riveting examination of a nation in crisis from one of our finest political journalists. American democracy is beset by a sense of crisis. Seismic shifts during a single generation have created a country of winners and losers, allowing unprecedented freedom while rending the social contract, driving the political system to the verge of breakdown and setting citizens adrift to find new paths forward. In The Unwinding, Packer tells the story of the United States over the past three decades in an utterly original way, with his characteristically sharp eye for detail and gift for weaving together complex narratives.

We ask Packer about what he’s uncovered in The Unwinding and what the implications are.

For the latest new releases every day, go online to Kirkus.com. It’s where our editors and contributing blog partners bring you the best in science fiction, mysteries and thrillers, literary fiction and nonfiction, teen books and children’s books, Indie publishing and more.

And be sure to check out our Indie publishing series, featuring some of today’s most intriguing self-published authors, including Amanda Hocking. Each week, we feature authors’ exclusive personal essays on how they achieved their success in publishing. It’s a must-read resource for any aspiring author interested in getting readers to notice their new books.

w w w. k i r k u s r e v i e w s . c o m / i s s u e Don’t wait on the mail for reviews! You can read pre-publication reviews as they are released on kirkus.com – even before they are published in the magazine. You can also access the current issue and back issues of Kirkus Reviews on our website by logging in as a subscriber. If you do not have a username or password, please contact customer care to set up your account by calling 1.800.316.9361 or emailing customers@kirkusreviews.com.

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fiction THE SASSY BELLES

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Albright, Beth Harlequin MIRA (400 pp.) $14.95 paper | May 28, 2013 978-0-7783-1528-5

CHILDREN ARE DIAMONDS by Edward Hoagland......................... 13 LOVE AMONG THE PARTICLES by Norman Lock............................. 17

The mysterious disappearance of her local celebrity boyfriend sends Vivi McFadden to her best friend and attorney, Blake O’Hara Heart, and together, the two women explore history, friendship and matters of the heart to get to

IN FALLING SNOW by Mary-Rose MacColl......................................18 A MARKER TO MEASURE DRIFT by Alexander Maksik...................19 THE SHANGHAI FACTOR by Charles McCarry............................... 20 UNTIL SHE COMES HOME by Lori Roy............................................ 24 HER LAST BREATH by Linda Castillo................................................30 NEPTUNE'S BROOD by Charles Stross............................................... 37

A MARKER TO MEASURE DRIFT

Maksik, Alexander Knopf (240 pp.) $24.95 Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-307-96257-7

many different truths.

When Vivi is certain she’s killed her boyfriend, Lewis Heart, by, ahem, loving him to death, she calls the one person in the world she trusts to take care of her: Blake, her best friend since childhood and a crack attorney. But when the police get to the scene, the body has disappeared. Tracking down clues at first throws Vivi under suspicion, but the case gets more mysterious and complicated as the days pass, especially since Lewis is Blake’s brother-in-law, and Harry, Blake’s husband, has political aspirations. Also, the lead investigator on the case is Blake’s high school sweetheart, Sonny, which confuses Blake, since she and Harry suddenly seem to be moving toward different goals in life. The salacious nature of the whole story is embarrassing to Harry, and for a man who hopes to be a Senator, a sprawling, colorful cast of secondary characters with distinct Southern flairs can be troublesome. As Vivi, Blake, Sonny and Harry follow Lewis’ trail, secrets, attractions and attachments will play out in surprising ways, with distinct nods to the strength of family, the friendship sisterhood and the indomitable Southern spirit. Albright’s first novel is a frothy, frolicking story with enough over-the-top characters and quirky plot points that many readers won’t notice, or will be entertained enough to forgive, the roller-coaster pacing, the occasionally awkward storytelling, and the characters who do things that don’t always make sense for them or show them in admirable ways.

An imperfect debut that may still capture the audience’s attention and affection given its appealing themes and high-spirited style.

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“Humorous and witty...” from ladies' night

LADIES’ NIGHT

Andrews, Mary Kay St. Martin’s (464 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-250-01967-7 Andrews (Spring Fever, 2012, etc.) presents a delightful novel about love, revenge and more love.

Lifestyle blogger Grace Davenport Stanton is required to attend divorce group counseling sessions after driving her husband’s expensive Audi into their swimming pool in a fit of rage. But who can blame her for acting out? Worried about her husband’s whereabouts, Grace discovers Ben and her very nude and much younger assistant, J’Aimee, in a compromising position in the front seat of the car. After her tirade, Grace finds herself living in her mother Rochelle’s apartment above the family-owned bar; attending divorce counseling sessions mandated by Judge Cedric Stackpole; and, thanks to Ben, unable to access her blog and bank accounts. Forced to begin anew, Grace creates another blog, kicks into high gear taking on a renovation project, which she shares with her readers, and rescues an abandoned dog. She also bonds with fellow members of the divorce group over drinks at the bar, where they share their stories: Camryn, the take-no-prisoners television reporter; Ashleigh, the self-absorbed second wife of a plastic surgeon; Suzanne, a quiet and secretive teacher; and Wyatt, the only male of the group, who has a young son, an aging parent and a dying business to care for. While Grace and Camryn investigate their suspicions about the court-ordered sessions and their group facilitator, she and Wyatt become involved in a sometimes-rocky romance. The main characters are challenged by several misunderstandings, a couple of near-disasters and loads of obstacles. The author provides a wonderful blend of action, repartee and offbeat characters in a just-plain-fun story.

Humorous and witty and as entertaining as a good night out.

LONG LANKIN

Banville, John Vintage (112 pp.) $12.95 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-345-80706-9 First American publication of a collection of very early, very short stories by the Irish master of the literary novel.

Since a slightly different version of this volume was issued in Britain in 1970, Banville has earned much greater renown as a prize-winning novelist (The Sea, 2005, etc.) and has subsequently won a popular readership through a series of detective novels as Benjamin Black (Christine Falls, 2007, etc.). The seeds of both branches of his fiction can be found in these elliptical, elemental stories. Though there are only hints of the more 6

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lyrical prose that would subsequently dazzle admirers (while seeming overwritten to detractors), the sea and the solitude it affords were plainly a preoccupation early on. And there’s some mystery at the heart of practically every one of these stories— an unexplained relationship or situation, an inscrutable murder (in more than one story), a dilemma not completely understood yet requiring escape. The Banville of his early 20s could write dialogue like this from “Lovers”: “We’ll be free. We’re young and the world is wide. We’ll be free.” Yet he already knows that such freedom is an illusion, an empty promise. And more often, his characters find themselves lamenting the passing of old ways, such as the stranger who seems oddly familiar to a son mourning his father in “A Death”: “There is a new brand of despair in the world. The old ways are dying, and the old religion too. When people turn their backs on God what can they expect?” Other stories have similarly elemental titles—“Sanctuary,” “Summer Voices,” “Island”—and similar obsessions with transition and loss. “Look it at,” says the drunken host at a party of friends he doesn’t like. “The new Ireland. Sitting around at the end of a party wondering why we’re not happy. Trying to find what it is we’ve lost.”

Formative work by an author who would later revisit what’s best in these stories through longer and more ambitious fiction.

MALAVITA

Benacquista, Tonino Penguin (288 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-14-312385-9 Neither the witness protection program nor rural France can tame a Mafioso in this seriocomic romp.

A best-seller in Benacquista’s native France, this novel centers on Giovanni, a one-time mobster who’s escaped New Jersey with his wife, son and daughter after turning evidence against his former compatriots. Re-settling near Normandy, Giovanni, aka Fred, decides to sit down to write his memoirs, telling the neighbors he’s working on a book about World War II. But his cover is blown almost instantly; and not just because he’s largely ignorant about military tactics. He can’t help brandishing a hammer while negotiating with a plumber, and an invitation to discuss Goodfellas with the locals leads to an extended bit of oversharing that has his FBI minders in a panic. Benacquista is careful not to make this novel an outright farce—Fred’s wife, Maggie, takes on charity work as a response to the immorality she married into. But the story thrives on absurdities and coincidence, particularly in a virtuoso scene that shows how a casual utterance by Giovanni’s son travels from the school paper into the hands of mobsters eager to hunt down the family. Benacquista softens Giovanni’s character enough to court the reader’s sympathy for a coldblooded killer, but it’s never entirely clear if the author is gently sending up Mafia tropes or outright mocking them. The townspeople trade

in plenty of anti-American stereotypes, and the climax satirizes action movie themes—thugs, bumbling authorities and all. The book takes its title from the name for the family dog (Italian for “lowlife”), but it’s clear who we ought to attach the name to.

Likable but occasionally vicious, Giovanni is conflicted but not exactly nuanced.

A smart fish-out-of-water conceit, but it’s a little ungainly, never quite settling on a tone with which to crack wise about its wiseguys.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN

Bendis, Brian Michael; Brubaker, Ed; Fraction, Matt; Aaron, Jason Illus. by Romita, John; Kubert, Adam; Coipel, Olivier Marvel Comics (568 pp.) $75.00 | Apr. 9, 2013 978-0-7851-6317-6 In this 23-issue collection produced by a variety of creators (with multimedia material available via app), two of Marvel Comics’ premier superhero teams wrestle for control of a young mutant messiah linked to the infernal Phoenix Force.

As the Avengers track the fiery approach of a nigh-omnipotent cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, they’re surprised to find a matching energy signature already here on Earth, in the X-Men’s island base of Utopia. Years ago, the Phoenix had possessed, corrupted and led to the death of founding X-Men Jean Grey. But feeling he’s matured since his wife’s fatal genocidal

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turn, Cyclops now plans to harness the Phoenix and restore mutantkind, which had recently been decimated by gonemad Avenger the Scarlet Witch. The fulcrum of Cyclops’ plan is new pupil Hope Summers, a powerful young mutant with the ability to channel the Phoenix Force. When the Avengers arrive en masse at Utopia, insisting on protective custody for Hope, Cyclops refuses, and the fists, shields, lightning bolts, adamantium claws, repulsor rays and optic blasts fly. The book paints the entire story in broad, workmanlike strokes in 12 straight issues of Avengers vs. X-Men, then punches in texture with six straight issues of AvX:Vs, a series of one-on-onebattle vignettes that roughly follow the main arc’s chronology, featuring standout “How We Roll,” which winningly parodies the whole affair. Ordering the collection by story, not series, would have allowed for a more organic appreciation, as Marvel treads similar ground of morally ambiguous conflict in Civil War (2006). AvX does take an appealing twist, with a handful of X-Men reborn as the Phoenix Five, who rule as benevolent global tyrants. But the Phoenix always goes dark, and the finale marks the apotheosis of Cyclops’ recent trajectory from his stiff and bland original incarnation to flawed and fragile in Morrison’s 2001 New X-Men and, now, to villain, à la Green Lantern in Emerald Twilight (1996). Artist Olivier Copiel, who illustrates a third of the Avengers vs. X-Men issues, stuns with his sleek redesigns of the Phoenix Five X-Men, particularly the avian Cyclops’ Robocop-like visor. The digital material available via Marvel’s Augmented Reality app offer some insider looks, with video creator interviews and animated step-by-step recreations of panels, but it seems underutilized in terms of dynamically connecting the story to the decades of Marvel cannon.

An uneven must for fanboys.

LETTERS FROM SKYE

Brockmole, Jessica Ballantine (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-345-54260-1

In 1912, a chance letter from a young student to a reclusive poet sparks a transAtlantic romance spanning two wars.

A fear of water has kept Elspeth Dunn on the Isle of Skye for all of her 24 years. Yet her poetry has traveled far, even to the bedside of David Graham, an American college student whose spirited shenanigans have landed him in the hospital with a broken leg. He writes her a fan letter, she responds, and an epistolary affair ensues. Yet more than water keeps the couple apart. David is struggling to gain independence from his domineering father. His grades are woeful and his career prospects uncertain. Worse, Elspeth happens to be already married.

Her husband, Iain, has abandoned her to fight in the Great War. When David spontaneously decides to enlist as an ambulance driver, Elspeth is both terrified for him and thrilled at the prospect of meeting him face to face. Complicating matters is the disappearance of Iain, who is soon presumed dead. Jumping 8

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ahead to 1940, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, escorts evacuated children to safe homes in the Scottish Highlands. She, too, has a wartime pen pal: Paul, a childhood friend–turned–Royal Air Force pilot. Elspeth cryptically warns Margaret about wartime romances, but before she can explain, she disappears during an air raid. Left with only an old love letter, Margaret begins searching for her mother, piecing together clues to a family secret. The correspondence between Elspeth and David, as well as between Margaret and Paul, carefully traces the intertwining of lives.

By turns lyrical and flirtatious, Brockmole’s debut charms with its wistful evocation of a time when handwritten, eagerly awaited letters could bespell besotted lovers.

NO ONE COULD HAVE GUESSED THE WEATHER

Casey, Anne-Marie Amy Einhorn/Putnam (288 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-399-16021-9

A subversively charming debut about a group of happily imperfect New Yorkers from Dublin-based Casey, wife of novelist Joseph O’Connor.

The novel is bookended by Lucy’s story: After the financial crash, Lucy, Richard and their two small boys are forced out of their posh London lives and move to Manhattan, where Richard makes due at a reduced salary, and they take over the apartment he kept for business. Lucy learns she’s much nicer away from all the haves, and she discovers she’s actually in love with her very kind husband. Lucy’s new friend Julia, meanwhile, has a dilemma: Can she, a high-powered screenwriter, go on with a flaky yoga instructor? She thinks not, and so, shockingly, she leaves her husband, Kristian, and their children and has a little nervous breakdown, followed by a lot of career advancement. Meanwhile, Julia’s best friend Christy (her husband, Vaughn, is a rich and powerful senior citizen) is learning, after the nanny’s abrupt departure, that she likes taking care of her twin girls—especially when the dashing, fun-loving Irish doorman is with them. When Christy’s 40-year-old stepdaughter Lianne insists Christy accompany her to an “equine assisted learning” retreat, Christy invites Julia, who invites Lucy (Christy is a bit jealous of this), and then Robyn finds her way in (although she’s already part of the group in a way, having had affairs with both Vaughn and Kristian). The trip is a disaster for spoiled Lianne, but Robyn decides she’s had it with Ryan, whose promising literary debut has been followed by years of Robyn slaving away at a mattress showroom for his art. Each chapter feels like a well-composed short story, and the collected whole is fresh and bright with characters that defy expectations.

Clever and witty: the best kind of summer book.

“...entertaining and expertly judged.” from screwed

SCREWED

SOVEREIGN

Colfer, Eoin Overlook (288 pp.) $25.95 | May 2, 2013 978-1-4683-0170-0 This comic thriller sends a hard-luck New Jersey club owner tumbling through a mad, mad world of assorted nuts.

When Dan McEvoy, who debuted in Colfer’s Plugged (2011), awakens at the start of this second, often wacky installment, he’s cozied up to Sofia Delano, who’s on the lam from her abusive husband, Carmine. Bipolar, schizophrenic and heavily medicated, Sofia sometimes thinks Dan is Carmine. But she’s beautiful and they’ve swooned over Amelie, so Dan stays by her side. He leaves her momentarily, though, when he’s called to task by Mike Madden, the Irish boss of Cloisters, the New Jersey village where McEvoy runs a dumpy club called Slotz.

Madden had assigned Dan and a friend to guard his mother, so when the mother dies after lightning strikes her ski pole on the slopes, they’re in big trouble. But Madden says McEvoy can absolve himself by delivering a package of bearer bonds to a guy named Shea in SoHo. En route to Manhattan, McEvoy is detained by two cops, who cuff and then taser him. A resourceful McEvoy shakes them by deftly wielding a large dildo (don’t ask). Gathering his wits over French toast at Norma’s in Manhattan, McEvoy encounters his grandfather’s fourth wife, Edit Vikander Costello, who brings the alarming news that Evelyn Costello, his mother’s baby sister, is missing. McEvoy heads to Shea’s SoHo lair, convinced he’s stepping into a setup. A tricky chase ensues with McEvoy rivaling Bob Hope’s speed at rapid-fire wisecracks. McEvoy, however, is not entirely flippant.

Among his frequent digressions are biting, unsettling memories of home life, including one trenchant passage in which he is handed a copy of The Fountainhead. At McEvoy’s core is a melancholy soul who believes “[t]he Universe cannot suffer happiness for long….”

Colfer’s work is entertaining and expertly judged. His terse, muscular prose makes even a car chase seem like a new idea, and his McEvoy is a durable raconteur.

Dekker, Ted; Lee, Tosca FaithWords (336 pp.) $25.00 | $11.99 e-book | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-59995-359-5 978-1-4555-1819-7 e-book Series: Books of Mortals, 3 This third volume in the Books of Mortals series, a collaboration between Christian writer Dekker and his partner, Lee, continues the tale of an alternative universe with an allegorical flavor.

This tale began as the world had a brush with extinction that left it populated by nothing but the dead, who were rendered bereft of all qualities that made them human. Soon, war broke out between various factions. From the Immortals, the Dark Bloods and the Corpses, to the Sovereigns, those who populate the Earth fight the others for supremacy. Now, the Sovereigns have been all but wiped out by their enemies, which

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have hunted their numbers down to a mere 37. Of this number, Jordin has emerged as one of their leaders. Filled with the blood of the boy Jonathan, who died and whose blood has turned the remaining Sovereigns into his followers, Jordin and the others live in the ruined and abandoned mazes in the city, hunted by Saric and the evil Feyn. Now, one of their number, an alchemist, has devised a virus that will destroy them all, but their leader, Rom, is convinced that to kill Feyn would go against Jonathan’s teachings. Rom slips away to try to bring Feyn to her senses, and Jordin hatches a plan of her own. She also leaves the questionable safety of the maze in order to find both Saric and Feyn, but she plans a different outcome: She promises the alchemist that she will bring their heads back with her, and in return, he will not release the virus immediately. This follows Jordin’s journey and that of the young girl Kaya who sneaks off to accompany her and the terrible sacrifice the two make in order to gain an advantage over their enemy in a desperate attempt for survival.

An installment enhanced by Lee’s smooth, competent writing.

SWEET SALT AIR

Delinksy, Barbara St. Martin’s (416 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-250-00703-2

Two old friends, troubled by present crises and past mistakes, reunite on an island off the coast of Maine.

It’s been 10 years since Nicole, a food blogger, has seen her best friend, Charlotte. The separation is due in part to the women’s divergent life paths. Nicole married Julian, a prominent pediatric surgeon and sought-after consultant, and is stepmother to his two children. Charlotte travels the world on magazine assignments. Now, Nicole is at her parents’ summer home on Quinnipeague Island, publishing contract in hand, preparing to write a cookbook on local cuisine. She is also there to ready the place to sell after her father’s sudden passing. When Nicole summons Charlotte to Quinnipeague to help with the book, Charlotte has reservations due to a secret she has harbored for years: Shortly before Nicole’s wedding, she had a drunken one-night stand with Julian. A pregnancy resulted; the child was given up for adoption. Sharing the seaside house while Julian is away, Charlotte and Nicole bond once more over the challenges of wresting recipes from the crusty islanders and over best-selling beach read Salt. When told that Leo, son of a reputed witch, refuses to divulge the magical lore of his mother’s herb farm, Charlotte, who cannot resist an unwilling interview subject, seeks him out. At first blush an eccentric recluse, Leo proves to be not only a dead ringer for Salt’s romantic hero, but also its pseudonymous author, which explains that new sailboat and those expensive renovations to his weather-beaten house.

Charlotte is distracted from their blossoming romance by a moral dilemma: Julian, Nicole reveals, has MS and wants to try an experimental and dangerous stem cell treatment protocol.

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Nicole is opposed to the risky procedure, but when Charlotte reveals how and why she has access to just the genetically compatible umbilical stem cells Julian might need, the friendship is threatened. The result: promising complications, rendered less than compelling by plodding, talky narration.

Despite some appetizing menu items, pretty standard fare.

THE PANOPTICON

Fagan, Jenni Hogarth/Crown (304 pp.) $22.00 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-0-385-34786-0 Critically acclaimed in Britain, Scottish writer Fagan’s U.S. debut limns life in a last-resort residence for teen outcasts.

Like everyone else in the Panopticon, 15-year-old Anais Hendricks has been in and out of foster care practically since birth. “[B]orn in a nuthouse to nobody that was ever seen again,” she had her only successful foster placement with a prostitute later stabbed to death (Anais found the body). She’s been sent to this facility, where the inmates are under constant surveillance, because she had a bad history with a policewoman who has been bludgeoned into a coma, and Anais—almost permanently whacked on whatever drug she can lay her hands on—can’t explain why she has blood on her skirt. If the police can prove she did it, she’ll be locked up full-time until she’s 18; meanwhile, she enjoys the relative freedom of the Panopticon and forms intense bonds with other residents. Isla, whose self-cutting has worsened since she learned that she passed HIV to her twins, has a history grimly typical of the kids dumped here by an indifferent society. Anais, as her sympathetic support worker Angus notices, is stronger, smarter and more resilient than her hapless peers. Readers discern Anais’ difference from her first-person narration, a tart rendering in savory Scottish dialect of her bitter perceptions of the world that has no use for her, embodied in what she calls “the experiment,” a mysterious group to which she ascribes vaguely supernatural powers. It’s probably a delusion (remember all those drugs), but we’re never quite sure; an almost unrelievedly grim parade of events reinforces Anais’s perception that some sinister force is arrayed against her and her friends. The tentative happy ending snatched from nearcertain disaster might seem like wish fulfillment if Fagan had not painted her battered characters’ fierce loyalty to each other with such conviction and surprising tenderness.

Dark and disturbing but also exciting and moving thanks to a memorable heroine and vividly atmospheric prose.

RED STAR FALLING

Freemantle, Brian Dunne/St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-250-03224-9 In the finale of Freemantle’s Red Star trilogy, British agent Charlie Muffin must outwit both his Russian captors and MI6 schemers who want him dead.

Making his 16th appearance in a series dating back to 1977, Muffin spends most of the book under wraps. Shot by an MI6 assassin at a Moscow airport while trying to escape Russia with his wife and young daughter, he is nursed back to health by the FSB, the agency that succeeded the KGB. They are determined to find out everything he knows, then inflict maximum punishment in retaliation for his blowing the cover of one of their prize triple agents. In a previous book, Charlie faked defecting to Russia and secretly married Natalia Fedova, the FSB operative who

first debriefed him. Now, he is desperate to find out whether Natalia and little Sasha, who were at the airport with him, made it safely back to England. The wheels spin as Charlie’s MI5 colleagues try to counter MI6 chief Gerald Monsford’s cutthroat moves, Charlie plays games of deception with the Russians, and Natalia plots to save Charlie. A master of understatement, Freemantle can sometimes be a rather bloodless stylist with his clipped dialogue and tightly wound narrative. Charlie lives to spy another day—no spoiler alert needed there—but don’t expect any kind of breathless climax.

In Freemantle’s latest sophisticated spy thriller, the Muffin man remains a compelling figure, even in convalescent mode.

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“...poignant and fun...” from the good luck girls of shipwreck lane

THE RESURRECTIONIST

Guinn, Matthew Norton (288 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 8, 2013 978-0-393-23931-7

A stash of bones, found underneath a South Carolina medical school, links together two stories, one from the Civil War and one from the present, in firsttime novelist Guinn’s Southern gothic.

The Civil War story explains how the bones got there: Since the school is short on corpses, recently purchased slave Nemo Johnston is dispatched to “resurrect” bodies of recently deceased slaves for medical research.

Nemo is a complex character, resigned to slavery though he’s clearly talented enough to be a surgeon. Yet he’s not entirely noble, as Nemo takes easily to the grisly job, even bringing back a body or two that he’s killed himself. He earns a financial success denied to most slaves, while being feared and despised by those in his community. Also new at the school, and also on the wrong side of history, is Sara Thacker, a midwife whose gender keeps her from training as a surgeon. In the present day, the bones of the slaves are discovered at the college, and the school panics over possible bad press and loss of donors when the history gets out. Jacob Thacker, a promising doctor who’s been demoted to public relations because of a former Xanax addiction, is enlisted to protect the college’s good name—but instead, he researches the archives and learns more of the details, including his own family connection.

Nemo’s story is ultimately more compelling than Jacob’s, but Guinn provides a lot of twists and an effectively ominous mood, thanks partly to some not-for-thesqueamish medical scenes.

THE HUMANS

Haig, Matt Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4767-2791-2 A fish-out-of water mashup where the water is Earth, and the fish is an extraterrestrial.

Professor Andrew Martin has solved the Riemann hypothesis. A mathematical problem of fiendish difficulty, it explains the distribution of prime numbers. This is big news in a galaxy far, far away. The Vonnadorians, in their wisdom, believe we humans are unprepared for this breakthrough. They are so concerned, in fact, they kidnap Professor Martin, of Cambridge University, and send a Vonnadorian to destroy the proof and kill everyone Martin informed. Alien/Martin assumes the shape and identity of human/Martin to insinuate himself into the world.

Our alien assassin is narrator and protagonist. And in spite of extraordinary Vonnadorian technology, he is, to quote Foghorn 12

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Leghorn, about as sharp as a bag of wet mice, and a softie to boot. He falls away from the rational principles of his distant world, develops a taste for crunchy whole-nut peanut butter and Australian wine, admiration for “his” dog, Newton, love for “his” wife, Isobel, and Gulliver, “his” angst-y teen son. Haig goes all-in on the alien-goes-native humor, and then he goes further.

Turns out, human/Martin was an arrogant jerk, while alien/Martin falls hard for our little blue planet, for our contradictions and our mortality, our joys and our follies, for the Beach Boys and Emily Dickinson. Alien/Martin becomes more expert on us humans than dozens of self-help­–book authors: “I felt blue with sadness, red with rage and green with envy. I felt the entire human rainbow.”

A saccharine novel.

THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE

Harms, Kelly Dunne/St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-250-01138-1

When Janine Brown of Cedar Falls, Iowa, is announced as the winner of a dream home in Maine, two women who share the same name may just be what the other needs for a brand new lease on life.

Janey Brown’s Great Aunt Midge has entered her name in a Free House Sweepstakes, and when she wins the house in Maine, Janey would like nothing more than to crawl into the safe, warm haven of her kitchen and make it all go away. Speaking to strangers gives her hives and ties her tongue in knots, which she’d just as soon have happen in the comfort of her own familiar hometown. Unfortunately, Janey knows how much the house means to Aunt Midge, and Aunt Midge is smart enough to tempt Janey with the dream kitchen that comes with the home, so before long, they’re off to begin new lives on the East Coast. Meanwhile, Nean Brown also heard her name called on the contest announcement, and she, too, is headed to Maine to claim her prize. So when these three women collide on the doorstep of 1516 Shipwreck Lane, confusion and antipathy arise. Aunt Midge is 88, a true character and wise as the day is long in summer. She sees through the wisecracking Nean to the vulnerable girl inside and opens her heart and the house to her, dragging Janey grumbling behind. Along the way, Janey and Nean form a truce, then a bond, with a bit of help from Aunt Midge and a small community of people they meet and, to Janey’s shock, befriend. Janey is a professional cook and social recluse whose main interactions for the past few years have been with Aunt Midge and The Food Network. Nean is a wanderer with no education and fewer prospects. Each one must work through her own past, fear and insecurities, then turn to the other as they navigate romantic highs and lows and other life lessons in this charming winner.

A perfect recipe of clever, quirky, poignant and fun make this a delightful debut.

CHILDREN ARE DIAMONDS An African Apocalypse

Hoagland, Edward Arcade (256 pp.) $23.95 | Jun. 1, 2013 978-1-61145-834-3

A vision of contemporary Africa almost as horrifying as Conrad’s in Heart of Darkness, with violence flaring in all directions—toward children, toward Africans and toward NGO workers engaged in humanitarian works.

Hickey, the narrator, is a self-described “guide, ne’er-do-well [and] aid worker” who tries to make some sense of the chaotic and war-torn land of Central Africa. In his peripatetic travels, he meets up with Ruth, who’s working with Protestants Against Famine, a group operating in southern Sudan on a shoestring budget and with the shadow of hope. Hickey is haunted by the blunt and no-nonsense manner of Ruth and by the searing BW•Kirkus MagC:Kirkus Mag

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honesty of her vision. While on one level she realizes that the problems she faces are immense and perhaps even insoluble, on another, she wants to do everything she can to relieve the suffering of even one child. Hickey had been in danger of turning defiantly cynical, but his encounter with Ruth is strangely life-affirming. Traveling from one beleaguered compound to another, Ruth dispenses medicine and operates outside the more reputable borders of aid organizations such as OxFam. (She even cavalierly calls Protestants Against Famine a “rinkydink” operation.) Both Hickey and Ruth get caught up in the crossfire of tribal warfare, and both try desperately to save the lives of those they’ve befriended, like Bol, a native who speaks multiple languages, and children, the most innocent victims of the violence. Ultimately, although the carnage is terrifying in Hoagland’s graphic descriptions, both Hickey and Ruth survive to continue their desperate work Hoagland’s style is dense and tightly packed, each sentence weighted with significance, which makes the carnage and heartbreak he dramatizes all the more powerful.

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“An ingenious, thoroughly absorbing twist on the military-fiction genre. ...extremely clever, infectiously readable ...will appeal equally to fans of Tom Clancy and True Blood.”

-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A DEBUT SCI-FI TECHNOTHRILLER in which US troops find themselves the subject of a bizarre government experiment read the full review on kirkusreviews.com Available at Amazon.com For information about publication or film rights email: projectgitmores@gmail.com or call 281-433-2538

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Gail Godwin

The Veteran Best-seller Gets Down to the Essential in Flora

By Chelsea Langford

Photo Courtesy David Hermon

“That house on the hill. That girl. Children are like bombs that will one day go off.”

These brief sentences, written soon after turning in her first book for publication, inspired Gail Godwin’s Flora, finally brought to life after many years hidden in a notebook. Godwin is not the same writer she was when she started out nearly 45 years ago. For one, she’s not afraid to refashion a book anymore. “It used to kill me when I had to drop a book, but sometimes I found that I could pick out pieces of it and put it in another book,” she says. And so these three sentences evolved into a novel after Godwin realized that she knew what those “bombs” were.

It’s the summer of 1945, and 10-year-old Helen is none too pleased to be cooped up in her weathered

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house all alone with Flora, her late mother’s cousin, who’s in charge while Helen’s father is away on a “special project” for World War II. Helen’s grandmother has just died and, after a recent polio outbreak, the girls are forbidden to leave the property. All Helen has is Flora—but she doesn’t like her. To Helen, Flora is emotional, immature and unsophisticated. “It would take her years and years—until she was an older woman—to see what Flora had that was so rare in the world,” Godwin says. “There are very few of these people around who are pure at heart.”

Flora is unique among Godwin’s list of best-selling novels: It’s the first she never showed to anyone else while she was writing. “It gave me a peculiar intimacy with the material,” she says. She had determined how many days the girls had together: “I tried to go day by day so that we could follow Helen’s opinions of Flora as they changed.” And so the story develops at this deliberate pace, as Helen (who narrates the story as an older woman) examines the doings of the summer, building up to the events of the story’s climax— occurring just after the bombing of Hiroshima—that would change her life immediately and forever.

At that age, “You’re coming into your knowledge that you have powers and that you can influence people…you can make them do things, but you haven’t finished your cognitive growth, and you can’t project what the consequences might be,” says Godwin, who was able to remember well the feeling of being 10 years old. To create Helen, she had to reacquaint herself with that adolescent mindset. “[Helen’s] aware that she’s growing and changing, but she’s still a little girl…which was fascinating to write; I liked being inside her. It gave me a feeling of raw power.” Godwin’s goal for the novel was to find the essential in her material. The detailed recounting of that summer is important, as the older Helen narrates in order to provide a truthful account of this

tumultuous period in her life and do justice to those involved. She strives to capture their essence.

Godwin is proud of Flora, “because none of [the story] happened to me,” she says, “but it’s true in an essential way.” The story is entirely Godwin’s own— she wrote it over two years, showing her manuscript to no one. She followed her narrator’s journey over a lifetime, recalling the feeling of adolescence and intimately navigating the perspective of a woman looking back on her younger years.

Helen’s journey in Flora, from adolescence to reflective narrator, is not unlike the journey of an emerging writer. When Godwin first started out, she struggled to make herself write. “Now, if I don’t write on a day, I feel robbed. It’s become such a part of my mental exercise,” she says. Recently, Godwin was on tour with fellow Bloomsbury author Samantha Shannon, who started writing her book The Bone Season (out later this summer) at the age of 15. “You’ve got the alpha and the omega here—the first and the last,” Godwin says. With 18 books under her belt, Godwin has learned a lot over her writing career. She has a few regrets: She let one of her book titles be changed. Unfinished Desires was supposed to be The Red Nun. She also let a magazine editor turn one of her stories into something completely different. With these experiences in mind, she has a few notes to share with young writers.

“Be careful who you listen to”: advice Godwin has clearly taken herself, experiencing the raw, intimate power of being the sole mind connected with Helen and her story.

“You’ll know [writing] is for you if it creates more of you, if it teaches you something that you can’t get anywhere else,” Godwin advises. Godwin suggests keeping a journal and writing down the details: “Your feelings will change, but those details will endure, and one day you’ll be able to make sense of them and see a pattern.”

These suggestions apply to Flora as well: Young Helen would be grateful to older Helen for keeping a thorough record of the details. After a lifetime of reflection, Helen may have some regrets of her own that she might want to own up to. However, Helen’s narrative is controlled. It’s stripped of most emotion in order to reveal the elemental details of that summer: the moments that endure over time. In writing their story, Helen does justice to Flora and her own youth. It is exactly what it needs to be— there is nothing extra. Godwin achieves the ultimate goal she sets for young writers and also for herself: “Try to get down to the essential.”

Flora Godwin, Gail Bloomsbury (288 pp.) $26.00 May 7, 2013 978-1-62040-120-0

Chelsea Langford is the editorial assistant at Kirkus Reviews.

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“Delicate handling of deep themes...” from eléctrico w

ELÉCTRICO W

BOBCAT And Other Stories

Le Tellier, Hervé Translated by Hunter, Adriana Other Press (272 pp.) $14.95 paper | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-59051-533-4

Lee, Rebecca Algonquin (256 pp.) $14.95 paper | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-61620-173-9

A French journalist and a Portuguese photographer find they have some uncomfortable things in common in this latest from Le Tellier (Enough About Love, 2011, etc.).

Narrator Vincent Balmer has relocated to Lisbon to escape from his fruitless love for flirtatious, withholding Irene.

When he agrees to cover the trial of serial killer Ricardo Pinheiro with photographer Antonio Flores, he doesn’t know that Antonio is having an affair with Irene. When he finds out, he determines to get his revenge by tracking down Duck, the childhood sweetheart Antonio still pines for; then Irene will know what it feels like to be rejected. This mildly distasteful premise is mostly an excuse for Le Tellier’s atmospheric, leisurely narrative of nine days in 1985, which mingles Vincent’s search for Duck, the first day of the trial and his wanderings through Lisbon with Antonio and Irene—who arrives from Paris and is not pleased to find Vincent supposedly involved with someone else. He’s faking this romance, aided by a woman he meets at a cafe. Another very young woman met by chance gives Antonio a taste of the hopeless love Irene and Vincent have both experienced, providing more satisfactory payback than Vincent’s eventual discovery of Duck. Unfolding memories give readers a better understanding of and sympathy for Vincent, who has endured a difficult childhood, his mother’s death and a fraught relationship with his father, who recently committed suicide. Intermittent excerpts from Portuguese writer Jaime Montestrela’s Contos acquosas, which Vincent is translating, amplify the novel’s tone of existential unease, which is also buttressed by glancing references to the Salazar dictatorship and Vincent’s memories of a journey to the Okavango Delta in Africa, “a metaphor for unfinished business, for adversity, for an unreachable goal.” It makes an allusive kind of sense that he names his novel after a Lisbon tramline that no longer exists.

Delicate handling of deep themes—loss, missed connections, meaninglessness—gives the novel an emotional charge greater than its low-key particulars and pacing.

A story collection in which a liberal arts education can’t resolve the mysteries, complexities and absurdities of love.

Practically every one of these stories involves a college campus, a familiar setting to the author (The City Is a Rising Tide, 2006), who is a professor of creative writing, and some stories feature those involved in creative writing or other quasi-literary pursuits. Yet the stories extend well beyond college life or the limits of much university-generated fiction, and the first-person narrators of the stories, a different one in each, rarely invite confusion with the author. Instead, as the rare male narrator says about architecture (“Fialta”), “I knew hardly anything about how to draw a building, except that it ought not to look beautiful; it ought to be spare and slightly inaccessible, its beauty only suggested, so that a good plan looked like a secret to be passed on and on, its true nature hidden away.” Thus it is with these stories, with their hints of theme and defiance of resolution, filled with characters who are overly educated and articulate yet lack some crucial knowledge, which is perhaps unknowable. The narrator of this story is an architecture student who falls in love with another, a relationship doomed since she is the lover of their mutual teacher. Relationships in the collection frequently involve those from different generations or cultures (arranged marriages figure in two stories), with unequal power and infidelities the rule. One narrator (“Settlers”) marvels at how her friend “had found the rabbit hole into real life”—husband, kids, apparent fulfillment—though such domesticity proves to be more an illusion than an attainment. As another says (in the titular opening story), “the dream of a happy family can be so overpowering that people will often put up with a lot to approximate it. Sometimes a little blindness keeps a family together.”

The power in these stories often lies in the puzzlement, for readers as well as characters.

A GIRL LIKE YOU

Lindley, Maureen Bloomsbury (384 pp.) $16.00 paper | Mar. 4, 2013 978-1-60819-265-6 A shameful episode of U.S. history, the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, is revisited, this time as experienced by an alienated JapaneseAmerican teenager.

The problem for Satomi Baker, the heroine of British writer Lindley’s (The Private Papers of an Eastern Jewel, 2009) second novel, is that there are no other girls

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like her. Born of an American father and a second-generation Japanese-American mother, living in a small Californian rural community, she is a misfit: smart, popular enough, attractive to boys, but adrift somewhere between her mother Tamura’s submissive charm and her father Aaron’s jealous aggression.

The time is the early 1940s; anti-Japanese feeling is rising, and when Aaron, a naval volunteer, is killed at Pearl Harbor, it’s not hard to imagine the fate of the Baker women. Rounded up along with all the other Americans of full or partial Japanese ancestry, they are interned in a remote mountain camp where the harsh, unsanitary conditions intensify both Satomi’s anger and Tamura’s ill health. Yet sustaining friendships are made there, relationships which will help Satomi when her mother eventually succumbs to tuberculosis. After the war, the girl moves to New York, where events turn more fairy tale–like. Money and love enter the mix, and acceptance eventually arrives, at a price.

Plotting turns mushy toward the end, but this is an empathetic story, delicately told, tailor-made for reading groups.

LOVE AMONG THE PARTICLES

Lock, Norman Bellevue Literary Press (224 pp.) $14.95 paper | May 14, 2013 978-1-934137-64-2 A strange and engaging collection of short stories.

In “The Monster in Winter,” a writer gets the notion to take “notorious murderer” Edward Hyde, of Jekyll and Hyde infamy, on tour. The plan is for Hyde to talk of and perhaps re-enact some of his horrible deeds. “The Mummy’s Bitter and Melancholy Exile” opens with a mummy being invited to speak on the radio in 1934, a long way from the stone deathbed in Egypt that is his comfort zone. Lock’s stories stir time as though it were a soup where any of the ingredients might contact any other. Do time and space even matter? A train’s brakeman has no idea where his train is going or if it will go on forever.

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Another train briefly appears alongside, carrying seemingly contented commuters from another dimension; soon, it turns away and disappears into the horizon. An ordinary middle-age man is transformed into a collection of sentient atoms, muons, leptons and the like. He can merge with other bodies, read other minds. He can climb onto a computer’s motherboard and ride an electronic rail into the vast Internet and back again, since this is the digital age, and he is all data. Each of the 16 stories has a similar feel, even those in which the narrator has not literally gone to pieces. They are gems, rich in imagination and language.

Readers will happily suspend disbelief, perhaps even finding particles of humor with the Museum of Steam’s bottled steam that “rose, unbidden…with indecent intent with regard to a woman’s knickers.” And beyond the entertainment lie 21st-century conundrums: What really exists? Are we each, ultimately, alone and lonely? Where is technology taking humankind?

For all their convolutions of space and time, these stories are remarkably easy to follow and savor.

THE REST OF US

Lott, Jessica Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4516-4587-3 A May-December romance is at the center of this layered, engaging debut fiction.

The narrator is the articulate, observant photographer Teresa—friends call her Terry, while she is Tatie to her older lover Rhinehart. Terry was Rhinehart’s lover in college; he a visiting professor, she a student. When she reads his obit in the New York Times, she realizes how fresh the wound is, despite the 15 years since their on-again, off-again affair dissolved in tears.

But Rhinehart is not dead, but married to Laura, a woman they both knew. Rhinehart is a poet alienated from his muse, remote but benign and obsessed with his complicated family.

As love often does for lovers, their feelings for each other cascade through their own lives. Terry resumes her own work and gets help negotiating the predatory New York art scene from an unlikely source. Rhinehart woos his muse and wrestles his demons. Terry tells of her early life, of her best friend Hallie, a conflicted, nervy woman. A housewife in suburban New Jersey, she has too much time on her hands. A dinner party at Hallie’s arid suburban mansion, where recrimination is canapé, is a fraught black comedy. The book features several parties and gives us glimpses of hard partying: This delicate matter—how private lives become public, how our public selves have their own continuity and duration—is handled sensitively. If the arc of the narrative is too parabolic, if the action rises too steadily, Lott’s characterization, dialogue and affection for her characters is winning.

Accomplished debut fiction.

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THE EXILES

Lynn, Allison Amazon/New Harvest (336 pp.) $24.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-544-10210-1 A fresh start in a new city should signify a positive beginning for a couple and their 10-month-old son, but they soon discover that, though their old possessions disappear when their Jeep Cherokee is stolen, their emotional baggage remains.

Lynn (Now You See It, 2004) explores the thoughts and actions of Nate and Emily, life partners who have been together since the two met at the baggage claim at JFK airport and shared a taxi into New York City. Now parents and no longer able to afford the cost of living in an expensive apartment, the two pack up their Jeep Cherokee and head for a job offer in Newport, R.I. It’s Friday afternoon before Columbus Day weekend, and the couple sign the paperwork for their new house, receive the keys and head back to their vehicle, ready to spend the next few nights camping out on air mattresses in their new home. But the Jeep, and everything in it, is gone. Left with limited cash and burdened by secrets, the couple faces the long weekend emotionally distanced and guilt-ridden. Nate, the son of a famous architect who was absent for much of his life, reflects upon his childhood, his one brief glimpse of his grandfather, his closeness to his younger brother and his mother’s death as he dredges up fears that he’s inherited a genetic disease that could cripple not only his life, but that of his son. Emily’s worried about an incident that occurred before she left NYC, the changes in herself that she has trouble reconciling and how her actions will affect her family’s future. Lynn’s narrative, which depicts the raw emotional impact of deceit and the helplessness of being unable to foretell the future or forestall the inevitable, contains moments that introduce wit and humor to a bleak situation that becomes bleaker by the moment.

The story sometimes strays into descriptions of architectural styles, which may not be of interest to every reader, but this only minimally detracts from the author’s distinctive characters and focus.

IN FALLING SNOW

MacColl, Mary-Rose Penguin (460 pp.) $16.00 paper | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-14-312392-7 A chance discovery about a hospital established by women during World War I results in a well-crafted U.S. debut by Australian author MacColl.

Iris Crane is a naïve girl in 1914 when she travels from her native Australia to France in search of her 15-year-old brother. Tom ran away to enlist in the war effort, and Iris intends to take her younger

“...moving, deeply felt and lyrical...” from a marker to measure drift

brother back home. But after she lands on French soil, Iris is coopted into service by Dr. Frances Ivens and soon finds herself establishing a field hospital for the wounded and assuring her father that both she and her brother are safely removed from the fighting. Now, 60 years later, she’s invited to a ceremony honoring the women who served at Royaumont. The invitation unleashes in Iris many long-buried memories that often blur the lines between past and present. Like the snow that blankets Royaumont in the winter, the story that unfolds is at once chilling yet strangely beautiful. The book touches on the contributions made by a group of pioneering women who succeed despite society’s bias toward their gender; the strong friendships that develop, particularly between Iris and ambulance driver Violet Heron; Iris’ increasing love for medicine and her involvement with a man she meets during the war; the men and boys whose lives are sacrificed for a cause many of them don’t identify with or understand; and the far-reaching effects of the war on the generations that follow. While Iris’ memories propel the narrative, her granddaughter’s interwoven story adds another moving dimension. Grace Hogan, an OB-GYN with three children, is raised by Iris following her mother’s death during childbirth.

Struggling to cope with her grandmother’s declining health, fears about her son’s well-being and a colleague’s complaint, she, like her grandmother before her, begins an incredible journey of love, sacrifice and, ultimately, understanding. MacColl’s narrative is fortified by impeccable research and her innate ability to create a powerful bond between readers and characters.

Well done.

Through memory and conversation, Jacqueline’s story finally comes out. While her mother had always looked for meaning through religious consolation, her father, Liberia’s finance minister and a believer in the government of Charles Taylor, was simultaneously more political and more cynical. Jacqueline also has strong memories of her pregnant younger sister, Saifa. At the end of the novel, Jacqueline feels comfortable enough with Katarina to open up about the terrifying circumstances that led to her leaving Liberia.

A moving, deeply felt and lyrical novel about past and present. (Author tour to Boston, New York, Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle)

A MARKER TO MEASURE DRIFT

Maksik, Alexander Knopf (240 pp.) $24.95 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-307-96257-7

A 23-year-old refugee from Liberia tries to escape the horrors of her past on the island of Santorini.

Jacqueline arrives in Santorini with a backpack, the clothes on her back and no money. We slowly learn the details of her life through a series of flashbacks to her home and affair with a French journalist as well as through imagined conversations with her mother, a religious woman who believes in equal measure in two contradictory ideas: that everything is “God’s will” and that “We pay for our sins, for the sins of others....

Anyway, we can’t understand.” At first, Jacqueline finds a cave in which to spend her nights, and she supports herself by giving foot massages to the tourists on the beaches. This helps her make a subsistence living, though much of the time she’s still uncomfortably close to starvation. She develops a routine in her living, catching showers surreptitiously and then eventually sleeping in an abandoned hotel. She also befriends Katarina, a waitress at a local cafe, who provides her food and friendship, for both women are lonely and in need of companionship. |

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THE SHANGHAI FACTOR

McCarry, Charles Mysterious Press (336 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-8021-2127-1 Nuanced, devilishly intricate thriller sends an enigmatic hero to China and far-flung ports to scope out agents, double agents and enticing women.

That a semi-colon (“That archaic punctuation mark…”) turns up here as a clue signals the level of subtlety that characterizes the plot of this latest from thriller and CIA veteran McCarry. Early on comes a harrowing action scene on the Yangtze, but otherwise, quiet and only occasionally violent moments drive the plot. In a tale in which characters are seldom what they seem, it’s significant that the protagonist and narrator (hereafter “Spy”) is never named. Known only to his handler, but not even to the U.S. intelligence agency he works for (also never named but located near Langley, VA., if you need a hint), Spy is a former football jock, a former fighter in Afghanistan and a man who may or may not care about his survival. He’s also intensely hirsute, which prompts Mei, a woman with whom he’s besotted, to call him “the chimpanzee.” But when six thugs abduct Spy, tossing him to the rats in the Yangtze, a contact tells him to get out of China. Back in the States, and desperately missing Mei, he checks in with his handler, Burbank, who makes visitors feel insecure and, literally, unsteady by seating them in a chair with sawed off front legs. Burbank wants Spy to find out what he can about a Chinese conglomerate’s ties to the Goanbu, the Chinese Intelligence Agency. Spy goes to work for the conglomerate. He’s soon jumping continents, gathering data. Before long, he finds himself in mortal danger, shadowed, in chilling scenes, on planes, in restaurants and on city streets.

The biggest twist of all comes, well-timed, in the narrative’s final chapters, when McCarry’s largely cerebral puzzle reaches a breathless, emotionally resonant denouement.

Meticulous plotting, literate prose and mordant wit make this a thriller for connoisseurs of the genre.

CLOSE MY EYES

McKenzie, Sophie St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-250-03389-5 British children’s author McKenzie’s first adult novel is a psychological thriller centered around a woman whose life has been on hold ever since her baby died eight year earlier.

Gen and her husband, Art, are still deeply in love, but they are struggling after years of trying to deal with the stillbirth of their only child, Beth. The baby was delivered early after an obstetrician detected that there was no 20

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heartbeat. After the child’s stillbirth, it was determined she was deformed and would not have survived anyway, a revelation that threw Gen into emotional turmoil. Although she and Art have been trying to conceive again, they’ve been unsuccessful and have resorted to fertility treatments. None have taken.

Gen is almost ready to give up on having a child when a woman comes to her door and tells her some unsettling news: Not only was Gen’s baby born alive, but others knew about it, including someone close to Gen. Although Gen doesn’t believe the woman, she starts to investigate on her own, setting off a chain of events that leads her deeper and deeper into a dark place.

Along the way, she acquires an unlikely ally, a man who once worked with her husband but who is now one of his deadliest foes. She is left to wonder who is playing her for a fool—one of the people she loves or her new friend. McKenzie is a skillful writer and understands how to build interest and tension with well-drawn characters and fascinating back story. But readers might want to keep a notepad handy to keep track of the people she introduces—some necessary, others simply there to fill out the plot. After a while, readers may have trouble keeping track of who’s who.

McKenzie’s maiden thriller is a hit, even if it becomes a bit crowded in the process.

ACCIDENTS HAPPEN

Millar, Louise Emily Bestler/Atria (400 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-4516-5670-1 Millar’s sophomore effort derives its impetus from the idea that, for some people, bad luck is inevitable.

Kate lost her parents to a car accident on her wedding night and then, years later, thugs murdered her beloved husband, Hugo. Ever since Hugo’s death, Kate has fought depression, not always successfully. Now, she lives with her son Jack in Oxford, England, near her in-laws, and struggles not to lose her mind. Her problem? She can’t stop computing the odds that something bad will happen. Whether it’s riding her bike without a helmet or crossing the street or someone breaking into her home, Kate is terrified she and Jack will become victims of the same types of crimes that took her parents and husband. So she tries to insulate both herself and Jack from the possibility that something bad could happen to them. She refuses to let Jack go anywhere by himself and wraps them both in a cocoon of alarms, sets unreasonable boundaries and often resorts to bizarre measures. But her husband’s parents are horrified at what they see: Kate is quickly turning Jack into a terrified, neurotic mess. Her mother-in-law says she’ll take Jack from Kate if she doesn’t clean up her act. Then Kate meets Jago, a visiting professor who specializes in statistical analysis. Jago makes her feel alive for the first time in years, and more importantly, he sets about helping her overcome her fears—but are they really unfounded? Soon, she and everyone around her will discover the fateful answer.

Millar spins an infectious, engrossing and inventive story, but once she brings a new man into the picture, the storyline starts tilting toward the ridiculous. Suggesting that a woman as fearful and tenuous as Kate would dive wholeheartedly into opportunities to commit crimes and be willingly victimized will stretch the credulity of most readers.

A promising premise disintegrates into a rather unbelievable story about halfway through the book.

CHOKE POINT

Pearson, Ridley Putnam (416 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-399-15884-1 Now that they’ve established their credentials in Shanghai (The Risk Agent, 2012, etc.), John Knox and Grace Chu, of Rutherford Risk, go up against a coldblooded sweatshop owner in Amsterdam.

When you have as much money as philanthropist Graham Winston, and maybe political aspirations as well, you can direct your millions at any injustice you see, and what Winston sees, thanks to a blistering newspaper exposĂŠ by Sonia Pangarkar, is little girls knotting handmade rugs. Some of the pathetically underage workers, like Maja Sehovic, lead relatively normal second lives as schoolchildren; others, like Berna Ranatunga, are literally chained to their jobs.

Winston hires private security firm Rutherford to shut down

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“Strong work.” from love, dishonor, marry, die, cherish, perish

the knot shop Sonia profiled, and David Dulwich assigns the job to his friend John Knox and forensic accountant Grace Chu. It’s a lucky thing that Winston’s expense account is generous, since pretty much everything that could possibly go wrong does. Sonia would rather sleep with Knox than open up to him or introduce him to her sources, even when those sources ominously begin to disappear. The girls’ parents are no more eager to say anything that might endanger their daughters or compromise themselves. Gerhardt Kreiger, the middleman Knox contacts to put together a fictional purchasing deal that will give Knox more information about where the rugs are made, turns out to be playing a deeper game of his own. So is Chief Inspector Joshua Brower, who Dulwich assured Knox would be a reliable police contact. And whoever is behind the knot shop is cunning, determined and willing to use violence against Knox and Grace and anyone else who gets close to him.

Pearson plots resourcefully, and the complications are intelligently varied. The action is so nonstop, however, that long before the end, many readers will feel as exhausted, if nowhere near as battered, as Grace and Knox.

THE NAVIGATOR

Pocalyko, Michael Forge (368 pp.) $24.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-7653-3224-0

Hotshot investment banker Warren Hunter is poised to pull off a trillion dollar deal that will launch a worldwide, Internet-trumping communications system.

But a series of events with ties to World War II threaten to undo his grand scheme.

Hunter is ruthless. He is capable of bringing the most powerful competitor to his knees. But he has a soft spot in his heart for his more down-to-earth older brother, Rick, a tech startup veteran struggling in the post-recession economy. And both siblings are devoted to their ailing father, Dutch, who, as a young B-24 navigator, participated in the liberation of a Nazi POW camp, since he spoke German, and was traumatized there by something about which he has never spoken. After a walk-in client of Rick’s, an elderly Jewish woman with her own mysterious connection to the war years, is killed in a car accident, everyone has a stake in unraveling secrets from the past. Pocalyko’s first novel has all the pieces in place for a satisfying thriller, including such characters as an ambitious U.S. senator’s aide once married to Rick, a Hungarian secret agent targeting Warren and, back in pre-WWII Germany, a Jewish Egyptian scientist-turned–financial genius. But even with all that is at stake, including the global economy, the book fails to create any real urgency or satisfying intensity. Long stretches are simply dull.

Pocalyko, CEO of the Monticello Capital boutique investment bank, knows of what he writes. But the story is hampered by a flat, colorless style.

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THE LUDWIG CONSPIRACY

Pötzsch, Oliver Translated by Bell, Anthea Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (448 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-547-74010-2 Who was that Cowled Man? Austrian novelist Pötzsch serves up an ambitious though familiar tale of Mad King Ludwig.

Clues tucked away in old books, secret societies (cowled, naturally, the better to hide) seeking to keep the secrets in those musty pages safe from prying eyes, history hinging on the occult—it’s wellworked territory. That said, Pötzsch (The Beggar King, 2013) will endear himself to independent booksellers everywhere by making the hero of the piece one of their kind (“[h]ours of dealing with damaged books had hit him harder than he liked to admit”), if one unusually full of lethal surprises (“[t]he king would never have believed the bookseller capable of killing one of the strongest knights in cold blood”). At his side stands Sara Lengfeld, ace art detective—“Art detective? More like a female Philip Marlowe,” thinks Steven, antiquarian bookseller, appreciatively. How a secret diary has come into Steven’s hands is one of many implausibilities in a story that begs and begs again the suspension of disbelief, but no matter: Anyone who’s visited Bavaria and toured the great Neuschwanstein Castle will have wondered why Ludwig II, the brilliant and eccentric ruler of that formerly independent state, wound up deposed and dead under very strange circumstances, and Pötzsch offers an intriguing, entertaining answer. Moreover, his novel includes a virtual book-within-book tour of Ludwig’s two palaces, along with that castle, in which clues unfold at a brisk pace. The writing is occasionally clunky (“His headache the next morning told Steven that the Montepulciano had been a bit stronger than he was used to”; “[t]he ramshackle horse-drawn cab tossed Steven roughly back and forth”), but the tale moves along well enough, and it resolves nicely.

Fans of bookish European fiction will enjoy this, the too abundant Dan Brown–ian motions notwithstanding.

LOVE, DISHONOR, MARRY, DIE, CHERISH, PERISH

Rakoff, David Doubleday (160 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-385-53521-2

This short novel of rhyming verse might be better read aloud, if only the author were still alive to read it.

The late essayist for NPR’s This American Life, Rakoff (Half Empty, 2010, etc.) was accustomed to writing for the ear, but never has his writing seemed more designed to be heard than here. The posthumous publication provides a fitting memorial to a humorist

whose embrace of life encompassed its dark side and who died of cancer in 2012 at age 47. Written in anapestic tetrameter— most familiar from “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and most commonly associated with light comedy—this novel of interlocking stories nevertheless deals with rape, abortion, adultery, homophobia, AIDS, dementia and death. It’s like a child’s bedtime story that you would never read to children, yet it retains a spirit of sweetness and light, even as mortality and inhumanity provide a subtext to the singsong. “If it weren’t so tragic, it could have been farce,” he writes of an early blooming 12-year-old girl who attracts plenty of unwanted attention, including that of her brutish stepfather, and then finds herself blamed before escaping to something of a happy ending. The bittersweet center of the novel is a young boy who discovers both his artistic talent and his homosexuality, lives a life that is both rich and short, and dies just a little younger than the author did. Some of the rhymes read like doggerel (“crime it... climate,” “Naugahyde...raw inside”) and some of the laughs seem a little forced, but the author brings a light touch to deadly serious material, finding at least a glimmer of redemption for most of his characters.

Strong work. It deepens the impact that this was the last book completed by the author.

CHRISTIAN NATION

Rich, Frederic C. Norton (352 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-393-24011-5

Could a Sarah Palin presidency spark a faith-based civil war in America? You betcha, according to Rich’s debut novel.

The book is narrated by Greg, who, in 2029, is recalling the country’s grim fate after John McCain bested Barack Obama in the 2008 election. When McCain dies shortly after taking office, Palin becomes the willing puppet of Christian dominionists—religious zealots who insist on making the United States a Christian nation, home-schooling their children into soldiers for Christ. Dominionism is real, as Greg’s college friend Sanjay explains; certain that Palin’s God-themed rhetoric will undo individual rights, Sanjay starts a nonprofit called Theocracy Watch and ultimately hires Greg, a lawyer, to

FOREVER, INTERRUPTED

Reid, Taylor Jenkins Washington Square/Pocket (352 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-4767-1282-6 A debut love story from Los Angeles– based Reid.

Elsie’s new husband, Ben, is hit by a truck while riding his bicycle. He dies on impact. Ben’s mother, Susan, never knew her son had a wife (the courtship was brief). When she and Susan meet after Ben’s death, there’s friction. The book flashes back to Elsie and Ben’s brief, fun-filled romance and Vegas elopement, and it tracks the post-funeral friendship that develops between Elsie and Susan. Ben was reluctant to tell his recently widowed mother about his upcoming marriage since he was afraid Susan would feel that he was pushing her out of his life. And Elsie was afraid Susan wouldn’t like her since her own parents had always made her feel like an unloved failure. Over time, the two women work through their suspicion and anxieties and confide in one another, support one another, talk about Ben together and eventually talk to Ben together. There is a subplot involving an old man, a frequent visitor to the library where Elsie works, who’s preparing for the death of his wife.

A moving novel about life and death.

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help fight right-wing efforts. Rich is a lawyer himself, and his book is as much a law-driven polemic as it is a work of fiction, but its tone is fairly cool considering. Though Rich describes President Sarah Palin as badly out of her depth, he takes her ascension to power seriously; it opens the door for her successor, Steve Jordan, to implement as the law of the land a 50-article “Blessing” that bans homosexuality, abortion and labor unions, restricts nonevangelical worship and seats only Christian federal judges. Michael Bloomberg (as New York’s governor) leads a blue-state resistance, but it’s all for naught: By 2018, Federal bombs are dropping on the Castro, and dissidents are herded into re-education camps. If Rich’s determination to equate evangelical political power with the Nazis seems overstated, he shrewdly shows how a few legal measures, a bad recession and a terrorist attack can unravel the liberties many take for granted.

In that regard, it’s an inheritor to Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel, It Can’t Happen Here, which imagined America under totalitarianism, though Palin is as likely to claim federal power now as Huey Long was then.

Dystopian, wonkish fun for the Maddow set.

SHAMAN

Robinson, Kim Stanley Orbit/Little, Brown (530 pp.) $27.00 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-316-09807-6 Robinson has tackled everything from terraforming to alternate history, so his decision to write a prehistoric bildungsroman isn’t that surprising, although the narrowness of its scope might be.

Loon is your typical rebellious adolescent, except that he’s extremely resourceful when he’s dumped naked into the wilderness as part of a maturity ritual. Afterward, he officially becomes the shaman’s apprentice, a role he has mixed feelings about: He’s not very good at memorizing the pack’s ancient stories, but he has a real gift for cave painting. He gains the experiences he needs to grow into the role after he and his wife, Elga, escape from a rival pack and make a perilous journey home. Robinson’s (2312, 2012, etc.) expert worldbuilding and lyrical prose offer Jack London-esque pleasures as they depict the stark beauties of the icy landscape—its desolation, dangers and the desperate choices it forces people to make when pushed to the edge of existence. A map and a bibliography would help underscore the research Robinson assuredly did when writing this book, but it’s doubtful they would explain why characters oddly and jarringly say “mama mia” so often.

Richly detailed but with a disappointingly modest plot from an author renowned for ambitious works.

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UNTIL SHE COMES HOME

Roy, Lori Dutton (352 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-525-95396-8

What if what you think you know, you don’t really know?

In the late 1950s, Detroit’s Alder Avenue neighborhood is on edge. The heat is oppressive. Factories are closing.

Blacks are moving in. The police, who neglect the murder of a black prostitute whose head was bashed in with something like a hammer, take up the case of Elizabeth Symanski, a mentally challenged young woman of 22—her mother dead, her father sliding into dementia—who left pregnant Grace Richardson’s house, was watched by Julia Wagner as she walked down the street, opened the gate to her own home and then somehow wandered off. The local women bake casseroles and set them out on impeccably ironed linen cloths for the men who leave their factory jobs to search the grid. But not everyone believes Elizabeth is just lost. Wary eyes are cast at the black residents, wondering if they’re out to avenge one of their own. Battered wife Malina Herze thinks her husband, a factory supervisor who comes home every night with the stench of his mistress on him, may have his eye on the twins visiting Julia Wagner. Julia, whose husband hasn’t touched her since their colic-plagued daughter died last year, wonders if he murdered the infant to stop the incessant crying—and if he did, what else he might do. Her best friend, Grace, about to deliver her first child, refuses to admit that she was attacked by a band of blacks because she thinks her husband couldn’t deal with it, and she believes that they’re probably responsible for Elizabeth’s disappearance. The women’s anguish leads to an assassination by car, a suicide and an unexpected revelation of what actually happened to Elizabeth.

A beautifully written, at times lyrical, study of a disintegrating community. Roy, author of the Edgar Awardwinning mystery Bent Road (2011), tackles similar themes here with equally successful results.

PARIS TWILIGHT

Rymer, Russ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-618-11373-6 An American doctor in Paris is confronted by a slew of mysteries in this slow-moving debut.

Matilde Anselm has had a brilliant professional life and a dismal love life.

After her sweetheart died in Vietnam, she became convinced she brought lovers bad luck and stayed resolutely single. Yet, at 50, she is a top cardiac anesthesiologist, in Paris to work on a heart transplant with an old colleague,

the surgeon Willem Madsen. Who is the patient? Willem is as unforthcoming as Emil Sahran, the medical troubleshooter behind the assignment; Emil is a third-generation Parisian of Tunisian descent. A greater mystery looms. A French lawyer tells her the recently deceased Byron Saxe has left her his apartment. A mistake, surely; Matilde has never heard of Saxe, but she settles into the tiny space and discovers a concealed door leading to a seemingly deserted but magnificent suite. Next, the manager of a local restaurant hands Matilde an envelope addressed to Saxe, the first of many. While the streets of Paris are awash in demonstrations (it’s 1990, and an invasion of Iraq is imminent), Matilde becomes immersed in letters dating back 50 years. They describe a romantic love undone by the Spanish Civil War. Carlos, in Paris, is unable to help his young wife, Alba, and their baby, captured by Franco’s forces. What has all this to do with Matilde? Clue: She’s a foundling. It emerges the letters are being translated by a young American woman, sole inhabitant of the suite and a leading anti-war protester. Rymer expends so much energy assembling and disassembling these puzzles that he has none left over to nail the authenticity of Matilde and Emil or their sudden transformation into lovers. The end is a melodramatic swirl, juxtaposing the eventual surgery and the drama on the streets.

Rymer has drastically overextended himself. For a novel that covers, seamlessly, street demonstrations, surgery and much else besides, see Ian McEwan’s Saturday.

HELP FOR THE HAUNTED

Searles, John Morrow/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $26.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-06-077963-4

Searles (Boy Still Missing, 2001, etc.) turns in another coming-of-age tale, about a young female protaganist and centered around a possibly occult murder mystery.

Sylvie Mason’s parents are—or were—“demonologists.” Devoutly Christian, her dad zealously worked the lecture circuit while her mom had the talent to soothe the haunted humans who came to them for help. When they are both murdered in a church on a snowy night, 14-yearold Sylvie is the sole witness but doesn’t fully remember what happened. In the custody of Rose, her spiteful, rebellious older sister, Sylvie struggles to reconcile her bleak new life with her slightly less-bleak former life. Then, she was always the “good daughter” despite being bullied by Rose and kept in the dark about her parents’ career. Now, nearly a year later, she is ostracized by her peers, and the fate of the murder suspect rests in her unsure hands. Searles successfully jumps back and forth in time to let these stories unfold, sewing clues and strange details along the way, the creepiest being a doll named Penny that may be possessed. Slowly, Sylvie breaks out of her good-girl mold to uncover greater truths about her sister, herself and what happened the night of the killing. But for all the time spent

uncovering their history, her parents remain murky set pieces, their paranormal abilities and activities never wholly understood. Other pieces of the narrative veer toward overexplanation, but some moments are deftly eerie, and Searles has a knack for building tension; the “haunted” of the title refers as much to Sylvie and her circumstances as to things otherworldly.

A somber, well-paced journey, wrapped in a mystery, that will keep readers guessing until the revealing conclusion.

THE MOUSE-PROOF KITCHEN

Shah, Saira Emily Bestler/Atria (352 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-14767-0564-4

Hovering somewhere between chicklit–ish comedy and heartbreak, this is the tale of a British couple moving, with their first child, born severely disabled, to a run-down farmhouse in a wild corner of France.

London-based chef Anna and composer Tobias respond differently to the birth of their mentally and physically challenged daughter, Freya. Anna is consumed with love while Tobias doesn’t even want the baby to come home. The deal they strike is to relocate to Les Rajons, a wrecked, remote but scenic French estate, bringing Freya with them. Les Rajons is a domestic nightmare: dirty, neglected, rat-infested. Yet Tobias and Anna settle in, adding some quirky characters to their awkward family, like free spirit Julien, who lives in a tree, and mysterious but angelic Kerim, who repairs the house at no charge. While Anna deals with the chaos by imposing order in the kitchen and Tobias embarks on a film score, the tone can seem light, but there are dark episodes too alongside the interminable stress and complicated emotions of caring for a child who will never develop or recognize her parents. Crises come and go, and over time, both parents learn lessons in love and responsibility.

Although it follows a conventional makeover format, Shah’s readable debut, drawn in part from personal experience, touches deeper, less predictable notes.

MEN IN MIAMI HOTELS

Smith, Charlie Perennial/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-06-224727-8

Smith’s eighth novel is an offbeat crime story that portrays a gangster with more soul than smarts.

Cot Sims has returned to his hometown of Key West, and that’s bad news.

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“...worthy continuation of a cherished legacy...” from the city of owls

their own, so they’ll cut him some slack), but that he’s a screwup, trailing woe. For 18 years, Cot has been a utility guy for Albertson, head of a major drug smuggling operation in Miami.

He’s come home to help his mother, Ella; the town won’t let her move back into her house (hurricane damage). Palms need to be greased. Cot’s dilemma is that he’s just blown his last dollar at the track. Then he gets word Albertson wants him to check on a stash of emeralds. Why not buy off the inspector with a gem?

It’s twisted logic, inviting Albertson’s retribution, but vintage Cot. Before that can happen, Cot’s oldest friend, CJ, a crossdressing entertainer guarding the gems, is found dead on the beach, the stones gone. Meanwhile, Cot has resumed his onagain, off-again affair with his moll Marcella, a lawyer defiantly unfaithful to her prosecutor husband, while still finding time to read Virgil, his favorite author, and ruminate on the whole sad mess of life and death; he’s more like one of Graham Greene’s spiritual wrecks than the killer he is. Is he credible? The Virgil is a bit much, but readers will be willing to believe in Cot’s selfdestructive spree until the plot becomes altogether too wild and woolly. The introspection outweighs the action, though there’s plenty of that too, including a kidnapping, a scary flight to the Gulf Coast, a showdown with Albertson (the climax in a more restrained novel), a Key West shootout between cops and mobsters, and a corpse-strewn finale in Havana.

Cot racks up many kills: Give him his due, the guy can shoot.

THE CITY OF OWLS

Snyder, Scott; Capullo, Greg DC Comics (208 pp.) $24.99 | Mar. 26, 2013 978-1-401-23777-6 Series: Batman: The New 52, 2 This six-issue collection concludes the first arc of the recently relaunched Batman series, pitting both Bruce Wayne and his chiropteran alter ego against a murderous secret society known as the Court of Owls, whose sinister roots snake through Gotham City’s history—and several generations of the Bat family.

Still recovering from his encounter with the Owls’ assassin, a Talon, Bruce Wayne suddenly finds his home and secret lair under siege by dozens of undead Talons—preserved and revived thanks to a serum developed by Mr. Freeze. The storyline springs out of DC Comics’ New 52 initiative, which softly rebooted the entire DC Universe in 2011, so Snyder’s (Swamp Thing, 2013) intertwining of new (though the owl-as-opposite-of-bat concept dates back to 1960s Justice League of America, the Council of Owls didn’t exist prior to New 52, despite their centuries-spanning history) and old villains (though Freeze himself gets a minor modernization to creepazoid) is a smart move, immediately grafting the Owls onto established Bat-lore. The battle with the invading Talons reveals a larger Owl plot to slaughter 40 prominent citizens of Gotham as a show of the Court’s dominance over the city. To thwart the pogrom, Wayne family stalwart Alfred Pennyworth sends out a 26

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call to arms to all members of the Bat family, and those threads are played out in the Night of the Owls crossover event (not collected here). In the aftermath, Batman tracks the Owls to their nest— only to face a new foe with an impossible link to the Wayne family.

Unfortunately, this link is hammered (yammered?) home by page after page of running dialogue between Batman and this new Owlman (though he’s not explicitly named within the text) as they bash and smash and wrestle into the heavens. This overabundance of exposition near the end stifles both Snyder’s inspired plotting and Capullo’s (Haunt, 2011) deft sequential art; despite their uncanny ability to resemble the work of Todd McFarlane, John Romita Jr. and J. Scott Campbell, all within a short span of panels, Capullo’s illustrations have an irresistible dynamism, which is nearly overwhelmed by a froth of word bubbles.

A worthy continuation of a cherished legacy, hampered by a bloated denouement.

ARE YOU GONNA KISS ME OR NOT?

Square, Thompson with Thrasher, Travis Howard Books/Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) $19.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4516-9845-9 Can a struggling boy who writes beautiful music find love with a privileged girl who writes beautiful lyrics?

Maybe in a country song.

From country duo Thompson Square, in collaboration with Thrasher (Home Run, 2013, etc.), comes a love story. Inspired by their Grammy-award winning song “Are You Gonna Kiss me or Not?,” the novel traces the romance between Casey Sparkland and Daniel Winter. It’s senior year in high school, and Casey used to have her life planned out: Until her boyfriend, Liam, dumped her over the summer for a sophomore, she had planned to attend Duke with him. Then Daniel notices her.

Daniel is smitten with Casey, but his future is anything but certain. To graduate, he desperately needs to pass math, and so he proposes an extra credit project: a song for Pi Day. Mr. Macklin pairs Daniel with Casey—he’ll write the music, and she’ll write the lyrics. And so a hit-making, songwriting duo is born.

After Liam once again proves himself a jerk at the prom, love blossoms between Casey and Daniel. The pressures of a longdistance romance, however, push Daniel to leave Casey behind as he pursues his musical career. Casey marries a faithless cad, and years pass, plunging her into emotional turmoil and Daniel into dire financial straits. Yet each still dwells on their time together, fantasizing about recapturing that magic. Sprinkled with reflections upon the music that formed the soundtrack of their lives, Daniel’s journey back to Casey traces well-worn sentimental terrain, from high school hopes to college frustrations to young-adult resignation. Jumping back and forth between the past and present, as well as between Daniel’s and Casey’s perspectives, further underscores the predictability of the plot.

Daniel and Casey’s story is warmhearted but slight.

FIEND

Stenson, Peter Crown (304 pp.) $22.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-7704-3631-5 Tweakers versus zombies. That’s about it, really.

Stenson’s narrator is Chase Daniels, a white-bread methamphetamine addict with a habit of describing his physical symptoms in excruciating detail. Our guy has been holed up for weeks with his best friend, Typewriter, getting “spun” on those glorious little shards of glass. When Chase rubs his eyes, looks out the window and sees a little girl devouring the carcass of a dog, he thinks it’s just a vivid hallucination. It turns out that he and Typewriter managed to bypass a zombie apocalypse that plays out just like the ones you’ve seen on TV, with the creepy exception that the virus makes all its victims giggle. The apocalypse is enough to make Chase think that his ex-girlfriend, KK, was right when she skipped off to rehab.

When Chase finally reunites with his lady love, though, he’s saddled with her new boyfriend, and they’re both high as WuTang. The gang eventually figures out that smoking or shooting is the only way to avoid becoming a giggler, theoretically giving them free range to keep getting high. But scoring scante and avoiding their brethren addicts isn’t easy even in a world without cops. Stenson’s percussive style and grotesque imagery lend themselves well to the story.

A crisply written, grisly mashup tailor-made for black comedy junkies.

POINT AND SHOOT

Swierczynski, Duane Mulholland Books/Little, Brown (272 pp.) $14.99 paper | Apr. 30, 2013 978-0-316-13330-2 Can the unkillable man make the epic journey from outer space to home in time to save his loved ones?

In Maryland, a drone in an intelligence agency notices a name from the murky past popping up on his screen. Charlie Hardie vanished after being implicated in multiple murders. Nearby, in Philly, Charlie’s wife, Kendra, is contacted simultaneously by her longlost husband, who is frantically advising her to flee, and by an imperious voice warning her that she and son CJ must stay put or die. Charlie, it turns out, is on a tiny satellite in “low earth orbit.” The mention by a mystery voice of Eve Bell—a nefarious name familiar to Charlie—snaps him out of his lethargy. Eve was Charlie’s fellow prisoner in his last scrape (Hell and Gone, 2011, etc.), and her name evokes bitter memories. So too does the name Deke Clark, Charlie’s partner as a federal agent, who may have betrayed him. Both are forgotten in the instant that

the voice reveals itself to be a perfect clone of Charlie. Friend or foe? This question lingers as the two work by turns together and against each other. Back on Earth, Deke is abruptly barraged with discordant memories of his own about Charlie and decides, at great personal risk, to uncover the truth. A secret, and seemingly omnipotent, cabal tries to thwart both efforts. Cheeky movie quotations at the beginning of each chapter add zip.

Swierczynski’s writing crackles with fresh attitude.

But his plot may have jumped the shark this time, and readers unfamiliar with previous episodes could feel lost in the maelstrom.

STUDIO SAINT-EX

Szado, Ania Knopf (368 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 6, 2013 978-0-307-96279-9

Szado looks at the era when Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is in New York City working on Le Petit Prince, an era complicated by a love triangle involving his Salvadoran wife, Consuelo, and an apprentice couturière, Mignonne Lachapelle.

The latter is Szado’s fictional creation and erstwhile narrator. She originally meets de Saint-Exupéry in Montreal, where she tutors him in English, though as an already famous French author, he doesn’t see the need to learn an inferior language.

A year later, in 1942, they meet again in New York, where Mignonne has gone to see why her mentor, the formidable and vicious Madame Véra Fiche, has stolen her fashion ideas.

Mignonne winds up working for Atelier Fiche, in part to keep an eye on its wily and unscrupulous owner. De Saint-Exupéry is in a rather deep funk, partly due to political reasons (he remains distraught by the fall of France) and partly since his estranged wife flaunts her American lover so blatantly, demanding they be let into the Alliance Française for its social amenities. The author finds himself attracted to Mignonne, whose delicate manner contrasts with that of his flamboyant wife. However, it turns out Consuelo is aggressively charming as well as aggressively bisexual, and she seduces Mignonne. Consuelo is drawn to Mignonne not only by her beauty, but also by her ability to dress Consuelo in the latest style. All of this domestic and fashionista drama plays out against de Saint-Exupéry’s protracted attempts to work on his allegorical tale of The Little Prince.

High fashion and high drama coexist in equal measure in this insightful novel.

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LET HIM GO

Watson, Larry Milkweed (256 pp.) $24.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-57131-102-5 Spartan prose for a Spartan tale of badlands justice set in North Dakota and eastern Montana in the fall of 1951.

Watson’s writing (American Boy, 2011, etc.) is the principal pleasure here. The story is simple, ageless. Margaret Blackledge wants her grandson, Jimmy, back in Dalton, N.D. Daughter-in-law Lorna, her husband dead, has hooked up with the suave Donnie Weboy. Weboys are clannish, violent. Margaret appears prepared to undertake this adventure alone. Her husband, George, former sheriff, strong and silent, not quite the man he used to be, agrees to come. They set off in their old car, period details used sparingly, to wrest from a mother her child, to preserve a family broken by circumstance and hardship, to tempt fate. Grief has marked this fool’s errand from the outset— indelibly. To call the voice that narrates this novel omniscient is accurate only in so far as it describes the fictional convention.

We hear an uninflected human voice that knows the outcome of this dark tale and tales like it. No one we meet, and no action taken, is beyond the expected conventions of a bleak American West: “[I]f I never hear again about what’s hard for a man, it’ll be too goddamn soon.”

The sort of book that puts the shine back on genre as an adjective to describe fiction.

ON THE COME UP

Weyer, Hannah Talese/Doubleday (256 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-0-385-53732-2 Thirteen-year-old AnnMarie lives life on the edge in Far Rockaway, Queens, but despite all the odds, she’s ultimately triumphant.

Weyer presents an urban nightmare that’s a deplorable part of too many adolescent lives. AnnMarie lives with her mom, Blessed, and grandmother in the rough, unruly and blighted community of “Far Rock.” She tries to earn extra money for school clothes by selling frozen Kool-Aid and peanut butter punch on the beaches, but she aspires to wear Jordache rather than the polkadot dresses favored by her mother. School presents its own problems, both academic and social. Skipping school becomes routine since, after all, it’s boring and irrelevant. Much more seductive is the prospect of hanging out with cool friends and smoking weed. School is also full of taunting students, fights in the hallway and the threat of suspension. The only saving grace is choir, for there, AnnMarie has a caring teacher, Mr. Preston, but also The Voice—she can really rock a song. She begins 28

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seeing Darius, a high school dropout with no prospects. He gets her pregnant and promises to marry her when she’s 18. But he’s not the most trustworthy: Despite his promises, he doesn’t show up at Lamaze classes. One day, AnnMarie sees a poster for musical tryouts: “Girls Wanted. All Shapes and Sizes. No Model Types. Come as You Are.” Needless to say, this starts a new trajectory for AnnMarie’s sense of self and her incipient career.

Weyer writes with an ear for authentic urban teen patois, but no matter how authentic, it’s ultimately wearing on the reader.

TWO OR THREE YEARS LATER Forty-Nine Digressions

Wolf, Ror Translated by Marquart, Jennifer Open Letter (142 pp.) $14.95 paper | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-934824-70-2

This collection of short fiction interrogates the conventions of storytelling and obliterates the norms of psychological realism.

Wolf is a poet, a maker of collages and a writer of radio plays.

Born in East Germany, he emigrated to the West at the age of 31. He has received many awards, including the Kassel Literature Prize for Grotesque Humor (2004). That Wolf received an award for grotesque humor (not to mention that there is such an award) is as good an indication as any of his work’s strangeness. Characters hit other characters on the head with various objects, are shipwrecked, fall down, and are witness to or victims of accidents. Wolf ’s characters move with fantastic slowness or at normal speed; they wear hats, or they don’t; they regard certain events as important but then relate a meaningless story, at least to them. They reside in, are from or visit small towns. But what most characterizes Wolf ’s stories is the absence of explanation, either for the stories themselves or for the characters’ motives. This is typical: “Essentially, everything about this man is either odd or utterly insignificant. I can’t comment on anything else.” There is no why, but a spirit of why not.

The best of these stories create an atmosphere of whimsy and menace.

“...violent, sexy and exciting. ” from the rules of wolfe

m ys t e r y

NIGHT PILGRIMS

Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn Tor (416 pp.) $29.99 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-7653-3400-8

The latest entry in Yarbro’s impressive historical fantasy cycle, each independently intelligible, about the saintly vampire Count Saint-Germain (Commedia Della Morte, 2012, etc.).

The year is 1225, just after the Fifth Crusade. An uneasy stalemate prevails between Christianity and Islam, while the seemingly unstoppable Mongol armies of Jenghiz Khan threaten both Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Saint-Germain, here known as Sidi Sandjer’min, lives quietly in an Egyptian monastery with his servant, Ruthier, a ghoul and fellow immortal. Sieur Horembaud du Langnor, an arrogant and impetuous crusader from English-ruled Aquitaine, requires a guide for his pilgrimage south to remote Ethiopia, where he must pray at the Chapel of the Holy Grail. Since it is no longer safe for Sandjer’min to remain where he is, he agrees to help.

Joining Sieur Horembaud will be a large assorted party, some of whom are fellow penitents: Sieur Horembaud’s shadow, the suspicious friar Frater Anteus; Torquil des Lichiens, a crusader dying of severe sunstroke; a nun, Sorer Imogen, and her young half brother Heneri; the English noblewoman, Margrethe of Rutland; and still others who hope to find valuable relics or gold. Among the dangers faced by the party will be the blistering heat that obliges them to travel at night, the annual rise of the Nile, as well as snakes, scorpions, wild beasts and bandits.

For his part, Sandjer’min must translate for them, minister to their various wounds, injuries and illnesses, and try to prevent the pilgrims from turning savagely on each other. Once again, Yarbro offers a wonderfully rich historical backdrop, beautifully framed with a series of explicatory epistles, vividly drawn scenes and a notable cast of characters, to which the meandering plot fails to do justice.

No fangs, capes, hissing or bats: just a wise immortal moved by vast pity.

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH

Adler-Olsen, Jussi Dutton (480 pp.) $26.95 | May 28, 2013 978-0-525-95400-2

Inspector Carl Mørck and his raffish colleagues at Copenhagen’s Department Q (The Absent One, 2012, etc.) go up against a truly fiendish kidnapper.

A few days after he and his brother Tryggve were abducted, Poul Holt managed to scrawl a plea for help in his own blood, deposit it in a bottle and toss it into the sea. Hundreds of miles away, the bottle made landfall and was turned over to Scottish police Sgt. David Bell, who made no attempt to open his discovery. Years passed. Bell died. A computer expert in his station smashed the bottle and immediately contacted Department Q, the perfect venue for the case since “it’s old, it’s unsolved, and no one else could be bothered.” The group’s assignment begins with trying to figure out, after all this time, what the message says, who wrote it and when. These tasks are made more difficult since no one reported any children missing at the time and place the message indicates. While Carl and his crew are working feverishly on the dead case, the kidnapper is at work bringing it very much back to life by targeting another pair of children, Magdalena Krogh and her big brother, Samuel. (The reason why he prefers to snatch two victims at a time is the story’s most cunning secret, and its most disturbing.) Even after Carl and his Syrian assistant Hafez el-Assad have surmounted the obstacles thrown up by Poul Holt’s parents, who insist that he’s still alive, they’ll have to overcome a much wider conspiracy of silence the kidnapper has been counting on to make accomplices of his victims’ families for all these years.

Less byplay among the regulars than usual, mainly since whenever promising domestic and group complications arise, Adler-Olsen lets them die on the vine. But the detection and thrills are authentic.

THE RULES OF WOLFE

Blake, James Carlos Mysterious Press (240 pp.) $24.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-8021-2129-5

A young man looking for adventure finds more than he bargained for.

The Texas-based Wolfe family businesses (Country of the Bad Wolfes, 2012, etc.) may be run by a group of lawyers, but many of their enterprises are illegal.

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family member must have earned a college degree before working in any of the family businesses, takes advantage of the family doyen’s relatives in Mexico to go there. But he leaves when he’s forbidden to do anything dangerous and takes a job instead as a guard at the remote hacienda of the ruthless drug cartel leader La Navaja. There he meets a beautiful girl and accidentally kills her lover when he catches them in bed. Unfortunately for Eddie, the dead man is La Navaja’s brother. As Eddie and Miranda run for their lives, they’re pursued by what seems to be all of Mexico. When Eddie’s plan for a flight out fails, the pair is forced to flee into the Sonora Desert, the graveyard of so many who have passed that way before. Eddie must rely on his skills, which are indeed remarkable for one so young, and hope for help from the family whose rules he flouted.

Blake’s customary zest for life and death makes his latest modern historical thriller violent, sexy and exciting.

LOST

Bolton, S.J. Minotaur (384 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-250-02856-3 No 10-year-old boy is safe in south London.

At first, the kids are just missing.

Then their bodies turn up on Tuesdays or Thursdays with slashed throats.

Websites about the blood-drained boys appear. Someone calling himself Peter Sweep posts Dracula quotations and chides DI Dana Tulloch’s police investigation as incompetent. Young Barney Roberts, who suffers from blackouts and spends the majority of his time pining for the mother he last saw when he was 4 years old and the rest tracking the crime scenes with his preteen mates, thinks his father might be responsible for the murders. His dad is never at home on the nights in question. He’s obsessed with Dracula. He keeps a boat where two of the bodies were found. Barney toys with confiding in his neighbor, DC Lacey Flint, but asks her only to help find his mom. Lacey, on leave from the Southwark police (Dead Scared, 2012, etc.), is barely keeping herself together. She refuses to talk to DI Mark Joesbury, who loves her, or meet his son Huck. She’s evasive with her therapist. And she’s begun cutting her forearm to relieve her stress. Moreover, her behavior has encouraged Dana Tulloch to suggest her as the serial killer of the lost boys. When both Huck and Barney go missing, the emotionally overwrought Lacey is forced into action.

Bolton, who specializes in over-the-top psychological mayhem, ratchets up the tension with OCD diagnoses, past furies unresolved and a reworking of the Peter Pan story.

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THESE MORTAL REMAINS

Burton, Milton T. Minotaur (304 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-1-250-00638-7

An East Texas sheriff ’s quiet routine is shattered when one of his deputies is badly wounded in a traffic stop gone wrong.

Bo Handel, an erudite sheriff who once studied music at Rice University, has dealt for 30 years with a wide range of crimes and misdemeanors in Caddo County. Now, his African-American deputy has been shot and a white supremacist group has set up a compound in his county. The trouble all starts when a World War II vet who’s killed two robbers is found strangled in his home with no clue that could identify his killer. Although the supremacist compound is owned by a mild-mannered college professor with a racial bee in his bonnet, many of the members who hang out there belong to violent groups and have long criminal records. The FBI has an informant in the compound who’s working with Bo (Nights of the Red Moon, 2010, etc.), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives gets involved when Bo receives a tip that automatic weapons are being smuggled into the compound. Bo develops a lead on the van his deputy’s shooter used, but that only leads to the murder of the van’s owner. Though he comes on like a typical good old boy, Bo is a clever detective, and his people skills keep the warring factions in check as he works to clear the most repugnant case of his career.

Burton, who recently passed away, will be missed by those who enjoy a good mystery. So will his quirky characters, especially wise, tough Sheriff Bo.

HER LAST BREATH

Castillo, Linda Minotaur (320 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-312-65857-1

A small-town Ohio chief of police is haunted by the past.

Kate Burkholder used to be Amish; now she has a job she loves and a tentative romantic relationship with John Tomasetti, who is with the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Tomasetti has just bought a fixer-upper farmhouse near Kate and wants her to move in with him, but Kate is unable to commit. When Amish farmer Paul Borntrager and two of his three children are killed in a hit-and-run, Kate is devastated. Although she has not spoken to Paul’s wife, Mattie, in years, she used to be Kate’s best friend, and all the happy memories of their formative years come rushing back. The accident investigator determines that whoever hit them made no attempt to stop, and evidence gathered from the scene indicates it was a coldblooded murder.

All the Borntrager children had some genetic disorders, not uncommon in the Amish, who have a small gene pool, and the surviving child does not remember much. Kate is grimly determined to find the killer, but suddenly, a major problem for her comes to light when some children playing in a deserted mill find a body reduced to bones. When Kate was 14, she killed a neighbor’s son who was trying to rape her, and her publicityaverse Amish family covered it up by burying the body. Tomasetti knows about it and assures Kate the crime will never be traced to her. Despite her fears, Kate works around the clock on finding a motive for the deaths and discovers some ugly truths about her quiet town.

The fifth in the series (Breaking Silence, 2011, etc.) continues to provide details on the Amish way of life along with a fast-paced mystery that will leave readers stunned.

THE CAT SITTER’S CRADLE

Clement, Blaize; Clement, John Minotaur (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-250-00932-6

Who knew pet-sitting could be such a dangerous job?

After her husband and child were killed in an accident, Dixie Hemingway gave up police work for pet-sitting.

While walking a schnauzer in Siesta Key, Fla., she runs into Joyce, who, on a walk with her own dachshund, has found an endangered resplendent quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. As she is wrapping it up to take it home with her, a noise alerts them to a terrified young Spanishspeaking woman with a newborn baby who pleads with them not to call the police. Joyce takes her in, a good deed that will lead to trouble. Dixie’s landed a short-term job with the wealthy Harwick family, who own a spoiled cat and a gigantic tank full of expensive tropical fish—even though both of Mrs. Harwick’s children, Becca and August, live at home and could easily cover these tasks themselves. The next morning, Dixie arrives to find Becca in tears, possibly pregnant by Kenny Newman, the pool boy who’s occasionally helped Dixie with pet jobs. That night, Kenny leaves an odd message on Dixie’s answering machine.

When she arrives at the Harwick house, she finds Mr. Harwick dead in the pool. Her investigative instincts kicking in, Dixie runs down clues that link the Harwicks, Kenny and the young Latina woman. Now she just has to figure out what it all means.

Clement, a veteran of seven pet sitter mysteries (The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas, 2012, etc.), is joined by her son John for this eighth, which supplements its roster of suspects with animal lore and a touch of romance.

REQUIEM MASS

Corley, Elizabeth Minotaur (448 pp.) $25.99 | May 21, 2013 978-1-250-02806-8 If you receive three dozen roses, should you be charmed or alarmed?

DCI Andrew Fenwick’s first case after returning to the Hardlen CID from compassionate leave—his suicidal wife lies in an irreversible coma—doesn’t seem like a case really, just an old file about a wife gone missing. She left one morning for a modeling session, and that’s the last her husband and kids ever saw of her. Run off with a lover?

Run off out of boredom? Only her husband is convinced of foul play. But then another woman of the same age is found butchered, and when the missing wife’s body turns up, intensive work

by Fenwick’s officers reveals a link between the two. The two women were schoolmates 20 years back at Downland Comprehensive, which is now planning a youth choir performance of Verdi’s “Requiem Mass” at which famed soprano Octavia Anderson, another old girl, has agreed to appear. Further investigation reveals that all three women were part of the “Famous Foursome,” inseparable chums followed everywhere by a younger groupie until a terrible holiday accident left one of them dead at the bottom of a cliff. Was it an accident, or is someone out to avenge a murder after all these years? Another of the gals dies on Fenwick’s watch, apparently leaving Octavia squarely in the killer’s sights. The perp sends her masses of roses. The perp sets a bomb. The perp evades surveillance. There’s an all too transparent plot twist yet to come, revealing the guilty party behind the schoolgirl mishap so many years ago.

An interminable slog with pauses for Fenwick (Innocent Blood, 2008, etc.) to reconnect with his kids, lust over Octavia and bicker with police superiors.

BAD BLOOD

Dahl, Arne Pantheon (352 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 13, 2013 978-0-375-42536-3 A U.S. serial killer goes transcontinental.

Stockholm’s A-Unit hasn’t had much to do since they put away the so-called Power Killer, and the team is prepared to do a bit of police grunt work when the body of Swedish literary critic Lars-Erik Hassel is found in an American airport closet. Not only has Hassel been tortured to death in the most cruel and unusual way imaginable, but it quickly becomes clear that the killer has taken Hassel’s seat on the next flight to Sweden. Although A-Unit leader Detective Superintendent Jan-Olov Hultin dispatches the team to the airport to keep the killer out, he manages to evade them and sneak into Sweden to institute his own |

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peculiar reign of terror. After the team extricates itself from a few dead ends, Jan-Olov sends star players Paul Hjelm and Kerstin Holm stateside to work with FBI Special Agent Ray Larner, who’s been researching the Kentucky Killer for years. It’s been a long time since Larner saw his top suspect burn alive in a fiery wreck, but the unsolved case haunts him, and his madness soon infects Paul and Kerstin. The former lovers are acutely conscious of the boundaries of their relationship when the investigation leads to late nights, while their colleagues are kept busy tallying the body count as the killer gets down to work.

Though Dahl’s writing has lost some of the melancholy beauty of Misterioso (2011), the eerie premise and cogent reasoning will still satisfy.

A COLD WHITE SUN

Delany, Vicki Poisoned Pen (250 pp.) $24.95 | $14.95 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4642-0158-5 978-1-4642-0160-8 paper An unexpected murder in a small town has the cops turning over every stone for a plausible suspect and motive.

When high school English teacher Cathy Lindsay, a wife and mother, is gunned down while walking her dog Spot, the quiet town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, can’t imagine who’d be moved to commit such a crime. Sgt. John Winters begins where all good investigations begin—with the husband—and works to uncover the secrets of the small town, though he finds nothing that would tie a soul to Cathy’s murder. Constable Molly Smith wants to assist in the investigation, not only to learn the truth and get justice, but also since she’d like to work her way up to detective one day. Besides, the case might get her mind off the mysterious man she just met on the ski slopes. Though she’s been comfortable with the company of Adam for a while now, the stranger is as determined and driven a skier as she, and Molly wonders if she’s missed something. Her mother, Lucky, encounters romantic troubles with her gentleman friend—Molly’s boss, Chief Constable Paul Keller. And John’s wife, Eliza, has problems of her own with her employee, Margo, whose obsession with a male customer may lead her to more trouble than she expects.

Though Molly flirts with danger, Delany (More than Sorrow, 2012, etc.) sticks to her usual formula, though this time, the simultaneous motivation yet randomness of the killer’s actions are hard to swallow.

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DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY

Harlow, Jennifer Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (312 pp.) $14.99 paper | Aug. 8, 2013 978-0-7387-2712-7

A telekinetic crime fighter finds a visit home for the holidays just as dangerous as her day job.

Since joining F.R.E.A.K.S., the Federal Response to Extra-Sensory and Kindred Supernaturals, Beatrice Alexander (To Catch a Vampire, 2012) hasn’t seen much of her family, and usually, she’s fine with that. Now that warring factions are developing within the house the F.R.E.A.K.S. share, however, Bea decides that the holidays provide the perfect excuse to head to California, if only for the fact that the time away may give her a chance to reflect on what’s really been happening in the house. Although the team appears to be fighting about their latest operation in Dallas, Bea suspects that the arguments may be about something more. Oliver Montrose, the resident vampire, got closer to Bea in that last operation, and now, her werewolf sometime-boyfriend Will Price can’t contain his jealousy. California sounds perfect to Bea, who can’t wait to see her grandmother and her best friend, April. But trouble follows Bea out West, and soon, she’s caught up in the vampire drama of Lord Connor McInnis. Now Bea needs a hero more than ever, and she doesn’t know who’ll be there for her: Oliver, Will or her exboyfriend Steven, the cop.

Though the vampire and werewolf love triangle Harlow (What’s a Witch to Do?, 2013, etc.) presents has recently become a familiar trope, her crime-fighting spin adds something new.

DEATH OF A DYER

Kuhns, Eleanor Minotaur (336 pp.) $24.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-250-03396-3

Weaver Will Rees copes with family woes while investigating the murder of his childhood friend Nate Bowditch.

Life may have been simpler in 18thcentury Maine, as citizens of the newly minted republic sought to make their way in the still largely undeveloped United States. But families are always complicated. Will, a longtime widower, aches to be close to his teenage son David. But his relationship with Lydia, a refugee from a Shaker settlement, disrupts his path. His feelings toward his late wife Dolly still unresolved, he refuses to make Lydia his bride, choosing instead to hire her as his housekeeper. An urgent message from Molly Bowditch upsets Rees’ life further. Her husband, Nate, whose passion for dyes matched Will’s obsession with cloth, has been bludgeoned to death with a scutching knife. Local constable Caldwell suspects

“Politically savvy...” from her boyfriend’s bones

Nate’s son Richard, though Augustus, the illegitimate son Nate’s serving maid, Rachel, bore him, seems an equally likely candidate. Molly hires Will to clear Richard’s name. But the more Will probes Molly’s odd relationship with the local medic, Dr. Wrothman, and Richard’s attachment to Elizabeth, daughter of land baron James Carleton, the murkier matters appear.

Add a pair of slave catchers, a fire at Caldwell’s jail and a cache of love letters in Nate’s trunk, and this tale of simple country life turns into anything but.

Kuhns’ follow-up to Will’s debut (A Simple Murder, 2012) offers a sensitive look into matters of the heart woven into a nifty puzzle.

SUNRISE

Lamanda, Al Five Star (292 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 17, 2013 978-1-4328-2714-4 A former cop takes on a case as a favor to a friend in a jam.

John Bekker was once an excellent cop. After his wife was raped and murdered in front of his daughter, however, he sought refuge in a bottle. Now he’s sober, his daughter is slowly recovering, and his romance with his sister-in-law, Janet, looks to be leading to a stable family life. Even so, he takes a chance on ruining it all when state prosecutor Carly Simms is found drunk, bloody and naked in a cheap motel with the much younger and very dead Jon Hughes. Although not even Simms knows whether she’s guilty, Bekker agrees to investigate and gets her a great lawyer. A big favor Bekker did for a dying Mafioso earned him not only a lot of money, but also many useful connections. Since Hughes, a computer programmer, was raised in an orphanage in Utah, Bekker goes there to investigate, garnering a list of names of his friends and a chance to interview some of them. Despite the evidence, Bekker thinks Simms is innocent. He’s very curious about her missing gun, Hughes’ equally missing computer and the fact that no one knows how the couple got from a bar to the motel. When several others are found dead, Bekker has lots of leads, but in the end, he must set himself up as bait in a plan to discover the truth.

The follow-up to Bekker’s strong debut (Sunset, 2012) is a pleasing combination of thriller and police procedural with some kinky twists.

CLOSE TO THE BONE

MacBride, Stuart HarperCollins (528 pp.) $24.99 | May 14, 2013 978-0-00-734426-0

A full plate of grisly and baffling crimes challenges Aberdeen DI Logan McRae and his contentious colleagues.

The scene of a screaming man trapped in a burning tire turns out to be from a movie filming locally, but the next morning, Logan is called to a murder site that uncannily resembles the film shoot. Unfortunately, an annoyingly chipper new sidekick, DS Lorna Chalmers, has beaten him to the scene and is eager to impress. More female annoyance comes from his acerbic boss, Chief Inspector Steel, and from his farfrom-helpless old Mum. The medical examiner determines that the male victim was stabbed, burned and strangled, but Steel balks at the expense needed to sort out the crime. A turf war with another ME complicates the matter still further. Meanwhile, other cases beckon. A distraught mother, Mrs. Garfield, seems to blame police inertia for the plight of her missing teen daughter Agnes, but Logan and Chalmers find more evidence of escape from a repressive environment than of abduction. Agnes’ boyfriend, Anthony Chung, provides a solid lead in the ensuing search. More corpses in tires are discovered around the city, a gang war breaks out, and Asian immigrants fall victim to disabling attacks. Could some or all of these cases be related? Can Logan adjust to his chirpy new partner? And what sick perp has been leaving random skeletal remains around his house?

MacBride’s gritty prose and righteous, reckless hero (Birthdays for the Dead, 2013, etc.) improve his overstuffed, overheated plot.

HER BOYFRIEND’S BONES

Matthews, Jeanne Poisoned Pen (250 pp.) $24.95 | $14.95 paper | $22.95 Lg. Prt. Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4642-0137-0 978-1-4642-0139-4 paper 978-1-4642-0138-7 Lg. Prt. A romantic getaway turns sinister.

Anthropologist Dinah Pelerin and her latest inamorata, Norwegian cop Thor Ramberg, are lolling about on the Greek island of Samos when they’re inconveniently saddled with K.D., the rambunctious daughter of Dinah’s deceased uncle. Worse, when they leave the local tavern, they come across the dead body of Fathi, who’d recently had an argument with their housekeeper’s husband. Thor immediately goes into detective mode, and before Dinah can fortify herself with a belt of ouzo, more complications pile up. First, Thor admits he’s doing undercover work for Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, looking into |

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a ring of illegal arms traffickers. Second, the house he rented for their romantic idyll has stood empty for 40 years, ever since the actress who lived there murdered her sister’s husband, a national hero, and his mother and was then herself executed by the Greek junta in power. Her son disappeared into the Aegean, and her cuckoo sister Zenia, now in her 80s, is said to kill cats and cast the evil eye at everyone except the director staying with her to film a docudrama about her family. Third, the place is awash in fake antiquities and forged German identity cards, and fourth, fifth and sixth, someone slashes Dinah’s car ties, vandalizes her rental house and makes off with Thor, whose car is found at the bottom of a ravine. Dinah doesn’t know whom to trust. Everyone is bribing everyone else and switching sides at every opportunity. With a great leap of intuition, Dinah finally resolves those 40-year-old murders, faces down a passel of evildoers and reunites, at least temporarily, with Thor.

Politically savvy, but overstuffed with plots and bios of Greek deities. And Dinah (Bonereapers, 2012, etc.) could do with a verve implant.

DEB ON AIR—LIVE AT FIVE

Moore, Laurie Five Star (284 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 17, 2013 978-1-4328-2725-0

A debutante detective must resolve her boss’ troubles to keep her job.

Now that she’s back from the dangers of Me-hi-co (Wanted Deb or Alive, 2011), Dainty Prescott is ready to resume her life of privilege at her grandmother’s Fort Worth estate as an esteemed progeny of the Fort Worth Rubanbleu. But Dainty’s Gran isn’t quite ready to welcome Dainty back with open arms, especially since Dainty brings with her Amanda Vasquez, a pygmy transvestite friend who prepares to make herself at home in Gran’s place. Dainty is shocked when she isn’t given a warm welcome—a welcome that is chilled even further by the news that her family sold her Porsche and her ex has a new girlfriend. To top it off, Dainty’s sister Teensy has taken over Dainty’s externship at WBFD-TV, a development that seems doubly unfair now that Dainty’s sprouted a news-watching stalker. With regular anchor Aspen Wicklow mysteriously missing, Dainty fears that if she doesn’t put herself in front of the camera, Teensy may replace her for good. Luckily, job security for Dainty arrives in the form of her boss Gordon Pfeiffer’s wife, whose corpse rolls out of a broom closet. Gordon contracts Dainty’s Debutante Detective Agency to get to the bottom of his wife’s death. Dainty’s certain she can solve the case and get in the good graces of former boyfriend, Officer Jim Bruckman, if only her relatives don’t drive her out of the country first.

In spite of being saddled with a nightmare family, Dainty performs admirably amid a sea of suspects.

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AT THE DYING OF THE YEAR

Nickson, Chris Creme de la Crime (224 pp.) $28.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-78029-042-3

The Constable of Leeds investigates the most horrifying case of his long career.

There’s no safety net in 1733 Leeds.

The poor scramble for every crumb of food and die with no hope of help, while the wealthy mostly ignore their plight.

So it’s no surprise to Richard Nottingham that when the bodies of three young street children are found tortured, raped and murdered, the mayor offers a reward that adds more trouble than help and is furious when clues indicate that a wealthy man may be the killer. Nottingham has barely recovered from a knifing, and his assistants John Sedgwick and Rob Lister are putting in long hours to help him in what seems a hopeless case. He finds a street boy who has seen the mysterious killer and, when he too is murdered, finds another, a young girl he takes into his home as a serving maid. Even the friends he has among the city’s rich merchants warn him that although the well-connected Mr. Darden and his assistant, Mr. Howard, may be guilty, they will never hang for it. But Nottingham refuses to ignore what he knows to be the truth. When his wife, Mary, is murdered, he’s willing to give up everything he worked for to bring the guilty to justice.

Despite the relative dearth of mystery, this case for Nottingham (Come the Fear, 2012, etc.) is a wicked good combination of history and social commentary.

IT HAPPENS IN THE DARK

O’Connell, Carol Putnam (352 pp.) $26.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-399-16539-9

The latest novel in the Detective Kathy Mallory series.

On opening night of a Broadway play, a woman dies from a heart attack in a front-row seat. On the second night, a man’s throat is cut—again, in the front row. “Oh, crap. Not again,” moans a thespian. But the publicity is great—“a play to die for,” crows the press. NYC detectives Mallory and Riker investigate, and they discover a full cast of strange people backstage—coke users, an actor with multiple personalities and a mysterious ghostwriter changing every line of the play. Because of the deaths, the play doesn’t get past Act 1 for the first several performances. As for the novel itself, it’s mainly a vehicle for showing off Mallory’s odd personality.

Sure, she’ll get to the bottom of the violence, as all fictional detectives do. What makes her distinctive is the way she gets under the skin of friends and enemies alike—oh, wait, it’s not so clear she has friends. She is consistently smarter than

“...absorbing look at Japanese culture...” from claws of the cat

everyone else and routinely shows people up. OK, she went to a police academy, not charm school, and she’s damned good at her job. This is a well-constructed mystery featuring an occasionally annoying heroine—at least one character would love to knock her head off with a baseball bat, while some readers may wish she would make some arrests and get it over with, already. The dialogue is clever, and the scenes are well-done, but somewhere in the middle, the story starts to drags. Pacing isn’t paramount, and it’s more important to showcase Mallory’s talent for outsmarting people.

Mallory fans won’t be disappointed in her latest adventure, even though sections of the book could have been tighter.

THE PHILADELPHIA QUARRY

Owen, Howard Permanent Press (240 pp.) $28.00 | Jul. 15, 2013 978-1-57962-335-7

Owen’s (Oregon Hill, 2012, etc.) hard-drinking Richmond reporter Willie Black has an inside track on a blockbuster crime story that’s “red meat for the on-the-airheads.”

Richard Slade, a 17-year-old AfricanAmerican, spent three decades incarcerated for the 1983 rape of debutante Alicia Parker Simpson, daughter of an old-money Commonwealth Club family. It was a he said, she said case relegated to an incompetent public defender. Slade ended up in prison. Now Slade is proven innocent by DNA technology. Free only days, Slade is jailed again, charged with Simpson’s murder.

It’s another quixotic case for Willie Black, the perfect flawed hero, too often with the bottle, too often defying his bosses.

Willie long ago lost a prime beat and was shuffled to night duty, but when an innocent guy takes the fall, Willie thinks first with his wrong-side-of-town, chip-on-the-shoulder mindset. Owen’s secondary characters are superb. Kate, an attorney and Willie’s ex-wife No. 3, allows Willie to rent her Prestwould condo and keeps him out of court when he picks up a DUI. She’s also on Slade’s case, seconding spotlight-hound Marcus Green, eager to prove “the racist system can’t do it.” Willie’s marijuana-loving mother, Peggy, reappears, as does venerable Clara Westbrook, one of the Richmond elite and now a resident of Prestwould.

Peggy offhandedly reveals that Willie and Slade are distantly related through Willie’s light-skinned African-American father, and Clara gives him the down low on Alicia’s society-maven sister and schizophrenic brother. Against a backdrop of advertising-suppressed investigative print journalism, Owen uses race and class, coupled with a Faulkner-ian family tragedy, to provide a powerful narrative engine. While the complex noir drama keeps the pages turning, crime-fiction buffs might identify the actual rapist early in the narrative, but the murderer and motivation complete the storyline perfectly.

A quick-flowing crime drama that will have fans eager for Willie Black to right another injustice.

NEMESIS

Pronzini, Bill Forge (320 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-7653-2566-2 When a stalwart of the Nameless Detective Agency is jailed on homicide charges, his co-workers spring into action.

Jake Runyon has his doubts about new client Verity Daniels, now ensconced in the pricey Bayfront Towers apartment complex, where security is tight, residents are uber-rich, and she claims someone has demanded, out of the blue, that she pay $10,000 or suffer the consequences. She giggles inappropriately, comes on to Jake, tells him a few whoppers about her background, “accidentally” disconnects the trace equipment he puts on her phone, and is left unharmed with the extortion money intact when no one shows up to collect it. After Jake finally dumps this cuckoo client, she retaliates by filing rape and assault charges against him. These come to nothing but inconvenience until she’s found dead, strangled, her head bashed in, Jake’s coat button clasped in her hand. Now he’s indicted for murder. Once she starts digging, Nameless office manager Tamara turns up three old beaus of Verity: her former boss, a married insurance agent; her former fiance, who was about to ditch her before he drowned on a camping trip with her; and her former husband, a broke landscaper, now remarried, who couldn’t put up with her lovers. Meanwhile, Bill, the Nameless agency owner who hasn’t really worked since Hellbox (2012) since he’s been nursing his wife back to stability after her awful abduction experience, steps in to save Runyon. Down the dark streets he goes, maybe a little slower than before—after all, he’s pushing 70—but in exemplary fashion.

Smooth, readable, not top-notch Pronzini, but better than much of the noir material out there.

CLAWS OF THE CAT

Spann, Susan Minotaur (288 pp.) $24.99 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-1-250-02702-3

In 16th-century Japan, a ninja must solve a murder or a priest will die.

Matsui Hiro, a shinobi or master ninja, has been assigned to protect the Portuguese priest Father Mateo while he lives in Kyoto and a merchant whose specialty is guns. When Sayuri, a Christian teahouse entertainer, is accused of murdering the samurai Akechi Hideyoshi, Father Mateo insists that she is innocent. Akechi’s hotheaded, vengeful son Nobuhide arrives ready to kill Sayuri, but Hiro talks him into allowing them three days to prove her innocence. If they fail, both the girl and the priest will die. It’s not that difficult, Hiro soon learns, to find |

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someone who wanted Akechi dead. Akechi’s brother Hidetaro, who’s in love with Sayuri, is slowly paying the price to remove her from the teahouse. Hideyoshi’s daughter, who’s been brought up as a samurai, now inherits her father’s estate, much to the disgust of Nobuhide. There is also a political angle, for warring factions are eager to take over the Shogunate, and spies abound.

Indeed, Hiro reflects, he is a spy himself. As he draws on his many resources, he relies as well on the insight he gains from Father Mateo to solve the complex murder.

Spann’s debut provides an absorbing look at Japanese culture along with a sharp mystery. First of a planned series.

science fiction and fantasy

DEATH AND THE OLIVE GROVE

Time travel thriller, complete with suicidal hero, crazy girlfriend and mad, bad scientist: Averill’s debut.

Tak O’Leary made a name for himself as the daredevil host of a TV reality show where he would tackle extreme environments accompanied only by a knife and a cameraman. Eventually, he lost everything. He’s ready to hang himself in a crummy New York hotel room when the phone rings: It’s Judith Halford, executive of the Axon Corporation, offering him a job as an explorer. What she doesn’t yet tell him is that he’ll he exploring alternate realities, courtesy of a time machine invented by evil supergenius Charles Yates. Tak takes the job. Four years later, Tak understands that Yates is uninterested in exploration; instead, he wants to destroy all the timelines, leaving only one called the Beautiful Land, where the occupant—Yates himself— can create his own reality by the power of thought. Yates has already destroyed most of the alternate timelines by bringing in weird and apparently unstoppable birdlike entities whose only purpose is to kill. Tak wants to save the world, but he also wants to save the love of his life, Samira Moheb, an Iranian-American driven mad by the horrors she witnessed as a translator during the Iraq War. So, he steals a portable version of the time machine and sets off to find Samira, who thinks he hanged himself four years ago. Much of this, and what ensues, is exciting and often touching, although the semicomic tone sits uneasily among the horrors. There’s a huge structural problem, too; Averill constructed his backdrop to fit the plot, with the result that the time travel ideas lack logic and rigor. Yates is an absurdly stereotypical figure. Where do the mysterious bird-things come from, and what makes them impossible to defeat? And what does a wish-fulfillment reality have to do with time travel?

Overall, half enjoyable, half unpalatable.

Vichi, Marco Pegasus Crime (272 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 15, 2013 978-1-60598-448-3

Inspector Franco Bordelli (Death in August, 2012) tracks a serial killer as only he can.

When Casimiro reports a dead body he found while foraging for vegetables in Fiesole, Florence’s Inspector Bordelli thinks it’s worth a trip into the neighboring olive groves to check out the dwarf ’s story. But the only body that turns up is Casimiro’s, stuffed in a suitcase in his shabby room. Bummed out by his friend’s undignified end, Bordelli retreats to his office to smoke too many cigarettes and ponder the unfairness of life. Meanwhile, someone kills 7-year-old Valentina Panerai and dumps her body in the park, her small corpse left with ferocious bite marks on her belly. Bordelli smokes more cigarettes and wonders why he doesn’t have a woman to kiss him on the mouth when he gets home. Eventually, he interviews the victim’s mother but finds no reason her daughter should have been killed. His colleague, young Piras, complains about his smoking, and Bordelli reminisces about his days with Piras’ father, Gavino, in the San Marco brigade. More little girls are killed, each small corpse marked with the trademark bites. Past and present collide when Bordelli trails a suspect down Via della Vigna Nova and finds his old friend, Nazi hunter Dr. Levi. It takes Bordelli many more cigarettes plus several evenings of making love to Dr. Levi’s beautiful young assistant, Milena, to sort out the grisly case.

As the corpses pile up, Bordelli’s ennui gets increasingly hard to sit through, even though it’s only his second outing.

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THE BEAUTIFUL LAND

Averill, Alan Ace/Berkley (368 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-425-26527-7

ON THE RAZOR’S EDGE

an estranged member of the clan and an officer in the Watch, a kind of magical police detective. Peter is tracking the murderer, but he finds himself distracted by the beautiful Kiya, and before the two of them know it, ridiculous misunderstandings and silly quarrels turn to clunky sexual banter, clumsily written intercourse and undying devotion, all within the course of four days. MacAlister (A Tale of Two Vampires, 2012, etc.) tries to sidestep issues of race by explaining that the Travellers, although frequently mistaken for Roma, are quite a different people; therefore, it’s OK to accuse them of being nonhuman magical thieves. However, given that the term “Traveller” refers to several distinct ethnic groups, some related to Roma and some not, she does not entirely succeed in that aim. The author might also want to consider modern psychology. Kiya’s constant references to Freudian concepts of id, ego and superego (as taught to her by her psychologist foster mom) seem outdated and flaky.

Not erotic, not convincingly fantastic, not wellresearched and not worth your time.

Flynn, Michael Tor (352 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-7653-3480-0

Final entry—maybe—in Flynn’s farfuture space opera (In the Lion’s Mouth, 2012, etc.), featuring a power struggle between and among the agents (Shadows, Hounds) of two rather decadent empires (the Confederation, the League) and their rulers, the Names.

Just don’t expect to grasp which is which, or who is who, or whether either distinction matters. On Earth, master manipulator Gidula, as part of his intricate plan to assault the Secret City of the Names, has captured Donovan buigh, a scarred former Shadow of the Confederation. Among Donovan’s nine distinct personalities, Gidula believes, hide the memories of a powerful warrior—and knowledge of a secret way into the City. Nobody knows whether Gidula is helping or subverting a rebellion or what his real intentions are. Powerful Shadow Ravn Olafsdottr, meanwhile, has kidnapped Méarana the harper, or so she thinks; actually Méarana induced Ravn to kidnap her so she could rescue Donovan, her father, and force her mother, Bridget ban, to bring her Hounds in pursuit. Both Shadows and Hounds fight on either side at need and sometimes on both at once; they may or may not be loyal to the Names. Even the socalled rebellion might be a civil war among the Names themselves, with the rebellion cooked up to disguise the fact. The early sections are all languid, abstruse chat, often set forth in absurd and annoying accents, with the dazzling and equally baffling action reserved for much later; and like previous entries in this astonishing and irritating series, it’s never clear what’s really going on at any level.

Often deeply impressive but elusive and self-indulgent.

Odd that the majorly talented Flynn cannot grasp that when readers never understand what’s going on, sooner or later they stop caring.

NEPTUNE’S BROOD

Stross, Charles Ace/Berkley (336 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-425-25677-0

In the same universe as Saturn’s Children (2008) but thousands of years later, Stross invents an entire interstellar banking system, shows us how it works—and then how to defraud it.

Interstellar spaceships take hundreds of years to crawl between systems, so the fastest means of communication is by laser beacon. Fast money is cash. Medium money is represented by interplanetary investments that take decades to mature. Slow money accumulates from the vast expenditures required to establish new interstellar colonies, and therefore, it’s millions of times more valuable than cash. Metahuman Krina Alizond-114, a scholar of the historiography of accountancy practices, travels to the water world of Shin-Tethys to find her missing sister, Ana. The only way she can reach the planet is by signing on as crew aboard Deacon Dennet’s Interstellar Church of the Fragile, a church on an interplanetary spaceship staffed by animated skeletons. Before long, however, pirate underwriters capture the ship. The pirate chief, (ac)Count(ant) Rudi, claims to know Ana via an insurance policy he sold her. Krina’s real goal, though, is the investigation of a fraud of truly galactic proportions, perpetrated centuries ago under the guise of establishing a scientific colony whose purpose was to develop a faster-than-light drive. The colony collapsed spectacularly, but the debt, a mountain of slow money, still exists if anyone can prove ownership. Krina has one half of the key, Ana the other—maybe; she might equally well be dead. Rudi and Dennett clearly know more than they’re telling; there’s an assassin on Krina’s trail; and these are just the beginning of the complications, including a petulant subaquatic monarch and a society of intelligent communist squid. If you begin by thinking that a narrative about banking, debt and accountancy

TIME THIEF

MacAlister, Katie Signet (352 pp.) $7.99 paper | May 7, 2013 978-0-451-41742-8 A paper-thin plot and unconvincing romance kick off what will no doubt be a best-selling paranormal series.

Offensively spunky and incredibly broke Kiya Mortensen eagerly accepts an offer to care for the five pugs belonging to Lenore Faa, the matriarch of a Traveller encampment in the Oregon woods. The Travellers are a reclusive people with the ability to steal time from others and use it to maintain their youth and power. And at least one of the Travellers is using that ability to kill. Enter Peter Moore Faa, |

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might be dull, Stross will quickly disabuse you—there’s always a mad glint in his eye, even when he’s explaining some seriously weird and alluring concepts.

Agreeable characters, a fascinating backdrop and brilliant plotting, with a further outlook of lengthy grins and occasional guffaws.

SEA CHANGE

Wheeler, S.M. Tor (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-7653-3314-8 When her best friend, a talking sea monster, disappears, Lilly must embark on a sequence of self-sacrificing quests to release him, starting with the removal of her reproductive organs.

Wheeler’s bizarre and archly phrased debut is set in an unhappy land where the ruling class is miserable and the magic often visceral. Lilly Rosa is the child of a nouveau riche couple whose marriage is turning sour, leaving their solitary daughter in even greater need of companionship.

She finds it in Octavius, a baby kraken/octopus which grows over time into a sizable monster. Octavius has promised Lilly that he will eat no humans, a commitment that leads to his capture. Lilly, now 18, leaves her miserable home to find and release him, visiting first a troll whose help comes at a high price: the removal of Lilly’s womb, rendering her androgynous. Lilly— now Lyle—does find Octavius, but the key to his freedom is a magic coat, and the key to that is the rescue of an undead tailor, and the key to that is the recovery of a witch’s skin. Performing almost as many labors as Hercules, Lilly/Lyle eventually emerges befriended, stronger, maybe finally connected.

A weird, operatic coming-of-age fantasy streaked with sexuality, pain and heroism; perhaps the awkward arrival of a new voice.

r om a n c e COVET

Graves, Tracey Garvis Dutton (320 pp.) $25.95 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-525-95407-1 A lonely housewife befriends a lonely policeman, and the two begin a platonic but emotionally charged relationship.

When Claire Canton’s husband, Chris, is downsized due to the recession, he becomes angry and depressed, which takes a huge toll on the marriage. After many stressful months of job searching, he finds work, but it is travel-heavy and not nearly as fulfilling as what he had before. Claire reaches out to Chris, but he continually rebuffs her attempts at comfort or empathy, so after a while, she stops trying. Meanwhile, she meets a policeman, Daniel, who connects her with a freelance job for the department, and the project draws them closer together, ultimately leading them into an affair that is sexually platonic but emotionally intimate, and Claire must admit to herself that she has crossed a line. Acknowledging that the only thing that has stopped her from moving into a sexual relationship is Daniel’s unwavering honor makes Claire both more ashamed and more attracted, and she knows that soon she will either have to step back into her marriage or abandon it completely. Claire and Chris live in an upscale neighborhood, surrounded by seemingly perfect homes populated by seemingly perfect neighbors, but as Claire comes closer to questionable actions she never thought herself capable of, she learns that all is not what it seems in many of her friends’ lives. The book is told mainly in the first person from Claire’s perspective, with occasional glimpses of Daniel’s and Chris’ thoughts and emotions. Perhaps a little too pat an ending, but overall, a satisfying read.

A realistic, engaging portrayal of one woman’s marriage in crisis and the choices she makes for the sake of love and self.

JUST ONE KISS

Mallery, Susan Harlequin (384 pp.) $7.99 paper | May 28, 2013 978-0-373-77760-0

Patience McGraw fell hard for best friend Justice Garrett when she was a teenager, before he disappeared overnight without saying goodbye; now he’s back in Fool’s Gold, perhaps to stay, and they’ll have to untangle their emotions and shared attraction to decide if they might have a future.

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in the witness protection program. He’s also never forgotten Patience, the girl he befriended, and secretly fell for, before he had to leave in the middle of the night, danger on his heels.

Now, years later, he’s looking at property in Fool’s Gold to open an elite security academy, and he’ll use the opportunity to catch up with Patience, tell her the truth about his mysterious disappearance and apologize for the abrupt way he had to leave. However, Justice doesn’t expect to be bowled over by the beautiful woman she’s grown into or the sweet, open personality she’s maintained. Attraction flares between them almost immediately, but she’s not sure she can trust him with her heart again, and he doesn’t think he should let her try. His life is chaotic and dangerous, the very antithesis of halcyon Fool’s Gold. Plus, his father was an abusive bully, and he’s not completely convinced he’s a good bet as a family man. Yet the more time he spends with Patience, the more he wants to beat the odds. Mallery re-visits popular Fool’s Gold and offers yet another sweet, sexy story with alpha hero Justice and neverforgotten girl-next-door heroine Patience. A couple of missteps, including a cast of secondary characters that is at times too sprawling, don’t ultimately undermine a satisfying plot.

Mallery delivers another engaging romance in magical Fool’s Gold.

AFTER THE DAWN

Ray, Francis St. Martin’s Griffin (320 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-312-68163-0 Samantha Collins is shocked when her grandfather leaves her his auto turbocharger empire; even worse, he expects her to get Collins Industries back on track with Dillon Montgomery, the man she’s secretly loved since she was 13.

Abe Collins was always a stubborn man, but on his deathbed, he can see a few things clearly: That he’s made some serious mistakes playing it safe; that his company is in trouble because of it; and that there’s no way he can trust his elder son, Evan, to put it right. That leaves Samantha, orphaned daughter of his younger son William, who died in a plane crash with his wife when Sam was a teen. Now she’s a bright young woman, and Abe knows she can turn the company around with help from Dillon Montgomery, a true automobile visionary and son of Abe’s secretary, Marlene. So Abe changes his will the day before he dies, leaving the company to Samantha and Dillon, expecting them to put their heads together and save Collins Industries. Of course, this move does not sit well with Evan and his family, and in fact, it’s uncomfortable for Sam and Dillon, too, since they shared an awkward encounter years ago, soon after Sam lost her parents. When the will is read, everyone is stunned, but Samantha does as he asks to honor him, and Dillon can’t find it in him to abandon Sam. As the two work together to adjust the technologies that will put Collins back on the map, they find that there are other reasons for the company’s decline, and they’ll have to

dig deeper to get answers. Using an outside CPA and Dillon’s friend Roman to audit the books sheds light on some financial mysteries while also bringing a new chance at love for Dillon’s mom and possibly creating danger for them all, forcing Sam and Dillon to face their attraction head-on. Conceptually, this plot sounds interesting, and there are some compelling details to the story. However, poor pacing and otherwise lackluster storytelling hinder what could be an engaging book.

The story moves forward, but the journey is uninspired.

THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY BAKESHOP & CAFE

Simses, Mary Little, Brown (352 pp.) $26.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-316-22585-4

A New York lawyer travels to Maine and encounters enough surprises to reconsider her whole life in this conventional romance.

Ruth had a dying last wish: for her granddaughter Ellen to send a very special letter, an apology to Chet Cummings, the small-town boy whose heart she broke 60 years ago. Ellen decides to travel to Gran’s hometown of Beacon, Maine, to hand-deliver the note, and so begins a week of transformation for a woman who already has it all. Ellen is so charmed by the scenery in Beacon that she walks out on a private dock to indulge her photography hobby. The dock breaks beneath her, and she is swept out in a riptide. Thankfully, someone saves her from drowning. On the beach, she is shocked and relieved. In the arms of handsome savior Roy, she gives him a big kiss. Embarrassed by the incident, she slinks back to the B&B. When her fiance calls, she doesn’t tell him a thing. Why not? Hayden Croft is handsome, elegant and heir apparent to an American political dynasty. And she has the rock from Van Cleef & Arpels to prove it. But she can’t stop thinking about Roy and that kiss. The next day, they have a few rowdy, infuriating and wonderful hours at the local bar. The day after, with a hangover and vague memories of Roy, Ellen sets upon her quest to find Chet. Along the way, she discovers paintings by her grandmother and learns she was so talented she was given an art scholarship. Revelations follow. When Hayden comes to Maine to rescue Ellen, she has to consider the kind of life she really wants to live.

Simses’ portrait of small-town Maine is enchanting, a place for a reader to linger; it’s unfortunate the plot is so predictable.

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“...smoothly written, beach-themed story...” from sea glass island

SEA GLASS ISLAND

Woods, Sherryl Harlequin MIRA (400 pp.) $7.99 paper | May 28, 2013 978-0-7783-1446-2 When Samantha, an established-yetstruggling actress, comes home to act as maid-of-honor in her sister’s wedding, the family unabashedly tries to pair her with the best man, Ethan, her teenage crush and now a local war hero.

Samantha is the oldest Castle, and while her two sisters found true love in quick succession, she’s in New York with a struggling acting career and no Mr. Right on the horizon. Coming home to Sand Castle Bay, N.C., for youngest sister Emily’s wedding, Samantha is continually thrown in the path of Ethan Cole, local football champion–turned–war hero. Samantha had a huge high school crush on Ethan but is surprised to learn he lost a leg in Afghanistan, and his thenfiancee abandoned him soon after. Spending time with him now, Samantha realizes what a wonderful man he is, but the association is tainted by the humiliating lengths her family is going to in order to get them together. And while Ethan is a great and honorable man, his post-war romantic experience has left him gun-shy and determined to avoid relationships. At a crossroads in her own life, Samantha has to decide whether she’s going to stay in Sand Castle Bay or go back to her sputtering career in New York—and what her hopes are with Ethan. The two navigate insecurities and misunderstandings as they fall in love and fight for their happily-ever-after. Woods’ latest is slightly off-key.

Great writing and deft characterization can’t save a thin romantic conflict, and the more Ethan clings to his “I’ve given up on love” position, the less heroic he becomes. Some secondary storylines offer similar shrill undertones that denote a disturbing lack of communication, unrealistic expectations and waffling with annoying justification. Still, in the end, love conquers all in satisfying ways for everyone concerned, and this ties up a few loose ends for the trilogy.

Not Woods’ best, but a smoothly written, beach-themed story with a happy ending helps forgive the weaknesses.

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nonfiction FRIEND OF THE COURT On the Front Lines with the First Amendment

These titles earned the Kirkus Star: BLUE PLATE SPECIAL by Kate Christensen...................................... 49

Abrams, Floyd Yale Univ. (416 pp.) $32.50 | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-300-19087-8

TOUCHING A NERVE by Patricia Churchland..................................50 DOUBLE DOUBLE by Martha Grimes; Ken Grimes...........................59

Vigorous, principled defenses of freedom of expression from a long career in the legal trenches.

Eminent attorney Abrams (Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment, 2005) aptly describes this book as “a potpourri of my published and unpublished speeches, public debates, testimony, reviews, letters and the like about the First Amendment,” though of the six freedoms guaranteed there, he covers only freedom of speech and of the press. The author has been litigating these issues at the highest levels for over 40 years; he was part of the team that argued the “Pentagon Papers” case, as he often reminds us. The various pieces, which go back as far as 1978, are arranged topically and include consideration of such issues as dangers to national security, libel, copyright and the protection of reporters’ sources. Most were written for general readership, and Abrams presents his views in clear language. Unfortunately, the format ensures that much material will be repetitious, with the same cases and quotations frequently reappearing. The author often presents himself as something of a First Amendment absolutist, so his arguments have the advantage of clarity with only a dash of nuance. He wholeheartedly accepts the proposition that, outside of clearly recognized, exceptional categories, our government is generally foreclosed from preventing or punishing speech, however dishonest, dangerous or obnoxious. As any skilled attorney’s presentation will, Abrams’ positions can appear self-evident in the absence of rebuttal from the other side. Indeed, the most interesting pieces are those few in which the opposition is heard directly, as in a discussion on pornography, or where the opposing position is well-known, as in Abrams’ ringing defense of the widely reviled Citizens United opinion.

While the legal principles presented remain sound, the commentary on controversies that were topical in the 1980s and ’90s too often sounds dated and suggests that Abrams is largely serving warmed-over material from an illustrious past.

HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN SHAKESPEARE

by Ken Ludwig......................................................................................70 ANNE FRANK by Melissa Müller.......................................................72 THE TELLING ROOM by Michael Paterniti........................................ 75 CREATION by Adam Rutherford......................................................... 77 THE NEW YORK TIMES DISUNION by Ted Widmer.........................83

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL An Autobiography of My Appetites

Christensen, Kate Doubleday (368 pp.) $26.95 Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-385-53626-4

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“An unconventional and strikingly lyrical observation of women and their desire to speak regarding the fulfillment of their sexual and emotional needs.” from unmastered

UNMASTERED A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell

Cricket has functioned as a tool to both institutionalize India’s caste system and break it. From a quintessentially Victorian gentleman’s game, cricket was first adopted by the Brahmin class of Zoroastrians from Gujarat, and prosperous merchants, who started the first clubs in Bombay. From Hindu clubs to Muslim, Astill sees cricket’s subsequent growth across India as “unplanned, organic and almost exclusively on sectarian lines.”

Even the positions on the team formed along class lines: Gentleman batted, and working men bowled. Early Indian princes captured the public’s imagination; by the time of Indian independence, cricket had not only been firmly institutionalized, but it had taken on a highly theatrical quality. Yet partition proved a blow to Indian cricket, as the best bowlers were absorbed by Pakistan. The bitter India-Pakistan rivalry precluded meeting on the cricket field between 1952 and 1977 (and again after the Mumbai attack in 2008). The rise of corporate patronage vastly changed the game, as did the association with Bollywood celebrity. The slow-moving matches on which Ashis Nandy’s The Tao of Cricket (1989) were based were already giving way to a shorter, faster game after India’s 1983 World Cup victory, inviting new money, TV sponsorship, corruption and match-fixing. Astill traces political and corporate infiltration of the game, such as by the powerful Sharad Pawar, International Cricket Council boss, and Lalit Modi, creator of the glamorous, shaky Indian Premier League. Alternating with his prodigious research, the author chronicles his passionate watching and playing of the game, from city green to slum, finding among the lowest castes an admirable motivation and “remarkable consolation.”

A stirring study by an enthusiast of the game.

Angel, Katherine Farrar, Straus and Giroux (368 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-374-28040-6 A revealing look at postmodern feminism and its role in female desire through one woman’s personal anecdotes, meditations and professional research.

Angel provides an intelligent examination of how today’s women satiate their needs and desires. The author examines her own sexual experiences as both a writer and a lover, from her teen years to the present, in poetic yet fragmented theories revolving around the feminist icons Virginia Woolf and Susan Sontag. This is not to say that her philosophy leans toward the bias of these women; rather, she uses their thoughts as examples and builds on them to answer an important question that many women face in some form or another: “What is it to define, or even to know, our desires— to identify which are our own, and which result from a kind of porousness?” The definition of this identification of desire within oneself, the desire for women to be able to freely speak up about what they really want and how they want it is answered through Angel’s own emotional bonding to the modern woman’s intuitive feelings of shame, beauty, and confusion of sex or lust for love. Throughout the book, structured as a numbered series of vignettes, short paragraphs and even single sentences, the author struggles with her personal convictions regarding love and lust in and out of the bedroom. However, she staunchly maintains her theory with an empowering conclusion that begs for women to speak up above the commercialized version of sex and the woman’s perceived notion of what it takes to fulfill their desires. “The desire to speak is a desire to burst through silence, to puncture,” she writes. “As such, it is also erotic; it contains its own excitement. Speaking undoes the perceived straitjacketing.

Unlaces the corset, winds down the hair.”

An unconventional and strikingly lyrical observation of women and their desire to speak regarding the fulfillment of their sexual and emotional needs.

SPYMASTER The Astounding Cold War Confessions of a Soviet KGB Officer Bagley, Tennant H. Skyhorse Publishing (320 pp.) $26.95 | Nov. 1, 2013 978-1-62636-065-5

A retired spy-service veteran reflects on the life of an espionage specialist.

In the Cold War era of the 1960s, Bagley was a CIA counterintelligence chief and the first to have interrogation privileges with renowned Ukrainian KGB defector Yuri Nosenko. This book is a suitable follow-up to his revealing memoir about his work as chief handler on that case (Spy Wars, 2007); here, he focuses on senior KGB Soviet spymaster Sergey Kondrashev. Bagley befriended his former adversary after numerous informal chats at Cold War reunion functions, ushering in years of unencumbered “affinity, cordiality, mutual respect and growing confidence between two old professionals.” In 1999, five years into their ripening friendship, Kondrashev decided to pen an autobiography.

Bagley ably assisted, reveling in the informational “stroke of fortune” from this expert insider. Nearly a decade into the project, Russian foreign intelligence apparatchiks learned of

THE GREAT TAMASHA Cricket, Corruption, and the Spectacular Rise of Modern India

Astill, James Bloomsbury (304 pp.) $27.00 | Jul. 4, 2013 978-1-60819-917-4

The Economist’s South Asia bureau chief finds the game of cricket a telling metaphor for what ails and heals the new India.

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the sensitive project and swiftly embargoed its Russian publication. Bagley skillfully condenses the bulk of Kondrashev’s interviews and stories, chronicling his brisk, incremental rise through the ranks of the Soviet spy system with unexaggerated brio. The author portrays in riveting detail the spy’s considerable ascent from managing successful counterintelligence decoding operations to dexterously handling traitorous high-level moles like double agent George Blake. Equally fascinating are sections detailing Stalin’s nightmarish postwar personnel purges, Kondrashev’s involvement in the final arrangements for Hitler’s and his wife’s remains, and an operation during which subversive KGB operatives posed as defectors, a scheme that, at one time, involved both men as rivals. Kondrashev died in 2007, and with his family’s blessing, Bagley grasps the unique opportunity to not only spill classified spy secrets and disinformation schemes, but also to posthumously venerate a world-class spymaster.

A respectful, introspective exposé of a great emissary who became a friend. (33 b/w photos.)

from spouses and that children can no longer be taught that unequivocal respect is due their elders, even priests.

A sad commentary on our times, but not to be ignored.

RISE OF THE WARRIOR COP The Militarization of America’s Police Forces Balko, Radley PublicAffairs (352 pp.) $27.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-61039-211-2

Huffington Post senior investigative reporter Balko combines a searing exposé focusing on a specific kind of police brutality with a contextual history of police violence from the Roman Empire through today.

The contemporary brutality forming the centerpiece of the exposé derives from Special Weapons and Tactics units—SWAT

SAFE KIDS, SMART PARENTS What Parents Need to Know to Keep Their Children Safe

Bailey, Elizabeth; Bailey, Rebecca Simon & Schuster (208 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4767-0044-1

A grim reminder of the threat that parents and children face from predators.

Family psychologist Rebecca Bailey has been the director of youth and family services in her local California community and is the founder of Transitioning Families, a counseling service for families in crisis. She has co-authored this guide for families with her sister, Elizabeth Bailey, a registered psychiatric nurse. The book is divided into two sections, one intended for parents and guardians, the other written especially for children. The message in both is the same: the need for parents and children (whether toddlers or teens) to be aware of their environment and vigilant. The authors emphasize the difficult reality that, these days, children must be taught to be wary of all strangers, even those who appear to be in trouble and are requesting help. In the preface, Terri Probyn underscores their points. Her daughter was abducted and abused for 18 years before she escaped her tormentors, and she was subsequently counseled by Bailey. The authors present the second section of the book in the form of a “Safe Kid Kit,” with separate chapters directly addressed to different age ranges. Among the tactics the authors suggest is playing games such as I Spy with young children to train them to scrutinize their environment. They also stress the importance of children and parents or guardians remaining in close touch by phone, a touchy but especially important subject for independent-minded teenagers. The authors provide some frightening statistics about child abductions, and they emphasize the painful truth that parents often need to protect their children |

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“Like most oral histories, a tad self-indulgent but filled with insights and good dish that movie buffs will relish.” from my lunches with orson

teams. At Reason magazine and, before that, at the Cato Institute, Balko was a pioneer at tracking the excessive violence of SWAT teams, especially in the context of raids on private homes suspected of harboring violators of drug laws. With SWAT teams often serving as the front line in the so-called “war on drugs,” abuses have been occurring with alarming frequency since the 1960s. Balko takes pains to state that police officers face daily danger and that most of them serve honorably. However, he writes, those who volunteer for SWAT teams or are chosen by police chiefs and sheriffs frequently harbor a cowboy mentality inappropriate when raiding homes unannounced with highvelocity weapons at the ready. Balko provides copious examples of SWAT teams raiding the wrong addresses or finding nothing but decriminalized marijuana inside. Meanwhile, injuries and sometimes deaths occur, and community trust in the police is shattered. And it can happen anywhere: The author opens with an egregiously conducted SWAT raid in Columbia, Mo., a small city with few violent drug offenders. Some of the historical sections are slow going—the book is organized chronologically, which means little compelling information arrives before page 50—and the book sometimes loses focus as Balko overreaches in terms of police department operations, which are only loosely related to SWAT team conduct. Nonetheless, the vast amount of evidence is certain to give pause to even the most ardent supporters of law enforcement agencies.

An important, sometimes-groundbreaking account of police gone wild.

not, which represents yet another triumph of the owners. To call the author’s presentation opinionated is to risk understatement—at one point, he writes of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who delayed one antitrust suit, that pro baseball “was lucky enough to get a judge who put his love of the game above his professional obligations to follow the law”—but it is clear where his sympathies lie: with the players, the fans and the game itself, anywhere, it seems, except with the owners, who are the sole beneficiaries of the exemption. America’s game?

The legal morass surrounding that exemption is as American as it gets—and, writes Banner, “it shows no signs of weakening.”

Baseball fans of a legal bent will find this lively study both maddening and illuminating.

MY LUNCHES WITH ORSON Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles

Biskind, Peter—Ed. Metropolitan/Henry Holt (320 pp.) $28.00 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-8050-9725-2

Tape recordings made in the three years before Orson Welles’ death in 1985 capture the legendary film director’s out-

sized personality.

As editor Biskind (Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, 2010, etc.) explains in his introduction, Henry Jaglom talked Welles into acting in his first feature, A Safe Place, in 1971, and they became friends. Jaglom’s generation worshipped the creator of Citizen Kane as a groundbreaking auteur who pioneered their sort of personal filmmaking; Welles liked to be worshipped.

By the time Jaglom began recording their conversations over lunches at Ma Maison, Welles hadn’t made a movie in 10 years, and F Is for Fake (1974) had flopped. Aided by Jaglom, he was trying to get financing for a film version of King Lear or his political script, The Big Brass Ring. But nothing came through, and Welles’ income from TV commercials had also dried up; his reputation was at a low point. In conversation, Welles shows himself eager to disprove his critics, as well as to savagely gossip about his bitterly estranged theatrical partner, John Houseman, and to comment unflatteringly on the talents of friends/rivals, from Laurence Oliver and John Huston to Marlon Brando and Peter Bogdanovich.

Jaglom, an admirer but not a sycophant, occasionally protests such judgments, but he’s unfailingly supportive of a friend they both know is in the twilight of his career. Welles could be meanspirited and insufferable, but he was also blazingly intelligent.

His nailing of Woody Allen and Charlie Chaplin as sharing “that particular combination of arrogance and timidity [that] sets my teeth on edge” is characteristic of his sharp wit about every aspect of moviemaking, and he’s just as smart about history, music and fine art. You can understand why his friends were so devoted.

Like most oral histories, a tad self-indulgent but filled with insights and good dish that movie buffs will relish.

(4 illustrations)

THE BASEBALL TRUST A History of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption Banner, Stuart Oxford Univ. (300 pp.) $29.95 | Apr. 1, 2013 978-0-19-993029-6

Price fixing, union busting, collusion and criminality—and that’s just the beginning of this inside-baseball footnote to baseball history.

Banner (Law/UCLA; American Property: A History of How, Why, and What We Own, 2011, etc.) opens by calling professional baseball’s almost total exemption from antitrust law “one of the oddest features of our legal system,” not least because other sports—to say nothing of other industries—are governed by that body of law. Consider a system whereby a recent college graduate in computer programming would have to work for Microsoft, in a city of Microsoft’s choice; the illegal nature of such an enterprise would be immediately evident, even in our age, when corporations rule. Yet, because the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1922, ruled that baseball was exempt from the Sherman Act, “because baseball was not a form of interstate commerce,” baseball players can be scooped up and sent wherever the owners deem best.

But is not baseball a form of interstate commerce? Of course it is. Banner closely examines the origin of the idea that it is 44

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THE END OF NIGHT Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light

Punctuated by spare, evocative sketches—seascapes, landscapes, portraits—the book, written with Brechneff ’s partner, Lovejoy, is no mere travelogue of an idyllic retreat, but something of a sociological study as well as an examination of sexual confusion and the perils of adopting a persona that becomes a behavioral trap. Brechneff was born in 1950 in the Belgian Congo, the son of a Russian émigré father and a Swiss mother.

Feeling like an alien in Switzerland in his teens, he was drawn not only to the romance of island life, but to the prospect of being cut off, freed from the strictures of proper Swiss society in a culture that seemed lodged in another century. On Sifnos, he found limitless inspiration, warmth and hospitality, but also deeply ingrained traditions and habits. Each summer, beginning in 1972, Brechneff basked in the Greek light and reveled in his new skin. Pictures poured out of him, leading to increasing success in London and New York. The author’s alluring narrative combines erotic liaisons with vivid portraits of islanders and visitors, though the sheer number of these encounters and friendships renders them less distinct in the end. He wavers between being unusually self-aware and tiresomely

Bogard, Paul Little, Brown (304 pp.) $27.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-316-18290-4

An ardent opponent of light pollution chronicles how the darkness of night is disappearing around much of the world, why that matters, and what can and should be done about it.

Bogard (Creative Nonfiction/James Madison Univ.) travels around the world to its brightest and darkest places, looking up at the night sky. This book can be seen as a companion piece to the anthology Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark (2008), in which the author gathered 29 individual voices on the subject; here, the voice is his own but with generous quotes from scientists and activists whom he has sought out in his travels. Among the places he visited are not only the cities of Las Vegas, Paris, Florence and New York, but also Walden Pond, small towns and remote places such as Death Valley, Chaco Canyon, the Canary Islands and the Isle of Sark. Bogard fondly and movingly remembers times when night was really dark, but he fears that such experiences will be unknown to most of humanity. The loss, as he explains, is not merely an aesthetic or even a spiritual one; artificial lighting may be having serious impacts on our health and on the environment.

The author talked to researchers who see a link between lighting and cancer and to naturalists who note the impact of artificial outdoor lighting on other species, such as birds, bats and bees. The efforts of the National Park Service to set up dark-sky preserves gives Bogard reason for optimism, and his conversations with outdoor lighting experts indicate that feasible energy-reducing approaches are available.

What’s needed is awareness, which the author provides in an appealing, reader-friendly way.

An engaging blend of personal story, hard science and a bit of history. (13 b/w photos)

THE GREEK HOUSE The Story of a Painter’s Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos Brechneff, Christian with Lovejoy, Tim Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0374166717

Artist and author Brechneff (Homage: Encounters with the East, 2007) chronicles his 30-year courtship with the Aegean isle of Sifnos, recalling his passages of self-discovery, development as a painter and ambivalence over his island identity. |

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“A distinctively drawn time capsule from a definitive epoch.” from one summer

WARRIOR PRINCESS My Quest to Become the First Female Maasai Warrior

self-absorbed, engaging about his work but preoccupied with sexual longings and conquests, often depicting himself as a caricature of the voracious young omnisexual. Yet his candor is winning, and hard to resist, as we follow his growth from naïve young man to worldly, accomplished adult.

Brechneff leavens his account of adventure, simple pleasures and hard work in a magical landscape with interludes from his life in Europe and America. Yet, happily, the author seldom strays far from his beloved island refuge, even when its enduring entreaty begins to wane.

Budgor, Mindy Skirt! Books/Globe Pequot (288 pp.) $24.95 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-7627-8603-9

The spirited but problematic account of how a “plump, white, Gucciwearing Jewish girl from California” traveled to Kenya to challenge the Maasai tradition of male-only warriors.

Budgor was a successful young entrepreneur living in Chicago, but after she sold her first business, she found herself “consistently questioning [her] purpose in life.” While waiting to hear back from MBA programs and on the advice of a college friend, the author decided to go to Maasai Mara in Kenya to help build a clinic. The simplicity of the Maasai lifestyle made her realize “how so many things in [her own] life were manufactured or determined by everyone else but [her].” She needed to learn how to empower herself. After a Maasai chief told her that women lacked the strength and bravery to become warriors, Budgor knew what her next mission would be. She would show everyone, especially Maasai females, that a woman could indeed become a moran. First, she told her parents that her efforts to become a warrior were part of a marketing plan for a sports clothing company (the CEO of which never returned her emails). The tradition-bound chief, however, refused to allow Budgor and a friend she brought back to Kenya to undergo warrior initiation. But another Maasai who had always wanted to give women “more respectable roles” took the pair into the forest. There, he and a group of fellow tribesmen taught the pair how to slaughter goats, drink blood, throw spears and survive hostile encounters with elephants, hippos, leopards and buffaloes. In this memoir with chutzpah to spare, Budgor chronicles how she and her friend ultimately did become morans.

However inspiring and well-intended their efforts, though, their actions still smack of cultural imperialism.

ONE SUMMER America, 1927

Bryson, Bill Doubleday (448 pp.) $27.95 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-7679-1940-1

A popular chronicler of life and lore vividly charts a particularly pivotal season in American history.

Bryson (At Home: A Short History of Private Life, 2010, etc.) reanimates the events and principal players across five key months in 1927. He establishes an early-20th-century, trial-and-error chronology of aviation evolution cresting with Charles Lindbergh, a lean man with a dream, natural-born skills and the unparalleled motivation to design an aircraft capable of traversing the Atlantic. Braided into Lindbergh’s saga are profiles of cultural icons like ambitious “colossus” Herbert Hoover, famed gangster Al Capone, and baseball players Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, whose domination of America’s “National Game” captured country’s attention. Recounted with brio and diligent detailing yet perhaps lacking the author’s better-known witty dynamism, Bryson honorably captures the spirit of the era, a golden age of newspapers, skyscrapers, patriotism, Broadway plays and baseball. The author enthusiastically draws on the heroic lives of tight-lipped President Calvin Coolidge and boxing great Jack Dempsey and artfully interweaves into Lindbergh’s meteoric rise the pitfalls of Prohibition, the splendor of Henry Ford’s Model T (and the horrors of constructing “Fordlandia” in the Amazon rain forest), the demise of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, and a noteworthy comparison between popular long-standing authors Zane Grey and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Collectively, what Bryson offers is a creatively written regeneration of historical facts; the revelations, while few, appear in the form of eccentric personal factoids (i.e., Coolidge liked his head rubbed with Vaseline, Grey was excessively libidinous) demarcating that scrutinized summer of dreamers and innovators. While he may be an expatriate residing in England, Bryson’s American pride saturates this rewarding book.

A distinctively drawn time capsule from a definitive epoch.

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NIGHT TERRORS Sex, Dating, Puberty, and Other Alarming Things

Cardiff, Ashley Gotham Books (224 pp.) $16.00 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-59240-786-6

A 20-something editor and writer’s unapologetically snarky sex memoir that is “not about [her] sex life.”

In a book that is as disturbing as it is funny, Cardiff explores the absurd and at times bizarre events that have defined her journey to sexual experience. She begins with a description of recurring sexual nightmares she had as a child, which involved the singer Prince and a gigantic purple |

tricycle. Precocious but without any real knowledge of what sex was, she drew pictures of genital-eating piranhas and “Satan and the angel Gabriel sword-fighting with their huge penises” for the express purpose of getting kicked out of her catechism class. Carnal knowledge came to her unbidden, first through a porn film that she accidentally found on TV during a sleepover and then through homemade sex tapes that she discovered at a Thanksgiving family get-together. Cardiff grew into a graceless adolescence, where she fell for an older man with a penchant for seducing underage girls and eventually lost her virginity to a boy she got to know in the wake of a postponed orgy. In college, she pursued her sexual bliss with a guilt-ridden Mormon and experienced a moment of near-mystical enlightenment on the nature of dating and love in a Denver strip club. A move to New York allowed her to witness human sexuality in all its mayhem.

In one essay, she describes an encounter with a man “lying on the sidewalk trying to orally pleasure a dead baby bird.”

If readers can get past Cardiff’s irritating efforts to constantly demonstrate her own cleverness, they may find some interesting observations about human sexual foibles, but not much else.

journalism to academia but was thwarted by Berlin, serving on the advisory board, who denounced his rival in confidential letters as being “morally intolerable.” Caute astutely probes the contentious issues, including concepts of history, Zionism and life for dissident writers in the Soviet Union.

The author’s wit and biting analysis render this a most readable study.

ROGER AILES Off Camera

Chafets, Zev Sentinel (272 pp.) $26.95 | Mar. 19, 2013 978-1-59523-095-9 A chatty look into the life and motivations of Fox News founder Roger Ailes.

Fans of Ailes will recognize many of the incidents related in Chafets’ (Rush

ISAAC AND ISAIAH The Covert Punishment of a Cold War Heretic

Caute, David Yale Univ. (336 pp.) $35.00 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-300-19209-4

What first appears to be a narrowly academic profile of two rival scholars amplifies into a trenchant, engaging study of the postwar split between the New Left and Western liberalism.

Historian Caute (Politics and the Novel During the Cold War, 2009, etc.) was privy to Isaiah Berlin’s attempts to blackball Isaac Deutscher from gaining an academic post in 1963, when the author and Berlin were both fellows at All Souls College, Oxford. In this sharply argued work, the author develops and clarifies their feud in light of Cold War attitudes. Both brilliant minds who hailed from Eastern European Jewish families and eventually took refuge in England from totalitarian violence, the two writers, journalists and historians made their way in British academia and publishing with remarkable success, though with vastly different ideological takes regarding the Soviet Union. As the Cold War ramped up, both became enormously in demand to delineate the struggle between the Soviet Union and the West. For Berlin, the notion of individual liberty and responsibility dispelled any illusions about Soviet reality and Marxist determinism, while Deutscher, whose formative years were spent as a member of the Polish Communist Party, was a well-connected Marxist whose deeply researched biographies of Stalin, Trotsky and Lenin were considered as helpful explanations to the West as well as apologies. Recognized as an international relations expert, Deutscher hoped to move from |

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Great Books for Your Reading Pleasure The Right-Wing Threat to Democracy

The Undoing of America’s Exceptionalism

Burt Hall Softcover | 9781475926965 Price: $18.95 Pages: 230

Plant World of the Bible Hans Arne Jensen Softcover | 9781462012015 Price : $65.93 Pages: 196 www.authorhouse.co.uk

www.iuniverse.com

Seasoned professional political analyst Burt Hall delivers a tough account of what went wrong in American politics and government over the past two decades. Hall offers his suggestions of how people can work together to repair the fractured system of government.

A Lost Gun Wix Simon Softcover | 9781475926682 Price: $15.95 Pages: 238

“An excellent compendium of all plants found in the Bible with information on identification, archaeological findings in coeval cultures and 20 unique, ancient color plates and 117 black/ white drawings.”

Daughter of Job J M Hartley Softcover | 9781467884693 Price: £18.95 Pages: 508 www.authorhouse.co.uk

www.iuniverse.com

In this riveting murder mystery, two detectives must sacrifice everything in order to take down a crime ring fueled by a coldhearted, determined villain.

Set against the background of work on the Settle and Carlisle railway, Daughter of Job relates how Jemimah – like Job from the Bible – is stricken by successive disasters, losing her home, husband and two of her children.

Sow Your Fallow Ground Charles Simms Softcover | 9781426996696 Price: $10.33 Pages: 128 www.trafford.com

The Silver Spoon K.T. Archer Softcover | 9781450232043 Price: $17.95 Pages: 268

Explore the concept that politics is about social power and leverage and that human action is about the complete free will of another person in Sow Your Fallow Ground.

Here, you will find a discussion on how you choose what action to take for social justice—measuring your judgment why to take action and will lead you to to reasons fully explained in the Bible.

www.iuniverse.com

In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Lizzy’s inner strength is tested when dysfunctional secrets her family has managed to hide for years suddenly begin to bubble up—revealing the imperfections of those she loves and admires.

This study explores the concept that politics is about social power and leverage and that human action is about the complete free will of another person.

Going Home Charlene Kavanagh Softcover | 9780595409464 Price: $10.95 Pages: 112

The Tidings

An abandoned dog adopted by fire fighters becomes a hero and triumphantly returns to the last place we all call home. There he learns that, above all, love is what matters.

www.trafford.com

Volume One, November 1943 to January 1945

translated by Nick Mezins Softcover | 9781412043700 Price: $27.32 Pages: 466

www.iuniverse.com

The Tidings Series consists of six volumes of work. Highly concentrated, The Tidings Series relays the teachings of The Almighty, while touching on the meanings behind our significant events and the existence of life on other planets.

Remarkable books to enjoy again and again. Order yours today.

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“A novelist’s deliciously engrossing exploration of her life through the two major passions that have defined it: food and writing.” from blue plate special

Limbaugh: An Army of One, 2010, etc.) authorized biography.

However, for those unfamiliar with Ailes’ story, the author’s narrative traverses his childhood, his early career experiences, his keen political intuitions, and his shrewd understanding of the cable-news business and its role in our media-saturated society. Ailes quickly grasped that personality would drive ratings on cable news. “He realized that it isn’t like broadcast news, an hour or two a day,” explained an Ailes colleague. “It’s a twentyfour-hour operation, which means that a good part of it has to be about opinions.” Once Rupert Murdock hired Ailes and he assembled his news team, Fox News began its ascent. Chafets flushes out his portrait of Ailes through an amalgam of individuals who offer vignettes and quotes describing the Ailes personality, business style and media matters, from their vantage point within or outside of his sphere of influence. Ailes’ conservative stance is well-known, but the author offers a list of Ailes’ liberal friends, including members of the Kennedy clan, Chris Cuomo, a CNN journalist and son of the former governor of New York, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and Dennis Kucinich, “the longtime darling of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.” Ailes hired Doug Kennedy, a reporter and the youngest son of Bobby Kennedy, to work at Fox. “What people don’t understand is that Roger is very comfortable with others who don’t agree with him,” Kennedy explains. “He knows what he believes and says it—Roger never talks for effect—and we go out to lunch and really go at it. All he asks is that you be real with him in return.”

No matter where readers are on the political spectrum, this light biography is a tantalizing look into the life of a man who altered the TV-news landscape.

the army, meeting Bedouins, Palestinians and others, Chayut gradually distanced himself from his former righteousness.

The latter half of the book chronicles the author’s efforts with Breaking the Silence—an organization that urges Israeli soldiers to record their experiences in the occupied territories— and includes some of the testimonies he has gathered over the years: e.g., “Soldiers shoot wildly into residential areas without even knowing where the shots they’re supposedly reacting to are coming from….Neighborhoods are sprayed with gunfire and the guys laugh their hearts out.” Readers initially drawn to this title for its controversial topic will find that the book is more layered than a straightforward confession of military crimes. The author skillfully plays out questions of regret, nationalism, misplaced loyalty and the courage to remake one’s life against the chance meeting with the girl who unwittingly sparked reflection.

Chayut’s account of self-reckoning is remarkable not only for the portrait of an unexpected turnaround, but also for its appealing prose.

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL An Autobiography of My Appetites Christensen, Kate Doubleday (368 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-385-53626-4

A novelist’s deliciously engrossing exploration of her life through the two major passions that have defined it: food and writing.

For Christensen (The Astral, 2011, etc.), memory and food are inextricably intertwined. Her book begins with the recollection of a violent argument between her parents over an egg-and-toast breakfast. This scene reminded her of not only the simple comforts of her mother’s “blue plate special”–style meals, but also of the troubled dynamic that seemed inherent in male-female relationships. Not long afterward, her mother divorced and took the author and her sisters to Arizona. In this “wild, strange place that was so profoundly different from Berkeley,” Christensen suddenly became aware of “taste and texture, flavor and smell” and began reading as voraciously as she ate.

Later, drinking became another source of comfort. In between attending classes at a New York arts high school, Christensen overate, crash dieted, and then wrote about her hunger and her loneliness. She refined both her palate and her cooking abilities during a year spent in France. But it would be comfort food and hard liquor that would comprise many of her meals during the vagabond life she led afterward, first at Reed College and then at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, where she reignited a childhood passion for food in literature. A few alcohol-soaked, undernourished years later, she met her first husband, who “taught [her] how to enjoy food without guilt or remorse or puritanism,” but with whom she fought constantly. Middle aged and unwilling to try out the “strange new world of hookups and sexting,” she

THE GIRL WHO STOLE MY HOLOCAUST Notes from an Israeli Life

Chayut, Noam Translated by Haran, Tal Verso (288 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-78168-088-9

A former Israeli soldier’s lucid memoir on his ideological conversion from a boy raised amid Holocaust memorials to a young man whose belief in Zionism and absolute evil was shaken.

Chayut, whose childhood was marked by anger, sorrow, shame and the “unwillingness to be a part of all this [Jewish legacy],” soon accepted the anti-Arab rhetoric of those around him, served as a youth counselor, joined the Nahal Brigade with pride and proclaimed Israel’s cause to raise funds in the United States. Doubts regarding his service in the “most moral army in the world,” however, were planted during the course of a routine excursion when he encountered a villager who returned his smile with fear—a moment he would later consider pivotal and which helped him to realize that in the girl’s eyes, he was the enemy. Through travel after leaving |

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THE DIMAGGIOS Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream

found unexpected love with a man 20 years her junior who fed her soul with the peace she had craved all along.

A Rabelaisian celebration of appetite, complete with savory recipes, that genuinely satisfies.

Clavin, Tom Ecco/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $25.99 | $25.99 Lg. Prt. | May 14, 2013 978-0-06-218377-4 978-0-06-218379-8 e-book 978-0-06-225399-6 Lg. Prt.

TOUCHING A NERVE The Self as Brain Churchland, Patricia Norton (256 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 22, 2013 978-0-393-05832-1

A fine biography of the greatest brother combination ever to play major league baseball.

Vincent, Joe and Dominic DiMaggio lived out the American dream. Three brothers of 11 children born to Italian immigrants, the three boys excelled first in the Pacific Coast League for the local San Francisco Seals and then, one-by-one, they rose to play in the major leagues. Vince, the eldest of the three, broke his father’s prohibition against wasting time with games and thus paved the way for his brothers. Joe, the middle of the three, was the legend who married movie stars but was also cold and distant. Dominic, the bespectacled youngest and smallest of the trio, was a star in his own right but lived in the shadow of Joe. The journeyman Vince had the most trouble adjusting to post-baseball life and struggled just to make ends meet. Joe continued to be reticent and reserved, never recovering from his star-crossed marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and effectively made a career out of being Joe DiMaggio, legend. Dominick meanwhile, had the most grounded and, in many ways, successful post-baseball career, using his intellect to become a successful businessman. A fourth West Coast native, Ted Williams, plays almost as much of a role in the book as the brothers DiMaggio. He and teammate Dominic continued to be close for the remainder of their lives, with Williams always maintaining that Dominic belonged in the Hall of Fame. Clavin clearly agrees, and it is a strength of this evocative book that while Joe remains the legend, Dominic comes across as the most admirable DiMaggio in the end.

Simon and Garfunkel famously asked, “Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?” Clavin reminds readers that Joe is not the only DiMaggio worth remembering. (photo insert)

Churchland (Emeritus, Philosophy/ Univ. of California, San Diego; Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality, 2011, etc.) probes the interface between our perception of our own mental processes and our growing knowledge of how our brains function.

The author is sharply critical of those who make claims that “free choice is an illusion” and “the self is an illusion,” the kind of hype she dismisses as self-promoting “[n]eurojunk…over-egged ideas about the brain [that] turn out to rest on modest, ambiguous, and hard-to interpret data.” She also dismisses mind-body dualism. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship as co-founder of the field of neurophilosophy, the author weaves together the teachings of philosophers (Aristotle, Plato, Descartes) and scientists (Galvani, Darwin and Helmholtz) to grapple with the problem. She incorporates illustrative anecdotes from her childhood in a small farming community to support her contention that accepting the nonexistence of a spiritual realm separate from the natural world need not diminish spirituality.

Recognizing that mental life, spiritual values, joys and sorrows emerge from the functioning of our brains in no way diminishes their reality. Churchland also speculates on the evolutionary leap in the mental life of mammals, which nurture their newborns, and the mental acuity demanded of predators and their prey in the struggle to survive. Reprising the latest advances in neuropsychology, she explains how brain circuitry is organized to model the world (internally and externally) in a series of maps.

Going back to Freud’s earliest research in neurology, which led him to recognize the existence of unconscious mental functions, Churchland probes the difference between habits and reflexes and between consciousness and semiconscious states such as sleep and coma.

Wide-ranging, insightful and provocative—a book to savor. (16 illustrations)

SMARTTRIBES How Teams Become Brilliant Together Comaford, Christine Portfolio (272 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 1, 2013 978-1-59184-648-2

Standard techniques from the fields of self-help and salesmanship, repackaged as neuroscience and presented as a method to build effective teams.

Business consultant Comaford (Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career and Revel in Your Individuality, 50

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2007) claims to offer a way to grow businesses into their next phase of activity by focusing on what she calls the brain’s “smart state,” rather than its opposing “critter state.” These states are derived from her view of the functions of different physical parts of the brain, brain stem/reptilian part, mammalian limbic system and neocortex. The prefrontal cortex, where “everyone from quantum physicists to voodoo doctors knows there is a huge untapped potential,” is responsible for advanced behaviors. From these divisions, Comaford proceeds to discuss how to mobilize the powers of the smart state to take advantage of inflection points that arise in the course of a business’ development. Like the exponents of sales and closing techniques marketed in real estate, the author offers herself as “your scout and your coach, not your professor.” Her emphasis is on the practical, and she concludes each section with a wrap-up, featuring action points and expected returns—but little substantiation for her claims. Meanwhile, such techniques as “mirroring” and “matching,” which involve copying physical movements and postures of others, adopting their tones of voice and inflection, and inferring personality types from word use, are neither new nor related to neuroscience but rather are established parts of a salesman’s repertoire. Not surprisingly, creating more effective marketing and sales messages is one of the projected results of adopting these techniques, along with closing deals faster.

Comaford has experienced undeniable success in the business world, but she fails to adequately translate her methods into a compelling narrative.

populace are described as passive and even complicit in the monstrous narcotics trade. Turf wars between drug cartels are unbelievably brutal, with torture, beheading and disemboweling seemingly everyday occurrences, leaving desolate such cities as Juarez and Tijuana. Nightly shootings, kidnappings, robberies and the discovery of mass graves—all these and more have put an end to a once-thriving tourist industry and a rich cultural exchange between those living on either side of the boundary.

Where there were once bridges, there are now high walls. Some mention is made of the United States as the consumer of the drugs and the supplier of arms to the warring drug cartels, but this is primarily Mexico’s story, and it is a bitter one.

A tough but eye-opening read.

STAY, ILLUSION! The Hamlet Doctrine

Critchley, Simon; Webster, Jamieson Pantheon (288 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-307-90761-5 978-0-307-90762-2 e-book

A philosophy professor and a psychoanalyst—also husband and wife—take Hamlet well beyond the confines of literary criticism and Shakespearean scholarship.

It’s likely that no more needs to be written about Hamlet, but Critchley (Philosophy/New School for Social Research; The Book of Dead Philosophers, 2008, etc.) and Webster (The Life and Death of Psychoanalysis, 2011) float the trial balloon that “arguably, Ophelia is not just the main casualty in Hamlet but its true tragic hero.” As “outsiders to the world of Shakespeare criticism,” they detail how their Hamlet obsession has generated “a goodly share of our connubial back and forth over the last couple of years.” They focus their analysis on the analyses of other critical outsiders who were also obsessed with Hamlet—Freud, Hegel and Nietzsche among them, along with Nazi apologist Carl Schmitt. In a tone that is companionable and conversational despite the authors’ obvious erudition, the book examines Hamlet through a variety of lenses—philosophical, psychological, political, Christian redemptive—without resolving the tension between thought and action that remains the essence of the work and generates so much fascination with it. “Hamlet is not a nice guy,” write the authors, particularly to his father’s murderer and successor, for whom the brooding prince is “a potentially malevolent force who should be feared, which—reflexively—is why he lives in fear.” Yet if “Hamlet is a political tragedy in the most intense sense,” then “the Danish prince is very much present at the birth of psychoanalysis.” And its influence extends through “Joyce’s astonishing trumping of all Shakespeare criticism in Ulysses,” which is “a rumination on Hamlet from beginning to end.”

It won’t be the last word on the play, but Critchley and Webster provide plenty of food for thought and fuel for obsession.

OUR LOST BORDER Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence

Cortez, Sarah; Troncoso, Sergio—Eds. Arte Público (280 pp.) $19.95 paper | Mar. 20, 2013 978-1-55885-752-0 What has been lost is not a political boundary line between the United States and Mexico, but a 60-mile-wide cultural area above and below that line; the issues raised by the voices here reflect how and why that border has become a zone of fear, violence and bloody murder.

Cortez (Walking Home: Growing Up Hispanic in Houston, 2010, etc.) and Troncoso (Crossing Borders: Personal Essays, 2011, etc.) are writers and academics now living in Houston and New York City respectively, but both are deeply familiar with the border.

They have divided their anthology into a journalistic portion titled “The Tortured Landscape,” in which four reports appear once in their original Spanish and then in an English translation, and a subjective section titled “The Personal Stories,” which includes eight essays, two by the editors describing the losses suffered by them, their friends and their families. The judgments of Mexico are harsh, with one writer asserting that “what we see now is a ‘result of a society that has been rotting for many years.’ ” The words “corruption,” “bribery” and “greed” occur over and over again, and both the government and the |

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THE MYSTERY OF THE HANGING GARDEN OF BABYLON An Elusive World Wonder Traced

she had met her first love, a man who broke her heart in 2007.

Four years later, it became the place to which she once again felt “called” by God to “praise Him with the talents and gifts He had given me.” Davis had by then married a fellow Christian named Brew who had been helping her do something totally new: supported hikes. With his help, she broke the women’s thru-hiking record in 2008. She did not attempt the overall record until 2011, however, since she knew it would involve her somewhat reluctant then-boyfriend Brew. “I don’t know if my husband would ever have agreed to such a difficult, thankless task if we hadn’t planned the adventure directly after we got engaged,” she writes. Davis began her marathon hike in the rugged mountains of Maine, following the A.T. through 12 other states and into “the heart of backcountry Georgia.” Brew faithfully met her with food and water at designated stopping points, while fellow hiking enthusiasts accompanied her along portions of the trail. Over 46 grueling days, Davis endured injuries, illness, emotional meltdowns, sleet storms, extreme heat and stifling humidity, all of which tested the limits of her mind, body, marriage and friendships. In the end, she discovered that her 2,181mile journey was not just about living out a dream, but about understanding the nature of love. Like the A.T. itself, “love is not always easy and not always fun.” At the same time, it is the truest way to becoming “your best self.”

A serviceably written yet inspired exploration of the meaning of commitment.

Dalley, Stephanie Oxford Univ. (352 pp.) $34.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-19-966226-5

A scholar and authority on cuneiform presents evidence for the design and location of one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The gardens weren’t actually hanging, and they weren’t in the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, writes Dalley, editor and author of numerous scholarly works on Mesopotamia (Myths from Mesopotamia, 1989, etc.). Instead, she argues that they were actually in Nineveh, created at the command of Sennacherib around 700 B.C. Her evidence is principally textual, based on her profound understanding of ancient writing, architecture and even personality. After describing how she became interested in the topic, she notes how efforts to locate the gardens in Babylon have long failed. She then summarizes the classical authors who mentioned the gardens (from Diodorus Siculus to Josephus and others), concluding they were created on artificial terraces, were shaped like an amphitheater and required machinery to bring water to the site.

(She includes a couple of speculative drawings.) Dalley then spends time with the invention of the screw (necessary for drawing water to the site), arguing that Archimedes was probably a latecomer to the design. After a chapter on water management in the desert, she describes—in a chapter as dense as an untended garden—how confusions have arisen over the centuries about names and locations.

Although her writing is generally scholarly, she does crack wise occasionally—commenting, for example, about the sweet breath of the gods: “no halitosis in heaven,” she quips. Her penultimate chapter deals with a problem: If Nineveh was razed in 612 B.C., how did the Greeks and others learn about the gardens? She argues convincingly for a continuing human presence at the site, despite other accounts, and she lists some lingering speculations.

Deeply researched and rigorously argued—and certain to raise both hopes and objections.

PEOPLE, PARASITES, AND PLOWSHARES Learning from Our Body’s Most Terrifying Invaders

Despommier, Dickson Columbia Univ. (216 pp.) $28.95 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-231-16194-7

The ick factor is high—20-foot tapeworms, skin nodules filled with writhing worms, etc.—but for parasitologists, the fellow travelers chronicled in this illuminating book command respect for the artful ways they have managed cohabitation since the dawn of life.

Despommier (Emeritus, Public Health and Microbiology/ Columbia Univ.; The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, 2010, etc.) writes that his prime interests are not short-lived protozoans like the malaria parasite, deadly though it is. What fascinates him are parasites able to survive in a host for years, inflicting slow but inexorable harm. His specialty has been a species of nematode that causes trichinosis. Once the larvae are ingested, they mature, mate, produce new larvae in the gut and then move out to muscle tissue. There, they fashion a “nurse cell,” a fortress that protects the larvae as they grow to the infective stage. Such complex life cycles are typical of parasites and are delineated by Despommier in chapters devoted to hookworm, trypanosomes, lymphatic filariae, tapeworms and other scourges.

Some parasites don’t have to be eaten or gain entry through a

CALLED AGAIN Love and Triumph on the Appalachian Trail Davis, Jennifer Pharr Beaufort (300 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 10, 2013 978-0-8253-0693-8

A celebrated long-distance hiker’s account of how she captured the Appalachian Trail speed-hiking record.

For Davis, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail was no ordinary footpath. It was the place where 52

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“Man’s indomitable need for adventure is the only thing more impressive than the awesome power of nature and the brilliance of technology described in this lovingly rendered retelling of one of the most remarkable events ever to occur inside the Grand Canyon.” from the emerald mile

HOW TO DISAPPEAR A Memoir for Misfits

cut or insect bite; they can sneak in along a hair follicle. Others elude immune capture by secretions that suppress immunity or by changing their surface antigens. Despommier highlights these parasite tricks, and he discusses voluntary infection with whipworms to treat autoimmune disease by quieting an overactive immune system. Yes, the infection helps, but eventually, patients mount an immune response to kill the worms, allowing their autoimmune disease to return—all the more reason to search for the key molecules involved. Sadly, parasitic diseases remain highly prevalent, albeit with an occasional success story.

Despommier is an excellent popularizer, lacing his accounts of our invaders’ ingenuity with history and anecdotes that underscore how grateful a modern society should be for clean drinking water and sanitary facilities.

Fallowell, Duncan Terrace Books/Univ. of Wisconsin Press (246 pp.) $26.95 | $16.95 e-book | Jun. 21, 2013 978-0-299-29240-9 978-0-299-29243-0 e-book

In five dated yet beautifully crafted essays, Fallowell (Going as Far as I Can: The Ultimate Travel Book, 2008, etc.) mines some early trips he took for literary inspiration.

The destinations included sparsely populated Gozo, Malta and the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The author also searched for the fabulously wealthy buyer of a Scottish island, Maruma, who made art with “fire energy” and hunted for the inspiration behind the character Sebastian Flyte in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Fallowell’s essays take a sweet, circuitous route, which he self-consciously describes as “a progressive revelation, as a painter starting with a few lines scattered about the canvas will eventually end up with a portrait as complete as he can make it.” The author drops hints that then reappear to guide him on his pursuits, such as happening upon an entry in The Indian Yearbook 1941-2—while stoned out of his mind in Ooty in 1975—for a woman named Bapsy Pavry who seemed to encapsulate an entire era of British imperial organization and who haunted the author for the next 20 years. Fallowell’s hopeless pursuit of Maruma in the summer of 1995, luring the author fruitlessly to the Isle of Eigg to meet him, inspires a virtuosic dissertation on the subject of the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The author’s odd journalistic persecution of the shut-in Alastair Graham, living in quiet solitude in Wales, exposes more about the sexual proclivities of the author than the once-darling “it” boy and intimate of Waugh.

Fallowell ends with a swooning chronicle of London’s mad grief at the death of Princess Diana (“Beyond the Blue Horizon”).

A delicious throwback memoir, writerly and rich.

AVA GARDNER The Secret Conversations Evans, Peter; Gardner, Ava Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) $26.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4516-2769-5

Based on the movie star’s late-night ramblings, an unvarnished account of her marriages and affairs in golden-age Hollywood.

The films she made weren’t the principal basis of Ava Gardner’s fame, so it’s no great disappointment that there’s little here about The Sun Also Rises, Mogambo or The Barefoot Contessa (to name the ones people might actually remember today). British journalist Evans (Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys, 2004, etc.) encouraged her to focus on her personal life, and she let loose with plenty of frank, bawdy material about husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra, plus a long list of lovers topped by Howard Hughes and George C. Scott. But even as she was confiding that sex with Rooney was so great they were still indulging after their divorce and that Scott was a mean drunk who frequently beat her bloody, she was having second thoughts about a memoir. Broke and recovering from a stroke, she asked Evans to be her ghostwriter in 1988 because, she explained, “I either write the book or sell the jewels. And I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.” But she never really liked the idea and was often shocked to read Evans’ transcriptions of her profanity-laden speech and the salacious stories she probably wished she’d kept to herself. Indeed, since Evans got most of this material from phone calls the insomniac Gardner made when she couldn’t sleep and had been drinking, the whole project smacks of exploitation, especially since Gardner eventually decided against allowing this revealing document to be published. Evans revived the project after her death with the permission of her estate, and the pages he produced before his death last year certainly give a vivid sense of Gardner’s salty, no-BS personality. Nonetheless, reading it feels somewhat like going through a person’s bureau drawers when she’s not home.

Juicy, but it leaves a nasty aftertaste. (8-page b/w insert)

THE EMERALD MILE The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon Fedarko, Kevin Scribner (432 pp.) $30.00 | May 7, 2013 978-1-4391-5985-9

Man’s indomitable need for adventure is the only thing more impressive than the awesome power of nature and the brilliance of technology described in this lovingly rendered retelling of one of the most remarkable events ever to occur inside the Grand Canyon.

In 1983, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, a confluence of unlikely events provided three unique characters with a |

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once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the fastest to ever race through that singular marvel in a rowboat. How these quirky “dory men” were able to surmount every obstacle thrown in their way and actually attempt this remarkable undertaking is breathtaking enough. But theirs is not the only tale being told.

This is the story of the Grand Canyon itself, harkening all the way back to the days when a band of befuddled Conquistadors first stumbled upon its rim and failed to grasp its magnitude. It is also the story of the Glen Canyon Dam, that Herculean feat of human ingenuity that was constructed with the staggering imperative to harness the power of the Colorado River. Former Time staff writer Fedarko’s extensive knowledge of both, coupled with his powers of description, are almost as impressive.

Powerful and poetic passages put readers inside the adventurers’ boats, even if they have only ever imagined the Grand Canyon or seen it in pictures. “Every mile or so, the walls opened and gave way to yet another side canyon filled with secret springs and waterfalls,” he writes. “The air was alive with pink-andlavender dragonflies that paused, twitchingly, on the shafts of their suspended oars.” Each piece of the extensive back story is assembled as lyrically as the epoch-spanning walls of the canyon itself and as assuredly as the soaring concrete face of its dams.

An epic-sized true-life adventure tale that appeals to both the heart and the head. (8-page photo insert)

flat in Wimbledon with her refugee parents, daughter and journalist husband, Peter de Mendelssohn, who worked at the Ministry of Information (as did Greene). While the others enjoyed a “good war,” full of danger, sexual intrigue and heavy drinking, Spiel found her release after the war’s end, when she returned to Vienna as a correspondent and recorded unbelievable devastation. These writers left an invaluable record of the war’s toll, both physical and emotional, as researched doggedly by Feigel.

A writerly work that entices readers to seek out the titles in question.

JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON The Rivalry that Forged a Nation Ferling, John Bloomsbury (352 pp.) $30.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-60819-528-2

Two antithetical but complementary Founding Fathers, duly and exhaustively compared and contrasted.

Despite the enormous research already done in fleshing out the lives of the multitalented, ambitious Jefferson and Hamilton, Ferling (History, Emeritus/State Univ. of West Georgia; Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free, 2011, etc.) leaves no stone unturned in sifting through the biographies, walking readers through their respective childhoods and flushing out influences that shaped their livelihoods and helped form their fundamental ideologies regarding the new nation. Though he came from the Southern aristocracy, Jefferson grasped early on the need for land reform as the only way to render the new country into a classical Enlightenment model of “republicanism.” This radical ideology included emancipation of slaves, rejection of primogeniture, offering wider educational opportunities and granting freedom of religion. Hamilton, on the other hand, the survivor of a dysfunctional West Indies family, made good in life through his own industry, intelligence and connections. He was schooled in business and determined to distinguish himself in Washington’s Continental Army even as a college student; yet even there, he gleaned the need for a centralized levying of taxes and imposts, the creation of a national bank and, presciently, the use of black soldiers. Jefferson’s time as a diplomat in Paris underscored his views about alleviating the inequity of wealth, while Hamilton’s work as a tax collector and lawyer convinced him of the need for “bracing the federal system” against “unrestrained popular passion.” As Ferling scrupulously writes, the two founders had essentially different views of human nature: Hamilton believed in a natural elite, while Jefferson denounced the oppression of the many by the tyranny of the few.

The author’s comparative study is bold, brisk and lucid.

From hammering out constitutional liberties and building the nation’s banking system to jockeying in early elections, Ferling draws crisp, sharp delineations between his two subjects.

THE LOVE-CHARM OF BOMBS Restless Lives in the Second World War

Feigel, Lara Bloomsbury (528 pp.) $35.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-60819-984-6

With bombs falling across London between September 1940 and May 1941, five writers of various ages and backgrounds, selected by the sharp eye of Feigel (English and Medical Humanities/King’s Coll., London; Literature, Cinema and Politics, 1930–1945, 2010, etc.), shifted into romantic overdrive.

The imminent threat of destruction thrust the vulnerable inhabitants of this targeted city into a “suspended present” where “intense emotions could flourish,” writes the author. The five writers (Graham Greene, Elizabeth Bowen, Henry Yorke, aka Henry Green, Rose Macauley and Hilde Spiel) were decidedly literary, well-connected, mostly married and with solid humanitarian intentions that allowed them to aid in the Blitz crisis without actually going to war. Greene and Yorke hastily moved their wives and children to the countryside to pursue dalliances under fire; Greene, in Bloomsbury, and Elizabeth Bowen, in Marylebone, both worked as Air Raid Protection wardens at night. Yorke was a firefighter, and Macaulay, unmarried but involved for 20 years with her secret lover, Gerald O’Donovan, was an ambulance driver. While these four were directly involved in the action and writing their eyewitness accounts (later to be worked into their wartime novels and memoirs), the Austrian-born Jewish author Spiel was ensconced in a cramped 54

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“A former professor shows that the intellectual glow of the Enlightenment contended with the forces of religious faith, superstition and quackery.” from the dark side of the enlightenment

STRIPPERS, SHOWGIRLS, AND SHARKS A Very Opinionated History of the Broadway Musicals that Did Not Win the Tony Award

The author does not track the history of crime-solving during this period; most crimes were solved by the simple expedient of someone pointing a finger. The accused had very few rights, and those who couldn’t afford to pay a lawyer were on their own. Flanders devotes most of her book to murders—one after another after another, many sensational, others notable for the innocence of the executed. Since the author does not present the murders chronologically, it’s difficult to tell if the murder trials had any effect on the evolution of the rights of defendants. Instead, Flanders organizes the text according to who killed whom: husband/wife, servants/employers, etc. The author demonstrates the significance of the press in the investigations of the murders. From the beginning of the 19th century, broadsides and “penny dreadfuls” were circulated immediately after an event. Those and the newspapers of the time readily admitted that truth was irrelevant—profit was the goal. Their treatment of the accused depended largely on their social class.

Theaters and authors profiled victims and events from the news of the day. Charles Dickens was the most prolific of these, using incidents and even quotes in many books, including Bleak House and Oliver Twist. Though Flanders ably follows the important role played by the media, readers seeking information about the establishment of the first police force or detective department, or laws passed to protect defendants, should look elsewhere.

A grisly, grim slog through the history of Victorian murder, punctuated occasionally by intriguing historical lessons. (b/w illustrations throughout)

Filichia, Peter St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $26.99 | May 28, 2013 978-1-250-01843-4

A veteran theater critic (Newark StarLedger) walks us through the Hall of Not-So-Much Fame, speculating why some musicals win Tonys and others lose.

The subtitle is accurate: Filichia is indeed “very opinionated.”

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pipe Dream he calls “godawful,” and the 1980 film of Xanadu was “such a turd.” Still, the author’s tour is careful and well-researched. For many of the shows, he offers a summary of the plot—often running to several pages—and his knowledge of Broadway history is both wide and deep. He begins with a troubling decision: How did West Side Story not win Best Musical? And Gypsy? And Follies? Having raised the question, Filichia offers chapters that deal with the principal reasons for shows’ failures. Some, for example, are just too good—the cause of Sondheim’s suffering, he believes. Others are “lame ducks”: They closed before the voting. Leap of Faith had only 20 performances.

Some losers, as he notes, eventually won by reaping fine profits— Grease, Pippin, Beauty and the Beast among them. Sometimes, it’s the producers who seem to annoy voters (David Merrick won far fewer times than one would think); sometimes, fortune does not favor a show. Dream Girls won performance awards but not Best Musical. Still others might have done better in other years (Into the Woods lost to Phantom), and some were apparently just too small for the voters’ show-time appetites—High Spirits and The Me Nobody Knows, for example. Filichia’s longest chapter deals with shows that were generally good but flawed in some serious way—e.g., Funny Girl, Coco, Over Here!, The Color Purple and Rock of Ages, “the latest in the parade of stupid musicals, meant for crowds that think musicals are innately moronic.”

Full of information and attitude—will appeal more to aficionados than to casual fans. (8-page b/w photo insert)

THE DARK SIDE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT Wizards, Alchemists, and Spiritual Seekers in the Age of Reason

Fleming, John V. Norton (352 pp.) $27.95 | Jul. 22, 2013 978-0-393-07946-3

A former professor (Humanistic Studies/Princeton Univ.) shows that the intellectual glow of the Enlightenment contended with the forces of religious faith, superstition and quackery.

Fleming (The Anti-Communist Manifestos: Four Books That Shaped the Cold War, 2009, etc.) acknowledges that he comes at his new subject with an educated amateur’s credentials.

However, his learned but reader-friendly text undercuts his modesty. The author deals principally with significant, illustrative figures from the period—names unfamiliar to many— beginning with Valentine Greatrakes, a man who discovered he could touch and cure those afflicted with scrofula. Fleming notes that Greatrakes refused to take payment or otherwise profit from his successes—and there were many. Next, the author turns to the Convulsionists, those who experienced convulsions and were healed by novenas spoken at the SaintMédard cemetery. He follows with long sections about the Rosicrucians and Freemasons, carefully charting their history

THE INVENTION OF MURDER How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime

Flanders, Judith Dunne/St. Martin’s (576 pp.) $26.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-250-02487-9 978-1-250-02488-6 e-book

Flanders (Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain, 2006, etc.) attempts to trace the growth of murder and its detection in Victorian England. |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Jimmy Connors

The brash outsider reveals his inner self in his new memoir

By Claiborne Smith really memorable. I asked him recently whether he’s an outsider or if that’s just the story that’s built up around him.

Q: Do you think this book will cement your image as an outsider or help people understand why you were viewed that way?

A: I don’t know. I called it that because it was more or less my point of view. I didn’t join all those tennis associations when I was growing up in St. Louis; I felt I was better on my own. I never was a locker-room rat, even though I had friends. I took care of my business and got away, because when I left the courts, I wanted to be able to escape tennis a bit. When I was at a very young age, trying to play in St. Louis, I wasn’t a member of the cliques that went on, and sometimes practice was a tough thing. From an early age, I was fighting to figure out how to get better, and because of that, there was certainly a feeling I got from a lot of situations I was in of being an outsider. As I got older and turned pro and started making my way, joining and being a part of the pack just wasn’t my thing. I thought I was better on my own.

In his heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, Jimmy Connors was cast—and he didn’t exactly protest— as the bad boy of tennis. Brash and cocky, he would dramatically argue with line judges and his fellow players. He didn’t like to hang out in the locker room after matches to chitchat with his colleagues.

Connors grew up in downtrodden East St. Louis and made his way to the top of tennis through a mixture of grit, talent and unrelenting work.

His new memoir is titled The Outsider, which is perfectly apt but stresses the defiant aspects of his personality, when it’s the more quiet insights into his life—his relationship with his mother (who was also his business manager), his infidelity to his wife, his eventual forgiveness of his brother’s transgressions—that propel this honest book.

Tennis fanatics will flock to The Outsider for the tidbits Connors dishes about the game, but it’s what he reveals about himself that makes the book 56

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Q: Some writers say that writing is cathartic and helps you recover from the pain of a memory, and other writers say that writing just brings all the pain up again—what was it like for you?

A: Well, so far it’s brought it all back again. I was happy to leave my past in the past, and sitting down and writing the book certainly brought all that back and then some.

I went way back, more than 40 years, to when I was a kid, and I relived a lot of that and what that meant and how it formed me and made me what I have become, and that was a little rough. |

Q: You write that your mom was a crusading woman at a time when female managers weren’t accepted in the business of tennis but that the tennis establishment and the bureaucracy vilified her as a stage mom. Could you talk a bit about what she was like and what she means to you and your game?

A: It’s a well-known fact that my mom gave me everything: the tennis, the education, knowing what it was like to work hard and to strive to be as good as you can and give it everything you can every time you walk out there and accept nothing less. That was the late ’60s and early ’70s, and things were starting to change for women back then and dealing with the changes we were going through, burning the bras and all that, and she was dealing with men as a manager and those who ran the tennis business. She was tough. There was no doubt about it. Right or wrong the decision, she always had my best interest at heart, and that was never in question. Nothing works out 100 percent of the time, and mistakes were made along the way but always with the best intent. That’s a tough hat for anyone to wear: She was my mom, and she was my coach, and she was my friend. Where do you separate all three? And after everything we’ve been through, when the tennis was put on the shelf and we’re having dinner, how do you speak to each other?

the larger racquets, the changing of the strings that makes it easier for topspin, the way the courts are now, the grass at Wimbledon equals the clay in France— the game has become more of a power game: 150 mph serves are the norm. It seems to be a straightforward power game. Back in my day, there were some guys that had power, but maybe it wasn’t as noticeable back then; there was more of an all-around game.

Q: It seems like that’s something to lament.

A: I look back and say that I had the best of it. I’m old school, and I’m old school pretty much in everything that I do. That’s the way I was raised. I like old-school music, I like old-school movies, I like old-school sports—not that today isn’t great. It’s just where I came from and what I like. The game’s going to go full circle; it always does. Right now, we’re riding a wave of how we play now. How long will that last until somebody comes around and plays like we used to?

Claiborne Smith is the features editor at Kirkus Reviews.

Q: Do you think she just sloughed off any bad treatment from the tennis establishment, or did it get to her?

A: I think she was aware of it, but I don’t think that mattered. I think she had a job to do, and that’s really what she was out there to do. And did she slough it off?

Probably. But you get a feel for what’s going on, and if she did, she didn’t let it bother her. She was tough, anyway, and she had to be. I think a lot of the things that went on gave her a tougher skin.

Q: You write in the book that there’s a lot of wasted motion in today’s tennis, but how else has the game changed since you were active in it?

A: Well, when I was playing, it was more the basic fundamentals of how tennis was being played at the time. I had a very simple game—the movement of the feet, getting the racquet back and getting prepared, that was being tough. And certainly since that time,

The Outsider: A Memoir Connors, Jimmy Harper/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $28.99 May 14, 2013 978-0-06-124299-1

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while pausing occasionally to point out contemporary analogies. Then, he turns his attention to the “occult arts”—magic, sorcery and alchemy—and spends some time describing the equipment alchemists used and explaining the aims of their practices. He ends with critical biographies of two remarkable individuals, Alessandro Cagliostro, who rose quickly as a healer, then fell when he was associated with the scandal involving a priceless necklace (Marie Antoinette appears here); and Julie de Krüdener, who rose to prominence as a novelist (with the help of Madame de Staël), then turned to religion and numerology before her tumble from fame. Fleming continually steps back to point out the survival of some of these ideas in modern life—President Ronald Reagan, for example, was a chiliast, or one who held a “historical or theological view based on an interpretation of the Apocalypse, and by extension any attempt to apply Bible prophecy to an interpretation of secular history.”

Learned, sophisticated and amusing at times—and invariably enlightening. (20 illustrations)

a social and political force to be reckoned with in a country that, for all its economic gains, is a place where life is “steadily worsening,” rather than improving, for women.

As delightful as it is intelligent and important. (10 illustrations)

RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World Fullilove, Michael Penguin Press (480 pp.) $29.95 | Jul. 8, 2013 978-1-59420-435-7

An intriguing new angle to Franklin Roosevelt’s foreign policy leading up to and during World War II. The decisive period between the German invasion of Poland and the United States’ entry into the war upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor provides rich fodder for Australian historian Fullilove (World Wide Webs: Diasporas and the International System, 2008, etc.). The author focuses on five trusted envoys sent by Roosevelt to Britain and elsewhere in Europe during this critical juncture. Their missions would help give the president a true idea of what was going on, whether Britain had the wherewithal to stand firm and what difference the U.S. could make. Trust and personal relations were key to FDR; with the death of his favored roving diplomatic envoy Edward M. House in 1938, and his relationship with ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy tense and mutually suspicious, FDR needed information about the darkening war in Europe, and he preferred to sidestep the State Department, which he believed to be full of “dead wood.”

Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, a Groton prep-school crony, was chosen for the first exploration of London and Rome, muddied by Welles’ overweening ambitions but offering FDR a “colorful report” of Europe’s precarious situation. “Wild Bill” Donovan’s trip assured FDR that Britain held defensive capabilities, while Harry Hopkins’ stays in London were enormously fruitful in helping solidify relations between Churchill and Roosevelt and render possible the Lend-Lease Act. Hopkins’ extraordinary visit to Stalin after Operation Barbarossa reversed a defeatist regard about Russia’s ability to withstand the Nazi onslaught. As emissary, FDR’s choice of former GOP presidential opponent Wendell Willkie also proved terrifically astute. Fullilove’s focus is admirable, and he even wonders about the possible outcome had Roosevelt also thought to send a timely envoy to Japan.

Nicely drawn portraits by an authoritative historian.

PINK SARI REVOLUTION A Tale of Women and Power in India Fontanella-Khan, Amana Norton (288 pp.) $26.95 | Aug. 5, 2013 978-0-393-06297-7

A journalist’s inspiring story of the “Pink Gang,” a group of ordinary women fighting for justice in the political badlands of Northern India.

Corruption was a fact of life in Uttar Pradesh, and females were too often the victims of the social, political and economic inequalities that defined this Indian “Wild West.” But as Fontanella-Khan shows in this lively account, they were not without hope, nor were they without a champion. Sampat Pal, a community organizer who knew firsthand what it meant to endure such common gender injustices as forced childhood marriage to an older man, knew she needed to help make a difference in the lives of women. She began by creating an NGO to foster female financial independence. Soon, however, she discovered that when women came to her, their concerns included issues that affected whole communities, such as access to better roads and “bribery-free bureaucracy.” Pal responded by organizing the women her NGO helped into a stick-wielding, pink sari–uniformed group that local journalists christened the Pink Gang. Fontanella-Khan deftly interweaves her portrait of Pal and her amazing sisterhood into the larger story of a notorious 2010 court case involving a dishonest politician’s rape, abuse and imprisonment of a young girl accused of stealing from him. Through confrontation with police, marches in the street and acts of humiliation aimed at publically embarrassing “rogue politicians,” the Gang succeeded in helping to get the wronged girl freed. More significantly, they, and especially Pal, established themselves as 58

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“A leading American mystery writer and her son recall their lives as alcoholics and their diverse paths to sobriety.” from double double

HER BEST-KEPT SECRET Why Women Drink—and How They Can Regain Control

THE UNIVERSE IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality

Glaser, Gabrielle Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $24.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4391-8438-7

Goldberg, Dave Dutton (336 pp.) $27.95 | Jul. 7, 2013 978-0-525-95366-1

Glaser (The Nose: A Profile of Sex, Beauty, and Survival, 2004, etc.) probes the shift from the days of feminists like Carry Nation, popularly known as “the saloon destroyer,” to the “Cosmopolitan-sipping” Carrie Bradshaw.

As a journalist who has written features for a variety of national publications about women’s issues over the past 20 years, the author began noticing an across-the-board increase in the amount of liquor women were consuming. She examines binge drinking by college-age women intent on establishing their entitlement to be treated as equals, as well as stay-athome moms more discreetly imbibing. She profiles the afterwork scenes in Portland, Ore., and New York (both places where she has lived) and notes that alcohol is no longer considered to be unladylike. It has become a crutch, an acceptable way for women to “muscle through the postfeminist, breadwinning, or stay at-home life [they] lead.” Glaser suggests that one reason for the increase in drinking is the increase in stress for women balancing the demands of work and modern childrearing. While women may be closing the behavioral gender gap, the physical fallout of prolonged heavy drinking is more dangerous for them. Not only can it have a damaging effect on childbearing, but it also seems that women metabolize alcohol more slowly than men and suffer more physical problems. Glaser cites a 2010 Gallup poll estimating that nearly two-thirds of American women are regular drinkers, and she correlates this with statistics showing an increase in the number of women arrested for drunk driving. Furthermore, a significant proportion of heavy drinkers become alcoholics and are frequently abused sexually, a problem even within organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

An important addition to feminist literature that calls upon women to reject a spurious equality “whose consequences in broken families, broken hearts, and broken futures, are all too real” and face up to the problem of alcohol dependency before it takes over their lives. (8-page b/w photo insert)

Goldberg (Physics/Drexel Univ.; A User’s Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty, 2010, etc.) delivers relentlessly cheerful but comprehensible explanations of a dozen profound features of the universe.

Great scientific discoveries are less often the result of a new idea or equation than when someone realizes that things that appear different are, in fact, the same. Discovering that different things are identical often involves finding symmetries and almost-but-not-quite symmetries, a concept central to Goldberg’s approach to questions that seem trivial, such as, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” The Big Bang certainly began with equal amounts of matter and antimatter which should have annihilated each other, producing nothing. Yet the universe is made up of matter, with antimatter a rare laboratory curiosity. It turns out subtle differences exist between the two, but despite this, scientists don’t know why matter came out on top, although Goldberg explains what might have happened. Readers may be startled to learn that “nothing” can’t exist because it violates quantum laws. Empty space teems with particles that appear and vanish almost instantly. Not only does physics permit this, but experiments detect it. Everyone assumes that time only moves forward, but physical laws don’t require it, and all work fine if time runs backward, although this would produce paradoxes, which the author is happy to recount.

Goldberg belongs to the science-is-boring school of popularizers, so he peppers his text with jokes, apologies, digressions and cutesy asides (“In which I set everything up, so it’s probably best not to skip ahead”), but tolerant readers will learn a great deal about the current state of physics and cosmology.

DOUBLE DOUBLE A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism

Grimes, Martha; Grimes, Ken Scribner (240 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4767-2408-9

A leading American mystery writer and her son recall their lives as alcoholics and their diverse paths to sobriety.

Martha Grimes (Fadeaway Girl, 2011, etc.), winner of the 2012 Mystery Writers of America |

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Grandmaster Award, was drinking four to five strong martinis nightly when she hit bottom and entered an outpatient rehab for two years of weekly meetings. Her son Ken, a book publicist, grew up drinking and partying in the 1970s; used speed, cocaine and other drugs, finally settling on marijuana and beer; and then began “a process of redemption” at a sober beach house and in 12-step meetings. In alternating chapters, the authors craft an honest, moving and readable account of the drinking life and the struggle for recovery. While their informative book considers the many sources of help for alcoholics (AA, therapy, rehab, etc.), their main mother-son message, in Martha’s words, is “You can stop only by stopping.” Moreover: “Stopping is hard. You might as well learn how to play the violin.” Neither her mother nor father was a drinker, writes Martha, but Mrs. D., her mother’s business partner in a summer hotel, was an angry alcoholic, and Martha would drink with her often in a back office. At the age of 30, Martha bought a bottle of sherry and hid it in a closet. She never drank while writing her more than 30 mysteries. Nor was she aware of Ken’s drinking and drugging as he grew up. The latest of four generations of alcoholic men in his family, Ken offers vivid glimpses of his experiences: spending tuition money on drugs, carousing in British pubs, bad-mouthing Donald Trump at a book party, and finally learning life-changing lessons from Hollywood producer, author and cocaine-user Julia Phillips.

This brave and engaging memoir is a gift to readers struggling with drinking problems.

to New York City, where she opened her own PR agency and represented such luminaries as Betty Friedan and Elsa Maxwell.

Later, she became a publicist for Playboy and the infamous Playboy Club, and after that, a successful travel writer. Despite her career triumphs, Grossinger never came to terms with her husband’s rejection of her and became a woman who “desperately feared commitment.” Eventually, she found long-term love, but it was with a married man who refused to “break up his home any more than it was already broken.” Grossinger does not regret the trajectory of her remarkable life, nor does she apologize for it, but the narrative is disappointingly pedestrian and offers only glimmers of poignancy.

Honest but undistinguished.

GOD REVISED How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age

Guengerich, Galen Palgrave Macmillan (240 pp.) $25.00 | May 28, 2013 978-0-230-34225-5

A pastoral look at what “God” means in the face of modernity.

Guengerich, senior minister of New York City’s All Souls Church, has lived at two opposite ends of the religious spectrum. He was raised as a conservative Mennonite but is now a pastor in the liberal Unitarian Universalist denomination. As a young man, he came to the conclusion that the biblical God of his youth was a myth and a farce. However, he soon realized that religion still had a role to play in his life and the lives of others. In the Unitarian Universalist Church, he found an outlet for his views.

In this work, Guengerich proposes a nontraditional outlook on religion and faith in the modern scientific age. The author unequivocally rejects the idea of God as a supernatural being.

In his view, modern science shows that there was no creator or mover of the universe, and reason and logic disprove the divinity of God as put forth in monotheistic Scriptures. However, he still proposes a “God,” defined as “the experience of being connected to all that is—all that is present, as well as all that is past and all that is possible.” As such, he writes, each of us is “the face of God in this world,” a tremendous responsibility to be lived out in community. Despite his commitment to reason, Guengerich relies on the mystical and mysterious to sell his concept of God. “Faith is something no one fully understands,” he writes. “It peers into the realm of mystery and transcendence….Faith is a commitment to live with the belief that life is a wondrous mystery.”

Guengerich enriches his book with specific human elements drawn from his pastoral career, making it accessible and even evocative. However, he is simply following in the footsteps of thinkers across time who yearned for spirituality but rejected the world of the spirit.

MEMOIR OF AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN An Unconventional Life Well Lived Grossinger, Tania Skyhorse Publishing (304 pp.) $24.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-62087-615-2

A former New York publicist’s memoir, written as an “open letter” to an imaginary daughter, about the circumstances and personal choices that caused her to remain childless.

Grossinger grew up the only daughter of a widowed Polish-born woman with a mysterious past. When she was 7, her father’s first cousin and scion of the family that owned Grossinger’s, “the most famous Jewish resort hotel in America,” invited mother and daughter to live in the Catskills. Treated like the poor relations they were, Karla worked long hours as a hostess without complaint while the author “did whatever the Grossinger family told me” and never expressed the anger she felt at the treatment she and her mother received. The author still managed to mingle with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Lewis and Jackie Robinson, who stayed at the hotel as performers or visitors. Precocious and intelligent, she began college at Brandeis at age 15 and then began work as a fundraiser for the City of Hope in Los Angeles. After a brief marriage that would leave her emotionally shattered for life, Grossinger went 60

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“A thriller of a tale and a worthy scene-setter for this summer’s trophy defense in San Francisco Bay.” from the billionaire and the mechanic

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF FOOD RIGHTS The Escalating Battle Over Who Decides What We Eat

THE BILLIONAIRE AND THE MECHANIC How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, the America’s Cup

Gumpert, David E. Chelsea Green (280 pp.) $19.95 paper | Jul. 4, 2013 978-1-60358-404-3

Guthrie, Julian Grove (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-8021-2135-6 978-0-8021-9331-5 e-book

A blogger and advocate journalist stacks the deck against the government’s over-regulation of food, employing salient stories of individuals “entangled in the enforcement crackdown” amid their efforts to provide nutrient-dense products, including raw milk and fermented foods.

Gumpert (The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, 2009, etc.) illustrates how Americans have lost the freedom to make their own decisions when it comes to procuring and consuming food, which he considers outrageous. Through extensive passages on organizations, such as the now-shuttered California-based Rawesome Foods, Washington, D.C.–based Grassfed on the Hill, accounts of their Amish suppliers and their encounters with the FDA as well as local public health officials, Gumpert considers some of the still largely unresolved legalities surrounding the sale of raw milk, pastured eggs and other raw foods. He also presents a brief overview of issues familiar to those engaged in food rights activism, including debates on the merits of raw milk in alleviating health problems versus fears of pathogens and outbreaks.

Gumpert makes it clear that he sides with the right for private groups to operate without interference, raising basic yet worthy questions on fundamental rights with well-chosen examples of police overreaction, including undercover raids, trespassing, confiscation, mass-disposal of foods and dramatic arrests.

Still, he does not write with an overly alarmist tone and fairly portrays the quirks and flaws in the individuals involved—e.g., author and war food activist Aajonus Vonderplanitz.

Enriched with historical references ranging from Pasteur to de Tocqueville, this is an accessible, if at times exhaustively detailed, work valuable for its reportage of incidents that have remained largely unknown to the average citizen.

How billionaire Larry Ellison and his Oracle team succeeded in returning the America’s Cup, the premier prize in global yachting, to the United States.

Victory came in 2010 when USA-17, Ellison’s state-of-theart, carbon-fiber composite boat regained the cup after failures in 2003 and 2007. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Guthrie’s (The Grace of Everyday Saints: How a Band of Believers Lost Their Church and Found Their Faith, 2011) splendid elaboration of the victory also encompasses the history of the race and the competitors and their boats from its beginnings in the mid-19th century. She marks off clearly which parts of the team’s success were due to luck, which to money, and which to skill and superior technology, and she ably captures the parallel competition between men and their boats and the power of nature working through ocean and weather. Guthrie presents the successive challenges Ellison had to overcome as he developed the skills, the team and the technology that could tame the waves and human competition. Part of her story involves the organization of a kind of insurrection in the elite world of yacht clubs. Working with radiator mechanic Norbert Bajurin, commodore of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, Ellison took on both privilege and inherited wealth, as represented by Ernesto Bertarelli and his Swiss Team Alinghi, which had won in 2007. Their 2010 rematch brought together some of the same leading competitors from Ellison’s first attempt in New Zealand in 2003. Guthrie crisply sketches the complex process that was required for Ellison to establish his own position in the top ranks of yachting and organize the winning team in 2010.

A thriller of a tale and a worthy scene-setter for this summer’s trophy defense in San Francisco Bay.

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FORBIDDEN MUSIC The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis

The author is the founder and CEO of PAX Scientific, a green corporation that specializes in engineering designs for “more-energy-efficient industrial equipment…based on nature’s fluid flow geometries.” He suggests that corporations should increasingly look to nature for inspiration, as has the modern pharmaceutical industry—e.g., synthesizing the active ingredients found in quinine and penicillin. An early such example of biomimicry, writes Harman, was Archimedes’ screw. Even something as mundane as barbed wire has a natural model in the use of “fencing woven from naturally occurring briars,” and the invention of “the hook-and-loop structure” of Velcro was inspired by George de Mestral’s annoyance at being attacked by burrs while hiking. At Cornell University, the long blades of wind turbines have been replaced by panels made from foam blocks that vibrate, creating a “vibro-wind” similar to tree leaves shaken by the wind. At the University of Maryland, they have created a “a mini, single-bladed, helicopter” based on the “single-winged samara seed.” The author also discusses the advances made by his own company and makes the unsubstantiated claim that PAX fans are 50 percent more energy efficient than those of competitors. Would-be entrepreneurs will appreciate Harman’s account of the difficulties he has experienced trying to find seed capital and to market his inventions, as well as his game plan for issuing common stock in order to attract “source money from angel investors.” The author is not shy about self-promotion: “Now I find myself credited with being among the first scientists to make biomimicry a cornerstone of modern future engineering.”

A useful update on recent developments in biomimicry and an intriguing case for innovative green technology that goes beyond sustainability. (First serial to Discover Magazine.

Author feature in Hemispheres)

Haas, Michael Yale Univ. (352 pp.) $38.00 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-300-15430-6

A veteran recording producer and authority on Jewish music debuts with a richly detailed history of Jewish musicians—not just composers—who were threatened by the Holocaust.

The author set for himself some difficult tasks: telling riveting personal stories, providing historical and cultural contexts, explaining the types of music that composers were creating before and during the rise of the Nazis, charting the conflicts about music that raged among the musicians themselves. On nearly every page, Haas reveals his vast knowledge about the era and its principals, but his style is often thick and academic, and many long quotations block rather than enhance the flow of his narrative. Appearing throughout is critic Julius Korngold, early champion of Gustav Mahler; the author includes long passages of Korngold’s writing. Haas describes the musical life in Austria and Germany before the Nazis and reminds us that many Jews in Germany were secular and defined themselves as German. He tells the story of the end of World War I and the “mass exodus” of intellectuals and artists from Vienna to Berlin. He follows the rise of expressionism and continually brings before us the names of artists unfamiliar to many— Ernst Toch, Hanns Eisler, Edmund Meisel, Hans Gál, Egon Wellesz and many more. Haas describes the conflict between the Romantics and the rising influence of Arnold Schoenberg, and he does not neglect Wagner’s ugly influence. Many musicians who escaped the Nazis found employment in the film and other entertainment industries. Americans, writes the author, were glad to welcome into their orchestras the notables from Europe. Haas also spends some time on musical life within the death camps and charts the effects on the music world of denazification after the war.

An important text whose dense design may dissuade some general readers but whose thorough research supplies some significant pages in the account of some of history’s darkest decades.

A CURIOUS DISCOVERY An Entrepreneur’s Story Hendricks, John S. Harper Business (376 pp.) $28.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-06-212855-3

A memoir from Hendricks, the founder and chairman of Discovery Communications, the world’s leading educational communications and TV company, which boasts more than 400 million subscribers living in 215 countries.

The author tells how he built the basis for his present dreams to provide educational TV services to the 400 million households worldwide that lack electricity by working through the world’s village schools. He describes how he had been drawn to the educational power of TV as a child growing up in Alabama in the 1950s. Moving into public service as one of the first lobbyists at the federal level for university programs and then the founder of a newsletter company servicing academic science programs, Hendricks recalls how he prepared for the opportunity that would present itself in September 1982, when he

THE SHARK’S PAINTBRUSH Biomimicry and How Nature is Inspiring Innovation

Harman, Jay White Cloud Press (326 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-935952-84-8

Green entrepreneur Harman offers a trendy pitch for innovative green capitalism.

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“Even those unable to carry a tune will find that Horn’s prose hits a high note.” from imperfect harmony

founded “Cable Educational Network,” the predecessor to the Discovery Channel. The author had accumulated insight into the world of documentary films, cable TV and the broadcasting system, as well as the untapped potential of 25 percent of viewers whose interest in scientific and other factual content was going unaddressed, which Hendricks calls “the magic number that would one day create a multibillion-dollar industry.” The author also shares his own view of the characteristics that shape a successful entrepreneur. For Hendricks, the key has always been curiosity, which he views as “the fuel of human progress,” something that can be taught “to anyone, at any age, anywhere in the world.” Recruiting the people and raising the finances to build the capacity called on still other qualities, which the author’s narrative helps bring out. Hendricks also explores the economics of cable broadcasting and where the technology of global educational TV is headed.

An interesting tale of how curiosity and entrepreneurship merged to transform TV and education. (8-page b/w photo insert)

the manner in which you pass your life,” he writes. “How, then, do you want to live?”

Thought-provoking new views on transforming our relationships with currency.

IMPERFECT HARMONY Finding Happiness Singing with Others

Horn, Stacy Algonquin (256 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-61620-041-1

The joyful journey of one woman’s life through song.

“Singing had punctuated all the best moments of my life. And created them,” writes Horn (Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, 2009, etc.). So, instead of keening on the floor alone when her brief marriage ended and her life hit rock bottom, it was only logical for the author to turn to singing. She joined the Choral Society of Grace Church in New York City and has rarely looked back over the past 30 years, even though she is the first to admit that her singing voice is less than perfect.

With wit and honesty, Horn opens the doors to a world nonsingers rarely see or hear: the world of music as it is experienced by those who write it and who perform it. The endless weeks spent in rehearsals, taking notes, doing warm-ups and repeating the same sections over and over again until every note was perfect are just a few of the many behind-the-scene moments related by the author. As the years progressed, choir directors came and went, but Horn managed to learn from each of them, as well as her fellow choir members, on how to let go of her worries and simply bask in the joy of singing. Music is one constant that allows Horn full expression of who she is; she readily admits to crying throughout many concerts from the emotional impact of the surrounding sounds. She also gained enough courage to record her voice and enter it into a “Virtual Choir” on the Internet. The author interweaves entertaining and informative history on many well-known Masses and requiems with her reflections on what it meant to sing those particular pieces.

Even those unable to carry a tune will find that Horn’s prose hits a high note.

SAVED How I Quit Worrying About Money and Became the Richest Guy in the World

Hewitt, Ben Rodale (224 pp.) $24.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-60961-408-9

How one man changed his views about money.

Tired of spending more time than he wanted in pursuit of money, Hewitt (The Town that Food Saved, 2010, etc.) decided to investigate why so many hours are used on this seemingly endless cycle. That’s when he discovered Erik Gillard, a man surviving, even thriving, below the poverty level, perfectly content living simply in a small town in Vermont. Sure, he had no cellphone, computer, iPod or iPad. He borrowed vehicles and lived in a less-than-100-square-foot house, with no electricity or running water. And yet, Hewitt was intrigued because Gillard was happy, had plenty of friends, a job, a girlfriend and strong ties within the community. He also had time to spend the day hunting for morels or skiing through the woods—time to just be. Blending pleasing prose about his natural surroundings with an in-depth and understandable analysis of the American monetary and economic systems, Hewitt provides readers much food for thought. The need for things has created environmental problems around the world, and society has become consumer-oriented with tangible objects—such as a house or car, purchased with paper and plastic—items that only hold value because of the faith placed in them. “I find myself working more to earn for no other reason than to accumulate,” he writes, “to strengthen my so-called safety net, even as doing so pulls me out of the flow of my life and into the choppy current of money.” What does it really matter when all is said and done? “The manner in which you pass your time is |

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“The most complete and authoritative account to date of the response of the central bankers to the global financial crisis.” from the alchemists

AGAINST THEIR WILL The Secret History of Medical Experimentation on Children in Cold War America

“ON MY WAY” The Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and Porgy and Bess

Hornblum, Allen M.; Newman, Judith L.; Dober, Gregory J. Palgrave Macmillan (288 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-230-34171-5

Horowitz, Joseph Norton (256 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-393-24013-9

A veteran music critic and historian excavates the long-buried story of the signal contributions made to the original staged production of Porgy and Bess by director Rouben Mamoulian (1897–1987).

Horowitz (Moral Fire: Musical Portraits from American’s Fin de Siècle, 2012, etc.) has more than one entree on his narrative plate.

Throughout, he reminds us of the condescension that many in “high” music culture displayed toward Gershwin, and he reprints a number of comments from reviews of Porgy and Bess (and of other Gershwin works) that demonstrate a reluctance to take him seriously. Gershwin’s story is prominent, but the author has done his greatest service by escorting Mamoulian back out onto the stage and celebrating his many accomplishments as a stage and film director. But Horowitz begins with his own “epiphany” about Gershwin. He had adopted the received opinions about the composer, but then, later, he began identifying almost Wagnerian aspects of his composition, and his opinion escalated.

The author then tells the story of the original 1925 novella Porgy

by DuBose Heyward. He explains how Heyward and his wife converted it into a stage play and how Mamoulian altered the script, directed the play and became, for a while, a star himself.

Horowitz emphasizes Mamoulian’s ferocious planning for a production—every movement, rhythm, sound, silence and shadow.

And we see, too, how his casts deeply respected and cared for him. Mamoulian went out to Hollywood, and the author talks about each of his films and writes almost in celebration of Love Me Tonight (1932). He carefully describes Mamoulian’s contributions to Porgy and Bess and his subsequent success directing the original productions of Oklahoma! and Carousel. He was hired to direct the film of Porgy and Bess, but all fell apart—as did Mamoulian’s career.

A resurrection story that offers a significant contribution to the history of American popular theater.

The harrowing story of the exploitation of institutionalized children in American medical research.

Until the late 20th century, doctors routinely experimented on the so-called idiots, morons and feebleminded of America’s orphanages and hospitals to test vaccines and procedures. Warehoused in places like the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth, the “genetically unfit” became ready test subjects for cure-seeking researchers from MIT, Harvard and other universities. In their revealing account, Hornblum (Sentenced to Science: One Black Man’s Story of Imprisonment in America, 2007, etc.), Newman (Human Development and Family Studies/Penn State, Abington) and medical journalist Dober focus on the personal motives and societal forces that prompted this dark, little-understood chapter in medical history. The publication of Paul De Kruif ’s best-selling Microbe Hunters (1926) and other admiring books glorified medical researchers and convinced the public that doctors could do no wrong, and the eugenics movement taught disdain for the weak and institutionalized.

Ultimately, the feebleminded became convenient test subjects for unethical experimentation. Many researchers, including dermatologists, dentists and psychologists, were motivated by noble causes; others sought fame and wealth. Like policemen upholding the “blue wall of silence,” the medical establishment looked the other way, knowing full well that experiments involving radiation and crude lobotomies were harmful and conducted without parental consent. The book is filled with vivid stories of researchers, many well-known, spurred on by Cold War pressures to discover cures and preventives, who experimented on children with fungicides, radioactive milk, LSD and birthcontrol injections. Their work stemmed from “an exploitative ethos that reeked of both eugenics and paternalism,” write the authors, who note that these unethical practices ended several decades ago with the introduction of medical safeguards and oversight committees. They also write that U.S. drug testing has been conducted in China, India and other nations ever since.

A somewhat overwritten eye-opener about medical advances achieved on the backs of society’s weakest members.

THE ALCHEMISTS Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire Irwin, Neil Penguin Press (400 pp.) $29.95 | Apr. 4, 2013 978-1-59420-462-3

Holding that monetary policy is too subtle and complex to entrust to politicians beholden to the whims of an uninformed electorate, Washington Post 64

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financial columnist Irwin convincingly argues that independent central banks are an essential element of responsible economic stewardship.

The author rises to the defense of those who control the money supply, delivering a paean to central banking and the almost mystical power it wields over the economy. His characterization of Ben Bernanke, Jean-Claude Trichet and Mervyn King, leaders of the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England, respectively, as almost demigods is perhaps a bit hyperbolic; he claims that their actions in 2007 and 2008 “would create the world to come.” Unexpected wit and an eye for drama keep the meticulously researched minutiae of monetary policy from reading too much like a baseball box score, but readers without a background in economics or finance may find all of the jargon bewildering. Irwin is effusive in his praise for the overall performance of the central banks. He singles out Bernanke specifically for his measured response and political savvy, while King, who “seemed to disdain bankers personally, and was privately contemptuous of their views,” receives mixed marks for his failure to play well with others. The close personal relationships of the three, forged over countless hours communing in exclusive clubs and at the sidelines of global conferences, are contrasted favorably with the messy backbiting and rabble-rousing of the political process. Enlightening chapters about the winding history of central banking and the People’s Bank of China have less to do with the main narrative but add depth to the book as a whole, making it an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand the role played by the guardians of the economy.

The most complete and authoritative account to date of the response of the central bankers to the global financial crisis.

documents, evaluates sources critically and eventually scrapes away from Earp’s image the gilding that cultural history has applied. Earp was only marginally different from the men he— in company with a couple of his brothers and tubercular Doc Holliday—helped shoot near (not in, the author assures us) the O.K. Corral. (Isenberg’s account of the 30-second battle consumes only a couple of pages.) The author notes that, later, Earp had been evanescing, but in 1896 he emerged to referee—in clearly corrupt fashion—a big boxing match. This brought his name back, and in the emerging era of mass media, Earp found he could not flee his notoriety. So he decided to cash in on it.

After his death, the flood of films and books and TV shows has never really subsided. Isenberg shows us Earp as an early Jay Gatsby, reinventing himself continually.

Thorough research enriches the paint in this convincing and often unflattering portrait.

QUEEN OF THE AIR A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus Jensen, Dean Crown (320 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-307-98656-6

A story of circus fame and all its accompanying troubles from the years when the “greatest show on Earth” was at its glamorous best.

Art dealer and former Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel art critic Jensen (The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins, 2006, etc.) sets out to explain why his subject, Lillian Leitzel (1891–1931), was so beloved in her time. Born into a circus family and trained from an early age on the trapeze and rings, her talent was clearly special. She moved easily from a family show to her own success and fame, and Jensen documents the entire road. The author provides an adequate biography, but he doesn’t make it obvious why readers today should care. His initial descriptions of her aerial abilities and parentage are arresting, but as the narrative progresses, it starts to feel stale. Leitzel’s signature move may have been amazing to behold, but words can only go so far in describing the visual wonder. Despite Jensen’s constant reminders about her salary, her living arrangements and her diva style, it is easy to overlook why she was crowned as performing royalty. Interwoven with Leitzel’s take of fame is the love story between Leitzel and Alfredo Codona, a trapeze artist. Fraught with the obstacles of chaperones, spouses and danger, the story of the affair is full of intrigue. The community, dedication and the transient nature of the circus are a fantastic backdrop for the action, but those looking for a broader exploration of the entire community should look elsewhere. This book revolves around Leitzel and Alfredo.

Despite the inherent tension in the world of the circus and the whiff of glamour surrounding the circus queen, her story will appeal mostly to true circus enthusiasts. (27 b/w photos)

WYATT EARP A Vigilante Life

Isenberg, Andrew C. Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) $30.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-8090-9500-1

Isenberg (History/Temple Univ.; Mining California: An Ecological History, 2005, etc.) examines the life and legend of the famous lawman/liar/faro dealer/ boxing referee/advisor on Western movies.

This is likely the only biography of Wyatt Earp (1848–1929) that compares him with Henry, not Jesse, James. Although he focuses on Earp’s biography—with both actual and Earp-concocted facts—the author pauses periodically to provide historical context and offer literary and other analogies. Melville has a cameo, as do Damon and Pythias and Prince Hal. Even Freud (unnamed) appears in an allusion to the Colt Buntline Special as phallic symbol. Isenberg also alludes continually to Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, Stuart Lake’s 1931 biography that told Earp’s story mostly the way he’d wanted it told—i.e., falsely. Isenberg carefully separates the historic from the hysterical, examines |

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AMERICA’S LONGEST SIEGE Charleston, Slavery, and the Slow March Toward Civil War

Kendall (Literary Studies/The New School; Autobiography of a Wardrobe, 2009) begins with the 1920 class of the Petrograd Imperial Theater School, which began their ballet training during the last days of the czar. When he was 9, Balanchine’s parents took his sister to audition, and while she was rejected, he was quickly chosen—against his wishes. He hated dancing. The students’ housing was warm and comfortable, food was bountiful, and carriages were provided to take students to performances. That abruptly ended in 1917, and the struggle to survive after the revolution illustrates the dancers’ resolve. This is not so much a biography of Balanchine but a story of the dedication of all these young dancers and their drive for perfection. Their determination to perform, along with all Russians’ love for the arts, particularly ballet, ensured their survival under the Bolsheviks. Was his muse the ballerina Lidia Ivanova, or was it the experience of his intensive classical training? He absorbed Ivanova’s brilliant new ways of movement inspired by a visit from Isadora Duncan. Ivanova’s death, just before Balanchine’s small group left Russia in 1924, deprived the world of a great ballerina but left him with an ideal to copy as he wrote for others. While Balanchine was a great dancer, this is when his choreographic talents were born. His classical training is what enabled him to create the avant-garde dancing that is today’s norm.

The ballet students barely survived through the civil war, foraging for food, burning furniture for heat, searching for venues and always dancing. Kendall’s great success is her illustration of the profound love and devotion of these dancers for their art. (30 b/w halftones)

Kelly, Joseph Overlook (368 pp.) $28.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-59020-719-2

A tenacious chronicle of the pernicious construction of South Carolina’s slave-driven political orthodoxy.

Kelly (Literature/Coll. of Charleston) thoroughly demonstrates how the “slaveocracy” of the state repeatedly swept away any elements of good conscience, from Charleston’s founding in 1670 through Reconstruction, in favor of “unchecked greed” and the status quo. When rice became the colony’s first cash crop, the use of slaves to do the “backbreaking, miserable, dangerous” labor of clearing the swamps that the white indentured servants would not do provided the first rationale for the importation of Africans. The wealth was held by a few very rich families on vast plantations, creating an entrenched, incestuous oligarchy. While the other American colonies were rallying around the idea that “all men were created equal,” the handful of powerful Lowcountry dynasties was anxious to get back to the work of making a profit after the Revolution, resuming the suspended slave trade thanks to cotton production while institutionalizing the notion of “paternalism” to render their slave-owning more palatable. The Denmark Vesey Rebellion of 1822 “burned all liberal sentiment” from the hearts of South Carolina whites, Kelly eloquently writes, making room for arguments for “perpetual slavery” as a necessary evil (and even, as a civilizing force on Africans, a “positive good”), encouraging politicians like Charleston Mayor James Hamilton Jr. to expel free blacks and instigate police-state measures. As vice president under President Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun cast his deciding vote against the tariff of 1828, thus spearheading the nullification movement, which would strengthen the sense of states’ rights and justification for secession. Kelly delineates the ideological straitening for a “lost generation” headed for war.

An elucidating study by a Charleston historian who sees the shadow of nullification still looming. (16-page b/w insert)

WHEN THE MONEY RUNS OUT The End of Western Affluence

King, Stephen D. Yale Univ. (304 pp.) $30.00 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-300-19052-6

A high-ranking economist employed by a major international bank expresses pessimism about the future of the economy in the United States and other traditionally powerful nations.

King issued many of the same warnings in Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity (2010). Here, the author updates and expands his argument based on his vantage point in London, where he is group chief economist and global head of economics and asset allocation research at the HSBC banking conglomerate. King does not blindly defend gigantic banks when discussing the recent world financial crisis, but he does suggest that there is plenty of blame to distribute among smaller banks and nonbanking institutions. He believes central banks must act as a regulator of individual banks, forcing policies favoring long-term stability over short-term profit. But a conundrum exists, he writes, since national banks cannot effectively regulate international banking practices. As a result, King calls for regulation that crosses national boundaries but is vague about how that might actually work. Banking consumers might

BALANCHINE AND THE LOST MUSE Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer

Kendall, Elizabeth Oxford Univ. (304 pp.) $35.00 | Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-19-995934-1

It’s remarkable that so many great dancers and choreographers came out of repressive, revolutionary Russia. This book is the story of how and why.

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“Intriguing findings that should play a transformative role, not only in the field of psychology, but also in corporate boardrooms.” from seeing what others don’t

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MAD PROFESSOR A True Tale of Endangered Species, Illegal Drugs, and Attempted Murder

have to pay some of the costs through fees on checking accounts and ATM use. The author moves beyond banks to examine how the increasing financial clout of nations such as China will lessen the power of the Western nations and quite likely lead to further economic chaos. Policymakers in Western nations, whether they believe in austerity as the solution to the global economic mess or in larger government stimulus programs, are failing to grasp the enormity of the overhaul needed. King worries about an “optimism bias” emanating from both the austerity and stimulus camps, which would prevent sweeping reform.

A well-written book, mostly free of jargon, that is short on practical solutions and thus, profoundly pessimistic.

Kobel, Peter Lyons Press (288 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-7627-7377-0

Longtime magazine journalist Kobel (Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture, 2007) documents the controversial life and death of Professor John Buettner-Janusch (1924-1992), the world’s expert on lemurs and a man so out of control that he served two prison terms for two separate crimes.

Buettner-Janusch gained his reputation as an animal anthropologist at Duke University and New York University. There is no question his research on the lemur species added greatly to the knowledge of animal and human behavior. However, the flamboyant professor struck almost everybody who knew him as strange due to his moodiness, authoritarian manner, persecution complex, sartorial choices and sexual preferences. While married to a fellow researcher, he maintained a modicum of equilibrium, but after her cancer-related death in 1977, the professor’s strangeness increased noticeably. Law enforcement authorities began investigating the use of his NYU research laboratory for the manufacture of LSD and other illegal narcotics unrelated to the lemur research. Charged with felonies by federal prosecutors, Buettner-Janusch ended up in prison after a jury trial. Released in 1983 but still on parole, the former famous researcher could not find meaningful employment. He began to plot revenge against men and women he felt had betrayed him, focusing especially on the federal judge, Charles Brieant, who presided at the drug manufacturing trial. In 1987, the unbalanced former professor sent poisoned chocolates to the judge’s home on Valentine’s Day. The judge never consumed the candy, but his wife did and became seriously ill. Buettner-Janusch pled guilty and received a new prison sentence. He died in prison in 1992. He rarely, if ever, expressed remorse and died mostly forgotten.

A well-researched, clearly written biography of a strange character.

SEEING WHAT OTHERS DON’T The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights Klein, Gary PublicAffairs (304 pp.) $27.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-61039-251-8

Experimental psychologist Klein (Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making, 2009, etc.) examines the transformative role of

creative insight.

The author recounts a story that a policeman told him about a routine patrol, during which his partner noticed the driver of a new BMW flicking cigarette ash on the car’s upholstery and immediately realized that the vehicle was stolen. Klein decided to explore the mechanism behind such aha moments. Seeking to discover “how people come up with unexpected insights in their work,” he began to search for clues by systematically collecting human interest stories. These include accounts by firefighters who survived life-threatening situations by improvising, Dr. Michael Gottlieb’s realization that the epidemic killing young gay men was an immune disorder, and financial analyst Harry Markopolos’ recognition that Bernie Madoff had to be a crook. Two decades earlier, Klein was one of the pioneers in the field of “naturalist decision making, which studies the way people think in natural settings,” as opposed to contrived laboratory experiments. He used the same method to probe the creative process, and he shares a fascinating array of illustrative examples of creativity—e.g., Darwin’s recognition of the role of natural selection and Daniel Boone’s rescue of his daughter from Indian kidnappers. After painstaking analysis, Klein identified the three primary drivers: making unexpected connections (the policeman’s observation), identifying contradictions (Markopolos smelled a fraud) and being driven to despair by an unresolved problem (Gottlieb’s dying HIV patients). In each case, the bottom line was freedom to substitute out-of-the-box thinking for a preconceived, systematic approach and the willingness to take the risk of making errors.

Intriguing findings that should play a transformative role, not only in the field of psychology, but also in corporate boardrooms.

THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB A True Story Koppel, Lily Grand Central Publishing (384 pp.) $28.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-4555-0325-4

Koppel (The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal, 2008, etc.) explores the cohesiveness of a group of wives who formed an unofficial support group and their individual development during the early years of the Cold War. |

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With the announcement on April 9, 1959, of the “nation’s first astronauts,” the women’s lives changed, as they became instant celebrities along with their husbands. From Project Mercury to the Apollo program and the moon landings, the author traces how the lives of the wives of the original astronauts were transformed by these developments. Ubiquitous reporters, anxious to cover their most intimate moments, and their new status as American icons, intruded into every aspect of their daily lives.

Being impeccably groomed became yet another challenge to their existence as de facto single mothers; their husbands were away training for their missions into space. Although they were familiar with the typical stresses facing the wives of career military officers—their husbands’ long absences (sometimes on dangerous missions), poor pay, dismal living quarters, frequent moves and more—this public exposure was a first. They had their own part to play in a less obvious aspect of winning the Cold War: the public-relations offensive. The wives were guests at the White House and joined their husbands on international goodwill tours, showcasing the much-envied American lifestyle. Not only were astronauts judged by their own performance, but their wives and children were also rated. Koppel describes their appearance on the pages of Life magazine, looking like “scoops of ice cream” in their “pressed pastel shirtwaists.” The glamor of Jackie Kennedy was a welcome change, and they enjoyed the perks that came with celebrity, including a lucrative contract with Life.

Insightful social history with a light touch. (Author tour to Houston, Orlando, Washington, D.C., New York)

corporate counterparts—McDonald’s, Unilever, Wal-Mart, Tiffany—where forward-thinking executives saw their best interests served by environmental responsibility. Occasionally, Larkin’s enthusiasm gets the better of her argument—“Nothing except nature can transform the world as swiftly as can business”—and even the most ardent greenhouse gas advocate appreciates that we do not have enough understanding of climate and meteorology to state that, “Today’s extreme weather is caused by greenhouse gas emissions.” Such comments undermine her authority, as does her vested interest in biomimicry and the tired cheerleading of such proclamations as, “This is our chance to create a new paradigm.”

Generally frank and well-meaning but also boosterish and not always tight in its arguments.

ON THE NOODLE ROAD From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta

Lin-Liu, Jen Riverhead (320 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 25, 2013 978-1-59448-726-2

Global discoveries in pasta and wedlock by the Chinese-American author of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China (2008).

Newly married, having started a cooking school in Beijing (Black Sesame Kitchen) and still restlessly seeking new tastes and adventures, Lin-Liu resolved to travel the Silk Road, from Beijing to Rome, to explore how the art of making noodles evolved, from northwestern Chinese pulled noodles and dumplings to ravioli and risotto. Indeed, the author first had to settle the chicken-or-the-egg question: Did Marco Polo really introduce pasta to Italy after his trip east, or was pasta already enjoyed long before by the Etruscans? (A 4,000-year-old millet noodle was found in 2005 in Lajia but has since disintegrated.)

Closing her cooking school and taking along her cooking teacher, her chef and her new American husband for the first leg of the journey by train north, to the land of the noodles, Lin-Liu proceeds by weaving autobiographical details into her percolating account—e.g., that she grew up under Taiwanese parents predominantly eating rice. She also provides historical lore; for example, wheat flour originated in Iran many thousands of years ago, yet the Chinese did not begin eating wheat noodles until the third century. Moving westward, from China through Tibet and further west to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey, poking into kitchens or observing chefs, she and her husband, who was more indulgent than enthusiastic, coming along largely for safety, penetrated confounding ethnic zones where the natives largely claimed noodles as their own, creating dishes with distinctive regional flavors. Ultimately, the travelers’ arrival in Italy, where they made pasta with the sfoglias (female pasta pros), feels anticlimactic.

A footloose, spontaneous and appetite-whetting journal of culinary adventure.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEBT The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy Larkin, Amy Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-137-27855-5

A mostly cleareyed look at how taking environmental concerns into account is good business.

Greenpeace veteran and environmental activist Larkin tenders a highly optimistic combination of her love for the natural world with an admiration for the dynamism and effectiveness of business, in particular, how to tame the near-unlimited influence of profit to guide our future relationship with the Earth. We must rewire the economy to connect financial and environmental debt, “defined as polluting and/or damaging actions that will cost other parties (people, businesses or governments) real money in the future”—e.g., the effect of global warming spiking the costs of cotton, wheat and soybeans, or the real cost of coal once the various health issues are figured into the equation. Larkin proposes a framework of action she calls “nature means business.” Pollution must not be free or subsidized, and government must pay a vital—and even regulatory—role to catalyze technological answers and prevent environmental destruction. The author explores some surprising nexuses between environmental activists and their 68

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“A moving account of how one woman’s willpower saved her home and her family.” from bootstrapper

BOOTSTRAPPER From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm

basic question: “Why produce this crazy number of cheeses?

I mean, why not just one nice sharp cheddar?” Lison’s query engendered nearly 7,000 miles of travel and the consumption of copious amounts of artisanal cheese. The author trekked from high alpine barnyards to sparkling multinational corporate headquarters, talking with shepherds and scientists. Along the way, Lison discourses on the merits of hand milking vs. portable milking machines and the history of the classification system, which consists of five basic types of cheese. The author explores what makes some cheeses so stinky and why, since the Middle Ages Roquefort, cheese and the concept of appellation have been intertwined. Lison attended what she calls a “cheesetasting debutante ball” and explains the real meaning behind the Camembert War. “Camembert however, is the dream of the French cheese,” she writes, “a fromage so closely linked with Frenchness in the minds of people everywhere that just the name ‘Camembert’ evokes visions of berets and fleurs-de-lys.”

The author laces the narrative with satisfying kernels of French agricultural history, especially data concerning the pressures of the post–World War II environment and its role in hollowing out the population of the French countryside.

Whether Lison is ruminating on the short lactation cycle of sheep, the origins of rennet, or the grassy, lemony taste of a spring goat cheese, readers will have all their senses engaged.

Link, Mardi Jo Knopf (272 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-307-59691-8

A woman’s journey of survival against many odds.

“Nobody likes a drunk, soon-tobe-divorced, in-debt, swollen-eyed, single mother farmeress,” writes Link (Isadore’s Secret: Sin, Murder and Confession in a Northern Michigan Town, 2009, etc.) in her down-to-earth, often humorous memoir of her effort to hold onto her farm and her three sons. With “Mr. Wonderful” (her ex) living just across the street, the author chronicles a year’s worth of struggles as sole breadwinner, mother and farmer. In a partially refurbished old farmhouse, Link battled the monthly cycle of bills and the impossible task of feeding three teenage boys on her vegetable garden, one pig and a free year’s supply of day-old bread, courtesy of the giant-zucchini contest she won. With the death of her beloved horse, her dreams of one kind of life were replaced with another vision and a loneliness that she filled with work and the need to survive. Whether gardening, stealing firewood or shoveling snow, the foursome eked their way through the lack of heat, food and money, juxtaposing days of intense labor with fun-filled moments like cooking marshmallows indoors in the fireplace or finding the perfect Christmas tree. As winter turned to spring and the threat of losing everything hung over her head, Link was forced to make difficult decisions. But tenacity and perseverance prove life can be good, filled with simple joys such as watching her sons grow into hardworking individuals, eating food straight from the ground and collecting eggs from her own hens. And if romance appears at odd moments, so much the better.

A moving account of how one woman’s willpower saved her home and her family. (First printing of 50,000)

LINCOLN UNBOUND How an Ambitious Young Rail-Splitter Saved the American Dream—and How We Can Do it Again Lowry, Rich Broadside Books/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-06-212378-7

The editor of the National Review sketches the political character of our 16th president.

Ever since his assassination and swift elevation to the pantheon of our greatest presidents, “getting right with Lincoln,” in the memorable phrase of one historian, has been the business of our mainstream politicians. As they grope to align themselves with Lincoln’s legacy, unembarrassed by any “ideological body snatching,” much mischief ensues. To discover what Lincoln truly believed, Lowry (Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years, 2009, etc.) confines himself largely to Lincoln’s pre-presidential career, explaining how the backwoods boy of little schooling and negligible property early on identified with the Whigs rather than the Jacksonian Democrats who captured so many of his similarly situated peers. The Rail-Splitter, he argues, is best understood not as a man of the axe but of the book, not so much by his origins as by his aspirations. For the deeply ambitious Lincoln, enhancing opportunity was the animating principle of his politics, and he committed himself to a program of uplift and improvement that offered the best chance for his

THE WHOLE FROMAGE Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese Lison, Kathe Broadway (304 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-307-45206-1

Her curiosity piqued by the multitude of French cheeses, essayist and selfproclaimed cheesehead Lison chronicles her tasty culinary journey exploring the art and science of French cheese making.

Since she grew up in Wisconsin, the nation’s largest producer of cheese, her “interest in cheese was inevitable.” Following a perusal of a French cheese encyclopedia describing more than 350 kinds of fermented milk, the author poses a |

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“Don’t buy this book to teach your children; take them along as you commit these beautiful speeches to memory.” from how to teach your children shakespeare

Don’t buy this book to teach your children; take them along as you commit these beautiful speeches to memory.

fellow citizens to transcend their upbringings. Personally, Lincoln avoided most vices, and he preached and exemplified the habits of self-control, rationality and industriousness. Politically, he elevated the value of work, held property sacrosanct and looked to the Founding Fathers as a guide for renewing an American spirit gone flabby. Lowry sets out Lincoln’s platform: enthusiastic support for economic growth, internal improvements, new technologies, education and a sound national banking system; a profound respect for our constitutional system and free institutions; and a refusal to engage in class warfare, to sentimentalize agrarianism or to denigrate achievement. Some readers are bound to accuse Lowry of nudging Lincoln into the author’s own preferred categories of belief, but they’ll be hardpressed to find any violation of the historical record.

A quick, smoothly readable account of Lincoln the political striver, the embodiment of the Declaration’s “central idea…that every man can make himself.”

HOW WE DO IT The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction Martin, Robert Basic (312 pp.) $27.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-465-03015-6

Martin, the curator of biological anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago, examines reproduction from “the basic biology of sperms and eggs up to the complexities of birth control and assisted reproduction.”

This comprehensive study covers the evolution of reproductive systems at the biological, social and sexual levels. The author begins with the emergence of single-celled organisms (with proper nuclei) more than 1 billion years ago. This was the point of origin of the chromosomes and mitochondria that govern our human genetic systems. Martin searches out correlatives to human social organization, both monogamous and polygamous, in the anatomy and behavior of primate populations. He advocates prolonged breast-feeding and also addresses the roots of monogamy and incest avoidance. He reprises the social history of our understanding of reproduction, which, he surmises, began with the domestication of animals. It was generally recognized at an early point that some form of conjugation between males and females was necessary for reproduction to occur, but the details remained obscure (as witnessed in some primitive populations). The discovery of sex cells awaited the development of microscopes before the actual mechanisms could begin to be determined. Martin examines the process of human fertilization and the several-days lag that can occur between copulation and conception. He reveals surprising studies in which the time of copulation (or insemination) was accurately determined; these studies showed that conception could occur on almost any day of the cycle (before or after ovulation).

This may explain the occurrence of some miscarriages and fetal abnormalities—the assumption being that either the sperm or egg was no longer in prime condition—and also accounts for poor estimates of the true length of a pregnancy.

A fascinating treatment of a complex subject.

HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN SHAKESPEARE Ludwig, Ken Crown (352 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-307-95149-6

Don’t be fooled by the title. This book is for anyone who wants to brush up on Shakespeare.

Playwright Ludwig, who has written numerous hit plays for Broadway and London’s West End, explains his simple, proven method for teaching the works of the Bard of Avon—and we know it works, since he has used his children as guinea pigs, starting when they were 6. Now that they’re off to college, flipping quotes back and forth, it’s obvious that the simple repetition of short sections of speeches is most effective. The author includes a wide variety of speeches from such classic Shakespeare characters as Puck, Orsino, Macbeth, Falstaff, Rosalind and Hamlet. Learning to quote Shakespeare is one thing, but Ludwig opens up the secrets of the plays, the characters and the genius of the man. The best person to learn from is one who is passionate about his subject, and Ludwig certainly fits that bill. There is subtlety here: “no one in history, before or since, has written better than this.” There is sufficient sprinkling of like praise and professional envy throughout the book. Shakespeare’s creativity serves to cause creativity in those who read him. The difficulties we often encounter in his works are the unfamiliar words (though an English schoolchild would know more than an American), the oddly curious sentence structure and the broad use of metaphors. Shakespeare’s dramatic methods, such as repetition of sounds, inversion of thoughts, curious rhyming and breaking right into the action are just a few of those that make him great. Some readers may liken it to a foreign language, but once the key phrases are explained, they will appreciate the magic and begin to fall in love with Shakespeare.

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THE END OF BIG How the Internet Makes David the New Goliath

While the book opens with a story about her ex-husband Mostafa’s abduction of their daughter, the majority of the narrative is dedicated to Monaghan’s reflections on an abusive relationship and how such a relationship progressed into a marriage. “I could have ended the relationship, but I loved Mostafa,” she writes. “I just couldn’t see through him.” After the death of her mother, the author moved from the familiarity of her relatives and home in Dublin to embrace a new start on the sunny beaches of Cyprus. She got off to a good start by establishing a strong social network and achieving a degree of financial comfort. However, her life was irreversibly changed after a chance meeting at a local nightclub with her handsome and charismatic future husband. Ignoring the initial signs of possessive behavior, Monaghan entered into an increasingly destructive relationship with Mostafa, and the author provides detailed descriptions of the verbal, physical and sexual abuse that she endured. When she finally decided to get out of the relationship, Mostafa struck his hardest blow yet by illegally taking their young daughter over international borders into Syria. With the civil war raging, Louise had to somehow gain entrance into Syria and then find a way to bring her daughter home—and she had to accomplish this daunting task with only minimal assistance from the Irish embassy and international law enforcement.

Although the story is weighed down by the extraneous details of a dark relationship, this is a courageous, and ultimately engrossing, story of a woman’s quest to bring her daughter back to safety.

Mele, Nicco St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | May 1, 2013 978-1-250-02185-4 978-1-250-02186-1 e-book An exploration of the idea that our densely networked online future will spell the end for big institutions.

Recent releases like Jaron Lanier’s Who Owns The Future? and Douglas Rushkoff ’s Present Shock are laden with dire warnings of a future where the Internet has destroyed our morals and values.

Mele’s debut is at least slightly more optimistic than these other books. Change for the better, he writes, will come by “assuming control of the technology, embracing where it is taking us while also having the collective determination and strength of mind to steer it where we want.” The author theorizes how the power of online networking will ultimately change the big establishments we all know. For example, he asks how journalism will continue when small news blogs and Twitter can publish with an immediacy big news organizations lack (a subject trotted out in seemingly every recent tech book). Mele also examines academia, the entertainment industry, the military, and the government and its political parties. It’s this last big establishment that brings the author’s most lively prose and arguments—no wonder, since Mele ran the website for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, arguably the first online grassroots campaign. Hidden halfway into the chapter on political parties, the author recalls how he Googled the Dean campaign’s website; when he found it was buried in other search results, he simply bought a Google AdWord, and traffic to the site skyrocketed.

Mele eventually left New York and drove to Vermont to work for the campaign, where staffers “had been calling a Web company in another time zone for every single edit to the site” and “seemed stunned that [the author] could make changes...without calling anyone.”

Mele’s anecdotes from the Dean campaign are a genuine, historic glimpse into real changes wrought by the Internet, but these are mostly lost in uninteresting, uninspired discussions of changes our networked future might bring.

THE FAITHFUL SCRIBE A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family, and War Mufti, Shahan Other Press (224 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-59051-505-1

The rich cultural and religious history of Pakistan dictated through a journalist’s personal stories.

Born in America to Pakistani parents, Mufti (Journalism/Univ. of Richmond) considers himself a native of both lands. He spares readers “every torturous twist and turn in Pakistan’s modern history,” opting for a harmonic analysis of the sovereign country from both a frontline journalistic approach and a familial, homeland perspective. Mufti proudly unspools his country’s tapestry of allegiance and warring strife and embeds his own family’s legacy within it. The nuances of his parents’ arranged marriage amid the violence of the Pakistan-India war of 1965 merges into his father Shahzad’s struggle to maintain order throughout a doctoral tenure amid political upheavals in the 1970s. A decade later, after his father had accepted a medical school professorship at Ohio University, the author was born into an era where being Muslim equated with an allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini. He traces his earliest memory of Pakistan from age 4, settling in Lahore, war-torn by Indian army attacks. The author pauses to reflect on how the

STOLEN Escape from Syria

Monaghan, Louise Dunne/St. Martin’s (256 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-250-03027-6 978-1-250-03026-9 e-book An autobiographical account of a mother retrieving her kidnapped daughter from war-torn Syria. |

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“Anne Frank, before and after the diary, with many new details and a fresh, welcome perspective.” from anne frank

THE MAN FROM MARS Ray Palmer’s Amazing Pulp Journey

Islamic culture became (and continues to be) denigrated in the shadow of 9/11 and posits that even a cease-fire in the Afghanistan War would still fail to curb the senseless violence decimating Pakistan. Steeped in personal anecdotes, Mufti writes of bomb scares and defiant million-man marches on the streets of Islamabad as a roving journalist and gingerly dissects the roots of his surname, which can be traced back to the prophet Muhammad. Yet he ponders if he will ever live to see a quiescence between Islam and the West.

An undeniable visionary, Mufti insightfully glances back at Pakistan’s past and nods hopefully toward its precarious future.

Nadis, Fred Tarcher/Penguin (304 pp.) $28.95 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-399-16054-7

The intriguing life story of a pioneer in science-fiction publishing and fandom.

Nadis (Wonder Shows: Performing Science, Magic, and Religion in America, 2005) successfully cultivates the gee-whiz aura of prewar American culture, where bright youngsters like Ray Palmer (1910–1977) saw the future within garish “pulp” magazines. The author notes that Palmer, whose devotion to the original sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories won him its editorship, became “one of the most controversial figures in science fiction history [due to] a taste for the unorthodox.” As with Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison (both of whom crossed Palmer’s path), Palmer thrust himself into the birth of sci-fi’s complex fandom in the 1920s and stayed through the explosive popularity of pulp in the 1930s and ’40s, the rise of paperback originals in the ’50s and then the decline of both industries (which for Palmer included a foray into smut publishing). Palmer, a loquacious, giddy booster of the genre despite terrible lifelong health problems, was both credited and blamed for driving the fusion of science fiction (which aspired to strict scientific principles in its early years) with mysticism and conspiracy theory. For instance, beginning in 1944, Amazing Stories introduced a bizarre serial concerning suppressed racial memories, the “Shaver Mystery,” named for its author, an eccentric with whom Palmer became close friends. Later, as the pulp marketplace contracted, Palmer began other magazines, starting with Fate, focused on early flying saucer sightings; he was also at the center of the controversies around Area 51 and Roswell, N.M. Nadis demonstrates how figures like Palmer and Shaver provoked convulsive, lasting literary movements despite their ostracism from mainstream letters. He produces a vivid cultural history, capturing subtle transformations in American attitudes through an examination of the voluble Palmer’s career and writings; however, the narrative style veers from droll to dry.

Worthwhile reading for those interested in the origins of today’s sci-fi fan culture and the still understudied subject of marginal literary publishing.

ANNE FRANK The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material

Müller, Melissa Translated by Kimber, Rita and Kimber, Robert Metropolitan/Henry Holt (480 pp.) $32.50 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-8050-8731-4

Anne Frank, before and after the diary, with many new details and a fresh, welcome perspective.

In this updated edition of her superb 1998 biography, Müller (Alice’s Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, 2012) adds immeasurably to a well-known story, expanding on what the precocious young Anne Frank either didn’t say or didn’t know. Starting well before Anne’s birth, the author shows how her father, Otto Frank, established successful businesses selling fruit extracts and wholesale goods and, with his wife Edith, managed for a while to raise a family despite the growing Nazi threat. Otto could deal with the Wehrmacht by supplying goods to the Nazis (he hardly had any choice) and by trying to “Aryanize” his businesses. Of course, it couldn’t last, as the family would be forced to flee first to Amsterdam and then into the secret annex over one of Otto’s businesses. They weren’t alone; some 20,000 to 30,000 Jews in Holland “saw going into hiding as their only alternative to deportation.” Müller illuminates the shadows of Anne’s diary, particularly in casting the Franks’ loveless arranged marriage, which Anne accurately saw through, in a sympathetic and understanding light. She adds dimension to Anne’s picture of Edith, as well; the woman her daughter depicted as stern and cold was also trying desperately not to give in to despair. Müller likewise tells the full story behind Anne’s roommate, Fritz Pfeffer. The stiff-necked, middle-aged doctor whom Anne referred to as “Dussel” (Dutch for “dope”) also had no family support and feared for the safety of his fiancee and a son by a former marriage. Müller assesses Anne’s shifting moods, growing sexual awareness and her dual nature: the impish extrovert and the deeply private young writer. She also assiduously researches the details of Anne’s final days, as well as the fates of everyone else.

An invaluable complement to an immortal testimony.

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BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME An Oral History of New York City’s Vietnam Veterans

and academic McChesney (Communications/Univ. of Illinois) decry the pernicious influence of Big Money on our elections.

Mining the $10 billion 2012 campaign for supporting data and illustrative anecdotes, the authors explain how the plutocrats have seized control of our electoral process, to the detriment of everyday Americans. It’s a conspiracy, they write, among the major parties, their big money donors, lobbyists, consultants, super PACs and giant media corporations, all benefiting from the status quo. The unobstructed flow of Big Money washing through the system has been aided, they argue, by a series of Supreme Court decisions that beat back any attempt at reform—Citizens United is singled out for special opprobrium—and abetted by a supine journalistic establishment too obsessed with the horse race and too beholden to the financial windfall accompanying each election cycle to advocate for change. Though Nichols and McChesney take an occasional swipe at the “too friendly to business” ethos that infected the Democrats under Clinton and the Obama campaign’s dangerous, digital incursions on our privacy, they reserve most of their fire for Republicans, for their wealthy backers—the Koch brothers, Richard Mellon Scaife, Sheldon Adelson—their supportive media—Fox News, Rush Limbaugh—political masterminds—Karl Rove, Lee Atwater—and judicial “architects” of the dollarocracy—Burger, Powell, Roberts—who’ve helped ensure a corrupt system. The authors reject contentions that the Internet will permit voters to break through the barriers erected by the moneyed interests and, instead, propose a radical reform agenda that includes a constitutional amendment to dispose of Citizens United, the abolition of the Electoral College, free airtime for candidates and the establishment of a nonpartisan Election Commission.

An alarming, not-incorrect diagnosis, but an argument too one-sided and a solution so lofty as to be of little use.

Napoli, Philip F. Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (272 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-8090-7318-4

An argument for rethinking the stereotypes of Vietnam veterans in light of oral histories of ex-servicemen and women from New York City.

Napoli (History/Brooklyn Coll.), who founded the Vietnam Oral History Project and conducted interviews for Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation (1998), is well aware of the apparent differences between these two generations of warriors in the public’s eye: The elders, perceived as victors on their return, were celebrated as heroes and became the pillars of their communities and the postwar American economy. The Vietnam vets, who lost their war, so the stereotype goes, came home scorned and spat upon, suffering PTSD and often falling through the cracks. Most of Napoli’s subjects did indeed endure psychic and physical wounds in battle. Some fell prey to various addictions and underwent spells of homelessness. But all of his subjects are now productive citizens. Most are Brooklyn-born descendants of Irish immigrants, though Jews, Italians, African-Americans and Latinos are also well-represented. Most are from working-class homes, with a few coming from the projects and a smattering from wellheeled suburbs. Each, however, is unique, and their stories are never dull. All illuminate the horror of war and the devastation it wreaks on the individuals who experience it. Some standouts: Joseph Giannini, a Long Island criminal defense attorney who used his experience in combat to acquit a client accused of killing a cop; Herbert Sweat, an infantryman originally from BedfordStuyvesant who spent years in and out of prisons and shelters before finding a path up via Black Veterans for Social Justice; and Neil Kenny, a colorfully expressive native of the Lower East Side whose PTSD cost him several jobs until he found purpose working with Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

A thoughtful, deeply personal approach to understanding the Vietnam War for the Americans who fought it.

THE POTTY MOUTH AT THE TABLE

Notaro, Laurie Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 7, 2013 978-1-4516-5939-9 From comedic essayist and novelist Notaro (It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy, 2011, etc.), another compendium of humorous, heated, autobiographical tales about the minutiae of modern American life.

Having consistently hit the best-seller charts with her previous collections of true, often hilarious and bawdy stories, the author sticks with the same formula here. These essays include “I Hate Foodies,” “Creepy Facebook Moments” and “Six Things I Never Want to Hear (Again) While Standing in Line at the Pharmacy.”

Notaro is nothing if not direct as she riffs on topics such as why it’s never acceptable for nettles to appear on restaurant menus and hunting down the relative whom she suspects of borrowing her

DOLLAROCRACY How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America

Nichols, John; McChesney, Robert W. Nation Books/Perseus (288 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-56858-707-3

Collaborating once more (The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again, 2010), Nichols, the Nation’s Washington, D.C., correspondent, |

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AMERICAN WARRIOR The True Story of a Legendary Ranger

shower puff. Without a plot, these pieces follow no order, but they share her signature, casually blistering tone. In one, entirely made up of food-related expressions that she loathes (including “gastrique,” “coulis,” “mouthfeel” and “savory”), she offers this explanation for her hatred of the word “delish”: “If it’s not something you would name your dog or if you’re embarrassed to yell it out in front of strangers, we need to banish it from the human language.” The book’s title was conceived when Notaro appeared on a comedywriting panel where a fellow presenter condescendingly referred to her as “the potty mouth at the table.” She claims to have been humiliated, but that didn’t stop her from getting revenge, and it clearly hasn’t stalled her from continuing to produce biting, sometimes crude pieces that read more like off-the-cuff rants than revised works of writing. In spite of the essays that miss their mark, when Notaro’s funny, she’s very, very funny.

Entertaining beach reading for fans of humorous, breezy essays.

O’Neal, Gary with Fisher, David Dunne/St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $26.99 | May 14, 2013 978-1-250-00432-1 978-1-250-02275-2 e-book

Memoirs from members of Special Forces tend to mix combat fireworks with a leavening of modesty, but O’Neal, writing with veteran co-author Fisher (with Tom Coughlin: Earn the Right to Win, 2013, etc.), dispenses with the modesty at no great cost.

True to the traditions of the genre, the author passed a miserable childhood. At 15, he stole his cousin’s birth certificate and enlisted in the Army. Sent to Vietnam in 1967, he found his calling and fought enthusiastically until his deception came to light. Discharged, he re-enlisted under his real name, repeated his training, returned to Vietnam and soon joined the elite Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol units. After two years of grueling patrols and battles, he returned to the United States and Ranger School in 1971. With the war winding down, O’Neal served on elite parachuting teams and taught hand-to-hand combat before joining America’s first anti-terror unit. Yearning for action, he left the Army to train troops for Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, who was fighting Sandinista guerrillas. This produced action but ended disastrously in the death of O’Neal’s family, with O’Neal himself barely surviving capture and torture.

In 1981, he returned to the Army to help organize its Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School. After retiring, he continued to train Special Forces in his aggressive techniques. His personal life was less happy. He undoubtedly suffered a chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and often abused drugs both for PTSD and the pain of his many injuries.

Military buffs will give this high marks; general readers may find it hard to relate to the author’s relentlessly macho ethos, but they will find it hard not to admire his fierce dedication. (8-page b/w photo insert)

DON’T WORRY, IT GETS WORSE One Twentysomething’s (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood Nugent, Alida Plume (208 pp.) $14.00 paper | May 7, 2013 978-0-452-29818-7

Debut comedic memoir based on the 20-something author’s popular blog.

In 2010, Nugent graduated from college with a degree in creative writing, “diploma in one hand, margarita in the other.” Despite an exhaustive job search, she found herself unemployed and broke.

Facing impending student-loan payments, she opted to move back to her parents’ home. Nugent writes with a sardonic sense of humor, rife with self-deprecation, about the trials, financial and otherwise, of being an educated, jobless, single woman in her early 20s. Almost all of her stories involve alcohol, and early on, Nugent even encourages readers to drink while reading her book. In a list of tips on how to save money, she suggests foregoing coffee in favor of using “good old-fashioned fear of the unknown to keep yourself awake.” After a few months, she successfully launched herself out of the nest and into a walk-up apartment in Brooklyn, where she eventually returned to working in retail. Her forays into “adulthood” included hosting a party featuring a game of strip poker and a few tame, vaguely described experiments with online dating. With limited outlets to publish her writing as a freelancer, she started her personal blog, The Frenemy, as a platform to vent her frustrations and humorous autobiographical experiences. Her memoir reads like a blog: a series of loosely structured essays and rants that work on their own as conversational pieces but collectively lack overall cohesion. Nugent’s voice comes across as loyal and tough, and her sense of humor and authenticity will appeal to readers going through related chapters in their own post-college lives.

This book, like one of its myriad cocktails, is dry, dirty and surprisingly refreshing.

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“A beguiling, multifaceted narrative larded with delightful culinary, historical, political, psychological and literary layers, set in the kingdom of Castile with a piece of cheese in the starring role.” from the telling room

SLEEPLESS IN HOLLYWOOD Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business

Founded in 1887 by three Johnson brothers, Johnson & Johnson became synonymous with products such as Band-Aids and baby powder. The author occasionally reveals corporate strategies and secrets but mostly focuses on the members of the extended Johnson family, detailing their mind-boggling personal wealth. Hundreds of names come and go throughout the narrative, with Oppenheimer concentrating on 15 blood relatives, their spouses and business partners. The book is largely a fast-paced chronicle of births, courtings, marriages, divorces, estrangements, bitter lawsuits, drug and alcohol abuses, crimes, memorable deaths and other unpleasantness. After the first generation, members of the Johnson family found it difficult to decipher whether outsiders cared about them for their personalities or only for their wealth. That kind of doubt can cause havoc with emotional stability, as Oppenheimer demonstrates with frequent salacious details of the lives of his protagonists.

As is the case with his other unauthorized biographies, the author usually reveals little about whether his information derives from primary or secondary sources. The writing is clear but often painful to read due to the use of clichés and trite metaphors. One Johnson family member emerges as the chief subject: Robert Wood Johnson IV, a great-grandson of a company founder. Oppenheimer uses the nickname “Woody” to identify the protagonist, frequently coming back to his fundraising for Republican presidential candidates and his ownership of the New York Jets.

A gossipy, character-driven saga suggesting that the spoiled rich are their own worst enemies. (8-page color photo insert)

Obst, Lynda Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-4767-2774-5

Journalist-turned-producer Obst (Hello, He Lied: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches, 1996) casts a sharp eye over recent developments in Tinseltown.

When the author arrived in Hollywood in the early 1980s, it was still possible to make smart commercial films based on original screenplays, like Sleepless in Seattle and The Fisher King, both produced by Obst. Now, she writes, studios depend on “tentpoles” based on familiar comic books, fairy tales or video games, laden with special effects and presented in 3-D. Movies for adults can only be made as independent films with tiny budgets or with the backing of big stars and directors. This is fairly common knowledge, but Obst’s book is more than the complaints of someone left out of “the New Abnormal” (so christened, she remarks, “because Hollywood, let’s face it, is never actually normal”). What makes it different is her savvy interviews with key players who observed this transition and her use of Paramount, where she went to work in 1998, as a case study. The reasons for the transition are simple: the collapse of the DVD market, which had represented about 50 percent of studio profits before online streaming began to kill it, “created a desperate need for a new area of growth”—and that new area turned out to be international. For years a steady 20 percent of the market for a Hollywood film, international sales now constitute 70-80 percent. Those audiences do not get our comedies, sports or dramas rooted in American history; they do get action pictures, and they continue to love 3-D, even as the U.S. market appears to be tired of it. This means that whether or not folks on Main Street want to see the next Transformers movie is increasingly irrelevant to the folks who run Hollywood.

Depth of detail and shrewd illustrative examples make this a must-read for anyone interested in the movie business. (16-page b/w insert)

THE TELLING ROOM A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese Paterniti, Michael Dial Press (368 pp.) $27.00 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-385-33700-7

A beguiling, multifaceted narrative larded with delightful culinary, historical, political, psychological and literary layers, set in the kingdom of Castile with a piece of cheese in the starring role.

Paterniti (Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain, 2000) gracefully unravels how tradition, culture and sense of place affect the human heart, while simultaneously wrestling with the joys and boundaries of storytelling and journalism. During a 1991 proofreading stint at a deli, following his graduation from the University of Michigan’s creative writing program, the author read a paragraph describing a “sublime” cheese from Castile. “There was something about all of it, not just the perfection of Ari’s prose,” writes Paterniti, “but the story he told—the rustic cheesemaker, the ancient family recipe, the old-fashioned process by which the cheese was born, even the idiosyncratic tin in which it was packaged—that I couldn’t stop thinking about.” Years later, the author, determined to find the

CRAZY RICH Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty Oppenheimer, Jerry St. Martin’s (464 pp.) $27.99 | Aug. 13, 2013 978-0-312-66211-0 978-1-250-01093-3 e-book

A prolific biographer of the rich and infamous, Oppenheimer (Madoff with the Money, 2009, etc.) digs into five generations of the Johnson family, “the most dysfunctional family in the Fortune 500.” |

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THE SELF BEYOND ITSELF An Alternative History of Ethics, the New Brain Sciences, and the Myth of Free Will

storied cheesemaker and learn his tale, set off for Spain on what became a 10-year odyssey. Paterniti rapidly fell under the spell of the loquacious cheesemaker, Ambrosio, and the tiny village of Guzmán, situated in the “vast, empty highlands of the Central plateau of Spain.” At the center of the narrative is the saga of betrayal of Ambrosio and his artisanal cheese by his boyhood friend, Julian. Paterniti’s quest for the true story surrounding the creation and demise of Ambrosio’s cheese rambles in delightful directions. The author probes subjects as diverse as the first human encounter with cheese; an investigation into the origin of Pringles; geology; and Spanish “legends, farces and folktales.”

Enriched by Paterniti’s singular art of storytelling, this is a deeply satisfying voyage across a remarkable landscape into the mysteries and joys of the human heart.

Ravven, Heidi M. New Press (608 pp.) $31.95 | May 28, 2013 978-1-59558-537-0 978-1-59558-800-5 e-book

Why do some people behave honorably and others badly? This has been a core question since the dawn of philosophy, and Ravven (Religious Studies/Hamilton Coll.; co-editor: Jewish Themes in Spinoza’s Philosophy, 2002) discusses the possibilities.

The popular answer, especially among nonphilosophers, is that we simply think matters over and behave. We have free will.

Despite our upbringings, educations, hardships, group pressures and the limitations of our human brains, we choose our actions and must be held morally responsible for them. This turns out to be a remarkably parochial view that began with early Latin Christianity and quickly spread throughout the West but never caught on in other areas of the world, where fate, karma and other outside influences trump individual choice. No fan of free will, Ravven writes 10 densely argued but sometimes-accessible chapters that explore why humans act and how they justify themselves. It is often not a pretty picture. The mass shooting of Jews in Nazi-occupied Russia was carried out by ordinary German soldiers, not SS fanatics. All were told they could opt out with no penalties. A few did. Others could not stomach the killing and withdrew, but most carried on. They did not think, “what terrible things I am doing,” but rather, “this is a miserable job!” These men clearly chose their actions, but it’s a stretch to claim that they exercised free will.

Scholarly essays packed with closely reasoned arguments from the author and fellow academics, plus extensive historical analyses of thinkers from Aristotle to Spinoza to Malcolm Gladwell. Patient readers with a taste for philosophy will find that reading this book is a stimulating experience.

THE GREEN BOAT Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

Pipher, Mary Riverhead (240 pp.) $16.00 paper | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-59448-585-5

One woman’s response to the threat of global environmental issues.

“On a global level,” writes Pipher (Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World, 2010, etc.), “almost all major systems are breaking down.” These issues include “global climate change, drought and famine, overpopulation, diminishing resources, peak oil, the sixth great extinction of species, financial panic, and the specter of war.” But instead of feeling as if “we are in over our heads,” writes the author, we can become proactive and take small steps that do make a difference. With compassion, Pipher demonstrates this with her personal and rousing fight against TransCanada and the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Sickened by the idea that this environmentally unsound conduit would pass through her childhood stomping grounds and potentially damage the Ogallala Aquifer, the source of water for 40 percent of the United States, the author turned her anger and despair into activism. She gathered friends for informal meetings held in her home, which grew into rallies on the steps of the Nebraska state capitol building, with hundreds in attendance. Festivals brought together different ethnic groups and put rednecks side by side with landowners and “big beef packers,” all with the common goal of doing something to stop a situation governed more by money than common sense. Although the pipeline is still under consideration, Pipher’s involvement gained her a sense of accomplishment and community. By following her tactics, readers can turn their own angst regarding global issues into simple, direct actions, which, combined with those of their neighbors, will make a difference, both in themselves and in the world.

A therapeutic analysis of global crises and enthusiastic ideas on how to implement changes.

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THE THREE RULES How Exceptional Companies Think Raynor, Michael E.; Ahmed, Mumtaz Portfolio (384 pp.) $29.95 | Jun. 1, 2013 978-1-59184-614-7

A rigorous and lively study of excellence in business performance.

Working from a multiyear database of 25,000 corporations, Deloitte Consulting officers Raynor (The Innovator’s Manifesto: Deliberate Disruption for Transformational Growth, 2011, etc.) and Ahmed have |

“While it is unlikely that scientists will synthesize a human in the near future, genuinely amazing biology is in the works, and Rutherford delivers a fascinating overview.” from creation

narrowed down the data to identify the qualities of three tiers of performance, across nine economic sectors: “miracle workers,” “long runners” and “average Joes.” The authors’ results run counter to the current prevailing wisdom, which favors returndriven, short-term interest over long-term concentration on building a lasting business. They base their three rules—“better before cheaper,” “revenue before cost” and “there are no other rules”—on the performance of the 27 companies that comprise their grid, and their data shows that companies that can build an advantage based on nonprice factors tend to outperform companies that attempt to grab market share by competing on price alone. Businesses that successfully build revenue as a first priority also outperform those that focus mostly on controlling costs. Since there are multiple ways of evaluating both “better” in nonprice terms and the relationship between revenue and costs, based on the particular situation, their first two rules define a substantial area for the application of managerial talent over time. The authors argue for a fundamental shift in point of view, which is more valuable than many other specific recipes for business success. Their rules make possible “a widespread and shared consistency of action that is all but unachievable otherwise” and permit a balance between short-term and longer-term considerations. Raynor and Ahmed provide a way to separate exceptional performance from the noise of day-to-day statistical variation.

A major contribution to the literature of business success.

inserted them into a cell, and they worked. Goats given a certain spider gene produce milk filled with spider silk. Readers may roll their eyes to learn of cells programmed to seek out and kill cancers (another claim that appears regularly), but they will be impressed by bacteria that can act as a photographic film, consume plastic waste or manufacture bricks.

While it is unlikely that scientists will synthesize a human in the near future, genuinely amazing biology is in the works, and Rutherford delivers a fascinating overview.

WEALTH AND POWER China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century Schell, Orville; Delury, John Random House (496 pp.) $30.00 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-679-64347-0 978-0-679-64538-2 e-book

From humiliation to glory: A vigorous scouring of the historical record by two crack Chinese scholars fleshes out the troughs and triumphs of Chinese greatness.

It’s helpful to remember that the rise of China didn’t happen overnight, a fact that these elucidating essays demonstrate.

Since China’s humiliation in the mid-19th century at the hands of the imperialist powers, it has embarked on a path of selfcriticism and self-strengthening, which Asia Society Center fellows Schell (Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood, 2000, etc.) and Delury find strangely affirming. China’s Year 1 was the Treaty of Nanjing on August 11, 1842, signed with Britain after the disastrous three-year Opium War; Wei Yuan, a middle-ranking Qing official, found in its sad aftermath a need for reform of China’s defense and international relations, even if it meant learning from the “barbarian” enemy. He refashioned the Confucian motto for the country: “Humiliation stimulates effort; when the country is humiliated, its spirit will be aroused.” Feng Guifen, a scholarly administrator in the Qing dynasty based in Shanghai, similarly urged (in Dissenting Views from a Hut Near Bin) the need to “master the secrets of its new adversaries by admitting their superiority and adopting some of their ways, or perishing.” Self-strengthening would remain the rallying cry, from Empress Dowager Cixi, aka Dragon Lady, to important reformist leaders Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen, Chen Duxiu, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. Their theme: The Chinese past was rotten, the failures needed to be exposed, and the future demanded new thinking. Deng Xiaoping’s bold economic retooling invited China’s later opening up

by Zhu Rongji yet also unleashed democratic activism by such notable figures as Nobel Prize–winning writer Liu Xiaobo.

An astute, knowledgeable and nicely accessible history and assessment of China for all readers. (photos throughout)

CREATION How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself

Rutherford, Adam Current (288 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-1-61723-005-9

The day is nearly here when scientists will create the first purely synthetic life. This prediction turns up regularly, but British science writer and Nature editor Rutherford insists that the time is ripe, and he makes his case with contagious enthusiasm.

Following requirements of the genre, the author delivers a lucid history of the Earth and the appearance of life 3.8 billion years ago—so quickly after the planet’s cooling that it may be a natural process. To give readers an idea of the daunting challenges that scientists face, Rutherford explains life’s processes: DNA, an immense helical molecule in every cell’s nucleus, provides information in the form of genes, small triplets of molecules on the helix; RNA copies the information; cell structures called ribosomes make proteins from the RNA template. Other structures, called mitochondria, provide energy. A protective membrane surrounds every cell, separating it from the world outside. This sounds complex, but, provided scientists manipulate DNA properly, startling things happen, and Rutherford devotes the second half of his book to their efforts.

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THE DARK PATH A Memoir

a nearby baseball diamond was renovated and he became coach of the Elizabeth Avenue Eagles. Schuppe focuses on several team members and their families, all of whom were touched by their violent surroundings. Far from a dispassionate observer, the author is part of the story from the outset, developing a relationship with Mason after he wrote a newspaper article that brought national media attention to him and his team.

The author’s experience as a journalist on the streets of Newark helps the city itself become the most powerful character in the drama, as Mason and the Eagles try to escape the cycle of poverty and violence that surrounds them. In the absence of a consistent group of players, the team didn’t ever coalesce, and what appears at first to be a story about the redemptive power of sports becomes, instead, a tale of a city and its residents fighting for survival. Schuppe’s punchy journalistic style serves the material well, and though he has a bit of trouble sustaining the momentum throughout the book, there is drama enough in the subjects’ lives to keep readers involved. The author’s heart, though somewhat worn on his sleeve, is clearly in the right place as he accompanies his subjects through victories and setbacks on and off the diamond.

A compelling portrait of inner-city struggles.

Schickler, David Riverhead (336 pp.) $27.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-59448-645-6

A memoir focusing on the passage from boyhood to manhood and from confusion to understanding. Fiction author Schickler (Sweet and Vicious, 2004, etc.) tackles the truth of his own life and the path he traveled through religion, confusion, depression and women to accomplish his goals.

From early childhood, the author felt a visceral pull to God and the religion with which he was raised, Catholicism. Even as a child, Schickler wanted to be a priest, to bring God to the world in a real way, but the church often felt too unrealistic and too “bubbly-safe.” Then there were the girls. His adolescent desire for neighborhood beauties turned into a romantic, sexual longing for women everywhere he went. Schickler wrestled with the tension of his two desires all the way through college and into graduate school before he finally found his answer. It didn’t come easily. Plagued by depression and injury, he continued his search for truth and for a life that could make sense for every part of his heart. He believed in a God within darkness, and he ably shows in his exploration how that dark edginess is mirrored in the human condition. In this memoir, it isn’t the devil in the details, it’s all the ways that Schickler understands or doesn’t understand his God, the beauty of shadows on wooded paths and in human hearts.

The author’s struggle is at once universal and unique, gritty and holy. There is truth in Schickler’s pain and happiness, which makes for an engaging, relatable story that is a pleasure to read. In giving him notes on his short fiction, a friend wrote the author, “Tell the raw truth.” With this memoir, he does just that.

TO THE MOON AND TIMBUKTU A Trek Through the Heart of Africa

Sovich, Nina Amazon/New Harvest (320 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-544-02595-0

Journalist Sovich’s first book details her travels to Africa in search of adventure.

The author’s story—though not the book—begins with her childhood with a mother who traveled, Sovich believed, to escape her suburban Connecticut life. When the author found herself living in Paris with her husband, working a hated job and uncomfortable with her role, she decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

Instead of a short getaway, her trip to Africa was a desperate attempt to reconnect to her youth and be transformed into someone else. That trip was the first of three that make up this memoir. While spending as little money as possible and traveling rapidly, she often put herself in significant danger and missed what she went to experience. When Sovich decided to fly home midjourney, her husband labeled her travel style perfectly: martyrdom. He also told her to return to Africa and make her trip to Timbuktu the right way, and she listened. With experience to guide her, Sovich set out to experience the road to Timbuktu in an open, engaged way. Her descriptions of the West African countries she visited are engrossing. She captures a welcoming and friendly attitude she missed on her first trip and paints a picture of immersing herself in the lives of the people around her. Unfortunately, many of the lessons Sovich claimed to have learned don’t stick during the second trip, making her sound somewhat immature. The third trip feels

A CHANCE TO WIN Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City

Schuppe, Jonathan Henry Holt (288 pp.) $26.00 | May 7, 2013 978-0-8050-9287-5

Award-winning New Jersey crime reporter Schuppe’s first book, which won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, follows members of a Little League baseball team and their coach as they try to succeed and survive in one of Newark’s toughest neighborhoods.

A high school baseball star–turned–low-level drug dealer, Rodney Mason’s life changed forever when a rival’s bullet left him confined to a wheelchair. Years later, it changed again when 78

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“A troubling look inside an enterprise as vicious and internecine as a soap opera.” from top of the morning

TOP OF THE MORNING Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV

confusing and unnecessary, with little to add to the narrative.

Her aha-moment, supposedly reached with new insight from her travels, is described in so little detail that it seems incongruous and ill-considered rather than inspired and enlightened.

While her stories are moving and the scenery is as beautifully caught as with a camera, Sovich reaches for spiritual life lessons that fail to ring true.

Stelter, Brian Grand Central Publishing (320 pp.) $28.00 | Apr. 23, 2013 978-1-4555-1287-4

A chronicle of the recent nasty struggles within and between Today and Good Morning America.

When New York Times media reporter journalist Stelter began his research, Today was nearing the end of its incredible run of well over 800 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 morning talk/news show. By the end, GMA had toppled Today, a show that one waggish GMA staffer quipped should be renamed Yesterday. The story commences with the decision of producer Jim Bell to remove struggling co-host Ann Curry from Today. As that story unfolds, Stelter periodically returns us to the earliest days of Today (1952: with Dave Garroway and chimp J. Fred Muggs) and to the beginnings of GMA in 1975. We learn about most of the previous hosts, the struggles within GMA to find an identity and the arrogance of Today’s production team—the we’llalways-be-No. 1 mentality. Stelter also visits the histories of the CBS entry (never a threat—not so far) and to MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which the author clearly likes. But the focus throughout is on this past year: Matt Lauer’s gifts (and contracts), Curry’s problems with informal chitchat, Robin Roberts’ battles with cancer (struggles that ABC milked for ratings), the supreme talents of Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira, and the arrival of the talented Savannah Guthrie and its failure to stem the GMA tide. By the end, Bell is out as Today producer, GMA seems firmly in charge of the No. 1 spot, George Stephanopoulos and the GMA crew are all but singing “We Are Family,” Lauer is suffering from attacks on social media, and Today is hiring “branding” consultants to see what they can do about their fall from the top spot.

A troubling look inside an enterprise as vicious and internecine as a soap opera.

PARIS FRANCE

Stein, Gertrude Liveright/Norton (160 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-87140-374-2 A contrarian expatriate’s impressionistic rendering of her adopted country, just before the ax fell.

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) said that writers “have to have two countries, the one where they belong and the one in which they live really.” She would know; born in Pennsylvania, she moved to Paris in 1903 and never left. Writing this slim 1940 volume in the looming shadow of the Nazi invasion, Stein comports herself as an American de Tocqueville, seeking to define a country she knew intimately but which never stopped surprising her. France was the locus of “logic and fashion,” a barometer of civilization, and the place where 20th-century art and literature were created (often in her own salon, a second home to Hemingway and Picasso, among others). As Adam Gopnik writes in a useful introduction, the book is “a picture of Paris by an American who thinks as Americans think, and we see America in the picture when she thinks she is showing us France.” Stein wrestles with her subject, saying what it is by saying what it isn’t, offering up observations both astute and sentimental. “Foreigners were not romantic to [the people of France], they were just facts, nothing was sentimental they were just there, and strangely enough it did not make them make the art and literature of the twentieth century but it made them be the inevitable background for it.” It’s an idealized picture, in many ways; the people “cannot really lie,” and “children are never really harshly treated.” Stein didn’t fully grasp the Nazi threat, but she sensed it.

A unique, romantic memoir and a perfect introduction to a unique American voice.

FIRST CLASS The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School Stewart, Alison Lawrence Hill Books/Chicago Review (352 pp.) $26.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-61374-009-5

Broadcast journalist Stewart examines the legendary reputation for excellence of a historic, all-black Washington, D.C., high school, then documents the decline of that excellence in more recent decades.

Since both of her parents were graduates of Dunbar High School and now have successful careers, the author took an interest in the subject. Like so many other proud (and |

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sometimes famous) Dunbar graduates, Stewart’s parents felt dismay at how America’s first black public high school let standards slip. But at the beginning of the 21st century, Dunbar, founded in 1870, seemed like yet another chaotic innercity institution, with rowdy students the norm instead of the exception. Stewart is an able historian, and the saga of how blacks and influential whites managed to establish a school of the caliber of Dunbar in a viciously segregated society so soon after the Civil War is extraordinary and inspirational by any measure. The mostly chronological narrative is less lively as Stewart offers a contemporary catalog of educational horrors. So many authors before Stewart have chronicled problems similar to Dunbar’s that reading might present a feeling of déjà vu for many readers. Stewart persuasively places significant blame on parents of contemporary Dunbar students for showing little or no involvement in the school activities of their children. The director of the marching band told Stewart that he had never met the parents of the participating children. The author suggests that the model of Barack Obama as a black president fails to work for teenagers who have never shown the interest or aptitude for learning subjects that will lead to a college education.

A well-reported, passionate study of the triggers for failure and success within American urban education. (25 b/w photos)

investment in psychological tactics used to help players reach their potential and strategies executed in key games. The author is also quick to show her human side, exploring the drive her rural upbringing and tough-love father instilled in her, the pride she feels over having raised a son, her regret over the breakup of her marriage, her struggles with rheumatoid arthritis and her sense of accomplishment over the 100 percent graduation rate of her players. Frank on sensitive subjects like the inequities women athletes have had to face, Summitt also includes many humorous and touching anecdotes involving some of the biggest names in the women’s game.

The master of emotional jousting on the court speaks candidly of life challenges off of it—a must-read for basketball junkies, sport fans and any whose lives have been touched by incurable illness. (16-page 4-color photo insert)

THE JET SEX Airline Stewardesses and the Making of an American Icon

Vantoch, Victoria Univ. of Pennsylvania (304 pp.) $34.95 | Apr. 1, 2013 978-0-8122-4481-6

A historian chronicles the stewardess’ trajectory from friendly nurse to sultry sex symbol during the “golden age” of flying, 1945–1970.

In our era of flight delays, overcrowded planes and pretzel packets, it’s easy to forget that air travel once held the promise of allure and sophistication, and that the attendants who staffed the aisles acted as role models for women who craved more than just suburban domesticity. Using archival materials and interviews with former stewardesses, Vantoch (The Threesome Handbook, 2007) demonstrates that these women strived to literally soar beyond the confines of the roles allotted to them in midcentury America. Aside from a brief, giddy phase in the 1920s when “lady pilots” performed at air shows, aviation was a man’s world—until airlines began promoting in-flight service as a way to woo travelers away from automobiles and trains. Who better to assist first-time fliers and businessmen than docile young women with medical training?

With the 1940s came improvements to the airplanes (pressurized cabins, more headroom), resulting in less turbulence, and airlines dropped the nursing requirement for prospective stewardesses. By this time, the stewardess as icon embodied a dichotomy dear to the heart of Cold War–era Americans: the plucky, attractive woman who lived to serve even as she professed independence. Vantoch’s research illuminates the strict rules that airlines imposed to keep stewardesses in line, monitoring their weight, inspecting their hair and makeup, and insisting that they retire upon marriage, pregnancy or the age of 32. The revolutionary spirit of the 1960s, however, led many stewardesses to protest these increasingly irrelevant rules, as well as to challenge racial stereotyping in hiring policies and to rebel against sexualized ad campaigns.

SUM IT UP 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective

Summitt, Pat with Jenkins, Sally Crown Archetype (407 pp.) $28.00 | Mar. 5, 2013 978-0-385-34687-0

The NCAA’s winningest basketball coach opens up about private and public contests that have defined her.

While the title of Summitt’s latest work (Reach for the Summit, 1998, etc.) is a reflection of her long career as head coach of the University of Tennessee’s Lady Vols—eight national championships and 1,098 victories—the substance of this engaging memoir offers an unvarnished look at defining moments behind those incomparable achievements. In 2011, the basketball world was shocked when Summitt, one of the best strategic minds ever to grace the hardwood, revealed she had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. The author tackles the elephant in the room by introducing each historically gauged chapter with snapshots of conversations, between Summitt and co-author Jenkins (co-author: In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, 2010, etc.), focused squarely on the coach’s relation to her illness. Though hardly one to wallow, when asked if she would trade her championships to have her health restored, Summitt admits, “I would give back every one of my trophies to still be coaching.” The bulk of the memoir demonstrates why, with detailed recollections plumbing the depths of Summitt’s 80

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“In a memorable memoir reflecting identity, von Ziegesar tells of his stepbrother’s wounds, both psychic and grievously physical, occasionally with fraternal irascibility and more frequently with candid understanding.” from the looking glass brother

THE LOOKING GLASS BROTHER

At a time when women weren’t supposed to want to travel beyond their fenced yards, stewardesses set their sights on the sky; this book lovingly salutes them.

von Ziegesar, Peter St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $24.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-312-59298-1

EXTREMELY LOUD Sound as a Weapon

A scion of the East Coast upper crust contends with his family, especially one particularly difficult kinsman.

Screenwriter and filmmaker von Ziegesar’s younger brother is also named Peter von Ziegesar. To be precise, they are stepbrothers, and they are called Big Peter and Little Peter. Though Big Peter had been known to occasionally inhale lines of dope, it was Little Peter who was troubled—homeless and either schizophrenic or in the thrall of Asperger’s syndrome. The story of the stepbrothers reveals how they affected and, in some ways, reflected each other’s lives. From a world of posh boarding schools, nannies and yachts, Big Peter made it to a life with a family at home in Brooklyn. Little Peter, from the same roots, simply dropped from the proud family tree. From the tribe’s compound at Peacock Point on Long Island Sound and a comfortable world, he wandered, homeless, bedding in damp cardboard boxes around the country. The folk who populate the stepbrothers’ blended families include a philandering father, imperious grande dames, distracted siblings and feckless mothers; here, too, are hip friends alien to Peacock Point’s moneyed moorings. It’s as if characters wandered out of an Auchincloss novel to encounter Kerouac’s bunch. The vivid, frequently elegiac memory piece, with a touch of imaginative reconstruction, brings to life some diverse relations and a memorable homeless protagonist in particular. The talented writer snares readers throughout with scores of pop and literary references—a device that can lead to minor gaffes as, for example, when he names “Pancho Villa” as Don Quixote’s sidekick.

In a memorable memoir reflecting identity, von Ziegesar tells of his stepbrother’s wounds, both psychic and grievously physical, occasionally with fraternal irascibility and more frequently with candid understanding.

Volcler, Juliette Translated by Volk, Carol New Press (208 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-59558-873-9

Everything you ever suspected or feared about music as a weapon, sound as torture and the expansion of the military-industrial complex to encom-

pass entertainment.

Much of this could be very funny if the implications weren’t so serious and the tone of the journalistic prose so matter-of-fact.

As the aural equivalent of waterboarding, the United States has subjected trainees to “babies crying inconsolably” and “a Yoko Ono album.” Before the Branch Davidian attack in Waco, Texas, the FBI subjected the sect to “jarring music including Tibetan Buddhist chants, reveille, marches, Mitch Miller Christmas carols, selections from Alice Cooper, and Nancy Sinatra’s 1960s pop ode, ‘These Boots Are Made for Walking.’ ” The composer of the Barney singalong, “I Love You,” thinks the very concept of his music as a repetitive torture device is “absolutely ludicrous,” but any parent subjected to that tape loop would beg to differ. A French broadcast journalist, Volcler examines the use of sound in the “war of the mind” and as “no-touch torture,” from a physiological perspective and within a historical perspective, showing how long the potential of sound as weaponry has been recognized, how widespread is its use and how strong has been the condemnation. She shows how easily and how often a sonic assault can lead to disorientation, diarrhea and even death. Yet so often, the effectiveness of the weaponry lies in the ear of the target, and the line may well be blurring or disappearing between what is entertainment within one culture and an aggressive assault on another. As the book quotes James Hetfield of Metallica, “We’ve been punishing our parents, our wives, our loved ones with this music forever. Why should the Iraqis be any different?” Who needs nuclear weaponry when we’ve got Eminem?

Dry but disturbingly illuminating in the possible ramifications.

ON GOD’S SIDE What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned about Serving the Common Good

Wallis, Jim Brazos (320 pp.) $21.99 | Apr. 1, 2013 978-1-58743-337-5

A manifesto for the common good, long on sense, short on inspiration.

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confusion and should return to first principles in the interest of serving the common good. In clearly reasoned, lucid prose and without rancor or dogma, Wallis traces the decline in civility in both the public and private sectors, the destructive effect of financial interests holding sway in politics, the importance of family to the development of individual and communal morality, and other such social issues. This even-tempered, mild, avuncular approach actually works to the book’s detriment. Wallis’ positions are so reasonable and obvious that some invective, zeal or sense of dramatic urgency is necessary to offset the essential banality of his arguments. As it stands, Wallis’ plea for a kinder, deeper, more caring world has all of the revolutionary fervor of a speech from Mr. Rogers on the necessity of playing nicely together. Wallis can be charming, with his childlike devotion to the Narnia stories of C.S. Lewis and baseball, and the messages of tolerance and cooperation to be found within them (he is refreshingly progressive on such topics as same-sex marriage), and his friendly, conversational tone makes the book a relatively painless read. But the moral lessons presented here should be self-evident to any reasonably bright and engaged young teenager. That may in fact be Wallis’ point, but the delivery of the message is simply too anodyne to make any kind of emotional or intellectual impact.

An admirable, worthy message that could be contained on a bumper sticker.

still reviled as redbaiters, informers and rats? How has the stench of totalitarian Marxism, every bit as noxious as its contemporaneous ideologies, Nazism and fascism, failed to fully register?

With the aid, she insists, of a small army of occupiers in New Deal agencies, the Treasury, Agricultural and State departments, Stalin had his way with the U.S. government and caused enormous suffering. West blames our elected officials, establishment historians (especially for ignoring intelligence history), blinkered journalists and elites sympathetic to the collectivist agenda for suppressing evidence of what she terms a massive betrayal of our traditions and institutions.

A frustrating mixture of incontrovertible facts and dubious speculation. Proceed with caution.

THE SCIENCE DELUSION Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy Answers

White, Curtis Melville House (224 pp.) $23.95 | Jun. 3, 2013 978-1-61219-200-0

White (English/Illinois State Univ.; Barbaric Heart: Faith, Money, and the Crisis of Nature, 2009 etc.) disputes the triumphalism of neuroscientists, evolutionary psychologists and geneticists who proclaim “the victory of science and reason over religion.”

The author pays particular attention to the writings of Jonah Lehrer, Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens, all self-professed atheists whom White charges with having encroached on the “domain of philosophy, the arts, and humanities.” As an impassioned social critic, he does not endorse the fundamentalist Christian attack on science, and he argues against what he calls scientism, exemplified by Dawkins’ contention that the human mind, social behavior and morality can be explained as the working of selfish genes or their cultural counterpart, memes. Without a “collaboration with art,” he writes, “science is doomed to moral sterility, or to a nihilism that asserts that there are no values.” White goes a step further, charging that this “ideology of sciences meshes with the broader ideology of capitalism” by treating self-interest as primary. He skewers Hitchens as a representative of privilege and entitlement who basked in his sense of cultural superiority and found a convenient scapegoat for unjust wars in the gullibility of religious believers. White also objects to Lehrer’s explanation of the role of a brain scan in showing creativity—by showing areas of the brain that are activated when a subject solves a puzzle, creativity is illuminated. This implicitly equates the creativity of Beethoven or Bob Dylan with that of the inventor of Swiffer mops, without regard to the content of their thought or the broader “social context” in which it occurred. While not denying the fascinating advances of modern science, the author stresses the importance of philosophy and other disciplines.

A witty critique of scientific overreach that celebrates the totality of human achievement.

AMERICAN BETRAYAL The Secret Assault on Our Nation’s Character

West, Diana St. Martin’s (416 pp.) $26.99 | May 28, 2013 978-0-312-63078-2 978-1-250-01755-0 e-book

A nationally syndicated conservative columnist explores the extent and impact of the Soviet Union’s penetration of the United States government.

Referring to Franklin Roosevelt’s “one-man cabinet,” Gen. George C. Marshall once remarked that Harry “Hopkins’s job with the president was to represent the Russian interests. My job was to represent the American interests.” Notwithstanding the many possible alternative readings, West (The Death of the GrownUp: How America’s Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization, 2008) takes this comment as further evidence for her dossier demonstrating that Hopkins was Stalin’s complicit errand boy. In this, as in many other instances, she goes too far, challenging conventional histories at almost every turn. But she also makes a number of valid, sufficiently provocative points.

Not until the 1990s, with access to the Venona files and Soviet archives, have historians wholly appreciated the scope of Russian spying in this country from the time FDR formally recognized the Soviet Union in 1933. West matches these new revelations to previously known facts and wonders why we’ve neglected to fully adjust the historical record. Why are whistle-blowers of the era 82

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THE NEW YORK TIMES DISUNION Modern Historians Revisit and Reconsider the Civil War from Lincoln’s Election to the Emancipation Proclamation

THE LAST WARLORD The Life and Legend of Dostum, the Afghan Warrior Who Led US Special Forces to Topple the Taliban Regime

Williams, Brian Glyn Chicago Review (352 pp.) $28.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-61374-800-8

Widmer, Ted—Ed. Black Dog & Leventhal (352 pp.) $27.95 | May 14, 2013 978-1-57912-928-6

The turbulent history of Afghanistan and its most powerful and influential army general through the eyes of an American historian.

Dubbing it one of his life’s greatest challenges, Williams (Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to America’s Longest War, 2011), a former CIA tracker and Islamic history instructor, traveled extensively throughout central Asia to probe the region’s historic bounty and, moreover, to discover the intriguing man behind the Taliban’s demise, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, Uzbek commander of the Northern Alliance opposition. Williams easily appreciated an area uniquely accommodating of both modern Western and traditional Afghan customs. Undeterred by its characteristic sand, heat and whipping windstorms, he writes excitedly of the 2003 and 2005 visits to Mazar-i-Sharif, where Dostum’s imperial compound awaited him and where questions about the warlord’s refuted reputation as either a ruthless drug baron or a respected leader of the Afghan people could finally be answered. Somewhat unexpectedly, though with aplomb, Williams charts Dostum’s scrappy, “primitive” origins from army soldier to military warlord alongside the expansive history of Afghanistan, through Taliban fundamentalism, the assassination of military leader Ahmad Massoud, 9/11 and the play-by-play details of the warlord’s American-assisted victory. As expected, the politics of war figures heavily throughout the book, as does Williams’ version of Dostum’s crucial role in redefining the area under his refined regime. Still, while the minute details of Afghanistan’s vast history are mostly engaging, they absorb most of the book’s promising exclusivewith-a-warlord punch, leaving the author’s brief time interviewing Dostum and touring the grounds almost as an afterthought.

More historic chronicle than biographic exposé—will appeal mostly to academics and those with an intense interest in the collapse of the Taliban.

Widmer, a Brown University historian, is joined by New York Times op-ed staff editors Risen and Kalogerakis in the masterful compilation of more than 100 short essays based on the award-winning Times Disunion blog (begun in 2010), which chronologically traces and reconsiders the War between the States, an event he believes still remains “a ghostly presence in American life.”

The collection sequentially launches with the secession crisis and moves through the Emancipation Proclamation, and the offerings are wonderfully multifarious. History scholar Louis Masur’s insightful essay factors Lincoln’s presidential election into the fray as deftly as Susan Schulten ably explores the war from a geographical perspective. War historian Adam Goodheart’s contributions are consistent standouts and include a rich sketch of Harriet Tubman and pensive words about slaves at Christmastime. William Freehling considers the secession’s impact through Confederate Gen. George Wythe Randolph’s eyes, journalist Cate Lineberry offers an outstanding profile of Confederate spy Rose Greenhow and a jarring piece on juvenile soldiers, and military historian C. Kay Larson provides an article on the oft-overlooked presence of female wartime volunteers. Uniform in tone and thought-provoking content, the articles are supplemented by actual diary entries, artifact images, letters, pertinent cartography, photographs and poetry. The mood of the era is captured best through Carole Emberton’s harrowingly detailed commentary on the scourge of war-borne smallpox, Terry L. Jones’ deliberation on black militiamen and Widmer’s own examination of Lincoln’s portraiture, carefully manipulated “to give the Union a face—his own.” Each of the assembled scholars, historians, academics and journalists crafts unique insights and viewpoints and through their collective dialogue, artistically contemplates the heft and enduring relevance of the Civil War. American history meets the “snap, crackle and pop of lively online writing” in this outstanding serialization.

MY NEW ORLEANS, GONE AWAY A Memoir of Loss and Renewal

Wolf, Peter M. Delphinium (336 pp.) $24.95 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-88-328556-2

There’s a fascinating story here, but one that’s less about Katrina, or even New Orleans, than about the author’s attempts to understand himself and his ambitions. |

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“An incendiary piece of work that will hopefully encourage other victims to escape the IFB’s web.” from i fired god

Wolf begins with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, with the author writing from East Hampton, N.Y., filled with worry about “the city I’d left forty-two years before, had returned to so often, and still called home.” He thus decided to write this memoir in order “to preserve what I can, and understand what I have not.” As a sixth-generation member of a prominent New Orleans family, Wolf left the city to earn his doctorate in the history of art and architecture and to establish himself as an authority on urban planning. But he had also felt marginalized in a city where Jews were excluded from social clubs and Mardi Gras rituals and distanced from his parents, who seemed little interested in him. After a friend called him “an island,” he writes that “it wasn’t until years later that I realized he’d immediately seen how I was rather isolated from my parents, how I shriveled into myself, shrinking for need of the love and care that I felt I rarely got from them, no matter how hard I tried to be the good son.” Wolf offers scrumptious accounts of dining at Galatoire’s and Mosca’s (where menus were mainly for outsiders and tourists), but he more often focuses on himself as a bright but emotionally stunted young man as he separated himself from New Orleans, the family business and a series of romantic relationships for which he was emotionally ill-equipped. By the end of the memoir, having skipped over decades, even his failed 18-year marriage gets mentioned only in passing. Then the book concludes, as it began, with a few pages about the flood.

As interesting for what it doesn’t say (and the way it doesn’t say it) as for what it does.

in a tone that is not so much unvarnished as vulnerable, the thrum of something evil playing right under the surface as she would curl up and weep at another episode of her father’s wrath.

When she was 18, her father was still whipping her, ordering her to remove her clothes before administration, in a grotesque sexual sadism. But Zichterman’s story is more than a grisly tale of abuse. It is a glimpse into what is potentially happening in thousands of families caught in the IFB orbit. She eventually broke from the church, an act of heroism that it is difficult to imagine given such obvious brainwashing.

An incendiary piece of work that will hopefully encourage other victims to escape the IFB’s web. (16-page color photo insert)

I FIRED GOD My Life Inside—and Escape from—the Secret World of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult

Zichterman, Jocelyn R. St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $25.99 | May 14, 2013 978-1-250-02626-2 978-1-250-02633-0 e-book

A damning memoir of life under the thumb of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, from former member Zichterman.

Although it appears that the author’s father is a seriously disturbed individual in his own right, the teachings of the IFB leave little to the imagination regarding the place of women in their worldview, where submission is their due—and they pay for even the smallest infraction with bloody lashings. Not that the boys went unbeaten, and Zichterman would sing quietly to her doll as her brothers got the rod. Under the guise of godly discipline, the IFB nurtured paranoia, “a clandestine subculture that breeds fear and suspicion,” in which the members “have no idea that charitable organizations and government authorities exist that could offer them counseling and protection.” So they remain silent, and the girls remain silent before the physical and sexual abuse. It is unnerving—even infuriating—to read of Zichterman’s ordeal—all the fear, depression, guilt and pain, 84

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children’s & teen AKISSI Cat Invasion

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Abouet, Marguerite Translated by Taboy, J. Illus. by Sapin, Mathieu Flying Eye Books (48 pp.) $14.99 | May 14, 2013 978-1-909263-01-7

AKISSI by Marguerite Abouet; illus. by Mathieu Sapin....................85 TEXTING THE UNDERWORLD by Ellen Booraem.............................87 AFTER IRIS by Natasha Farrant..........................................................91 SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY by Karen Harrington................................ 94 THE COUNTERFEIT FAMILY TREE OF VEE CRAWFORD-WONG

by L. Tam Holland................................................................................95 LARA'S GIFT by Annemarie O'Brien.................................................106 DEATH, DICKINSON, AND THE DEMENTED LIFE OF FRENCHIE GARCIA by Jenny Torres Sanchez..................................109 THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING by Robyn Schneider...............109 THE WELLS BEQUEST by Polly Shulman.........................................110 SOME QUIET PLACE by Kelsey Sutton.............................................. 111 STILL STAR-CROSSED by Melinda Taub......................................... 112 YELLOW, RED, BLUE AND IF I GET ANGRY GREY

by Alessandro Sanna; dev. by WARE’S ME...................................... 117 A DAY IN THE MARKET by May Tobias-Papa ; illus. by Isabel Roxas; dev. by Adarna House......................................................................... 118 TEXTING THE UNDERWORLD

Ivory Coast–born Abouet (Aya, 2007, for adults) dishes out bursts of simultaneous hilarity and horror in African vignettes aimed at a younger audience.

All seven episodes feature young Akissi and her brother Fofana or her friends getting into trouble for less-than-exemplary (to say the least) behavior. In “Good Mums,” for instance, she borrows a neighbor’s baby and tenderly feeds it a stew concocted from discarded scraps found in the market. “Home Cinema” has her playing lookout while Fofana sells spots in front of the television set to neighborhood children. She loses a fish to an opportunistic stray in “Cat Invasion.” And in “Football Match,” she kicks a soccer ball over a wall belonging to a surly hunchback and draws the (to her) logical conclusion: “He had swallowed it!” Framed in cleanly drawn, easy-to-read sequential panels, the art sets dialogue balloons and cartoon figures dressed in a casual mix of Western and traditional garb in an unpaved but well-kept urban neighborhood. Following the spectacularly gross “Tapeworm,” an equally (but for different reasons) delicious recipe for “Coconut Goat’s Droppings” caps this memorable introduction to a character whose further misadventures, already available in France, can’t make their way across the pond quickly enough.

Strong stomachs are a prerequisite. Even the strongest will be left both queasy and sore from laughter. (Graphic short stories. 7-10)

Booraem, Ellen Dial (320 pp.) $16.99 Aug. 15, 2013 978-0-8037-3704-4

TOPSY TURVY WORLD

Atak Illus. by Atak Flying Eye Books (30 pp.) $18.99 | May 14, 2013 978-1-909263-04-8

Role reversals rule in this (mostly) wordless import.

From the title page, which depicts the head of a child/man (depending on orientation), on, a veteran German illustrator offers even not very attentive viewers a succession of silly switches. Penguins and polar bears share |

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space with owls and moose, among others, in a stylized jungle scene; a rabbit aims a blunderbuss at a frightened hunter; firefighters battle a fountain with flame-spurting hoses; a giant lad takes his tiny parents out for a walk—and that’s not all. Though he paints in a crude style that suits the obvious, easy-to-spot swaps, one scene crowded with small cartoon and comic-book figures from Bart Simpson and Darth Vader to Batman—all with switched heads— adds a dollop of sly humor. The aforementioned gun, an Indian with a feathered headdress, a glimpse of nude swimmers behind a man retrieving a stick for his canine owner and other such “sophistications” are less clever than offkilter, though. So too is the thoroughly dispensable nonsense rhyme (“I found it quite funny, / Until a snow bunny / Ate all of my paper / —’Twas quite a caper!”) opposite the title page.

An uneven U.S. debut for Atak, easy peasy for fans of the I Spy genre. (Picture book. 6-8)

DREAM BOATS

Bar-el, Dan Illus. by Wakelin, Kirsti Anne Simply Read (40 pp.) $17.95 | Jun. 29, 2013 978-1-897476-87-1 In this rich if not very restful outing, drowsy children worldwide float into a succession of luxuriantly detailed mythscapes.

Bar-El provides a skimpy key to his cultural references at the end, but most young listeners would be better advised just to go with the flow. In terse free verse, the author sends young Maiqui on a voyage beneath Andean “maker of light” Viracocha, Aljuu to the shores of Haida Gwaii, Parvati beneath a shower of diamonds from Ganesh’s trunk. Likewise, other children enjoy quick encounters with figures and rituals from their respective traditions. In illustrations that hark back to Charles Mikolaycak’s dazzling, flat-perspective explosions of color and form, Wakelin portrays smiling children individually or collectively riding a canoe, reed boat, Russian frigate or other water craft into kaleidoscopic swirls of stars, flowers, supernatural animals or other figures, and welcoming family members. Those magical realms vanish with the sun and a final crowd of laughing children, but for dreamers who might wish to go back, the poet offers reassurance: “Would you remember the way? / Not to worry. Dream Boats remember. / Call them and they will come.”

A compressed but engaging invitation to think of dreams as fine adventures. (instructions for origami boat on endpapers) (Picture book. 5-8)

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COUNT THE MONKEYS

Barnett, Mac Illus. by Cornell, Kevin Disney Hyperion (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-4231-6065-6

How does one count the monkeys if there are no monkeys left to count? A philosophical question of the ages (and storytime).

The title page drolly advises readers from the start: “It’s fun.

It’s easy. All you have to do is turn the page….” But there are no monkeys! Instead, there is a giant king cobra who has slithered across the entire book and scared all of the monkeys away. The audience is now directed to “[t]urn the page very slowly, very carefully so he doesn’t notice us.” Are the monkeys on the next page? Nope. But there are two mongooses who have chased away the cobra. Or is it mongeese? Barnett polls the readers, asking their opinion. And so it goes. Three dapper crocodiles frighten the mongooses, four picnic-loving grizzly bears frighten the crocodiles—but will there ever be any monkeys?

This kinetic, raucous read-aloud invites kids to hum tunes, roar loudly, close their eyes and politely say “thank you” six times to the sweet old-lady beekeepers who chase away the bees. But alas, the book runs out of pages before those petrified primates ever make an appearance. (Thank goodness for endpapers.)

More fun than a barrel of…well, you know. (Picture book. 3-6)

RIGHT OF WAY

Barnholdt, Lauren Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-4424-5127-8 Despite their breakup, handsome Jace Renault agrees to take beautiful Peyton Miller back to Connecticut from Florida on a road trip that is not only underfunded, but completely illogical on the parts of both characters.

Seventeen-year-old Peyton really only wants to go as far as North Carolina and live there, but she hasn’t enough money for the trip, much less starting a new life, and Jace is supposedly ducking an opportunity to give the valedictory speech at his graduation in order to accommodate her. Hijinks and romance predictably ensue. None of it is particularly believable. Jace is the least likely-to-be-valedictorian character ever, and Peyton is beyond naïve about money, despite her parents’ continuous arguments on the subject. Ostensibly, the lesson they both learn is that “you have to put it all out there, you have to be willing to let yourself be vulnerable. Otherwise there’s no way you’re going to be able to have anything real.” Each teen takes turns narrating events, and their accounts wander through time to explain what has led up to the present predicament, including why Jace has suddenly acquired a dog and the peccadilloes of the adults in their lives. Some swearing is thrown in, an apparent

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“Booraem applies a light touch to her heavy subject. Iron Age–era Ashling eagerly, if inaccurately, adopts 21st-century slang and catches up with old Trivial Pursuit cards….” from texting the underworld

but unconvincing attempt at verisimilitude, but the romance never gets steamy enough to raise eyebrows.

An unsatisfying romantic road trip that doesn’t go the distance. (Fiction. 12 & up)

WHAT FLOATS IN A MOAT?

Berry, Lynne Illus. by Cordell, Matthew Simon & Schuster (48 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-4169-9763-4

Silly meets science in this title inspired by Archimedes’ principle.

Archie (get it?) the goat and Skinny the hen need to deliver three barrels of buttermilk to the queen—a pig who looks like she might have come from the pen of Steig himself—in her moated castle. Rejecting the drawbridge in the name of “Science!” they embark on a process of trial and error to float the barrels across the moat. While this may not be much of an elevator pitch, this story sure does make for a terrific picture-book read, due in large part to the hilarity of Cordell’s watercolor illustrations embellished with pen and ink. Archie first tries to float on a full barrel of buttermilk, but it sinks. Undeterred, he tells Skinny to drink the buttermilk from the second barrel. She does and, not so skinny any longer, heaves the empty barrel with Archie upon it into the water.

This one does float, but unsteadily so. The third try is a charm as Skinny drains just half of its buttermilk, creating a seaworthy vessel. The queen pig is none too pleased to have five-sixths of her buttermilk in either the moat or the hen, but it was all “in the name of science,” explains the placid Archie as a bloated Skinny belches her affirmation.

A goofy romp that will fit right in with elementary school science lessons. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)

REPLICA

Black, Jenna Tor (368 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-7653-3371-1 A paint-by-numbers dystopia neither offends nor thrills.

In a future in which corporations have taken over bankrupt states, the Executives are at the top and the Basementdwellers, who live in a world of illegal vices, at the bottom. Nadia Lake is careful of her actions and her reputation, since she can’t afford to jeopardize the betrothal her parents made for her with Nathaniel Hayes, the Chairman Heir of Paxco. Their marriage will be in name only, since Nate is gay and in love with Kurt Bishop, his valet and a former Basementdweller. But Nate is murdered, and Kurt is seen fleeing the scene with blood on his hands. Nate is replaced with a Replica, a perfect |

copy of himself, negating the tension caused by his murder. But Mosely, the sinister, mustache-twirling head of security for Nate’s father, still wants to find out who killed Nate. He threatens Nadia into spying on the replica Nate as he looks for Kurt in the Basement. Nadia and Nate will have to work together to find the truth, only to discover something much bigger than themselves.

There’s a lot of setup and not a lot of payoff in this novel, the ending of which leaves open the possibility of a sequel. While Nadia and Nate display some personality, other characters, like Mosely and Kurt, are cardboard cutouts.

Likely to be gobbled up by fans of the genre, but it won’t win new ones. (Dystopian adventure. 14 & up)

TEXTING THE UNDERWORLD

Booraem, Ellen Dial (320 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 15, 2013 978-0-8037-3704-4 Fantasist Booraem (Small Persons with Wings, 2011, etc.) turns her attention from art to another great human endeavor: death.

Timorous 12-year-old Conor O’Neill is scared of spiders, doesn’t want to play hockey and is dubious about leaving Southie to attend Boston Latin. When a banshee shows up, ready to keen for an imminent family Death, he is sent directly over the edge into terror. Who’s to die? His parents? His beloved, Irish-to-the-core grandfather, Grump? His “soul-sucking demon warrior” of a little sister, Glennie? Conor himself? Cripes. Rookie banshee Ashling needs her Death; it’s the only way she can move on from the Underworld and into a new life. Hoping to find a loophole, Conor, Glennie and an ailing Grump venture with her into the Underworld to talk to the Lady and undergo the test of the Birds in order to gain power over life and death. Booraem applies a light touch to her heavy subject. Iron Age–era Ashling eagerly, if inaccurately, adopts 21st-century slang and catches up with old Trivial Pursuit cards; the various denizens of the Underworld—a gleeful olio of afterlife mythologies—squabble like those who’ve been cooped up together too long. But she doesn’t avoid staring death in the face, saddling her likably unlikely hero with an agonizing decision that, though framed in fantasy, is all too gut-punchingly real.

Like Conor, readers will emerge from this adventure a little bit better equipped for heroism than before. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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“…dinosaurs and loose teeth make for a surprisingly fun read.” from the dinosaur tooth fairy

YOUNG JERRY FORD Athlete and Citizen

Debut picture-book pair Brockenbrough and Sanchez are millions of years ahead of their time. (Picture book. 3-6)

Booraem V, Hendrik Eerdmans (160 pp.) $14.00 paper | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-8028-6942-5

A WORLD OF TROUBLE

A vivid, colorful and insightful biography of the 38th president of the United States looks at his childhood and adolescence.

Tracing the early life of Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, Mich., to his high school graduation in 1931, Booraem reveals how Ford’s ideals and values were shaped by the strict upbringing of his mother and stepfather, his Episcopalian faith, involvement in the Boy Scouts and achievements as a star high school athlete.

The author’s admiration for Ford is obvious, but he does reveal his subject’s shortcomings, such as anger management issues and consistent mediocrity in most academic subjects. Readers are left with a well-rounded, human portrait of a popular though largely unremarkable young man who demonstrated no political ambitions other than running for class officer in high school. Booraem does an exemplary job depicting the times in which Ford grew up, though it seems unlikely that most young readers will be interested in the many details he includes about life in Grand Rapids in the 1920s. The many photographs and other archival illustrations help to round out the depiction of person, place and period.

A revealing portrait of the formative years of a future president of the United States. (Biography. 10-14)

THE DINOSAUR TOOTH FAIRY

Brockenbrough, Martha Illus. by Sanchez, Israel Levine/Scholastic (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-545-24466-4

It is tough being a tooth fairy to dinosaurs when all your sources of new material are extinct.

All the Dinosaur Tooth Fairy can do now is flit around the museum and reminisce about the good old days when “the world was hot [and] the teeth were huge.” But one day, a little girl loses her tooth—“PLIK!”—right inside the dinosaur hall. The tiny fairy (who looks a little like a small T-Rex) will do anything to add that tooth to her collection. She just needs to defeat the modern-day machines that get in her way—like the giant, yellow monster with swoopy lashes (the school bus) or the ferocious and frustrating one-eyed doorknobosaurus.

And of course, her main rival—the Human Tooth Fairy—isn’t about to let that tooth go without a fight. The tiny, lime green, bulbous dino (complete with ruffled skirt and crown) gets into many amusing scrapes, but she just might end up making a new friend. While the concept is not quite as obvious as the nowfamiliar dino-train combo, dinosaurs and loose teeth make for a surprisingly fun read. (Ten percent of the author’s royalties will be donated to Kids International Dental Services.)

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Burns, T.R. Aladdin (384 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 5, 2013 978-1-4424-4032-6 Series: Merits of Mischief, 2

It’s a new semester at Kilter Academy.

Trouble’s brewing; it’s everyone’s favorite subject.

Last semester, Seamus Hinkle found that he didn’t inadvertently kill Miss Parsippany, the substitute teacher at his old school, much to his relief. Now he wants to leave Kilter, which parents think is a reform school (but which is actually a school for Troublemakers), and return to regular school…until he discovers something disturbing about his mother. He returns to Kilter and the rooms he shares with his three friends, but Elinor (niece of Annika Kilter, the academy’s enigmatic founder) isn’t returning. Through K-mail (Kilter’s answer to email), Seamus tries to find out why Elinor’s absent and seeks advice on dealing with parents from Miss Parsippany. Meanwhile, he gets a special assignment from Annika to spy on history teacher Mr. Tempest, who periodically goes missing. What he really wants to do is find out why Elinor’s so uncommunicative. Burns’ second volume in her Merits of Mischief series will be totally incomprehensible to those who haven’t recently read the first.

Seamus’ exposition-heavy K-mail conversations interrupt the tale at every turn, and the characters don’t see any development.

The constant barrage of Bond-like devices, many of which are ludicrous, simply draws attention to the tale’s attempts at cleverness rather than actually delivering it.

Only fans of the first need try; likely even some of them will be disappointed. (Adventure. 9-12)

ROBOT FRENZY

Craddock, Erik Illus. by Craddock, Erik Random House (96 pp.) $6.99 paper | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-375-86913-6 Series: Stone Rabbit, 8 Stone Rabbit and friends face their most frightening nemesis yet right in their own hometown: a ginormous shark robot!

In his eighth graphic adventure, Stone Rabbit and his friends Henri Tortoise and Andy Wolf help Judy the (genius) bird make a float for the parade. There won’t be time for them to complete it, so she sets her army of robot teddy bears to work on it overnight under the supervision of Cheese and Broccoli, two robotic rabbits. Henri wants the float to be terrifyingly awesome instead of cute (the plan includes a dolphin surrounded by

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happy sea creatures), so he electromagnetizes Cheese and Broccoli to change their programming. The float turns out according to plans…until halfway through the parade, when Cheese rips off his fur and turns the float into a tornado-barfing, laser-eyed shark robot with a belly full of flame-thrower–bearing robot bears. They proceed to do what any self-respecting tornadobarfing, laser-eyed shark robot with a belly full of flame-thrower– bearing robot bears would do: attack the paradegoers. Can Stone Rabbit and friends save the town and maybe the world, or are we all doooomed?! Craddock continues the crack-brained, cartoon craziness with another cinematically illustrated graphic tale. The bright, action-packed panels and goofy story are just right for reluctant readers, as is the glossary at the close.

Readers new to the series will clamor for Stone Rabbit’s other outings; his fans will greet it eagerly. (Graphic fantasy.

6-10)

A DARKNESS STRANGE AND LOVELY

Dennard, Susan HarperTeen (416 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jul. 23, 2013 978-0-06-208329-6 978-0-06-208331-9 e-book

Still reeling from the zombie cataclysm that took her hand and left her necromancer brother dead and his body possessed (Something Strange and Deadly, 2012), Eleanor Fitt sets her sights on Paris, where the SpiritHunters who had helped her are now battling its Dead.

Strange occurrences—the sound of howling dogs, yellow eyes glittering in the darkness and, most disturbingly, the onagain, off-again reappearance of her hand—and the knowledge that the evil spirit who took over Elijah’s body is after the letters he sent to her hasten her departure from Philadelphia. On the boat, she meets Elijah’s demon, Oliver, a charismatic, haunted young man who begins to teach her necromancy, which she finds intensely pleasurable—almost addictive. Unsurprisingly, her reunion with the necromancy-hating Spirit-Hunters is fraught, and it is further complicated by her ambivalent feelings toward Daniel, whom she fell hard for in Philadelphia. This outing lacks its predecessor’s focus, sending Eleanor hither and thither across Paris after the Dead and clues to Elijah’s necromantic research. A rotating cast of characters—Oliver, the various Spirit-Hunters, new French friends and acquaintances— keeps both Eleanor and readers busy, and plot transitions come thick, fast and often clunky. But pastry-loving Eleanor remains an appealing character, and Oliver is an intriguing new addition.

Fans will likely give weaknesses the benefit of the doubt and look forward to the third volume; here’s hoping it repays their faith. (Paranormal historical fiction. 12 & up)

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THE MOON AND MORE

Dessen, Sarah Viking (448 pp.) $19.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-670-78560-5

A high school graduate realizes that having a near-perfect life means not always having the best of everything.

It’s Emaline’s last summer in her hometown of Colby, a seaside tourist mecca where nothing ever changes. But there’re big changes in store for Emaline, and what starts out as a happily predictable summer turns into one of emotional twists and turns. Accepted at Columbia, her dream school, Emaline must instead settle for the lesser, local college when her chronically absent father reneges on his offer to pay. Then her perfect, steady boyfriend suddenly begins behaving imperfectly.

Another curveball comes in the form of Emaline’s burgeoning relationship with Theo, a sophisticated, go-getting film student from NYU who comes to Colby to shoot a documentary and who urges Emaline to aim for greatness. But she is torn, weighing the comfort of her family and the familiarity of small-town life against her belief that her potential rests only in bigger, better things. In the end, Emaline’s plans seem almost as surprising to her as they might be to readers. Dessen’s characters behave as deliciously unpredictably as people do in real life, and just as in real life, they sometimes have to make difficult choices with not-so-predictable outcomes. Luckily for her readers, it also makes for good fiction.

Completely engaging, infused with moments of sweetness, humor and major epiphanies. (Fiction. 12 & up)

THE FLYING BEAVER BROTHERS AND THE MUDSLINGING MOLES

Eaton III, Maxwell Illus. by Eaton III, Maxwell Knopf (96 pp.) $6.99 paper | $12.99 PLB | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-449-81019-4 978-0-449-81020-0 PLB Series: Flying Beaver Brothers, 3 Eaton has learned an important truth: One of the great joys of reading comic books is the sound effects.

The Flying Beaver Brothers series may have the best sound effects in all of comics. “RORP!” is the sound of a hole being torn in a parachute. “FOY! FOY! FOY!” is the sound of a beaver tumbling through the air. “YUT” is the sound of that same beaver being attacked, a few minutes later, by tiny moles. The moles have been suctioning dirt from Beaver Island, as Mole Island is much too small for its population. They use a gigantic vacuum cleaner, and it suctions up trees and houses along with the dirt. When a tree vanishes, the sound effect is “GLURP!” The author is clearly having the time of his life inventing new

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sounds and drawing impossible machines. His technique can’t always keep up with his imagination, though. The flat line drawings sometimes make the sequence of events difficult to follow, and moles and beavers have such tiny feet that they’re hard to draw in action poses. But that’s the appeal: The characters look like doodles, simple figures the readers could draw themselves.

The story is so engaging that when they finish the book, readers may be ready to draw their own Flying Beaver Brothers adventure, complete with sound effects. (Graphic novel. 6-9)

THE FLYING BEAVER BROTHERS: Birds Vs. Bunnies

Eaton III, Maxwell Illus. by Eaton III, Maxwell Knopf (96 pp.) $6.99 paper | $12.99 PLB | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-449-81022-4 978-0-449-81023-1 PLB Series: Flying Beaver Brothers, 4 Birds vs. bunnies: It was only a matter of time.

Fans of the Flying Beaver Brothers already know what to expect when they pick up a new volume in the series. There will be goofy sound effects. (The latest book, the fourth, includes the words “GABLOBBLE!” and “SPLOIP!”) There will be household objects of enormous size (in this case, a giant hamster cage and an even larger desk fan). But the jokes in this outing are funnier than ever. Eaton’s sense of humor has become so dry that the best jokes don’t even sound like jokes out of context. The funniest line is, “We also have secondary ocular membranes.” Readers will laugh hysterically and then tell their friends, “You had to be there.” The plot is summed up in the title: Birds get into a war with bunnies. But the plot is never the point in a Flying Beaver Brothers comic. The point is that the artist gets a shot at drawing a giant fan and a fish in a diving helmet.

The Flying Beaver Brothers may not look imposing, but they can meet any challenge they take on, even armies of birds and bunnies. By the end of the book, readers will believe a beaver can fly—and that they also have secondary ocular membranes. (Graphic novel. 6-10)

A SUMMER OF SUNDAYS

Eland, Lindsay Egmont USA (384 pp.) $15.99 | $15.99 e-book | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-60684-030-6 978-1-60684-413-7 e-book An almost 12-year-old girl tries to distinguish herself from her five boisterous siblings in a very quiet coming-of-age tale.

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character-driven story. The experience of being accidentally left behind at a service station as her family makes the trip to a small Pennsylvania town, where her father has been rehabbing the library, perfectly sums up for Sunday the position she holds: She’s always hidden by the crowd. When her family returns a couple of hours later, not because they noticed her missing but because they lost their way, it reinforces her need to find a way to stand out among her siblings. Discovery of an old manuscript in the library cellar, possibly penned by an iconic and reclusive author, might provide the path to fame. Sunday, a strong reader who celebrates the value of good books, teams up with Jude, a sensitive local boy, to investigate the growing evidence that the story is somehow linked to an infamously withdrawn local man, Ben. Sunday’s competent, low-key parents and realistically depicted, lively siblings are lovingly portrayed and may amuse readers growing up in more typical small families.

Still, for many who pick it up, well-developed characters and a mild mystery may not be enough to sustain interest in this overlong effort. (Fiction. 10-14)

GHOST TIME

Eldridge, Courtney Skyscape (416 pp.) $17.99 | $7.99 e-book | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-4778-1657-8 978-1-4778-6657-3 e-book In this overstuffed crossover debut, a narrative that zigzags chronologically paints increasingly disquieting elements into a seemingly typical teen romance/ mystery.

The story is cast as a teenspeak monologue divided into chapters that alternate between an ongoing present and increasingly distant past events. Thea’s tale begins with the disappearance of Cam, a schoolmate recently arrived in their upstate New York town. As weeks pass, in the wake of Cam’s observations that time is coded and subject to hacking just like computer programs, strange incidents—a glowing tattoo appears on Thea’s shoulder; a flood of undeletable sex tapes begins to appear on the Web, growing sharper with every viewing—add a paranormal streak. Meanwhile, both going forward and in retrospective memories of six months of predictable highlights, like the pair’s first date, first kiss and first visit to a favorite diner, Thea drops chilling references to her previous history of sustained cutting and then institutionalization. Along with creating an unlikable narrator who cranks bad temper and emotional instability to exhausting levels, Eldridge stuffs her novel with extraneous subplots. She shoehorns in a devastating revelation about Cam’s identity and past near the end and then brings the whole story to a sudden close without explaining any of the mysteries or resolving any of the multiple plotlines.

A jumble of nonintegrated parts, admirable for its technical ambition but nothing else. (Paranormal/science fiction/ fantasy/mystery/romance. 14 & up)

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“With her first children’s book, Farrant has created a wounded, flawed cast of characters and depicts them with great compassion.” from after iris

AFTER IRIS

Farrant, Natasha Dial (272 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-8037-3982-6 In this keenly drawn family drama, Blue, sure that no one else still misses her twin, Iris, turns a camera on her workaholic parents, tempestuous older sister, Flora, and younger siblings Jasmine and Twig, the Babes, who entertain themselves with race-car–driving rats.

Blue captures the action in film transcripts and diary entries written in breathless, run-on sentences that reflect the family’s spinout. With their parents absent, possibly divorcing, their doctoral-student baby sitter struggles to maintain control. Flora dyes her hair pink, the Babes get lost, and even Blue gets in trouble when a cute bad-boy convinces her to seek revenge against a bully with a stunt involving the rats. A typical early adolescent, Blue has a sharp eye but is believably blind to everyone else’s sadness.

As she comes to terms with her own grief, she grows ever more aware. But it takes another near tragedy to rally the family— although, as readers will have come to expect with this hapless crew, miscommunication and mayhem, even nature itself, almost keep them apart. With her first children’s book, Farrant has created a wounded, flawed cast of characters and depicts them with great compassion. The situations are a mix of hilariously funny and poignantly touching. Ultimately, loyalty, forgiveness and love reunite them, and the closing scene is lovely: The camera is turned on Blue, and readers see her laughing.

An uplifting, memorable read. (Fiction. 10-14)

QUEENIE One Elephant’s Story

Fenton, Corinne Illus. by Gouldthorpe, Peter Candlewick (25 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-7636-6375-9

In this true tale of an elephant that crushed a keeper after peacefully giving zoo visitors rides for nearly 40 years, Fenton tones the drama down to near nonexistence (for better or worse).

Arriving at the Melbourne Zoo as a youngster, Queenie began giving rides in 1905. She became such a fixture that children wrote her letters, her birthday was celebrated each year, and she even marched in the Centenary Floral Parade in 1934.

After creating an endearing but not anthropomorphic portrait of her pachyderm protagonist, the author, warning that “Queenie’s story has a sad ending,” goes on to explain that even though the 1944 killing might have been just an accident, “the gentle Indian elephant was put to sleep.” Furthermore, she was never replaced; the elephants in today’s zoo occupy a habitat where they can “do just what elephants like to do.” Neither the |

incident itself nor Queenie’s end are specifically described or depicted, and Gouldthorpe’s illustrations, which look like old, hand-tinted photographs, put a nostalgic distance between viewers and events.

Sad indeed, but a little bland—though less traumatic in the telling than the stories of Jumbo or the Faithful Elephants (1988) killed at the Tokyo Zoo. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

FALCON IN THE GLASS

Fletcher, Susan McElderry (320 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-4424-2990-1

Moments of real beauty and mystery vie for readers’ attention with an overstuffed plot glazed in magic.

The island of Murano was (and is) the home of Venice’s glassworks in 1497. There, Renzo tries to learn his late father’s craft, practicing at night. During the day, he serves the padrone who took him in and worries about how he might support his mother and sister. The glassmakers of Venice are fierce and protective of their skills, even to the point of violence. One night, a silent, green-eyed girl, Letta, and her kestrel creep into the glassworks, and Renzo discovers she leads a group of ragged children, each with a bird companion. Renzo is deeply conflicted as he tries to both teach himself and protect the children.

An assassination, a lost relative, intimations of witchcraft, an eye-gouging and high tide seeping into the doge’s dungeons are only some of the plot lines in a story whose seams and rough cuts seem rather visible. But there are some lovely moments, too. “You can watch the glass swell, grow bubble-thin and gossamer, and know that fear is making it lovely, fear is giving it shape.

With glass, joy is the preferable medium. But fear is powerful, and it will do, when joy cannot be found.”

The language will carry word-loving readers past the story’s rough spots. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

HIGH SCHOOL HIGH

Freeman, Shannon Saddleback Educational Publishing (200 pp.) $9.95 paper | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-62250-037-6 Series: Port City High, 1 Three close friends, one of them African-American, one Hispanic and one mixed-race, begin their freshman year at Texas’ Port City High in an accessible, if occasionally clunky, series opener.

Chapters are simple and short, and each girl has a defined storyline. Brandi gets involved with an older boy who pressures her sexually from almost the first date. Marisa is dismayed to

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“If her steadfast opposition to the institutionalized cruelty of the private sector and the government puts her in danger, it also insures her own humanity against the calamity of treating others inhumanely.” from contaminated discover she has feelings for Brandi’s ex-boyfriend. Shane, who has been trying to break herself of the habit of smoking weed, is given Adderall by a friend and spirals into addiction with exaggerated swiftness. Chapters cycle among the three girls’ points of view, though occasionally a minor character’s point of view slips in, which is somewhat distracting. Despite some conflicts, the girls support each other, whether by talking through boy troubles or by choosing to wear matching purity rings. Some elements of the storytelling, however, are shaky: Vocabulary is not always carefully chosen (“ ‘Well?’ Brandi stated when the girls sat down”), and some Spanish words and phrases are written incorrectly. The narrative frequently describes to readers how the girls are feeling, which makes the action easy to follow but sometimes seems redundant.

Warmhearted and easy to read, despite some flaws. (Fiction. 12-14)

CONTAMINATED

Garner, Em Egmont USA (336 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-60684-354-3 Two years after a diet drink with genetically modified ingredients transformed countless Americans into mindlessly violent animals, the Contaminated are controlled by electronic collars, and the unclaimed are housed in kennels like that in which Velvet Ellis, 17, finds her mother.

Over-the-top premise notwithstanding, this suspenseful series opener is rooted firmly in the real world: ours. With her father dead and her mother a Connie, Velvet’s suburban middle-class existence is a distant memory. She and her 10-year-old sister, Opal, scrape by in subsidized housing, partly supported

by Velvet’s menial nursing-home job. The girls’ shaky hold on normal life is finally upended when Velvet brings their mother home, facing anger and fear from neighbors and eviction from their landlord. Stubbornly compassionate Velvet hopes to disprove the conventional wisdom that contamination is permanent, but even if she’s wrong, she won’t abandon her mother.

Too tired to keep up with schoolwork, abandoned by her longtime boyfriend, Velvet never stops seeing—and treating—the contaminated as human. If her steadfast opposition to the institutionalized cruelty of the private sector and the government puts her in danger, it also insures her own humanity against the calamity of treating others inhumanely.

Velvet’s a child forced into early adulthood. Echoing the reality millions of young adults worldwide face daily, this dystopia speaks to a wide range of readers, including reluctant ones. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)

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REALITY ENDS HERE

Gaylin, Alison Pocket Star (250 pp.) $4.99 e-book | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-4767-2759-2 Sixteen-year-old Estella Blanchard is the eldest sister in the hit reality TV show Seven is Heaven. But it is not until she receives a mysterious Christmas present hinting that her deceased father might be alive that things really start to get real.

Accused of the Christmas-morning stunt and of leaking the video footage to the Web, Estella is forced into group therapy. The group, Too Much Too Soon, caters to a special clientele: child stars. Members include sitcom actors, a victim of a viral video and the crush-worthy boy-band member Jake Astor. Estella is used to public scrutiny, but when a reviled photographer begins stalking her, not to take photos, but to give her information, she is not sure whom to trust. Filled with popculture references and even featuring a cameo by Justin Bieber, this fast-paced mystery keeps its tension from beginning to end. Estella is a spot-on combination of sass and teenage vulnerability, and Jake is far smarter than the teen tabloids let on.

Estella’s relationship with her littlest sister, Gracie, is especially touching.

The nods to familiar Hollywood and music-industry figures will quickly date this story, but reality-show lovers and haters alike will enjoy the behind-the-scenes perspective. (Mystery. 12 & up)

WOMEN AVIATORS 26 Stories of Pioneer Flights, Daring Missions, and RecordSetting Journeys

Gibson, Karen Bush Chicago Review (208 pp.) $19.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-61374-540-3 Series: Women of Action

This collective biography profiles 26 women aviators from 1910 up to today.

Most of the names will be unfamiliar with a few exceptions, among them Amelia Earhart, Beryl Markham and Bessie Coleman. The women are grouped into five time frames, providing context that defines the struggles, both physical and societal, that they faced as pilots. The book follows the format of others in the Women of Action series: Each minibio opens with a paragraph about its subject’s accomplishment followed by a few, just-the-facts-ma’am pages about her life, a sidebar of relevant information and one photo, ending with a short bibliography.

The 20 additional pages of backmatter that cite resources are indicative of the academic approach and the perfunctory writing style. While there is a hangar full of information here, the black-and-white interior (only the cover is in color) lacks reader

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appeal. Jeannine Atkins and Dusan Petricic’s Wings and Rockets: The Story of Women in Air and Space (2003) has a bit more energy.

Overall, a sensible if staid survey; its strength is in its breadth. (notes, glossary, bibliography, index [not seen]) (Collective biography. 12 & up)

SINCE YOU ASKED...

Goo, Maurene Scholastic (272 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-545-44821-5

From debut novelist Goo, a school year in the life of an outspoken KoreanAmerican teen.

When the school newspaper accidentally publishes sophomore Holly Kim’s fake essay mocking most of her fellow students, she fears it’s the end of her high school career. Instead, the resulting controversy lands her an ongoing column—an outlet for her strong opinions that she rarely finds at home, where she clashes regularly with her strict mother. Holly’s new writing gig also gives her a reason to interact with classmates outside her usual circle of friends, including Matthew Reynolds, a popular jock. It’s a shame neither her sarcastic first-person narration nor her newspaper columns, which are interspersed throughout the novel, are witty enough to elevate the predictable plot and stock characters; readers are likely to agree with Holly when she compares herself to a character “out of a bad teen movie from the ’90s.” The treatment of Holly’s ambivalence about her Korean upbringing is also disappointing: Holly’s complaints only touch upon the surface of the complex cultural issues in play, and the characterization of her mother relies too much on cheap stereotypes. Look to Paula Yoo’s Good Enough (2008) for a funnier, more nuanced treatment of the same topic.

All-too-familiar, forgettable fluff. (Fiction. 12-18)

HALF LIVES

Grant, Sara Little, Brown (400 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-316-19493-8 A thought-provoking futuristic drama examines different generations affected by a bioterrorist attack.

Icie is a normal teenager, largely consumed with her social media accounts, drama with friends and boyfriends, and her daily trips to Starbucks. Her days are spent creating “the Ripple” with her BFF: grafting two words into one, in hopes they spark trends online. Her routine is irrevocably shattered when her government-affiliated parents warn her of an upcoming bioterror attack, arming her with survival supplies, money and instructions to head to a mysterious underground bunker in |

Vegas. In the future after the attacks, a remote band of people lives on a mountain in an encampment named Forreal and worships the Great I AM, a deity who left cryptic messages about Facebook and malls, and tales of rock stars and cheerleaders.

The mountain people fear terrorists (which they believe are monsterlike creatures with talons and venomous fangs) and the inhabitants of the enigmatic locality Vega. The two intertwining narratives eventually converge, although Icie’s palpably anxious, claustrophobic story is noticeably the stronger half. The decisions made by either generation aren’t easy, and thinking with hearts versus heads leads to missteps, but whether one agrees with their actions, they are compelling nonetheless.

Though a bit uneven, the pressure builds at a breakneck pace, making for a fast, addictive read. (author’s note) (Postapocalyptic adventure. 13 & up)

STORMBRINGERS

Gregory, Philippa Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4424-7687-5 Series: Order of Darkness, 2 The second volume of a projected quartet of historical/paranormal novels is as sloppy as the first, Changeling (2012).

Five disparate characters travel through 1453 Italy together: Isolde, kept from her own lands by her brother; Ishraq, her companion, close as a sister; Luca, novice member of a secret papal order; Freize, Luca’s amiable and intelligent manservant (and the only fully realized and attractive character); and Brother Peter, who seeks to keep them all in line. Brother Peter and Luca are seeking signs of the end of days, and the young women are headed toward Isolde’s godfather for assistance. They happen upon a band of child crusaders certain the waters will part for them to walk to Jerusalem. In the one compelling moment of storytelling, a tsunami sweeps the children and much of a seaside town away. The townspeople behave like a cardboard mob, first praising those who survive, then accusing Isolde and Ishraq of bringing the great wave. Those two girls, inseparable as companions, suddenly have a vicious fight (over Luca). The story concludes, with little progress made, in a scene, between Luca and a lord of the secret order, that is probably meant to be creepily erotic but ends up only creepy. As before, Gregory mixes odd nomenclature and modern phrasing (“Saved our bacon at Vittorito,” Frieze says of Muslim Ishraq) into the unfocused plot.

Another miss, and we’re only halfway through the series. (Historical fiction. 14-18)

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SHALLOW POND

Grosso, Alissa Flux (336 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jul. 8, 2013 978-0-7387-3071-4 Three sisters feel trapped in their tiny rural town, unable to find a way out.

Barbara, the youngest, can’t stand it when her teachers confuse her with her older sisters. They may look alike, but they have completely different personalities. She lives with her two older sisters, troublemaking Gracie and Annie, the oldest, who acts as mother to Barbara. When Gracie starts dating Cameron, Annie’s old flame, Barbara feels disgusted. She also finds herself reluctantly attracted to Zach, a drop-dead handsome newcomer in town claiming to be an orphan living off a large trust fund. As events continue, Barbara begins to believe that her family is not as it seems, only staying in the boring little town of Shallow Pond to hide a skeleton in the closet. Little does she know that soon she will discover the true, far more disturbing reason for their exile from the rest of the world, one that verges on science fiction and touches on a serious ethical issue. Once she reveals the shocking secret, however, Grosso uses it mainly to support the narrative surrounding Barbara’s emotional troubles, glossing over or ignoring major scientific essentials and allowing the question of ethics to evaporate into the relationship narrative.

The three sisters are memorable characters, but by introducing science treated so superficially, the author renders her plotline as shallow as her pond. (Fiction. 12 & up)

THUNDER HORSE

Guibert, Emmanuel Illus. by Boutavant, Marc Papercutz (124 pp.) $12.99 paper | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-59707-412-4 Series: Ariol, 2 More mild mischief from a bookish donkey and his porcine best bud.

The book begins with a tongue-in-cheek quest to complete his collection of beloved superhero Thunder Horse stickers with the elusive #128 (“I bought four packs yesterday. That’s too much. I have to get down to one pack a day”) and ends with Ariol in such rapturous absorption in the new Thunder Horse novel that he misses favorite bookstore owner Mr. Begossian being taken away in an ambulance. Other high and low spots in Ariol’s life range from an embarrassing but informative show and tell of his sonograms at school to a satisfying bit of flirting with classmate Petula. These and other experiences, such as fretting over a scheduled booster shot and taking a long train ride with his hyperactive friend Ramono, provide opportunities aplenty for irritating grown-ups, exchanging banter and suffering comical mishaps. Small of stature but depicted with wide 94

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eyes magnified by outsized glasses, Ariol is easy to spot among the diverse, all-animal cast populating Boutavant’s spacious, cleanly drawn cartoon panels.

A sitcom series between paper covers, offering familiar situations, occasional chuckles and a (not entirely) clueless young protagonist. (Graphic novel. 8-10)

SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY

Harrington, Karen Little, Brown (288 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 13, 2013 978-0-316-21058-4

Worried that she will grow up to be crazy like her mother or alcoholic like her father, rising seventh-grader Sarah Nelson takes courage from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, writing letters to Atticus Finch and discovering her own strengths.

Sarah is a survivor. She survived her mother’s attempt to drown her when she was 2 and the notoriety that has followed her and her father from one Texas town to another in the 10 years since. In a first-person, present-tense narration interspersed with definitions, diary entries and letters, she describes the events of the summer she turns 12, gets her period, develops a crush on a neighbor and fellow word lover, and comes to terms with her parents’ failings. In her first middle-grade novel, Harrington revisits the characters of her adult thriller, Janeology (2008), to imagine what it might be like to be the child of a filicidal mother. Sarah’s 12-year-old voice is believable and her anxieties realistic. Intellectually precocious and responsible beyond her years, she is also a needy child who finds helpful support when she reaches out to a grieving elderly neighbor. Although her situation is difficult, Sarah is resilient and hopeful.

Readers intrigued by the premise of this moving story will sympathize with the plucky protagonist and rejoice in the way her summer works out. (Fiction. 9-13)

FROGOSAURUS VS. THE BOG MONSTER

Harrison, Paul Illus. by Knight, Tom Scholastic (64 pp.) $4.99 paper | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-545-42556-8 Series: Monstrous Stories, 3

Twins Sammy and Tammy save their town from not one, but two monsters loosed by a villainous land developer in this eco-themed muckfest.

Booted out of Boggy Marshes when real estate magnate Maximus Sneer begins draining the wetland’s water into an old quarry, Sammy and Tammy indignantly organize a public protest. This turns out to be less effective in squelching Sneer’s

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“In a short but nonetheless expressive coming-out story, a teen football player with a girlfriend discovers he has feelings for another boy.” from bi- normal

schemes than the newly re-hydrated frog monster that rises from the quarry and the 20-story-high mud monster that oozes up from the marsh’s thickened slime. After battling each other to a messy draw, Frogosaurus and the Bog Monster proceed to turn their attention toward terrorizing the tiny townsfolk— notably Sneer, whose sneers change to moans for his mommy.

Quickly, the twins arrange a mass barbecue to fatally desiccate the former and enlist the fire department to hose the latter down into a mass of goo. Dr. Roach, a nattily attired insect, plays impresario for the all-action episode (more are on the way). It’s presented in short chapters of easily digestible narrative with black-and-white cartoon scenes on every page.

Younger reluctant readers and recent early-reader grads alike will glory in this unlikely romp’s broad menu of creature-feature clichés. (Fantasy. 7-9)

BI-NORMAL

Higgins, M.G. Saddleback Educational Publishing (191 pp.) $9.95 paper | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-62250-004-8 In a short but nonetheless expressive coming-out story, a teen football player with a girlfriend discovers he has feelings for another boy.

When Brett first notices his attraction to Zach, a boy who sits next to him in art class, he wants to push it away. Brett and his friends are the kind of guys who ogle girls’ bodies and pick on boys they perceive as gay. As his feelings intensify, however, Brett is torn between acting on his attraction and acting out of his denial.

Although the book is relatively short, it handles a variety of issues gracefully. Readers see Brett repeatedly ask his girlfriend Jillia to have sex, in part to distract himself from thoughts of Zach, and Jillia’s explanation that she ultimately says yes because Brett pressures her is both nuanced and poignant.

Brett’s lashing out at Nate, the target of his teammates’ homophobic bullying, even after asking him for advice, is believable, though Nate’s willingness to help one of his bullies is slightly harder to swallow. The storyline with Zach resolves somewhat abruptly, but readers still come away with plenty to think about.

A welcome addition to the still-small field of teen books about bisexual characters. (Fiction. 12-16)

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TIDAL

Hocking, Amanda St. Martin’s Griffin (352 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-250-00811-4 Series: Watersong, 3 It’s a race against the clock for 16-year-old Gemma in the third installment of the Watersong series.

Still desperate to stave off her thirst for a beating heart (preferably one belonging to a hot teenage boy) and to protect the ones she loves from the wrath of her evil siren sisters, Gemma must figure out how to break the siren curse before Penn finds a more suitable and willing replacement and kills Gemma herself. If only it were as exciting as that all sounds. The aptly titled novel ebbs and flows between present and a mythical past in a failed attempt to anchor the story and the characters in a history that may or may not be destined to repeat itself. While Penn is still deliciously evil, and her love-hate relationship with Daniel remains one of the best parts of the series, most of the characters feel twodimensional at best. Others, including Lexi and Alex, who are absent for the bulk of the novel, feel like afterthoughts. As for the plotlines, far too little time is spent on Penn’s search for a replacement siren and too much time spent digging around in the sirens’ past. The result is that the urgency of Gemma’s situation is given good lip service, but readers will be hard-pressed to actually feel it.

There are plenty of other (and far better) fish in the sea.

(Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

THE COUNTERFEIT FAMILY TREE OF VEE CRAWFORD-WONG

Holland, L. Tam Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-4424-1264-4

A school assignment to research his family tree sends Vee (named for the letter) on a journey of discovery, real and metaphorical, hilarious and moving, that’s as much about the future as the past.

Future anthropologist and basketballer-wannabe Vee knows he’s an underachiever, thanks. Unlike his best friend Madison (Miao-ling at home), Vee doesn’t conform to the Asian-nerd stereotype. (He blames his heritage: Chinese immigrant dad and tall, blonde Texan mom.) They’re great parents, but their families are a taboo topic. Life’s not all bad—managing the girls’ basketball team has a lot going for it, like gorgeous but inaccessible senior Adele. Still, frustrations mount. Obsessed with digging up his roots and stonewalled by his parents, Vee enlists Madison’s help.

She can’t help it if she looks like his father’s child more than Vee does and speaks Mandarin at home. (In Vee’s family, English is

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“The lyrics are better when sung…but their tone is properly echoed in these sweet, soft-focus illustrations.” from all through the night

the common language.) Like the rounded characters, the plot avoids cliché and oversimplification. Life is a balancing act, Vee finds, in this book that belongs on every multicultural reading list.

Knowing where we come from matters, but assigning too much power to ancestry can be more limiting than illuminating.

While characters with mixed heritages are increasingly visible in teen literature, their experience in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape is seldom explored in depth.

This first-rate debut does exactly that. (Fiction. 12 & up)

ELEGY

Hudson, Tara HarperTeen (400 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-06-202681-1 978-0-06-220919-1 e-book Series: Hereafter, 3 Like its heroine, this series conclusion never quite comes to life.

Back in Oklahoma from New Orleans, Amelia retains partial corporeality; she can eat and manipulate objects, but she can’t make physical contact with the living—even romantic interest Joshua Mayhew. His sister, Jillian, wheedles Amelia into attending a party crashed by evil Kade and his dead cohorts, who announce they’ll kill one person a week until Amelia joins them in their grim afterworld. A failed plan to blow up the bridge that serves as gateway between worlds prompts the evil ones to speed up their timeline. Beyond vague biblical allusions, what motivates the nonliving, good or evil, remains unclear; the quasi-religious worldbuilding doesn’t reference or build on familiar myths or paradigms that resonate with readers. As the title suggests, the pace is funereal, and pausing to take in mundane events like prom squanders needed momentum. The issue of whether Amelia and Josh will finally “do it” aims to build suspense but seems borrowed from a story with lower stakes. Scenes in the evil afterworld and its gateway bring the novel to intermittent, imaginative life, but it’s not enough to keep readers’ attention.

The thin plot spreads itself across nearly 400 pages, and characters spend more time discussing what to do than actually doing it: a miss. (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

Hughes, John Ceiriog Translated by Boulton, Harold Illus. by Alizadeh, Kate Simply Read (32 pp.) $12.95 | Jun. 28, 2013 978-1-927018-09-5

Using long, visible strokes of brush and colored pencil, Alizadeh sets figures that look like small wooden dolls in misty scenes lit dimly by a candle, a moon with dots for eyes or informally drawn stars within pale nimbuses. Along with a parent at the beginning and near the end, doves, clouds and lambentwinged guardian angels hover as the young sleeper drifts off in gentle stages. This edition comes without a musical arrangement, and despite the titular refrain, the 19th-century translation from the Welsh doesn’t always read trippingly, for example, of angels: “They should of all fears disarm you, / No foreboding should alarm you. // They will let no peril harm you….” Still, the aforementioned refrain creates a soothing rhythm that anchors the song’s assurance of peaceful slumber.

The lyrics are better when sung—in either language— but their tone is properly echoed in these sweet, soft-focus illustrations. (Picture book. 2-4)

SCREAMING QUIETLY

Jacobs, Evan Saddleback Educational Publishing (212 pp.) $9.95 paper | Jun. 1, 2013 978-1-62250-003-1 In this unvarnished read, a high schooler tries to distance himself from his profoundly autistic younger brother until he hooks up with a good woman who snaps him out of it.

Ian’s hopes of keeping his family situation secret at his new school and just being known for his football talent vanish when his brother Davey is assigned to a special needs class on the same campus. Despite part-time help from an aide who can wrestle him to the floor at need, Davey’s frequent, wildly violent meltdowns have left Ian and his divorced mother struggling to have any social lives—which is why Ian is desperate to keep up appearances in the face of a developing relationship with a schoolmate, Jessica. Disturbingly, Ian bottles up his feelings until he lets them out by beating his brother. Jessica’s insistence that she really does care about him and no, Davey’s not a dealbreaker leads to a cathartic confession and an easy public acceptance of his sibling. Jacobs brings far more expertise about autism and living with an autistic child than about football (“Ian tore down the field and made a touchdown”) to this rough-hewn effort.

It’s a timely topic with a pat resolution, framed for reluctant readers in choppy prose and short chapters, but it’s not likely to break out of its hi-lo niche. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Set to the tender night song’s standard English text, a suite of muted scenes features a drowsy, tousled child in bed beneath stars and angels.

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DARK WATERS OF HAGWOOD

Jarvis, Robin OpenRoad Integrated Media (314 pp.) $7.99 paper | $6.39 e-book | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4532-9921-0 978-1-4532-9158-0 e-book Series: Hagwood Trilogy, 2 Over 10 years after Thorn Ogres of Hagwood (2002), a middle volume appears, doing more to indulge the author’s love of grotesque magical creatures than advance his derivative plotline.

The tale zips among points of view as well as back and forth from murky Hagwood Forest to the subterranean Unseelie Court and the mazes of tunnels and caverns deeper down. It sends diminutive Gamaliel Tumpkin and his shape-changing fellow werlings on a search for the hidden casket that holds the beating heart of Rhiannon Rigantona, murderous Queen of the Hollow Hill. The story reads more like a sendup than a credible quest fantasy. Along with silly names aplenty, Jarvis trucks in armies of odd creatures. Snaggle-featured spriggans and glutinous sluglungs (“Snot monsters!” as a revolted onlooker accurately exclaims) keep characters busy between encounters with the odd barn bogle, candle sprite or troll hag. One character is described as a “human dwarf,” and most of the other females are likewise evil, ugly, or, in the case of Gamaliel’s sister Kernella, fat, loud, stupid and in need of rescuing. Following various assaults, the questers and their pursuers gather for a climactic battle that, thanks to a contrived twist, proves indecisive and so leaves the door open for the next episode.

It offers some creepy moments and critters, but it’s more often a pale imitation of one of Brian Jacques’ woodland epics. With slime. (Fantasy. 10-12)

OF BEAST AND BEAUTY

Jay, Stacey Delacorte (400 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jul. 23, 2013 978-0-385-74320-4 978-0-307-98142-4 e-book 978-0-375-99100-4 PLB A hybrid fantasy/science-fiction retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Seventeen-year old Princess Isra of the Smooth Skin people and 19-year-old Desert Man (“Monstrous” to Isra) Gem have nothing in common save a hatred of each other’s people. So when a botched attempt to steal enchanted roses leaves the king of Yuan—Isra’s father—dead and Gem captured, the last thing the pair expects is to become friends. As their friendship grows, Isra and Gem takes turns narrating their attempt to puzzle together a history whose pieces don’t quite fit. While readers learn that the enchanted roses—watered by the blood of queens—that fuel the domed |

city of Yuan are powered by the Dark Heart, it’s never clear how and why this great evil split from its counterpart, the Pure Heart. What is clear, however, is that it is sucking the life from the outside world, leaving the Monstrous to inhabit an inhospitable desert. Isra, blind and insecure, doesn’t believe she has the strength to change things, but the love that blossoms between her and Gem will give her the courage to change the course of history for both of their peoples. Uneven worldbuilding, a sometimes rocky plot and an unbelievably fantastical ending take away from this engrossing tale.

Romance fans may forgive its shortcomings for the sake of the intense love story. (Fantasy/science fiction. 14 & up)

TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY

Jayne, Hannah Sourcebooks Fire (304 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4022-8121-1

In a fast-paced thriller, a teen whose boyfriend died in a drunken driving accident finds that a killer is targeting her enemies.

Suspense begins in the first chapter, when Sawyer opens her locker to find a copy of the newspaper article about Kevin’s death along with a note that simply reads, “You’re welcome.”

Kevin, readers learn, had become increasingly violent toward Sawyer during their relationship, and Sawyer’s mixed feelings and desire to keep Kevin’s violence a secret are handled with grace. After a disturbing incident in which a teacher sexually harasses Sawyer, the murderer strikes again. Sawyer is reluctant to tell anyone about the mysterious notes she’s received, and readers will wonder if some of the novel’s gruesome events could have been avoided had she simply come clean. Nevertheless, Sawyer’s fear and emotional distress are realistically portrayed, and knowing that the medication she takes can produce hallucinations heightens the tension: Is she imagining the noises she hears in her empty housing development, or is somebody following her? Sawyer doesn’t do much detective work, but readers can speculate about a platoon of possible culprits. Some readers may put together enough clues to guess the ending, but plenty of others will be surprised.

An engaging balance of atmosphere and action. (Suspense.

14-18)

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SAVING THANEHAVEN

Jinks, Catherine Egmont USA (384 pp.) $15.99 | $15.99 e-book | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-60684-274-4 978-1-60684-284-3 e-book Iconic characters struggle between tyranny and anarchy when the computer game that they live within is attacked by a virus.

Noble is just an earnest knight in the computer game “Thanehaven Slayer” when he encounters young Rufus, who strongly suggests that he may be doomed if he doesn’t drop all the heroics and start thinking for himself.

With Rufus’ mantra—“you don’t have to do this”—ringing in his ears, Noble sets out to change his computer world. When computer-world Rufus (aka “Ruthlessrufus”) turns out to be malware perpetrated by real-life computer owner Mikey’s best friend, Rufus, readers are brought in on the joke. Awardwinning Australian author Jinks delivers neatly crafted middlegrade storytelling, effortlessly blending social commentary into the omniscient narration. Along the way, she lightly explores the tension between rules and freedom, order and chaos (“You can follow rules and still think for yourself ”). By the end, the tale also reads like a parable aimed at young people unwittingly influenced by a mischievous or troubled friend.

Clever, thought-provoking fun for all—especially for technology geeks and those who love them. (Fantasy. 9-12)

BORIS GETS A LIZARD

Joyner, Andrew Illus. by Joyner, Andrew Scholastic (80 pp.) $15.99 | $4.99 paper | $4.99 e-book Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-48446-6 978-0-545-48447-3 paper 978-0-545-48783-2 e-book Series: Boris, 2 Boris, an ugly but somehow truly winsome warthog, is back for another outing.

Formatted like an early chapter book rather than in the typical, larger early-reader configuration, this effort is intended for a rather young audience, with just a sentence or two at most of fairly simple, large-print text per page and ample full-color, cartoonlike illustrations. Though he already has lots of pets, Boris is determined to get himself a Komodo dragon. Does it matter to him that these oversized lizards might not make good pets since they have sharp teeth and poisonous spit? Not at all. When his parents don’t provide the desired pet, he hatches a scheme to get the local zoo to bring theirs to his house for a vacation.

Certain it must be coming, he invites his entire class to stop by to see it. When the zoo demurs, Boris has to think fast—and substitutes a tiny skink and a good story. For a warthog with 98

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only a handful of facial expressions, Boris conveys a lot of emotion with expressive body language. He encounters situations that readers will recognize and identify with, and they just possibly will laugh out loud at his creative solution.

A fun romp with an anthropomorphized swine will leave beginning readers “hog wild” at their accomplishments. (Early reader. 5-7)

CATERINA AND THE PERFECT PARTY

Kono, Erin Eitter Illus. by Kono, Erin Eitter Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-8037-3902-4

The best-laid plans of mice and OCD birds….

Caterina is a small brown bird with a penchant for crafting and an obsession with lists: “Lists of things to do / Lists of things not to do / Lists of things to love / Lists of things not to love” (the only item on this list, iterated three times, is “surprises”). Her most important list is that of her friends, because she is preparing to throw her first party. She has planned everything down to the last detail. She has creatively crafted invitations and decorations, and she has prepared sumptuous appetizers. Caterina schleps all the party goods to the picnic site and readies the elegant feast. However, she has reckoned without the unpredictability of the weather.

It rains on her parade and drenches all her creations. She is devastated and does not know what to do, until her friends come to the rescue, bringing wonderful potluck food, music and good cheer. The impromptu party and slap-up feed is better than anything Caterina could have planned. The wellworn message that having good friends trumps adversity is given a fresh interpretation in these charming, collage-filled pages. Any child who enjoys scrapbooking or crafts will be inspired to get busy with crayons, glue and scissors by the crafty images on every page.

In spite of a somewhat lackluster text, this is a refreshingly traditional antidote to electronic amusements. (Picture book. 3-5)

CHARM & STRANGE

Kuehn, Stephanie St. Martin’s Griffin (224 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 11, 2013 978-1-250-02194-6 978-1-250-02193-9 e-book From his opening announcement, “I don’t feel the presence of God here,” Andrew Winston Winters pulls readers into his story, alternating between his desperate life at an upscale Vermont boarding school and his grim, shadowed Virginia childhood.

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“Nuanced characters, including the talented protagonist and her loving but realistically flawed family, are the stars of this introspective and poignant coming-of-age tale.” from the secret ingredient

Present-day Win is smart, competitive and untrusting, estranged from his former roommate, Lex, his one ally and defender. The reasons for Win’s self-loathing and keyed-up anxiety won’t be fully revealed until story’s end. What exactly does he expect to happen during the full moon? Why has he fallen out with Lex? Win’s privileged childhood, when he was known as Drew, is another mystery. A violent child prone to motion sickness, his unvarnished self-portrait contains big gaps.

What’s happened to Keith, Win’s gentle older brother, and Siobhan, their beloved younger sister? Kuehn unwinds her story like a cat toy, teasing readers. Only when all the pieces are fit into the puzzle will the mystery at its heart become clear. How the horrific secrets Win’s been hoarding have shaped his past and explain his present crisis dominates the narrative. Timing— why he’s experiencing his crisis and the choices flowing from it, now—gets less attention, leaving unanswered questions.

A high-powered voice rich in charismatic style and emotional intensity illuminates this ambitious debut that doesn’t quite live up to its potential. (Fiction. 13 & up)

IMPERFECT SPIRAL

Levy, Debbie Walker (352 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-8027-3441-9

The accidental death of a young child touches the lives of others in ways they never expected.

When 5-year-old Humphrey dies while in the charge of his 15-year-old baby sitter, Danielle, she wants nothing more than to quietly mourn the loss. However, when the police discover that the driver of the car that struck Humphrey is an illegal alien, Danielle quickly realizes that there are those who would use the tragedy to forward their own agendas. City politics and an immigration debate soon dwarf Humphrey’s death. Only Justin, a new friend, seems to understand her desire to honor the little boy’s memory. But Justin bears a secret that threatens to change everything. Chapters highlighting Danielle’s memories of her precocious charge are interspersed with those cataloging the events following his death. Levy’s unflinching look at pain is masterful. The narrative fluidly moves from lighter moments with Humphrey to the darkness of grief, avoiding false sentimentality. Genuine characters, complicated relationships and realistic dialogue will ease readers through the difficult journey.

Unfortunately, Danielle and Humphrey’s story is overtaken by social commentary. The debate over immigration policies steals the stage, leaching the tale of its emotional impact.

This poignant novel loses its way. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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THE SECRET INGREDIENT

Lewis, Stewart Delacorte (256 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-385-74331-0 978-0-449-81001-9 e-book 978-0-375-99106-6 PLB Some solid cooking tips shared by the main character, an aspiring chef, are an added bonus to this slick, enjoyable novel that juggles a variety of mostly successful plotlines.

Olivia and her ne’er-do-well singer/songwriter older brother Jeremy adore their two dads, Enrique and Bell, even if they seem to be unraveling a bit in the face of bills that are piling up both on their home mortgage and Bell’s restaurant. Early on, Olivia stumbles into a chance meeting with a psychic that foreshadows many of the novel’s events, including a romance and her first sexual experience, her decision to pursue the identity of her birth mother and the discovery of an annotated cookbook from the 1960s whose former owner captivates her. Food metaphors are occasionally overdone—“Without every flavor of our family working together, there is no dish”—and coincidences abound to a degree that strains believability, but the nicely ambiguous ending saves the story from feeling too pat, and the psychic cues readers to expect that fate may be at work.

Nuanced characters, including the talented protagonist and her loving but realistically flawed family, are the stars of this introspective and poignant coming-of-age tale.

It should win fans among those who appreciate a good balance between depth and a playful tone. (Fiction. 12 & up)

THE SILVER SIX

Lieberman, A.J. Illus. by Rawlings, Darren Graphix/Scholastic (192 pp.) $22.99 | $10.99 paper | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-545-37097-4 978-0-545-37098-1 paper On a heavily polluted future Earth, a group of orphans battles to bring down the evil industrialist who killed their scientist parents. P.S., they also save the planet.

The tale displays a fine disregard for internal logic but provides action and banter aplenty. It takes young Phoebe and five chance-met friends whose parents all died in the same “accident” from durance vile in an orphanage/workhouse to a somehowhidden moonlet for adventures and then back to Boston for an explosive assault on the headquarters of archvillain Hayden Craven. Both the figures and the violence in Rawlings’ easy-toread panels are of the cartoon sort, and generous helpings of comedy—much of it provided by Phoebe’s histrionic (“WE’RE GOING TO STARVE OUT HERE, PEOPLE!!”) robot sidekick, Max—lighten the tone. The it’s-all-good resolution leaves

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“…the raw emotions and unflinching honesty of a young girl caught in a whirlwind of history shine through, keeping readers engaged to the end of this sizable novel….” from tarnish

Craven behind bars, humanity liberated from crowded habitat domes by the discovery of a new, unspecified source of renewable power and the orphans rewarded with a spacious home on the aforementioned planetoid.

Lots of excitement and comfy predictability for readers willing to go with the unlikely flow. (Graphic science fiction.

10-12)

KINDERGARDE Avant-garde Poems, Plays, Stories, and Songs for Children Lomax, Dana Teen—Ed. Black Radish (178 pp.) $20.00 paper | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-9850837-6-2

A collection of original prose and poetry that ranges from thoughtful to provocative and from experimental to really far-out.

Poet and mother Lomax assembled these avant-garde writings from contributors around the country as a showcase for their talents and to encourage children to literally take their own pencils outside proscribed boundaries. The short stories, playlets, concrete poetry and wordplay are all free-flowing and decidedly nontraditional. Their sentiments are sometimes warm and tender, sometimes humorous and sometimes weird.

The more than 80 contributors include those remembering moments from their Mexican-American, Indian, Danish and Iraqi childhoods and heritages. Roald Dahl, Nietzsche and the Bible are sources of inspiration for others. Ecology enters into the mix in verse about endangered manatees. Children recreate a Yoko Ono activity in a “Hide and Seek Piece.” In one of the more entertaining entries, a poet imagines “scenes from the life of a sweater: / your mother bought me for you / july is moth month for my closet kin / i come from a close-knit family / you can get pulled over in a cardigan.” Teachers and students willing to take a giant leap beyond conventionality may find inspiration here. Straightforward of design, the volume is illustrated with black-and-white line drawings and photographs, and blank pages are appended.

Adventurous writings for literary risk-takers and thrillseekers. (author biographies, afterword) (Anthology. 10-14)

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TARNISH

Longshore, Katherine Viking (448 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-670-01400-2 Following on Gilt (2012), which told the tale of Henry VIII’s doomed fifth wife, Catherine Howard, is another beheaded wife’s story.

The oft-rehearsed tale of King Henry VIII’s second and best-known wife, Anne Boleyn, is recounted in this mostly factual reconstruction of the years before Henry’s divorce from Queen Katherine and marriage to Anne an event that is said to have changed the course of English history, since Henry broke with the Roman Catholic Church in order to secure a divorce. Anne’s confident, presenttense narration conveys her tempestuous personality, her feelings of alienation from the ladies of the court and her desperate ambition to secure a position there. Flirtations with figures of history, including the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt and noble Sir Henry Percy, as well as Anne’s strong attraction to the king himself, a deeply charismatic individual, propel the narrative. They add spice to a complex tale that occasionally gets bogged down in historical detail and is sometimes marred by linguistic anachronisms. However the raw emotions and unflinching honesty of a young girl caught in a whirlwind of history shine through, keeping readers engaged to the end of this sizable novel, which ends before her marriage to the king and subsequent beheading.

Teens with a love of history will not be able to resist this skillful retelling of the remarkable achievement of Anne Boleyn, who rose from tarnished foreign outcast to the king’s bride. (Historical fiction. 13-17)

EXTREMITIES Tales of Death, Murder, and Revenge Lubar, David Tor (208 pp.) $15.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-0-7653-3460-2

Prolific novelist and short story writer Lubar offers up a baker’s dozen of stories too gruesome for his six (so far) Weenies collections.

A sadistic gym teacher pushes a student with asthma until she’s sent to the hospital, and the girl’s friends exact revenge by forcing the teacher to run the track with a bag over her head.

Two young teens are caught in a late-night convenience-store robbery. When the masked gunmen take the boys hostage, one of the boy uses a startling, literally bloody power to turn the tables. A young couple tries to stow away on a cruise ship for a free vacation but find they have boarded Pyre Cruise Lines rather than Pace Cruise Lines...and you can guess what happens next. When a teen lets a nerdy (and annoying) classmate

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drown in a local quarry instead of helping, he finds every molecule of water out for revenge. In an author’s note, Lubar states the stories herein are “not…for children”: They are “too dark, too heartless, or...too evil, for [his] young readers”—which, of course, will make them all the more attractive to his Weenie audience. Sophisticated readers or those well-versed in Lubar’s usual twists will see several endings coming, and a few entries show their age technologically (an element also discussed in the author’s note).

A bit less humor than past collections, but fans will enjoy the grue. (Short stories/horror. 11-16)

DOWNPOUR

Martin, Emily Illus. by Shaughnessy, Mara Sky Pony Press (32 pp.) $14.95 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-62087-545-2 A repeated spell-check fail and, more seriously, a discomfiting color choice make this visionary lyric a washout.

Bearing in two interior illustrations and on the rear cover a newspaper with the malaprop headline “Downpour leeches [sic] red,” a hedgehog splashes its way through a rain shower.

He drops a sweet love note into the mailbox and then returns home for a cozy nap. Meanwhile, the rain has washed the color out of all the poppies, staining everything red, from a frog to the mailbox, the hedgehog and even the hair of a girl’s head and an old man’s beard. Martin’s incantatory free-verse text will raise disturbing associations even in readers who aren’t familiar with Peter Gabriel’s song “Red Rain,” the war poem “In Flanders Fields,” or mentions of rains and rivers of blood in Homer, the Book of Exodus and throughout literature. “Then, red, the roots, / Red, the ground, / Red, the stones sitting around. / Red, the grass underfoot. // Red, the beaks of curious birds. / Red, the field where sit the poppies.” Moreover, to sparely drawn illustrations done in thin gray wash and fine ink lines, Shaughnessy adds brushed swabs of a single shade of bright, fire engine red that looks artificial on her human figures and turns the feet, beaks and bodies of animals into bloody highlights. The hedgehog is last seen repainting the poppies, but that’s too little, too late.

A pale, poorly conceived rumination on color; choose instead Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Green (2012) or Joyce Sidman’s Red Sings from Treetops (2009), illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. (Picture book. 6-8)

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TORN

Massey, David Chicken House/Scholastic (288 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-545-49645-2 978-0-545-52378-3 e-book A young medic finds both tragedy and romance while on her first tour of duty in the war in Afghanistan.

Nineteen-year-old Elinor Nielson (aka Ellie, aka Buffy) has a brutal introduction to the reality of war when a member of her patrol group steps on an IED. A sniper takes advantage of the chaos, attempting to pick off the rest of the company. The appearance of a mysterious, green-eyed Afghan girl only intensifies the situation. Ellie’s quick thinking keeps her fellow soldiers from dying, but more problems await her return to camp. A hostile bunkmate, a spineless commanding officer and the appearance of an elite group of Navy SEALs thrust Ellie into wartime politics. When Husna, a young Afghan boy, is taken into custody for interrogation, it is Ellie who is asked to win his trust. The SEAL commander, Ben, is interested in the proceedings, but he seems equally interested in Ellie. Saturated with realistic details, this wartime mystery adventure is highly explosive. (A lengthy author’s note describes Massey’s experiences in revolutionary Romania, along with other inspirations, buttressing the story’s realism.) The inclusion of cultural and political commentary elevates this above other wartime tales, but underdeveloped characters keep the romantic fireworks to a minimum.

Readers who pick it up for the war details will not be disappointed. (Fiction. 14 & up)

COCO My Delicious Life

May, Kyla Illus. by May, Kyla Scholastic (96 pp.) $15.99 | $4.99 paper | $4.99 e-book Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-545-49615-5 978-0-545-44514-6 paper 978-0-545-49681-0 e-book Series: Lotus Lane, 2 The bubbly girls of Lotus Lane are back.

Meet Kiki, budding fashionista; Lulu, the girl with moviestar knowledge and plenty of plans; new neighbor Mika; and last, but not least, Coco: future ecologist, animal lover, gardening expert, member of a large Italian family and cupcake baker extraordinaire. Told through Coco’s point of view in a diary format that includes drawings, lists, quotes, texts and recipes, the rather disjointed plot is focused on the girls’ plan to raise money through a cupcake sale to make a garden home for some endangered snails Coco’s scientist father is rescuing. Meanwhile, an unfortunate string of events occurs, and Coco suspects that a

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FAR FAR AWAY

homeless black kitten may be to blame. Eventually, everything falls into place. The kitten is proven innocent and finds a home, Coco’s friendship with Mika deepens, and some local snails have a new garden at school. Though the minimal character development, thin plot and excessive use of exclamation points may put off some readers, and those new to chapter books may have a hard time with the diary format, this selection has more depth than the first in the series and possesses the same trendiness and warmth.

For girls who love glittery nail polish and their friends and who hope to make the world a better place. (Fiction. 6-8)

THE CASE OF THE MISSING DONUT

McGhee, Alison Illus. by Roxas, Isabel Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-8037-3925-3

This simple story of a Wild West enthusiast with a penchant for pastry will tickle the funny bones of young listeners and parents alike.

The unnamed young boy, referred to as “the sheriff ” throughout and identified that way by a (probably) paper star taped to his blue fedora, has apparently been sent to the bakery for a dozen doughnuts. Along with his adorable gray dog (aka deputy), the sheriff wends his way home on foot, greeting kids and grown-ups along the way. He doesn’t get far, however, before he decides to peek into the box—at which point he falls prey to the lure of a plump, powdered donut. Roxas’ charming illustrations are drawn with graphite and colored digitally in subtle but appealing hues. A hint of sepia echoes the faux homespun language and Western theme. They showcase a clean, friendly small town of leafy streets and small shops, populated with perky cartoon-style characters. The pictures also provide evidence of the sheriff ’s crime, to which he is amusingly oblivious. As a result, he is increasingly spooked by the perspicacity of the people he meets along the way. McGhee’s deadpan delivery contrasts nicely with her tongue-in-cheek tale while Roxas’ pictures provide extra action, atmosphere and amusement.

Packed with personality, from the pastries to the people to the delightful deputy dog, this sweet confection is sure to satisfy. (Picture book. 3-6)

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McNeal, Tom Knopf (384 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-375-84972-5 978-0-375-89698-9 e-book 978-0-375-94972-2 PLB “Listen, if you will,” whispers the ghost of Jacob Grimm to Jeremy Johnson Johnson and to the readers of this delightful,

modern-day fairy tale.

Jeremy has the rare ability to sense the spectral presence of those caught in the Zwischenraum between mortal life and the hereafter. Jacob Grimm has been a constant presence since Jeremy was 6, a stand-in for Jeremy’s absent mother and his absent-minded father. Jacob takes his role as mentor and protector seriously, although his attempts to help Jeremy are not always successful. Jeremy’s social standing is a little dubious— what teenager stands a chance with pretty girls when he spouts curses in German? But Ginger Boultinghouse falls for Jeremy after eating the village baker’s enchanted Prince Cakes. The two get up to some pranks that lead them to one adventure after another. Things aren’t what they seem in the village of Never Better, where kids have gone missing and evil is afoot. The tone of Jacob’s narration captures the flavor of the Grimms’ tales while blending humorously with Jeremy’s ordinary, befuddled, teenage life. The boy and his spectral companion are a charming pair of storytellers with great mutual affection.

Readers who love spotting allusions will appreciate this intelligent book’s robust vocabulary, its inclusion of French, German and Swedish words, and the real scholarship behind it. (Fantasy. 11-15)

IF YOU WERE A PANDA BEAR

Minor, Florence Illus. by Minor, Wendell Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-06-195090-2 A global array of bears parade by in this delightful story for the very young.

Panda bears who eat bamboo and take long naps lead off.

They are followed by bears of the sloth, polar, black, moon, sun, grizzly and spectacled variety. And the final entry is, of course, every child’s favorite: smiling teddy bears nestled together and looking very much like the bears on the previous pages. The Minors previously collaborated on If You Were a Penguin (2009).

Here, their verse is just as breezy and dotted with occasional bits of information. “If you were a sun bear, / You’d have a looooooooong tongue / to help you get honey. / Be careful— don’t get stung!” The expansive double-page spreads show the bears in their natural settings; a polar bear stares into the icy water, and a black bear snoozes on a tree limb. The textured

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“…as a steady, dependable guide through the perils of adolescence, Alice is unexcelled, and her legions of fans will be pleased to see her so well rewarded.” from always alice

brush strokes create realistic and expressive images, while playful and colorful variations in the type add to the appeal.

A lovely title to engage the imaginations and interest of budding animal enthusiasts. (bear facts, resources) (Picture book. 2-6)

ALWAYS ALICE

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Atheneum (512 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4424-4590-1 Series: Alice McKinley, 28 The 28th and last novel in this essential series is addressed to fans who want to know what happens to Alice.

In almost 500 pages, Alice takes herself and her circle of childhood friends through college, marriages, child-rearing and beyond. As years fly by, traumatic events include an attempted date rape, a friend’s miscarriage and her teenage daughter being caught in a beery game of strip poker. These are buried beneath flurries of happy vacation memories, emotional high points and gettogethers with close friends at sad or (more often) joyful life occasions to laugh and reminisce. What emerges is a portrait of a settled, comfortable life centered on family and relationships, with, at best, only passing mentions of academic, intellectual or professional interests. Furthermore, Alice’s decades seem to pass in a timeless bubble—when, at age 60, she rereads a timecapsule letter to herself from seventh grade, for all the scene’s poignancy, the setting could still be 1993, when the letter’s original mention in Alice in April appeared. Alice’s aspiration to live with “passion, tenderness, and joy” is only fitfully reflected in this bland memoir, and readers with, for instance, social consciences or some curiosity about the universe may by dissatisfied by her circumscribed, agnostic viewpoint.

Still, as a steady, dependable guide through the perils of adolescence, Alice is unexcelled, and her legions of fans will be pleased to see her so well rewarded. (Fiction. 12-16, adult)

CLASS PETS

Nees, Susan Illus. by Nees, Susan Scholastic (80 pp.) $15.99 | $4.99 paper | $4.99 e-book Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-49610-0 978-0-545-43852-0 paper 978-0-545-54010-0 e-book Series: Missy’s Super Duper Royal Deluxe, 2 Flamboyant, self-confident Missy is back for a second outing for transitioning readers. |

Missy has decided that it’s her turn to take some class pets home, and the perfect pets for her are the class rats. (This classroom is well-equipped with pets.) The only problem is that she has to convince her mother—using age-appropriate persistence, of course. Unfortunately, the new girl in class, equally self-confident and stubborn Tiffany, also plans to bring home Eenie-Meenie, Miney and Moe. The girls’ nose-to-nose confrontations and behind-the-scenes scheming are capably depicted in full-color, cartoonlike illustrations that match well with the text and effectively capture the humor of Missy’s hyperbole. Missy’s adventures seem destined to strike a chord mostly with girls, although her exuberant school experiences could amuse a wider audience. How does Missy work out her issues with Tiffany? It turns out her rival for rodent affection didn’t know that the little critters were rats. “AAUGHH!” she screams. No lessons on learning to compromise here.

An amusing and attractive early chapter book that will be popular with girls anxious to project reading competency to competing classmates. (Fiction. 5-7)

STARGLASS

North, Phoebe Simon & Schuster (448 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-4424-5953-3 On a generation ship that left Earth 500 years ago, a teenager grapples with disillusionment and emotional isolation as her society nears the planet it intends to land on.

Terra lives with her harsh, alcoholic father and awaits her adult job assignment (think The Giver) from the strict ruling Council. As Terra trains in botany and discovers a secret rebellion aboard the Asherah, some of North’s worldbuilding and storytelling aspects succeed more than others. This society’s Judaism—cultural/linguistic, not religious—is rare for science fiction, and readers can see how Jewishness has evolved over time. The rebels want “liberty,” which isn’t explicitly defined but includes the dismantling of compulsory heterosexuality. Sidestepping a genre cliché, North makes it clear that Terra’s bashert (soul mate) won’t be either of the boys she dates on board. Unfortunately, she telegraphs revelations very early, minimizing their impact. Description of the Asherah’s design is frustratingly vague, making it hard to picture the ship’s decks, which hold full forests, pastures and buildings. Some technicalities distract: How could a 500-year-old spaceship have enough supplies to use paper for appointment reminder cards and gift-wrapping?

For nail-biting suspense aboard a generation ship, see Beth Revis’ Across the Universe (2011); but for Jewishness and gay characters in space, a poignantly lovely frame story about leaving Earth and a lonely kid seeking something to invest in, this is it. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Rick Yancey

There Will Be Blood…and Aliens

By Gordon West Any notion of friendly alien encounters is chucked to the fire with Rick Yancey’s new youngadult sci-fi thriller, The 5th Wave. A looming spaceship appears in the sky. It sits; it waits. Humans sit; they wait. Nothing much happens—no Others asking to be taken to our leader, just eerie quiet. Then, through four waves of extermination (elimination of electricity; tsunamis; plague; snipers), the Others strategically annihilate their only threat: humans.

It becomes clear that these aliens aren’t on a closeencounter tour of goodwill; they mean to claim Earth as their own. As the Others hasten toward victory, a scant population of humans struggles to survive, denying human sensitivities in order to live through the night and, hopefully, the impending fifth wave.

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Like many optimistic characters in the book, readers might wonder: Why can’t we all just get along?

The arc of science fiction follows societal trends, each generation bringing their own interpretation based on personal experience. During the 1940s and ’50s, paranoiac fear inspired by the Cold War was reflected in sci-fi films. In the ’60s and ’70s, audiences saw many an alien as a presence cloaked in light and love. Yancey, an admitted fan of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), has explored the contemporary threat of otherness. “After the ’90s slipped away and we got into, particularly, the post–9/11 world with this idea of otherness and you’re never safe anywhere, I think there’s been this swing back, this fear of ‘we don’t want someone to find us,’ ” Yancey says. Or maybe, if they do find us, we want to be left the hell alone.

Yancey has the upper hand when it comes to understanding when someone doesn’t want to be found. Before success as a writer, he worked for the IRS for 12 years. He’s quick to say that he wasn’t a tax man–turned-writer, but rather a writer who happened to fall into a government job to pay the bills. In fact, his 2004 nonfiction book Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man’s Tour of Duty Inside the IRS is the result of his IRS work (his author name on that book is Richard Yancey). “The happy byproduct of having that job was it honed my lifelong interest in what’s interesting about characters,” Yancey says. He observed firsthand “ordinary people in very trying circumstances.” Saying that human extermination is a trying circumstance here would be as understated as saying E.T. was a neat pet.

This post-apocalypse/alien invasion/survival story amalgam is told primarily from the perspectives of 16-year-old Cassie and 17-year-old Ben. Before the first wave, charismatic Ben was Cassie’s high school crush, and common Cassie was someone Ben passed in the

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hall. After the waves begin expunging humanity from the equation, high school trivialities are exchanged for a syllabus of murder, plague, filth and humiliation.

A horrifying theme throughout is that the otherness is virtually undetectable—the Others have taken human form. Cassie quickly learns that “you can’t trust people are still people. But you can trust that your gun is still your gun.” It’s this lack of trust and certainty that breeds a frantic inability to hesitate in an either/or world: Either I shoot you because you’re an alien, or you shoot me because you’re an alien.

Solitude and second-guessing on a barren landscape are exhausting. The Others hone in on what humans thought made them special, using it against them in a calculated genocide. “It’s a precisely targeted strike,” Yancey says. “If aliens did come, I don’t think they would come with guns. I think they’d be very careful and methodical and understand their enemy better than we understand ourselves. And have means and a method and a plan in place where they would be able to manipulate us….” Missiles and dictators are solid threats to be challenged and defeated. How can you defend against manipulation? And what does it matter, particularly if you’re the only human left?

After an announced first printing of 500,000 for The 5th Wave and the acquisition by GK Films of its film rights, what’s the formula for garnering such hype? “It’s like when you’re asleep, and you have this great dream, and you wake up in the middle of it, and you have a nice feeling from the dream, but you also have kind of a sinking feeling because you know if you fall back asleep, you probably won’t pick up that dream again,” Yancey says. “That’s the kind of feeling I like to create. I never have an agenda except to entertain.”

Witnessing a world where human extinction is the end goal doesn’t make for a Pollyanna cakewalk.

There’s blood, guts and kids with weapons that a ’90s Schwarzenegger would brandish. Even though humans are the endangered species here, their determination to survive, ability to laugh and love, and yearning for a decent cheeseburger make their goal to avoid the fate of the dodo a multifaceted adventure—one that will fortunately extend into a trilogy.

Gordon West is a writer, illustrator and sometime photographer living in Brooklyn. He is admittedly addicted to horror films and French macarons. |

The 5th Wave Yancey, Rick Putnam (480 pp.) $18.99 May 7, 2013 978-0-399-16241-1

Die, Alien Scum, Die! Yancey’s Others might be on the winning side of wiping out the human race, but they haven’t eradicated a select group of teens who can still manage to kick some galactic ass. Other young-adult books where aliens meet an unexpected challenge from spunky, save-theday teens include: Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences (2010)

by Brian Yansky The little green men have conquered the world in 10 seconds, preserving as slaves those people receptive to telepathic communication. Four teens meet in the slave quarters and realize that their telepathic talents are growing.

How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend (2010) by Gary Ghislain Fourteen-year-old David Gershwin, who’s waiting for another growth spurt, is used to troubled teens staying at his famous therapist dad’s home in Normandy, France, but one in particular captures his attention: Zelda, a girl of Amazonian stature who claims to be from the planet Vahalal (where men are forbidden) and who’s looking for her “chosen one.”

Midnight City (2012) by J. Barton Mitchell In a near-future world controlled by the mechanized aliens known as the Assembly, where most adults have vanished and teens slowly succumb to the mind-controlling “Tone” that calls them to an unknown fate, 20-year-old Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter with a price on his own head.

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“O’Brien has created a cast of fully realized characters in a historical setting that comes alive in vivid descriptions and lively dialogue, with just the right incorporation of Russian words to add authentic flavor.” from lara’s gift

LARA’S GIFT

O’Brien, Annemarie Knopf (208 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Oct. 8, 2013 978-0-307-93174-0 978-0-307-97548-5 e-book 978-0-375-97105-1 PLB On a remote estate in 1910s Russia, Lara must prove herself capable of following in her father’s footsteps as the head of a prestigious borzoi breeding kennel.

There are so many things between her and the realization of her dream. That she is female is the biggest obstacle, but she must also hide the fact that she has visions of future occurrences that involve the dogs and the dangerous wolves that populate the estate. She has strong relationships with the dogs, especially with Ryczar, Zar for short, whom she has saved from being culled. But Lara will lose all she has dreamed of should her mother bear a son. When her baby brother is born, she is told that she must be trained in other skills useful for finding a husband. Many adventures involving wolf packs provide tests of Lara’s intelligence, resourcefulness and courage, and her father realizes that her special gifts are to be cherished. Lara’s first-person narration allows readers an intense depth of understanding and empathy. O’Brien has created a cast of fully realized characters in a historical setting that comes alive in vivid descriptions and lively dialogue, with just the right incorporation of Russian words to add authentic flavor. The time period is problematical, but children won’t realize that Lara’s world will soon come to a crashing end.

Engrossing and powerful. (author’s note, afterword, bibliography, glossary) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

THE SNAKE FENCE

Olshewsky, Janet Kastner QuakerBooks (235 pp.) $14.95 paper | $9.95 e-book | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-937768-13-3 978-1-937768-14-0 e-book A Quaker teen finds himself questioning his pacifist beliefs after he is exposed to the politics and violence of the French and Indian War in Pennsylvania.

Noble Butler has finished his cabinetry apprenticeship and is keen to get out from under his stern father’s thumb. He and his brother eagerly answer an ad written by Benjamin Franklin to join a wagon train taking supplies to the soldiers at Fort Cumberland. During the journey, Noble witnesses an Indian massacre and saves an injured trapper. Restless after his great adventure, he leaves the family farm and becomes a runner for Israel Pemberton, a wealthy Quaker who is intimately involved in brokering a peace agreement between the warring Pennsylvania colonists and the Delaware.

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At Pemberton’s, he becomes part of the treaty process and realizes that the Delaware’s violence rises from their unfair treatment by the government. After concluding that the Quaker nonviolent ways are best, he realizes his dream to become a cabinetmaker. Based on real people and true events, this narrative is straightforward historical fiction with little nuance. The characters’ motivations and the story’s central themes of tolerance and peace are telegraphed obviously and often, and Noble makes several mentions of the titular snake fence, a heavyhanded metaphor for his indecision about the future.

Dry. (author’s note, discussion questions) (Historical fiction. 9-12)

THIS SIDE OF JEALOUSY

Peloquin, Lili Razorbill/Penguin (272 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-59514-566-6 Series: Innocents, 2

One and a half volumes into her series, Peloquin’s central mystery plot finally begins to come together.

A few weeks after having moved to a superrich swath of the Connecticut shore (The Innocents, 2012), sisters Charlie and Alice are beginning to settle in—kind of. Charlie and Jude are a confirmed couple, and shockingly, Jude’s cousin and sometime lover, Cybill, seems to welcome this development. Alice and Tommy, her dead stepsister Camilla’s former boyfriend, are also romantically paired, though Tommy insists on keeping the relationship secret. Alice’s mother has confirmed her longtime affair with her new, moneybags second husband—actually Alice’s father, making the girl’s relationship to Camilla an uncomfortably close one. On the periphery are two poorer characters: Stan, the handsome waiter Charlie discusses Fitzgerald with, and Nick, newly returned from Dartmouth for the summer; he’s Tommy’s disgraced ex-doctor father’s former intern. Viewed from above, it’s a Busby Berkeley ballet, country-club style: Characters couple; they part; they rearrange and couple again according to some unheard, rich-people gavotte. At the dismal center is Camilla’s suicide, which Alice thinks was foul play. Peloquin can write, there’s no question, and the dialectic she sets up between rich and poor is an interesting one, when her characters aren’t bitching at each other.

No one will read these books for the mystery, which is so glacially developed it’s easy to forget, what with all the sex, drugs and misery. (Chick-lit/mystery. 14 & up)

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OLIVE’S PERFECT WORLD A Friendship Story Plecas, Jennifer Illus. by Plecas, Jennifer Philomel (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-399-25287-7

Olive and Emily, Emily and Olive; they will be best friends forever. Period. The End. Or is it?

The story of two best friends and how they are infiltrated by a new buddy is a universal school story. When Eva arrives, quiet Olive watches a new friendship develop, one that does not fit into her perfect world. Or maybe she does not fit into that new world. Eva and Emily enjoy each other: They dance ballet together, wear matching bows and T-shirts in an “ugly throw-up purple color,” carry the exact same lunch bag and start calling each other the “Sparkle-Es.” Olive doesn’t know what to do.

One day, she tries to become part of the crowd, but she ends up in tears. Plecas gets the feelings just right, allowing young readers to care about Olive and wonder why Eva and Emily are ignoring her. While the pen, ink and watercolor illustrations show every devastating emotion, children might have been better served if Olive was a bit less timid. Simply standing by and feeling sorry for oneself is not the best plan. Nevertheless, sticky social situations are a challenge, and this well-meaning offering will at least give youngsters a place to start thinking.

Teachers looking for subtle stories of social cruelty will find this a discussion starter.

Bibliotherapy with its heart in the right place, though a little underdone. (Picture book. 3-8)

THE KISSING BOOTH

Reekles, Beth Random House (448 pp.) $8.99 | $8.99 e-book | May 14, 2013 978-0-385-37868-0 978-0-385-37867-3 e-book Sixteen and never-been-kissed Elle is unprepared for the fallout from her brief stint working in a kissing booth.

When Noah turns up as her first and only customer at the carnival booth, their kiss is more than either could have predicted. Unfortunately, as her best friend Lee’s older brother, Noah is off-limits.

Elle’s resolve to honor this quickly crumbles when Noah confesses his feelings for her. Determined not to hurt her friendship with Lee, Elle demands that their romance stay a secret.

Naturally, their clandestine activity is soon discovered, resulting in hurt feelings all around. Furthermore, jealous, narcissistic and with a tendency toward violence, Noah is far from the perfect boyfriend that Elle envisioned. Cardboard characters, a predictable plot and painful dialogue are only a few of the problems plaguing this too-familiar story. While Elle and Noah’s romance is sufficiently steamy, readers will grow tired of |

the couple’s incessant bickering. Elle’s girl-next-door persona is endearing, but her continuing naïveté about Noah’s true nature in the face of mounting evidence is implausible. The overlarge cast of secondary characters doing their best to populate a featureless setting is confusing. Initially presented on Wattpad and picked up with much hoopla by Random House, this unfortunate debut from a young author is in desperate need of a firmer editorial hand.

Lacking in everything but length. (Fiction. 14 & up)

A YEAR WITH MARMALADE

Reynolds, Alison Illus. by McKenzie, Heath Little Simon/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $15.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-4424-8105-3 In Maddy’s absence, will Marmalade and Ella become friends?

One autumn day, Maddy tells Ella that her family is leaving for a year. Maddy also asks Ella to watch her orange tabby cat, Marmalade. Both Ella and Marmalade cry as Maddy’s family drives off. Ella tries all the things she liked doing with Maddy....She tosses leaves, but Marmalade doesn’t toss them back. She picks apples, but Marmalade just bats them away. She stomps through puddles, but she’s the only one that gets wet.

Then one winter day, Ella wakes with warm feet (Marmalade’s been snuggling), and later Marmalade “reads” with her by the fireside. In spring, they dig in the garden, and they visit the beach in summer. When Maddy returns with autumn, all three friends enjoy every season together. Prolific Australian author Reynolds’ tale of friendship and seasons is a heartwarming one. Ella and Marmalade’s relationship develops slowly as the year progresses.

McKenzie’s pen-and-ink illustrations, partially colored with watercolors, are sweet, wide-eyed and dynamic, often flowing along with the type. Though it’s odd that the reason for Maddy’s lengthy absence is never revealed, audiences will identify with Ella and her uncertainty with a new pet.

Expressive Marmalade with his large green eyes will definitely charm cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-7)

PHOENIX

Richards, Elizabeth Putnam (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 14, 2013 978-0-399-15944-2 Series: Black City, 1 The turgid adventures of a half-breed vampire and the human girl who loves him continue (Black City, 2012).

Having been crucified and burned and then resurrected, Ash is now known as the Phoenix, the poster boy for the Humans for Unity rebellion (though far from a Christ figure, despite obvious symbolism).

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On the eve of the vote that will determine whether vampire Darklings and other Impurities will be permanently confined in ghettos, he proposes to girlfriend Natalie, who accepts with cloyingly girlish delight. The vote goes badly; evil dictator Purian Rose cracks down on Black City. With sexy Bastet Elijah, Ash and Natalie flee, hoping to find a supposed superweapon that can shift the balance of power. (In addition to humans and vampires, this alternative, weakly steampunk-y North America has cat- and wolf-people, though their attributes are as arbitrary as everything else.) The boilerplate dystopian present-tense narration alternates between Ash’s and Natalie’s identical voices, ploddingly describing every action and overwrought emotion.

Natalie worries she is infected with the Wrath, a deadly vampire disease; in order to spare Ash, she hides it from him, a transparent and tedious device evidently meant to boost the romantic tension. People die, bloodily; allies turn traitor; breasts heave.

When Natalie isn’t engaging in unlikely heroics, she vomits a lot—is it the Wrath, or…?

Just as dreadful as the first book. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

THE LION BIBLE TO KEEP FOR EVER

Rock, Lois Illus. by Allsopp, Sophie Lion/Trafalgar (320 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-7459-6914-5

The Christian Bible is skillfully summarized in 50 episodes in this accessible, illustrated interpretation.

The book is arranged in five sections, each preceded by a short introduction. The thoughtful design also includes one or two explanatory sentences at the beginning of each episode, which help to place that particular story in the larger biblical context. The relevant Bible chapters and verses for each story are listed, along with short verse extracts printed at the sides of many pages. The verses are taken (or in some cases adapted) from the Good News Bible. Each Bible story is retold in five pages of text, which include spot illustrations on every spread that are supplemented by one full-page illustration per story. The text is smoothly written, with an engaging style that incorporates lots of dialogue, and the violence that is part of many Bible stories is minimized. Attractive illustrations with a soft focus and muted palette are sophisticated enough to appeal to older children, and the volume’s small-but-thick size also gives it the look of a book intended for children in upperelementary grades or middle school.

An excellent choice for family reading or religious education programs. (Religion. 7-13)

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THIS IS W.A.R.

Roecker, Lisa ; Roecker, Laura Soho Teen (288 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-61695-261-7 Believing that the wealthy Gregory family is involved in their friend Willa’s death, a group of one-dimensional teen socialites engage in bumbling efforts to achieve vigilante justice.

Operating under the assumption that James Gregory drowned Willa, while his twin brother and grandfather used the family money and influence to orchestrate a coverup, Willa’s friends form a “revenge club” whose $25,000 dues payments will be used to expose the family’s depravities, thereby destroying its fortune and social status. The girls’ easy access to thousands of dollars in cash is only the first of many improbable plot devices. An overreliance upon convenience— and the inexplicable—eliminates opportunities for the clever moments of detective work that typically punctuate classic whodunits. While the book does explore important questions about money, power and privilege, the stereotypical characters offer few fresh perspectives and do little to distract readers from the spottiness of the revenge drama. (Country-club staff members are variously described as having “café au lait” and “coconutcolored” skin, maids have heavy Russian accents, and the rebellious member of the revenge club is marked by her “white trash” tattoos.) Readers interested in a protagonist’s explorations of her town’s chilling undercurrent of corruption and violence will find Lauren Myracle’s Shine (2011) more rewarding.

The disappointingly predictable plot and characters fail to deliver on the novel’s promising opening scene. (Mystery. 14-17)

REBEL SPIRITS

Ruby, Lois Point/Scholastic (304 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-42623-7 978-0-545-54020-9 e-book Fervor for the Civil War never dies; neither can one of its soldiers.

When Lori Chase and her hospitality-industry–driven parents move the family from a snazzy Philadelphia hotel to a bed-and-breakfast in Gettysburg, it’s not long before the 16-year-old begins seeing a dashing yet melancholy Union soldier (although the book’s title implies the opposite) named Nathaniel Pierce. And in just a few days’ time, Lori not only agrees to solve the mystery of Nathaniel’s death, but falls deeply in love with the soldier. Competing theories, involving treason, a Hatfield-McCoy–type family feud and a missing ring once owned by Abraham Lincoln, as well as numerous historical elements, keep the teen’s predictable, first-person, present-tense

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“Sanchez’s expertly crafted narrative moves seamlessly between ‘that night’ and now, pulling readers into Frenchie’s anger and pain without straying into clichés of teen angst.” from death, dickinson, and the demented life of frenchie garcia

narration from growing stale. Also driving the tension are Nathaniel’s July 3 deadline (or he’ll have to wait again until next year’s re-enactment of the battle) and the unyielding attention of Evan, the very much alive B&B groundskeeper for the summer, who offers to help with the case. But Lori’s not the only one looking for clues. The dubious (and very much stereotypical) elderly housekeeping couple, Old Dryden and his wife, Bertha, lend a Scooby Doo feeling to the story (think of the show’s oft-used phrase: “I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids”).

A squeaky-clean romance for the youngest end of YA or readers who want nothing objectionable when it comes to love stories. (Ghost story. 12 & up)

ONLY EVER ALWAYS

Russon, Penni Delacorte (176 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-385-74352-5 978-0-449-81668-4 e-book 978-0-375-99119-6 PLB This odd, convoluted fable feels incomplete and isn’t an easy read, but its haunting imagery has staying power.

Claire’s first treasure was the music box Uncle Charlie gave her. When he’s badly injured in a car accident he’s unlikely to survive, Claire retreats into a world that mirrors her own. Everything and everyone in this looking-glass world is broken, including the music box that Clara, Claire’s counterpart, buys with an IOU. Here, Claire escapes and eventually comes to terms with violent mortality. Its dwellings, like dollhouses, lack walls; denizens buy and sell broken detritus in a city broken in half by a wild, widening river. The powerful conceit almost sustains the novel but can’t replace what’s missing: characters readers care about. Readers never meet Charlie or see him interact with Claire, so what his loss means to her remains unclear, blunting the impact of her fugue. Readers aren’t allowed to find their bearings in Claire’s world before they’re plunged into Clara’s broken one (populated with far more vivid characters). The style clamors for readers’ attention—conceptual quirks replace chapters; narration switches among first, second and third person—further distancing them from the tale being spun.

Whether readers find it brilliantly original or obscurely self-indulgent, Russon’s risk-taking should spark the best kind of literary debate. (author’s note) (Fiction. 12 & up)

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DEATH, DICKINSON, AND THE DEMENTED LIFE OF FRENCHIE GARCIA

Sanchez, Jenny Torres Running Press Kids (272 pp.) $9.95 paper | May 27, 2013 978-0-7624-4680-3 After one life-changing night with her secret crush Andy Cooper, Frenchie Garcia, a cigarette-smoking artist who quotes Dickinson and hangs out in a cemetery, is haunted.

Frenchie is in the limbo of what-comes-next. She’s finished high school but has been rejected by art school. She is sullen and anxious and can’t seem to get her life moving. Gradually, what happened that night with Andy and its lingering impact on Frenchie are revealed. It was the same night that Andy ended his own life. No one even knows that she liked Andy, let alone about the time they spent together, so Frenchie keeps her guilt and confusion to herself. When her internal rage finally boils over, she embarks upon an all-night trek with Colin, a boy she barely knows, re-creating every step of her spontaneous adventure with Andy and desperately searching for whatever she must have missed. Sanchez’s expertly crafted narrative moves seamlessly between “that night” and now, pulling readers into Frenchie’s anger and pain without straying into clichés of teen angst. Frenchie’s struggle to identify and process her own emotions rings out as authentic and honest. There are no easy answers for Frenchie Garcia as she attempts to recover from the tragedy of suicide.

An exceptionally well-written journey to make sense of the senseless. (Fiction. 14 & up)

THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

Schneider, Robyn Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-06-221713-4 Smart writing and a compelling narrator raise this book above ordinary depictions of high school drama.

After finding his vapid girlfriend going down on another guy, Ezra Faulkner is seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident, leaving him out of the loop with the jock-and-cheerleader set. When senior year begins, he gravitates toward his old friend Toby, no stranger to tragedy himself. Toby and his debate team welcome Ezra to their lunch table when they find out that the prom king is as smart and funny as they are. Schneider takes familiar stereotypes and infuses them with plenty of depth. Here are teens who could easily trade barbs and double-entendres with the characters that fill John Green’s novels. Ezra falls in love with Cassidy, an enigmatic transfer student fascinated by Foucault’s

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“In this exhilarating Repository, even the library cataloguing system is juicy.” from the wells bequest

notion of society as panopticon, flash mobs and puns. Ezra is forced to confront his complacency about the direction his life has been taking, but it’s an uneasy passage. The author takes care with the telling of Ezra’s story, allowing time to develop her characters. Narrator Ezra’s point of view is an unusual one, that of an introspective athlete reflecting on events from the slight remove of his first year in college.

Efficient use of language, evocative descriptions and subtle turns of phrase make reading and rereading this novel a delight. (Fiction. 14 & up)

THE WELLS BEQUEST

Shulman, Polly Nancy Paulsen Books (272 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-399-25646-2 In this stand-alone companion to The Grimm Legacy (2010), the most extraordinary library in the world makes physical impossibilities possible.

Sitting glumly at home, Leo notices an object materializing on the floor. The glittering, football-sized machine has “gears and rods and knobs and a little saddle”—and two miniscule humans, one of whom is himself. “I’m you, only later,” explains tiny-Leo, exhorting regular-Leo to read H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. Thank goodness for Leo’s new job as a page at the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a lending library of historical and obscure objects.

There he meets Jaya—recognizable from the tiny machine.

When an unstable fellow page claims to possess Nikola Tesla’s death ray, Leo and Jaya snap into action using one of the Repository’s Special Collections, the Wells Bequest. The Bequest’s science-fiction objects (how can they exist? That question is called, delightfully, “literary-material philosophy”) let Leo and Jaya dash back in time to Tesla’s 1895 laboratory fire and cross the Atlantic in the Épouvante from Jules Verne’s Master of the World.

Hilarious time-travel dialogue keeps the mood light: “Well, she didn’t, or you wouldn’t have to ask her to now,” Leo explains. “So that means she won’t, so she can’t.” In this exhilarating Repository, even the library cataloguing system is juicy.

A clever, sparky adventure made of science fiction, philosophy and humor. (author’s note, librarian’s note) (Science fiction.

10 & up)

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BUBBLE WORLD

Snow, Carol Henry Holt (352 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-8050-9571-5

Freesia lives on a seemingly magical island where every whim is answered in this nifty sci-fi comedy.

On her island world, Freesia needs only to place an order in her portable bubble device to get her perpetually smiling mother to serve her breakfast, to choose from the hundreds of outfits she owns, or to communicate with friends and watch her enemies. She orders her teachers around, never bothering to study any subject. Foreign-language classes focus on food instead of the language, which is never taught. Everyone on the island, including Freesia, looks beautiful and goes to parties every night. Yet glitches occur as the program generating this virtual world begins to crash, sending Freesia back to reality, where her parents and sister appear to see her only as annoying.

Thrown into her local high school, Freesia does no work and can’t connect with her former best friend. Finally, she tries to return to the virtual world, but this time, she knows it’s only a computer program. With constantly clever comic writing, Snow disguises her serious examination of the dangers involved in immersion in fantasy and living by whim. Freesia uses an aggressively vapid, too-hip vocabulary, in which something really good is “de-vicious” and a kiss is a “face link,” to heighten the fun.

Freesia’s plenty spunky, and so is this hilarious book.

(Science fiction. 12 & up)

STAR CURSED

Spotswood, Jessica Putnam (384 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-399-25746-9 Series: Cahill Witch Chronicles, 2 Cate Cahill is torn between competing factions of the Sisterhood, as the witches disguised as nuns prepare to fight the Brothers’ theocracy.

After being manipulated into joining the Sisterhood in Born Wicked (2012), Cate has abandoned love and her sisters for the city and a convent filled with witches who think she is the prophesied witch who will lead the resurgence of magic and overthrow of the Brothers. However, the Sisters disagree on revolutionary methods: Ailing headmistress Sister Cora supports a cautious, conservative approach, while secondin-command Sister Inez favors pre-emptive, aggressive strikes.

But the evil Brotherhood has an imprisoned oracle whose prophecies add detail about magic’s resurgence. In response to it, the Brothers step up their campaign against it, arresting and torturing girls to find the prophesied witch as well as passing new laws so restrictive that the general population begins to turn against

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them. The Sisterhood responds to the Brothers’ literal witch hunt by summoning Cate’s sisters, Maura and Tess, to protect them—and ambitious Maura, the least sympathetic non-Brother character, latches onto the new prophecy, which reopens speculation on which Cahill sister will lead the witches. Cate’s forbidden romance with Finn, now a Brother, is better integrated with the plot than in the opener and makes Finn more interesting by association. There’s a genuinely surprising twist at the end.

Page-turning intrigues make this a strong sequel. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

UNDERNEATH

Stevenson, Sarah Jamila Flux (336 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jun. 8, 2013 978-0-7387-3596-2 Like her name, Sunshine Pryce-Shah is a cultural hybrid with Pakistani and American hippie roots.

Sunny’s a strong swimmer occupying a slightly insecure niche among a small circle of friends old, like Spike, and new, like Cassie. During a race, Sunny hears an anguished voice and, disoriented, fails to finish. Hours later, she learns of her cousin Shiri’s suicide and receives her personal journal in the mail. Sunny turns to it for answers when she, too, starts to hear the thoughts of those around her. But Shiri’s no guide—unable to make peace with her ability, more torment than gift. It torments Sunny, too. Her old friends’ thoughts contradict their words and contain hurtful judgments, causing a rift, while new friends to whom she’s entrusted her secret want to use her, and it, for their own purposes. On the parental front, Shiri’s mother leaves her abusive husband to move in with Sunny’s family yet finds it hard to break free. There are no easy answers here. Friendships are challenging enough without hearing one another’s thoughts, but unless Sunny can accept and forgive what she’d rather not hear, she faces a lonely future.

This frustratingly slow-moving tale with more depth than breadth takes readers on a profound journey even if it ends not far from where it began. (Fiction. 12 & up)

THE WALL A Modern Fable

Sutcliffe, William Walker (304 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-0-8027-3492-1

An Israeli settlement in the occupied territories forms the thinly disguised setting of a tale inappropriately introduced with an epigraph from the Gospels.

Thirteen-year-old Joshua lives in Amarias with his mother and despised stepfather, Liev. He hates Amarias, where his once-joyful |

mother covers her hair and defers to Liev, but he doesn’t much think about The Wall, the checkpoints and the soldiers he’s told protect him from “the people who live on the other side.”

Joshua finds a tunnel that takes him under The Wall, where he’s rescued by a girl. Joshua’s new social consciousness—worry for the girl and wondering how his observations correspond to what he’s been told—is tangled up in his consistently degrading relationship with Liev. Every time Joshua breaks his frustrated passivity in order to help the girl and her family, he worsens the situation for them. Despite the novel’s subtitle, this is wholly realistic fiction detailing a boy’s coming-of-age in a real-life political situation. Unfortunately, in the absence of proper nouns or other clues (Israelis and Palestinians distinguished by “my language” and “harsh, guttural words I can’t understand”; “people like me” and “everyone else”; “us” and “the people who used to live there”), the tale lacks context; without knowledge of the setting, it reads like a dystopian novel inexplicably featuring “American TV” and a “Japanese sedan.”

The book might be effective in a classroom setting; it’s likely to be confusing unmediated. (Fiction. 11-13)

SOME QUIET PLACE

Sutton, Kelsey Flux (360 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jul. 8, 2013 978-0-7387-3643-3

Haunting, chilling and achingly romantic, Sutton’s debut novel for teens will keep readers up until the wee hours, unable to tear themselves away from this strange and beautifully crafted story.

Elizabeth Caldwell can’t feel emotions, yet she sees them everywhere, human in appearance, standing alongside their “summons.” Guilt and Worry flank the mother of a dying friend. Resentment grips the shoulder of her bruised and battered mother. Elizabeth can see them, acknowledge their power and even speak to them, but ever since the night of a terrible car accident when she was 4, the only sensation Elizabeth is capable of mustering is a numb nothingness.

The only emotion that still bothers to come calling is Fear, a menacing and surprisingly seductive suitor who seems as determined as Elizabeth to uncover the truth behind who and what she truly is—no matter what the cost. Elizabeth may not be able to feel, but her novel-long dance with Fear is as sexy and intense as any couple’s in recent memory. This is a testament to Elizabeth’s brilliantly crafted narrative voice. Reminiscent of Death in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, she shares her story with the cold detachment of the emotionless yet still manages to convey the urgent and desperate nature of her search for the truth.

Chills and goose bumps of the very best kind accompany this haunting, memorable achievement. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

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EVIL EYE

Szpirglas, Jeff Star Crossed Press (190 pp.) $12.95 paper | Jun. 15, 2013 978-0-9867914-7-5 Some kids have been waiting their entire lives for a book about a floating eyeball, even if they didn’t know it. This is that book.

This is the kind of book that’s impossible to describe to a friend. Anyone who tries will sound like a small child describing a dream: This boy is in a cemetery. And he pricks his eye on top of a gravestone. And then his eye starts floating out of his head, and it’s flying around everywhere. And then the eye starts telling him to do things, only no one else can hear it. A five-word description might be better: It is a horror story. It has enough gross-out effects to appeal to R.L. Stine fans, and a few scenes near the end are frightening enough to scare full-grown adults.

Like the classic Tales of the Crypt comics and Twilight Zone episodes, this is a story with no happy ending. Readers need to know that going in, since for several chapters in a row, it looks as though Jake and his friends might find a way to defeat the monsters. It’s important to remember the title of the book.

The plot is hardly ever credible, but readers will be too scared to notice. And the best horror stories don’t need to make any more sense than a dream—or a nightmare. (Horror. 9-12)

STILL STAR-CROSSED

Taub, Melinda Delacorte (352 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-385-74350-1 978-0-449-81665-3 e-book 978-0-375-99118-9 PLB Love and violence intertwine in this spectacular sequel to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The peace purchased with Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths lasts two weeks before the Capulets and Montagues renew their fight in the streets of Verona. Those closest to the young lovers struggle with their grief: Rosaline Tirimo mourns both her cousin Juliet and her former suitor, Romeo, but resolves to escape the cycle of violence and the grudging charity of the Capulet family by becoming a nun. Benvolio Montague sees Mercutio’s and Romeo’s ghosts everywhere, but he suppresses his anger at the Capulets. Then Prince Escalus attempts to force the feuding families into concord by arranging a marriage between Rosaline and Benvolio, even as a third party incites riots and slays young Capulets and Montagues indiscriminately. Unlike their cousins’ whirlwind romance, Rosaline and Benvolio’s courtship consists of squabbling, sleuthing and a grudging sense of duty. Taub splits 112

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her focus between the personal and the political, sending the narrative shuttling among Rosaline, Benvolio, Rosaline’s spirited sister, Livia, and desperate Prince Escalus without losing the thread. Rosaline and Benvolio’s tale is equal parts historical fiction, detective story and high adventure, relayed in accurate but not overwhelming period language, informed by Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare’s other works but offering an expanded and original perspective.

A perfect blend of the intimate and the epic, the story both honors its origin and works in its own right. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

HAUNTERS

Taylor, Thomas Chicken House/Scholastic (336 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-49644-5 978-0-545-50254-2 e-book This fast-paced novel incorporates a variety of tropes and modes—time travel and, dream walking, adventure and suspense—to produce a rewarding, page-

turning read.

For about a year—ever since his father died—14-year-old English schoolboy David Utherwise has been dreaming about a boy named Eddie, who has become something of a “dream friend.” One night, he has nightmares in which Eddie is trapped in a burning house during the Blitz, and the next day is really tough, to put it mildly. He is bullied in class, a set of total strangers attempts to abduct him, and a different set succeeds in kidnapping him. Scruffy Professor Feldrake explains David’s importance to a benign group of time travelers determined to keep Eddie, who is a very real boy living in an earlier time, alive.

The story is told in chapters that switch from World War II–era London to a modern-day citadel inside a Swiss mountain, a technique that produces a series of breathtaking cliffhangers and ramps up suspense considerably. A variety of characters, many of them ill-intentioned, add oomph to the propulsive plot but not much depth. This solid adventure with its many teen characters will appeal to a wide audience; the epilogue leaves many threads hanging, giving promise of at least one more outing.

Reluctant readers and adventure/suspense junkies will gallop through this volume and haunt the shelves for the sequel. (Adventure. 10-14)

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“Reminiscent of The Outsiders (and not just because of Cornpup’s unusual name), the story concentrates on the boys’ tight bond and how they both embrace and fight against the danger in their lives.” from my chemical mountain

MY CHEMICAL MOUNTAIN

becomes a pariah in the school. Can Nora turn things around to win her friends back and, more importantly, win Adam’s heart?

Valentine has a bright sense of humor, pitching it at those readers who can identify with Nora. Although the book gets a tad preachy, readers will discern that Adam is attracted to Nora and laugh as her efforts to get closer to him work against her in a continuing comedy of errors.

Smart and witty. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Vacco, Corina Delacorte (192 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-385-74242-9 978-0-307-97504-1 e-book 978-0-375-99057-1 PLB If the local chemical plant killed your father and used your backyard as a dumping ground, you’d want revenge, too.

With an opening scene featuring powerful rain, sulfur in the wind and “steamy chemical sludge,” the overwritten dystopian novel immediately comes to mind. But this gritty debut depicts the reality of a toxic town. Fourteen-year-old narrator Jason’s father died in an “accident” after speaking out against the chemical plant that rules the town, and his mother has turned to food for comfort. It is his quest to take down the chemical plant. Also hungry for revenge are friends Charlie and Cornpup, who also bear the scars the chemical plant has left on the town.

Reminiscent of The Outsiders (and not just because of Cornpup’s unusual name), the story concentrates on the boys’ tight bond and how they both embrace and fight against the danger in their lives. The most stunning part of the story remains the visceral descriptions (“a trail of green puddles that never dry up; a rusty railcar full of weird, smelly rocks; and a perfect square of earth where you can dig for hours without seeing a single insect”) that ooze throughout. The teens’ Freak Museum, filled with mutated animals, equally repels and fascinates. Because of these strengths, the abrupt ending is disappointing, but it does not discount the story as a compelling read.

Dark and unflinching. (Fiction. 14 & up)

HOW (NOT) TO FIND A BOYFRIEND

Valentine, Allyson Philomel (304 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-399-25771-1

IN TOO DEEP

Voorhees, Coert Hyperion (336 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-4231-4035-1 A community-service trip to Mexico lands four teens in the middle of an expedition that could lead either to the discovery of priceless treasure or toward certain death.

A scholarship student, self-professed history nerd and diving fanatic, Annie Fleet finds herself out of her depth with the other students from her elite private school. But when her history teacher, Mr. Alvarez, chaperones a trip to help hurricane victims, Annie signs up.

In addition to her volunteer work, Annie hopes to find time for treasure hunting, diving and maybe even romance. Unfortunately her crush, Josh Rebstock, does not seem to share in her plans. Only days into the trip Alvarez reveals that the community service is just a cover. They are there to try and recover Cortés’ priceless Golden Jaguar, an enormous, solidgold statue stolen from the Aztecs and then lost—or possibly die trying. Detailed information about scuba diving and history showcase the author’s research, but the convoluted plot is devoid of energy. Annie’s infatuation with the narcissistic Josh focuses more on his dimples and his biceps than any true connection. Lacking both heart-pounding adventure and heartracing romance, this trip to Mexico is a complete mess.

X definitely does not mark the spot. (Fiction. 12 & up)

This sharp-witted debut pours on the wry comedy as a brainiac girl tries to hide her intelligence so she can be popular.

In middle school, Nora was not only the teachers’ pet, but “their teacup Chihuahua.” With both parents university professors, excelling in school is a family priority. Nora wants to be popular as a sophomore at her new high school, so to her feminist mother’s dismay, she turns her gymnastics training into a spot on the cheerleading squad. Even better, she attracts the attention of dumb-asa-post football-hero Jake and sits at the popular table in the cafeteria. But she instantly loses her heart to handsome Adam, another newcomer who’s as smart as she is. Having already dropped her AP classes, Nora traps herself in a tangle of lies to get into Adam’s. Her schemes predictably backfire, and she |

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“Luminous pastel illustrations—full-spread, characterized by reassuringly plump, rounded lines and innocently joyful faces, and featuring increasingly free-wheeling, off-kilter perspectives—capture the action.” from the wee hours

THE WEE HOURS

Watson, Stephanie Illus. by GrandPré, Mary Disney Hyperion (40 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4231-4038-2 Children will be tickled to see the wee hours of the morning come to life as irresistible, toddlerlike imps in this whimsical tale.

Wee Hours One through Four, all carefully numbered, arrive one by one in a sleeping child’s bedroom upon their associated clock-strike (youngsters will eagerly search for the clock in each spread to double-check the time). Each mischiefmaker pulls a little something from the slumberer’s dreams and incorporates it into playtime: One O’Clock bounces the sun like a ball; Two teaches the birds tricks; Three frees the horses for a jumping contest; Four releases the dinosaurs and leads all the creatures in a parade. All the while, the cat and goldfish look on, but the sleeper is never roused. The text has a cadence that lightly trips along. Luminous pastel illustrations—full-spread, characterized by reassuringly plump, rounded lines and innocently joyful faces, and featuring increasingly free-wheeling, off-kilter perspectives—capture the action. Just when the rumpus seems about to burst right out of the book, Five O’Clock arrives. Like a big brother, he soothes the Wee Hours with stories and back rubs and begins to clean up, aided by Six and Seven O’Clock.

Wrapping up on a comforting note sure to set toddlers’ heads bobbing, this fanciful vision of what happens in the wee hours is the delightful nonsense of dreams. (Picture book. 2-6)

COLORS FOR ZENA

Wellington, Monica Illus. by Wellington, Monica Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-8037-3743-3 This introduction to colors and color mixing is cheerful but antiseptic.

“Where did all the colors go?” Zena wonders. Her house is white, black and extremely pale blue (though her face is beige and pinkcheeked). Zena and her dog step outdoors onto a street of yellows and grays; Zena’s hat turns yellow. The next spread showcases red: The Little Red Art Store sits behind red vehicles, highlighted by white and gray (no yellow here).

The following spread introduces secondaries: “ ‘I am yellow and red mixed together,’ roars the lion. / ‘I am ORANGE.’ ” Although the lion’s orange color has slight value variations, only in the small area of his mane do yellow and red noticeably mix, and even there, that red is really already orange. As Zena continues through color scenes (her hat adapting like a chameleon), the color mixing consistently receives short 114

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visual shrift. Instead of showing how primaries mix to form secondaries, Wellington lets bland text explain the process (“ ‘I am red and blue mixed together,’ rumbles the dragon”), with only the barest visual hints as to how this occurs. For visually clearer color mixing, see Mike Austin’s zippy Monsters Love Colors (2013); for more heart, see Leo Lionni’s classic Little Blue and Little Yellow (1959).

Chipper and cartoony, but not fertile enough to tempt children to actually try mixing colors themselves. (color definitions, recommended activities) (Picture book. 2-5)

THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF TOMORROW

Williams, Avery Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4424-4319-8 Series: Incarnation, 2

She’s been alive for 616 years, but now she’s in love with a teenage boy.

This second installation in the Incarnation series leads to a showdown between the lead character and her nemesis but leaves the way open for another sequel. Evil Cyrus has the formula that allows souls to incarnate in new bodies, once the bodies are sufficiently dead. Cyrus clings to his obsessive love for Sera, whom he turned immortal in 1349, but she escaped in the previous book by finding a girl dying in a car accident and taking over her body. Living as 16-year old Kailey, Sera’s now happily ensconced in Berkeley with the girl’s former family, who don’t know their daughter is dead. She’s also firmly in love with Kailey’s boyfriend, Noah. She wants to escape Cyrus and live as Kailey with her new romance intact, but to do it, she will have to outwit Cyrus. Can Sera/Kailey find Cyrus before he finds her, even as he uses his coven of fellow Incarnates to search for her? Chick-lit action full of fashion, friendships and girl rivalries vies with the immortality plot, which includes Sera’s hand-wringing about the ethics of the practice she and the other Incarnates have been following for centuries. Volcano metaphors occasionally stand out in the otherwise straightforward prose.

Fine for devoted paranormal-romance fans but probably not many others. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

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IMPOSTER

Winnacker, Susanne Razorbill/Penguin (288 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-1-59514-654-0 This attempt at a teen paranormalthriller/romance novel is about as satisfying to fans of the genre as a cup of weak herbal tea would be to a thirsty vampire.

Who hasn’t wanted to change places with someone else…someone prettier, smarter, more popular? Tessa can. She’s a Variant, born with a special skill, trained by a special—and very secret—branch of the FBI. Her ability to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches allows her to take on the identity of popular, smalltown Madison, the latest victim of a serial killer. Tessa takes her form, and the news of her “survival” is leaked to the press.

Using a cover story of amnesia, Tessa assumes Madison’s life.

This includes loving parents, an attractive brother, a close best friend, an ex-boyfriend and all the normal activities of high school—something Tessa’s never known and always wanted. It’s not long before Tessa feels more like Madison than herself. But the killer isn’t about to leave her alone, and it’s beginning to look as if this predator may be a Variant, too.

There are many undeveloped plotlines that never resolve satisfactorily, and characterization is straight from central casting. Tessa’s first-person narration does little to distinguish itself from the many others of its ilk, beyond a refreshing return to the past tense.

Readers will probably recall the X-Men universe and wish these characters were as well-drawn. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)

interactive e-books OVER IN THE JUNGLE

Berkes, Marianne Illus. by Canyon, Jeanette Dawn Publications $3.99 | Mar. 6, 2013 1.1; Mar. 13, 2013

Based on Berkes and Canyon’s 2007 book, this new interactive counting and sing-along app is a snazzy introduction to the fauna of the rain forest.

Centering around the lush and colorful illustrations, each page introduces a new species with information on how the animal parents care for their young and often revealing a bit about their environment: The poison dart frogs appear in the bromeliads so important to their survival, for instance. The text is written in rhyme to fit the familiar tune and can be heard sung or |

read by the author; there is also a “Read to Myself ” mode. Simple animations allow readers to set the animal babies in motion.

Butterflies flutter and marmosets swing, each in their own stratum of the jungle. Emphasizing the many layers of habitat in the rain forest, the appended “Find the Babies” counting game shows where in the jungle each of the species makes its home.

Further information on each animal, plus photos, follows, as do bios of each of the creators. The illustrator’s discussion of her techniques should appeal to young artists. It’s not quite as flawlessly interactive as the developer’s previous app, Over in the Ocean (2012); there are some bugs with page turns, and background music and jungle sounds often don’t play in “Read to Myself ” mode.

Rich with learning experiences, Berkes’ book elegantly combines art, reading, counting and music with the natural sciences. (iPad informational app. 3-8)

BOXES

Grossman, Liora Illus. by Grossman, Liora Eran Lesser $2.99 | Jan. 3, 2013 1.1; Jan. 3, 2013 In this pleasant if not quite finished (or logical) tale, a manikin living in a city made of boxes goes in search of something that has no corners.

Weary of bumping into the sharp edges of his bed and furniture—really, the squared-off world in general—diminutive Mr. Meow leaves the tall building where he works as a janitor to find something without corners. Though he becomes an object of derision, his quest is fulfilled at last, as what looks at first like the sun rising over the ocean becomes a hot air balloon (tied to a four-cornered basket beneath, but never mind) with which he and his cat Psss…psss sail off into the sky. Illustrated with neatly squared-off scenes that are all straight lines and harmoniously colored geometric shapes and patterns, the simply written story comes with two narration options. The “Read by myself ” option is not silent but offers subdued music and sound effects, while “Read to me” mode features expressive audio narration, auto advance and a text that can be visible or not. In either option, shifting layers add movement, and a small number of tap-activated sounds or animations provide low-key interactive elements. Though the narrator sometimes intrudes despite being toggled off and the app has stability issues, the story offers an equally engaging premise and delivery.

Appealingly unpretentious, for all that the plot isn’t quite as tidy as the art and a few technical bobbles remain. (iPad storybook app. 5-8)

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LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD

itbook itbook $2.99 | Mar. 17, 2013 1.1; Mar. 26, 2013

A Tim Burton–esque variation on the classic story, definitely not for the weak of heart.

Related in English or Spanish by a nonoptional narrator who is sometimes drowned out by the sound effects, the tale sends defunct Little Red, er, Dead—unaware that her basket holds poisoned pastries—through the woods to her still-living grandmother’s.

Fortunately, Grandmother has been tipped off. Muttering that “they used to call me ‘Ramba’ when I was young,” she gathers enough heavy ordinance to invade North Korea (plus a tap-activated lightsaber) and greets her grandchild with a hail of gunfire. Unfortunately, Grandmother has a short memory and so dies histrionically after chowing down on the basket’s contents.

This gothic knee-slapper alternates between text pages with line-drawn illustrations and elaborately crafted scenes featuring vanishing dialogue, spooky shadows and macabre interactive effects. Little Dead’s tendency to pop up suddenly in the foreground, flashing her fleshless grin and rolling her single eye, is particularly shriek-worthy. A hapless wolf named Lupito offers comic relief—plus, following a fall down Grandma’s chimney, a main course. A button on the title page links to sets of sketchbook pages and wipe-away scenes.

Feature-rich and slickly designed and illustrated, this app is at once hilarious and disquieting. (iPad storybook app.

9-13)

THE CICADA AND THE ANT La Fontaine, Jean de Seven Academy $0.99 | Mar. 2, 2013 1.0; Mar. 2, 2013

The design and presentation of this familiar fable make it a sloppy, frustrating read.

This French version of Aesop’s “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” penned by the 17th-century fabulist and poet, is a lesson in interactive integration. There’s a tricky balance to adapting classics for reading on an iPad, in that it’s necessary to marry text to technology in a cohesive way. This app fails to do that. The narrative appears to be a loose paraphrase of the French original, and sentences are strung over multiple pages, which isn’t usually a problem with traditional books. But in this app’s interactive mode, there are tactile things to do before advancing to the next page. The taps and swipes yield lackluster payoffs—a chirping bird, a buzzing bee, or wiping frost off of windows, to name a few—but they must be completed before the page can be turned. By the time they’re exhausted and the sentence is continued on the next 116

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page, the fragment hangs without context. For example, the text on one page reads, “Not a single morsel of fly or tiny worm.”

It’s not only grammatically incorrect, it’s nonsensical. Engaging dialogue could have easily driven this moral home, but instead, the tale drops off a cliff when the ant tells the cicada to start dancing.

The insects are cute but not worth the price of admission: storytelling fail. (iPad storybook app. 3-6)

THE LITTLE KING AND THE BIG BED

Masterson, Clare Mrs. Fizz’s Classroom $3.99 | Feb. 22, 2013 1.00; Feb. 22, 2013

A little king breaks his bed and then has to contend with the invention of measurement to find one that is the right size.

This simple app, with minimal interaction and rudimentary storyline, introduces users to a boy-king who loves to bounce on his bed, until he busts the frame “and his bottom hit the floor.

‘Ouch!’ ” If told, his parents would hold him responsible. One of those light bulbs indicating thought illuminates: “He would get a new bed without telling them.” (Kings don’t have to worry about such trivialities as payment.) Toe-to-toe, he paces out the dimensions and gives them to his chamberlain, who gives them to the carpenter, the maker of duvets and the master of mattresses. They, in turn, use their own toe-to-toe measurements and arrive at a very disproportioned bed indeed, true only to the carpenter’s clodhoppers, the duvet maker’s petite tootsies and the mattress maestro’s standard-issues. The wizard is summoned, who produces three sticks of equal length for each of the bed makers. Thus the ruler—oh yes, pun fully intended— was born. Forget about Theodorus of Crete and all those Egyptians, Indians, Chinese and the many unsung creators of measurement—what is at stake here is the standard measure, one of the first and great democratic acts. The interactive element here is easy peasy (even if navigation from page to page throughout the site is not): The active ingredient has a glowing pulse. The settings are enveloped in fire-warmed hues, as befitting bedtime, and the bed is a vision of billowy swells in a royal blue sea, even if the characters are as stiff as cold marionettes.

An understated but illuminating first glimpse at what measurement is all about. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

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“This inventive pairing of colors with musical riffs offers almost unlimited opportunities for visual and aural experimentation….” from yellow, red, blue and if i get angry grey

THE TRIP Little Critter Reading Adventure Mayer, Mercer Illus. by Mayer, Mercer Silver Dolphin Books $3.99 | Mar. 19, 2013 1.0.1; Mar. 25, 2013

Little Critter, Little Sister and their parents take a meandering trip to Lake Wakatookee in this busy app.

Each page opens with the narrator reading a few lines of text, and then interactions are unlocked. Touching color-coded hotspots triggers animations, loads Little Critter’s backpack, rereads text and brings up alphabet flashcards (“R. Raccoon.

Raccoon begins with R”). Once all of the hotspots have been explored, readers can advance to the next screen and are occasionally prompted to choose the route. It’s a predictably circuitous and eventful trip, including an overheated engine, a stop at an ice cream stand and an inexplicable detour to the beach. Animations that open and close each page and tap-activated dialogue (“How do you spell pineapple?” queries Mom pedantically.

“It’s a compound word: pine apple.” “Moo-oom!” protest the kids) supplement the bare-bones plot. Indeed, so much is going on, what with interactions and animations, it’s a good thing there’s so little to the actual story. Six additional games punctuate the journey; completing them all successfully unlocks a “fun surprise.” The app is not for readers who wish to blaze through, instead rewarding lingerers amply. (There is a static “Just Read” mode for those who wish to bypass the extra doodads.)

By the end, readers may be as exhausted as Little Critter’s beleaguered dad, who does all the driving, natch, but they will feel like they’ve done something. (iPad storybook app.

5-7)

YELLOW, RED, BLUE AND IF I GET ANGRY GREY

Sanna, Alessandro Illus. by Sanna, Alessandro WARE’S ME $0.99 | Mar. 22, 2013 1.0; Mar. 22, 2013

tapping, multilayered arpeggios. The title screen’s “Play” option leads to three jigsaws and an unusual kaleidoscopic puzzle that all use the same set of shapes and colors in fresh compositions.

Comical grunts, drawing lines that transform into flights of butterflies and other small flourishes enhance the artfully designed interaction. There is no narration or text, but children will find that in addition to drawing and playing with colors, they can create a story that ends with enormously satisfying chortles.

A rewarding alternative for children who find the digital edition of Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2012) too relentlessly inscrutable. (iPad play app. 4-8)

THE DREAM

Swipea Kids App Swipea Jan. 14, 2013 $2.99 | 2.3.8; Feb. 13, 2013

This story of a lowly ditch digger from Baghdad reinforces stereotypes about Middle Eastern culture and includes inaccurate information.

Ahmad travels from Baghdad to Cairo to follow a prophecy he hears in the titular dream. While at first he seems foolish and gullible, he perseveres to discover his fortune. The navigation and narration in the “Read to Me” mode work smoothly, and the “Fact Find” mode allows readers to uncover brief pieces of information. Games help children learn about traditional Arab clothing, food and musical instruments. However, the app promotes clichéd notions of Arab life and incorrect information of key elements. Baghdad is one of the Middle East’s largest cities and is at the center of Iraq’s fertile agricultural region, yet Ahmad is portrayed as a ditch digger living in a “broken-down…house.” The illustrations show him wearing a vest without a shirt, but it is more likely that a rural Iraqi man would wear a long-sleeved shirt or gown, and his wife would wear a long black robe. Furthermore, while it is true that much of the Middle East is covered by desert, the illustrations show a cactus, a plant that is native to North and South America. While children can pick up some interesting information in this app, these glaring errors are unacceptable.

Steer clear of this app and seek out a well-researched Arab folktale instead. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

This inventive pairing of colors with musical riffs offers almost unlimited opportunities for visual and aural experimentation—plus jigsaw puzzles for more structured entertainment.

Each of the four colors are introduced individually with their musical themes, first by blank screens to draw on and then stylized, big-eared animals whose parts can be moved about with a fingertip or left to separate in a tilt-sensitive drift. On following screens, the color fields and the figures appear in combinations that can be reordered or rearranged to create both color changes and musical juxtapositions or even, with rhythmic |

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continuing series

A DAY IN THE MARKET

Tobias-Papa, May Illus. by Roxas, Isabel Adarna House, Inc. Free | Feb. 15, 2013 1.0.1; Feb. 15, 2013

PRINCESS POSEY AND THE NEW FIRST GRADER

This bilingual storybook app lovingly depicts a young Filipino child’s first visit to the market with her grandmother.

Waking early, a young girl is excited to spend the day with her Nanay since “Today is market day!” As they get off the bus, the little girl says, “Nanay and I each carry a bayong. Nanay’s bayong is big and colorful. Mine is small and yellow.” While English speakers may not know what a bayong is, they will realize with a little guesswork that they need to drag the little yellow shopping bag to the young girl’s arms before turning the page. The warm illustrations complement the text, adding details from the busy market. Readers must interact with the app to turn each page, directly and playfully engaging children in the narrative. Easy controls at the beginning of the story allow readers to select English or Filipino language options, and the child-voiced narration is both authentic and easy to understand. Navigation is hindered by the lack of a table of contents or page controls. The original picture book of this story, Araw sa Palengke, won the first Filipino National Child’s Book Award in 2010.

Based on an award-winning picture book from the Philippines, this charming app brings the sights, smells and tastes of a traditional Filipino market to a wide audience. It’s easy to see why this little girl is so happy to visit it. (iPad storybook app. 3-6)

Princess Posey, #6 Greene, Stephanie Illus. by Sisson, Stephanie Roth Putnam (96 pp.) $12.99 June 1, 2013 978-0-399-25712-4 (Fiction. 7-9)

SINK OR SWIM Whatever After, #3 Mlynowski, Sarah Scholastic (176 pp.) $14.99 May 1, 2013 978-0-545-41569-9 (Fantasy. 8-12)

This Issue’s Contributors # Alison Anholt-White • Marcie Bovetz • Louise Brueggemann • Timothy Capehart • Ann Childs • Julie Cummins • GraceAnne A. DeCandido • Lisa Dennis • Carol Edwards • Robin L. Elliott • Brooke Faulkner • Laurie Flynn • Heather L. Hepler • Megan Honig • Jennifer Hubert • Kathleen T. Isaacs • Laura Jenkins • Deborah Kaplan • Joy Kim • Megan Dowd Lambert • Angela Leeper • Peter Lewis • Ellen Loughran • Joan Malewitz • Jeanne McDermott • Shelly McNerney • Daniel Meyer • Lisa Moore • R. Moore • John Edward Peters • Susan Pine • Melissa Rabey • Rebecca Rabinowitz • Kristy Raffensberger • Nancy Thalia Reynolds • Lesli Rodgers • Ronnie Rom • Leslie L. Rounds • Katie Scherrer • Mary Ann Scheuer • Hillary Foote Schwartz • Stephanie Seales • Robin Smith • Edward T. Sullivan • Jennifer Sweeney • Monica Wyatt

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indie EIGHT PATHWAYS OF HEALING LOVE

This title earned the Kirkus Star:

Belzunce, Philip R.; Gutierrez, Lalei E. Bella-Tierra International (276 pp.) $29.87 paper | Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-9857666-0-3

Eight Pathways of Healing Love

by Philip R. Belzunce; Lalei E. Gutierrez.........................................119

EIGHT PATHWAY S OF HEALING LOVE

Belzunce, Philip R.; Gutierrez, Lalei E. Bella-Tierra International (276 pp.) $29.87 paper Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-9857666-0-3

A deceptively simple guide to relationships.

The self-help market abounds with breezy advice about love connections. It’s a rare guide that has the power to flip perspectives and trigger epiphanies, not to mention provide simple techniques that might alter habitual reactions and behaviors.

From the first pages, this treatise diverges from the surfaceskating norm. Drawing on decades of client counseling, as well as their own experience as a couple, Belzunce and Gutierrez have created a road map for exploring eight areas of human existence and interaction, which they call pathways. While some are self-explanatory (Connection and Communication, for example), most compartmentalize life in more novel ways (such as Being and Balance, the challenge of harmonizing discordant aspects of the self and the other). They make utter sense, though, within the authors’ framework. Such idiosyncratic terminology—and the unapologetically heart-centered language, which belies an inherent, worldly wisdom—is easy to resist at first brush. Familiarity, however, breeds understanding and acceptance. Each discussion of pathways includes explanations, illustrative case histories, questionnaires and worksheets, some extensive enough to require flip charts. Pointers abound for defusing heated communication, with examples of navigating difficult conversations and a recurring emphasis on being present—slowing breathing and hearing or expressing only what is happening in that instant. The material skillfully helps develop new approaches and viewpoints. Exposure alone has value, even to the reader who foregoes completing the exercises (or who would balk at couples’ therapy). Any relationship, post-divorce included, stands to benefit from exploring all of the pathways, as do the individuals involved.

A valuable addition to the self-help genre, for skimmers and divers alike.

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DEVIL DOLPHINS OF SILVER LAGOON AND OTHER STORIES Adventures of a Reluctant Photographer’s Assistant Bennett, Michael CreateSpace (228 pp.) $15.00 paper | $3.99 e-book Jul. 20, 2010 978-1-4528-7392-3

A debut collection that goes beyond ordinary fish tales.

Over the course of his maritime career, Bennett has traveled all over the world in a variety of occupations, often as part of a team from National Geographic, affording him a unique perspective that allowed him to witness events from behind the camera and behind the wheel. This book contains elements of solid travel writing, from cultural misunderstandings and local cuisine to harrowing conditions and unexpected detours.

For example, Bennett recounts a close call with protestors as he attempted to leave Panama during the chaos preceding the United States’ invasion in 1989. Particular readers will notice a penchant for run-on sentences, pun-filled chapter subtitles and the repetition of certain words in close proximity: “Despite our little dysfunctional film family, we were getting into some interesting situations with the whales and getting some good footage, and I was getting introduced to a whole new world.”

However, there are many amusing, sharply rendered moments to make up for these minor drawbacks. A hermit crab on Cocos Island, designated as camp mascot, receives the moniker Thomas Pynchon. A tube-shaped signaling device for divers who become disoriented is nicknamed the Weenie-of-Shame.

Student interest in marine life and sea travel may tempt parents and educators to share this book with younger readers, but some portions of the text may not be appropriate for children due to saltier content. Nonetheless, many passages could be excerpted for general consumption, most notably the final chapter, where Bennett explains his key role in rescuing an orca that faced an uncertain future after becoming separated from her pod. As the plan develops to transport Springer from Seattle to Vancouver Island in a large tank on a modified passenger ferry, Bennett touches on logistical issues, animal behavior, respect for indigenous peoples and the importance of collaborative endeavors, in which each person makes contributions from his or her area of expertise. In this story of reunification, Bennett presents a lesson applicable for everyone, strengthening the thematic unity of his collection.

A respectable first effort full of entertaining anecdotes.

JANUARY EXPOSURE An Ellie Craven Mystery Benson, Sunny Self (265 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Feb. 19, 2013

Small cities are no strangers to mystery, as Benson proves in her charming debut novel.

In Fargo, N.D., news travels fast. So when Ellie Craven’s brother-in-law, Rick, suddenly announces that he’s leaving Ellie’s sister, Tandy, and their daughter, Carmen, Tandy and Ellie initially try to keep things quiet and figure out what’s going on—and why Rick wants to take almost all of the furniture. Later, when Rick physically attacks them, Ellie realizes that the situation is more serious than it first appeared. After Carmen is kidnapped, Ellie and Tandy tell their parents and grandfather everything, and the family unites in a rescue mission—a task made more difficult when Rick lies to the police. Ellie investigates further and discovers that Rick has maintained a secret life for quite some time—one that includes a pregnant girlfriend, dive bars and drug dealers. She also reconnects with a handsome man from her past who’s linked to Rick’s new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Ellie’s grandfather repeatedly distracts her from her search with his wild pranks on the director of his rest home, whom he nicknames “the dominatrix.” Will Ellie save Carmen and protect her grandfather from himself?

Benson’s descriptions of Fargo’s landscapes, weather and people are evocative and often hilarious; for example, Ellie and her sister encounter an aspiring amateur wrestler whose fake cowboy lingo practically square-dances off the page. The author’s efforts at replicating Midwestern speech don’t always ring true, however; even in Fargo, a young housewife probably wouldn’t use the word “bosom.” Also, with the exception of Ellie’s goodhearted ex-boyfriend, the novel depicts all police officers as easily duped or blinded by personal vendettas. However, these are minor flaws, and readers will likely easily overlook them due to the novel’s strong sense of place, vivid characters and brisk plotting.

A warm, well-constructed mystery, full of humor and intrigue.

WILDE STORIES 2013 The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction Berman, Steve—Ed. Lethe Press (274 pp.) $18.00 paper | Jun. 15, 2013 978-1-59021-131-1

Editor Berman (Wilde Stories 2012, etc.) compiles an eerie, moving volume of gay-themed speculative fiction.

The various authors anthologized here write on different subjects ranging from a gay, humanoid cephalopod couple to a man tormented by the dead after his 120

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“While this collection’s nuanced depictions of gay men today will surely attract gay readers, the quality of its stories transcends niche interest.” from best gay stories 2013

lover’s suicide. Despite the disparities, the collection comes together as a remarkably coherent whole, and none of the characters’ queer identities outweighs the telling of the tales.

Furthermore, much of the work edges toward magical realism rather than standard sci-fi or fantasy. Several stories, such as Ray Cluley’s “Night Fishing” and John Langan’s “Renfrew’s Course,” are hauntingly sad; others, like Steve Vernon’s “Wetside Story” and Hal Duncan’s “Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!” are comic romps with a side of the supernatural. In Duncan’s story, a visceral werewolf feels devotion and bloodlust with equal depth, while in Cluley’s story, Terrence, a fisherman of sorts, is inexorably pulled to the area around the Golden Gate Bridge, where his young lover had previously jumped. Every night, Terrence pulls strangely animate corpses from the water and follows their directions toward others of their kind. Cluley’s emotionally demanding story beautifully explores grief, love and ultimately futile efforts to save the dead. Berman expertly blends them, creating a work whose overall effect is entrancing, not depressing. Berman writes in his introduction, “Even in 2012, when it is far easier for two men to meet, to dine out, to hold hands, to dare kiss in public, to announce to open public their love or their parting…there are dangers. Men are still silenced. Men perish.” The stories’ occasionally horrific and fantastic bents adeptly convey this danger as well as its daring.

An impressive collection brimming with originality.

BEST GAY STORIES 2013 Berman, Steve—Ed. Lethe Press (267 pp.)

Jun. 1, 2013 978-1-59021-152-6

The latest edition of the yearly anthology series offers a vivid cross section of contemporary gay life.

Though its title is something of a misnomer—The Best Gay Small Press Stories might be more fitting—this collection, edited by Berman, doesn’t suffer for its conspicuous absence of today’s most famous gay writers. Its 20 stories (most of them fiction, with a few autobiographical pieces included) examine multiple generations of gay experience. Ameen’s “Irrespective of the Storm,” for instance, chronicles his arrival in New York City in 1978, nodding to a subterranean sexual culture almost unrecognizable today, while several of the stories grapple with the meaning of commitment in the modern age of Internet sex. Though the complexity of desire might not be the most surprising thematic throughline for an anthology of gay writing, the collection succeeds precisely due to the fact that the stories are complicated, populated with believable, imperfect characters and plenty of ethical gray areas. If desire is one of the collection’s primary concerns, another dominating interest is capturing varied moments in gay men’s lives. Jones’ searing “Boy, A History” follows a character known only as Boy throughout his sexual awakening in a hostile environment. Other contributors tell stories of young love and long-term relationships turned tepid, middle-aged

anxiety and elderly isolation. Though the book’s no less enjoyable for it, the anthology’s scope can feel narrow at times, with the majority of its stories taking place in familiar urban gay settings and most of its characters of an educated, well-cultured set. But the book does succeed in representing a wide range of voices—though there’s nothing approaching experimental here—and the result is a compellingly diverse reading experience: strong writing throughout, with each story distinct from the next. While this collection’s nuanced depictions of gay men today will surely attract gay readers, the quality of its stories transcends niche interest.

A fine showcase of emerging and small-press authors.

UNRAVELED

Bradley, S.X. Evernight Publishing (276 pp.) $14.99 paper | $5.99 e-book Feb. 8, 2013 978-1-77130-276-0 Debut author Bradley’s engrossing, emotionally gripping young-adult mystery/suspense novel explores the effect of a murder on a victim’s family.

High school junior Autumn Covarubbias comes home from school to find her older sister, Celeste, bleeding to death on their living room floor, and she unsuccessfully attempts to revive her. After her sister dies, Autumn finds herself a suspect, as she has a scary-high IQ and a hobby of researching serial killers; she also has dreams of becoming an FBI profiler and no social life. The fact that she and Celeste publicly quarreled on the day of the murder makes police detectives suspicious, and even Autumn’s grieving parents seem to doubt her innocence. Fortunately, Autumn knows she can depend on her cousin, Eduardo, and, later, her math squad to support her. Meanwhile, she also develops a romantic relationship with Caedon Keene, a boy at school. As she uncovers secrets about her sister’s last days, she realizes that she’ll have to make painful choices in order to trap the killer—ones that will hurt people she cares about the most. This novel is set apart from other mysteries by its heart-wrenching focus on how the murder affects the family left behind. Bradley crafts complex, believable characters that readers will care about—particularly the sympathetic Autumn. Through her eyes, the reader experiences the heady emotions of first love, tempered by feelings of guilt. Bradley also writes convincingly about the close MexicanAmerican Covarubbias family, as when Autumn’s Tia Sandra prepares a feast in order to vet Caedon before a first date. Her portrayal of high school life is equally clear and honest, and readers will likely carry Autumn, Caedon and Celeste in their hearts long after the book is finished.

A heartbreaking, impeccably plotted mystery.

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EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT

FIELD OF GOURDS A Guide to Intellectual Rebellion

Darby, Thomas D. CreateSpace (84 pp.) $18.00 paper | Jan. 5, 2013 978-1-4793-5631-7

A loud call for structural reform in Washington, D.C., Darby’s book demands a leaner, meaner, more effective federal government.

The self-described radical Darby is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. He hopes that his slim but potent cri de coeur will inspire nothing less than another constitutional convention—and a revolutionary reform of governmental bodies that he decries as bloated, redundant and ineffective. To boot, taxes are too high, and our lawmakers spend our money foolishly. To fix this mess, Darby proposes that we take the advice of management experts like Peter Drucker and Jack Welch by downsizing and streamlining.

Of course, we’ve heard this all before, both on the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal and on the lips of almost any Fox News pundit. But what saves Darby’s book from gathering dust on the remainders pile next to Coulter and Hannity is the fact that he also takes up some truly liberal crusades, railing against income inequality, trickledown economics and (more lightly) unionbusting. Simply, Darby’s argument is refreshing due to the fact that it feels genuinely nonpartisan. His book’s red meat is his proposal for governmental reorganization. First, and most controversially, he argues that we should follow Nebraska’s lead and establish a unicameral Congress, abolishing the House while empowering (and reallocating) the Senate. He further suggests that this Senate-on-steroids would both appoint the president and elect Supreme Court justices, who would still serve for life.

(Perhaps to curb their growing power, Darby would also have us establish stricter term limits for senators.) There’s no question that his plan would stir things up in D.C., which remains in a depressing state of gridlock. But it’s hard to imagine how it’s compatible with our standing commitment to separation of powers; after all, who could keep the new Senate in check?

Further, there’s more passion than structure in Darby’s prose, and his sometimes-repetitious narrative would have benefited from following his own advice: streamline and reorganize. That being said, Darby’s goal is to shake things up. And shake things up he does.

Energetic and provocative.

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Fisher, Robert M. CreateSpace (390 pp.) $15.99 paper | Dec. 5, 2012 978-1-4791-5649-8

With his dog, Bella, serving as muse, questioner and devil’s advocate, Fisher aims to generate a new way of thinking about science, politics, economics and religion.

Fisher (Logic of Economic Discovery, 1986) begins by warning readers about the radical nature of his book, which encourages an intellectual rebellion against the siren song of social conditioning. “History is chock full of stories of those who have been shunned and punished for…thinking differently,” he cautions.

This admonition may cause some readers to assume that the book will overflow with angry, anarchistic railings at all social convention. Such is not the case. With a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University and a degree from Harvard Law School, Fisher is well-equipped to discuss the power and process of intellectual discovery. Although he uses a light, conversational tone, with frequent interruptions from Bella that are alternately amusing and annoying, it’s a weighty subject. Drawing examples from Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Karl Marx and other wellknown thinkers, he systematically explores the role of science and its relationship to truth. Ideally, Fisher writes, science is a process. Conjecture should be constructively criticized; this criticism should engender more conjecture and, ultimately, new growth in understanding. This cycle of examining ideas requires an intellectual courage that, Fisher argues, is on the decline; the loss of such courage sets us on a path of blindly following selfappointed experts who gradually rob us of our liberties simply by creating a dependency on their so-called “rational” expert opinions. Intellectual rebellion, however, is not reserved for science alone. Fisher further applies this same process in his analysis of a wide range of topics—capitalism, economics, politics, race and religion. Paralleling Marx’s views on class consciousness, Fisher presents a rational, thorough analysis of modern thinking: Modern “experts”—those who believe they are the best qualified to determine what is rational and ultimately true—“mistake their own interests for a set of universal values.”

Anyone who thinks otherwise is inherently irrational, and it’s this suppression of individual thought and discovery that will be this century’s greatest struggle.

Offers an exciting path for escaping intellectual ruts.

“Sports-crazy teens and their parents and guidance counselors will find this an informative, reassuring guide to a critical but littleunderstood aspect of college athletics.” from the athletic $cholarship eligibility coach

FORTY DAYS AT KAMAS Fleming, Preston PF Publishing (365 pp.) $2.51 e-book | Jan. 8, 2013

Fleming’s (Bride of a Bygone War, 2013, etc.) dystopian thriller follows a former businessman–turned–laborcamp prisoner who gets more than he bargained for when he joins up with a group of anti-establishment rebels.

In 2024, America is controlled by the totalitarian Unionist Party, which rose to power in 2016 after winning the presidency and both houses of Congress. At that time, businessman Paul Wagner chose to stay in Sewickley, Pa., while his neighbors, the Moores, fled to Canada soon after the Unionist takeover. Eight years later, Paul has been transported to Kamas, a Utah-based labor camp for enemies of the state; like Paul, many of the prisoners have been charged with conspiracy. He doesn’t know it, but his daughter Claire has come to Utah looking for him. The narrative bounces between Paul’s and Claire’s points of view and events between 2016 and 2024. The author skillfully weaves a vivid picture of how today’s world could become a cruel dystopia, and he has a strong, cinematic style, full of moments of dramatic irony and shocking revelation. For example, soon after arriving at Kamas, Paul witnesses an old woman and a young girl sneaking bread to some of his fellow prisoners before the guards set dogs on them. Later, the same events are shown again, from Claire’s point of view, and neither she nor Paul realize how close they came to seeing each other. Readers will likely recognize a Nineteen Eighty-Four influence, but Fleming’s labor-camp setting also brings to mind Holocaust literature; as in many examples of that genre, Paul is forced to choose between his principles and what might be his last hope of reuniting his family.

An intense, brutal portrait of a dystopian American future.

20/20 BLINDSIGHT

Howell, Busser CreateSpace (234 pp.) $45.00 paper | Feb. 4, 2013 978-0-615-70905-5 An introduction to the experiences of the visually impaired as well as the misconceptions about blind and lowvision artists.

Part art book, part sociological text, Howell’s debut boldly presents itself as “the voice of the blind and low-vision” in the artistic community, providing numerous firsthand sources to illuminate the accomplishments and hardships of visually impaired artists. Howell, a professional artist whose vision has been impaired since his teens, brings his own experiences to a series of interviews with 15 of his peers, from journeyman artists and appreciators to better-known figures

such as Braldt Bralds and Bruce Hall. The result is an honest study of how the blind and low-vision both engage with their creativity and explore other artists’ work. Focusing less on medical or scientific aspects, the book instead analyzes how each subject perceives their world and art, with Howell theorizing the possibility of a self-created “inner vision” independent of actual sight. Along the way, a better understanding forms as to how the aid of other people, touch and, in some cases, limited vision contribute to each artist’s process, as well as the ways in which ableism has hindered them. The book’s interviews are easily its greatest asset, and each interviewee’s perceptions and experiences are coupled with numerous samples of their work (including Howell’s own), giving impressive visual reference to many of the concepts that might otherwise be difficult for readers to comprehend without experiencing them firsthand.

The introductions to the individual interviews are inconsistent, however, with some participants receiving in-depth bios, while others only provide background information in the interview itself. Also, Howell too often takes the attention away from his subjects, at times asking leading questions and using their answers as a chance to interject his own opinions. Despite this, the book remains a remarkable and shockingly honest resource, not only for readers interested in these misrepresented, sometimes-tokenized members of the artistic community, but for anyone looking for an intimate examination of an artist’s creative process.

Brings much-needed focus and unprecedented access to an oft-ignored community.

THE ATHLETIC $CHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY COACH A How-To Guide for the Eligibility Certification Game

Jones, Marlynn R. iUniverse (424 pp.) $37.95 paper | $7.99 e-book | Aug. 7, 2012 978-1-4697-8756-5 This encyclopedic debut primer helpfully signposts the tortuous road to obtaining eligibility for college athletic scholarships.

Jones, a lawyer and professor with experience in collegiate athletics compliance issues, offers fictional vignettes that explain the common mistakes student-athletes make that cause them to lose their NCAA eligibility—and, with it, their chance at athletic scholarships. Some involve pure adolescent boneheadedness, as in the story of Josh, a soccer phenom who signs a national letter of intent promising to attend a university in exchange for a freshman scholarship—which he then loses because he forgets to apply for admission. Other luckless jocks run afoul of subtler snafus, such as Andrew, a pitcher who fails his NCAA academic qualifications because his high school computer-science course didn’t count as a math core course, and Ashley, who’s forced to donate to charity the value of the saddles she won in equestrian competitions to maintain her amateur status. Other prospects run into trouble by accepting cash, or |

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“This corker of a true-crime story rediscovers historic villains whose deeds, though bloody, would soon be eclipsed by the outlaws of Prohibition and the Depression.” from kill- crazy gang

gifts as picayune as a used pair of shorts, from coaches or boosters. In this book, the NCAA is portrayed as one of the most totalitarian bureaucracies on earth, with labyrinthine, petty and all-encompassing rules; even telephone conversations between coaches and prospects are subject to regulation. (Jones also surveys the similarly byzantine eligibility rules of the National Association for Inter-Collegiate Athletics and the National Junior College Athletic Association.) Fortunately, the author provides comprehensive, easy-to-read explanations of every legalistic wrinkle, right down to visa requirements for foreign students and accreditation organizations for home-schoolers.

Each situation is covered by lucid vignettes and case studies, which Jones backs up with glossaries, checklists, and lists of deadlines and mailing addresses for paperwork filing. She also includes reams of data on universities, from their student bodies’ academic profiles to their scholarship budgets. Sports-crazy teens and their parents and guidance counselors will find this an informative, reassuring guide to a critical but little-understood aspect of college athletics.

An invaluable map through a minefield of eligibility rules.

TIME CHORDS

Karp, Peter Simon Xlibris (166 pp.) $29.99 | $19.99 paper | Oct. 31, 2012 978-1-4771-2337-9 A young Jewish boy in America confronts fear and tragedy during World War II in this dreamlike debut.

Karp calls this debut a memoir. The core events, he writes, are true, “seen from the interior of a young boy’s mind and flashed back through the dark lens of an old man’s remembrances.” The two stories center on Joseph, a Jewish boy in the 1940s who is haunted by macabre visions of a Nazi invasion of America. Each story effectively draws parallels between the ongoing war and the nightmarish situations Joseph endures in school and with his friends. In “Stones,” it’s 1940, and the nearly 8-year-old Joseph is the only Jewish boy in his upstate New York school. He’s perpetually late to class because of sleep problems. His teacher, Mrs. Cunningham, keeps the whole class after school due to Joseph’s tardiness, which incites the students to torment him; she’s pleased when her “loyal student attack dogs” stone the boy. In Joseph’s imagination, Mrs. Cunningham is Adolf Hitler, and he equates her punishment of the class to the Nazis’ punishing an entire village because of one resistance fighter. As nations declare war on each other, Joseph’s schoolmates do the same to him, the lone Jew. In the second story, “Drowning,” Joseph is 10 years old. A rabbi and his two sons, Danny and Shlomo, rent space at his family’s farm, termed “the Yid Farm” by local non-Jews. On the hottest day of summer, Joseph, Danny and Shlomo walk to the lake only to find it is closed because of wartime activities. The locked gate provides yet another reminder to Joseph that he is unwelcome wherever he goes. The boys break in, however, and meet up with a fourth 124

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boy, Raymond, a gentile. Tragedy strikes when Raymond convinces Joseph and Danny to take a leaky rowboat out on the water. When Raymond’s father, a police officer, gets involved, it spins the story into a metaphor for Jewish disadvantages during the Nazi regime. Afterward, Joseph turns to a devout Christian, Gaptooth Thomas, the family’s handyman, for solace; he’s Joseph’s spiritual teacher, always ready with a parable.

Both adults and young readers will likely appreciate these stories, although they may appeal most to those who lived through the war and found air-raid drills and war-bond drives replacing playground romps.

Two engaging metaphorical stories, shot through with history and suspense.

KILL-CRAZY GANG

King, Jeffery S. Frank Manley Publishing (186 pp.) $19.99 paper | Jan. 30, 2013 978-0-615-66042-4 King recaps the forgotten criminal career of a pack of violent robbers who roamed pre–Jazz Age America, possibly killing more than 20 people.

True-crime veteran King (The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang, 2005, etc.) unrolls the harrowing rap sheet of the Lewis-Jones gang, briefly notorious brigands who terrorized the central and western United States from 1912 to 1918. The founding members were the Lewis brothers, who were mentored in crime by a father who worked all his life as a shady lawman/security guard in Kansas boomtowns. When divorce split the family, the children went to live with their illiterate, but apparently law-abiding, mother and photographer stepfather in Tulsa. There, Frank, Roy and Ora Lewis fell into larceny of all sorts, including stealing merchandise from a fence and selling it back to him. The early years of automotive culture created fine opportunities for mayhem, King writes, and easy access to stolen getaway vehicles. In 1916, ringleader Frank began recruiting new members; one was Dale Jones, a young car thief with a habit of disguising in female drag, who racked up a cruel body count. The gang held up banks, a train, even an early Hollywood studio—and may have targeted the U.S. Mint in Denver. During police firefights, they made incredible escapes, inflicting far more casualties than they sustained. After the slaying of a popular Colorado officer, police finally caught up with the Lewis brothers, and Jones and his wife were killed in a California shootout, à la Bonnie and Clyde.

King writes in short, staccato chapters and prose so procedural that the late actor and Dragnet star Jack Webb could have done the audiobook in his clipped Joe Friday diction. Despite a few sometimes-puzzling background sidebars (what’s Pancho Villa doing here?), King’s breathless, richly footnoted storytelling delivers. Readers may wish for more material about the molls— especially the lone Lewis sister, a glamorous St. Louis showgirl who used her entertainment bookings to help support her brothers. This corker of a true-crime story rediscovers historic

BOYS OF WARRIORS

villains whose deeds, though bloody, would soon be eclipsed by the outlaws of Prohibition and the Depression. Several pages of photos and wanted posters are included from the Pinkerton Detective Agency archives.

A brief, bracing, action-packed bio of some memorable badmen.

THE REBELLION OF MISS LUCY ANN LOBDELL Klaber, William Greenleaf Book Group (304 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 18, 2013 978-1-60832-562-7

A fictional memoir of Lucy Ann Lobdell, a 19th-century American woman who sought her freedom while disguised as a man.

After her husband leaves for good, Lucy, a 25-year-old mother, realizes she has few options—she can work as a servant or marry any man who will have her.

Instead, she creates a third option: She disguises herself as a man (bound breasts, cropped hair and all) and sets out to try her luck as a music and dance instructor in Honesdale, Pa., as far from her New York home as she can easily travel.

As “Joseph” Lobdell, she finds not only a wealth of economic opportunity that she was denied as a woman, but also the chance to participate in intellectual and political discussions and become involved with her community. Much to her distress, she finds herself becoming invested in this life and loath to return home; she plans to send for her daughter one day but in the meantime, finds she enjoys the freedom of living her own way. Of course, as a woman posing as a man, Lucy is often in danger of being exposed and has to travel frequently to protect her secret, eventually leaving behind her daughter and the woman she came to love to establish herself in the wild Minnesota Territory. Lucy Ann Lobdell was a real person, and she is expertly brought to life in this book. Although not a true memoir, it draws heavily from Lucy’s own accounts and from real-life stories and articles by those who encountered her. As a character, Lucy is troubled but hopeful, conflicted but always seeking a new path. Her understanding of her own struggles, and of those around her, makes her a fine lens through which to view her friends and neighbors. The book also ably addresses questions of personal freedom—what it means to Lucy and to others and how they seek it or keep others from it.

A well-crafted “memoir” of an unforgettable person, with plenty of questions about freedom, love and responsibility.

McNamara, Patrick Daniel J. Dyer (202 pp.) $12.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Dec. 29, 2012 978-0-615-65096-8 This military adventure follows Alpha Team, a group of Navy Seals specializing in the covert capture of al-Qaida and Taliban leaders for interrogation, as they engage in military actions, deal with bureaucracy and relax at home with friends and family.

Alpha leader Patrick “Mac” McNamara—ostensibly the book’s author, although this too might be part of the fictive reality—tells this story, with a voice somewhere between the “just the facts” of Dragnet’s Sgt. Friday and a standup comedian’s deadpan. Like all the members of Alpha, his wit is the type of gallows humor found in men who face death on a daily basis.

There are also plenty of elaborate practical jokes. Mac’s father is a Vietnam veteran who was a “tunnel rat,” part of a special unit that crawled through subterranean passageways dug by the Viet Cong. A number of other Alpha members also come from military families, and all seem to act like overgrown boys; hence the title. The various players are drawn well to a point, each with distinguishing tics and traits, but they’re all paragons of perfection. Some readers may grow tired of heavily muscled men with multiple masters’ degrees and coconut-crushing handshakes. However, the abundance of military acronyms, weapons specifications and the extensive glossary of military terms enhance the book’s realism and will no doubt be a treat for military buffs. After running down various bad guys, Alpha meets its chief adversary, Asa Ali, a weapons and explosives dealer who not only manages to elude them, but also kills or wounds several members of Alpha and other covert teams. Even Mac is wounded on two occasions and captured and tortured on another. The pursuit begins in the Middle East and ultimately leads to the Philippines, where insertion becomes problematic due to that country’s diplomatic relationship with the United States. Though the characters are somewhat stereotypical, their overarching attitudes, along with the candid narration, open a window into the psychology of real-life warriors who live above and beyond the call of duty.

Intense adventures that make for an exciting, timely read.

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Ken Levine

Publishing His Generation’s Story, Himself

By Matt Domino What do you call a man who has written episodes of beloved television shows, such as The Jeffersons, M.A.S.H., Cheers, The Simpsons, Frasier, as well as created his own sitcom and written a big studio comedy starring Tom Hanks?

The answer: successful. You may have never heard of him— and he might self-deprecatingly disagree—but Ken Levine is an extremely successful writer and one who has been more than happy to use the benefits of self-publishing to his advantage.

Growing up in Los Angeles during the 1960s, Levine got his start writing news briefs for local radio station KMPC. However, after a few years bouncing around the city as a DJ, Levine saw the 1973 Woody Allen film, Sleeper, and began to have bigger ideas.

Levine thought, Wait a minute, he’s writing these movies. They’re being seen by millions of people, and he doesn’t have to do an intro over Tony Orlando and Dawn records with a station manager yelling in his ear. Something’s wrong here.

So, after meeting at Army Reserve summer camp, Levine and his friend David Isaacs tried their hands at scriptwriting. After several rejections, the writers of The Jeffersons decided to give the team a chance at writing an episode—and thus, Levine’s television writing career began.

“After The Jeffersons, we did some freelance writing for several TV shows before our Jeffersons script got in the hands of the showrunner of M.A.S.H., and he invited us to write an episode. That script came out well and then became our golden ticket.”

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That “ticket” eventually led Levine to a staffwriting job on M.A.S.H. and on the Tony Randall Show. At the Tony Randall Show, Levine met director Jim Burrows, who would later team up with Glen and Les Charles to create Cheers, where Levine and Isaacs joined them as writers—for nine of the show’s 11 seasons.

Thinking back on Cheers, and its recent renaissance in the wake of last year’s GQ oral history, Levine says, “a lot of Cheers’ situations were universal. The problems that the characters were dealing with are the same problems people deal with today. We tried not to be very topical so it wouldn’t seem dated. It was just genuinely a funny show.”

In the summer of 1985, Levine notched another writing credit when Volunteers, starring Tom Hanks and John Candy, was released nationwide. Levine and Isaacs had written the script years earlier as a spec screenplay, but it was eventually picked up and made into a major comedy. Though reviews were mixed at the time, Volunteers is now seen as one of Tom Hanks’ most underrated comedic performances.

Eventually, Levine and Isaacs made their way to The Simpsons, which was just emerging as a network sitcom. Levine’s biggest contribution to the show was writing the second season episode, “Dancin’ Homer,” in which Homer Simpson becomes the mascot for Springfield’s minor league baseball team—the Springfield Isotopes. Levine wrote the episode and came up with the “Isotope” name, which is now the real-life moniker of the minor league baseball team for Albuquerque, N.M. “We…worked with Sam Simon, who was a genius.

He gave the show its tone, its style—he more than anybody is responsible for creating the template for what is The Simpsons,” Levine says. “It was great working

with him and all the other great writers: Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Conan O’Brien. It was very liberating because you could say ‘Exterior: Yankee Stadium’ and do a scene there without it costing anything extra.”

After his time on The Simpsons, Levine created the CBS sitcom Almost Perfect starring Nancy Travis, which ran on the network for two seasons in 1995 and 1996. When that series ended, he continued to write and work on such network sitcoms as Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond, among several others.

In 2005, Levine began blogging in search of a larger audience for a manuscript of travelogues he had begun compiling. “I started it in hopes that a publisher would come along and say, ‘I like your writing.

Do you have any books?’ And I could say, ‘Well, as a matter of fact I do!’ ” That never happened. However, Levine got in the habit of posting every day and has done so for the past eight years. And in that time, he has self-published two books.

Levine’s first self-published book, Where the Hell Am I?: Trips I Have Survived, is a collection of travelogues he put out in 2011. After not hearing back from traditional publishing houses for a memoir he had been working on, Levine wanted to use his travelogues as a test run for the self-publishing system.

He published the book and found a positive response.

The sales did better than he expected (“I expected to sell 10 copies,” Levine says), and he was even invited on a few travel talk shows.

After that positive experience, when the time came to publish his memoir in 2012, Levine self-published again. The Me Generation…By Me (Growing up in the ’60s) is a deeply funny and playful look at what it was actually like to grow up and experience the 1960s firsthand—the mundane routines along with the generation’s defining moments. The Me Generation has sold better than Where the Hell Am I? and has even helped to re-invigorate sales of the first book as well.

Levine’s advice to writers new to self-publishing is to devote plenty of time and effort to a marketing strategy, since these days, anyone can put a book on Amazon. “Create a Facebook page, a website featuring additional content to interest a reader,” he says.

“My feeling is that I need to give my readers a little bit extra if they are coming to my site.”

As for Levine’s next step in his winding writing career, he is going to continue to self-publish since he

enjoys not having to worry whether or not his work will interest “one of five editors.” His first novel, a “dark, comedic, thriller set in network television,” will be released later this year, and his behind-thescenes look at the world of television will be coming soon after that.

“That book will come, and it will sell. A major publisher might be interested in it,” Levine says. “For now, I’m happy with self-publishing.”

Matt Domino is the assistant Indie editor at Kirkus Reviews.

The Me Generation…

by Me (Growing Up in the ’60s) Levine, Ken Ken Levine (326 pp.) $12.93 June 28, 2012 978-0-615-65352-5

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TRUCE

Pakravan, Saideh Parallel Books (280 pp.) $14.95 paper | $8.20 e-book | Feb. 1, 2013 978-0-615-76132-9 In Pakravan’s (Azadi, 2011, etc.) latest novel, celebration and confusion erupt when an unprecedented moratorium on death, violence and crime occurs in the United States.

In a series of intriguing scenes, characters escape near-death (or near-crime) events either due to luck or to someone unexpectedly changing his or her mind. For example, a criminal at an ATM decides to let his victim go, and a suicidal woman feels that she’d rather spend a few days with her grandson than kill herself. One after another, changes of heart and of fate crop up across the country: A car full of drunken teenagers barely evades what would have been a fatal crash; a group of skinheads inexplicably decides not to defecate on a Torah scroll in a synagogue; and abusive fathers and husbands let their wives and children off the hook. Pakravan engagingly shifts the narrative at 15-, 30-, and 60-minute intervals from one character’s plight to the next, with each story giving a glimpse into the characters’ lives, thoughts, emotions and grudges. At each new hour of this mysterious “truce,” readers will likely sit up in their seats to see what new tragedy is averted and how.

In one scene, a religious man changes his mind about killing an abortion doctor, saying, “A light came into my heart, I don’t know how to explain it. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure about anything, but that was okay.” In another scene, James, who earlier decided not to hurt the man at the ATM, reflects, “How long since he had felt so clean inside, like his heart was beating for the right reasons?” When police, hospitals and media figure out what is going on—that no crime has been committed, and no one has died (or even given birth) anywhere in the country—other people who were about to commit crimes instead actively decide to “Keep the Truce.” It produces an eerie calm in police stations and emergency rooms, as average citizens, as well as experts on crime, history and religion, speculate on why this has happened, how and how long it will last. Simple, yet substantive writing gently propels the story, which will appeal both to the skeptical and optimistic readers in equal measure. With the pacing of a whodunit and the idealism of a fable, the story counts down the hours on the day of this strange truce.

An elegantly written book about the prospects for hope and forgiveness.

THE SURVIVOR, THE HERO & THE ANGEL A Mother’s Story—One Decade Raccosta, MaryAnn CreateSpace (302 pp.) $14.95 paper | Aug. 7, 2012 978-1-4750-3206-2

Raccosta’s remarkable family memoir recounts and reflects on caring for two sons battling a rare, life-threatening illness.

In 1999 and 2000, doctors told the author that her infant sons, James and Sam, had inherited a rare genetic disorder, tri-functional protein deficiency. James, meanwhile, was also suffering from an unrelated rare liver disorder.

As Raccosta struggled to understand the complex diagnoses, Dr. Elizabeth Rand of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a pediatric liver disease specialist, told her that James might have been the sixth diagnosed case in the world to suffer from both diseases.

James endured two liver transplants and countless other hospitalizations and surgeries, and he suffered a cardiac arrest that left him brain-damaged. His spitfire younger brother, Sam, endured his own round of life-threatening incidents. Both children required continuous intestinal feeding pumps and regular blood sugar checks, as well as the usual infant care. The entire family spent more time at CHOP than at home, and the author’s healthy daughter, Gabrielle, grew accustomed to her mother’s absence; for Raccosta, the situation became a major source of anxiety, as she missed family holidays and many of her daughter’s milestones. The author’s riveting storytelling, original poems and light humor set her story apart from many other parenting memoirs. The author expresses her anger and frustration and questions God about her family’s situation, but she also maintains a healthy, empathetic perspective, and her recognition of her blessings keeps her, and her story, from plummeting into despair. Much of the memoir centers on hospital visits and caregiving, but Raccosta also shares how she and her husband sustained one another and learned to lean on friends and family to get through an unimaginable decade. The Raccostas not only survive, but thrive, in this eloquent family love story.

A notable, inspirational story of hardship and survival.

I LEFT MY PROSTATE IN SAN FRANCISCO—WHERE’S YOURS? Coping with the Emotional, Relational, Sexual & Spiritual Aspects of Prostate Cancer Redner, Rick; Redner, Brenda Westbow Press (272 pp.) $35.95 | $19.95 paper | $2.99 e-book Jan. 18, 2013 978-1-4497-7962-7

A couple recounts their battle with prostate cancer and its aftermath in this harrowing but hopeful self-helper.

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Rick Redner, a 58-year-old medical social worker and entrepreneur, was devastated by a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Thankfully, his prostate was removed before the tumor spread.

The worst part lay before him, however, in the yearslong struggle to recover from the surgery’s effects. The most humiliating was his loss of bladder control, which entailed spending hundreds of dollars a month on adult diapers—and so many mortifying accidents in public that he turned into a virtual recluse.

The most agonizing effect was his erectile dysfunction, which further undermined his sense of manhood and led to an epic “penile rehabilitation” program that progressed from vacuum pumps to horrific injections. Redner’s ordeal threatened his life and his marriage, but it left him with a wealth of advice for prostate cancer patients, along with deeper insights into the importance of family, community and faith. His primer brims with practical tips, from how much pain to expect during medical procedures—and how to prod doctors into alleviating it— to what kind of pants best hide urine stains. But he also tells how he wrestled with depression and self-loathing, and he urges men not to withdraw but to adjust to their frailties and reach out to others, especially to their spouses. Redner’s wife, Brenda, who plays a large role in his narrative, supplies some prayerful chapters from her own perspective. Redner recounts with excruciating candor some of the most intimate physical and psychic wounds people can sustain. At the same time, he lays out in straightforward, often funny prose a can-do strategy for surmounting prostate cancer, one that provides concrete steps to anticipate and manage difficulties. Cancer sufferers and their loved ones will find here a well-informed and reassuring road map for the difficult journey ahead.

A cleareyed, warmhearted and extraordinarily useful guide.

FIVE GROUNDS

Rempell, Scott CreateSpace (346 pp.) $14.95 paper | $3.99 e-book Dec. 3, 2012 978-1-4792-0172-3 Rempell’s debut novel explores immigration through the eyes of those fighting to make their way into America—and the people trying to keep them out.

A young Chinese woman, who has witnessed violent government repression, travels in the belly of a ship while under constant threat of sexual assault; she’s been sold into indentured servitude to pay off her smugglers. An HIV-positive Mexican rape victim crawls through the desert in desperate need of medical attention, hoping to provide a better life for her children. A former Ethiopian government official, on the wrong side of a revolution, makes his way to New York after being tortured and set on fire by rebels. These three narratives seem to make obvious arguments for granting asylum to immigrants who have suffered. But such cases are rarely simple, and Rempell, an assistant professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, encourages readers to consider both sides of

the immigration debate. He portrays the real challenges faced by immigration officials—such as immigrants falsifying testimony before a judge to ensure amnesty or stealing United States citizens’ Social Security numbers—and reminds readers that entering the U.S. illegally can have detrimental consequences.

The novel’s title refers to the five grounds that allow an immigrant to avoid deportation: political opinion, religion, ethnicity, race or social group. Despite the fact that Sofia was assaulted and faces almost certain retribution if she were to return to Mexico, it’s possible her tragic case may not provide legal reason enough to grant asylum. As one character says, “A lot of shitty things happen to a lot of good people in this world. You can’t expect the United States to take everyone in.” Rempell, a former immigration attorney, succeeds in putting a human face on what some might argue is a cut-and-dried issue and presents a powerful case for re-examining current legislation.

A creative novel about a complex, topical subject.

SECRET HISTORY

Roberts, Martin AuthorHouseUK (300 pp.) $19.76 paper | $3.99 e-book Sep. 21, 2012 978-1-4567-8986-2 A meticulous legal examination of the evidence against famous espionage and terrorism defendants.

The majority of Roberts’ debut study focuses on post–World War II America: the era of Cold War paranoia, real and perceived Soviet threats, McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Using a large dose of common sense, the author analyzes testimony from espionage cases involving U.S. government employees Alger Hiss, David Zablodowsky, Oliver Edmund Clubb, Harry Dexter White, William Remington and Judith Coplon. The most compelling passages zero in on Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley, two colorful characters who confessed to acts of treason and then testified against their alleged accomplices in order to avoid prosecution. Roberts suggests that the FBI and other authorities had invested so much in these unreliable witnesses that they went to great lengths to prop up their veneers of respectability—despite the witnesses’ odd behavior and questionable claims. Toward the end of the book, the author abruptly shifts to the Irish Republican Army bombings in Britain during the 1970s and the suspects referred to as the Guildford Four, the Maguire Seven and the Birmingham Six. Here, he continues to attack official versions of events by underscoring their flawed assumptions and logistical improbabilities. However, he doesn’t explain his rationale for including such disparate historical contexts until the final chapter: “Both countries, and both periods, are linked by the fact that in each there was an urgent need to find someone who was guilty; and that in both, stories of the most preposterous kind were believed.” Thus, readers might want to begin with the last chapter to contextualize the interwoven tales of intrigue |

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“The book’s dizzying cosmology embraces UFOs, Area 51, black holes, moon-landing coverups, astrology, reincarnation, pyramid power, the Bermuda Triangle, crystals, chakras, karma and the fifth dimension.” from tracking terra

recounted in the rest of the book. Fortunately, the author provides a helpful index of the myriad figures, organizations and themes that resurface throughout the text. As debates about the guilt or innocence of these individuals rage on, this book will certainly stoke that fire.

An engaging look at controversial defendants from the 1940s to the ’70s.

PEPPER PARROT’S PROBLEM WITH PATIENCE A Captain No Beard Story Roman, Carole P. CreateSpace (38 pp.) $11.99 paper | $0.99 e-book Jan. 19, 2013 978-1-4781-1355-3

In Roman’s (Captain No Beard, 2012, etc.) latest children’s book, a feisty parrot joins the crew of Capt. No Beard’s pirate ship, The Flying Dragon, but struggles to keep up with the other crew members.

Pirate captain No Beard runs a tight ship. His crew— Mongo the monkey, Linus the lion, Fribbet the frog and human Hallie, the first mate and the captain’s cousin—gets along swimmingly as they do their assigned tasks. Then Pepper the parrot joins The Flying Dragon as the new cook. She’s feisty and friendly, but when Capt. No Beard has the crew practice their emergency routines on deck, she can’t keep her right and left sides straight (starboard and port, in nautical jargon). After a few failed attempts at getting it right, she throws a temper tantrum and pounds her wings on the deck in frustration. Kindly Hallie realizes what the problem is and teaches Pepper a way to tell her right side from her left side—by making an L shape with her left wing. Once Pepper has a handle on the directions, Hallie tells her, “See, Pepper, there was no reason to cry. Don’t get angry and scream. Just ask for help and wait. We are all here to help you. That’s what crewmates do.

All you need is a little patience.” The rest of the crew members applaud her and rename her Polly. Roman’s story, the second in the Capt. No Beard series, stresses the importance of teamwork and the necessity of not giving up in difficult situations.

The characters help each other to build confidence and learn new skills, and they do so in a kind, patient way. The book has colorful illustrations on each page and uses lots of pirate lingo, which makes this an appealing read for young children. At the end, readers learn that Capt. No Beard is actually a kid named Alexander who was playing in his bedroom, adding a playful dimension about the importance of imagination.

A charming children’s story about not giving up.

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TRACKING TERRA

Scott, J.K. iUniverse (292 pp.) $28.95 | $18.95 paper | $9.99 e-book Jan. 5, 2011 978-1-4502-6912-4 In the second installment of Scott’s (Shades of Truth, 2007) sci-fi trilogy, an undercover guardian of the human race dodges bullets in Arizona and Peru and passes through dimensional gates of space-time.

Sara Alessa Giustino was born in 16th-century Italy but retains her youth and vigor five centuries later thanks to childhood mentoring and a few physical alterations by a “cosmic alien” from Andromeda named Kryios. Sara has a mission to protect the planet’s biosphere and the humans within it, because Earth turns out to be a valuable piece of real estate in the universe. After finishing an assignment to destroy an alien lab, Sara receives an anonymous note warning of a billion-dollar price on her head and urging her to visit an Arizona man named David. She finds him in Sedona, along with other shady characters in a covert group centered on finding the Urstar, a hidden alien artifact of immense power. Sara and David, just a few steps ahead of pursuers, soon travel to mystic gates in North and South America. While this novel has all the elements for a trendy paranormal romance, the author opts instead for a lean, matter-of-fact action thriller, complete with car chases and hostage takings. Along the way, Sara passes through different realms of consciousness and existence, tours far-future cities and underground complexes, and even undergoes a Doctor Who–style regeneration. The book’s dizzying cosmology embraces UFOs, Area 51, black holes, moon-landing coverups, astrology, reincarnation, pyramid power, the Bermuda Triangle, crystals, chakras, karma and the fifth dimension. Fortunately, it’s all delivered with a light, brisk touch of pure pulp fantasy.

A transcendent sci-fi beach read.

PAPER MOON

Sexton, Rex CreateSpace (180 pp.) $10.00 paper | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-4791-1967-7 This novel seems calculated to cure the reader of any optimism he may have, to smash his rose-colored glasses.

The son of Russian immigrants, Ithiel Ingbar is on his own at 15, working brutal jobs and defending himself in Chicago, where it “was beat or be beaten, eat or be eaten, the usual animal kingdom stuff.” But Ingbar’s talent for drawing is his saving grace, and since it’s his only hope of escape from this hell, he tenaciously holds onto it. Friends help him get a security job at an art museum, a job that comes with free art classes. But every time hope beckons, it’s dashed. Booted from

the museum, he joins the Army for the GI Bill benefits, but he’s treated like an outsider, nearly dies of spinal meningitis and eventually goes AWOL. But he keeps going, two steps forward, one step back. After making another hopeful start as an artist in Boston, he’s framed for the murder of a runaway girl. Ironically, the Army, having first dibs on him, rescues him from the Boston judicial system. Years later, in the bleak present day—recession, endless wars, the 1 percent versus the 99 percent, rampant unemployment and the rest of it—Ithiel is back in Chicago, breaking even as a working artist. He has a good woman, and marrying her and starting a family seems almost possible. But does Ithiel really have a chance in this rigged world? The rage-filled, often angry narrative can seem like a bad dream. When not focused on Ingbar being thwarted yet again, it shows a broader picture of how stupidity and greed have made a shambles of society and the economy. Sexton (Desert Flower, 2009), who’s also a poet and artist, has an ear and an eye for detail, and the impressionistic descriptions help illuminate the narrative. Early on, readers may notice a somewhat distracting habit of rhyming: “Girls who had given him the eye now turned away when he passed by,” and “yet fever bright from the incandescent light.” Nonetheless, Sexton proves to be an impressive wordsmith who delights in roiling madness.

Good eats for readers with a taste for gall and wormwood.

generals to abort an operation; and frustration with the news media. A TV reporter who has ignored advice is badly wounded in an attack and has to be airlifted out, putting everyone in danger. The author is well-aware of the trickery and chicanery in Afghanistan, but he has great respect for the people and the region. Vivid details abound; Walker’s description of a character’s “lean, sunken cheeks, one eye the milky white of advanced cataracts, and a voluminous white turban accented with a tall gold-colored brush” brings him to life. Military tactics play against the background of the thousands of years of history that have produced the Afghanistan of today.

An insightful, striking portrayal of the Afghan culture and people.

GOAT GAME Thirteen Tales from the Afghan Frontier

Walker, Wickliffe W. CreateSpace (168 pp.) $14.95 paper | $9.95 e-book | Jan. 5, 2013 978-1-4793-2047-9 Walker’s linked short stories describe the people and the chaos in the majestic, frightening region of the AfghanistanPakistan frontier from the time of the Soviet invasion to the more recent U.S.-led war.

Author Walker (Courting the Diamond Sow, 2000, etc.) builds these 13 tales around Special Forces Officer Col. Bailey and his counterpart and friend from Pakistan. Though fictional, the episodes are based on real events and show the beauty and, to Western eyes, the mystery of the region. Danger is always present as Bailey (perhaps a stand-in for Walker himself) tries to befriend the Pashtuns and Afghans while chasing al-Qaida and all manner of nasty terrorists. With his Pakistani colleague, he goes into a remote area to establish the truth of a claim that a tribal sect has captured a Soviet chemical-weapons truck (actually a mobile field hospital). Bailey is never quite sure who’s on whose side, knowing shifting allegiances have forever been the way of life in Afghanistan. Bailey must determine the reason for a suicide bombing and engage in a firefight with al-Qaida–linked terrorists. Interspersed among these incidents are the colonel’s accounts of the home of Special Forces, Fort Bragg; interference from politicians; nonsensical decisions by colonels and

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