Julie Hale

Children's & YAWomen's HistoryPicture Book

Paying tribute to history’s heroines

Feature by Julie Hale

Young readers will love these stories of extraordinary women who broke new ground and made the world a better place. 

Sure to inspire the explorers of tomorrow, Lori Mortensen’s Away with Words: The Daring Story of Isabella Bird chronicles the evolution of an intrepid 19th-century writer. Raised in the English countryside, Isabella Bird has a delicate constitution, but when her doctor prescribes fresh air and a change of scenery, the course for her future is set. Soon after, she hears news of her uncles’ travels in India and Africa, and Bird begins to dream of following in their footsteps. 

Eschewing the comforts of a settled existence, Bird journeys to America, Tibet and Malaysia, studying new cultures and recording all of her observations in a notebook. Over the years, she writes bestselling books based on her travels and becomes the first woman to join the Royal Geographical Society. Mortensen relates the details of Bird’s life in straightforward prose that has a poetic spark. Illustrator Kristy Caldwell’s clean, colorful depictions of faraway settings and remote locales bring wonderful immediacy to the story. The crux of this unforgettable tale is that if you can dream big and be brave, anything is possible. 

Gloria Takes a Stand: How Gloria Steinem Listened, Wrote, and Changed the World by Jessica M. Rinker delivers a terrific overview of the life of a feminist icon. From a young age, Steinem displays an independent streak, setting her sights on college, even though many institutions refuse to accept women in the 1950s. After graduating from Smith College, she pursues a journalism career, forging her own path and forgoing a husband and family. In 1971, with the help of a friend, she launches Ms., a magazine focusing on women’s issues, and uses her voice and position to bring momentum to the feminist movement.

Through the arc of the narrative, Rinker demonstrates how courage and strength of character enabled Steinem to mature into a leader. Rinker skillfully weaves in quotes from Steinem herself (“Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”) and provides recommendations for further reading. Artist Daria Peoples-Riley renders the marches and rallies in soft, mixed-media illustrations, and her Warhol-esque Ms. covers as the book’s endpapers give the proceedings a fun 1970s feel. Readers will find a heroine to look up to in this vivid and informative book.

Suzanne Slade pays tribute to another icon—featured in the film Hidden Figures—in her fine new book, A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon. A math prodigy from the get-go, Johnson skips grades in elementary school and begins college at the age of 15. Her remarkable talents with numbers land her a job at NASA, but because she’s a woman, she’s barred from important meetings with the organization’s male engineers. Thanks to her skills and determination, Johnson is eventually allowed to join in, and she uses her expertise to help plan space missions, including the one that will put men on the moon for the first time. 

Slade’s use of numbers to underscore the events in Johnson’s life adds an extra dimension to the story, while Veronica Miller Jamison’s out-of-this-world illustrations play up starry skies and math equations written on chalkboards. A Computer Called Katherine arrives just in time for the 50th anniversary of the U.S. moon landing, and this impressive title will connect readers with important STEAM subjects as well as an important role model.

Another math whiz takes center stage in author and illustrator Rachel Dougherty’s Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge. Growing up in 19th-century New York, Emily Roebling has an inquisitive mind. “A bright shiny spark who loved to learn,” Emily gravitates toward math and science. As a young woman, she meets her match in engineer Washington Roebling. The pair marries, and Washington immerses himself in a major undertaking: the building of a bridge that will connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. But when Washington gets sick and can no longer work, Emily steps in, learning about the science of engineering and supervising the project. Thanks to her efforts, in 1883—after almost 14 years—the Brooklyn Bridge was completed. 

Emily radiates confidence and a can-do attitude in Dougherty’s dynamic illustrations, which feature blueprints and other architectural items that give insights into the complex project. A helpful glossary and a bibliography supplement the tale. Youngsters will be captivated by this special story.

Young readers will love these stories of extraordinary women who broke new ground and made the world a better place. 

NonfictionFictionMilitary HistoryMemoirComing of Age

Book Clubs: March 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
TOP PICK
Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, Sigrid Nunez’s The Friend focuses on the powerful connection between a grieving woman and her dog. The unnamed female narrator inherits Apollo, a 180-pound Great Dane, from a late professor friend who committed suicide. As she comes to grips with her friend’s death, the narrator finds herself increasingly concerned for Apollo, who is also clearly mourning his owner. Because pets aren’t allowed in her apartment building, the narrator refuses to leave him alone for extended stretches of time. Although her concern for him keeps her at home—and causes her friends to question her emotional well-being—the relationship revitalizes both woman and dog. Nunez delivers a compassionate, sharply realized study of one woman’s experience with grief, and she does so without lapsing into sentimentality. The Friend is an unforgettable exploration of loss, healing and canine love.

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam
Affluent white couple Rebecca and Christopher decide to adopt the infant son of their late nanny, Priscilla, who was black. Alam’s portrayal of the fraught nature of contemporary race relations rings true in this empathetic novel.

Eat the Apple by Matt Young
In his debut memoir, Young uses a wide range of narrative tones and techniques to tell the story of his years as a Marine, and how unprepared he was for the horrors that awaited him in Iraq.

Aetherial Worlds by Tatyana Tolstaya
Fantasy and reality intermingle in these compelling short stories, which have earned Tolstaya comparisons to Gogol and Chekhov.

The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
Nour’s family relocates to Syria when her father dies, but war forces them into exile. Her story is linked with that of a 12th-century girl who also fled her home in this powerful novel of the refugee experience.

The best new paperback releases for book clubs.
NonfictionReligion & Spirituality

A full set of tools for a fulfilling life

Feature by Julie Hale

Spring is the perfect time to freshen up your outlook—to cultivate new habits and attitudes that can lead to a more satisfying life. These four inspiring books are designed to help you thrive. Here’s to new possibilities!

Fear: We all submit to its grip every now and again. But if the feeling is getting in the way of your goals, it’s time to take action. Carla Marie Manly shows readers how to turn this emotion into a tool for growth in her new book, Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend. In this warm, welcoming guide, Manly, a clinical psychologist, digs deep into the subject of fear, exploring its connections to anxiety and childhood trauma. She also offers tips on how to constructively cope with worry, self-doubt and chronic stress—the forces that so often hold us back from happiness.

Breaking out of fear-based patterns is a crucial move on the journey to joy, Manly says, and she outlines a range of strategies, including visualization exercises and breathing techniques, for doing just that. Perhaps most importantly, she helps readers be receptive to “transformational fear”—a source of productive energy that can be a motivator for positive change, whether it’s making that dreaded doctor’s appointment or discussing relationship issues with a significant other. Sure, fear can paralyze, but it can also galvanize. Pick up a copy of Manly’s book, and prepare to feel empowered.

It may be small in size, but Diana Winston’s The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness brims with big-hearted advice on achieving inner peace. Winston is the director of mindfulness education at the UCLA Semel Institute’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. She describes natural awareness as the mind “at rest,” a condition of “simply being—without agenda.” Once you know how to tap into it, Winston says, natural awareness can help you shut out the pressures and demands of daily activity and increase your sense of focus. 

In brief chapters, Winston probes the meaning of natural awareness and leads readers through “glimpse practices” that can be performed at any point during the day or folded into a meditation routine. These simple prompts—including evocative word phrases and body-focused exercises—will help awaken natural awareness. Winston writes for both the experienced awareness-seeker and the novice, and she supplements her advice with insights into her own life and mindfulness evolution. When “you feel a sense of contentment not connected to external conditions,” Winston writes, you’re experiencing natural awareness. Her gentle instruction can result in a more open, responsive and balanced way of being.

Another take-action guide designed to bring about fundamental change is Shunmyo Masuno’s The Art of Simple Living: 100 Daily Practices From a Japanese Zen Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy. This international bestseller has helped people around the world quiet the chaos of everyday life, stress less and appreciate more. In the book, Masuno—chief priest of the 450-year-old Kenko¯-ji Temple in Japan—offers forthright advice rooted in the teachings of Zen, which, he writes, is “about habits, ideas, and hints for living a happy life.” 

Divided into four parts, the book provides practical steps for becoming more present, as well as suggestions for building confidence and letting go of anxiety. Masuno’s tips are easy to execute. Simple changes—like waking up 15 minutes earlier than usual to savor the morning, or creating a pocket of quiet at work by doing a “chair zazen” (sitting up straight and breathing slowly)—will make a difference in your daily flow. Spare, evocative line drawings by artist Harriet Lee-Merrion accompany each lesson. Through this inspiring guide, Masuno shows that every step you take on the path of personal growth, no matter how small, can have a major impact.

Personal growth can be a faith-based process—one that often involves unexpected changes of heart, as bestselling author Barbara Brown Taylor demonstrates in Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. Taylor, a professor of religion at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, is candid about the ways in which teaching has informed her faith. Over time, her own Christian views have shifted. 

“I found things to envy in all of the traditions I taught,” Taylor writes. In Holy Envy, she shares stories of spiritual discovery from campus and beyond, mixing accounts of classroom life into astute considerations of the world’s differing belief systems. She wants her students to recognize that “religion is more than a source of conflict or a calculated way to stay out of hell. Religions are treasure chests of stories, songs, rituals, and ways of life that have been handed down for millennia.” On field trips, Taylor and her students visit houses of worship in their many forms—synagogues and mosques, shrines and centers for meditation—and the excursions prove transformative. Heartfelt, thoughtful and beautifully written, Taylor’s book will give readers who are undertaking their own spiritual journeys a sense of purpose and perspective.

Spring is the perfect time to freshen up your outlook—to cultivate new habits and attitudes that can lead to a more satisfying life. These four inspiring books are designed to help you thrive. Here’s to new possibilities!

Children's & YA

Playful poetry young readers will love

Feature by Julie Hale

We’re celebrating poetry’s impact and importance with five fabulous new collections, each filled with verses that will inspire the wordsmiths of tomorrow.

If you’ve ever wondered how to walk on Mars, distinguish a goblin from an elf or frighten a creepy monster, then you simply must get a copy of The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-to Poems. Instruction on the aforementioned activities can be found in this ingenious illustrated anthology, which features wonderful works from world-class poets—including Douglas Florian, Marilyn Singer, Nikki Grimes and Kwame Alexander—selected by Paul B. Janeczko (The Death of the Hat). In “How to Build a Poem,” Charles Ghigna offers fitting inspiration that sums up the collection’s aim: 

“Let’s build a poem

made of rhyme

with words like ladders

we can climb”

Playful illustrations by Richard Jones bring unity to the assortment of voices, forms and poetic modes that fill this playful anthology. Who knew a how-to collection could be such a hoot?

Poetry rocks! If you require proof, just check out Rhett Miller’s No More Poems!: A Book in Verse That Just Gets Worse. Miller, whose day job is songwriter and frontman of the alt-country band Old 97’s, has produced a rowdy, rollicking, irresistible collection of poems, many of them written from a kid’s perspective. In pieces about too-early bedtimes, quibbling siblings and mysteriously missing homework, he brilliantly channels the mindset of a typical tween. Miller is a wordplay pro with the skills to set up extended rhyme schemes. Featuring bold mixed-media illustrations by Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Dan Santat, this inspired collection sings from start to finish.

Avery Corman’s Bark in the Park!: Poems for Dog Lovers is a fun frolic with canines of nearly every conceivable breed. Corman is an expert at articulating what makes dogs unique, whether the pooch is a cocker spaniel (“an always on-the-run dog, / A floppy ears and fun dog”), an Afghan hound (“Although he’s noble and aloof . . .  he still says ‘woof!’”) or a pug (“Is the Pug cute / Or is the Pug ugh?”). Corman’s poems are compact—many consist of a single stanza—and filled with alliteration. Artist Hyewon Yum’s renderings of the pups (and their respective people) are spot-on. A sunny, silly, buoyant book, this is a winning tribute to a kid’s best friend. 

In Isabelle Simler’s stunning volume Sweet Dreamers, it’s nighttime in the wild, and critters are quietly snoozing. Through minimalist poems, Simler explores their sleeping habits. A delightful menagerie of animals on land and in the sea—koala bear, cat, ant, giraffe, seahorse, stingray and dolphin—populate this lovely collection. Simler employs a spare writing style, yet she perfectly captures each creature in repose. The bat “dreams upside down,” she writes, “toes clinging to the ceiling, / kite-fingers folded like a blanket.” From the sloth, “slung like a hammock,” to the mighty humpback whale, who “nosedives / into sleep” in the ocean, “balancing on her head / or the tip of her tail,” Simler conjures up original imagery for each animal that readers of all ages will appreciate. Her dense, detailed illustrations, highlighted with vibrant touches of color, depict the glittering majesty of the natural world at night. The perfect way to wind down the day, Sweet Dreamers is the ultimate bedtime read.

Allan Wolf takes readers on an unforgettable galactic journey in The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You Into Space and Back Again. Using a variety of poetic forms, including the sonnet and the elegy, Wolf writes about eclipses, meteorites, shooting stars, astronauts, cosmonauts and famous scientists. But this isn’t just straight-laced science; Wolf’s poems brim with mischief. He depicts Jupiter, the solar system’s largest occupant, as “the planets’ bodyguard,” whose “gravity keeps space debris / from landing in the yard.” And Saturn is a diva who’s proud of her planetary bling: 

“My rings are often copied,

but they never get it right.

The secret’s in the extra ice

I add to catch the light.” 

In her colorful, cosmic collages, illustrator Anna Raff imbues the planets with plenty of personality (the Sun sports Wayfarer-inspired shades; Neptune strums a guitar). From takeoff to touchdown, this space mission is a success. 

We’re celebrating poetry’s impact and importance with five fabulous new collections, each filled with verses that will inspire the wordsmiths of tomorrow.

Children's & YAPicture Book

New picture books help youngsters cultivate confidence

Feature by Julie Hale

Full of sunshine and cheer, these four picture books focus on helping children gain courage, confidence and self-esteem. These spirit-lifting stories will awaken young readers to the wonders of nature, and they just may become emboldened to embrace their unique qualities and step outside to make a mark on the world.

Written by Jeanne Willis, Stardust is a perspective-changing story about the importance of self-worth. The book’s young female narrator longs for attention, but she can’t compete with her overachieving older sister—the star who excels at everything. Her big sis is a better knitter, the winner of the big costume contest, and she was also the one who found mom’s wedding ring after it goes missing. Yep, definitely star material. The narrator feels overlooked and underappreciated until Granddad tells her a story about the universe and the way stars are created. He assures her that she’s as bright as her sister. “You just shine in different ways,” he explains. Briony May Smith adds dazzle to Willis’ prose through lively illustrations of the narrator—a spunky figure with red hair—on imaginary travels with Granddad in outer space. As Willis demonstrates in this winning story, establishing a sense of self-esteem in children is critical from the get-go. Stardust can help get the conversation started.

In Pat Zietlow Miller’s heartening story Remarkably You, the author pays tribute to the traits that make people unique and emphasizes themes of acceptance. A skillful poet, she packs nuggets of wisdom into nimble rhymes: “No matter your volume, your age, or your size, / YOU have the power to be a surprise. / You have the know-how. / You’re savvy and smart. / You could change the world. / Are you willing to start?” Illustrated with nuance by Patrice Barton, Remarkably You features a diverse lineup of youngsters, each with myriad talents and strengths, who come together to forge friendships. Through beautiful scenes of the kids at work and at play, Barton depicts the different ways children can contribute and enhances the story’s uplifting mood. It’s never too early to encourage children to own who they are. A book that can serve as a confidence-booster in the classroom, Remarkably You reminds readers to appreciate and cultivate the qualities that make us all special.

Sure to ignite a sense of possibility in readers, Shelley Thomas’ poetic new offering, From Tree to Sea, celebrates the pleasures of getting outside and the lessons that children can glean from their surroundings. Touching down in a variety of locations including the desert, the ocean and the rocky heights of a steep mountainside, this appealing picture book follows adventurous girls and boys as they make exciting discoveries about their environments. Throughout the book, Thomas plays up the aspects of nature that can provide comfort and assurance to young readers. Her accessible text makes the title a perfect read-along: “Trees show me how to stand tall. / Even when the wind / tries to blow me down, / I dance with the breeze. / I do not fall.” Filled with creative rhymes and arresting imagery, her verses capture the multifaceted quality of the great outdoors. The book’s colorful, vibrant illustrations, contributed by artist Christopher Silas Neal, will intrigue young explorers. Simple on the surface, this sweet story imparts important truisms about the planet we call home.

Nature’s many valuable messages are also at the center of The Amazing Idea of You. Featuring poetic text by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, this book looks at the cycles of nature through the eyes of a young girl. From a bird’s egg to a caterpillar’s cocoon, the story demonstrates how life abounds with transformation, potential and mystery. Apple in hand, the girl thinks about the secret inside the fruit—“the idea of a tree” contained within its seeds. When she starts an orchard of her own, she bears witness to the results: “Where you once planted seeds, now an orchard teems with creatures singing, springing, fluttering, winging.” Artist Mary Lundquist provides warm, wonderful depictions of earth’s busy inhabitants such as leaping frogs, a colorful butterfly and a waddling goose with her goslings. Wild’s accessible verses reveal important connections between birth, growth and renewal. From start to finish, this is a first-rate introduction to the workings of the world and the magic of sprouting things.

Full of sunshine and cheer, these four picture books focus on helping children gain courage, confidence and self-esteem. These spirit-lifting stories will awaken young readers to the wonders of nature, and they just may become emboldened to embrace their unique qualities and step outside to make a mark on the world.

NonfictionFictionComing of Age

Book Clubs: April 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Top Pick
Rachel Cusk concludes her acclaimed Outline Trilogy with Kudos, which finds the narrator, a British writer named Faye, in a new marriage. During a literary festival and travels in Europe, Faye encounters people in various stages of disillusionment about their lives and domestic affairs. As ever, she proves a willing listener while acquaintances pour out their stories. From the self–centered journalist who comes to interview Faye and hardly stops talking, to publicists, writers and others of literary ilk, Faye crosses paths with a jaded cast of characters who tell all. Meanwhile, she keeps in contact with her two sons via phone, conversations that bring tenderness to the book. Like its predecessors Outline and Transit, this novel is understated yet fierce—a beautiful and melancholy exploration of the female experience, precisely rendered by its author. Followers of the series will find this final installment deeply satisfying.

Look Alive Out There
by Sloane Crosley
A smart, companionable presence on the page, Crosley cements her reputation as one of today’s leading nonfiction writers with this collection of shrewdly observed pieces that touch on topics as wide-ranging as fertility, volcanoes and life as a single woman in New York City. 

Varina
by Charles Frazier
Varina, wife of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, leaves her home as the Civil War ends and fends for herself and her children. Frazier chronicles her remarkable life in this richly detailed novel.

The Overstory
by Richard Powers
Powers works on a grand scale to tell a grand story about the interconnectedness of humankind and nature as nine disparate characters come together to preserve an area of virgin forest.

Tin Man
by Sarah Winman
Winman has crafted a heartbreaking narrative about love and redemption in her powerful third novel, which explores the relationships and disparate paths of three young people.

Top Pick Rachel Cusk concludes her acclaimed Outline Trilogy with Kudos, which finds the narrator, a British writer named Faye, in a new marriage. During a literary festival and travels in Europe, Faye encounters people in various stages of disillusionment about their lives and domestic affairs. As ever, she proves a willing listener while acquaintances […]
FictionSpeculative Fiction

Book Clubs: May 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

TOP PICK
Sheila Heti’s brave, unflinching novel Motherhood tells the story of one woman’s indecision about having children. The book’s unnamed narrator, a writer approaching the age of 40, is surrounded by friends who are starting families. She lives in Toronto with Miles, her boyfriend, who has a daughter from another relationship. In the midst of this domesticity, she’s plagued by uncertainty about reproducing. She’s honest about her ambivalence but fearful that she’ll one day regret not having kids of her own. Heti combines poignant first-person storytelling with a compassionate consideration of the traditions and implications of motherhood. The novel is a rich meditation on society’s expectations, personal agency and the evolving roles of women. Selected as a best book of 2018 by the New York Times and NPR, this provocative novel is sure to resonate with female readers, regardless of parental status.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Enlisted by England’s MI5 at the age of 18, Juliet Armstrong becomes enmeshed in a web of espionage and betrayal that will haunt her for a lifetime in Atkinson’s thrilling World War II novel.

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
When Romy Hall kills her stalker, she gets slapped with two life sentences. The story of her transition to life in a California correctional facility makes for a riveting read in Kushner’s latest novel.

Severance by Ling Ma
In Ma’s haunting, satirical take on the apocalypse, a young Chinese-American woman continues to live and work in Manhattan despite a fever that spreads across the globe and turns victims into zombies.

There There by Tommy Orange
Orange’s impressive debut chronicles the struggles and triumphs of 12 Native American characters in California, offering a complex, compelling look at contemporary Native life.

Sheila Heti’s brave, unflinching novel Motherhood tells the story of one woman’s indecision about having children.
NonfictionParentingMemoir

The fine art of parenting while female

Feature by Julie Hale

The connection we share with our mothers—and/or the state of being a mother ourselves—can range from loving and reverential to difficult and draining. No matter how you feel about motherhood, these books offer insight for all. 

In his compelling memoir, Mama’s Boy: A Story of Our Americas, Dustin Lance Black, writer of the Oscar-winning screenplay Milk, chronicles the life of his brave, determined mother, Anne, and the evolution of their relationship. Anne was born into a family of poor Louisiana sharecroppers and was paralyzed by polio as a child, yet she went on to have a fulfilling career and marry three times. She brought up Black and his two brothers in a Mormon household, which led to friction as Black came of age in the 1980s, grappling with his identity and concealing his sexual orientation from Anne and the rest of his family. But as he entered film school and became involved in the gay marriage movement, he and Anne discovered common ground. The story he tells is one of perseverance, acceptance and, ultimately, hope. “If my mom and I could find the bridges between us, then perhaps our neighbors and those closest to us could too,” he writes. “Perhaps we could live on a higher plane than politics.” 

A group of today’s leading authors explore freighted family bonds in What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence. Assembled by Michele Filgate, a contributing editor at Literary Hub, this stirring collection of essays offers diverse takes on the ties that bind mother and child. In “Her Body/My Body,” Nayomi Munaweera recalls growing up in a family that, due to her unstable mother, was filled with upheaval and violence. André Aciman shares poignant memories of his deaf mother in “Can You Hear Me?” Filgate, in the book’s powerful title essay, writes about the stepfather who abused her and how his actions affected her mother. Other contributors include Alexander Chee, Carmen Maria Machado and Kiese Laymon. Readers seeking to make sense of their own family histories will find much to savor in these eloquent, insightful essays.

The incomparable Anna Quindlen explores a modified form of motherhood in her delightful new memoir, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting. With the arrival of little Arthur, the child of her eldest son, Quindlen writes, “I became something different than I’d ever been before.” As a grandmother, she finds fresh use for her maternal skills and works to redefine her place in the family, a process that proves at times to be bittersweet. “We were mother and father, most of us, before we became grandmother and grandfather,” she writes. “And because of that it is sometimes hard to accept that we have been pushed slightly to the perimeter.” Along with sharing episodes from her time as a newly minted nana, she contemplates developments in childrearing and reflects on her own past as a mom. Quindlen puts her stamp on topics that are timeless, and her faithful followers will welcome this revealing, beautifully crafted account of family life.

Journalist Dani McClain delivers an electrifying assessment of contemporary parenting in We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood. Given the current social climate, “motherhood is deeply political,” McClain says, as black mothers contend with inadequate healthcare and widespread racial prejudice. A frequent contributor to The Nation and Slate, McClain herself is the mother of a young daughter, and she wrote We Live for the We as an exploration of how best to raise a black girl in today’s world. McClain interviews activist mothers working to bring about social change to find out how they’re handling parenthood. The perspectives of these women—artists and academics, health care workers and teachers—are honest and heartfelt. McClain structures the text around the life of a child, moving from babyhood to the tween years and beyond while looking at parenting issues such as education, religion and sex. Earnest and inspiring, We Live for the We offers invaluable guidance for bringing up the next generation of black Americans.

Providing a weird, wonderful overview of family life in the 19th century, Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent’s Guide to Raising Flawless Children is a catalog of extremely questionable child-rearing techniques collected by brilliant satirist Therese Oneill. She presents this strange-but-true slice of Victorian life in the form of a Q&A between a genial narrator advocating for old-school approaches and a somewhat befuddled modern-day mother. “Here you will learn about discipline, morals, and the devastating repercussions of allowing a child to eat fruit,” Oneill writes. (In Victorian times, fruit was thought to be harmful to youngsters.) Typical disciplinary measures included dunking a child’s head in a water barrel, spankings and, in the classroom, the use of a dunce cap. Mothers who take themselves to task for being imperfect parents need only peruse Ungovernable to feel better about their efforts.

The connection we share with our mothers—and/or the state of being a mother ourselves—can range from loving and reverential to difficult and draining. No matter how you feel about motherhood, these books offer insight for all.  In his compelling memoir, Mama’s Boy: A Story of Our Americas, Dustin Lance Black, writer of the Oscar-winning screenplay […]
Children's & YAPicture Book

Tales of sun, sand and surf

Feature by Julie Hale

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Waiting for Chicken Smith, written and illustrated by David Mackintosh, is a quirky, touching book that captures the essence of summertime friendships. At the beach, a young boy awaits the arrival of his pal Chicken Smith, who stays in a nearby cabin each year with his father. The boy looks back on summers spent in the company of Chicken and his dog, Jelly, as they trekked to the lighthouse in hopes of seeing a whale. “Chicken Smith knows the beach like the back of his hand, and I do too,” the boy says. But Chicken never shows, and a rental sign appears on the house he usually stays in. On the bright side, the boy connects with his own pesky little sister, Mary Ann. Mackintosh’s charming line drawings are deceptively simple, and the story’s text appears to have been pecked out on a typewriter. Innovative visuals and a poignant plot make this story a winner.

Sea Glass Summer, written by Michelle Houts and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a beautifully depicted story about family, discovery and the mysteries of nature. Thomas is spending the summer with his grandmother at her island home. Down on the beach, they pick up bits of sea glass, and Thomas wonders how the pieces got there. “I’m not sure,” his grandmother says, “but your grandfather used to say that each piece of sea glass has a story all its own.” At night, Thomas dreams about the origins of the glass. In one dream, a schooner sinks into the sea, taking with it broken jars and bits of crockery. Ibatoulline’s gorgeous, realistic illustrations capture the fine details of the natural world and Thomas’ sense of excitement. Readers will be intrigued by this tale and the lessons it imparts about being attentive to the wonders of the great outdoors.

An essential book for young beachcombers, Seashells: More Than a Home provides a fascinating overview of 13 kinds of shells. In her accessible text, author Melissa Stewart covers the form, function and native habitat of each shellfish, from the beautifully curved chambered nautilus and the heart-shaped cockle to the Atlantic bay scallop with its rows of fine ridges. Stewart uses analogies from everyday life to help readers understand how these “treasures from a secret world beneath the waves” house clams, snails, oysters and other creatures. Artist Sarah S. Brannen brings the narrative to life through watercolor scenes of boys and girls exploring the seashore and collecting specimens. Precise sketches and diagrams of the shells lend a naturalist feel to the proceedings. Suggestions for further reading and a listing of mollusk types round out the volume. This fun, fact-filled book will inspire up-and-coming collectors while equipping them with important information.

A friendship is born in author and illustrator Kate Pugsley’s sweet seaside story, Mermaid Dreams. Little Maya arrives at the beach with her parents on a picture-perfect day. She’s eager to play, but they’re ready to relax. Left to her own devices, Maya climbs on her turtle float and falls asleep. She dreams that she’s riding on the turtle’s back in the ocean. Together, they dive down into the sea and find “a secret underwater world” filled with bright fish of every imaginable kind. There, Maya becomes a mermaid with a gorgeous blue tail. She swims among the coral and meets an octopus and a group of seahorses, and she even meets another mermaid. When Maya wakes up from her dream, she’s no longer in the watery wonderland, but a little girl named Pearl is standing by her turtle float, ready to play. Pugsley’s illustrations have a naive, childlike simplicity that kids will connect with. Bursting with color and a sense of adventure, Pugsley’s book has the makings of a summertime classic.

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Calling all cat lovers

Feature by Julie Hale

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.

Kathi Appelt’s Max Attacks is an uproarious chronicle of crazy cat behavior. Max, depicted by illustrator Penelope Dullaghan as a blue kitty with black stripes and wide whiskers, is a practiced prankster. Over the course of the book, he scales the screen of a window in pursuit of a lizard, chews up a pile of dirty socks, toys with a loose shoestring and topples a bowl filled with fish. Small wonder, then, that by book’s end, this cat is ready for a nap. Appelt tells the story through rhymed lines of verse: “Max’s paws are made for pounces. Max’s legs are built for trounces.” Filled with unexpected perspectives (check out the close-up of Max with his nose pressed against the fishbowl), the illustrations by Dullaghan are colorful and dynamic. No doubt about it: Readers will be mad about Max.

Acclaimed adult author Joyce Carol Oates is also a pro when it comes to writing children’s books, as she proves with The New Kitten. The only cat in the Smith household, Cherie is something of a feline matriarch—mature, with a purr “as loud as a motor” and very territorial. But when a new kitten named Cleopatra arrives in the Smith household, Cherie is appalled as she watches the interloper chase balls, climb the cat tree and play with her food. Yet the Smiths adore Cleopatra. Feeling left out and unloved, Cherie runs into the woods. She follows a bunny, who disappears into a burrow. After she gets trapped in a tree by two fierce foxes, Cherie realizes it’s time to go home—and time to make peace with Cleopatra. Artist Dave Mottram contrasts the two felines in his winning illustrations: Cherie is big and commanding, while Cleopatra has shining eyes and plenty of kitten appeal. This heartwarming story is sure to become a cat classic.

An unlikely pair of critters become pals in Coll Muir’s fun, fanciful Can Cat and Bird Be Friends?. When Cat (big and black, with considerable claws) first encounters Bird (small as a golf ball and just as round), he’s ready for a snack. Yet he’s met with a question: Why do cats eat birds? “I don’t know,” Cat replies. “It’s always been like that.” Forgoing tradition, the two decide to be friends, only to discover that they don’t have much in common. Cat likes to stretch; Bird prefers to fly. Cat grooms himself; Bird would rather bathe in water. They’re about to give up and go their separate ways when Bird mentions a hobby (painting!) that Cat also happens to enjoy. In the blink of an eye, a bond is formed, and the pair are next seen with easels and brushes, working side by side. Muir’s spare yet expressive illustrations perfectly complement this droll narrative of unexpected connection. Here’s to odd couples! 

In Caroline Magerl’s lovely Maya and the Lost Cat, a little girl gains a new feline friend. Through her window, Maya spies a cat perched high on a rooftop. She uses every lure imaginable to coax the creature back to safety—to no avail—until she sets out a tin of fish. Then, “Pad pad thump. In perfectly quiet fur boots, Cat came to see—and ate every oily silver morsel!” Maya starts knocking on doors in an effort to locate Cat’s human parents. With a little direction from her furry companion, she eventually comes to a houseboat bobbing at the end of a windswept pier that’s home to Fritz and Irma, who are overjoyed to see their lost friend. Before Maya departs, Cat brings her a special present—a kitten she can call her own. Magerl’s charming watercolor pictures make this title especially memorable.

Never fear—Ghost Cat, written and illustrated by Kevan Atteberry, is nowhere near as eerie as the title implies. A young boy senses the presence of a cat that seems remarkably similar to the one he used to have but has since lost. He can never actually catch the spectral animal, as it is “a quick, dark blur. Here, and then not here,” the boy says. When strange incidents start happening—a bowl crashes in the kitchen; a book falls in the den—it becomes clear that there’s a creature in the house making mischief. Atteberry portrays the trickster kitty as a sleek, blue figure outlined in white. This mystery has a happy ending, as the ghost leads the boy to discover a living kitten, making them a happy group of three. Readers will be intrigued by Atteberry’s whimsical tale of feline love.

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.
NonfictionFictionSatireMemoir

Book Clubs: June 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Ingrid Rojas Contreras' impressive first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, takes place in 1990s Bogotá, Colombia, when Pablo Escobar held the country in a grip of terror. The novel is narrated mainly by 7-year-old Chula Santiago, who lives with her family in the comfort of a gated community thanks to the money her father makes as an oil worker. When a maid named Petrona comes to work for the Santiagos, Chula befriends her. Petrona, who is 13, grew up in a slum. Terrorists kidnapped her father and brothers, and she is trying to support the rest of her family. As the situation worsens in Bagotá, Chula's family is able to leave. Petrona, meanwhile, becomes involved with a suspicious young man nammed Gorrión. Contreras juxtaposes the two girls' worlds with authenticity and covincing detail, and her portrayal of the social divisions and dangers of Colombian life is riveting and remarkably assured. 

French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Affluent widow Frances Price comes to terms with the loss of her fortune while her son meets up with the woman he loves—and her fiancé—in deWitt's sly, sophisticated novel.

Southernmost by Silas House

In House's latest novel, small-town pastor Asher Sharp upsets his congregation when he tries to help a gay couple after a disastrous flood, an act that affects his relationship with his conservative wife and their young son and makes Asher question his own faith.

Still Livesby Maria Hummel

Kim Lord's self-portraits, inspired by female murder victims are the talk of the LA art scene. But when Kim goes missing, a young editor becomes enmeshed in the mystery of this stylish, suspenseful thriller. 

Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively
In this delightful, beautifully wrought memoir, Lively meditates on how gardening has impacted her personal evolution and her work. 

 

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras Ingrid Rojas Contreras' impressive first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, takes place in 1990s Bogotá, Colombia, when Pablo Escobar held the country in a grip of terror. The novel is narrated mainly by 7-year-old Chula Santiago, who lives with her family in the comfort of a […]
FictionSatire

Book Clubs: July 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Starred review
The story of a friendship that spans decades and continents, Frances de Pontes Peebles’ The Air You Breathe is the perfect poolside read. The novel is narrated by wealthy, elderly Dores, who recalls her childhood in the 1930s on a sugar plantation in Brazil and her strong connection with Graça. Dores works in the kitchen, while Graça, whose family owns the plantation, enjoys all the advantages money can provide. The two girls become close, develop a passion for music and move to Rio. Dores proves to be a gifted songwriter, while Graça is a singer of rare talent. Making herself over as Sofía Salvador, Graça becomes a samba queen of world renown. The novel charts the course of the two friends’ lives—years marked by competitiveness and jealousy, romantic affairs and mutual love. De Pontes Peebles moves skillfully through eras and settings, from Miami to Rio to Hollywood, capturing the essence of each. Fans of Elena Ferrante will find much to relish in this richly realized tale.

So Much Life Left Over by Louis de Berni`eres
De Bernières traces the lives of army pilot Daniel Pitt; Rosie, to whom he’s unhappily married; and his brother, Archie, who’s in love with Rosie, in this richly detailed historical novel set in the 1920s and ’30s.

A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
New York City professor Andrei finds himself reassessing his life while attempting to get his bearings as he cares for his grandmother in Moscow.

The Reservoir Tapes by John McGregor
In this innovative novel, a reporter talks with the town’s inhabitants about the days leading up to a teenage girl’s disappearance. The process of grieving, the importance of storytelling and the bonds of community all come into play in McGregor’s poignant story.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Alex and Suzette have tested their 7-year-old, Hanna, for a range of disabilities, but in truth, Hanna enjoys causing Suzette grief by not speaking. The fraught relationship between mother and daughter takes a twisted turn in this disturbing novel.

Starred review The story of a friendship that spans decades and continents, Frances de Pontes Peebles’ The Air You Breathe is the perfect poolside read. The novel is narrated by wealthy, elderly Dores, who recalls her childhood in the 1930s on a sugar plantation in Brazil and her strong connection with Graça. Dores works in the […]
FictionMysteryGothic Fiction

8 killer page-turners scarier than sunburn

Feature by G. Robert Frazier & Julie Hale

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
If your dream vacation is getting cozy in a tiny English village

Jackson Brodie returns to bookshelves after a nine-year hiatus in Big Sky. Brodie is doing the typical PI work of spying on an unfaithful husband in the village of North Yorkshire when he encounters a man about to jump to his death from a cliff. Brodie intervenes and, in doing so, becomes embroiled in a complex case of murder, betrayal and sex trafficking. Meanwhile, police detectives Reggie Chase and Ronnie Dibicki are also caught up in the dizzying plot when their routine assignment to interview witnesses in a cold case brings them into contact with some of the same individuals as those in Brodie’s case. Atkinson expertly balances plotlines and viewpoints from chapter to chapter, giving readers a panoramic understanding of the characters, their motivations and the consequences of their actions. All of it coalesces into a wild, frantic finish in which each plotline is neatly tied together.

★ Your Life Is Mine by Nathan Ripley
For fans of “My Favorite Murder,” I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and all things Manson-­related

Blanche Potter thought she had put her past behind her. She never talked about what happened when she was 7 years old. She changed her last name. She moved to a new city. She started a life of her own. But as the daughter of Chuck Varner, a deranged mass shooter, Blanche realizes the past may be buried, but it never goes away completely. Blanche learns that lesson the hard way in Nathan Ripley’s shocking new novel, Your Life Is Mine. Things are going well in her career as an up-and-coming filmmaker when she is told that her estranged mother, Crissy, has been shot and killed at her trailer home. News of Crissy’s death, brought to Blanche by a sleazy journalist who knows of her past, opens the floodgates of her memories and traumatic childhood. But as she tries to reconcile her past experiences with the recent death of her mother, someone else is gunning for her as well. The cult of Chuck Varner lives on, and it’s up to Blanche to stop it before his crazed follower can strike again. Ripley pulls no punches here, creating a tense and atmospheric story of personal identity and survival, while asking whether you can ever escape your past.

Gone Too Long by Lori Roy
If you’re looking  for a mystery that’s almost too real

Lori Roy portrays the rise of white supremacy movements to chilling effect in Gone Too Long. Set in modern-­day Simmonsville, Georgia, the story follows Imogene Coulter, the daughter of a Ku Klux Klan member, as she buries the sins of her father but unearths an even darker mystery. While sorting through her father’s KKK hideout, Imogene discovers a young boy. Along with Beth, a child abducted 10 years ago who has been raising the boy during their captivity, Imogene begins to discern the truth about her father’s role in the ordeal. But with another Klan member determined to reassert control of the situation, Imogene’s own life and the lives of her family are in peril. This darkly addictive tale is ultimately an engrossing portrait of survival and perseverance. With richly detailed prose, Roy pulls readers close into Imogene’s and Beth’s perspectives, creating empathy for both characters as their trauma and the threats against them, past and present, unfold.

Murder in Bel-Air by Cara Black
If your dream vacation is stylishly stalking through the streets of Paris

Sydney Leduc had one job: pick up her granddaughter from her play group and bring her home. But when Sydney fails to show up, her daughter Aimée is thrust into a convoluted case of murder and international intrigue in her attempt to find Sydney. Author Cara Black swiftly builds up the tension in her riveting new Aimée Leduc mystery, Murder in Bel-Air, en route to an action-packed finale. While retrieving her daughter in Sydney’s place, Aimée witnesses police investigating the death of a homeless woman at a nearby convent’s soup kitchen. She quickly learns that the last person to speak with the victim was none other than her own mother, adding to the mystery of Sydney’s whereabouts. The discovery of a bundle of cash stashed away in the convent’s laundry further complicates matters. Before long, Aimée and her unique cast of teammates are caught up in an international conspiracy involving a potential coup, a downed airplane and a dirty bomb. Hounding her every move are agents of the DGSE (France’s external intelligence agency), the CIA and a mercenary known as the Crocodile. Rich in Parisian settings and vernacular, Murder in Bel-Air is easily accessible and enjoyable to new and longtime series readers alike. 

The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell
For fans of Fingersmith and Alias Grace

Laura Purcell captures the menace and gloom of Victorian-era England in The Poison Thread. Dorothea Truelove is rich, attractive and intelligent. As an act of philanthropy, she spends time with the women incarcerated at Oakgate Prison. Dorothea’s pet fascination is phrenology—using the shape of an individual’s skull as a gauge for temperament and disposition—and she believes the technique can reveal criminal inclinations. When she meets prisoner Ruth Butterham, Dorothea is keen to test her theory. Ruth, who has been charged with murdering the owner of the dress shop where she was employed, is resolute in her claim that she can kill through the power of her stitches. The tale is narrated in turns by the two women, and Purcell skillfully contrasts their voices and stories, spinning a fascinating mystery that’s rich in disquieting detail and atmosphere.

Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong
If you’re looking for a mystery with a deeply emotional hook

Kelley Armstrong’s gripping thriller, Wherever She Goes, is narrated by librarian and troubled mother Aubrey Finch. Aubrey’s marriage to successful lawyer Paul is strained, but they’re still raising their 3-year-old daughter together. Haunted by memories of past mistakes and her parents’ deaths, Aubrey finds that the life she’s built with her family is slowly eroding away. At the park one day, Aubrey watches helplessly as a little boy is forced into an SUV. She contacts the police, but when no further information about the abduction surfaces, they question her claims—and her mental health. A practiced hacker, Aubrey begins hunting for the child via computer, putting her own safety and reputation on the line. Armstrong balances the mystery of the kidnapping and the tension of Aubrey’s inner conflicts with moving scenes of a fragile marriage as Aubrey and Paul work to save their relationship. The latest from the bestselling author of Watcher in the Woods makes for pulse-racing summer reading.

★ Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman
For fans of The Secret History and Gone Girl 

Cambria Brockman’s riveting debut, Tell Me Everything, takes place on the campus of an exclusive New England college, where six friends form a destructive connection. Introvert Malin comes out of her shell at Hawthorne College, bonding with five other students: Ruby, Max, John, Khaled and Gemma. They’re a close-knit group, but as graduation approaches, their relationships begin to unravel. Gemma drinks too much, and John is increasingly cruel to Ruby, who is now his girlfriend. Malin, meanwhile, excels academically while concealing her very dark past. The anxieties of senior year peak at semester’s end as she struggles to uphold her self-assured facade. She isn’t the only one in the circle who’s hiding something, and when a murder occurs, the six friends’ lives change forever. Narrated by Malin, whose intelligence and cunning drive the story, Tell Me Everything is an edgy exploration of loyalty and human desire. Readers in search of a true page-turner will savor this electrifying novel.

★ The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson
If you’re looking for a thriller you absolutely cannot predict

Fans of Paula Hawkins will be thrilled by Allison Dickson’s The Other Mrs. Miller. Phoebe Miller is starting to believe her best years are behind her. Heiress to a fortune left by her philandering late father, she passes the days in a haze of alcohol. Arguments with her husband, Wyatt, add to her feelings of discontent. But her life takes an unexpected turn after the Napiers move in across the street. Ron, a doctor; Vicki, his wife; and Jake, their attractive and flirtatious teenage son, appear to be a model family. Vicki is eager to be friends, but Phoebe doesn’t quite trust her. She also suspects she’s being watched by the driver of a car that keeps returning to the neighborhood. When Phoebe receives a series of frightening notes that may have some connection to her father, she begins to fear for her life. With an impossible-to-predict plot and a very unexpected murder, Dickson’s book is required reading for suspense addicts. 

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson If your dream vacation is getting cozy in a tiny English village Jackson Brodie returns to bookshelves after a nine-year hiatus in Big Sky. Brodie is doing the typical PI work of spying on an unfaithful husband in the village of North Yorkshire when he encounters a man about to […]

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