2book multi

Children's & YAPicture Book

Enterprising American women

Feature by Julie Hale

This month, we pay tribute to four sensational ladies who each left a permanent imprint on American culture. The picture books below show these creative women—each a genius in her own right—doing what comes naturally: making history.

HAND-STITCHED INSPIRATION
The flag that inspired Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” was sewn in 1813 by Mary Pickersgill, with help from a servant and a handful of relatives that included her young daughter, Caroline. In Long May She Wave: The True Story of Caroline Pickersgill and Her Star-Spangled Creation, Kristen Fulton delivers a spirited retelling of their endeavor from Caroline’s perspective. Designed to be visible to the British from far away, the giant flag—comprised of 350,000 stitches—rides the Baltimore breeze during the War of 1812. When the British attack the city, filling the air with fiery explosions, Caroline’s world turns upside down. Her reactions to a wartorn Baltimore are dramatized in dazzling block-print illustrations by Holly Berry. Featuring a biography of the Pickersgills and the lyrics to Key’s classic, this stirring picture book doubles as a first-rate patriotic primer.

MAKING HISTORY IN THE KITCHEN
Deborah Hopkinson serves up a tasty morsel of Americana with Independence Cake: A Revolutionary Confection Inspired by Amelia Simmons, Whose True History Is Unfortunately Unknown. The year: 1789. The place: the topsy-turvy household of Mrs. Bean and her six boys. Very much in need of assistance, Mrs. Bean brings in Amelia Simmons, an orphan “as strong and young as the new nation itself,” to set matters straight. Amelia does so with brisk efficiency, and she proves to be a natural in the kitchen, whipping up hearty puddings and honey cake with ease. Thanks to her culinary talent, Amelia is soon presented with a revolutionary opportunity—the chance to bake for the country’s first president, George Washington. Inspired by the true story of Amelia, who wrote America’s first cookbook, Hopkinson’s biography features illustrations by the inimitable Giselle Potter. Readers will want seconds—and more!—of this delicious tale.

A YOUNG ARTIST BEAT THE ODDS
Jeanne Walker Harvey’s accessible picture book biography, Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines, is a handsome tribute to the visionary sculptor. Young Maya develops a love of nature during walks through the forest near her house. Her artist-father and poet-mother, both Chinese immigrants, encourage her creativity. Another early interest—architecture—grows while Maya is in college. When she enters a contest to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the project combines all of her passions. And when her design wins out over 1,421 entries, the judges are stunned to discover they picked the work of a woman who had yet to finish college. The story of how Maya defies their expectations will inspire readers of all ages. Dow Phumiruk’s illustrations—precise and colorful, yet clean and unfussy—bring added appeal to this intriguing look at the life of a legend.

REACHING FOR THE STARS
Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing by Dean Robbins is the thrilling story of the woman who made the Apollo 11 mission possible. Young Margaret has a head for numbers and a fascination with astronomy. In school, she studies hard. When she pursues a career in computer science, she’s one of the only women in the industry. At NASA, where she’s in charge of a team of scientists, Margaret writes computer code for the Apollo missions, saving the day when Apollo 11 runs into trouble in space. Lucy Knisley’s bold, vibrant illustrations feature shimmering night-sky constellations, clunky, old-school computers and super-duper spacecraft. Young readers will love Margaret, with her oversize glasses and can-do attitude. This is a standout tribute to a brilliant, brave female who was unafraid to test the boundaries of her own intelligence—and who was awarded in 2016 the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This month, we pay tribute to four sensational ladies who each left a permanent imprint on American culture. The picture books below show these creative women—each a genius in her own right—doing what comes naturally: making history.

Children's & YA

Books to spice up your next birthday bash

Feature by Alice Cary

My children's birthday parties are events I anticipate with equal parts delirium and dread. With younger crowds, I often start by reading a book out loud. At my twin daughters' recent 5-year-old bash, for example, 11 of their friends raced into our family room on a late spring day that featured bone-chilling wind and snow flurries. In other words, a potentially hazardous situation: lots of energy combined with no outdoor games every mother's nightmare. Thankfully, the entire crowd sat with rapt attention for two picture books. What happened afterwards is another story. In any case, here are some excellent choices for your next fiesta.

To get everyone in the mood, start with Rocko and Spanky Go to a Party, a lively new book and the first in a series of adventures featuring twin sock monkeys. The duo was conceived by a team of two sisters living in the Boston area, Kara and Jenna LaReau, the first of whom happens to be an award-winning children's book editor. Their simple story combines excitement and tension as Rocko and Spanky receive an invitation to a party and worry over the right gift to bring, what to wear and whether they've got the right time and place. Indeed they do, as the party turns out to be a surprise for them! The artwork is both retro and visually tactile, featuring a hodgepodge of materials that include digital photography, acrylics, crayons, "one pair of Red Heel socks," sequins, glitter, maracas and googly eyes. Rocko and Spanky are definitely cool cats, even though they're monkeys.

If you know a birthday princess, she's bound to fall in love with The Princess's Secret Letters about an exchange between a girl named Lucy and the real princess, Isabella, she invites to her party. As they write each other, we learn all sorts of royal secrets. For instance, Princess Isabella actually likes pizza much better than the official menu of cucumber sandwiches, and she prefers gifts of in-line skates to silver candlesticks and teapots. Of course, what the princess loves most of all are secret visits, and she makes a surprise one to little Lucy's party, swinging her around the room in her arms once she arrives. This book also comes with a special pack of notes and envelopes, so little princesses can write their own secret messages. This pretty, pink book, written by Hilary Robinson and illustrated by Mandy Stanley, is packed with girl-appeal.

Rebecca Emberley's new Piñata! will definitely be a standard feature of parties at our house. It's excellent on many levels, starting with its bilingual Spanish-English text. Using mixed-media collage throughout, Emberly begins with a short one-page history of the tradition, explaining that it may have actually started in China. With a bright red background on every page, the colorful piñata and objects that fill it stand out in high relief. An assortment of these items adorns each page, such as whistles, yo-yos, jewelry, toy bugs, confetti and candy. At the end, readers can guess the names of these objects, then make their own piñata just like the one in the book.

Finally, Chloë's Birthday . . . and Me by Giselle Potter is a refreshingly different birthday tale, not all sweetness and song. It's a riveting story of sibling rivalry, based on the author's own childhood, which was spent in Europe with her puppeteer parents. As Giselle narrates the story, she and her family are in France and it's her little sister's birthday, which makes Giselle absolutely green. Giselle and her mom go gift shopping, finding a perfume called "Chloë." Every single detail of the day is focused on her sister, so when they family goes to the beach to celebrate, Giselle is so miffed that she buries the perfume in the sand. The gift is lost for a while, but eventually turns up. In the end, even Giselle learns to enjoy the day. The tale is real without being one bit preachy. Potter's funky art, often featured in The New Yorker, is in an almost primitive style in pastel shades, and the book also includes a birthday card inside with Giselle on the cover.

Take it from me try some books at your next birthday party, and you'll have a group of excited but calm revelers on hand.

 

Alice Cary writes from Groton, Massachusetts.

My children's birthday parties are events I anticipate with equal parts delirium and dread. With younger crowds, I often start by reading a book out loud. At my twin daughters' recent 5-year-old bash, for example, 11 of their friends raced into our family room on a late spring day that featured bone-chilling wind and snow flurries. In other words, a potentially hazardous situation: lots of energy combined with no outdoor games every mother's nightmare. Thankfully, the entire crowd sat with rapt attention for two picture books. What happened afterwards is another story. In any case, here are some excellent choices for your next fiesta.

NonfictionMilitary HistoryMemoirAmerican History

Clueless about Dad’s gift? There’s hope

Feature by Keith Herrell

With Father’s Day approaching, it’s time to wrap that present you’ve had hidden away for months. Wait, you have nothing hidden away and no idea what to buy Dad? Here are five books that will be even more welcome than a box of golf balls.

What Father’s Day list is complete without an unabashedly sentimental—yet realistic—look at the father-son relationship from first-person experience? Two and Two: McSorley’s, My Dad, and Me, by Rafe Bartholomew, fills that bill admirably. It also serves as a history of McSorley’s Old Ale House, a 163-year-old institution in New York’s East Village, as well as a compendium of anecdotes about things that can only happen at a beloved neighborhood bar (nowadays, alas, also a frequent tourist stop). Bartholomew, a sports writer and editor, writes lovingly of his father, known as “Bart” over the course of his 45-year bartending career, and also gives us some of his own coming-of-age glimpses along the way. If you can survive St. Patrick’s Day at McSorley’s, we learn, you can survive just about anything. But just when you think this is strictly a fathers-and-sons book, some of the best writing appears in the chapter dealing with the author’s mother, Patricia, who conquered alcoholism only to find life had an even bigger punch in store for her.

BROTHERS IN ARMS 
Fatherhood takes a back seat to brotherhood in The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring Him Home, but the family ties are just as strong. They extend to the author, Sally Mott Freeman, a former speechwriter and public relations executive who is the daughter of one of the brothers. Her curiosity piqued by a family argument, she sought to unravel the story of her uncle Barton’s life as an MIA naval ensign during World War II (it’s no spoiler to note that he was actually a prisoner of war) and the efforts of his two brothers—also Navy men—to find and rescue him even as they fight their own battles. Meanwhile, the home fires are tended by a tenacious mother who never hesitates to pick up her pen and give the powers that be—all the way up to President Roosevelt—a piece of her mind. Tenacious in her own way, Freeman uses archives, interviews and diaries to uncover Barton’s tragic story along with those of his brothers and fellow prisoners, who endured unspeakable horrors in Japanese prison camps as war raged in the Pacific.

TEAMS AT THE TOP
Want to see Dad exercise his long-dormant debating skills? Just give him a copy of The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams and watch him search for his favorite team in author Sam Walker’s Tier One ranking. He’ll hunt in vain for baseball’s Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s, or the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. (Hint: He’ll find Jordan in the chapter titled “False Idols.”) Rest assured, the New York Yankees (1949-53 edition) did make the cut, along with the Collingwood Magpies of Aussie Rules football and 14 other teams. If your team isn’t on the list, Walker is ready with the reasoning for the snub (for example, the lack of a “true championship,” i.e., Super Bowl, for part of their existence kept the 1960s Green Bay Packers from Valhalla). And perhaps not surprisingly, given Walker’s background at The Wall Street Journal (he founded its daily sports report), the book doubles as a guide to success in business, with pointed commentary on what makes leaders effective or ineffective (go easy on the vitriol directed at teammates, Mr. Jordan).

WHAT A CATCH
Dad can get in touch with his inner Walter Mitty with Shark Drunk: The Art of Catching a Large Shark from a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean. The seemingly sane author, Morten Strøksnes, and an eccentric artist friend decide they want to haul up a Greenland shark—bigger than the great white, and thus the world’s largest flesh-eating shark—from the oceanic depths off the coast of Norway. Think ­Moby-Dick, but shorter and funnier with enough random factoids to fill a whale’s belly. Waiting for a shark to bite (the line, that is) gives ­Strøksnes plenty of time to muse on such topics as Norwegian history and mythology, seafaring tales, space exploration and even the shark itself. (The “drunkenness” referred to in the title comes from eating the flesh of the Greenland shark, which contains compounds used in the nerve gas trimethylamine oxide.) Ranging over a full year, the quest for more than a nibble yields satisfying insights into friendship, aspirations and the thrill of the chase. When the end comes, it’s almost anticlimactic.

CLIMBING HIGH
Warning: Reading The Push: A Climber’s Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits can be a queasy experience, for at least a couple of reasons. For starters, the author of this absorbing memoir, expert rock climber Tommy Caldwell, spends a fair amount of time thousands (yes, thousands) of feet above ground level, protected only by a web of ropes, attempting to conquer the Next Big Climb. His targets include El Capitan’s 3,000-foot Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park, which he conquers in 2015 with climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson. But Caldwell’s relationship with his gung-ho, adventure-guide father is also cringe-inducing and provides insight into his motivations and doubts, along with at least one failed relationship. If Caldwell’s name rings a bell, it’s possibly because one of his international expeditions ended with him and his companions—including the woman who would become his first wife—being held hostage by militants in Kyrgyzstan in 2000, escaping only when Caldwell pushed a captor off a nearly sheer dropoff. Somehow the captor survived, but it’s clear the incident still haunts Caldwell. Between the thrills, this book will haunt the reader, too.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

With Father’s Day approaching, it’s time to wrap that present you’ve had hidden away for months. Wait, you have nothing hidden away and no idea what to buy Dad? Here are five books that will be even more welcome than a box of golf balls.

Fiction

Pages crinkled by salt and sun

Feature by Savanna Walker

Whether your toes are buried in the sand or you’re looking for a story to transport you to sunny climes, these lighthearted novels of family secrets and life-changing summers are the best beach reads of the season.

Summer in New England means blue skies and charming villages dotted along an endless coastline. Jamie Brenner’s The Forever Summer takes readers to Provincetown, Massachusetts, for an exceptionally expansive, warmhearted take on familiar beach-read tropes: a long-awaited family reunion and surprising revelations about parentage.

Nick Cabral fathered not one, but two daughters before his untimely death, a secret that isn’t uncovered until half-­sisters Rachel and Marin are adults. The Forever Summer’s secret weapon is the older generation of women: Nick’s mother, Amelia; Amelia’s wife, Kelly; and Marin’s mother, Blythe. A former ballerina who gave up her artistic dreams when she married a powerful lawyer, Blythe is haunted by her own demons but utterly devoted to her daughter’s well-being. And Amelia and Kelly’s idyllic marriage is overshadowed by the sacrifices they’ve made to be with one another. Brenner provides a poignant look at the gay community of Provincetown by fleshing out Amelia and Kelly’s circle of friends—many of whom are in their twilight years, endeavoring to spend their last days experiencing all the happiness they were robbed of by oppression and disease.

Brenner’s willingness to engage with grief and loss and her ability to braid them with the hesitant joy of a new family coming together make The Forever Summer a satisfying read.

ISLANDS APART
Elin Hilderbrand is one of the queens of beach reads, and she continues her reign with The ­Identicals. Identical twins Tabitha and Harper Frost are separated by the 11 miles of water between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. When circumstances require them to switch islands and take over each other’s responsibilities, the twins, who haven’t spoken in more than a decade, find themselves embroiled in romantic entanglements and long-delayed confrontations.

The setup is a bit contrived, and a narration from the voice of the islands’ collective population can be distracting. But it’s impossible to resist Hilderbrand’s gift for characterization and building satisfying drama. Tabitha’s daughter, Ainsley, who originally seems like an exaggerated nightmare of a teenage girl, is a standout character. Tenderly portrayed, she’s privileged and lonely—old enough to act out, but still young enough to crave her mother’s affection.

Hilderbrand deftly lays the groundwork for the reveal of what drove the twins apart. She paces the novel’s revelations just right, balancing them against careful character development so that when all is revealed, the reader may not agree with Tabitha’s and Harper’s decisions, but they can’t help but deeply empathize.

CHILDREN OF CELEBRITY
Another set of estranged sisters take tentative steps toward each other in Jane Green’s The Sunshine Sisters, set in Westport, Connecticut. The three daughters of Hollywood starlet Ronni Sunshine have all adapted to their mother’s cruel behavior in different ways, growing away from each other as a result. But when Ronni announces that she has a terminal illness, the daughters must return home to her, and to each other.

The novel opens with scenes from the sisters’ childhoods, giving the reader each character’s perspective and making the clashes between the sisters much more affecting. All three are impressively well drawn, and Green isn’t afraid to give them some ugly traits. Lizzy’s single-minded pursuit of her own ambitions could have been monstrous if Green didn’t make her such an effervescent presence. And while her sister Nell’s aloof nature has given her admirable restraint when dealing with their mother, Green also shows how Nell’s withdrawal from life has robbed her sisters of a protector—and may stand in the way of a suprising, affecting romance.

TREADING WATER
Maeve Donnelly’s life revolves around sharks, and her frequent trips to study her beloved predators have allowed long-simmering conflicts to fall by the wayside. In Ann Kidd Taylor’s The Shark Club, those conflicts come to a head when Maeve visits her grandmother’s beachside hotel in Palermo, Florida.

While there’s no shortage of interesting characters in Maeve’s orbit, Taylor zeroes in on Maeve’s development almost exclusively. It’s a decision that enriches the book to a great extent: With Maeve as the clear protagonist, the beachside locale isn’t glamorous window dressing but a constant reminder of the core purpose of Maeve’s life. Ultimately, all of Maeve’s choices relate back to the sea and her history with it, from her complicated relationships with two love interests to her reaction to her brother’s novel.

The Shark Club stays true to the logical, calm nature of its protagonist, but still evokes the subtle pain and thrill of being unmoored.

GIRL GONE WILD
We’re off to Taormina, Italy, for an utterly deranged mélange of The Bling Ring and The Parent Trap. Chloé Esposito’s debut, Mad, is escapist fare that not only leaves behind the boundaries of the United States but also any semblance of morality. It’s awash in gorgeous Italian men and designer clothes, and both get more than a little bloodstained.

Esposito’s protagonist, the recently unemployed Alvina Knightly, accepts an invitation from her twin sister, Beth, to visit her Sicilian beachside mansion. Enraptured with and jealous of Beth’s lavish lifestyle, not to mention her extremely handsome husband, Alvina allows herself to be talked into impersonating her sister for one afternoon, kicking off a wild ride of murder and mayhem. Alvina runs headlong into her sister’s shadowy and dangerous world, getting increasingly in over her head as her outrageously misplaced self-confidence grows.

The first in a trilogy, Mad is deliciously over-the-top, with a protagonist you’ll never forget and an ending that promises more chaos to come.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Whether your toes are buried in the sand or you’re looking for a story to transport you to sunny climes, these lighthearted novels of family secrets and life-changing summers are the best beach reads of the season.

Fiction

Heart-pounding suspense for summer

Feature by G. Robert Frazier

If you’re seeking edge-of-your seat thrills and psychological suspense to keep you turning pages long into the humid summer nights, then look no further. From exotic locales like the Greek islands to the seamy underbelly of New York City, these books have the right ingredients for an entertaining escape.

Years and miles apart will change people. So will wealth—or a lack of it. Ian Bledsoe discovers this the hard way in Christopher Bollen’s engrossing new novel, The Destroyers. Set on the Greek island paradise of Patmos, the novel reunites Ian with his childhood friend and college pal, Charlie Konstantinou, who may be Ian’s best chance of getting out of a precarious situation. Ian is on the outs with his affluent New York family after stealing $9,000, and he’s currently on the run following a failed business venture in Panama (rumored to involve drugs). Charlie, who hails from a wealthy family of his own, readily offers Ian a job with his tourist-centric yacht company. Ian is further surprised to be reunited with his former college girlfriend, Louise Wheeler, who has also found a refuge of sorts amid Charlie’s eccentric circle of friends and extended family. But before Ian gets a chance to repay Charlie for his generosity, Charlie vanishes after a business trip, leaving his friends and family to fend for themselves. Bollen takes his time unraveling the seeds of deceit, obsession and secrets, building suspense with each page.

MAP QUEST
Obsession takes many forms. In Colin Harrison’s new novel, You Belong to Me, the consequences of various obsessions are often messy and deadly. Successful immigration lawyer Paul Reeves is obsessed with his hobby of collecting rare archival maps. His neighbor, Jennifer Mehraz, is obsessed with her long-lost lover, former Army Ranger Bill Wilkerson. Jennifer’s husband, Iranian-American entrepreneur Ahmed Mehraz, is obsessed with her. Paul, being the good neighbor and friend that he is, soon becomes entangled in Jennifer, Bill and Ahmed’s complex love triangle, even as he tries to focus on acquiring an elusive, rare archival map of New York City. Events quickly careen out of control as neither Paul’s nor Ahmed’s wealth can easily buy the two out of the situations they’re in, forcing the men to resort to other, less reliable alternatives to get what they want. Harrison, who is the editor-in-chief at Scribner and the author of eight previous novels, explores how far each of these characters will go to conquer their obsession and attain the unattainable. You Belong to Me is an intriguing, moody tale of love, lust and avarice—and great summer reading.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
You’ll want to buckle up and hold on tight for Jordan Harper’s debut novel, She Rides Shotgun, a fast-paced, energetic noir about an ex-convict and his 11-year-old daughter. Nate McClusky isn’t your typical protagonist—he’s done a lot of bad things in his lifetime, both beyond and behind bars. But his compassion for his daughter, Polly, drives everything, making their quest for survival one readers can embrace. Nate makes the drastic mistake of killing a member of the Aryan Steel gang in jail, resulting in a bounty being put on his head and on the heads of his wife and child. Nate is too late to save his wife, but he manages to get to Polly, setting off a cat-and-mouse chase. Along the way, Nate becomes the dad he never was to his child, a spunky and smart girl whose infatuation with her long-missing dad grows the longer they are together. Polly, in turn, grows up much too fast as Nate begins training her to fend for herself. By turns heartwarming and shocking, this book entertains on numerous levels. Harper is also a talented screenwriter, and it’s easy to envision this electric story unfolding on the silver screen. Get in and go along for the ride.

PREDATOR AND PREY
Author Gin Phillips thrusts Joan and her 4-year-old son, Lincoln, into the middle of a life-and-death scenario in one of the summer’s most action-packed and emotionally harrowing thrillers, Fierce Kingdom. The pair are just about to wrap up a visit to their local zoo when the sounds of gunshots shatter the otherwise tranquil environment. Joan’s motherly, protective instinct immediately kicks in as the pair hide from the shooters amid the zoo’s exhibition spaces. Their only connection to the outside world is through Joan’s text message exchanges with her husband, who is unable to reach them. Joan must rely on her own wits and courage to see them through this frightening situation in one piece, but with a young child in tow who sees everything as a game, doing so proves easier said than done. Fierce Kingdom unfolds at a rapid-fire pace with each chapter upping the tension and danger.

LAST WOMAN STANDING
Stephen King recently praised Final Girls by Riley Sager as “the first great thriller of 2017,” an assessment we’ll second. This suspense-packed novel—written by an established author under the Sager pseudonym—follows the life of Quincy Carpenter, the lone survivor of a horror movie-like massacre of five college friends that happened 10 years ago during their vacation at Pine Cottage. Somehow Quincy eluded the assailant long enough to reach a nearby cop for help, but the memories of that harrowing ordeal—or more precisely the trauma-triggered absence of those memories—never let go. When the lone female survivor of a similar ordeal dies and a third “Final Girl” of another incident winds up on her doorstep, Quincy is immediately thrust into yet another do-or-die scenario. To survive this time, Quincy will have to solve the mystery of her past. Sager quickly ratchets up the mystery and the psychological suspense in classic slasher-movie fashion. Unlike those movies, however, Sager takes time to delve into the head of the main character, creating an emotionally charged experience readers won’t soon forget.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If you’re seeking edge-of-your seat thrills and psychological suspense to keep you turning pages long into the humid summer nights, then look no further. From exotic locales like the Greek islands to the seamy underbelly of New York City, these books have the right ingredients for an entertaining escape.

FictionMystery

Chasing clues through time

Feature by Barbara Clark

Looking to take a journey through time with some compelling, out-of-the-ordinary sleuths this summer? Then look no further than these four new titles that are sure to keep you immersed in times gone by and flipping pages long into the night.

SEARCHING FOR SANCTUARY
In Defectors, Joseph Kanon’s smart new thriller, two American brothers meet for the first time in 12 years. It’s no ordinary reunion, though both have a backstory as bright young CIA operatives in the late 1940s. Frank, the elder, was exposed as a Communist spy and fled to Moscow in 1949 to avoid prosecution.

A decade later, Frank has written a memoir, and younger brother Simon, now a publisher, travels to Moscow in 1961 to read and edit the manuscript. But Frank appears to have another agenda. He signals to Simon that he wants to escape back to the states.

Defectors offers a story of divided loyalties and fast-moving Soviet action. Kanon's evocative language and masterful ability to ratchet up the suspense will immerse readers in the conflicted, claustrophobic world that awaits those whose political passions may waver or change. In Kanon’s chilling narrative, every line is a zinger. In this gray world of watchers and watched, where does ultimate loyalty lie?

A BELOVED CITY'S ANCIENT SECRETS
Outrageous face masks are the required costume during annual carnival celebrations just before Lent in 1358 Venice. The masks' grotesque features throw into stark relief the revelry, brutality and hidden secrets of this fabled city, where Brit Oswald Lacy and his mother have traveled as a stop in their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

While billeted there with the family of John Bearpark, an English merchant, young Oswald embroils himself in gambling debts with John's Italian friends. When a secretly gay member of the Bearpark household is killed, the victim leaves a murky trail that pushes the Oswald into imminent danger. Oswald's mother volunteers him to solve the case, an arrangement he quickly accepts as a way to pay off some of his mounting debt. In an eerie twist, a fearful apparition from Oswald’s life in London follows him from the shadows, grasping at him until he is forced to look upon its face.

S.D. Sykes, author of two previous Lord Somershill mysteries, spares readers none of the 14th century’s malodorous streets and dark alleyways as Oswald tries to unmask the killer and save his own life.

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
The State Counsellor, by popular Russian author Boris Akunin, is the latest Erast Fandorin detective novel to be made available to his U.S. fans.

In 1891, an assassin in clever Fandorin disguise boards a train, killing a Russian official who’s being secretly transferred to Siberia. The famous detective (home at the time practicing gymnastics with his Japanese valet) quickly proves his innocence and sets off in pursuit of the revolutionary Combat Group responsible for the murderous deed.

Fandorin’s exploits involve the usual intriguing women, including a seductive, fiery-tempered revolutionary and an informer who notably receives visitors while heavily veiled, sitting in a darkened room.

The State Counseller is full of irony and subtle humor as well as glitz and excitement, from an attack in a bathhouse to a daring escape from a railway carriage to Fandorin’s impossible rooftop jump using a trick called “The Flight of the Hawk.”

SHADOWY SECRETS IN PRAGUE
Murder and betrayal are everyday functions of life at court in Wolf on a String, an amazing novel that showcases author Benjamin Black’s extraordinary ability to thrust readers into the world of late 16th-century Prague.

Bright young scholar and alchemist Christian Stern is thrust into the intrigue at court when he arrives in Prague and is immediately commissioned to find the murderer of the Emperor Rudolph’s new mistress, discovered with her throat cut. Sorting out who may be his enemies, who friends, assumes overriding importance as the young man is twisted into relationships at court with deceitful, dangerous men of high office out to gain favor and riches.

By the end of this sometimes overwrought but intensely atmospheric novel, readers may have little sympathy for young Stern, but a heightened appreciation for anyone who could survive even a day or two in the midst of the pervasive, dark circuitry of court rivalries in an era still struggling with the intricacies of civilization.

It’s Private Eye July at BookPage! All month long, we’re celebrating the sinister side of fiction with the year’s best mysteries and thrillers. Look for the Private Eye July magnifying glass for a daily dose of murder, espionage and all those creepy neighbors with even creepier secrets.

Looking to take a journey through time with some compelling, out-of-the-ordinary sleuths this summer? Then look no further than these four new titles that are sure to keep you immersed in times gone by and flipping pages long into the night.
Fiction

A return to old-fashioned storytelling

Feature by Robert Weibezahl

The many collections of short stories that are arriving in time for summer reading are an indication that the genre is not just alive and well, it's thriving. And for readers who long ago tired of the kind of postmodern, ironic stories that usurped the pages of literary quarterlies in the 1980s and '90s, the good news is that the old-fashioned art of storytelling seems to be making a strong comeback. Some new collections by familiar writers and a couple of noteworthy debuts are among the best of a shelf full of possibilities.

Antonya Nelson was selected by The New Yorker as one of 20 best writers for the 21st century, which is a nearly impossible accolade for any writer to live up to. Hyperbole aside, though, Nelson is a masterful writer, and Female Trouble, her fourth collection of stories, is filled with compelling, sometimes funny tales of love and loss and, well, trouble. Nelson's characters are so well-defined and her plots so well-delineated that it often seems as if she manages to cram a whole novel's worth of treasures into the 20 pages of a story. That's the case here with stories like Incognito, in which a woman re-encounters a brash, outrageous and decidedly fictional alter ego she and her high school friends created when they wanted to do the things good girls didn't do, or "The Other Daughter," about the less-than-perfect sister of a beautiful, if tragic, prom queen type. In the aptly named title story, a befuddled man gets involved with three very different women, two of whom just happen to be patients at the local psychiatric hospital. But he is unable to commit, it seems, even to the committed. As a writer, Nelson makes no false moves. She understands and empathizes with all of her characters from the inside out and, thanks to her assured talents, so do we.

Anyone who enjoyed Mark Winegardner's sprawling urban novel Crooked River Burning might be surprised, and pleased, to discover that he can also write polished little gems in the short story form. As with the novel, many of the stories in That's True of Everybody are set in or around the author's native Cleveland. Others are set in unassuming Midwestern and Southern locations, where ordinary people go about the unadorned business of getting through life. Some, like the bowling alley owner who has lost the essential connection with his two grown daughters in "Thirty-Year-Old Women Do Not Always Come Home," manage it with an iota of sangfroid. Others, like the teenage bride faced with an impotent groom in "Song for a Certain Girl," or the college dropout shacking up with a pool hall pick-up in Travelers Advisory, take their lumps and move on. After all, what else can they do? That is the underlying question in many of the stories by Winegardner an author who sympathizes with, but never patronizes, his characters. Less sympathetic, though, are three wickedly acerbic, nominally interconnected stories grouped as Tales of Academic Lunacy: 1991-2001, in which he skewers the insular groves of academia. There is The Visiting Poet and his serial conquests, The Untenured Lecturer whose sorry writing career leads him astray and Keegan's Load, in which an aging, ineffectual professor frustrates the rest of the faculty's aims and ambitions. Since Winegardner himself is a creative writing professor at Florida State, we need not doubt the accuracy of these unforgiving and entertaining tales.

Adam Haslett takes his characters from the fringes of society the repressed, the mentally ill, the orphaned, the grieving and the dying. But do not be deterred by this dark fact, for his You Are Not a Stranger Here is a very impressive debut. Haslett is an expert storyteller, who draws the reader in with his compassion, then methodically unravels unexpected truths. In his stories we meet a young man shutting out the world as he succumbs to AIDS, a boy so thrown by his mother's death that he can find solace only in brutally submissive sex with a hateful classmate, a callow doctor marooned in a rural practice whose own perceived suffering pales against the mental anguish of a depressed farm wife. In many of the stories, there is a connection made between two unlikely souls, a connection that, if it does not provide salvation, at least provides some measure of comfort. In "The Storyteller," a man adrift in Scotland meets an odd woman whose dying son supplies a purpose to go on. A high school boy forges an unusual relationship with an old woman battling the demons of memory in The Volunteer. Haslett's perceptive stories are far-flung in setting London, New England, Scotland, California but his themes are grounded in one place: the troubled human mind.

Madeline Thien is a talented young Canadian writer, whose first collection Simple Recipes arrives on this side of the border heralded by none other than that author of glorious short stories, Alice Munro. Though she is the daughter of Malaysian-Chinese immigrants, Thien doesn't much use this uncommon cultural upbringing in her stories, which is bit disappointing. Only the title story and the lengthy "A Map of the City" contain direct references to her Asian-Canadian background. Instead, Thien's wistful stories are more universal explorations of family and yearning. A number of them feature an ailing, absent or emotionally unavailable mother and/or an outwardly gentle father with a malicious streak. Her writing is spare, her observations direct and perceptive. At times she experiments with form, as in Dispatch, which is told in the second person. The strength of Thien's stories lies in the way she captures the distorted perspective of childhood and the confusion that accompanies the coming of age. By broadening her concerns beyond small domestic tragedies, Madeline Thien should continue to be a writer who has something to say and her own way of saying it.

 

A frequent contributor to BookPage, Robert Weibezahl lives in Southern California.

The many collections of short stories that are arriving in time for summer reading are an indication that the genre is not just alive and well, it's thriving. And for readers who long ago tired of the kind of postmodern, ironic stories that usurped the pages of literary quarterlies in the 1980s and '90s, the good news is that the old-fashioned art of storytelling seems to be making a strong comeback. Some new collections by familiar writers and a couple of noteworthy debuts are among the best of a shelf full of possibilities.

FictionSpeculative FictionFamily SagaDebut FictionComing of Age

Six of the brightest new names in fiction

Feature by the editors of BookPage

We’ve got our eyes on you: These emerging writers have stopped us dead in our tracks with their unforgettable first novels, from epic historical adventures to imaginative family sagas.

GOODBYE VITAMIN
By Rachel Khong

For fans of: Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Stephanie Danler, Nell Zink.

First line: “Tonight a man found Dad’s pants in a tree lit with Christmas lights.”

About the book: A 30-year-old woman returns home to help care for her father, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

About the author: The former executive editor of Lucky Peach magazine, Rachel Khong lives in the Bay Area.

Read it for: Hilarious, insightful observations that balance well with bittersweet memories.

REBELLION
By Molly Patterson

For fans of: Jane Smiley, Jane Hamilton, Min Jin Lee.

First line: “Hazel is driving and damn her children and damn her eyesight and who cares where she’s going.”

About the book: During the Boxer Rebellion in China, American missionary Addie Bell disappears, an event that will echo through the years and the lives of three other women.

About the author: Molly Patterson, who won the Pushcart Prize for her 2012 short story “Don’t Let Them Catch You,” is a native of St. Louis and lived in China for several years.

Read it for: The author’s dazzling ability to capture disparate settings, from a turn-of-the-century American farm to present-day China, and to weave together the stories of four strong women.

GATHER THE DAUGHTERS
By Jennie Melamed

For fans of: Tales of chilling societies like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

First line: “Vanessa dreams she is a grown woman, heavy with flesh and care.”

About the book: An isolated cult society ruled by men begins to crumble when young girls rebel against their preordained and doomed futures.

About the author: A psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in working with traumatized children, Jennie Melamed lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs.

Read it for: The gripping, haunting portrayal of girls coming of age and questioning everything they’ve ever been taught.

SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE
By Sarah Schmidt

For fans of: Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, literary horror like Stephen King.

First line: “He was still bleeding.”

About the book: This fictional retelling of the Lizzie Borden murders is a domestic nightmare, unfolding through multiple perspectives to reveal a claustrophobic household laden with dread.

About the author: Sarah Schmidt lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her partner and daughter, and works at a regional public library.

Read it for: Staggeringly gorgeous, feverish prose and the thrill of deep, dark, gruesome detail.

THE TALENTED RIBKINS
By Ladee Hubbard

For fans of: Toni Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Colson Whitehead.

First line: “He only came back because Melvin said he would kill him if he didn’t pay off his debt by the end of the week.”

About the book: Antiques dealer Johnny Ribkin journeys through Florida where he meets with other members of the Ribkin family, whose special abilities were used to further the civil rights movement.

About the author: Ladee Hubbard lives in New Orleans with her husband and three children. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Read it for: An intimate portrait of a black family battling against segregation and inequality whose strength literally turns them into comic book-worthy superheroes.

THE HALF-DROWNED KING
By Linnea Hartsuyker

For fans of: Ken Follett, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin.

First line: “Ragnvald danced on the oars, leaping from one to the next as the crew rowed.”

About the book: A brother and sister fight to seize power and control of their own fate in the harsh, beautiful and unpredictable world of medieval Norway.

About the author: A descendant of the first king of Norway, Linnea Hartsuyker grew up in the woods of upstate New York and turned to writing after a decade working at internet startups.

Read it for: A spellbinding evocation of a long-lost world of magic and blood feuds, populated by characters riddled with doubt and human failing beneath their epic exteriors.

 

Khong photo credit Andria Lo.
Patterson photo credit Elaine Sheng.
Melamed photo credit Jennifer Boyle.
Schmidt photo credit Nicholas Purcell Studio.
Hubbard credit Vilma Samulionyte.
Hartsuyker credit Nina Subin.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

We’ve got our eyes on you: These emerging writers have stopped us dead in our tracks with their unforgettable first novels, from epic historical adventures to imaginative family sagas.

NonfictionParentingEducationBusiness & Finance

Better ways to get schooled

Feature by Angela Leeper

From China to the neighborhood down the street, parents and educators around the world are continually pondering the best environments, teaching methods and curricula for today’s young people. To guide their decisions, we’re highlighting five recent and upcoming books that reflect some of the most interesting approaches to improving the educational experience.

Public, private, charter, online, home, magnet—the list goes on. With so many educational options, how do parents choose the best one for their child? Luckily, Kevin Leman, a psychologist and author of more than 50 books on parenting and relationships, offers Education a la Carte: Choosing the Best Schooling Options for Your Child. This no-nonsense guide discusses the possible benefits of each kind of school environment and focuses on finding the right fit for each child.

Leman will ease parents’ tension as he addresses typical concerns and shows how learning styles, birth order and parenting styles all factor into the decision process. Additional chapters cover topics such as preschool and kindergarten readiness, homework and grades. No matter the subject, Leman encourages parents to keep realistic expectations and to motivate with approval rather than criticism.

LAST LAUGH
Liberal arts majors are often the punchline of jokes. In You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a “Useless” Liberal Arts Education, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author George Anders reveals that liberal arts majors are overtaking jobs once reserved for graduates with computer science and business degrees. He highlights the irony that, as tech fields become increasingly dependent on automation, the need for the human touch has never been more essential.

Anders explains how liberal arts majors offer valuable critical thinking skills and gives examples of individuals whose liberal arts degrees took them down unexpected paths. For instance, Bess Yount, who holds a sociology degree, is on Facebook’s sales and marketing team, and Stewart Butterfield, a philosophy major, now runs Slack Technologies. While the book is geared toward recent grads, even career switchers can benefit from the job strategies and insight into the dozens of major companies actively recruiting liberal arts majors. Above all, Anders shows that success is rarely a straight line.

WEST MEETS EAST
When Chinese-American journalist Lenora Chu and her husband took jobs in Shanghai, they eagerly enrolled their 3-year-old son, Rainey, in Soong Qing Ling, an elite “kindergarten” that would instill academic drive seemingly missing in the U.S. The author discovered that while Rainey outpaced his American counterparts in math and language, he was also subjected to harsh discipline, propaganda and extreme competition. The latter even led to bribery, with Chu finding herself gifting Coach purses in exchange for school opportunities.

Struck by these differences, Chu was curious about the Chinese education system. The result is Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve. Mixing personal anecdotes, observations of Chinese classrooms, interviews with parents and students and thought-provoking facts about Chinese education, the author reveals how yingshi jiaoyu—high-stakes testing—has created a culture of stress and conformity. Although Chinese schools have been influenced to some degree by Western ideals, such as creativity and independence, she notes that, ironically, American schools increasingly emphasize test taking. In the end, Chu lets readers consider what skills a 21st-century student needs and offers insight on the future of global education.

TEACHERS, BREATHE EASY
As British educator Katherine Weare reminds readers, schools are busy, pressured environments where teachers and students are often more concerned with the future than enjoying the present moment of learning. Weare and co-author Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk and international peace activist, also recognize that teachers typically focus on others’ needs over their own. Their secular collaboration, Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education, brings mindfulness to teachers and students.

Essays from Nhat Hanh set a reassuring mood to prepare for mindfulness exercises, while the second part of the book explains ties between these techniques and valuable education traits. Weare also addresses best practices and shows how mindfulness can be integrated in specific curriculum areas. Once comfortable with these practices, teachers can move on to suggestions for cultivating mindfulness across school communities.

FINNISHING SCHOOL
Even after experiencing burnout his first year of teaching, Timothy D. Walker, a contributing writer on education issues for The Atlantic, still espoused that good teachers “don’t do short workdays” but rather “push themselves—to the limit.” That is, until he relocated to his Finnish wife’s home country to teach elementary school. While educators around the world have recognized Finland’s consistent top scores in reading, math and science on international tests, the author was instead struck by how joy was prioritized in Finnish schools.

In Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms, Walker offers realistic tips on creating joyful schools, arranged according to five “ingredients” of happiness: well-being, belonging, autonomy, mastery and mindset. From scheduling brain breaks to cultivating a community of adults who share responsibility for a child to discussing grades so students can reflect on their learning, the tips are prefaced with lively anecdotes from the author’s own classroom experiences and often reveal how he overcame American biases to embrace them. While some strategies may need to be adapted to individual schools, they all highlight how we can learn to value happiness more than achievement.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

We’ve highlighted five recent and upcoming books that reflect some of the most interesting approaches to improving the educational experience.

NonfictionParenting

It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it

Feature by Amy Scribner

Raising children has never been more complex, but with a mix of expertise, humor and compassion, these parenting books offer important advice for parenting in the modern age.

It’s pretty easy to focus on weaknesses—our own and our kids’. How many times do we start sentences with “don’t” or focus on the average grades on the report card instead of the excellent ones? In The Strength Switch, Lea Waters, founding director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne, urges parents to move away from the negativity bias and offers strategies for helping children build important strengths such as gratitude, self-control and mindfulness.

“Savoring and gratitude help us and our children recognize the good times, intensify the juiciness of the moment, and do the strength building that happens when life is good,” she writes.

Waters writes with typical Australian sunniness and uses stories from families (including her own) and educators to illustrate her points. The Strength Shift offers a roadmap for making small shifts that will yield big results for children.

LAUGH IT OFF
Jen Hatmaker and her husband, Brandon, are pastors in Austin, Texas. She’s the bestselling author of 11 books, including several Bible studies, but her brand of religion is so inclusive, nonjudgmental and loving that her writing feels accessible to any woman—Christian or not—seeking wisdom about how to embrace a messy, beautiful life.

Hatmaker’s latest book, Of Mess and Moxie, is not strictly about parenting. She writes passionately about many aspects of modern female life, such as resiliency, the importance of creating art and how to find time to exercise (although she admits that, for her, “The problem is, I prefer watching Netflix and eating snacks.”). But her most poignant and hilarious chapters focus on her family of five children. From having the sex talk with her kids to grocery shopping for a family of seven, she mixes her advice with a healthy dose of humor and writes in a conversational tone that makes you feel like she’s confiding in you.

TURNING POINT
Many in our society are still grasping what it means to be transgender, although the recent high-profile transition of Caitlyn Jenner has helped educate Americans on the issue. Transgender Children and Youth by Elijah C. Nealy is an invaluable resource for those supporting children who are transgender. Nealy—a professor, clergyman and transgender man—provides in-depth explanations of what it means to be transgender and to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and what therapy and medical transitions entail. Perhaps most importantly, Nealy details how to work with young people and their families who are dealing with issues surrounding gender dysphoria and gender diversity.

Although the book is geared toward mental health providers and educators, it is a comprehensive and compassionate narrative that will prove useful for anyone seeking to better understand and support transgender youth. Using vignettes from his years of personal experience, as well as suggested approaches for professionals to take during family conversations, Nealy focuses not only on coming out as transgender but also on building and living a life as a happy transgender individual.

NO SHAME
Sarah Ockwell-Smith, a doula and homeopath, opens Gentle Discipline with a bold statement: “Almost everything we think we know about disciplining children today is wrong.”

Can’t get your toddler to brush his teeth? Why is your son suddenly swearing like a pirate? Ockwell-Smith may be a parenting expert, but even she has experience with her own son yelling an expletive in public. The truth was, her son was tired, he was hot, and he was thirsty. “He just snapped. Just as we all do at times,” Ockwell-Smith writes.

That’s the beauty of Ockwell-Smith’s guidance: She’s low on judgment and high on helpful insights into why your kid can go from angel to monster in 10 seconds flat. She details how children’s brains develop, how they learn and some common physiological triggers for poor behavior (such as sugar, lack of sleep and plain old sensory overload), as well as psychological ones (mimicking the actions they see in others).

But what’s truly thought provoking is Ockwell-Smith’s view that most common discipline methods just don’t work. Physical punishment like spanking causes kids to be more defiant. Distraction prevents children from discovering that emotions are OK. Ockwell-Smith offers excellent “gentle discipline” strategies for addressing some of the most common issues, such as whining, sibling rivalry and lying. This is a handbook for end-of-their-rope parents looking for a fresh approach to discipline.

BOYS AT THEIR BEST
If you’re looking for help with parenting your teenage boy, turn to He’s Not Lazy by Adam Price. As the mother of a 12-year-old son, I was drawn to child psychologist Price’s empathetic views. He writes, “Not only are there the physical changes to contend with, but on a deeper level your son is grappling with profound questions . . . Who am I? What do I believe in? What should I become, and do I have what it takes to get there?”

Price focuses specifically on boys, as boys are much likelier to be diagnosed with learning disabilities, and many education specialists believe boys “are at an intrinsic disadvantage in a classroom that discourages their natural tendency to be active, and competitive.” So rather than facing failure, boys simply opt out and are thus likely to be labeled as lazy.

Parents can help combat this by being their sons’ advocates. No, this doesn’t mean hovering while your son does his homework. It means helping your son find his own motivation. As Price puts it, “The qualities you most want him to develop—self-control, self-determination, self-regulation—all begin with the same word.”

Price outlines common-sense tactics to support boys in finding those “self” words. I have a feeling I’ll be pulling this book off the shelf to consult for years to come.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Raising children has never been more complex, but with a mix of expertise, humor and compassion, these parenting books offer important advice for parenting in the modern age.

NonfictionFictionSpeculative Fiction

Trick or treat: fact or fiction?

Feature by Eleanor Macbreale

When it comes to things that go bump in the night, are you a straight-shooting skeptic who wants the evidence behind the enigmas, or do you revel in tales of the supernatural? Whatever you fancy, we’ve got a grab bag of five new Halloween-appropriate reads. Leave the lamp on!

Our favorite mortician is back to tell us all about corpses! In From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, Caitlin Doughty, the bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, explores the variety of ways cultures around the world deal with their dead. As she travels across the globe, stopping everywhere from Bolivia to Japan, Colorado to Spain, Doughty is a respectful observer of all that unfolds, even when confronted with death rites that appear strange to eyes accustomed to the Western practices of burial and cremation. In a remote region of Indonesia, families make sure their loved ones are never forgotten by regularly visiting their graves, retrieving the body to be washed and redressed, and filling them in on the latest goings-on. In the U.S., a movement to normalize more natural ways of handling the dead—sans chemicals, sans coffin—has gained traction. Yet each tradition from every culture Doughty observes is an expression of respect—what may seem ghoulish to one is the ultimate form of love for another.

THE SPIRIT REALM
In the mid-1800s, the Spiritualism movement and the belief in communication beyond the grave gripped American minds. In a time when technology—like telegrams and photography—was rapidly creating miracles, the ability to communicate with the dead didn’t seem too far-fetched. The Civil War further fanned the flames of Spiritualism, as grief-stricken families sought to speak to their loved ones one last time. But as the excitement of Spiritualism swept the nation, William Mumler was dubious. So when a self-portrait he took while alone in a photography studio showed a girl sitting beside him, he assumed it was a technical error. But then he realized that he recognized the girl in the photo. It was his cousin, who had died 12 years prior. Thus begins the bizarre story of photography, ghosts, grief and lies that plays out in Peter Manseau’s fascinating The Apparitionists. Mumler, aided by his wife, who called herself a healing medium, went on to create a business based on these “spirit photographs,” even taking a photo of the widowed Mary Todd Lincoln that showed her dead husband’s hands lovingly resting on her shoulders. In the battle between science and Spiritualism, science eventually won. But the desire to peek beyond the veil of the living may never die.

MONSTER MASH
Aaron Mahnke’s “Lore” is one of the most popular podcasts out there. Of course, entertainment with a supernatural or mythological bent has always drawn listeners, but Mahnke’s talent and appeal come from his desire to put stories about creatures such as the wendigo and haunted dolls in context. He caters to both the Mulder and the Scully inside us all by presenting these fantastical tales alongside impeccable historical research. The first of a planned trilogy, The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures follows a very similar format to the podcast—for fans, these stories may be a bit too familiar, but the uninitiated will find much to explore. Pick almost any mythical monster, and you’ll find it via organized chapters: For records of vampires, try “The Dead Returned”; you’ll find skin-crawling historical tales of doppelgängers in “Our Other Halves”; and if you’re into specters, try “Beyond the Veil.” Mahnke’s tongue-in-cheek asides make these tales great fun, and the book is wonderfully designed with Edward Gorey-inspired pencil illustrations. And for fans who just can’t get enough Lore, a television series is on its way to Amazon.

A CHILL IN THE AIR
Literary horror fans know that there are few authors as deft at marrying pulse-pounding action and a sense of inescapable dread than Joe Hill. Fans of his masterful thrillers NOS4A2 and The Fireman will find plenty to love in his new collection of four short novels, Strange Weather. The unifying theme here is the sheer terror that the unapologetic forces of nature can instill in us, but Hill cleverly sets the detached whims of the weather against the calculated, deliberate actions of sinister individuals. In “Loaded,” a shooter attacks a shopping mall while a wildfire propelled by wind decimates thousands of acres outside. “Rain” follows a group of survivors in Boulder, Colorado, after an apocalyptic rainfall of “needle-sharp amber glass . . . hard as quartz.” With each story spanning around 100 pages, this is the perfect collection to split up into a few satisfying chunks as we creep closer to Allhallows Eve.

THE WOMAN IN WHITE
“Just because you can’t see a thing doesn’t mean she isn’t there.” But who is she, and what is she? When she was alive, she was Emma Rose, an Irish immigrant who found her way to a small logging town in Northern California. But even now, after her death, she still feels like Emma, though she’s more of a spectator now—taking in the church bells each morning, the seals on the shore and the scent of wildflowers on Evergreen Hill. Emma has been lingering in her mortal home known as the Lambry House for 100 years, and she’s determined to remain there (much to the horror of the home’s new residents), even when a supernatural hunter comes to forcibly scrape her out. M Dressler paints a moving, chilly portrait of a woman’s afterlife in The Last to See Me, perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver’s quietly haunting ghost story Rooms.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

When it comes to things that go bump in the night, are you a straight-shooting skeptic who wants the evidence behind the enigmas, or do you revel in tales of the supernatural? Whatever you fancy, we’ve got a grab bag of five new Halloween-appropriate reads. Leave the lamp on!

Fiction

Fast times, short fiction

Feature by Julie Hale

No doubt about it, we’re living in an accelerated era, a time when technology expedites everything from buying groceries to getting the news. Pushing boundaries and mixing genres, the authors of five new collections of short fiction capture the nature of the here and now, and speculate about tomorrow. If you’re wondering what the world is coming to, these writers can give you a hint.

T.C. Boyle published his first work of fiction 38 years ago and has since earned the status of literary legend. His bemused yet compassionate view of the human condition is on full display in The Relive Box and Other Stories, a timely collection that explores the decline of nature and the takeover of technology. In the title story, an addictive device that allows users to watch their pasts unfold comes between single dad Wes and his teenage daughter, Katie. In “Are We Not Men?” Roy and Connie decide to have a baby after 12 years of marriage, at a time when genetic editing enables couples to choose the traits of their children. A few of the narratives (the tale of an ant invasion, for instance) seem to come straight from “The Twilight Zone,” but Boyle balances these strange situations with poignant portrayals of the people caught up in them. Boyle is a master mood-mixer, and this funny-scary-sad collection is filled with stories to be savored.

21ST-CENTURY FAIRY TALES
“Brides never fare well in stories. Stories can sense happiness and snuff it out like a candle,” writes Carmen Maria Machado in the first story of her electrifying debut, Her Body and Other Parties. These foreboding words serve as a setup for what’s to come in this edgy, erotic collection. Throughout eight stories, Machado uses allusions to folktales and myths along with elements of magic realism and fantasy to explore the inner lives of women. In “The Husband Stitch,” the narrator wears a ribbon around her neck that’s off-limits to her partner. Its purpose is revealed in a scene of offhand horror that brings to mind the brutality of the Brothers Grimm. In “Inventory,” a woman takes stock of her past as she flees a deadly virus. “Especially Heinous” is a creepy re-envisioning of the TV series “Law & Order: SVU” that features a demon and a pair of clones. Machado moves from the surreal to the real and back again with incredible ease. This spellbinding collection marks the arrival of an impressive new writer.

TOM HANKS, FICTION WRITER
With his delightful Uncommon Type: Some Stories, beloved actor Tom Hanks takes on the role of writer and proves to be a natural. Hanks isn’t just dabbling here—he can really write. A tale of romance gone awry, “Three Exhausting Weeks” is the hilarious chronicle of an incompatible couple whose relationship quickly runs its course. Virgil and Bud, a pair of World War II veterans, reminisce on the phone in “Christmas Eve 1953,” a moving, nostalgic story that includes powerful scenes of combat. “A Junket in the City of Light” is a brilliant sendup of the movie industry that follows Rory, a would-be star, as he promotes his first film. In some way big or small, a typewriter features in each of the 17 stories. It’s an appropriate symbol for narratives that are all about communication and connection. Given the intelligence Hanks brings to the craft of acting, it makes sense that he would have a knack for storytelling. Filled with warmth, comedy and wisdom, this companionable collection is as appealing as its author.

SHORTS THAT RUN DEEP
National Book Award-winning author James McBride delivers his first short-story collection with Five-Carat Soul. In this wonderfully varied batch of stories (none of which have been published before), McBride moves between eras and characters without missing a beat. “The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set” is the story of “the most valuable toy in the world”—a train designed for the son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that has made its way through history and landed in the hands of the enigmatic Spurgeon Hart. “The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band” is an extended narrative that could provide the foundation for a novel. Set in a beleaguered black section of Pittsburgh during the Vietnam era, it’s a beautifully wrought coming-of-age tale narrated by a boy named Butter. Throughout the book, McBride effortlessly adapts different voices and perspectives, from a cranky, hooded guard who prepares people for the afterlife (“The Moaning Bench”) to a Union Army soldier who rescues an orphan (“Father Abe”). With this multifaceted volume, McBride proves once again that he’s a writer of remarkable range and facility.

A CAREER COLLECTION
Stretching across nearly three decades, Jeffrey Eugenides’ first collection of stories, Fresh Complaint, tracks his rise as a writer and offers a fascinating look at the development of his genius. In novels like the Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex (2002) and The Marriage Plot (2011), Eugenides explored the fluidity of gender and the dynamics of relationships in ways that were perceptive, compelling and original. Fans will find more of the same in this satisfying collection. “The Oracular Vulva,” first published in The New Yorker in 1999, features tormented sexologist Peter Luce, who’s conducting research in Indonesia. “Baster” (1995) tells the story of middle-aged Tomasina and her unorthodox approach to getting pregnant (yes, a baster is involved). A new story, “Complainers,” is the plaintive tale of two longtime female friends, one of whom is stricken with dementia. Throughout, Eugenides demonstrates his unfailing expertise as a chronicler of the routines and rituals, motivations and aspirations that comprise the human condition. This retrospective volume is a welcome addition to his body of work.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

No doubt about it, we’re living in an accelerated era, a time when technology expedites everything from buying groceries to getting the news. Pushing boundaries and mixing genres, the authors of five new collections of short fiction capture the nature of the here and now, and speculate about tomorrow. If you’re wondering what the world is coming to, these writers can give you a hint.

Children's & YA

Rocking around the Christmas tree

Feature by Sharon Chance

Christmas is always seen through the eyes of young children as a special joy, just as it is for the writers and illustrators of children's books. This holiday season, there is a wide selection of unique and endearing Christmas books for young readers to choose from, with stories ranging from the timeless retelling of the birth of Christ to how one special little mouse celebrates the holidays.

Young fans of Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and her other equally silly books will be thrilled with the latest adventures of that little mouse in Numeroff's Christmas offering, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. In this book, the energetic little mouse and his human friend set out to celebrate Christmas in style, decorating trees, building snowmen and having lots of fun. Felicia Bond's delightful illustrations make this a charming book for the ages 3-6 crowd.

The bright and fanciful artwork of Eric Carle graces the pages of his latest book, Dream Snow, which tells the story of a farmer who dreams of snow for Christmas. Each page is preceded by a clear plastic overlay of snow that settles down on the farmer and his animals. When the farmer finally wakes up, he discovers it really has snowed. A surprise awaits the young reader at the end of the book, with a built-in music box cleverly placed in the back cover.

For sheer beauty in a Christmas book, parents need look no further than Eve Bunting's Who Was Born This Special Day?. The animals in the manger ask each other who was born on the special day of Christ's birth. The soft, beautiful paintings by illustrator Leonid Gore are enchanting, and the soothing poetry and gentle simplicity of Bunting's words make this book a treasure.

Another gorgeous book on the birth of Christ comes from beloved Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown. A Child Is Born is Brown's joyful rendition of the miracle of Christmas. This manuscript was found after Brown's death in 1952 and is published for the first time this year. The magnificent illustrations by Floyd Cooper portray a unique, multicultural manger scene, with the baby Jesus and his parents portrayed as African-Americans. The combination of author and illustrator provides a unique and interesting exchange of cultures.

The classic story The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition for children and adults alike, and there are many versions of the popular story available. But for those children and adults who like a more hands-on rendition, David and Noelle Carter present a fascinating pop-up version of The Nutcracker that will entertain everyone for hours. Each page features an intricate pop-up scene with figures that move by pulling a small tab on each. A brilliant concept for a delightful story.

Christmas children's books tend to be mainly written for the younger set, but this year popular teen writer Avi presents his readers with a Christmas story of their very own. The Christmas Rat is a thrilling mystery of a vengeful exterminator, a young boy caught up in the hunt and one stubborn little rat. In true Avi-style, readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats.

Finally, qualifying as probably one of the weirdest books of the season is How Murray Saved Christmas. The author, Mike Reiss, is a former writer and producer of The Simpsons. His rollicking, slightly skewed tale of Christmas is one that older kids and adults will find hilarious. When poor Santa is accidentally knocked out cold, deli-owner Murray Kleiner agrees to take his place. With the help of a pushy little elf and an eager young boy, Murray manages to get the job done, but not without a lot of mishaps along the way. The colorful, if slightly bizarre, illustrations of David Catrow make this book an interesting change of pace for holiday reading. (With endorsements from comedians such as Jon Lovitz and Conan O'Brien, you know it has to be a little out there. )

Whichever books you choose, just remember to take a few minutes this holiday season to sit down and read one . . . together.

 

Sharon Galligar Chance is the mother of four book-loving boys.

Christmas is always seen through the eyes of young children as a special joy, just as it is for the writers and illustrators of children's books. This holiday season, there is a wide selection of unique and endearing Christmas books for young readers to choose from, with stories ranging from the timeless retelling of the birth of Christ to how one special little mouse celebrates the holidays.

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