2book

Secrets of the dead

Feature by Linda M. Castellitto

A tangled web, indeed: These two psychological thrillers offer dramatic twists and turns, plus a hearty dose of scandal, as they explore what might happen when a seemingly perfect person is murdered—and those left behind discover the deceptions that lurked beneath the victim’s distractingly charismatic surface.

Can women have it all? Araminta Hall examines that eternally lingering question in all its darkly sexist glory via her new novel, Imperfect Women. The author puts Eleanor Meakins, Nancy Hennessy and Mary Smithson front and center. The three women have been best friends since they were at Oxford together 20 years ago. There, they intertwined their lives and excitedly shared their dreams of the future, but today, two of them are horrified and grieving.

Beautiful, wealthy, possessor-of-a-perfect-family Nancy has been murdered, and Eleanor (devoted to her job, longing for romance) and Mary (beleaguered mother of three, wife to a philanderer) are stunned. But, they wonder, how well did they actually know their friend? The women have grown apart over time; their love for one another remains, but distance and distrust have long been creeping in to their relationships.

Readers who enjoy a challenge will appreciate how deftly Hall paints nearly every character as a viable suspect. Did Nancy’s husband Robert, who pooh-poohed her depression, know she was having an affair? Could said paramour have committed the crime? Was Eleanor jealous enough to do something so terrible? Could Mary’s resentment at her decidedly imperfect life have turned deadly? Each woman takes a turn as unreliable narrator, revealing their deferred dreams and unmet desires, as well as allowing themselves the selfishness and aggravation they don’t reveal to the world. There’s a lot of anger there, too, at disrespectful and self-absorbed men who don’t listen to, appreciate or support the women they profess to love. After all, thinks Nancy, “Women in this world are expected to conform, even if it doesn’t seem like that anymore. What’s wrong with you, men ask as they push forward, why aren’t you happy back there, why isn’t it enough?”

Imperfect Women is an engrossing deep dive into the individual and shared history of a long-term friendship, an acknowledgement of the slow poison of being confined by gender roles, and an exploration of what can happen when reasonable expectations begin to seem sadly unattainable.

On the dedication page of her fourth thriller, Convince Me, author Nina Sadowsky gets right to the point: “This book is for everyone who is sick and tired of the fucking liars and their fucking lies.” Justin Childs sure is a liar—although, as the novel begins, his family and friends have no idea. Rather, they’re mourning his death in a car accident and wondering how they’re going to go on without his charismatic, intelligent, everybody’s-a-friend presence in their lives.

His mother, Carol, loves her son completely and fiercely, and is determined to preserve his legacy of near perfection. His widow, Annie, steels herself to get through the funeral even as she wonders why, after never taking any pills, Justin was found to have Valium in his system. And his best friend and business partner, Will, is left reeling at this grievous loss and its timing—just before the two men were due to launch their tech startup, Convincer Media.

It’s this business-related anxiety that soon disturbs a massive and complex hornets’ nest of lies: Something’s amiss in the financial records, and Convincer’s supposed main investor has never heard of Justin. And that, it turns out, is just for starters. As Annie and Will view their time with Justin through a newly skeptical lens, it dawns on them, inexorably, upsettingly, that they never knew him at all. As Annie muses, “Piecing Justin together is like trying to coax a clear image from a kaleidoscope.”

But they need to ferret out the truth, and fast, because people’s money is at stake and the police are taking an interest. Sadowsky does an excellent job of showing how, bit by careful bit, someone like Justin could fool so many for so long: White lies gone unchallenged lay the groundwork for larger deceptions, and declarations of devotion can be disarming and effective distractions. Convince Me’s tension is often internal, and compellingly so. Readers ride along as the characters confront their own roles in perpetuating the myth of Justin, and decide whether they’re going to succumb to rage or do their best to ensure they won’t get fooled again.

A tangled web, indeed: These two psychological thrillers offer dramatic twists and turns, plus a hearty dose of scandal, as they explore what might happen when a seemingly perfect person is murdered—and those left behind discover the deceptions that lurked beneath the victim’s distractingly charismatic…
Romance

Small-town struggles in three realistic yet comforting romances

Feature by Carole V. Bell

More than any other category in the romance genre, small-town romances promise warmth and comfort, the narrative equivalent of a security blanket in anxious times. Three  romances deliver on that mission while also incorporating a surprising amount of contemporary social reality into the mix. They retain many hallmarks of the traditional small-town romance: conventional couples; tight-knit, if mostly culturally homogenous communities; and towns so tiny and remote they take extra effort to reach. But much like Sarina Bowen’s popular True North series, they avoid presenting the small town as a bucolic paradise that renders a prodigal son or daughter whole. Instead, these towns have their own struggles and challenges, much like the books' protagonists. These are stories about communities and how they adapt and change in order to thrive.

The Cowboy Says I Do, Come Home to Deep River and Paradise Cove all begin with significant disruptions: a threatened real estate development, the discovery of oil, the closing of a factory, the death of a loved one or the scourge of new, deadlier drugs. These changes threaten relationships, livelihoods and the way of life. The path to happy ever after, which is the right of every couple in the romance genre, requires learning to cope with that change. In each of these books, that means both respecting the old ways and embracing the new; after all, there’s as much comfort to be found in change as in tradition, and all three books skillfully negotiate this balance. All three are softly, swooningly romantic in traditional ways, but the modern and even feminist flourishes are clear too. The men may wear cowboy hats and work boots, but not a single one strictly embodies the traditional alpha male archetype. The women know how to lead, and the men know how to nurture.

In The Cowboy Says I Do, Dylann Crush explores the seamier side of small-town life, demonstrating that not all traditions are good, and sometimes you have to break with the past to secure a better future.

In Idont, Texas, corruption has been the custom for a very long time, and prospects are looking grim. The newly elected mayor, Lacey Cherish, is digging her way out from under the public embarrassment her father, the disgraced former mayor, created, and a major employer has just shut its doors. Lacey is determined to save both her family name and her town by rebranding Idont as “Ido,” and transforming it into a one-stop wedding destination. It’s a long shot, and Lacey is a real underdog—she’s a waitress with no relevant experience, a shaky reputation and a chip on her shoulder—but she’ll do just about anything to turn things around. Her older brother’s best friend Bodie, the deputy sheriff, is her greatest ally and former crush, but she’s not sure she can trust him.

With that setup, Crush effectively anchors the story in several familiar tropes that work well together. Bodie and Lacey grow from childhood frenemies to lovers, and there’s also a fake relationship/fake engagement with a significant dose of best friend’s little sister tension woven in. Lacey and Bodie's connection is undeniable, but so too are their conflicts, and it all makes for excellent banter. There’s also an interesting subplot involving a pitbull rescue and suspected dog-fighting ring. It’s a nice touch as it brings out Bodie’s nurturing side as he takes on a foster dog whom he showers with loving care, and it begins a thread that will carry on through further books in the series.

What distinguishes this book the most, however, is its unexpected intrigue. For reasons that aren’t at all transparent to her at the start, Lacey faces a lot of friction from Bodie’s ethically challenged family members as she proceeds with her revitalization plan. Bodie’s family is definitely hiding something and it’s clearly not good. This creates a tug of war as Bodie is torn between his professional responsibilities, his burgeoning attraction to Lacey and family loyalty. As the deputy sheriff, Bodie must break from the way the good old boys in his family have used their stature and family name to skirt the law. With divided loyalties and high stakes, these external conflicts complicate an already fragile connection, and the crime and corruption provide a nice contrast to the novel’s otherwise frothy romantic comedy vibe. There are no real cowboys in this story, just a well-crafted cocktail of romantic comedy and suspense in a struggling Texas town.

Jackie Ashenden’s Come Home to Deep River strikes a more somber tone. In this second-chance romance, a bush pilot returns to his isolated Alaskan hometown for the first time in 13 years after the death of his closest friend. When Silas Quinn left Deep River to join the Army with his best friend Cal West, they both left their childhood friend, Hope, behind. Cal’s connection, though, was never severed. The Wests have effectively owned the town for generations, and in the years since, Cal returned multiple times, while Silas intentionally stayed away. For Si, good memories were overshadowed by familial loss and unrequited love. But when Cal dies, he leaves Silas and their business partners both ownership of and responsibility for stewardship of the town.

The discovery of valuable oil reserves in Deep River further complicates the situation, putting the town on the cusp of change with the potential to destroy the environment and the very nature of the community as outside developers try to purchase the residents’ property. It also thrusts Hope and Silas back into each other’s lives. Thirteen years of absence means 13 years of simmering resentment and loneliness. There is a lot of drama there, but there’s also deep, abiding (though unacknowledged) love and a chemistry that has been simmering and left unsated for over a decade. Silas is the most traditional of the three men in these small-town stories. He’s got a subtly dominant streak, and it turns out that Hope likes it. But even in the most traditional of this trio of small-town stories, Silas puts Hope’s future above his own.

Silas and Hope's story has a haunting tone. In their years without each other, it’s unlikely that either Hope or Silas has ever felt whole or wanted, even though Hope stayed behind in Deep River to take care of her mother. She put every dream she ever had for herself aside, but it was never enough. This is a story about coming to terms with ghosts and grudges that no longer serve any purpose. The book's greatest strength is the chemistry between Hope and Silas. Alone, each one makes a semi-tragic figure. Together they ignite. Their love scenes are what romance writers dream of—arresting and affecting, sensual explorations of a deep emotional connection.

Jenny Holiday’s Paradise Cove is the most personal and poignant of the three books, as both of its leads are recovering from life-changing loss. After a soul-crushing betrayal by her longtime partner, Dr. Nora Walsh leaves her big-city job and her expensive apartment to become the local family doctor in tiny Moonflower Bay. There she meets Jake, a grieving father who’s short on words but generous in spirit. Holiday writes beautiful prose, and while her story is incredibly emotional, she leavens its heaviness with quirky secondary characters and generous helpings of humor.

Holiday also devises the most adorable of meet-cutes for her leads:

"The first time Nora Walsh saw Jake Ramsey, he was getting his hair braided. He was sitting in one of the chairs at Curl Up and Dye reading a copy of Field & Stream while a stylist did some kind of elaborate Maria von Trapp cross-scalp braiding thing to his long brown hair. The image was almost comical: this giant, beefy man sitting on a chair that looked like a piece of dollhouse furniture compared to him. It was like Jason Momoa’s paler twin had shown up to play beauty parlor."

For that moment on, in Nora’s eyes, the taciturn Jake is both Aquaman and man-god. She soon finds, however, that Jake is much more than his looks, and Moonflower Bay is more than a place to hideout and regroup. Jake becomes Nora’s best friend and the community becomes her home. He cooks for her. He builds a deck for her. He takes care of her in every way he can, even as he still reels from the loss of a child.

Though the bones of this story are familiar, Jenny Holiday makes them fresh by giving Nora and Jake's friends to friends-with-benefits to lovers arc a rock-solid emotional rationale on both sides. Plus, the town has real, recognizable public health problems that Nora commits to helping solve. Jake and Nora’s chemistry is red hot, and they suit each other more than a little right from the start, so their primary quest is overcoming their pasts to come together whole. Their love story will break your heart and put it back together again better than before, and you’ll be grateful for having experienced it all.

More than any other category in the romance genre, small-town romances promise warmth and comfort, the narrative equivalent of a security blanket in anxious times. Three  romances deliver on that mission while also incorporating a surprising amount of contemporary social reality into the mix. They…

YA FictionYA

Hello? Is anyone out there?

Feature by Jill Ratzan

Who among us has never wondered whether life exists elsewhere in the cosmos? These two YA novels explore this perennially popular topic from very different perspectives. In the first, a neurodivergent teen’s science project spirals into an otherworldly hoax. In the other, a Mexican American girl learns that the disappearance of her mother, who had immigrated to the U.S. without documentation, may be connected to an extraterrestrial plot.

“There were never really aliens,” narrator Gideon Hofstadt tells readers on the first page of his case files. Gideon's brain works differently from other people's. He makes decisions based on what's most practical and can't tolerate messy food or the sensory overload of driving a car. He also has trouble communicating his feelings to his boyfriend, Owen, a relationship that he has been keeping secret. (Gideon’s mother, unaware that he's spoken for, keeps trying to set him up on blind dates with other boys.)

All Gideon originally planned to do was test his newly built seismograph by creating an explosion large enough that it would be picked up by a nearby university. But when his brother, Ishmael, interferes and creates a much bigger explosion than either boy intended, a rumor starts to circulate in their small Pennsylvania town that aliens landed on their family’s farm. Instead of denying the rumors, Gideon encourages them and documents the resulting hysteria as a study in group psychology, all in the hopes of getting into MIT, getting a job at NASA and becoming one of the world's leading astronomers.

Soon people around town are claiming to have been abducted by aliens, and Gideon and Ishmael must continually raise the stakes to keep control of their own narrative. But when the leader of a cultish multilevel marketing (MLM) business comes to town and declares that the aliens have given him the recipe for a tonic that will grant immortality, all bets are off. What will happen to Gideon's MIT. application if his sociological project is exposed as a hoax?

Chelsea Sedoti (The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett) tells It Came From the Sky through a series of news reports, interviews, explanatory interludes and other forms of data that Gideon has collected. A bovine escape artist, a bizarre reality TV show and a curious (but explainable) sighting of the late John F. Kennedy in the woods add laugh-out-loud humor to her fast-paced tale. Divergent storylines involving Gideon's younger sister, his lonely friend Arden and his mother's MLM connections dovetail into a highly satisfying conclusion. The aliens may never have been real, but the human foibles, challenges and hopes Sedoti depicts in a breezy and engaging documentary style definitely are.

With her debut novel, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland transports readers far from the verdant fields of Pennsylvania farm country, across the continent to the American Southwest and into the realms of speculative fiction and magical realism.

Sia’s favorite place is a spot in the Arizona desert that might have been where the world began. There, two human-shaped cactus plants seem to be reaching their arms out to each other, as though asking to dance. She goes there sometimes to light candles to guide her mother's spirit home. Not quite two years ago, Sia's mother, who immigrated to the United States without documentation, died in the Sonoran desert after being deported. And yet Sia’s grandmother insisted, until her own recent death, “M'ija vive.” My daughter lives.

Sia's anger at the local cop who reported her mother to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is sometimes soothed by the corn she plants, a family tradition with deep roots. She can sense her departed abuela's watchful presence in her garden, among her cacti and sometimes even in her car. Meanwhile, there's a school project about the moon to complete and Harry Potter fan fiction to read. Sia's relationship with her best friend, Rose, becomes strained by Rose's new girlfriend, Samara, leaving Sia room to pursue a romance of her own with Noah, the new boy at school, which is complicated by Sia's personal history with sexual assault. Everything is finally coming together, as friends reunite and love grows stronger.

And that's when Sia sees the blue lights in the sky.

Like the best speculative fiction, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything uses imaginative elements as metaphors for contemporary issues, in this case racism, immigration and abuse of police power. Sia’s narration is also pervaded by intense spirituality that blends Catholicism with the spirits and ghosts of Mexican folklore. The book teems with vivid imagery and explicit social commentary; "I guess when your skin is light enough, you get to cast the benefit of the doubt like a spell or something," Sia muses at one point.

Don't be disoriented when the narrative seems to radically shift genre just before the halfway point. Vasquez Gilliland skillfully sows the seeds of science fiction and magical realism early in the story, and like Sia's maíz, they have been waiting for just the right time to bloom.

Who among us has never wondered whether life exists elsewhere in the cosmos? These two YA novels explore this perennially popular topic.

Mother knows best?

Feature by Linda M. Castellitto

It’s no secret that motherhood isn’t all cuddles and giggles, but these two new thrillers take things a step (or several) further. They plumb the darker side of maternal instincts via unnerving, slow-burning stories of mothers, daughters and the secrets and lies that sometimes bind them.

Long-buried secrets boil up to the surface in Kate Riordan’s The Heatwave, an unsettling and claustrophobic thriller set in the south of France during a scorchingly hot summer.

Sylvie Durand has pushed her family home, La Reverie, firmly out of mind and memory for 10 years—but in 1993, when she receives a letter notifying her of arson at the empty property, she must return. She does so with great reluctance and deep dread, but her beloved 14-year-old daughter, Emma, is thrilled. She’s always been curious about the place where she was born and lived until she was 4, when her parents divorced after her older sister Elodie’s death at 14.

As Emma explores the crumbling yet grand manse, complete with sparkling pool and rickety barn, Sylvie struggles with her emotions. She’s been keeping secrets about their family for so long, she’s having a hard time feeling safe in the place that was the setting for long-ago traumas. It doesn’t help that the house feels haunted by Elodie, an arrestingly beautiful and dangerously manipulative child whom Sylvie likens to “those Manson girls . . . sloe eyes opening to reveal the void.”

Riordan moves Sylvie’s narration between past and present in the form of an apologia to Emma, slowly and ominously revealing details about the family as she invites musings on the mutability of memory and the ever-fascinating question of nature versus nurture. The novel also turns an unblinking eye on what it’s like to desperately want a mutually loving relationship with your child, and the guilt that arises when it becomes clear that’s likely impossible.

Forest fires flicker on the horizon, the threat edging closer and closer, as Sylvie attempts to sell the house and flee once again, before the truth is no longer able to be denied. The Heatwave is an excellent example of why the saying “you can’t go home again” rings so true. It’s a discomfiting, suspenseful tale that’s sure to delight fans of Lionel Shriver and Daphne du Maurier, as well as of Riordan’s previous book, 2015’s Fiercombe Manor.

Discomfiture takes a different sort of turn in Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan, author of the bestselling Anatomy of a Scandal. In every group of mom friends, there’s always one—the mother who seems to take everything in stride, remaining endlessly unflappable and upbeat no matter what challenges come her way. Here, that woman is Jess Curtis.

Jess is a well-off stay-at-home parent of three—two school-age boys and 10-month-old baby Betsey—who’s always made motherhood look easy (especially to said mom friends Liz, Mel and Charlotte), even without much support from Ed, her workaholic husband. And so Liz, a senior hospital resident in pediatrics at St. Joseph’s Hospital in West London, is shocked when she’s called to the ER to consult on an infant with a suspicious head injury and realizes the baby is Betsey, brought in by a shifty and evasive Jess. The sequence of events Jess provides doesn’t make sense, but she’d never harm one of her children . . . right?

Vaughan’s tense, twisty drama is told from various points in time, from three points of view: Liz, Jess and sometimes Ed, all of whom realize they don’t know each other as well as they’d thought, all of them afraid of what will be revealed in the search for the truth. From the start, it’s clear that Jess has been suffering from depression and anxiety, exacerbated by sleep deprivation: “The walls push in; the heat bears down and the noise—the terrible crying that has been going on for three hours—engulfs her. . . . She does not know how much more she can bear.”

Suspicion is cast on various players as social workers and police try to separate fact from falsehood, and Liz must contend with her persistent unease as she struggles to reconcile her seemingly conflicting roles of doctor and friend. She also must deal with traumatic memories triggered by the goings-on, including the realization that her own mother, an often cruel alcoholic, may be keeping terrible secrets of her own.

Little Disasters’ slow-reveal rhythms make for a squirm-inducing and thought-provoking examination of friendship, marriage and motherhood.

It’s no secret that motherhood isn’t all cuddles and giggles, but these two new thrillers take things a step (or several) further. They plumb the darker side of maternal instincts via unnerving, slow-burning stories of mothers, daughters and the secrets and lies that sometimes bind them.

…
Children's & YAPicture Book

Tips for Teachers: Changes, connections, community and . . . computers

Feature by Emmie Stuart

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

I will never forget the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Two solid weeks of laptop distribution, intense virtual training, online courses construction and constant communication with school families and co-workers had my mind spinning. Like most teachers, I thrive on routine and love starting each school year with at least two or three months of lesson plans. This school year has forced me to loosen my tight grip and perfectionist tendencies. My district started the year teaching remotely, but students might return to the school building after the Labor Day holiday, or we could shift to a hybrid model. And, yes, there are about a dozen other possible scenarios!

Navigating the new and submitting to the unknown can be hard for teachers. Yesterday, three of my teacher friends came, individually, to the library, laptop in hand and tears in their eyes. I offered them chocolate and a place to express their frustrations and then reminded them that their frustrations and tears are caused by the grief of being separated from their students and not knowing how to best teach, guide and love them over the next few months. Teachers all around the world are working hard to overcome to 2020’s challenges and to master its new learning landscape, in which almost nothing goes as expected.

For the week ahead, I have a full schedule of synchronous classes, where I will be in the digital classroom at the same time as my students. Naturally, I have everything ready, planned and prepared. But I know that the next five days will bring an assortment of frustrations as my students and I attempt to connect with each other and build community through our screens. I’ve stuck a Post-it note with the word “grace” next to the keyboard on my laptop. It reminds me that I need to have grace for computer failures and slow Wi-Fi, grace for students who can’t (or won’t) mute their microphone or who constantly change screen backgrounds, grace for parents who email me multiple times a day, grace for applications that freeze in the middle of a lesson and grace for myself as I learn how to teach through a computer.

During the first month of teaching, I will focus on forming connections, building community and embracing change—ideas that are everywhere in the books in this column. Below, I’ve provided suggestions for how to use these books as foundations in virtual learning settings. But the most important virtual learning suggestion I can offer? Teach from a place of grace. Godspeed, teachers!

Playing Possum
by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Alfred, a lonely possum, has trouble making friends because his “nervous nature” causes him to “freeze and play dead.” One day while browsing an outdoor bookstore, he notices Sophia, an armadillo with a similar problem. When they initially encounter each other, Alfred plays dead and Sophie roles up into her shell. After they unfreeze and unfurl, Alfred and Sophia bond over their anxious natures and reach out to other woodland creatures with similar defense mechanisms. An empowering story of empathy, Playing Possum will resonate with and reassure shy students and offer insight for more outgoing spirits.

  • Emotion scenarios

Email emotion cards to families. (You can find a variety of versions for free online; choose the ones that work will best for your students.) Ask students to print and cut out their cards before the next class meeting.

At the next meeting, tell students to lay out their cards in front of them. Share emotional scenarios with students and invite them to hold up the card that best describes how they would feel in the situation. Discuss how everyone reacts to situations differently and how the same scenario can cause two people to have different emotions.

  • Animal adaptations

Prompt students to discuss whether Playing Possum is a fictional story or an informational text. After they identify it as fiction, ask students if there are parts of the story that can be informational. Use this discussion to launch into learning about animal adaptations and self-defense behaviors and to read informational books on the subject. I recommend Showdown: Animal Defenses by Jennifer Kroll and Animal Defenses: How Animals Protect Themselves by Etta Kaner.

  • Mindfulness routine

Ask students how humans can “play dead” or “curl up” like Alfred and Sophia. Share strategies we can practice when we feel nervous or scared, then lead them through a mindful breathing exercise. Begin and end your next few virtual class meetings with a mindful breathing routine.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Get ready to return to the classroom with four picture books that capture the excitement, trepidation and curiosity of the first day of school!

Southwest Sunrise
by Nikki Grimes,
illustrated by Wendell Minor

Jayden is not happy about his family’s move from New York City to rural New Mexico. With his baseball hat pulled over his eyes, he pouts for the entire plane ride. He falls asleep under a picture of Lady Liberty, convinced there is nothing great about New Mexico. When he wakes up the next morning, he is surprised by the beautiful mountain outside his bedroom window. Guidebook in hand, he ventures out for a walk and his preconceived notions about the his new home begin to change as he discovers colorful flowers, towering rock structures and desert creatures. Lyrical language and sweeping illustrations will capture children’s attention in this story of how unexpected change can be surprising and beautiful. Southwest Sunrise will help students cultivate wonder and an appreciation for new circumstances.

  • Reframe our perspective

Jayden did not want to leave New York City and move to New Mexico. Ask students if Jayden’s emotions reflect how they feel about virtual learning, cancelled plans or separation from their friends and teachers. Let each student share something that makes them sad, frustrated or disappointed. Using Google Slides, Padlet or another online learning space, record students’ disappointments. Share your screen so that your students can see one another’s responses.

Revisit Southwest Sunrise and Jayden’s experience with his new home. Ask whether Jayden’s new environment was as terrible as he had anticipated it would be on his plane ride. Invite students to shift their perspective on remote learning by sharing positives about this new way of learning. Record these responses and share your screen with the class.

  • Google Earth explorations

Google Earth can be a fantastic virtual learning resource. While sharing your screen, show students some well-known streets in New York City, such as Broadway, Fifth Avenue and Canal Street. Then “fly” to the New Mexico desert and let students help you hunt for some of the wildlife that Jayden discovered on his nature hike.

  • Otherworldy visitors

Ask students to consider your region of the country. What are some features that make it unique? Remind them to consider climate, geographical features and wildlife. Give students this writing prompt:

You are an alien from another planet, and you have just landed in [your hometown]. You stay here for two months. Write a letter to your friends back home describing your vacation in [your hometown]. Be sure your letter includes the unique features of our region.

Invite students to type their letters on a shared class document. Encourage them to include photographs to support their writing.

Our Favorite Day of the Year
by A.E. Ali,
illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell

On his first day of kindergarten, Musa is skeptical when his teacher says, “Look around the room. You don’t know them now, but these faces will become your closest friends this year.” He guesses that Moises, Mo and Kevin, the other students at his table, are also doubtful about this proclamation. For show-and-tell, each student is asked to share their favorite day of the year so that the class can celebrate it with them. The children become close as they learn about favorite days including Eid al-Fitr, Rosh Hashanah, Los Posadas and Pi Day. Brimming with energy and cheer, Our Favorite Day of the Year is a classroom story celebrates diversity, acceptance and friendship.

  • Favorite day bags

Ask students to think about their favorite day of the year. It can be an official holiday, but it can also be an informal day like the first day of school, the birthday of a personal hero or a specific observance such as National Pancake Day.

Have students to fill a brown paper lunch bag with items that explain or represent their favorite day. For the next few class meetings, allow students to virtually share their favorite day bags and explain why this day is special for them and their family. Encourage students to add music or movement to their presentations.

  • Celebration days

Students (and their teachers) love daily class routines. Make every day a holiday by starting each class meeting with a slide that explains the significance of the day. Like the favorite day bags, each day doesn’t need to be an official holiday. Include the birthdays of significant historical figures, international cultural celebrations and quirky observations. It’s a festive way of marking each day and exposing students to a wide variety of new information.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

I will never forget the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Two solid weeks…

Romance

Two moving and magical paranormal romances

Feature by Amanda Diehl

The latest additions to two established paranormal romance series are sure to add a bit of bite to your reading pile. Christine Feehan's Dark Song and Maria Vale's Season of the Wolf don't just share characters with fearsome abilities; they also share a thematic interest in exploring how women handle trauma, whether it's being experienced personally or by someone else. These two authors are deep, dark and daring as they create and celebrate their complex heroines.

Dark Song marks the 30th title in Feehan’s Carpathian series and brings together two Carpathians (ancient beings who fight against vampires, for the uninitiated). Elisabeta Trigovise’s life has been nothing but centuries of torture and pain at the hands of an ancient vampire. It isn’t until she’s rescued and brought to a secure compound that she finally feels peace, though she fears it’s only temporary. Ferro Arany, a stoic, fabled warrior who is one of the oldest Carpathians, is surprised to learn that Elisabeta is his life mate. It’s a connection that doesn’t quite fit in either of their lives, but both are compelled to respond to its call.

Elisabeta is a fragile heroine. Hundreds of years of abuse have left her mind warped, and she doesn’t believe she deserves a mate like Ferro. It’s tragic and heartbreaking to see her wracked by fear and PTSD. While Feehan is known for her domineering alpha heroes, Ferro is attuned to Elisabeta’s pain and provides firm, unwavering support when she needs it.

For readers who prefer a romance that feels like an epic, hard-won love story (don’t worry, there’s a happy ending!), Dark Song will easily fit the bill. Longtime fans of the series will not be disappointed as they finally discover Elisabeta and Ferro’s romance. New readers, I dare you not to dive right into Feehan’s backlist after finishing this one.

It is impossible to overstate how highly the Legend of All Wolves series should rank on a paranormal reader’s bookshelf. Vale’s writing brings to life the isolation of pack life and the harsh wilderness that surrounds the community in Season of the Wolf. If that isn’t a strong enough selling point, please meet the Great North Pack’s Alpha (yes, an Alpha heroine), Evie Kitwanasdottir.

Evie doesn’t have time to deal with her own personal baggage when she has a pack of wolves to watch over and must also maintain her position from those who hope to usurp her. She’s allowed Shifters into the Great North Pack's territory, an unprecedented decision. The alliance between the wolves, who remain in their animal form during the full moon, and their Shifter enemies, who transform at will, is tenuous at best.

Constantine is a Shifter who most wolves view as the greatest threat; he becomes Evie’s personal responsibility. To call this an enemies-to-lovers romance would be apt, but that label feels slightly shallow given the dangerous, bloody history between their people. Constantine’s presence makes Evie question the laws she’s lived by her entire life. She begins to realize that even family can find a way to betray you and that your greatest foe can give you strength and love.

This entire series is beautiful and immersive. Each book just gets better, and readers who love complex world building and mythology will be over the moon. Vale’s romances are a treat to be savored.

The latest additions to two established paranormal romance series are sure to add a bit of bite to your reading pile. Christine Feehan's Dark Song and Maria Vale's Season of the Wolf don't just share characters with fearsome abilities; they also share a thematic interest…

FictionClassics

Short fiction that captures big fears

Feature by Eric A. Ponce

Horror may be the most unifying genre. Whereas some people don’t care for the sweetness of romance or the harebrained schemes of sci-fi, everyone gets scared, whether they like it or not. Not to mention the universality of horror’s tropes and traditions. The genre is communal, often literally, such as in the case of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Due to a copyright misstep in 1968, the movie became part of the public domain—a mistake that forever altered the horror genre. It meant that anyone can use zombies in their work, and if you’ve consumed any media ever, you’ll know that everyone has.

When you get goosebumps or have to avert your eyes, the horror storyteller has done their job. In these two collections, we see how dynamic the genre really is.

In Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852–1923, editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger collect significant pieces of horror and horror-adjacent (but nonetheless frightening) stories by women. “During the second half of the nineteenth century,” they write in the book’s introduction, “when printing technologies enabled the mass production of cheap newspapers and magazines that needed a steady supply of material, many of the writers supplying that work were women.” Given the historical context of the industrial revolution, the effects of which caused significant fear, it makes sense that this era would produce a deluge of literary fright and strangeness. People needed their discomfort to be validated (and syndicated).

Women throughout history have been the chroniclers and agents of change, and in these stories, presented chronologically, their fears about the world are limned with staggering detail. With stories from Louisa May Alcott, Emma Frances Dawson and Edith Nesbit (under her E Bland pseudonym), this collection shows a societal response to a changing world. It is crucial to recognize the status of these women at the times of these stories’ publication, as most of the authors wrote using fake names or just their initials. Weird Women gives the reader a real glimpse of horror, written by authors who experienced it in their own lives.

Horror has been around for a long time, but innovation in the genre is as alive as ever. In Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Stories of Horror, Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto prepare a healthy serving of fear to inject straight into your head, heart, limbs and viscera. The collection is organized in exactly that way, with each section meant to evoke a response in that particular area—an experiment that works with chilling effects. Each story here is under 1,500 words, and with contributions from the likes of Samantha Hunt, Iván Parra Garcia, Stephen Graham Jones and Kevin Brockmeier, the collection is a fusillade of fear.

The best horror explores issues that plague the real world, and with a wide stylistic range of vignettes, Tiny Nightmares is something like a sophisticated "Scooby-Doo," evincing the human aspect of the horror in our daily lives. The real fear that comes from reading this collection is an emphatic reminder that our society’s horrors are becoming increasingly scarier, such as in Jac Jemc’s story Lone, which finds an isolated camper having to face her greatest fear: men.

The brevity of these stories highlights the horror in our everyday lives, and the conclusions drawn by each author are varied, yet all terrifying. By taking a look at the state of horror today, we see the ways that nightmares are pulled from reality.

When you get goosebumps or have to avert your eyes, the horror storyteller has done their job. In these collections, we see how dynamic the genre really is.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Into the woods, under the sea

Feature by Alice Cary

Full of well-researched details and evocative illustrations, two middle grade books tell stories rooted in the natural world and offer informative looks at how humanity impacts the environment.

Readers will look at crows quite differently after reading Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt’s Little Bird, the tale of a young crow who’s the smallest member of her flock.

Little Bird lives a bucolic life at the Old Davis Farm, where humans live alongside domesticated farm animals as well as the wild creatures who dwell in the forests, lakes and mountains nearby. Voigt’s plot kicks into high gear when a fisher cat (a carnivorous mammal in the weasel family) kills a fledgling crow as Little Crow watches in horror. The predator also steals the flock’s prized possession, a shiny silver pendant the crows call “Our Luck,” so Little Crow ventures into the great unknown beyond the farm to try to retrieve it.

During her quest, Little Crow becomes a winged detective who encounters a variety of animals, all of whom Voigt gives distinct personalities without overly anthropomorphizing. Little Crow also learns about great dangers, such as Longsticks (guns), the Sickness (rabies) and Fire. She begins to realize that she can choose her own path in life, instead of always following her flock’s bossy leaders.

As a reader, it’s a pleasure to put yourself into the hands of a writer like Voigt, whose career as an author for young readers spans nearly four decades. Voigt’s research into the natural world and her masterful sensibility on the page combine to create a wild and wonderful adventure told completely from a corvid’s point of view. This memorable tale is a celebration of knowledge and truth, as well as the importance of understanding and communicating with those who are like and unlike yourself. As Little Bird herself observes, “The more you can understand, the more you can know.” It’s also about the joy of stepping outside your comfort zone and finding new experiences. Those are some mighty meaningful lessons for one little bird.

After just a few pages, readers will be completely immersed in the underwater world of Rosanne Parry’s A Whale of the Wild, which follows a pod of orca whales in the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington. “We alone among the creatures of the sea share our food,” explains Vega, a young whale who is training to be a “wayfinder” for her family. In her matriarchal pod, led by Greatmother, Vega helps her mother look after her younger brother, Deneb, and is eagerly anticipating the imminent birth of her sister.

As described by Parry, pod life is fascinating, but it’s impacted by the hungry group’s desperate search for increasingly hard-to-find salmon. Their family lore includes a traumatic attack by humans when Vega’s mother was young; several brothers were killed, and her sister and cousins were taken away, presumably to a theme park or aquarium. Parry, whose previous book, A Wolf Called Wonder, explored the dynamics of a wolf pack, skillfully incorporates details about orcas as well as the many threats to their existence. The majestic scene in which Vega’s long-awaited sister arrives, only for tragedy to strike, is especially moving.

The pod’s grief, along with a massive earthquake and subsequent series of tsunamis, trigger a terrifying cascade of events that result in Vega and Deneb becoming separated from their pod. They seek safety in the normally forbidden deep ocean, trying to avoid the many overturned “boats that bleed poison” and other debris. Vega sees firsthand what she’s been taught: “What touches the water touches us all.”

Although Vega and Deneb experience the consequences of ocean pollution, they also encounter humans trying to make a positive impact on the lives of marine wildlife. Vega recalls her uncle’s words: “Perhaps there is nothing more than to swim beside those you love and help them with all your strength.” A Whale of the Wild offers brisk drama alongside insight and wisdom, demonstrating the vital importance of taking care of each other and the world we live in—above and below the surface.

Full of well-researched details and evocative illustrations, two middle grade books tell stories rooted in the natural world and offer informative looks at how humanity impacts the environment.
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Fight the power

Feature by Noah Fram

Two debut fantasy novels, Lisbeth Campbell’s The Vanished Queen and Andrea Stewart’s The Bone Shard Daughter, bring their rebellion plots down to earth with exemplary grace and skill as their complex female protagonists square up against wicked, corrupt kings.

Stewart’s chief protagonist, Lin, is a princess living under the dual weights of her father’s disapproval and the moral depravity of the necromantic magics he wields to maintain his kingdom. She is joined by Jovis, a smuggler dragged unwillingly into a struggle far grander than running an imperial blockade. Their journeys, both together and apart, are set in a Polynesian-inspired world reminiscent of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea.

Campbell focuses on Anza, a young student with a fondness for mischief who is drawn into a resistance movement after she accidentally discovers the diary of her country’s missing queen in a forbidden section of her school’s library, and Esvar, a prince waiting for his manipulative father to die so his older brother can inherit the throne of Karegg. Campbell's story is devoid of magic, but studded with gunpowder and machinery, rendering it more a piece of vaguely steampunk, central European-inspired historical fiction than archipelagic high fantasy.

The absence of the supernatural feels as natural and necessary in Campbell’s world as its omnipresence does in Stewart’s. However, these differences seem more aesthetic than fundamental; they are more relevant to how the story is told than the underlying nature of each story itself. In some ways, although both books are clearly and resolutely fantasy stories, they incorporate aspects of world building more common to science fiction. Both worlds are familiar, with clear allusions to recognizable cultures and history. Even Stewart’s bone magic is designed to follow rules, much like a natural force that can be manipulated, rather than offering a route around them as in much contemporary fantasy. These constraints lend both The Vanished Queen and The Bone Shard Daughter the cohesiveness and believability so treasured in dark fantasy, but without requiring the gritty aesthetic characteristic of writers like Erikson and Abercrombie. Instead, they demonstrate the rare combination of conceptual clarity and narrative drive that characterizes peers such as Catherine Rowland and W.M. Akers.

If their debuts are any indication, both Lisbeth Campbell and Andrea Stewart should be mainstays of modern fantasy writing for years to come. Perhaps Stewart will answer some of the tantalizing unanswered questions from The Bone Shard Daughter. Perhaps Campbell will explore the world of The Vanished Queen beyond the evocatively claustrophobic borders of Karegg. Or perhaps not. Either way, they are both welcome and timely additions to the pantheon of modern fantasy.

Two debut fantasy novels, Lisbeth Campbell’s The Vanished Queen and Andrea Stewart’s The Bone Shard Daughter, bring their rebellion plots down to earth with exemplary grace and skill as their complex female protagonists square up against wicked, corrupt kings.

Stewart’s chief protagonist, Lin, is a…

Mystery

Procedurals with a twist

Feature by Heather Seggel

Two new series entries play with the procedural format. One brings back a foe from a character’s past to settle a childhood score, while the other raises the tension by tangling related crimes with the secrets being kept by the detectives trying to solve them.

J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas books were intended to be a trilogy but are now approaching 50 in number, a testament to a passionate fan base and incredibly assured author. Shadows in Death opens with a grisly murder brazenly committed in Washington Square Park. Eve wastes no time figuring out the murder for hire plot, but the killer turns out to be international assassin Lorcan Cobbe, sworn enemy of Eve's husband, Roarke, since their early days in Dublin. Bringing Cobbe to justice before he can strike out at her family has the entire force on edge.

Robb plays with the tension in this story to great effect; a lot of time is spent just doing the work of building a case, looking at evidence, interviewing suspects and creating files, but those ingredients accumulate and propel the action. The near future setting (in 2061) is an asset as well, familiar enough to readers but with cool flourishes, like a chase via space shuttle, that keep refreshing the story. Cobbe is a monster with a weakness for the finer things, and his passionate loathing of Roarke compels him to take chances outside the discipline his profession usually requires. Eve and Roarke hunt him together while each fears they may become either Cobbe’s next victim or bait for one of his traps, and Robb occasionally pours gasoline on their high-pressure situation when they’re alone; the sex scenes add to the story nicely and raise the stakes yet again. It’s futuristic and sometimes gory, but this is ultimately a tale of families looking out for their own, whether those connections are blood ties, work relations or spouses who are deeply in love.

Every Kind of Wicked sets its compelling opening scene in a graveyard where a young man’s body has been found. Whether it’s an unfamiliar type of wound or nearly invisible feather particles, Maggie Gardiner follows the forensic evidence and begins to unspool two fraud schemes that dangerously intersect. Lisa Black’s sixth book pairing Maggie and vigilante cop Jack Renner is packed with revelations readers can barely process as the body count increases. It’s a breathless, stay-up-late page turner.

Black knows her characters well enough to have fun at their expense. Maggie and Jack are keeping big secrets from their co-workers; pretending to date would be ideal cover for their frequent private conversations, but they are terrible at the ruse and come across as a super weird couple. Maggie’s ex-husband, Rick, is working a case that looks like a drug overdose but ends up connecting it to the first body that was found; he is also on Jack’s tail, suspicious of his extracurricular activities and investigating on his own time, a pursuit that could blow up in a number of ways. There’s a crisis around every bend, but some of the best scenes find Maggie in the lab, studying the minutiae collected from a victim’s clothing and teasing out the story of their last hours on earth. The attention to detail and desire to see justice done give this gleefully amoral series its heart, and a white-knuckle ending leads to yet another unexpected connection that will leave readers a lot to look forward to in the next installment.

Two new series entries play with the procedural format. One brings back a foe from a character’s past to settle a childhood score, while the other raises the tension by tangling related crimes with the secrets being kept by the detectives trying to solve them.

…
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & HomeCookbooksBody, Mind & Spirit

Lifestyles: October 2020

Feature by Susannah Felts

In this month's roundup of new lifestyles books, witchy recipes, spooky treats and meat-eating plants provide the seasonal escapism we all crave.

★ A Kitchen Witch’s Guide to Recipes for Love & Romance

Food gives us energy; food is energy. This framing of cooking as a blend of mindful practice and energy work, right alongside reiki and acupuncture, is at the root of Dawn Aurora Hunt’s A Kitchen Witch’s Guide to Recipes for Love & Romance. Adding witchcraft to the mix—think candles, smudge sticks, essential oils, mantras—takes things from healthy and delicious to sensual sorcery. Bow tie pasta with lemon and artichokes, when paired with the practice of “creating a sacred space for enriching love and togetherness,” becomes a way to rekindle the flame and honor a season of new beginnings. Peaches and cream? Way sexier with a sigil carved into the peach flesh. Grab your wooden spoons, some white sage and a box of matches, and make some kitchen magic for—and with—your partner.

The Wicked Baker

The Wicked Baker is Helena Garcia’s celebration of all treats spooky and strange. If you take even the eensiest dram of pleasure from Halloween, you’ll enjoy every page. A Cousin Itt made of shredded phyllo wears round green spectacles of gingerbread dough. A cake resembling a black candle drips blood-red “wax” icing. Many of these complex creations are not for the faint of heart. But hey, the Brain Cinnamon Rolls sound manageable, and I’m game to whip up the pale green Slime Pudding that’s little more than Greek yogurt, condensed milk and citrus. This book brings the holiday escapism we all crave.

Killer Plants

Killer Plants is your go-to for carnivorous cultivars like bladderworts, pitcher plants and Venus’ flytraps. “The plants in this book present a bit of a challenge to their keepers,” author Molly Williams tells us upfront. That is, they’re pretty persnickety when it comes to care—they insist upon distilled water and special potting mix, for starters—but are possibly worth it for the weird-and-rare factor if you’re a plant-hound. Williams even goes a step further in a section on “Rare Carnivorous Plants You May Never Find,” which reads like an episode of “Nature.” Niche though these plants may be, entire shops and societies around the world are devoted to them. A list of contacts rounds out the book, so you can go forth and find your fellow killer-plant people.

In this month's roundup of new lifestyles books, witchy recipes, spooky treats and meat-eating plants provide the seasonal escapism we all crave.

★ A Kitchen Witch’s Guide to Recipes for Love & Romance

Food gives us energy; food is energy. This framing of…

NonfictionFictionAudioMemoir

Audio: October 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

A hilarious memoir of single motherhood, a workplace romance and a spooky small-town thriller—what more could you want for this month’s best audiobooks?

★ The Hungover Games

Listening to The Hungover Games: A True Story, written and read by Sophie Heawood, is like having a gossipy brunch with your wittiest friend. British entertainment journalist Heawood takes us on a journey of unexpected single motherhood while living in Los Angeles, from her affair with an immature rocker to her attempts at dating with a baby at home. She takes life advice from the celebrities she profiles and sometimes gets a little too personal with them. Heawood’s narration makes the book even funnier and her experiences even more charming. In particular, her stories from the OB-GYN’s office and some remarkably bad dates left me cackling.

Attachments

Great news for Rainbow Rowell fans: Her charming 2011 novel, Attachments, has finally been released on audio, narrated by Rebecca Lowman. Just before the beginning of the new millennium, Lincoln is hired as an IT guy for a small city paper, where part of his job is to read any internal emails that get flagged by the new security system. He spends most days reading exchanges between Beth and Jennifer, two co-workers he’s never met but feels like he knows. Can there be love before first sight? For a book that mainly follows a man’s perspective, it’s surprising that a woman narrates the audiobook, but it somehow totally works. Lowman makes the email exchanges come alive with humor, and her performance has a down-to-earth quality that’s perfect for the more somber parts of the book.

The Bright Lands

John Fram’s suspenseful debut, The Bright Lands, narrated by Luis Selgas, is a spooky, queer thriller set in a small Texas town ruled by high school football. After a decade in New York, Joel returns to his conservative hometown to help his younger brother, Dylan, a football star who seems to be in trouble. Shortly after Joel arrives, Dylan turns up dead, and Joel’s visit becomes a murder investigation. Selgas is the perfect narrator for a mystery, as it feels like he’s always holding a little something back. He also performs a solid mix of Western accents for the side characters, adding to the book’s overall sense of place.

A hilarious memoir of single motherhood, a workplace romance and a spooky small-town thriller—what more could you want for this month’s best audiobooks?
Romance

Romance: October 2020

Feature by Christie Ridgway

This month's best romances cover difficult topics with warmth, wit and (of course) a happily ever after at the end.

★ Any Rogue Will Do

Bethany Bennett combines two beloved tropes in Any Rogue Will Do. In this Regency-set enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story, a reformed rogue finally gets the lady of his dreams. Ethan, Viscount Amesbury, tried to win Lady Charlotte Wentworth’s heart before, but the attempt ended in gossip and disaster. Years later, Ethan now has a chance to help the woman he once maligned. Self-aware, never self-indulgent and ready to go after what she wants, Charlotte knows she’s no longer the simpering miss that Ethan first met. But the two must also address disparities in class, wealth and gender autonomy. This is a fast-paced and spicy debut, with likable characters and a feel-good finale that boasts a just-right blend of tenderness and groveling.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: How Bethany Bennett nailed her debut romance's tricky plot progression.

The Love Study

An involvement-wary pair forges a relationship in Kris Ripper’s The Love Study. Declan is instantly intrigued by Sidney, the nonbinary host of a popular advice channel on YouTube. Sidney convinces Declan to participate in a series they bill “The Love Study” by going on arranged dates and discussing his experiences for Sidney’s audience. But Sidney is the one he truly wants. Can he convince them both that it will be worth their while? In a wry first-person voice, Ripper captures all the awkwardness of first dates. Dec is a self-deprecating and endearing protagonist, and readers’ hearts will ache for him and Sidney. Their many friends add to the fun in this dialogue-driven and warmly appealing romance.

Ties That Tether

Cultures clash in debut author Jane Igharo’s Ties That Tether. Azere knows that marrying a Nigerian man is her destiny, and she accepts her domineering mother’s setups in hopes that the right man will come along. But attraction knows no boundaries, and when she meets Rafael Castellano at a bar, she’s instantly smitten. Hot love scenes commence, but Azere knows this affair can only be fleeting. Rafael, the son of Spanish immigrants, has sympathy for Azere’s plight, but he’s not ready to give up on their romance. Azere’s anguish is clear, and readers will feel her wrenching conflict as she ponders how far she should go to please her mother and preserve her heritage. This exploration of identity, love and loss in the context of an interracial relationship feels authentic and bittersweet, yet hopeful all the same.

This month's best romances cover difficult topics with warmth, wit and (of course) a happily ever after at the end.

★ Any Rogue Will Do

Bethany Bennett combines two beloved tropes in Any Rogue Will Do. In this Regency-set enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story, a reformed rogue finally…

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