2book multi

Fiction

Best story collections for a laid-back summer

Feature by Julie Hale

Perfect for dipping into, these four collections offer the experience of great fiction without the commitment that a novel requires. If you’re in need of an excellent read for the lazy weeks that lie ahead, check out the selections below.

PORTRAITS OF HUMAN NATURE
Dark humorist A.M. Homes taps into the contemporary American mindset and our obsession with perfection in Days of Awe. An irreverent writer, Homes can create a completely realized character in just a few strokes, and her dialogue—chiseled to film-script perfection—is enlivened by rapid-fire exchanges and funny one-liners.

The collection’s excellent title story takes place at a genocide conference, where, among stiff scholars and serious academics, two old acquaintances—a novelist and a war reporter—strike up a romance that almost upends their lives. In “Brother on Sunday,” Tom, a plastic surgeon, injects himself with a Botox-like substance—an action that’s horrifying in its offhandedness. While vacationing with a group of affluent friends, an old feud erupts between him and his brother, disturbing the calm of their getaway. In “Hello Everybody,” Walter visits his wealthy friend Cheryl in her pristine, technologically advanced home. Her family’s fixation on physical flawlessness borders on the satirical—and feels all too familiar.

In these perceptive stories, Homes hits a nerve, offering reflections of who we are and projections of who we might become.

IN A WILD PLACE
Lauren Groff (Arcadia, Fates and Furies) plumbs the mysteries of her home state in the captivating collection Florida. Through arresting imagery and a sustained mood that’s ominous and unsettling, Groff, who lives in Gainesville, delivers a sense of the peninsula’s humid exoticism. Of an old cabin at a hunting camp, she writes, “the screens at night pulsed with the tender bellies of lizards,” and Florida itself is described as a place of “frenzied flora and fauna.” The region’s wild environment infects and affects her characters.

“Ghosts and Empties” features a figure who appears in a number of stories—an anonymous wife and mother who’s worried about the world’s decline and finds relief in walking through her neighborhood at night, where she observes the lives of others through lit windows. In “Dogs Go Wolf,” two young sisters are abandoned on an island and are able to adapt to their rough surroundings—it’s when they’re rescued that hardship begins.

In gorgeous prose, Groff offers startling insight into the human heart. Florida is as mesmerizing as its namesake state.

CALIFORNIA TALES
Set in Los Angeles and its affluent environs, Fight No More, Lydia Millet’s masterful collection of intertwined stories, features characters with conflicting wills and interests who can’t be made to compromise. The undercurrent of friction that results lends a quiet force to stories that explore the challenges of communication and the meaning of home.

Nina, a recurring figure, is a young real estate agent transformed by the prospect of new love. Many of the stories in the book feature her clients—people in various states of transition—and in a phenomenal feat of plot-spinning, Millet links the lives of this disparate group of characters. In “To Think/I Killed a Cat,” 16-year-old Jeremy, caught in the crossfire of his parents’ divorce, does his best to repulse potential purchasers of the family home. In “The Fall of Berlin,” his frail grandmother, Aleska, is forced to sell her beloved house and move into her son’s guest cottage, yet she refuses to surrender to the inevitabilities of old age. “I only want to keep going,” Aleska says. Like the other characters in these richly realized stories, she’s unwilling to give up the fight.

STORIES OF THE MODERN SOUTH
Mississippi author Nick White made a memorable literary debut with How to Survive a Summer, his 2017 novel about a gay-to-straight conversion camp. In his new book, Sweet and Low, an accomplished, atmospheric collection of stories that take place in his native state, White continues to explore the experience of being queer in a conservative culture.

“Gatlinburg” chronicles the unraveling of a romantic relationship involving Reed, a New Yorker, and Eric, a Mississippian. The two have fallen “into something like love” but can’t seem to fully connect, in part because of the North-South disjunction. (When Reed’s mother introduces Eric at a party, she says, “He’s from Mississippi—isn’t that adorable? Just wait till you hear him speak.”) In “The Lovers,” Rosemary knows her husband, Arnie, was having affairs but assumed they were with women. She learns otherwise after Arnie’s tragic death, when she unexpectedly connects with Hank, his last lover. A wonderful sequence of stories centering on would-be writer Forney Culpepper has the makings of a first-rate novel.

An author on the rise, White displays impressive range in this rewarding collection.

Perfect for dipping into, these four collections offer the experience of great fiction without the commitment that a novel requires. If you’re in need of an excellent read for the lazy weeks that lie ahead, check out the selections below.

NonfictionFiction

I know what you read last summer

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Thrills, laughs, romance, drama—you know what you want out of a beach read. But just because you know what you want doesn’t mean you’ve found it yet. Based on what you read last year, we’re recommending eight new beachy books to fill your long summer days.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive. You relish bad-girl thrillers fueled by toxic friendships, bad choices and exclusive parties.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. In this deliciously dark novel, single white female Louise is 29, flat broke and feels like she has utterly failed at achieving her New York City dream of becoming a famous writer. Enter 23-year-old socialite and bohemian glamour girl Lavinia, bursting with youthful joie de vivre, boundary issues and seemingly unlimited funds. Their intense friendship blossoms into a glitzy NYC bender that includes designer drugs and copious selfies in increasingly over-the-top settings, including ultra-expensive hotel bars, secret literary parties, costume balls and seedy, bottle-service-only sex clubs. Louise is old enough to know that everything that goes up must come down, and her descent is glorious fun.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“I want to remember this forever. Until the day I die.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The Big Apple. Catch Hamilton, stay up all night on a Manhattan rooftop, and ride the Staten Island Ferry for free at dawn.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand or any novel set by the ocean that revolves around women on the verge of something life-changing.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
The High Season, the debut adult novel from YA author Judy Blundell, who has a gift for depicting issues of love and class in jaw-dropping, gorgeous prose. Museum director Ruthie Beamish rents out her magnificent beach house every summer. But when socialite Adeline Clay moves in for the season, Ruthie’s life begins to deteriorate—from her job to her self-respect to her fraught relationship with her estranged husband. Ruthie knows it’s not Adeline’s fault, but she increasingly views the other woman as a symbol of everything she’s missing. Additional storylines follow Ruthie’s social-climbing employee, Doe, and her teenage daughter, Jem, but the book begins and ends with Ruthie, whose interior state is rendered with remarkable insight. Blundell’s empathetic attention to tiny relational shifts makes every moment of connection feel magical.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“Summer was a forever season, and held no pain.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The beach, of course, where you’ll dine al fresco, wander through an art gallery and casually infiltrate the lives of the obscenely wealthy.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
A screwball historical novel like Christopher Moore’s The Serpent of Venice. You’re looking for an armchair escape that also engages your brain.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
The Judge Hunter, a hilarious combination of historical adventure and bromance by acclaimed author Christopher Buckley. Hapless Balthasar “Balty” de St. Michel can’t seem to hold a job in swinging 1664 London, but his diabolical brother-in-law has hatched the perfect scheme: Send Balty to the New World in order to chase down some regicides on the lam. But Balty isn’t cut out for life in New England and only survives the first week thanks to a mysterious (and often murderous) secret agent of the crown known as Huncks. High jinks quickly ensue as Balty unwittingly blasphemes his way through Puritan society and Huncks attempts to covertly start a war with the Dutch. This is a Larry David- esque tale for the history buff, filled with delightfully off-putting characters and read-through-your-fingers moments of situational comedy.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“But you might fall in love with New England. . . . They say a man can be anything he wants to be there.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A New England town with your bestie—ideally somewhere with a rowdy historical pub crawl.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
An entertaining deep dive into culture like The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Planet Funny by Ken Jennings, whom you may remember from his record-breaking run on “Jeopardy” or his bestselling books like Brainiac. Humor is difficult to study—it’s hard to define, it’s different for everyone, and it changes over time. But it’s also incredibly important in today’s world, whether you’re making a flight safety video, trying to land a date or attempting to get into politics. Jennings has penned a highly entertaining yet genuinely scholarly look at the evolution of humor—from ancient Sumerian fart jokes to Andy Kaufman’s absurdist humor and internet cat memes. This book will have you analyzing everything around you, because these days, everybody’s a comedian.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“One of the worst qualities of a Roman jokester, according to Cicero, was that he used jokes ‘brought from home’ instead of ones made up on the spur of the moment.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A road trip with someone who won’t mind that you’ll be spouting off funny facts and cracking jokes for the majority of the vacation. Just don’t bring any from home.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
An intense technothriller like Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz. You’re looking for suspense that makes the pages fly by as quickly as those beautiful summer days.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Exit Strategy by debut novelist Charlton Pettus. Wealthy scientist Jordan Parrish is on the brink of losing everything, so he makes the call to Exit Strategy, a secret organization that squirrels away high-profile criminals, crooked politicians or anyone who has reached the end of the line. They fake your death and give you a new face and life, and you can never contact your old family ever again—at the risk of their deaths. When Jordan begins to regret making the call, he starts asking questions: Was it really his choice, or did someone nudge him in the direction of Exit Strategy? As Jordan works his way back to his old life, the result is a fast-paced joyride with cool tech, hot romance and high-stakes adventure.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“In a while you’re going to be somewhere far away, new town, new life, new you.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
As far away from home as you can get.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
The latest action-adventure thriller from Clive Cussler or Stuart Woods.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Gale Force by award-winning author Owen Laukkanen. When the cargo ship Pacific Lion founders off the coast of Alaska, it provides a multimillion-dollar opportunity for salvagers like McKenna Rhodes. After her father’s death at sea, McKenna left the deep-sea salvaging business, but retrieving the ship’s cargo would yield a profit she can’t pass up. And so she gathers her father’s old crew on her tugboat, Gale Force—but what they don’t know is that a stowaway was aboard the Pacific Lion with millions of dollars stolen from the Yakuza. The thrills come as hard and fast as a hurricane, and readers will love the brave female lead.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“She was happy, at least, to have escaped the city. The water was where she belonged.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The Pacific Northwest, where you can marvel at the power of nature.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes or any story that makes you feel the full depth of human emotion.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
How to Walk Away, the latest uplifting novel by Katherine Center. This bittersweet romantic comedy covers all your heart’s bases: familial love, romantic love and, most importantly, self-love. The unthinkable happens to Margaret Jacobsen: Her fiancé, Chip, proposes to her while they’re flying high in a little white Cessna; when Chip tries to land the plane, he loses control, and they crash. Margaret wakes up in the hospital, badly burned and unable to use her legs. And the hits keep coming: Chip barely visits; Margaret’s physical therapist is morose and difficult; and Margaret’s estranged sister has returned after three years, dredging up long-buried family secrets. But lovable Margaret is enviably tough, and through all the trauma and change, she maintains a great sense of humor.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“It’s the trying that heals you. That’s all you have to do. Just try.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A getaway with your closest girlfriends to a picturesque cabin, where any drama or pain will be met with understanding and love.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
A book that made you laugh while also speaking to some deeper truths about femininity and aging, like I Thought There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
There Are No Grown-Ups by Pamela Druckerman. In this “Midlife Coming-of-Age Story,” the fresh and witty Druckerman (Bringing Up Bébé) makes sense of life after the big 4-0, settling into her home in Paris with her husband and children, figuring out what “age-appropriate” clothing really means, grasping the French woman’s philosophy of aging and truly becoming comfortable with herself. Druckerman’s funny yet deeply insightful essays ring true, and they will no doubt have you nodding your head in appreciation, because yes, someone out there really gets it.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“You know you’re a fortysomething parent when you’ve decided that swimming counts as a shower.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The nearest pool, or if you can’t get that far, a bathtub will do. Just make sure someone else is watching the kids.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Druckerman for There Are No Grown-Ups.

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Thrills, laughs, romance, drama—you know what you want out of a beach read. But just because you know what you want doesn’t mean you’ve found it yet. Based on what you read last year, we’re recommending eight new beachy books to fill your long summer days.

NonfictionParentingGraphic Novels & ComicsGraphic MemoirsFilmArt

A solution to the age-old conundrum

Feature by Keith Herrell

Father’s Day comes but once a year, and boy are we lucky for that. With ties going out of style thanks to tech billionaires (they’re all wearing hoodies now), the gift choices are slimmer than ever. Fortunately, as is so often the case, books can come to the rescue.

FOR THE SPORTS FAN
When it comes to sports, the “what-if” possibilities are endless. Mike Pesca has assembled 31 of them in Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History. His list might not match yours, but it’s still a fun exercise and a highly readable departure from traditional sports literature. Pesca, host of the Slate podcast “The Gist,” keeps his readers on their toes with a different author for each scenario, so an earnest “What If the National League Had the DH?” is followed by a whimsical “What If Nixon Had Been Good at Football?” (The verdict: still a president, but no Watergate.) Other authors bolster their arguments with charts (“What If Major League Baseball Had Started Testing for Steroids in 1991?”) or, in the case of “What If Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton’s Pass Hadn’t Gone Awry?,” 38 footnotes. The contributors are a multitalented lot, including actor Jesse Eisenberg, radio host Robert Siegel and journalist/historian Louisa Thomas. The contributors are a multitalented lot but each one embraces the task with gusto, inspiring readers to come up with some “what-ifs” of their own.

FOR THE BIG READER
You probably know Michael Chabon as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, but he’s also an acclaimed essayist. His first collection, Manhood for Amateurs (2009), was subtitled “The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son.” This time around, with Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces, he’s produced seven essays, all dad-oriented. The centerpiece, “Little Man,” recounts a trip to Paris Fashion Week with his youngest and most individualistic child, Abe. (Chabon was on assignment for GQ, where the essay originally appeared.) The essay is not about finding common ground, as is often the case in such essays where father and son are poles apart, but rather Chabon’s happiness that his son has finally found “your people.” The remaining essays are shorter and peppered with humorous insights, particularly “Adventures in Euphemism,” which has Chabon trying to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to his children without uttering a certain word. Chabon’s relationship with his own father, of course, does not go unexamined, and again he zigs where others zag, taking care not to be overly sentimental.

FOR THE MOVIE BUFF
A cute gopher popping out of his hole adorns the cover of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story. This is ironic, because the makers of the film hated the last-minute addition of the animatronic gopher that bedeviled Bill Murray in the 1980 film. They saw it as an example of the Hollywood studio system destroying their masterwork. But gopher or no gopher, Caddyshack, a slobs-versus-snobs tale set at a country club golf course, became a cult classic, rife with quotable lines and fondly remembered scenes. Film critic Chris Nashawaty tells the behind-the-scenes story in an entertaining fashion, starting at the very beginning with the founding of the National Lampoon, which served as a springboard for Doug Kenney, who co-wrote the classic Animal House and co-wrote and produced Caddyshack. In fact, Nashawaty doesn’t start recounting the actual filming of the movie until well past halfway through the book. No worries though, as readers will enjoy the backstories of writing, casting and the cocaine-fueled shenanigans of Murray and his pals, including Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Kenney, the real star of the book if not the movie.

FOR THE COMIC-BOOK FAN
The genre of graphic literature has grown past just comic books and the newspaper funny pages, and Michael Kupperman, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and Marvel comics, is deadly serious in All the Answers. This black-and-white graphic memoir is perfect for dads who grew up reading comic books and are looking for something with a bit more weight to it. It tells the story of the author’s father, Joel Kupperman, who became famous as one of the stars of the 1940s and ’50s radio and television show “Quiz Kids.” The elder Kupperman subsequently became an author and professor of philosophy, but he retreated from public life as an adult. Spurred by his father’s diagnosis with dementia, Michael coaxes him into talking about his experiences in the public eye and how they shaped his life as an adult. In the process, father and son have some frank exchanges. The son learns how to be a better father as a result of the failings of his own dad, who was perfect in math, perhaps, but not so perfect in the challenges of marriage and family life. Kupperman’s simple, stark drawings add to the somber mood of the book and enhance readers’ understanding of its haunting story.

FOR THE JOKESTER
So Dad thinks he’s funny, eh? He likely has nothing on Tom Papa, whose Your Dad Stole My Rake: And Other Family Dilemmas is a collection of essays with laughs on every page. The aptly named Papa, a father and head writer for the radio variety show “Live From Here” (formerly known as “A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile”), has a one-liner for every family situation, from Facebook (“a class reunion every day”) to owning a cat (“like dating a supermodel”). The book is organized by topics (wives, grandparents and so on), so skip around if you like, or simply read straight through for an extended look at Papa’s twisted but ultimately sunny (well, no more than partly cloudy) vision of family life. If you’re lucky, it lines up with your own.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Father’s Day comes but once a year, and boy are we lucky for that. With ties going out of style thanks to tech billionaires (they’re all wearing hoodies now), the gift choices are slimmer than ever. Fortunately, as is so often the case, books can come to the rescue.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Salute dear old dad with four fresh picture books

Feature by Julie Hale

Plan some family storytime this Father’s Day with one of the four new warmhearted books below that celebrate dads and families. These sweet, silly and love-filled tales are sure to make any dad feel extra special. 

A HAPPY HOMECOMING
Good Morning, Harry—Good Night, Daddy (ages 4 to 8) by Katy Beebe is a delightful celebration of a father and son’s bond. As the story opens, Harry’s father sets off for work in the evening as a conductor on an overnight train while Harry, Mummy, Gran and Baby settle in for the night. Beebe artfully juxtaposes their separate stories, alternating between scenes on the train, where Daddy looks after passengers, and scenes at home, where it’s almost bedtime for Harry: “Whoo-whoo sings the train, rocking on its way. ‘Too-ra-lee, Too-ra-loo,’ sings Mummy, winding down the day.” The concurrent stories come together when Daddy returns from work the next morning, and the family is reunited. Valeri Gorbachev’s detailed illustrations bring out the warmth of Beebe’s tale. The final scene of the book is a playful moment between father and son, making it clear that every day is Father’s Day at Harry’s house.

BETWEEN GENERATIONS
In Davide Cali’s funny, furry family tale, Great Dog (ages 3 to 7), a father-and-son canine pair peruses portraits of their four-legged forebears and discuss their distinguished pedigree. From Aunt Doris, a courageous firedog, to Uncle Tibor, a champion runner, their relatives were all Great Dogs who the young son hopes to emulate. Anxious about living up to such high ancestral standards, he asks his father, “What about me? What will I be?” Dad is ready with the right answer: “No matter what,” he replies, “you will be a GREAT dog.” Each canine portrait is accompanied by a fold-out page with scenes of each dog’s remarkable exploits, and the book’s final spread reveals a surprise. Animal lovers of all ages will adore Miguel Tanco’s droll dog illustrations. This wry, uplifting story is just right for sharing with Dad on his special day.

A DAD WHO’S ALWAYS THERE
Written and illustrated by popular Instagram artist Soosh, Dad by My Side (ages 4 to 8) is a tender little tale that captures the special connection between dads and daughters. The narrator—a tot with braided pigtails—enumerates all the things she loves about her father: “With Dad by my side, there’s nothing we can’t do. He knows how to make me smile,” she begins. “He’s not afraid to look silly.” Whether he’s presenting a puppet show or getting stuck in a hula hoop, Dad is clearly game for anything, and Soosh portrays him as a big, bearded figure who’s capable, comforting, sensitive and completely worthy of his daughter’s adoration. Her gorgeous watercolor illustrations beautifully depict the duo’s special relationship. Featuring simple, poetic text and a heartfelt message, this is an ideal gift book.

A TWILIGHT ADVENTURE
In Laura Krauss Melmed’s Daddy, Me, and the Magic Hour (ages 3 to 6), a spunky youngster can’t wait for the special time after supper when he and his father go for a stroll. The boy views their evening walks as a time of discovery and excitement and calls it “the Magic Hour.” As they begin their trek, “bright, loud daytime is getting softer.” Neighbors are doing yard work and joggers and dog owners fill the sidewalks. After they swing at the playground and catch fireflies, darkness begins to fall, and it’s time to head back home. “One swoop, and I’m up on Daddy’s shoulders. . . . Together, we make a quiet giant who can almost reach the moon,” the boy says. Sarita Rich’s bold, expressive illustrations communicate the boy’s sense of wonder surrounding the outside world—and his admiration for dad. This fun father-son adventure will inspire families to implement Magic Hours of their own.

Plan some family stor time this Father’s Day with one of the four new warmhearted books below that celebrate dads and families. These sweet, silly and love-filled tales are sure to make any dad feel extra special. 

Fiction

Stay up all night with cold-blooded fiction

Feature by G. Robert Frazier

It’s Private Eye July at BookPage! This month, 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 dose of murder, espionage and all those creepy neighbors with even creepier secrets.

The latest wave of suspenseful novels brings thrills and chills to your summer reading list. These five stories of mystery, intrigue and horrific happenings are perfect for lazy days at the beach or hot summer nights.

What begins as a fun, relaxing getaway at a New Hampshire lake for 7-year-old Wen and her dads, Andrew and Eric, turns into a terrifying ordeal of survival in The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. When the trio is visited at their cabin by four mysterious strangers—Leonard, Adriane, Redmond and Sabrina—their familial bond is put to the ultimate test. “We are not going to kill you, Wen, and we are not going to kill your parents,” promises Leonard, the smooth-talking leader of the visitors and an alleged bartender from the Chicago area. He goes on to explain: “The four of us are here to prevent the apocalypse.” But to ensure that happens, Wen, Andrew or Eric has to die, and they must choose among themselves who it will be. The unusual deal thrusts the family into a tense moral dilemma that tests the limits of their love. Tremblay won the 2015 Bram Stoker Award for A Head Full of Ghosts and may be on his way to a repeat with the chillingly good The Cabin at the End of the World.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Tremblay for The Cabin at the End of the World.

DON'T DIG TOO DEEP
What secrets do a mother and her son keep, and how far are they willing to go to protect those secrets? These are just two of the questions facing Lydia Fitzsimons and her son, Laurence, in Lying in Wait, set in 1980s Dublin. Lydia explains on page one that her husband, Andrew, “did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.” It’s off to the races from there. Within short order, 18-year-old Laurence—who recently had sex for the first time with his girlfriend and endures bullying every day at school because of his excess weight—discovers Annie’s body buried in their backyard. As Laurence wrestles to learn what happened and how his parents could have done such a thing, Lydia goes about her business as if nothing happened. Elsewhere, Annie’s twin sister, Karen, begins a meticulous investigation into her sister’s disappearance. Events cascade toward a collision as the trio’s stories unwind in alternating chapters. Author Liz Nugent, whose debut novel, Unraveling Oliver, earned high critical praise, has upped her game here with a darkly twisted tale of murder, lies and secrets best left buried.

AND THE CREDITS ROLL
Sibling rivalry and Hollywood obsessions collide in young adult novelist Jennifer Wolfe’s adult fiction debut, Watch the Girls. From the start of her acting career, Liv Hendricks (formerly known as child actress Olivia Hill) has been pushed at every turn by her domineering mother, Desiree, and has lived in the shadows of her successful sisters, Miranda and Gemma. Then Liv’s career reaches a dead end when Miranda goes missing. Years later, after a bout of alcoholism and being ousted from a reality series, Liv decides to reignite her career by filming her own detective web series. Her first case: find the missing daughter of auteur Jonas Kron, whose horror films have earned him a cult-like following. Liv follows the trail to Kron’s California hometown of Stone’s Throw, where fans are converging for an annual film festival in Kron’s honor. With bitter townsfolk, a none-too-helpful sheriff and Kron’s crazed followers to contend with, Liv discovers that finding the truth will be a challenge. When Liv’s younger sister Gemma also goes missing in the haunted woods of Stone’s Throw, the stakes intensify. Wolfe incorporates text message exchanges into the more traditional first-person narrative to create a novel that reflects today’s social media-obsessed world. Fast-paced and fraught with suspense, Watch the Girls unravels like a perfect summer-night movie.

WELCOME BACK TO CAMP
Riley Sager, who made a splash with last year’s Final Girls, returns this summer with another tense thriller. Whereas Final Girls followed the plight of the sole survivor of a horror movie-like massacre whose past comes back to haunt her, The Last Time I Lied follows Emma Davis in her quest to find her friends, who disappeared in the dead of night during a camp outing 15 years ago. Emma, who has become an accomplished New York artist, is invited to return to Camp Nightingale as an art instructor and sees it as an opportunity to learn what really happened that night. The past has a way of repeating itself, and it isn’t long before Emma suspects she and her new camp companions may be in as much danger as her lost friends. The tension ratchets up with each chapter, leading to a suspenseful showdown. Like Final Girls, The Last Time I Lied has all the earmarks of a campy Friday the 13th-type horror flick, but Sager elevates the story with a strong lead character and a grounded, realistic threat.

MONEY WON'T SAVE YOU
In case the previous thrill-a-minute reads are a little too intense, or readers are looking for a more intellectually stirring, sophisticated mystery, The Banker’s Wife by Cristina Alger may fit the bill. A former financial analyst and corporate attorney, Alger brings her real-world experiences to bear in this novel about the world of global finance, insider trading and corruption. After Swiss banker Matthew Lerner’s private plane bound for Geneva crashes in the Alps during a storm, his wife, Annabel, is left to piece together her life and, perhaps more importantly, the mysteries he leaves behind—namely, an encrypted laptop and a client who doesn’t want Matthew’s secrets getting out. At the same time, journalist Marina Tourneau is enlisted to obtain a USB drive containing highly sensitive materials from a Luxembourg courier that may reveal the whereabouts of long-thought deceased financial schemer Morty Reiss. Along the way, Marina discovers a financial web with far-reaching implications, inevitably bringing the two storylines together. With global settings, covert government agencies and intricate plotting, The Banker’s Wife reads like an old-fashioned international espionage thriller. But Alger’s talents keep the plot digestible for readers while her female protagonists provide strong, smart alternatives to this typically male-dominated genre.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The latest wave of suspenseful novels brings thrills and chills to your summer reading list. These five stories of mystery, intrigue and horrific happenings are perfect for lazy days at the beach or hot summer nights.

Children's & YAYA FictionYAMiddle Grade

Summer fantasies to keep young readers flipping pages

Feature by Hilli Levin & Savanna Walker

Sweeping fantasies are this year’s biggest trend in children’s and teen literature—think breathtaking action, complex world building, magical abilities and bands of young heroes who must save the day.

Like any great high fantasy should, Jaleigh Johnson’s The Door to the Lost opens with a series of maps depicting the land of Talhaven and the grand city of Regara, where “magic is dying,” only to be found in the abilities of 327 seemingly orphaned children who have been mysteriously jettisoned from their magic-filled homeland known as Vora.

A young girl known as Rook happens to be one of these magical refugees, and she and her friend Drift survive in Regara by offering their magical skills on a sort of black market. Rook’s particular talent is creating doors—she simply draws a rectangle with a piece of chalk and channels thoughts of her destination in order to open a portal. But one client’s door goes horribly wrong, and Rook lets in a giant Fox, whom she discovers is actually a shape-shifting boy from a snow-filled world. Can Rook and Drift get Fox back home again when they’re not even sure how to get there?

Johnson’s spell-casting cast of young heroes will entertain and endear, and their sweet adventure will help young readers grasp some key details of the refugee crisis in a way that never feels ham-fisted.

MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP
The latest middle grade novel from Printz Honor-winning author Garret Weyr, The Language of Spells, is an extraordinary tale that meshes real historical events with a winning cast of magical creatures.

As this magic-filled journey begins in 1803, we meet a young dragon known as Grisha in the Black Forest. He’s young and carefree and enjoys eating acorns and playing by the stream—until one day, a heartless sorcerer imprisons him in a teapot. Grisha’s teapot is sold to the highest bidder, and for hundreds of years, he silently observes the world as it changes around him. When his enchantment is finally broken, he’s reunited with a group of dragons in Vienna during World War II. But the lives of the once mighty dragons are now controlled by the Department of Extinct Exotics, an organization that refuses to allow them to return to the forest and instead assigns them strict jobs and curfews. On a night off in a hotel bar, Grisha meets a human girl named Maggie, and the two forge a sweet and powerful friendship built on empathy and honesty. Soon, the two join forces to face their fears and investigate what happened to the city’s missing dragons.

Katie Harnett’s black-and-white illustrations kick off each chapter and add to the classic European fairy-tale atmosphere, and Weyr’s allegorical tale never glosses over a heart-rending detail or passes up a chance for a gorgeous turn of phrase, making this an ideal read-aloud that fantasy lovers of all ages can enjoy.

EPIC TRAGEDY
Puccini’s opera Turandot is based on a Persian fairy tale about a princess who challenges her suitors to solve three riddles in order to win her hand. If they fail, they will be executed. As one would expect from an opera written in 1924 set in the “mystical East,” there isn’t much historical accuracy to be found—but the original fairy tale was inspired by a Mongol warrior woman named Khutulun, who declared she would only marry a man who could beat her in a wrestling match. It is within this Mongol Empire that author Megan Bannen sets her retelling of Turandot, The Bird and the Blade (Balzer + Bray, $17.99, 432 pages, ISBN 9780062674159, ages 13 and up).

Slave girl Jinghua is on the run with deposed Mongol Khan Timur and his kindhearted son Khalaf. Timur wants to raise an army to take back his lands. Khalaf wants to marry the princess Turandokht by solving her riddles and, as her husband, restore his father to power. Jinghua, who thinks both plans are idiotic, is hilariously blunt about her chances of surviving either of them, but less open about her growing feelings for Khalaf.

Bannen plays with time in her YA debut, beginning with the trio’s arrival at Turandokht’s palace and then flashing back to their dangerous journey there. The awkward attraction between Jinghua and Khalaf, plus Timur’s caustic sarcasm, makes this novel surprisingly funny. But after Bannen reveals the utter devastation behind one character’s self-deprecating facade, it’s a relentless rush to the finale as Jinghua tries to save Khalaf.

Bannen’s prose grows ever more lyrical, soaring to match her ambition as The Bird and the Blade arrives at an unforgettable climax.

LOST GIRLS
For some reason, there are an awful lot of new YA novels in which women are endangered or oppressed. Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart is one of the most compelling of the bunch.

Serina Tessaro and her sister, Nomi, travel to the capital city of Bellaqua where Serina will compete for a chance to become one of the Heir’s Graces. Banghart doesn’t spell it out all at once, but Graces are essentially glorified concubines who represent the ideal subservient woman. The sisters are shocked when rebellious Nomi is chosen, and soon Serina takes the fall for one of Nomi’s crimes and is sent to Mount Ruin, a prison island.

Nomi’s storyline has the romantic entanglements and sparkling settings common to YA fantasy, but Banghart presents both with queasy suspicion. The beautiful rooms and pretty gowns of the Graces are mere decoration for another type of prison, and it is impossible to fall in love with a man who might see you as a possession or a tool.

Meanwhile, the all-female prisoners of Mount Ruin are forced to fight for rations, and Serina’s lifelong training to become a Grace surprisingly helps her excel in her new environment. As she begins to enjoy the camaraderie and mentorship of other women for the first time in her life, Serina’s feminine ideal quickly transforms from elegant consort to ferocious warrior. After all, in a society that constrains women at every turn, both roles offer a way to survive.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sweeping fantasies are this year’s biggest trend in children’s and teen literature—think breathtaking action, complex world building, magical abilities and bands of young heroes who must save the day.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Wacky tales of animal antics

Feature by Julie Hale

These rollicking picture books feature animals who get mixed up in some outrageous situations. High jinks and humor ensue in five slapstick stories for young readers. Reading has never been more uproarious!

Sterling, Best Dog Ever by Aidan Cassie is a heartwarming parable about a lonely pooch’s search for his place in the world. Sterling is living in a box in an alley when he gets a crazy idea. He sneaks into the Butlery Cutlery Company’s warehouse, takes a ride down the silverware assembly line, gets packed up in a box of brand new forks and is soon delivered to the Gilbert family’s front door. As a skinny critter with a silvery coat, Sterling blends right in with the utensils at first glance, but the Gilberts quickly realize that he’s different. Their daughter befriends him, and Sterling is determined to please her and keep up the ruse. Instead—with the help of his new friend—he learns the importance of being himself. Cassie brings Sterling’s changeable nature to vivid life through vibrant, playful illustrations. This is a sweet story that addresses important ideas about self-esteem and individuality.

TOO MANY MISSING PETS
The confused little girl in Mark Iacolina’s Did You Eat the Parakeet? is convinced her cat has made a meal of her pet bird, but readers know from the get-go that this isn’t the case. It’s a silly scenario that’s sure to elicit lots of laughs during storytime. The girl takes her cat to task: “Did you eat the parakeet? He was right there on his tiny seat! He was such a small and scrawny bird. To eat him would be absurd!” The frustrated feline soon sets the girl straight, and all is well—until her pet mouse goes missing! Iacolina’s rhyming text is irresistible, and his stick-figure illustrations, embellished with patches of color and pattern, are wonderfully expressive. There’s lots to love about this story of pet ownership gone awry.

FINDING FRIENDSHIP
Jim Averbeck’s touching Trevor features a solitary canary who longs for someone to sing with. Perched in his “safe, boring cage,” Trevor is feeling dejected until he spies a lemon hanging on a branch outside the window. Mistaking it for a bird, he leaves his cage and flies to the tree with a seed as a gift. Although the lemon remains strangely silent, Trevor builds a nest where they can live together. When the lemon disappears during a storm, Trevor is alone again, but not for a long. The kernel he brought as a gift has sprouted into a sunflower, and its seeds attract a feathered flock who welcome him as one of their own. Amy Hevron’s lovely acrylic-on-wood illustrations have eye-catching texture. Filled with hope, this gentle book shows that friendship can materialize at the perfect moment.

AN UNEXPECTED GUEST
Deborah Underwood’s madcap Walrus in the Bathtub is filled with splish-splash fun. Mom, Dad and the kids are excited about their new house. It has a large yard and a big bathtub that—surprise!—is already occupied by an enormous walrus. He’s having a leisurely soak as the family arrives on move-in day, accidentally creating some “bathtub tidal waves.” Between the walrus’ pool parties (er, bathtub parties)—complete with friendly seagulls and a blasting boombox—and his unendurable singing, the family’s nerves begin to fray. Despite the efforts of a plumber, a firefighter and a wildlife rescuer, the walrus won’t budge from the tub, which means the family might have to move out, but perhaps the troublesome walrus is just a little misunderstood. Matt Hunt’s bright, vivid illustrations are chock-full of details, including lots of floating soap bubbles. Bath time will never be the same once the kiddos get a look at this book.

LOST AT SEA
Leo is a wee infant when he goes flying overboard—and away from his frantic parents—during a boat trip. Following the accident, he’s cared for by friendly sea lions. In A Home for Leo, Vin Vogel tells the delightful story of the boy’s life by the ocean. Leo has fun with his new family—they teach him to swim and catch fish—although he doesn’t quite fit in with them. After he’s unexpectedly reunited with his parents, Leo is one happy lad, but he misses his animal pals. Can he find a way to bring his two lives together? Vogel’s energetic, cartoonish illustrations add to the appeal of Leo’s adventures. This out-of-the-ordinary story has a heartwarming ending, as Leo and his parents find the perfect home—by the sea, of course.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

These rollicking picture books feature animals who get mixed up in some outrageous situations. High jinks and humor ensue in five slapstick stories for young readers. Reading has never been more uproarious!

FictionDebut Fiction

Six new authors you need to know

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Become a fan from the very beginning, as these six outstanding new novelists make their debuts with deeply emotional narratives peopled with tremendous characters that will leave you aching for more.

IF YOU LEAVE ME
By Crystal Hana Kim

For fans of: Lisa See, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison and Jesmyn Ward.

First line: “Kyunghwan and I met where the farm fields ended and our refugee village began.”

The book: In war-torn Korea, Haemi and Kyunghwan find love in a refugee village, but honor and duty take precedence when a wealthy man begins courting the spirited Haemi.

The author: Winner of the PEN America’s Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, Crystal Hana Kim is a contributing editor for Apogee Journal and lives in Brooklyn.

Read it for: Lyrical prose that offers an unflinching look at motherhood and the aftermath of American imperialism.

BABY TEETH
By Zoje Stage

For fans of: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and movies like The Babadook, The Bad Seed and The Ring.

First line: “Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke.”

The book: Upscale parents grapple with an inexplicable and unremitting evil—in the form of their 7-year-old daughter.

The author: Zoje Stage is a former filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Read it for: One more book to talk you out of procreating.

FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE
By Ingrid Rojas Contreras

For fans of: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

First line: “She sits in a plastic chair in front of a brick wall, slouching.”

The book: Two coming-of-age stories—that of rich city girl Chula and her maid, Petrona—overlap during Colombia’s violent 1990s.

The author: A Bogotá native, Ingrid Rojas Contreras and her family fled to Los Angeles when she was 14. She now writes for HuffPost and NPR, and teaches writing to immigrant high schoolers in San Francisco.

Read it for: A first-hand glimpse into the plight of vulnerable Colombian children in the recent past.

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME
By Miriam Parker

For fans of: Camille Perri, Elin Hilderbrand and Stephanie Danler.

First line: “I would have never predicted that a winery could change my life.”

The book: A business school graduate lands a coveted New York investment job, but her heart is set on a path less traveled (quite literally) in the wine country.

The author: Miriam Parker has worked in publishing for more than 17 years and is currently an associate publisher at Ecco. She lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Leopold Bloom.

Read it for: The love of wine, and the inspiring tale of taking chances and dreaming of a life more rewarding than a nine-to-five job.

LET ME BE LIKE WATER
By S.K. Perry

For fans of: Mitch Albom, Anne Tyler and Rachel Khong.

First line: “I was sitting on a bench at the beach when Frank told me I’d dropped my keys.”

The book: After the death of her boyfriend, 20-something Holly finds solitude and hope at the seaside in Brighton, in particular through a new friendship with an elderly, retired magician.

The author: The author of the poetry collection Curious Hands: 24 Hours in Soho, S.K. Perry was long-listed for London’s youth poet laureate in 2013.

Read it for: A sense of comfort, and for a reading experience as soothing and cathartic as ocean waves lapping at your toes.

BROTHER
By David Chariandy

For fans of: Zadie Smith, Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn.

First line: “Once he showed me his place in the sky.”

The book: The lives of two Canadian brothers are forever changed after a violent shooting draws additional police scrutiny to their neighborhood.

The author: David Chariandy grew up in the same Toronto public housing as the family in Brother. He currently teaches English at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has been previously published in his native Canada (the critically acclaimed novel Soucouyant), but this is his first novel to be published in the United States.

Read it for: A poignant and timely look at community, family and race in a setting that will be new to many American readers.

August is First Fiction Month at BookPage! Click here to read all our First Fiction coverage on the blog; click here to read our most recent coverage of debut novels.

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Kim photo credit Nina Subin.
Stage photo credit Gabrianna Dacko.
Contreras photo credit Jeremiah Barber.
Parker photo credit Shannon Carpenter.
Perry photo credit Naomi Woddis.
Chariandy photo credit Joy von Tiedemann.

Become a fan from the very beginning, as these six outstanding new novelists make their debuts with deeply emotional narratives peopled with tremendous characters that will leave you aching for more.

Business & Finance

Connecting the dots of education

Feature by Angela Leeper

Education doesn’t happen in a bubble. These five new books highlight important connections between education and history, business, entrepreneurship, safety and democracy.

In The Lost Education of Horace Tate, Emory University professor Vanessa Siddle Walker shows how black educators played hidden yet significant roles in the civil rights movement. Walker focuses on Horace Tate, a Georgia educator who fought for equality across the state and throughout the South. This detailed account traces Tate’s path from college student to high school principal to president of the black-affiliated Georgia Teacher and Educator Association (GT&EA).

Along the way, Tate learned to be an effective leader in a system controlled by white people. Refusing to apply for a job at the superintendent’s back door or to accept discarded textbooks from the white school, he was an ardent and vocal champion for justice. But Tate and other black educators realized that stealth could be more effective and less dangerous. For instance, when Southern educators risked losing their jobs by contributing to the NAACP, they funneled funds instead through the GT&EA. As readers discover Tate’s place in history, they’ll also enjoy reading about Martin Luther King Jr., W.E.B. DuBois and other activists portrayed in rarely seen moments.

EMPOWERING GIRLS
Why do many girls start out naturally brilliant in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), only to have their imagination and talent conditioned out of them by society and education? In VentureGirls: Raising Girls to Be Tomorrow’s Leaders, Cristal Glangchai addresses how to turn this national dilemma into a victory. An engineer, nanoscientist, professor and entrepreneur, Glangchai is also the founder of VentureLab, a nonprofit that helps children, particularly girls, develop STEM and entrepreneurial skills.

After describing challenges and attitudes that create barriers for girls and women, such as the notion that only men are natural leaders and media stereotypes that depict girls as passive princesses, Glangchai explains why entrepreneurial skills are the key to closing the female empowerment gap. She thoughtfully clarifies that entrepreneurship is not simply the notion of starting businesses but rather a combination of character traits, from persistence to empathy and resourcefulness, that can aid in achieving success. With an emphasis on curiosity, play and grit, Glangchai offers advice, pertinent research, stories of accomplishment and activities to inspire the next generation of girls.

THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION
Drawing on the work of W. Edwards Deming, Andrea Gabor tackles the seemingly unwieldy topic of education reform. Gabor, a business journalist and former editor at U.S. News & World Report, frames the discussion as a business story as she explores how schools, like corporations, are complex social systems and living communities. In After the Education Wars: How Smart Schools Upend the Business of Reform, her goal is to understand what makes long-term education reform work.

Using examples from schools in New York City, Massachusetts and Leander, Texas, the author’s frank narrative describes how these successful reforms began as small grassroots movements that relied on participation and collaboration among teachers, students, and the community. Conversely, she looks at unsuccessful developments, particularly charter-school organizations and a reliance on standardized testing and rote learning, which, she contends, create hostility towards teachers and increase segregation. The key, Gabor concludes, is a radical departure from a one-size-fits-all approach to traditional education and re-establishing a connection between education and democracy.

TAKING A STAND
When a 19-year-old began firing an AR-15 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day, 2018, David Hogg (class of 2018), his sister, Lauren Hogg (class of 2021), and many classmates first assumed the sounds were part of an active-shooter drill. For students born after Columbine and 9/11, the threat of school shootings and mass murders has become a disturbingly common occurrence. But just a few minutes after the perpetrator’s first gunshots, 17 students and faculty were dead and over a dozen more wounded.

In #NEVERAGAIN: A New Generation Draws the Line, David and Lauren Hogg alternate describing the traumatic events of that day and how collective anger, grief and need for immediate change ignited the student-led movement for gun control reform. Their no-holds-barred account details the hatred from extremists that surfaced after the students went public and the young activists’ commitment to speaking up for themselves when the adults around them would not. This slim but powerful and strategic manifesto is a wake-up call to end gun violence.

SUPREME EDUCATION
Segregation, prayer in schools, strip searches, required education for undocumented immigrants, corporal punishment and transgender bathrooms—these are just some of the pivotal issues in K-12 education that have been brought before the Supreme Court. Justin Driver, a former high school teacher and an award-winning constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago, examines the intersection between two of the country’s most venerable institutions in The Schoolhouse Gate.

Following an overview of the court’s few interactions with public education before World War II, Driver focuses on decisive court cases involving students’ rights since then. As he delves into free expression, school discipline, criminal procedure, religion and the shifting meaning of equal protection, the author looks at the various perspectives of each case and its impact today. Driver’s added personal commentary pushes readers to consider the kind of nation reflected in these cases and the one they want for future generations.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Education doesn’t happen in a bubble. These five new books highlight important connections between education and history, business, entrepreneurship, safety and democracy.

NonfictionParentingMemoir

Parenting: There is no handbook, but these come close

Feature by Amy Scribner

Let’s be real: Parenting fails happen, and meltdowns and mistakes are par for the course. This set of parenting books offers fresh solutions and insights into what makes your kids tick—and how to handle the most trying of situations.

We’ll start with the good news: Children are supposed to misbehave sometimes! And you’re supposed to let them! In The Good News About Bad Behavior, journalist and mom Katherine Reynolds Lewis dives into neuroscience research and interviews with dozens of families. She concludes that “[w]hen adults crack down on bad behavior they undermine the development of the very traits that children need to become self-disciplined and productive members of society.”

That’s not to say that Lewis advocates letting children run wild in the streets. But she argues that by undermining children’s ability to learn to regulate their own behavior, we are raising a generation of kids in chaos. We are so disengaged (how many times a day do you mindlessly pick up your phone?) and so tightly scheduled that we are forgetting to let children learn to control their own choices and make mistakes. Find ways to engage with your children, set firm limits and routines, and watch your children thrive as their perfectly imperfect selves.

PARENTING IN FEAR
It was an impulsive decision that would haunt her: Kim Brooks ran into a store to pick up one item, leaving her 4-year-old son Felix happily playing in the car. In the few minutes she was gone, a bystander filmed her unaccompanied son and called the police.

Small Animals is Brooks’ recollection of the months that followed when she was unsure what the consequences would be for her and her family. But Small Animals is more than a memoir: It is a call to action for all of us to quit the judgmental parenting Olympics.

Brooks talks to Lenore Skenazy, who rose to infamy in 2008 when she wrote a piece about letting her 9-year-old son take the New York subway by himself. Skenazy founded the “free-range kids” movement and fights against the belief that our kids are in constant danger. A certain amount of freedom is important to growing independent children, Brooks argues, but we are so mired in fear of failing—of kidnapping, of injury, of not raising the next president of the United States—that it’s hard to let go.

EMBRACING THE OFFBEAT
Many parents worry about their child not fitting in and being different from the pack. In Differently Wired, Deborah Reber tries to shift the paradigm of how we think about kids with neurodifferences such as ADHD and autism.

Reber and her husband found themselves at a loss when their son, Asher, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and disruptive behavioral disorder. He bounced from one elementary school to another because teachers didn’t know how to handle him. Reber finally chose to home-school, but it took several painful years of trial and error to get to that point.

“When we first realize something different is going on with our child, most if not all of us feel overwhelmed with one big question: What now?” Reber writes. “Many of us are relying on word-of-mouth referrals and hours-long Internet searches for things we don’t even have the language for. We’re pioneers without a map, let alone a destination. And this lack of clarity about how to move forward adds an incredibly stressful layer to our already tapped-out lives.”

With empathy and been-there-done-that confidence, Reber outlines 18 concrete and achievable changes (what she calls “tilts”) to transform the way you approach parenting. From letting go of what others think to practicing relentless self-care and identifying your child’s stress triggers, Reber offers rock-solid steps that will shift your family dynamic.

PLAY TIME
The Design of Childhood is a fascinating look at how our surroundings shape our childhoods, both today and in the past. Architecture historian Alexandra Lange traces how changing views on raising children has impacted the way we build schools and playgrounds, the toys we buy and the cities we build.

“Our built environment is making kids less healthy, less independent and less imaginative,” she writes. “What those hungry brains require is freedom.”

Consider the block. The universal, simple children’s toy has been reimagined endless times over the years: Think Legos, Duplo, Minecraft. “To understand what children can do,” Lange writes, “you need to give them tools and experiences that are open-ended, fungible: worlds of their own making.” Lange applies the same logic to other elements of a child’s life: Playgrounds should offer challenges and options. Planned communities should include communal spaces, access to mass transit and short commutes that support family time. This is a fascinating look at the world from a pint-size perspective.

THE RIGHT WORDS
When I picked up Now Say This by Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright, the subtitle seemed a little lofty: “The Right Words to Solve Every Parenting Dilemma.” Really? This book will tell me the right thing to say to a petulant toddler or a tired fifth-grader? As it turns out, though, these women really know their stuff, and they offer priceless tools to work with your child without losing your mind.

Turgeon, a psychotherapist, and Wright, an early childhood expert, base their advice on this simple but effective model: prepare, attune, limit set, problem solve. For example, you need to leave the park, but your toddler is not on board. You prepare (let the child know these are the last few swings), attune (acknowledge the child doesn’t want to go because he’s having so much fun), limit set (explain it’s time to go because dinner is ready) and problem solve (offer to carry him or let him walk). This approach requires patience and practice, but then, isn’t that what parenting is all about?

 

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Let’s be real: Parenting fails happen, and meltdowns and mistakes are par for the course. This set of parenting books offers fresh solutions and insights into what makes your kids tick—and how to handle the most trying of situations.

Graphic Novels & ComicsGraphic Memoirs

Draw me a story

Feature by Linda M. Castellitto

We reach for graphic novels and memoirs because we treasure the experience of art plus story, of exploring a world of finely crafted illustrations that convey multitudes. Each of these four new comic books is a treat for the eye and balm for the brain, thanks to a heady mix of perspectives and representations of life in all its scary, funny, illuminating, weird, joyful glory.

Fans of Nicole J. Georges’ Lambda Award-winning graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura, will be thrilled she’s returned to form with Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home. The book opens with a pooch’s 15th birthday party, where the dog lunges at two children. Initially, it seems “bad dog” is an accurate moniker, but as Georges winds back through time, it’s clear there’s more to the story.

Teenage Georges adopted Beija as a gift for her then-boyfriend. When he left, the dog stayed, and Beija remains the author’s companion into adulthood. Their relationship is not without its (many) challenges: Beija is fearful and reactionary, and she gets in fights at the dog park. But then again, Georges chooses homes filled with noisy strangers and lets Beija off-leash at said park. Via flashbacks, Georges introduces her loving but neglectful mother and macho stepfather, and as loneliness and anger become the author’s constant cohorts, the impetus for dubious choices becomes clearer. Happily, as a young adult, Georges finds her queer feminist vegan identity, learns to practice self-expression through art and thus becomes a better pack leader for Beija.

Fetch does have the occasional crowded page and inelegant transition, which can make for a bumpy read. But overall, the art is wonderful, and the story is engaging and heartwarming. It’s a moving chronicle of triumph over difficult beginnings and the struggle to find people, a place and pets that feel like home.

From Fetch. © Nicole J. Georges. Reproduced by permission of HMH.

SURREALISM IN THE SKY
Julian Hanshaw’s Cloud Hotel is a beautifully rendered and engrossingly weird work of autobiographical fiction inspired by the UFO that Hanshaw and his family encountered when he was a boy in Hertfordshire, England. Hanshaw’s titular hotel, a colossal, light-beaming rectangle with lots of rooms inside, is a place for kids who have gone missing in the woods.

Remco is one of the lucky ones: Upon his return from his first journey to the sky, his beloved grandfather finds him in the woods. As pages turn and the hotel shifts and changes, Remco discovers he’s the only child who can move between the hotel and his regular life. Readers will wonder whether that’s a good thing as Hanshaw masterfully builds suspense and foreboding, prompting questions like: Where and when is the hotel? Who are the children? Is any of this real?

Curious readers who like a trippy, absorbing story with touching family moments and a wondrous depiction of another reality will enjoy Cloud Hotel. And fans of Hanshaw’s previous work—like Tim Ginger, which was short-listed for the British Comics Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize—will be ready to check right in.

DARK OBSESSION
History and mystery, horror and grief, ghosts and memories all collide in Idle Days, a darkly dramatic, occasionally explosive tale written by Thomas Desaulniers-Brousseau and illustrated by Simon Leclerc.

In Canada during World War II, Jerome is a military deserter hiding at his grandfather Maurice’s remote forest cabin. Jerome is angry about the war, restless in his isolation—and soon he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the people who lived in the cabin before his grandfather. Rumors of murder and suicide capture his attention as battlefield bloodshed haunts his dreams. He’s also mourning the recent death of his father and striving to elude capture, but “Wanted” posters and radio broadcasts ensure the war cannot be ignored.

Leclerc’s liberal use of black, red and orange evokes fiery warmth, while his skillfully drawn, violent tableaux convey the horror and fear in Jerome’s memory and imagination. Idle Days’ title plays on the aphorism, “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings,” and to be sure, such days build to Jerome’s reckoning with the past, acceptance of the present and a hint of what might lie in the future. It’s an absorbing amalgam of imagery and story that’s far from wordy, as illustration-only pages leave many aspects of the story open to readers’ imaginations. It’s scary stuff.

MOVING MADCAPPERY
About Betty’s Boob by Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau is a nearly wordless sequential narrative, but Betty’s voice surges off the page. When we first meet Betty, she howls with post-op fear and rage as she demands to be given back her just-removed left breast. She attempts to return to life as usual, gift-boxed synthetic breast in hand, but is frustrated at every turn—by a boss who insists all employees have two breasts (it’s in the contract!), a boyfriend who rejects her and a woman who tries to bite the apple that serves as a poignant yet functional prosthetic. This surreal story has cleverness and wit sprinkled throughout, like the store that sells “luxury breasts since 1973,” some of which cost “8008” euros. Ultimately, Betty strikes out on her own, and through a sequence of delightfully wild events featuring dancing, costumes, wigs and a dazzling array of pasties, she finds acceptance and a new identity within a boisterous burlesque troupe.

The artwork is vibrant and kinetic, and its depiction of goings-on both fantastical and reality-bound is detailed and eminently appealing. About Betty’s Boob is an inspiring, entertaining story of pain and grief transformed into joyful self-acceptance—societal expectations be damned.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

We reach for graphic novels and memoirs because we treasure the experience of art plus story, of exploring a world of finely crafted illustrations that convey multitudes. Each of these four new comic books is a treat for the eye and balm for the brain, thanks to a heady mix of perspectives and representations of life in all its scary, funny, illuminating, weird, joyful glory.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Ready, set, it’s time for school

Feature by Julie Hale

The end of summer signals the start of something big: a new school year! To get little readers ready for what lies ahead, try one of these five picture books that capture the infectious energy of the back-to-school season and offer loads of encouragement, inspiration and fun.

Coaxing anxious students into the classroom proves to be a challenge in Mae’s First Day of School by Kate Berube. Mae is less than excited about the start of school. She crawls under the bed and tells her parents, “I’M. NOT. GOING.” When Mae finally leaves the house and arrives at school, she hides in the branches of a tree outside. But she isn’t alone: Rosie, another anxious pupil, soon perches beside her, and the pair commiserates over a cookie. “What if no one will play with me?” Rosie says. “Or what if I have to read—I don’t know how!” A surprise visitor to the girls’ hideout helps them realize that together they can brave the day.

Berube’s endearing illustrations of the two fretful students and their most feared classroom scenarios strike a chord. This charming book is the perfect remedy for first-day fears.

FIND YOUR NICHE
Bug School is “abuzz with hundreds of shiny, scurrying shapes,” but nobody—not even Miss Orb, the spider teacher—takes note of new student Heidi. A stick insect with a narrow physique, Heidi blends right in with the scenery. Author Aura Parker tells the story of this adorable, overlooked insect in her ingeniously illustrated Twig. When a student named Scarlett mistakes Heidi for a stick and tries to use her in a craft project, Heidi finally speaks up and becomes the center of attention as Miss Orb and the other bugs work to make her feel welcome. Because she’s tall and thin, Heidi—no longer shy—can help with all kinds of activities, and her school year gets off to a promising start. Teeming with bustling bug activity, this sweet story provides plenty of back-to-class inspiration.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
If your kids are heading to class for the first time this year, Priscilla Burris’ Hello School! is the perfect read to prep them for the big day. From meeting their new teacher to finding the right cubbyhole and painting in art class, the kids in this appealing book gradually become accustomed to life in the classroom. Important lessons like learning how to listen and share (especially at snack time!) reinforce this gentle story of what it’s like to be a new student. With friends to meet, letters of the alphabet to learn and songs to sing, the first day turns out to be “the best day ever!” Burris’ expressive illustrations capture a sense of wonder as the youngsters make discoveries about their new environment. This light-hearted look at the classroom routine can help readers establish expectations for the year ahead.

FEELING AT EASE
Alexandra Penfold celebrates diversity in the uplifting All Are Welcome. In this bright, inviting book, the school semester kicks off right, with an atmosphere of warmth and hospitality in which a diverse set of pupils from many different cultural backgrounds feel at ease: “In our classroom safe and sound. Fears are lost and hope is found. Raise your hand, we’ll go around. All are welcome here.” Using rhymed stanzas throughout, Penfold details the students’ day, from music class, where they play a variety of instruments, to lunch and more.

This is an inspiring tale that showcases a group of youngsters—each with individual talents and traits, as made clear by Suzanne Kaufman’s irresistible illustrations—who are united by their differences. It’s a simple story that offers a big back-to-school boost.

A GALAXY FAR AWAY
Set on the planet of Boborp, Best Frints at Skrool features the pair of extraterrestrial pals from author and illustrator Antoinette Portis’ Best Frints in the Whole Universe. This time, Omek and Yelfred are ready to tackle the school year together—until a newcomer arrives.

The best friends blast into a classroom filled with colorful aliens, but during recess, Yelfred finds a new friend named Q-B, and Omek feels left out in the cold. The trio squabbles and gets into trouble at lunchtime, but they soon discover that three friends can have more fun together than two. Portis’ playful space creatures and creative vocabulary—“skrool” for school; “skreecher” for teacher—add to the book’s out-of-this-world attraction. There’s no better way to usher in a new school year than this laugh-out-loud tale of life in an intergalactic classroom.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The end of summer signals the start of something big: a new school year! To get little readers ready for what lies ahead, try one of these five picture books that capture the infectious energy of the back-to-school season and offer loads of encouragement, inspiration and fun.

Fiction

Seekers of the spirit

Feature by Lonna Upton

Four works of inspirational fiction propel readers into the stories of four remarkable women. Each heroine is a pioneer of sorts, finding her divine purpose while also claiming ownership over her own life.

Melanie Dobson weaves a mysterious time-slip tale in Hidden Among the Stars, entwining the evil of the 1938 Nazi invasion of Austria with the quiet life of a modern-day bookseller.

Max Dornbach, a wealthy Austrian who refuses to accept the Nazi assertion that Jews are not human, helps his Jewish friends by hiding their valuable possessions on his family’s estate. He trusts only one person to help—the caretaker’s daughter, Annika, whose unrequited love for Max has blossomed since her childhood. When Max brings Luzia, the Jewish woman he loves, to hide on the estate, Annika’s devotion to her friend is tested. Her faith guides her to make decisions that will have repercussions 80 years later.

Four decades later in America, Callie Randall, blogger and bookstore owner, finds her world disrupted when a mysterious copy of Bambi, filled with handwritten lists, appears in the store. When Callie finds a connection between the copy of Bambi and an old friend’s past, curiosity leads her into research, genealogies and treasure hunting in Austria. While unraveling history, Callie reaches a deep understanding of how God’s love can conquer evil through the sacrifices that individuals make for each other.

HEALING WATERS
Bestselling author Cindy Woodsmall teams up with her daughter-in-law, Erin Woodsmall, for As the Tide Comes In, a story of characters moving from loss to hope while struggling with why bad things happen to good people.

Tara Abbott’s childhood was spent in foster care, but she now handles the responsibility of caring for her two half-brothers with grace and grit. After a devastating storm rips through their North Carolina cabin, leaving Tara with a traumatic brain injury, a trip to the Georgia coast seems to be an ideal respite. In the midst of tragic circumstances, the Glynn Girls, a group of older women with all the charm of biscuit-making, casserole-cooking Southern moms, provide comic relief. Along with a handsome fireman, these women offer Tara a chance to see the truth of her past and her future. Although Tara’s injury causes her to move back and forth between being a confused damsel in distress and an independent woman with flashes of stubbornness as salty as the sea, she finds her faith renewed in this story brimming with the kindness and prayers of strangers.

From rappelling in the mountains to watching the tides ebb and flow on sandy beaches, Tara covers miles while undergoing heartache and healing in this tender novel.

WESTERN REDEMPTION
In Everything She Didn’t Say, bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick expertly captures the indomitable spirit of a woman who is just as comfortable reveling in her pioneering adventures as she is maintaining the composure of a Victorian lady. Based on Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage, a memoir written by Carrie Adell Strahorn in 1911, Everything She Didn’t Say is a fictionalized look at how Carrie might have dealt with the realities of 25 years spent trailblazing and traveling with her husband, investor and railroad promoter Robert Strahorn.

Carrie’s struggles as a married woman in the untamed West are not tied to a time and place. Her desire for a permanent home and her longing for children are lifelong needs that go unmet. The lack of respect she receives from men along the way, including her husband on occasion, is a persistent hurdle. Carrie realizes that being a good wife to a husband who often slants the truth should not prevent her from being true to her own values. Although her boldness and bravery may not be what society considered befitting of a turn-of-the-century lady, Carrie’s faith keeps her grounded while she seeks fulfillment in a life that does not follow the path she had imagined.

WORTH FIGHTING FOR
England’s preparation for World War I provides an intriguing backdrop for mystery and romance in An Hour Unspent. Although the novel concludes Roseanna M. White’s Shadows Over England series, the story is a page-turner in its own right. White deftly synchronizes the lives of the hero, Barclay Pearce, and the heroine, Evelina Manning.

Barclay, previously a top-notch thief in London, is now a skilled assistant to a high-ranking official in the Royal Navy. He is also learning about the power of prayer. Evelina, an independent suffragette, is shocked when her wealthy British fiancé ends their engagement, but her new circumstances allow her time to contemplate her future.

With perfect timing, Barclay becomes a friend to Evelina after he saves her from a possible mugging and begins working with her father, a clockmaker who has developed a device that could prove to be a military advantage for England. Unfortunately, Germany knows the clockmaker’s secret and will stop at nothing to obtain both the plans and their creator.

Evelina finds herself falling for Barclay, a man outside her social class, but she also finds herself in a role that’s far tougher than suffragette. In an attempt to rescue her father from behind enemy lines, she goes undercover with Barclay—but they both realize that they will need the help of the Divine Clockmaker.

 

This article was originally published in the September 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Four works of inspirational fiction propel readers into the stories of four remarkable women. Each heroine is a pioneer of sorts, finding her divine purpose while also claiming ownership over her own life.

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