There’s a clear-cut villain in Kaufman’s coming-of-age fantasy, a figure so loathsome to reluctant warrior Zhen that even when she doubts her abilities, her resolve proves unflagging in their eleventh-hour battle strengthens her resolve—as does her belief in the future. Despite the generic title, The Gold Mystery Adventure takes a distinctive approach to dystopian fiction by focusing on the last-ditch efforts to avoid environmental calamity on Odyssey, a planet with surprising connections to Earth. The bucolic forest community of Brix was transformed into a forced labor camp when Razor arrived three years ago, and her brutal regime is maintained by mechanical enforcers called drokes.

Her massive factories spew toxic sludge into the waterways, threatening the underwater city of Genus, where Zhen’s father, Kosni, is chief engineer. The black plumes of runoff distress Zhen, but she’s driven to action by the disappearance of her mother Cyna and uncle (the inventive Professor Mars) during their investigation of Razor’s origins. Zhen has no superpowers, but she’s athletic, observant, determined, and resourceful, and the way she comes to appreciate her value will resonate with young readers who are at the same point of self-discovery. She also learns about Cyna’s history with brothers Kosni and Mars, seeing how youthful decisions affect adult lives.

Kaufman creates an impressive series of action set pieces to test Zhen’s mettle, but some stylistic choices, like formal language and an abundance of modifiers, at times slow down the narrative momentum. But the inspired elements, like an amused narrative voice (“Another planet, another riot”), surprises like dolphin rides, and the scheming of the gloriously Machiavellian tech messiah Razor, demonstrate a fertile creativity and a real love of the genre. Especially engaging is Kaufman’s sense of hope and friendship. With so much young adult fantasy geared to post-apocalyptic survival, the quest to reverse a catastrophic course in The Gold Mystery Adventure offers a welcome dose of hope.

Takeaway: A young heroine fights for a healthy planet in this inventive eco-adventure.

Comparable Titles: Paul Dixon’s Starfall, Maris Noelle’s The Unadjusteds.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about The Gold Mystery Adventure

This clever exploration from Payne takes on one of the biggest questions facing philosophers: the question of if God exists and, if so, what God is like. Payne, a self-described “philosopher-hobbyist and researcher,” lays out philosophical arguments for and against God before making an impassioned case for panentheism, a theology which argues that all creation is, in a way, a part of God. After considering several various perspectives, predominantly that of the British philosopher and mathematician A.N. Whitehead, Payne turns to seeing how it relates to several religious traditions, from Buddhism, to Christianity. He closes by making a 90 day wager with the reader, asking us to live for a month as if there were a God and then evaluate if doing so adds anything to life.

With wit, humanity, and inviting prose, So Who is God Anyway? explains complex philosophical concepts clearly and accurately, with a helpful glossary and extensive notes for further research. Payne insists he does not boast an extensive philosophical background, but he still demystifies these big concepts, showing his research but not overloading references on the reader. His of the humor will prove a matter of taste— “fundamentalists believe that we’re all headed to the lake of fire,” he notes, adding “You, me, Heinrich Himmler, Pol Pot, Osama Bin laden, and Joan who works down the street at the flower shop”—though it keeps the tone light, and the best wisecracks prove illuminating

Payne targets an audience of skeptics, but open-minded people of any religious tradition can find value in his musings. He doesn’t weigh the evidence to make God sound more appealing, but argues cogently that there is a preponderance of evidence that God exists, in spite of the “Big Ugly Six” arguments against God. Readers exploring the idea of God and wanting a survey of arguments for and against God through the ages, as well as a creative description of one perspective on God, will enjoy this clever guide.

Takeaway: Incisive, witty survey of philosophical arguments for God’s existence.

Comparable Titles: Philip Clayton and Arthur Peacocke’s In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being, John W. Cooper’s Panentheism.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about So Who is God, Anyway?

Boyd, a pseudonym for author Carrie Rubin (Fatal Rounds), crafts an artful dual perspective mystery that begins in 1853, when Catherine Miller, one of the first formally trained female doctors in the United States, graduates medical school in Cleveland, Ohio. Shortly after commencement, Catherine is murdered, simply because she was bold enough to study medicine as a woman. When her body is never discovered, her murderer goes free, leaving Constable Whitaker—in charge of solving her disappearance—stymied. Following her death, Catherine is reincarnated as an oak tree, cognizant of her murder but unable to communicate with the world around her. For 170 years, she stands as a passive observer to the world’s changes, all while desperate to solve the mystery of her own death.

A contemporary dual storyline follows homicide detective Lani Whitaker—who in many ways mirrors Catherine’s achievements, as she was one of the first female officers in Cleveland—while she combs through field notes left by her great-grandfather, Constable Whitaker, recounting Catherine’s unsolved disappearance. Boyd subtly connects the two women over time, hitting on the struggles they’ve both faced while fighting to be accepted in male-dominated professions against larger societal attitudes toward women, both in Catherine’s 19th century dealings and Lani’s contemporary crime solving efforts.

Boyd’s emotional language ably captures both relatable female leads, and the suspense builds as the women’s stories intertwine into a multiple mystery fallout, merging both historical and contemporary crimes alongside Catherine’s fears that her tree form is slowly dying, prompting her desperation for justice before it’s too late. Added to that mix is Mark Carver—present day owner of the land next to Catherine’s tree—and his growing cruelty, combined with dangerous secrets he’s determined to hide, with Lani hot on his trail. Amid the capers, Boyd touches on the humanity and understated power of the natural world, before delivering Catherine a respectful and satisfying ending.

Takeaway: Two barrier-breaking women fight for justice across generations.

Comparable Titles: Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Fractured Oak

Clarie shines a light on the history of the coastal towns of New Hampshire with seventeen short biographies of summer residents of note at Rye Beach, the Farragut Hotel (the subjects of Clarie’s earlier study Oceanside History at Rye Beach and the Farragut), Little Boar's Head, and more, with an emphasis on the late 19th and early 20th century. That's when the wealthy—including major business people, artists, performers, and political figures like presidential son and secretary of war Robert Todd Lincoln—frequented and built stunning resorts, mansions, arts institutions, and clubs along this stretch of the Atlantic.

This survey starts out strong with an extended history of the Studebaker family and the automobile business they ran for decades, with Clarie’s telling intertwining local and national history with a compelling account of a burgeoning family dynasty. Contemporary press accounts, clarifying historical context, and Clarie’s love for period detail—“Paper lampshades of all colors lit up one corner of the hall like huge blossoms” lit up one corner of the Farragut Casino in 1899—bring life to the milieu, and Clarie throughout documents the construction and utility of Rye Beach landmarks, like the Lincoln-affiliated (and now long gone) Gates Ajar home, in North Hampton, and Norman Williams’ nearby colonial mansion, dubbed “one of the finest specimens of that school [of] architecture that can be seen anywhere” in the New Hampshire Agricultural Report 1907-08.

Clarie brings a strong local focus to the material—there’s much here about the Abenaqui Golf Club, organized in 1897, and its tournaments—but also follows his subjects into the world. A chapter on E. Lansing Ray, a St. Louis newspaper man who invested in Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight and made a summer home out of the former Rye Beach Inn, boasts fascinating material about Ray’s trip England and France at the end of the first world war, and a surprising number of pages on Lindbergh’s flight. While at times discursive, Clarie’s brisk histories are rich with insight, surprises, and striking detail.

Takeaway: Historical survey of homes and lives of coastal New Hampshire’s “summer people.”

Comparable Titles: Lewis T. Karabatsos’s Rye and Rye Beach, Robert C. Gilmore’s Seacoast New Hampshire.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B

Click here for more about FAMOUS SUMMER RESIDENTS AT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE OCEAN: THEIR STORIES NEED TELLING

Skinning a knee can be a scary and painful experience, but Gandhi’s enlightening picture book for young children reveals the protective science behind this ubiquitous right of passage. Mayu and his older sister Nimi are racing their bikes down the street, and Mayu loses his balance and tumbles to the ground. As Nimi rushes to his side, tears fill his eyes as he observes his bloodied knee. Nimi comforts him and reminds him what their mother always says: “The pain is just the start of the healing process. There’s an army of protectors under our skin. I bet they’ve already started keeping you safe!”

From there the story zooms in on the microscopic events happening beneath Mayu’s skin. The leader is Captain T, the helper cell, who explains the injury and initiates different immune responses designed to protect Mayu from infection. Like tiny, blob-like warriors, different cells such as neutrophils, platelets, and macrophages work together to seal off the wound and fight harmful bacteria, clearly demonstrating the body’s multifaceted response to different threats. Notably, the kids in this story are not wearing bicycle helmets, a missed opportunity to help normalize basic safety gear kids can use to protect themselves.

Tamika Bramwell’s colorful illustrations depict the immune heroes as grinning, wide-eyed, alien-like creatures with a variety of wacky characteristics like green, squiggly hair and long, spiky legs that mimic their true-to-life appearance. The single-minded cells talk to each other and work together to keep out the bacteria, which have between one and three eyes and tiny teeth and multiply rapidly. As Mayu’s body fights the intruders, his face relaxes, and soon he is again ready to play. Showing cells and bacteria in this way will keep kids engaged while also introducing them to the fascinating science of the human immune system.

Takeaway: Enlightening picture book reveals the science behind the human immune system.

Comparable Titles: Steve Haines’s Pain Is Really Strange, Judith Wolf Mandell’s Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing Cast That Fixed It.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: B+
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Immune Heroes

Cosby comes out swinging with the second entry in his de facto trilogy dissecting the “socio-/spiritual history” of rock and roll music in the West (after Devil’s Music, Holy Rollers, and Hillbillies). He opens with Alexis de Tocqueville’s “prediction” of rock and roll—as one of the “strange, incorrect, overburdened, and loose, and almost always strong and bold“ outcomes of the burgeoning American democracy—and connects that prescient insight to the musical style’s emergence against the greater cultural backdrops of Western civilization, painting the sounds of rock as a barometer for the West’s cultural force.

Cosby also covers what he terms “Cultural Checkpoints” that define the political and social settings that have driven, and been influenced by, rock’s emergence as a story of “freedom but also a certain recklessness.” As expected, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, James Brown (“arguably the most dynamic performer of the rock era”) and the powerhouse Stax and Motown labels often take center stage, but Cosby also celebrates the Velvet Undergrounds “annihilation of any pretensions and preconceptions in rock and roll” and features the lesser knowns, like the “cult heroes of power pop” Big Star. Their more subtle influence, he demonstrates, helped the genre push the envelope with an intense edge that was “visceral and… as beautiful as it is bleak.” Cosby brings incisive insight to the interplay of rock and roll’s ethos with religion, counterculture movements, and the oppressed—including Black genre offshoots that Cosby describes as “distillations of the Black experience through centuries of repression and voiceless-ness.”

Perhaps most entertaining and revealing are celebrations of often-overlooked musical phenomena, such as Cosby’s tour of Tutwiler, Mississippi, where at the dawn of the 20th century W.C. Handy discovered and popularized the first strains of the blues. Those memorable portrayals override the book’s somewhat sentimental view of rock and roll as the “inspiration to create a new way of living,” highlighting instead its power to transform the world.

Takeaway: Sweeping analysis of rock and roll’s impact on Western culture.

Comparable Titles: reil Marcus’s The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Ten Songs, Brad Schreiber’s Music Is Power.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Rock Music, Authority and Western Culture, 1964-1980

In the fourth installment of the ongoing Tribal Wars series, Atrium continues the multilayered, deeply humane epic set in an inequitable future where planets strive for self-rule against the malicious Consortium. After time in Paris on Earth, Jesse Hartley, daughter of retired General Hartley, is traveling to Dolvia, the planet at the heart of the series, to negotiate the release of Brianna Miller, imprisoned for her work exposing the Consortium’s corruption and abuse of conscripted slaves forced to work in silicide mines. Jesse’s first task is to risk treason by diverting the coffin of investigator turned miner John Milan off the space station Stargate Junction, which sits on the edge of a stable wormhole, to prove that conscripts are being worked to death.

Atrium populates these richly detailed worlds and societies with complex, relatable, and diverse characters determined to prevail in the face of greed, inhumanity, and relentless power struggles. The storylines tour readers through Atrium’s intricate vision: Jesse’s shuttle crashes in a suspected act of sabotage; someone is assassinating the sons of Khalif Ananke, who is holding Brianna Miller prisoner, as the reptilian gualarep dragons use their dream melding skills to help rescue Brianna.

As ever, Atrium is fascinated by the “machinations of diplomacy,” as one character puts it, and the contrast between the tribal cultures of Dolvia and the Consortium, milieus she invests with rewarding anthropological detail, striking prose, and a mastery of practicalities: the plotting here turns on economics, tribal ritual and spiritual practice, the challenges of journalism, issues of succession, the logistics of shipping and space travel, and the utility of beastmaster skills in blockading a port. Familiarity with the previous books is key to keeping up with the intricate world building and unique terminology, complex politics, multiple plot threads, and action from the points of view of numerous characters. Atrium offers an epic adventure with a humane edge in a singular world for enthusiasts of science fiction blended with social commentary.

Takeaway: Exciting culture, politics, and world building in Atrium's epic saga.

Comparable Titles: CJ Cherryh, Charlie Jane Anders.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Tribal Logic

Any dream worth chasing becomes an even more arduous pursuit without social and familial support. This is the premise of Koubourlis’s contemplative, plaintive, and ultimately rousing memoir, a story that begins in Nazi-occupied Greece, faces that nation’s harrowing three-year civil war, and builds, after agonizing bureaucratic hardship in a system “designed with zero respect for the citizens,” to the author’s immigration to the United States, where he earned a BA and doctorate in just eight years. Doing so involved much sacrifice, including “irrevocable family ostracization” and declining his own inheritance. Koubourlis grapples with family relationships, especially a standoffish mother and an autocratic and abusive father who considered—like many in their community—education “a privilege reserved for the upper crust.”

Through sharp, observant writing, Koubourlis recounts an impassioned pursuit of learning in spite of a restrictively traditional culture. Once, his mother burned his newspaper collection clippings, and twice, his father betrays him—denying their deal of financially supporting his study in Italy in exchange for running their grocery store unpaid—by commanding with finality that the dowries of Koubourlis’s unmarried sisters come first before his studies. "Ignorance has its own blind strength," Koubourlis notes. "It is intolerant, sure of itself, unreasoning" Still, he persists through ordeals— facing poverty, hunger, and unplanned marriage—but still striving for his dream. There’s power in his choice to come to America, a nation he champions: what better way to liberate a thwarted dream than to migrate to a place that claims democracy for all its people?

His striking definition of self-worth— the "protector and motivator in the struggle for success"—powers the narrative, as Koubourlis narrates, with insight and vivid detail, his navigation of indifference, insensitivity, and cultural clash, asking probing questions and sharing sage advice about what it takes to succeed, namely self-worth, wise use of time, and that which happens when preparation meets opportunity—luck. He finds that future in America, and perhaps, through the writing, some peace with the past, too.

Takeaway: Pointed, pained, touching account of coming to America for learning and freedom.

Comparable Titles: Nicholas Gage’s A Place for Us, Jessica Lander’s Making Americans.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about My Ailing Champion

Delorme’s haunting third in the Limerent series (after Bright Midnights) introduces Veronica Crane, a strong woman who, in 1944, is determined to live her life the way she wants—even though doing so could threaten that life. Signing up soldiers for the war in her small town in North Carolina is her first time being around Black people. She feels an instant connection with a man named Lazlo, and even though they only have the chance to meet briefly, the two fall in love. The next day, Lazlo leaves for the war. Secrets are impossible to keep in a small town, and as rumors—and virulent racism—fester, Veronica struggles between fighting for the right to love, and protecting her family from losing everything.

While the hatred brewing in Harrisville is terrifying, Delorme adds a dash of the paranormal to the stress of Veronica’s life. A”Furiae,” a hereditary trait passed down among the women in the family, Veronica can see ghosts, even communicating with some. Some are scary, like a possessed nearly-dead raccoon; but most try to help her, like her beloved chicken, Betty, who died years before and now alerts her to danger. Both scary and a bit fun, a ghost named Dante helps lead her to the knowledge that her town is in danger and she and her family must get out.

Character development of all kinds—animals, humans, ghosts, and wisps—is strong in Delorme’s writing, leaving readers’ hearts racing right along with Veronica, and deeply feeling for the many in the town that are treated horribly, often fearing for their lives. Also painted clearly is the town itself, like bringing readers into the cigarette factory with Veronica where she works, smelling the smells, and feeling the heat and long hours. Never holding back from describing even the most difficult moments with candor and sensitivity, Delorme pulls readers into 1944 Harrisville in a way they won’t want to leave, needing to find what happens next.

Takeaway: Unflinching portrait of love, race, and 1940s America, with a paranormal twist.

Comparable Titles: Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Fanning Fireflies

Russell (author of Across the Mekong River) gracefully captures the fraught atmosphere of 1931 French colonial Laos through the eyes of Geneviève “Vivi” Dubois, 18-years-old and fresh out of the orphanage in which she has spent the last 14 years of her life. Her memories of her family are still raw, and Vivi finds it too painful to crush her hope, however small, that her mother will, one day, return for her. With her new status as an adult, she vows to find her family and “discover a way back to my beginning,” but that dream, sparked inside a half-Laos and half-French sheltered young woman just entering a world that doesn’t want to accept her, is fragile at best.

Laos—and its divided, tense undertones—springs to life in Russell’s capable hands, as Vivi desperately tries to decide where she belongs. Her struggles mirror the greater battles of the Laos people to find their own footing against the backdrop of France’s colonization: Vivi wisely describes the orphanage girls as “uprooted—ripped from our families and native Lao culture, everything familiar, to be raised as French citizens,” only to be turned out into a world that refuses them (“Many terms had been coined for our unseemly blend of races” Vivi remarks). Despite the disregard of her surroundings, Vivi perseveres in her mission, devoted to recovering her family and, in the process of growing into her own, finds herself torn between two suitors and unsure of what kind of future she wants to build.

Russell’s gentle narration allows readers to experience Vivi’s blossoming firsthand, in poetic prose that stirs vivid imagery, as when Vivi observes “I drew in a deep breath and began with what I remembered of my childhood…It was like a great spool of thread rolling across the floor and gathering speed.” This coming-of-age is a stunning declaration of resilience and belonging.

Takeaway: Stunning coming-of-age set in French colonial Laos.

Comparable Titles: Helen Fripp’s The French House, Jennifer Anton’s Under the Light of the Italian Moon.

Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about When the Tamarind Tree Blooms

Soft hued and rich with themes of friendship and working together, Fiste’s debut provides young readers with a warm-hearted glimpse of the power that comes with helping others. Young Ali is a puffball—one of the “soft, rubbery creatures that live in a hidden valley near the Southern Cliffs”—who hasn’t yet quite mastered that key skill of his kind, bouncing. When he forgets his parents’ warnings that out-of-control bounces aren’t safe, Ali learns the hard way that sometimes the most fun can lead to the worst consequences, finding himself far away from home, dependent on the kindness of strangers to make his way back.

Fiste’s story charms with a muted innocence that suggests simpler times, as the characters—all uniquely different from each other—quickly come together to lend a helping hand. Ali, who, after jumping at a dragonfly inadvertently bounces away into a far off forest, is suddenly alone and exhausted—so exhausted, he immediately falls asleep, only to wake up with a human named Mika staring him in the face. Luckily for Ali, Mika is all smiles and full of compassion, immediately willing to help Ali get back home once he gets the scoop on the puffball’s problems. As Mika and Ali set off, they’re joined by Scout, “a golden pony,” and a watchman at the Sand Palace gate who gifts them with magical balloons—balloons that later come in handy when a broken bridge kickstarts their creative problem solving.

Fiste adorns each page with delicate colored pencil illustrations that showcase Ali, Mika, and Scout in exotic locales and sometimes precarious situations. This provides a subtle background for the story’s implied message that working together delivers the best results, even when that means joining forces with others who seem extraordinarily unfamiliar. Of course, Ali’s reunion with his family is sweet to behold, as is his hope that his new friendships will be lifelong.

Takeaway: Sweet tale of why working together produces the best results.

Comparable Titles: Giulia Belloni’s Anything Is Possible, Leo Timmers’s Elephant Island.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B+
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Ali's Big Adventure

Shaprio’s followup to The Raven’s Cry finds Kate Zoe Thomas now managing the local community television station on Canada's tiny Wynter Island when now-famous actress Rosalie Morgan requests an interview to let the island know she's come back home, with entourage in tow. Islanders are not rolling out the welcome mat as Rosalie left after dalliances with many eligible—and not eligible—men, leaving a trail of angry wives with axes to grind. This puts Kate in a tough spot: take advantage of the boost this interview will bring the station, or support friends who are none too pleased to see Rosalie again? But just as Rosalie begins to discuss, on air, why she has come back, the unthinkable happens: Rosalie collapses and dies. Now, Kate must help find Rosalie's killer to save the station and the reputation of her friends.

The stakes are high in finding the killer before innocent people are accused and Kate's livelihood is destroyed. The story embraces a classic mystery format, offering a host of potential suspects: women who feel Rosalie ruined marriages and lives, members of Rosalie's entourage, old lovers from Rosalie's past. Seasoned sleuth fans may not find the ending too surprising, but Kate’s journey to it is fun and often surprising, powered by crisp dialogue, a strong sense of local dish, and a fascinating isolated milieu. The Kate readers meet in this second book in the series is recovering from the trauma of all that came before, including being accused of killing her fiancée, a charge some people still find credible, complicating her life. Keeping backstory and relationships straight will prove daunting to new readers, who are advised to start with the earlier entry.

Kate stands again as a strong protagonist, one with a passion project that rewards checking in with her over the course of a series. She’s highly dedicates to her television station and a loyal staff of volunteers. Once the news of Rosalie's murder on live TV hits the outside media, suddenly the press is everywhere, and the station's rich and anonymous benefactor is threatening to pull their financial support, a dilemma that adds real urgency to the case. The Loon's Song is a fine mystery and quick read, given welcome depth by the woman at its heart.

Takeaway: An on-air murder shocks the world in this brisk island mystery.

Comparable Titles: Lara Dearman’s Jennifer Dorey Mystery series, Thomas King’s Dreadfulwater Mysteries series.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Loon's Song

Shook’s debut novel finds a young woman, Sarah, grappling with her autonomy in a mid-century American south that affords her little. After her father’s death, her family is exploited by Al Cantlin, her new stepfather, and Sarah only narrowly escapes his abuse. Sheltered by her grandparents, Sarah faces further trauma at 17 when assaulted by Frank Honley, a military man, resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. Heeding her grandmother’s advice, Sarah marries Frank to protect her reputation and ensure her financial security. Unexpectedly, the abuse she anticipated from Frank actually wanes after marriage, yet Sarah senses a deeper malevolence in him, compelling her to remain vigilant in their tense marriage while pursuing her dreams of education and freedom for both her and her children.

Tomcats: Killers of Innocence meticulously navigates the life of a young woman grappling with her own vulnerability amidst dehumanizing circumstances. As Sarah endeavors to comprehend the depths of her husband’s cruelty, she confronts the daunting challenge of securing a path to freedom for herself and her children. Shook deftly portrays the intricate dynamics of a woman ensnared in a marriage with her abuser, demonstrating with psychological acuity how Sarah grapples with a sense of complacency and recurrent struggles to trust her instincts, though the plotting and relationship dynamics at times prove predictable, in a true-to-life way. Still, Shook illuminates, with compelling lived-in-detail, a time where societal norms often discouraged women from pursuing lives outside the confines of the family home.

Shook skillfully depicts Sarah's resilience, capturing the essence of her struggle toward independence. While some readers may struggle to empathize with Sarah's character, perceiving her as a passive observer of events rather than an active participant, others will find this passive aspect adds complexity to her character, enriching her depth and authenticity, resonating with readers drawn to real human depictions of resilience amongst uncertainty.

Takeaway: Illuminating historical story of a resilient woman forced into an abusive marriage.

Comparable Titles: Minka Kent’s The Stillwater Girls, B.A. Paris's Behind Closed Doors.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Tomcats Killers of Innocence

Blending self-help, memoir of loss, and a sense of humor, Carlock’s debut offers a hopeful look at the long road through grief from an author who has navigated it so often that she wonders, in a preface, “exactly whom I pissed off in another life.” Carlock shares her own story while offering hard-won, practical advice—like how to handle people who disappoint as you try to build a support system, or facing “firsts” after bereavement—all broken down into small, manageable pieces. She emphasizes the importance of grievers being emotionally honest about their experiences and, as part of the healing process, remembering their lost loved ones. She also stresses the need to reach out to others and presents research suggesting positive-minded people cope with grief better.

Carlock has endured a seemingly overwhelming amount of tragedy, from her parents’ vicious divorce when she was eight, to her own two divorces to the year and a half in which she lost several family members, including her ten-year-old daughter, Libby. This was “the worst pain I had ever experienced,” she writes, and she addresses these losses with earthy candor. Her slow healing, especially all she’s learned about “grief, resilience, and post-traumatic growth,” informs the TRUST method at the heart of the book, a distillation of her guidance for others into a mnemonic device she’s crafted for simplicity, noting “Grief leaves most people feeling like they’ve lost about fifty IQ points.”

The book is compact and approachable, offering an inviting, honest, and sharply plainspoken survey of what the author has learned as she pulled herself “out of the suck,” with neither genre, memoir nor self-help, fully dominating. While the guidance is sound and the revelations often moving and insightful, the brisk storytelling by design emphasizes Carlock’s own experience, with touching material about her love for her family and thoughtful consideration of her own “deeply, deeply personal” choices involving medication and treatment. Throughout, she makes clear that one guiding voice is not enough—readers facing grief should seek out support and professional help.

Takeaway: Lessons and hard-won insights from a life facing grief.

Comparable Titles: Megan Devine’s It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Joanne Cacciatore’s Bearing the Unbearable.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A-
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Grief Sucks (But Your Life Doesn't Have To)

This genre-crossing story of punkish romance and an out-of-time Los Angeles begins on Valentine's Day. Knowing Elise's penchant for traditional celebrations, amateur chef Kyle—a grunge-era “anarchist” lacking “the drive or commitment to really protest the government”—surprises her with a romantic dinner in their loft, only to be surprised in return by the news that Elise, a fashion “tastemaker,” has lost her job with a well-known luxury hat company. The night takes a sad turn when he finds her bloodied on the bathroom floor—not for the first time. Facing financial strain, Kyle's encounter with a mysterious scientist offering a job becomes their pivotal lifeline.

With sharp-elbowed prose, slicing cultural commentary, and a zeal for surprise, Dennis disrupts genre expectations, transitioning from contemporary romance to a blend of erotica, science fiction, and psychological apocalyptic fantasy. Kyle agrees to be part of an outlandish experiment: enter a time-travel portal. Kyle does, and Dennis seizes the opportunity to conjure wild, dramatic images of conflagration and destruction, weird creations—Riders, Wraiths, Washouts, and the witch Epiphany, with whom Kyle will forge a surprising and intimate connection. Visions of a ruined Los Angeles and talk of a prophecy have unsettling power, but one thing in Kyle’s adventures with wormholes and Telepaths truly scares him: forgetting Elise. "It was too easy to forget your past in this place,” Kyle says of an uncanny Los Angeles. “ It was like you'd been brainwashed, but you could be whoever you wanted to be."

An unsettled and unsettling ending finds Kyle tested in ways readers won’t anticipate, as he battles for a seemingly lost humanity. Themes of survivalism and the endurance of love amidst temptations and forgetfulness resonate, though the story’s pointed provocations, flights of poetic language, and circuitous mysteries will challenge readers. Still, there’s urgency to the key questions: whether Kyle will reunite with Elise and return to his present or survive with others in a ravaged world.

Takeaway: Unsettling, genre-bending, apocalyptic time-traveling literary lulu.

Comparable Titles: Gene Doucette’s The Apocalypse Seven, Lee Kelly’s With Regrets.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Lonely Riders

Nikita’s brutal yet rousing debut opens in the bloody darkness of prehistory, the prose as raw and slicing as the mouths of the beasts gnashing at an early human family in its cave. Soon, two young brothers find themselves alone in a harsh world, with the eldest—that’s how he’s identified for much of the novel, as nobody in it has yet enjoyed the luxury of coming up with concepts like names—tending to his newborn brother and fighting for survival in the Drylands. An elemental poetry powers through Nikita’s storytelling: “All hope is buried deep in the waterless soil where the crawlers fill their bellies with rot from the bodies of the slow and the careless.” Scenes of the brothers facing snakes, lions, starvation, and at last other humans both harrow and thrill.

The wrenching, at times difficult-to-parse opening passages will challenge readers, but Nikita’s storytelling is smart and assured—and Logos, like life itself, gets easier as its characters become increasingly human. Nikita has crafted the story as a series of firsts: the eldest’s first kill; his first experience naming things; his first impulses toward communication through artistic creation; his discovery of the Promethean element he and the youngest call “fos”: “This merciless, glorious thing or creature or state, hissing and roaring as it destroys everything it touches.” Keeping a fire going, like survival, brings rules and ritual and the language to explain them.

Eventually, the brothers are the heart of a community, with Nikita exploring the key trait bringing humanity to that point: not just the will to survive, but the conviction (“I want more!” one brother realizes in a truly epochal moment) that life can be about more than endurance. As the humans share and develop language, the novel itself becomes more conventional in its prose, though thoughtful readers interested in the dawn of consciousness will find the denser passages reward the effort they demand. Pushing through is how we became human.

Takeaway: Brutal, richly imagined vision of prehistoric humanity emerging from the darkness.

Comparable Titles: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Shaman, Peter Dickenson’s The Kin.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Logos