November 1, 2025: Volume XCIII, No. 21

FEATURING 282 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children’s, and YA Books

JEFF KINNEY THROWS A PARTY FOR WIMPY KID

The 20th book in the beloved children’s series is cause for celebration

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY

WHO’S THAT ON the cover of this issue of Kirkus Reviews? Yes, it’s Greg Heffley, the hapless tween protagonist of the longrunning Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, drawn for us by his creator, Jeff Kinney— possibly the first time that a fictional character, rather than an author, has appeared on the cover of the magazine.

The occasion for this departure from tradition is the publication of Partypooper (Amulet/Abrams, October 21), Book 20 in the series. What began as a webtoon in 2004 was first published between hard covers in 2007, and it’s still going strong. (This year, the Wimpy Kid books will have sold 300 million copies worldwide.) Not many series have that kind of staying power,

especially when, as Kinney explains to young readers’ editor Mahnaz Dar, the protagonist remains essentially unchanged—not to mention perpetually stuck in middle school—over the course of two decades. But Greg’s perennially questionable behavior is, in fact, the key to his success. “Kids need something to rely on,” Kinney tells Mahnaz, “especially in an ever-changing world, and comics can do that.” After all, the author points out, Charlie Brown remained the same during his 50 years headlining the Peanuts cartoon strip. See the profile of Kinney on p. 88, plus a review of the new book on p. 100.

Kids aren’t the only ones who like an antihero. How else to explain the popularity of an adult series like Mick Herron’s Slough

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House novels, in which Jackson Lamb heads a team of screw-ups from the British spy agency MI5 who’ve been relegated to the titular dead-end office. Like Greg Heffley, Jackson isn’t exactly a model of good behavior, but as Herron explained in an interview a few years ago, “Rudeness is often very entertaining. We all enjoy reading about characters who are unchained, as it were, who are unafraid of saying whatever they like.” Gary Oldman perfectly captures Lamb’s brand of dyspepsia in the Apple TV+ adaptation of the books, now in its fifth season. The publication of Book 9 in the series, Clown Town (Soho Crime, September 9), gives readers hope that plenty more is to come. In a starred review, our critic wrote, “The best news of all: The climax leaves the door open to further reports from the hilariously misnamed British Intelligence.”

Meanwhile, readers with a taste for difficult characters have a new treat in store: an

English mystery series with another complex, notalways-likable protagonist. Tim Sullivan’s series starts with The Dentist (Atlantic Crime, October 21), which introduces Detective Sergeant George Cross. According to our review, the “meticulous Cross—who’s on the autism spectrum— has a very high success rate but difficulty partnering with other detectives.” Here he’s paired with DS Josie Ottey, a Black single mother, as they investigate the murder of a homeless man in a park in Somerset, England. “I root for him even when he is at his most confounding and irritating and hope readers will feel the same way,” the author has written of his creation. Seven other Cross mysteries have already been published in the U.K., and the U.S. publisher plans to release them all between now and the middle of 2026. May there be many more installments to come.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

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Contributing Writers

GREGORY McNAMEE

MICHAEL SCHAUB

Contributors

Reina Luz Alegre, Jenny Arch, Kent Armstrong, Mark Athitakis, Kit Ballenger, Colette Bancroft, Nell Beram, Elizabeth Bird, Christopher A. Biss-Brown, Sarah Blackman, Elissa Bongiorno, Jennifer Brough, Jessica Hoptay Brown, Abby Bussen, Kevin Canfield, Timothy Capehart, Tobias Carroll, May-lee Chai, Ann Childs, K.W. Colyard, Rachael Conrad, Adeisa Cooper, Michael Deagler, Dave DeChristopher, Kathleen Deedy, Suji DeHart, Lisa Dennis, Amanda Diehl, Steve Donoghue, Anna Drake, Gina Elbert, Lisa Elliott, Ilana Bensussen Epstein, Makana Eyre, Rosalind Faires, Joshua Farrington, Brooke Faulkner, Margherita Ferrante, Katie Flanagan, Catherine Foster, Renee Fountain, Mia Franz, Ayn Reyes Frazee, Jenna Friebel, Jackie Friedland, Robbin Friedman, Laurel Gardner, Amanda Gefter, Chloé Harper Gold, Amy Goldschlager, Michael Griffith, Vicky Gudelot, Tobi Haberstroh, Zoe Holland, Ashley Holloway, Katrina Niidas Holm, Natalia Holtzman, Terry Hong, Ariana Hussain, Kathleen T. Isaacs, Kristen Jacobson, Wesley Jacques, Danielle Jones, Betsy Judkins, Lavanya Karthik, Lyneea Kmail, Andrea Kreidler, John Kynch, Alexis Lacman, Megan Dowd Lambert, Carly Lane, Christopher Lassen, Tom Lavoie, Seth Lerer, Coeur de Lion, Barbara London, Patricia Lothrop, Michael Magras, Mandy Malone, Thomas Maluck, Michelle H Martin, J. Alejandro Mazariegos, Dale McGarrigle, Kathleen McLaughlin, Don McLeese, Cari Meister, Kathie Meizner, Chintan Modi, Andrea Moran, Rhett Morgan, Jennifer Nabers, Christopher Navratil, Randall Nichols, Dan Nolan, Erin O’Brien, Mike Oppenheim, Emilia Packard, Megan K. Palmer, Sarah Parker-Lee, Hal Patnott, Bethanne Patrick, Deb Paulson, Tara Peace, Tara Peck, Rebecca Perry, John Edward Peters, Justin Pham, Jim Piechota, Christofer Pierson, Margaret Quamme, Judy Quinn, Kristy Raffensberger, Kristen Bonardi Rapp, Maggie Reagan, Jasmine Riel, Amy Robinson, Gia Ruiz, Lloyd Sachs, Roy Salzman-Cohen, Bob Sanchez, Keiko Sanders, Christine Scheper, Meredith Schorr, Will Schube, Jennifer Senick, Danielle Sigler, Linda Simon, Wendy Smith, Margot E. Spangenberg, Andria Spencer, Allison Staley, Sydney Stensland, Allie Stevens, Mathangi Subramanian, Jennifer Sweeney, Bill Thompson, Renee Ting, Lenora Todaro, Elliott Walcroft, Barbara Ward, Sam Wilcox, Kerry Winfrey, Marion Winik, Carrie Wolfson, Jean-Louise Zancanella

VOICES OLD AND NEW

GREAT BOOKS ARE coming out this month from authors at all stages of their careers. Let’s start with playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes’ debut novel, The White Hot (One World/Random House, November 11), a blast of brilliant prose in the form of a letter from a mother to the daughter she deserted years ago. April Soto isn’t looking for forgiveness, but she wants to explain why she ran away from the anger that seemed to control both of their lives. “April is brutally honest, divulging family secrets and breaking a cycle of shame,” according to our starred review. “It’s a profound journey of the soul.”

If Hudes’ novel focuses intently on one woman’s voice, Brian Schaefer’s debut, Town & Country (Atria, November 4), takes in an entire gentrifying Hudson Valley town, focusing on a congressional race between a longtime local bar owner and a newcomer from New York City. Of course, the author avoids drawing clean lines between local residents—the bar owner’s wife is a real estate agent

who campaigned against gay marriage but sells houses to the queer men flocking to town, while their son is newly out himself. “Schaefer does a masterful job delineating these and a large set of supporting characters,” says our starred review. “A thoroughly engaging and intelligent debut, brimming with insight and a sense of place.”

Jesse Q. Sutanto has written everything from YA novels and cozy mysteries to the darkly comic Dial A for Aunties trilogy. Her latest, Next Time Will Be Our Turn (Berkley, November 11), takes place in a near-future Jakarta, Indonesia, where teenage Izzy Chen doesn’t want to tell her statusconscious family that she’s gay. Then her grandmother, Magnolia, tells Izzy the story of her own

college years in Los Angeles, when she fell in love with a girl named Ellery. “A queer Chinese Indonesian tear-jerker: a winning combination,” according to our review.

Ann Packer’s fiction has been brilliantly examining complicated relationships since the early 1990s; her new novel, Some Bright Nowhere (Harper/HarperCollins, November 11), introduces Claire and Eliot, a long-married couple whose world is shattered when Claire stops treatment for her terminal cancer—and then tells Eliot she wants two of her friends, not him, to take care of her through her final months. “Packer’s unsparing gaze would be hard to take if her characters weren’t so believably, messily, hurtfully human,” according to our starred review.

Lastly, there’s Disinheritance: The Rediscovered

Stories (Counterpoint, November 25), a careerspanning collection of short fiction from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, perhaps best remembered for her screenplays for Merchant Ivory movies, including A Room With a View. Born in Germany to a Jewish family, she fled to Britain in 1939 and then moved to New Delhi in 1951 after marrying an Indian architect; she later lived in New York from 1975 until her death in 2013. All these influences can be seen in her work, which our starred review calls “brilliant, unsparing examinations of the human condition in all its variety.”

I’ve been a fan of her novels for many years and am thrilled to have a volume of stories to buy as a gift for newcomers to her writing.

Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.

LAURIE MUCHNICK

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

EDITOR’S PICK

A multigenerational saga of high and low classes in Pakistan.

In his debut, the Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–finalist story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (2009), Mueenuddin deployed elegant prose to harshly critique a callow and often corrupt Pakistani aristocracy. In this book, his passion for the theme has only deepened. The constant thread and symbolic figure in this story is Bayazid (aka Yazid), who’s discovered on the streets of Rawalpindi as a child in the mid-1950s and put to work at a tea stall, eventually serving as a driver for a wealthy landowning family, the Atars. As a child, he demonstrates the skills

necessary to serve the aristocracy: unquestioning loyalty, personability, and a capacity to deliver violence when necessary. As the story moves into the late 20th and early 21st century, Mueenuddin explores how the wealthy classes, gangsters, and corrupt police intertwine, and how a sense of entitlement powers all of them. That’s most visible in the relationship between Hisham, a scion of the Atar family, and his wife, Shahnaz; though a welleducated member of an elite family (one observer notes that she’s “the real brains of that operation”), she’s relegated to managing servants and abiding Hisham’s infidelities. In the book’s closing acts, Mueenuddin reveals the

consequences of defying this broken but intractable caste system, largely through Chaudrey Mohammad Saqib, a manager of the Atars’ nearby farm, whose missteps expose his bosses’ cruelty. Mueenuddin delivers all this in a graceful style that dignifies the lower-caste characters and intensifies

the unjustness of their treatment. In his old age, Yazid has bulked up with the years, well-fed but unwell—another symbol for a class system that rewards loyalty with oppression and disloyalty with worse.

A potent and nuanced tale about the abuse of an underclass in ways both subtle and overt.

Bitter Honey

Ákínmádé, Lolá | Morrow/HarperCollins (448 pp.) | $32 | November 4, 2025 9780063317024

A mother and daughter in Sweden struggle to overcome the effects of colonial thinking about their Black bodies.

“Honey” is the title of 20-year-old Tina’s hit single, a song that is catapulting her to the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The honey refers to her own striking eyes, inherited from the white Swedish father she’s never known. As Tina navigates fame and failure, with the support of her white boyfriend, Sebastian, the narrative swings back to her mother Nancy’s arrival in Sweden from Gambia in the 1970s, a scholarship student with political ambitions. At university, she falls in love with Malik, but there is another man on the scene, anthropology professor Lars Wikström, who speaks their native language and is besotted with Nancy. When Lars insists on photographing his “muse” for a series of paintings and Malik is sent back to Gambia on trumped-up charges, Nancy is left vulnerable to the older man who has been grooming her. Nancy ends up pregnant, her dreams derailed, while the erotic paintings, Lars’ colonization of her body, make him a millionaire. As the novel progresses, chapters toggling between Nancy in the ’80s and Tina in the ’00s, it becomes clear that both mother and daughter have to struggle with authenticity in a society eager to label and commodify their Blackness. Tina, who has become a target for racially motivated derision in her native Sweden, accepts an offer to record an album in Los Angeles. When the two timelines finally converge, villainous Lars reappears. The exploration of identity is nicely paired with just enough melodrama— drug- and sex-fueled Hollywood parties, shocking secrets, explosive confrontations, and the angst of an artist—to keep the plot buzzing along. Deliciously addictive—a family drama with compelling social commentary.

Tom Clancy Executive Power

Andrews, Brian & Jeffrey Wilson

Putnam (464 pp.) | $32

November 25, 2025 | 9780593718063

The U.S. president’s son lands in the middle of a West African coup in this latest Clancy thriller. Kyle Ryan is part of a three-man Defense Intelligence Agency team covertly installing cyber communications in Luanda, Angola. His two colleagues are murdered, and he must “run or die.” The Naval Academy grad isn’t a warrior like his older brother, Jack Junior, who sits out this story. President Ryan doesn’t even know his son is in Africa, let alone how much trouble Kyle is in. Then the unit of Navy Lieutenant Commander (and big sister) Katie Ryan gets the call to rescue Americans as an Angolan man, Victor Baptista, tries to overthrow the current democratically elected president. “Fear was the most powerful weapon in Angola,” and Baptista inspires a great deal of it. Too bad for him that the Ryan family never knuckles under to fear. Captured, hooded, and in danger of execution, Kyle has a steadfast bravery that reflects the Ryan DNA. Baptista doesn’t realize at first that among his American prisoners is President Ryan’s son. Oops. Well, with U.S. warships fast approaching Angolan shores, he thinks he can strike a deal with the “fickle and feckless Americans.” A more tuned-in advisor lets Baptista know that President Ryan will never negotiate, even with his son’s life on the line. So this isn’t just the United States the terrorist is dealing with, but the Ryan family. Katie and Kyle use their intelligence, not brute force, while a pissed-off papa bear wields his awesome executive power from the White House. Meanwhile, Baptista’s murderous cruelty leaves his aides and lackeys trembling in fear. This novel looks like Katie and Kyle’s debuts as central characters, and they are Ryans through and through— they run toward trouble, and they have no faults worth mentioning. Parental and filial loyalty mix well with the action and

add interest to an otherwise standard (but good) Clancy thriller. The youngest Ryans will please fans of the genre.

Departure(s)

Barnes, Julian | Knopf (176 pp.) | $27 January 20, 2026 | 9780593804506

An autofictional remembrance from the Booker Prize winner, keeping an eye on the exit.

“This will be my last book,” writes Julian Barnes, the narrator of this novel, early on. Age and illness are deciding factors; diagnosed with a manageable but incurable blood cancer, he fills many of the pages with matters of mortality and the deaths of his literary friends Christopher Hitchens and Martin Amis. But he’s also questioning the merits of novelwriting as an endeavor, the way it prompts the writer to exaggerate and betray. As Exhibit A, he points to his role in the relationship of two friends, Stephen and Jean, classmates at Oxford who would later split and then (with Julian’s assistance) reconcile. “You fucking novelist, couldn’t resist, could you?” Jean snaps when she’s ambushed by the two men, resentful of his determination to turn life into a story. Julian had also promised not to use their relationship as novelistic fodder, but his life is a trail of “your harsh forgettings, your dissimulations, your broken promises, your infidelities of word and deed.” Late Barnes has been a mix of tart domestic dramas (The Only Story, 2018) and gentler, Proustian reminiscences (Elizabeth Finch, 2022); this shades closer to the latter, intensified mainly by the pressure created by death’s inevitable approach. The story, such as it is, meanders, but it’s clear that Barnes is writing with a certain urgency, not to take a victory lap but to quit on his own terms, though even his cheer is cut by darkness. (“Let me thank you for your sturdy

presence—invisible yet lurking, like my cancer,” he writes to the reader.) Does he mean it when he says he’s done? A book so concerned with a novelist’s urge to lie and betray suggests it’s at least an open question. If it’s indeed the end, Barnes has closed his career gracefully.

Murder Your Darlings

Blum, Jenna | Harper/HarperCollins (304 pp.) | $30 | January 13, 2026

9780063448087

A historical novelist falls for a literary superstar whose charisma and lusty good looks hide a dark secret.

Writing was Sam Vetiver’s first love and the only thing she ever wanted to do. But as she nears 50—and an editor’s deadline for a novel she’s unable to complete—she tells herself she would give up everything for the right man. Then Sam gets an unexpected fan letter from bestselling novelist William Corwyn, who asks to meet her at a Boston book talk, then invites her to dinner. Soon, a “dangerous distraction” that intensifies Sam’s writer’s block evolves into a steamy love affair with a man eager to help her complete her book. But nothing, including her lover’s generosity, is quite what it seems. Death follows William, as do stalkers. An all-female writer’s support group he runs, called the Darlings, is actually a memorial to a fiancée who died by suicide while they were in graduate school, and a female stalker called the Rabbit has an MFA program connection to William and his late fiancée. In a spicy romantic suspense novel that moves among the perspectives of three characters—Sam, William, and the Rabbit—Blum follows Sam as she loses herself in a maze of desire littered with the dreams and bodies of other women writers. To escape, she must form unlikely alliances that bring her back to a self and path she lost. Smart and darkly funny, Blum’s novel offers a biting commentary on romance, revenge,

There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, and split-second escapes.

THE SECRET OF SECRETS

and the ways writers can “get inside us… and change us.”

A smart, sexy thriller that disturbs as it satisfies.

Berlin Shuffle

Boschwitz, Ulrich Alexander

Trans. by Philip Boehm | Metropolitan/ Henry Holt (256 pp.) | $26.99

December 9, 2025 | 9781250869494

An ensemble portrait of Berlin through the eyes of its marginalized members, first published in 1937 and now translated into English for the first time. There’s much to admire in this recently rediscovered portrait of prewar Berlin by the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Passenger. Boschwitz (1915-1942) begins with an ensemble cast of characters drawn from what would have been considered the very dregs of his society: not only the unemployed, but those who rely on sex work or small cons, door-todoor begging, or whatever form of government assistance might still be available to them. The book’s greatest strength is showing, in day-to-day terms, the very real effect of Germany’s economic collapse on regular, workingclass people after the First World War—and how the untenable situation they faced created an atmosphere in which a fascist government could arise. In that sense, many of the novel’s concerns overlap with those of the present day. But Boschwitz, who was apparently in his early 20s when he wrote the book, can at times assume a somewhat didactic tone, especially in the

book’s second half, that becomes more anthropological than literary. Of the patrons of the Jolly Huntsman, for example—the pub where all the novel’s characters wind up converging— Boschwitz writes, “Their uncertain existence…made it impossible for them to develop a firm worldview or solid spiritual foundation…they did not present a cohesive, organized, coordinated whole, but rather an enormous sum of individuals who were mentally as well as economically adrift.” Taken altogether, this feels like the early but immature work of a promising writer. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see Boschwitz starting to work out themes he’ll address with greater finesse later in his career, but as a complete work in and of itself, it isn’t perfect.

The novel is a welcome addition to Boschwitz’s oeuvre, but doesn’t quite stand on its own.

The Secret of Secrets

Brown, Dan | Doubleday (688 pp.) | $38 September 9, 2025 | 9780385546898

The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.

“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic

scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, lastminute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-inthe-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational. A standout in the series.

Lost Lambs

Cash, Madeline | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (336 pp.) | $28 | January 13, 2026

9780374619237

The problems of a very modern family in a slightly surreal world.

For more by Dan Brown, visit Kirkus online.

Meet the Flynns. With their marriage on the rocks, Catherine and Bud don’t have much time or energy to supervise their three daughters: beautiful, uncooperative Abigail, in love with a young man known as War Crimes Wes; brilliant, deranged Harper, who speaks seven languages but is suspended from school more often than not; between them, Louise, a classic middle child, to whom nobody is paying attention as she gets herself in serious trouble in an online chat room. Cash’s debut novel has fun with everything it touches, rocketing through the points of view of the family members and other townspeople, delighting in wordplay and absurd details. Introduced early on is a gnat problem—gnats have infested the church of Our Lady of Suffering as well as a sculpture on the town green, and they have also infested every word in the text that has the syllable “nat”—extermignate, gnatural, dognate, siggnature, and so forth. Though the town itself is never named, its principal feature, Alabaster Harbor™, is always trademarked: “Bud was the accounts and systems manager at Alabaster Harbor™—not some backwater artery of commerce but the primary port for the entire western coastline, the premier gateway for domestic and intergnational trade.” Corruption at the harbor is one of many storylines; another follows Bud’s attempt to find solace for his wife’s disdain by joining a support group called Lost Lambs, based at Our Lady of Suffering and run by the cheerful Miss Winkle. Also based at the church is Father Andrew, whose background is not in theology but in French cinema: “Father Andrew loved the world of French film, where a girl’s sexuality gave her agency, where there were fewer restrictions and more topless chain-smoking on the

beach.” Between the crowd of quirky characters and drastic situations, the high-flying sentences and prose style, and Cash’s relentless joke-cracking, the novel is, like Harper, almost too clever for its own good—but the Flynns stay just real enough to win our hearts. With comic energy and wild plot twists to spare, a thoroughly charming debut.

Exit Strategy

Child, Lee & Andrew Child | Bantam (320 pp.) $30 | November 4, 2025 | 9780593725849

In his 30th adventure, Jack Reacher is untangling strange doings at the port of Baltimore. Reacher is in Baltimore to catch a blues concert when a stranger bumps into him at a coffee shop. The man, Nathan Gilmour, plants a note in his pocket saying, among other things: “Must disappear/ Life in danger/ Need help!” and giving the address of an abandoned warehouse for a proposed late-night meeting. “Come alone/ Bring what I’m owed,” the note concludes. “Please.” Ever curious, Reacher scouts out the meeting spot and decides to let Gilmour know he delivered the note to the wrong person. Gilmour proceeds to tell Reacher his sad story. He was in military intelligence, but struggled with a gambling addiction after returning stateside. A stranger offered to pay off Gilmour’s gambling debts and install him in a job at port administration in Baltimore; in exchange, Gilmour would feed him information about upcoming shipments. After a co-worker was killed in an on-site accident, Gilmour realized he was the likely target and lost his appetite for the scheme. Reacher isn’t inclined to get involved until Gilmour reveals that the bad guys have threatened to kill his young nephew if he doesn’t play ball. Reacher and Gilmour decide to talk to Sabrina Patten, another employee at the port authority, who they suspect is also being blackmailed. Together, the

three investigate the counselor who is the only known link between them, suspecting she’s in cahoots with their blackmailer. The trail leads to Morgan Strickland, owner of Strickland Security Solutions, who has created a diabolical plan to make money off armed conflict between Turkey and Armenia. The plot is pleasingly complex, even if some of the pieces at the end don’t quite fit neatly into the puzzle. It’s a good story, but Reacher’s dominant personality is muted. He’s as committed to vigilante justice as ever, but lacks his usual keen insight and curiosity about human behavior.

A competent adventure, but Reacher himself feels dim, almost forgettable.

Kirkus Star

Cape Fever

Davids, Nadia | Simon & Schuster (240 pp.)

$27 | December 9, 2025 | 9781668090732

A tense, atmospheric gothic thriller set in an indeterminate city centers on two women, a Muslim servant and her British employer, in the aftermath of World War I. When Soraya Matas secures a place with Mrs. Alice Hattingh of 23 Heron Place, she feels fortunate, especially after leaving her previous employment with the Edenburgs due to the husband’s unwelcome advances. Soraya’s family, including several younger siblings and parents who depend on her income, lives in the Quarter—a crowded and underserved area of a city that resembles Cape Town, South Africa. Like their neighbors, Soraya’s family follows a faith different from their colonizers; her father is a calligrapher who specializes in the rakams, or handwritten prayers that grace local homes. Mrs. Hattingh lets Soraya know of her prejudices, asking if the young woman can crochet: “I’m sure you have your people’s nimble fingers.” Soon after Soraya enters the room in which she’ll sleep, she knows that it’s haunted by a Gray Woman, a specter filled with rage and disappointment

Gabriela Rose goes looking for the Rosetta Stone.

THE KING’S RANSOM

that she’s been able to see since childhood; in this case, she’s convinced it’s her unfortunate predecessor, Fatima. Although she finds her work dull and repetitive, Soraya initially enjoys the relative peace of Heron Place, especially as she’s able to return home once a fortnight. But Mrs. Hattingh grows peevish when she anticipates her son Timothy’s visit from England and orders Soraya to stay put. As a sop, she dangles the promise of writing letters to her servant’s betrothed, Nour, who is working on a farm in order to save money for teacher’s college. Both women are holding back information, which makes for a perfect storm of fury—yet there is no question that Alice Hattingh’s sins are greater and more destructive, even if driven by tragedy. This novel will remind readers that our world has been interconnected for a long time, and that the powerful affect those less so, even when there are oceans between them. This beautifully assured novel interweaves the ghostly and the historical until both feel simultaneously real and imagined.

Supersaurio

El Mehdati, Meryem | Trans. by Julia Sanches | Hanover Square Press (320 pp.) $30 | November 25, 2025 | 9781335090638

An acerbic, fan-fiction-writing millennial woman struggles to navigate her soul-crushing office job, corporate culture, and societal expectations. Set over the course of a couple of years and narrated through a meandering inner monologue, El Mehdati’s novel tells the story of Meryem, the 25-year-old daughter of Moroccan immigrants who

lives in the Canary Islands. Meryem has gone to university, prays, avoids partying, and lives with her parents while working as an intern at Supersaurio, the largest supermarket chain in the archipelago. It’s a miserable job, and Meryem repeatedly expresses frustration as she feuds with her boss—the worst person she’s ever met—and deals with misogyny, racism, and microaggressions. The only things keeping her going are her friends, all of whom also write fan fiction; Omar, a senior coworker who is smart, funny, and devastatingly handsome; and the hope that one day she might journey from intern to fixed employment. While some readers might find themselves reflected in Meryem and her day-to-day life, her anger and sense of herself as a victim become grating. Meryem’s diatribes are often repetitive, and there is very little plot; the book seems to rely more on vibes and a constant barrage of pop culture references. The result feels one-dimensional and lacking depth. A disjointed story about a quarter-life crisis.

The King’s Ransom

Evanovich, Janet | Atria (352 pp.) | $30 November 11, 2025 | 9781668027479

Gabriela Rose, the recovery agent famed for being able to find almost anything, goes looking for the Rosetta Stone. And that’s only the beginning. You didn’t know the Rosetta Stone was missing? That’s because the British Museum, wanting to keep its theft hush-hush, has been displaying a copy in its place. And Gabriela’s involvement is equally secretive. Her ex-husband, Rafer Jones,

has pressed her to find it because his idiot cousin, Harley Patch, who improbably became president of the Searl and Junkett bank, has taken it upon himself to insure a slew of priceless artifacts—many of which have now gone missing. The stone, as it turns out, is surprisingly easy to find. Following the trail of Leon Blake, a new operations officer at the museum who quit two days after the theft, and John Mackey, a museum security guard who was shot to death that same day, Gabriela successfully beats out rival recovery agent Ahmed Ed Ghaly, who’s been tasked with bringing the stone back to Egypt, in the hunt. An altogether more elusive prize is the golden inner coffin of Tutankhamen’s half brother, unofficially dubbed “Brendan.” This search is more dangerous, too, because Ahmed kidnaps Harley to make sure that Gabriela turns the coffin over to him. Jim, the Cairo cabbie Gabriela hires to drive her around, takes to calling himself Jim Bond once he sees her in action; and he’s on to something—not because the fate of the free world hangs in the balance, but because “the heist to end all heists” gradually dissolves into an amusing, episodic travelogue whose climax feels like just one more picturesque tableau. Despite the stakes, the heroine’s second adventure is a generally lighthearted anti-caper.

The Christmas Stranger

Evans, Richard Paul | Gallery Books/ Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) | $22 November 4, 2025 | 9781668014905

A brokenhearted man sees no reason to live in this Christmas tale of hope and healing. In 2014, Paul Wanless and his wife, Rachel, attend a Christmas pageant in which their 7-year-old son, Jaxon, plays one of the Wise Men. Paul drives home separately and learns that his beloved

family has just been killed by a drunk driver. Three years later, Paul, a diabetic, decides to end his life with whiskey and insulin. But a stranger named Gabriel invites himself into the house and persuades Paul that he needs to keep living. Gabriel—surely the angel—shows up at several pivotal moments, just long enough to save Paul from complete disaster. “Sometimes the path to heaven begins in hell,” Gabriel says. Later, Paul meets a sweet widow named Collette, and the attraction is mutual. But he endures a deep reservoir of pain that might make it impossible to get on with his life. She, too, has suffered loss, having witnessed her husband die from ALS. Then one day, Paul rescues 9-year-old Ronald from a beating several bullies are giving him outside of school. Ronald’s divorced mother stays home drinking herself into a stupor, and his father is out of the picture, so Paul tries to help the boy as much as a non-relative can. Three sympathetic characters, three broken lives—can they ever recover? And if Paul were to fall in love again, would that betray Rachel? An answer will come, but first, people must see through their pain and hurt to get to the other side. Now Christmas is fast approaching, and Paul had been an avid “Christmasphile” until his tragedy. The three characters’ storylines weave a holiday tapestry culminating—when else?— on a snowy Christmas Day. Indeed, all the story elements come together in a bright, neat bow as though left under the tree by Santa. There are a few eye-rollers having to do with Paul’s generosity, as well as a fact that would be a spoiler to reveal. Gabriel is believable, though. He’s just an angel doing his job.

Warm, cozy yuletide fare.

Revenge of Odessa

Forsyth, Frederick with Tony Kent Putnam (448 pp.) | $32 | November 18, 2025 9798217044658

In a belated sequel to The Odessa File (1972), a re-emergent Nazi cult threatens to “finish what Hitler had started,” decades after it was thought to have been eliminated.

The person largely responsible for discovering and exposing the fascist ring was the star German journalist Peter Miller. All these years later, his 28-year-old grandson, Georg, a Hamburg reporter and podcaster, learns of the new Odessa (as the group is called) and their plans to upstage the country’s far-right political movement, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The first clue to their existence comes at a hospital following a terrorist attack at a football stadium. A grizzled old man with dementia confuses Georg with his father, Horst Miller, and snarls, “I killed you. You and the Untermensch whore you married.” Horst, a federal cop and intelligence officer, and his wife had supposedly died in a car accident. Posing (badly) as a doctor from the hospital in pursuit of the truth, a shaken Georg visits the ailing man’s family, which results in him being targeted himself. No one believes Georg’s claims about the Odessa except his grandfather, who talks him into importing a psycho killer from England as protection (read: someone who kills bad guys two at a time). Meanwhile, in a poorly developed subplot, Vanessa Price grows increasingly uncomfortable working as a staffer for a right-wing

A brokenhearted man sees no reason to live in this tale of hope and healing.

THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER

junior senator from Ohio with hopes for higher office. She finds herself surrounded by political operatives responsible for the death of the far better man the senator replaced, who are plotting an illegal government takeover. Suffice it to say that the panic attacks from which Vanessa suffers don’t get any better as the story proceeds. A middling thriller that commits the cardinal sin of using a terrorist attack as a background event, the late Forsyth’s co-write with Kent pales badly in comparison to classics like The Day of the Jackal (1971). A so-so plot with so-so characters makes for an uneventful read.

Kirkus Star

The Week of Colors

Garro, Elena | Trans. by Megan McDowell Two Lines Press (260 pp.) | $18 paper November 11, 2025 | 9781949641899

Thirteen short stories by one of the Mexican progenitors of magical realism, translated for the first time into English. In Garro’s fleeting, powerful visions, the only thing that’s certain is uncertainty, though never the uncertainty of the author, the characters, or the readers. Rather, Garro explores the uncertainty of time itself. In “It’s the Tlaxcalteca’s Fault,” a young wife in a wealthy household flits through the centuries, imprisoned by the comfort of her life in modern-day Mexico City, free when she suffers the horror of the fall of Tenochtitlán to the invading conquistadors in the 1500s. In the title story, two sisters spy on the mysterious Don Flor, who keeps the colorful days of the week imprisoned in his round white house, torturing them into submission so that he may “fit [them] with the virtue that would check [their] vice.” In “The Day We Were Dogs,” the same two children will themselves into becoming dogs named Christ and Buddha and— together with Toni, a real family

pet—wander through an animal’s nonsynchronous experience of time, where they witness a gruesome murder. The theme of parallel time frames and characters who experience multiple simultaneous realities is employed in the majority of the stories, as are repeated characters—the two sisters, Eva and Leli; their witchy housekeeper, Candelaria; the beleaguered servant, Rutilio—who resemble each other from story to story but do not perfectly replicate the lives they lived before. The result is prose that swims with a heady sense of transformation, of sorrow, of the inescapable violence of the past, of the predictable violence of the future, all threaded together by Garro’s fine stylistic sensibility and startling descriptive voice. Originally published in 1964, this collection stands as a seminal work prefiguring the surrealist and magical realist movements that would come to define so much of Latin American literature in the decades to come. However, a contemporary reader coming fresh to Garro’s work will find a voice that feels as vital today as it ever did. Crucial stories that pierce the heart of the modern world. A must-read.

(Th)ings and (Th)oughts

Gorbunova, Alla | Trans. by Elina Alter Deep Vellum (200 pp.) | $18.95 paper November 4, 2025 | 9781646054039

A short story collection that balances the absurd and the tragic, from Russian writer Gorbunova. There’s a resoundingly bleak quality to many of the stories here, beginning with the first, “Psychoanalysis in Hell,” written in the form of a memo. Gorbunova (and translator Alter) favor declarative openings, as in “The Insect Priest”: “There once was a village where the priest was really an insect, but the congregation had no idea.” Several stories explore the concept of doubles and doppelgängers, while “A

Russian Prophet,” about the misfortunes of a character whose name—Pavel—is his only constant, heads into overtly metafictional territory. Some tales have a melancholy aspect, as in “The Children of the City of Novostradov,” where a shared delusion about Y2K gradually ebbs from a town’s population, leaving the community without anything distinctive about them. Most of the stories are very short and stand on their own, though in the third section of the book, titled “The Trials of Ivan Petrovich,” Gorbunova returns to a recurring character who, in different installments, encounters a society based around a train station, a murderous theologian, and “female creatures with metal cylinders for heads.” And there’s a brief nod to contemporary Russian politics as well, in “The Case of Tshaveliev.” These stories pack a heady punch, and they reveal a wider emotional range than one might expect. These surreal fables feel at once timeless and urgently contemporary.

Simultaneous

Heisserer, Eric | Flatiron Books (288 pp.) $27.99 | October 28, 2025 | 9781250384294

A therapist and the patient she’s treating stumble into a shocking and life-threatening surprise. When Santa Monica therapist Sarah Newcomb hypnotizes her patients, most of them remember past lives, decades or centuries ago. Not Marigold Chu. The young software engineer is a receptive patient, but under hypnosis, she describes another life that seems to be in the future—or even the present. That leads to two problems. One is information from Marigold’s other self about a coming industrial explosion, which Sarah feels compelled to report (anonymously) to the authorities. The other is the realization that, instead of being a garden-variety case of

reincarnation, Marigold is somehow sharing a soul with a very much alive middle-aged Denver police detective named Brian Huntley. Those two issues soon bring an FBI agent to Sarah’s door: Grant Lukather from the agency’s Predictive Analytics unit. As the trio tries to figure out what’s going on, it quickly becomes clear that Brian is in jeopardy from a serial murderer nicknamed the Ash Killer, because of a substance he smears on his victims’ foreheads—an ash whose source police forensics can’t identify. Even stranger, the man identified as the Ash Killer is already in prison. Sarah, Marigold, and Grant dash off from California to Colorado to save Brian, sparks flying— Sarah is sort-of engaged to a good-enough boyfriend, Grant reeling from a tragic romantic loss, but it doesn’t take a clairvoyant to see they’re falling for each other. The book, the first novel by an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, does little to explain the phenomenon of Marigold and Brian’s tie other than some sketchy ideas about the exploding human population outrunning the supply of souls, but it’s used to good effect in relation to the Ash Killer. Sarah and Grant toss pretty much every protocol about how therapists and law enforcement officers are supposed to behave right out the window; if you’re willing to suspend disbelief about that and communal souls, this is a suspenseful and fast-paced tale. “Soulmates” means something different in this entertaining psychological thriller.

Woman Down

Hoover, Colleen | Montlake | $28.99 January 13, 2026 | 9781662539374

happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”

Kirkus Star

Hyper

Ismaïl, Agri | Coffee House (360 pp.) | $18 paper | January 13, 2026 | 9781566897471

A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.

Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation

A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.

Three siblings navigate their relationships with money. The way that money tends to ruin lives is at the heart of Ismaïl’s debut novel. The book, set mostly between 2009 and 2011, follows the three children of Rafiq Hardi Kermanj, a Kurdish communist activist, and his wife, the long-suffering Xezal. The family fled from Kurdistan to Iran, and then to London just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Daughter Siver Hama Hardi marries an Iraqi man, Karim, but leaves him and moves to Dubai with their daughter after he says he wants a second wife. Her stay in that country, where she works as a salesperson at a designer store, is beset by bad luck, and she finds herself struggling to make ends meet. Mohammed Hama Hardi is better off in London, where he makes good money as a manager at a trading firm, but his job runs his life; still, his employment “made him forget that his job consisted of making money for other people, made him grateful that they gave him the honour of making them money.” Laika Hama Hardi lives a reclusive life in Occupy Wall Street–era New York, where he earns cash off a mirror-trading algorithm he designed, but he has become an Internet-poisoned shell of a man. Ismaïl brilliantly changes tone between each section of the novel: Siver’s story is told with an aching wistfulness, while Mohammed’s is marked with an arch sense of humor that brings to mind both Kingsley and Martin Amis. Laika’s story, meanwhile, is a claustrophobic catalog of his days spent on social media, YouTube, and webcam model sites; the emptiness of his life is heartbreakingly sad. This is a searing, nearly flawless novel that evokes Paddy

For more by Colleen Hoover, visit Kirkus online.

Chayefsky at his angriest—it’s a hell of an accomplishment from an author who looks to be at the start of a brilliant career.

A bitter yet compassionate tour de force.

A Love Story From the End of the World

Kim, Juhea | Ecco/HarperCollins (224 pp.) | $17 paper | November 25, 2025 9780063446397

Stories explore love amid climate disasters. Novelist Kim combines themes of climate catastrophe and love in her first collection of short fiction. Some of the 10 stories have a futuristic bent, like “Biodome” and “Bioark,” in which characters search for love while living, respectively, in a protective dome in a future Seoul or on a nouveau ark sailing the blood-red ocean. The plots are clever riffs on class and capitalism, revealing diverse reactions to the environmental disaster, from hoarding resources and seeking clout to dreaming of escape. Other stories can be didactic, as in “Notting Hill,” in which a character spells out the environmental stakes in casual conversation: “So, you do realize the world’s best scientists have testified that Earth’s average temperatures have risen to levels never before seen in the history of humanity…” On occasion, Kim resorts to stereotypes or caricatures to make her points about the global reach of climate disaster. In “Kwa Zulu-Natal,” the mixed-race Zulu and Afrikaner protagonist speaks entirely in dialect: “When it’s blimmin hot like this in August...I always think on my elephant.” It’s an awkward choice given that every other character in the book—whether Korean, Argentinian, Norwegian, American, or even British— speaks in standard American English. “Mountain, Island” is a tonally strained satire of poverty tourism featuring a child living on a remote island used as a

dumping ground who attains fame by imitating K-pop dancers. “Older Sister” unironically recycles model minority tropes, namely a perfect 1600-SATscoring daughter of hard-working Korean immigrants whose store is attacked during the riots following the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles. It’s potentially rich material, but the characters are flat. Kim details her own environmental activism in an afterword: “If you’re an artist, it is not conscionable to use our ecological catastrophe as material for fiction and not personally do something to help.” While Kim’s sincerity is never in doubt, the collection has a hasty feel to its construction. Uneven writing gets in the way of environmental plotlines.

Sheer

Lawrence, Vanessa | Dutton (304 pp.) $29 | January 13, 2026 | 9780593854860

A cosmetic mogul’s carefully concealed sexual identity threatens the foundations of her brilliant entrepreneurial business.

Maxine Thomas has always understood two things about herself: She’s a wizard with lipstick and powder, and she’s attracted to women—both of which threatened her controlling, fashion-obsessed mother, who once said about a lesbian couple in a restaurant, “Filth like that shouldn’t be allowed in here.” No wonder Max faces deep despair in light of a career-ending scandal as the book opens in 2015; this is a thought-provoking and fast-paced story about a world of artifice that conceals a world of hurt. Max peels the layers back slowly, from her preteen expertise with drugstore compacts, on to her college-era list of socialite clients, interwoven with chapters about her present predicament as founder of a bestselling cosmetics line meant to enhance “who a woman really was—in her best light.” Even if society at large has grown comfortable with same-sex relationships, Max’s high-gloss

sector prefers to draw a veil over them. As she negotiates bigger and bigger deals, she backs her personal life and deepest needs into a tiny corner of a psychological closet, and the author carefully ensures that that’s where the most destructive bomb goes off for Max, a double whammy of private pleasure and public humiliation that results from a naive early business decision. Unlike many novels about glamorous pursuits, this one doesn’t indulge in long paeans to luxury; each scene describing Max’s expertise or negotiations has a thematic purpose, driving forward industry misogyny, homophobia, and desperate attempts to fill an early void.

Tightly plotted and full of insider detail, the novel shimmers with complicated truths about women, beauty, and betrayal.

A Play About a Curse

Macon Fleischer, Caroline | Clash Books (216 pp.) | $18.95 paper | October 21, 2025 9781960988782

A fledgling playwright vows to destroy her mentor. When 23-yearold Corey Cordele graduates from the Theatre Conservatory in Dallas, her advisor, awardwinning playwright Maxine Due, buys her dinner to celebrate. Now that she’s no longer Max’s student, Corey assumes they’ll be friends and that Max will use her status as “one of the few living main characters in the American theatre” to help launch Corey’s career. Instead, Max reveals that she will be leaving Texas because another former student, Daniel Cho, has offered her a playwriting residency at the Chicago theater where he’s artistic director. When Max doesn’t offer to take Corey with her, Corey lashes out, calling Max a “two-faced snake.” Max expresses disappointment in Corey, saying, “Middle-aged women need opportunities, too. It’s not all about you.” Enraged, Corey flees the

THE KIRKUS Q&A: OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE

After a hugely successful debut, the novelist had to wrestle with expectations and rediscover her love of writing.

BY CONNIE OGLE

WHEN OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE started writing her second novel—following her wildly popular debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer —she also started to worry.

Published in 2018, My Sister, the Serial Killer is a dark, comic story about a Nigerian nurse who frequently finds herself cleaning up her younger sibling’s murders. The novel won a slew of prizes, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel.

Cursed Daughters , which examines the power of family bonds under the crushing weight of superstition, is a different sort of story—and Braithwaite is fretting about reader expectations.

“I wasn’t expecting the success of My Sister, the Serial Killer, but now I’ve experienced it, and the bar has been set,” she says from her home in England. “I feared I couldn’t follow it. I had to remind myself how much I love the art of writing. I did My Sister, the Serial Killer by myself in my room with no thought of how successful it would be. I had to find my way back to that place, being in the story and finding my way through it.”

Told from several points of view, Cursed Daughters follows a family of women struggling against a curse that has plagued them for generations: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace.” They might briefly find romantic happiness, but it is not destined to last.

Cousins Ebun and Monife grow up well aware of that burden; their mothers make sure of it. Quiet Ebun gets pregnant but won’t reveal the father of her child. Meanwhile, Monife falls in love with Golden Boy, who seems like the love of a lifetime—until the romance begins to sour. Heartbroken, Monife drowns herself in the sea.

Braithwaite leads with this tragedy on the first page, then works back and forth in time with sensitivity and compassion (and, when it’s warranted, a welcome dose of humor). When Ebun’s daughter Eniiyi is born, she looks exactly like Monife, prompting her elders to pronounce her the reincarnation of her aunt and treat her accordingly.

Despite what you might think, the author is comfortable in this territory. Though it is viewed as a crime novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer is also about family and the push and pull of sibling relationships. Braithwaite, the oldest of four and the only sibling born in Nigeria, understands that dynamic and digs into it more deeply in Cursed Daughters . She wanted her spirited characters to fight back against their circumstances, but she also wanted to explore the idea of responsibility.

“It was important to me that these women aren’t just lying down but constantly pushing against the curse,” she says. “But they’re not looking at themselves and being introspective or asking ‘How much am I culpable for the things that are happening?’ The curse is convenient to blame. I’ve seen people do that, blame a mysterious force for outcomes instead of their own actions.”

We recently spoke by phone with Braithwaite about the new book. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You say you overpowered fear to write this book. How did you manage that?

My dad was bullying me a lot! He kept reminding me how long it had been since My Sister, the Serial Killer came out. He’d tell me I didn’t want to be a one-book wonder. Having him buzzing

in my ear helped. I keep unfinished stories on my laptop, so I said, “OK, you know what, let me tell you some of the stories I’ve got, and we’ll decide which one will work.” I started narrating one of these stories to him, and I was able to keep going, and it all came together.

How interesting. Is this how you usually work?

I’m constantly coming up with ideas, and I’ll start with writing 2,000 or maybe 10,000 words and then not be able to go any further for whatever reason. Maybe I’m not able to figure out what the story is, or maybe the voice isn’t working. The first time I attempted to write Cursed Daughters , there weren’t multiple points of view. I just couldn’t figure it out. But when I hit that kind of block, I have this belief that I’m not mature enough for the story, but one day I will be.

What was the hardest part about writing this book? Having Monife lose her life. My dad drums into me the responsibility of being a writer. I don’t like to think about that—I just like to have fun. I like to think of my storytelling as a form of escapism for me and for the reader. But there are moments I don’t want to romanticize. I don’t know if I got it right here. It’s definitely tough. Her death is sad, but you also have to make sure it’s not just you preaching. You just make sure you look back and think, I did what I could with this story

I think one of the reasons I chose the ages I did for Monife and Golden Boy was Romeo and Juliet Once I realized how old they were in that story, it made so much more sense. When you’re young, everything is passion, and you feel like the world is ending and you’ll never recover. When you’re in your 30s, you realize you’ll absolutely recover.

So is the curse real?

I think I played it both ways as a writer. Sometimes the curse is real to me, and sometimes it’s not. Maybe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy at play. I didn’t want to be too clear one way or the other. It’s really a tool to examine family and family trauma that’s passed on and how it affects these women. I feel like that’s something I’ve witnessed, not just in my family but in others, how you can inherit trauma. I’m really interested in that.

Why does writing about family appeal

to you, particularly female relationships? I’m surrounded by a lot of strong women—my mom, aunts, sisters, cousins. That’s what I’m used to. What’s interesting about families is that they’re just always there. You didn’t get to choose them. And my family is super invasive! You have to have boundaries, but they have an effect on you. My mom is self-conscious about her arms, and my aunt is, too. And they made me self-conscious about mine. You’ll rarely see me in a sleeveless top, even though I know it’s this inherited thing they passed to me. Your family is influencing you constantly.

Cursed Daughters

Braithwaite, Oyinkan Doubleday | 352 pp. | $29 November 4, 2025 | 9780385551472

Both of your novels have been set in Nigeria. Why is Nigeria such a fertile setting for you?

Nigeria is like an untapped treasure. There’s so much content. We haven’t even scratched the surface. I’m excited when people capture the nuances of Nigeria and being Nigerian. We have 300 tribes, and most are barely represented in books. Each tribe has its way of burying people, marrying people. Each has its own language. There’s just not a lot of competition in this space.

Connie Ogle is a writer in South Florida.

I like to think of my asstorytelling a form of escapism for me and for the reader.

SEEN AND HEARD

New Novel by Colleen Hoover Coming in 2026

Amazon will publish Woman Down in January.

Colleen Hoover is coming out with a new novel next year.

Amazon’s Montlake imprint will publish Woman Down in the winter, the company announced in a news release. It describes the book as a “twisty thriller.” (See our review on p. 12.)

Hoover made her publishing debut in 2012 with the romance novel Slammed. She published It Ends With Us in 2016; the novel sold well but became a huge hit in 2021 after it

Colleen Hoover

was embraced by readers on the social media platform TikTok.

TikTok helped make Hoover’s subsequent novels and backlist titles massive bestsellers, too. A film based on It Ends With Us, directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Baldoni and Blake Lively, was released last year. The film stirred controversy after Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and filed a lawsuit against him; Baldoni countersued Lively for defamation.

Hoover’s new novel follows Petra Rose, an author reeling from viral backlash against a film adaptation of one of her books. She goes to a cabin, hoping to find inspiration for her next book, and is visited by a detective bearing bad news.

Hoover announced news of the new novel in a video on Amazon’s TikTok account. “I’m so excited to say that I am the author of a new book called Woman Down. It is a thriller, probably one of the darkest books I’ve written so far.”

Woman Down is slated for publication on January 13, 2026.

—MICHAEL SCHAUB

For reviews of Colleen Hoover’s books, visit Kirkus online.

AWARDS

Bernardine Evaristo Establishes New Literary Award

The inaugural RSL Pioneer Prize, honoring U.K. women writers over 60, went to Maureen Duffy.

Bernardine Evaristo has launched a new literary prize for British women writers over the age of 60, the Guardian reports.

The Booker Prize–winning author of Girl, Woman, Other, who is president of the Royal Society of Literature, has founded the RSL Pioneer Prize. Administered by the society, the award will “acknowledge and celebrate pioneering British women writers—across all genres—who have been trailblazers in their field in the past, when it was more challenging for women to have successful careers as writers.”

The prize will be awarded annually for 10 years, funded by the money Evaristo

For more literary awards news, visit Kirkus online.

received when she received the Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award. Each year, the winner of the RSL Pioneer Prize will receive a cash award of 10,000 British pounds, about $13,650.

The inaugural winner is Maureen Duffy, 91, a playwright, poet, and novelist whose books include The Microcosm, The Paradox Players, Wounds, and Gor Saga.

“I hope this encourages writers to keep on writing, because it is a hard thing to support yourself as a writer in this country,” Duffy said.

Evaristo personally selected Duffy as the winner of this year’s award, but future prizes will be chosen by a jury of literary professionals.

“It’s very easy to forget the earlier feminist struggles & the intrepid women who paved the way for successive generations, & it’s important to celebrate our pioneers while they are STILL AROUND to enjoy it,” Evaristo wrote in a post on Instagram.

—M.S.

Bernardine Evaristo

restaurant and starts running, stopping only when she feels the pull of French clairvoyant Mélusine’s strip mall storefront. After surveying the shop’s menu of services, Corey strikes a deal with Mélusine to place a curse on Max. Feeling empowered, Corey then reaches out to Daniel Cho and—unbeknownst to Max—finagles a deal identical to her teacher’s, complete with a bedroom in the apartment where Max will be staying. Months later, when the women reunite in Chicago, it’s clear to Corey that Mélusine’s dark magic is working: Max’s mood is manic, her health is deteriorating, and her self-confidence is gone. Corey is unwilling to leave anything to chance, however, and embarks on a campaign to gaslight the woman into madness. This inventive novel adopts the structure of a three-act, two-interlude play, complete with dialogue blocks, stage directions, and scene breaks, but also incorporates swaths of fever dream–like exposition rendered in technicolor prose. Macon Fleischer may not exactly earn Corey’s blind vengeance, but as Corey herself observes, “playgoers [are] more willing to take a story at face value,” and that’s what readers become as the story progresses.

A searing caricature of fraught female friendship.

The Birdwatcher

Mitchard, Jacquelyn | Harlequin MIRA (336 pp.) | $30 | December 9, 2025 9780778368670

When her childhood best friend is accused of committing double murder, a fashion reporter tests her skills as an investigative journalist in hopes of discovering what really happened. The book opens as middling fashion reporter Irene Bigelow watches her old friend Felicity Wild suffer through her arraignment. The charges allege that

Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino has his greatest success in the U.S.

THE ARCHITECT OF NEW YORK

while working as a professional escort, Felicity manipulated two clients into naming her as beneficiary of their life-insurance policies before killing them. Reenie hasn’t seen Felicity in years, but she knows in her gut that her old friend, a bird-lover who’d wanted to be a biologist, couldn’t have committed the acts of which she’s accused. When catching sight of Reenie in the courtroom, Felicity mouths one message: “Go away.” Reenie doesn’t buy it. Thus begins her quest to find information she can use in an article intended to clear Felicity’s name. The only problem is that nobody wants her to proceed—not Reenie’s boss at the fashion magazine, not Felicity’s handsome attorney, and, most especially, not any of the people in Felicity’s life who might actually possess useful information. Even so, Reenie won’t be deterred, and she begins investigating Felicity’s personal history as well as the crimes, no matter what it might cost her. Narrated in the first person, the book follows Reenie as she knocks on doors, tracking down Felicity’s family members and old acquaintances. The novel includes a preponderance of dialogue, which, though often witty and insightful, slows the pace in a story meant to deliver heightened drama and suspense. Likewise, the large cast of characters proves difficult to follow as most supporting characters fail to distinguish themselves. Despite the slow pace, the author does an admirable job of creating a complex criminal scenario and portraying characters with nuanced feelings about old friendships, while also highlighting the interplay between sex, money, and power. An unhurried crime story that pulls between friendship and secrets.

The Architect of New York

Moro, Javier | Trans. by Peter J. Hearn Counterpoint (352 pp.) | $28

January 6, 2026 | 9781640097469

Very lightly fictionalized life of a Spanish-born architect who had his greatest success in the U.S.

We meet Rafael Guastavino (18421908) on May 11, 1881, when, barely a month after their arrival in New York, his 9-year-old son, Rafael Jr., watches as his mother tells her philandering mate she’s going back to Barcelona. The adult Rafael Jr. is designing the dome of St. John the Divine as he begins his recollections of his father’s complicated personal and professional lives, which include two marriages (neither of them to Rafael Jr.’s mother) and some simultaneous affairs. “I could not be without a woman in my life,” Guastavino tells his son to excuse his various infidelities, which are so poorly managed that he’s inevitably found out. He’s equally feckless in his financial affairs, going bankrupt on several occasions despite a growing reputation based on his innovative vault designs, which are fireproof and lighter than anything American architects have seen. Rafael Jr. was intimately involved in his father’s work even before he left school at 15 to apprentice in the business, and his descriptions of Guastavino’s contributions to the Boston Public Library, the Grand Central Oyster Bar, Manhattan’s City Hall subway station, Boston’s Christian Science mother church, and other iconic buildings are the most engaging parts of the book. The stop-and-start way readers learn about Guastavino’s past, which mirrors the way Rafael Jr. pried the details from his

secretive father, is one of the few reasons to consider this a novel, along with the son’s less-than-riveting musings on how their relationship evolved over time. Moro’s previous book along these lines, a “dramatized biography” of Sonia Gandhi called The Red Sari, prompted an official protest from the Indian National Congress party after it was published in Spain in 2008; this slow-moving successor is unlikely to stir that much attention. Potentially of some interest to architecture buffs, not so much to fiction readers.

Nadezhda in the Dark: A Novel in Verse

Moskovich, Yelena | Dzanc (204 pp.)

$17.95 paper | January 13, 2026

9781938603518

Lovers in exile reckon with the weight of history over the course of one winter’s night in Berlin.

In Moskovich’s novel in verse, two women sit quietly beside one another in their bed in the dark. Both were displaced as children when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991; the narrator, like the author, was a Jewish refugee from Ukraine to the United States, and Nadezhda, her girlfriend, an emigre from Russia to Germany. With the narrator’s meandering reflections on an intricate tapestry of references—the poetry of Sophia Parnok and Ilya Kaminsky, short stories from O. Henry and Chekhov, Russian queer counterculture (“all that stuff that made it into the New York Times, / and all the stuff that didn’t”), Yiddish sayings, Soviet jokes, the list goes on—Moskovich illustrates the silence that stretches between the women throughout the long night. Acknowledged in the shadows is the most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine (“forbidden to refer to as a ‘war’ in Russia,” the narrator notes), and the long tradition of Soviet antisemitism. The novel engages frankly with these broader realities, but if there is a plot here, it’s the one that

unfurls on a minute, human level through the slivers of personal history we glean about the pair and the trajectory of their relationship. The tension that thrums at the heart of the novel is their fervid, sometimes painful love for each other, laced through with unhealed wounds and an experience of post-Soviet splintering that is simultaneously shared and inevitably different for each woman. Moskovich etches the dynamic with elegant economy: “I like Jews, / Nadezhda said with such pride / that I couldn’t help but recognize / the generations of Soviets / who twirled upon their blind eye, she / didn’t have to understand, I decided, / but I wanted her to understand / that she didn’t understand.” Buoyed by nimble intertextuality and precisely observed emotional currents, this single-sentence novel in verse trips along with surprising ease.

A lyrical, sinuous exploration of queer love and diasporic grief.

Kirkus Star

Things That Are Funny on a Submarine But Not Really

Murphy, Yannick | Arcade (384 pp.) | $28.99 November 4, 2025 | 9781648211355

A raunchy, darkly funny, unusual coming-of-age novel set largely underneath the waters of the Pacific Ocean. David, nicknamed “Dead Man,” is a U.S. submarine radio operator nearing the end of his hitch. On the one hand, he feels keenly the tedium, the fear, and the cramped dark rigidity of life in the Navy; there’s the tug to go home and get on with the life others have envisioned for you. Against that, though, there’s the secret, profane, addictive, uproarious rapport that develops in the deep sea, in Dead Man’s beloved “steel tube of dumb,” created by the combination of claustrophobia and camaraderie. Murphy playfully and persuasively recreates the scabrous, hilarious, often juvenile

sociolect of these young submariners, the language of young men barking and fronting. Dead Man tries hard to think of his experiences as a kind of idyll, but it’s an idyll on a razor’s edge: The casual violence (sometimes almost joyous) and little upwellings of insanity (colorful, the stuff of anecdote) can’t be contained. His closest friend on the ship, Grenadier, tries to commit suicide. The malign ship’s doctor pressures Dead Man to surveil his other close friend, Tintin, who’s suspected of being a Chinese spy. Then Grenadier drowns, and Dead Man—being punished by Doc both for noncooperation and because he knows that the doctor was drugging Grenadier to keep him docile—finds himself exiled from the sub and on base duty in Guam as Covid descends. The book’s second half depicts Dead Man’s turbulent, reluctant return to David: the trip home, mustering out, and the transition to a midwestern campus where he feels utterly out of place. He’s haunted at first by the needling ghost of Grenadier, who seems mostly to want to goad him to give college a try. Once David (or “Death Man,” as a new friend garbles the nickname) arrives and after a few months starts, tentatively and precariously, to find friends, Tintin—an agent of id and rage and chaos—arrives to sow destruction, and to make it clear to David that these two worlds aren’t compatible. He will have to choose. The rollicking, sometimes frightening, in-the-end surprisingly moving evolution of a submariner into a mensch.

Meet the Newmans

Niven, Jennifer | Flatiron Books (432 pp.)

$29.99 | January 6, 2026 | 9781250372444

T he perfect 1950s family—they play themselves on television—crashlands into the modern era one fateful day in March 1964. For 12 years, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have played themselves on a CBS series called Meet the Newmans. As Niven’s

When a Buffalo Bills cheerleader disappears, her friend searches for the truth.

THE JILLS

novel opens, it’s March 20, 1964, “the night the world as [Dinah] knew it ended.” Her husband, the creator, director, writer, and star of the series, has been in a serious car crash in a part of Los Angeles he had no known reason to visit. In the next section, a series of rather confusingly time-stamped vignettes and press clips from the day before sets the stage. The show has received a devastating review from a prominent TV critic, threatening its prospects for renewal by the network; one sponsor has already dropped out. Meanwhile, Dinah is fed up with her life, and she’s experiencing physical symptoms of numbness; 17-year-old rock idol Shep has gotten one of his many female admirers pregnant; 22-year-old Guy has secretly dropped out of law school and is having a closeted gay relationship with one of his entourage. Yet the media continues to pump out PR-driven fluff on America’s Favorite Family. With Del now in a (secret) coma, the rest of the family must rally to complete the last two episodes of the season. A stunningly clunky series of developments makes Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique the deus ex machina of transformation for Dinah and a young journalist named Juliet Dunne, who becomes her collaborator. Downtrodden and trivialized at the Los Angeles Times, Juliet is so far best known for tabloid coverage of her relationship with a famous bad-boy musician. She and Dinah write a final episode that will drop-kick the Newmans out of their old-timey rut, with a hilariously hokey women’s consciousness-raising session convened along the way to help them hone their script.

Dedicated to delivering its liberatory messages, this purpose-built homage to 1960s television lacks humor and veracity.

The Jills

Parkman, Karen | Ballantine (384 pp.)

$30 | January 6, 2026 | 9780593982921

When a Buffalo Bills cheerleader goes missing, her friend’s desperate search uncovers a drug network in New York and Ohio. Performing as a dancer at Buffalo Bills games takes hours and hours of practice and preparation. But Virginia cherishes every opportunity to dance, as well as the tightly knit friendships among the women on the team. Like most of the Jills, she has to supplement her income by teaching fitness classes. Still, it’s a full life—one that she shares with another Jill, her best friend, Jeanine. One week, Jeanine doesn’t show up to dance at the game; Virginia is worried, and as the days pass with no word from Jeanine, her absence seems more and more ominous. Neither her wealthy boyfriend nor her trying-to-getstraight ex have seen Jeanine. Virginia’s investigations begin to uncover secrets and contradictions that make her even more concerned about her friend and start to send her into a spiral of her own, bringing up memories of everything she did to help her sister Laura kick a drug habit a few years earlier. Eventually, she has to turn to Laura for help, and they get pulled deeper and deeper into the dark side of Buffalo— the world of organized crime. Parkman spends a great deal of time in the early pages establishing the framework of the Jills as both a liberating and restricting force in Virginia’s life; as the novel progresses, though some of the friendships remain core, the dance

troupe takes on much more sinister overtones through its connections to mob families. Parkman may have begun this novel with the intention, as she writes in an author’s note, of shedding light on the complex experiences of women in these NFL troupes, but it becomes a more traditional thriller—less commentary, more action—as the plot unfolds. Virginia all but leaves the Jills behind as she digs desperately into this mystery that overlaps with trauma in her past. Surprisingly grim and psychologically complex.

The Flack

Parks, Brad | Oceanview Publishing (384 pp.) | $29.95 | February 3, 2026 9781608096473

A transplanted Midwestern reporter’s dream job in San Francisco turns into an even more improbable nightmare. Despite his obvious lack of qualifications, Curt Hinton is recruited for the position of the Bay Area Logistics Company’s vice president of corporate communications by his old college chum, Angel Reddish, Balco’s chief operations officer. Lured by a fabulous salary, lavish perks, and the humanity displayed by Balco founder Gehrig Weiskopf toward all his employees, he uproots his wife, Page, a pregnant educational consultant, and moves to a company-supplied dream house, only to find when he arrives for his first day on the job that Angel’s been killed in a carjacking—or, as Det. Mando Fierro of the Oakland PD puts it, a murder disguised to look like a carjacking. His best friend’s death is only the first of many unpleasant surprises Curt faces. Angel’s widow, cybersecurity consultant Aiysha Miller, gives him the cold shoulder at the funeral. Sidney Graves, Balco’s chief financial officer, is stung by Curt’s disagreement during a senior

staff meeting about how to deal with the imminent threat of unionization by predatory Rudy Szymanski of IWW–Local 37, and turns against him. Ron Talbot, an immigration reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, invites him to comment on a video showing a man wearing a Balco hat raping a woman. Curt’s secretary, beautiful Korynne Vuong, makes increasingly aggressive advances on him. If Curt’s descent into the hell of corporate communications is hard to believe, his success in responding to one crisis after the next, presumably enabled by his journalistic skills, is even harder—and his survival seems more and more unlikely as veteran thrillmeister Parks deepens his peril. Readers willing to suspend their disbelief in the name of their own abiding paranoia will enjoy every bumpy moment.

Married Life

Pitol, Sergio | Trans. by George Henson Deep Vellum (125 pp.) | $17.95 paper November 18, 2025 | 9781646054077

A Mexican woman tries to find meaning within her turbulent relationship. The specter of patriarchy follows Jacqueline Cascorro like a shadow. She is by turns furious, devoted, sexually inspired, loyal, and murderous in regard to her husband, Nicolás Lobato. Jacqueline is driven mad with envy by his infidelities, dutifully reported to her by his employees and family members. She’s left to deal with the “inevitable” nature of his extramarital

affairs. She copes with an improvisational spirit, turning to dalliances of her own and constantly cooking up murder plots with her lovers to remove this torturous stain from her life. And yet, she can’t escape Nicolás, even when he flees to Spain to distance himself from some bad business decisions. Upon his return to Mexico, Jacqueline is lured to him by some mix of magic and fate; her feelings shift from declaring that “her existence had been meaningless” without him to “she’d been the biggest fool in the world not to have had one or more lovers” while he was abroad. Pitol effortlessly captures the pain, ecstasy, and mundanity of marriage, the little moments that get amplified into life-altering landmarks, and the big choices forced into the deepest recesses of a person’s mind so that life can proceed unencumbered. Jacqueline tries to live independently of her husband’s rash, selfish choices, but time and again finds herself paralyzed by the prospect of a life without him. She just can’t quit Nicolás, for better and worse. The idea of marriage is interrogated from a number of intoxicating angles in this entertaining tragicomedy.

Shadow Ticket

Pynchon, Thomas | Penguin Press (304 pp.) $27 | October 7, 2025 | 9781594206108

Pynchon returns, this time with a wacky whodunit that spans two continents. What’s a sub without cheese? That’s not to be taken literally, like so much of Pynchon. The sub in question is a

A careening, oddly timely tour of recent history, and trademark Pynchon.

SHADOW TICKET

German one plying, in an unlikely scenario, the depths of Lake Michigan. There, in Milwaukee, we find Hicks McTaggart, gumshoe, who “has been ankling around the Third Ward all day keeping an eye on a couple of tourists in Borsalinos and black camel hair overcoats from the home office at 22nd and Wabash down the Lake”—the Chicago mob, in other words, drawn to Milwaukee in the void created by the absence of one Bruno Airmont, “the Al Capone of Cheese in Exile,” having legged it with a trunkload of cash some years earlier. Where could Bruno be? And why are those Germans, in those prewar days of Depression and protonationalism, skulking about under the waves? McTaggart will soon find out, sort of, having already been exposed to plenty of chatter—for, “this being Wisconsin, where you find more varieties of social thought than Heinz has pickles, over the years German American politics has only kept growing into a game more and more complicated.” Complicated it is. Trying to keep tabs on the twists and turns of Pynchon’s plot is a fool’s errand, but suffice it to say that it involves bowling, Les Paul, organized crime, Count Basie, a Russian bike gang, Nazis, and, yes, cheese, as well as some lovely psychedelic moments, including one where “fascist daredevil aviators are playing poker with Yangtze Patrol veterans who believe all that airplanes are good for is to be shot down.” Pynchon did the private dick thing to better effect in Inherent Vice (2009), a superior yarn in nearly every respect, so this one earns only an average grade—but then, middling Pynchon is better than a whole lot of writers’ best. A careening, oddly timely tour of recent history, and trademark Pynchon.

Rich Edwards, Janet | Spiegel & Grau (368 pp.) $30 | December 2, 2025 | 9781966302056

A young woman’s religious obsession affects those around her and highlights a tumultuous moment of great change for common people. From childhood, Aleys, a woolmaker’s daughter in medieval Brugge, Belgium, seeks the divine, like her mother, who inherited a beautiful illuminated psalter. Although the saints’ stories were written in Latin, Aleys’ mother told them from memory in Dutch, giving her daughter dreams of hair shirts and pilgrimages. After the mother’s death in childbirth, Aleys joins the Franciscan friars at the behest of one Friar Lukas. He tasks her to live with an order of beguines—secular women dedicated to good works—and recruit some to become Franciscan nuns. However, she finds that the beguines have their own purposes, including a clandestine reading circle, leaving them with little desire for ecstatic spirituality. Aleys’ visions are well described but not parsed in modern terms like neurodiversity or mental illness. She heals a few sick and dying people but cannot save the beguines’ magistra, Sophia, from death. Katrijn, Sophia’s deputy—and, perhaps lover—casts Aleys out of the community. Lukas’s older brother Jaan, the bishop of Tournai, uses Aleys as a prop to convince townspeople of the church’s power. Confused by her unpredictable gifts, Aleys accepts Jaan’s offer to make her an anchorite. She’ll live in a sealed room attached to the church and never leave, gaining status as a holy woman. Even in

strict confinement, Aleys has erotic visions of union with Jesus and Mary that echo the title’s reference to the Old Testament Song of Songs. Meanwhile, she teaches Marte, the beguine assigned to bring her meals, how to read and write, resulting in a showdown with an inquisitorial papal delegation. The ending might seem foregone, but author Rich Edwards has a twist or two in store, plus some stark examples of clerical corruption that are as relevant in the 21st century as they were in the 13th. In elegant prose, this deceptively quiet novel juggles big spiritual ideas with big social issues.

P.S. You’re the Worst

Seager, Chloe | Morrow/HarperCollins (320 pp.) | $18.99 paper | November 18, 2025 9780063307209

After a disastrous tarot reading, a woman blows up her life by sending honest letters to her nearest and dearest. Becky Alderton is nearly 30, and nothing in her life is going the way she’d always assumed it would. She’s single, perpetually going on terrible dates, and nursing an unrequited crush on her ex-boyfriend and current best friend, Max. She still lives with her mother, who actually gives her a curfew. Her job is a dead end, and Becky can’t stand any of her co-workers. Worst of all, her closest friends are all moving up in life—working in high-powered careers, buying houses, and getting married. Becky feels like she’s stuck. When she misinterprets a tarot reading and assumes she’s going to die, Becky finally springs

This quiet novel juggles big spiritual ideas with big social issues.

into action and writes painfully honest letters to everyone in her life. She tells one friend that her boyfriend sucks, her mother that she’s moving out, and her boss that she’s quitting. She also sends a letter to Max, confessing her love for him. With the letters sent, she’s ready to meet her maker—except she doesn’t. Becky remains stubbornly alive because it turns out the Death card in tarot doesn’t mean that literal death is on the immediate horizon. Now she has to deal with the fallout of her actions, which could push her into finally making some changes— or make her even more self-destructive. Becky is truly a mess, at rock bottom as she coasts through life with no motivation to change, but Seager casts her in an empathetic light. Becky claims that she’s “forever stuck in the role of ‘chaotic bi friend’ in the movie of [her] own life,” so her transformation as she gains self-respect feels hard-earned and satisfying. A funny and charming look at what it means to grow up and find your own way.

Kirkus Star

House of Day, House of Night

Tokarczuk, Olga | Trans. by Antonia Lloyd-Jones | Riverhead (336 pp.) | $28 December 2, 2025 | 9780593716380

A woman moves to a small Polish village that seems to contain the entire world within it. If the unnamed narrator of Tokarczuk’s latest novel appears to bear certain similarities to Tokarczuk herself—an abiding interest in mushrooms and astrology, say—that’s neither here nor there. The novel is set in a remote Polish village close to the Czech border: so close to the border, in fact, that when a visiting German tourist suddenly dies, border guards from both countries take turns moving the man’s body back and forth to avoid dealing with the paperwork. As in the tour de force Flights (2018), Tokarczuk favors a storytelling style that

more closely resembles a constellation— horizontal, spread-out, continually growing—over a single plotline. One chapter follows the life of a woman saint who was crucified by her father after suddenly growing a beard; others, the life of the monk who recorded the saint’s biography and couldn’t help feeling he’d been born into the wrong body. These chapters alternate with more mundane, domestic ones in which the narrator exchanges visits with her neighbor, Marta, or the other villagers go about their lives. And while at first there might appear to be little connection between the various narratives, gradually, and then more and more quickly, the connections accrue. One character is driven mad by the sudden realization that a planet he’d never known to exist had existed all along: “If you aren’t aware of something, does that mean it doesn’t exist?” he wonders. “If a person becomes aware of something, does that knowledge change him?” As a whole, the book is at once simpler and, at the same time, infinitely more complex than it at first appears.

An exquisitely constructed, mercurial gem from the Nobel prizewinner.

Galápagos

Vélez, Fátima | Trans. by Hannah Kauders Astra House (208 pp.) | $22 paper December 2, 2025 | 9781662602269

A gay Colombian man travels first to France and then to the Galápagos Islands while suffering from an unnamed illness.

Lorenzo’s life in Bogotá has grown stagnant. His partner of two years, a millionaire named Juan B, accuses him of being “a painter who doesn’t paint,” and that’s not far off—Lorenzo would rather watch Jeanne Moreau movies all day than work. But when an infected hangnail quickly escalates to Lorenzo losing every fingernail on both his hands, it becomes clear that he’s no longer in the bloom of health. Wanting to “tie up the loose threads of [his] life,” he returns to Paris to

A young fisherman stumbles upon an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

SEASCRAPER

meet with Donatien, a redheaded Breton who’s his former lover. As the two meander through the French countryside, meeting Donatien’s family and friends, Lorenzo tries to ignore the reality of his failing body. Then, at the novel’s halfway point, things take a sharp turn toward the surreal, and Lorenzo becomes a passenger on a boat full of fellow convalescents who embark on a hallucinatory Decameron The words “HIV” and “AIDS” never appear, but the novel’s 1992 setting, the overwhelming queerness of the plague victims, and the symptoms described make the subject clear. Vélez embraces the grotesquerie of decay from the very first page. Her run-on prose, translated from the Spanish by Kauders, is at times hypnotic (“The car stops just as I reach the threshold of sleep, the kind of afternoon drowsiness after a journey that makes a person never want to arrive, even if to arrive is all he once wanted...”)—and sometimes utterly disorienting. Readers sensitive to body horror or seeking a propulsive plot should look elsewhere; this is a novel for those unafraid of rough waters and strange seas. A voyage for only the most stalwart adventurers.

Seascraper

Wood, Benjamin | Scribner (176 pp.) | $26 November 4, 2025 | 9781668231715

A young, sour fisherman stumbles upon an opportunity to broaden his horizons. Wood’s fifth novel, a Booker Prize finalist, concerns a day in the life of Thomas Flett, a 20-year-old

man who, circa 1962, is grudgingly resigned to a fate gathering shrimp on the beach during low tide in his English seaside town. He has friends and a girl he’s working up the nerve to ask out, but mostly he’s locked into his work and life at home with his mother; his father died in World War II, and he learned the shrimping trade from his late grandfather. Thomas is an avid reader and budding songwriter, but he sees these creative pursuits as irrelevant, even embarrassing, given the tight family budget. That changes with the arrival of Edgar Acheson, a filmmaker who hires Thomas to guide him around the shore and help him consider the location as the site for his next movie, which he says Henry Fonda might sign on with. Edgar’s fresh perspective on the town—not to mention some pocket money—brightens Thomas’ spirits, as he reconsiders performing at an open mic, asking that girl out, and generally making something of himself. But is Edgar all he claims to be? And what if he isn’t? This all feels slight in summary, but Wood gives it an elegance and interiority that exposes how much one person can change the way we look at things. As for whether his run-in with Edgar is life-changing for Thomas, that’s a yes-and-no proposition. But Wood works in multiple plot twists in ways that are both inventive and realistic, suggesting that strangers aren’t always who they seem to be but can have a positive influence all the same.

A nuanced, gently romantic novel about ambition and identity.

For more by Benjamin Wood, visit Kirkus online.

A # 1 Indie Next and Library Reads Pick!

“King is a

genius

at writing

love stories

. .

. Tenderhearted readers will soak the pages of the last chapter with tears.”

- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

9.30.25

Trans Characters in the Spotlight

By Charlie Jane Anders

By Max Delsohn

Osworth

Jeanne Thornton

Book to Screen

Audition Film

Adaptation in the Works

Lucy Liu and Charles Melton will star in the movie based on Katie Kitamura’s novel.

Katie Kitamura’s Audition is headed to the big screen with Lucy Liu and Charles Melton attached to star, Deadline reports.

Kitamura’s novel, published in April by Riverhead, follows an actor who encounters a younger man who says he might be her son. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize, “In this searing, chilly, and psychologically profound story lies insight into some harrowing human questions.”

Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Chicago) and Melton (The Sun Is Also a Star, May December ) are the only cast members to be announced so far. The adaptation will be written by Lulu Wang (Posthumous, The Farewell ) and Martyna Majok (Preparation for the Next Life) and directed by Wang.

Liu and Kitamura are among the film’s executive producers.

Higher Ground Productions and LAIKA Studios will produce the movie. Higher Ground is the company founded by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama; Barack Obama included Audition on his summer reading list this year, calling the book “a quiet novel about the ways

we hide our true selves from others—and ourselves.”

Kitamura shared news of the adaptation on Instagram, writing, “Dream team. Dream director, dream cast, dream writer, dream producers.”—M.S.

For a review of Audition, visit Kirkus online.

and Charles

Eighteen vintage stories celebrate London’s sleuths.

METROPOLITAN MYSTERIES

Terror on the Train

Dams, Jeanne M. | Severn House (240 pp.) | $29.99 | December 2, 2025 9781448314782

A train trip across the U.S. pulls a married pair of sleuths into another case of murder. Retired English chief constable Alan Nesbitt and his American wife, Dorothy Martin, who’ve stumbled into a number of murders on their travels, are invited to the wedding of the daughter of retired Mountie John McKenzie and his wife, Amy, on Vancouver Island. They fly to Chicago, take the train to Seattle, and the ferry to the island. Amtrak is nowhere as nice as British or European railways, but their sleeper room is adequate, and their steward has an amusing Salvador Dalí mustache. Their dinner companions are Janet and her sister, Helen, who carries Rosa, a Chihuahua in a sling, a service dog who warns Helen of blood sugar problems arising from her diabetes. Dinner is interrupted by a rude individual, apparently a crew member, who insists that Rosa can’t be there. The food is good enough, but the view in April is boring…until they see a man falling from the train. The exterior door should have been locked, and the sleuths believe someone pushed him. It’s hard to get anyone interested in investigating, so Alan and Dorothy decide to get John McKenzie to help them do something. The dead man is finally identified as a disgraced wannabe veterinarian who killed a lot of animals and was hated by many people. While enjoying their

visit, Alan and Dorothy continue to hunt for clues and suspects in the death of a man no one will mourn. A convoluted case of possible murder mixes well with plentiful information on the beauties of the Pacific Northwest.

Who Killed Father Christmas?: And Other Seasonal Mysteries

Edwards, Martin, ed. | Poisoned Pen (288 pp.) | $15.99 paper October 21, 2025 | 9781464230462

E dwards’ fifth collection of 20th-century Christmas mysteries inevitably includes fewer familiar names and more discoveries. Readers should prepare for a certain amount of repetition even within these 15 tales, originally published between 1911 (Frank Howel Evans’ “The Christmas Thief”) and 1995 (Catherine Aird’s “Gold, Frankincense, and Murder”): robberies aboard trains, masquerades of criminals as coppers and vice versa, surprises that aren’t all that surprising. The best of the discoveries, Will Scott’s “The Christmas Train,” is also the smartest of those railroad thefts, although Garnett Radcliffe’s roughly contemporaneous “On the Irish Mail,” which telegraphs its twist much earlier, finishes a respectable second. J. Jefferson Farjeon’s “Secrets in the Snow” tells a story much like Evans’, but with far greater economy and professionalism. The humor in Peter Todd’s 1916 parody “Herlock Sholmes’ Christmas Case” is so obvious that many readers will be surprised by the

one-dimensional ingenuity of its puzzle. Of the big-name contributors, John Dickson Carr’s “Scotland Yard’s Christmas” (two robbery suspects disappear from closely watched telephone booths) and Michael Gilbert’s “The Bird of Dawning” (a local politician’s holiday festivities are marred by the apparent suicide of his agent) are as satisfying as roast goose or its vegan equivalent. Michael Innes’ quickie “Who Suspects the Postman?” and Patricia Moyes’ story about a slain Santa, which lends its title to the whole collection, are highly satisfactory side dishes. Ellis Peters’ “A Present for Ivo,” which uses the theft of a treasured old manuscript as the basis for a howdunit that turns into a chase, then an escape from captivity, and finally a climactic unmasking, is a perfect conclusion because, like “The 12 Days of Christmas,” it includes everything you can imagine.

The editor’s introduction indicates that he’s already thinking about a sixth collection: more Christmas gifts to dream of.

Metropolitan Mysteries: A Casebook of London’s Detectives

Edwards, Martin, ed. | Poisoned Pen (352 pp.) | $15.99 paper December 9, 2025 | 9781464237737

Eighteen vintage detective stories celebrate London’s sleuths, from the famous to the obscure. First published between 1908 and 1963, these tales offer readers the chance to sample the writings of a broad range of mystery writers, including iconic figures like Dorothy L. Sayers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Dickson Carr, and Margery Allingham; lesser-known authors like Baroness Orczy, Anthony Berkeley, Josephine Bell, Michael Gilbert, and Raymond Postgate; and virtual

unknowns like William Fienburgh, who died in a car crash at 38, leaving behind 25 short stories chronicling the adventures of Sergeant Pockle. Five female authors are represented, but only one woman manages to solve a crime: DCI Charley Luke’s mother, in Allingham’s “Mum Knows Best.” Edwards does not shy from allocating more than one story per author, offering both Inspector Poole and PC Bragg outings by Henry Wade and entries by both Carr and his alter ego, Carter Dickson. The stories share remarkable similarities. Unlike contemporary mystery stories, which often kick off with deep dives into the psyches of the perps and vics, helping readers appreciate the motivation for the eventual crimes, these tales get right down to the nitty-gritty, with corpses popping up regularly in the first few paragraphs. Detection is brisk and professional, and sleuths fix promptly on the one or two clues needed to crack the case. Still, the stories offer ample local color, highlighting for the most part the ordinary folk—shopkeepers, ticket-takers, hairdressers, steeplejacks, barmen, and the occasional government functionary—that give London its flair.

A welcome look at a distinctive turn in the history of detective fiction.

You’ve Lost

That Livin’ Feelin’

George, Nicholas | Severn House (256 pp.)

$29.99 | January 6, 2026 | 9781448319305

A pair of retired rock stars solves the murder of the celebrity impersonator known as Blue-Eyed Soul Squared. After decades as recording artists, married couple Adam Parrall and Shawna James have left the glamour of the music industry for a quiet retirement in the sleepy California coastal town of Cordoba. It’s been a long

time since Parallax topped the charts, but fond fans still accost them from time to time. Adam owns B-Sides at the Seaside, a record store, and hosts a local radio show, while Shawna diligently studies at the Cordoba Culinary Institute. George’s third novel is a cozy that introduces a community of amiable characters before the inevitable murder of Barry Haddon, who cobbles together a living by impersonating both of the Righteous Brothers. The initial investigators are Police Chief Teri Cortez and her deputy, Matt Barnes (Adam’s nephew), whose new wife, Heather, is expecting a baby. The tight community brings Adam and Shawna close to developments in the investigation. Barry’s memorial service doubles as a gathering of prime suspects. Chief among these is Barry’s troubled teenage son, Billy Bob, who has a knife that might be the murder weapon. The couple aren’t so sure about that, and their empathy for Billy Bob slowly draws them in. The whodunit is middling, but the cast of quirky Cordobans is enjoyable, and delightfully detailed references to bygone music stars are peppered throughout. Nostalgic comfort food for mystery fans of a certain age.

Dark Humor

Goldman, Matt | Severn House (256 pp.) | $29.99 | December 2, 2025 9781448317936

Two years after his wife’s death, private investigator Nils Shapiro is finally poised to find and punish her killer.

Most people know Sammy Sykes as a

celebrity pitchman, but Nils knows him as the drug lord who ordered the hit on Gabriella Nuñez, the Minneapolis police chief who was his wife and colleague. Now that he’s gotten a huge payout, retired from the force, and returned to Stone Arch Investigations with his old friend Anders Ellegaard, Nils is intent on making Sammy pay the price. During his supervised visit with Sammy’s daughter, dirty ex-cop Anna Sykes, Nils notices a subtle tell that prison guard William Schmiechen is on Sammy’s payroll, and that’s all it takes to start him on a trail of criminal contacts that winds from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Munich before ending in Salzburg. Along the way, he mentions to wealth manager Casey Van der Ven, who’s sitting next to him on a transatlantic flight, that he’s a private eye, and when she asks him to find her missing husband, cheese importer Ivan Dijkstra, the tale moves decisively into Jack Reacher territory, as Nils pursues one case that’s come to him out of nowhere and another that couldn’t be more personal. Confronting Sammy under less than ideal circumstances, he’s ready to let him off the hook until his quarry threatens his 6-year-old daughter, Evelyn. From that point on, there’s no going back. Goldman piles on the complications and unwinds the mysteries in a taut, grimly humorous first-person narrative that explains his title better than any single incident in the story.

Perfect reading for an airplane, foreign hotel, or anywhere else you have a few hours to enliven.

A pair of retired rock stars solves the murder of a celebrity impersonator.

YOU’VE

LOST THAT LIVIN’ FEELIN’

A small town offers opportunities and dangers to a group of entrepreneurs.

DEATH AND DINUGUAN

The Quiet Mother

Indridason, Arnaldur | Trans. by Philip Roughton | Minotaur (352 pp.) | $29 December 9, 2025 | 9781250403766

A detective’s connection to a brutal murder triggers soulsearching and painful memories. In a crowded block of Reykjavík apartments, no one notices when a woman is murdered by a shadowy figure. Called in to examine the scene, Marta, chief inspector of the Reykjavík CID, finds the phone number of retired detective Konrád on the victim’s desk. Konrád and the woman, Valborg, had recently had a fateful meeting at a museum, where she implored him for help in finding the son she’d given up for adoption decades earlier. Immersed in investigating the unsolved murder of his father, Konrád had never followed up. Now, in light of Valborg’s death, he feels compelled to find her child and deliver her a kind of justice. Several threads are woven into the plot of Konrád’s third case. Flashbacks take the reader through Valborg’s sad story, while Konrád is overwhelmed with memories of his strict father and difficult childhood. Marta questions Valborg’s neighbors, each with their own subplot. Multiple stories of abuse and loss add texture to the crime at the heart of the story. In the hands of this award-winning master of Icelandic Noir, the thematic link in this tapestry is the haunting of the present by the past. In the course of his probe, Konrád is reunited with his childhood friend Eygló, a colorful psychic investigator who held séances with her

father and took a pivotal role in The Girl by the Bridge (2023).

A complex, compassionate mystery with mesmerizing paranormal trappings.

Kirkus Star

Illusion of Truth

L’Etoile, James | Oceanview Publishing (366 pp.) | $19.99 paper | January 6, 2026 9781608096497

A series of explosions rocks Sacramento in general and Det. Emily Hunter in particular. Shortly after she indicates that she’s not yet ready to move in with Sgt. Brian Conner, Emily learns that he’s near death after someone, or something, detonates a device after he responded to a false report of violence at a neighborhood church. Brian survives the attack and eventually comes out of his coma minus a few internal organs—but the bomber has only just started. Spurred by a second attack on two of her colleagues, Emily and her team, aided by computer geek Officer Clay Milton, trace the likely source of the components to Full Charge Electronics, which is owned by City Councilman Rob Davis, a vocal opponent of the city’s police, whom he insists are disrupting the peace they claim to be promoting. This lead blows up in their faces, though, when Davis is killed in a car bombing and his widow threatens to sue the police department, which is already under siege from several directions, from gang warfare to funding cuts to public opinion. The

label on a file Davis had grabbed to take to his car moments before his death alerts Emily to a fatal but long-forgotten SWAT team incident in which Brian had taken part, and the trail leads to a suspect who’s never forgotten that incident, which left the rest of his family dead. Just as other procedurals would be winding down, however, L’Etoile is gearing up for further complications, revelations, and reversals, and complacent readers who assume they’ve finally figured it all out will have another think coming, and then another after that.

Everything you read police stories for is here, and much, much more.

Death and Dinuguan

Manansala, Mia P. | Berkley (304 pp.) $18.99 paper | November 25, 2025 9780593549209

A small town offers fresh opportunities and dangers to a family-oriented group of female entrepreneurs. Life in Shady Palms suits Lila Macapagal down to the Illinois ground. The tiny town is devoid of chain restaurants and megastores (there’s not even a Walmart), leaving plenty of room for Lila, Elena Torres, and Adeena Awan to offer residents treats like mocha chai latte and white chocolate flavored with pistachio, rose water, and cardamom at boutique shops like  their Brew-ha Cafe. But the partners can’t help but notice that female-owned businesses seem to be disproportionately targets of smash-and-grab robberies. They’ve even discussed this trend at the Women of Color entrepreneur group. Still, it isn’t until burglars hit Choco Noir, owned by Blake Langrehr, that the break-ins extend to include casualties. Blake is killed, and Lila’s boyfriend Jae Park’s cousin Hana Lee, who worked there, is left in a coma. Lila vows to find out who hurt

Hana—who’d come to Shady Palms to find peace and healing after her husband died—but her investigation proceeds slowly because of all the family dinners, karaoke nights, and WOC meetings that intervene, each with its own large cast of sisters and cousins and aunts. Even a visit to Hana in the intensive care unit involves half a dozen people. Readers who like their mysteries, like Brew-ha’s confections, crammed full of goodies, are likely to enjoy Manansala’s tale more than those who prefer a more trimmed-down approach to detection.

For armchair detectives who think more is more.

Murder at Cottonwood Creek

McKenna, Clara | Kensington (304 pp.) $27 | November 25, 2025 | 9781496748539

A hair-raising Wild West adventure awaits British aristocrats. Montana in 1906 may not be quite as wild as in the recent past, but it’s certainly exciting enough for Lord Atherly, who’s fossil hunting and awaiting the arrival of his heir, Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, and his wife, Stella, on the Ninebark Ranch owned by Ned Smith, the second husband of Stella’s mother. Stella and Lyndy, coming from Kentucky after having settled her father’s estate, arrive with some Thoroughbred horses as a gift, only to hear that Lord Atherly is missing. Hit on the head by a tree branch, Atherly wanders in the wilderness until

journalist Purdy Sullivan finds him and returns to the camp, where Professor Amos Gridley is directing the search for early horse fossils. A lot of bickering occurs in the camp among the fossil hunters and the recently arrived rival fossil hunter, Dr. Aurelius Moss. While Atherly’s group is out looking for escaped horses, they come upon a body in the creek, which turns out to be that of Harp Richter, the guard at their camp. The group is reluctant to call on Sheriff Hank Becker, who, as it happens, is willing to listen to Stella’s suspicions of murder. Coroner Elmer Claxton, Becker’s enemy, then pushes through a verdict of accidental death. Atherly then realizes that some of his fossils have been stolen, and Ninebark is accused of stealing horses. Since her marriage, Stella has helped to solve several complicated murder cases, and she has to solve this one to save her mother and father-in-law from disaster. Striking scenery and interesting fossil lore enhance a Western adventure showcasing a feisty detective.

Murder in Manhattan

Mulhern, Julie | Forever (352 pp.) | $17.99 paper | December 9, 2025 | 9781538773567

A string of murders shakes up a society columnist’s sophisticated world. Why do all journalists in early 20th-century New York get to party with the Fitzgeralds? Morris Markey squired Zelda to the scandalous Midnight Frolic in Mariah Fredericks’ The Girl in the Green Dress

A Wild West adventure awaits British aristocrats.

(2025), and now Freddie Archer, author of the Touch of Rouge column in Gotham magazine, pours herself into a taxi and goes off to frolic with Zelda and her husband at the Biltmore Cascades to escape the midsummer heat. Unfortunately, bootlegger Jake Haskell is murdered that same night, bringing NYPD Detective Mike Sullivan to the Gotham office while Freddie’s nursing her latest hangover. Sullivan asks Freddie to describe the woman Haskell was with at the Biltmore and to keep her eyes open during her nightly pub crawls. That she does, and she’s rewarded by witnessing an almost daily string of murders: at the Greenwich Inn (edgy bohemian vibe), King Tut’s (strictly for the butter-and-egg crowd), Club Monaco (ho-hum decor but fabulous music), and the alley behind designer Sophie Carmaux’s studio (gutter ambiance, smells like fish). Having thrown over fiancé Nick Peters for suggesting that after their marriage, they might move to Connecticut, she’s happy to meet Brandt Abrams, one of the few men she’s encountered who respects her taste for urban adventure. Mulhern gives Freddie a host of colorful characters to play off, but her spirited heroine is clearly the star of the show.

Sex and the City, circa 1920.

The Snow Lies Deep

Munier, Paula | Minotaur (320 pp.) | $29 December 2, 2025 | 9781250389985

A holly, jolly Christmas celebration is spoiled by murder. Mercy Carr and her husband, Troy Warner, are thrilled to be celebrating baby Felicity’s first Christmas. Mercy, Felicity, and their Belgian Shepherd, Elvis, have finally made it to the head of the line to see Santa—not the usual Santa, but his

Madeline

Brimley

has moved back home to run

the Old Juniper bookshop.

replacement, Lazlo Ford, a respected CPA Mercy knows as Uncle Laz— when he gets a phone call and hurries off. Mercy hands Felicity to a friend and, taking Elvis, goes after Laz, only to find him dead in the woods with a burning yule log on his body. Though Mercy is busy with her baby and her wildlife studies, her background as a military police officer has helped her solve several murders, and her family draws her into this one. Meanwhile, Troy and his dog, Susie Bear, are pursuing an illegal trapper whose misdeeds are worse than imagined. The escaping poacher’s accidental fall unearths a hidden skull with a bullet hole. Lazlo’s death brings to the fore a local woman claiming to be his pregnant fiancée and a stunning Russian woman claiming to be his daughter. In fact, many clues point to Russia, especially the tale of the Snow Maiden, bringing Mercy’s Uncle Hugo, who is associated with a spy agency, into the investigation. Obviously, there was a lot more to Laz than people knew, including the impressive balance in his Swiss bank account. The next to go is the Singing Plumber, who dies while singing at one of the festivities. What do a Russian assassin, a druid group, a poacher, and a faux religious group have to do with the murders? Christmas minutiae and a truly complex mystery bring thrills and joy to a hometown celebration.

All My Bones

Nelson, P.J. | Minotaur (352 pp.) | $28 December 2, 2025 | 9781250909978

A plan to beautify a front yard turns up longburied bones. Madeline Brimley has moved back to Enigma, Georgia, to run the Old Juniper bookshop that her Aunt Rose left her. In the six months since she arrived, she’s solved a murder, found a love interest, and made up with Rose’s best friend, Dr. Philomena Waldrop, who’s recently emerged from a stay in a private psychiatric facility to return as head of Barnsley College’s psychology department. All seems wonderful until Madeline decides that the front yard needs to match the beauty of her back garden. Her friend Gloria Coleman, an Episcopal priest, suggests she plant rose bushes, and since it’s Sunday and the garden center is closed, the two friends decide to get a head start on things by digging in the rockhard soil. Then they hit a white rock that’s actually a human skull. The law, in the person of Billy Sanders, suggests that a skull with a broken neck might point to a murder. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrives after the medical examiner agrees that it’s murder. Although they keep mum about the victim’s identity, everyone soon knows that the body was that of Beatrice Glassie. Soon, Bea’s wealthy sister, Idell, loudly accuses Gloria of murdering Bea, who’d tried to get

her fired because she suspected her of trying to attract her beau, Kell Brady. When Idell uses her influence to get Gloria arrested, Madeline gets to work to prove her friend’s innocence. Kell Brady is still around, and his interest in rare books catches Madeline’s attention while she searches for the truth. A group of friends proves to be good detectives who solve a murder with mixed motives.

Vows and Villainy

Penney, Elizabeth | Minotaur (288 pp.) | $9.99 paper November 25, 2025 | 9781250388469

Two weddings and a murder. American expatriate Molly Kimball has taken time off from the bookstore she co-owns in Cambridge to spend time at Hazelhurst House, where her friend Daisy Watson is soon to be married. Molly tours the gardens with Daisy and her mother as well as the estate’s owner, Lady Asha Scott, who’s the mother of Molly’s boyfriend, Kieran, when they come upon Sir Nigel Peck floating in the moat. Lady Asha’s other son, Alan, hears the commotion and leaps into the moat to find Sir Nigel dead with a nasty head wound. Sir Nigel was the big name in a Shakespearean acting troupe of which Alan’s a member; they’ve been staying at Hazelhurst for the summer while they stage a play. Sir Nigel recently caused a scandal by mistreating actors at a school so severely that one of them died. In addition to friends of the boy who died, Sir Nigel was disliked by almost everyone he ever worked with, even his wife. Daisy’s mother, a theater costumer who’s helping the production while making the wedding party dresses, knows where all the bodies are buried. Molly’s Aunt

Violet is also getting married despite the disapproval of her future mother-in-law, who’s 95. A series of threatening texts addressed to Molly and others only makes her more eager to solve the crime, but her involvement in earlier murder cases has put her in a rocky relationship with the police. Between two weddings, her work at the bookstore, and furthering her romantic relationship, Molly’s hard-pressed to question people and follow clues in her hunt for a killer.

Plenty of suspects float through a lovely British landscape as they slowly reveal their secrets.

A Lion’s Ransom

Robb, Candace | Severn House (272 pp.) $29.99 | January 6, 2026 | 9781448313174

Owen Archer, captain of the city of York, must go the extra mile to keep the peace. The death of King Edward III in 1377 sparks a race for power among those who think Richard II is too young to be king. The combatants include Sir John Neville, a power in the north, and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whom Richard’s mother, Princess Joan, considers too unpopular and dangerous to serve as Regent. In York, the goldsmith’s guild has created a magnificent golden lion to curry favor with the new king. When it’s stolen, Owen faces a difficult task. His household currently includes his wife, Lucie, a healer, and their children, along

with Martin Wirthir, an aging, sickly former diplomat, pirate, and spy. While foraging for plants for her potions, Lucie, her daughter Gwen, and Dame Magda Digby find the body of a naked man in the river. Although he’d recently stabled his horse nearby, the man’s not easy to identify. Archer seeks out Costen van Peelt, an artist widely suspected of being a spy, hoping he may have seen the dead man, but he proves uncooperative. A pack and clothes are finally found, identifying the dead man as Walter Bolton. Bolton worked for Sir John Neville, and items found hidden in his clothes reveal him as a spy. Archer must be very careful as he continues his hunt for thieves, spies, and killers, and more corpses pile up as people try to cover their tracks.

Wander through the streets of York, soaking in historical detail in this thorny maze of many mysteries.

Swallowtail

Ross, Emily | Galiot Press (334 pp.) $19.99 paper | November 18, 2025 9798998954733

The killer who took the life of a 16-year-old girl in Quincy, Massachusetts, seems to have struck again 20 years later.

The novel begins with its narrator—the Quincy Police Department’s Det. Samantha Star, who grew up in town—recounting her 1994 abduction at age 16; her captivity ended when a detective discovered

her later that night “in a couple of inches of water at the bottom of a ravine hidden in the miles of wooded wilderness near Quincy.” Samantha was lucky: Her best friend and companion that night, Bridget McGann, didn’t escape with her life. Now it’s 2014, and Samantha still can’t remember what happened between her abduction and her rescue, but ever since, she has been periodically overwhelmed by “episodes,” or fragmentary visions, tied to the tragedy. Also tethering Samantha’s past to her present is the murderer, who has occasionally sent her letters that contain clue-like references to Greek mythology. Samantha remains bent on solving her friend’s murder, and 20 years later, a new case suggests a link: The body of a man who overdosed is mutilated in a way that recalls what happened to Bridget. Things get even more personal for Samantha when yet another corpse is found—this time it’s the body of a member of her teenage daughter’s dance team. Ross’ capably structured first mystery for adults reads like something of a throwback, with its throughline about tapping into Samantha’s repressed memories and its use of reheated language (there’s a lot of eye-rolling and brow-raising). There’s some good stuff here about Samantha’s insider-outsider status, though it vies for attention with the book’s more psychologically frothy sections. As for the mystery’s multiple reveals, they’re probably equally likely to inspire “Oh my gods!” and “Oh, come ons!” Works dramatically until it shirks plausibility.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Beyond the Board: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Daring Big Wave Surfer by Maya Gabeira (Amulet/ Abrams)

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate, illus. by Charles Santoso (Feiwel & Friends)

We Loved To Run by Stephanie Reents (Hogarth)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Who We Are: America’s Fight for Universal Progress, From Franklin to Kennedy, Vols. I (1750s-1850s) and II (1830s-1890s), by Anton Chaitkin

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.

Fully Booked

Rabih Alameddine returns with the tragicomic tale of a son (and his mother). BY MEGAN LABRISE

EPISODE 441: RABIH ALAMEDDINE

On this episode of Fully Booked , Rabih Alameddine joins us to discuss The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) (Grove, September 2). Kirkus calls the award-winning author’s latest novel “a sharp exploration of resilience in dark times.”

Alameddine is the author of the novels The Wrong End of the Telescope (PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner, 2022); The Angel of History ; An Unnecessary Woman (National Book Award finalist, 2014); The Hakawati ; I, the Divine ; and Koolaids ; the story collection The Perv ; and one work of nonfiction, Comforting Myths . He is visiting chair of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University.

Here’s a bit more from our review of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) : “Alameddine is gifted at finding the humor in what for most writers would be singularly traumatic themes, including AIDS, the Lebanese Civil War, and the plight of Middle Eastern migrants. Here, he applies his sardonic wit again to the Civil War as well as the calamities of Covid-19, Lebanon’s banking collapse, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion. But before all that, the title characters are bickering. Raja, a respected philosophy teacher with one acclaimed book to his credit, has been living with his elderly mother in a small apartment made even smaller by the presence of more extended relatives. Exasperated with being reduced to his mother’s ‘homosexual nonbreeding son,’ as well as her dangerous involvement in antigovernment protests, he seeks a respite, and one finds him: an all-expenses-paid residency at an

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

Alameddine, Rabih Grove | 336 pp. | $28.00 September 2, 2025 9780802166470

institution in the United States.…But before exploring that, Raja relates the story of his two-month captivity at the hands of an acquaintance during the 1975 Civil War.…Raja’s fatalism is well honed by his period of torment, but also by the everyday annoyances of his family. On both levels, it’s a peculiar but lively and humane book.”

Alameddine and I discuss the importance of devotion, the complexities of love, Alison Bechdel, W.G. Sebald, hypotaxis, author photos, and the irrepressibility of the human spirit. Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.

Oliver Wasow

To listen to the episode, visit Kirkus online.

The Sky of Sacrifice

Aguilar Solace, Rosalia | Blackstone (450 pp.) | $28.99 | November 18, 2025 9798212537926 | Series: Book of Wisdom, 2

The Great Library’s Sages gear up to battle the darkness once more, in the second volume of the Book of Wisdom trilogy. Suttaru is dead, but the realms of Paperworld are still under threat from Edwin Payne, the Rogue Sage, and his machinations. After an Unwritten monster murders the freshly minted Sage of Hope, Nu, Robin, and the remaining Sages search for a way to combat the darkness. They land upon the Maksus Stone, an artifact Suttaru mentioned in his ancient diary. Unfortunately for the heroes, the stone is currently split into three pieces: one inside the Great Library and the other two scattered to the realms. With some help from their old friend Arturo, Nu and Robin head to the Mother Tree in pursuit of one fragment, last seen in the scholar Haruto’s possession. Their search takes them to Adscendo, a fantastical realm of floating mountains, where Haruto is rumored to have absconded. But Payne is still working in the background, and he may outpace—and outwit—them all. The second entry in Aguilar Solace’s planned trilogy fails to launch, to the point that even readers who enjoyed the first novel will find this one less than compelling. A subplot involving another group of Sages and their search for the other Maksus Stone fragment wraps up too quickly and predictably. The dialogue is wooden and contains awkward info dumps. The bulk of the novel lacks any real tension, as the characters’ problems resolve no sooner than they appear. Everyone knows where to go and what to do in all situations. They immediately recognize newly introduced groups and objects, down to their history and use. Whenever the Sages make a request, it is honored instantly, without question or concern. This absence of conflict lasts until the final showdown with the

primary antagonist, but by then, it’s too little, too late.

An uninspired fantasy adventure.

Kirkus Star

Outlaw Planet

Carey, M.R. | Orbit (496 pp.) | $19.99 paper November 18, 2025 | 9780316595469

Classic (almost creaky) Western and science fiction tropes collide to brilliant, fresh effect in this adjunct to the Pandominion duology (Echo of Worlds, 2024).

A world where humans are descended from a variety of mammals endures its own equivalent of the U.S. Civil War—the northern, industrialized Parity arming against the southern, rural, and slave-owning Echelon. When a marauding Parity gang’s rampage in a frontier Echelon town kills otter-descended schoolteacher Martha Good, her lover, dog-descended fellow teacher Elizabeth Indigo Sandpiper, joins a group of Echelon guerrilla fighters, seeking a violent revenge that the gentle Miss Martha never would have wanted and earning her the moniker “Dog-Bitch Bess.” Assisting her in these brutal endeavors is Wakeful Slim, a multifunctional AI gun that’s a piece of ancient Precursor technology. In the distant past, a Pandominion strike team pursues rebels seeking a return to the old government’s policy of conquest over parallel Earths; the chase strands the rebels on an Earth whose inhabitants are unwitting participants in a terrible experiment. These two storylines converge after Bess, who’s on the run from Parity forces, picks up a new companion with a mysterious mission. In addition to the iconic tragedy of the gunslinger, whose bloody path can only have one ending, Carey adds the tragedies of the sentient gun and armed drone; this is probably the first time you will

sympathize with actual weapons. Perhaps the messaging around the racism directed toward the novel’s Black and Native American analogues is a bit obvious, but it does two very important things: It highlights both how artificial the categories are that we put people into, and how the thoughtless acceptance of those categories leads to more brutal consequences. Another enjoyable and earnest effort by Carey to celebrate autonomy and sentience in all its forms.

The Library of Fates

Harrison, Margot | Graydon House (336 pp.) $30 | December 2, 2025 | 9781525804311

When the librarian of the Library of Fates mysteriously dies and the magical book she’s charged with protecting goes missing, it falls to her talented protégé and her estranged son to find it before it’s too late.

The Library of Fates, tucked away in an unassuming building on Harvard’s campus, is far from an ordinary library. Students know that if you walk in and ask for a book to guide you through a difficult time, the librarian will choose a volume that can change your life. This is, in no small part, due to the presence of The Book of Dark Nights, a strange and extremely powerful tome with the ability to show someone who they might become. When Odile Vernet, the keeper of The Library of Fates, abruptly dies, it falls to her young and immensely talented protégé, Eleanor Dennet, to take up the position. Eleanor soon discovers that The Book of Dark Nights, along with all the secrets it holds in its pages, has gone missing, stolen from under everyone’s noses, presumably in the wake of Odile’s death. She soon joins forces with Odile’s estranged—and extremely handsome—son, Daniel, in order to find it. The story is told in chapters alternating between 2019, as Eleanor and Daniel race against time to

try to recover The Book of Dark Nights, and 1995, when they first met as Odile’s students and sparks began to fly between them; Harrison’s book checks every box for readers looking for something with a little bit of magic and a little bit of romance. While it contains an entertaining mystery, at heart this is a novel about the power of a good book and how that book can change a person’s life if it’s read at the right moment.

A contemporary tale of magic, books, and love.

This Brutal Moon

Jacobs, Bethany | Orbit (480 pp.)

$19.99 paper | November 11, 2025

9780316463669 | Series: Kindom Trilogy, 3

An intricate political space opera comes to an explosive finale in the Kindom Trilogy’s last installment. After launching a violent coup, First Cloak Seti Kess, head of the Kindom government’s military arm, faces obstacles in stabilizing his regime: Not all of the politically powerful First Families are on his side, rebels are launching attacks, and the interplanetary economy teeters without the Jeveni, the despised minority who are the only ones with the willingness and expertise to process spaceship fuel. As Kess consolidates his alliances, moves against the rebels, and prepares to invade the hidden Jeveni planet of Capamame, his enemies make their own desperate plans. The popular Cleric Chono reluctantly develops her own power base, the Jeveni prepare their last-ditch defenses, and Chono’s beloved former schoolmate Six makes the best of a difficult situation, as their disguise as sociopathic First Family matriarch Esek Nightfoot begins to slip. Jacobs keeps up the excitement she generated in the two previous books; the thrilling climactic conflict takes place across multiple locations, battles, and clever infiltrations of the enemy stronghold, reading like a more complex and considerably more

violent version of The Return of the Jedi finale—you can almost see the screen wipes between scenes. However, there are fewer surprises; at least two twists are such classic thriller tropes that the reader will surely see them coming. The focus of the book is on a more emotional level.

The author’s note explains that the trilogy explores what happens in the aftermath of a genocide, and of course, it does that. It takes a compassionate and intelligent look at how individuals respond to significant past trauma in their lives, striving either to break or continue the cycle of violence. There’s also the socioeconomic point that if your vast economy depends on an industry operated by an oppressed minority, perhaps it’s a bad idea to treat those people so badly that they’ll do anything to escape you. It seems obvious, but certainly there are contemporary parallels.

A reasonably rewarding and thought-provoking wrap-up.

A Ruin, Great and Free

Turnbull, Cadwell | Blackstone (374 pp.)

$29.99 | September 16, 2025 9781094175904 | Series: Convergence Saga, 3

A trilogy and a multiversal crisis conclude, with a bonus follow-up to a previously standalone novel.

The actions of the violent human-supremacist group known as the Black Hand have driven witches, shifters, vampires, and other assorted monsters and their allies into small towns hidden by magic. In the refuge called Moon, some of the restless residents are sneaking out to visit neighboring towns, threatening to blow their cover both to the Black Hand and to the Black Hand’s secret monster backers, the Cult of the Zsouvox. Meanwhile, in the universe from Turnbull’s first novel, The Lesson (2019), Patrice Paige uses technology that the alien Ynaa left behind after their disastrous first contact with humanity

to increase her political influence and shield the Earth from all future alien encounters, even as the Ynaa known as Mera rebels against her people’s conquest of other planets. But these crises pale against the larger-scale threat: Both of these universes, and indeed all universes, are threatened by the Zsouvox, a creation of the gods that seeks to devour everything that exists. It’s a lot to take in; as always, Turnbull packs in a ton of plot within a relatively economical number of pages. The advantage of writing in a multiverse is that it allows you to throw in any storyline; whether it makes sense to have added a resolution to The Lesson here is difficult to say. It does share a common theme with the main monsterverse plot, best summed up by that well-known aphorism attributed to Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben: With great power comes great responsibility. If you have magic, physical strength, advanced alien tech, and/or immortality, it behooves you to do the right thing; the trick is figuring out what the right thing is. Turnbull settles the more cosmic conflicts and perhaps even some of the personal ones, but leaves the broader social confrontation of prejudice somewhat more open-ended, other than suggesting that while violence can be remarkably effective in quashing opposition on a small scale, it’s not going to solve the larger problem. Given how central anti-monster prejudice is to the story, it leaves the Convergence Saga feeling curiously unresolved. But it’s hard to say how Turnbull could have resolved it, and perhaps that nagging feeling is deliberate on his part. Magic might fan the flames of hatred, but people don’t need the devil to do evil. Brilliant and profoundly creative, but not entirely easy or satisfying to grasp.

For more by Cadwell Turnbull, visit Kirkus online.

Something Wicked

Ballard, Falon | Putnam (384 pp.) | $32 December 2, 2025 | 9780593854679

A magical courtesan and a dethroned prince must work together to protect the future of their country. Lady Caterine works at Avon’s fanciest “pleasure club,” La Puissance, but she isn’t just any courtesan—she’s also Gifted, a person who possesses magical powers. Cate’s power is an unusual one—she can influence the emotions of anyone who has an orgasm in her presence. Gifted people have long been discriminated against in Avon and are subject to many restrictive laws, but that’s all about to change, thanks to the Uprising that overthrows the monarchy. Callum Reid, a nowdethroned prince, knows that he would be the best ruler for his country, but a new law states that presidential candidates must kill the current monarch of their respective provinces. This means that Callum would have to kill his own father, and he can’t overcome his guilt at the thought of assassinating a parent. Luckily, there’s someone who can help—Lady Caterine. Callum holds a deep prejudice against the Gifted, while Cate harbors resentment against the ruling class. But they’ll have to trust each other when it becomes clear that there are many people working against them—people who’d love to take over La Puissance and the country. Try as they might to resist the feelings growing between them, it turns out that spending a week together in a pleasure club makes it difficult to avoid falling in love. Ballard, who’s known for her contemporary romances, jumps into the romantasy subgenre with both feet and creates a believable world that’s full of betrayal, sex, royals, magic, and shades of Shakespeare. An extremely steamy fantasy filled with romantic and political intrigue.

A 27-year-old woman visits a sex club hoping to lose her virginity.

SPARKS FLY

Second Chance Romance

Dade, Olivia | Avon/HarperCollins (400 pp.) | $18.99 paper

November 25, 2025 | 9780063215979

A woman reunites with her high school crush due to an accidental obituary. Molly Dearborn and Karl Dean were high school friends who harbored crushes on each other. Nothing happened between them and then a big misunderstanding drove them apart, and they haven’t spoken in 22 years. Molly moved away and wound up married, while Karl stayed in their hometown of Harlot’s Bay, Maryland, and opened a bakery. Now Molly makes a living as an audiobook narrator for steamy monster erotica, not realizing that her old friend and crush is her biggest fan. He diligently listens to all of her work as a way of being close to her, which is an adorably sweet secret given his outwardly gruff demeanor. When Molly hears that Karl’s obituary has run in the hometown paper, she immediately flies back, only to find Karl very much alive and well. Dade’s romances are always a mix of exaggerated humor and body positivity, and this one is no different. Both main characters have major issues vocalizing their feelings, which is exactly what led them to cut contact after high school. With more than two decades apart and Karl still very much in love with Molly, you might expect things to have improved. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen—they’re still just as emotionally stunted as ever. Molly is guarded and slow to trust, while Karl is borderline monosyllabic. The characters’ chemistry

feels described, rather than seen. Harlot’s Bay, previously seen in At First Spite (2024), is alive with quirky characters, and their shenanigans tend to take over the spotlight. Fans of the series will rejoice at returning to town, while readers starting here may be overwhelmed by the tweeness of it all. A paper-thin conflict is partially saved by a chaotically cute cast and cozy setting.

Sparks Fly

Jamal, Zakiya N. | Berkley (320 pp.) | $19 paper | December 2, 2025 | 9780593953839

A 27-year-old woman visits a sex club hoping to lose her virginity. Writer Stella Johnson is tired of waiting to meet the right person organically, so when her roommate plans a trip to a sex club, Stella is determined to finally take care of her pesky virginity problem once and for all. She hits it off with a handsome man, and it seems her luck has changed, but the interlude fizzles out when neither of them has a condom. Max Williams is disappointed and kicks himself for not exchanging contact information with the intriguing woman from the club. The next day, Stella is shocked to find Max in the office of the digital magazine where she works. Max owns an AI company and is her chief executive’s brother; at his brother’s request, he’s created an AI assistant to “help” the digital magazine’s staff complete research and writing tasks. Stella and her coworkers suspect this means layoffs are imminent and are determined to

avoid using the new AI. Max is thrilled to see Stella again and asks her out on a date, promising a more conventional opportunity to get to know each other. Aware of the bad optics, they pledge to keep their personal lives separate from the office and embark on a charming, sexy romance. The chemistry and banter between the two lovers is the highlight of YA author Jamal’s adult romance debut, but the AI assistant plot is hard to swallow; readers are unlikely to believe Max’s shock over his brother’s Machiavellian plans to lay off the writing staff and replace their work with output from the AI.

A fine romance, despite some questionable plot points.

An Academic Affair

McAlister, Jodi | Atria (384 pp.) | $19 paper November 11, 2025 | 9781668092330

Australian academic rivals use a loophole to land the same job. Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been clashing since they were freshmen in college. Both are part of Sydney’s academic precariat, adjuncts who cobble together jobs teaching English until they can land full-time positions. Now in their early 30s, they have been housemates for the past eight years, living with others in a large six-bedroom share house. When the perfect position for both of them is listed in Hobart, each has personal reasons for wanting the job. Sadie wants financial independence and distance from her supportive but smothering older sister, Chess. Jonah wants to be closer to his sister, Fiona, who’s going through a brutal

divorce. Sadie lands the job, but the contract outlines a benefit called “partner hire,” which compels the university to find work for a qualified spouse. Feeling guilty, Sadie convinces Jonah they should get married. After all, they have the same address, and plenty of people have observed their lustful dynamic. After a lengthy exposition of the scheme’s logistics, Sadie and Jonah finally arrive in Hobart. The plot is driven by describing their workload and clashes with the administration’s restructuring team, while the emotional heart of the book is in their relationships with their siblings. Sadie has a huge fight with Chess before the wedding, and her grief, guilt, and attempts to fix the rift are the basis of her character arc. Jonah and his sister learn to love and care for each other away from the quelling influence of their father. The romance plot is lackluster, a footnote to the lovingly detailed minutiae of the workings of the Australian university system. Poor pacing and a jam-packed plot leave little time for romance.

Kirkus Star

Secret Nights and Northern Lights

Oliver, Megan | Berkley (384 pp.) | $19 paper November 18, 2025 | 9780593952405

A travel journalist takes a work trip to Iceland with the photographer who broke her heart years ago. Mona Miller is a people-pleaser by nature. Her reputation as a team player has served her well so far,

that doubles as a love letter to Iceland.

even though she feels like she’s been running in place at the travel magazine where she works. When she’s called into her boss’s office, her first instinct is to expect a pink slip, but instead she’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime—a trip to Iceland to write the cover story for an upcoming issue. It’s not only a fun change of pace from the local gigs she’s been landing; it’s also an assignment that could set her up for a promotion. The only catch is that the photographer assigned to accompany her is an absolutely unwelcome blast from her past. Benjamin Carter is a rising star behind the lens, but he was also Mona’s childhood best friend, the person with whom she once shared all her secrets and a whole lot of firsts before he inexplicably broke her heart 14 years ago. Mona doesn’t want to rock the boat, though, so she decides to grin and bear it for the sake of professionalism. The next 10 days could make or break this opportunity for Mona, but the more time they spend together, the more likely it is that Ben could also break her heart all over again. Oliver’s debut is a stunning achievement, full of unresolved emotion and angst that results in feelings simmering to the surface, as well as proof that the embers of true love can never fully die down. Mona’s frequent reflection on her history with Ben is seamlessly interwoven with the present-day timeline, for which the Icelandic setting serves as the perfect backdrop, with vivid, descriptive imagery and intense, open-air experiences that push Mona beyond her physical limits while likely inspiring more than a little wanderlust in the reader. An exceptional romance debut that doubles as a love letter to Iceland.

Nonfiction

POLITICS BY THE BOOK

THIS IS NOT a presidential election year—and there are no midterms until 2026—but there’s certainly no shortage of political books being published this fall. Some of the titles are by current and former lawmakers, and others are about politicians who, chances are, would rather be left out of these critical accounts.

The most prominent of the bunch is Kamala Harris’ bestselling 107 Days (Simon & Schuster, September 23), in which the former vice president analyzes her whirlwind 2024 campaign against Donald Trump. Our review calls the book “a determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.” Another book by a former presidential candidate is Fight Oligarchy by Bernie Sanders (Crown, October 21). An outgrowth of the Vermont senator’s Fighting Oligarchy tour, organized with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after Trump’s inauguration, the 160-page paperback is being sold for the humble price of $14.99.

Joe Manchin, the former U.S. senator (and key swing vote) who left office in 2025, has kept busy in his retirement, writing Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense (St. Martin’s Press, September 16). The title alludes to the West Virginian’s 2024 change of party affiliation, from Democrat to independent, after more than four decades in politics. The Democratic Party, he writes, “pushes hard on woke ideology, DEI mandates, and other social agendas.” On the other hand, he observes, “I have watched the Republican Party lose itself to one man.”

One of the many members of Congress who defends the president—but isn’t afraid to call him out—is the ever-quotable

John Kennedy, the Republican senator from Louisiana. “He asked me one time how I liked his tweets,” Kennedy writes in his new book, How To Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will (Broadside Books/ HarperCollins, October 7). “My response, which I thought was diplomatic, was ‘Mr. President, I like them. I also like steak. But I don’t like eating eight of them at one time.’”

Taking a far more hardhitting view of Trump is Jonathan Karl, chief Washington correspondent for ABC News. The title of his new book speaks volumes: Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America (Dutton, October 28).

Two women who weren’t elected to office—but played important roles in presidential administrations—have also weighed in on current events. In Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy (Dutton, October 21), former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance writes, “The way to challenge the bully is at the ballot box.” Our critic called the book “a hopeful manifesto for a renewed democracy.” Karine Jean-Pierre, meantime, sees hope elsewhere. The White House press secretary to former President Joe Biden has parted ways with the Democratic Party. She explains her switch in Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines (Legacy Lit, October 21).

John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.

JOHN McMURTRIE

EDITOR’S PICK

A land rich in resources hides a shocking story of the exploitation and corruption behind the green energy revolution.

Journalist Niarchos digs into the global minerals trade at the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a hub in the vast supply chains that have brought misery to many and immense profits to a few. “This was a book on batteries, I thought, a topic that might cause eyes to glaze over during dinner talk,” he writes. “But as I delved further into the world of lithium-ion, I realized that it was not simply a story about sockets and charges—it was also a story about control and immense power.” Drawing on hundreds of interviews, he explores mining communities that extract cobalt, lithium, copper, and other

metals fueling the rechargeable battery boom. The narrative moves briskly through colonial history and the political and social forces behind today’s “battery wars.” The heaviest burden falls on the world’s poorest—“artisanal miners” scraping minerals with crude tools and little protection. Niarchos shows how the “new energy map” entangles Congo, Indonesia, and Western Sahara in corrupt supply chains feeding mobile phones and electric vehicles. Told with journalistic flair, the story confirms the cynic’s view of economic development in the Global South: Graft, corruption, and self-dealing dominate as Belgian, Chinese, British, and American powers scramble for resources. The Chinese were quick to seize opportunity. By 2024, two entrepreneurs, Robin Zeng

The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth

Niarchos, Nicolas | Penguin Press | 480 pp. $32 | January 20, 2026 | 9780593492017

and Wang Chuanfu, controlled the battery market through ATL and BYD. Niarchos writes, “Elon Musk may have been thought of as the battery king of the West, but Zeng and Wang were powerstorage emperors.”

Fast-paced and deeply researched, this account centers on Congo’s inhabitants, caught in waves of politics, war, famine, and global

demand. The author not only traveled widely in dangerous places but also provides a cast of key players and extensive notes. His book will have readers rethink the ethics of extraction—you’ll never look at your phone or your EV in quite the same way again. An eye-opening and sobering investigation that challenges us to consider the suffering embedded in our everyday devices.

Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore

Adams, Char | Tiny Reparations (304 pp.) $32 | November 4, 2025 | 9780593474235

A history of Black bookstores as loci of activism, communitybuilding, and education.

Of the “third places” in social life, Black communities have famously formed around barbershops and beauty salons, churches, and civic organizations. Overlooked has been the role of Black-owned bookstores, which, as journalist-turned-author Adams has it, “have always been at the center of the resistance.” Adams begins, in that vein, with David Ruggles, whose Manhattan storefront sold pamphlets and books recounting the evils of slavery and espousing the abolitionist cause—and Ruggles himself, two years after he founded his bookstore in 1834, “had developed a reputation as a charismatic abolitionist who could inspire almost any crowd to action.” Ruggles turned his store into a place where Black people could “gather, read, and learn—all acts that were still largely forbidden in many parts of the country and, therefore, inherently radical.” Not surprisingly, Ruggles’ home soon became a stop on the Underground Railroad, helping some 300 enslaved people to escape to freedom—one of them, significantly, Frederick Douglass. Adams’ next subject is a young man named Lewis Michaux, who sold books from a cart before opening his National Memorial African Book Store in Harlem in 1933. It became a pioneering center for the early Black Nationalist movement. Taking her story into the militant era of the 1960s and ’70s, Adams profiles bookstore owners such as Charlie Cobb, whose Drum and Spear bookshop was a gathering point for activists in Washington, and who, among other things, paid special attention to books for young readers, an impetus for many other bookstores of that time and to this day.

Black-owned bookstores—Adams reckons there are about 130 today—face challenges ranging from gentrification and discriminatory financing to competition from online vendors. But, Adams writes, this reflects the Black American condition in general, “pushing through adversity, holding on to values, and bending without breaking.”

An enlightening history for students of the Black experience and readers of books about books.

Chasing Lewis’s Monkeyflower: The Amazing Afterlife of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s Wild Plants

Adelman, Elizabeth | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (368 pp.) | $30 | February 17, 2026 9780374615024

Digging into the history of famous flora. The mysterious fate of hundreds of plants gathered during the groundbreaking expedition of Lewis and Clark into the American West forms the backbone of this book, which reveals some remarkably suspicious behavior by botanists in the U.S. and abroad. Adelman, a first-time author and longtime owner of a nursery devoted to heirloom plants, became “compulsive at first, then obsessive” about following the previously untold story of these plants. She starts with a nearly day-by-day account of the early-19th-century expedition during which Meriwether Lewis, no botanist, was tasked by Thomas Jefferson with collecting and describing as many new plants as possible, and did so diligently despite the many hazards of the journey. Back home, he was supposed to write a book about the discoveries, but hadn’t even started when the explorer died, possibly by suicide. And that’s when, by Adelman’s account, things get interesting. Some of the samples were purloined for private collections, others sold to public institutions. German botanist Frederick Pursh absconded with

some from the United States to Great Britain, where he planned to make a name for himself by claiming to have discovered them. And, as Adelman points out, the story isn’t over yet. As recently as 2005, one of Lewis’ samples was found miscataloged in England, and nearly two dozen other plants, including the elusive monkeyflower of the title, have yet to be located. Adelman’s prose style can be pedestrian, with one simple declarative sentence trudging after the next, and the amount of detail may overwhelm the casual reader, but the author’s enthusiasm is undeniable. A delightful epilogue covers expedition plants the home gardener might consider planting and why, and an appendix lists all the plants discovered. Thorough and often diverting footnotes support the author’s findings. A botanical detective story rooted in the fruitful ground of human misbehavior.

Meditations

Aurelius, Marcus | Trans. by Aaron Poochigian | Liveright/Norton (304 pp.)

$21.99 | January 6, 2026 | 9781324096399

Living wisely, living well. Today, maybe more than ever, we need Marcus Aurelius (121-180 C.E.). Emperor, warrior, statesman, and philosopher, he was the author of this guide to life that is based on the principles of stoicism. The ancient Stoics held that human beings needed to transcend their earthly wants and selfish goals and serve humankind itself. Marcus wrote: “In so far as I am the emperor Marcus Aurelius, my home city is Rome. In so far as I am a human being, my home city is the world. What benefits these two cities—that alone is the good I pursue.” Learned Roman that he was, Marcus wrote this work not in Latin but in Greek, and certain Greek words take on resonances far beyond their dictionary meaning. He uses the word “logos” to mean not simply “word,” but rather the guiding spirit we share with the divine. As for “psyche,” he has it evoke its root

sense: breath, spirit, soul. Poochigian translates Marcus’ Greek into fluent, colloquial English, at times making the emperor sound like your favorite college professor, at times your therapist. “Stubbornly focus every instant…on doing what is at hand with conscientious and unaffected dignity, kindness, freedom, and justice….Don’t you see how few things a person has to master in order to live a harmonious and pious life?” And then there is the kicker: “To a person who sees everything arrive in its due season as good…death is not a big deal.” This work has been pushing people to live well for two millennia. Now, all we must do is read it again. This new translation makes Marcus’ advice hit home in an English of unaffected dignity.

A classic work of philosophical advice, rendered into our vivid modern vernacular.

Fire in Every Direction: A Memoir

Baconi, Tareq | Washington Square Press/ Atria (256 pp.) | $29 | November 4, 2025 9781668068564

A Palestinian author’s comingof-age journey as an emerging queer individual.

Middle Eastern political analyst and activist Baconi gracefully recounts his childhood in Amman, Jordan, surrounded by his parents, who fled there to escape civil war in Lebanon, and older and younger brothers, Laith and Nadim. His grandparents were refugees from Jerusalem and Haifa, and together they formed a close-knit family united by love, honor, and tradition. The author fills his memoir with affectionate recollections of his upbringing in the family’s stone house, rich histories of his relatives, summers in Beirut, and his own journey into manhood and the awakening of his queer identity. It was his boyhood best-friendship with Ramzi that proved formative to his emerging

A justice’s first book demystifies the Supreme Court’s daily operations.

LISTENING TO THE LAW

identity as he struggled to discern “where envy ends and infatuation begins.” Inside the worn, yellow box Baconi writes fondly of, he has kept family diaries and correspondence from Ramzi—some merely scraps of paper with brief messages—as their relationship deepened into obsession and unrequited love. Though he achieved some semblance of freedom after sojourns in London and Australia and after efforts to relinquish his Arabic language and heritage for Western cultural norms, none of that quelled his belief that his queerness was the source of his “outsider” feelings no matter where he ventured. It would take many more years (and the Iraq War) for the author to truly discover the self-confidence and belonging he so desperately craved. Baconi eventually returns to quickly visit the northwestern Israeli homelands of his extended family, experiencing the deterioration from war and occupation, and to develop an appreciation for his own internal evolution. In prose that’s sincere and passionate, he weaves a tapestry of familial strife, burgeoning queerness, and enduring love amid joys of defying the former “impossibility” of his sexuality to find wholeness and home as an adult in order to “retrace my past, make sense of my present.”

A heartfelt reflection on family and freedom against the backdrop of a war-torn homeland.

For more memoirs and biographies, visit Kirkus online.

Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution

Barrett, Amy Coney | Sentinel (317 pp.) $32 | September 9, 2025 | 9780593421864

A justice explains the Supreme Court’s work with clarity and restraint. At once accessible and unexpectedly engaging, Barrett’s first book distills often complex constitutional ideas into a clear account of the court’s work and the philosophy that shapes her approach. Barrett traces her path from law clerk to 103rd associate justice in 2020, while also demystifying the court’s daily operations. She emphasizes collegiality—“The success of a multi-member court rides on the ability to disagree respectfully”—although this sentiment seems to go against her rare rebuke of fellow Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (over Jackson’s criticism of President Trump’s attempt to ban birthright citizenship). At the core is Barrett’s explanation of originalism. “I’m not an originalist because I think that history yields easy answers or prevents bad judging,” she writes. “I’m an originalist because I think that it’s the right way to think about law.” She broadens her account to explore the origins of the Constitution, the reasoning behind landmark cases, and the importance of reading full opinions rather than headlines. Her treatment of the controversial Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, illustrates this method. She outlines both majority and dissenting arguments, illuminating

A disciplined songwriter and virtuosic guitarist plagued by his demons.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE LONESOME

sharply different views of the court’s role. While instructive, this analysis stops short of grappling with the political consequences of the ruling. What’s absent within her narrative is striking precisely because it contrasts with the candor evident elsewhere in the book. Despite her emphasis on clarity and transparency, Barrett avoids addressing the court’s most disputed recent decisions, the perception that it has often deferred to the Trump administration, and the intensifying debate over judicial ethics and structural reform—including proposals for stricter financial disclosures, recusal standards, and even term limits. She does, however, point to the law’s unambiguous force: In 1951, the 22nd Amendment established that “[n]o person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” That constitutional rule, she underscores, “leaves no room for second-guessing.”

A lucid guide to how one Supreme Court justice believes the court should do its work.

The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy

Bauer, Susan Wise | St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $30 | January 27, 2026 | 9781250272911

Ill fares the land. Bauer, author of  The History of the Ancient World , quotes Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, as saying that taxpayers should not have to pay for a “person

who sits at home, eats poorly, and gets diabetes.” In other words, your health is your own responsibility. For most of history, the author points out, disease was inflicted by mysterious forces, from deities to angry spirits, and relieved by correcting your mistake through ceremonies or techniques to persuade them that you were sorry. A great change in the Western approach to illness followed Hippocrates, who denied that supernatural forces were responsible. Greek thinkers maintained that four fluids, or humors, moved through human tissues and determined health. When properly mixed, the body was in equilibrium; if not, it malfunctioned. The Hippocratic physician did not look for a specific disease because each illness was a unique imbalance of humors in that flawed individual. Carefully examining each patient, the doctor determined his or her particular imbalance and the means to correct it. Bleeding and purging have gone out of fashion, but a laxative might still expel what’s ailing you, and saunas, steam rooms, and spas are thriving. The scientific revolution converted scientists, the medical profession, and much of the general public. But, as Bauer writes in this splendid examination, some matters have not improved: “We enforce borders, fearing outsiders as carriers of ‘disease’; we distrust the recommendations of medical science (we feel it has failed us, after all), so that vaccine-denying becomes fashionable, homeopathic remedies and magnetic therapies are embraced, energy healing prospers. And, in our fear, we predict the end of the world.”

Deeply insightful if unsettling.

Kirkus Star

What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle

Bernstein, Jonathan | Da Capo (368 pp.)

$30 | January 13, 2026 | 9780306833274

A biography of a troubadour’s triumph over major challenges and against considerable odds before succumbing to the time bomb within.

Before Justin Townes Earle emerged as an Americana avatar, he was known mainly for the long shadow cast by his father, country outlaw Steve Earle. His father had become known for his druggy misbehavior as much as his music, before recovery turned his life around. Justin long claimed he was mainly raised by his mother, but her economic and psychological pressures didn’t provide much balance. He went back and forth between the two but spent too much time on his own, unsupervised. He could be alternately sweet and feral, strong-willed and fragile, barely schooled and occasionally institutionalized. Whether because of his father’s example or in spite of him, he found a lifeline in music. While battling his own addiction demons, he turned himself into a disciplined songwriter, a virtuosic guitarist, and an engaging performer. He forged a style deeply rooted in Southern regionalism, transcending race and musical category. He also developed an affinity for matching buoyant music with darker lyrics, many drawn from his experiences with heroin and family history. He hit an artistic peak breakthrough with 2010’s Harlem River Blues, but his life was falling apart. As this biography by journalist Bernstein illuminates with depth and nuance, few needed a support system more than Earle, and few were quicker to burn bridges. He hated to be told what to do, and his resistance turned to rage when he was abusing drugs and alcohol.

Where his extended recovery early in the century had provided a cautionary tale, his less-public relapses turned tragic— amid pressures compounded by touring, recording, publicizing, marrying, and parenting. Neither tough love nor unconditional love seemed to work. In August 2020, after the Covid-19 pandemic had shut much of everything down, Earle wasn’t discovered for a few days after an accidental overdose of cocaine laced with fentanyl. “He had died,” writes Bernstein, “little more than a mile from the hospital in which he’d been born.”

A superb biography of a singular life.

Heartbeats: A Memoir

Borg, Björn | Diversion Books (304 pp.) | $19.99 September 23, 2025 | 9798895150719

A reserved tennis champ speaks up.  Borg tells interesting stories from his stellar career, but he’s most expressive when describing his inner turmoil.

A fantastically fit athlete—the title nods to his low resting heartbeat—the self-possessed Swede was nicknamed “Burken,” or “the Jar,” because he kept “the lid on” his feelings. Fascinatingly, this was a conscious decision born of the belief that “showing emotion could be a weakness the opponent would exploit.” But it concealed the “rollercoaster going on inside.” By 1980, atop his sport, fame and media scrutiny fed “a creeping sense of panic.” He retired at 26, a decision he regrets, for he “sank” even lower. He got “hooked” on cocaine, made some business mistakes, and now regards the 1990s as a “lost” decade. Though Borg was drug-free during his career, his “memories are fewer” about his biggest wins. When you play well, he explains, it’s “like you’re in a trance.” Accordingly, his accounts of his 11 major tournament titles are sometimes terse. He declines to explain, for instance, how he transcended his relative struggles on

Wimbledon’s “fast grass” to eventually win five times. He divulges no hard feelings about his great rivalry with John McEnroe, instead sharing an Odd Couple -esque anecdote about pausing a match to counsel the high-strung American: “John, it’s only a game.” Borg is forthright about his failings as a father, insightful about the elite competitor’s mindset, and funny on puny 1970s paydays. He was so focused on the next challenge that he’d leave just-won trophies in hotels. He lugged a “Santa sack” containing $1 bills on a flight. Borg recently had prostate cancer surgery. He intends “to beat” the disease. As this likable book shows, he’s still a battler.

A beloved sportsman recalls big wins and secret struggles in this disarmingly vulnerable self-portrait.

Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer’s Guide Through the Sleeping Mind

Carr, Michelle | Henry Holt (272 pp.) | $29.99 November 18, 2025 | 9781250342720

The power of nightmares. Humans going back to ancient civilizations have tried to interpret and find meaning in our dreams. Dreams have been thought of as divine signals, warnings, and simply things that happen to us. But what if we could seize control of them? In her exploration, sleep expert and neuroscientist Carr deftly guides the reader through the science of sleep, dreams, and how the darkest of our mind inventions can traumatize us in waking hours. Carr has spent hundreds of nights awake and working in the sleep lab during her career, watching others sleep, electrodes placed on their scalps, later working to pull apart their dreams and disturbances. At the heart of her work in the sleep lab lie three questions: Why do we dream? Why do dreams go bad? How can we harness the science of dreaming to improve our health? In her unpacking of

these questions, the author carries us through a raft of complicated brain science and sleep studies in compelling, clear writing. At times, the narrative is overly dense with study details that risk losing the nonscientist reader. While most of us have been taught to believe we have no agency over our dreams, Carr argues otherwise. She presents a strong case that we have the power to harness dreams and to guide our brains away from images and stories that might harm us while awake. What unfolds is a detailed manual for the notion of “dream engineering.” Though it may seem far-fetched to some, to those who experience chronic nightmares and lucid dreaming, the concept could introduce a revolutionary practice for healing. A persuasive argument that humans are not bound to suffer from their darkest dreams.

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This Year: 365 Songs

Annotated: A Book of Days

Darnielle, John | MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (560 pp.) | $36 | December 2, 2025 9780374606497

Lyrics and commentary from the beloved Mountain Goats singer-songwriter. Too often, lyrics collections can be little more than keepsakes for fans, easily thrown together and presented without any context or new material. That was never going to be the case for Darnielle—the indie folk musician has always had a strong literary bent, as evidenced by his three well-received novels, Wolf in White Van (2014), Universal Harvester (2017), and Devil House (2022). His new book, which shares its title with one of his most well-known songs, is structured as a book of days, with a song for each one. He writes, “Some are accompanied by detailed explications, and some by autobiographical reflections; some get

elliptical glosses and some get extended question marks.” The lyrics are brilliant; Darnielle is one of the best songwriters of his generation, and his words are achingly beautiful, sometimes angry and triumphant: Consider “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod,” from his landmark 2005 album The Sunset Tree, in which he sings, “held under these smothering waves / by your strong and thick-veined hand / but one of these days / I am going to wriggle up on dry land.” The accompanying text for the songs is decidedly not phoned in—he tells the story of the “Alpha Couple,” the troubled pair of partners whose deteriorating relationship he chronicles in songs that include the acidic “No Children” (“you are coming down with me / hand in unlovable hand / and I hope you die / I hope we both die”). Along the way, he cites literary influences, including Aeschylus, C.S. Lewis, and Maggie Smith. The book offers a look into Darnielle’s inspiration and songwriting process, and the result is even more impressive than one might expect. An inspired project that’s far better than a typical lyrics collection.

A Love Affair With the Unknown: Leaning Into the Uncertainty of Modern Life

Deacon, Gillian | House of Anansi Press (288 pp.) | $22.99 paper | January 27, 2026 9781487013783

A broadcaster and author uses chronic illness as a lens to analyze her relationship with uncertainty. In 2022, former CBC Radio host Deacon began experiencing unrelenting fatigue, nausea, and pain so severe that it seriously curtailed her normally active, energetic life. In the years between the symptoms surfacing and her eventual diagnosis with long Covid, she struggled to come to terms with her illness’ uncertainties. The experience inspired her to explore the

creative potential of uncertainty, its tendency to spur us to build community and take political action, its reminder to always be present, and its tendency to curtain perfectionist tendencies that otherwise prevent us from making life-changing—and, at times, life-enhancing—mistakes. Deacon reflects on other uncertain times in her life, including bouts with cancer and incidents in her broadcasting career; a failed Mars Polar Lander mission left her and her co-host “with approximately 150 minutes of airtime to fill and literally nothing to talk about.” She writes, “The self-deprecating habit of admitting I’m not sure what exactly is happening during live broadcasts is a strangely comfortable pattern for me; something about the vulnerability of it makes me feel stronger and less alone.” In the end, the author believes that the discomfort and pain involved in uncertainty is worthwhile. She writes, “When things are most uncertain, they are most alive. The beauty of unpredictability is that it can yank us out of a rut or a lifeless lull, and drag us right into the heart of the situation.” The author’s frankness and openness, combined with her sharp analytical lens, create a beautiful balance between emotion and logic. A vulnerable, creative, and lyrical memoir about the human condition.

Kirkus Star

Unknown Enemy: The Hidden Nazi Force That Built the Third Reich

Dick, Charles | Bloomsbury (352 pp.) | $29.99 November 11, 2025 | 9781639737444

Nazi atrocities receive plenty of attention, but one murderous Reich institution has slipped under the wire.

British journalist and historian Dick investigates Organization Todt—Nazi Germany’s construction department

known as the OT. After taking office in 1933, Hitler quickly looked to rearm, construct defenses, and rebuild Berlin to outclass Paris. To oversee construction, he chose Fritz Todt (1891-1942). Todt was competent, fervently loyal, and uninterested in enriching himself or acquiring power. He had impressed Hitler by overseeing construction of the Autobahns, a make-work project because only 1.6 percent of Germans owned a car, compared to 4.9 percent in France. He became “Hitler’s favourite engineer,” rewarded by being dubbed leader of Organization Todt. As megalomaniac as ever, after 1939 Hitler assigned OT vast road, rail, and infrastructure projects in the conquered nations. Many were unrealistic, and Todt was not shy about pointing this out. He died in a plane crash in February 1942 and was replaced by Albert Speer (1905-1981), a better-known figure who served a 20-year prison term after the Nuremburg trials. According to the author, he got off lightly. The book’s first third emphasizes the careers of Todt and Speer and the run-up to the war; the last chapter recounts the Nuremburg trials. In between, Dick recounts OT’s vast operations, in which a cadre of Germans oversaw more than a million POWs, concentration camp inmates, Jews, and others from conquered states as they built infrastructure for the advancing and then retreating armies. Aided by diaries, letters, interviews, trial transcripts, and Nazi archives, the author delivers a painful account of their unspeakable treatment. Poles, Russians, and Jews were considered subhuman, but all workers suffered, and about 200,000 died from starvation, disease, exposure, exhaustion, and physical violence.

An impressively researched indictment of Hitler’s monumentally cruel construction organization.

For more on Nazi Germany, visit Kirkus online.

Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness

Eaves-Egenes, Megan | Grand Central Publishing (256 pp.) | $30 March 31, 2026 | 9780306835339

A global and internal quest to appreciate the dark half of existence.

Eaves-Egenes, an Americanborn, Londonbased travel writer and activist for preserving dark skies in a world increasingly polluted by 24-hour artificial light, journeyed to nearly every corner of the globe to reckon with humanity’s (and her own) ambivalent relationship with night and dark. Recovering from divorce, the loss of her dream job, and the death of a beloved stepfather, all of which led to a debilitating depression as she entered her 40s, the author sought to recharge herself and renew a sense of purpose by writing this book. She confesses her fears and vulnerabilities as she meets various Virgils of the dark, each showing her different aspects of night and leading her toward understanding. Her adventures take her to New Zealand, where she learns about Maori astronomy; the Dolomites for a pre-dawn chorus of rewilded wolves; Tanzania for a terrifying close encounter with a leopard; Ireland, where she hears about the relationship between legendary banshees and keening ritual mourners; Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to ponder medieval Muslim astronomer Ulugh Beg while visiting one of the most pristine skies on earth for a telescope in the foothills of the Himalayas; an island off southern Japan where the beach is covered by millions of starlike shells of tiny sea creatures. Perhaps the centerpiece

of the quest is the four-night stay at a German kloster, where she is voluntarily confined to a “dark room” in which no light enters. Not much “happens” there besides daily showers and meals, but the experience leads her through spiritual and physical agony to mind-altered revelation. “This must be what it’s like being born,” she muses. Sumptuous, confessional storytelling with an accessibly philosophical aim.

Black Power, White Heat: From Solidarity Politics to Radical Chic

Echols, Alice | Oxford Univ. (488 pp.)

$29.99 | January 20, 2026 | 9780197789032

A reassessment of interracial cooperation in the 1960s freedom movement.

Echols, a skilled writer whose previous works include Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture (2010) and Shortfall: Family Secrets, Financial Collapse, and a Hidden History of American Banking (2017), undertakes a “substantive history of the interracial and cross-racial collaborations forged by Blacks and whites in the freedom movement of the sixties.” Echols opens with a case study of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s shifting approach to interracial collaboration and then turns to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. An interrogation of Tom Wolfe’s 1970 essay, “Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny’s,” follows; she labels “Radical Chic” “perhaps the most enduring piece of writing from the sixties” and identifies it

Journeying the globe to reckon with our relationship with night and dark.

as a major source of ongoing critiques of white liberalism. The book concludes with a discussion of continuing cross-racial collaborations in courtrooms even after broader coalitions had fallen out of favor in the early 1970s. Echols argues, “Even if some of the people in my book were ‘awkward allies,’ clueless ‘comrades,’ and even dilettantes, their contributions made a difference.” That may be, but the impulse to better understand, if not vindicate, those who were well-intentioned leads to problematic moments. Echols declares “unconscionable” the Weathermen’s failure to take responsibility for a 1970 bombing that many assumed to be the work of the Black Panthers. But then follows, “Of course, if Weather was hoping to encourage Black people to start the revolution, why would they reveal their identity as the bombers?” This and similar moments effectively, if inadvertently, undermine critiques of real issues in interracial and cross-racial interactions. Echols acknowledges that she offers “no simple takeaways,” but the assessment that interracial and crossracial collaborations “were thrilling and heartbreaking, effective and fraught,” leaves the reader wanting more.

A potentially enlightening examination of the value of solidarity politics falls short.

The Problem With Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late

Enck, Judith & Beyond Plastics with Adam Mahoney | The New Press (224 pp.) | $26.99 December 2, 2025 | 9781620979457

An exposé of the plastics industry warns of the damages done to human beings and the planet. Enck and her environmental advocacy group, Beyond Plastics, have put together a heavily footnoted book that details the many ways in which plastic is harmful to the

Witty and

sometimes wistful pieces that include reflections on the family’s pet frog.

FROG

environment and to human health, from the presence of microplastics in the ocean to the adverse impact on communities where plastic is produced, to the dangers of incinerating plastic. Much attention is paid to plastic recycling as a false panacea “designed to make us feel better.” With a tone that varies, sometimes in a single chapter, from term paper to peppy exhortation, the book shows certain signs of authorship by committee. And it’s not always clear who the intended audience is, with sentences like “Once upon a time millions of people lived on a planet called Earth and—get this!—survived without plastic.” As a manifesto, it’s certainly dramatic. Although it does pause occasionally to point out actions that individual consumers can take—shop in bulk at food co-ops, “avoid single-use plastic water bottles”—the primary villain here is not the average citizen but “fossil fuel, chemical, and plastic companies.” The book contends that “the most powerful change comes from pushing for governmental regulation of plastic.” Providing documentation of small-scale success on the local level, it offers multiple links to forms. “This is a long process,” the authors write, “but we know that citizen action works—it’s how we removed lead from gasoline to safeguard children’s health….We can do it again, but it will take collective effort and persistence.” While it’s hard not to wonder whether the campaign might skew more idealistic than realistic, the authors’ goals can’t be faulted. No one will come away from the book doubting the importance of limiting plastic.

A call to action that could be stronger—but is hard to dispute.

Frog: And Other Essays

Fadiman, Anne | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (192 pp.) | $26 | February 10, 2026

9780374608743

A miscellany of engaging essays.

New York Times journalist Sam Anderson, in his warm introduction, praises Fadiman’s work as “lovingly open and inviting.” That praise is amply borne out in witty, sometimes wistful, always sharply observed pieces that include reflections on the family’s long-lived pet frog, computer printers, the conundrum of the singular pronoun “they,” the challenge of teaching on Zoom, and the creation of Antarctica’s only magazine, the South Polar Times. If the purported subject of her essays may seem trifling (the frog came in a kit for one of her children), mundane (the printers, one by one, went to the dump), or esoteric (pronouns, really?), Fadiman’s real subjects are much more profound.

“Every Fadiman essay,” Anderson says, “no matter how seemingly small in scope, turns out to be a great expedition.” Her deep attachment to her first bulky Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Series II printer, for example, made her sad to relinquish it when replacement parts were no longer available. “We cling to our obsolete equipment,” she writes, “because we are afraid that we will be discontinued, that we will be hauled away on Bulky Waste Day, that we will end up so devalued that we will be available for a song on eBay, but, because we’re so much trouble, no one will bid.” Loss recurs as a theme, most movingly in a paean to an

extraordinary student who ebulliently said “yes to everything.” In an essay on Hartley Coleridge, the firstborn son of the acclaimed poet, she empathizes with his aspiration to step out of his father’s shadow. As the daughter of successful writers, she grew up fearing “that no matter what I did, my parents would already have done it better.” These deft, graceful essays prove otherwise.

A delightful gathering.

The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg— And the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

Fischer, Paul | Celadon Books (480 pp.)

$29.99 | February 10, 2026 | 9781250878724

The story of the filmmaking pioneers who defined New Hollywood. Aspiring American directors who came of age in the late 1960s wanted to develop a new, more personal brand of movies. The vanguard consisted primarily of three white male contemporaries: George Lucas, a graduate of USC film school who loved “underground film, direct cinema, avant-garde, 16mm” movies, not Hollywood fare; Queens native and UCLA film grad Francis Ford Coppola, who had “larger-than-life gregariousness” and was a well-remunerated screenwriter by age 26; and Cincinnati-born Steven Spielberg, who longed to make movies but had to attend Cal State because his high school grades weren’t good enough for film school. In this revealing biography, Fischer describes how these three men, along with “intense, skittish, allergic to seemingly everything” Martin Scorsese, led this new era of American moviemaking. The author focuses on the period from 1967, when a young Lucas wandered onto the Warner Bros. lot looking for a job, through 1982 and the release of Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. He describes the origins of Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios and Lucas’

Skywalker Ranch, Spielberg’s early years directing for television, plus each man’s high-grossing successes and their failures, the latter including Coppola’s glitzy musical One From the Heart. The book devotes far more time to the business side of the film industry than to filmmaking itself. Readers who want the inside scoop on negotiations, boardroom meetings, and the like will be thrilled. Those interested in the technical aspects of film or the directing strategies used to elicit performances in The Godfather, Star Wars, Jaws, and the rest will come away hungry. Fischer is clearly a fan, noting that Spielberg’s and Lucas’ early works “were more complex than they were given credit for” and adding that both men “served up comfort better than anyone else,” a statement that both fans and detractors are likely to agree on. An industry-focused work on some of cinema’s influential figures.

Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your TwentyFirst-Century Life

Garriga, Ana & Carmen Urbita

Avid Reader Press (256 pp.) | $28.99 November 4, 2025 | 9781668065518

Worldly lessons from the sisterhood.

Scholars of Hispanic studies, creators of the podcast Las hijas de Felipe, and friends and colleagues at Brown University, Garriga and Urbita look to 16th- and 17th-century nuns for lessons about living in the modern world. “This is a book about cloisters, candlelight, mortifications, and hushed prayers,” they write, “but it is also a book about friendship, money, FOMO, love, lesbianism, procrastination, imposter syndrome, work, fame, and pop culture.” As graduate students, the authors bonded over their esoteric scholarship, finding that the nuns, originally “an object of research,” soon “became our most valuable survival

tool, imparting a wealth of therapeutic teachings on how to endure isolation by navigating the stormy waters of friendship.” Considering friendship, the authors compare the nuns’ relationships with those of celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears; throughout the book, other well-known personalities—Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Taylor Swift, to name a few—also make appearances. Personal anecdotes abound: about dating as lesbians, for example, or their predilection for people-pleasing. Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, they discovered, “knew better than anyone how to confuse her audience with a veil of submission, humility, and feigned ignorance, only to suddenly tear through it with a whiplash of audacity.” To better assert themselves, the wily Sor Juana taught them “to cloak our emails in rhetorical finesse and to at least flirt with abandoning the conciliatory route when the situation calls more for a shout than for a scheme.” A nun who took her vows at the age of 75 offered insights about aging; other nuns gave the authors perspective about gaining social recognition. These colorful portraits of assorted holy women make them seem palpably contemporary. A charming and quirky dual memoir.

Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music

Gibson, Debbie with Richard Buskin Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) | $26.97 | September 9, 2025 9781668056769

A 1980s pop star takes a look at her electric youth and what came after. For a few years in the late 1980s, Gibson was everywhere. The singer released her first two albums, Out of the Blue and Electric Youth, when she was a teenager; both were massive hits. But the music industry is cruel, and while she went on to put out more records and pursued an acting career, she never

regained the fame that she had experienced before graduating from high school. Gibson’s memoir tells the story of growing up lower-middle class in Long Island, her single-minded pursuit of a career in the performing arts, and her early success, masterminded by her “ballbuster” mother-turned-manager. Her early fame came at a cost to her mental health, she writes, leading to a string of anxiety attacks: “If anyone out there has experienced them, you’ll know what it’s like: you literally think you are dying, unsure where your next breath is coming from.” Gibson writes candidly about her health struggles—she also has Lyme disease—as well as her fraught relationship with her mother, who once said (perhaps jokingly, but revealingly), “My worst nightmare has come true. She has become her own person.” Gibson’s later career saw her appearing on The Celebrity Apprentice and in films such as Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus —perhaps not the life she had envisioned, but, as she writes, “I love that, though the world has kicked my arse a bit, I’m not bitter.” The writing here is bubbly if unexceptional, and structurally, it’s a by-the-numbers celebrity memoir, complete with motivational aphorisms and occasional non sequiturs (“I think Mozart would approve of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”). This is strictly for Gibson’s fans, but they’ll find it a treat.

A love letter to a singer’s most dedicated fans.

August Wilson’s American Century: Life as Art

Glasco, Laurence A. | Univ. of Pittsburgh (416 pp.) | $35 | February 10, 2026

9780822948544

A biography of one of America’s greatest playwrights. His original plan was to become a poet, writing about the people he saw every day at Eddie’s Diner in the Hill District of his hometown of Pittsburgh. August

Wilson would become instead one of America’s most celebrated playwrights with what Glasco calls his unprecedented achievement: the Pittsburgh Cycle of 10 plays, each one set in a different decade of the 20th century. As the professor emeritus of history at the University of Pittsburgh writes, “No other playwright—certainly none in the United States—has written a comparable set of excellent plays set in the same place and treating a common topic over an extended period of time,” plays that “gave dignity and respect to the lives of Pittsburgh’s working-class Black residents.” In this admiring biography, Glasco draws from Wilson’s personal papers and interviews with people who knew him to explore “how Pittsburgh influenced both Wilson’s identity and his accomplishments.” He charts Wilson’s path, from his exposure to racism from a young age when his mother won a new washing machine in a radio contest, only for the station to offer her “a used washing machine from the Salvation Army” when they learned she was Black; to his co-founding of Pittsburgh’s Black Horizons Theatre, where he and his colleagues sought Black plays that were “revolutionary and progressive”; to the ways in which he incorporated early experiences into works such as Two Trains Running and Seven Guitars. Another strong influence was artist Romare Bearden, whose collages “changed the way Wilson would write about Black life.” Glasco sometimes gets bogged down in details, as when he describes the maroon wallpaper Wilson’s mother used to make the living room look nicer. But this is a well-written biography that will persuade Wilson’s admirers to revisit his plays and introduce his work to a new generation of fans.

Welcome appreciation for a seminal figure in American theater.

Hidden Lives: Stories From Child Survivors of the Holocaust

Ed. by Goldstein, Rachelle L. & Hidden Child Foundation/ADL | Second Story Press (400 pp.) | $35.95 | November 4, 2025 9781772604429

The littlest survivors.

It is remarkable that, during the Holocaust, any children survived trains and camps, hideouts and harassment, loss and longing. But many lived to tell their tales. This book collects previously published memoirs from those young survivors. Children were hidden by a village, cloistered in a convent, smuggled into changed names and changed cultures. Many were converted to Catholicism. Many only came to understand their Jewish origins late in life. It is miraculous that some could witness epic brutality and report it. Writes Zula Hass, “Armed with pitchforks, knives, and axes, the Ukrainians dragged Jews out of their homes, and a vicious pogrom erupted right in front of my eyes! Terror-stricken, I stood behind the curtains of our second-floor windows and watched. A drunken peasant pulled down Stalin’s statue from its pedestal, then dragging a Jewish toddler, he smashed his little head against the statue. Other Ukrainians brutally hacked to death the howling mother and father who were hugging the body of their child.” There are tales of hairbreadth escapes: One girl gets out of Tarnopol, in Ukraine, just 11 days before the city’s Jewish population was gassed. There are tales of reunions. Salomea Kape-Jay recalls meeting a friend from Auschwitz, years later, barely recognizing her out of her rags. She remembers the

Introducing a playwright’s work to a new generation of fans. AUGUST WILSON’S AMERICAN CENTURY

friend telling her in the camp: “Have hope against hope.” Kape-Jay adds: “The alchemy of her words gave me strength.” This is a book of alchemy, a set of stories of young people who turned fear into faith. This is, nevertheless, a hard book to read cover to cover. It is a book to read selectively, finding a memory here and there, gaining hope for difficult times. Memoirs of the youngest Holocaust survivors, recorded as lessons of hope and faith.

Invisible Hands: Fabrication, Forgery, and the Art of Islamic Ceramics

Graves, Margaret S. | Princeton Univ. (344 pp.) | $65 | February 10, 2026 9780691279749

What is art?

Art historian Graves investigates the creation of forged and fabricated antique Islamic ceramics to meet the demands of the international art market, focusing on the period between the 1880s and 1914 in Europe and since the early 20th century in the U.S. A lust for ancient objects incited an explosion of forgeries and fabrications, involving, Graves writes, “a vast range of deceptive modifications” by diggers, dealers, brokers, and especially craftspeople who wielded “crucial forms of artistic skill.” First, objects, or fragments of objects, needed to be severed “physically and intellectually” from their original sites in order to be transformed into “exchangeable assets.” Most often, sherds, rather than intact objects, were extracted, requiring skilled restoration. This process involves suturing whole objects together from small bits, constructing new ceramic pieces to fill gaps, and reconstructing surfaces by painting and glazing. Sometimes, however, craftspeople created a true

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forgery: a new object made to look old. Pottery would be artificially aged, sometimes broken deliberately in places, buried, and excavated. These pieces required restoration by experts who, often unknowingly, abetted the forgery. After World War I the intense demand for Islamic ceramics abated in Europe but took off in the U.S., where collectors and institutions engaged in a buying frenzy, involving a global network of dealers, brokers, and scholars. Not surprisingly, with the advent of thermoluminescence testing to determine the last firing and computed tomography to determine suturing, museums have uncovered fabrications. “Once you start wondering about the true condition of canonical artworks,” Graves notes, “it is hard to stop.” Throughout, she focuses on the history, physical attributes, and provenance of particular objects—the chalice of Antioch, Raqqa pottery— illustrated in color plates in this beautifully produced volume. Meticulous scholarship informs an illuminating history.

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The Flower Bearers

Griffiths, Rachel Eliza | Random House (336 pp.) $29 | January 20, 2026 | 9780593730201

A poet and novelist chronicles years of extraordinary love and loss. Opening her memoir with an image of her hennaed hands on her wedding day in 2021, Griffith shares the sense of amazement she felt as she prepared to “exchange vows with a wondrous man, a man I’ve called my ‘boyfriend’ for the past four years. My ‘boyfriend’ is three decades older than me. My ‘boyfriend’ is older than my father. My ‘boyfriend’ is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.” The one off-key note on the day the author became Salman Rushdie’s fifth

wife was the unexplained absence of her best friend of 17 years, the poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, who was supposed to speak at the wedding. The ceremony was not long over when Griffiths learned her friend had died that morning. Much of what follows is devoted to charting the path of this cherished friendship, from their meeting as grad students at Sarah Lawrence and finding joy in music, dancing, food, and poetry to their shared rage and sorrow during the pandemic and in the period following the death of George Floyd. “The inhumanity of Floyd’s murder ravaged America’s bloodstained roots. Memories surfaced like warped bruises. America’s history was a vicious scab, reopened and raw…. Had we honestly ever believed that America would put down her guns and her nooses?” Not a full year after her friend’s death came Griffiths’ husband’s near-fatal stabbing at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. This section of the narrative revisits the chilling details of Rushdie’s difficult, almost miraculous recovery, also recounted in his memoir, Knife. In the final section, the author finds her way into the creative project that will release her from these multiple traumas, beginning by immersing herself in the archives of “literary foremothers” like Toni Morrison, Lucille Clifton, and Alice Walker.

This profoundly felt account moves between the raw, the lyrical, and the elegiac as it seeks the light of healing.

King Pong: How Atari Bounced Across Markets To Make Millions

Guins, Raiford | MIT Press (224 pp.) | $19.95 paper | February 10, 2026 | 9780262051330

A history of the dirt-simple but massively influential video game. Pong, first released in 1972, wasn’t the first video game; that would be Spacewar!, developed at MIT in the early 1960s.

Nor was it the first video game to make it into arcades; that title belongs to Computer Space, developed by Atari founders Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell. But Atari’s Pong was the first to become a legitimate phenomenon and moneymaker, and Guins’ academic but readable survey of the game reveals how it was as much a marketing and social coup as a technological one. First installed in a bar in Sunnyvale, California, Pong competed with coin-operated games like pinball machines, but at 25 cents a game compared to the more common 10 cents, it drew a healthier profit than its analog brethren. (Engineer Allan Alcorn recalls receiving a call that the game was malfunctioning, only to learn that the problem was that too many coins had jammed the machine.) Dabney and Bushnell parlayed Pong’s arcade success into a home gaming system, but even there, Atari wasn’t first; in 1972 Magnavox had released a clunkier system, Odyssey, that was expensive and not very user friendly. As Guins explores how Atari beat its competitors, he debunks a few myths that surrounded the company, particularly that its offices were a slacker haven that lucked into millions. The vibe was indeed laid-back at Atari HQ, but the leaders demonstrated plenty of marketing savvy, negotiating the company into a prime spot in Sears’ popular holiday wish book in 1975 and inventing a fake competitor, Kee Games, to get more Atari products into arcades. Guins doesn’t explore the game’s legacy much beyond its place in various museums, but he does nicely show how its success was an uncanny mix of timing, innovation, and salesmanship. Gaming history that’s also valuable as sociology and business scholarship.

For more on video game culture, visit Kirkus online.

THE KIRKUS Q&A: THIEN HO

Revisiting the chilling case of the Golden State Killer with the man who put him behind bars.

BY MICHAEL SCHAUB

FOR A LONG TIME , it seemed that the Golden State Killer would never be brought to justice.

The serial rapist and murderer—also known as the Original Night Stalker and the East Area Rapist—was active across California for more than a decade in the 1970s and ’80s, committing 13 murders and more than 50 rapes. Although his crime spree ended in 1986, law enforcement never stopped looking for him, and a breakthrough in the case came in 2017, when detectives used a novel tool called investigative genetic genealogy to uncover a suspect: Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer and mechanic.

In 2018, Sacramento County’s Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested DeAngelo, and Thien Ho—then a prosecutor in the Sacramento County district attorney’s office and now the DA—was chosen to lead the case against the killer. In 2020, DeAngelo agreed to plead guilty to several murder and kidnapping charges in exchange for prosecutors’ not seeking the death penalty. DeAngelo, 79, is currently serving consecutive life sentences without parole.

In The People vs. The Golden State Killer, Ho takes readers behind the scenes of the prosecution while recounting his own remarkable life story as a Vietnamese refugee who moved to California with his family as a child, speaking no English. He focuses heavily on the victims of the crimes and the law enforcement officers who were determined to find the man behind them—and did.

Ho refers to his book as the third in a “trilogy” of books about the case, following Michelle McNamara’s posthumously published I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer and detective Paul Holes’ Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases

Ho answered questions via telephone from Los Angeles, where he was traveling for work. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What made you decide to write a book about the case of the Golden State Killer?

The thought of writing a book never really entered

English. As I was working on the case, I kept very detailed personal notes, and near the end, I thought about writing a book. That was about five years ago. Raising a family, trying other cases, working in the community, and then running for election, I kept putting it on the back burner. Then I realized that everything worthwhile in life requires sacrifice and a lot of dedication. So I wrote the book in about seven months.

When did you first become aware of this case?

my consciousness for a long time. English is my second language; I had struggled learning how to read, write, and speak in

I was prosecuting my very first homicide case in Rancho Cordova, and in the process of getting ready for trial, I went out to the crime scene with the lead detective and another homicide prosecutor who grew up there. I noticed that a lot of the homes and

businesses in the area had metal bars and gates on the doors and windows. I said that I thought it was strange, and they started talking about the East Area Rapist, explaining to me that he would break into homes where there were couples. He would have the woman tie up the man, and then he would separate them into different rooms. He would force the man onto all fours and place plates on his back and eat their food, drink their beer. He would sexually assault the wife and take a single earring or the wedding band. He committed all these murders, including two in Sacramento, and then he just vanished in the darkness of the night. I was fascinated by it, and I nonchalantly said, “If you guys ever find him, I’m going to ask for that case.”

What was it about the Golden State Killer that captured the public’s attention in a way that few other serial killers have?

I think the sheer scope of his crimes captured people’s attention. He hit 11 different jurisdictions up and down the state of California. His crimes were the stuff of nightmares and boogeymen. It wasn’t just about how he committed his crimes, but how he seemed to enjoy the sadism. And then the planning—he would break into homes ahead of time and leave something in the couch cushion and come back days later to see if it was still there. And then he just disappeared. I think people always love a mystery, and he disappeared for 40 years; generations of officers looked for him. Nobody could find him until we did, and I think it fascinated people to finally see the monster behind the mask.

How did you decide to integrate elements of your own life story into this book?

I wanted to make sure that I put part of my story in there, because when you think of a prosecutor, have you ever seen one portrayed by an Asian American on TV or in the movies? No. And there are not many Asian American authors in the true-crime genre either. I want there to be other prosecutors who are Asian. I want there to be other true-crime authors who are Asian. The more perspectives that we have in our society, the better off we are. That’s why I wanted to tell

the story of a refugee who comes to this country with literally nothing but the clothes on his back, had to learn English as a second language, and rose to become a prosecutor in one of the most seminal serial killer cases in this country’s history.

How did you cope with the emotional strain that this case presented?

As prosecutors, we see people at the darkest and worst moments of their lives. Either they are facing criminal charges of life in prison, or they were the victim of a crime and

As prosecutors, we see people at the darkest and worst moments of their lives.

had the very fabric of their lives ripped apart. We see the darkest recesses of humanity, and a lot of times it’s very difficult to separate the job from our personal lives. I struggle with it. I have problems sleeping. I do the best I can to separate it, but I’ve not been very successful in doing so because it’s not like a light switch you can just turn on and off. It stays on all the time. You get used to it after a while, but in some ways, you don’t realize how much it affects you until you take a step back.

The last part of the book, before the epilogue, contains some of the victims’ impact statements. Why was it important to you to include those?

A lot of true-crime books really focus on the killer and the crimes. I wanted to move the focus to the three generations of law enforcement that never gave up the search for DeAngelo. I wanted to focus on the victims and the survivors who found triumph in their tragedy, power in their pain, and advocacy in their adversity. DeAngelo took their voices, but they found their voices by the end of the case, and his voice was removed and made insignificant. That’s also why a portion of the book’s proceeds will go to fund Phyllis’s Garden [a nonprofit for survivors of sexual assault started by two women who were attacked by DeAngelo].

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer. The People vs. the Golden State Killer Ho, Thien Third State Books | 280 pp. | $29.95 November 11, 2025 | 9798890130358

IN THE NEWS

Judge Dismisses Trump Lawsuit Against Publisher

The president had sued Penguin Random House and the New York Times for defamation.

A judge dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against Penguin Random House and the New York Times, ABC News reports.

Trump filed the suit against the publisher and newspaper as well as Times reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, authors of the 2024 book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success Times reporters Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt were also named as defendants in the suit.

In Lucky Loser, published by Penguin Press, Buettner and Craig cast doubt on Trump’s claims that he made a massive fortune from a “small loan” from his father, real

estate developer Fred Trump. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Two investigative reporters turn the Trump origin story on its head.”

Trump sued the publisher, newspaper, and reporters for $15 billion, calling the book “malicious, defamatory, and disparaging.”

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday dismissed the 85-page suit based on procedure, writing, “A complaint is a short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact sufficient to create a facially plausible claim for relief and sufficient to permit the formulation of an informed response.…

As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective—not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”—M.S.

Donald Trump

For a review of Lucky Loser, visit Kirkus online.

New Book by Lena Dunham Coming in 2026

Random House will publish the actor and director’s Famesick in the spring.

A new book by Lena Dunham is headed our way next year. In a news release, Random House announced that it will publish Famesick , by the actor and director, in the spring. It calls the book a “rowdy, frank reflection on illness, fame, sex, and everything in between.”

Dunham first gained fame with her 2010 film, Tiny Furniture, which she wrote, directed, and starred in. Two years later, her HBO television series, Girls, began airing; it became a pop-culture phenomenon that lasted six seasons. She went on to write and direct the films Sharp Stick and Cather­

SEEN AND HEARD

ine Called Birdy, and her latest television series, Too Much, premiered on Netflix in July.

Dunham’s previous books include Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned ” and Is It Evil Not To Be Sure?

Dunham shared news of her book on Instagram, writing, “Famesick is, ostensibly, about the years 2010–2020—a decade in which my life changed profoundly and permanently, in which nearly every strand of my DNA reconstituted itself. But it’s also about illness as teacher, body as tattletale, our societal relationship to women on the edge, and the conditions that create art vs. the conditions that create happiness.”

Famesick is slated for publication on April 14, 2026.—M.S.

Lena Dunham

a review of Not That Kind of Girl, visit Kirkus online.

The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America Into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home

Hartung, William D. & Ben Freeman

Bold Type Books (336 pp.) | $30

November 11, 2025 | 9781645030638

A resounding denunciation of a militaryindustrial complex gone metastatic.

Hartung and Freeman, fellows at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, open with some surprising numbers: for one, that “more than half of the Pentagon budget goes to private firms, not military personnel,” and for another, that there are nearly two defense lobbyists for every member of Congress. Meanwhile, they note, although Trump promised in his campaign to scale back on foreign intervention in favor of a neo-isolationist policy, he has pledged to raise the budget of the Department of Defense—now the Department of War—to $1 trillion, part and parcel of a well-established pattern of presidents “talking peace but waging war.” A substantial portion of the $100 billion raise that getting to that trillion entails is slated for new technologies, such as the AI engines of “new-age militarists” Peter Thiel’s Palantir and Palmer Luckey’s Anduril, to say nothing of the whiz-bang technologies of Elon Musk. This, the authors write, exposes a growing rift between the new kids and the old guard, the legacy companies such as Boeing and General Dynamics, although all the promises of the newcomers have yet to be tested. As the authors note, President Trump’s vaunted Golden Dome missile system “is more of a marketing tool for spending more on the Pentagon than it is a well-thought-out defense project.” Besides purchasing arms, the U.S. also leads the world in exporting them, with three times more market share than Russia and six times more than China. In this clearly written exposé, the authors add academia to the military-industrial

dyad: By their account, Johns Hopkins University alone receives more than $1 billion in military R&D funds annually. Hartung and Freeman close by advocating a smaller military that can do its job for less, allowing funds to go to “other needed public investments.”

A convincing argument for a leaner military and a constrained approach to arms sales.

Kirkus Star

Awake: A Memoir

Hatmaker, Jen | Avid Reader Press (320 pp.) $30 | September 23, 2025 | 9781668083680

A marital crisis causes a roadaway-fromDamascus transformation. Hatmaker opens with the impetus for her life change: a dead-of-night call her husband is making, aloud and in bed, to his girlfriend. “So this is what it looks like when a life unravels in real time,” she writes, adding, “It is quieter than I expected.” To compound the matter, her marriage of 26 years was to a minister, and she herself was a well-known faith leader of conservative bent. That moment of betrayal opens the author to an examination of her beliefs. Raised in a pious household, she writes of being indoctrinated in blame-the-victim and submissive views: “Girls’ bodies are a problem and need to be heavily policed.” “Southern Baptist theology dictates that only men lead.” “If it feels right, it is wrong.” No sooner is the word out that she and her husband have split up than do pious tongues start wagging, with one journalist writing an exposé that “discredits my leadership as a Christian.” Her teenage son had this “subtle response” for the reporter, who had gone so far as to message the author’s children: “Fuck all the way off.” Hatmaker steps over to the progressive side of the faith, allowing that her previous brand had been made toxic by white supremacy, racism, sexism, greed, and ugly secrets.

“Imagine my surprise when I began discussing white supremacy, and tons of my Christian followers lost their shit,” she writes brightly. (There’s not a lot of blue language here, but when it comes, it’s just right.) The author goes on to write of middle-age dating, “purity culture,” body shaming, and a careful kind of forgiveness while proclaiming a hard-won feminism: “Women are the eighth wonders of the world. May we love this little life with exposed beating hearts, tender regardless, despite it all.” Honest, engaging, and enjoyable as we watch the author stepping out from the shadows and reclaiming her life.

No Lessons Learned: The Making of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Told by Larry David and the Cast and Crew

HBO and Lorraine Ali | Black Dog & Leventhal (320 pp.) | $40 September 30, 2025 | 9798894141589

Pretty, pretty, pretty hard to resist. Life Be Not Proud Going Backwards. Something So Wrong. These are some of the titles that were suggested for the TV series that Larry David was developing in the late 1990s. When the names were put up for a vote among friends, no one chose the title David suggested. No matter. It was his show, and he went ahead with his name: Curb Your Enthusiasm. Good thing, that. It’s difficult to imagine a sitcom named Something So Wrong lasting 12 seasons—120 episodes in all—over 24 years. This is one of the many nuggets that readers will glean from this authorized coffee-table celebration of what has to be one of the funniest-ever TV shows—unless you have a problem with cringe comedy that focuses on the everyday neuroses of a self-centered, pampered, and misanthropic actor named Larry David. In the show’s early days—it premiered in 1999—HBO had no way of knowing that David, even

How a show centered on a misanthrope lasted 12 seasons over 24 years.

NO LESSONS LEARNED

post-Seinfeld, had a hit on his hands. In this as-told-to companion book, written by Los Angeles Times news and culture critic Ali, Susie Essman recalls David offering her a role over the phone without an audition. Essman: “I said, ‘Send me a script.’ He said, ‘There’s no script, and there’s no money. It’s low-budget. You’re going to have to fly yourself out and put yourself up.’” One can only imagine how Essman’s character—the gloriously in-your-face and profane Susie Greene, wife of David’s agent, Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin)—would have replied to such a paltry offer. The book gets into David’s Brooklyn roots—his parents hoped he’d be a mailman (“That was their best-case scenario”)—and it explores the show’s famously improvised scenes. “It felt fresh,” Ali writes. “No canned jokes. No scripted pauses for laughs.” In addition to the many interviews—not all of them especially insightful—the book includes a bounty of images, a map of locations, and a useful episode guide. This exuberant collection won’t have you curbing your enthusiasm about a great show.

Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth

Hernández, Daisy | Hogarth (304 pp.) $29 | February 17, 2026 | 9780593730171

A first-generation American considers the contentious and timely issue of citizenship. “Many people complain these days about the divisiveness of political life in the United States, as if it

were only a matter of disagreeing over policies and values, when it could be said that we are at odds with one another because we do not live in the same country.” So writes Hernández, the child of a Colombian mother and Cuban father, who recognized early on that citizenship is a matter of luck—in her father’s case, the fact that he fled Cuba just when the U.S., embroiled in the Cold War, began to issue green cards freely to Cuban exiles. Though born in the shadow of the Andes, Hernández writes, her mother became a citizen thanks to the Caribbean. More to the point, in an interesting twist of argument, Hernández proposes that her parents “became citizens of the United States because this country’s empire extended into the Caribbean.” As she writes, citizenship has always been a politicized and racialized issue: Asians were barred from admission from the 1880s to the 1950s, Blacks were denied citizenship until 1868 and Native Americans until 1924, and anyone who held a green card could be deported at any time upon committing the most minor of crimes. Today, the federal government is deporting citizens and noncitizens alike, a project that began 30-odd years ago with a Republican bid to end jus soli, or birthright, citizenship, the Constitution be damned. One judge—a Taiwanese immigrant—has backed President Trump’s policies by arguing that citizenship need not be granted to “invading aliens,” and he’s said to be next in line for a Supreme Court nomination. Preparing for the worst, Hernández, as a “queer Latina,” closes her narrative by applying for and receiving dual Colombian citizenship— just in case.

A fine contribution to the swirling discussion around citizenship, birthright or otherwise.

On Fire for God: Fear, Shame, Poverty, and the Making of the Christian Right—A Personal History

Hesse, Josiah | Pantheon (368 pp.) | $30 January 13, 2026 | 9780553387292

A tale of rural misery, religious charlatans, and the rise of MAGA Christianity.

“Nothing makes me angrier than a rigged game where the participants are told it’s easy to win yet end up walking away with their heads bowed in shame,” writes journalist Hesse. That’s what the “prosperity gospel” preachers of his rural Iowa youth promised: Trust in God, and riches will follow—and be sure to leave a healthy donation in the collection plate. Far-right Republicans have conned pastors and parishioners in turn to believe that Jesus loves the rich and despises the poor, says the author. A swirl of influences is in play: the loss of jobs and family farms to megacorporations and offshoring, the resentment of working-class whites when nonwhites received the same welfare benefits (aka “government assistance”) that they did, and a widespread feeling among rural people that they’d been left behind. There’s not a lot new in that analysis, but at least it comes from firsthand experience. It might be thought of as the antidote to J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. Indeed, Hesse has some choice words for Vance, who, he holds, “ignores all the factors increasingly narrowing the options of working-class people, and only recognizes the shortcomings of the individual.” It’s the prosperity gospel all over again. Hesse lands many good points, linking the Jesus Freak movement of the early 1970s to the antinomian tendencies of QAnon and MAGA, filtered through erstwhile intermediaries like Rush Limbaugh, “the corpulent clone of Billy James Hargis.” Hesse’s book wants to be a memoir, a history of religious flimflammery, and a study of how the predatory, politicized Christianity of today came about; some of the narrative goes deep, but some just

skims the surface. A good effort all the same, it asks a meaningful question: “Have you ever seen Donald Trump emit a hearty belly laugh?”

Worthy of attention for its personal view of an “American theocracy” in the making.

Joe the Pirate: The Life and Times of Marion Barbara Carstairs

Hubert | Illus. by Virginie Augustin

Trans. by Ivanka Hahnenberger

Iron Circus Comics (224 pp.) | $18 paper February 17, 2026 | 9781638991571

A handsome, charismatic character speeds boldly through a unique life story.

Joe Carstairs, born in London in 1900, was rakish, dapper, and determined, a skilled, confident lover and a self-appointed ruler of a Bahamian island. If this sounds like the stuff of classic cinema, that’s by design— Carstairs lived on her own terms, from cradle to grave, in an exhilarating fashion. With bold, high-contrast images of cityscapes, war zones, raucous parties, and sexual encounters, and a story that glides smoothly from scene to scene, this stylish graphic biography beckons seductively to curious readers. Carstairs “came out of the womb queer,” smoked cigars at age 8, and drove field ambulances as a teenager during World War I. Her driving obsession became a lifelong thrill for speedboats, which she raced competitively. In adulthood, she dressed primarily in men’s clothing, enjoying relationships and affairs with more than a hundred women—including leading actresses and British socialites. But the wealth that purchased Carstairs’ personal freedoms also allowed her to exercise power over others. In the mid-1930s, she bought a Bahamian island, where invited guests enjoyed lavish soirees, while Black residents of the island were held to strict standards. Carstairs prohibited alcohol, made church attendance mandatory,

and served as the island’s doctor, judge, baby namer, and banker. At the wheel of a speedboat or in a lover’s quarrel, the elision of broader societal context feels natural, but on Carstairs’ island, narrative neutrality sometimes feels akin to absolution. This sense is underscored by caricature-ish depictions of “Black” features—broad noses, thick lips, and white eyes set against inky skin. These images implicitly, uncomfortably, celebrate the unconventional late-era colonialist’s legacy, and readers may well hesitate to join the party. Fascinating and engaging, a complicated queer story depicted without apology.

I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right

Kaplan, Matt | St. Martin’s (288 pp.) | $30 February 24, 2026 | 9781250372277

Why we need to listen to scientists. Science tends to reward researchers from prestigious universities, who are usually English-speaking, white elderly males, writes Kaplan, a science correspondent for the Economist. Because of this bias, we lose the valuable voices of minority and immigrant researchers. In this informative study, Kaplan tells the stories of many heroes of science, including the Hungarian doctor in 1800s Austria who noticed that women giving birth in hospitals that used cadavers for teaching purposes died at a higher rate—as did their newborns— than those at hospitals that used other teaching tools. Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis reasoned that because doctors didn’t wash their hands between corpse diving and baby delivery in the hospitals using cadavers, they transferred bacteria that often killed their obstetric patients and their newborns. Hostile hospital administrators, apparently seeing trouble if the news got out, fired Semmelweis and got him exiled back to Hungary.

Perhaps the best recent example of “I told you so” is the story of Kati Kariko', on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania when she discovered that messenger RNA could help prevent disease from certain viruses. If the body’s immune cells could recognize attacks, that could prevent widespread infection in the body, Kariko' reasoned. The key to making that happen was an mRNA-based vaccine that would set up the body to attack a virus if it appeared. When Kariko' couldn’t get research grant money, the university first demoted her, then “threw [her] out of her lab.” The happy part of her story is that Kariko' found a job at a company called BioNTech, which recognized when Covid-19 hit that she had the key to creating a vaccine to fight it. Her research led to the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine, which helped save millions of lives. Kariko' and her colleague won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023, perhaps the ultimate revenge for a scorned scientist.

An eloquent plea for reforming research funding and reducing bias in grant awards and peer review journals.

The Architect of Espionage: The Man Who Built Israel’s Mossad Into the World’s Boldest Intelligence Force

Katz, Samuel M. | Scribner (448 pp.) | $30 November 25, 2025 | 9781668059746

A revealing biography of Mossad’s late spy chief.

Born in Ukraine, Meir Dagan adopted his Hebrew name in 1972, when he was serving as a captain in the Israeli Defense Forces. He rose to the leadership of Mossad, Israel’s vaunted intelligence service, in 2002, and he instituted immediate reforms meant to make the agency an instrument of “actionable intelligence,” meaning that Mossad agents would not react but instead, as spycraft expert Katz writes, do “everything in their power and their bag of dirty tricks to

Another masterwork from top-notch journalist Patrick Radden Keefe.

LONDON FALLING

preempt, forewarn, and punish before the fact.” This strike-first policy was controversial, of course, but Dagan enjoyed the full support of then–Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in creating the IDF’s first counterterrorism unit, infiltrating Gaza and Lebanon. When he rose in rank, with all the wetwork that involved, Dagan kept most of his small but lethal dealings out of sight of government leadership, including the head of A’man, the military intelligence branch, who was “opposed to rogue enterprises across the border that had the potential of enveloping the region in full-scale war.” As Mossad head, Dagan also cultivated strong ties with Vladimir Putin and the heads of numerous Middle Eastern governments, all of whom, Katz writes, would be delighted to see Hamas disappear but couldn’t say so publicly. For his freewheeling ways, Dagan was heartily disliked by Benjamin Netanyahu, who “was jealous that being the gatekeeper of vital aspects of Israel’s national security made Dagan in many ways the most important man in Israel.” Even though Katz believes that Dagan would have approved of the coordinated killing-bypager campaign of 2024, following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel of October 7, 2023, the author holds that Dagan “viewed the planned taking of another life as a measure of absolute last resort”—if one often resorted to. An eye-opening look at how realworld spycraft is conducted.

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth

Keefe, Patrick Radden | Doubleday (384 pp.)

$35 | April 7, 2026 | 9780385548533

A tragic death in a transformed city. Keefe, the author of some of this century’s finest nonfiction, has crafted another masterwork. This is a penetrating portrait of a young man destroyed by malignant influences given free rein in a global hub of capitalist excess. In November 2019, 19-year-old Zac Brettler leapt from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury apartment in London, falling to his death in the Thames. But this was no straightforward suicide. Brettler, well-off but not rich, had become fixated on opulence, spending nights on social media admiring the “glitzy, mercenary, aspirational culture” embodied by foreign billionaires who’d bought mansions and soccer clubs in his city. Hoping to join their number, he contrived a false identity that led to his undoing. Posing as “Zac Ismailov,” a Russian oligarch’s son, Brettler befriended shady entrepreneurs. At 18, he showed his real father—who works in finance but isn’t “flashy,” Keefe writes—an authentic-looking bank statement for a personal account holding about $1 million. Keefe uncovers details that suggest Brettler jumped to escape from one of his new purported friends, a “violent” extortionist. Keefe might be our sharpest chronicler of the intersection of criminal opportunism and institutional

fecklessness. The author finds witnesses and writes of the “bizarre passivity of Scotland Yard,” decimated by budget cuts. He tallies the harm done by decades of deregulation in London, where the financial sector is stacked with “professional facilitators eager to help protect or conceal a dubious fortune.” And he closely observes his real-life characters, sensitively showing the very different ways in which Brettler’s parents processed their pain. This is powerful reporting, a potential classic about the dangerous allure of a city remade as “a twenty-fourhour laundromat for dirty money.”

An exemplary account of naïveté, wealth, and menace, impeccably told by a top-notch journalist.

Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story

Kluger, Jeffrey | St. Martin’s (304 pp.) | $32 November 11, 2025 | 9781250323002

The Cold War countdown to Apollo. Wedged between NASA’s Mercury program, which rocketed the first Americans into space, and Apollo, which left their footprints on the moon, was Gemini—a 12-mission program that ran from 1961 to 1966. Kluger, a Time magazine editor at large, believes this “middle sibling of the manned space program” has been overshadowed for too long—in part by Kluger’s own work; his 1994 Lost Moon (written with astronaut Jim Lovell) formed the basis of the film Apollo 13. Now Kluger has rendered Gemini equally cinematic. His page-turning prose is written with new journalistic bravado that perfectly captures “a nation that wanted to think of its astronauts as a robust breed of men who ate well, trained hard, flew straight, and came home.” The book has its share of colorful figures—there’s John Glenn, camera ready; Neil Armstrong, haunted by his daughter’s death; Chris Kraft barking orders from mission control— but lacks a main character to hold things

Kirkus Star

The life-changing magic of Japanese culture.

LETTER FROM JAPAN

together as the narrative launches from one mission to the next. The real throughline is the Cold War. Political panic triggered by Sputnik was the fuel in Gemini’s rockets. Kluger makes palpable President Kennedy’s distress when, in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beat Alan Shepard into space. The U.S. was still trying to get an edge over the Soviets during Gemini 8 when, for heart-pounding pages, Armstrong and Dave Scott’s spacecraft spun out of control—a short circuit in the thruster system—and the astronauts fought to steady the ship as they slipped out of consciousness, a tense scene that ends in an early splashdown. But Gemini was a grand success. “Sixteen men had gone into space across ten crewed missions— and sixteen had come home.” They’d demonstrated all the skills that would take NASA to the moon, contributing, Kluger writes, “to a cascading series of economic, engineering, and political victories that helped bring the original Cold War to a peaceful end.” Impressively researched and stylishly written, the history of the space race achieves liftoff.

Letter From Japan

Kondo, Marie with Marie Iida | Crown (320 pp.) | $30 | October 21, 2025 9798217088089

A professional organizer shares her personal understanding of Japanese culture. When it first became popular, Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was often associated with minimalism, as she instructed de-clutterers to keep only things that “spark joy.” At the same time, her

guidance to thank objects for their service was a point of puzzlement: Do material goods and personal surroundings really matter? In Kondo’s new book, she answers with a resounding yes, an affirmation rooted in the foundational values of Japanese culture. Beginning with superficial, highly visible aspects of Japanese popular culture, such as kawaii and otaku fandom, she highlights how attachment to adorable things and cherished objects can help one understand and express their personal identity. She soon moves into more private spheres and practices, reflecting on seeking creative inspiration at hot spring baths, the intentionality of Japanese hospitality, and the consideration poured into preparing food. Ultimately, she arrives at specifically Japanese spiritual matters, exploring carefully constructed Shinto shrine grounds and serenely deliberate gardens to find stillness and harmony with nature. Each reflection includes a historical explication of the concept, complimented by Kondo’s experiences—whether exclaiming over sakura (a flowering cherry tree), making her children’s bentos, or working as a shrine maiden—and how that concept might relate to “tidying up” one’s life. Kondo’s years of living in the U.S. have given her an acute understanding of her identity as a Japanese person, and sharing that cross-cultural perspective is meaningful in itself. For those compelled by Kondo, her book reveals the underpinnings of her organizational philosophy with refreshing thoroughness. Though the book’s intricate entries are not for true newcomers to Japan seeking a surfacelevel survey, Kondo’s compendium will delight those hoping to appreciate Japanese cultural touchstones that they’ve encountered more deeply. A thoughtful, personal celebration of many meaningful aspects of Japanese life.

Printing Nueva York: Spanish-Language Print Culture, Media Change, and Democracy in the Late Nineteenth Century

Kreitz, Kelley | New York Univ. (304 pp.) | $30 paper | January 27, 2026 9781479830527

A Pace University English professor examines the contributions made by 19th-century Latinx writers and editors to ideas about democracy and the American mass media.

Gilded Age New York offered freedoms and technological innovations that writers from Latin America could not find at home. In this book, Kreitz explores the relationship between such expatriated literati as Nicanor Bolet Peraza, José Martí, and Arturo Schomburg and the press by analyzing the ways they challenged the capitalist/colonialist “notion of progress” that undergirded the burgeoning American mass media. The telegraph enabled Latinx writers, editors, and readers to share a space not bound by borders, where they could advocate for the liberties they were often denied in more autocratically controlled areas. Kreitz argues that in this environment, periodicals became talleres (workshops) that shaped ideas about everything from the role of women in Latin American independence movements to the importance of preserving texts about marginalized Hispanophone groups. This progressive view of media also infused attitudes regarding the role of journalists. For example, where the Anglo media viewed reporters like Nelly Bly as heroic “stars” of news stories, the Latinx media challenged that sensationalist model by championing “collaborative…approaches to authorship,” of the kind that Martí took when foregrounding workers over reporters in stories about the 1886 Haymarket Affair. The Latinx taller model also saw readers as key to story production because periodicals “must [also] reflect the views of its audience” and not just those of its

editorial staff. This view contrasted with the Anglo media idea that readers were regarded as “passive consumers.” Literary and cultural historians will undoubtedly find this fascinating, well-researched book an excellent starting point for discussions about the role of the press in 21st-century global/digital society. A groundbreaking study that showcases the intertwined history of American and Latinx media.

The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World

Lamb, Simon | Columbia Univ. (336 pp.) | $30 paper | December 30, 2025 | 9780231222235

Rock of ages. Lamb, an Earth scientist and author of Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes, writes that Earth’s surface is a mosaic of restless plates that go their separate ways, sometimes bumping together as one plate sinks beneath another, sometimes moving apart and opening up a new ocean. That’s the surface. Below about 40 miles, rocks are so hot that they flow like a fluid, but above they are dotted with liquid “magma chambers” that occasionally surface explosively as a volcano or slowly as a hot spring, geyser, or deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Lamb writes an enthusiastic account of Earth’s 4-billion-year history, which mostly involves traveling rocks and subterranean fireworks, with life almost an afterthought. The best way to learn about the early Earth is to study rocks from that time. Most have been shoved deep out of sight by plate tectonics or rest at the bottom of the ocean, but around the globe (mostly in Canada) are surface remnants present over 3 billion years ago, when the planet was a quarter of its present age. Lamb chose an obscure nature reserve in South Africa for his graduate work and returned regularly, so readers will encounter a great deal of geological minutiae about its rocks, with occasional detours to the seafloor and his

native New Zealand. The photographs are generous, and the author’s accounts of often hair-raising experiences have broad appeal, but his enthusiasm for geology is expressed in complex diagrams, the details of mineralogy and chemistry, and discussions of plate tectonics and volcanism that will appeal to aficionados with some knowledge of the field. A solid read about geological masses that have survived “mind-boggling spans of geological time.”

72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee

Lee, Geddy | Harper/HarperCollins (160 pp.) | $50 | September 30, 2025

9780063450196

Taking us out to the ballgame. Any number of rock and rollers have acquired unhealthy habits during their time on the road. Lee, the lead vocalist and bassist for Rush (and author of My Effin’ Life), picked up a hobby: collecting baseball memorabilia. On tour in the 1980s, the self-described “naive, white, Jewish, Canadian nebbish” happened upon a shop in Kansas City called the Legacy. He writes, “I left the store that day with not just a humble bag of swag, but something more profound: a lightning bolt had struck me, galvanizing me to delve even deeper into the game that I already loved.” This delightful book showcases the items, most of them baseballs, that Lee collected over decades. Scores of warmly lit photographs display balls bearing signatures of the sport’s greatest players, including Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams; above his name, Mickey Mantle wrote, “He was safe asshole!” Some of them, like one from the 2006 World Series, are pristine, as if fresh from the factory. Most are yellowed and scuffed, showing their age. One from 1908—signed to “Mrs. N. Pearl”—looks to have been roasted in an oven. You can practically smell the old leather and infield dirt. More than mere objects to amass, the

balls, many graced by fine, antique penmanship, hold history in them. Lee writes, “I fell in love with the idea that baseballs could tell a story, not of the players alone but the actual moments in the games that distinguished them. Evocative stuff!” To his credit, Lee is aware of the impermanence of his role in this hobby. He has donated hundreds of baseballs to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, helping draw attention to that institution. “Let’s face it,” he writes, “you never truly own these things anyway; you’re merely paying for the privilege of minding them for as long as you can before handing them on to the next caretaker.”

An inviting tour of our national pastime, led by a rocker with an infectious love of the game.

Alice Baber: An Artist’s Triumph Over Tragedy

Levin, Gail | Pegasus (432 pp.) | $35 February 3, 2026 | 9798897100408

A painter of color and light. Art historian Levin, biographer of Edward Hopper, Judy Chicago, and Lee Krasner, recounts the life and career of artist, feminist, and educator Alice Baber (1928-1982), whose legacy, Levin argues, has been unjustly ignored by “powerful male art historians and critics [and] curators” and suppressed by the widow of Baber’s former husband. Born in rural Illinois, Baber grew to be a precocious and creative child. Her father’s mental breakdown, which led to the family’s move to Florida when Alice was 3, and her mother’s death before Alice was 15, were blights on an otherwise serene childhood. After studying art in college and at the École des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, Baber moved to New York in 1951. While working on her art at night, she supported herself as a journalist or editor, living on her own at a time, Levin notes, “when few single women had the courage or the means to take on such a

challenge.” In 1957, the influential critic Thomas Hess singled out her work in a show at the March Gallery and reproduced it in Artnews, a significant recognition for Baber. Levin chronicles her many successes, which included international exhibitions and critical recognition; the travels to Asia and South America that fueled her creativity; her love affairs; her marriage to fellow artist Paul Jenkins, which ended in divorce; and, above all, the quality of her work. Baber described her lyrical early paintings as evoking “the tree of life, the celestial garden, the rivers, the mystical ladders, colored wind and rain, plants made of jewels, mythical springs, and the final rim of the universe.” Five essays by Baber are appended. As the first scholarly examination of the artist, Levin’s thorough research offers a firm grounding for future studies. A richly detailed homage.

The War for Middle-Earth:

J.R.R.

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945

Loconte, Joseph | Thomas Nelson (256 pp.) $29.99 | November 12, 2024 | 9781400247936

Hobbits in the trenches.

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are two of the most widely read 20th-century British writers. For both men, the ideals of Britishness centered on the communal life of the village, the heroism of everyday people in great times, and the attempt to bring together a fecund imagination with a faith in a Christian god. Many things shaped their writings, not the least being their scholarship in the medieval English language. Beowulf, Chaucer, and romance adventure gave them a vocabulary for fantasy and faith. Both men looked back, too, to their experiences as soldiers in World War I for the vividness of conflict. And, as they lived through World War II on the home front, their memories came back to them,

invigorating imagined places with the gore and grit of the trenches. At the heart of their work is a theme, writes historian and filmmaker Loconte: “the necessity of individual courage to combat evil.” That individual courage had to be found in the ordinary man, the Hobbit, the person like us, who was “not made for perilous quests.” Such men were like the men with whom they fought. And in the 1930s and ’40s, when Tolkien, Lewis, and their contemporaries came together in conversation and scholarship at Oxford, they bonded in the shared need to “cordon” off the fears of combat. The pub, the library, and the college common room made “space for relationships that were meaningful, for conversations rich in wit and wisdom, and for creative work that could inspire and enchant. For Tolkien and Lewis, male friendship fulfilled all of these needs like nothing else.” At their most fantastic, both writers were at their most real and personal. An illuminating study of two great English fantasy writers and the wars that shaped their imaginations.

Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense

Manchin, Joe | St. Martin’s (288 pp.) | $32 September 16, 2025 | 9781250411631

The former U.S. senator addresses a polarized politics. Manchin, former governor of and U.S. senator from West Virginia, entered the Senate in 2010 after winning a special election following the death of Robert Byrd. He went as a Democrat, the party of choice among working-class West Virginians for years—until, that is, what he calls the “war on coal” began and the polity flipped to the GOP overnight. Writes Manchin, “there were enough reasons to change my political affiliation to Republican right then and there.” He might just as well have, for, as he writes, he killed President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, refused to do away with the

Republican-favoring filibuster, and, as he proudly writes, enjoyed “an open line of communication” with President Trump, adding, “I spoke to him more in the first two years of his presidency than I did to President Obama during all eight years of his time in office.” Moreover, Manchin sounds Republican, calling climate change “the new religion” and writing of his salad days, “Back then, getting help from the government was seen as a last resort, not a way of life.” He also dismisses the Democratic Party’s “woke ideology, DEI mandates, and other social agendas.” (He does allow that “I have watched the Republican Party lose itself to one man.”) Before leaving the Senate, Manchin switched his affiliation to independent, and, he asserts, the “fastest-growing” party in the country today is “no party at all.” Manchin proposes a number of reforms to reclaim the middle, some of them sensible (undoing the Citizens United dark-money regime, banning gerrymandering) and some unlikely, such as his effort to prohibit a sitting senator from campaigning against another sitting senator. Manchin’s middle-of-the-road approach will appeal to those steering to the right.

Yiddish: A Global Culture: Bold Lives, Boundless Creativity

Mazower, David | White Goat Press (344 pp.) $60 | November 11, 2025 | 9798990998070

Beyond the shtetl. Yiddish is not just a language. It is a world. Emerging from German dialects in the Middle Ages, the language became the vernacular of diasporic European Jews for hundreds of years. Though grounded in German grammar, it brought in words from Hebrew, Polish, Russian, English, and just about every other language spoken where Jewish people lived. This gloriously illustrated catalog of an exhibit at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, illustrates how Jewish life straddled the

secular and the sacred. Speakers code-switched through sorrow, humor, private devotion, and public protest. Jewish humor became a way of coping with displacement and discrimination. A joke often had more power than a gun. Yiddish, too, became the language of the stage. Whether in the form of adaptations of the classics (the Yiddish King Lear remains unrivaled), popular melodrama, or folkloric terror (The Dybbuk was The Exorcist before The Exorcist), Yiddish theater, and later film, gave voice to the foibles and fantasies of Jewish men and women. What this book also reveals is the variety of the Yiddish book. Because Yiddish is written in Hebrew characters, book design took on a distinctive, calligraphic aesthetic. And finally, because Yiddish was the language of the home, women took on a special role in shaping the language to give voice to emotion, family care, and early feminist aspiration. The story of Yiddish now is a story of archives. Though it remains the language of certain observant communities, it lives for many modern Jews in the histories of joy and pain. This is a book of once-lost voices, brought forth to celebrate and lament again. A beautiful work that tells the history of European Jewish life as a story of language in print, onstage, and in the home.

Kirkus Star

The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade To Save America’s Birds

McCommons, James H. | St. Martin’s (416 pp.) | $33 | March 17, 2026 | 9781250286895

America’s avian history.

McCommons, an environmental and travel journalist, writes, “When looking at the century-long fight to save America’s birds, it’s important to remember the victories.” While the book is full of birds being driven to extinction, skinned and feathered, and

“blown to bits,” it’s really the story of the United States’ slow victory in keeping its diverse array of birds alive. The book opens with the story of early “shotgun ornithologists”: Without adequate binoculars in the 19th century, the only way to study birds was to shoot them down and examine their corpses. From the difference between Native American hunting bows and Jamestown settlers’ clumsy muskets to the contemporary threat of reflective high-rise windows, the book can be read as a history of the U.S. through birds, as, oddly enough, one can’t fully be told without the other. For example, readers may be surprised to learn that a landmark Supreme Court decision about “whether federal law supersedes state law” was originally brought to court over how to enforce the Migratory Bird Act. The author’s historiography is also current—he doesn’t shy away from the fact that James Audubon financed his successes by selling enslaved people, and he focuses on the impact of lesser-known female ornithologists such as Florence Merriam. His prose shines, as when recounting massive flocks of passenger pigeons darkening the sky for hours in the 1850s and ’60s: “Pigeons…spooked horses, impelled children to run for home, and caused the pious to drop to their knees in prayer. The throb and rush of air from beating wings went on all day while excrement fell like a snow, frosting the streets and buildings.” If the book stutters, it’s because it may be too comprehensive—readers may feel bogged down when McCommons zeroes in on not just bird hunters, but the middlemen who sold birds, or when he repeatedly returns to the subject of feather hats.

A definitive history of bird conservation in America.

American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union

Meacham, Jon | Random House (496 pp.) $38 | February 17, 2026 | 9780593597552

A panoramic collection of historical writing, illuminating America’s evolving democracy and the dissent that drives it.

Broad in scope yet vivid, this collection edited by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Meacham ( And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, 2022) represents a notable departure from his biographies. Here he curates a sweeping chronicle of American democracy’s promises and betrayals. Drawing on speeches, letters, and landmark texts from the first representative assembly in 1619 to the present, Meacham places enduring milestones—the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, the Civil Rights Movement—alongside influential and less familiar voices, including investigative journalist Ida B. Wells, chronicling racial violence at the turn of the 20th century; labor leader Eugene V. Debs, decrying wartime suppression of dissent in 1918; and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, whose 1964 testimony at the Democratic National Convention exposed voter suppression and brutality in Mississippi. Meacham frames the collection as both an inheritance and a warning: “This anthology seeks to put our best and our worst before a divided and often dispirited nation—and to remind us that conscientious citizenship is essential to bringing out the more perfect Union envisioned in the Preamble to the Constitution,” noting earlier that America “has had shining hours; it has also dwelt in darkness,” underscoring that progress is neither linear nor guaranteed. The selections trace a chronological arc of reform, from Abigail Adams’ 1776 plea

For more on birding, visit Kirkus online.

Global Perspectives

Seierstad;

more booklists, visit Kirkus online.

John Grisham To Publish Nonfiction Book Next Year

Shaken will tell the story of Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson.

John Grisham will write about one of Texas’ most controversial death penalty cases in a nonfiction book coming in 2026.

Doubleday will publish the novelist’s Shaken: The Rush To Execute an Innocent Man next spring, the press announced in a news release. It calls the

book “the harrowing true story of a Texas father condemned to die for a crime that never happened.”

Shaken will tell the story of Robert Roberson, who was convicted in 2003 of murdering his 2-year-old daughter the year before. He received the death penalty for the slaying. His attorneys argued that the girl died of pneumonia and sepsis, appealing the conviction under Texas’ “junk science law.”

Grisham is on the board of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit group that advocates for the wrongfully convicted. He has written about the subject in two previous nonfiction books, The Innocent Man: Murder

and Injustice in a Small Town and Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions, the latter co-written with Jim McCloskey.

In the new book, Doubleday says, Grisham “exposes the many failures that led to a blameless man’s death sentence, and a justice system more eager for a conviction than the truth. Powerful, urgent, and frequently unimaginable, this is both a riveting legal drama as only John

AND HEARD

Grisham can tell it, and a searing indictment of our criminal justice system.”

Shaken is scheduled for publication on June 9, 2026.—M.S.

For a review of Framed, visit Kirkus online.

John Grisham

to “Remember the Ladies” to Frederick Douglass’ defiance of Dred Scott in the 1850s, to Theodore Parker’s 1853 assertion that “the arc…bends towards justice,” and to the civil rights era of the 1960s, where Hamer’s testimony stands as vivid proof of democracy’s ongoing struggle. By presenting the raw materials of U.S. history with context and moral clarity, Meacham helps readers understand the past and orient themselves in the ongoing fight for a “more perfect Union.” Evocative and impeccably curated— reframing America’s past to inform a more democratic and vigilant future.

A Danger to the Minds

of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature

Morgan, Adam | One Signal/Atria (288 pp.) $29 | December 9, 2025 | 9781668053645

A daring editor changes literary history. Journalist and critic Morgan, founder of the Chicago Review of Books, makes his book debut with an engaging biography of Margaret C. Anderson (1886-1973), founder and publisher of the influential journal the Little Review. Born into a wealthy family in Indianapolis, Anderson escaped to Chicago as soon as she could, eager for a wider cultural world. She was befriended by Clara Laughlin, who gave her a job reviewing books for her magazine, the Interior. Soon, a chance meeting opened up another opportunity: as an assistant to the editor of the well-regarded literary journal, the Dial. In 1913, by then part of a flourishing arts community in Chicago, she decided to launch her own journal. Working on a shoestring budget, Anderson made the rounds of publishers and bookshops to solicit ads. She also convinced the piano company Mason & Hamlin to give her a piano in exchange for free advertising—a deal

that she repeated even after the journal moved from Chicago to New York. Once an aspiring pianist, Anderson always had to have her piano. The journal got a significant boost when Ezra Pound offered to become its foreign editor. He was looking, he wrote to Anderson, for an “official organ” where he, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and other avant-garde writers could appear. Backed by the cosmopolitan lawyer John Quinn, he could pay contributors. Anderson was enthusiastic, but publishing the first chapters of Joyce’s Ulysses proved both brave and reckless, at the cost of losing subscribers and leading to her trial for obscenity. Morgan recounts Anderson’s affairs with Jane Heap, actress and opera singer Georgette Leblanc, and Solita Solano, among others. Her reputation endures as “a politically radical lesbian” and champion of modernism. A lively biography of a bold woman.

Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West

Mueller, Max Perry | Basic Books (496 pp.) $35 | November 4, 2025 | 9781541602595

Deeply researched biography of an overlooked Native American leader.

When members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints—Mormons, as University of Nebraska historian Mueller colloquially calls them—arrived in Utah in the late 1840s, they encountered a Timpanogos Ute leader named Wakara, whom they called Walker. Wakara made a handsome living in two untoward trades: He was an accomplished horse thief, raiding far into California, and he traded in enslaved people. Wakara professed to convert through baptism, becoming “the first Utah Native to be ordained in the Mormon priesthood.” Many other Indigenous people, including a hundred of Wakara’s band, also converted. But when Mormon settlers began to encroach

on Ute hunting and fishing grounds, fencing off traditional festival areas, Wakara mounted a war of resistance. Complications abound: Although Brigham Young wound up suing for peace, he waged a war against the Utes in which hundreds of Native people—mostly women and children— were massacred, even as the Indigenous rebels, for their part, killed plenty of settlers. And ironies abound: Although the slave trade was technically illegal and accounted immoral, the Mormons effectively took it over from Wakara, especially by bullying Paiute families into selling their children, who were then indentured “until they worked off the cost of their own purchase price.” Official Latter-Day Saints doctrine held that the Natives, or Lamanites, as they called them, were “white and delightsome,” but that did nothing to end the depredations. As Mueller observes, the Walker War ended following Wakara’s death: Possibly poisoned by arsenic that laced a gift of tobacco from Young, he was buried with two of his wives, two enslaved Paiutes, and a dozen horses, all slaughtered for the occasion. But the Utes and other Native peoples continued to suffer, converts or not, removed from fertile lands to inhospitable reservations and even, well into the 20th century, from national parks such as Arches.

A revealing study from a forgotten theater of the war against Native America.

How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success

Newman, George | Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $30 | January 27, 2026 | 9781668026007

A cognitive scientist consolidates insights into creativity in a manual to achieve great ideas. Newman, who teaches at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, has written an accessible and entertaining book that

uproots the belief that great ideas stem from “innate talent reserved for the chosen few.” Breakthrough perspectives don’t exist in “some distant, elusive realm,” observes Newman, but are right in front of us, if we’re prepared to harness the conceptual tools, which are shared with clarity, evidence, positive energy, and actionable steps. The narrative is structured by archeology analogies: surveying, gridding, digging, and sifting. With a light deftness, the author moves through these enlightening sections and takes his own medicine by systematically, and with many reiterations, expressing each facet of the creative challenge. Sprinkled throughout the book are examples of cutting-edge research, pop-culture nuggets, and brief stories of artistic processes. Newman spares no aspect of human creation in his research, writing about Einstein’s path to his theory of relativity (embrace uncomfortable abstraction), Karen Wynn Fonstad’s mapping of Middle-earth, Björk’s musical journey, the composition of K-Pop songs, and Jordan Peele rewriting Get Out more than 400 times. He moves smoothly across painting, music, movies, cooking, writing, business, and his own life, and he gives guidance on how creatives should use AI. Although some lessons may seem obvious to those familiar with creative literature, and though some of the exercises may seem repetitive or contrived, Newman writes so efficiently and skillfully that this comprehensive work is a pleasure to read. Clever phrases and concepts such as “Burn the cabin down” and “The wisdom of grumpy Yoda” will stay with you and help you produce original work.

A refreshing exploration of creativity that’s expansive in cultural scope and packed with concrete exercises.

Life After Ambition: A “Good Enough” Memoir

Niazi, Amil | One Signal/Atria (224 pp.)

$28 | January 6, 2026 | 9781668056035

A Muslim Canadian writer and mother finds happiness by being her authentic self.

At age 5, Niazi’s family emigrated to Canada from London, where Niazi was born. Partly because of a lack of money, the family moved often. This instability, coupled with domestic violence, filled the author with a determination to “escape the poverty and trauma” that characterized her early years. Her first forays into adulthood seemed to repeat her childhood patterns as she unknowingly entered a devastatingly violent romantic relationship, battled addiction, and struggled to find work that allowed her to be her full self while simultaneously paying a living wage. Eventually, she fell in love with her future husband, Matt, moved to London to pursue a job with the BBC, and became a mother. In Britain, she writes, “The constant push and pull between work and mothering was breaking me, turning me into something far less than I was, than I could be. I felt like I was pretending to be good at both but failing miserably at either.” New motherhood forced her to reckon with her dissatisfaction with her prestigious job and propeled her back to Toronto and family. At home, Niazi finally finds answers. “I spent more than half of my life thinking that I needed to be ambitious to get away, to be someone and do something better,” she writes. “The last five years have shown me that I just needed to

“I ain’t ready to go anywhere,” writes Ozzy Osbourne. “It’s good being alive.”

become more truly myself.” Niazi’s storytelling is perceptive and relatable, beautifully drawing connections between her individual experience and systems of oppression. While the story at times strays from the author’s central thesis about ambition, this is overall a powerful and generous work. A warm, vulnerable memoir about trading ambition for sincerity and joy.

Last Rites

Osbourne, Ozzy with Chris Ayres Grand Central Publishing (368 pp.) $30 | October 7, 2025 | 9781538775417

T he late heavy metal legend considers his mortality in this posthumous memoir. “I ain’t ready to go anywhere,” writes Osbourne in the opening pages of his new memoir. “It’s good being alive. I like it. I want to be here with my family.” Given the context—Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, two weeks after the publisher announced the news of this book—it’s undeniably sad. But the rest of the text sees the Black Sabbath singer confronting the health struggles of his last years with dark humor and something approaching grace. The memoir begins in 2018; he wrote an earlier one, I Am Ozzy, in 2010. He tells of a staph infection he suffered that proved to be the start of a long, painful battle with various illnesses—soon after, he contracted a flu, which morphed into pneumonia. A spinal injury caused by a fall followed, causing him to undergo a series of surgeries and leaving him struggling with intense pain. And then there was his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, the treatment of which was complicated by his longtime struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. Osbourne peppers the chronicle of his final years with anecdotes from his past, growing up in Birmingham, England, and playing with—and then being fired from—Black Sabbath, and some of his most well-known antics (yes, he does address biting the heads off of a dove and

a bat). He writes candidly and regretfully about the time he viciously attacked his wife, Sharon—the book is in many ways a love letter to her and his children. The memoir showcases Osbourne’s wit and charm; it’s rambling and disorganized, but so was he. It functions as both a farewell and a confession, and fans will likely find much to admire in this account. “Death’s been knocking at my door for the last six years, louder and louder,” he writes. “And at some point, I’m gonna have to let him in.”

A charming and often poignant valediction from rock ’n’ roll’s Prince of Darkness.

The Life You Want

Phillips, Adam | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (160 pp.) | $26 | March 31, 2026 9780374617974

You can’t always get what you want.

The British psychoanalyst Phillips recognizes that, while psychotherapy may not be a flawless science, it offers a means of coping with the world and understanding the relationship between desire and happiness. This collection of essays brings together the legacies of Sigmund Freud and the American pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty, both of whom were concerned with integrating human needs into a fulfilling social life. The result is a self-help book of a very high order, rich with quotations and explications of literary and philosophical texts phrased in an aphoristic style. “People always do things for good reasons, even though often they do not know what these reasons are. Psychoanalysis is there to help us work out what our reasons might be, and what we think about them.” The reader will work hard to find such clear statements, though. Much of the book delves deep into the work of thinkers such as D.W. Winnicott and Gilles Deleuze, trying to find concord between those who focus on the unconscious and those who focus on

everyday lived life. “The psychoanalyst is an essentialist who believes in the unconscious…the pragmatist is an anti-essentialist, unwilling to believe in determinisms and committed to human agency and choice-making.” Psychoanalysis begins with resistance; pragmatism begins with acceptance. If you take Phillips at his word, you will go into psychoanalysis to struggle with unfulfilled desire while recognizing that the life you want will not be provided by others but found for yourself, both inside your head and outside in the world. Not a book for the casual reader.

A sophisticated, mind-stretching argument for psychoanalysis as a way of understanding why we want a good life.

Island at the Edge of the World: The Forgotten History of Easter Island

Pitts, Mike | Mariner Books (368 pp.) | $34 January 27, 2026 | 9780063344679

An archeologist reexamines the mystery of Rapa Nui—and offers answers. Pitts, a British archaeologist and author, begins his latest book with a bold appeal: It is time to question everything we have been told about Rapa Nui. For much of modern history, he tells us, this isolated island, located more than 2,000 miles west of Santiago, Chile, has been blamed for its own demise. Yet the familiar tales of war, cannibalism, and ecocide laced with judgment and condemnation have little grounding in historical truth. Instead, Pitts gives us a far more plausible account, in which slavery, kidnapping, and disease, driven by European conquest, are to blame. In Rapa Nui, the colonial playbook was catastrophically effective. It decimated the island nation in all but 15 years, during which its population plunged from 5,000 to little more than 100, with just 26 women. In a wise decision, Pitts plainly lays out the facts yet doesn’t dwell unnecessarily on

tragedy. He instead asks us to reframe our line of inquiry from how things went wrong—after all, we now have answers—to how did the Rapa Nui flourish for so long? Their island is, according to Pitts, a place of fragile soil, restricted marine life, and no permanent freshwater streams. The answer lies in bravura skill in farming and land management. “Rapa Nui,” he says, “is the world’s greatest example of a people given lemons, and making lemonade.” Some of these insights come thanks to the pioneering work of British archeologist Katherine Routledge. Pitts gives readers an affectionate profile of her; she carried out extraordinary fieldwork and reporting during an expedition to the island in 1914, only to have her work questioned, and then overridden by the London establishment. Throughout his book, Pitts capably and passionately argues his case, though he occasionally veers into the perils of academic writing. The result is a welcome contribution to Pacific Island history that holds relevance not just for Rapa Nui, but for other islands across this vast ocean.

A bold and convincing revision of Rapa Nui’s history.

Radical Cartography: How Changing Our Maps Can Change Our World

Rankin, William | Viking (304 pp.) | $40 November 11, 2025 | 9780525559795

An in-depth, revisionist plunge into the extraordinary world of maps. Rankin, a Yale University historian, argues that it’s time to reimagine what a map can be and how it can be used. We now have non-geographic maps of everything from social networks to the human genome. “Any map is now just a representation of data, a special case of visualization.” Cartography becomes radical when “it embraces the inherent uncertainty, multiplicity, and subjectivity of both our data and the world itself.” Rankin organizes his lavishly illustrated book

around seven basic features of maps: boundaries, layers, people, projections, color, scale, and time. Using Chicago as an example, he describes how community area boundary maps from the 1930s provided valuable sociological data that could result in changes to benefit people’s daily lives. Rankin then discusses the work of Arthur Robinson, who transformed “cartography from a technical craft into an expansive social science of visual communication” from his position as chief of the Map Division during World War II, advancing the concept of layering in maps. Rankin also delves into Indigenous mapping and Lincoln’s “slave-map.” The author argues that, with maps, we “need to match the projection to the particular we of the map, knowing that there are many we that don’t include us at all.” He’s quite good at covering the politics of artificial and natural colors in maps, intentional and unintentional. He ponders whether scale comparisons are always colonial and objectifying. Lastly, he covers the dilemma of how maps can handle time, the rise of photographic cartography, photo-cinematic maps, and what Rankin calls “spatial memory,” maps that show a relationship between the past and the present. These values he proposes for radical cartography in maps—uncertainty, multiplicity, and subjectivity—have the potential to be a “tool for change.”

A challenging but edifying read about the power of maps.

Sorry I Keep Crying During Sex: A Memoir

Rose, Jesse James | Abrams (272 pp.)

$28 | October 21, 2025 | 9781419777912

Inspired snippets from a transgender life in flux.

In her debut memoir, transgender influencer, actor, and author Rose memorializes events and details during a particularly difficult decade of discovery and desire. Writing with flair and panache, she effortlessly escorts readers across

An often-neglected region that is of critical importance to U.S. security.

POLAR WAR

frenetic pages of Grindr app conversation extracts, text exchanges, thoughts about identity (“when does my gender stop being a “gotcha!!!”), and the obsessively portrayed, PTSD-inducive trajectory of her relationship with ex-boyfriend Finnegan. Rose isn’t shy about sex, either, as she presents an exhaustively detailed series of (numbered) sex hookups, some followed by post-sex crying jags, and all grounded with confessions about intimacy, connection, and “the distance between how I want to be cared for and what’s actually happening.” There are numerous themed lists, which are alternately entertaining and illuminating. Not all is lightheartedly frank, frenzied, or superficially queer, however: Most of Rose’s prose is poetic, heartfelt, and explicitly unfettered, particularly when describing the rape ordeal that forever changed her worldview and social outlook. Also heart-wrenching are episodes of caregiving for her wheelchair-bound grandfather, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Rose lays bare the traumas that haunt her, yet she remains upbeat and proactive, leaving room for future joy and unexpected connection. Frank musings on sexual desire, gender identity, and emotional fulfillment saturate these chapters, which won’t appeal to every reader; an example is her detailed playbook on her own “funeral pregame”—a self-hosted life celebration preceding a medically assisted suicide, should she ever be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The book can feel disjointed, but taken as a whole, it’s a moving account of pain and personal growth. An intimate, emotionally honest patchwork quilt of trauma, compassion, desire, and identity.

Kirkus Star

Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic

Rosen, Kenneth R. | Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) | $29 | January 6, 2026

9781668052334

A new cold war in the frozen arctic. Rosen, an experienced and thorough journalist whose work has focused on Syria and Iraq, trains his sights on a region often neglected and shows it to be of critical importance not only to Indigenous peoples and U.S. security but to polar nations of the West wary of the encroachments of Russia and China. From Alaska to Iceland to Greenland and Scandinavia, he embeds himself with researchers, scientists, fishermen, the U.S. Coast Guard, and varied military operations to reveal an arctic that is “always in a state of geopolitical and ecological recalibration,” with growing tensions leading to what Rosen predicts is an inevitable conflict. Formerly a locus of partnership and cooperation, of science diplomacy and wildlife preservation, joint search-andrescue operations, and mutually beneficial natural-resource extraction is now viewed covetously: an opportunity for expansion and military dominance, enabled by melting sea ice and the prospect of new trade routes. It is a competition that Russia and China are winning, says Rosen, who adds that matters are not helped by arrant gamesmanship, the Trump administration’s “egregious campaign to ‘get’ and

In which a diver became an underwater archeologist—and found a treasure ship.

NEPTUNE’S FORTUNE

secure” Greenland, and Russian flag-planting. Rosen details the relationship between a warming planet and the region’s militarization and demonstrates how Russia’s greater competency in cold-weather operations and its pivotal fleet of icebreakers now dwarf America’s capabilities. With decaying infrastructure, inadequate funding, and ill-prepared personnel, the U.S., once the dominant power of the arctic, has suffered a steep decline in the region, only recently waking up to the precarious position it faces— and, by extension, faced by all of NATO’s arctic nations. Not one to simply explain the problems, Rosen also provides a roadmap toward effective solutions. What might have been a stilted recitation of issues is instead an engrossing, soberly rendered cautionary tale.

First-class reportage on an urgent dilemma.

Junglekeeper: What It Takes To Change the World

Rosolie, Paul | Convergent (336 pp.) | $28 January 20, 2026 | 9780593980392

Having spent more than 20 years working in the Peruvian Amazon, an adventurer and environmental activist cuts through lore— both overly romantic and catastrophizing.

Ten years after Rosolie’s debut Mother of God , the threat to the landscape and species of the Amazon rainforest remains dire. Since first making his way to the remote Madre

de Dios region, the author has imagined and refined an ambitious goal of saving the Las Piedras River basin and safeguarding the biodiversity and wonder of a major tributary to the Amazon River. No matter how far his Junglekeepers organization may have come, both inspirationally and systematically, from the author’s “barefoot machete days” of exploring the wild with his friend, JJ, a member of the local Ese Eja Indigenous community, the Amazon offers up an endless supply of novel experiences and vantage points. Rosolie collects the wonder of his experiences, involving anacondas of recordbreaking size, encounters with the mysterious, voluntarily isolated Mashco Piro tribe, and a climb to the top of the jungle’s canopy. The author also tracks the false starts and disappointments along the road to viral videos, millionaire funders, and luxury treehouses. Villains abound: The drastic logging and mining of the 20th century has given way to the more staggered destruction of gradually encroaching land grabs, forest “colonization” initiatives, and undercover narco-traffickers. Rosolie profoundly understands the necessity of seeing a place if one is to be moved to protect it, and he enlists his language powerfully in this mission with rich, poetic passages capturing the light of treetops at dawn, the darkness of untouched jungle at night, and the magnificence of confronting rarely seen species up close. His is an eloquent and valuable contribution to a growing demand for a more determined, less doomsday reaction to human-made climate change.

A call to confront today’s acute environmental threats with a combination of persistence, adventure, and awe.

Neptune’s Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire

Sancton, Julian | Crown (384 pp.) | $33 January 27, 2026 | 9780593594179

Fireworks and treasure off the Spanish Main. Journalist and historian Sancton, author of Madhouse at the End of the Earth, emphasizes the story of Roger Dooley, a self-described underwater archeologist who found a great sunken treasure ship. Sancton sets the scene in 1708 in the Caribbean, where a Spanish treasure fleet met a hostile British squadron. In the battle that followed, the galleon San José sank somewhere in waters off Colombia. Early chapters describe undersea treasure hunting, a wild-west get-rich-quick occupation dominated by larger-than-life characters who chew through fortunes from naïve investors and rarely hit the jackpot. The treasure hunters employ violent methods, including dynamite that destroys historical artifacts and gives them a terrible reputation among archeologists. Born in 1944 New Jersey to a Cuban mother who returned to the island with her son, Dooley quickly adapted to his new country. Fascinated by diving and the newly invented Aqua-Lung and mostly self-educated, he turned himself into a skilled underwater archeologist. He was intrigued by the San José, thought to contain unimaginable wealth. Commercial treasure hunters had found a wreck that they claimed was the San José but produced no convincing evidence. Immersed in Spanish archives, Dooley discovered documents and maps that revealed the treasure fleet’s route more accurately. Organizing his own investors, he contracted with Colombia’s government and in 2015 found a wreck 2,000 feet deep and extracted artifacts that proved it was the San José. A national celebration followed discovery of this icon of Colombian history, during which

Dooley’s name was not mentioned. It is likewise rarely mentioned in the avalanche of lawsuits that continue to clog the courts from Spain (the ship’s original owner), Peru (whose mines produced the treasure), Indigenous groups (whose enslaved people extracted it), and former treasure hunters (whose contracts are supposedly still in force). Now in his 80s, Dooley remains a peripheral figure in stalled efforts to raise or simply celebrate this precious relic. A rousing historical treasure hunt.

The Book of Sheen: A Memoir

Sheen, Charlie | Gallery Books/ Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) | $35 September 9, 2025 | 9781668075289

Retracing the highs and lows of a life in movies and television. In his boisterous and breezy memoir, Sheen starts with his birth, when he was nearly strangled by his umbilical cord, and goes on to a childhood in and around Los Angeles, where he made home videos with other showbiz kids. Along with his mother and three siblings, he frequently traveled to locations where his father, Martin Sheen, was filming, notably the set of Apocalypse Now. In an account laden with expletives and endearingly weird spelling choices (“dood,” “kool”), some of the actor’s most riveting chapters evoke his own stints on film sets, particularly his brutal experiences during the filming of Oliver Stone’s Platoon , in which the author starred. Though he went on to play parts in many more movies and in TV shows like Two and a Half Men , he turned his attention primarily to booze, drugs, gambling on sports, and encounters with sex workers. Don’t look for the usual redemption narrative here. Though Sheen does spend the last few pages of the book on what he says have been eight recent years of sobriety, undertaken for the sake of his

children and grandchildren, he devotes most of the book to an exhaustive and sometimes exhausting survey of life on the edge. Despite many hours at meetings, he doesn’t have the respect for Alcoholics Anonymous—that “medieval gibberish club”—that he has for the many escorts he employed, whose charges he views as “a convenience-tax for a guaranteed outcome the other dating scenarios couldn’t offer.” Sheen’s three marriages zip in and out of the narrative with dizzying speed, leaving the reader no wiser about the women involved.

A gleefully unrepentant ride through decades of bad behavior.

Islamic China: An Asian History

Thum, Rian | Harvard Univ. (304 pp.)

$39.95 | November 25, 2025

9780674976801

A scholar illuminates a well-known minority.

Readers concerned about China’s treatment of its Muslims or curious about Islam’s eastward spread (it arrived in China in the Yuan dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.) should consult a general history such as Karen Armstrong’s. Historian Thum, author of The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History, is writing for other scholars of religion or perhaps pious Muslims seeking to learn about their co-religionists in the Far East. He opens by denouncing the traditional division of Asia into two zones with names such as “Western or Mohammedan Asia” and “Eastern or Buddhist Asia” and the view of Islam in China as an isolated development with little external influence. Until the communist takeover, China’s elite tolerated most religions but believed that they were a superior race and the object of envy from all men of good sense. Although Muslims, like Christians, believe that they follow the only true faith, Chinese Muslims had no problem

with this, and their teachers devoted themselves to refining Islamic doctrine, correcting backsliding, and explaining that Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist concepts were salient elements of a Chinese Islam. Books preserve their teaching, and Thum has written a scholarly book about scholars and the books they wrote. Many authors appear, but Thum devotes much of his text to Ma Lianyuan (1841-1903), who taught, wrote, and traveled extensively. Most readers will be surprised to learn that, until the 20th century, Persian and Arabic texts served as the primary Islamic educational curriculum in China. Ma supported the move toward Chinese texts but also acknowledged a significant South Asian contribution. While this book is not aimed at a general audience, readers searching for insights into doctrine and religious education of China’s Muslims need go no further. A deep dive into Sino-Islamic culture.

100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life

Van Dyke, Dick | Grand Central Publishing (320 pp.) | $26.04 | November 18, 2025 9781538777909

Anecdotes and advice from a long, happy, and fairly familiar life. The third memoir from Van Dyke covers similar ground as the previous two; now he is approaching 100 instead of 90, but before that, not much has changed. (That’s the thing about the past.) What’s new is the angle: the hundred chapters are titled for their takeaway: from “Don’t Act Your Age” and “Make Your Own Rules” to “You Can’t Protect Your Survivors” (a sad vignette about the late Gene Hackman) and “Find Your Arlene.” Van Dyke’s 46-yearsyounger wife, Arlene, is the sine qua non of his life and this book: “Well over three-quarters of the memories in this book were foggy in my brain but

crystal clear in hers,” due to many previous retellings. These recollections include stories of shoveling ice and coal in pre–World War II Danville, Illinois, 15-cent movies, being edged out of a spot on Ed Sullivan’s show by President Harry Truman’s daughter’s tepid opera singing, and recollections from the sets of Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, and many more. If the upbeat tone of his preceding books prompted some critical calls for more conflict, emotion, and introspection, those are answered here by stories with a darker tone. These include a phone call from Cary Grant on LSD, an anxious encounter with a possibly predatory elementary school teacher, a long-running on-set prank involving walnuts, and a 20-year toothache, as yet not fully resolved. “Remember Honestly” corrects a childhood anecdote told in the previous book with more candor about the extreme stinginess of Van Dyke’s father. “I was so intent on putting a smile on my life experiences that I nudged the little hint of darkness out of the story.”

In addition to his wife, the supporting cast includes the author’s 73-year-old son, Barry, and his 41-year-old personal assistant, Jimmy, who uses they /them pronouns and has a second career as a WWE-style wrestler—quite a breath of fresh air. Among the most poignant chapters are “You Will Not Be Alone,” which recounts the 1987 death of Van Dyke’s first grandchild at the age of 13, and “Read While You Can,” in which we learn that advanced dry macular degeneration has ended his life as a reader. Not as a writer, though! Tickled to find himself a national treasure at 99, Van Dyke takes some of his own advice: “Find Your Passion in Your Past.”

Kirkus

Star

Gotham at War: A History of New York City From 1933 to 1945

Wallace, Mike | Oxford Univ. (976 pp.) $45 | October 1, 2025 | 9780199384518

A time of conflict and creativity. Wallace, professor of history at John Jay College and author and contributor to previous volumes in this series, points out that two national leaders entered and left office during these years: Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is social history, so the Depression, war, politics, and these two men, although rarely absent from the pages, remain in the background. Those unfamiliar with earlier volumes will find that they are in the hands of a master. Hitler takes power on page 1; storm troopers attack Jews throughout Germany; outrage among 2 million New York Jews produces a call for a national boycott. Wallace is off and running— and delivers the first jolt. Most national Jewish organizations opposed mass action. “Gentile allies were in short supply.” Although happy to welcome Einstein and other big names, a solid majority of Americans opposed accepting refugees fleeing Nazism, and Germany’s small legal immigration quota was not even met. Keeping his focus narrow, Wallace shows a talent for delivering insights revealed by trivial events or half-forgotten celebrities. A chapter on boxing matches between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling illuminates American

Reflections from a storied career (including getting a call from Cary Grant on LSD).

racism and anti-Nazi opinion. Two on Cardinal Spellman reveal how Catholics entered the political mainstream; one on anthropologist Franz Boas describes how, almost single-handedly, he kicked white supremacy out of it. The two greatest technical achievements of World War II, the atomic bomb and radar, were nurtured in New York, whose arts sector “had a spectacular war.” Frank Sinatra has his chapter, as does modern jazz; even prostitutes have their say, complaining of losing customers and taking blame for the VD epidemic, the responsibility of a flood of amateurs who didn’t understand the business. Calling a nearly 1,000-page volume a wild ride is no exaggeration, because few of the 168 short chapters fail to deliver.

A historical tour de force.

The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age

Wellerstein, Alex | Harper/HarperCollins (432 pp.) | $32 | December 9, 2025 9780063379435

The buck stopped with him.

Wellerstein, a historian of science, writes that President Truman was “the one who made the modern nuclear age, and rooted the personage of the US president at the core of it.” When President Roosevelt died in 1945, his successor faced, in his words, the “most awful responsibility a man ever had.” Scientists were preparing to test the first atomic weapon—a weapon that Truman knew nothing about. But he would be the one to decide if, when, and where this powerful new weapon might be used. The atomic bombs used on Japan led to unconditional surrender, and the atomic age moved into an arms race. Truman knew the only advantage the U.S. had

was “the know-how” of putting the widely known science of nuclear fission “practically to work,” but that other nations—of most concern, the Soviet Union—would soon join the nuclear club. Truman wanted to keep the U.S. atomic program in civilian hands and refused repeated military requests to deploy nuclear weapons for possible use in Korea. He saw the atomic bomb in these terms: “It is used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people, and not for military uses. So we have got to treat this differently from rifles and cannon and ordinary things like that.”

Truman jockeyed Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his own cabinet into agreeing that the ultimate decision on the use of nuclear weapons by U.S. forces rested with the American president, and that policy remains in place today.

Balancing nuances on all sides left Truman with “a complicated legacy,” the author concludes: “The sum of his choices might lead one to believe that Truman was the most important anti-nuclear president of the 20th century….[H]e was so plainly human, pulled here and there by the forces of history, by the things he knew and did not know, and by his conscience.”

A nuanced portrait of a president who shaped the modern nuclear age.

One Aladdin Two Lamps

Winterson, Jeanette | Grove (240 pp.) $28 | January 20, 2026 | 9780802167118

Telling tales.

A prolific writer across a range of genres, Winterson examines the richness of One Thousand and One Nights to argue passionately for the power of imagination. Melding memoir, fiction, and cultural criticism, she pays homage to Shahrazad, consummate inventor of seductive tales, who enlightens her captor—and would-be executioner, the Sultan

Shahryar— about the power of imagination. “Imagination is key,” Winterson writes. “To see past the present, with its assumptions and constraints. To see round corners.” Stories teach us about what it means to be human, including that being human “can mean appearing in other shapes and other forms.” Stories, as the author discovered in her own life, give us permission to break out of ill-fitting strictures. Growing up lesbian, an only child and adoptee in an ultrareligious evangelical home, she felt that she was “simultaneously hiding a true self and finding a true self.” In the library, she found liberation in fiction that gave her a chance to imagine “what it is like to be someone else” and to inhabit new worlds. “One of the things I love about fiction,” she writes, “is that we can—and do—escape our fate. A word of caution here. This may not mean the characters in the story.” Turning to Shahrazad’s stories, Winterson notes that recurring themes are “harm done to those who are innocent” and “failure to recognise what is valuable, and what is worthless.” What is worthless, according to her, is mind-numbing work and rampant consumerism, for which, she speculates, sentient AI may provide an escape, having no interest in material acquisitions: “The invisible, unfettered, unbounded, non-material life of the imagination, and what it invents, that is the basis of reality.”

An ardent defense of storytelling.

Thinking Through Shakespeare

Womersley, David | Princeton Univ. (376 pp.) $35 | March 10, 2026 | 9780691154107

The idea’s the thing. Oxford scholar Womersley has had it with literary theory and its discontents. His new book sets out not to meditate on language’s limitations or on the power

plays of nascent colonial states or on the impersonations of gender on the stage, but rather to “write once more about Shakespeare as a man whose plays reflect on deep questions of enduring human importance and to resist the modern academic trend of retreating from the central human preoccupations which animate his drama.” To do so, he turns to four major plays— Othello, Hamlet , Macbeth, and King Lear —to explore the nature of human action and the ways in which we respond to social norms and ethical guidelines. He proceeds through a set of largely common-sense assertions. “At the most fundamental level, literature is heavily invested in the concept of personal identity.” “Civilization demands that human instincts are ruthlessly suppressed.” “For Rousseau, civil society could not exist without language.” Much of this book is a broad-brush intellectual history of Western thought. There is almost as much Locke and Darwin, Edmund Burke and Samuel Johnson, Kant and John Rawls as there is Shakespeare. The plays are used to illustrate great themes. Readers and playgoers who go to Shakespeare for the richness and playful ambiguity of his language, or for the thrill of men and women sparring on the stage, will not find much here. But for those who ponder questions of social responsibility and moral action, who query the nature of “man” (with all the gender wake behind that word largely suppressed), and who want affirmation that the Western cultural tradition offers guidance for “deliberate moral choice,” this is a book for you. A familiar story of philosophical approaches to identity and moral choice, illustrated by memorable examples from the Bard.

For more nonfiction reviews, visit Kirkus online.

PREORDER

Menopause: What Your Ob-Gyn Wants You to Know

Developed by ACOG, this science-backed book offers reliable insights to help you confidently navigate the menopause transition. acog.org/menopausebook

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, trans. by Rosie Hedger (Levine Querido)

Late Today by Jungyoon Huh, illus. by Myungae Lee, trans. by Aerin Park (Eerdmans)

Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America by Jeff Chang (Mariner Books)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Life and How To Live It by Chaz Holesworth

Unauthorized Disclosures by Rod Haynes

Where You Come From Is Gone by Christopher Johnston

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.

To

Fully Booked

YY Liak offers a lively exploration of death practices around the world. BY MEGAN LABRISE

EPISODE 443: YY LIAK

ON THIS EPISODE of Fully Booked , YY Liak joins us to discuss Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals: Death Practices Around the World (Chronicle Books, September 30), a vibrant survey of funerals and death rites in various communities throughout time.

Liak is a Chinese Singaporean illustrator, designer, and author currently based in the New York City area, where she designs book covers at Grand Central Publishing. She studied illustration and art history at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals marks her debut as an author/illustrator.

Here’s a bit more from our review: “Packed with historical anecdotes accompanied by bright and playful images, this survey will delight readers young and old. For instance, in parts of the South Pacific, Liak writes, ‘it is believed that little bits of life leave our bodies throughout our lifetimes, such as when we fall asleep or get sick, so it may be said that we “die” multiple times before finally passing on. For communities such as these, death is not an event but a gradual social process.’ In 17th-to19th century Wales, ‘sin-eaters’ often attended funerals. The author writes, ‘They were often poor and desperate outcasts who were paid to consume bread and beer that had supposedly soaked up the evils of the deceased after being placed near the bodies for extended periods of time.’ Liak shares snippets about cemeteries, phantoms, charnel houses, and mourning attire.…Ghana knows how to put the ‘fun’ in funerals, she observes. ‘Many coffins recall the deceased’s former professions. For example, fishermen are sometimes

Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals: Death Practices Around the World Liak, YY Chronicle Books | 192 pp. | $26.95 September 30, 2025 | 9781797230047

buried in fish-shaped coffins. Now that’s a way to go. An endearing and lighthearted look at the fate that awaits us all.”

Liak and I talk about how the book was inspired, in part, by conversations with her father during the Covid-19 pandemic. We discuss funerary cannibalism in the Amazon, sky burials in Tibet, approaching the subject of death with curiosity and compassion, working on the cover illustration with her publishing team, and much more.

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

listen to the episode, visit Kirkus online.

Children's

DOING UNTO OTHERS

KID LIT IS powerful; it can potentially transform young people into kinder, more understanding grownups. I especially love stories that encourage kids to help those in need. Those titles are tricky to write; sometimes they inadvertently leave children who are on the receiving end of charity feeling like objects of pity. That’s why I particularly appreciated Lana Button and Eric Walters’ picture book One Can , illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant (Groundwood, September 2). Offering an especially thoughtful approach, the tale centers on a child who eagerly donates a favorite can of noodles to a class food drive. At school, the protagonist beams as the other students cheer and the teacher places a snowflake sticker on the can, marking it as the 100th one collected.

But the child’s pride turns to uncertainty when the very same can, adorned with the telltale sticker, turns up again several days later; Mom brings it home for dinner one night. “Mom, are we the people in need?” the child asks. It’s a quiet yet potent

moment of realization, tinged with sadness, but Mom points out, “When we have extra things, we will be sure to take our turn to give.” The book closes with the protagonist doing just that, donating an outgrown pair of mittens. Button, Walters, and Malenfant have crafted a meaningful take on altruism; they acknowledge that requiring assistance can make young people feel self-conscious, even ashamed, while giving their young protagonist the opportunity to make a difference, too.

One Can joins several recent picture books that sensitively explore economic instability. In Hilary Horder Hippely’s I Know How To Draw an Owl , illustrated by Matt James (Neal Porter/ Holiday House, 2024), Belle wows the other kids

at school by producing a gorgeous image of the titular bird. “How did Belle make his eyes so wise?” asks Ms. Rio, the teacher. It turns out that Belle, who lives with Mom out of a car parked in the woods, has had a close encounter with an owl. But Belle doesn’t want to open up…until a new boy arrives at school. His mother’s shabby car resembles Belle’s, and Belle feels a surge of protectiveness and is soon showing the newcomer around. Casting their unhoused protagonist as the story’s hero, Hippely and James offer a deeply empathetic portrait; kids in Belle’s situation will feel empowered.

The unhoused mother and son at the center of James E. Ransome’s A Place for Us (Nancy

Paulsen Books, August 5) lead a matter-of-fact existence; a day of school and work is capped by a library visit before they bed down in the park for the night. Ransome’s tale is infused with respect, compassion, and love for his protagonists, and though he doesn’t end the story with a solution to their problem, his author’s note provides plenty of food for thought. He writes, “My hope is that this book sparks readers to ask: In a country of vast resources, what is our responsibility to those without access to the basic necessities? ” It’s a tough question, but young readers will surely be able to answer it one day—especially those who grow up reading such insightful literature.

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

EDITOR’S PICK

Superhero pets return to save their owner from imminent peril in this sequel to Sidekicks (2011) After a helpful recap of the series opener, readers encounter 55-year-old Harry Blake, aka Captain Amazing, who has left the Society of Superheroes and is enjoying his retirement and his new hobby, crocheting. He and his older sister, Kelly, decide to attend Crochet-Con, leaving superpets Manny the cat, Roscoe the dog, Shifty the chameleon, and Fluffy the hamster home alone. All is going well until Whipley, Shifty’s long-lost brother, shows up on their doorstep. While

he’s thrilled to see Whipley, Shifty begins to question his brother’s motives and the timing of his arrival. When villains appear at Crochet-Con, the sidekicks must save Harry and Kelly from the nefarious clutches of Dr. Havoc. With his beloved owner in trouble, Shifty faces a difficult choice between friends and family. Santat’s sequel is an absolute gem that blends a thrilling (and uniquely quirky) superhero tale with an endearing exploration of found family. When Shifty experiences challenges to his alliances, choosing between Whipley and the sidekicks proves difficult: What qualities define a family?

Thick as Thieves

Santat, Dan | Graphix/Scholastic

240 pp. | January 6, 2026 | $14.99

9781338879186 | Series: Sidekicks, 2

Tidily arranged, full-color panels featuring Santat’s trademark cinematic illustrations neatly convey all the exhilarating action, and a cliffhanger promises more fun to come. Be sure to get this into the hands of

fans of Aaron Blabey’s Bad Guys series who are looking for their next read.

A purr-fect graphic tale full of tail-wagging, fur-raising excitement as well as heart and substance. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)

A truly original Earth Day book, certain to provoke laughter and discussion.

IF THIS WERE THE WORLD

Unfairies

Aaron, Huw | Colors by Elena Dall’Aglio Putnam (256 pp.) | $24.99 | $13.99 paper January 6, 2026 | 9798217005758 9798217005765 paper | Series: Unfairies, 1

Failing up isn’t just for mediocre humans; sometimes it happens to fairies, too.

Pip, “a little lost fairy” with light skin and a mop of curly red hair, has a split-second attention span and a penchant for mischief. As Pip’s story unfolds—told by a mostly unseen narrator—our hero stumbles from a job in the Root Stores of Oakhold, the Tree Fairies’ ancient arboreal home, into an adventure that ultimately leads to a position of power within the fairy world. Along the way, Pip encounters larger-than-fairy spiders, seemingly vandalistic cult members, and hungry wildlife who are happy to snack on a fairy or two. Thankfully, Pip is helped along the way by a mishmash of fellow fairies, including green-skinned Twiglet Treekin (an Imperial Treeguard trainee) and bespectacled, brownskinned Stickler Treekin (a rulefollowing bu reaucrat). Fast-paced and more than a little chaotic, the story will win over readers who love broad humor and zany antics. Like the text, the illustrations are jampacked with over-the-top humor that will have kids poring over the pages to locate small details. Although Pip’s mission is (eventually) successful, an unexpected surprise at the end sets things up for a sequel. Aaron’s energetic art coupled with Dall’Aglio’s rich color palette, which combines earthy tones with

refreshing greens and luminous yellows, together bring this irreverent and lively community to life. Topsy-turvy, chaos-filled fun. (process notes, drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 9-12)

The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars

Alary, Laura | Illus. by Yas Imamura

Eerdmans (56 pp.) | $19.99

January 27, 2026 | 9780802855152

Series: Incredible Lives for Young Readers

Every constellation tells a story, and the tale of astronomer Cecilia Payne (1900-1979) is one of curiosity and discovery.

Growing up in the English countryside, Cecilia has a knack for noticing the natural wonders that others ignore; she’s especially inquisitive about the stars, wondering what they’re made of. A scholarship to Cambridge University opens the door for Cecilia to explore her biggest questions—some of which are answered by the most brilliant scientists in the world; others she must answer for herself. Often the only woman in the room at Cambridge, she moves to the United States, where she studies alongside remarkably bright women astronomers at Harvard. Adding to their wealth of astronomical knowledge and using their thousands of photographic plates of starlight, Cecilia comes to a groundbreaking conclusion: Stars are not solid after all, but made of gases. She is the first to propose this theory, but the broader scientific community won’t catch up until years later. This inspiring story

highlights the scientific process and encourages readers to trust their instincts. Atmospheric (and sometimes beautifully surreal) gouache and watercolor illustrations set the scene in moody jewel-toned hues, reflecting the celestial theme and conveying a vintage feel.

A stellar salute to the feminist scientist who showed us what stars are truly made of. (author’s note, timelines, more about Cecilia’s life and times, further reading, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 9-11)

Blood City Rollers: Move It or Bruise It

Anderson, V.P. | Illus. by Tatiana Hill Labyrinth Road (160 pp.) | $21.99

January 20, 2026 | 9780593813256

Series: Blood City Rollers

A supernatural roller derby squad settles in to a new haunt. Mina’s had a rough summer. The Vamps, her vampire roller derby team, had to abandon a derelict mall nearing demolition, losing both rink and home base. After finding life-changing kinship with the squad, Mina now feels adrift, and she spends her days skating around town searching for them with fellow human teammate Swan. When the Vamps reassemble at a condemned asylum, Mina’s relieved, but she senses new forces vying for the musty, mysterious territory. The ghost of an asylum inmate still drifts through the dusty halls, talking everyone’s ears off, and a scraggly team of NOMADS—“Nonrecognized Otherworldly Monsters and/or Deviant Species”—are also hoping to live and skate there. The book has plenty of derby action, and contending with a band of misfit monsters also sparks much conversation about discrimination against less-definable entities in league play. Many themes collide, but everything eventually coalesces around supporting

friends and finding community through good sportsmanship. Still, with monsters involved, unseen dangers are always lurking—zombies skulk in the asylum’s boiler room, foreshadowing confrontation to come. Characters have a broad variety of skin tones, and gender pronouns are noted. Phantoms and fraught friendships fuel a spooky second outing for this reflective series. (Graphic paranormal. 9-13)

The Road From Nowhere

Avi | Scholastic (288 pp.) | $19.99 January 6, 2026 | 9781546179474

Two young brothers vie to strike it rich in the 1893 Colorado silver mining camp of Gatchett’s Gulch. Thirteen-yearold Ollie Cleary, younger brother Gus, and their friend Alys Thomas are the only children in their isolated mining settlement, “population forty or so.” Ollie dreams of striking it rich by finding silver and moving far away. The boys’ mother supports them by doing the miners’ laundry and mending; after their father’s death in a mine accident, she’s adamant that her sons not take up mining. One day while the boys and Alys are out exploring, the Clearys’ dog, Poco, disappears into a cave that turns out to be rich in veins of silver. But their hopes are quickly dashed by Mr. Gatchett, the menacing mine owner, who insists he owns all the land and its silver. He threatens to run out of town anyone who dares to mine for silver on their own. The author expertly weaves in historical details, creating a strong sense of time and place. The story explores the complexities of land claims and the significance of a possible repeal of the Sherman Act, which guaranteed that the U.S. government would purchase large quantities of silver. Threats, like an encounter with a rattlesnake and the presence of the controlling, sinister

Mr. Gatchett, help sustain the tension. Chapter cliffhangers propel the narrative, leading to a satisfying and unanticipated ending. Characters present white.

A page-turner with a well-realized setting. (author’s note, author Q&A) (Historical fiction. 9-13)

The Great Dinosaur Sleepover

Bailey, Linda | Illus. by Joe Bluhm Tundra Books (44 pp.) | $18.99

April 8, 2025 | 9780735269231

An unavoidable disappointment becomes a marvelous Mesozoic memory. Jake plans his whole birthday party around his obsession with dinosaurs: “dino games, dino balloons, dino cake. Dino everything! ” But when his flu-stricken guests cancel, that “STUPENDOUS” sleepover must be rescheduled. Jake sadly goes to bed in his dino-themed room—until a snort in the night awakens him. Instead of his three friends, a trio of prehistoric pals are snacking in front of his TV. He’s stunned, but, ever the expert, he still easily identifies them: Dryosaurus , Leptoceratops , and Pachycephalosaurus . He squashes in among them to watch the movie and eat cheese curls. The party is a roaring success as Jake teaches the friendly but clueless reptiles how to play games (except pin-the-tail-on-thedinosaur; they’re afraid of getting pricked). The party spills out into the yard and then the neighborhood as more dino guests arrive; they then visit each of the sick kids. Carnivorous T. rex hasn’t been invited—but of course she quietly shows up, shyly admitting that she’s often overlooked. Grateful to be included, she plays goalie in a climactic soccer game, which is dubbed “STUPENDOUS.” Was it all a dream? The final page is convincingly conclusive, even for skeptical adults. In the ebullient,

realistic illustrations, the dinosaurs are striped and spotted; Jake’s light-skinned, and his human pals vary in skin tone. The night atmosphere is enthrallingly dim and star-spangled, and Jake’s emotions are compellingly conveyed.

Van Allsburg–like magic infuses this fantastic tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Star

If This Were the World

Barr, Stephen | Illus. by AG Ford | Neal Porter/Holiday House (40 pp.) | $18.99 February 17, 2026 | 9780823457199

One schoolyard game proves bigger than its beginnings. On the 138th day of school, the diverse students of Ms. Lee’s class discover that they’ve played every single recess game they can think of. Then Omeed takes an orange from his lunchbox and asks, “What if this…were THE WORLD?” This game starts off promisingly, but too soon the world has been devoured, and the children need another. Subsequent “worlds” include a ball, a tree, and then a series of objects that are “eaten up, crumpled away, blasted away, or busted.” Nothing’s quite right, since the world needs to be “something big,” “something easy to share,” and “something we won’t forget about.” Turns out the perfect thing is also the most obvious. The subtle message hiding in the creases of this philosophical tale encourages kids to remember and take good care of our actual world. This theme is subtly built into the specific ways the class treats each “world.” Meanwhile, oodles of details abound, like the individual personalities of the different kids in the class. Throughout, Ford’s art is electric, the colors seeming to vibrate off the characters into the atmosphere. The small speech balloons that appear only add to the charm and humor. A truly original Earth Day book, certain to provoke laughter and discussion. (Picture book. 4-7)

Our Home, Our Only Home

Bauer, Marion Dane | Illus. by Sophie Diao

Candlewick (40 pp.) | $18.99

March 24, 2026 | 9781536234039

An amalgam of poetry and science rallies readers to help save the planet. Bauer skips through Earth’s evolutionary history, then lingers on the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs and on the appearance of humans, “the most vulnerable / of all creatures.” Vulnerable, perhaps, but Bauer notes that “we used our big brains / to tame / fire,” which meant we were then eating better. The bigger our brains grew, the more we drew from Earth’s belly—oil, coal, gas—later creating pesticides and plastic, which polluted our water and soil. She succinctly summarizes humankind’s march toward a Sixth Great Extinction: “Only a humongous asteroid / ever brought more rapid change / than we have created / with our love / of fire.” Writing in lyrical free verse, Bauer argues that as latecomers to Earth, we’ve had an outsize impact on its health, which is vividly portrayed in Diao’s illustrations of starry nights, fiery caves, and denuded landscapes. In the second half of the book, more essay than free verse, Bauer suggests positive actions, such as turning to wind and water power. She lauds inspirational activists who began their work as teenagers— Greta Thunberg and Autumn Peltier— as well as organizations like Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. Bauer then urges readers to dig within their vast imaginations: “Imagine a future in which this life-giving Earth is

honored. In which life is protected. Every form of life. Not just our own.” A necessary and optimistic call to action. (Informational picture book. 6-10)

A Blurmp in Time

Benton, Jim | Graphix/Scholastic (128 pp.)

$14.99 paper | January 6, 2026

9781546186557 | Series: Catwad’s Friend Blurmp, 1

An absurdly tenacious tabby tumbles through time. Did you know a time-traveling cat invented pizza? And that the same fuzzy innovator inspired ancient Egyptians to create mummies when he arrived tangled in toilet paper? Can you believe that if you cover up the first two letters in time machine, a “me machine” transports you to a dimension full of copies of yourself? In his first solo outing, Blurmp, the simple-minded sidekick from Benton’s Catwad series, experiences the mysteries of the universe thanks to the magic of a cardboard box labeled “Time Masheen.” He visits the dinosaurs right before the asteroid hits, discovers and thoroughly annoys a species of reverse mermaids (fish with human legs), diagnoses a horde of near-future zombies with bellyaches and offers them “tummy medicine,” and ultimately frustrates cats of the future so thoroughly that they ban time travel to avoid meeting him again. Blurmp’s antics are reliably slapstick and silly, leaving everyone he meets flabbergasted by his foolishness,

but his literally wide-eyed innocence and preposterous perseverance make him an appealing hero to accompany on his fantastic voyage. Between Blurmp’s persistently goofy grin, the countless commotions he cultivates, and Benton’s frenzied artwork, it’s a funny, feel-good escape for the cartoon-craving reader. An episodic, energetic time-travel gag comic just for laughs. (Graphic fiction. 7-12)

Kirkus Star

Run Home

Bermudez, Alyssa | Roaring Brook Press (304 pp.) | $22.99 | $14.99 paper January 27, 2026 | 9781250774309 9781250774316 paper

A teen girl faces new challenges both at home and in high school in this graphic memoir by author and illus trator Bermudez. Alyssa has a lot on her plate as a new ninth grader at an all-girls high school in New York City in 2002. Her camp crush is far away, and she misses him. Her white mom and Puerto Rican dad make her try out for sports, even though she doesn’t consider herself athletic. Dad lectures her on the importance of taking advantage of every possible opportunity. He’s getting remarried soon, which means adjusting to a new stepfamily. And, hardest of all, her dad has been sick with liver issues that Alyssa can tell are more serious than he wants to let on. But relatable, likable Alyssa bonds almost instantly with a new group of girls at lunch—and she even makes the cross-country team. Her dad comes to cheer her on at meets, and she and her mom watch Gilmore Girls together. Life is good. The story unfolds through Alyssa’s diary entries, which burst with mini-adventures and expressive, colorful illustrations. But when

disaster hits, Alyssa must rely on her family and friends for support. Even in her darkest moments, the love surrounding Alyssa shines endearingly, almost palpably, on the page. Through her heartache, Alyssa remains relatively well adjusted, learning to cope with her pain in healthy ways. A heartfelt, reassuring, and emotionally intelligent page-turner. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 10-14)

Cantaloupe and HoneyDo Take the Bus

Boldt, Mike | Dial Books (56 pp.) | $19.99 February 3, 2026 | 9798217005321 Series: Can Do

It’s time for school, but first, repressive Cantaloupe has to school funloving HoneyDo on proper bus etiquette. Genuinely clueless young humans would do well to pay attention as Boldt starts with the basics: “It’s big and yellow and we wait to catch it.” “But I didn’t bring a net.” Once aboard, HoneyDo continues to receive instruction— beginning with how to share a seat without squashing or crowding one’s neighbor and going on to learn that it’s not OK to wrestle or play tag, but engaging in thumb wars, sharing a book, and enjoying a rousing rendition of “The Wheels on the Bus” are acceptable activities to fill time spent on the road. Boldt draws big, googly eyes and pipestem limbs on a wide array of bright, fresh-looking, photographed fruits and veggies riding the bus to school together. Except for a bushy mustache on the smiling watermelon at the wheel, he leaves out gender markers. Hopefully Cantaloupe’s lessons will stick better than the chewing gum under the seats that HoneyDo loudly identifies as “snacks”—a moment that will definitely leave readers rolling in the aisle. Important lessons for younger riders to chew on, with a deliciously gross twist for a capper. (Picture book. 5-7)

Part feline, part caterpillar, a pampered pet lives her best life.

KITTY CATERPILLAR

Kitty Caterpillar

Bondor-Stone, Annabeth & Connor White Illus. by Brigette Barrager | Balzer + Bray (40 pp.) | $18.99 | February 24, 2026 9781250392893

Part feline, part caterpillar, a pampered pet lives her best life.

“Kitty Caterpillar…was an indoor kitty, and she liked it that way.” As the book opens, readers are greeted by the sight of a lazily sprawled creature with a cheerful cat’s face, a pair of wispy antennae, an elongated fluffy pink-andwhite body, and 10 exposed purple feet. Our feline protagonist may look unusual, but she demonstrates traits that every cat owner will recognize: a love of boxes (however small), a talent for pouncing, and plenty of attitude. Kitty Caterpillar happily naps whenever her owner, tan-skinned young Hazel, leaves the house, but one day she’s compelled to follow the butterfly she spots outside the window. Comedy ensues as she dons shoes (“just like Hazel”), tumbles down the stairs, and squeezes her way through the mail slot. Kitty Caterpillar’s alternately excited and terrified by the idyllic suburban setting awaiting her, and after getting caught in a rainstorm, she eagerly reunites with Hazel. Bondor-Stone and White deftly capture a cat’s point of view, mining humor from occasional puns and from the contrast between words and images. Exuding sweetness, Barrager’s pink-and-purplehued illustrations deftly depict the lithe, ultra-expressive feline’s movements, whether mincing confidently through the house or huddled beneath a bush as she waits out the storm. Purr-fect silliness. (Picture book. 4-8)

Grandpas, Piranhas, and Other Stories

Bonilla, Rocio | Trans. by Mara Faye Lethem Albatros Media (48 pp.) | $18.95

March 10, 2026 | 9788000076072

This charming Spanish import explores intergenerational relationships. Nico, a young tot with reddishbrown hair and a toothy smile, loves spending time with Grandpa Rodrigo. Nico’s mom says, “You and your grandpa are like two peas in a pod!” (A comparison of childhood photos depicts both wide-eyed with matching wide grins.) Grandpa Rodrigo and Nico also share a love of storytelling and adventure, along with a strong dislike of zucchini soup. In one daring feat, the intrepid pair climb into a cardboard box with portholes drawn on it and a pirate flag made from a broom swaying in the breeze. Luckily they manage to escape the thousand piranhas that are swimming toward them! Nico, who narrates, then describes other friends’ grandparents. One teaches them woodworking skills, while another is an incredible cook. Will these grandparents be around forever? A new cardboard boat, with Nico all grown up and accompanied by two youngsters, demonstrates that while Grandpa Rodrigo may not physically be present, he’ll never be forgotten, his memories passed down over the years. Bonilla employs flat, warm colors, wrapping the tale with affection and relying on sepia tones to denote the past. This is a lighthearted but touching look at the strong connections formed between children and those lucky enough to

CHILDREN'S

A familiar situation presented in a new—and appealing—package.

LUPE LOPEZ

have grandparents nearby. Both grandpa and Nico are light-skinned; a diverse cast surrounds them. Lots of lore and lots of love. (Picture book. 3-6)

Mystery in the Grand Canyon

Bowling, Dusti | Illus. by Beth Hughes Holiday House (160 pp.) | $16.99

March 17, 2026 | 9780823459438

Series: Sir Edmund of the Wild West, 1

A service dog comes face to face with ghosts and legends while he explores the Grand Canyon with his new owner.

After losing his previous owner, Edmund the goldendoodle finds himself in the care of Willy, a white veteran with aspirations of ghost-hunting. And Willy is in Edmund’s care, too, because someone needs to warn Willy of any impending seizures and seek help when he needs it. Their first paranormal mystery: investigating what happened to Bessie and Glen Hyde, who went missing in the Grand Canyon years ago. Like all dogs, Edmund can see ghosts, but while none of the spirits he encounters are the elusive Hydes, other creatures lurking in the canyon might be able to provide answers. Edmund’s pompous attitude is frequently humorous, and occasional illustrations bring in a further cartoonish element, but the highlights of this story are the sweet moments when Edmund realizes the extent of Willy’s need for him and the two grow closer. Combined with historical facts about the Grand Canyon and Edmund

demonstrating the skills a service dog is capable of, this book delivers an appealing blend of topics and genres. A delight for dog lovers with some wonderfully tender moments.

(author’s note, sources) (Fiction. 7-9)

Singing Justice, Singing Peace: The Story of Joan Baez

Brown, Monica | Illus. by Molly Mendoza

Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (48 pp.)

$19.99 | February 24, 2026 | 9781665926607

A picture-book celebration of folk singer and activist Joan Baez.

“As a little girl, Joan Baez loved to be the center of attention—dancing, acting, making jokes, and especially singing!” So begins this introduction to Baez, which is short on basic facts (for instance, the year and place of her birth aren’t cited) but long on zeal. Brown covers her subject’s youthful empathy (modeled by her principled parents, immigrants from Mexico and Scotland); her struggles with identity (as a child, she was bullied for her Latine heritage but also told she wasn’t “Mexican enough”); the gift of a ukulele that set Baez on a musical path; her life-changing exposure to the music of Pete Seeger and other folkies; her post–high school move to Boston, where she got her start playing at clubs; and the steady professional climb that led to performances at 1963’s March on Washington and other large-scale social-justice gatherings. Baez is a worthy biographical subject, and Brown does tailor her language for a

young crowd (“Joan’s voice was beautiful and gentle, her message fierce and strong!”), but the work feels more like a static recitation of Baez’s accomplishments than a compelling narrative. Mendoza’s pink-and-orangeblasted art finds a retro groove. Often flanking images of Baez are flower motifs, abstract swirls, and other bold imagery that would be at home on the side of a 1960s VW bus.

Young readers will applaud Baez but likely won’t be begging for encore presentations. (author’s note) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)

Frenchies High and Low: A Woofing, Wagging Book of Opposites

Calmenson, Stephanie | Illus. by Hollie Hibbert | Bloomsbury (32 pp.) | $18.99

January 13, 2026 | 9781547614318

Series: Woofing, Wagging Concept Books

A nother dogthemed concept book from Calmenson and Hibbert, this time focusing on opposites and French bulldogs.

A cream-colored Frenchie peacefully slumbers until he hears a particular tune and awakens with a start. The rest of the book follows him and lots of other French bulldogs as they home in on the source: an ice cream truck with free doggy treats. Their journey is filled with opportunities to learn about opposites: in-out, under -over, down-up, and high -low, to name a few. But not all these examples are well defined in the illustrations. The words “A few Frenchies follow. Then many come along” are presented on a spread with eight dogs following the sound, three roughly on the left, five toward the right. All the text is on the left, however, making it tricky for youngsters to draw a distinction between the pair. On another spread, we’re told that “running made the Frenchies hot,” but “cold doggy ice cream hits the spot.” The illustrations just show them all digging in, nothing suggesting that the animals are hot. Calmenson’s word

choices are geared toward the rhymes, and the rhythm is punchy throughout. The humans depicted vary in skin tone. The backmatter stresses that French bulldogs don’t swim well, details the colors and markings of the canines in the book, and includes a picture of the real-life inspirations for the story. Will elicit smiles from Frenchie lovers but may stymie youngsters learning about opposites. (Picture book. 2-6)

Hocus and Pocus and the Snow Day Sorcery

Capetta, A.R. | Illus. by Charlene Chua Candlewick (96 pp.) | $16.99

February 3, 2026 | 9781536224948

Series: Hocus and Pocus

Excitement builds as magical pups Hocus and Pocus anticipate the Winter Solstice Party—and the prospect of snow. Jinx, the pups’ witchy caregiver, is so busy with party prep that the pair, missing her, seek a way to recapture her attention. They resolve to be “extra helpful” as the whole community— witches, warlocks, and nonmagical people alike—pitches in. The celebration is splendid, but it fails to snow, a sine qua non for a fun time. Nimbus, the wish-granting sorcerer (who uses they/ them pronouns), might be able to help, but they explain that the pups will need to concentrate all their desires onto just a single wish. After Hocus reluctantly casts aside thoughts of bat jerky, Nimbus rewards them with a charmed snow globe, and the canines joyfully spread the snow until the perpetually panicky Pocus accidentally knocks the globe over. Soon there’s far too much snow. Jinx comes to the rescue, casting a circle of protection and lighting magical candles to ward off the darkness. Everything culminates in a moment of wonder that shows everyone that sometimes the best surprises are the most unexpected. Lots of action, lots of feelings, and lots of bright art speed the eight chapters along as if on the magical skates that save the day. The determined

young pups are again sure to please early chapter-book readers. Jinx is brownskinned with pinkish-purple hair, while other human characters vary in skin tone; the cast’s pronouns are provided in an opening gallery.

A warmhearted wintry tale. (Chapter book. 5-8)

Kirkus Star

Bug on the Bus

Catrow, David | Holiday House (32 pp.)

$15.99 | January 13, 2026

9780823461080 | Series: I Like To Read

Don’t let the skunk drive the bus! High-spirited antics are the name of the game in this beginner book centered on public transportation. At a typical bus stop, atypical passengers are boarding. “Bug ran to the bus.” An odd-looking six-legged creature clutching the strap of a bright purse runs pell-mell toward the vehicle. “Hop on.” The bug is followed by a veritable array of critters, including a pig, a pup, a bat, a fox, a hen, a cat, and a slug. When a skunk joins the proceedings, everyone—including the pale-skinned human bus driver— suddenly has an urge to disembark. Everyone, that is, but the bug, who joins the skunk on a trip to the beach, where they play a game of badminton. Keeping the text admirably short for early readers, Catrow still manages to milk optimal humor out of things like the slug’s ridiculously slow boarding time. For those who notice that the slug has feet, Catrow has written a note addressing this fact. “His full name is Slug J. Caterpillar,” an allusion to the very real slug caterpillar species (though he notes that he’s given his character more legs “because he has so many things to carry”). Catrow’s style suggests chaos at every corner, yet he keeps the frenzied activities contained within his hairy watercolors. It’s an impressive accomplishment on every level.

A brilliantly simple paean to short vowels. (Early reader. 4-7)

Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rivals!

Charlton-Trujillo, e.E. & Pat Zietlow Miller Illus. by Joe Cepeda | Candlewick (32 pp.) $18.99 | February 10, 2026 | 9781536239218

Series: Lupe Lopez

First grade rock star Lupe Lopez struggles when a newcomer steals her thunder. Lupe and her all-girl band are gearing up for the talent show at Héctor P. Garcia Elementary. When new student Radiant Reynosa arrives at school, she quickly commands an audience as she shows off her dance moves and drumming skills. Lupe’s band invites Radiant to join, and the rivalry between the two girls soon grows. Radiant has plenty of feedback on pitch, tempo, and guitar tuning, all of which is getting to Lupe, who calls Radiant a bossy show-off. A pep talk from her teacher reminds Lupe that stars shine brightest when they beam together. Radiant helps Lupe understand the difficulties of being a new student, and the two forge a new friendship. Lupe’s and Radiant’s relatable experiences make for a useful demonstration about resolving interpersonal tension. Cepeda’s energetic illustrations—some full-page, some a cluster of scenes—complement the text and are an integrative part of the storytelling. Though tales of friendship woes are as old as time, this take will resonate with little readers newly experiencing these hallmarks of childhood. Lupe is brown-skinned and Latine, while Radiant presents Black; background characters vary in skin tone. A familiar situation presented in a new—and appealing—package. (Picture book. 5-7)

For more in the Lupe Lopez series, visit Kirkus online.

A playful and poignant look at a designer who dressed the world in joy.

CLOTHES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

Chicka Chicka Peep Peep

Chung, Julien | Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) | $19.99 | January 20, 2026

9781665990646 | Series: A Chicka Chicka Book

The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.

The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom . The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages. A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)

The Bear Fairy

Coccia, Paul | Illus. by Fred Blunt

Tundra Books (40 pp.) | $18.99

February 17, 2026 | 9781774885581

A boy is surprised to discover that fairies aren’t always what one might expect. Spencer wants to trap a fairy, but Mariah knows about these creatures and tells him he’ll never catch one (“They’re for beautiful little girls like me”). When Spencer traps a real one, he’s shocked to learn that some fairies have luscious brown fur and an insatiable desire for chips. Though the “Bear Fairy” is a rather disruptive house guest, Spencer endures the chaos because he can’t wait to prove to Mariah he’s caught a real fairy. But Mariah has a not-so-nice response to Spencer’s magical new pal. Per Mariah, the “pudgy,” hirsute Bear Fairy doesn’t measure up. But Spencer stands up for his unconventional fairy friend, declaring, “He is MY fairy. And he’s perfect the way he is.” Mixing text passages and speech bubbles, this story is packed with puns and silliness. The characters have expressive faces, and the brightly colored, scribbly cartoon art is lively with movement, as when Spencer and the fairy play at the park or during the debate about how fairies should look. With its loving message of inclusivity, this book will be a hit with preschool and early grade school readers, and adult readers will probably have a few laughs, too. Spencer is pale-skinned and red-haired; Mariah has light brown skin and dark hair.

A wacky fairy story with wide appeal that’s sure to give readers the giggles—and leave them craving chips. (Picture book. 3-8)

Where Only Storms Grow

Colman,

Alyssa | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (256 pp.) | $17.99 | August 19, 2025

9780374392789

It’s 1935, and on their farm in the Oklahoma panhandle, the Stanton family is suffering amid drought and severe, ongoing dust storms. Twins Howe and Joanna, formerly close, have drifted apart. Howe dreams of poetry: Inspired by a caring schoolteacher, he wants to build a life far away. But Daddy’s always planned to pass the farm down to his boys— Howe and older brother Lou. Joanna, who’s considered fragile due to her scoliosis, adores farm life, but she’s forbidden to participate in the ways she’d like. When their father leaves for California to find work, the twins take new paths. In alternating first-person points of view, Howe and Joanna narrate their family’s difficult year. Joanna finds her calling in assisting the visiting Red Cross nurses, who are in town to help with a measles epidemic and dust-related health issues. One nurse, who also has scoliosis, provides Joanna with an example of living a useful, vital life as a disabled adult. Howe dives into his writing and is inspired by a man from the government’s Soil Erosion Service who brings hope for the rebirth of their community’s natural landscape. The historical milieu is extremely well drawn, with instances of hardship and ingenuity that will intrigue fans of survival stories. Colman’s dedication to authenticity and rich detail creates a compelling world. Main characters are cued white. An immersive look at resiliency during trying times. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

more by Alyssa Colman, visit Kirkus online.

This Skirt Won’t Work!: How Women Athletes Changed Their Clothes and Changed the Game

Cooper, Jennifer | Illus. by Eva Byrne

Sourcebooks eXplore (48 pp.) | $18.99

December 2, 2025 | 9781728267845

A rhyming review of the sportswear shifts that allowed women athletes to up their game. Covering cycling, swimming, ice hockey, tennis, and soccer, Cooper shares a few jaunty facts about pioneering athletes in each sport and the new clothing they designed or adopted to compete more effectively. Though the author presents historical information in prose, she also includes rhymes: a snappy dismissal (“These jocks hate frocks”) and a declaration of intent to try something new (“We’ll hike up each dress as we ZOOM to success”).

The rapid rhyme and scansion changes prevent readers from settling into a rhythm, though they’ll likely enjoy learning tidbits about these plucky athletes—mostly presenting white and all hailing from North America, Europe, and Australia. Katherine Knox, the first Black member of the League of American Wheelmen, designed a suit with knickerbockers for more efficient cycling; Annette Kellerman, “born with legs that didn’t work just right,” devised a sleek suit that allowed her to swim farther and faster. Energetic cartoonlike illustrations highlight the absurdity of women playing sports in long skirts and puffy sleeves, creating a satisfying reveal at the page turn, when they appear in more sensible shorts or less voluminous skirts. The backmatter deftly connects these historical changes to more recent innovations, including hijabs designed for sports and full-body unitards for women’s gymnastics. Sporty, peppy fun. (Informational picture book. 5-10)

Clothes To Make You Smile: Patrick Kelly Designs His Dreams

Darnell Pritchard, Eric | Illus. by Shannon Wright | Abrams (48 pp.) | $19.99 January 13, 2026 | 9781419768866

Designer Patrick Kelly discovers the magic of fashion as a child. Patrick is inspired by the elegant ladies’ outfits he sees at church and in magazines, so the women in his life teach him how to sew. It isn’t easy, but his grandmother encourages him to laugh in the face of his challenges. Soon Patrick is making clothes for the whole town of Vicksburg, Mississippi—but his dreams are bigger. In Atlanta, New York, and even Paris, designers and store owners alike fail to appreciate Patrick’s designs. As a gay, Black, Southern man who often rocks overalls, sneakers, and a colorful hat, Patrick doesn’t fit in. But he knows how to laugh, and he doesn’t give up, opting to design theater costumes. Finally, major fashion houses start to take notice. Patrick’s first runway show features models diverse in skin color, shape, and size; his creative outfits include a fur coat made of teddy bears, plenty of buttons, and dresses festooned with hearts, dolls, and pearls. The backmatter refers briefly to Patrick’s sexuality and Bjorn Amelan, his “life and business partner,” though his impact on the gay community isn’t explored. Cheerful mixed-media illustrations layer angular painted paper collage with photographic elements like buttons and thread. The result is a fabulously tactile visual experience that pops off the page. A playful and poignant look at a designer who dressed the world in joy. (author’s note, bibliography, notes) (Picture-book biography. 5-7)

Love Rolls In

Downing,

Erin

Soderberg | Scholastic (176 pp.) | $8.99 paper | January 6, 2026

9781546124924 | Series: Just Like Home, 1

Twins endeavor to help a paralyzed puppy find a home. Fifth graders Henry and Ruby are opposites. Henry enjoys school, while Ruby fidgets and struggles to stay on task as her mind races with ideas. Ruby excels at caring for the animals on their family’s farm; Henry completes chores reluctantly. But when their veterinarian mother brings home a puppy whose back legs are paralyzed from a spinal injury, the twins share a mission: acclimate the puppy to new places and people before the quickly approaching adoption fair. That task proves challenging when the pup, whom Henry names Arlo, has trouble keeping up with the other animals. Ruby’s solution, building a homemade wheelchair, looks promising. But as Arlo gains independence and friends, including “the world’s bossiest cat” and “a llama who thinks he’s a human,” Henry wishes they could keep him. Henry’s rapport with Arlo makes him feel special; for once, an animal likes him more than Ruby. Their parents say the farm is too full, however. So where will Arlo’s forever home be? The answer, some convenient coincidences notwithstanding, is heartwarming. Henry’s and Ruby’s alternating perspectives sympathetically show their distinct personalities. Ruby’s desire to help Arlo be “part of the group” touchingly reflects her feeling like “the lone, bold, bright watermelon” among group-project classmates who “fit together like four peas in a pod,” and readers will cheer Ruby’s growing

Sporty, peppy fun.

WON’T WORK!

JEFF KINNEY

Happy birthday, Wimpy Kid! The protagonist is one year older in Book 20 of Kinney’s beloved series—and none the wiser.

BY MAHNAZ DAR

THIS IS A BANNER YEAR for author Jeff Kinney. October saw the release of Partypooper, the 20th novel in his bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. (See our review on p. 100.) This year also marks 300 million copies of the books sold. Kinney and his fans will be toasting the occasion in style. “It feels like a celebratory year for the Wimpy Kid series, and so that’s why we have a birthday theme for the new book,” he tells Kirkus via Zoom from his studio space in An Unlikely Story, the bookstore he and his wife, Julie, own in Plainville, Massachusetts.

True to form, Kinney’s latest installment features his put-upon protagonist, Greg Heffley, encountering mishap upon mishap. After his family forgets his birthday, Greg resolves to throw a wild shindig, but things go horrifically—and hilariously—awry.

Partypooper

Kinney, Jeff

Amulet/Abrams | 224 pp.

$15.99 | October 21, 2025

9781419782695

Series: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 20

To promote the book, Kinney is driving from Massachusetts to Arkansas. By night, he’s hosting parties commemorating the 300 millionth book sold. By day, he’s pranking kids with school visits that start off as faux assemblies hosted by a stern librarian (actually an actor) expounding on the proper care of books. “Then I’m going to step onto the stage and turn this lecture into a book celebration,” Kinney says with a grin. “Fingers crossed that it goes down well. I’m really hoping it’s a prank that’s well received.”

Kinney is known for events that feel more like rock concerts than traditional author visits. For last year’s Hot Mess, he hosted interactive shows where he and a troupe of actors attempted to open a restaurant, complete with line cooks and waiters; for The Meltdown (2018), events included a makeshift indoor snowball fight. “To be a successful author in the kids’ space these days, you also have to be a performer,” he says. A confirmed introvert, Kinney initially found such showmanship a challenge, but he’s now comfortable before an audience. “When you call it a show, you’re obligated to entertain....And by the time the show is over, I think that kids and their parents walk out saying that they haven’t had an experience like that before.”

Plenty has changed since Kinney first conceived of Wimpy Kid back in 1998. Six years later, he released an online version of the first book, and in 2006, he signed a book deal with Abrams. The first novel (a Kirkus Best Book of the 21st Century) was published in 2007, and Kinney’s star quickly began to rise; in 2009, he was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people, and his titles regularly top New York Times bestseller lists.

Following the trials and tribulations of middle school everykid Greg Heffley, the books—a mix of comics and prose—are catnip to the tween set, in large part due to Kinney’s unsentimental, hilariously honest depictions of everything from unfair teachers to dating to friendship issues. Though middle-grade books are often dominated by larger-thanlife heroes, Kinney prefers realism. “When I was reading the Harry Potter books, I [thought], This kid has some flaws, but he mostly acts like a brave little adult. I was trying to create a character that was more like me as a kid.”

Over the years, Kinney’s creative process has evolved. “I used to go on really long walks and wait for divine intervention. I used to ride my bike in circles in my cul-de-sac. I used to lie on my couch with a blanket over my head.” These days, he relies on a technique known as systematic inventive thinking, which he learned years ago while working at Pearson, an educational media company. “Say I’m writing a book about airplane travel, like The Getaway [the 12th Wimpy Kid book, from 2017]. I’ll start by listing all the components of an airplane: the pilot, the wings, the barf bags....I’ll methodically go through each component. By the end, I have thousands of gags written for about 200 components per book.”

Kinney initially focused on jokes rather than plotting. “The first time I got serious about narrative was Book 9, and I don’t think I got good at it until about Book 12, and I don’t think I mastered it until Book 19....I feel like Book 20 is a new beginning for me, where I have my feet under me as a storyteller.”

The books have been adapted into several films (four live-action ones and, so far, three animated movies for Disney Plus), and the adaptations have spurred Kinney to up his game. “When we did the live-action films, the screenwriters had to change so much because my books weren’t well structured.” Tighter plotting was “an act of self-defense,” he jokes. “I wanted to make sure that if my books were adapted for the screen, the structure would be bulletproof. Now I’m working on these Disney Plus films, and I’m the writer, so I’m getting to adapt my own work.”

While Greg’s undeniably popular with the middle-grade set, his selfish behavior sometimes raises adult eyebrows. After all, the character has bullied a group of kindergartners, led his classmates in

pranking a fellow student, and manipulated BFF Rowley into a series of terrible schemes. But Kinney believes that this warts-and-all portrayal is key to the books’ success. “I think of it like stand-up comedy....When the jokes really land, they’re based on the comedian’s flaws, and they’re amplified by the audience recognizing those flaws in themselves.”

A joke in the new book involves Greg’s relatives calling to wish him a happy birthday and peppering him with the same old questions about school and his social life; fed up, Greg comes up with an FAQ that his mother would read back so he can avoid taking calls—a rude but funny solution that Mrs. Heffley swiftly nixes. “I’m trying to hold up a mirror to kids and say, ‘The way you felt about this is the way Greg feels about it.’”

Though some adults have expressed frustration that Greg never seems to learn from his mistakes, Kinney compares his books to a sitcom; no matter what hijinks ensue, everything always resets at the end. “What I learned during Covid is that kids need something to rely on, especially in an

ever-changing world, and comics can do that. Comics are inherently unchanged over a long period of time. Charlie Brown at Year 50 is more or less like Charlie Brown in Year 1.”

He adds, “I will say that it’s physically difficult, especially in the last three months of putting a book together. I might be at my desk for 12 to 16 hours a day. I don’t know how long I can keep that up, but as long as my brain is sharp, I’d like to keep creating these books, because I think a lot of kids see them as a security blanket.”

Kinney’s fans will be grateful to know he has no plans to slow down. Flaws and all, Greg Heffley has staying power. And though the self-deprecating Kinney may claim that it’s taken him years to master the art of narrative, the young people who flock in droves to his book launches will strenuously disagree; it’s his rare talent for mining humor from the mundane—and the cringeinducingly awkward—that’s long endeared him to readers. As Kinney marks this momentous milestone, here’s hoping for 20 more books.

I’d like to keep creating these books, because I think a lot of kids see them as a security blanket.

Tales for Dino Lovers

self-confidence. Characters’ appearances are not described. A warm and fuzzy read. (Fiction. 8-12)

Nina and the Keeper of the Keystone: Secret Society of Rebel Girls

Dumas, Marti | Illus. by Yaoyao Ma Van As & Jon Davis | Rebel Girls (256 pp.) | $16.99 October 14, 2025 | 9798889641162

Series: Secret Society of Rebel Girls, 2

Nina WarrenWest isn’t the kind of kid who craves the spotlight. This second series entry finds the sixth grader, who’s happiest coding and tinkering with robots, staying safely behind the scenes, even though her friends on the Robotics Competition Team want her to take on a leadership role. She’s volunteering at her favorite toy store, a small local business that’s in danger of closing. She’s also dealing with her parents’ conflicts—Mama and Mum have been fighting. Using a magical keystone that allows her and her friends to connect to well-known women from the past through letters placed in a mysterious mailbox in the forest, Nina, who’s cued Black, and her racially diverse group of friends secretly help their classmates at Ada Lovelace Middle School solve their problems. When new superintendent Mr. Graves starts changing things about her school—and most definitely not for the better—Nina has to prove to herself that she can indeed be a Rebel Girl when needed. The story moves along quickly, and the cast members, all with distinct personalities, keep things entertaining and refreshing. Dumas skillfully intertwines and balances STEM and magic. Beneath the fast-moving adventure lies a resonant message about standing up for yourself, owning your mistakes, and finding courage when it matters most. An inspiring story of friendship, invention, and courage. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Saving the Chimpanzee: Meet Scientists on a Mission, Discover Kid Activists on a Mission, Make a Career in Conservation Your Mission

Eason, Katherine | Cheriton Children’s Books (48 pp.) | $10.99 paper | $31.99 PLB

January 1, 2026 | 9781917509459

9781917509442 PLB | Series: Mission Survival: Saving Earth’s Endangered Animals

An overview of threats to chimps and other great apes in the wild, and efforts to address them. It may seem premature to promote careers in wildlife conservation in an appeal aimed at a younger primary-grade audience, but Eason forges ahead anyway. She addresses “missionready” readers in her introduction and finishes with lines of relevant work from trained scientist to field guide, filmmaker, and even public relations specialist. In between, she engagingly positions chimpanzees as our closest living relatives, intelligent and feeling. The author tallies a range of threats to their existence, from human-spread diseases, poaching for bushmeat, and the effects of climate change to habitat loss due to logging, agriculture, and mining. Though the pages are crowded with boxes of bite-size narrative, close-up photos of chimps with cameos of gorillas, pygmy hippos, and other forest neighbors are wedged in to add visual appeal. Smiling “Kids on a Mission” pop into view periodically to suggest hands-on ways of supporting

conservation efforts; a bulleted “Take Action” list offers further ideas. The generous backmatter includes ageappropriate resources as well as leads to career-oriented websites. Pushy and cluttered, but addresses a pressing issue. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 6-8)

Saving the Whale: Meet Scientists on a Mission, Discover Kid Activists on a Mission, Make a Career in

Conservation Your Mission

Eason, Katherine | Cheriton Children’s Books (48 pp.) | $10.99 paper | $31.99 PLB

January 1, 2026 | 9781917509572

9781917509572 PLB | Series: Mission Survival: Saving Earth’s Endangered Animals

An urgent call to join efforts already underway to save these threatened ocean creatures. Addressing, like the other volumes in this series, “mission-ready” younger readers, Eason surveys threats ranging from modern whaling to climate change, abandoned fishing nets, and plastics pollution. She supplements an overview of conservation-related careers with vignettes featuring children who describe personal actions such as small-scale beach cleanups. Messy page design impedes the presentation; a jumble of text boxes, some askew, in various hues are placed on each spread over color photos of different sorts of whales—and also other threatened varieties of sea life, mostly mammals. Still, all the glimpses of appealingly posed whales,

Adventures in whimsy, humor, and heart, starring a most memorable hero.

CAPTAIN DANGER AND THE STUPID SHADOW

whale babies, and other animals will crank up reader empathy, and the twin messages come through clearly enough of the pressing need for action, and that we can all do our part, from making simple changes in our daily behavior to pursuing actual jobs in the field. Most of the appended websites are career-oriented, but the backmatter also includes resources for the intended younger audience.

Utilitarian, but earnest and cogent. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 6-8)

Captain Danger and the Stupid Shadow

Engbers, Victor | Trans. by David Colmer Pushkin Children’s Books (64 pp.) | $17.95 November 4, 2025 | 9781782695271

Series: Adventures of Captain Danger

Chasing down his errant shadow plunges Captain Danger and faithful canine sidekick Django into one pickle after another.

“I hope you’re not a scaredy-cat,” warns the gruff, light-skinned narrator of this Dutch import, who in the unsophisticated cartoon art unavoidably recalls Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants because he’s wearing only socks and underwear. “I never get scared.” Even when his attempt to catch up to his shadow after it flies off to Cut-It-Out Island takes him straight into the tentacles of a giant octopus, the belly of a jellyfish, a “yucky volcano,” and the talons of a giant two-headed bird, he doesn’t seem fazed. “What a hassle!” he complains. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that all the danger is strictly transitory; the merfolk, ghosts, big bugs, and a baby dragon he encounters along the way turn out to be friendly, even playful, and generally willing to help out. Indeed, the whole adventure culminates in the entire cast gathering for a literally footloose dance party atop a huge, oily fish. It’s all good, silly fun, even

if the Captain’s free use of the ableist word stupid to describe his shadow and several others may perturb some adult readers.

Adventures in whimsy, humor, and heart, starring a most memorable hero. (Picture book. 6-8)

Broccoli Is Trying To Kill Me

Evans, Katie | Illus. by Savannah Allen Holiday House (40 pp.) | $18.99 March 3, 2026 | 9780823459612

A kid faces a picky eater’s ultimate nemesis: a refrigerator’s worth of vegetables.

“‘Broccoli is good for you,’ my dad says. But I know the truth. Broccoli is trying to kill me.” The kid has it figured out: “I’m pretty sure Broccoli leads meetings inside the dark, cold fridge.” What’s more, “When I open the fridge to get some milk, I know they’re watching me.” When Dad announces that dinner will be mac and cheese, the narrator is delighted—“There’s no Broccoli in that”—but the joy is short-lived. “While I celebrate, the vegetables begin their attack!” Readers will know that this is headed for a faceoff, but they may not anticipate the narrator’s built-in secret weapon: “CHOMP!” It’s all quite entertaining, with springy alliterative turns (“The tomatoes tiptoe toward the toaster”). The title should be a tip- off that this story—Evans’ picture-book debut—isn’t for little ones, who may nevertheless be drawn to Allen’s bold and kinetic digital art in fierce colors perfectly suited to adversarial produce with menacing expressions. Indeed, the central joke (a spoof of the paranoid mindset) is for a slightly older crowd and, of course, for any adult who has ever been tasked with feeding a vegetableavoidant child. Both the father and the child narrator have brown skin and dark hair.

A funny finicky-eater fantasy. (Picture book. 5-8)

Sarabeth’s Garage

Florence, Melanie | Illus. by Nadia Alam Tundra Books (40 pp.) | $18.99

February 10, 2026 | 9781774885956

A girl’s enthusiasm for vehicles clashes with her grandma’s traditional views.

“Sarabeth loves cars.” The ones that “[roar] like lions” and are “sleek and fast like cheetahs”—she adores the sound and mechanics of every automotive. Sarabeth relishes Saturdays spent by her father’s side at the garage, wearing personalized coveralls and getting her hands dirty. Her grandma, however, doesn’t approve of garage work for girls or what comes with it: “In my day, little girls wore dresses, not grubby work clothes.” Sarabeth’s deflated body language and facial expressions make clear how the comments affect her confidence, and her parents step in to help Grandma understand, as when her mother praises her: “Sarabeth knows everything about cars.” One night, when Grandma’s engine starts to groan, Sarabeth decides to help, but how will Grandma react? Florence’s effectively matter-of-fact and figurative language emphasizes the child’s devotion to all things cars. Some of Alam’s illustrations show realistic scenes, like a day at the garage, full of tiny details for car lovers, while other spreads depict Sarabeth’s swirly, magical daydreams. Readers who are building their own confidence in the face of generational expectations will celebrate Sarabeth’s persistence and positivity. Grandma and Sarabeth’s father are brownskinned; Sarabeth’s mother is pale- skinned; Sarabeth is tan-skinned. An uplifting story about grappling with assumptions and helping others embrace your passion.

(Picture book. 3-8)

For more by Melanie Florence, visit Kirkus online.

Because of a Shoe

Fogliano, Julie | Illus. by Marla Frazee Knopf (40 pp.) | $19.99 | February 3, 2026 9780593707401

A toddler’s recalcitrance inspires a parent’s book-length retort. The smallest thing—having to put on shoes, say—can set off a youngster. In this outing, an adult responds to a toddler’s footwearrelated tantrum with one long, single-sentence spiel that is the book’s only text. It begins, “Even when… // because of a shoe… / you are screaming / and you don’t want to be screaming / but you just can’t stop screaming…” Across pages, the caregiver describes the child’s obstinacy, forecasting, among other things, a lifetime spent hating shoes (“You want all the shoes / to go to the bottom of the ocean / and get eaten by a shark”). The point, of course, is that even when the kid is screeching and the adult is “making my maddest face / and my eyes are my maddest eyes,” parent and child still love each other. Fogliano’s text, which could almost pass for a narrative poem, is hilarious, cathartic, and, finally, heartwarming—at least it will be for parents. The parent’s full-throttle narration may confound some little ones, who will pick up cues from Frazee’s emotionally attuned multimedia art, which is in color to start, largely grayscale when the parent is most gloom- and-doomiest, and in color again (whew!) when the two have made their peace. Both characters are pale-skinned redheads. A funny, wrenching affirmation of a parent’s unconditional love. (Picture book. 2-5)

Fabulous Creatures: Legendary Animals From Around the World

Funke, Cornelia | Illus. by Ruby Warnecke

Trans. by Anna Schmitt Funke

NorthSouth (48 pp.) | $21.95

March 31, 2026 | 9780735845916

Originally published in Switzerland and translated from German, a gallery of mythical beasts, from the chimera to the Crodh Sith.

What stands out in this album of elusive animals, inspired by Warnecke’s sketches of images on ancient vases and plates housed at the Etruscan Museum in Volterra, Italy, is how many of the 19 creatures will probably be unfamiliar even to not-so-young audiences. The selections include the mythical Barong lion from Bali and the tarand, a reindeerlike creature that’s variously thought to dwell in Ethiopia or among the Scythians, along with the potentially better-known likes of the basilisk and griffin. The entries are decidedly multicultural and, according to the author, chosen to express not only our terrors, but also “our longing for wise creatures that protect good and punish evil.” The giant kraken Tumu-Rai’i Fenua of Aotearoa (New Zealand), for example, was tasked with teaching humans to live in harmony and grew so frustrated that it is said to have turned to stone. Some of the author’s broader claims, such as an observation that in India, unicorns are not white but red and black, beg for source references that aren’t provided. Still, her remarks are generally tantalizing enough to spur readers to do their own research. The illustrations are flat and stylized, but sinuous clouds, tails,

For more by Julie Fogliano, visit Kirkus online.

feathers, flames, and tentacles give them both a distinctive look and a strong sense of graceful, undulating movement. Offers a welcome focus on monsters more often misunderstood than malign. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

I Am the River: Sarah E. Ray and the Bob-Lo Boat

Gauch, Patricia Lee & Leah Henderson Illus. by Kristle Marshall | Levine Querido (48 pp.) | $19.99 | January 6, 2026

9781646145805

A sprawling account of Sarah Elizabeth Ray’s fight for equality, set against the historical tapestry of the Detroit River. Using an ambling narrative style that frequently calls back to earlier pages, Henderson and Gauch share vignettes of the river’s past. They begin with canoes steered by Indigenous people, then briefly delve into the river’s role carrying freedomseeking enslaved people to Canada, before jumping forward to early-20thcentury Detroit and the Boblo boats (named for Boblo Island Amusement Park) that ferried people to an Underground Railroad stop– turned–pleasure island. Each fascinating stopover could anchor its own book, but combined, they feel rather fleeting, and while the imagery of personified islands and cities is often lovely, some long passages are difficult to decipher. When readers finally meet Sarah Elizabeth Ray and the focus shifts to a single event, the book really sets sail. Sarah, a young Black graduate of secretarial school, plans to celebrate on Boblo Island.

Deeply cathartic; balances emotional depth with engrossing suspense.

SABER-TOOTH

But after being asked to leave the segregated boat, she sues. With the help of a young Thurgood Marshall before he joined the Supreme Court, she wins, 10 years before the better-publicized Rosa Parks case. While the theme of interconnectedness is laudable, readers may be left wanting more information about this civil rights activist. Proud, unfussy digital illustrations are enlightening; some, such as a boat sailing down the gutter, segregating the passengers, are outstanding.

Though the parts don’t coalesce into a stronger whole, the pieces are still worth reading. (authors’ notes, sources) (Informational picture book. 6-10)

The Hidden Treasure Nearby

Gharehbaghi, Masoud | Clavis (40 pp.)

$20.95 | October 21, 2025 | 9798890632401

A squirrel family finds a map; will it bring treasure or mayhem to the forest?

As the family members are readying their den for a new baby, the squirrel kits find a map tucked away in Grandma’s old room. It must be a treasure map; after all, it has multiple spots marked with an X. The exciting news spreads throughout the forest to the rest of the animals. Everyone gathers for a peek, but there’s no sense of competition or rivalry; as one animal explains, “With gold in all of these spots, there’ll be plenty for us all!” They grab shovels and pickaxes and head out to claim their treasure. Unfortunately, all they find is “Nothing!” (The word echoes across the page as everyone shouts it.) What a waste of time. The two original squirrel kits scamper up a tree in dejection. But wait. As they look out over the treetops, they realize that perhaps the forest has treasure after all. Gharehbaghi’s gentle, scribbly art is the tale’s true standout. The pointy-snouted squirrels live in a lush, fuzzy forest where everything feels quaint and snug,

even during moments of frustration. The ending has somewhat slapdash pacing, but warmth and community nevertheless radiate from the leafy branches. A cozy reminder that wealth found in nature goes far beyond gold. (Picture book. 4-7)

How To Hatch a Writer

Gonzalez, Kari Ann | Illus. by Rachel Suzanne Gnome Road Publishing (32 pp.) | $19.95 September 9, 2025 | 9781957655536

Series: How To Hatch A..., 2

From building sentences to mastering parts of speech, Goldifox and the plucky chickens are ready to write. In this follow-up to How To Hatch a Reader (2023), the poultry of Hatch Farm have started pecking words into the dirt, and now they’re moving on to full sentences. The curly-haired, blond, pale-skinned child who serves as the book’s guide gathers the chickens together for a story. Then they begin writing sentences of their own that include a capital letter at the start, spaces, and punctuation. Soon, Goldifox—a vulpine interloper who surreptitiously dons a blond wig and purple dress in an attempt to raid the proverbial henhouse—arrives and is conscripted by the youngster into helping the chickens master elements of grammar. Goldifox’s contributions all slyly reveal the fox’s true intentions (“I love chicken,” Goldifox spells out at one point). At last, taking a tumble into the mud while trying to accost the chickens, Goldifox acts out some of the verbs the birds are learning about: flew, squawked, and flopped. The cartoonish illustrations are a suitable match for the story, while the text brims with chicken and egg puns while also hitting the highlights of sentence structure basics. Some of its concepts may be a little advanced for the picturebook crowd, but as an overview it’s solid. Lower elementary teachers looking for visuals to pair with writing concepts will likely find this one valuable.

As playful as it is instructive, most useful to teachers or caregivers. (writing tips, websites) (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Star

Saber-Tooth

Gow, Robin | Amulet/Abrams (328 pp.)

$18.99 | January 27, 2026 | 9781419777387

With his brother off at college, Jasper, an autistic, white, transgender boy, feels more alone than ever—until a saber-toothed tiger that’s buried in his backyard starts speaking to him. The whole summer, Jasper’s older brother, Callan, promised to take him fossil hunting, but Callan was always busy seeing friends or playing the guitar and video games. Maybe if Jasper had just gone by himself, he wouldn’t have gotten so angry that he broke Callan’s laptop, but now it’s too late. The day after Callan leaves, eighth grader Jasper starts digging a hole in his backyard, hoping to unearth a discovery, but he’s startled when he hears the voice of a saber-toothed tiger in his mind. At first, Jasper is excited and determined to help his new tiger friend, who understands him in a way no one else does, but Jasper soon struggles to hide his overwhelming exhaustion and the growing hole in his backyard. Jasper’s understanding of friendship evolves as he opens up to several peers who bring broadly diverse representation to the story. Gow’s skillful use of spacing and line length in this verse novel adds visual dimension to Jasper’s emotions, which take on a tangible external force through the saber-toothed tiger and the conflict that arises from unearthing him. The author explores the complexity of anger—honoring its validity without dismissing accountability for one’s actions—in a way that’s artful and immersive. Deeply cathartic; balances emotional depth with engrossing suspense. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 11-14)

A refreshingly original magical medical mystery that’s also just plain fun.

A TALE OF PLAGUES AND PERFUMES

Time To Go, Sid!

Greenberg, Isabel | Abrams (32 pp.)

$18.99 | January 20, 2026 | 9781419771095

Despite plentiful encouragement and direction, a young child never quite makes it out the door for a trip to the park. Blond-haired, pale-skinned, pajama-clad Sid is lounging about when an out-of-sight caregiver encourages the youngster to begin getting ready. Sid’s clothing appears in a chaotic whirl and includes the expected (socks, shirt, etc.), along with more intriguing accessories, like tie-on wings and a tail. Breakfast becomes an equally complicated and fanciful experience, with a (presumably imaginary) Rube Goldberg–esque milk delivery system and a high dive into the cereal bowl. Tooth brushing involves an art project, and the caregiver’s instructions to pack a single toy turns into a bag stuffed to the brim. Savvy readers and listeners won’t be surprised that Sid still isn’t ready to leave without a (remarkably messy) trip to the bathroom. The almost-outing is permanently scuttled by a revelation that suggests that the morning’s implied stress, if not the actual events, could have been neatly avoided. This final twist may amuse or annoy. Prompts from the off-the-page adult are brisk and to the point, while Sid’s minimal responses are believably childlike. The matter-of-fact text contrasts nicely with the frenetic activity pictured, bringing a sense of mischief and fun to a situation kids and adults know all too well. Flat, cartoon-style illustrations vary in size and format, from full-page pictures to

small vignettes and multipaneled drawings. Colors are muted, with yellow, orange, and blue predominant. An inventive take on a familiar struggle. (Picture book. 4-7)

Hugged by the Night

Green III, Harold | Illus. by Karabo Poppy Chronicle Books (40 pp.) | $17.99

January 27, 2026 | 9781797217178

The night sky, anthropomorphized as a nurturing Black woman, cares for the living creatures who adore her and whom she loves in return.

When the day is over, the sky “change[s] into her / favorite color— black.” Bouncy rhyming couplets and striking, richly hued digital illustrations depict the ebony sky in the purplish sheen she casts upon the animals in the jungle. A pattern reminiscent of the conclusion of the film The Wizard of Oz emerges as the beasts wish for traits that the sky kindly bestows while highlighting strengths that were already there. The jaguar longs for confidence, so the sky embraces the big cat: “an elegant jaguar all in black, / what a sight. / She looked like she had been hugged by the night.” A bird wishes to be “proud like the sky,” so the sky obliges. And a horse looks to the sky in hopes of becoming as fearless as her; a dramatic page turn reveals a “majestic horse all in black.” The accessibility of the rhyme and story brings to life traditional African folklore (and the unique roles animals play) while offering a powerful celebration of identity. In

their closing notes, Green and Poppy speak to the unfortunate prevalence of anti-Blackness while underscoring the beauty of Black heritage. Both a soothing bedtime tale and a story to bolster the spirit. (Picture book. 3-7)

A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

Halpern, Jake & Peter Kujawinski

Roaring Brook Press (352 pp.) | $18.99

January 13, 2026 | 9781250911087

A girl must use her supernatural sense of smell to stop a plague. People born with magically powerful senses are known as Sinsories, a corrupted form of the original word, Sensories, which reflects superstitious views that they’re “sinful and evil.” Fear of violence has made Nia hide her powerful nose her entire life—conveniently, the masks people wear as protection against sand and dust keep others from noticing when it twitches. But when the Ghost Ship brings a new plague, Nia is recruited to the Cloister, a Sinsory school that uses students’ gifts to combat plagues. This new scent-based plague requires Sinsories to identify and counter its component odors to create a curefume. The worldbuilding is phenomenally enjoyable, inventive, and thought-provoking while providing plenty of tension; scientific approaches to combating illness as well as supernatural versions of the real world, including sensory experiences (synesthesia, eidetic memory), coexist in a society that’s heavily rooted in superstition. Further tension comes from the Cloister’s interpersonal politics. When the first attempt at the curefume tosses additional obstacles in the way of Nia and her Sinsory friends, they’re forced to undertake drastic measures to find a cure in time to protect loved ones on the outside. The suitably heroic ending protects the young characters despite the plague’s death toll. Black-haired,

tan-skinned Nia has experienced extreme poverty. Sometimes the book’s plentiful racial diversity is linked to in-world geography, which doesn’t map to real-world parallels.

A refreshingly original magical medical mystery that’s also just plain fun. (Fantasy. 9-14)

Louisa Learns To Write: Louisa May Alcott Creates Little Women

Hannigan, Kate | Illus. by Sofia Moore

Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers (40 pp.) | $19.99

January 20, 2026 | 9781629794563

Parallels between life and art come into sharp focus in this tribute to a woman who produced an American classic. Peppered throughout with strong quotes from Louisa May Alcott’s personal and professional writing, this picture-book biography sets the author within the context of her best-loved work. Readers learn about Louisa’s early years and overwhelming desire to write. Yet her need to support her family through her words hits roadblocks, like the discouraging response from editors, one sister’s death, and another’s marriage. Even so, her pen continues to move, and after modest success, she produces a work intended for a female audience—a most welcome addition at a time when books for boys dominated the market. The narrative rather abruptly concludes when Louisa has published the first book of Little Women. After hearing of Louisa’s yearning for fame and fortune, young readers can only learn whether she achieved such goals in the thorough backmatter (which includes tips for aspiring writers, photos of Louisa’s sisters, and even a chart comparing and contrasting Louisa’s life with that of her famous protagonist, Jo March). Nevertheless, Hannigan’s clear love for Louisa and the impact of her work shine through. Moore’s soft-hued illustrations offer readers a strong sense

of setting, from the woods where Louisa often walked with a neighbor, philosopher and writer Henry David Thoreau, to the hospital where she worked as a nurse during the Civil War.

A loving ode to an inspiring and incredibly talented writer. (author’s note, bibliography, timeline)

(Picture-book biography. 4-8)

Unstoppable Us, Volume 3: How Enemies Become Friends

Harari, Yuval Noah | Illus. by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz | Bright Matter Books (208 pp.)

$24.99 | February 3, 2026 | 9798217115686

Historian Harari’s latest work of middlegrade nonfiction considers what separates humanity—and what unites us. The first volume in the series explained how humans came to dominate the world, while the second bleakly surveyed oppression and inequity. Though this latest ostensibly focuses on the goal of cooperation, here, too, “the bad guys sometimes win.”

Harari addresses Volume 2’s unanswered questions: How do our stories change? How do we balance fear of difference with longing for the unknown?

Interspersed among Harari’s commentary, made-up stories feature both fictional characters and real-life historical figures from Rome, Ephesus, and Carthage opining on these and other questions. In Carthage’s huge market, for instance, two youngsters discussing “foreigners” note that language and culture often separate us, but money can surmount differences; everyone trusts its value—though wealth and greed are also fraught with peril. Among the other ideas that Harari effectively simplifies and critically examines are warfare, nationalism, imperialism, religion, and syncretism. He sometimes turns philosophical, noting that people often migrate from place to place—who’s to say “who’s a foreigner and who’s a local”?

The author ends somewhat optimistically, expounding on the Buddha’s revelations, encouraging moral liberalism, and praising scientific discovery. Ruiz’s dynamic, colorful compositions, masterly varied point of view, and convincing realism bring ancient cultures closer, matching their appeal to the text’s riveting pace and scope. Many will find inspiration in Harari’s intellectual analysis, presented at a level suitable for open-minded young readers. More incisive, critical, and engagingly narrated and illustrated stories of our history. (map) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

How To Survive an Apocalypse: The End of the World Doesn’t Have To Be the End of the World

Hardy, Cameron & Coby Coonradt Illus. by Victoria Stebleva | Neon Squid/ Macmillan (48 pp.) | $17.99 | February 3, 2026 | 9781684495542 | Series: Extreme Survival Guides

Two podcasters offer basic tips for young people caught in a variety of dangerous situations—from hurricanes and civil unrest to alien invasions and giant asteroid strikes.

“Let’s be real,” the authors write, recommending a flashlight as essential for scaring off wild animals or werewolves. They list other essentials to pack in a lightweight go bag that would be useful in any sort of emergency while reeling off general guidelines on how to prepare for and behave in a broad range of catastrophes. Some, like invasions of aliens or demons, are entertainingly improbable, but several—power blackouts, natural disasters, and riots, for instance—are too uncomfortably plausible to be treated, as they are here, in such a superficial way…even if the green-skinned zombie and alien on the title page, plus an early reference to household tech going murderously rogue, should be enough to give the game away. Stebleva plays along with melodramatic scenes of devastated landscapes,

wildfires, angry rioters, and supernatural frights. All the while, racially diverse young survivors busily stock elaborate underground bunkers, flee or take shelter (as circumstances warrant), defiantly face a zombie attack, and, on the final spread, gather to repair and rebuild in the postapocalyptic aftermath. Thrilling reading for armchair survivalists. (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Maya’s Big Question

Harris, Meena | Illus. by Marissa Valdez Little, Brown (40 pp.) | $18.99 February 3, 2026 | 9780316561341

Series: Ambitious Girl, 3

The third title in the Ambitious Girl series finds young Maya wanting accomplished women to get their due.

On a school trip to Washington, D.C., brown-skinned, bubblebraided Maya is full of questions, among them “How many representatives are there?” and, while checking out the statues and monuments, “Where are all the women?” Maya’s teacher tells her that they’ve seen all the “popular” statues and monuments. Maya is as dogged (“But what about Eleanor Roosevelt? Or Mary McLeod Bethune?”) as her teacher is dismissive: “Those aren’t on my list.” (Maya’s teacher follows the same list every trip.) Back at home, Maya is newly awakened to the lack of female representation in her orbit—she notices that streets and “even her own school ” are named for men. Is there anything she can do about this? Maya’s teacher’s cluelessness feels a bit implausible, more like a plot device to steer the story in the right direction, but Maya’s righteous indignation is believable, and her corresponding activism will energize readers. Valdez gets into the spirit of things with her invigorating digital art: Maya and her multiethnic classmates and neighbors are colorful dressers with smiling faces,

Dogged determination in the face of challenges drives this delightful story.

DEXTER

which fosters a sense that wherever Maya goes, a warm and ebullient community is there for her. Another empowering outing led by a dynamic young role model. (Picture book. 5-8)

Main Street: A Community Story About Redlining

Hawthorne, Britt & Tiffany Jewell | Illus. by David Wilkerson | Kokila (40 pp.) | $18.99 January 27, 2026 | 9798217002672

A child learns about redlining from a neighbor. Toward the end of her friend Alison’s birthday party, narrator Olivia, who presents Black, invites the other kids to her street’s annual block party. When Alison, who appears to be white, replies, “I can’t. My mom says Main Street isn’t safe!,” Olivia is undone: “My stomach aches. / My face is hot. / My eyes fill with water. / I can’t wait to leave.” After her mother drives her home, Olivia tells her dark-skinned elderly neighbor Ms. Effie why she’s so upset (“I wish I didn’t live here”). Ms. Effie is spurred to share a memory (“I remember the first time I heard someone say Main Street wasn’t good enough…”) that leads to a conversation about redlining. Olivia’s anguished realization that others view her neighborhood not with affection but with fear is intensely relatable, and the book provides accurate and valuable historical context, though the lengthy accounts of bank discrimination and government neglect feel more like history lessons than a compelling narrative. Meanwhile, Wilkerson’s digitally assembled paintings reflect the spirit of the narrative, depicting Olivia’s neighborhood as a warm and welcoming

space. While this neighborhood lacks the backyard swimming pools found in Alison’s neighborhood, good fellowship more than makes up for it.

Bighearted and tender, though on the dry side. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Star

The Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy

Higuera, Donna Barba | Illus. by Juliana Perdomo | Amulet/Abrams (160 pp.)

$14.99 | August 19, 2025 | 9781419777424

In this spinoff from Higuera and Perdomo’s picture-book series, a curious boogeyman must frighten his first child or else risk losing what he wants most—to belong.

A class of newly hatched monsters heads toward the Abyss of Horror, where each budding cucuy, cuca, and cuco (creatures from Latin American folklore) will receive their first assignments—a mischievous human child to keep in line. One diminutive, lonely cucuy feels quite unprepared indeed. Neglecting to scare his human into good behavior means being banished to the Forest of Failure, with its clean air, sweet smells, and colorful flowers. The horror! But success means getting a name and an appointed Clump, a group to belong to. Our hero attempts to scare his assigned child, Latine-cued Ramón, but the preoccupied niño is more worried about the prospect of attending a new school. Intrigued by the human world, the cucuy helps Ramón navigate first-day jitters. This leisurely paced tale keenly

captures the anxieties of being the new kid by drawing explicit parallels between the characters. Tantalizing bits of monstrous worldbuilding and humor derived from the little cucuy’s befuddled fascination with the human realm elevate the story to exuberant heights. Imbued with pops of purple, Perdomo’s monochrome artwork winningly portrays both worlds, with an adorable little cucuy at the center of it all. Beware the cucuy? Not when he’s this undeniably cool. (Fantasy. 7-10)

Hello Baby, It’s Me, Alfie

Hutchings, Maggie | Illus. by Dawn Lo Tundra Books (32 pp.) | $18.99

January 6, 2026 | 9781774886366

A child encounters big feelings in the weeks leading up to a new baby’s arrival. As soon as Alfie learns that Baby is on the way, a conversation with this new friend begins. As weeks pass, the still-gestating Baby grows progressively larger and is compared to various fruits and veggies, like a “perfect plum” or a “cute cabbage.” Alfie tries to keep a positive outlook about the upcoming arrival, saying, “My heart is pretty big. / So I’m sure I’ll find space for you!” The child has other big feelings to share with Baby, too, like curiosity, love, fear, pride, disappointment, and anticipation. Lo’s artwork is soft and colorful, creating a cozy sense of home. Families welcoming rainbow babies (children born after a pregnancy loss or infant loss) may identify with the gentle textual and visual nods that reference rainbows. Aside from adorable Clive the dog, specific family roles, genders, or relationships aren’t explicitly named, giving a wide array of youngsters the opportunity to see themselves in this work. Hutchings has crafted a strong conversation starter for prospective big siblings; grown-ups will likely find guidance here, too, as they direct little ones to consider how Alfie might be feeling in a given

situation—and how they in turn feel. Alfie is tan-skinned, and the friends who gather at the protagonist’s 4th birthday party are diverse. A seriously sweet story and resource for adults to share with soon-to-be big siblings. (Picture book. 2-8)

Love From America

Jospitre, Sarah | Illus. by Amandine Thomas Grosset & Dunlap (32 pp.) | $9.99 May 12, 2026 | 9798217051588

A buoyant celebration of diversity and the best that America has to offer. Jospitre has chosen just a dozen or so direct affirmations to characterize the United States. Some attributes refer to the country’s physical qualities or infrastructure: its beauty, its history, the grandeur of its scenery and cities. But what comes through most strongly is its people. The author highlights Americans’ willingness to help, their sense of caring, their moral and political commitment to “what’s right,” their courageous aspiration, and, above all, their love. An opening map displays typical U.S. symbols: a bison, Mt. Rushmore, Idaho potatoes, Georgia peaches. But this book goes beyond cliches; Thomas’ glorious, realistic illustrations depict racially diverse Americans happily mingling— immigrants at Ellis Island, a malepresenting couple holding hands, gymnast Simone Biles showing off one of her astounding routines, suffragists protesting, and Rosa Parks sitting in a bus seat. A scene of demonstrators has no overt political symbolism but shows people with raised fists and subtle retro-style sunbeams in the background. The penultimate spread shows a soldier in fatigues being greeted exuberantly by family members. The final spread surrounds another map with various figures, one using a wheelchair, one in hijab, everyone, old and young, dancing with unin hibited cheerfulness.

Patriotism is inclusive and joyful in this bright, beautiful book of U.S. icons and values. (Picture book. 5-8)

Dexter: The Stand Up Dog

Kelso, Bonnie & Kentee Pasek | Illus. by Bonnie Kelso | Gnome Road Publishing (32 pp.) | $19.95 | September 16, 2025 9781957655482

The lightly fictionalized account of Kelso’s Brittany spaniel, who learned to walk upright following an injury. At a shelter, Dexter finds his forever family: a tan-skinned mother and father and two kids. The sweet but hyper pup soon escapes his fenced-in yard and is immediately struck by a speeding vehicle. At the vet hospital, Mom and Dad anxiously wait for news. When Dexter comes home, the whole family is thrilled to see him. His right front leg is missing, and the left is weak, but he adapts to strapped-on front wheels: His “racecar” gives him mobility but not speed. Stymied by the inaccessible front porch, the dog makes a daring move. Although he wobbles on his rear legs, he tries and tries again, until he manages to walk up the steps. Practice improves his strength and skills, and Dexter gains a new perspective. Videos of the actual Dexter shared widely during Covid lockdown make him a messenger of “joy and positivity…all over the country.” The matter-of-fact narrative offers young readers a glimpse of Dexter’s thoughts and emotions, while Kelso’s eye-catching illustrations, featuring saturated hues of green and blue, are cartoonstyle realistic. Dexter cuts an exuberant figure. In the hospital and in the small vignettes showing his travels, people of varied skin color, a child using a wheelchair, and some kids who appear to have chemo-related hair loss are all depicted.

Dogged determination in the face of challenges drives this delightful story. (QR code for more information on Dexter) (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Ramadan for Everyone: A Muslim Community Story

Khalil, Aya | Illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Christy Ottaviano Books (40 pp.) | $18.99

January 27, 2026 | 9780316577441

Eager to fast all day and pray late at night, a young girl learns lessons in mindfulness during Ramadan. On the first day of the Muslim month of prayer and reflection, Habeeba beams at the festive decorations and platters of delicious food around her house. Aspiring to be just like her big sister, Sumaya, she declares, “This year, I am fasting every day and staying up for taraweeh” (night prayers). But as the month goes on, Habeeba becomes discouraged. Although she fasts most of each day, she stops early, with a rumbly tummy tempted by foods like Baba’s cheesy, syrupy kunafa. Habeeba tries to stay awake for taraweeh, but she drifts off to sleep at the soothing sounds of the mosque. Are there other ways Habeeba can celebrate Ramadan? Khalil shares a heartwarming tale of family as Habeeba learns about the importance of practicing mindfulness and giving back to the community. Kheiriyeh captures the spirit of Ramadan with her brightly hued mixed-media depictions of Habeeba’s home, bustling with preparations of the meals that start and end the fasting day as well as the spirituality of the nightly prayer rituals in the mosque. Ample backmatter offers more information about this important pillar of Islam, as well as instructions for creating Ramadanthemed crafts. Habeeba and her

family are brown-skinned; clues in the text suggest that they are of Egyptian heritage.

A sweet, warm tale of spiritual growth, patience, and perseverance. (glossary of Arabic words, selected sources) (Picture book. 4-8)

Partypooper

Kinney, Jeff | Amulet/Abrams (224 pp.)

$15.99 | October 21, 2025 | 9781419782695

Series: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 20

Reflections on past birthday ups and downs lead to a belated party for Greg that, unsurprisingly, takes a few loopy turns. Knowing that he only gets a few more kid birthdays before the gifts start turning from cool stuff into things like dress shirts and nose-hair trimmers, Greg is determined to make his upcoming celebration something special. Unfortunately, due to a household mishap, his mom forgot to mark his birthday on the family calendar—and his dad “depends on Mom to remind him about stuff, just like the rest of us.” This incident is neither the first nor the last time that Greg’s narrative will have readers wincing and laughing at the same time—and the do-over bash Mom remorsefully agrees to organize winds up collapsing in chaos. Still, what cloud doesn’t have its silver lining? So notorious does the party become that requests from other parents to plan similar celebrations for their kids pour in, and Greg, seeing big bucks in his future, closes not with sour grapes but

An astonishing, delightful, and illuminating celebration of mathe-magics.

a philosophical shrug: “Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.” Subplots skewer social media and the mania for trading cards. Kinney dishes up a rich mixture of deadpan monologue and cartoons laden with gags and punchlines for this 20th series entry. His dot-eyed, rubbery-nosed figures are the color of the paper. A festive frolic—even if the frosting on the birthday cake does turn out to be mayonnaise. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)

Feeling Your Feelings: The Head-to-Toe Science of Emotions

Kyi, Tanya Lloyd | Illus. by Phil Nicholls Kids Can (48 pp.) | $18.99 | October 7, 2025 9781525311277

A n examination of the back-andforth communications between brains and body parts that go into expressing emotions.

Kyi starts at the bottom and goes up—beginning with the claim that humans everywhere, and some animals, too, stomp their feet when angry. She also reports on experiments that have found that subjects could distinguish through their soles aggressive, tender, or neutral steps. Similarly fascinating insights accompany ensuing examinations of signals sent or expressed by kneeling or knocking knees, gut feelings, heartache, laughter and voice tones, blushes, nail biting, wrinkled noses, and more. Along the way, she explains the roles of adrenaline, dopamine, and other chemical messengers as she traces connections with nerve pathways in brains and spines that receive and carry responses to outside stimuli. The author reassuringly notes the “neuroplasticity” of these connections, and though she doesn’t mention how they adapt to autism or other neurological conditions, she does feature a revealing discussion of how spinal

injuries can lead some people to feel and express emotions differently. In keeping with the narrative’s light tone, Nicholls supplies cartoon images of personified inner organs and a diverse set of young people in appropriately expressive poses. An eye-widening overview. (glossary, sources, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)

I Am a Lioness

Kyung, Hyewon | Trans. by Nari Shin Peter Pauper Press (40 pp.) | $17.99 November 15, 2025 | 9781441346612

Prolific South Korean author/ artist Kyung gloriously highlights and celebrates leonine matriarchy.

“Prides are usually made up of lionesses, their cubs, and one to a few adult male lions,” the titular lioness explains. The savannah can be a dangerous place, and living together means “safety in numbers.” Our narrator is pregnant and knows her “babies need food to grow.” She dispatches prey with strength and skills she learned from her own mother, who was “a great hunter.” No matter how much prey the lions take down, the food is shared with the whole pride. Motherhood means the lionesses must work even more closely, raising the cubs together, sharing their milk, and hunting in turns. The lioness teaches her growing cubs “everything,” just as her mother taught her. Teamwork ensures survival: “We are mothers, we are hunters, we are protectors, we are teachers. And we are strong.” Kyung’s text, efficiently translated by Shin, provides an informative overview, complete with an appended page of further facts. The expansive spreads are what stand out, created in paint and pencil on traditional Korean handmade paper. Kyung leaves the realistic backgrounds in black and white, enhancing only the lionesses in rich, golden tones, artfully highlighting their essential authority. Though the hunts are sensitively portrayed, younger readers

should be warned that hunting inevitably leads to killing.

A glorious reminder that the lion may be known as the king of the animal kingdom, but true power belongs to the lioness. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Welcoming the Lunar New Year: Festivals of the World

Lee, Lara | Illus. by Natelle Quek

Candlewick (32 pp.) | $18.99

January 27, 2026 | 9781536251623

Series: Festivals of the World

When Ren’s New Year dragon costume needs to be repaired, he and his mother visit various shopkeepers who celebrate the Lunar New Year in their own ways. Ren’s multigenerational family, cued Chinese and ranging in complexion from pale to medium brown skin, is preparing for the holiday. Ren finds his dragon dance costume but is afraid he’s ruined the upcoming celebration when he trips and rips the costume. His mother assures him all is not lost. They visit a flower shop for marigolds sold by a Vietnamese shop owner who also shares some mứ t, or candied fruit, and describes how it relates to her family’s celebration of Tết. Then they stop by a fabric store, where the shopkeeper sells them cloth and offers Ren kue lapis legit, an Indonesian cake, and explains its significance to Imlek, the Indonesian New Year. They also visit a lantern shop and receive sesame cookies from the owner, who tells them that they’re a symbol of happiness in China. Now armed with everything they need to fix the dragon, Ren and his mother return home to complete their preparations and celebrate. Joyful and lively illustrations full of color and detail pop off every page in this unique exploration of how different cultures observe the holiday. A vibrant Lunar New Year story that celebrates community and culture. (recipe, craft) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Star

The Big Book of Pi: The Famous Number You Can Never Know

Lehmann, Anita & Jean-Baptiste Aubin Illus. by Joonas Sildre | Helvetiq (88 pp.) $22.95 | February 3, 2026 | 9783039640898

What is this essential number, and why can we “never know” it? Pi is everywhere, and an obsession for some. This book is, per the title, “big” (everything we could want to know) but never overwhelmingly so. Lehmann and Aubin explain the math and the name, while engagingly connecting the numbers to the average reader. The book includes pi brain-twisters (including accessible, tricky pizza-cutting techniques), jokes, and an “e-Pi-logue,” along with calculations, a glossary, and a chyron of definitions wherever useful. Puns, eminent mathematicians’ quotations, and geeky fun facts are scattered here and there, one being that the distribution of stars in the sky reflects pi. Along the way, the authors manage to tie in a swath of topics, some seemingly unrelated, among them cognitive bias, irrational numbers, decimals, and Babylonian and Egyptian math; they also profile Chinese, Indian, Persian, and later mathematicians, including Madhava of Kerala, who made calculus a working tool. The style is chatty and hip. Demonstrating the ubiquity of number sequences, for instance, the authors assert that you can find in pi sequences your own birth date, but also “your boring uncle’s, your pet iguana’s, Srinivasa Ramanujan’s, Isaac Newton’s, Beyoncé’s…” Sildre’s teal, red, and blue graphic novel–style illustrations, clever and amusing, are also instructive. Ada Lovelace, Katherine Johnson, Emma Haruka Iwao, and Maryam Mirzakhani appear in cameos. Even math-phobes will find this pi tasty and nourishing. An astonishing, delightful, and illuminating celebration of mathe-magics. (educators’ QR code) (Nonfiction. 8-14)

A shelter cat describes an ultimately joyous journey from cage to cozy home.

CROUTON

Mister Norton’s New Truck

Lewis Jones, Huw | Illus. by Corey Egbert Tiger Tales (32 pp.) | $18.99

February 3, 2026 | 9781664300804

With his bike out of commission, how will Mr. Horace Norton get to work?

“One Monday morning, Horace Norton found…that a bear had been on his bicycle.” The bear left a nice note, but both wheels are damaged (and honey drips from the bike’s basket). Mr. Norton has to get to work, so, never one to make a fuss, he does his best, though it’s slow going. On Tuesday, he tries the bus. It’s packed with critters, and he ends up disembarking and walking through the rain, with some animals from the bus clinging to his arms and legs. Taking a scooter (with the aforementioned animals hitching a ride) on Wednesday, he is late for work, “because the scooter was small, the bus was too busy, and the bear had been on his bicycle.” He tries other options, but nothing works…until he hits upon a new idea while soaking in the bath on Saturday: his grandfather’s old truck. Unfortunately, the vehicle’s in poor shape, but some friends— including the bear—sneak into the barn to do Mr. Norton a good turn. And in the morning, a “new” truck awaits. Lewis Jones and Egbert have teamed up for another silly cumulative tale, following Mister Norton’s New Hat (2025). The use of repetition is deft, and youngsters will eagerly chime in. Egbert’s cartoon illustrations will elicit

giggles; expressive Mr. Norton’s grimaces and winces as his journey so often goes wrong are delightful—as is his eventual triumph.

A sweet story of persistence and friendship. (Picture book. 4-6)

Crouton: One Cat’s Adoption Tale

Lombardi, Kristine A. | Random House (40 pp.) $18.99 | January 27, 2026 | 9798217029167

A shelter cat describes a straightforward, ultimately joyous journey from cage to cozy home.

Greeting readers from an enclosure at the animal shelter, Crouton watches potential families each day and dreams of finding “my person.” When a young girl with distinctive buns and skin the white of the page finally chooses Crouton, the narrative follows their bonding process through typical pet-owner activities: grooming, feeding, and bedtime routines. Lombardi’s pencil illustrations employ a restrained palette of black, gray, and bubble gum pink that creates visual cohesion and a soothing atmosphere. The rounded character and scene designs, along with consistently sweet compositions, maintain an appropriately tender tone throughout. The first-person feline narration brims with charm, particularly in Crouton’s observations about the young girl’s quirks and the cat’s patient assistance with her daily activities; especially lovely is Crouton’s catcentric interpretation of events (“I

get her out the door just in time to make the bus,” “When she comes home from school, I help her focus on her homework”). The storyline follows a familiar arc that will feel comfortable to young readers seeking reassurance about pet adoption. With warmth and sincerity, Lombardi touches on themes of patience, companionship, and belonging. The representation of shelter life is gentle and accessible for the target audience. Young cat enthusiasts will find comfort in the familiar beats of pet ownership and the message that all animals can find their perfect match. An especially sweet pet adoption tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

The Little Girl and the Rain

Lukešová, Milena | Illus. by Jan Kudláček Albatros Media (36 pp.) | $18.95

February 3, 2026 | 9788000076195

Series: Poetic Vintage Tales

While books about romping in the snow abound, this Czech import offers the rain as playmate. When a light-skinned little girl has no one to play with, she decides to take a walk, only to get caught in the rain. She runs home, and the personified rain chases after her, eager to play. “The rain tapped on the window, calling for her to come back out,” reads a plaintive page on which a raincloud with a face has turned an expressive pale blue. Apparently confused when someone else ventures outside, the rain searches for the girl, who remains indoors. It encounters animals who also shy away, not wanting to get wet. Then, finally, “Squoosh! Squoosh! The sound of boots in a puddle. It was the little girl, all dressed up for the rain.” Sporting a classic yellow slicker and red rainboots, the child is ready to play, and soon we see other creatures enjoying the rain, too—geese, a worm, a snail, ducks, and sparrows. A culminating

rainbow is the cherry on top of this quiet story, with retro-style art that invites repeat readings. Never mind the old refrain “Rain, rain, go away”! This tale showcases the fun of rainy-day play. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Star

The Great Escape

Marcero, Deborah | Putnam (48 pp.) | $19.99 February 17, 2026 | 9780593857953

Imaginative play has never been so out of this world.

Evie, a precocious girl outfitted in a purple wizard’s cap and cape, “believe[s] in all things magic.” With her wand and a little imagination, she can do anything—except manage her rambunctious siblings, Wolfie, Bunnie, and Teddy, so named for the animal costumes they wear. Yearning for some space and quiet, she goes out into the snow but is soon followed by her kin. Looking for an escape, she picks up her wand and transports herself and her siblings to a mesmerizing abyss filled with sea creatures set against colorful textured galaxies of light. Here, the perspective shifts from graphic-style panels to breathtaking upside-down spreads, requiring readers to turn the book around to continue their adventures. After a suspenseful yet ultimately uplifting encounter with a whale and her calf, they all return to their world grateful for each other and their company. Marcero takes full advantage of the picture-book format as she tells the story of the sometimes contentious yet ultimately strong bonds between siblings. Her use of actual images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, along with watercolors and ink, finished digitally, creates an awe-inspiring world both cosmic and aquatic. Lilting prose and detailed, luminous art make for an adventure readers will eagerly dive into again

and again. Evie is light-skinned; her siblings vary in skin tone. A glorious look at the often-frustrating nature of family dynamics—and the power of magic. (Picture book. 4-7)

Taylor Swift: A Who Was? Illustrated Biography

Mayer, Kirsten | Illus. by Yenna Mariana Penguin Workshop (40 pp.) | $8.99

October 14, 2025 | 9798217052059

Series: Who Was?

A pithy panegyric for the planet’s highest-paid and possibly most popular performing artist. Considering that Taylor Swift is still producing music, she may seem an odd choice for a biographical series titled Who Was? Still, for younger readers who can’t get enough Taylor, Mayer lays out the oft-told essentials of her career from birth and early signs of talent to a few months beyond the end of the “Eras” tour in December of 2024—with some choice bits about friendship bracelets, baking cookies, “fairy godmother” charitable work, and how Swift colorcodes outfits to match her albums. Further insight into her character is confined to repeated references to how she stays “true to herself” and insists on “saying what she want[s] to say.” No mention is made of her dating life or (squeal!) recent engagement. With much use of pinks and purples, Mariana’s illustrations depict the superstar winking up at readers from the title page, then go on to scenes of her performing in increasingly large venues after her public debut in 2004 at age 14, meeting fans of diverse skin color, and bustling about her

kitchen at Christmas. She “has proven over and over again,” the author concludes in a final line, “that a young woman should never be underestimated.” Sweet, feel-good fare for young Swifties. (awards list, bibliography, website, discography, timeline) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)

Bunny and Clyde on the Lam

McDonald, Megan | Illus. by Scott Nash Candlewick (160 pp.) | $16.99

January 6, 2026 | 9781536240306

Series: Bunny and Clyde

A rabbit and her chipmunk BFF attempt to undo the bad reputations they earned in their first outing. Bunny and Clyde are good eggs, through and through. Though they walked on the wild side in the first book in the series, they’re tired of trying to be naughty, but not everyone realizes that. When Thornton the possum’s tooth fairy money goes mysteriously missing while the animal friends are all attending a magic show, the blame unfairly falls on Bunny and Clyde. They protest their innocence and empty their pockets, but their pals still don’t believe them, so, pursued by their now-furious friends, the pair decide to go on the lam. Kids may wonder why Bunny and Clyde’s pals are so quick to turn on them; though they admittedly did toy with being mischievous in the past, their friends’ refusal to hear them out feels a bit implausible. Still, it’s a humorous setup; the image of these sweet-faced creatures forming an angry mob will elicit plenty of giggles. The laughs keep

High-spirited frolics carry this whimsical tale to an upbeat conclusion.

BUNNY AND CLYDE ON THE LAM

coming as the two seek a secure hiding place and attempt to find out what became of the gold coin; Bunny and Clyde are utterly earnest and guileless, completely and hilariously at odds with their friends’ conception of them. Clever wordplay abounds, along with comforting references to reading and libraries. High-spirited frolics carry this whimsical tale to an upbeat conclusion. (Chapter book. 5-8)

Kirkus Star

Maple for the People

McGovern, Kate | Candlewick (336 pp.)

$18.99 | January 6, 2026 | 9781536233216

School election drama raises awareness about disability rights and the affordable housing crisis in this sequel to Welcome Back, Maple MehtaCohen (2021).

Maple, a sixth grader who writes detective stories by dictating into her audio recorder, is running for Student Leadership Council president. With Agatha Christie, Malala Yousafzai, Kamala Harris, Mari Copeny, Greta Thunberg, and Judy Heumann as her role models, she’s eager to serve her community. But Maple is worried that her peers might not vote for her because she has dyslexia. Her best friend, white-presenting Jack Wells, an artist par excellence who also has a reading disability, volunteers to be her campaign manager. Apart from running against Sonia Shah and Sal Chaffee, Maple needs to help her white Jewish mom and Indian dad; their rent has become unaffordable, and they’re looking for another apartment. Amid all this, an apartment building in her neighborhood burns down, and Maple discovers a secret that threatens her relationship with Daniela Ciccola, a former enemy turned friend. McGovern’s fierce advocacy on behalf of children with learning disabilities shines through in her portrayals of the

benefits of classroom accommodations and her characterization of the kids in the reading intervention group as bright people with valuable skills who can make the world a kinder place. Maple and Jack are lovable, and readers will be heartened to encounter numerous adults who root for the children’s dreams and visions and help them without being patronizing. A charming and affirming page-turner with a happy and unexpected ending. (Fiction. 8-12)

The Haunted House Next Door: The Graphic Novel

Miedoso, Andres | Illus. by Glass House Graphics | Little Simon/Simon & Schuster (144 pp.) | $21.99 | January 27, 2026 9798347100811 | Series: Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: The Graphic Novel

Newly arrived with his parents in seemingly quiet Kersville, an anxious young Latine boy discovers that his new house isn’t quite as normal and boring as he’d hoped.

This graphic reboot of the opener to a proliferating series of early chapter books dispenses with most of the explication but sticks closely to the original’s plotline and dialogue. Hardly has Andres Miedoso—who shares a name with the tale’s author—had time to unpack before a flurry of weird noises and events sends him hurrying over to consult with his grinning, brownskinned new neighbor, who earlier handed him a business card provocatively labeled “Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol.” Yes, there’s a ghost in Andres’

house—a jagged, seething cloud of ectoplasm that makes a terrifying first impression…but then gleefully chows down on some unfortunate lasagna and, after paying the gastric price, admits to being a sad, lonely specter searching for a permanent home. By the end, all three have bonded, Andres has a card of his own, and the stage is set for further supernatural exploits. The illustrations are closely based on those in the book’s antecedent, with the addition of bright colors that nicely show off Desmond’s big personality— and the massive green sliming Andres gets when the ghost upchucks all over him. The chills are, if anything, even lighter than the original’s, and the fresh format may draw some new fans. Ghostly fun for the gentlest of readers. (Graphic ghost fantasy. 6-8)

Faster Than a Jet, Bigger Than a Whale: An Illustrated Guide to Measuring Our World

Minoglio, Andrea | Illus. by Bethany Lord Helvetiq (96 pp.) | $22.95 February 3, 2026 | 9783039641017

Entranced by statistics? This book is for you. Minoglio covers Earth and outer space, geography, biology, and human-made structures, along with a grab bag of brain-bending crosscategory comparisons. Figures and astonishing facts involving measurements abound, but readers will also find brief explanations, like the difference between tidal waves caused by earthquakes and those caused by

A charming and affirming page-turner with a happy and unexpected ending.

landslides. With inventive illustrations from Lord, Minoglio explains which lakes are biggest by surface area and which by volume and why mountain heights vary (it all depends on where they’re measured from). An irresistible spread condenses Earth’s history into 12 hours: Humans arrive in the final two seconds. Other stats involve the human body and population density. In a section devoted to animals, the author compares and contrasts various species on metrics such as size, speed, and endurance records: Which creature can jump the highest? Which can dive underwater the farthest and longest? The author also considers the longest railways, roads, and bridges and the largest buildings and metropolises. A final spread measures pollution and environmental threats. Imperial and metric units are both provided. Laudably, Minoglio chooses to make comparisons with everyday objects; the Goliath birdeater tarantula is “bigger than your plate and almost as heavy as a pizza,” for instance. Readers will need to be familiar with multiplication to grasp some size correlations. The book’s realistic, colorful graphics in well-designed layouts are creative, attractive, and enlightening. Everything is relative in this numerically fascinating presentation of records of every kind. (index) (Nonfiction. 7-14)

Alyte

Moreau, Jérémie | Trans. by Nick Frost & Catherine Ostiguy | Milky Way Picture Books (304 pp.) | $26.99 | November 11, 2025 9781990252471

A midwife toad, orphaned before hatching, embarks on an epic journey. Alyte learns about the world through a series of encounters with other creatures, all of them trying to comprehend their place in a great chain of being. It’s a fairly terrifying adventure: He continually learns that eating or being eaten is part of everyday life,

and that dying is “the natural order of things.” In the opening pages, his father has a bloody, fatal encounter while crossing a road but is able to drag himself into the water before he dies. His first friend, an exuberant salmon on her way upstream to lay eggs, expires after accomplishing her mission. Plonk, a friendly baby ibex, is carried off by an eagle and fed to its eaglets in front of Alyte. “Life doesn’t want me,” he laments at one point. But after a peaceful night cuddling with another toad, Alyte becomes father to a cluster of eggs that he must carry to the safety of a pond. Moreau explores the boundaries between water and air, life and death, nature and “lethalyte,” or “death incarnate,” represented by the road where Alyte’s father was crushed. The clean, dramatic illustrations range from full-page depictions of water, land, and forest to an appealing, though not quite peaceable, kingdom of fish, birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and trees, all engaged in the business of living and opposing the enemy lethalyte. A compelling, earnest, and visually impressive animal allegory. (note on language) (Graphic fiction. 9-13)

A Knot Is Not a Tangle

Nayeri, Daniel | Illus. by Vesper Stamper Knopf (48 pp.) | $18.99 | November 25, 2025 9780593809693

Seated on their fraying family rug, an Iranian boy and his grandmother set out to weave a new one together. Upon receiving newly shorn wool from his grandfather, the unnamed child (who narrates) declares that their rug will be the best ever, but Grandma gently tempers his lofty expectations. They wash, card, spin, and dye the wool with indigo, madder, and larkspur, then graph patterns that resemble tiles and palace gardens common to Isfahan, where they live. When the boy insists on flawless design, Grandma points to their

current rug: It may be faded, but it’s long been a place where family gathers. At the loom, she tells him that all rugs—whether a king’s jeweled rug or one that’s old and faded—reflect practicality and purpose. She deliberately pulls out one knot—the “Persian flaw”—explaining that nothing is perfect or should pretend to be. Understanding dawns as the boy takes their finished rug for washing and respectfully places the old one under the loom. Nayeri’s quietly meditative narrative about finding grace in life’s inherent flaws unfolds beautifully, speaking both to the perils of perfectionism and the power of embracing heritage. Stamper’s mottled and muted illustrations reinforce the message while adding a sense of time and place. Recurring objects like the samovar, plants, and patterns show purposeful utility and reflect the family’s interconnectedness to land and living culture. A tender celebration of tradition, family bonds, and the beauty of imperfection. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

The Daddy-Daughter Dance

Newsome, Malcolm | Illus. by Jenin Mohammed | Henry Holt (40 pp.) | $18.99 October 21, 2025 | 9781250874382

The muchanticipated annual DaddyDaughter Dance is finally here. Mama and Baby Brother are excited and supportive as Mona and Daddy set off; the two have been waiting all year for this day. With errands to run before the big event, the pair bust a move everywhere they go. As Daddy says, “We take the groove wherever we go. Because the groove—” “Is inside us,” replies Mona, finishing a sentence she’s clearly heard many times before. Readers may be able to identify some of the dances as Daddy and daughter do the Floss on their way to the nail salon and the Bounce as they head to the hair salon. Dressed to the nines, Daddy and Mona arrive at the

Kirkus Star

community center, only to discover an unfortunate surprise: burst pipes and a last-minute cancellation. But the groove living inside father, daughter, neighbors, and readers alike isn’t just a saying; it’s a philosophy that leads to a happy ending for all, along with bops, spins, and twists in the park by the gazebo. Daddy and Mona present Black; their community is diverse. Newsome’s jazzy text is suffused with energy, while Mohammed’s bright and funky artwork, consisting of paper collage alongside digital and analog inks, gives a textured, flowing look to the duo’s dance day even as Daddy’s moves sometimes go awry, to humorous effect. A party in a book that illustrates movement and connection in more ways than one. (Picture book. 5-8)

The Most Wonderful Gift in the World

Obradors, Mireia Olivé | Illus. by Anastasia Wessex | Trans. by Angus Yuen-Killick Red Comet Press (32 pp.) | $18.99 January 6, 2026 | 9781636551685

In this Spanish import, a little mouse searches for the perfect gift. Tucked in a burrow of cozy leaves, a mouse frets: Mommy’s “special day” is coming up soon, but the little one still doesn’t have a present to give her. Buoyed by fortitude, the youngster marches out the next morning, determined to find something wonderful. First, our young narrator finds a luscious pine cone, filled with pine nuts. Happily, the mouse rolls it along, but on the bouncy journey home, the pine cone is destroyed. “I can’t

give my mom a squished and battered pine cone like this,” the little one moans. Then our hero discovers a beautiful red poppy. But as the mouse joyfully bounds home, all the petals fall off. One by one, each sweet, thoughtful gift proves lacking, and the protagonist despairs. Luckily, Mommy already has the best gift of all—her little mouse. Hints of Juan Bobo’s folkloric foibles echo through the narrative but are softened; this hero is marked by sincere eagerness rather than foolishness, and the whole story is suffused in familial love. Tender greens and browns fill the meadow, adding to an overall tone of comforting gentleness. Snails, ladybugs, and other friends are fun to spot along the way. An earnest, utterly sweet look at love. (Picture book. 3-6)

Rainbow Colors

The Collective Book Studio (40 pp.) $17.95 | January 27, 2026 | 9781685559106

What personalities do colors project?

That’s the question Pearson answers in this interactive book, organized in ROYGBIV order, as a series of riddles. Each color first announces its dominant adjective. “I’m the loud one,” declares the first hue. Hints of the color’s identity accompany this assertion, in rhyming couplets: What connects cardinals, rubies, strawberry pies, apples, roses, and “elegant ties”? They are all red (at least, sometimes!). Are the items all “loud”? That’s debatable. Orange is “exciting,” yellow “cheerful,” green “lively,” blue “peaceful,” indigo “mysterious,” and violet “fancy”—again, up for

Embark on an informative tour through the history of African American dos.

FROS, FADES, AND BRAIDS

discussion. Not every hint will be accessible to the target audience; some young readers will be stymied by references to “yarrow,” “peepers,” “lapis lazuli,” and “amethyst.” Fortunately, Chevalier’s illustrations ride to the rescue: On the page that reveals the hue in question, all the named color-bearers are depicted. The saturated, geometrically stylized, single-color illustrations render the hummingbird a solid violet, the pie crust a deep blue, and the butterflies an otherworldly orange. Among a slew of rainbow-themed books, this one gets back to the basics. It doesn’t explain what rainbows are or how they are formed; rather, it simply focuses on the characteristics that we might (or might not) associate with each hue, providing bright art to make the point. An engaging look at colors—and the emotions they evoke.

(Picture book. 3-5)

Maya’s World

Pippins, Andrea | Random House Studio (40 pp.) | $18.99 | February 17, 2026 9780593814994

Artistic expression is the true form of imagination. Maya loves nothing more than drawing. When her teacher, Ms. Juniper, assigns the class to “draw something that is inspired by nature,” Maya employs various art materials to create the perfect rainbow, beautifully showcased on the endpapers. But when she shows her classmates her artwork, they’re confused, since it doesn’t look like your typical rainbow. Maya gathers her courage to describe how her rainbow makes her feel and the places it takes her in her imagination. (“You can walk, bounce, and climb on my rainbow as it twists and turns and goes up and down.”) Soon, her classmates are inspired by Maya’s words to use their own creativity to produce something extraordinary. Pippins’ colorful, vibrant look at the power of artistic thought and pure

Pearson, Yvonne | Illus. by Carole Chevalier

imagination will spur young readers to look at the world in a unique way. Her straightforward yet inspiring text, combined with cheerful, colorful art, creates a welcoming world for young readers to express themselves freely. Maya, Ms. Juniper, and her classmates have tan or brown skin; a map of Africa and the Brazilian flag are featured prominently in Maya’s classroom and bedroom, respectively. A loving look at the limitless possibilities of creativity and art. (Picture book. 3-7)

Fros, Fades, and Braids: A Brief History of Black Hair in America

Qualls, Sean | Harper/HarperCollins (64 pp.) | $19.99 | January 20, 2026 9780063144279

Embark on an informative tour through the history of African American dos. In easily digestible vignettes, Qualls offers a comprehensive explanation of Black hair textures and styles as well as products and implements that straighten, expand, and chemically treat it. He includes entertaining biographical blurbs on key historical figures such as Madam C.J. Walker, the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire; her competitor and former boss, Annie Turnbo Malone; and Garrett Augustus Morgan, who devised a hair-straightening formula (and also invented the three-way traffic light and the gas mask), all of whom advanced technologies still prevalent today. As conversational as a stylist chatting with a client, this work of nonfiction has narrative flair and pizzazz. But Qualls also addresses difficult topics including the phrase good hair (the problematic idea that straight and loose hair is superior to tighter, curlier hair), which began with the

enslavement of Black people. This honest book will provide muchneeded education and guidance for readers who don’t have Afro-textured hair while affirming those who do. Qualls’ bold, stylized illustrations employ a somewhat limited palette, creating a retro vibe reminiscent of many of the eras featured. Vivid, empowering, and culturally rich. (author’s note) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Put Your Records On

Rae, Corinne Bailey | Illus. by Gillian Eilidh O’Mara | Rocky Pond Books/Penguin (40 pp.)

$18.99 | March 3, 2026 | 9780593533024

In this literary debut from a Grammy-winning hitmaker, a girl’s great-aunt introduces her to the magic of classic pop music. This work from Rae, best known for a song that shares the book’s name, centers on Bea, a Black girl with Caribbean ancestry. During one of Bea’s weekly visits to her great-aunt Portia, the girl announces that she wants to do something she’s “never done before.” So Portia leads her to a room that contains objects that Bea can’t identify (“What are these?”): Portia’s record collection. Bea selects one with “a smiling man on the cover,” and the pair groove their way through the song and three others by different artists, sparking Portia’s observations about music’s salvific aspect (“Finding a song you love is like finding a new friend who shares your feelings”). Though the tone is uplifting, some readers may wish that the book had more of a plot; they may also wonder if another music medium might elicit the same emotions as records. (Another medium can , but why kill the book’s winning retro vibe by acknowledging this?) Portia never tells Bea what they’re listening to, but keen-eyed readers will spot each song’s corresponding record jacket (among them Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk” and Bob Marley’s

“Three Little Birds”) floating around the room, as if carried by sound waves. While images can’t capture a song’s vibrations, O’Mara comes close with her digitally tweaked fairy light–accented paintings in lava lamp colors. A feel-good hymn to fine music and intergenerational bonds. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Together on Eid

Rafi, Sana | Illus. by Mariam Quraishi Chronicle Books (32 pp.) | $18.99 January 13, 2026 | 9781797220956

A Muslim child celebrates Eid. For the youngster at the center of the book, this Muslim holiday is so many things. It’s an opportunity to gather with family. It’s a chance to don one’s finest, like Mama’s shimmering scarf, Dad’s all-white ensemble, and the extra-black kohl that Dadi Amma (Grandmother) applies to her eyes. It’s a time to feast on mouthwatering foods such as sweet and tangy limeade and steaming hot roti. Eid is a day to share warm memories while surrounded by loving family. And it’s a gift—the memories we make today will be cherished for years to come. In this heartfelt tale, Rafi draws from her own childhood recollections of growing up in Pakistan to highlight the importance of family. Her straightforward narrative, featuring the refrain “Eid is,” is perfect for children as young as preschool age, though older schoolaged kids will likely find it an attractive read-aloud. This is one to be shared both with youngsters unfamiliar with Eid and those who treasure it. Quraishi’s expressive illustrations rely on a cheery palette of blues and yellows as the primary backdrop as characters exchange warm hugs, enjoy generous banquets, and tell stories. The family is cued South Asian. A touching holiday tribute with a family-centered message that exudes love. (author’s and illustrator’s notes) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Star

Ten compelling episodes in the voting rights story—a

still-unfinished fight.

THE WOMEN WHO WON THE VOTE

Kirkus Star

Welcome to the Forest: The Harvest Party

Risor, Katie | Andrews McMeel Publishing (80 pp.) | $11.99 | August 5, 2025 9781524894283 | Series: Welcome to the Forest, 1

Preparations for a shindig spark several new friendships. Mossman, a beaming creature covered in greenery, is throwing a harvest party. Mossman’s BFF, Wallace, a fretful yellow critter, comes over to help out, and the two put up decorations, carve jack-o’-lanterns, and invite guests, including—and especially—strangers before the big day finally arrives. Risor’s graphic novel is pure slice-of-life, light on plot but rife with delightful character interactions and enchanting, homey visuals. Depicting a panoply of unique beasts, the art, rendered in gouache and colored pencil, is the star of the book. During a stunning nighttime sequence, where the glow of fiery wisps pops against the pale moonlight, a spooked Wallace seeks solace from Mossman. Risor plays beautifully with perspective, presenting the interior of a log so readers can glimpse a character’s sniffing face up close and positioning an avalanche of apples falling from a tree in the background as Wallace and Mossman run away in the foreground. Each new addition to the cast brings an original design and new dynamic to the cozy gathering. When the sun-avoidant Shadow arrives, Mossman makes

accommodations for the newcomer, maintaining the party’s cheer while ensuring everyone is included. Readers will feel the night breeze lulling them to sleep in the final pages following a full day capped by a hearty feast. A bountiful harvest of sumptuous imagery. (guidance on throwing a harvest party) (Graphic fantasy. 6-8)

The Women Who Won the Vote: 5-Minute Genius Stories

Roberts, Emma | Illus. by Seobhan Hope Union Square Kids (112 pp.) | $16.99

January 6, 2026 | 9781454961673

Series: 5-Minute Genius Stories

Branching out into mini-biography, the 5-Minute series introduces voting rights. Though readers can browse this work, the various entries make more sense read in chronological order, since many efforts built on (or departed from) earlier pioneers’ work. Roberts describes Susan B. Anthony’s arrest for illegally voting in 1872, Lucy Stone’s decision to keep her own name after marriage, and how Alice Paul disrupted a mayoral banquet in London to draw attention to the cause. The author also considers the experiences of women of color, noting that Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells endured both misogyny and racism as they fought for the right to vote. Roberts spotlights Ojibwe lawyer Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin, who wanted to make the public aware of Indigenous peoples’ longtime support for women’s suffrage. Each well-crafted story is capped by an additional page of

context—for instance, the difference between the terms suffragist and suffragette. Roberts briefly describes the methods used by various groups and notes past disagreements over whether violent protest was acceptable. Lively, watercolorlike vignette illustrations accurately depict the settings. A useful appended timeline begins in 1832 (with Mary Smith becoming the first woman to officially request the right to vote in the U.K.) and ends with the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act decision that “opened the door to potential barriers that could make it harder for some groups to vote.”

Ten compelling episodes in the voting rights story—a still-unfinished fight. (Nonfiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Star

Wiggling Words: Loving Language With Dyslexia

Rolfe, Kate | Candlewick (32 pp.) | $18.99 September 30, 2025 | 9781536244557

A youngster struggles with “jumbling, tumbling” letters but with perseverance masters reading.

Using a striking two-tone palette of denim blue cyanotype and matte scarlet set against creamy, dyslexia-friendly backgrounds, Rolfe focuses on a wispily illustrated child who desperately wants to finish reading a book. But the “wiggling, jiggling” letters aren’t cooperating. Brief, evocative phrases, with a strong emphasis on action verbs, demonstrate how overwhelming the little one finds the task. A potent series of pages depicts the protagonist glowering, howling in frustration, and ripping the book apart; the sequence ends with a stark white ripped page set against an oppressive red backdrop. As tears fall, so do letters, creating a mountain of blocky, hand-printed letters that stand between the child and the book. It’s a powerful visual metaphor for the dyslexic learning experience. Then—a

breakthrough. Snatching an O from the pile and looking through it, the child glimpses “a world where anything… can be!” Letters transform into flowers and animals. The narrator is frank as chaos gradually turns to order: “I have so far to go. But letter by letter, [I’ll] find my own way.” A sturdy castle springs up, with the child lounging inside a letter O, reading at last. Youngsters, especially those with learning differences, will cheer the child’s accomplishment. A validating author’s note reminds readers of the many ways to learn. Aptly, the typeset is OpenDyslexic. The child has skin the color of the page.

A visually rich and empowering read. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-10)

Hot Food: Nice!

Rosen, Michael | Illus. by Neal Layton Candlewick (32 pp.) | $14.99

January 13, 2026 | 9781536250060

Innocence shatters in the face of scalding spuds. There was a time, we are assured, when our young narrator thought that his father knew absolutely everything. Rosen relies on his signature flair for repetition as the boy stands with his father looking at a bus. For each question the boy asks (“Wossat?” “What are those round things on the bottom?” “But how many are there?”), his dad has a quick and ready answer. Three times the boy thinks, “Wow! My dad knows… EVERYTHING!” Then comes a day deemed “terrible” by our narrator. At dinner, Mum has served delicious, hot potatoes. One by one the protagonist, his little brother, and their mum all blow on their food before taking a bite. But Dad? He gleefully stuffs his potatoes straight into his mouth, consequently gasping, yelling, puffing, and then spewing food all over the table. The tale provides one of those intensely satisfying moments in a child’s life when they prove more capable than

their parents. Rosen milks the moment of Dad’s downfall for maximum comic effect. Meanwhile, Layton’s loose pencil and digital art expertly highlights the comic madness of the moment, the dad’s panic rendered in all its messy glory as his family gapes. Characters are light-skinned.

A fun slice of life and a universal moment with just a tincture of gross-out humor for spice. (Picture book. 4-6)

New Sanctuary

Russell, Paul | EK Books (248 pp.) | $12.99 paper | September 9, 2025 | 9781922539946

Series: The Last Seed Keeper, 2

In this sequel to The Last Seed Keeper (2025), scrappy young friends work to repair a damaged Earth while adults engage in power struggles. Durie, Skyler, and Ivy just want to live in a world that’s safe and healthy, but they keep having to save themselves and each other from the machinations of powerful adults with conflicting priorities: Eden Valentina, CEO of XyleCorp; scientist Katrina Blackwell, who’s opening the titular New Sanctuary on Earth; and Beatrix, head of the Miner’s Guild and currently “the world’s biggest threat.” The youngsters team up, get separated, and find each other again, all while searching for Skyler’s and Ivy’s fathers and learning more about the history of their world—and their own surprising roles in it. This actionpacked middle entry in the trilogy shifts perspectives frequently and

contains several stunning revelations. The story is sometimes scrambled, with frequent location changes taking readers from the sky to the Piles to the mines to the salt farms. The smart, brave kids— “small in stature but enormous in courage and cunning”—make for good heroes. Readers should definitely be familiar with the first book; its careful worldbuilding is a necessary foundation that isn’t recapped here.

A jumbled but fast-paced middle book, with appealing leads and some major surprises. (Dystopian. 9-13)

A Book of Loves

Rylant, Cynthia | Beach Lane/ Simon & Schuster (32 pp.) | $17.99 January 6, 2026 | 9781665987943

Love is love is love in this collection of what is most loved. Right from the start, the title says it all. Rylant breaks down that which is most beloved to felines, canines, and children. We learn that cats love everything from boxes to friends to toys. Dogs adore sticks, couches, and company, while kids are enamored of bubbles, cake, stories, helicopters, and games of catch. And, of course, everyone loves love. Each image is set against a white background, with colorful acrylic paints rendered in a childlike style; a full page is devoted to each cherished object. Rylant’s images are the epitome of sweetness: A pair of cats sit on a fence; a child gently blows bubbles as a puppy looks on. It’s a simple premise, with

A fun slice of life with just a tincture of gross-out humor for spice.

FOOD!

text largely consisting of the named objects (“biscuits / puddles // dirt / trucks”), and the tale may not hold up to multiple reads. Still, educators and caregivers seeking an introduction to love or a Valentine’s Day tale for the younger set will come away pleased; opportunities abound for little ones to make their own lists. Human characters vary in skin tone. Tenderly expressed sentiments, ideal for Valentine’s Day. (Picture book. 3-5)

You and Me, Baby

Saeed, Aisha | Illus. by Ebony Glenn Nancy Paulsen Books (32 pp.) | $18.99 January 6, 2026 | 9780593405451

A glance at Mom’s first year with Baby. “Look at you! / So new. // I held you in my arms / and suddenly, just like that, / I became a mom / and you, my baby.” So begins an omniscient everymom’s ode to a baby’s first year, during which time “you howled and I learned / to hold you just so” and “you whimpered / and I rocked you”; by book’s end, “you crawled / and I chased you,” and “you stood / and I steadied you.” Distinguishing this offering from the pack of picture-book love letters to babies is the narrator’s intimation that a mom’s (or presumably any parent’s) experience with an infant isn’t all sunshine, roses, and intoxicating new-baby smell. The book’s penultimate sentence is “Together, we will make it through,” to which a beleaguered new parent may reply, “Whew! Glad to hear it.” Glenn’s pastel-colored digital art, in which a diverse cast plays out the narrative’s mother-baby moments, has a soft-filter look that makes every scene appear invitingly cushiony, as if ready to absorb a tumble. The whole package should be alluring to young children who are curious about their earliest days while also reassuring to adults who wonder if they’ll ever get the hang of parenthood.

A clever reminder that from great boredom comes great invention.

BORED

A pleasure for young kids and a balm for new parents. (Picture book. 2-5)

Bored

Sala, Felicita | Neal Porter/ Holiday House (48 pp.) | $18.99 January 6, 2026 | 9780823461141

Boredom has its day in the sun when one girl falls prey to its sway. After alerting the household (“I’m boooored!”), Rita drapes her body over couch arms, pillows, handbags, and the floor. She makes halfhearted efforts to alleviate her situation, like trying to surprise herself in her own mirror and stretching from the bed to the top of her door. Nothing works. “Her brain [feels] like a fuzzy rock.” In time, Rita begins to wonder about the other bored people in the world. What if they all got on a bus, then floated to Bored Island? There, they could begin to communicate with whales, dig tunnels in search of treasure, start a band, and even warp space and time. By the time Rita is called down to dinner, she objects. She’s busy! Sala truly remembers the all-encompassing crush of tedium that kids experience—and the lengths to which they’ll go to make their status known. The sheer physicality of the book is a key to its delight; this is ideal reading for kids who claim to suffer the same malady. Human forms are infinitely flexible, sometimes wiggly or flopped in impossible positions. Rita is light-skinned; the characters in her daydream are racially and geographically diverse. A clever reminder that from great boredom comes great invention. (Picture book. 4-7)

Secrets of the Broken House

Souders, Taryn | Sourcebooks Young Readers (272 pp.) | $16.99

January 6, 2026 | 9781464244971

Middle school sleuths investigate a local curmudgeon’s murder in this cozy smalltown mystery. Geraldine Guss is known in Everson, Georgia, for her dilapidated house, sharp tongue, and frequent threats to sue her neighbors. When narrator Tucker and his friends Clemmie and Sadie find Geraldine—who’s widely known as “Fussy Gussy”—dead, the town has plenty of suspects to go around. Tucker, whose father is the local police chief, has a knack for observation and deduction that Clemmie calls his “Sherlock thing.” They put the skill to good use, along with Clemmie’s logic and Sadie’s creativity, as they investigate the crime. In a town that’s usually “as exciting as watching a banana pudding set,” the murder fuels gossip among the lively cast, which mainly reads white (Clemmie is cued Black). The three young protagonists share easy, dialogue-driven banter, while humorous nicknames and folksy phrases invigorate the secondary characters and setting. The plot, which is suspenseful but neither gory nor scary, unfolds in short chapters that will hook seasoned and striving readers alike. Meanwhile, caring adults share gentle life lessons— “Someone shouldn’t have to be liked in order for them to get justice.” A

secondary thread involving conflict with a (former) best friend gives Tucker added dimension, and he must solve this interpersonal dilemma along with the murder. A satisfying mystery infused with humor, warmth, and charm. (Mystery. 8-12)

Ahhh, Milk!: The Many Ways Milk Is Made

Starr, Abbe | Illus. by Evelline Andrya

Gnome Road Publishing (32 pp.) | $19.95 September 23, 2025 | 9781957655512

Readers who believe that the popular beverage is solely an animal product are udderly mistaken, as this refreshing overview demonstrates. Starr and Andrya begin with a gallery of milk-producing creatures, from cows to camels, found everywhere from wild forests to deserts and dairy farms. The survey continues on to rice paddies, fields of oats and soybeans, jungle trees laden with cashews, an orchard of almond trees, and finally coconut groves near sandy beaches. It all serves to underscore what a trip to any grocery store’s dairy section proves—that vegan, vegetarian, and lactose-free alternatives to cow’s milk are widely available now. The subtitle is misleading, since the book lacks information about how these milks are actually “made” except for vague references to pressing and squeezing (for cows) or stripping and threshing (for rice). Aside from glimpses of kitchen blenders and a squeeze bag dripping milk made from nuts, the illustrations are likewise unhelpful. A partial recap at the end that includes additional entries for donkey, moose, water buffalo, and reindeer milk does offer brief comments on each type’s distinctive uses or nutritional value. In Andrya’s pictures, stylized human figures with understated signs of racial and cultural diversity pose in outdoor

settings at work or quaffing milk from large glasses with every evidence of satisfaction. “Gulp, gulp, gulp! Ahhh, Milk!”

Sketchy, but required reading for anyone who thinks that milk only comes from mammals. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Hazel and Mabel: Two Hearts Apart

Stoller, Melissa | Illus. by Anita Bagdi Gnome Road Publishing (32 pp.) | $19.95 September 30, 2025 | 9781957655574

True friendships last forever, although they may take some work. Hazel, a bespectacled brown bear clad in overalls, and Mabel, a raccoon sporting a long red dress, are the best of pals. Granted, neither is perfect; sometimes Mabel eats the last of the gumdrops, and Hazel tends to snore during slumber parties. Still, they know that their friendship will go the distance—a belief that’s put to the test when Mabel moves away. Although they stay connected through letters, they find themselves growing apart. When Mabel comes for a visit, neither can decide on a shared activity, and they realize they’ve grown apart. Just as it looks as though their friendship is no longer on firm ground, they remember the good times and reconnect as they pen a story about past experiences, “writing with full hearts.” Told gently, with a conversational tone, Stoller’s relatable narrative depicts youngsters who remain close despite changes in friendship dynamics. Bagdi’s sunny digital illustrations

employ a mix of double-page spreads and spot art as they convey the ups and downs of friendship; Hazel and Mabel smile as they float paper boats down a stream, gaze sadly after they’re separated, and initially look downcast as they encounter roadblocks during their much-anticipated reunion. This loving tribute to friendship—and storytelling—has all the “write” stuff. (Picture book. 5-7)

Tiny T. Rex and the IttyBitty Bun-Bun: An Easter and Springtime Story

Stutzman, Jonathan | Illus. by Jay Fleck Chronicle Books (18 pp.) | $7.99

January 13, 2026 | 9781797233246

Tiny T. Rex dresses up as the “Easter Bun-Bun” to make a surprise basket for Mother and Father. Easter morning is a special one for Tiny T. Rex. There are eggs to find and a basket towering with goodies to savor. But when kindly Tiny realizes that Mother and Father never get any special holiday treats, it’s time for a costume change. The little tyrannosaurus and stegosaurus pal Pointy don bunny outfits and prepare Easter fare for Mother and Father. The day involves (messy) egg painting, an almost-too-successful egg-hiding mission, and a full basket brimming with treats—and love. Fans of the diminutive dinosaur will be drawn to this Easter-themed board book. Once more, Tiny is utterly fetching—an adorably wide-eyed green youngster with a characteristic two-tooth grin

A comforting springtime outing with a puny but persistent protagonist.

TINY T. REX AND THE ITTY-BITTY BUN-BUN

and a can-do attitude. Pointy, who matches Tiny’s cuteness with downturned, questioning eyebrows, is often at the receiving end of Tiny’s mayhem, but it’s all in good fun. Fleck’s minimalist illustrations feature a palette with spring pastels. The simple text and short length make this book ideal for younger toddlers; caregivers eager to see more of the familiar character or anyone seeking Easter-themed fare for their little ones will be pleased. A warm and comforting springtime outing with a puny but persistent protagonist. (Board book. 1-3)

The Bicycle Girl: Jyoti Kumari’s Amazing Journey Across India

Thomas, Garen Eileen & Suhasini Raj Illus. by Maithili Joshi | Candlewick (40 pp.)

$19.99 | January 27, 2026 | 9781536233605

In this story based on real events, an underestimated girl fueled by inner strength makes a heroic journey to save her ailing father.

Jyoti is a poor young girl from the tiny Indian village of Sirhulli, the child of hardworking parents who support her dream of continued education and a life beyond their village. After Jyoti’s pita (father) loses his job and moves far away to continue driving a rickshaw, she’s forced to quit school. “With no education there was no hope. She was stuck here. Forever.” When her pita is gravely injured, Jyoti, faced with dwindling funds and the sudden Covid-19 lockdown, uses the last of their rupees to buy a used bike and transport him home. Drawing strength from the goddess Kali, she reminds herself that the long and perilous trip—700 miles—is “a little hard, but not a lot.” Joshi’s zingy digital illustrations in bold, saturated colors incorporate fantastical elements including Hindu gods and goddesses, while Thomas and Raj’s concise text incorporates many references to Hinduism contextualized through

A bright promise, founded on hope and local support.

illustrative details. Backmatter contains a glossary, photos from the real-life Jyoti’s scrapbook, and an authors’ note that elaborates on the impact of Covid upon migrant laborers in India, as well as the caste systems (Jyoti and her father are Dalit).

A stirring demonstration of what we’re truly capable of when we believe in ourselves. (Picture book. 4-8)

The Gift of Freedom:

How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers Turner, Glennette Tilley | Illus. by Laura Freeman | Abrams (40 pp.) | $19.99 January 13, 2026 | 9781419769290

With courage as her compass, Harriet Tubman sets out to rescue her enslaved family. Using the stars and other natural signs as her guide, Harriet Tubman escapes from her enslaver in Maryland and heads north. As a free woman in Philadelphia, she finds paid work with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, but her thoughts are still with those she’s left behind. Through a news report, Harriet learns that her niece and her niece’s children are soon to be sold, so she embarks on a journey to rescue them. After successfully delivering them to safety, Harriet resolves to help three of her enslaved brothers escape to freedom. Setting her plan in motion on Christmas Day of 1854, she takes advantage of impeccable timing, an almost-confiscated coded letter, and a secret meeting place as she leads her brothers and several other Freedom Seekers to safety, traveling 100 miles in four days. Though the expository

blocks of text run long for the intended audience, the story nevertheless captivates. Attractive digital illustrations have a textural, cutpaper collage feel. Dark, dramatic scenes visually dominate the spreads, with pops of bright color and a dynamic play of glowing yellow light peppered throughout.

A powerful, seldom-shared chapter from Tubman’s storied path to freedom. (letter to readers, author’s note, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 7-9)

Wiggler’s Big Joke

Vandorn, Kaeti | Holiday House (40 pp.)

$14.99 | January 13, 2026 | 9780823459827

Series: I Like To Read Comics

A pun-slinging creepy-crawly reflects after making a misstep. Wiggler, a wormlike character with a curious superfluity of limbs, wobbles through the world telling jokes to all and sundry— possumish librarian Peter, an anthropomorphic lemon lounging in the park, a tiny red-and-black robot named Roro tinkering in the Junk and Stuff workshop. When Wiggler’s joking distracts Roro, the robot is accidentally electrified and lashes out at Wiggler. Worried that Roro didn’t think the joke was funny, Wiggler retreats to a nearby bench to puzzle out what went wrong. Thought bubbles above Wiggler’s head visually revisit the action as our protagonist reexamines the experience for clues to Roro’s anger. Realizing that Roro was upset at being distracted, Wiggler returns to the shop, in a moment of seriousness, to make amends. Roro graciously accepts the

THE BIG GREEN

apology and lightens the mood with a few jokes. Vandorn clearly but never heavy-handedly communicates themes of making mistakes and repairing relationships, in large part due to the inviting contours of Wiggler’s world—a brightly colored little town buzzing with a whimsical cast of imaginary creatures. Snappy, accessible dialogue will further encourage hesitant readers to have a bit of fun while taking in the story, maybe even coming away with a few jokes of their own to tell.

Goofy and good-hearted, a simple tale playfully told. (Graphic fiction. 4-8)

The Big Green: A Story About the Great Green Wall of Africa

Wilson-Max, Ken | Candlewick (32 pp.)

$18.99 | March 17, 2026 | 9781536249538

In a nod to one of our planet’s largest reclamation projects, two African children help their parents and neighbors plant trees on the edge of a desert. Wilson-Max saves a more detailed look at the ongoing Great Green Wall initiative, which involves 11 countries along the southern reaches of the Sahara, for his afterword. The main part of the book provides a local perspective on the massive amount of work that has been and will need to be done to stop the desert’s advance. At first, Little Maryam and Issa only know that something exciting is about to happen outside their unnamed village. When Uncle Cedric arrives with a truckful of seedlings, Issa asks, “What are those plants?” “Your future,” his uncle replies. Indeed, after much digging and watering, done to rhythmic songs and cheers, everyone understands that “they [are] making a difference to their world.” In a final scene, the children, a little bigger now, walk in tall green grass beneath spreading trees, admiring flowers and butterflies and aware that they have a place both to look after and to play in. “There was laughter. There was food.

There was safety.” The art is as bright and simple as the ideas expressed, and for readers inspired to make a difference in their own worlds, the author closes with directions for planting a tree. A bright promise, founded on hope and local support. (map) (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Star

Worm and Butterfly Are Friends Always: Ready-ToRead Graphics Level 1

Windness, Kaz | Simon Spotlight (64 pp.)

$18.99 | January 13, 2026 | 9781665966504

A loving bond is tested over distance and time in this gentle follow-up to Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends (2023). Pink-and-purple Worm and rainbow-hued Butterfly are best friends, and according to Worm, that means they should always stick together. Soon, a chilly breeze blows in the first snowflakes of winter. Worm instinctively knows it’s time to burrow underground, lay an egg, and sleep, but although Worm’s nest is very hospitable, Butterfly must fly to Mexico, where it’s much warmer. Pledging to return, Butterfly flaps south, and Worm retreats to the nest, feeling abandoned. The arrival of Bird—whose BFF has also left—helps Worm realize that Butterfly may be gone, but their friendship will always endure. Their eventual reunion includes a special surprise, a new character hatched while Butterfly was migrating back home. The depth of emotion is evident on the characters’ faces and in their body language: the sad curled-up position struck by Worm while alone, the compassion in Bird’s eyes, and the overwhelming joy in Butterfly’s gestures when Worm refers to them as a family. Windness’ gorgeously saturated colors pop against the whimsical backgrounds—icy snowscapes, buoyant spring landscapes, even the velvety soil burrow. Backmatter

briefly describes bird and butterfly migration, the diet of various bird species, and worm estivation.

A heartwarming story of found family that readers will flock to again and again. (Graphic early reader. 4-8)

Isabel’s Birthday Surprise

Zapata, Debbie | Illus. by Gabriella Galvez Magination/American Psychological Association (32 pp.) | $18.99 October 7, 2025 | 9781433847509

Isabel dreams of a big, blowout birthday party but must temper her wishes.

Curly-haired, tan-skinned Isabel greets her family on the morning of her birthday brimming with hope. She tells her mother that she’s hoping for a huge soiree with her friends but is disappointed when she learns they’ll be having “a small family fiesta.” Even the giant store-bought piñata she imagined is out of the family’s budget. A mishap convinces her she might not even get a cake, and by the end of the school day, Isabel feels let down by what seems like a ruined birthday. But when she arrives home, Isabel is surprised by a backyard celebration. The piñata and decorations are homemade, and instead of a cake, a tall stack of buñuelos awaits her. Surrounded by family, Isabel delights in the heartfelt, homespun party and realizes her birthday wish has come true in an unexpected way. Zapata honors the disappointment children feel when their hopes don’t align with reality while also modeling resilience and the joy that can come from flexibility. Galvez’s soft pastel hues set a gentle tone, even as Isabel frets that her big day won’t be everything she imagined. Isabel’s multigenerational family members are of Mexican heritage and speak both Spanish and English. A reader’s note, in English and Spanish and written by a psychologist, offers strategies to help children build inner strength.

A warm and uplifting reminder that love and creativity are what make celebrations truly special. (Picture book. 5-9)

Young Adult

LAURA SIMEON

ON THE YOUNG SIDE OF YOUNG ADULT

FINDING THE RIGHT books for middle school readers— kids in grades 6 to 8, or roughly ages 11 to 14—can be challenging. When I was a school librarian, middle schoolers would come hurtling into the library, pull picture books off the shelves, sit down on the tiny little kid sofas, and giggle together over childhood favorites. They would also request YA titles on harrowing subjects— terminal illness, heartbreak, war. Usually these were the same kids on different days. They could give you whiplash: cleaning up nicely for a dance and looking ready to head off to college but spiraling like kindergartners when they had a tough day. A “just right” book for this age range is something to rejoice over, especially in a

YA market that includes so many adult readers. The following books, which encompass diverse formats, genres, and topics, meet middle schoolers right where they are.

Dropping Beats by Nathanael Lessore (Little, Brown, February 11): Shaun “Growls” Thompson, a 13-year-old Black boy from London with musical aspirations, hopes to win a rap competition with bestie Shanks. But even though everything in Growls’ life starts falling apart, his (often unintentionally) hilarious narration and utterly charming demeanor keep this heartfelt story upbeat and sincere.

D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T. by Abby White (Levine Querido,

August 5): In this raw, honest work, 14-year-old D.J. and her mom move to small-town Ohio to support her cousin Rachel’s family. Convinced that Rachel’s death was murder, not suicide, D.J. starts investigating. Studying for her bat mitzvah and grappling with the meaning of her Torah portion help bring closure.

In the Company of Wolves by Antonio Farías (Piñata Books/Arte Público, September 9): To help ease Mamá’s financial challenges after Papi is killed in the Vietnam War, seventh grader Jaime leaves New York to spend the summer with Abuela and Tío Julio on their New Mexico ranch. This thoughtful, introspective story explores family, nature, and what it means to become a man.

Pizza Witch by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins, illustrated by Sarah Graley (Skybound, September 16): What better use of witchy

talents is there than making the perfect pizza? Pink-haired Roxy and her fluffy black cat are the stars of this fun-filled graphic novel. A pizza warlock sends the adorable duo off on a quest to find the Remarkable Oregano, leading to lively adventures. Red Threads: A Witch’s Tale, written and illustrated by ila Nguyen-Hayama (Abrams Fanfare, October 28): After 15-year-old Hana rescues a crow, she’s rewarded with a scholarship to a magical boarding school located on a remote island far from her Tokyo home. There she gets caught up in a fight against evil in this richly atmospheric, manga-influenced graphic novel that’s infused with Japanese folklore.

Under the London Sky by Anna Woltz, translated by Michele Hutchinson (Rock the Boat/Oneworld, November 4): This work by a prolific Dutch author transports readers to London during the Blitz, vividly showing the realities of wartime life. Fourteen-yearold Ella, left with a limp after recovering from polio, finds camaraderie among new friends, each of them seeking to break free from societal constraints.

Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

EDITOR’S PICK

Josephine Haven, an apprentice Conductor, embarks on her first assignment, fueled by a burning determination to prove herself, but as she leaves the confines of her childhood home, she confronts how little she knows about the world. Like all Children of Industry, Josephine grew up as an orphan raised in the House of Industry, where she learned to wield her innate gift of radiance, a power essential to the spread of Progress across the continent. Overflowing with big feelings and wild curiosity that cause her radiance to flare, Josephine has always struggled to

follow the strict rules of the House. At first, her new Mission assignment to the remote town of Frostbrook feels like a punishment for her failures, but Josephine finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with life outside the city, forming forbidden relationships with people who challenge her, and questioning everything the House taught her about the pursuit of Progress. Mora captures the diverse and richly developed world around Josephine—a red-haired girl who’s “pale as bone” and cued neurodivergent—through lush prose. Lively tension sparks between hot-tempered

A Wild Radiance

Mora, Maria Ingrande | Peachtree Teen | 368 pp. $19.99 | January 20, 2026 | 9781682637562

Josephine, her prickly mentor, Julian, and the exasperatingly charming apprentice healer Ezra as Josephine navigates the feelings she’s been taught to deny. This fast-paced, romantic, abundantly queer

historical fantasy explores the intertwined pain, fear, joy, and beauty of selfdiscovery in defiance of oppression by an authoritarian society. Alluring and electrifying magic. (Fantasy. 14-18)

118

Catching Fire

By Suzanne Collins; illus.

by Nico Delort

115 A Wild Radiance

By Maria Ingrande Mora

For more starred YA titles, visit Kirkus online.

The poems encourage artistic endeavors and celebrate aspects of creativity.

POETRY PRESCRIPTION: INSPIRATION

Poetry Prescription: First Aid

Ed. by Alma, Deborah | Macmillan Children’s Books (64 pp.) | $12.99 | November 4, 2025 9781035061457 | Series: Poetry Prescription

A diverse compilation of poems to uplift and comfort the soul, selected by Alma, the founder of the British bookshop Poetry Pharmacy.

This volume includes poems sorted into five sections, with titles such as “grace,” “time and light are kinds of love,” and “everything to look forward to,” that provide metaphorical bandages, tonics, stimulants, or whatever best treats readers’ emotional wounds. The entries include widely recognized older classics, such as John Donne’s “No Man Is an Island” and William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils,” alongside accessible modern works, like Ellen Bass’ “The Thing Is,” which invites readers “to love life, to love it even / when you have no stomach for it.” The volume takes readers on an emotional journey: John O’Donohue’s “This Is the Time To Be Slow” (“This is the time to be slow, / Lie low to the wall / Until the bitter weather passes”) contrasts with Naomi Shihab Nye’s “So Much Happiness” (“…happiness floats. / It doesn’t need you to hold it down. / It doesn’t need anything”). Many entries explore complex or darker moments. The poems appear without biographical information, original publication dates, or other context. Each section opens with a brief explanatory statement from the editor: “I prescribe these poems to act as inducements to action and change, with confidence and optimism.” Together these poems create an

emotional reading experience, like receiving a healing hug. This warm, comforting poetry collection is just what the doctor ordered. (Poetry anthology. 14-18)

Poetry Prescription: Inspiration

Ed. by Alma, Deborah | Macmillan Children’s Books (64 pp.) | $12.99 | November 4, 2025 9781035061570 | Series: Poetry Prescription

T his poetry compilation inspired by the British bookshop Poetry Pharmacy explores the subject of creative inspiration. The 45 poems in this series entry encourage artistic endeavors and celebrate aspects of creativity—uncertainty, play, fearlessness, noticing, and more. Organizing the volume into four sections, editor and bookshop founder Alma guides readers through the necessary “quiet, unfilled moments,” inviting them to surrender control. In “The Patience of Ordinary Things,” Pat Schneider offers painstaking observations of everyday objects (“soap dries quietly in the dish, / And towels drink the wet / From the skin of the back”). Alma writes that “to create is to engage the senses fully.” “Olives,” by A.E. Stallings, is vivid with sensory imagery: “They recall / The harvest and its toil, / The nets spread under silver trees that foil / The blue glass of the heavens.” Attentiveness to nature is another source of inspiration, as in in “Wild Garlic” by Seán Hewitt (“…all across the floor / the spiked white flowers / light the way”), and “Daed-traa,” in which Jen Hadfield writes “I go to the rockpool at the slack of the

tide / to mind me what my poetry’s for.” The collection includes many notable British and Irish poets, including Christopher Meredith, Norman MacCaig, Orlagh O’Farrell, Louis MacNeice, and Simon Armitage, as well as distinguished writers from around the world, like Thich Nhat Hanh, Miroslav Holub, Joy Harjo, Rabindranath Tagore, and Nozawa Bonchō.

Inspiration-seekers will enjoy following in the footsteps of these poetic muses. (Poetry anthology. 14-18)

Quincredible: A Better World

Barnes, Rodney | Illus. by Selina Espiritu Colors by Chelsea Blackwell | Oni Press (144 pp.) | $19.99 paper | December 9, 2025 9781637158982 | Series: Quincredible, 3

A teen superhero confronts the consequences of misplaced rage in this third series entry. Quinton “Quincredible” West might be indestructible, but not everyone around him is. New Orleans is experiencing a water crisis, and his mother ends up among those who are hospitalized with a mysterious illness stemming from the contamination. Quin, a Black teen, investigates, but as he starts zeroing in on whoever is poisoning the water supply, his father is targeted in an attempt to stop him from looking any further. With the help of some friends, Quin must face his fears if he wants to save everyone. This graphic novel series continues to stand out for the refreshing support Quin’s parents provide him, a departure from the isolated hero storylines that are more common. The story opens with a charming family scene in which Quin feels foolish in a new disguise his parents are helping him with: “Mom, a hero’s costume is supposed to scare the bad guys, not make them laugh.” “I know, but you’re adorable….” Misguided anger is at the center of the assorted villainy of this story, which

explores various kinds of rage that are rooted in fear and refreshingly seeks to provide plausible reasons for the villains’ motives. Espiritu’s expert line work and Blackwell’s moody color palette with pops of warmth give this graphic novel a distinct look. A satisfying teen superhero story centering on an appealing lead. (Graphic fantasy. 12-18)

Friday

Brubaker, Ed | Illus. by Marcos Martín Colors by Muntsa Vicente | Image Comics (368 pp.) | $49.99 | November 25, 2025 9781534331600 | Series: Friday

A compilation of three volumes of an award-winning supernatural horror/mystery comic series. Home from college for Christmas, Friday Fitzhugh faces an awkward reunion with her best friend and partner in mystery solving, Lancelot Jones, a teen prodigy in the vein of Encyclopedia Brown. But rather than talk about what happened between them before Friday left town, Lance and sidekick Sheriff Bixby drag Friday along on a case involving a ritual dagger stolen from an archaeological dig. An unexpected twist leaves Friday alone, emotionally reeling, and facing a murder to solve. The quaint coastal New England town of Kings Hill is rife with crime and the occult, packed with nostalgic character, and illustrated with lovingly detailed linework. It exudes a beautifully depicted 1970s atmosphere. The fonts and expository techniques emphasize the homage to classic, pulpy crime fiction. The Lovecraftian horror drips with menace, but the lore is weakened by vague references to “Native tribes” and their ancient gods—tropes that are not interrogated. The nonlinear plot comes together cleverly, although the ending may feel too easy. The heart of the story, though—the complicated emotional turmoil of the young detectives and Friday’s first steps into

adulthood—takes no shortcuts and will resonate with readers. Most human characters are light-skinned; supporting characters include a positively depicted fat Native American–coded woman, who’s one of Friday’s mothers. Eerie ambiance and exciting dangers punctuate this beautifully executed love letter to vintage adventure stories. (map, creator notes, sketches and designs) (Graphic horror. 13-adult)

Reawakening

Card, Orson Scott | Simon & Schuster (464 pp.)

$21.99 | November 11, 2025 | 9781481496223

Series: The Side Step Trilogy, 2

Teenage clones who can open Portals to alternate timestreams wrestle with interpersonal and political issues in this sequel to Wakers (2022). Now adults, Laz and the newest Ivy wake up in the cluster of worlds to which their earlier versions, OrigiLaz and Ivy-O, and another pair of clones, Laz-Zero and Ivy-Zero, led humanity’s survivors in the trilogy opener. They settle down for nice long chats with some of the survivors, with each other, and with the enigmatic liaison officer, Ron Smith. Embedded in the midst of all the arguing and repartee is some action, including the gunning down of a band of child-killing terrorists and an incident in which Laz punches a young prankster who appears naked in Ivy’s bed so hard that he needs facial reconstruction. But these events and various expressed opinions come off as afterthoughts. By the end, there are new hints about the nature of time and the multiverse, which may be talked out in the trilogy closer. Unfortunately, snarky main characters aren’t sufficient, in the absence of a meaningful plotline, to carry readers through hundreds of pages of their chewing over why they were made, what to do about it, and whether they should marry. References to “race mixing” (“Isn’t that a good

thing?” asks Ivy) notwithstanding, the lack of cues for the central cast signals that they are to be read as white.

A self-indulgent, hopelessly talky tangle, at best readable only in small doses. (Science fiction. 14-18)

Write Me for You

Cole, Tillie | Bloom Books (336 pp.) $19.99 | July 29, 2025 | 9781728297101

After devastating diagnoses, two 17-year-old Texans wind up in a clinical trial where they find their own love story. June has always wanted to be a writer: She’s interested in love stories, in particular, like the one her parents had. But a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia puts a hitch in that plan; as her cancer worsens, she heads to Harmony Ranch, which is near Austin, for a clinical trial. There, June finds friendship, which has often been a struggle for her, as well as first love with star football player Jesse, who also has AML. With their awareness that they may not have much time left, June and Jesse’s relationship quickly deepens. June, despite seeming strong in the face of cancer, is vulnerable in her self-conscious insecurity about the impact of cancer treatments on her appearance; Jesse is the epitome of a country boy, with loads of charm and swagger. Cole does a remarkable job of portraying the realities of cancer, including often less-addressed topics, such as how illness can affect relationships with friends and family members, who may not understand what their loved ones are going through and who experience their own hardships. However, the novel is hindered by cliches, including representations of Texas and its inhabitants that feel two-dimensional and detract from the story. The leads present white. A poignant, often insightful tale whose reliance on tropes keeps it from feeling fully alive. (playlist) (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Star

Catching Fire: Illustrated Edition

Collins, Suzanne | Illus. by Nico Delort Scholastic (384 pp.) | October 7, 2025

Series: The Hunger Games, 2

Back to the Games—and some really beautiful art.

Following the release of The Hunger Games: Illustrated Edition (2024), this new edition of the second series entry (originally released in 2009) once again pairs Delort’s impressive scratchboard artwork with Collins’ enduringly popular text to create a work that will be treasured by old and new fans alike. In this installment, Hunger Games victors Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return to their economically depressed district of Panem, a country run by the elderly totalitarian dictator President Snow. The teens’ enjoyment of their time as victors is cut short when they’re unexpectedly recruited to again participate in the cutthroat annual competition, all while maintaining a fictitious version of their relationship to win support from viewers. While the storyline may be familiar to many, the illustrations in this new edition enhance the plot. Delort makes use of interesting angles and perspectives to create tension: A portrait of President Snow is cropped to emphasize his mouth and hands; Peeta’s on-air proposal to Katniss is depicted from a distance, highlighting the cameras capturing every moment; and the introduction of Finnick Odair, standing beside his horse, emphasizes

his physical prowess and beauty. Those familiar with the movie will appreciate this new visual interpretation, and those who love the books will marvel at the artistic additions to the story. This book is lit! (Dystopian. 12-18)

The Glass Scientists: Vol. 3

Cotugno, S.H. | Putnam (240 pp.) |

$17.99 paper | December 2, 2025

$24.99

9780593524527 | 9780593524534 paper

Series: The Glass Scientists, 3

If Dr. Henry Jekyll can’t accept his whole self, he may lose the love of Dr. Robert Lanyon, and the Society for Arcane Sciences may close. The Grand Exhibition is finally over, but running the society has become a mental-health nightmare for Jekyll. Although the society now has several patrons to fund their work, brown-skinned Lanyon fears the stress is killing Jekyll. He insists that they hash out their past relationship and consider what they both want now. Jekyll’s fear of being vulnerable enough to share his whole self with the man he still loves allows Hyde to resurface. Unable to control their transformations, they begin to look like one another, something Hyde uses to cause trouble. Soon Hyde’s old enemies and law-abiding Londoners alike are after him—and the scientists, too. Unless the white-presenting Jekyll and Hyde can work together as one, embrace their full nature, and share themselves with Lanyon and others, neither they nor the society will survive. This trilogy closer features

The power and ferocity of the girls in their wolf form is awe-inspiring.

delightful illustrations and emphasizes the importance of being our authentic selves within the embrace of true community. Cotugno addresses struggles with perfectionism and asking for help with care and humor. Readers must be familiar with the earlier volumes to appreciate this entry. A satisfying finale about learning to trust one’s friends and oneself, even when it feels risky. (short story, creator notes and sketches) (Graphic horror. 15-18)

Hear Her Howl

DeRose, Kim | Union Square & Co. (352 pp.) $19.99 | November 4, 2025 | 9781454960645

Teens at a girls’ Catholic boarding school embrace their wild nature. After Rue Holloway was caught kissing a girl, her mom enrolled her at Sacred Heart Academy, “in the middle of East Jesus Nowheresville,” where students are instilled with values of purity and deference. Rue, who’s labeled “too much,” has no desire to be a “good girl,” so she’s intrigued by her classmate Charlotte Savage—the rulebreaking, social outcast senator’s daughter, who sneaks off into the forest at night. When Rue befriends Charlotte and learns her secret—she can transform into a wolf—Rue is inspired to rebel and discover the wild wolf within herself. As the girls’ relationship deepens beyond friendship, other classmates who are fighting against societal and parental expectations join their pack. The more they embrace their truest selves, though, the closer danger lurks; there are those who would prefer to keep wild girls caged. The strict, stifling school setting heightens the feeling of confinement, while the power and ferocity of the girls in their wolf form is vivid and awe-inspiring. This boldly feminist story highlights varied experiences and obstacles while resolutely asserting that every woman

and girl deserves to thrive and feel free. The themes are timeless; the mid-1990s era is cued through some pop-culture references and an absence of cellphones and social media. Rue and Charlotte are white, and there’s racial diversity among the other students.

A passionate rallying howl for indomitable girls. (Paranormal. 14-18)

My Roommate From Hell

Dietrich, Cale | Wednesday Books (352 pp.)

$24 | November 11, 2025 | 9781250887788

A new college student discovers that his roommate is the prince of Hell—and he’s almost as annoyed by him as he is attracted to him.

Owen Greene’s determined to have a good first year at Point University come hell or high water—even if hell is exactly what he gets. A team of scientists recently created a portal to an alternate dimension that contains basically every stereotypical element of a hell—“demons, brimstone, rivers of lava.” But Owen is shocked to learn that Zarmenus Bloodletter, the so-called prince of Hell, is sharing his room. And though Zarmenus turns out to be a pretty good-natured guy (and hot, too— although Owen’s trying not to notice), neither he nor his soul-stealing cat, Bell, know how to be a good roommate. There’s a lot riding on this interdimensional exchange program, which could promote harmonious human-demon relations. But then Zarmenus ropes Owen into a fake-dating scheme for the ages—Owen will help party boy Zarmenus behave better, so his father doesn’t make him leave, and in return Zarmenus will help Owen secure the internship he desperately wants. Fun gags aside, Hell is thinly sketched, and Zarmenus doesn’t experience much culture shock on Earth. But as a slow-burn romance, the story is tender, undeniably electric, and charmingly innocent, and the examination of the often-fraught first year of college is

superb. Owen is cued white. Zarmenus sometimes appears as a pale-skinned human and sometimes as a towering, fiery-red, winged creature. Delightfully messy. (Romance. 15-18)

Glass Across the Sea

Ella, Sara | Enclave Escape (432 pp.)

$24.99 | October 21, 2025 | 9798886052268 Series: The Realms of Allumeria, 1

A glassmaker’s daughter and a prince try to save those they love.

Seventeen-yearold Noelle Perrault was raised on The Lamplighter Parables, a book of fables that her parents shared with her about the four Firefly artisans—the Glassmaker, the Blacksmith, the Chandler, and the Alchemist. But when Mère falls sick, and Noelle seems to be the source of the curse, Noelle starts to believe that the fables are true. Père, a glassmaker, sets off, seeking a way to heal them both. Determined not to let her family down, Noelle does her best to take care of her home and protect her mother, even when they’re treated cruelly by people they trusted. Noelle’s best friend, Dante Marin, an 18-year-old prince of one of the Four Realms, joins Charles Perrault, Noelle’s father, in his search for a healing potion, hoping to help his own newly cursed sister. The separated friends face challenges and magical forces that test their characters. Will they be able to find a cure and stop hidden forces from doing more damage? The cast members, including the villains, are multilayered, complex, and well-developed. The story is mostly told in Dante’s and Noelle’s third-person points of view, but other voices add their perspectives to this intricate tale. In this fantasy setting that evokes preindustrial France, the major characters present white.

A beautiful reminder of how sharing light and truth can turn away darkness. (map, author’s note, glossary and pronunciation guide, information about the Vestiges) (Fantasy. 13-18)

Trail Rides and Starry Eyes

Emmel, Katrina | Delacorte Romance (288 pp.) | $12.99 paper | December 9, 2025 9780593904060

In her sophomore novel, Emmel delivers a dual point-of-view romance set against a lush backdrop.

Cassidy has always known that someday she’ll help run Silver Stallion Ranch, just like generations of Sterlings before her. Wilder Nash is a Hollywood heartthrob who’s trying to break out of commercials and high school promcoms. Being cast as the lead in a historical Western miniseries might be his big break. The only problem: He can’t ride a horse. But he hopes that a stay at the ranch with Cassidy as his teacher will turn him into a believable rider. Over the course of their lessons, the chemistry between the teens slowly builds. But can they take a chance on romance when they’re from two different worlds and their time together is finite? Emmel transports readers to Wyoming, with its rolling fields, winding streams, and smells of dry earth and warm grass. Cassidy loves her home and her life, but she recognizes how confining not having choices can be. Wilder wants to be serious, but he doesn’t know what to say when there’s no script to fall back on. Cassidy and Wilder, who are cued white, feel like real people who are acting on their internal motivations and insecurities. While the growing romantic tension is engaging, the ending wraps up a bit too quickly. Still, this novel offers an appealing blend of love story and coming-of-age themes.

A swoony romance with a well-developed sense of a place. (Romance. 12-18)

For another outdoorsy romance, visit Kirkus online.

Mindfulness: A Guide to Reducing Stress and Anxiety

Gimpel, Diane | ReferencePoint Press (64 pp.) $33.95 | September 1, 2025 | 9781678210922

An informational overview that summarizes mindfulness practices.

Organized into an introduction and four chapters, this guide to mindfulness includes anecdotal case studies and balanced summaries of research on mindfulness as a practice for treating depression and anxiety. The first chapter establishes the widespread need for effective management of mental health concerns, covers various methods (physical activity, social connection), and emphasizes the value of professional help. The next three chapters focus on mindfulness: “The Basics of Mindfulness,” “Mindfulness Is Not a Cure-All,” and “Practicing Mindfulness.” Readers will learn about its origins, application in different settings, impact on the brain, and different forms, among other topics. Gimpel writes in a neutral voice, incorporating research findings and quotes from experts and practitioners without exaggerating or minimizing the potential benefits of mindfulness. She cites criticisms and references possible adverse effects of this practice; however, the book doesn’t delve into differences between Eastern and Western versions of mindfulness and whether some problems are attributable to distortions resulting from its being lifted out of its original cultural context. Readers will emerge with a better understanding of the topic and the ability to critically evaluate mindfulness programs and professionals. Bland stock images and helpful colorful sidebars break up the text. The accessible language, while repetitive, makes this book a quick read.

A solid introduction to a complex topic. (source notes, for further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Coldwire

Gong, Chloe | McElderry (496 pp.)

$21.99 | November 4, 2025

9781665960137 | Series: Coldwire, 1

Ready Player

One meets Six of Crows in this pacy cyberpunk adventure.

In a future world ravaged by floods, toxic air, and global pandemics, most people have left their physical bodies downcountry in Pods that keep them alive and migrated upcountry to StrangeLoom, a virtual reality created by NileCorp, a powerful global conglomerate based in Atahua. Atahua is in a state of tension with nearby Medaluo, and it depends on NileCorp-trained soldiers for defense and to control the civil unrest triggered by the corporation’s steady erosion of the economy through AI and surveillance. On a mission to apprehend an anarchist in Atahua, Eirale Ward, a downcountry NileCorp soldier, finds herself framed for a murder and then kidnapped by her quarry. Before long, she’s coerced into helping his team steal critical files from Medaluo. In a parallel narrative, Lia Ward, the adopted daughter of an Atahuan senator, is a star student at StrangeLoom’s Nile Military Academy. On her first posting, she’s sent virtually into Medaluo to track down and capture Chung Yin, the inventor of Coldwire, an AI weapon that could give Medaluo control over StrangeLoom. With classmate and rival Kieren in tow—and a romance ready to blossom—Lia follows a trail of cyber breadcrumbs. This series opener maintains a crackling pace, with inventive worldbuilding and a cleverly executed reveal. The characters, while largely well developed, occasionally feel like stock players, however. Atahuans present as white, while Medans read Asian. Inventive and engaging. (map) (Dystopian thriller. 14-18)

Red as Royal Blood

Hart, Elizabeth | Harper/HarperCollins (336 pp.) | $12.99 paper | November 18, 2025 9780063441118

An orphan’s life is forever changed—and instantly endangered—when she learns that the late king named her his heir. Ruby considers herself lucky to be a housemaid for Lumaria’s royal family. After the parents she doesn’t remember were killed in a short but deadly war with neighboring Castella, a kind stranger placed Ruby in the care of Mellie, who was the royal family’s cook. Ruby grew up in the castle, befriended handsome Rowan, one of King Octavius’ sons, and secretly played asynchronous games of chess in the royal library against an unknown opponent. Ruby never imagined that, as a poor girl of unknown origins, she would become Lumaria’s reigning queen. She’s thrust into a terrifying new world, forced to prepare for her coronation, fortify herself against antiroyalist protestors, and possibly marry one of the princes to secure her place on the throne. To make matters worse, Ruby discovers a hidden message, left for her by the king himself, warning her that she’s in danger and that he was murdered—likely by someone close to him. Her life becomes an exacting game of chess: One wrong move and she may be the next piece to fall. Debut author Hart wastes no time launching the plot; the storytelling is straightforward and the worldbuilding is minimal. Readers can expect a satisfying stand-alone mystery with a delicious enemies-to-lovers romance that follows familiar beats. The cast presents white. A light and absorbing royal mystery. (Mystery. 13-18)

For another mystery about royalty, visit Kirkus online.

Anna Atkins: Photographer, Naturalist, Innovator

Keller, Corey | Getty Publications (112 pp.)

$21.95 | October 21, 2025 | 9781947440111

The biography of a woman who shaped early photography while facing Victorian gender norms. Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was an English botanist, illustrator, and photographer, who was raised by her scientist father, John George Children, and her paternal grandfather following her mother’s death. Atkins had an education unusual for girls of the time that included Latin and the sciences. She later married John Pelly Atkins, who came from a wealthy family of landowners who profited from being enslavers in Jamaica. Her studies provided a foundation for her experiments with cyanotypes, “an early photographic process that produced a blue-and-white print.” Nineteenthcentury gender restrictions encouraged women to enjoy “polite” activities such as botany; seaweed-collecting was a “full-blown mania” among women of the era. Keller demonstrates how these influences contributed to Atkins’ groundbreaking 1843 publication, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book illustrated with photographs. The narrative’s meticulous research pulls from the subject’s personal and professional writing, and the short sections keep the book light and accessible. Eye-catching and informative photographs, illustrations, and cyanotypes—including many examples of Atkins’ own work—add to the overall appeal. The judicious inclusion of background information ensures that readers will have a thorough understanding of the historical and cultural milieu

of the time. Keller also highlights the contributions of other notable women of the time, some well-known, others less celebrated, across a range of fields. An accessible and visually enticing work that blends science, technology, and social history. (glossary, notes, bibliography, illustration credits, index) (Biography. 13-18)

Persephone’s Curse

Leno, Katrina | Wednesday Books (336 pp.) $20 | December 2, 2025 | 9781250342904

Can sisterly love overcome paranormal heartbreak? Bernadette, Evelyn, Winnie, and Clara Farthing, who present white and were each born two years apart, have grown up listening to Aunt Bea’s bedtime stories, which say that they’re descended from Persephone, the Greek goddess of the Underworld, and are “children of the in-between, one foot in this world and one foot in another.” The sisters know and love Henry, the shy, gentle ghost who lives in a fourth-floor bedroom in their Upper West Side brownstone. But when Evelyn, at 17—the same age Henry was when he died—falls deeply in love with their resident ghost, the trouble begins. Hoping to protect her sister from a doomed relationship, first-person narrator Winnie banishes Henry to the Underworld. Undeterred, Evelyn discovers a way to follow him. Desperate Winnie finds an ally in a cute girl named Maybe, a young medium who becomes more than just a friend. But while the sisters and Maybe work on their rescue mission, they accidentally cause a tear in the fabric

Maintains a crackling pace, with inventive worldbuilding.

COLDWIRE

between the two worlds, a problem perhaps too immense for them to repair. Though occasionally marred by a slightly meandering plot and expletives that lose their impact due to repetition, the novel’s emotional core—the bond between the sisters, who have distinct, well-drawn personalities—leads to a satisfying and heartfelt conclusion.

Fans of Greek mythology and supernatural love stories will find lots to enjoy in this well-woven tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)

House of Dragons

Linde, K.A. | Bloom Books (448 pp.)

$19.99 | October 7, 2025 | 9781464253546

Series: Royal Houses, 1

A half-human, half-Fae girl learns to chart her own path after her plans go awry. Ever since 17-year-old Kerrigan Argon was left at the base of Draco Mountain at age 5, she’s been training to be chosen during the Dragon Blessed ceremony by one of the 12 houses that form Alandria’s ruling class. Unfortunately, a last-second betrayal seems to leave her with just one option: remain with the Dragon Society and forfeit the secure future she imagined. As Kerrigan battles for agency against the forces at work against her, the spark between her and Prince Fordham Ollivier grows; he’s surly but beautiful and the subject of the prophetic visions that attract the interest of those who would use her powers for their own ends. Though the expansive plot gets a bit overwhelming, the well-woven political intrigue, convincing slow-burn love story, extensive but solid secondary cast, and presence of dragons add appeal. A problematic age and power imbalance between Kerrigan and an ex with whom she was sexually involved when he was 20 and she was 16 dampens the impact of the socially conscious elements of this long

THE KIRKUS Q&A: E. LOCKHART

The author of We Fell Apart reflects on how teens—and their parents—engage with her fiction.

BY JESSICA JERNIGAN

WHEN E. LOCKHART published We Were Liars in 2014, the reviews were great. (It got a Kirkus star ) When the book caught fire on TikTok in 2020, it became a bona fide phenomenon. The equally acclaimed Family of Liars followed in 2022, and Prime Video has just renewed the streaming series based on We Were Liars for a second season. While working as executive producer on this series, Lockhart also wrote a third, standalone novel set in this fictional universe.

In We Fell Apart, a young woman with an absent mother responds to an invitation from a father she’s never met. Matilda travels from Los Angeles to a tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts hoping to find her father. Instead, she finds his ramshackle castle, a half-brother she didn’t know existed, a stepmother who clearly wants her gone, and a couple of cute boys who have joined the household. Our reviewer called the novel “atmospheric and emotionally rich.” When we spoke with Lockhart via Zoom, we talked about the role of fairy tales in her work, the value of shared narratives, and the problem of difficult geniuses. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

doesn’t find him. Instead, she finds that his house is inhabited by teenage boys and a deeply ambivalent stepmother. Matilda is being lied to. She is the outsider to the family group, whereas in the other books set in this universe, the narrators are at the center of the family.

arrives in a castle filled with cute teenage boys, and it’s summertime, and they go to the beach, and one of these boys is super attractive to the heroine, and there’s an enemies-tolovers romance.

We spoke in 2022, when Family of Liars was coming out, and one of the things we talked about was your interest in heroines in situations of moral trespass. I’m quoting you here: “These are heroines who commit crimes, heroines who empower themselves in dangerous ways.” Matilda engages in dangerous behavior. She’s not always truthful with the people around her. But she’s also the moral center

of this story. I feel like We Fell Apart is, at least in this way, a bit different from the earlier books in this series. I think that’s right. “Heroines in situations of moral trespass” definitely applies to Family of Liars and We Were Liars, but also to [my 2017 novel] Genuine Fraud and to the project I did for DC Comics [in 2021], Whistle

But Matilda is really just looking for family, and when she travels to visit a father she’s never met, she

I’m sure you’ve been asked this question a million times, but I’m going to ask it anyway: Why do you think your work is as compelling to adult readers as it is to adolescent ones?

I don’t think about that question when I’m writing. I think about telling a story for that young audience. I think about being truthful and emotional and not oversimplifying. I think about giving pleasure to my young readers.

We Fell Apart is a story about a young woman who

There are parties and swimming pools and barbecues and boating adventures. I care about bringing young readers into a story with fun stuff, right? I want to write something entertaining that’s going to please my readers and, hopefully, stay with them after they’ve read the book as well.

You know, I hear a lot from mother-daughter readers at signings and other events. It’s pretty common for me to encounter a kid who made their mom read one of my books or a mom who passed one of my books down to her kid. The literary canon is evolving. We’re no longer

watching the same thing at the same time on TV. But I really believe that people are still hungry for shared texts.

You incorporate shared texts in the form of fairy tales in your novels. Matilda is a young woman on a quest. She’s not quite an orphan, but she’s leaving the closest thing she’s ever known to home so that she can learn about herself—about her inheritance, and maybe her purpose and her destiny. We Were Liars and Family of Liars and now We Fell Apart—they all incorporate fairy tales in different ways, right? In We Were Liars, that heroine is trying to tell the story of her family, but so much of it is unspeakable. So she tells the story over and

over with different variations, trying to say the thing that she cannot say, and she tries to turn it into a fairy tale: Once upon a time…

In Family of Liars , there are three fairy tales that the heroine tells the reader, and those three fairy tales seem totally unrelated. But by the end—hopefully, if I’ve done it right—there’s a moment when the reader says Aha! Because all three of those fairy tales hold clues to what she’s been trying to communicate but couldn’t. The role of fairy tales in these two books is similar but structurally quite different.

And then there’s We Fell Apart. Matilda is not the source of the fairy tales; it’s her father, who uses

It’s pretty common for me to encounter a kid who made their mom read one of my books.

fairy-tale themes in his paintings. Matilda tries to unpack the meaning in these paintings, and their meanings become clearer as we progress through the story.

Finding fresh ways to use fairy tales to tell a mystery story is hard, right? But that’s one of the challenges I’ve set for myself in writing novels set in this universe.

Matilda is a gamer, and she aspires to be a game designer. Video games are, like fairy tales, shared texts.

For the novel, I invented two games based on classic literature, stories that are widely known. One is based on the Odyssey and the other one on

We Fell Apart

Hamlet. The themes in these stories intersect with those in Matilda’s father’s paintings. So their imaginations are running on the same track in very different ways.

For the people reading this interview, if they have kids: Those kids are likely engaged with these texts. And they can be shared texts if you choose to enter into them, right? That’s definitely true in my family. Being able to enter into the story worlds of my kids’ imaginations means a lot to me. It gives us a chance to collaborate. It gives us a shared language.

I’m going to circle back so we can talk a bit more about the environment in which Matilda finds herself when she arrives at her father’s house. She’s a destabilizing presence, but this family was always going to fall apart, right? Because it has an unstable genius at its center.

The idea of the difficult genius―that’s something we see in a lot of fiction. Iris Murdoch’s The Good Apprentice served, in some ways, as an inspiration for We Fell Apart Everyone Matilda encounters is in thrall to her father, a man who seems to have reinvented himself in opposition to the stories he inherited. But as we get to know his story better, we learn that he was himself enthralled by the way of life—the patterns— he tried to escape.

Jessica Jernigan is a writer who lives and works on Anishinaabe land in Michigan.

Lockhart,

Celebrating Strong Girls and Women

By Selena Fragassi

Deborah Heiligman

Sonali Kohli

By Jasminne Mendez

Kelsey B. Toney

but suspenseful tale. Kerrigan and Fordham read white, and the supporting cast brings diversity in race and sexual orientation. Kerrigan loves getting drunk with her friend Clover, who’s queer, has brown skin, and smokes “an addictive drug” to help with chronic pain from her disability. A dense, tense, and mostly enjoyable fantasy. (maps, pronunciation guide) (Fantasy. 16-adult)

Too Much Plastic: How Did This Happen and What Can Be Done?

Loonin, Meryl | ReferencePoint Press (64 pp.)

$33.95 | September 1, 2025 | 9781678212087

A n overview that delves into the paradox that “the same qualities that make plastic indispensable to modern life also make it an enormous threat to the planet.”

In this engaging narrative that’s full of specific details and examples, Loonin describes the emergence of plastic in the 20th century, the threats it poses, the discouraging real-world obstacles to recycling, and what can be done to curb plastic pollution. She shows how pervasive its presence is in our lives and how complicated and expensive it is to handle these petroleum-based polymers so that they can be reused. Plastics are extremely durable, making accumulated waste an increasing problem that threatens animal and human health, for example, in the oceans, where currents form masses of debris like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Plastic manufacturers promote recycling, but the book points out the many practical challenges to its widespread implementation, citing a Greenpeace study that found that “only 5 to 6 percent of annual US consumer plastic waste was being recycled.” The author covers efforts to curb plastic pollution through legislation and the creation of environmentally sustainable alternatives. The book ends on a sobering note—a breakdown in United Nations

efforts to seek a global agreement on this crisis—but with examples from all over the world, colorful photographs, and plentiful quotations, this work will engage and inform readers.

An information-rich and accessible guide to a distressing topic. (source notes, organizations and websites, for further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

All the Stars in the Daylight Sky

MacGregor, Maya | Astra Young Readers (272 pp.) | $19.99 | October 28, 2025

9781662620980

W hen an 18-yearold stumbles into the Otherworld, she’s given a choice: Become one of the Others or die. Cam Smith is stuck in a world of in-betweens. She’s agender, recently diagnosed as autistic, and torn between parents on opposite side of the Atlantic. Now living with her mums and Granaidh, her grandmother, in Scotland, Cam is anxious about entering Oban High School, her seventh school; on top of being queer, older than her peers, and recently arrived from Texas, Cam is coping with PTSD. After a fight with Mam and Mum, Cam runs into the nearby forest, where she meets Ezra, to whom she’s inexplicably drawn. Ezra, whose father came from Syria and mother was Scottish, uses they/them pronouns. When they tell Cam she must leave at once, the white-presenting teen flees through the darkness and accidentally encounters the Sìthichean, or fair folk. She can join them, becoming immortal but unable to reveal her new identity to her family—or be killed. This engaging fantasy dives into Scottish folklore and tradition, effectively exploring the loss of Gaelic cultural knowledge and the worlds of magic it contains. The inclusion of significant amounts of Gaelic language adds authenticity to the worldbuilding. Though the writing feels clumsy at times, the characters and the

sparkling queer romance at the heart of the story are enchanting. A magical and romantic fantasy steeped in Gaelic culture. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)

Twin Tides

Nguyen, Hien | Delacorte (352 pp.) | $19.99 December 9, 2025 | 9798217023936

In this debut, sisters living on opposite coasts, unaware of each other’s existence, find one another in Minnesota, and become determined to uncover the truth behind their mother’s disappearance.

Aria Nguyen is barely staying afloat, balancing college classes in Washington, D.C., with caring for her ailing Aunt Thu and managing the mounting medical bills. As the anniversary of her mother’s disappearance approaches, Aria receives a voicemail from the Les Eaux Police Department with new information, turning her longing into anxiety. By contrast, Aria’s identical twin, Caliste Ha, leads a life of affluence as a Los Angeles fitness influencer. Her father, Paul Ha, owns a Vietnamese food empire. Despite her privileged background, Caliste is worn down by the artificiality that surrounds her. Shocked to meet in Les Eaux, the sisters investigate their mother’s disappearance and uncover secrets that shaped their family. They soon find themselves drawn into a town that’s haunted by mysterious deaths. Aria’s and Caliste’s alternating perspectives propel the novel, punctuated by occasional chapters from the point of view of the Ghoul. As the story unfolds, weaving in supernatural elements inspired by Vietnamese folklore, the author’s detailed character development gradually reveals the connections and contrasts between the sisters. However, her heavy focus on backstory often sidelines the central mystery, slowing both the novel’s opening and its overall momentum.

A family mystery for patient readers that prioritizes deep characterization at the cost of suspense. (author’s note) (Supernatural mystery. 13-18)

Heartstrings

Novak, Ali | Sourcebooks Fire (352 pp.) | $12.99 paper | October 7, 2025 | 9781492652441

Series: The Heartbreak Chronicles, 3

High school senior Indigo

Mitchell-Jamiolkowski is over having a famous actor for a sister.

But when Violet offers Indie $500 to come to New York Comic Con as her personal assistant, Indie can’t say no. In addition to being an aspiring concert violinist who’s preparing to apply for Juilliard, Indie is a huge fan of special effects makeup artist Melody Nguyen, who’s appearing on a panel at the convention. The trip goes awry, and the sisters begin fighting. Indie meets Xander Jones, lead guitarist for the boy band the Heartbreakers, and they spend the day together—he even introduces her to Melody. And though Indie has a hard time believing Xander would be interested in her, he continues to seek her out. As their relationship grows, Indie struggles with family conflicts, and Xander works to step into the spotlight often occupied by his bandmates. This third entry in the series is a charming stand-alone love story in which both leads experience real growth as they lean on each other. Readers will enjoy watching the emotional connection between Indie and Xander strengthen, and they’ll root for Indie and Violet to work on their sibling bond, even as their relationship fractures under the weight of fame and their parents’ divorce. Indie’s exploration of her post–high school options is well developed. Xander and the Mitchell-Jamiolkowski family read white, and Indie’s best friend is cued Mexican American.

A rock-star romance that’s filled with emotional growth. (Romance. 14-18)

Dives into Scottish folklore,

exploring the worlds of magic it contains.

ALL THE STARS IN THE DAYLIGHT SKY

Quiet Crossings

Partridge, Vivi | | Colors by Janaina Spada Emanata (120 pp.) | $20 paper

October 28, 2025 | 9781772621136

A conflicted teenage girl navigates a complicated crossroads. In this dreamy graphic offering, Selena, who has glossy black hair and light tan skin, lives in a quiet, secluded country inn with Alice, a brown-skinned woman with blond ringlets, and kindly Iris, who’s elderly and has pale pink hair and light skin. Selena spends her day tinkering with her pickup truck, working the inn’s front desk, and catering to the guests, who will eventually visit Charon for a ferry ride to the Great Unknown. One day, auburn-haired, light brown–skinned Lily appears. She’s a tempestuous girl who has a decision to make; can Selena help her choose her path? Meanwhile, Selena grapples with her own future: Should she head back to the city or embark on a voyage to the Great Unknown? Partridge’s slim, quietly meditative volume offers readers only whispers of exposition, predominantly showing rather than telling. Spada’s earth-toned palette hints at a lighter, whimsical tone. Adorably rascally mushroom creatures—seemingly present for comic relief—add charm, but the book also explores deeper and more serious themes, such as loss, death, and grief. While the story allows readers to draw their own conclusions, those who prefer more accessible and concrete worldbuilding and plot details may be frustrated by the lack of specificity. Charon uses ASL

to communicate, and text bubbles translate the signs into English. Contemplatively ethereal, certain to spark lively debates over its interpretation. (Graphic fantasy. 13-18)

A Matter of Murder

Price, Tirzah | Storytide/HarperCollins (416 pp.) | $19.99 | November 11, 2025 9780063278073 | Series: A Lizzie & Darcy Mystery, 2

E lizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy return in this Regency whodunit sequel to Pride and Premeditation (2021).

Smart, driven, sympathetic Lizzie works in her father’s law firm—and in the minds of many, a “lady solicitor” is a scandalous figure. It is with this reputation hanging over her that she arrives at Netherfield Park, the country estate of her sister Jane and Jane’s husband, Charles Bingley. After Lizzie exposed her crimes, Lady Catherine de Bourgh went into hiding—and now she’s begun sending Lizzie menacing letters. Darcy and Mr. Bennet urge Lizzie to leave London for her own safety. However, Netherfield Park isn’t the refuge they’d hoped it would be. A grisly discovery in the grand but poorly maintained manor house sets the stage for another murder mystery. A rumored curse, which many of the estate staff and villagers believe to be true, lends the crime an eerie overtone. Lizzie’s and Darcy’s mutual respect and deepening relationship are evident during their sleuthing as Lizzie continually bumps up against the bounds of convention. The plot, which is rooted in Netherfield’s history, incorporates familiar period elements, such as the planning of a

ball at the estate, before wrapping up with a conclusion that neatly ties up the story’s many strands. Most main characters read white, with the exception of Lizzie’s biracial best friend, Charlotte, a significant presence who’s Black and white. A sprawling and satisfying duology closer that will please Jane Austen fans. (Mystery. 14-18)

The Rose Field

Pullman, Philip | Knopf (672 pp.) $29.99

October 23, 2025 | 9780593306635

Series: The Book of Dust, 3

Quests and agendas set out in The Secret Commonwealth (2019) sail to a climactic convergence in this trilogy closer. Seamlessly segueing into the third volume, Pullman continues to juggle so many themes and characters that keeping track of them slows the pacing to a grand, deliberate sweep. Still, wedging in references to previous events in The Book of Dust series, he spurs Lyra, her scattered circle of allies, and the sinister President of the Magisterium’s High Council, Marcel Delamare, on toward the remote desert that is the source of the mysteriously powerful rose oil while inscrutable forces are forcing the entire world to become a dimmer, grimmer sort of place. Meanwhile, in a nearly self-contained subplot, the author once again shows his uncommon gift for inventing memorable nonhuman species by flying in a race of magnificent gryphons to engage in philosophical discussions about the inner and outer kingdoms and join a group of northern witches to battle a powerful enemy. This plotline and the climax add some dramatic moments to a tale that seems long and doesn’t satisfactorily resolve all its threads. But along with supplying generous amounts of space for further ruminations about the nature of reality and the role of imagination, the story reunites fans with favorite characters and their daemons for one last go-round. Vast, if not fast, and richly endowed with big ideas and larger-than-life characters. (Fantasy. 13-adult)

An Archive of Romance

Reid, Ava | Harper/HarperCollins (240 pp.)

$21.99 | December 9, 2025 | 9780063462229

A supplementary collection of ephemera for fans of Reid’s A Study in Drowning duology.

This companion volume invites fans to immerse themselves in Effy and Preston’s Welsh-influenced fantasy world. Among its contents are pages from Effy’s annotated copy of Angharad , excerpts from Preston’s diary, architectural sketches of Hiraeth Manor, newspaper clippings, a literature class handout, and other carefully curated pieces that expand upon the original stories. Preston’s diary is a particular highlight, deepening the first book by presenting his perspective and tracing how his feelings for Effy developed during their time at Hiraeth Manor. This work also explores Effy’s and Preston’s research on Myrddin and includes extended passages from Angharad , the text that so profoundly shaped the events of the series opener. The collection concludes with an extended epilogue to the duology, offering a thoughtful resolution to both Effy and Preston’s romance and their shared academic work. While some of the font choices lack cohesion or feel out of sync with the careful worldbuilding in the novels, the work as a whole succeeds in presenting itself as an authentic archive. Series fans will appreciate it as a supplement that expands on the world while remaining faithful to Reid’s lyrical style. William Morris patterns, ink drawings and pencil sketches, photos of botanical

specimens, and images of yellowed paper and leather-bound volumes add to the atmosphere and visual appeal. The main characters are cued white. A successful expansion on a magical series. (illustration credits) (Fantasy. 14-18)

Escape to the North

Rojas, Carlos Hugo | Piñata Books/Arte Público (156 pp.) | $15.95 paper

October 31, 2025 | 9798893750126

A teenage girl in Honduras in 2014 is forced to take a dangerous journey north, and the odds are stacked against her. Tragedy strikes on the eve of Rosa’s 15th birthday: Rosa’s beautiful 18-year-old sister, Julia, is killed by Kike, her jealous boyfriend who’s a member of Mara Salvatrucha, the gang also known as MS-13. After Kike, who’s 28, stabs Julia and Julia’s friend Herman right in front of Rosa and her little brother, Juanito, the siblings are forced to flee; as witnesses, their lives are in danger. The pair set off for the home of their Aunt Hilda in Guatemala, where they plan to wait for Mamá to join them. But when Hilda’s husband announces a plan to force Rosa into prostitution, Hilda tells her to run to her Aunt Teresa in Houston, a journey that involves life-threatening risks. This fast-paced story provides a stark reminder of the senselessness and terrifying impact of gang violence, but the narrative moves at a breakneck speed, jerking readers from one harrowing situation to the next without allowing enough time to pause for real reflection. Some statements feel

Vast and richly endowed with big ideas and larger-than-life characters.

THE ROSE FIELD

unsuited to the intended audience, as when Pablo, the father of a family Rosa travels with, observes that she’s at risk because she “has nothing but her youth and beauty. And tragedy is a companion of beautiful women.”

Will propel readers to the destination, but they may not fully understand the journey. (Fiction. 14-18)

The Girl in the Love Song

Scott, Emma | Bloom Books (416 pp.)

$14.99 paper | December 9, 2025

9781464243356 | Series: Lost Boys, 1

A sprawling tale of love and friendship that follows a couple from their first meeting at 13 through high school and into young adulthood as they follow their passions. This first entry in a new series opens with Violet encountering Miller one summer night—he’s taking a walk, and she looks out her bedroom window and spots him in the moonlight. Wealthy Violet, a self-described nerd, becomes a friend and safe haven for aspiring musician Miller, who’s living in a car with his mother. The teens, who are coded white, form a fast and intense bond. The storyline jumps to high school, where Miller makes some friends of his own and Violet tests the waters with the popular crowd. The presence of these new people in their lives complicates their friendship and, delightfully, pushes their feelings for each other to the surface. Even as they graduate from high school and pursue vastly different dreams, they stick by each other. Readers will swoon over the romantic tension between the pair. Alongside the love story, the novel tackles heavy subjects (some successfully), like homelessness, sex work, child neglect and abuse, domestic violence, chronic illness, being closeted, and financial strain. The novel contains some melodramatic, far-fetched situations and includes sporadic diary entries that

add little to the story, but many readers will happily overlook these issues for the strong character arcs and central relationship.

A largely satisfying romance. (playlist, note on songs) (Romance. 16-adult)

Worst-Case Scenario

Stoeve, Ray | Amulet/Abrams (304 pp.) $18.99 | January 20, 2026 | 9781419764998

A nonbinary high schooler in Seattle finds romance while dealing with their mental health. Sidney Walker has big plans for their junior year, with aspirations to become president of the Queer Alliance. Unfortunately for them, their nemesis, Forrest Hirschler, also decides to run—and when the votes are tied, Sidney must serve as co-president with someone who doesn’t even care about the club. Forrest once said the QA was corny and pointless, and now that he’s helping to run things, all he wants to do is throw a party. However, as the two learn to work together, friendship—and then something more—begins to blossom. While the romance is sweet, it’s easily overshadowed by the much more powerful plotlines exploring Sidney’s relationship with their father, a newly recovering alcoholic, and their struggles with increasingly upsetting intrusive thoughts and feelings of anxiety. The prose is uneven; at times, it veers toward over-explanation, slowing the pace with unnecessary details. But when it’s at its best, the writing is readable and straightforward, depicting Sidney’s feelings and experiences authentically and poignantly. Teens seeking a realistic and compassionate depiction of mental health challenges and those who enjoy low-key love stories will find this novel resonates. Sidney and Forrest are cued white, and their friend group is racially diverse. An honest depiction of OCD paired with a cute queer romance. (author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 12-18)

Love Me to Death: Vol. 1

Toonimated | Little, Brown Ink (432 pp.)

$18.99 paper | January 13, 2026

9780316587198 | Series: Love Me to Death, 1

Frankenstein gets a gender-flipped nod when a necromancer is paid by a dead woman’s fiancé to bring her back in this print version of a popular WEBTOON series.

Orphaned Victor Franco-Santino and his one-eyed black cat, Gato, are living under the radar in San Guadario, a city where the church ensures that no one practices necromancy. When it appears that the magic that flows in his blood is finally about to get him caught, arrested, and killed, he’s saved by the wealthy, light-skinned Enrique Olivarez, who hides him in his carriage. Enrique wants to hire Victor to bring back his true love, Mercedes Iglesias, who died on their wedding day, in exchange for gold and safe passage to somewhere necromancy is allowed. Brown-skinned Victor agrees and tracks down a resurrection spell to awaken Mercedes. It works, but she’s lost all her memories, has purplish-gray skin and red eyes, is covered in scars (fearing necromancy, the Sacred Order tore her dead body apart)—and feels irresistibly drawn to Victor. Intent on escaping San Guadario and worried about Enrique’s reaction to Mercedes’ condition, Victor tries to keep them both safely hidden. The relationships among the trio and Gato’s antics are the beating heart of this engaging graphic novel. The rules of magic and church history are fascinating and fresh, and the vibrant artwork and colorful palette bring the Mexico-inspired setting to life. Emotional and appealing. (bonus story) (Graphic romantasy. 16-adult)

For another Frankensteininspired tale, visit Kirkus online.

Indie

DO THE ROBOT

I WOULD HAVE guessed about 80 years, tops, but robots have had a stranglehold on our imaginations for more than a century. The word robot first appeared in Czech playwright Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., which premiered in Prague in 1921. As in other robot-themed stories told since, things didn’t go so well for the humans. Anyone who’s ever wanted to skeet shoot their Alexa has probably wondered if such devices will someday refuse to open the pod bay doors. These three recommended titles imagine all sorts of entertaining droid-plus-human scenarios—the good, the bad, and the head-for-the-hills.

Reality TV, sex with aliens, robot uprising, and dramatic kidnapping are all part of David M. Pearce’s The Reality Rescue. Our reviewer explains, “An artificial-intelligence/ robotics uprising has occurred, originating with automata left behind on an abandoned Vellaran mining-colony moon. Now a ‘Chromium Confederation’ of machines is determined to liberate all robot-kind and make war on organic sentient life.” Pearce’s tongue-in-cheek

comedy doesn’t prioritize humor over adventure and often combines the two. The robot rebels, led by Ortho Lugnutz, have somehow adopted the jargon and posturing of a bygone era. The reviewer says, “It’s a notable satirical sting that the digital villains parrot left-wing 19th- and 20th-century sloganeering about the ‘proletariat’ and such: ‘Lugnutz spewed Marxist dogma like a zealot from another time. Where the hell did an artificial intelligence pick up the lingo from a near-dead ideology?’” The result of this theatrical mashup is “above par, with some exciting quasi-naval spaceship maneuvering and skirmishing in the void.”

A soldier robot dutifully follows Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics (“1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human

being to come to harm,” etc.) and protects a little girl while together they navigate a war-torn, fireravaged world in Joel R. Dennstedt’s I, Robot Soldier. One Shot, so nicknamed after he lost an arm, makes a great companion for Amy, who, during their wanderings, adopts a pet drone she calls Cat. “While this concept is well-worn, the blossoming friendship between One Shot and Amy is affecting enough to separate this tale from others in its genre,” notes our reviewer. “An exciting adventure exploring notions of friendship between humans and machines.”

In Limelight and Other Stories , author Lyndsey Croal imagines the many roles automata might play in a distant future. Our reviewer says, “When artificial intelligence, cyborgs, and robots overstep the operating parameters set by their

human users, the results may be beneficial—or sinister.” In one tale, “Patchwork Girls,” an android built to be a movie star endures on-set violence and murder (she’s merely repaired after a bodydamaging scene, à la Westworld ), and her ability to feel no pain may be on the blink (“Maybe she’s dying for real this time. Maybe this is the end. There is some relief in that”). Our reviewer says, “Croal’s prose is smooth as touch-screen glass and does not submerge readers in abstruse science or techno-jargon; still, genre fans must be quick on the uptake to recognize virtual reality, cryogenics, and other SF concepts. This collection commendably addresses deep emotions in addition to apocalyptic shocks and awe.”

Chaya Schechner is the president of Kirkus Indie.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

CHAYA SCHECHNER

EDITOR’S PICK

The Bard has much of the divine sage in him, according to this searching literary study.

Dickey, a Buddhist and a one-time fellow at the Folger Shakespeare Library, argues that the lust, violence, power grabs, and revenge plots in Shakespeare’s plays are informed by Buddhist doctrines that aim to cultivate a detached and serene worldview. Othello’s jealous suspicion of Desdemona, for example, illustrates the Buddha’s warnings about letting obsessive thoughts dominate the mind. Shakespeare’s many beleaguered kings bear out the Buddha’s notion that power is an illusion that confers neither safety nor happiness. The Buddha’s teaching that the world is an illusion is also echoed

in Prospero’s speech in The Tempest , likening life to a phantasmagorical vision, “such stuff as dreams are made of.” And a parade of Shakespearean villains, like Richard III, Macbeth, and Claudius, are duly brought down by the colossal karma built up by their murderous misdeeds. Indeed, so attuned is Shakespeare to the Buddhist vibe that, in an instructional appendix on meditation procedures, Dickey recommends a slew of lines, like Lear’s “Poor naked wretched whereso’er you are,” as mantras. Deeply read in both Shakespeare and Buddhism, Dickey is adept at showing how unwittingly Buddhist Shakespeare was and also how limpid and pithy a wordsmith the Buddha could be. Written in lucid, accessible prose,

Meets the Buddha

Dickey, Edward | Self | 170 pp. | $9.99 paper August 24, 2025 | 9798664380866

Dickey’s own interpretations of Shakespeare tease out hidden meanings in ways that are subtle but profound. For example, tracing the philosophical arc from Hamlet’s binaristic “To be, or not to be” to his climactic perception that “The readiness is all….Let be,” Dickey writes that “Life and death are no longer fixed states” but “passing stages in a

never-ending process of becoming,” one through which Hamlet can finally enact the Buddhist ideal of “a surrender of attachment and aversion.” The result is a fascinating take on the playwright and the Buddha, full of illuminating insights. An absorbing and elegantly written examination of the spiritual wisdom in Shakespeare.

The End-Of-Life Caregivers’ Pocket Guide: A Death Doula’s Practical Tips on Caring for Your Dying Loved One and Yourself

Amani, Grace | Self (105 pp.) | $13.99 paper June 16, 2025 | 9798319241467

The approach to death can be a time of bonding and love, according to this warm-hearted self-helper.

Amani, a doula who advises the dying and their families, offers a holistic approach to end-of-life care that attends to the physical and spiritual needs of the terminally ill and their caregivers. She covers key topics in medical and nursing care, including hygiene, scheduling medications, using walkers and wheelchairs, drawing up living wills and bestowing medical power of attorney, communicating with doctors (always write down your questions and their answers, she advises), and the benefits of hospice care, which she strongly recommends. Amani suggests playing the dying person’s favorite music or watching a favorite sitcom on TV with them; helping commemorate their legacies by asking questions about their past; assembling photo albums, scrapbooks, or personalized recipe books; helping them write or videotape testaments to loved ones; or just sitting in quiet communion with them. Caregivers must also tend to themselves as they journey through their own anxiety, exhaustion, and grief, Amani emphasizes. She urges them to craft a self-care plan that includes everything from taking a few minutes daily for breathing and meditation to joining support groups, seeing a therapist, or taking a break for a few hours or weeks with the help of a professional respite-care agency. Amani distills a wealth of information and online resources into a slender, handy volume that’s brimming with hands-on procedures conveyed in lucid, straightforward prose. (“When

assisting someone to move from a bed to a chair or wheelchair, maintain a firm grip and use your legs, not your back, to lift.”) She also writes in plain, moving terms of the possibility of love and bonding that comes with caring for a loved one. (“My mother had a keen sense of humor to the very end. No matter how downhearted she became, I could crack a joke or point out a ridiculous situation—and she invariably grinned or giggled.”)

Readers girding themselves for the decline of a relative will find here much useful—and hopeful—wisdom. An informative and reassuring handbook for navigating one of life’s most difficult passages.

Kirkus Star

Beauregard’s Brave Leap

Baskett, Rosie | Palmetto Publishing (36 pp.) $12.99 paper | July 22, 2025 | 9798822964532

A cat learns to overcome his anxiety in this picture book by occupational therapist Baskett. Beauregard, a gray-and-orange feline, is enjoying a nap when he hears a young neighbor splashing happily in a puddle. He wants to join in, but when he reaches the water, he’s stricken with fear: “His tummy felt fluttery and icky. His breathing turned into short, shaky gasps.” The boy encourages him, but Beauregard is frozen with anxiety. He recalls what his mama taught him to overcome it: Note three things you can see, three things you can hear, and gently move three parts of your body; then take a deep breath, hold it a moment, let it out slowly, and move on. He does each action, then leaps into the water: “Beauregard’s fear had faded, and joy filled his heart.” At the end, the steps to “Pause and Be Brave” are presented as a simple rhyme with suggested motions (such as “Shade your eyes with one hand as if looking far away”). The art is slightly unpolished but charming, and the

interactions between the boy and cat are sweet. More importantly, the book is everything a helpful story should be—demonstrating with compassion how awful fear feels, then expertly offering a simple skill that anyone may use in such circumstances. An ideal tale for anxious youngsters.

The Disenchantment of Narcissa Tarver

Birdwell, Donna | Self (390 pp.)

October 9, 2025 | 9798999572301

In Birdwell’s historical novel, a progressive white Southern woman is forced to choose between her family and the truth. Narcissa “Cissa” Tarver was a surprise baby to her aging parents, born a decade after the Civil War in Mississippi. Her Black nurse, Julia, is her best, if not only, friend; a lonely child, Cissa spends much of her time playing in nature, especially with her favorite barn cat. Cissa’s future changes at age 6, when an untreated spider bite leads to gangrene and the loss of two fingers. She learns to write left-handed and discovers that she enjoys writing; as a teenager, she’s hired to cover social events for the local newspaper. As a reporter, she questions the attitudes of racist Southerners, especially the sentiments of her older brother, Duncan, who runs for office. Her decision to stand up to him results in tension with other family members. She also develops a mutual attraction with Hector Davis, a detective who’s seeking evidence against Duncan and his followers. Her father wills the family home to her, but she must take care of her elderly mother, and she struggles to find a way to build a life of her own. In this story, loosely based on Birdwell’s family history, the author has created a fascinating character in Cissa, who’s always determined to do what’s right, no matter what it may cost her personally. Cissa forthrightly questions why only white men can participate in the electoral process; she

also yearns to be a reporter covering important stories, but her circumstances always keep her from making that leap. With the huge family sizes of the era, and the high child-mortality rates, readers may sometimes find it difficult to keep track of who’s who among the Tarvers, let alone their extended relations. Nonetheless, Birdwell has built a strong period piece on the foundation of an intriguing woman’s story. An engaging and thought-provoking work, led by a well-developed protagonist.

Slow Bright Things

Bohan, Becky | Self (308 pp.)

November 1, 2025 | 9798296042132

A longtime couple contemplates a significant commitment in Bohan’s LGBTQ+ romance.

Ellie Belmont and Kathryn Kepler, together for five years, live a happy and fulfilling life in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis. Despite their contentment, an email from Kathryn’s high school boyfriend prompts Ellie to face her fear that Kathryn might leave her for a man. The recently widowed Gary Gibson, a successful Florida real estate agent, asks Kathryn to lunch while he’s in town. Although Kathryn has no interest in rekindling her relationship with him, the email ultimately leads Ellie and Kathryn to discuss getting married. While Ellie views marriage as a “public and legal affirmation of our love,” Kathryn is wary after weathering a bitter divorce from her philandering husband, Joe Martinson. On a getaway at the Temperance River, Kathryn meets a woman whose understanding and wisdom inspires her to propose to Ellie. The couple starts planning the ceremony with the help of Ellie’s friends and Kathryn’s son, Nate, and his wife. As the wedding date approaches, a family tragedy and a crisis lead to unexpected reconciliations and opportunities for new beginnings. The latest from Bohan,

A lyrical, slow-burning family saga.

OUR SHARE OF MORNING

whose previous book was A Light on Altered Land (2020), continues the love story of Ellie Belmont and Kathryn Kepler, retirees whose relationship brings great joy to their golden years. Bohan’s tale ably balances the couple’s passion with a thoughtful exploration of how past relationships, especially Kathryn’s marriage to Joe and Ellie’s marriage to her late wife, affect their perspectives. The novel includes a well-developed cast and some meaty subplots, especially one involving Kathryn’s emotionally distant daughter, Jennifer, who struggles to accept Kathryn and Ellie’s upcoming wedding. That said, while the prose is sharp, it could benefit from additional copyediting (Emily Dickinson instead of “Emily Dickenson”).

A reflective, satisfying sequel about second acts.

Our Share of Morning

Bonazzoli, Laura | Sibylline Press (422 pp.) $22 paper | September 12, 2025 9798897409938

Two sisters growing up in Depression-era New England confront poverty, illness, and family secrets in Bonazzoli’s historical novel. After growing up in a Boston-area triple decker, Violet and Gloria (“Glory”) Campo have their lives upended when their mother is sent away to a tuberculosis sanatorium. In the absence of maternal care, 10-year-old Violet assumes responsibility, promising to “be extra good while Mama was gone” and teaching herself to cook, clean, and protect her younger sister. Glory, more

fragile and imaginative, experiences the world with heightened sensitivity—“the scared feeling like broken glass pricking my insides”—and turns increasingly toward poetry as a refuge. As the narrative progresses through the 1930s and 1940s, the girls’ voices alternate, shifting from the immediacy of childhood confusion to the more layered reflections of adolescence. Violet finds her calling in photography, capturing portraits of war veterans, while Glory aspires to be a poet, memorizing and composing verses to preserve a sense of beauty against loss. Their father, who is volatile yet capable of tenderness (kissing Glory’s hand and calling her “bambolina” in one moment, then lashing out in anger the next), embodies the instability of their home life. Neighbors, such as the widowed Mrs. Rasmussen and her cat, Sir Lancelot, provide moments of stability and compassion. The prose captures both the innocence of childhood perception and the weight of adult grief, often through striking imagery; Glory recalls her mother’s departure in almost apocalyptic terms: “the red door and the wall and the steps…like it was all glass and the glass just broke.” Such moments ground the novel’s central theme: art and memory can even transform devastation into meaning. The sisters’ voices intertwine to form a vivid portrait of resilience and love in the face of silence, absence, and loss.

A lyrical, slow-burning family saga that finds poetry in hardship and tenderness in survival.

An entertaining combination of sitcom and melodrama.

MANHATTAN TRIPTYCH

Dique Dominican

Bonifacio, Ayendy | Unsolicited Press (248 pp.) | $21.95 paper | January 31, 2026 9781963115673

Bonifacio tells his immigration story as a Dominican raised in Brooklyn in this updated second edition of his debut memoir. The author was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Section-8 housing in Brooklyn; he moved from poverty to the ivory towers of academia to become a professor of English at the University of Toledo. While his account is a deeply personal story of survival, brilliance, and grit, he also connects his autobiography to a larger history of immigrants and poor, marginalized Americans. “I was, to most of the people who met me and myself, a punk-ass Dominican immigrant,” he writes of his experiences in high school as a self-described “ dique gangsta.” “Dique,” the Dominican Spanish word for “supposedly,” became a defining descriptor for Bonifacio’s life as he grappled with fundamental questions of identity. A major theme of the work is the author’s strained relationship with his father. “Papi’s love was rare,” he writes, describing being physically beaten as a child, and the author notes that the fear of his father’s violence “was [his] teacher for [Bonifacio’s] own budding machismo.” The author is brutally honest about himself, emphasizing the ways in which anger fueled his relationship with his family and defined his view of the world around him. Bonifacio’s memoir was originally published in 2017 while the author was finishing his doctorate degree—this updated and expanded edition covers major events in his life

since that time (including the birth of his daughter and a budding academic career) while also commenting on the major escalation of “state repression” against immigrants under the second administration of President Donald Trump. The author of two poetry collections, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and other leading national publications, Bonifacio balances conversational, intimate prose (replete with curse words and Spanish phrases translated in footnotes) with a grounding in literary criticism and theory. The text includes bountiful quotes regarding racism, classism, and intersectionality from a range of authors, including bell hooks, James Baldwin, and Karl Marx. A brutally raw, poignant, and literary coming-of-age memoir.

Oh F*ck! Dinosaurs!

Bruno, Dave | Schmuckies (309 pp.)

$16.99 | $9.99 paper | March 19, 2025 9798992717303 | 9798992717310 paper

A group of college students blunders into a compound containing genetically engineered dinos in Bruno’s horror novel.

The only reason spoiled pre-law student Azi Midas is going on a pre-graduation camping trip is that he recently slept with Cameron Akagi, the boyfriend of his childhood best friend, Stella Alvarez, and he needs to make sure Cameron doesn’t spill the beans and ruin the friendship. Azi’s recent ex, Ellis Wheeler, is coming too, as is a wide assortment of beer-guzzling jocks, jazz-loving hipsters, outdoor enthusiasts, and conspiracy theorist shut-ins. The 12 college kids are headed

for a campground in the remote, mine-tunnel-strewn wilderness of Donkey Ridge, where strange animal attacks have recently been reported. They pitch their tents on the grounds of a large abandoned house (which may not be as abandoned as it seems). The many interpersonal dramas are just coming to a head when a creature that certainly shouldn’t exist appears outside: “The thing still made no sense, even after it was no longer obscured by shadows and fogged glass. It stood so tall that all they could see through the door’s frame were its legs and feet. It had all four long, spindly limbs on the grass outside, each taller than a human-and-a-half.” And there isn’t just one. The author quickly begins dispatching his pointedly diverse characters in a variety of gory ways. (The large cast works in the novel’s favor, as there are plenty of characters to be swallowed up by a pterosaur or chomped by a Carcharodontosaurus.) With its silly premise and broad characterizations, the novel is more Snakes on a Plane than Jurassic Park, with a pinch of 1980s teen-slasher movie thrown in. Bruno revels in the campiness, and the story is sure to please the type of reader inclined to pick up a book with such a pithily self-explanatory title. The comic-like black-and-white illustrations (also by Bruno), including a helpful dramatis personae, complement the novel’s lighthearted, escapist tone.

A fun, self-aware monster novel for dinosaur lovers (or haters).

Manhattan Triptych

Butterfield, Catherine | Self (362 pp.)

$19.99 paper | October 10, 2025

9798999291103

Butterfield’s sardonic novel chronicles the 40-year friendship of three women. In 1985, Diane Daly, Nikki Barone, and Orla Nevins are in Indiana, playing the roles of Tevye’s daughters in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Being cast

in the summer stock production is a major coup for the struggling actresses, and during the run of the show, despite a few jealousies here and there, they form a tight bond. Forty years later, Diane has just returned to her Santa Monica home after a three-day evacuation due to the wildfire in her area. She is lucky— the fire did not quite reach her over-mortgaged property, though everything is covered in ash. She has been considering suicide, but now that she and her house have survived the fire, she decides the idea of killing herself is absurd (“How selfish to take oneself out of the picture when the picture had changed so dramatically”). She calls to check in with Nikki, who is living in Colorado and wondering why she ever agreed to leave New York. As they talk, they realize neither of them has heard from Orla, although Diane has tried to contact her. Concerned, Diane heads off to New York to find her, with Nikki joining her a couple of days later. Butterfield’s narrative toggles back and forth between the past and present. In alternating chapters, she fills in the protagonists’ backstories and experiences (individually and together) through the decades. Set against the backdrop of civil protests, the AIDS epidemic, the World Trade Center attack, and the Covid-19 pandemic, the story is packed with entertainment-world tidbits and references, cultural signifiers, and the music of a country in constant, rapid change. Diane, Nikki, and the quirky, dramatically romantic Orla differ in temperament and lifestyle choices, each following diverging paths as they do battle with life’s personal and professional slings and arrows, yet always managing to overcome periods of separation and even betrayal to reconnect with one another. Butterfield’s acerbic prose provides ample humor and social commentary, adding a joyful ambiance to a narrative occasionally heavy with emotional baggage and tragedy. An entertaining combination of sitcom and melodrama.

Flight Path

Carver, Suzanne C. | Manhattan Book Group (334 pp.) | $18.99 paper August 26, 2025 | 9781966799917

In Carver’s novel, two women lose their husbands in the same plane crash and uncover inconsistencies in their respective marriages.

Peregrine Airlines Flight

2487 crashes on its way out of New York, leaving no survivors. Campbell Dumont and Witt Dorian are two of the victims. Harper Stowe—a Bostonian designer of roller coasters and Witt’s wife—is pregnant and in the midst of launching her latest ride, the Inferno. Prior to Witt, Harper avoided relationships, preferring to prioritize her career while using casual sex purely as an escape. Campbell’s widow, Eva Darling-Dumont, and their two children are bereft in Atlanta. Though she was once an investigative journalist, Eva has devoted most of the past decade to being a wife and mother while Campbell provided handsomely for the family. A request from Campbell’s boss prompts Eva to unknowingly open a Pandora’s box of deceit (she finds herself “listening to the sound of her hope falling like a line of dominos, a chain reaction of clicks as the framework of her life gives way beneath her”). Eva’s grief and frustration lead her to post a blog about widowhood; Harper reads Eva’s posts and the pair become friends, texting one another frequently. Similarly, Harper begins to

question some of Witt’s odd behaviors leading up to the crash. As Harper and Eva’s friendship deepens—and Harper’s due date looms —so, too, does the confusion surrounding the pair’s husbands. While the big twist in Carver’s story is somewhat predictable, and the ending is a tad abrupt, these quibbles make the narrative no less satisfying, which is a feat in itself. Throughout, the characters, particularly the two female protagonists, are written with depth and care. Another strength is the author’s ability to sustain the momentum of the story, even when the reader has an idea where it is ultimately heading. This is a domestic thriller with heart, exemplifying how one can find connection and meaning even in the midst of betrayal and grief. A riveting story with great pacing.

How Deep Is the Wound?: A Guide to Investigating, Understanding, and Resolving Your Emotional Pain

Contreras, Antonieta | Self (325 pp.) $19.99 paper | September 9, 2025 9798999326614

Trauma is a psychological overreaction that can be resolved through reflection and therapy, according to this level-headed self-helper. Contreras, a therapist and author of Traumatization and Its Aftermath (2023), argues that we are too quick to label even minor emotional setbacks as life-changing

A reassuring guide to healing our traumatic fixations.

traumas, which encourages a defeatist victim mentality. She characterizes trauma as a long-term, maladaptive response to a physical or emotional threat marked by hypervigilance, flashbacks, dysregulated emotions (exaggerated or numbed), and physical symptoms. (One of her clients, she notes, had a nightly bedtime ritual of reviewing all the ways she could die.) The author contends that, through reflection and practice, we can learn to spot and understand trauma reflexes and replace them with healthy, reasonable thinking. To that end, she provides readers with self-assessment quizzes along with calming exercises featuring breathing techniques, visualization of tranquil beaches, efforts to achieve small, daily wins, and lots of positive self-talk. Contreras illustrates her points with case studies, including her own history of serious illness and a kidnapping, and gives special attention to people trapped in toxic relationships with manipulative narcissists. (Her “Gaslighting Reality Check” exercise includes questions like, “Do they dismiss clear evidence— texts, timestamps, witnesses—that contradicts their version of events? ”) Contreras’ therapeutic philosophy mixes cognitive behavioral therapy with Buddhist mindfulness methods, all grounded in the neuroscience of how emotions mobilize to protect us from threats but can then persist in an extreme state. She conveys all of this in lucid prose infused with down-to-earth metaphors (“external traumatizing agents are like burglars who trigger your home security system. Internal traumatizing agents are like a malfunctioning alarm that keeps going off even after the burglars have left and the house is secure ”). The practical exercises (“When you notice hypervigilance taking over, recognize and name it with a reflection like this, ‘Am I getting too focused on finding danger?’ ”) are simple and sensible. Readers will find here a straightforward and hopeful approach to psychological healing. A reassuring guide to healing our traumatic fixations, full of insight and useful advice.

Digital Inc.: From Print to E-Book—Inside the Transformation of the Book Industry

Curtis, Richard | Rivertowns Books (270 pp.)

$24.95 paper | January 6, 2026 | 9781953943736

Curtis, the founder of the E-Reads publishing and literary agency, offers a history of the digital revolution in the publishing industry. In his latest book, the author charts the development of e-books and e-reading from the earliest days in the early 1990s, when it briefly looked as if e-literature would be relegated to primitive cell phones and Palm Pilots. In 1998, the clunky SoftBook and Rocket eBook both faced the same obstacle: “The world simply wasn’t ready to embrace the precipitous transformation from printed books.” Curtis braids his account of the slow rise of e-readers with a history of other revolutions that rocked the publishing world in earlier eras, including the introduction of mass market paperbacks and, later, larger trade paperbacks. He links these to the story of his own company, which embraced e-reading, and its dealings with authors—many of whom, fittingly enough, were SF writers; the book includes the author’s fond memories of Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Lynn, and Greg Bear. “Although the e-book revolution bestowed countless blessings and benefits on humanity, it also unleashed a Pandora’s Box of vexations,” Curtis writes, dwelling at length on some of these troubles, including questions of copyright and piracy. The historical element of the book, which is amply supported by endnotes, leads inexorably to the 2007 release of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, and the author thoroughly describes the meteoric rise of this now-ubiquitous device and its first serious dips in its sales, nearly a decade later. All of this

is presented in authoritative detail, breaking down earnings, risks, and industry concerns over two chaotic decades of transformation.

“As happens in so many revolutionary enterprises over time,” the author reflects, “the free spirit of independence became more formalized…as former rebels expressed the need for structure and standards, and for recognition by the public.” This elegiac tone permeates much of the book’s second half, as the short-lived boom in e-books comes to an end and Curtis sells E-Reads. Thanks to his natural storytelling gifts and deft pacing, readers get an insider’s view of the era, its major developments, and the pitfalls of e-reading technology. The author allows that the e-book phenomenon did “cast a beam of hope” in some corners of the book world, giving older works a chance to find some new consumers. However, although the bulk of his book is an engaging narrative of an industry embroiled in unpredictable change, the final notes on the rise of artificial intelligence sound a decidedly grim note, discounting the power of integrity or pride of achievement: “It is hard to imagine why a student or scholar would ever again produce an original book report, term paper or research treatise….From there, it’s an easy jump to AI-assisted creation of literature.” Still, the gloom of these predictions is considerably softened by the vivacity of the story Curtis tells in the earlier pages—of innovators and dreamers, and of readers seeking authenticity in electronic venues. Fortunately, that ray of hope still shines.

A lively and definitive insider’s history of the rise of e-books.

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Keep Talking: Conversations With Our Kids When They Want Us Least but Need Us Most

Davidson, Jen Shoemaker | Sole Publishing (154 pp.) | $15.95 paper | January 27, 2026

9798998627002

Davidson presents a comprehensive guide for parents with tips on how to foster meaningful and productive conversations with their children. As a mother, the author recalls the days when talking with her kids felt like navigating a complex minefield. In this book, she shares advice, based on her own experiences, on ways to keep the lines of communication open—even into children’s finicky teenage years. Davidson cites references to back up her findings (such as a New York Post  story about a 2018 survey that found that 82% of parents feel that their child “tends to avoid meaningful conversations”) and often formats her advice into easy-toread bullet points. She covers a wide range of topics, including how to be a good listener (with tips such as “Embrace the silence” and “Don’t give unsolicited advice”) and suggested conversation starters. Sample conversations demonstrate typical talks and show how they might go if one follows Davidson’s advice. These exchanges are often taken directly from the author’s own life, as are many personal anecdotes throughout the book. Some topics address concerns of older teens, such as relationship red flags and sexual safety. Each of the 10 chapters ends with a list of takeaways for both children and parents. Throughout, Davidson keeps her tone friendly and encouraging, making the advice feel like that of a close friend. Many issues feel particularly timely, such as social media responsibility. Davidson’s tips will likely prove helpful for parents who have no clue where to start; however, some of the advice may

Expertly balances tender recollection with sharp insight.

MY SON, THE PRIEST

strike others as obvious (“Be a Good Listener”). That said, the author isn’t afraid to cover difficult topics head-on and encourage parents to do likewise, as when she talks about the importance of teaching sons and daughters about sexual responsibility. Overall, the book’s no-nonsense approach is ultimately helpful and genuinely refreshing.

A practical compilation of right-to-thepoint advice that may help parents to better connect with their kids.

My Son, the Priest: A Mother’s Crisis of Faith

Gilger, Kristin Grady | Monkfish Book Publishing (266 pp.) | $24.99 paper November 11, 2025 | 9781958972939

Gilger’s memoir follows a mother’s struggle to reconcile her feelings about Catholicism with her son becoming a Jesuit priest. The author traces her son Patrick’s path from an Omaha Catholic university student with a growing interest in theology to a man who embraced vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, eventually entering the Jesuit order in 2002. His calling was not easy for her to understand; “What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?” she wonders. Drawing on vivid memories of Patrick’s studies, his work founding The Jesuit Post  website, and his ministry in places ranging from Indian villages to American prisons, Gilger recounts how his vocation tested both his

endurance and her own understanding. Alongside Patrick’s story, Gilger delves into her own history, describing a childhood in a large Irish Catholic family, her eventual disillusionment with the Church, and her eventual careers in journalism and academia. The narrative balances family anecdotes—like Patrick’s refusal to press charges after being mugged, or his moving funeral mass for Gilger’s father— with philosophical reflections on faith, doubt, and the pull of maternal love, always circling back to the author’s unease with the permanence of her son’s choices and her own doubts: “What if my son is right? And what if he is not?” Gilger’s prose is consistently engaging—it’s succinct, humorous, and laced with self-awareness. She easily distills complicated theological practices and historical contexts into plain language filled with wry one-liners. (When discussing her attempts to commune with God, she jokes, “Being out of practice, it was a short conversation.”) Her skill as a journalist shines through in her deft scene-setting and dialogue; the author recreates difficult conversations with her son without ever losing her sharp, objective perspective. At times, the narrative can shift into more detached reportage when recounting Patrick’s experiences, diluting the immediacy of the writing; however, Gilger’s ease in relating her most vulnerable moments will quickly draw readers back in. In her hands, even the heaviest of spiritual inquiry never feels excessively solemn.

An exploration of faith, doubt, and family that expertly balances tender recollection with sharp insight.

Lenswoman in Love: A Novel of the 1960s and ’70s

Gottlieb-Walker, Kim | The Conrad Press (320 pp.) | $15 paper | February 24, 2025 9781916966833

In GottliebWalker’s novel, a passionate young photographer navigates turbulent times in the 1960s and ’70s. From a young age, Maddy Garfield found herself documenting the world through a camera lens. She grew up in the apartment above the Folk Scene, a coffeehouse in Berkeley, California, which her parents opened in the ’50s; she honed her skills photographing the wide array of musicians that played on their stage in 1964. However, when college student Jake Morganstern answers a help-wanted ad—posted by Maddy’s mother, Blanche—the 15-year-old girl’s life is forever changed, especially after Blanche invites Jake to live in the family’s spare room. As Jake and Maddy spend more time together, he introduces her to a world beyond folk music, and she finds herself falling in love with him. Then he suddenly leaves without saying goodbye, and Maddy is crushed. She goes on to make her mark in the photography world, and Jake finds success writing and directing films. Their paths repeatedly cross, and although sparks fly, the timing is never right—until they meet on the set of a movie in 1976, which might be the chance they’ve been waiting for. Gottlieb-Walker takes readers on a journey through the height of the rock ’n’ roll era with a tale that’s part travelogue and part romance, and it reads very much like a memoir. Evidence of Maddy’s extensive journeys is presented via rich, sensual details; it immerses readers in the story from the first page, which depicts a Vietnam War protest: “Adrenaline pumping, I clutched the borrowed Bolex camera protectively against my

chest and fought my way through the panic-stricken crowd to the sidewalk.” The narrative is steeped in the political and cultural themes of the time, effectively highlighting the challenges faced by women fighting for their rights and young men fighting in Vietnam. Gottlieb-Walker makes full use of the first-person perspective to provide readers with an intimate, behind-the-scenes snapshot of the era’s film, music, and photography industries.

A vivid, immersive tale of decades past.

Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt

Harounoff, Jonathan | Black Rose Writing (182 pp.) | $25.95 | September 25, 2025 9781685136888

Veteran Middle East correspondent and diplomat Harounoff presents a history-minded chronicle of a women-led revolt that challenged the Iranian regime in new and modern ways.

one of the boldest challenges to theocracy in decades. Harounoff, the international spokesperson for Israel at the UN, places Amini’s death in the larger context of Iran’s authoritarian rule, showing how decades of consolidated power and violent oppression now collide with the reach of social media. Acts of defiance through sports, music, and art, though often punished, are now far more visible both in and outside Iran. Not content to just provide the timeline of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, the author examines this and similar efforts to show how even a unified front can falter without a unified message. A highly accessible resource, the work doubles as a crash course in modern Iranian history while elevating the voices of experts and exiles. The writing avoids sensationalism and treats its subjects with care, acknowledging that many never sought to be martyrs even as their deaths became flashpoints. The absence of photographs is notable, given the role images play in online spaces. The text effectively shows that social media amplified dissent, but offers little sense of how Iranian online communities actually interact, only hinting at factionalism among exiles. Without these details, this portrait of protest feels unfinished, though no less powerful.

An accessible account of modern revolt that illuminates the resilience of Iran’s people.

Forever Ripley

Hoyle, McCall | Shadow Mountain (208 pp.) $18.99 | September 2, 2025 | 9781639934164

A retired working dog protects and cares for her family until her dying breath in Hoyle’s middlegrade novel. Retired North Carolina Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement dog Ripley is a stalwart, loyal German shepherd who has dedicated herself to taking care of her young human,

On September 13, 2022, Iran’s morality police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini for having too much hair protruding from her hijab (“Members of the Gasht-e Ershad then grabbed Amini and began forcing her into their van”). Three days later, she was dead in Kasra Hospital, another victim of the country’s re-education centers. Photos of Amini in the hospital showed severe trauma to her face and head, and the images quickly went viral on Instagram and other platforms. At her funeral, her mother rejected claims that her daughter had violated the law. Women ripped off their headscarves in defiance, and mourners’ wails turned into chants against the regime. Despite strict internet controls, videos circulated worldwide, and Iranians of different ethnicities, faiths, and political leanings rallied together, mounting >>>

28 Indies Worth

FALL 2025

Kirkus presents Indies Worth Discovering , a sponsored feature spotlighting an array of fiction and nonfiction works recommended by Indie editors. Here readers can find a useful sampler that shows the excellence and breadth of Indie titles. Find pulse-pounding thrillers, revealing memoirs, twisty mysteries, fiery romances, thoughtful business books, problem-solving self-help guides, and incisive poetry collections, among many other works. Searching for something new and exciting? Read on.

Ripped paper: Raul Ortin

Kirkus Star

Maya Blue

B y Brenda Coffee

These true, well-crafted stories provide wild entertainment and deeper messages of self-worth.

The Tales of Charlie Wags: European Christmas Adventure

By Sofie Wells & Ali Barclay; illus. by Sanna Sjöström

A cozy, travel-focused picture book that’s perfect for the winter holidays.

American Still Life

By Jim Naremore

A gripping tale of a troubled artist and her forced homecoming, replete with American pathos.

No Way but Forward

By Brian K. Barber

A powerful look into occupied Gaza through the lenses of three ordinary young men.

Because Barbara

By Sarah Mackenzie; illus. by Eileen Ryan Ewen

A tribute to a giant of children’s literature and an artist’s need to put color on the page.

Somebody’s Someone

By Linda Oatman

High; illus. by Yayira Dzamesi

A young girl’s bumpy life begets an uplifting narrative journey.

Standing Up

By Mary L. Devine

A terse, revealing, and absorbing look at a varied, complex relationship with domestic violence.

Year One

By Marina Raydun

A rich and funny immigrant story.

Under the Apple Tree

By Kathleen J. Easley

A fast-paced, romantic supernatural puzzler, nestled in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

The Patient Routine

By Luna Rey Hall

A set of poems about the failings of the healthcare system rendered in extremely graphic imagery.

The River Keeper and Other Tales

By Nancy Joie Wilkie; illus. by Andrea Alemanno

A dreamy assortment of tales that contain kernels of worldly truth.

Koan Khmer By Bunkong Tuon

A quietly affecting novel of the refugee experience.

Words

By Katherine Davis-Gibbon; illus. By Anne Berry

An encouraging, inspiring introduction to the power and wonder of words.

Transformed by Love

By James Callahan

A touching love letter from a grieving husband that stresses the transformational power of love.

Tell the Story

By Terrell Tannen

A smooth-reading Tinseltown chronicle sure to satisfy both cinephiles and fans of introspective memoirs.

The Very Best of Care

By Julie Hatch

Unapologetically graphic, deeply disturbing, and all too believable.

Kirkus Star

The Zygan Emprise

By Y.S. Pascal

A rambunctious space opera and metafictional celebration of the power of imagination.

The Haunting Between Us

By Paul Michael Winters

A supernatural story of love, friendship, and discovery that’s heartwarming and frightening, by turns.

The Moon and the Gryphon

By T.F. Long

A far-fetched but entertaining blend of mysticism, romance, and adventure.

The Apple Seed and the Dark

By Precious A. Cedolia

A short story about an ambitious apple seed that will inspire and delight all ages.

Tennis Players as Works of Art

By David Linebarger

An engrossing set of works of athletic beauty.

Serving Up the Truth

By Debra Klein

An intriguing murder mystery with lighthearted elements and a satisfying twist.

Who Left God Playing With Mud?!

By Adam

An entertaining Bronze Age soap opera full of carnage, carnality, and a little hard-bitten philosophy.

Overtwixt

By R.L. Akers;

illus. by Jesse Lewis

A huge, colorful cast gives this superb fantasy kickoff a hearty boost.

Loved Anyway

By Leslie Vicary

A welcome reflection on the power of unconditional love.

Point of Origin

By Betta Ferrendelli

A compelling and layered crime thriller and a heartfelt exploration of how far a person will go to protect those they love.

Every Other Weekend

By Anthony J. Mohr

A touching and earnest remembrance that celebrates the workaday and extraordinary experiences of a child of divorce.

After the Burn

By Leilani Garrett

A satisfying read about finding fulfillment in career and love.

Charlie, as well as Charlie’s mom, Amelia, ever since Charlie’s father, Max, died five years ago. Sadly, Ripley can sense that she is nearing the end of her own life after she falls getting off of Charlie’s bed. The vet confirms that Ripley has osteosarcoma, devastating Charlie and her mother with the news. The two have been fairly isolated since Max’s death, and Ripley worries that her humans will not have enough support after she’s gone. As the dog and her family check items off a bucket list of the former’s favorite activities, like chasing sandpipers at the beach, they find themselves truly reckoning not only with her death, but Max’s as well. Charlie and Amelia both start to make new friends, including a boy named Nathan who is dealing with the recent loss of his mother. There is no rest for the weary—Ripley must unofficially return to duty to protect her humans from dangerous poachers who threaten the preserve where Amelia works. This tearjerking middle-grade novel is the passionate and tender fourth installment in Hoyle’s canine-centric bibliography, following Millie (2024). Written in the first person from Ripley’s point of view, the narrative roots itself in sensory details, such as the “nervous chemicals [that] tint [Charlie’s] breath” when Ripley falls and the physical strain of the family’s financial woes (“I don’t know what it is about the word money, but it always makes my girls tense and their words stiff”). Peppered throughout are Tarkela’s black-and-white digital illustrations, which are proficient but less emotionally evocative or memorable than the story itself.

An affecting emotional roller coaster chronicling a loyal dog’s last days with her human family.

Kirkus Star

Seven Blank Pages

Joy, Whitney | Rune Publishing (295 pp.) $17.35 paper | August 28, 2025 9798999900500

Joy chronicles a bold act of self-reinvention through world travel in this debut memoir. After making the heartbreaking decision to end her marriage and leave the only life she has ever known, Joy sets the goal of filling the final seven pages of her “married” passport in an effort to figure out who she is and what she truly wants; only then will she reclaim her maiden name and forge a new path. Living an adrenaline-fueled life of outdoor sport in Vail, Colorado, Joy realized she was living her husband’s dream more than her own. An Eleanor Roosevelt quote (“You must do the thing you think you cannot do”) emblazoned on a gift from her grandmother took on personal meaning when a confident voice said, “Leave your marriage.” In short order, Joy ends her marriage, leaves her home, and loses her decade-long career at a high-end jeweler. Testing the theory of “get[ting] lost to be found” she listens to yet another voice telling her to “go,” which launches her into a solo journey that carries her from Europe to Asia and beyond. Although she sees Paris, the Swiss Alps, the Andaman Sea, India’s sacred spaces, and New Zealand’s coastlines, these touristic sights become secondary to the focus on the inner transformation she undergoes. With candor and

emotional clarity, Joy documents how grief, disorientation, and financial uncertainty can give way to resilience, intuition, and a reclaimed sense of purpose. What distinguishes this memoir from the many “escape through travel” narratives is its balance between external adventure and internal reckoning. The book’s gentle insistence is that meaning isn’t found, but embodied, through small moments of courage and surrender. Readers are not invited to marvel at exotic destinations but instead recognize themselves in Joy’s struggle to let go of the familiar. The writing is direct and emotionally open, allowing the lessons on synchronicity, manifestation, and empowerment to feel lived rather than prescribed. Comparisons to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love are inevitable, but Joy’s work transcends such facile comparisons by emphasizing the applicability of her journey to the reader’s own life.

A go-to guide for readers navigating loss, reinvention, or the desire to live more authentically.

Into the Blue: A Counting Adventure

Kapoor, Amy Foos | Illus. by Jennifer Ard Bealu Books (34 pp.) | $18.95 paper March 22, 2025 | 9781962981231

Kapoor’s picture book offers a joyful counting adventure that highlights a child’s creativity. A curious young boy named Jon spends time with his Nana during a sunny day at the beach. What begins

A charming and educational tale. INTO THE BLUE

as a simple counting game—one shell, two buckets, three umbrellas—turns into something much grander after he closes his eyes and starts using his imagination. In his mind’s eye, Jon dives beneath the waves and begins counting ocean creatures, such as stingrays, sea turtles, and hammerhead sharks, and meets friendly dolphins who guide and protect him. Before long, he opens his eyes and retells his sea adventure to his Nana, who smiles knowingly and hints at future adventures. More facts about flora and fauna appear at the end of the book. Ard’s bright, expressive full-color illustrations give life to the warm beach scenes and the mysterious ocean depths. The vivid colors and details invite young readers to explore each page closely, and the story’s gentle pace and dreamlike tone make it excellent for bedtime reading. The counting element also offers a fun and educational way to reinforce early math skills. With its engaging rhythm, colorful artwork, and imaginative storyline, this book is a great read-aloud that kids will enjoy again and again. A charming and educational tale that swims into a world of childhood wonder.

Of Saints and Rivers

Logan, Jim | Yorkshire Publishing (272 pp.)

$19.99 paper | September 16, 2025

9780988928152

A man must reckon with his guilt after an accident upends his life in Logan’s Dust Bowl family saga.

Jordan McClellan is the youngest child of Rachel and Eamon, two Oklahoma farmers at the turn of the 20th century. His siblings, Danny and Becky, are both respected athletes— Danny is a draft pick for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, and Becky’s the star of her high school basketball team. Jordan, however, is

An ambitious novel about redemption and the strength of family bonds.

OF SAINTS AND RIVERS

more academically inclined and is at odds with his emotionally distant and abusive father. “I was fifteen when my father hit me,” Logan writes early on, beginning a story that captures the tension of the fraught family dynamic in simple, clear prose. After graduating high school as valedictorian and heading to college on scholarship, Jordan inadvertently causes an accident that injures both his father and his brother, ending his brother’s baseball career. Despite a promising career teaching literature at Oklahoma City University, guilt and depression lead Jordan to the bottle, and after a fateful night at a speakeasy, he gets behind the wheel of a car and causes the death of a pedestrian. Logan’s novel follows Jordan after he’s sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter and tries to rebuild his life, all in the shadow of World War II, where his eldest brother has become a pilot. The driving force of the novel is whether the McClellan family—and particularly Jordan and Eamon—can heal after multiple tragedies, and if literature, and the life of the mind, can serve as a refuge in crises. In Jordan, Logan has crafted a compelling narrator and central character, whose faults feel realistic and whose emotional journey will keep readers engaged. The novel covers a vast span of time (from the late 1800s at the book’s opening, all the way through the 1950s), causing certain plot points to feel rushed, such as Jordan’s life in prison, which is effectively the core of the book. However, the narrative arc is nonetheless satisfying—occasionally moving, and even terrifying at times. An ambitious novel about redemption and the strength of family bonds.

Kirkus Star

Humans Are Awesome!: A Kid’s Guide to Staying Smarter Than AI

| Strange Attraction Press (41 pp.)

$11.99 paper | August 26, 2025

9798293306459

Lopez and Ulloa’s colorful primer teaches kids how to safely integrate AI into their internet experience while continuously emphasizing the importance of thinking for yourself. Through the adventures of an unnamed narrator, young readers explore the wondrous things that artificial intelligence can do—as well as the uniquely human things that it cannot. Each page uses specialized terminology to tackle the different ways in which humanness is ultimately superior to AI (only humans have “The Feelings Detector” and “The Right-and-Wrong Radar”). Each topic is presented via bullet points or in short paragraphs; the bite-sized chunks of information are accompanied by Hassam’s colorful illustrations of kids and assorted robots (representing AI). Occasional exercises, such thinking of “three things in your house that use computer brains,” add an interactive element. The authors also instruct readers on remaining safe and smart when encountering AI: “If a computer brain says something silly…or t ells you to do something that doesn’t feel right, STOP and THINK!” Every few pages, the text

Lopez, Cal & Natalia Ulloa | Illus. by Abdel Hassam

offers an additional tip from the “Safety Hero,” such as a reminder that computers “are built to grab [your] attention and never let go.” Lopez and Ulloa have crafted a practical, thought-provoking manual for kids on a topic that is likely at the forefront of parents’ minds. They make their points in a fun and engaging way by using child-friendly vocabulary and breaking up subjects into small pieces—helping adults ease into a discussion for which, due to the newness of the technology, there is little to no guidance. The illustrations, with their short, choppy lines and plenty of shading that gives all of the diverse cast a joyful and dynamic sense of movement, complement the narrative. This combination—of a visually sumptuous feast and highly pertinent subject matter—is a superb pairing that teaches kids skills in a relatively new field through engaging instructions and compelling images.

A beautifully illustrated children’s guide to the intricacies of AI that celebrates the wonders of being human.

Changers

McDaniel, Carren | Self (234 pp.) | $9 paper November 29, 2021 | 9798776067334

Series: Twins of Prophecy, 1

A teenage girl learns about her destiny in McDaniel’s YA series starter.

Cassie Thomas is a lonely 15-year-old girl living in the Sierra Nevada mountains with her mother. Her life changes forever after she meets Rusty, a red-haired dog who becomes utterly loyal to her; he follows her to and from school and spends all his time with her. Soon afterward, Cassie meets Jack, a Scottish teen who introduces her to her hidden destiny. It turns out that she’s a Changer—a member of an ancient people who can transform into animals; in Cassie’s case,

it’s initially a spotted cat, although her ability to change into other creatures is revealed later on. She also finds out that she has a twin brother, Vinnie; they’re the Twins of the Prophecy, who are destined to return their people to greatness. Jack, it’s revealed, is Cassie’s Protector who can transform into a dog; he and Rusty are one and the same. Later, the twins and their Protectors travel to a beautiful Scottish castle, where family and friends await. Cassie learns more about her new powers, deepens her relationships with Jack and Vinnie, and investigates the mysterious Benedictine Monks who seem to hate all Changers with a passion. McDaniel’s whirlwind novel introduces Cassie as a tough, funny protagonist who manages a variety of situations with aplomb. Various mysteries and new characters weave in and out of the story, some more solidly than others; there’s an awful lot going on in this first series entry, and sometimes it shifts its focus rather abruptly. The first part of the narrative spends a great deal of time with Jack and Rusty, for example, but once Vinnie enters the picture, Jack’s importance wanes considerably. Still, when Jack is present, it’s always a treat, and readers will find it easy to root for a romance between him and the protagonist. It’s also exciting to see her powers unfold and to witness other characters accepting the once-lonely girl into their lives. A fun tale of shapeshifting adventurers.

The Last Analog Teenagers

Myers, Abigail E. | Stanchion (170 pp.)

$16 paper | June 3, 2025 | 9798892926713

In Myers’ novel, high school graduates face myriad interpersonal conflicts as they prepare to move on to the next chapter of their lives.

At Carvel Junior-Senior High in Carvel, Pennsylvania, the graduating class of 2000 is

navigating personal struggles, changing relationships, and family strife while preparing to leave high school and enter adulthood. Habitual shoplifter Andrea—who later changes her name to Drew—has a crush on her friend Holly and tentatively questions what being a girl even means as she saves up money to attend Bryn Mawr College. Rachel auditions for All-State Choir, enters a relationship with Yorg, who goes to a private Greek Orthodox high school, and tries to ignore salacious rumors about her. Wes, who’s living with his grandparents while his alcoholic father gets his life together, tries to repair his frayed friendship with Melinda by bringing beer to her birthday party, only to inadvertently get her into trouble. Melinda focuses on schoolwork and her friendships with Shannon, Evie, and Rachel, and starts dating Brent, a skater in the half-day vocational-technical program. Shannon, a competitive debater, starts a relationship with Matt, who pressures her to alter her body to fit his preferences, and Evie tanks a few friendships when she gets together with Wes. In nine interlocking tales, Myers delivers a poignant coming-of-age story set at the turn of the 21st century. Most chapters focus on a specific teenager, with the only exception comprised of college admissions essays, job applications, and a U.S. Marines entry interview. With each section, readers are effectively plunged into the characters’ lives, and they’ll find themselves drawing connections between them from context clues and the range of perspectives about the same events. Each character is compelling, especially when seen through the eyes of their peers, and it all results in an intriguing overarching narrative. Many readers will particularly enjoy the nostalgic references sprinkled throughout, such as AOL Instant Messenger, JNCO jeans, the alcoholic beverage Zima, and Starbucks coffee in its early days. A poignant and nostalgic coming-of-age story, told from multiple viewpoints.

Pretty Girls All In a Row

O’Neill, Kellie | Corvus Loquitur Publishing (475 pp.) | $19.99 paper | July 8, 2025

9798999423337

A woman tries to clear her father’s name after he’s accused of a heinous crime in O’Neill’s thriller.

Ballerina Harriet Fox heads home from New York to smalltown Texas to see her sick father, Mickey. She feels that people in her hometown are openly hostile toward her. Almost immediately after Harriet arrives at her father’s house, the police—including an officer Harriet has personal history with, Calvin—stop by; Harriet learns that Mickey is suspected of killing a little girl. Mickey then dies in police custody. Harriet is anxious to prove her father’s innocence. Not wanting Harriet to stay at the house alone, Calvin offers to stay with her. They find evidence in the house that Mickey might have been up to something, but Harriet struggles to believe it (“I don’t want to think he’s capable of this”). Harriet gets the case file from Calvin and puts together enough information to find the identity of the dead girl; she traces the girl to a trailer park, where her circumstances were so dire that no one seems to miss her. There’s a prominent family in town, the Hawthornes, who could be connected to the dead girl; it also turns out that several Jane Does (all prepubescent, all unidentified) have been found dead, suggesting the presence of a serial predator—and Harriet is determined to prove it’s not her father. Readers get scenes from the anonymous point of

view of someone (or several people?) who means Harriet harm—clues indicate one of the potential predators could be a woman, which makes for an intriguing twist. Some scenes are misleading, deliberately so; there’s a lot going on in the busy plot, bordering on too much. (Harriet has a life back in New York, and more than one love interest in Texas; there are numerous potential suspects and red herrings, including a legendary town bogeyman.) Some of the material, due to the nature of the crimes, is hard to read, and the ending is absolutely brutal. Still, there’s some sharp writing and a lot of tension in the narrative, making this dark crime story a compelling read.

A complicated, tense thriller.

The Things Gods Break

Owen, Abigail | Entangled: Red Tower Books (500 pp.) | $32.99 | October 21, 2025 9781649378538

A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.

Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must

A complicated, tense thriller.

PRETTY GIRLS ALL IN A ROW

liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.

An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.

The Burden of Sparrows

Payne, Debra | Mission Point Press (290 pp.) | $17.19 paper | April 2, 2024 9781961302426

In Payne’s novel, an elementary school janitor helps a troubled boy and is forced to face his own trauma as a result. In Michigan, janitor Buddy Robertson spends most days the same way; he silently cleans up around the elementary

Endearing pals enliven this kinetic, first-rate SF tale.

TEN-TON TITAN TERRIER

school where he works, gardens around his creek-facing property, and settles into his once romantic, now platonic domestic partnership with Mags and their bevy of cats. Buddy’s outlook is less than pleasant: “Life was funny. Crap happened, and sometimes you didn’t think you’d recover from it, but then another crappy thing happened to take your mind off the last thing.” Buddy mainly finds solace in the nature around him, an appreciation passed down from his grandfather. In flashbacks to 1969, when Buddy is a boy, his mother has taken up with James Shearing, an antagonistic and abusive man. The family moves with James to Ohio, and it is there that James sexually assaults Buddy. In the present day, while cleaning the school, Buddy spots Ben Jameson, a student, in the bathroom with a bloody razor. After alerting the principal, it is revealed that Ben is the victim of the same kind of abuse Buddy survived. As Ben and his older sister get closer to Buddy and Mags, and Ben’s case goes to trial, Buddy must contend with accusations of predatory grooming and his own unprocessed trauma. Payne’s moving story contains many evocative layers. Though the narrative tackles heavy subjects, it never reads like misery literature. Payne’s greatest strength is her redolent prose, which is highly detailed and evokes a slight streamof-consciousness quality: “He said their names like a prayer, not just to the darkness of night but sometimes in the middle of the day, at noon, when people were worried about their lunches and the leaves were turning color. His whispers sometimes fell on the weeds in his garden, sometimes on his work mop.”

A poignant debut with beautiful writing.

Kirkus Star

The Summer Knows

Pearsall, Sarah E. | Koehler Books (292 pp.)

$29.95 | $19.95 paper | June 17, 2025 9798888247471 | 9798888247457 paper

In Pearsall’s novel, a single mother must come to terms with her relationship with her estranged grandmother, and with a past she left behind nearly two decades ago.

In 2012, 30-something Adrienne Harris suddenly finds herself without a job after the closure of the restaurant where she worked as head chef. As she contemplates what lies next for her and her teenage daughter, Kali, she grapples with feelings of inadequacy while facing the challenges of financial instability and single motherhood. Then she receives a late-night phone call from family friend Christopher Crane, asking her to return home to the town of Harbor Point to care for the ailing grandmother who raised her. Adrienne feels that she has little choice but to go back to the town she left, pregnant and heartbroken, at the age of 17—even though it was her grandmother who threw her out. When she finds Gran in worse health than she anticipated and the house in serious disrepair, Adrienne realizes that she and Kali will be staying longer than expected. As Adrienne struggles with the idea of reconciliation, she faces the past and the secrets she’s kept, particularly surrounding the identity of Kali’s father. When Quinn Merritt, the handsome neighbor who happens to be Kali’s father, reappears unexpectedly, it creates further tension between mother and

daughter. When fish-market owner Christopher offers her a career opportunity, she begins to imagine a new future. Over the course of this novel, Pearsall has woven a multifaceted story that will appeal to both teenage readers and adults. It effectively explores themes of loss, identity, and belonging, and skillfully employs changing seasons in a way that serves as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of relationships. The shifting narrative, which encompasses past and present-day events, gives the novel an immersive feel, as does the overall relatability of the characters. It all results in a satisfying novel that makes for an exceptional beach read.

An emotionally layered coming-of-age story of how family dynamics and secrets shape lives.

Ten-Ton Titan Terrier

Pepose, David | Illus. by Ornella Greco Mad Cave Studios/Papercutz (168 pp.)

$12.99 paper | October 7, 2025 9781545820469

Humanity’s only chance against an invading force of colossal aliens is a spunky terrier’s piloting skills in this middle-grade graphic novel. When a meteor crashes to Earth, creatures called Bio-Titans wreak havoc. Young Sam Dawson of Proxima City loses his parents in these catastrophic attacks, but among the rubble, he finds a terrier he names Holly. Seven years later, Sam, who’s now about 20 years old, joins the Planetary Elite Protectorate to combat the Bio-Titans—with the ever-present Holly at his side. Sam’s job, he quickly discovers, is to figure out how to power up the Mechacolossus Armor, which has been dormant since landing on Earth at the same time as the meteor. Quite unexpectedly, Holly, after hopping into the pilot’s seat, is able to turn on and operate the tech. She goes on to battle and takes down Bio-Titans called Irradigator, Javelinsect, and Thunderkraken. However, she’s still

an ordinary dog in other ways, and if Sam can’t convince her to listen to him (mostly to prevent her fights’ destructive aftermaths), then he may have to look for a new job. Meanwhile, the Bio-Titan’s attacks are increasing in frequency and seem focused on bigger cities. Writer Pepose grounds this delightful, actionpacked narrative with well-rounded characters, most noticeably Sam and Holly, who remain fiercely loyal to each another. The winsome, irresistible terrier eases tension by playing with a squeaky toy and steals scenes even while sleeping. However, the supporting cast shines, too, including Sam’s boss, Gen. Sterling Armstrong, and his co-worker and romantic interest, Penny, who’s Armstrong’s daughter. The Bio-Titans have wonderful names (including Omnivortex and Howlitzer), and are a constant, convincing threat; as they go head-tohead against the Mechacolossus Armor, they use a few dirty tricks. The story keeps popping with surprising turns that raise the stakes for everyone involved. Greco’s crisp, full-color illustrations sublimely depict a slew of giant monsters and a healthy batch of lively action sequences. The best element of the work, however, is Holly, whose emotions resonate without dialogue via angry barks and growls, puppy-eyed sadness, and head-tilts of confusion.

Endearing pals enliven this kinetic, first-rate SF tale.

Homo Idioticus: Why We Are Stupid and What To Do About It

Pietrasik, Cezary | Belvedere Media (336 pp.) | $17.99 paper | June 23, 2025 9798992410815

Pietrasik presents a guide to understanding historical and current illogical behavior in its many forms. Humankind’s idiotic behavior is wide-ranging and persistent: In the 16th century, the Aztecs made wheeled children’s

toys but never thought of using the wheel as a means of transportation. Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s 1958 campaign to exterminate sparrows caused the bird’s prey, such as locusts, to proliferate. The locusts ate up the crops, which led to a countrywide famine for the human population. In the United States, there are now more than 120 guns for every 100 people despite an unrelenting death toll. Per the author, our stupidity is, in part, biological—the brain itself is to blame. The amygdala, which enables split-second decisions, was useful during dangerous eras when humans lived as hunter/gatherers, but in today’s world, it merely makes us vulnerable to flashy advertising campaigns and savvy politicians. Testosterone is another problem; not coincidentally, Pietrasik asserts, “It is men in their 20s who typically create the most trouble in the world.”

Psychological factors, such as different types of biases, sociological urges to conform, and faith in entrenched institutions (the military, religions, and government) also contribute to our ongoing idiocy, according to the author. To soften his insulting thesis, Pietrasik uses a light, entertaining tone and relies heavily on humor; for example, he explains that some current state laws preventing non-procreational sex were made by embarrassed and “not-that-well-informed dudes from the 19th century.” The author also indicts himself. Relaying the story of Japanese tourists who drove their rental car into Australia’s Moreton Bay because they were following GPS directions, Pietrasik states, “We are all brothers and sisters in stupidity.”

The book is tidily divided into

sections explaining how we are idiots, why we are idiots, and, more positively, a conclusion providing mitigating measures, such as specific types of education. The pictures in the book add interest (portraying subjects as diverse as a woman with bound feet and Donald Trump’s signature on a stimulus check), and the many charts and graphs support and amplify the author’s observations.

Witty and well-designed, this book both educates and entertains.

Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family’s Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer

Reisinger, Brian | Skyhorse Publishing (272 pp.) | $18 paper | September 2, 2025 9781510783898

Reisinger blends memoir and public policy analysis in this ode to America’s farmers. Reflecting on his family’s farm in southern Wisconsin, the author emphasizes how his own experiences are part of the larger “story of the disappearing American farmer.” Since the nation’s founding, per Reisinger, “America’s identity became intertwined with the family farm.” Within less than a century, from the 1930s to today, family farming has declined by almost 70 percent. Combining a personal memoir with a broader consideration of American farming, the book’s astute analysis of public policy and

Witty and well-designed, this book both educates and entertains.

HOMO IDIOTICUS

A funny, thoughtful, and inventive portrait of teen angst.

THE DANBURY CHRONICLES

economic trends highlights “a devastating hollowing out of rural America reverberating across the country,” from orange farms in Florida to dairy farms in Wisconsin to almond farms in California. Bipartisan in his critique of politicians from both sides of the political aisle, the author suggests that the decline of family farmers threatens the vitality of rural communities and the nation itself. As farms are increasingly consolidated under the umbrellas of giant corporations, they are, according to Reisinger’s wellgrounded argument, more prone to disease, invasive pests, and other disasters that would have previously been isolated in smaller farms in the past. As of 2022, more than 43 million acres of farmland are owned by foreign investors who don’t live on the land they farm, which the author connects to rising “ecological decay.” While much of the book’s analysis of the current state of American farming is dire, the concluding chapter offers a multipart plan to revitalize the industry via research and development, more competitive government policies, and the exploration of new market opportunities. While Reisinger has been associated with multiple Republican politicians (serving as a spokesman for U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Ron Johnson, for instance), this nuanced work acknowledges the policy failures of both parties and is backed by more than 180 research endnotes. Supplementing the raw data, personal anecdotes from farmers around the country make this a deeply personal volume. A convincingly argued and often poignant take on the decline of the American farmer.

Learning To Relearn: Supporting Identity in a Culturally Affirming Classroom

Sarfo-Mensah, Kwame | Routledge (336 pp.) | $38.99 paper

November 15, 2024 | 9781625316226

Author, advocate, and educator Sarfo-Mensah uses scholarship in sociology, race and ethnic studies, and pedagogy to challenge the ways in which schools are failing nonwhite students.

For generations, systemic racism has been an underlying social arbiter in American classrooms. Per the author, despite progress in the realms of equity and social justice (including school integration and civil rights), modern schools still fail to support an increasingly diverse student body. To complicate matters, Sarfo-Mensah writes, a contemporary trend in criticizing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, saber-rattling over the use of critical race theory in school curricula, and the proliferation of book banning have made educational reform near impossible. For the author, a Black male educator and product of the American school system, this is a deeply personal issue. He points to the insidious issue of white supremacy as the root of a myriad of pedagogical failures, such as the prevalence of Black students (like him) getting enrolled in special education classes despite their achievements (“the principal insisted that I be placed in a special education class because I came from Africa”), the erasure of Indigenous experience and voices in education, and

the well-meaning intentions of white educators positioning themselves as educational “saviors” of nonwhite students. Sarfo-Mensah offers not just a semester’s worth of scholarly work in race and ethnic studies (condensed and comprehensive for educators of all levels); he also provides resources and strategies to extend readers’ experiences and take concrete steps toward becoming “co-conspirators.” QR codes direct readers to specific articles and multimedia resources that address issues discussed in the text; reflection questions at the end of each chapter create meaningful learning opportunities. The author’s commitment to sharing information and resources knocks down the proverbial ivory tower of academia to make this scholarly work accessible to readers not affiliated with a university. A vital resource—this text confronts systemic racism in schools and offers strategies for equity and justice.

The Danbury Chronicles

Schmand, Timothy | BlazeVOX Books (194 pp.) | $22 paper | July 11, 2025 9781609645182

Schmand blends humor and magical realism in this historical novel depicting two days of a teenage boy’s suburban life. It is November 1969, in Buffalo, New York. Patrick Barry, a 12-yearold boy nicknamed Paddy, lives with his mother, Sabrina, and older brother, Chas. His mother earns money as a sex worker. After her sons call her out over the rotation of men coming and going from her bedroom, she explains she is “a friend… The kind some men need.” Because their father is mostly absent from their life (“He don’t send the money. Like he’s supposed to”), both Patrick and Chas are left to their own devices, with Patrick finding solace in speaking to his reflection—a reflection that talks back—and Chas

letting out his anger as a bully. Throughout the novel, readers glimpse several instances of brotherly love, often in scenes with other residents of the town, showing the interconnectedness of suburban life. The siblings search for their neighbor’s dog, only to ultimately watch it die after being engulfed by fire caused by Christmas lights; they plow their neighbor’s snow because her husband is dead; and they attend a football game together using gifted tickets provided by one of their mom’s “friends.”

This novel delivers a delicate balance of humor and mysticism, encouraging readers to dig deeper into stereotypes that portray darker sides of suburbia. Right away, it’s obvious that something is off—the novel begins with two pages of dialogue between Patrick and his own reflection in which his mirror image actually becomes a character who speaks and affects the plot. At first, this can feel jarring, and makes Patrick seem mentally ill and unreliable. However, as the story continues, the narrative’s magical elements bring a sense of lightheartedness; the bantering between Patrick and his reflection may cause readers to laugh out loud. (For example, speaking about their father, Chas says, “You don’t know him.” Patrick replies, “He doesn’t like me. That’s why he calls on your birthday and not mine.” Patrick’s reflection chimes in, “Stating THE FUCKING OBVIOUS— again.”) The playfulness of Patrick’s reflection balances some of the more difficult topics included in this narrative—such as death, war, molestation, sex work, parental abandonment, and poverty—and creates a safe space for readers to ponder deeper meanings. The device

acts as a buffer that invites introspection, providing readers with a soft landing after being hit with a harder topic. Every so often, a descriptive passage will be so fun and original that one just has to pause in amusement and delight. (It would be remiss not to mention the creative and amusing word choices in some of the descriptions, as when a group of neighbor kids playing hockey is deemed “a single cell organism.”) Finally, the length of the novel perfectly fits the story’s intent. Nothing in the narrative feels like fluff; every element has a point and works with the overarching themes and topics. This is a difficult feat, and one that Schmand handily accomplishes.

A funny, thoughtful, and inventive portrait of teen angst.

Land Shadows

Striegel, R.J. | Open Instructional Narratives (356 pp.) | $24.99 paper | May 1, 2025 9780990414162

Striegel’s historical novel spins the tale of a young immigrant determined to fulfill his father’s dream. It is 1851 on the Isle of Barra in Scotland, and the members of the McNeil family, along with all of their neighbors, are being evicted from their home by their landlord in violent action known as the Clearances. In cahoots with the English, the Scottish landowners are clawing back land that the locals have lived and farmed on for generations. James and Mary McNeil, along with their 9-year-old son, Murdoch, and

A detailed historical look at America’s brutal acquisition of the Western land.

LAND SHADOWS

8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, barely escape the carnage and purchase passage to New York. Only Murdoch survives the journey, arriving in New York as a penniless orphan. He is placed in an orphanage until 1853, when the efforts of a kind teacher are rewarded with Murdoch’s appointment as a printer’s apprentice. His love of reading, and his extraordinary photographic memory, lead him to spend his free time at the public library, where he develops a fascination with law books. It is here that Murdoch is discovered by the successful attorney Henry P. Townsend. By 1868, Murdoch is a lawyer working alongside Henry. He still clings to his father’s words of advice: “Do anything you have to do to get land and to keep it.” The opportunity to do just that is close at hand. The narrative is conveyed from several perspectives, beginning with that of James McNeil and then alternating between the points of view of Murdoch and a third-person narrator. (Near the end of the complex and often tragic McNeil family saga, the voice of the Indigenous girl Murdoch adopts as his daughter takes over.) Striegel is a vividly descriptive wordsmith. He viscerally depicts the stench and deprivation experienced by those travelling to America in steerage, the difficulties of city life as suffered by the underprivileged, and the beauty of the New Mexican territory. The novel also offers a detailed historical look at America’s brutal acquisition of the Western land, including decades-long legal battles and the cruel disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples.

Poignant, disturbing, and engaging, with an emotionally and morally complicated protagonist.

Dear Orchid

Van Den Hende, Carol | Azine Press (190 pp.) | $32.95 | November 11, 2025 9781958223086

Novelist Van Den Hende provides a compilation of essays and short stories reflecting on her life and interests as a writer.

The author tees up this collection of short nonfiction and fiction pieces by noting that “stories can live on, not with a reverberating boom, but with an echo, an insistent tug to revisit what haunts us or heals us.” The opener, “Still, You’re Tall,” is about Van Den Hende meeting triple amputee Iraq War veteran U.S. Army Sgt. Bryan Anderson, an inspiration for her Goodbye Orchid trilogy, which featured the character of Phoenix Walker, an entrepreneur who lost an arm and a leg after saving a man from a suicide attempt at a subway station. The anthology then unfurls in four sections: “Where I Begin,” reminiscences about a childhood shadowed by the illness, then death of her father; “A Coterie of Orchids,” a series of epistolary episodes about pivotal experiences, including meeting her husband and returning to a “post-punk nightclub from the 1980’s”; “Meeting My Heroes,” honoring Anderson and other “real-life warriors who shaped my fiction and my heart;” and “Fate Chance Love,” six short stories about “resilience, compassion, and the redemptive power of second chances,” which her Goodbye Orchid saga also addresses. Fans of

Van Den Hende’s work will recognize and appreciate the warmth and insight in this lovely literary offering, which skillfully connects her range of topics to her formation as a writer. A particularly touching entry is “Dear Mr. Ten-Speed,” about a silent childhood acquaintance to whom she later dedicated her third novel. Certain stories may resonate with some target audiences more than others; “Goldie Forever,” for instance, may appeal most to cat lovers, as it’s about the author’s childhood feline, given away during her father’s illness, which, she wonders, may have been reincarnated as her future pets.

A gracefully executed exploration of an engaging scribe’s thoughts and journeys.

Kirkus

Star

The Butcher and the Liar Woeppel, S.L. | Books Fluent (430 pp.) $19.99 paper | September 11, 2025 9781953865908

In Woeppel’s psychological thriller, a serial killer’s daughter confronts her past and the continuing repercussions of her father’s chilling crimes. In 2015, 35-year-old Daisy Bellon returns to Hellene, Nebraska, for the first time since she was 17. She’s drawn back to town by the closure of the local cattle market, after learning about it from a mysterious newspaper clipping sent to her Chicago butcher shop. The narrative alternates between 2015 and

A gracefully executed exploration of an engaging scribe’s thoughts and journeys.

DEAR ORCHID

the late 1980s, when 9-year-old Daisy first spied her father dismembering a woman named Marina in the basement of their home. Daisy tries to ignore what she saw, enjoying herself while playing with a sweet neighbor named Caleb. However, wherever she goes, the apparent ghost of Marina follows her and talks with her. Daisy’s father’s horrifying acts continue, and he even makes his child his accomplice. The lasting effects of this trauma are evident in 2015 as Daisy struggles with relationships and with questions of honesty. When Daisy’s neighbor is murdered, it brings attention to Daisy’s unsettling history—and how her gruesome past and troubled present are inextricably linked. Woeppel’s prose is strikingly atmospheric, balancing bleak Midwestern landscapes with visceral details that never feel gratuitous. Daisy’s fear of her father is effectively layered with feelings of guilt and complicity; her emotional crisis when he arrives to collect her from Caleb’s house at one point is devastating, with short, powerful sentences that punctuate the complexity of her emotions: “After everything I’d seen, everything I’d done….It felt like I was being submerged.” The novel moves briskly along, drawing readers in with scenes of the father’s crimes and Marina’s spirit early on; the 2015 timeline, sometimes tinged with dark humor, only deepens the emotional resonance. Woeppel’s narrative dances nimbly between a coming-of-age story, a ghost story, a murder mystery, and a dark exploration of trauma; somehow, she manages to make all these different tones harmonize and create something fresh, exciting, and unexpected. A haunting, inventive, and genre-blurring serial-killer tale.

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ISBN: XXX-X-XX-XXXXXX-X