In the face of ever-increasing temperature and a prevailing sense of resigned helplessness, emergency advisor Kent-Hughes offers something healthier than doom scrolling: a helpful guide on ways that individuals can make a difference in fighting one of the hottest topics in global politics, climate change. Clear, compact, and practical, Creating A Better Climate Future has been crafted as an encouraging eight-step “emergency plan,” complete with action steps, for making change, becoming “a client hero,” building momentum, and inspiring others. Arguing that “we still have time to turn things around,” Kent-Hughes makes the case that the real problem isn’t carbon emissions—it’s the “obstacles to positive change.” His guide showcases what everyday people can do to “use the economic system to change itself,” first with some easy wins and then bigger goals that can build upon that foundation.

While upbeat about what “people power” can accomplish, Kent-Hughes makes no equivocations: change is difficult, and his breakdown of current projections about the speed and impact of climate change proves suitably terrifying. But his theme throughout is “we can do this,” and he’s persuasive in his highly documented demonstrations of how outraged consumers can force companies to change their behavior. “Profit motive is countered by freedom of choice,” he notes, arguing for boycotts as the vehicles for change.

Emphasizing the urgency of creating community and spreading a positive vision, Kent-Hughes demonstrates how to set achievable objectives connected to larger climate goals (switch from a linear to a circular economy; “Halve per capita global food loss and food waste”) in key categories like food and transportation, all of which he lays out with clarity. His guidance for change-making is targeted to readers’ individual skills, interests, and availability, from “lifestyle changer”s to “online influencers” and “non-violent direct action.” Throughout the guide, different categories of action (influence, connect, communicate) are color coded for ease of use. Readers eager to feel that individual efforts contribute to a broader movement will find much that resonates..

Takeaway: Inspiration and action steps for individuals eager to push back against climate change.

Comparable Titles: Heidi A. Roop’s The Climate Action Handbook, Paul Hawken’s Regeneration.

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

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Bahna’s debut follows horse racing enthusiast and former bookie Matt Galiano, whose interest in a thoroughbred racehorse entangles him in the seedy underbelly of sports betting. Matt, whose special connection with racehorse Heliacal Star started years ago, is now caught up in the world of fixed races, privy to insider information that hints someone’s breaking the rules, but he’s reluctant to report it to the racing commission given his own tumultuous past in organized crime. When Matt meets promising young horse trainer Kristine Connelly, he is immediately intrigued by her no-nonsense attitude—and the two quickly find themselves wrapped up in a perilous journey together, set against the backdrop of thoroughbred racing.

This thrilling tale, embedded in the rich legacy of thoroughbred racing and its surrounding ecosystem, delivers vivid descriptions of the sport and the betting that goes along with it—all capably drawn from Bahna’s two-decades-long experience in breeding and retiring racehorses. Characters are cinematic in their delivery, particularly Bahna’s gangster, Tony Kaufman, and his band of ne’er do wells—who luxuriate in Hennessy XO and Verdi’s Il Trovatore while commanding lackeys to follow orders… or else. Bahna skillfully manages a sense of perpetual immediacy, with danger lurking just around the corner, keeping readers on their toes with brutal fights, double-crossing, and high-octane chases.

Matt’s criminal past eventually returns with a vengeance, threatening not just him but Kristine as well, as the pair is forced to grasp at every straw in order to stay a step ahead of the dangers chasing them. But beyond the white-knuckle action, Bahna adds a humanistic perspective about the horses themselves, highlighting the exploitative practices and animal cruelty that can pursue the industry, all without sermonizing, instead transforming this story into an intense crime thriller that will resonate with those who favor chilling page-turners.

Takeaway: Chilling story of illegal horse race betting, with incredibly high stakes.

Comparable Titles: Dick Francis’s Dead Cert, Jason Beem’s Southbound.

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

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Abrahmson, a pseudonym for Mark Binder, shines in this winning story of strength and determination, the third in his Village Life series. In Chelm, Poland, after the birth of her twins Rachel and Yakov, Sarah Cohen starts to see cracks appear in her marriage. Her husband Benjamin dotes on Yakov, while seeming to care less about Rachel, but Sarah has other things on her mind, too—a group of fellow Jewish women tap her after the twins’ birth to join their secret Council of Wise Women, women who are the movers and shakers in Chelm. Sarah, aware of the rough patch she’s going through, agrees, kickstarting a string of unlikely events in her life.

The story starts with Sarah, but it quickly becomes apparent that Rachel is a prodigy, and Abrahmson often examines the unique cultural aspects of the women in Chelm through Rachel’s experiences. At seven, she teaches herself Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and German, all while gently caring for the ailing widow Oma Levitsky, whose magical chicken soup is said to cure all ills. Those snapshots give the story a folksy feel and a delicate humor that entertains, as when Oma’s soup cures a sick group in a nearby town, sparking a famine of sorts and forcing Chelm residents to eat endless cabbage, with predictably gassy results.

Abrahmson (The Village Feasts) maintains that playful touch throughout, painting characters who leap off the page. Chelm’s wise women are delightful and perceptive, their conversations a joy to read, whether they’re toiling over the latest relationship problems or debating whether girls in the village should be formally educated (“We women [are] able to cherish our subtle knowledge passed through words and whispers and gentle guidance” one woman observes). Abrahmson douses the story with welcome tension at times, and his sparkling prose and enviable world-building make this a beautiful testament to tradition and values.

Takeaway: Charming testament to Jewish traditions and the power of women.

Comparable Titles: Sydney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family series, Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink.

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

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In Horn’s rollicking, compulsively readable take on the Cinderella story, a young girl named Sylvia Locke learns to appreciate what she has. Living at her grandparents’ farm after her adventurer parents go missing, Sylvia is known throughout Fairytale Land as something of a “bad girl.” She is routinely rude to her grandparents and refuses to work on her manners, so she is sent to live with her “goody-goody” Aunt Marjorie and twin cousins in the hilariously (to kids) named suburb of Buttzville. While she is there, the family receives an invitation to the ball where Prince Quinn of Rainbow City will choose his princess.

Because Sylvia’s aunt doesn’t want her to attend, she decides she must go, and she enlists the help of self-proclaimed “evil fairy godmother” Pamela to get her there. But Pamela’s magic doesn’t always work quite right, so Sylvia ends up wearing a white tracksuit and driving a 1996 “Merkury Sable” to the party. Her unusual attire attracts the attention of the prince, who ends up being just as sarcastic as Sylvia. When Sylvia abruptly flees the party before her car and clothes transform to a bike and potato sack at midnight, Quinn stops at nothing to find her. She even gets her happy ending —though likely not the one readers will expect.

Admittedly, Sylvia is not the most admirable character—she is rude and selfish, and she doesn’t have any qualms about lying or stealing to get what she wants. However, her behavior is clearly a reflection of her inner world—she has, after all, been abandoned by her parents, and she struggles to make friends because of harmful rumors surrounding her family. This offers kids a compelling example of empathy for others and a reminder that, in the real world as well as Fairytale Land, things are frequently more complicated than they appear.

Takeaway: Rollicking take on the Cinderella story, with a young girl learning to appreciate what she has.

Comparable Titles: James Riley’s Half Upon a Time; Liz Braswell’s Twisted Tales series.

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

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Samo’s debut opens with a call for nothing less than the “end” of education in a world that seems “heading towards destruction.” The apocalyptic language, though, is a method of highlighting the urgency of the author’s true project: the transformation of existing educational systems toward an enlightened, more practical, less knowledge-based education that nurtures humanity’s “inherent virtues and wisdom.” Samo proposes new curriculum and techniques rooted in five “universally applicable and secular” “Wisdoms” derived from ancient teachings pioneered by the Sramanas, the ascetic Indian sect that gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism. The bulk of this hefty, impassioned treatise explores how these Wisdoms could “elevate the pinnacle” of education around the world, how they might be implemented in different nations and cultures, and how if just one to five percent of humanity embraced them the world would be transformed, with “malevolent forces … effectively restrained or even enlightened.”

As all that suggests, this is heady, ambitious material, and Samo writes with urgency, humanity, and a deep belief in “universal light” and the power of the Wisdoms. The Wisdoms include Linguistic Clarity, which refers to “achieving a state of ‘clear and unobstructed’ in the abilities of listening, speaking, and writing” and Medical Insight, which entails understanding of medical conditions “even surpassing the standards of professional medical practitioners.” (Samo argues that the high percentage of medical students needing eyeglasses points to a need to study this wisdom.)

Crucially, study of the final Wisdom—Inner Enlightenment—as well as teaching of the “ten good deeds” helps prevent the abuse of the others for “evil” purposes. Samo proves persuasive when encouraging an integrated approach between contemporary science and technology and ancient teaching, but claims of a “correlation between the general mindstate of humanity and climate conditions,” as exemplified by an explosion of kindness after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, are unpersuasive, and Samo’s argument that an educational system should produce a “multitude of [Elon] Musks” will prove contentious.

Takeaway: Impassioned call for an education overhaul emphasizing ancient wisdom and virtues.

Comparable Titles: VY. Nithiyanandam’s Buddhist System of Education, Sean Steel’s The Pursuit of Wisdom and Happiness in Education.

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

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Fully living up to its title, Gallagher and Bowden’s swaggering thriller debut centers on Father Tony, a priest whose tangled past has brought him to the Vatican—but also to the conviction that he had been “a coward” about facing sexual abuse within the church. With the support of an ailing billionaire, Father Tony returns to New York with a list of “problem priests” whose crimes had been covered up. Also supporting the cause: the “connected” family, the Centenos, who inevitably will go further than Father Tony prefers. When a Bronx priest vanishes, the case falls to hothead Eddie Rodriguez, a Fort Apache detective busted down to Missing Persons after a reckless shooting.

Mostly told from Eddie’s heated perspective, this sprawling thriller captures the mind, mouth, and world of an aggrieved cop who gets that the IA officer assigned to him blames “systemic racism and toxic masculinity for breeding scumbags like me.” When a second priest goes missing, and a flinty federal agent starts poking around with next-level brusqueness, Rodriguez will find his assumptions about everything challenged, especially once he learns that Centenos and the NYPD may be trying to hush something up. One surprise, expressed in a sharp narrative voice that playfully tweaks pulp-fiction masculinity: that the FBI’s Special Agent Murray has “the kind of body a navy-blue pantsuit couldn’t ruin.”

That line’s clipped power and comic edge exemplify the authors’ prose, which pulses memorably as Vigilante Priest digs into a tricky investigation that will wreak havoc within the department and on Eddie’s own life—the suspense comes from the lengths the powerful will go to shut Eddie down. Despite brisk, striking sentences, the plotting tends toward the baggy, the novel taking its time with an investigation where readers are ahead of the cops. Often, though, the authors use the extra length well, delving into character—like Eddie’s family—and even welcome comedy. The scene where Agent Murray catches Eddie daydreaming about Chris Pine playing him in a movie is irresistible.

Takeaway: Epic procedural of a Bronx cop, missing priests, and organized vengeance.

Comparable Titles: Alex Kava’s A Necessary Evil, Jeff Spence’s The Priest Hunter.

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

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Set a century from now, Emmett’s bold, brainy, and provocative fiction debut explores urgent issues of truth, mis- and disinformation, and what it means to be human, all from the perspective of a winged, part-cyborg “Reverse Journalist” (or RJ) in the employment of the Mother Country, China. (One great pleasure of the novel: the geopolitics of the 2100s.) As an RJ, or “journalist of future prospects,” young Naomi—an Ameriguan from Michigania born with a hole in her heart and a reputed gift for prescience—is augmented and trained by the Chinese and Ameriguan Singing Directorate to take in and evaluate information from countless sources, in every language, plus “Aeolian vibes” and “both wisdom and warning from unidentified sources in Nature and the Divine.” Drawing from their “Logoharps,” RJs report “the truth of probable outcomes, scripting events to glorify and sustain the health of the Party and its constituents.”

Naively, Naomi seeks out this role out of what she describes as a desire to “be embraced in a Harmonious Society and warm bosom" to “help co-create what’s to come,” and to “create a positive outlook.” In idea-dense chapters that will thrill readers fascinated by the ethics of mass-media and journalism, Emmett charts Naomi’s youth, including her fractious marriage with a man who decamps for medical school in Beijing, and then her language training, her augmentations, and her early successes as an RJ, where she turns every problem her double-sized brain faces into a “a 22-sided origami resembling a crayfish.”

A plot eventually kicks in, involving a coverup, a Human Recycling program, orders to engineer the downfall of an “algorithmic imposter,” and a surprise from Naomi’s past. All of this is gratifyingly twisty, with conflicts extrapolated from our present with rare conceptual rigor, but the richness of imagination and moral inquiry take priority over narrative momentum. Still, readers of thoughtful SF will find revelations on every page. Emmett is a talent to watch.

Takeaway: Smart, startling SF debut exploring next century’s media and disinformation.

Comparable Titles: Malka Older; Seth Dickinson’s Exordia.

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

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Harper’s debut delivers a compelling mix of mystery and dark comedy, as Paul, a depressed and self-involved 40 year-old actor just successful enough to have “met famous people,” finds his neighbor—the pompadoured dog-trainer he suspected his wife might be enjoying an affair with—dead in their upscale Brooklyn apartment building. Another discovery that jolts Paul from his lethargy: his wife, Laura, is missing. That makes him a suspect, of course, with a “deranged strangler” on the loose and no one to turn to for help but Alina, who works the building’s front desk when she’s not toiling away “on her chick-lit romance novel.” Fortunately, she’s savvy, eager for some excitement, and willing to help Paul, even if he hasn’t bothered to read her book yet and chides himself for not remembering whether she’s “Dominican or Puerto Rican or half of each or half of one”.

As Paul learns more and more about his apartment and its complex neighbors, he finds himself in a classic whodunnit. Harper’s writing is crisp, witty, and conversational, maintaining a brisk pace even as Paul can’t stop himself from musing about bagels or asking a detective for career advice. Amid the sharp dialogue and vivid descriptions, Paul often addresses readers directly—“Even if my grief was selfish, unfair, unearned, it didn’t matter”—in inner monologues and arguments that are a continual highlight. Despite his flaws, he proves easy to root for, as he pursues the case through lively twists and emotional gut-punches.

The crime is layered and engaging, but not overly complex, and despite the wit the suspense is consistent as Harper deftly blends mystery, satire, and Brooklyn character study, all with impeccable scenecraft. Harper stages surprises, revelations, gags, and bursts of self-discovery with equal aplomb. Even readers steeped in the genre will find the ending a dazzling surprise with real emotional resonance—and they’ll be heartened by the promise of a sequel.

Takeaway: Witty mystery expertly balancing suspense, emotion, and a Brooklyn murder.

Comparable Titles: Anthony Horowitz, Richard Osman

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

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In his fiction debut, Miezejeski crafts an intriguing study of humanity's first contact with extraterrestrials. Inhabitants of the planet Cronin, searching for signs of life outside of their system for the last 3,000 years, first discovered radio waves emanating from Earth in 1945, launching them on an intergalactic mission to observe and record information about this newly discovered planet (a process emboldened by the internet, which allowed them easy access to “over 90 percent of the knowledge gained about Earth”). Now, on the cusp of a “major geological event,” the Cronin society—a species that bears resemblance to humans but is covered in bright feathers—have determined it’s time to make first contact with Earth’s people.

Miezejeski’s world is as factual as it is creative, as he draws parallels between Cronin’s search for intelligent life and Earth’s same quest, albeit with differing results. “It's highly unlikely that any two intelligent life forms have or will make contact with each other during their limited lifespan in terms of the age of the universe,” Neil, a scientist on Earth, declares to an audience of museum donors, during the span of time it takes Cronin commander Gus to contact him through email, offering his planet’s knowledge base to an Earth struggling with conflict, disease, and global warming.

Though he draws from real life initiatives and scientific programs, Miezejeski’s narrative gets bogged down at times with minor grammar errors and the somewhat flat interactions between the Cronin civilization and Earthlings. The bulk of the story revolves around how Cronin contacts Earth, and the concerns that arise on Earth in response, but Miezejeski’s truly alien extraterrestrial world—with days that are 33 hours long, limited seasonal weather variation, and an absence of social exploitation—is immersive. Miezejeski closes with a curveball ending that will delight sci-fi fans.

Takeaway: Thought-provoking story of extraterrestrial life’s first contact with Earth.

Comparable Titles: Arthur C. Clarke, Liu Cixin.

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

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This moving, challenging novel of a young gay man coming of age in the 1980s pulses with moments of connection and freedom, explored in prose that exults in its own liberation: “Thus time, tortoise and torturous, hale and hare. Rich in paradox, it travels. At a rate of 67,000 miles per hour. It catapults us with a flaming center.” The narrative explores the lives of gay men at the onset of the HIV pandemic in Ojo Caliente, a “neon mountain town” whose stretch of Colorado seems intent on “formaldehyding the past.” The narrator, meanwhile, is facing past and present in incandescent sentences, as he makes new friends, explores his sexuality with an array of men—from those not openly "out" to those with women at home—and contemplates relationships he’s left behind, all as he vows “to scramble, leave the state, go for good.”

The flaming center here is Mengay's blazing style, a stream-of-consciousness gush studded with killer details—“the two of us press flesh to flesh, causing me to frot the horn in rhythmic beats, the sound intensifying on this barren spit below I-70”—wells of deep feeling, and reams of sharp-elbowed, unpunctuated dialogue that, in the briskest passages, offers a reprieve from the prevailing density. Mengay (author of The Lede to our Undoing) demonstrates a mastery of rowdy voices, in chatter and letters, sometimes offering scenes in script form.

But Ojo’s power comes from Mengay’s attention to the senses in scenes of home building, road tripping, boisterous get-togethers, earthy trysts (“Lips and beard abrade my skin, peel me like a tangerine”), and taking the dancefloor at a gay bar that’s like a “studded–and-buckled Araby of the west.” Especially moving is Mengay’s stripping away at the cast’s protective layers, revealing men who are wild and carefree with the narrator yet not free to be so in their everyday lives. Readers who relish uncompromising fiction of substance and ambition will find this wild, wise, and nourishing.

Takeaway: Incandescently written novel of growing up queer in 1980s Colorado.

Comparable Titles: Ali Smith, Alan Hollinghurst.

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

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Bolger’s debut immerses readers in the raw essence of urban life as seen through the lens of a vulnerable protagonist. The narrative skillfully navigates newly released convict Francis Doonan's journey from innocence to experience, capturing the complexities of adolescence with poignant clarity through the viewpoint of a man who has spent almost half of his life incarcerated. Doonan, now 32 after being imprisoned at age 18, spends his “first day of freedom” reminiscing about people from his past—and the shocking changes the world’s undergone since he was put away—while reflecting on his choices, in an unflinching portrayal of familial discord, substance abuse, and loneliness, all set against a vividly rendered New York City backdrop.

Bolger's prose is frank and evocative, pulling readers into Doonan's world with detail and dialogue that pulse with authenticity and richly drawn characters steeped in their place and era. Through Doonan's eyes, we witness his personal growth and the harsh realities that shape his worldview, in a world punctuated by brutal fights, drug running, and tender dreams amidst harrowing cruelty. Doonan, vigorously opposed to joining the gangs that run the streets of Hell’s Kitchen during his adolescence, turns down their offers while surrendering to his inner rage, reflecting during a drug-fueled bender, “Howie and I were sitting together in a far-off land where we could be or do anything we wanted. but were our pain and rage too much to allow us?”

More than anything, this is a compelling exploration of youth, resilience, and the pursuit of identity. Bolger's ability to blend poignant moments with gritty realism ensures the book’s emotional impact, and Doonan’s journey from flashbacks to freedom will hook readers from the onset—and leave them contemplative as he muses that learning to live again is “just another stoop to conquer.”

Takeaway: Unflinchingly honest portrayal of adolescence in urban America.

Comparable Titles: Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street.

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

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In Friday’s lively debut, four trailblazing middle schoolers—Mattie, twins Nova and Rora, and Parker—find themselves facing off with military and government astrophysicists in a battle to save planet Earth. When Mattie and friends stumble into a terrifying battle between unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), complete with a near-death experience thanks to a Tiamaxus—a chilling alien weapon nicknamed the T-Max—they also encounter a blue-blooded warrioress named Zakara and her floating robot, Cache. When Zakara is mortally injured protecting the children, they’re forced to reprogram Cache to try to save her life, launching them into a deadly race against time.

Friday introduces readers to a fun, intelligent middle grade adventure with a satisfyingly diverse team of kids, all of whom are well-versed in coding, drone technology, and scientific research. Despite the story’s setup, the characters acknowledge their situation is unusual, making them a very down-to-earth group stuck with an out-of-this-world problem. Mattie emerges as a leader of sorts, but each member of the foursome contributes in their own right, whether it’s Nova’s robotics expertise, Rora’s social media know-how, or Parker’s drone skills. Adult readers will relish Friday’s emphasis on ingenuity and teamwork, as the group must collaborate with the government—while deciphering who they can actually trust—in order to save thousands of lives.

Most encouraging here is the variety of interests this diverse group holds, all largely centered on the field of science. The kids are bright, capable of such ingenuity as building robotic arms and devising a communication code to throw off the officials tracking their every move, and their resourcefulness secures them several big wins along the way. Middle grade readers will appreciate the thrills, too, as Friday delivers an exciting medley of daunting weapons, military drones, and death-defying chases, culminating in an ending that will appeal to sci-fi fans of all ages.

Takeaway: Ingenious group of middle schoolers face down an intergalactic threat.

Comparable Titles: B. Random’s Alienship, Matt Guzman’s Rieden Reece and the Broken Moon.

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

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Psychologist Morgan (author of Training the Time Sense) presents an idiosyncratic exploration of time and experience, juxtaposing critical events from his past eight decades with speculative predictions for the decades to come. Working from the assertion that“ Each moment is a statue in time, always rooted in that time and that place,” Morgan's playful, proudly idiosyncratic work blends personal memoir, forward-thinking imagination, and surprising historical reflection—Morgan ponders the possibility that Richard Rodgers was a synesthete and recounts a bumptious encounter between his mentor and friend Robert Lee Green, then serving in Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Council, and Robert Kennedy.

Morgan delves into significant moments of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, examining how these events have influenced societal and individual psychology. His narrative is rich with striking personal anecdotes and professional observations: relish his encounter with a wag in the early 1960s who claims not to “see race,” or his dinner-party-ready tale of teaching the concept of identification reciprocity only to be interrupted by a student who inadvertently proves it. This keeps the historical sections informative and engaging—Morgan has no time for received wisdom or familiar pieties, though as he charts his nation’s tilt toward conservatism in the 2010s he does indulge in a page-length chicken-egg joke and some prankish play with ChatGPT.

That insistence on fresh thinking also shines in the speculative portion of the book. He envisions future scenarios with a psychologist's eye for behavior and detail, exploring how emerging technologies, environmental changes, and evolving social norms might impact human society. These predictions are grounded in current trends and scientific advancements, lending a sense of plausibility to his visions of the future. While Morgan's transitions between past and future can sometimes feel abrupt, and the book’s design and many illustrations tend toward the haphazard, he weaves eras and ideas into a thought-provoking narrative whole that challenges readers to consider the long-term impacts of present-day actions.

Takeaway: A psychologist’s insightful, surprising historical insights and future speculations.

Comparable Titles: Yuval Noah Harari, Ray Kurzweil

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

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Sandoval (author of Roll Over, Big Toben) returns to children’s writing with this young adult coming-of-age novel following young runner, Eddie Santos, born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. “All my life I’ve noticed that people, people I know, people I don’t know, seem to always have some secret among themselves that they don’t share with me” he writes; even so, Eddie’s father, who Eddie says “protected me and wanted to reshape me” constantly fights for him to overcome his disability and fit into the world around him.

Readers will be moved by Eddie’s first-person narration transporting them into his life, thoughts, and emotions as he processes his experiences and how they relate to the people around him. He is movingly honest, describing his father’s determination that he’s able to keep up with his peers in every way, played out in such scenes as Eddie being forced into a boxing ring at a local gym to learn how to defend himself against an experienced fighter. Despite those moments, and the misunderstandings that often pop up during his interactions with others, Eddie harbors a deep sense of the love surrounding him, echoing throughout that his family and friends just want him to “try my best.” When he’s placed in public school—and exposed to racist, ableist peers—he quickly finds comfort in the cross-country team, his school friends Jimmy and Sandra, and a mysterious character called El Indio, who lives nearby Eddie and regales him with stories of his Raramuri ancestors.

Middle grade readers will find Eddie’s straightforward self-exploration rich with emotional detail and candid observations. His curiosity and desire to find a safe, positive place in the world is infectious, and his message—that there is nothing more special than being loved for who you are—inspires as much as it comforts.

Takeaway: Moving story of a boy with cerebral palsy finding his voice.

Comparable Titles: Jamie Sumner’s Roll with It, R.J. Palacio’s Wonder.

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

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Richardson (author of River’s Reach) balances the life and times of Americans at home during the Second World War, from the perspective of 15-year-old Scott Johannsen. Though the war rages far away from his home near Ravenna Park, Seattle, it makes its presence felt through the blackouts, supply shortages, and Scott’s persistent worry about his Uncle Ted fighting in the United States Navy. To complicate matters, Scott’s father, Harlan—an air raid warden—is faced with a string of fires that someone is lighting during blackouts, prompting him to wonder “are we living among the enemy?”

Richardson’s clean, fresh prose draws the characters and events in deft strokes, starting with Scott, of course, but also pulling in his friend Burr, with his quirky love for dismantling devices and crafting unique contraptions out of them—an engaging, lovable addition to an already appealing cast. Scott’s other friends—James, who wants nothing more than to be the “big cheese” everywhere he goes, and Marty, “a bit of a flat tire who was usually a day late and a dollar short”—pitch in with tracking down the firebug, as does Scott’s draft-age older brother Erik and sister Greta. Readers will find Richardson’s domestic scenes—with a stereotypical strict father and more approachable, lenient mother—and the family gatherings around the radio, listening to their favorite shows and the news, both nostalgic and relatable.

Through a tense atmosphere of mystery and suspense, Richardson’s needle of suspicion rises, eventually pointing, successively, at two people who are emotionally close to the protagonist. The denouement also richly pays off the created suspense, and Richardson ties up the loose ends neatly. Perhaps most remarkable are the novel’s nuanced responses to the war, from heroic to pacifist, delivered in a non-judgmental and empathetic way, providing its intended young audience with a means of forming their own opinions.

Takeaway: Suspenseful WWII mystery rich with empathy.

Comparable Titles: Sherri L. Smith’s Flygirl, Cynthia Kadohata’s Weedflower.

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

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Olson, the founder of Family Promise—a nationally-recognized organization fighting for people experiencing homelessness—offers readers an uplifting debut memoir that encourages compassion and service for others. Though she recounts the creation of Family Promise, and shares positive stories of its impact, much of Olson’s writing centers on affirming why volunteerism is so deeply satisfying. There is a “profound personal healing that happens when we act on our innate kindness” she writes, and that compassion forms the framework of this inspiring memoir, as she shares the experiences of others in the hopes of raising awareness and “build[ing] a more caring society.”

Olson starts with her own story, of a heartbreaking childhood that spurred her empathy and kindness for the world around her, and later takes on the stigma that comes with experiencing homelessness—one of the driving reasons she founded Family Promise, as she notes the redemptive value in reaching out: “When we take the time to honor and dignify the humanity in others, notably the most vulnerable among us, our own humanity begins to shine like never before.” That concept—that every person, regardless of their circumstances, is a valued human being—radiates through the many narratives she shares from clients, and her urge to lend a helping hand will inspire readers to do the same in their own lives.

The straightforward message and universal positivity of Olson’s writing makes it easy to internalize, though somewhat repetitive, but there are several eye-opening moments throughout that resonate—particularly Olson’s story about the accident that led to her current disability. Olson’s work has been ongoing for decades, but the basic concepts here still apply to contemporary times, including her ideas listed at the book’s end on simple ways to help others. Olson closes with a list of volunteer organizations to help readers to take action.

Takeaway: Call-to-action on volunteering to help people experiencing homelessness.

Comparable Titles: Kevin F. Adler et al.’s When We Walk By, Tracy Kidder’s Rough Sleepers.

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

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