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Featuring 262 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children's and YA books

KIRKUSVOL. LXXXVII, NO. 19 | 1 OCTOBER 2019 REVIEWS

Edward Snowden on mass surveillance, life in exile, and his new memoir, Permanent Record p. 56

Also in this issue: Jeanette Winterson, Joe Hill, Maulik Pancholy, and more from the editor’s desk:

Chairman Stories for Days HERBERT SIMON

President & Publisher BY TOM BEER MARC WINKELMAN #

Chief Executive Officer MEG LABORDE KUEHN [email protected] Photo courtesy John Paraskevas Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, recently Editor-in-Chief TOM BEER told her Twitter followers that she has been reading a short story a day and [email protected] Vice President of Marketing that “it has been a deeply satisfying little project.” Lisa’s tweet reminded SARAH KALINA me of a truth I often lose sight of: You’re not required to read a story col- [email protected] Managing/Nonfiction Editor lection cover to cover, all at once, as if it were a novel. As a result, I’ve ERIC LIEBETRAU [email protected]

started hopscotching among stories by old favorites such as Lorrie Moore, Fiction Editor LAURIE MUCHNICK Deborah Eisenberg, and Alice Munro. I’ve also turned my attention to [email protected] Children’s Editor some collections that are new this fall. Here are three: VICKY SMITH Where the Light Falls: Selected Stories of Nancy Hale edited by Lauren [email protected] Young Adult Editor Tom Beer Groff (Library of America, Oct. 1). Like so many neglected women writers of LAURA SIMEON [email protected]

short fiction from the middle of the 20th century—Maeve Brennan, Edith Templeton, Mary Ladd Editor at Large MEGAN LABRISE Gavell—Hale isn’t widely read today and is ripe for rediscovery. Her tales of stultifying upper-crust [email protected] Vice President of Kirkus Indie life in New England and Virginia are precise and beautifully written—Groff refers to the “hard and KAREN SCHECHNER brilliant glaze of Hale’s prose”—with a powerful undercurrent of resistance to the confining mores [email protected] Senior Indie Editor of that society. My favorite so far is “To the North,” the shrewdly observed and wildly lyrical tale of DAVID RAPP [email protected]

a wealthy Maine summer community, the working-class Finnish immigrants who serve them, and Indie Editor MYRA FORSBERG the young boy who crosses the social divide. I look forward to dipping in and out of these stories [email protected] Associate Manager of Indie in the months to come. KATERINA PAPPAS Grand Union: Stories by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press, Oct. 8). Did I [email protected] Editorial Assistant say that short stories were meant to be consumed one at a time as the JOHANNA ZWIRNER [email protected]

mood strikes? Well, I tore through this kaleidoscopic collection in one Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH long mad rush—but then Zadie Smith’s prose often has that effect on Contributing Editor me. There’s much to unpack here and a wild variety of modes and styles— GREGORY McNAMEE Copy Editor from the grim fantasy fiction of “Two Men Arrive in a Village” to the sur- BETSY JUDKINS real post–9/11 road trip of Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Designer ALEX HEAD

Brando—quite possibly based in fact!—of “Escape From New York” to Director of Kirkus Editorial LAUREN BAILEY the literary realism of “Just Right,” set in the bohemian Greenwich Vil- [email protected] Production Editor lage of the 1950s. My favorite of the bunch is “Miss Adele Among the Cor- CATHERINE BRESNER sets,” in which an aging African American drag queen pays a visit to the [email protected] Website and Software Developer Clinton Corset Emporium on the Lower East Side, leading to a culture PERCY PEREZ [email protected]

clash of epic proportions with the shop’s Old World proprietors. Advertising Director MONIQUE STENSRUD Finally, on the impassioned recommendation of a friend, I’m picking up Edwidge Danticat’s [email protected]

Advertising Associate new story collection, her first in more than a decade,Everything Inside: Stories (Knopf, out now). TATIANA ARNOLD These are tales of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, loss and grief—the great subjects of Danticat’s [email protected] Advertising Coordinator many works of fiction and memoir. In a starred review, the Kirkus reviewer writes, “These are sto- KELSEY WILLIAMS [email protected]

ries of lives upended by tragedies big and small, from political coups to closely guarded maternal Graphic Designer LIANA WALKER secrets. Throughout each story, Danticat attends to the ways families are made and unmade….An [email protected]

Controller extraordinary career milestone: spare, evocative, and moving.” MICHELLE GONZALES With this many promising stories on the docket, I may have to tackle two a day. [email protected] for customer service or subscription questions, please call 1 800 316 9361 Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/print-indexes Submission Guidelines: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/submission-guidlines - - - Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Subscriptions: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/advertising- Newsletters: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription/newsletter/add Cover photo by opportunities Lindsay Mills

2 | 1 october 2019 | from the editor’s desk | kirkus.com | you can now purchase books online at kirkus.com contents fiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS...... 4 The Kirkus Star is awarded REVIEWS...... 4 to books of remarkable EDITOR’S NOTE...... 6 INTERVIEW: JEANETTE WINTERSON...... 14 merit, as determined by the INTERVIEW: JOE HILL...... 24 impartial editors of Kirkus. MYSTERY...... 27 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY...... 36 ROMANCE...... 37 nonfiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS...... 41 REVIEWS...... 41 EDITOR’S NOTE...... 42 ON THE COVER: EDWARD SNOWDEN...... 56 INTERVIEW: JEANNIE VANASCO...... 62 children’s INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS...... 79 REVIEWS...... 79 EDITOR’S NOTE...... 80 INTERVIEW: MAULIK PANCHOLY...... 88 INTERVIEW: AIMEE LUCIDO...... 100 young adult INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS...... 111 REVIEWS...... 111 EDITOR’S NOTE...... 112 INTERVIEW: KIM LIGGETT...... 116 Brazilian creative team André Rodrigues, INTERVIEW: R.J. PALACIO...... 118 Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo, and SHELF SPACE: HEAD HOUSE BOOKS, PHILADELPHIA...... 120 Pedro Markun give U.S. readers a refreshingly sane primer on electoral politics, via indie INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS...... 121 Lynn Miller-Lachmann’s translation. Read the REVIEWS...... 121 review on p. 104. EDITOR’S NOTE...... 122 INDIE Q&A: ROBERT L. SLATER...... 128 Don’t wait on the mail for reviews! You can read pre-publication reviews as they are released on kirkus.com—even before they are published in the magazine. FIELD NOTES...... 142 You can also access the current issue and back issues of Kirkus Reviews on our APPRECIATIONS: HARLAN ELLISON’S website by logging in as a subscriber. If you do not have a username or password, “A BOY AND HIS DOG”...... 143 please contact customer care to set up your account by calling 1.800.316.9361 or emailing [email protected].

| kirkus.com | contents | 1 october 2019 | 3 fiction These titles earned the Kirkus Star: HUSBAND MATERIAL Belden, Emily Graydon House (304 pp.) THE LIVING DAYS by Ananda Devi; trans. by Jeffrey Zuckerman.....7 $15.99 paper | Sep. 24, 2019 978-1-525-80598-1 THE HEART IS A FULL-WILD BEAST by John L’Heureux...... 13 THE STORY OF A GOAT by Perumal Murugan; trans. by A 20-something woman is keeping a N. Kalyan Raman...... 18 big secret from her friends and co-workers: She’s a widow. THE SACRAMENT by Olaf Olafsson...... 20 Charlotte Rosen thinks she’s moved on pretty well from her husband Deck- THIS IS HAPPINESS by Niall Williams...... 25 er’s death five years ago. She started THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY 2019 a new job with a social media influencer firm, found a room- edited by Carmen Maria Machado...... 36 mate who knows nothing about her past, and convinced her co- workers that she’s just another single young woman in LA. She’s DEAD ASTRONAUTS by Jeff VanderMeer...... 36 even working on developing her own data-driven dating app that determines a couple’s compatibility based on their social media profiles. Charlotte calls herself a “Numbers Queen” and knows that even though life may have thrown her a curveball in the past, data will never let her down. But life, it turns out, still has plenty of surprises left for her. When Decker’s mausoleum burns down and his ashes show up on her doorstep, Charlotte begins to realize that she didn’t deal with her grief so much as she ran from it. Now, she needs help from the people she left in the past—including her status-obsessed ex–mother-in-law, who’s so controlling that she tries to sneak into Charlotte’s building to steal her son’s ashes back. Charlotte also reconnects with Decker’s best friend, Brian, who used to be a partying frat boy but is now a children’s doctor. Charlotte and Brian shared one impulsive kiss shortly after her husband’s death, and unfortunately, she discovers that her attraction to Brian hasn’t gone away—in fact, now that he’s grown up a little, it’s even stronger. But when Charlotte runs into a woman from Decker’s past, she’s forced to reckon with the fact that she might not have known him as well as she thought she did—and everyone else in her life might be full of surprises, too. Belden (Hot Mess, 2018, etc.) paints a realistic portrait of grief while still creating a story that is fast-paced and fun. The dialogue sparkles, especially when Charlotte is arguing with her snarky roommate, Casey. Plot twists near the end, though, strain credulity—Charlotte is quick to forgive some of the people in her life for major trans- gressions, and it seems like a more realistic reaction is ignored in favor of tying the ending up with a bow. DEAD ASTRONAUTS A quick, entertaining read about making sense of your VanderMeer, Jeff past and making the most of your future. MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) $27.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-0-374-27680-5

4 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | THE OTHER WINDSOR GIRL to Omar Platt, an exiled African American from Mississippi. Blalock, Georgie Kath eventually becomes pregnant with Omar’s son, Little Morrow/HarperCollins (400 pp.) Omar. But with Omar out of the picture, and her life firmly set $15.99 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 in Montreal, Kath marries a white man named Timothee, who 978-0-06-287149-7 adopts Little Omar as his own. Renamed Etienne, Little Omar struggles with his racial identity. He becomes an academic, A title-rich and money-poor writer in has a son of his own, and moves to Alabama, where he and his postwar Britain finds herself appointed son, Warner, must reckon with racial realities and their fam- as second lady-in-waiting to Princess ily history. Colvin’s storytelling ranges back and forth in time, Margaret, sister to the eventual Queen unearthing his fictional community’s history, examining every- Elizabeth II. thing from the uses of baby dolls to cure fevers to the origins of Once upon a time, the Honorable the phrase “You’re a lying crow.” This results in an exploration Vera Strathmore was engaged and her life was happily mapped of how time and migration can change a family and impact its out for her. But then Henry, her beloved, was killed—just one experience of race, but it can also turn the narrative into a con- of the many who never came home to Britain after World fused jumble of incidents. Important characters like Kiendra, War II. Vera’s grief is deep and long-lasting, in part because Kath’s prankster friend whose antics doom her, are too thinly she and Henry may not have been legally married but they— drawn to have the impact Colvin intends. Meanwhile, time that to gloss over their behavior as the book does—enjoyed their could be used to round out these characters is spent on detours time together intimately. Based on those experiences, Vera that don’t pay off. Colvin’s prose can also plod. A scene in which starts secretly writing romance novels as Mrs. Rose Lavish. Kath throws a rock to avenge Kiendra’s fate means to stun the

One of her fans—Princess Margaret—is eager to meet the young adult author of these naughty books, and Vera’s cousin Rupert, who is part of Margaret’s set of friends, introduces the two. This meeting leads to a closeness between the women and Vera’s employment with Margaret. Part friend, part confidante, and entirely a woman who only serves at the (temperamental) royal will, Vera always remembers her subservient position. This is author Blalock’s first work of historical fiction, but she has written a number of historical romance titles under the name Georgie Lee (His Mistletoe Marchioness, 2018, etc.). Much like a gracious aunt who still likes a bit of genteel gossip about scandalous behavior, however, this book follows Margaret and her set and their hard-drinking, partner-swapping shenanigans without talking about exactly what goes on behind closed doors. Blalock places Vera within historic events and surrounds her with real people so the reader experiences well- known elements of this period in British history through the thoughts, dreams, grief, and love of a fictional character. A frothy, fun, escapist read.

AFRICAVILLE Colvin, Jeffrey Amistad/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $25.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 978-0-06-291372-2

In his debut novel, Colvin tracks three generations of an African Cana- dian family hailing from the fictional set- tlement of Woods Bluff in Nova Scotia, a dizzyingly diverse community founded in the 18th century by itinerant Ameri- cans, bold Africans, and rebellious Caribbean blacks. We enter this world in 1918 alongside Kath Ella Sebolt, a bright young girl who soon earns a scholarship to attend college in Montreal. As she drifts away from Woods Bluff, she gets close

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 5 valuing books by women

Canadian novelist Miriam coined until well after I wrote the novel.” One scene in Toews’ latest book, Women Talking, particular feels painfully up-to-the-minute with all the wins my award for title of the year. news about coaches and doc- “Women talking” has been the in- tors abusing their patients and stigation for the #MeToo move- also given the increasing re- ment, for changes in the publish- strictions on abortion across ing world that include female edi- the country: “What a tight lit- tors at the Paris Review and the tle twat you have,” a doctor tells New York Review of Books, and for Sasha when she goes in for an il- non–book world events such as legal abortion. “It’s a pleasure the flowering of TV shows steered to work on you after the gaping by women (Fleabag is talking to you, ladies). “Women smelly cunts that come into the talking” are at the heart of Margaret Atwood’s The Tes- hospital.” The novel obviously taments, in which the infamous Aunt Lydia reveals how doesn’t tiptoe around egregious she earned her role in Gilead. Are you convinced yet? male behavior. “An exquisite critique of patriarchal culture” is how I’ve long been a fan of fem- our starred review describes Toews’ novel. It takes inist novels by writers such as Marge Piercy, Marilyn place in a barn, where the women of the Molotsch- French, Alison Lurie, and Erica Jong, so when I went to na Colony of Mennonites have gathered to figure out the Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair recently, I made what to do after realizing that they’ve been repeatedly sure to look for books in this category, but they were drugged and raped by the men of their community. As few and far between. There were two copies of Mary our review concludes, the book is “stunningly original McCarthy’s The Group, which I would call a progeni- and altogether arresting.” tor of feminist fiction, and a copy of Flying, a memoir There’s been an upsurge of feminist novels appear- by Kate Millett. Allison Devers, the proprietor of The ing in the past few years, many with a dystopian bent, Second Shelf, a London shop focusing on rare books by including The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Farm women, said she’d already sold a few before I arrived. by Joanne Ramos, and Red Allison opened my eyes to the way the rare book Clocks by Leni Zumas. Meg trade values books by men more than books by wom- Wolitzer’s The Female Persua en, so I was curious to see what was available at vari- sion, one of my favorite recent ous booths around the fair. There was a first edition novels, hearkens back to ear- of The Color Purple for $625 and a later printing of Song lier feminist blockbusters; as of Solomon for $200. I saw several first editions of The our starred review says, “This Secret History, including a signed copy for $450. (It’s symphonic book feels both amusing to learn that Kirkus called it a “precious, way- completely up-to-the-minute too-long, and utterly unsuspenseful town-and-gown and also like a nod to 1970s murder tale.”) The hardcore book collector could have feminist classics such as The taken home a copy of The Yellow Wallpaper for $18,000 Women’s Room, with a can’t- or early printings of several Harry Potter books for put-it-down plot that illumi- similar prices. Sadly, the most valuable books by wom- nates both its characters and en were all by Ayn Rand, including a signed first edi- larger social issues.” tion of Atlas Shrugged for $35,000. I went home with a Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen by Alix Kates Shulman, copy of Home Truths by Mavis Gallant for $40, and I’m one of those ’70s classics, has just been reissued by Pica- looking forward to reading it. —L.M. dor with a new preface by the author, who writes, “Today, many of the predicaments in which the titular ex–prom Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor. queen, Sasha Davis, found herself have a powerfully, emotionally charged name: ‘sexual harassment’—a term not

6 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | reader but mostly frustrates. “The rock descends toward the window, moving and tumbling and cutting....A fraction of an inch before the window pane, the rock’s leading edge shakes off the last bit of dust, the last length of spider filament, the last bit of rat’s hair....” A promising debut that aims high but stumbles.

THE LIVING DAYS Devi, Ananda Trans. by Zuckerman, Jeffrey Feminist Press (176 pp.) $15.95 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 978-1-936932-70-2

In her latest work to be published in the United States, Devi (Eve Out of Her Ruins, 2016, etc.), a celebrated Mauritian author, uses modern London as a place to explore the legacy of colonialism and

the limitations of global culture. young adult Mary Grimes, an old white woman, is sitting in her rotting home in Portobello Road, reminiscing as she waits to die. Her thoughts drift back to her youth during World War II. With death looming, young people are given license to live, and even timid Mary Rose manages to have a sexual adventure. She escapes her family and the countryside for London when her grandfather leaves her his terraced house, and, there, she works as a sculptor until arthritis makes that impossible. She is now purposeless, poor, and alone—until she meets Cub. The son of a single mother of Jamaican descent, Cub is 13 when he begins doing odd jobs for Mary, 13 when he moves into her house, and 13 when he starts sleeping in her bed. Devi’s language is luscious (translator Zuckerman deserves notice for turning the author’s French into fluid, exquisitely precise English), and her -depic tion of Mary so gentle, that the reader might be lulled into hoping that this relationship is somehow not as grotesque as it seems. Like the best narratives that use fantastic tropes, this one defies being reduced to one simple set of meanings, but it’s fair to say that the novel uses the lens of post-colonialism to test the promises of cosmopolitanism and liberalism. Devi is a native of Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean ruled by the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain before its independence in 1968. It’s not difficult to see Mary, in her frailty, as a ghost of the British Empire, drawing fresh vitality from young black newcomers to the kingdom while relegating them to the status of subhuman chattel. The genius of this story is that Devi goes beyond revealing this dynamic to explore its insidious, often invisible reach. A gorgeously written, profoundly upsetting fairy tale of race, class, power, and desire.

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 7 THE GENERAL ZAPPED of Catch-22, as a profane general brings down a real-life angel AN ANGEL out of the skies over Vietnam. In “The Mouse,” the title char- Fast, Howard acter argues philosophy with a pair of visiting astronauts. “The Ecco/HarperCollins (160 pp.) Vision of Milty Boil” is a Kafkaesque satire on society; a small $16.99 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 man brings the world down to his size through extraordinary 978-0-06-290844-5 effort and questionable justification. “The Mohawk” is very much an artifact of its time yet also timeless: A man named Nine fantastical, oddly endearing short Clyde Lightfeather decides to meditate on the front steps stories rescued from the ravages of time. of New York’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The prescient The late Fast (Greenwich, 2000, etc.) story “The Wound” seems familiar these days, as an absurdly was a writer with a lot of roles, among dumb businessman proposes detonating atomic bombs under- them an activist against the Red Scare ground to profit from mining oil shale. “Tomorrow’s Wall Street of the 1950s, which landed him a three-month prison sentence. Journal” is a literal devil’s bargain written with the wit and style He’s probably best known for writing the novel Spartacus (1951), of O. Henry. “The Interval” is a first-person reflection on age which Stanley Kubrick famously adapted into the classic film. and time by a grieving widower. “The Movie House” is some- But he was also one of the most prolific authors of the 20th thing of a Schrödinger’s cat quandary involving a locked door century, having written nearly 100 books, including both fic- inside a theater and the projectionist who insists it can’t be tion and nonfiction as well as plays, poetry, and hundreds of opened. Finally, in “The Insects,” Fast ends with the apocalypse, short stories. Here, a collection of nine stories sharing fabulist initiated not by the dreaded Communists but by nature itself. tendencies, originally published in 1970, has been reissued, and A collection of delightful and still relevant stories that it’s well worth revisiting. The title story has the absurd humor certainly earns its resurrection.

8 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | A treasure hunt leads a young girl to discover her mother’s darkest secret. the glittering hour

THE WIVES a treasure hunt that helps lift her out of her depression. Alice’s Fisher, Tarryn Blackwood sojourn alternates with chapters set in 1925, when Graydon House (320 pp.) young Selina, age 22, is setting the London tabloids ablaze with $16.99 paper | Dec. 30, 2019 her antics as one of a cadre of Bright Young People, devil-may- 978-1-525-80978-1 care upper-class flappers and their escorts. But everything changes when, on a madcap treasure hunt of her own, Selina Marriage is hard enough without meets Lawrence Weston, a struggling portrait painter and aspir- having to compete with two other wives ing photographer. The two are drawn inexorably into an affair. in Fisher’s (I Can Be a Better You, 2018, Selina’s choice of a passionless marriage to Rupert over life with etc.) psychological thriller. her soul mate, Lawrence, is the fateful decision on which the Businessman Seth is married to three novel turns, and her rationalizations will be a little too pat to women. Well, he’s actually only legally satisfy most readers. Nor will readers be long baffled by Alice’s married to the narrator, a Seattle nurse he only sees on Thurs- hunt—given the 1925 backstory, the solution to the puzzle is days. She calls the other two Monday and Tuesday since she obvious almost from the start. But genuine surprises do await, doesn’t know their names. They’re polygamists, but Seth has no even if they entail punishing Selina, after the manner of post- interest in a sister wife situation, and he’s done a good job so Code Hollywood melodrama, for her breach of class boundaries, far in keeping the three lives he leads, and the women he leads disregard for propriety, and unladylike smoking and drink- them with, separate. Until now. In fact, his Thursday wife is ing. The characters verge on stereotypical although there are getting downright restless. She’s tired of living only for Thurs- no true villains and only the domestics lack flaws, particularly days and is still haunted by the loss of a child. Though she truly Polly and Mr. Patterson, the gardener who introduces Alice to

believes she loves Seth, she frequently wonders how she lost young adult herself so completely in such an unsatisfying and unbalanced marriage. When she finds a slip of paper with the name Hannah, who she believes is another of Seth’s wives (the pregnant one, in fact), a whole new world of snooping opens up to her. She even goes so far as to set up a meeting with Hannah—without revealing her true identity, of course—and is alarmed to see that Hannah is hiding some bruises that look an awful lot like finger marks. What she subsequently discovers leads her down a rabbit hole of startling revelations, and the narrative takes a sharp left turn that would be shocking if most genre readers hadn’t already seen similar twists before. It’s all a bit over the top, but Fisher is a slick writer who keeps a tight rein on her lightning- fast plot, and the lengths that her feisty narrator goes to in order to reclaim her life make for salaciously satisfying reading. Derivative and shamelessly manipulative but still a lot of fun. Fisher is a writer to watch.

THE GLITTERING HOUR Grey, Iona Thomas Dunne Books (480 pp.) $28.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 978-1-250-06679-4

A treasure hunt leads a young girl to discover her mother’s darkest secret. In 1936, 9-year-old Alice has been consigned by her mother, Selina Lennox Carew, to the care of her Lennox grandparents at their ancestral stately home, Blackwood Park. The reason for this custodial arrangement is Selina’s trip to Southeast Asia with Alice’s cold, distant father, Rupert, who needs to visit his ruby mines in Burma. Alice is kept abreast of her parents’ travels through her mother’s letters, delivered by longtime family servant Polly. Alice is also directed, by Polly, to discover clues set by her mother, leading the girl on

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 9 the redemptive joys of nature. However, Grey’s use of sensory called in 1963 to translate at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, detail, enlivening the most mundane of scenes, redeems this that she will soon confront truths about the past never before novel, too. revealed. Eva Bruhns, a young woman still living with her par- Flamboyantly written, if a little too conventionally ents—the proprietors of the eponymous German House restau- peopled and plotted. rant—looks forward to a betrothal to Jürgen Schoormann, her reserved boyfriend, and routinely works as a Polish-language interpreter in mundane contract matters and business disputes. THE GERMAN HOUSE Her sister, Annegret, works as a pediatric nurse while younger Hess, Annette brother Stefan dotes on the family’s black dachshund. The Trans. by Lauffer, Elisabeth Bruhns are a thoroughly average family. Eva’s growing aware- HarperVia/HarperCollins (336 pp.) ness of the atrocities perpetrated by the Auschwitz defendants, $25.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 coupled with a vague sense of déjà vu, jolts her out of compla- 978-0-06-291025-7 cency and ignorance about the role the average German citizen played during the war. Eva’s increasing passion to secure justice What is the cost of learning the for the victims of Auschwitz, whose stories she absorbs daily, truth? And who is responsible for telling contrasts vividly with the attitudes and actions of her neighbors that costly truth? (and family members), whose desire to leave the past behind is A prosecutor’s exhortation to learn clear. Hess, a popular television screenwriter in Germany, deliv- “every conceivable” Polish word for “how ers scenes and dialogue in a linear sequence, and it is easy to to kill a person” is an early signal to a naïve German interpreter, envision almost any of the scenes (courtroom or dining room) on screen via the straightforward translation by Lauffer. Less linear are the continuing deceptions Eva confronts on an average day, in an average life, in an average city. Questions of complicity and culpability are resolved by prosecutors and daughters alike in Hess’ slow reveal of large truths which are obscured by larger lies.

NIETZSCHE AND THE BURBS Iyer, Lars Melville House (352 pp.) $16.99 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 978-1-61219-812-5

A group of prep schoolers reckon with their ennui thanks to doom metal and a new classmate nicknamed after a famous nihilist. Iyer has found a niche in seriocomic fiction about very serious philosophers: Wittgenstein Jr (2014) was a funny campus novel about logic, and this follow-up is a funny campus novel about despair. At its center is a group of students in Wokingham, 20 miles away from London, eager to finish classes and move on with their lives. But as their final semester begins, a new arrival, kicked out of his previous school under vague circumstances, at once unsettles their relationships and sharpens their cynicism. The new boy scribbles “NIHILISM” in his notebook, is prone to dark and gnomic pronouncements in class (“All things die in time”), and maintains a blog musing on the meaning(lessness) of suburbia (“Nothing will happen here….Unless the voiding of time is itself an event”). His dour temperament quickly earns him the nickname Nietzsche. (We never learn his real name.) The clique soon welcomes him at school and, later, at band practice, where they’re laboring on droning, sludgy rock that evokes their angst. Iyer neatly captures the way Nietzsche’s philosophy of the eternal return is a perfect fit for cynical teenagers who are sure it’s

10 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | all been done, but Iyer also wants to explore how frantic teenage emotions challenge their assurances; suicide, love, sex, and self-destructive instincts all figure in the plot. As for comedy, Iyer has a knack for the one-upping banter that demonstrates maturity and insecurity at the same time. The cycles of hope- despair-repeat among the characters get repetitive, but credit Iyer for thinking big: That little garage band is determined to “start a new society” and be a “clue to a new way of life.” Dark, brooding fun.

MEG & JO Kantra, Virginia Berkley (400 pp.) $16.00 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 978-0-593-10034-9

The two eldest March sisters have chosen very different life paths. Can both find happiness?

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s clas- young adult sic Little Women, Kantra’s (Home Before Midnight, 2017, etc.) latest sets the March sisters in modern times with modern troubles. Married to her beloved husband, John, Meg is a stay-at-home mother to charming toddler twins. In contrast, Jo has become fiercely independent. After a disappointing stint in an MFA program, she’s become a talented food blogger and a prep cook at the fancy restaurant Gusto in New York City. An unexpected romance with her boss, Eric Bhaer, however, throws Jo off balance. Is there a real chance for love with the tattooed, muscular, Michelin-star chef? How will she ever tell him about her writing when he dismisses bloggers as parasites? Meg’s and Jo’s personal problems must be set aside, though, when their mother falls ill with a bone infec- tion. The two eldest March sisters must shoulder the burdens of keeping the farm running and looking out for their younger sisters, fashionista Amy and songwriter Beth. Returning to their North Carolina (not Massachusetts, as in Little Women) farm also means Jo must face her broken romance with Trey Laurence. Sticking close to the original plotlines, Kantra uses Alcott’s beloved characters to question the choices women now confront, so the paths to romance reflect more contemporary concerns. Yet in trying to remain faithful to Alcott, Kantra’s updates ring a bit too familiar. Her choice to cast Meg as a stay- at-home mom, trying to shield John from any domestic chores yet wondering if she can reenter the workforce, seems familiar. And even though Bhaer becomes a powerful, sexy food warrior instead of an intellectual, his romance with Jo runs along well- trod tracks. A thought-provoking adaptation of a beloved classic.

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 11

CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC and extended network of family friends, but she’s never met a prob- Kinsella, Sophie lem she couldn’t shop her way out of. As usual, however, Becky Dial Press (448 pp.) finds herself stuck with a ton of problems. First, she needs to find $27.00 | Oct. 15, 2019 the perfect gift for her husband, Luke, but in order to get it she just 978-0-593-13282-1 might have to petition an all-male billiards club to accept female members (Becky, of course, doesn’t play billiards). She might be in Kinsella’s (I Owe You One, 2019, etc.) trouble with the entire country of Norway after creating her own much-loved Shopaholic is back—and (fictional) version of hygge, “sprygge.” Her environmentally con- this time, it’s Christmas. scious sister wants Becky to decorate a broom instead of a Christ- Becky Brandon is looking forward to mas tree and have a vegan turkey on the table. And then there’s her spending Christmas with her husband and musician ex-boyfriend who unexpectedly shows up in town with daughter at her parents’ house, just like his new girlfriend. With everything on Becky’s plate, will she be always. It’s cozy and warm and, other than her favorite Christmas able to create the picture-perfect Christmas she dreams of? Becky tradition (shopping), Becky doesn’t have to do much of anything. is still a hardworking, eminently lovable character who just wants But then her parents drop a huge surprise—they’re moving to an to do the right thing, even if she usually screws everything up and apartment in the superhip London neighborhood of Shoreditch. finds herself in hilariously awful situations (like, for example, stor- Now, instead of Christmas sweaters and carols, they’re into unicy- ing 30 pounds of smoked salmon on her front lawn under a duvet). cles and avocado toast. Her parents’ transformation into hipsters A laugh-out-loud funny book that will delight longtime means that Becky has to host Christmas at her home in Letherby. Kinsella fans and those looking for a cozy holiday story. Becky has no idea how to host a holiday dinner for her entire family

12 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com |

A sweeping posthumous collection wrestles with faith, irony, and the redemptive nature of love. the heart is a full-wild beast

THE COMPLETE GARY LUTZ hypothetical and the real, struggles to rationalize her terrifying Lutz, Gary new affliction: stigmata, which have appeared on her wrists. In Tyrant Books (499 pp.) “The Anatomy of Desire,” a soldier, skinned alive during a war $19.95 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 and finding himself “desperate to possess and be possessed” by 978-1-73353-591-5 another human being, cuts the skin off his lover and wears it as his own only to realize, terribly, after the act is consummated, A writer’s writer gets his due in a wel- that “there can be no possession, there is only desire.” In “Com- come gathering of short fictions from munion,” which takes place during the years of the Vatican II three decades. Council, a change-minded young Jesuit finds himself assigned to “If you are looking for story and plot, a stodgy conservative parish where, to his surprise, he is forced you have come to the wrong place.” So to reckon with his deepest loyalties. The sheer creative range writes Brian Evenson in his foreword to this omnibus collection of this collection is impressive. It’s no surprise that L’Heureux, of stories by Lutz (Assisted Living, 2017, etc.), gathering five pub- who was himself a Jesuit priest for 17 years, can render so con- lished volumes and a few unpublished pieces. Evenson is right: vincingly the moral and emotional quandaries faced by aspiring Not much happens inside a Lutz story save for some neatly priests, drunken priests, idealistic priests, adulterous priests, written sentences with, more often than not, some strange non doubting priests, dead priests, priests who (like L’Heureux) sequitur at their heart: “After lunch, in the undemanding dark would be poets, and priests who (also like L’Heureux) are aban- of a movie theater where he goggled at some stabby, Roman- doning or have abandoned the priesthood—but what’s wonder- numeralled sequel, I would plug my ears and loot my own heart.” ful is that he doesn’t stop there: In his relentless drive to capture Most of Lutz’s stories seem more prose poems than traditional the ironies and follies and tragedies of life, L’Heureux gives us

yarns with beginnings, middles, and ends. His characters tend young adult to be divorced or on the way to divorce (“Then came nights when, lying awake beside my final wife, I would spend too much time putting my finger on what was wrong. I was wearing the finger out.”). Their time is invested in the ordinary—in the opening story, a man makes love without much conviction, anticipating the “accurate parting of the ways,” then goes to a diner, gets himself inky with a newspaper, and goes to a wash- room with a door worthy of Kafka’s Castle. That story is called “Sororally,” which reflects Lutz’s liking of arcane words, glittering in his prose like emeralds in a streambed. Sometimes he lets out a quiet joke—“there are two types of people,” he writes, adding: “Just don’t ask me where they live”—and sometimes he invites a question without answering it, as with a fellow who has found a “new way to cheat on his wife” with no confirming details. Sometimes he accomplishes all this in just a couple of paragraphs, more often just a few pages, though the book is a sturdy volume that proves his aside, “A lot of toner has gone into all I have done.” A pleasure for fans of postmodern fiction.

THE HEART IS A FULL-WILD BEAST L’Heureux, John A Public Space Books (446 pp.) $28.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-0-9982675-7-9

A sweeping posthumous collection wrestles with faith, irony, and the redemptive nature of love. In this compilation of new and previously published stories, L’Heureux (The Medici Boy, 2014, etc.) explores the beauty, pain, and grotesque humor of life in the world of an “ironic God.” In “Witness,” a statistician, professionally trained to measure the relationship between the

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 13

INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Jeanette Winterson

THE AUTHOR’S NEW NOVEL, FRANKISSSTEIN, IS A HEADY NARRATIVE ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND TRANS BODIES INFORMED BY MARY SHELLEY’S CLASSIC By Bethany Schneider

Photo courtesyLily Richards convention but can’t shake the fiction of gender, either literary or robotic. Across a narrative arc that electrifies the brain while charging ahead with the energy of a thriller, Winter- son ties together the origin stories of feminism, fiction, and science and opens up the question of their future. Whither our creativity? Our freedom? Whither our very bodies? Ultimately Winterson reminds us that our creations, be they stories or robots, have their own capacity for artifice, their own intelligence, their own immortal power. They may well choose our ending for us. “I read Frankenstein when I was 21 and frightened myself to death,” Winterson says. “But lately I’ve been obsessed with the wacky world of AI and robotics. Then I reread Frankenstein, and everything came together.” Ry is transgender—which for them means being both male and female—but their radical selfhood is threatened by the ever present fembot. Meanwhile, Mary struggles to be an artist in a world that won’t allow women to speak. “I am a woman, and I feel rooted in the lives that we have and the truth of those lives,” says Winterson. “And I am terrified by the way things Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein: A Love Story might go. You know, the future might not be female. A (Grove, Oct. 1) is an intricate nervous system of a lot of guys really think fembots serve women right. Or novel. The afterlife of an author’s fictional character they think ‘this is going to help guys. It’s going to help is compared to the imminent domination of humans them socialize,’ and it’s rubbish. It is a way of writing by artificial intelligence. The bodies of complexly gen- women out.” dered human beings are pitted against the bodies of Winterson has spent 23 books and counting writing glaringly gendered sex robots, whose protuberances women in. “I’m proud,” she says. “When I wrote Orang and indentations herald a horrifying future of nondi- es Are Not the Only Fruit in the early ’80s, there weren’t versity. In Switzerland in 1816, 18-year-old Mary Shel- women’s voices talking about sexual identity. Since then, ley is writing Frankenstein on a dare. In the near future, it’s been about just saying ‘I’m not going to be silenced.’ a trans doctor named Ry Shelley falls in love with a I remember reading Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing and mysterious scientist of AI, Victor Stein. Mary writes thinking, ‘This isn’t the angel in the house telling me to and loves alongside Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord By- be safe. This is an avenging angel, telling me to risk it.’ I ron, whose romantic version of sexual freedom fails to also wanted to be that kind of voice, making space and liberate women. Ry and Victor’s love tries to rise above allowing the conversation to build and build.”

14 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | Now the chorus has swelled to include trans voices. Frankenstein has long been important to trans self-iden- tification; in the early ’90s, trans scholar Susan Stryker shot down characterizations of the trans body as med- ically grotesque, reclaiming Frankenstein’s monster as beautiful. Winterson herself is more interested in the scientist than the monster and hopes her trans doctor and their immortal mad-scientist lover express the lib- eratory possibilities of artificial intelligence. “At the mo- abused housewives, bullied children, spoiled children, a ritualis- ment, we’re just obsessed with gendering our AI, male, tically dancing pope, and dozens of characters who, contorted by their feelings or by the world, stumble—accidentally, briefly, female,” observes Winterson. “Which is really annoying. and sometimes unconsciously—into versions (or inversions) This should be a moment when we can say ‘If we’re shar- of epiphany. It is typical of L’Heureux’s dark wit that his single ing the planet with nonbiological self-created life-forms, most enlightened character may be the eponymous narrator of “The Torturer’s Assistant.” “The work [of torture] is bad,” the why would we gender them?’ The growth of trans voices assistant admits, “but I do what I can. I give comfort, I give is happening right at this moment when we are going to love,” and then at night (“even torturers’ assistants have a life have to share the planet with nonbiological life-forms. outside the workplace”), he tucks his kids into bed: “I touch Between the two this could be a real fuck-the-binary mo- their small bodies gently, gently, because I know what can be done to them. No, mine is not a life I would have chosen in ment. It could be.” every respect, but whose is?” So is Winterson pro- or anti–AI? “We could be so Moral tales full of love and irony written by a master. free,” she muses, sounding sad, like her version of Mary Shelley, and also zealous, like her Victor Stein. “And that’s THE DEVIL’S DUE why I feel excited about this possible coming world. I MacBird, Bonnie mean, look—in the book it’s clear that the human dream HarperCollins (384 pp.) is something that always turns into the human night- $26.99 | Oct. 29, 2019

978-0-00-834810-6 young adult mare. We’re bad at making the good stay good. But we could try. Little kids right now—maybe they won’t need Is Sherlock Holmes the devil? Don’t to define themselves in these worn-out ways. When the be too quick to dismiss the possibil- most exciting thing in their lives will be that they will be ity until you’ve reviewed the evidence MacBird (Unquiet Spirits, 2017, etc.) has the generation that sees a new creation on this planet, amassed. made by us.” November 1890 sees Dr. John Wat- son return for an extended visit to Holmes at a critical moment. Gabriel Zanders, of the Illustrated Police Gazette, is spreading the Bethany Schneider is an associate professor of English at Bryn word that Holmes is the devil and whipping the crowds who hear Mawr College. Frankissstein received a starred review in the him inveigh against the great detective into a frenzy. Titus Bill- Aug. 1, 2019, issue. ings, the new Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, doesn’t go quite as far as Zanders, but he’s equally contemptuous, even to the point of violence. Ironically, these attacks on Holmes’ authority come just when his brother Mycroft and the City of London need him most. It seems that a number of wealthy members of the mysterious Luminarians have died under suspicious, and diabolically appropriate, circumstances. Shipbuilder Horatio Anson has been found drowned in his bed; Theodore Clammory, who owns a chain of barber shops, has had his throat slit with a razor; MP Sebastian Danforth, who made a fortune in paper goods, has been stabbed 17 times with a letter opener. Billings, convinced that Danforth was murdered by his son, Charles, is deaf to any talk of a serial killer; Holmes, noting the near-alpha- betical progression of victims, wonders when he’ll hear about B, who turns out to be a thriving cloth merchant hanged with a bolt of his own product. Viscounts Andrew and James Good- win, pillars of the Luminarians, blandly assure Holmes that no one has ever listed its membership, and Holmes, stymied by their stonewalling and distracted by an apparently unrelated case the importunate Lady Eleanor Gainsborough has brought him, fails to prevent the asphyxiation of operatic baritone Claudio Enrietti and can only hope he’ll be in time to save Luminarian playwright Oliver Flynn. Loose-limbed, prodigiously inventive, plotted with infer- nal logic, and riotously implausible from beginning to end.

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 15 WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS husband, Stuart, and her children, 7-year-old Bertie and baby MacDonald, Andrew David Ulysses, weak-kneed with relief. Stuart takes the opportunity of Scout Press/Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) his wife’s absence to pursue a chaste affair. But Bertie’s malev- $27.00 | Jan. 28, 2020 olent schoolmate, Olive, remains as actively present as ever, 978-1-9821-2676-6 and her threat to expose a secret Bertie shares with his friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson seriously complicates both A young woman with cognitive dis- boys’ lives. Finlay, another 7-year-old whom coffee bar owner abilities finds inspiration in Viking leg- Big Lou is fostering, turns out to be a ballet prodigy—which ends and prepares herself to become a would be great news if Lou could only afford the expensive hero when her brother gets involved boarding school program his teacher recommends to her. Gal- with drug dealers. lery owner Matthew Harmony is so determined to find a suit- Zelda knows she’s different than able man for his assistant, Pat Macgregor, that he fails to notice most people she meets, and she understands that difference how trapped his wife, Elspeth, feels in Nine Mile Burn with the is because of something called fetal alcohol syndrome. She has couple’s triplet sons. Bruce Anderson, the blandly self-absorbed seen the unkind glances and heard the muttered slurs, but really, twit who dumped Pat ages ago, deigns to accept the compan- she just wants what any 21-year-old wants: love, acceptance, and ionship of Jenny, a looker whose wealthy father owns a distill- some degree of independence to make decisions about her life. ery. Anthropologist Domenica Macdonald, who once filched a Also? A really good sword would be useful. Zelda is obsessed Spode teacup from Antonia Collie, continues to run into her with Vikings—their legends, their fierce loyalty, their courage former neighbor, embarrassing moments that are only height- in the face of danger. Like the ancient clans, she finds strength ened by Antonia’s new flatmate, Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori di in her tribe: her older brother, Gert, and his on-again, off-again Montagna, who never met a situation she couldn’t dampen with girlfriend, AK47, plus her helpful therapist and her friends at a flat aphorism. Domenica’s husband, portrait painter Angus the community center, especially her boyfriend, Marxy. He Lordie, descends into a frighteningly believable bureaucratic isn’t the best kisser, but he’s willing to try sex, a subject about morass when he seeks to bury the dead cat he’s found. Spoiler which Zelda is definitely curious. But when Gert struggles to alert: Most of these complications work out fine, and as for the pay the bills and gets involved with dangerous drug dealers, ones that don’t, there’s always next year. Zelda knows she has to step in and help him whatever the cost. Fragrant, refreshing, and soothing as a cup of—well, “The hero in a Viking legend is always smaller than the villain,” you know what. she reasons. “That is what makes it a legend.” In this engaging debut novel, MacDonald skillfully balances drama and violence with humor, highlighting how an unorthodox family unit is still VIRTUOSO a family. He’s never condescending, and his frank examination Moskovich, Yelena of the real issues facing cognitively disabled adults—sexuality, Two Dollar Radio (258 pp.) employment, independence—is bracing and compassionate. $15.99 paper | Jan. 14, 2020 With Zelda, he’s created an unforgettable character, one whose 978-1-937512-87-3 distinctive voice is entertaining and inspiring. Will appeal to fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and The Curious A fractured, hallucinatory novel Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. about female friendship and who knows An engaging, inclusive debut. what else. Every so often a book comes along that is so utterly strange it can’t be clas- THE PEPPERMINT TEA sified—it can barely be described. Moskovich’sThe ( Natashas, CHRONICLES 2016) latest novel is one. So how to start? The first chapter begins McCall Smith, Alexander with a body, face down on a hotel bed. An ambulance arrives; Anchor (336 pp.) the medics labor over the body. It isn’t until later that we find $15.95 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 out whose it is. That’s one storyline. Another involves Jana and 978-1-9848-9781-7 Zorka, two Czech girls growing up in Soviet-controlled Prague. Then Zorka lights her mother’s fur coat on fire, leaves it burn- The charmingly imperishable regu- ing in the hallway of their apartment building, and disappears. lars of 44 Scotland St. and environs have That’s another storyline. Yet another follows Jana, now an adult, reason to wonder: “Was that what life through Paris, where she works as a translator. And another re- entailed: not doing very much, and doing creates chat-room conversations between Dominxxika_N39 it every day, in the same place…?” and 0_hotgirlAmy_0. And there’s more. How it all ties together, After announcing her intention of departing from Edin- and what any of it means, is anyone’s guess. Moskovich’s novel burgh to pursue graduate studies (and a barely concealed has more in common with David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive than affair) with Dr. Hugo Fairbairn (A Time of Love and Tartan, 2018, it does with any contemporary piece of writing. The narrative etc.), Irene Pollock has finally decamped, leaving her spineless is fractured, and so is Moskovich’s sense of reality: Dreams

16 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | Because a novel is worth a thousand tweets.

Zulu Lulu Amos Bwire Three children with troubled pasts grow The Revelation into adults looking for retribution and change—but can they fix the present of Number 10 without exorcising the past? A Galactic Neighbor’s Appeal $27.32 paperback 978-1-5462-8315-7 Cliff Joseph also available in hardcover & ebook www.authorhouse.co.uk

The Work of the Devil Red Penn Two artists become the global focus of extraterrestrial intervention that will influence The peaceful town Leighford is not a likely crime scene, but that’s what it earth’s choice between life and self-destruction. becomes one rainy night in September as $13.99 paperback police chase a black Cadillac. 978-1-5320-4225-6 $13.66 paperback also available in ebook 978-1-5246-6217-2 also available in ebook www.iuniverse.com www.authorhouse.co.uk young adult The Sixth of September Absolute Abundance Callista Bowrightt The Psychology behind Wealth and Affluence The Sixth of September offers a Ambarees Clever Zulu no-holds-barred, emotional, and good- This self-help guidebook explains the humored journey through two women’s psychology behind attaining wealth and lives that couldn’t be more different, affluence, showing people how to unleash but collide with devastating and the power of their desires and thoughts humorous consequences. to gain success in life. $23.05 paperback $14.35 paperback 978-1-7283-8515-0 978-1-5462-9723-9 also available in hardcover & ebook also available in hardcover & ebook www.authorhouse.co.uk www.authorhouse.co.uk

13 Days The Lunchtime Club Michael Robinson Detective Agency and the 13 Days takes readers on a roller coaster Mystery of Strangway Tower of human emotions and changing values, which will ultimately leave them with more Michael A. Gilby questions than answers. It is a narrative Professor Weiss and his Lunchtime Club of triumph and hope over stagnation and are actually a secret detective agency— resentment. For three years, each man and they’re hard at work to has lived within the dark shadow of their put down the shadowy, powerful actions. Will their meeting help overcome Strangway empire! mistrust and non-forgiveness? $18.67 paperback $19.76 paperback 978-1-5462-9772-7 978-1-5049-3725-2 also available in hardcover & ebook also available in hardcover & ebook www.authorhouse.co.uk www.authorhouse.co.uk

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| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 17 give way to hallucinations, which give way to oddly realist bits THE STORY OF A GOAT of prose that seem, in this context, weirder than anything else. Murugan, Perumal At times, the book is hypnotically engaging; some passages, Trans. by Raman, N. Kalyan though, seem to go on and on, with Moskovich dwelling on Black Cat/Grove (192 pp.) minor details linked to minor characters for longer than seems $16.00 paper | Dec. 10, 2019 necessary—or interesting. 978-0-8021-4751-6 Moskovich breaks almost every rule of contemporary fiction but doesn’t always manage to do something simpler: A goat’s life serves as an allegory for engage the reader. the human condition in this novel from an acclaimed Indian author (One Part Woman, 2018, etc.). THE REVISIONARIES Poonachi, the goat of the title, arrives Moxon, A.R. the way characters often do in fairy tales: strangely, under circum- Melville House (608 pp.) stances fraught with portent. She’s presented to an old man in $27.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 a drought-stricken Indian village by a “giant” who needs “some- 978-1-61219-798-2 one who will look after her properly.” The goat is feeble and the old man’s family is poor, but he and his wife nurse her with care. Sprawling, postmodern shaggy dog Still, life is always at least somewhat unstable: The government is debut novel about a strange city made nosy about Poonachi’s provenance, other goats treat her like an even stranger by new arrivals from the outcast, and a wildcat abducts and nearly kills her. Fighting her hinterlands. way to survival only frees her to more sophisticated disappoint- Someplace in the decaying indus- ments, including lost children and thwarted romance; Murugan trial heartland, inside a “gray donut of deftly sketches out a nanny-meets-billy, nanny-loses-billy sce- shuttered factories,” lies a place called “Loony Island,” most of nario that’s as affecting as many human tales of unrequited love. whose residents live in Stalinist apartment blocks. The name Which is the point: In anthropomorphizing Poonachi, Murugan is well earned if accidental, for in one of its quadrants stands a finds a path to describe the essence of humans’ struggle to survive psychiatric hospital whose residents have been released to the while grasping for fleeting moments of joy and grace. Murugan streets, ministered to by an apparently self-appointed priest, can be openly comic about this, as when he satirizes the endless bearded and denim-clad, who funds his church by means of a fat bureaucratic lines goats and their keepers endure. But he’s mostly trust fund. Alas, Loony Island is run by a cabal of criminals who straight-faced, in the tradition of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, don’t have much time for the new insane constituency except a similar allegorical tale; translator Raman notes the connection to figure out how to rob them, of which Father Julius decid- to the classic, and, as with Orwell, the story is straightforward edly doesn’t approve. Among the bad guys are a would-be writer as a fable while open to interpretation. In its closing pages, the who’s “shit at it” and a young woman, tough as iron, who is far novel returns to its more mystical roots, and while it gives noth- and away more competent than anyone else in the gang. Their ing away to say that the story is ultimately tragic—from the start, efforts pale against the arrival of a very bad man from Pigeon Poonachi’s life is a study in precariousness—Murugan subtly pays Forge, Tennessee, home of Dollyworld and some very strange tribute to our capacity to stubbornly endure under the most dif- doings. Morris is on the trail of a young man named Gordy who ficult circumstances. appears to Father Julius as a flickering apparition. Morris, a An affecting modern fable reflecting Murugan’s Keyser Söze of the Smokies, drops his enemies, perceived and enchanting capacity to make a simple story resonate on real, into “oubliettes,” or dungeonlike boxes, of which he is the many levels. proud inventor; it makes good sense, then, that he should tumble into a sewer whose manhole cover has been spirited away by the local tweakers. What Gordy has that Morris wants is— AGATHE, OR THE well, call it an instrument that allows “control over everything FORGOTTEN SISTER in the universe.” Against this background there are all sorts of Musil, Robert memorable characters, including murderous rednecks from the Trans. by Agee, Joel Deliverance cutting-room floor, a bearded lady from a traveling New York Review Books (464 pp.) circus, and the ever elusive Gordy’s worried father, who swears $18.95 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 that he’ll never go back to Pigeon Forge as long as he lives. If the 978-1-68137-383-6 yarn doesn’t always add up and runs a bit long, it’s good fun to wind the characters up and watch them go. A reconstructed novel that brings a “for- Moxon’s storyline isn’t easy to follow, but it makes for a gotten sister” to play in a winding narrative. tasty entertainment. Now considered a classic of early-20th- century literature, Musil’s The Man Without Qualities (1943) presents a neuras- thenic fellow who lives entirely too much inside his own head, a

18 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | mathematician who is indifferent to bourgeois life but partakes of without much in the way of action but very long on talk—talk of it all the same. At the start of the present novel, Frankensteined love here, of misunderstanding and grief there: “Someone who from chapters of the former and bits of the thousands of pages of talks a lot,” says Ulrich, “discharges another person’s grief drop manuscript Musil left behind, Ulrich is disembarking from a train: by drop, the way rain discharges the electricity in a cloud.” That, “Drops of the general conversation that had seeped into him dur- or the chatterbox numbs the listener, which happens from time ing the trip were now draining away,” and now, preparing for the to time even as Musil carefully structures his twisting, unex- funeral of his father—who has helpfully sent notice of his own pected storyline. impending death—he’s left to his own musings. There’s plenty to Not entirely to contemporary tastes but a valuable think about: His long-lost younger sister, Agathe, widowed and addition to modernist European literature. remarried, is in town for the occasion, and she announces that she’s leaving her husband, a bore of a pedagogue. “Let him sue!” she says brightly, whereupon Ulrich is moved to remark, in his otherworldly way, “inner oblivion is more loathsome than anything.” In time, Agathe has moved in with Ulrich, and the relationship becomes—well, let’s just say there are universal strictures gov- erning their behavior, which, though more cerebral than physical, in fact does have something of the physical to it “that with great tenderness paralyzed their limbs and at the same time enchanted them with an indescribable sensitivity.” This is very much a Euro- pean sort of tale, reminiscent of Goethe here and Pessoa there, young adult

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 19 THE SACRAMENT of narrator Sister Johanna Marie, whose measured, melancholy Olafsson, Olaf voice expresses great internal ferocity. Traveling back to Reykja- Ecco/HarperCollins (304 pp.) vik, the now aged nun reconsiders her 1987 investigation as well $26.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 as her life in Paris during the 1960s, both times of emotional 978-0-06-289989-7 stress. As a repressed Sorbonne student named Pauline, she fell deeply in love with her Icelandic roommate, Halla, drawn to Building his plot around the issue of Halla’s capacity for joy (and love of the Beatles). Although Pau- child abuse by Catholic clergy, Olafsson line never expressed her passion, Father Raffin, an observant (One Station Away, 2017, etc.) explores young priest, shamed her into cutting off communication with complex issues of morality and, to quote Halla. Pauline became a nun out of “despair,” hoping to “find Corinthians, “faith, hope and love. But freedom in faith.” As a rising star at the Vatican in the 1980s the greatest of these is love.” ambitious, morally ambiguous Raffin, whose “ability to speak to Locked in a broom closet as punishment for a minor offense, people as if he were standing in their shoes, and yet at the same Icelandic Catholic schoolboy Unnar witnesses Father August time superior” represents the church’s power over its congre- Frans fall from a bell tower to his death in 1987. French nun gants, deliberately sent Johanna Marie to Halla’s home, Iceland. Sister Johanna Marie is in Reykjavik at the time investigating Her task proved impossible: Despite evidence of harmed chil- anonymous charges of abuse against August Frans. Thirty years dren, a wall of silence encircled August Frans—Olafsson impli- later she revisits the city because Unnar has written saying he cates church authorities without becoming polemical—forcing has more information to give her concerning what he saw. Olafs- the nun into enormous, life-altering choices, including whether son’s portrait of his homeland is almost as vivid as his portrayal to seek Halla. Now returning to Iceland, again at Raffin’s order, Johanna Marie faces distressing truths yet finds something like peace. Emotionally gratifying and spiritually challenging—a compelling novel that grabs the reader’s psyche and won’t let go.

BOB HONEY SINGS JIMMY CRACK CORN Penn, Sean rare bird (168 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 10, 2019 978-1-64428-058-4

Actor/director Penn continues his foray into fiction with this shaggy dog yarn of a secret agent–turned–freelance dispenser of justice. Bob Honey is a man with a plan. When last we saw him, in Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff (2018), the enigmatic killer was being hauled off to the pen; now, having “opted for fugitive flight,” he’s the subject of a manhunt. He goes blackface, a disguise that a grimace-inducing fellow agent in like garb sees right through, first muttering, “When a black man use soap, his skin dry ashen,” then dropping the patois to say, “You just look like a crazy white guy with tar all over his face.” Honey tries again, this time going in drag on the Acela train to Wash- ington and speaking in falsetto to a senator who once did right by the downtrodden but then became a supporter of the “flim- flamming finger fucker” who won the 2016 election, for which, Bob thinks, he deserves death by mallet, Bob’s favorite instrument. Penn risks crossing over the boundaries of political incor- rectness at many points, from those incidents to the very title of the book (which comes from a song of slave resistance that celebrates “cranium cracked and plashed on a pulverizing plan- tation stone” ). He’ll likely be tarred as an incorrigible member of the Hollywood elite as his tale winds to its close with the

20 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | Scalzi injects plenty of holly and jolly into his second short story collection. a very scalzi christmas

explosive destruction of the White House in a scene that might A VERY SCALZI CHRISTMAS have been an outtake from Fight Club, spectacular but strange, Scalzi, John perfectly in keeping with the feel of the rest of the book. It’s all Subterranean Press (144 pp.) very much of a piece with its predecessor, complete with some- $40.00 | Nov. 30, 2019 times-unnecessary footnotes and bursts of alliterative language 978-1-59606-932-9 (“Trees that seem to masturbate an ejaculation of wounds wishing and longing for Lennon’s laments”) that seem to be there for Bestselling sci-fi author Scalzi injects their own sake rather than to move the story along. plenty of holly and jolly into his second It’s clear that Penn is having good fun with this soufflé short story collection, a follow-up to of a story. As for the reader, maybe not so much. Miniatures (2016). You’ve finished rewatching your bootleg version of The Star Wars Holiday OPPO Special and every episode of Futurama Rosenstiel, Tom featuring the murderous Robot Santa, the Doctor Who Christ- Ecco/HarperCollins (336 pp.) mas special won’t be on for hours yet, and you already have $27.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 Jonathan Coulton’s “Merry Christmas From Chiron Beta Prime” 978-0-06-289260-7 on infinite loop. How else can you fill the Yuletide season with geekiness and laughs? This slim stocking stuffer may be just Political observation in a thriller’s what you need. The Christmas-themed works contained herein guise. offer a surprising, heartwarming, but potentially threatening

Rosenstiel’s (The Good Lie, 2019, etc.) young adult new novel, like his last, twines around up- to-the-minute political concerns, in this case, the effects of big money on politics. Wendy Upton, senior senator from Arizona, may be the world’s last centrist; at least it seems that way when she is asked, on con- secutive days, to be the vice presidential candidate by the cam- paigns of front-running presidential contenders of opposing parties. Then this fulcrum candidate is threatened: She’s told to drop out or her life will be ruined. The call goes out to Rena, Brooks & Associates, consultants, to try to discover and neu- tralize whatever dirt the threatener possesses. Peter Rena and Randi Brooks have a few new associates this time around, and as the team researches Upton’s life, Brooks and Rena explain to their inexperienced new colleagues the changes wrought in electoral politics by the Citizens United decision and the inrush of nearly unlimited money. Their work results in an “opposition book,” which is essentially an in-house compilation of all the background that an opposition campaign might uncover, thus avoiding nasty surprises and possibly averting or diluting any public relations issues. Sure enough, Sen. Upton has a few skel- etons in her closet, which of course she attempts to conceal, but only a very few, barely enough to keep her human, and the team next concentrates on discovering who might want to threaten her. Big money plays a role as Rosenstiel clearly connects the dots linking wealth to the corrupt manipulation of public policy. Rena and Brooks are as amiable as ever, their expanded associates as clever and more diverse than ever, and the threats posed by unrestrained political money are clearly descried, but the ride could be more compelling. Admirable and sharp political analysis afloat in a luke- warm thriller.

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 21 Christmas in July; some satiric listicles regarding holiday songs ANYONE and TV shows; and amusing but ultimately somewhat repeti- Soule, Charles tious interviews with Santa’s lawyer, the reindeer wrangler, the Harper Perennial/HarperCollins Christmas Bunny, and a certain Bethlehem innkeeper; as well (432 pp.) as two sappy but sincere pieces about the true meaning of $21.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 Christmas and family. The collection is bookended by a few 978-0-06-289063-4 Thanksgiving selections, including an enjoyably specific pop culture–studded grace, and an uproariously funny set of New A woman searching for a cure to Year’s resolutions involving clones and deadly robots from an unfathomable disease accidentally a despondent man whose ex-girlfriend is now dating his co- makes a breakthrough that will change worker Chuck. the world. A pleasant and often chuckleworthy Christmas trifle. Talented comic book writer Soule’s debut novel (The Oracle Year, 2018) was a serious brain bender, enjoyable as a twisty, well-written paranormal thriller and, more REPUTATION importantly, one of those books you find yourself thinking Shepard, Sara about days later. So, brace yourself—this book is even more Dutton (384 pp.) merciless in that regard. Readers won’t feel that they’re on the $16.00 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 edges of their seats as much as they’re on a balance beam above 978-1-5247-4290-4 a pit of lava while trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. First things first: In the present day, brilliant scientist Gabby White is inde- When a mysterious hacker exposes pendently working on a cure for Alzheimer’s in her barn in Ann sensitive emails at Aldrich University, Arbor, Michigan. One jolt of a laser later and she finds that she’s everyone’s secrets are laid bare to public beamed herself into her husband Paul’s body while her own self scrutiny. But no one saw surgeon Greg might just be dead. Whoa, indeed. This would be enough of a Strasser’s murder coming. launch pad for a techno-thriller by itself but then Soule jumps The data breach reveals Blue Hill, ahead a quarter-century to a near future where Gabby’s break- Pennsylvania, to be a veritable Peyton Place of disgrace, includ- through, now branded the “flash,” has not only transformed ing extramarital affairs, testing scandals, and fraternity rape society for well-meaning citizens, but also for a deeply per- accusations. Hidden in Greg’s trash folder are emails to a “Lol- verted underground, the “darkshare,” that rents out people’s ita Bovary” that cast him as certainly a philanderer and quite bodies for a variety of deviant purposes. We’re introduced to possibly a pedophile. After the Aldrich Giving Gala, Greg’s wife, Annami, a spy who needs to put together $1 million or so in a Kit, awakens from a drunken stupor to discover him stabbed in month in order to win an auction to occupy one of the world’s the kitchen. Could she have killed him out of rage? Or perhaps biggest celebrities, for her own secretive purposes. There are it was Kit’s ambitious co-worker Lynn, eager to push Kit off the plenty of villains here as well, among them Sara Kring, Gabby’s corporate ladder by framing her for murder? Then again, where lawyer, who sells her out, and Annami’s body-jumping nemesis was Lynn’s husband that night? And who is Lolita? Kit’s daugh- known only as “Bleeder.” Like the tick-tock of a metronome, ter, Sienna, is certainly sad about her stepfather’s death, but her Soule oscillates between Gabby’s dilemma and Annami’s mis- friend Raina’s grief seems suspiciously excessive. Meanwhile, sion until we reach an unexpected but satisfying convergence Kit’s sister, Willa, is back in town. An investigative reporter between the two. with secrets in her own past, Willa is loath to stay a minute past An imaginative, time-fragmented thriller about the bit- the funeral reception, but how can she refuse to help Kit stay ter and potentially deadly consequences of body-snatching. out of jail? With nods to Big Little Lies as well as her own Pretty Little Liars series, Shepard (The Elizas, 2018, etc.) brilliantly hides the identity of the true villain in the gaps between char- THE HILLS REPLY acters. An Agatha Christie for the 21st century, Shepard mas- Vesaas, Tarjei terfully crafts a prestigious town rife with hidden temptation Trans. by Rokkan, Elizabeth and sin. So Willa gets her chance to play Miss Marple, albeit a Archipelago (272 pp.) much younger, hipper version, and her sleuthing deftly exposes $18.00 paper | Dec. 10, 2019 unexpected links between characters. From chapter to chap- 978-1-939810-38-0 ter, Shepard’s plotting breathlessly careens between characters, with each cliffhanger swiftly answered by another, ratcheting In a new translation of Norwegian up the stakes until the killer is finally unmasked. author Vesaas’ (1897-1970) final novel, A fast-paced, twisty-turny mystery perfect for a cozy the landscape transforms into a source of awe and menace. weekend read. Vesaas’ book (which was first published in English in 1971 as The Boat in the Evening) opens with a pair of prefaces told in verse, and at times the prose with which this novel is told transforms into poetry before shifting into a more structured

22 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | young adult

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 23 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Joe Hill

THE AUTHOR OF FULL THROTTLE FINDS PLEASURE IN WRITING CREEPY STORIES—AND IN COLLABORATING WITH DAD STEPHEN KING By Chelsea Ennen Photo courtesy Lawrie Photography sel chasing a group of teenagers. There’s a businessman on a British train who suddenly notices that he is surrounded by massive, bloodthirsty wolves and a ruthless hunter who goes on a trip that makes The Most Dangerous Game look tame by comparison. But the hunting isn’t always literal. Hill focuses more on a sense of peril, which he says is the only thing he really trusts. Several of the stories have no supernatural element whatsoever, but the sense that something is coming keeps the pages turning. “I always imagine you’re walking along the street, and you look up, and you see a man on a ledge 10 stories up, crawling on all fours to rescue a kitten,” says Hill. “That’s a scene no one looks away from. When I’m writing, I feel like my job is to get a guy out on a ledge. And when he gets to the kitten, it scratches him in the face.” Despite all that terror, supernatural and other- “Why does anyone want to read a story about being wise, Hill’s writing is never bleak. Hill says he owes relentlessly hunted by an uncaring predator?” asks readers “some ray of sunlight after all the darkness.” Joe Hill—who has a new collection of stories featur- His writing is often humorous, and the collection in- ing characters being relentlessly hunted by uncaring cludes an introduction and story notes at the end— predators. His answer? “We’ve evolved to imagine bookending the terror with anecdotes of how he got ourselves into these terrible scenarios and to even into writing horror, how he got his ideas, and what it take pleasure in that—it’s a form of play for us. What was like to collaborate with his father on two of the would I do if I was on a motorcycle and a madman in stories in Full Throttle. a truck was trying to run me off the road?” Hill’s father also happens to be a horror writer: The first story in Full Throttle (William Morrow, Stephen King. Hill maintained his secret identity Oct. 1) explores how one group of bikers react when for several years after he started writing profes- a relentless semi picks them off one by one. The col- sionally, selling his debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box lection also features the creatures of a hellish carou- (2007), and the stories that would eventually form

24 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | his first collection, 20th Century Ghosts (2007), using the name Joe Hill instead of Joseph King. Hill describes what it’s like to write with King: “Ever see one of those Road Runner cartoons? I always feel like Wile E. Coyote strapped to the rocket, and my dad is the missile.” Hill shares many of his dad’s best storytelling traits—like that sense of hu- register. Peer closely enough into this book and a narrative mor—so their writing blends beautifully. “In the begins to emerge, about a family and a young man’s coming- of-age—but even here, Vesaas focuses more on the landscape Tall Grass”, one of the stories they wrote together and the natural world than on what the characters within it are for , has been adapted into a movie that doing. Even when there are scenes with dialogue, Vesaas largely Full Throttle leaves these characters unnamed. It’s of a piece with the sense will stream on Netflix in early October. that the landscape is largely alien to the people living within it, which reaches its apex with a description of the bodies of five Though he isn’t immune to the immense pres- soldiers lying in a grove. In one chapter, “The Dream of Stone,” sure of his parentage, Hill cites his loving family there’s a mention of the rock itself “singing sonorously the song of sorrow about man’s brief span.” Vesaas writes beautifully dynamic and the support he’s found in the horror about the natural world, but he presents it as a frequently harsh community as the reasons he’s been able to forge and brutal place. Early in the book, one character encounters a crane, and a sublime passage about the grace with which his own path in the genre. And, of course, the game birds move gives way to something much more visceral. “The of imagining all those terrible scenarios makes the bird starts on being seized by the leg, and shrieks a reply to my shriek before it has died away—a horrible sound. Like lightning writing itself enjoyable. It seems like a strange rec- it strikes at me with its giant beak, slashing a strip of fire down my face in its haste.” There’s beauty to be found outdoors, but ommendation to call a horror collection “fun to it’s not without its horrors. read,” but Hill makes his work a pleasure. “Even The conflicted role of humans in nature is a familiar young adult theme, but few narratives hum with the surreal power of when it’s hard it’s still play,” he says. “I like to dream this one. up someone interesting and get them into trouble.” THIS IS HAPPINESS Williams, Niall Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn. Full Throttle Bloomsbury (400 pp.) received a starred review in the Aug. 1, 2019, issue. $28.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-1-63557-420-3

The heart-expanding extremes of life—first love and last rites—are experienced by an unsettled young Dubliner spending one exceptional spring in a small Irish village. Christy McMahon “walked this line between the comic and the poignant,” and so does Williams (History of the Rain, 2014, etc.) in his latest novel, another long, affectionate, meandering story, this one devoted to the small rural community of Faha, which is about to change forever with the coming of electricity to the parish. Delighting in the eccentricities of speech, behavior, and attitude of the local characters, Williams spins a tale of life lessons and loves new and old, as observed from the perspective of Noel Crowe, 17 when the book’s events take place, some six decades older as he narrates them. Noel’s home is in Dublin, where he was training to become a Catholic priest, but he’s lost his faith and retreated to the home of his grandparents Doady and Ganga in Faha. Eas- ter is coming, and the weather—normally infinite varieties of rain—turns sunny as electrical workers cover the countryside, erecting poles and connecting wires. Christy, a member of the electrical workforce, comes to lodge alongside Noel in Doady and Ganga’s garret but has another motive: He’s here to find and seek forgiveness from the woman he abandoned at the altar 50 years earlier. While tracing this quest, Williams sets Noel on his own love trajectory as he falls first for one, then all of the

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 october 2019 | 25 A lovely, humorous ode to romantic comedies. would like to meet

daughters of the local doctor. These interactions are framed GLASS SLIPPERS, EVER AFTER, against a portrait of village life—the church, the Gaelic foot- AND ME ball, the music, the alcohol—and its personalities. Warm and Wright, Julie whimsical, sometimes sorrowful, but always expressed in curli- Shadow Mountain (336 pp.) cues of Irish lyricism, this charming book makes varied use of $15.99 paper | Oct. 21, 2019 its electrical metaphor, not least to express the flickering pulse 978-1-62972-607-6 of humanity. A story both little and large and one that pulls out all When a writer’s life is turned upside the Irish stops. down by sudden success, she finds that getting everything she wants comes at a price. WOULD LIKE TO MEET Aspiring author Charlotte “Lettie” Winters, Rachel Kingsley writes fairy tales and hopes to be published. When Putnam (368 pp.) she gets one more rejection, her feelings of pique lead her to an $16.00 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 inspired idea: She’ll write a self-help book called The Cinderella 978-0-525-54231-5 Fiction that will encourage readers to live their best lives. She takes vacation days from her full-time job—which consists of A film agency assistant follows all the writing “descriptions about fun and sassy eyewear that leads to rom-com rules in an attempt to save her a fun and sassy life, which is actually the most fictitious thing job…and maybe fall in love in the process. I’ve ever written”—and pours all the life lessons she’s learned Evie Summers has always loved from her own disappointments into the book. Amazingly, she love—specifically in romantic comedies. attracts the attention of her dream agent, Jennifer Apsley. She grew up dreaming of writing her Meanwhile, Lettie and Anders, her Scandinavian hottie neigh- own film, and her father was her biggest champion. But after bor, have realized their feelings about each other have moved his death, she lost her writing spark. Now she’s stuck toiling as beyond friendship, and Lettie, who’s never been interested an assistant at a film agency, waiting for the day she gets her in a long-term relationship, decides to give one with Anders a big break and gets promoted to agent. It seems she may get her chance. Lettie’s agent has big plans for the book and has created chance when her agency’s biggest and worst-behaved client, a team to make it a bestseller, including a PR firm that demands Ezra Chester, needs some motivation to produce the rom-com a complete makeover for Lettie. From wardrobe to apartment screenplay he promised. Ezra thinks rom-coms are trite and to a new nickname, “Char,” every detail is changed to create an unrealistic, but he agrees to finish his screenplay if Evie proves image that inspires admiration and a legion of followers. How- to him that meet-cutes can lead to true love. Evie has to re- ever, it also means that her real-life relationships are affected, create some of her favorite rom-com scenes and report back to and the new Char is so different from the old Lettie that she’ll Ezra. Spilling orange juice on a stranger, à la Notting Hill? Check. have to sift through what she wanted, and what she’s gained, so Sharing a car with someone, just like in When Harry Met Sally…? she can live her own best life, authentically. Check. Staying at a charming cottage that seems to be straight Wright updates “Cinderella” with a modern twist and out of The Holiday? Check. Evie tries it all, humiliating herself smart, satisfying details. in front of the general public, including a cute but quiet single father and his precocious daughter. Meanwhile, she also has to help plan a bachelorette party and wedding for her hilariously high-maintenance bridezilla of a friend, but her dedication to work keeps getting in the way. But just like in all the best rom- coms, Evie might find true love where she least expects it. Evie is a scrappy, winning heroine whose decisions may occasionally be frustrating (as is the rom-com tradition, there are lots of miscommunications) but are always well intentioned. The references to classic films of the genre will delight rom-com fans, as will the sweet romance. The best scenes, though, are with Evie and her three best friends, who have the warmly mocking dynamic of friends in a Richard Curtis film. A lovely, humorous ode to romantic comedies.

26 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | THE MURALS mystery Bayer, William Severn House (224 pp.) $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 ROBERT B. PARKER’S 978-0-7278-8973-7 ANGEL EYES Atkins, Ace A photojournalist poking around in an Putnam (320 pp.) abandoned house discovers a room cov- $27.00 | $37.99 lg. prt. | Nov. 19, 2019 ered in mysterious wall-to-wall paintings. 978-0-525-53682-6 Photography teacher Jason Poe, suf- 978-1-4328-7172-7 lg. prt. fering from the trauma of documenting the carnage of the war in Syria, opts for Spenser goes to Hollywood. a somewhat tamer enterprise back home: breaking into derelict In the two years since she’s moved houses in the Rust Belt and taking pictures of the possessions from Cambridge to Los Angeles in pur- owners left behind when they decamped. The granite mansion suit of stardom, Gabrielle Leggett has on Locust Street in the little town of Calista holds particular fas- been a dog walker, a personal assistant, a model, an actress, a cination for him. When he and his student Tally Vaughan finally media influencer, and now, for the past two weeks, a missing sneak inside, their patience is richly rewarded. In a room at the person. The LAPD knows about Gabby’s disappearance, but top of the building is a set of four murals, painted by a talented her mother, dissatisfied with their efforts, sends Spenser Robert( but obviously untrained artist, that Poe finds breathtaking. To

B. Parker’s Old Black Magic, 2018, etc.) out to the Left Coast to young adult do the job right. Predictably, Gabby’s agent and former romantic partner, Eric Collinson, doesn’t want to talk to him. Neither does Jeffrey Bloom, the acting coach who thought Gabby had just dropped out of his class, or Jimmy Yamashiro, the married studio CEO who took Collinson’s place. And the only thing publicist Nancy Sharp, Gabby’s ex-boss, wants to talk about is how much fun she and Spenser could have if he’d only lighten up. Eventually Spenser works his contacts to get an audience with Yamashiro, but the results are less than impressive. He must be making an impression, though, because five Armenian thugs ambush him and shoot his West Coast associate, Zebu- lun Sixkill, in the arm, disabling him and requiring Spenser to look for another sidekick. Eventually he gets a lead that connects Gabby to Joseph Haldorn, aka Phaethon, the founder of HELIOS, a hush-hush organization that promises self-actual- ization and conducts itself suspiciously like a cult. But instead of thickening, the mystery surrounding Gabby just gets more violent and diffuse. Surprisingly, Atkins gets the hardest parts right—his hero/narrator now sounds indistinguishable from Robert B. Parker’s—but bogs down in the plotting, the area in which he presumably had the freest hand. As for the cod-out-of- water milieu, it evokes not so much particular SoCal locations as dozens of earlier SoCal whodunits. Readers who’ve always wanted to see Spenser in Tinsel- town can cross that off their bucket lists.

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 october 2019 | 27 identify the creator of this unknown masterpiece, Poe seeks As usual, Beaton conceals any number of surprises help from fiber artist Hannah Sachs, his colleague at the Calista behind her trademark wry humor. Art Institute and his sometime lover, and reporter Joan Nguyen of the Calista Times-Dispatch. Nguyen fills him in on the history of the house, which was abandoned after Elizabeth and Theo- TRACE OF EVIL dore Schechtner, a pair of psychotherapists, were accused of Blanchard, Alice leading a cult that imprisoned teenage girls there. Hannah helps Minotaur (384 pp.) track down the art dealer who currently owns the house—and $26.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 the murals. The mystery behind the murals’ creation, which 978-1-250-20571-1 takes several trips to Santa Fe and Switzerland to unravel, couldn’t be more predictable. Bayer (The Luzern Photograph, Detective Natalie Lockhart seeks 2016, etc.), who presents his tale as a series of first-person narra- to solve the brutal murder of a friend— tives told by the searchers and their informants, doesn’t differ- which may connect to the slaying of her entiate them enough to give each character a unique voice. But own sister 20 years earlier. the most notable absence is of the murals themselves, which are Centuries ago, three women were described by a variety of encomiums but never in enough detail executed for witchcraft in Burning Lake, for readers to imagine what they’re not seeing. New York. Perhaps because of this violent history, it’s almost a A picture would have been worth a thousand words. rite of passage for Burning Lake teens to flirt with Wicca and darker forms of witchcraft. But when a high school teacher is found murdered in her home, the exploration doesn’t seem BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH quite so innocent, especially when a poppet, a kind of black Beaton, M.C. magic voodoo doll, is found buried in the teacher’s garden. Minotaur (288 pp.) Natalie can feel the dark influence everywhere; in addition to $26.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 the murder investigation, she’s been assigned to investigate the 978-1-250-15772-0 disappearances of nine transients over the past several years. When she discovers the desiccated corpses of tortured crows A most unusual suspect helps a detec- at more than one of the sites where the missing people were tive solve a case. last seen, it becomes more and more obvious that there is some- The engineering firm Morrison’s has thing—or someone—dark and deadly at work in Burning Lake, hired Agatha Raisin and her assistant, someone who may even have been responsible for the murder Toni Gilmour, to investigate a case of of Natalie’s own sister 20 years before and who hasn’t stopped industrial espionage after a mysterious killing since. There are a number of crimes being investigated fire at their factory in the Cotswolds. On their way home, they in this novel and a lot of movement between past and present, spot a disembodied leg in the woods and recognize its shoe and but for the most part, Blanchard (A Breath After Drowning, 2018, stockings as those of Mr. Morrison’s secretary, Mrs. Dinwiddy. etc.) successfully navigates these complexities and keeps the They call the police but feel like fools when the limb is revealed reader, and the story, grounded with the appealing character as fake. Many circumstances seem unusual back at Morrison’s, of Natalie. Dogged, empathetic, courageous, and driven by her where no one seems to do much and the factory that’s supposed own childhood trauma, she leaves no stone unturned, even if it to be producing battery packs for electric cars turns out to be means investigating people she loves. Blanchard indicates this in Poland instead. Agatha’s favorite employee at Morrison’s is the first of many Lockhart mysteries to come—good news! turns out to be Wizz-Wazz, a donkey belonging to Morrison’s A fast-paced, intricate, and atmospheric mystery that wife, even though she attacks after Toni whacks her on the nose. introduces a plucky, engaging detective. After Mrs. Dinwiddy is found dead at the stable, the police are ready to write it off as an accidental death at the donkey’s hooves. But Agatha’s certain the obviously traumatized Wizz- CROSSROAD Wazz is innocent. When Sir Charles Fraith, Agatha’s longtime Cameron, W.H. friend and sometime lover (The Dead Ringer, 2018, etc.), accom- Crooked Lane (336 pp.) panies her to the factory, he points out actual horses’ hooves $26.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 that are being used as ashtrays. The fact that one of them has 978-1-64385-280-5 been scrubbed suspiciously clean suggests that Wizz-Wazz was framed. Agatha, devastated to learn of Charles’ engagement to An undertaker-in-training trying to a wealthy, unattractive young woman, continues her investiga- put an accident at the town’s crossroads tion into what now seems to be a fake factory and consoles her- behind her is drawn back into the trauma self with a romance with Chris Firkin, who rents a space from when the bodies go missing from her new Charles to work on converting cars to electricity. Agatha starts a family’s mortuary. PR campaign to save Wizz-Wazz while working on the difficult When Geoffrey Bouton, her new and ultimately dangerous case. husband, abandons the former Melisende Dulac during their

28 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | A woman with magical powers starts a long and arduous journey not knowing what is to come. city of pearl

Paris honeymoon, Melisende is more resigned than broken- to a magnificent cave in a high mountain region, where she’s hearted. Raised by a couple who seemed to be parents by tutored by Luliwa in the magical arts. Back in England, a man chance rather than choice, Melisende hasn’t had much connec- is found dead outside Gurdyman’s house, a pearl clutched in his tion to family since her brother died rescuing her from a lake hand. Jack teams up with Lassair’s uncle Hrype to hunt down when the two were children. So it’s a real surprise when Geof- the wraithlike person who searched the house. Afraid for Las- frey’s Aunt Elodie telephones Melisende from out of the blue to sair’s life, the pair engage Thorfinn and his ship to follow her. offer her a place to live and a job at the family funeral business in Much will be revealed but even more left for the next chapter Barlow County, outside of Portland, Oregon. Without a qualm in Lassair’s life. about saying goodbye to her East Coast home, Melisende meets A host of minor mysteries enliven this magical tour of her new Aunt Elodie and her husband, a warm man Melisende mystical lands. eventually feels comfortable calling Uncle Rémy. Melisende will always be an outsider in town, but she feels comfortable enough until the day she’s driving to work and is stopped by a grisly acci- SIDEWALK SAINT dent and fire. Though she’s used to a high body count at her job, DePoy, Phillip Melisende is so spooked by the scene that she barely realizes Severn House (224 pp.) there’s a baby, still alive, wrapped in a sweatshirt on the fringe of $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 the mayhem. Cameron’s first novel under this name (he’s writ- 978-0-7278-8957-7 ten others as Bill Cameron, including Property of the State, 2016, etc.) shows Melisende trying to stay out of trouble when the A car thief–turned-agent for Flor- bodies go missing from the family’s mortuary, when it seems as ida Child Protective Services defends

if someone’s trying to pin something on her even though there’s an 11-year-old girl from a wide array of young adult no crime. predators. A richly drawn background contextualizes the mys- There’s nothing like a gun in your tery’s melancholy, with bursts of humor emerging like sun face to wake you up from a dream about through clouds. your Aunt Shayna’s brisket, as Foggy Moscowitz discovers one morning in 1976. Nelson Roan, the man behind the gun, has broken out of prison to find his daughter, Etta, and he needs CITY OF PEARL help from Foggy. Fry’s Bay is a long way from Brooklyn, where Clare, Alys Foggy grew up, and his current job for the state under the Child Severn House (208 pp.) Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is a big change from his $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 former career of boosting cars. But it’s Foggy’s way of making 978-0-7278-8898-3 amends for his criminal past. The next morning, Roan is gone, but Foggy’s still determined to find Etta, who has an eidetic A woman with magical powers starts memory, apparently knows something that a good many other a long and arduous journey not knowing people would like to know, and has been adopted by a couple what is to come. who may not have her best interests at heart. A few secret mes- The wizard Gurdyman, with whom sages from Etta, including one on her dog’s collar, lead Foggy Lassair has been living and studying in to the child, who’s a person of such interest to mobsters from Cambridge in 1093, tells her that they both Manhattan and Montreal as well as a couple of dirty cops must travel to Spain and sends her to her fenland home to and the FBI that Foggy decides to stash her with his friend John pack her belongings, including the shining stone that reveals Horse, the tribal boss of the local Seminoles. Added to a flour- visions. Lassair wonders whether the trip is an effort to cheer ishing marijuana trade, a casino venture, Etta’s father’s recent her up after she’s lost the two loves of her life, Rollo to death murder of the doctor who treated Etta’s mother, a switch of and lawman Jack Chevestrier to stubbornness (The Rufus Spy, identities in the local hospital, and the possibility that at least 2018). Before she and Gurdyman board the first of several two of the people in the fray aren’t who they say they are is the ships that will take them to Spain, she visits her parents and ongoing mystery of what Etta knows that puts her life at such her grandfather Thorfinn, from whom she’s inherited some of risk. For all his craftiness, it’s hard work for Foggy, even with her powers and the shining stone. Gurdyman says that he wants Aunt Shayna’s intervention, to stay one step ahead in his brisk to visit his own parents’ graves in Galicia, but Lassair suspects and wryly funny fourth caper (Icepick, 2018, etc.). that he has other reasons for the trip. The owners of the inn No one can con a con like an ex-con with a good heart that was once his parents’ greet the visitors with caution and and even better friends. even dislike, evoking memories of Gurdyman’s early brilliance and his determination to travel far to learn more. Using money Rollo left her, Lassair, noting Gurdyman’s failing health, buys a pony and cart for transport. After almost dying from poisoned water, both are rescued and taken to the City of Pearl, a haven for people of every religion. Gurdyman agrees to send Lassair

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 october 2019 | 29 VERSE AND VENGEANCE Ronin suddenly found herself catapulted to the county sheriff’s Flower, Amanda Robbery-Homicide Division, where the cases are high profile Crooked Lane (320 pp.) and her male peers are low tolerant. Minutes after she and $26.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 Detective Duncan Pavone, her older, fatter, more dispassionate 978-1-64385-151-8 partner, shrug off a borderline killing that really belongs to the LAPD, they answer a distress call from a neighbor of aspiring A magical bookstore near Niagara actress/actual waitress Tanya Kenworth to find Tanya, her two Falls helps its guardian solve another children, and her dog missing from their Topanga house, which crime. is awash in blood. As she’s searching the woods around the Only professor Violet Waverly and house for clues, Eve is jumped by a hairy monster she can’t even her grandmother Daisy know the secret identify as human before she’s knocked out—an incident she of the 200-year-old birch tree that lives improbably decides to keep secret from Duncan. There’s plenty in the center of Charming Books and must be refreshed with of convincing evidence that the family was killed, dismembered, magical spring water every day by its current guardian, Violet, and taken away but no evidence that points to any particular who has assumed a job passed down through her family’s female suspect. Tanya’s ex-husband, Cleve, seems to have been hours line. The shop’s magical ability to put books containing vital away in Merced when his estranged family vanished, and her ex- clues in her path has helped Violet solve several murders. Joel boyfriend, Jared Rawlins, was entertaining his rebound hookup. Redding, a sleazy private investigator Violet met during her last As if determined never to be off duty again, Eve works around case (Murder and Metaphors, 2019), has been following her and the clock to find and pursue new leads, but instead of impress- trying to suss out her secret for his own benefit. Grandma Daisy ing her colleagues, she just convinces them that she’s a ruthless has arranged a bike race to raise money for the Underground careerist. Nor do her efforts sit well with her endlessly critical Railroad museum she plans to install at City Hall, but the plan mother, who can’t understand why she looks so disheveled dur- is on hold because of problems with the building’s structural ing the TV interviews that make her the face, and eventually the foundation. When Redding turns up at the race, he’s killed in leader, of the investigation. At length, Eve’s tireless work identi- what seems like an accident until cut brake lines are discovered. fies a suspect she arrests, but although he fits the evidence to a T, For some reason, he’s carrying a copy of Leaves of Grass, which his smug self-assurance makes her worry that she’s screwed up. the bookstore had been placing in Violet’s path for unknown And she has, though not in the way she thinks. reasons. Although Violet has never revealed her secret to her An energetic, resourceful procedural starring a heroine boyfriend, Chief of Police David Rainwater, Redding’s death who deserves a series of her own. ratchets up the pressure to confide in him. Redding had rented a bike from a local shop where Jo Fitzgerald, one of Violet’s students, works. Now Jo, who’s been acting strangely, seems to be NOW YOU SEE THEM hiding from the police. Certain that she’s no killer, Violet, with Griffiths, Elly some help from her cat, Emerson, and the bookstore’s resident Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt talking crow, Faulkner, starts sleuthing and reading Leaves of (368 pp.) Grass for clues. As she pieces together possible motives, she $15.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 learns that Walt Whitman had actually visited Cascade Springs 978-1-328-97159-3 and may even provide the motive for the murder. A scholarly heroine, endearing characters and settings, In the 1960s, a famous magician and enigmatic clues make for a satisfying mystery. returns to England for a funeral after a hiatus of 11 years. In that time, Max Mephisto moved LOST HILLS to the U.S., married movie star Lydia Goldberg, Lee Lamont, and fathered two children. His British daughter, TV Thomas & Mercer (240 pp.) star of Ruby Magic, the product of an ancient affair, has a love/ $24.95 | $15.95 paper | Jan. 1, 2020 hate relationship with Max, who was absent most of her life. At 978-1-5420-9380-4 the funeral for an old theatrical buddy, Max sees many friends, 978-1-5420-9189-3 paper including Superintendent Edgar Stephens, a mate since their World War II service together, with whom he solved the mur- Veteran TV writer and fiction col- der of a woman he adored (The Vanishing Box, 2018). After the laborator Goldberg (Killer Thriller, 2019, funeral, Edgar’s boss, DI Bob Willis, gets a call about a miss- etc.) auditions a tough, ambitious rookie ing girl that plunges them into a difficult case tailor-made for LA County detective determined to Emma Holmes Stephens, a top policewoman before her mar- ride a triple murder hard—if it doesn’t riage to Edgar. Although she loves her family, Emma finds life destroy her career first. boring without the mental stimulation of police work. The van- After stepping up when she was off duty to take down an ished girl, Rhonda Miles, who comes from a wealthy family, is a action-movie star who was smacking his girlfriend around, Eve student at Roedean, Emma’s alma mater. She left a note saying

30 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | Digging into the death of a friend threatens a police officer’s idyllic vision of her heroes. shatter the night

she was going to London, perhaps in the hope of meeting Amer- DREAD JOURNEY ican movie star Bobby Hambro, who’s in England working on a Hughes, Dorothy B. film deal which may soon involve Max. Rhonda’s father insists Penzler Publishers (181 pp.) she’s been kidnapped, something that’s happened before. But $25.95 | $15.95 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 the view of the case changes when a reporter friend of Emma’s 978-1-61316-145-6 informs her that Sara Henratty and Louise Dawkins, two other 978-1-61316-146-3 paper women, both disappeared after leaving similar notes. Ambi- tious WPC Meg Connolly, sent to London in disguise, learns A year after reprinting Hughes’ first from Bobby’s fans that Rhonda had been approached by a pho- novel, The So Blue Marble (1940), Otto tographer who suggested that she do some modeling. The link Penzler follows it with her eighth, a 1945 between the disappearances is confirmed by the body of Sara tale of murder feared and then executed Henratty wearing Rhonda’s cloak and the discovery that they aboard a long-distance train. had all been asked to model. When Max’s daughter Ruby also Vivien Spender is a powerful enough producer/director to vanishes, Max and Emma resolve to find her while reflecting on do whatever he wants, and what he’s wanted for years is to find their unsatisfactory lives. the perfect actress to play the enigmatic Clavdia Chauchat in A character-driven tale of troubled relationships in his film adaptation of The Magic Mountain. Viv’s fancies have a rapidly changing 1960s England that’s wrapped in an alighted on one candidate after another even as his devotion excellent mystery. to Thomas Mann’s novel has remained constant. Kitten Agnew, a bona fide movie star, has convinced herself that she’s vanquished the opposition and landed the part, but Viv’s spotted

MURDER FOR GOOD a new Clavdia: Newfoundland librarian Gratia Shawn, whom young adult Heley, Veronica he discovered while she was visiting Hollywood: “She couldn’t Severn House (224 pp.) act but he’d teach her that.” He’s offered Kitten $1 million to $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 buy out her contract, but she refuses to sell because she thinks 978-0-7278-8902-7 the damning evidence she’s collected that Viv murdered his first wife puts her in the driver’s seat. Now, as Kitten and Gra- Ellie Quicke (Murder by Suggestion, tia share a compartment aboard the Super Chief speeding from 2018, etc.) finds herself battered by the Los Angeles to New York and carrying Viv and Mike Dana, the winds of good fortune. female assistant who’s long been sweet on him, Kitten is terri- Pessimists say that if they didn’t have fied that once Viv realizes how legally indefensible his position bad luck they’d have no luck at all. And is, he’ll have no choice but to kill her as well. As the shadows Ellie is accustomed to a certain amount lengthen and the sense of claustrophobia thickens, Hughes of ill fortune. Her feckless daughter, Diana, has a nasty habit examines this combustible mixture from the viewpoints of of turning up on her doorstep demanding money for one out- violinist-turned-bandleader Les Augustin, failed screenwriter rageous scheme after another. This time, Diana wants Ellie to Sidney Pringle, alcoholic reporter Hank Cavanaugh, Pullman sell her large, lovely home so that she can invest the proceeds porter James Cobbett, and the principals, each of whom scru- in a shady real estate scheme that will cover the shortfall of tinizes the others as both predators and potential prey. Murder Diana’s last unwise business venture. Meanwhile, Ellie has will indeed strike, but it will do little to alter the pervasive sense offered homeless Hetty a temporary spot in her house’s upper of dread and doom. floor apartment only to be rewarded with constant noise and The perfect in-flight read. The only thing that’s dated commotion as Hetty invades her kitchen, cooking Ellie and her is the long-distance train. husband, Thomas, unwanted, inedible meals and joining them uninvited as they try to entertain friends. Even Ellie’s good luck is bad: When her clergyman husband starts to receive a series SHATTER THE NIGHT of bequests from parishioners he can’t remember, he’s spooked Littlejohn, Emily at first, then alarmed once the police receive a tip suggesting Minotaur (320 pp.) that Thomas may have deceived or coerced the deceased bene- $27.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 factors into their donations. The crowning blow is the most 978-1-250-17832-9 generous. When Ellie receives a whopping bequest of her own, it takes all her strength, faith, and ingenuity to cope with her Digging into the death of a friend windfall. threatens a police officer’s idyllic vision Heley’s heroine needs the patience of Job to triumph. of her heroes. Readers will need the same to read about it. Moments after alerting longtime friend and Cedar Valley police officer Gemma Monroe (Lost Lake, 2018, etc.) that he’s received a series of threatening letters, retired judge Caleb Montgomery is killed in a car explosion. Gemma is

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 october 2019 | 31 horrified. She can barely believe that Caleb is gone. She’s even embroiled in another matter as well. Queenie-Queenie, his girl- more alarmed when it appears that Caleb’s murder is related to friend, is pressing him to name a date for their marriage, and some ethical improprieties in his earlier career. Whatever mor- when he pleads his inability to pay the weighty dowry custom- ally questionable actions Caleb took seem somehow shared by ary for a young woman of her standing, she introduces him to Gemma’s mentor, police chief Angel Chavez, though he is, of her brother, Hector, whose partnership with a moneylender course, vague on details. Gemma fears that she can’t adequately puts him in need of someone who can frighten clients into pay- investigate Caleb’s murder without knowing more, though ing their debts by sabotaging their cars. knowing more may unravel her doubt-infused worldview even Diffuse even by this bestselling series’ generous stan- more. Luckily, the responsibility for investigating falls heavily dards, though the final not-quite-revelations carry a sunset on Fire Investigator Olivia Ramirez, an outsider to town whose glow. tough exterior mirrors some of the walls Gemma has put up herself. Working in a tenuous triad, Gemma, partner Finn, and Olivia are able to relate Caleb’s death to the life and trials of PUDDIN’ ON THE BLITZ Josiah Black, a man ostracized by the Cedar Valley community Myers, Tamar some years ago through a potential miscarriage of justice. If Severn House (208 pp.) they’re right about the connections among all these histories, $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 Caleb’s murder may be the start of something bigger that could 978-0-7278-8915-7 threaten all the town’s residents if Gemma can’t stop it first. Littlejohn continues methodically building her hero- More murder among the Amish and ine’s world, shifting from an almost supernatural-inflected Mennonites, who live in what must be focus to small-town secrets. among the most homicide-prone communities in America. Magdalena Yoder-Rosen, a Conserva- TO THE LAND OF LONG tive Mennonite woman with a poor body LOST FRIENDS image, a weird sense of humor, and a knack for solving murders McCall Smith, Alexander (Tea With Jam and Dread, 2016, etc.), has been arrested for the Pantheon (240 pp.) murder of Sarah Conway, one of her guests at the PennDutch $25.95 | Oct. 22, 2019 Inn, where she charges city slickers big bucks to muck out stalls, 978-1-5247-4782-4 clean bathrooms, and eat yummy but heart-clogging Amish cuisine. Sarah was the assistant to Gordon Gaiters, editor of the A ghost who’s not a ghost presents wildly popular Woman’s Place magazine, and Mags, always hop- Mma Precious Ramotswe, of the No. 1 ing to garner favorable publicity for the inn, had agreed to bar Ladies’ Detective Agency (The Colors of all other guests during their visit—so there are very few other All the Cattle, 2018, etc.), with a case that’s suspects when Sarah winds up dead. Mags’ husband, Gabe, aka hardly a case at all. the Babester, is a retired heart surgeon who struggles to keep Mma Ramotswe is stunned to see the specter of Calviniah the peace between his wife and his mother, a floridly stereo- Ramoroka, whom the newspapers had reported killed in a typed Jewish mama who’s launched a convent for depressed car accident, at a local wedding. In fact, her old school friend women. Mags, who uses her wealth to help many in the little assures her, the victim in that crash was another Calviniah southwest Pennsylvania town of Hernia, had already agreed Ramoroka. She’s alive, well, and flourishing, except for one to help Hortense Hemphopple—the neighbor whose mother, heartache she confesses to Mma Ramotswe over lunch at the Wanda, is in prison for trying to kill Mags and her daughter Ali- Sanitas Garden: Her daughter, Nametso, a diamond sorter in son—reopen The Sausage Barn restaurant so that Hortense can Gaborone, has recently announced her estrangement from her pay her college tuition bill. Mags’ surprisingly successful fusion mother without giving a reason. Even though Calviniah hasn’t of Chinese and Amish cooking is complemented by the skills of asked her to look into the matter, much less given her a retainer, Barbara Hostetler, whose desserts are to die for. And Sarah very Mma Ramotswe determines to get to the bottom of the mystery. possibly did die from eating one of the desserts brought from Her assistant, Grace Makutsi, has meanwhile insinuated herself the restaurant to the inn. Luckily, Mags is a friend or relative into a case that’s still less of a case. Although Mma Ramotswe to just about everyone in Hernia, and the judge, an old school has written her recent client Mma Mogorosi to reassure her pal, lets her out with a $1 bail, giving her plenty of time to track that her husband’s repeated visits to a math teacher are prob- down the real killer with a little help from her friends and a goat. ably not covering an adulterous liaison, Mma Makutsi asks to As usual, the mystery plays second fiddle in an over-the- make further investigations on her own—investigations that top tale laced with sarcasm and malapropisms. soon involve a mysterious silver Mercedes and require the services of Charlie, who works as a part-time helper at the agency when he’s not working as a part-time mechanic at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, the peerless establishment run by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe’s husband. And Charlie is

32 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | A renowned London ghostbuster probes a link between Jack the Ripper and composer Franz Liszt. music macabre

TREACHERY sister. Atlas’ companion the night of Wendy’s death was Lady Parris, S.J. Lilliana Sterling Warwick, whose connections and intellect Pegasus Crime (592 pp.) make her a perfect partner for solving mysteries (Murder in $26.95 | Dec. 3, 2019 Bloomsbury, 2018, etc.). Atlas loves Lilliana but is convinced 978-1-64313-224-2 that his modest wealth and lower social position make him unworthy of her. Before her death, Wendy bore Vessey two An Elizabethan sleuth investigates young daughters whom Atlas knew about, but he’s surprised a murder on one of Sir Francis Drake’s to learn that she also bore him a son, Francis, who’s older ships. than Phoebe’s son, Nicholas, Viscount Beaumont, who will Plymouth, 1585. In a letter to Sir inherit the title and estates. Wendy seems to have been loyal Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth’s to Vessey, but her life was more complicated than it appeared. Master Secretary, Drake explains that Her excellent singing voice had garnered her offers from sev - the suicide of crewman Robert Dunne prevents the good ship eral theatrical managers that would have allowed her to leave Elizabeth Bonaventure from setting sail on its voyage to the Vessey, who refused to settle on her a sum of money that New World but asks that the queen not be told yet. Enter the would have protected her and her children. She’s rumored to brilliant but notorious Giordano Bruno (Sacrilege, 2012, etc.), have had an affair with a Russian diplomat, and a clergyman summoned secretly by Drake through Sir Philip Sidney, the obsessed with her insists that she was about to marry him. Queen’s Master of the Ordnance. Sidney dangles the possibility Lilliana pursues a friendship with Atlas, who seeks to protect of amnesty in London for the excommunicated monk and spy. her from unseemly gossip but is forced to accept her help in Privately, Drake confesses his conviction to Sidney and Bruno keeping track of the many members of the aristocracy who

that Dunne was murdered by someone onboard and that the might be involved—especially his nephew, Nicholas, who young adult killer will strike again if he’s not apprehended. Bruno’s inves- may have hated Wendy enough to kill her. tigation begins at the House of Vesta, a brothel frequented by A multifaceted mystery/romance with plenty of believ- Dunne, where shady characters may have sought to use him to able motives for the likable sleuth to investigate. get at supposed hidden riches belonging to Drake. Other clues include Dunne’s gambling debts, theological scholars exploring the story of Judas Iscariot, and resistance from the not-so-griev- MUSIC MACABRE ing widow (what’s that about?). A prostitute named Eve seems Rayne, Sarah to hold all the answers. She directs them to Dunne’s shabby Severn House (256 pp.) lodgings on Rag Street, where more evidence awaits, includ- $28.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 ing a convenient letter. Lady Drake is thrilled by the arrival of a 978-0-7278-8896-9 royal Portuguese visitor who could facilitate Drake’s departure, in effect stopping Bruno’s investigation. A renowned London ghostbuster Parris’ fourth Giordano Bruno mystery is long, lei- probes a link between Jack the Ripper surely, and labyrinthine, written in an ornate formal voice and composer Franz Liszt. that echoes its era. While gathering background information for a biography, music researcher Phineas Fox discovers that the aging MURDER AT THE OPERA Liszt was a passionate admirer of the Quincy, D.M. scandalous music hall dancer known as Scaramel. Her noto- Crooked Lane (336 pp.) riety came both from dancing naked on tables and from her $26.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 involvement in an unspecified murder. As usualSong ( of the 978-1-64385-235-5 Damned, 2018, etc.), the narrative alternates between Phinn in the present and the focus of his study in the past. As the 1880s A chance to get back at an old enemy wear on, Daisy, a wide-eyed young pauper who’s very protective puts a principled sleuth in a difficult of her younger brother, Joe, is seduced by the lush life her new position. employer, “Madame,” offers her. After she and Joe witness a Atlas Catesby has never been truly murder, she frets because she can identify the killer and fears happy since the older sister he adored seeing him again. Phinn’s investigations in the present, mean- fell down a staircase and died. Phoebe while, lead him to Linklighters, a new Soho club built on the was in a loveless marriage with Malcolm Lennox, Marquess site of Scaramel’s infamous dances by Loretta and Roland, a of Vessey, and Atlas is convinced that her husband murdered young couple who struggle in the first months of their dream her. Lennox never remarried but kept Wendela Pike as a mis - venture. Daisy feels herself being increasingly watched by the tress for many years, and her fatal shooting in a crowd outside killer, who the reader has likely already deduced is Jack the Rip- the opera house in Covent Garden—where Atlas was coinci- per. With the help of girlfriend Arabella and puckish pal Toby dentally also emerging from the performance—gives Atlas Tallis, Phinn learns more about the past of Linklighters’ original the opportunity to investigate and perhaps get justice for his founder and namesake, Links, who may have been a criminal.

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 october 2019 | 33 When Phinn shares some of his unusual discoveries about before leaping out of the moving vehicle. After having been Linklighters with Loretta and Roland, they are less than pleased. hospitalized for injuries that required brain surgery, she’s look- Colorful characters and a mastery of slow-burning sus- ing for a place to stay where no one will find her, and she settles pense make this case an engaging page-turner. on the remote town of Benedict, Alaska. The only ways to get to Benedict are by air or water, and the only one who knows Beth’s true identity is Police Chief Gril Samuels, who sends LAETITIA RODD AND park ranger Donner Montgomery to pick her up at the airfield THE CASE OF THE because Gril’s busy with an unexplained death. Beth’s plan to WANDERING SCHOLAR stay at Benedict House is almost derailed when she discovers Saunders, Kate that the hotel is actually a halfway house for female criminals, Bloomsbury (384 pp.) currently three shoplifters who do odd jobs around town. Beth’s $17.00 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 father vanished when she was young, and her mother has spent 978-1-63286-839-8 years looking for him. Beth, raised mostly by her police-chief grandfather, worked for the department as a secretary, though In carrying out the wishes of a dying her math and analytical skills sometimes pressed her into ser- man, a lady investigator gets herself entan- vice as a crime-scene tech. Now she carries burner phones to gled in a mystery that touches her own life. keep in touch with her doctor and the detective back home Summoned to the bedside of wealthy who’s working her case. Unable to remember everything that Mr. Jacob Welland in 1851, discreet private detective Mrs. Laeti- happened to her, she thinks her kidnapper’s name is Levi tia Rodd doubts that she can comfort the dying man. Jacob is Brooks but can’t picture his face until she starts having flash- adamant that Mrs. Rodd find his brother Joshua’s whereabouts backs. Curious about the death of Benedict local Linda Rafferty, so that Jacob can make amends before succumbing to consump- which could be murder or suicide, Beth takes up Gril’s offer to tion. Jacob can offer few details about Joshua’s life since the be his consultant and also run the local newspaper, giving her two fell out over the obligatory woman and Joshua became a a chance to research Rafferty’s death as she searches for Levi young eccentric at Oxford. Knowing there’s no time to spare, Brooks. In the process, she discovers that she’s far from the only Mrs. Rodd sets out to search for Joshua, arranging to stay with person in Benedict with something to hide. longtime friends Arthur and Rachel Somers while she makes A page-turner with an unusual location and a coda that inquiries. Though Arthur and Rachel lead a quiet life, it seems a provides more questions than answers. happy one, and Mrs. Rodd feels responsible for her part in getting the two together many years before, when Arthur was just a young curate. Now Arthur is mentoring his own young curate, THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF the charismatic Mr. Henry Barton, who seems to have earned TEDDY ROOSEVELT the affection and admiration of both Arthur and Rachel; Mrs. Solomon, Burt Rodd is more reserved in her judgment of him. In her quest to Forge (304 pp.) find Joshua Welland, Mrs. Rodd immerses herself in the Somers $27.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 household and the Oxford community in hopes of finding 978-0-7653-9267-1 someone willing to connect her to Joshua, however informally. What follows is something even the astute Mrs. Rodd could not A suspicious accident that almost have predicted: Secrets! Scandal! Murder! Indeed, the Welland gets the president killed prompts a Cabi- matter may be the least complicated part of it all. net member to turn sleuth. Charmingly written, combining nods to manners of In early September 1902, a runaway the time with a bit of modern sass. trolley car collides with the carriage of Theodore Roosevelt, who’s campaigning in Massachusetts. Secret Service bodyguard Bill Craig is crushed to death. Most THIN ICE everyone considers this a freak accident, but the president, who Shelton, Paige looked into the eyes of the trolley’s motorman, is convinced Minotaur (288 pp.) that the goal was his death. Solomon (The Murder of Willie $26.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 Lincoln, 2017, etc.) assigns the telling of the tale to Roosevelt’s 978-1-250-29521-7 secretary of state, John Hay, who feels bound to investigate. The police chief, at first evasive, ultimately admits that his depart- Prolific Shelton The( Loch Ness Papers, ment has investigated the French Canadian motorman, Euclid 2019, etc.) kicks off a new series featur- Madden. Because he and the conductor have been indicted, ing a traumatized heroine who flees to Madden’s lawyer will not allow him to speak further until the Alaska seeking safety. inquest. Craig’s funeral further inspires a sense of duty in Hay, Beth Rivers, an author who writes who intermittently dives into The Hound of the Baskervilles for thrillers under the name Elizabeth Fair- investigative inspiration. After Madden surprises everyone child, spent three days in a van with an obsessed fan/kidnapper by pleading guilty to manslaughter, Hay questions him, and

34 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | An Elizabethan spy with much to hide balances family loyalties with his fealty to the queen. the course of all treasons

something doesn’t seem right. Though plagued with self-doubt, AN OLD MAN’S GAME Hay determines to probe further. As he proceeds, the president Weinberger, Andy himself becomes his sounding board along with Clara, Hay’s Prospect Park Books (224 pp.) outspoken wife. Emancipated journalist Nellie Bly, Roosevelt’s $16.00 paper | Dec. 5, 2019 close friend and adviser George Cortelyou, and billionaire J.P. 978-1-945551-64-2 Morgan all figure prominently in his investigation, Bly even playing Watson to Hay’s Holmes. It takes a second murder to Retired Los Angeles private eye bring the entire affair into sharp focus. Amos Parisman probes the death of a Historian Solomon’s meticulous details and the real- controversial rabbi. life figures woven into the narrative make it both informa- Parisman debuts on the mystery tive and entertaining. scene, bravely flaunting his Yiddishkeit in his first-person narrative. Unfortu- nately, he loses his street cred by the end of Chapter 1, mangling CITY OF SCOUNDRELS both Hebrew and Yiddish translations and transliterations with Thompson, Victoria equal abandon. Alav hashalom (not le sholem, Parisman’s weirdly Berkley Prime Crime (336 pp.) French-sounding rendition) really does more or less mean “rest $26.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 in peace,” but twisting alter kocker into alte katchke (which would 978-1-9848-0565-2 rhyme with tchotchke) does not make it closer to meaning “old duck.” Parisman’s gumshoe chops come across as a little more A determined woman seeks justice. authentic. He’s reasonably skeptical when Howie Rothbart

Elizabeth Miles had a disreputable hires him to investigate the death of Rabbi Ezra Diamant of Shir young adult past as a grifter, but a chance friendship Emmet, a wealthy West Hollywood congregation. Why would with Mrs. Bates, a suffragette, intro- the board suspect that the demise of their overweight, middle- duced her into New York society, and aged spiritual leader, who keeled over into his matzo ball soup now she’s engaged to her friend’s son, lunch at Canter’s Deli on Fairfax, was anything but the natural Gideon Bates, a straight-arrow lawyer. While Gideon is waiting consequences of his poor food and exercise choices? Rothbart’s to be called up to serve in the Great War, Cpl. Thomas Pres- repeated claim that Diamant rubbed people the wrong way ton asks him to draft a new will leaving Thomas’ money and his does little to convince Parisman he’s looking at a murder. But one-third share in Preston Shoe Manufacturing to his pregnant the subsequent death by crowbar of Diamant’s doctor, Dora new wife, Rose O’Dell, instead of his older brother, Fred, who Ewing, does. By now Amos has grown cautious enough to hire currently shares ownership of the company with Thomas and ex-wrestler Omar Villasenor to provide some much-needed Delia, their young, widowed stepmother. Since Rose is not the muscle, and the ill-assorted pair provide an entertaining tour of sort the Preston family would approve of, Gideon writes the LA while they track down a killer with a surprising motive. will in secret, naming himself executor, and Thomas leaves Probably worthy of an encore—if the author gets a dia- it with Rose. All too soon thereafter, an angry Fred Preston logue coach. barges into Gideon’s office saying that his brother is dead and his brother’s widow claims to be the heir. Refusing to reveal his client’s business, Gideon visits Rose’s apartment, where he THE COURSE OF runs into the bruiser who attempted to strangle her and stole ALL TREASONS the only signed copy of the will. It’s clear that neither Fred nor Wolfe, Suzanne M. his stepmother will help Rose, whom Elizabeth moves to her Crooked Lane (288 pp.) aunt’s house, where she and several other progressive women $26.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 live, knowing that she’ll be safe. When neither threats of court 978-1-64385-178-5 cases nor attempts to shame Fred work, Elizabeth turns to her brother and father, the Old Man, and their talented group of An Elizabethan spy with much to con men (City of Secrets, 2018, etc.) to find a way to raise money hide balances family loyalties with his for Rose and the coming child. Disapproving of war profiteers fealty to the queen. and men who hurt women, the group comes up with a clever Nicholas Holt, the younger brother plan that will make Rose rich and pay them something for their of Robert, Earl of Blackwell, is a tavern efforts. They stumble into the American Protective League, a owner, loyal friend, and spy who works for the ailing Sir Fran- nest of German spies, and a still more dangerous enemy in the cis Walsingham. Therein lies Nick’s problem, for his relatives Spanish flu, which will kill vast numbers all over the globe. are recusant Catholics he must find ways to protect in these An amusingly complex con combines with little-known troubling times, when the queen’s cousin Mary Stuart, although historical details to provide an enchanting read. imprisoned, remains a magnet for plots to restore the Catho- lic faith to England. Ordered to spot and identify a Spanish spy, Nick follows the man he recognizes as Francesco del Toro to an Oxford tavern, where he’s appalled to see his brother

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 october 2019 | 35 Robert. Del Toro slips away, but Nick must stay. He also runs in selecting these works was whether they provided her with into Edmund Lovett, an acquaintance from his childhood and pleasure. That doesn’t mean these stories offer happy end- Oxford University who admits to working for the spy network ings or simple answers. If there’s one theme that unites them, of Robert Devereaux, second Earl of Essex and favorite of the it’s the characters’ desire to escape: from that haunted house queen, who flirts embarrassingly with the handsome, spoiled (Adam-Troy Castro’s “Pitcher Plant”), the forces of time itself young man. Nick gets stuck with Edmund, who’s also return- (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s “Through the Flash” and Adam ing to London. When they’re attacked on the road in what R. Shannon’s “On the Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog”), Nick suspects is an assassination attempt, Edmund comes to the restrictions of expected fictional tropes (Ada Hoffman’s his aid. Much to Nick’s dismay, the queen orders him to help “Variations on a Theme From Turandot”), racism and classism Essex find the killer he claims is trying to shut down his rival spy (LaShawn M. Wanak’s “Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis network even though it’s Walsingham’s agents who are really in Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good” and P. Djèlí Clark’s “The danger. Among Essex’s agents are Lady Annie O’Neill, an Irish Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington”), master of disguise, and Gavell and Stace, two stone-cold killers misogyny and the associated bonds of social convention (Sofia who suspect Nick of double-dealing. The few people Nick can Samatar’s “Hard Mary,” Kelly Robson’s “What Gentle Women trust are John Stockton, who runs Nick’s tavern; Kat, a well- Dare,” Theodore McCombs’ “Six Hangings in the Land of connected madam; and Eli and Rivkah, twin Jewish doctors Unkillable Women,” and Lesley Nneka Arimah’s “Skinned”), who escaped the Spanish Inquisition. As Nick and Hector, the and of course, foolish and dangerous preconceptions about the faithful Irish wolfhound who’s helped him solve murders at the world that everyone holds in some measure (that’s just about court (A Murder by Any Name, 2018, etc.), scour London, they every story). narrowly escape assassination attempts as they try to roll up the A strong collection that will inspire, disturb, and, yes, Spanish spy network. give pleasure. Wolfe makes deft use of historical facts in an exciting mystery with a pleasing climactic surprise. DEAD ASTRONAUTS VanderMeer, Jeff MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) science fiction $27.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-0-374-27680-5 and fantasy VanderMeer (The Strange Bird, 2018, etc.) continues his saga of biotech gone awry and the fearsome world that ensues. David Bowie had just one dead astro- THE BEST AMERICAN naut, poor Maj. Tom, in his quiver. Van- SCIENCE FICTION derMeer puts three in the middle of a strange city somewhere AND FANTASY 2019 on what appears to be a future Earth, a place where foxes read Ed. by Machado, Carmen Maria minds and ducks threaten their interlocutors: “I’ll kill you and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (384 pp.) feast on your entrails,” one duck says, and, on being challenged $15.99 paper | Oct. 1, 2019 about his lab-engendered ducky identity, spits back, “You are not 978-1-328-60437-8 a whatever you are.” All very true. In the ruin of the world that the nefarious Company has left behind after its biotech experi- The chosen becomes the chooser: ments went south, such things are commonplace, and nothing is Machado, the award-winning author quite as it seems, although everything dies. Sometimes, indeed, of Her Body and Other Parties (2017) and everything dies even as it lives, which explains why those three a contributor to last year’s anthology, astronauts, a nicely balanced blend of ethnicities and genders, serves as guest editor for the 2019 volume. are able to walk and talk even as their less fortunate iterations Every one of these 20 tales shines; there’s not a lackluster lie inert. Says one, Chen, of his semblable, “Keep him alive. He one in the bunch. They cover a variety of overlapping subgenres, might have value,” an easy task given that one version of Chen from haunted-house horror to speculative social fiction to alien has been blown “into salamanders,” as our duck can attest. invasion to apocalyptic fantasy, and feature some of the most Other creatures that flow out of the Company’s still-clanking notable and rising writers in these overlapping areas, including biotech factory have similar fates: They are fodder for the levia- Seanan McGuire, Daryl Gregory, P. Djèlí Clark, Sofia Samatar, than that awaits in the holding pond outside, for the behemoth and last year’s editor, N.K. Jemisin, among others. In her intro- that stalks the land. “Bewildered by their own killing,” muses duction, Machado declares her intention to ignore any artificial Grayson, one of the three. “Bewildered by so many things. To be lines drawn between those stories considered “literary” and dead without ever having lived.” Much of the action in Vander- those labelled as “genre,” and she says that her chief criterion Meer’s story is circumstantial, but it provides useful backstory

36 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | to his previous books Borne and The Strange Bird, delivering, for DOWN TOO DEEP example, the origin story of the blue fox and emphasizing the Daniels, J. madness of a humankind that destroys the natural world only Forever Press (400 pp.) to replace it with things very like what has been destroyed. Or $14.99 paper | Oct. 8, 2019 at least that’s their intention, creating instead a hell paved with 978-1-5387-4348-5 the results of mad, bad science. VanderMeer is a master of literary science fiction, and A single mother helps a restaurateur this may be his best book yet. move past his wife’s death and become a better father to his child. Jenna Savage moved to Dogwood Beach, a coastal community in North Carolina, to be closer to her brother. Her romance 8-year-old twins have never known their father, and they love being near their favorite uncle. A paralegal with summers off, Jenna is looking forward to three months at home with Olivia and Oliver. But when she spies a toddler wandering around FOREVER AND A DUKE Whitecaps Restaurant unsupervised, her plans change. That Burrowes, Grace toddler is Marley, daughter of Whitecaps owner Nathan Bell. Forever Press (464 pp.) Nathan’s parents have been taking care of Marley ever since his $7.99 paper | Nov. 26, 2019 wife died from suicide, but after two years, they realized they

978-1-5387-0027-3 were enabling his avoidance rather than helping him grieve. young adult Now Nathan is desperately seeking a babysitter, and Jenna just A woman asked to look into irregu- happens to be enthusiastic about the prospect of adding a third, larities at a duke’s bank finds evidence of much younger, child to her already significant load. Nathan’s theft—and an unexpected love. parents’ abrupt departure—they literally left him holding When Wrexham, Duke of Elsmore, screaming Marley—and Jenna’s quick embrace of the idea asks the Duke of Walden for help in of nannying for a stranger are so clunky that the story almost reviewing his personal finances and the doesn’t get off the ground. But appealing leads, adorable chil- ledgers of the bank he owns, Walden dren, and a sensitive portrayal of the aftermath of suicide put it introduces him to Eleanora Hatfield, his auditor. Eleanora is back on course. Daniels’ (All We Want, 2018, etc.) portrayal of a a scrupulously honest woman who has escaped a family legacy woman who really thrives in a traditional helper role feels super- of criminal activity by using her math skills and has acquired ficial at times, but the relationship is compelling. Despite being a fearsome reputation for accounting accuracy. While wary of parents with romantic histories, neither Jenna nor Nathan has the aristocracy, she agrees to help the genial duke find errors really given themselves up to love. As Nathan’s father puts it, (or embezzlement) at his venerable institution. The discretion “When you move past loving someone to needing them—they necessary for the task leads them to solitary tête-à-têtes, and become a necessity to your own survival. You no longer get to as Wrexham’s fundamental kindness teaches the wary Eleanora decide whether you can be without this person. You can’t.” to trust him, she trains him to acquire a sharper eye toward the Good choice for fans of small-town romances with practices of his employees and family members. As in When heart. a Duchess Says I Do (2019), Burrowes relates the romances of acquaintances of the Walden family, whose head was the protagonist of her first Rogues to Riches novel, My One and Only THE DEVIL IN THE SADDLE Duke (2018). Though not quite rising to the charm of that story, London, Julia this tale of love is appealing because of the unusual backdrop Jove/Penguin (368 pp.) of banking fraud in 19th-century Britain. Scenes of the dispar- $7.99 paper | Oct. 29, 2019 ity between the upper class and the struggling classes serve 978-0-451-49237-1 as a reminder of the unfair economic and justice systems that undergird this society. These systems also act as the barrier In Book 2 of the Princes of Texas Wrexham must overcome if he is to persuade Eleanora that they series (The Charmer in Chaps, 2019), a can marry. Both protagonists are finely etched, as are a few sup- rancher’s daughter escapes to Aspen porting characters who are likely to get their own romances in after a breakup, but she can’t stop think- the future. ing about the boy next door. A moderately paced, satisfying tale of an accountant Hallie Prince left her cheating fiance who saves an aristocrat from financial ruin while unwit- shortly before their wedding, and now tingly winning his heart. she doesn’t know what to do with her life. She once had dreams of becoming a prima ballerina, but she quit dancing when her teachers told her she lacked the talent. She confides in her

| kirkus.com | romance | 1 october 2019 | 37 childhood friend Rafe Fontana, who worked for her family at RECKLESS IN RED Three Rivers Ranch before leaving to join the Army. They kiss, Miles, Rachael briefly sparking romance, but he’s already made plans to start Zebra (384 pp.) a business in Chicago, and she’s busy destroying her wedding $7.99 paper | Oct. 29, 2019 decor on Instagram to get revenge on her ex. Rafe is also skepti- 978-1-4201-4656-1 cal of Hallie’s mother, who has always treated him and his family like the hired help—an awkward backstory for the couple to An artist preparing a huge exhibi- overcome. Aside from that, the ranch itself doesn’t get much tion is disheartened when her business use. Rafe ultimately joins Hallie on a trip to Aspen, forcing the partner absconds with her money, but two of them to consider whether their futures will include each the event introduces her to an aristocrat other. Hallie and Rafe have a good rapport, with easy banter who ultimately becomes her greatest ally and strong chemistry, but their relationship is very slow to get against a shadowy enemy. off the ground. With more single siblings at home, the Prince Artist Lena Frost is a survivor. She’s family has a lot of drama to explore for the rest of the series, survived a weak father and a difficult stepmother. She survived particularly through the matriarch, Cordelia, whose husband’s in France during Napoleon’s war. She’s even rebounded from death forces her to recognize how much she depends on the her lost career when she finally had to flee France after having Fontanas and to reconsider her relationship with her children. been betrayed. Now she’s spent three years preparing a huge There’s plenty of sweetness but not a lot of saddle in exhibition, which is the talk of London. So when her trusted this friends-to-lovers Western. business partner disappears with all her funds just two weeks before the gala opening, she’s nearly defeated. Especially when he leaves her an enigmatic message implying she’s in danger. But THE CHRISTMAS KEEPER she can’t give up: “She would have to reinvent herself again. The McKinlay, Jenn very thought of it made her almost weak with despair.” Fearing Berkley (320 pp.) she’s being followed, she winds up at The African’s Daughter, a $7.99 paper | Oct. 29, 2019 bookshop owned by her Anglo African friend Constance Equi- 978-0-451-49245-6 ano, who introduces her to the Muses, a group of aristocratic ladies who meet monthly at the shop. Through them, she meets A North Carolina bookstore is the Lord Clive Somerville, brother of the Duke of Forster and the setting for this Christmas romance Regency equivalent of a forensic pathologist. When it becomes featuring a lovesick cowboy and the clear that someone is trying to kill Lena and more than one of New York City publicist who resists his her exhibition artists has disappeared mysteriously, Clive vows charms. to keep her safe, help her open the exhibition, and discover Publicist Savannah Wilson is visit- who’s behind the threats. Author Miles continues her smart, ing Fairdale, North Carolina, to help her intriguing Muses Salon series (Jilting the Duke, 2016, etc.) with best friend launch a bookstore specializing in romance novels. another bright, accomplished heroine who fights for her happi- Raised by a cold, uncaring family, Savy has no intention of mar- ness with an unexpected perfect match. rying or having children. Her heart’s desire is to get her career A unique storyline, a dose of suspense, and a circle of back after a professional disaster ruined her reputation, so she intelligent female friends enhance a successful romance. ignores the longing looks thrown her way by hunky Joaquin Solis. Quino also has a tragic backstory: His parents were killed in a car accident, making him guardian of his younger sister, THE RANCHER’S REDEMPTION who barely survived a traumatic brain injury. He’s a good old Pearce, Kate boy who runs Shadow Pine Stables, loves Fairdale, and thinks, Zebra/Kensington (352 pp.) for pretty much no reason at all, that Savy would be the perfect $7.99 paper | Nov. 26, 2019 mate. Quino has turned tragedy into a love for Christmas, but 978-1-4201-4824-4 for Savy, the holidays are a reminder of what she lacks. Savy “got the feeling he was one of those people who found joy in every A rancher who has been widowed for day, not just the holiday.” Their sexual attraction is instant, but 10 years falls in love with an old friend. as Quino’s cheesy sweaters and ever ready mistletoe wear her Adam Miller cut off his best friend, down, Savy begins to appreciate more than his biceps. Quino’s Lizzie Taylor, after losing his high school difficulty accepting his little sister’s independence is handled sweetheart to cancer in his early 20s. He with subtlety, but a subplot involving a reclusive romance novel- is close to his five siblings and his father ist is just silly. but prefers his solitary work on the ranch A predictable small-town romance that adds nothing to to messy emotional entanglements. One day in town, he is in the an already overcrowded genre. right place at the right time and helps Lizzie when her young son, Roman, needs urgent medical care. Adam and Lizzie tentatively renew their friendship, but both are dealing with tumultuous

38 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | Sparks fly between a Boston socialite on the run and a quiet outlaw after a case of mistaken identity. the outlaw’s heart

family struggles. Adam’s mother, who abandoned the family ARCHANGEL’S WAR when he was 12, returns to Morgantown hoping to reconcile with Singh, Nalini her children. Meanwhile, Lizzie has her own worries: Roman’s Berkley (480 pp.) paternal great-great-aunt is deploying aggressive legal maneuvers $7.99 paper | Sep. 24, 2019 to force a relationship with her grandnephew even though the 978-0-451-49166-4 boy’s father was never interested in knowing him. Pearce (The Second Chance Rancher, 2019, etc.) creates a well-developed emo- Still reeling from recent battles tional journey for Adam. The return of his mother and his deep- (Archangel’s Prophecy, 2018, etc.), Raphael ening feelings for Lizzie challenge everything he thought he knew and Elena must rally their grudging allies about love and family. However, Lizzie’s character development to protect New York from an ancient evil, is uneven at best; she often makes choices that seem designed to because if their city falls, the rest of the further the plot rather than being organic to her character. The world will follow. primary emotional conflict is that Adam is afraid of falling in love, Once again the Archangel Raphael but it’s not enough to fuel a full-length novel. Their slow-burn and his consort, Elena, have warded off an attack against them, romance sputters along and is overwhelmed by the various family but this one felt different. A powerful force known as the Cas- dramas that surround them. cade tried to force Elena into acting as a vessel for Raphael’s Slow-paced romance with a focus on the hero’s emo- power. While they were able to overcome the challenge, it feels tional journey. like the experience was a precursor to the rise of something dark and powerful, which the Cascade was trying to prepare Raphael for. Even as Elena is learning to live without wings, she’s discov-

THE OUTLAW’S HEART ering another set of inexplicable powers and growing closer to young adult Sandas, Amy ancient, mysterious allies while Raphael is clearly stronger than Sourcebooks Casablanca (384 pp.) ever. But a vanquished archangel has risen, bitter and power- $7.99 paper | Oct. 29, 2019 hungry. She’s out to control the world, and she’ll stop at nothing 978-1-4926-5203-8 to make it happen, even creating an army of zombielike creatures to help her succeed. Raphael may be one of the most pow- Sparks fly between a Boston socialite erful creatures on Earth, but even he can’t confront Lijuan on on the run and a quiet outlaw after a case his own. The question is, even if the Cadre—all the archangels of mistaken identity in this American on the planet—come together to fight her, will they be strong historical romance. enough to stop her? Singh heightens the tension and the stakes Evelyn Perkins feels like she’s of her Guild Hunter series even as she reintroduces a sprawling finally escaped from her abusive hus- cast of friends and allies who are determined to keep each other band—until she’s kidnapped from a safe and live their lives in peace. If only the world weren’t such train in Wyoming territory. At first, she assumes her husband a dangerous place. Singh’s worldbuilding and imagination never has found her, but it’s revealed that the outlaws had meant to disappoint, and while the action is often brutal and harrowing, grab a woman named Sarah Cummings. Now they must decide it is always tempered by Raphael and Elena’s profound love and what to do with Evelyn. A ransom agreement would mean their affection and devotion toward their friends. Evelyn’s whereabouts would be revealed to her husband, and Another riveting entry in the Guild Hunter series. she’s determined to avoid that at all costs. Gabriel Sloan is a man of few words. Stolen from his Cheyenne tribe as a child, he and Evelyn share the trauma of a sanctuary ruined, and he THE CHRISTMAS DARE volunteers to be Evelyn’s escort to his fellow outlaws’ hideout. Wilde, Lori As Evelyn and Gabriel ride together across the West, they dis- Avon/HarperCollins (384 pp.) cover they’re being tracked; a darkening cloud of danger hangs $7.99 paper | Oct. 22, 2019 over the couple. Because both main characters are reserved 978-0-06-246831-4 and prefer addressing their feelings privately, their romance is rather slow, with things being thought rather than said. The set- A woman completely under the ting and building of the cast receive far more attention, making thumb of her mother is jilted by her this the slowest of slow burns, to the book’s detriment. Previ- groom, forcing her to face the fact that ous couples in Sandas’ (The Cowboy’s Honor, 2019, etc.) Runaway she needs to figure out who she is and Brides series make important appearances as they usher Evelyn what she wants. and Gabriel to their happy ending. Fans of the series will appre- When Kelsey James is abandoned ciate the callback, but newer readers may find them to be an on her wedding day, she finds herself unnecessary distraction. Evelyn and Gabriel are a lovely and apologizing to her overbearing mother and taking the blame. well-matched couple; they deserve more page time. It’s the culmination of a lifetime of playing it safe and appeas- A tender and compassionate romance that requires ing her mother, who happens to be the mayor of Dallas, and some patience. Kelsey has finally had enough. Her best friend, Tasha Williams,

| kirkus.com | romance | 1 october 2019 | 39 dares her to take the next couple of weeks to do a Christmas of Yes, fashioned after Shonda Rhimes’ book Year of Yes: “You have to say yes to five challenges that scare you from now until New Year’s.” Under the influence of a few shots, Kelsey shares the story of her teenage love, Noah MacGregor, whom she’s never forgotten. Noah has since joined the NBA, had a career-ending injury, and moved back to his hometown of Twi- light, Texas, opening a bed-and-breakfast on a paddleboat. Of course Tasha shuttles Kelsey to Twilight, where she and Noah have a chance to rekindle their love affair. But they each have issues they need to work through, the No. 1 challenge being Kelsey’s mother, who actively kept them apart 10 years earlier and is determined to keep Kelsey in her clutches. On the surface, Wilde’s newest Twilight title is a fun, sweet holiday read, and we actively root for Kelsey to stand up for herself and find happiness with Noah. However, it’s disheartening that Kelsey only rejects her mother’s abusive influence after a heartfelt conversation with her father gives her mother a disorder with a label. Given how bright and accomplished Kelsey is, it’s disappointing she can’t draw those conclusions herself and give herself permission to disengage. Overall, a joyful, romantic Christmas read with a mostly satisfying, redemptive second-chance arc.

40 | 1 october 2019 | fiction | kirkus.com | nonfiction FINDING CHIKA These titles earned the Kirkus Star: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family THE SELECTED LETTERS OF RALPH ELLISON by Ralph Ellison; Albom, Mitch ed. by John F. Callahan & Marc C. Conner...... 50 Harper/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $24.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 THE DOLPHIN LETTERS, 1970-1979 by Elizabeth Hardwick & 978-0-06-295239-4 Robert Lowell; ed. by Saskia Hamilton...... 55 ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO A young Haitian girl opens the door by Calvin Hennick...... 58 to unconditional love for an American AT THE EDGE OF TIME by Dan Hooper...... 59 couple. When Albom (The Next Person You

AGENT JACK by Robert Hutton...... 60 Meet in Heaven, 2018, etc.) became director of the Have Faith young adult Haiti Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, he knew the children would GENIUS AND ANXIETY by Norman Lebrecht...... 65 make an impact on his life, but one toddler in particular, Chika, stole his heart. She was born just three days before the earth- OUR WILD CALLING by Richard Louv...... 66 quake that destroyed Haiti in 2010. “It was tragedy on an island where tragedy is no stranger,” writes the author. When Chika THE POLITICS OF PAIN by Fintan O’Toole...... 70 arrived at the orphanage, she was only 3, but she quickly became DANGEROUS MELODIES by Jonathan Rosenberg...... 72 a leader among the children. When she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, a condition the neurologist in Haiti said THE SEINE by Elaine Sciolino...... 73 could not be treated there, Albom and his wife brought Chika into their Michigan home and sought out the best treatment THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND by David J. Silverman...... 73 they could find. When those treatments failed, they traveled ALICE ADAMS for two years to other countries for experimental procedures, by Carol Sklenicka...... 74 anything that would prolong Chika’s life. In addition to his own THE RUSSIAN JOB by Douglas Smith...... 74 viewpoint, the author narrates the story by imagining what Chika was thinking and feeling. As Albom makes clear from the start, Chika did not survive her condition (she died in 2017 at OUR WILD CALLING age 7); his writing about this journey is unadorned, heartwarm- How Connecting With ing, and rarely maudlin. He shares his joy at becoming a father Animals Can Transform to this vivacious child, his fears as he reintroduced Chika to Our Lives―and Save her biological father, and the pain and sorrow he felt when she Theirs died. He marvels at the relationship Chika had with his wife Louv, Richard and shares his amazement that Chika so readily connected with Algonquin (320 pp.) other adults. The takeaway from this simple, moving memoir $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 is that love has no boundaries and should not be hindered by 978-1-616-20560-7 ethnicity, religion, education, or money. A highly expressive, tender story about how “families are like pieces of art, they can be made from many materials.”

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 41 readings about music and musicians Photo courtesy Leah Overstreet Even though music is one of In a completely different vein is Ted Gioia’s Music: the most important elements of A Subversive History (Basic Books, Oct. 15), a “revision- my life, I don’t read many books ist history [that] highlights music’s connections to vio- about music, especially music bi- lence, disruption, and power,” according to Kirkus. The ographies. I find most of them to music historian goes deep into be uninspired, by-the-numbers, the culture of music and its cre- and lacking legitimate insight into ation, excavating thousands of the motivations and processes years of history to show how of songwriting and performing. “the music produced by ‘peas- However, there are a couple every ants and plebeians, slaves and year that stand out. bohemians, renegades and out- In 2019, I’ve particularly enjoyed Alan Paul’s Te x casts’ reflected and influenced as Flood, Ted Fox’s Showtime at the Apollo, and David social, cultural, and political Ritz’s The God Groove. (Flea’s Acid for the Children has its life.” Gioia is not interested in moments, but it’s too scattered.) My pick for music book mere entertainment, and he of the year is Hanif Abdurraqib’s Go Ahead in the Rain, effectively shows how our ear- a moving and revelatory exploration of A Tribe Called liest ancestors were not, either; Quest. In a starred review, we write, “even those who rather, music was inextricably know little about the music will learn much of sig- bound into nearly every aspect of their lives, “embody- nificance here, perhaps learning how to love it in the ing myth and cultural lore.” The author is particularly process.” good in his discussions of music and violence, examin- October features two more noteworthy music books. ing anthems and the frightening drums and horns of ap- The first is Holly George-Warren’sJanis (Simon & Schus- proaching invaders. ter, Oct. 22), which we call a “richly detailed, affection- As he has demonstrated in previous books on jazz, ate portrait” of iconic singer the author disrupts conventional conceptions of re- Janis Joplin. My fascination vered musicians. Our reviewer notes, “Beethoven, for with 1960s rock is endless, so example, was hardly ‘the ultimate classical music insid- it was refreshing to find a book er, the bedrock of the symphonic tradition,’ but rather that truly captured Joplin’s ge- a passionate personality whose ‘strange, peculiar, arbi- nius as well as the atmosphere trary, bizarre, mysterious, gloomy and laborious’ mu- in which it incubated. As our sic caused him, early in his career, to be considered ‘a reviewer writes in a starred volatile outsider whose impulses needed to be held in review, “George-Warren gives check.’ ” It’s that disruptive impulse in music that leads her subject a sensitive yet to lasting achievement, the need to question the sta- honest treatment, showing tus quo and investigate important truths through the all dimensions of Joplin’s life timeless medium of music. Gioia is one of our best without minimizing her self- guides through the thickets of musical inspiration and destructive side. Filled with interpretation, and his latest is perhaps his most ambi- evocations of the San Francisco music scene at its height, tious—and deeply satisfying—book, “a bold, fresh, and the narrative will give readers new appreciation for Jop- informative chronicle of music’s evolution and cultur- lin….A top-notch biography of one of the greatest per- al meaning,” our reviewer says. Musicians may gain the formers to emerge from a brilliant era.” It’s an absolute most from it, but this is a book that will intrigue anyone must for her many fans, but it will also interest admirers obsessed with music and its history. —E.L. of the scene that fostered Joplin, the Grateful Dead (one of my personal favorites), Jefferson Airplane, and numer- Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction and managing editor. ous other influential bands and musicians.

42 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | A welcome reconsideration of an underappreciated early-20th-century journalist and activist. crystal eastman

IT’S GARRY speech. “It is high time for us to enter into our heritage—that SHANDLING’S BOOK is my feminist faith.” The daughter of two ministers, Eastman Ed. by Apatow, Judd was especially close to her mother, who served with Thomas Random House (472 pp.) Beecher, the half brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and the $40.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, at a church in upstate New 978-0-525-51084-0 York. After earning a law degree from New York University, she pursued progressive causes, including workers’ rights, suf- Garry Shandling’s family, friends, and frage, socialism, reproductive rights, and civil liberties. In the colleagues paint an affectionate portrait first biography of Eastman, Aronson (Journalism and Media of a driven, introspective artist who had Studies/Fordham Univ.; Taking Liberties: Early American Women’s a hard time getting out of his own head. Magazines and Their Readers, 2002, etc.) casts her subject as a Apatow (Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Com journalist and intersectional activist who advocated for social edy, 2015, etc.) never thought his comedy mentor and buddy was justice while embarking on love affairs, two unconventional the kind of guy who liked to hold on to things. After all, the self- marriages, and motherhood. Despite lifelong health problems, deprecating comedian was a practicing Buddhist. Nevertheless, Eastman investigated hazardous labor conditions for the Rus- following Shandling’s 2016 death at age 66, Apatow discovered sell Sage Foundation and wrote a landmark 1910 report on that that his teacher and former boss had actually kept everything— effort, Work Accidents and the Law, which led to the country’s including a revelatory trove of journal entries and personal notes first workers’ compensation law. She later became a prominent stretching back decades. The discovery led to the HBO docu- suffragist and co-founder of forerunners of the American Civil mentary The Zen Diaries of Gary Shandling. Here, Apatow uses Liberties Union and the Women’s International League for

those earnest entries in conjunction with additional interviews young adult to further explore the legendary comedian’s often besieged psyche. Despite stellar successes that included two seminal TV series (It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show), Shandling could never shake the death of his older brother, Barry, who died from cystic fibrosis when Garry was just 10. Under that dark shroud, Shandling additionally obsessed about award show monologues, TV scripts, and his unrelenting ego. “He had rage,” notes Sarah Silverman. “He could really hold on to stuff and be troubled by things that to other people might seem small, but he was always working on that, always trying to process it and understand it.” Throughout his professional life, that diligence both helped and hampered Shandling, whether he was writing TV scripts for Sanford & Son or breaking into the movies with the ill-fated What Planet Are You From? In the latter case, Shan- dling’s mix of insecurity and perfectionism proved too much for director Mike Nichols, and the film flopped. Professional highs and lows aside, Shandling is remembered as a man who spent his entire life seeking and generously giving of himself—even if that self was the cause of most of his woes. Essential for Shandling fans and a good choice for readers interested in stand-up and comedy writing.

CRYSTAL EASTMAN A Revolutionary Life Aronson, Amy Oxford Univ. (376 pp.) $34.95 | Dec. 2, 2019 978-0-19-994873-4

An overdue biography of an influential suffragist, pacifist, and civil libertarian. “God meant the whole rich world of work and play and adventure for women as well as men,” Crystal Eastman (1881-1928) said in a 1914

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 43 Peace and Freedom, often working beside trailblazers such as Putin from afar. Though well-researched, the narrative some- Jane Addams and Charlotte Perkins Gilman or with her brother, times bogs down in the author’s discussions of Russian and Max, with whom she co-edited the leftist monthly the Libera British politics. When Blake focuses on the circumstances sur- tor. This dense and deeply researched biography features some rounding the murders, the narrative moves more smoothly. distracting modern clichés (Eastman “noted that her biologi- An uneven but still useful documentation of the dis- cal clock had been actively ticking” and found herself “juggling turbing reach of a dangerous world leader. (16 pages of 4-color work and family”), but Aronson leaves no doubt that Eastman photos) was an inspiring figure who deserves the renewed attention that the book should bring. A welcome reconsideration of an underappreciated THE CARTIERS early-20th-century journalist and activist. The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire FROM RUSSIA WITH BLOOD Brickell, Francesca Cartier The Kremlin’s Ruthless Ballantine (688 pp.) Assassination Program and $35.00 | Nov. 26, 2019 Vladimir Putin’s Secret War 978-0-525-62161-4 on the West Blake, Heidi A scion of the Cartier family delivers Mulholland Books/Little, Brown a rich history of their jewelry dynasty. (336 pp.) World-renowned for its iconic gems $30.00 | Nov. 19, 2019 and designs, which have included the Hope Diamond, the Tank 978-0-316-41723-5 watch, and the panther bracelet, the Cartier brand is synony- mous with innovative taste. Brickell details the company’s cre- The global investigations editor at ation by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847; its growth under BuzzFeed News examines “Kremlin-sanctioned killing around his son, Alfred; its 20th-century expansion to London and New the world.” York under the helm of Alfred’s sons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques, British journalist Blake (co-author: The Ugly Game: The Cor whose gifts vaulted the company into an establishment that ruption of FIFA and the Qatari Plot To Buy the World Cup, 2015) royals and America’s nouveau riche titans appreciated; and the builds on a June 2017 BuzzFeed News exposé to delineate how sale of each branch when the heirs parted ways in the 1960s and Vladimir Putin and his Russian assassins have murdered politi- ’70s. The author’s elegant writing and a talent for braiding the cal opponents over the years. Some of the killings occurred main narrative with quotes from the brothers’ letters enliven within Russia, but the author focuses on the assassinations a bygone period in which craftsmanship and exclusivity went of dissidents who escaped from Russia to the U.K. To a lesser hand in hand. Brickell covers strategic moves that reveal the extent, Blake also discusses those who fled to the United family’s savvy and strings colorful anecdotes throughout the States. To assist readers in understanding the context of each wider story of one of the French luxury industry’s key players. death, Blake provides detailed explanations of why world lead- Sections on Louis, whose aptitude for talent scouting and taste ers—including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Bill stood out, capture the excitement of designing influential col- Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—believed Putin lections. From heiresses and exiled Russian nobility to mahara- might liberalize Russian society and become an ally of demo- jas and Hollywood stars, each client was treated with discretion. cratic nations. That severe misreading led the British and U.S. The chapters set in the 1920s portray a memorable glamour, and leaders to deemphasize the significance of the assassinations comments from Brickell’s grandfather add a warm immediacy. ordered by Putin. Along with her BuzzFeed colleagues, Blake Jacques’ excursions to India highlight his skill in cultivating accuses the British and U.S. governments of coverups, which connections as well as the advantages the family had in boast- have taken various forms—e.g., labeling murders as suicides, ing three dedicated brothers who could be in different places at withholding gory details of the deaths, and conducting desul- the same time while representing the brand. Furthermore, the tory law enforcement inquiries so that journalists would feel resilience during the world wars shows the family’s love of their discouraged about publishing information that might agitate homeland. In later chapters, the author depicts the company’s their readers. Blake explores the highly publicized murder of structural changes after the brothers’ deaths with cleareyed Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya, but that case is an out- compassion and without assigning blame. Despite occasional lier in a narrative filled with foreshadowing about which dissi- disagreements, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques cooperated to create dent will be killed next. As the author shows, the 2006 death a saga of remarkable faith in each other and their motto: “Never of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko not only eliminated a copy, only create.” high-profile Putin opponent; it also showed “Putin to be just as A lavish, capably rendered family biography that will brutal as his critics claimed, and finally the world was listening.” speak to anyone who appreciates passionate artists and The most thoroughly documented case is the death of Boris dealmakers. (photos throughout; family tree; timeline) Berezovsky, a wealthy Russian exile who delighted in taunting

44 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | THE FALL OF RICHARD NIXON controlling question to the enterprise: “Who was Richard A Reporter Remembers Nixon?” That’s a question to which answers are both tentative Watergate and still forthcoming. The author’s narrative spans several years Brokaw, Tom of Nixon’s life, taking in such critical moments as his appoint- Random House (240 pp.) ment of Henry Kissinger as his secretary of state. Brokaw $27.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 focuses closely on the last six weeks of his presidency, a period 978-1-4000-6970-5 marked by a Supreme Court decision ruling that Nixon did not have the legal right to shield tape recordings from a Congress The veteran newscaster turns in a that was in full-tilt investigatory mode, a decision that would swift-flowing narrative of the decline and “amount to a political death sentence to a sitting president.” collapse of the Nixon administration. The author illuminates such turning points as Nixon’s explain- “As we experience another chaotic ing away the missing 18-odd minutes of tape that so excited time in the American presidency, it is worth remembering what Watergate investigators, concluding that he wished he hadn’t we went through before.” So writes Brokaw (A Lucky Life Inter- recorded in the first place, and the soon-to-follow declaration, rupted: A Memoir of Hope, 2015, etc.), recalling a time in which infamous to this day, that “I’m not a crook.” The mood in the chaos reigned in the White House, where he served as NBC’s White House turned ever more erratic thereafter, with Nixon correspondent during Nixon’s final months in office. The becoming oddly aggressive—understandably, because, as Bro- facts of the matter are fairly well understood, thanks to books kaw observes, “the best defense for Nixon was always a strong such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s All the President’s offense.” The book is understated and even-tempered, without Men and The Final Days, but Brokaw brings a more searching, the fire of Woodward and Bernstein, Timothy Crouse, Hunter young adult

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| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 45 A useful addition to the literature about Nazi hunters, a body of work that continues to grow. citizen 865

S. Thompson, and other chroniclers of the Nixon era; the calm- CITIZEN 865 ness is welcome, though, for a narrative that seeks clarity in that The Hunt for Hitler’s Hidden time of torment. Soldiers in America Not the first book to turn to when reading about Water- Cenziper, Debbie gate but still a useful overview of long-ago events. (photos Hachette (320 pp.) throughout) $28.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 978-0-316-44965-6

FROM CHERNOBYL A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist WITH LOVE delves into the hunt for Nazi war crimi- Reporting From the Ruins of nals who entered the United States after the Soviet Union World War II, unbeknownst to Ameri- Cengel, Katya can immigration authorities. Potomac Books (304 pp.) Many of the mass murderers operating within the European $29.95 | Nov. 1, 2019 nations occupied by Germany eventually settled in the U.S. 978-1-64012-204-8 using false identities, often starting families and business careers while blending in with unsuspecting neighbors. Although Wash- A then newly minted journalist ington Post investigative reporter Cenziper (Director, Investiga- recounts her sojourn in the one-time tive Journalism/Northwestern Univ.; co-author: Love Wins: The Soviet Union, a tumultuous empire des- Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage perately searching for its identity. Equality, 2016) provides sweeping background about the Nazi “The year is 1998, and newspapers are still being read,” writes death camps, she focuses primarily on the Polish village of California-based freelancer Cengel (Exiled: From the Killing Trawniki, where the Nazis trained roughly 5,000 men to round Fields of Cambodia to California and Back, 2018, etc.). Looking for up and slaughter the Jews of Poland. Citizen 865 was Jakob a job, the author answered an ad and found herself reporting Reimer, one of the Trawniki murderers who settled in the U.S. from the ashes of the former Soviet Union. It was a confusing and remained on the radars of Nazi hunters from 1952 through but compelling place, as her lively narrative reveals. Cengel the 1980s. Cenziper unfolds the manhunt narrative by alternat- begins in the once-occupied Baltic republic of Latvia. She made ing among the killers, their victims, contemporary European her way to the Ukraine just in time to witness a number of his- record keepers who alternately helped expose the murder- torical events and their aftermaths. Latvia was a particularly ers or refused to cooperate with U.S. authorities, and—most unknown spot on the map, or at least in the author’s geography, prominently—lawyers and historians within the U.S. Justice and moving there was a rare and risky move that came at a time Department who performed impressive sleuthing to iden- when “communication with far-off countries was less common tify the war criminals hiding in the country. The hunters’ goal than it is now.” She quickly made herself at home at a Riga news- was to deport the Nazi collaborators to Germany, Austria, or paper; soon after that, with her “lurid fascination” for fraught other nations where they might end their lives in prison. As the human-interest stories, she became features editor. Among the author recounts the slaughtering of Jews, Poles in the Resis- stories she recounts is that of a gulag survivor who was deter- tance, Roma people, and Soviet prisoners of war, the descrip- mined to see the international community recognize and con- tions are sometimes sickeningly graphic; some readers might demn the evils of the totalitarian system that packed him off choose to skip over such details. Some of the accounts come to Siberia in a railroad car. Another is of a Ukrainian woman from Feliks Wójcik and Lucyna Stryjewska, two Jews who man- who, a slave laborer in Germany during World War II, returned aged to escape death, marry, settle in the U.S., and start a family. there as a tourist: “It had happened; apologies would now mean The investigative paths followed by Peter Black and Elizabeth nothing.” Throughout, Cengel demonstrates a knack for find- “Barry” White, two Justice Department sleuths, are especially ing compelling stories, including an on-the-ground report from gripping. Chernobyl at a time when engineers were still working to cap A useful addition to the literature about Nazi hunters, a off the reactor with a cement sarcophagus, “an imperfect and body of work that continues to grow. semi-temporary solution” that all these years later remains in place. More than her stories, the author has a fine eye for the details of newsroom politics back when newspapers were read and newsrooms were packed with offbeat characters. Sometimes gonzo, sometimes hard-charging—a welcome report from the front lines in a time of torment and hope.

46 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | THE CRYING BOOK Minnis, who calls it “cry-hustling”); “white tears,” (a Caucasian Christle, Heather person’s response to suddenly realizing the enormity of systemic Catapult (208 pp.) racism); and the differences between the three types of tears: $24.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 basal (lubricant), irritant (a response to a foreign substance), 978-1-948226-44-8 and psychogenic (emotional). She also considers the distinction between crying and weeping—“crying is louder; weeping An eclectic reflection on human is wetter”—and introduces readers to professional mourners waterworks. and lachrymatories, small vessels in which tears are stored. Of Award-winning poet Christle (Cre- particular interest is Christle’s inquiry into the connections ative Writing/Emory Univ. Heliopause, among grief, gender, and anger. She wonders “whether men 2015, etc.) pushes the boundaries of kill to create an occasion for the grief they already feel.” The her genre with this hybrid approach to author infuses these tear-related themes with prose about her tears. Fusing poetry with lyric essay and a significant amount of personal experiences, including her own treatment for depres- research, the author sheds new light on the basic, universal phe- sion and her staggering grief over a dear friend’s suicide. The nomenon of crying. Beyond fact—namely, that at one point or format of the book lends itself to either quick consumption or another, fluid has leaked from everyone’s eyes—some may won- measured contemplation; sections range from one sentence to der what more there is to know. This book provides the defini- a little more than a page. Though this structure could make for tive answer: plenty. There are no chapters. Rather, in one long a choppy text, the transitions between her various sources and reflection, divided into small, partial-page sections, Christle streams of thought are mostly seamless, providing a pleasur- examines such elements as pretend grief (she cites poet Chelsey able, even restful reading experience. The narrative is saturated young adult

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 47 A bracing work by a masterly historian whose great knowledge portrays the “dramatic symbolic significance” of this landmark event. the accursed tower

with significant threads of sadness, but they don’t overwhelm. THE WARRIORS OF ANBAR Rather, the unconventional format, combined with the author’s The Marines Who Crushed Al vast survey of the topic, provides fascinating food for thought. Qaeda—The Greatest Untold A surprisingly hopeful meditation on why we shed tears. Story of the Iraq War Darack, Ed Da Capo (320 pp.) THE ACCURSED TOWER $28.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 The Fall of Acre and the End 978-0-306-92265-7 of the Crusades Crowley, Roger One of the U.S. Marine Corps’ fin- Basic (272 pp.) est—yet largely untold—stories. $28.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 By the fall of 2006, al-Qaida in Iraq 978-1-5416-9734-8 had been largely cornered in the western province known as Al Anbar. However, as veteran military writer Darack (War Moments: A history of the 1291 siege of Acre Images & Stories of Combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beyond, 2019, that brings the convoluted give-and-take etc.) writes, they were battle-hardened, well-equipped, vicious, between Muslim and Christian entities and desperate, and they decided to dig in and throw everything to vivid life and relevance. they had at the “invading” Americans. They embedded them- Beginning in the 12th century, Acre helped hold together selves among the narrow, twisting streets of Haditha (population the “Frankish” principalities along the Mediterranean shore 25,000) and intimidated the locals into cooperating by murdering of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, aka the Outremer, which was anyone they thought supported America. They would place their established during the First Crusade (1096-1099) in the wake decapitated victims’ heads on stakes that they planted around of Muslim onslaught. An ancient strategic site, writes Crowley the city for the public to see. As one lance corporal recalled, “it (Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire, 2015, wasn’t hell…it was worse than hell. I know it sounds cliché, but etc.), Acre first “fell to Islam in 636.” In 1104, it was taken by nothing could be that bad. It was beyond my worst, most hor- Baldwin of Boulogne, the “first crusader King of Jerusalem,” and rific nightmares.” Striking and withdrawing over and over, they became the “chief landing place for pilgrims and the armies to also set mines on the roads on which Marine convoys traveled. protect them.” The Muslims regained the city in 1187. However, It was against this background that the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd in a 683-day battering siege of the city’s ramparts (1189-1191), Marine Regiment arrived with orders to drive out the terrorists, a the Christians, led by Richard I “Lionheart” of England and monumental, highly dangerous task. The author, who has embed- others, defeated the Muslims, who were led by Saladin, prince ded with American troops multiple times in both Afghanistan of the Ayyubid dynasty. It was a “titanic” battle that came down and Iraq, tells the story battle by battle, often in gripping, bru- to Acre’s so-called Accursed Tower, located in the most forti- tal, and sometimes-gruesome detail. However, this book is more fied area. Yet instead of extending mercy to the inhabitants, as than a typical war story. To defeat al-Qaida in Iraq, the Marines Saladin had done to the Christians, Richard had approximately realized they would have to win the locals’ trust, which they did 3,000 Muslim defenders beheaded. This development set the in imaginative ways. For example, on Halloween, soldiers went “bitter legacy” for the final retaking of Acre from the Chris- trick-or-treating through Haditha neighborhoods and gave candy tians by the Muslims exactly 100 years later. Crowley adeptly to children. The only real weakness of the text is Darack’s exces- builds the detail and suspense that led up to this extraordinary sive use of Marine acronyms (TTP, AO, COC, BATS, SVBIED, last pitched battle, which involved the might of the ascendant etc.), which will become tiresome for civilian readers without a Mamluks, or the Turkish slaves who would become sultans, and military background. their incomparable skills and resources, such as the awesome A very human story of “bravery, sacrifice, incredible trebuchet. Led by the fearless Sultan Khalil, the Mamluks took hardship, horror, and ultimate victory.” the city by surprise in several weeks, with people attempting in vain to flee by ship. As the author writes in this exciting, sleek narrative, “the looting was feverish and spectacular.” At the end WHY WE’RE WRONG ABOUT of the book, the author also provides a useful section on “the NEARLY EVERYTHING evidence for the fall of Acre.” A Theory of Human A bracing work by a masterly historian whose great Misunderstanding knowledge portrays the “dramatic symbolic significance” Duffy, Bobby of this landmark event. Basic (304 pp.) $28.00 | Nov. 26, 2019 978-1-5416-1808-4

A British social scientist analyzes how we see the world—and why we’re so often wrong about it.

48 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | In this striking debut, Duffy (Director, Policy Institute/ she was guided by “visions and images that predicted the future,” King’s Coll. London) draws on global studies conducted by dreams that would alert her to danger and guide her actions “lit- Ipsos MORI, a London social research firm where he was a man- erally for the rest of her life.” Dunbar thus makes the same leap aging director for 20 years, to describe the way people misper- of faith that Tubman did (and encourages readers to do so, as ceive social realities, from teen pregnancy to crime, obesity, and well): to give her mission a sense of divine guidance and purpose. immigration. The studies involved more than 100,000 inter- During her life, her God worked in mysterious ways, responding views on many issues in 40 nations. They demonstrate, through to her prayers to end the life of the 47-year-old slave owner who solid data, that we only hear what we want to hear. In England, was planning to put her and some of her brothers on the auction asked what percentage of British teens gave birth every year, block. She prayed for his death, her prayers were answered, and people guessed 19% (correct answer: 1.4%). In France, people “Harriet’s immediate reaction to the news was pure joy.” Her sin- thought Muslims were 31% of the population (reality: 8%). In gle-minded conviction and fortitude not only served her well as a the U.S., people guessed immigrants make up 33% of the popu- runaway slave who helped so many others escape; they guided her lation (reality: 14%). And so on. “Our misperceptions are wide, through a life of service, tending to the medical care of Civil War deep, and long-standing,” writes the author. Complex forces soldiers, fighting for suffrage, and working to establish a home shape beliefs, most notably our emotional responses, which are for the aged and indigent. With illustrations and catchy asides key to our perception of reality. Driven by “preexisting beliefs enhancing the conversational style, this smoothly readable nar- and wishful thinking,” our delusions are formed by “hardwired” rative tells a story kept alive through oral tradition for decades. biases and a tendency to seek information that reinforces our Perfect for Tubman novices but also enjoyable histori- views. The latter includes news media whose penchant for cal reading for those who already know most of the stories. negative stories leads many to think “everything is getting

worse.” “We not only have a built-in bias towards focusing on young adult the vivid and threatening, we also tend to think things were better in the past, and therefore are worse now,” writes Duffy, echoing Steven Pinker’s argument in Enlightenment Now (2018). As a result, we are often “very wrong” about global trends. The author depressingly notes that it is “difficult to change people’s delusions simply by giving them more information.” There is no magic formula for encouraging more accurate perceptions, he writes; increased skepticism and awareness of our emotional thinking can help. An informative and readable guide to rational thinking in the present era.

SHE CAME TO SLAY The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman Dunbar, Erica Armstrong Simon & Schuster (176 pp.) $23.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-1-982139-59-9

A concise primer for adults who know the name Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913) but want to know more. Dunbar (History/Rutgers Univ.)—whose second book, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (2017), was a co-winner of the 2018 Frederick Douglass Book Award—is more concerned with letting history come alive than burying it beneath the trappings of academic scholarship— though the notes and bibliography show that she has done her homework. “Here then, presented in a way that I hope is accessible, informative, contemporary, and full of black girl magic, is the multidimensional story of Harriet Tubman Davis, a true boss lady, a superhero, and a warrior,” writes Dunbar in the opening author’s note. From a girlhood bout of epilepsy and a head injury that gave her seizures to her strong religious convictions, Tubman felt that

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 49 An impressively edited volume commemorates a canonical literary figure. the selected letters of ralph ellison

THE SHADOW OF VESUVIUS JAY-Z A Life of Pliny Made in America Dunn, Daisy Dyson, Michael Eric Liveright/Norton (336 pp.) Illus. by Dyson, Everett $29.95 | Dec. 10, 2019 St. Martin’s (240 pp.) 978-1-63149-639-4 $25.99 | Nov. 26, 2019 978-1-250-23096-6 The Roman Empire comes to life through the biographies of two influen- The celebrated public intellectual tial men. offers a slim volume on an American Classicist Dunn (Catullus’ Bedspread: musical icon. The Life of Rome’s Most Erotic Poet, 2016, For readers who only know Jay-Z as etc.) creates a vivid tapestry of the Roman world focused on Beyoncé’s husband, the latest by Dyson (What Truth Sounds Like: naturalist Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 C.E.), who perished when Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation Vesuvius erupted, and his nephew—and adopted son—Pliny About Race in America, 2018, etc.) is a serviceable primer. How- the Younger (c. 62-133 C.E.), a lawyer, senator, landowner, and ever, for readers familiar with Jay-Z’s music or role in popular poet who lived “at the very center of things in the first and early culture, this brief book has little to offer. The publication coin- second centuries.” Drawing largely on the Elder’s encyclopedic, cides with the rapper’s 50th birthday, and it reads as if it was 37-volume Natural History and the Younger’s prolific letters and rushed to make the date. The chapters are disorganized and speeches, Dunn depicts them as “Renaissance men in their own consist largely of riffs that have often tangential connections time,” revered among their peers and by later generations. Dar- to his life or work. Dyson’s interests are wide-ranging, and some win, for example, a member of the Plinian Society as a medical of his digressions are worthwhile in their own right. Ultimately, student, owned a “well skimmed translation” of Natural History, though, there’s too much filler in a book that needed more which influenced his thinking about heredity. Although both material. It’s no surprise that many of the tangents rehash older Plinys shared “an enquiring mind, an eye for minutiae, obsessive writings for which the author is already well known, and he diligence,” and a “love of stories, not only of the natural world, also engages in excessive name-dropping, cringeworthy poetic but of extremes of human behavior,” the younger man could be affectations, and an attitude that sometimes feels condescend- pompous, self-centered, “attuned to detail and hard fact, obe- ing to readers and to hip-hop culture. In a long section on the dient to protocol. Where his uncle was creative,” Dunn notes, late Nipsey Hussle, Dyson describes a time he sat by the rapper “Pliny was pedantic.” He worked happily in solitude, preferring on a flight. As the two men “had an epic conversation,” Nipsey his rural villas—served by some 500 slaves—to the bustle of the “brought up the psychologist Abraham Maslow.” This is a typical city. Like his uncle—and also Cicero, Virgil, and Emperor Mar- non sequitur meant to suggest to readers that Nipsey is worthy cus Aurelius, among many other prominent Romans—Pliny of our consideration because he is intelligent. The author fre- adhered to Stoicism, “a philosophy for achieving equilibrium in quently uses the same approach with Jay-Z, noting, for example, a frantic world, through which you learned to become master that the rapper uses many of the poetic devices employed by of yourself and your emotions.” Besides exploring his philo- Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and other poets; of course, count- sophical beliefs, Dunn examines Pliny’s attitudes about medi- less rappers use the same tactics. Dyson is usually far more cine, agriculture, and marital relations along with his role in the insightful that this, and readers should turn to Julius Bailey’s political intrigues and rivalries that marked the reigns of the Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop’s Philosopher King or Jay-Z’s own book, cruel Emperor Domitian, who exiled philosophers from Italy, Decoded, a masterpiece of music memoir. Pharrell contributes and Emperor Trajan, a popular ruler for whom Pliny served as the foreword. deputy. Their correspondence reveals the tensions that arose Jay-Z deserves an in-depth study. This is not it. from the burgeoning of Christianity, portending “a change that was to come at the heart of Rome’s empire.” A sensitive, spirited investigation of the ancient world. THE SELECTED LETTERS (8 illustrations) OF RALPH ELLISON Ellison, Ralph Ed. by Callahan, John F. & Conner, Marc C. Random House (1,004 pp.) $50.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-0-8129-9852-8

A rich collection reveals a writer’s aspirations and frustrations. Drawing primarily on an extensive trove of correspondence at the Library of Congress, Callahan (Emeritus, Humanities/Lewis and Clark

50 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | Coll. In the African American Grain: Call and Response in 20th Cen- of engagement and meaning,” and he uses each word as a start- tury Black Fiction, 2008, etc.), Ellison’s literary executor, and ing point for his arguments, opinions, and critiques. “We need Conner (English/Washington and Lee Univ.; editor: The Poetry to grab the words that have possibility in them,” he writes, “and of James Joyce Reconsidered, 2012, etc.) have created a model of begin using them anew.” “Agitate” is a key word used throughout scholarship in their volume of letters by acclaimed African the book. Freeman writes that we are being manipulated and American writer Ralph Ellison (1913-1994), author of the 1953 fooled and “need to agitate against apathy.” He discusses a litany National Book Award winner, Invisible Man. Organized by of abuses: corruption; profiteering and power grabbing; attacks decade beginning in the 1930s, the letters are contextualized by on voting rights and the environment; an information war; abu- a comprehensive general introduction, a focused introduction sive racism; the hollowing out of our justice departments or to each chapter, and informative footnotes where needed; a erosion via a “corrosive acid wash of money.” Freeman bemoans detailed chronology appends the volume. Ellison’s long, candid “our lack of support of public education and our dereliction of letters trace his transformation from a “savvy and street-smart” teachers.” He balances what’s wrong with what’s right, like the kid born and raised in Oklahoma to a sophisticated world rage of women’s rights and the altruism of giving. Like a ship traveler, award-winning author, college professor, and literary sinking in dark waters, the author “wants to navigate around the celebrity. As he worked on essays, stories, and his first novel, rhetorical acts of sabotage, to grab the pump levers of language Ellison revealed his ambition to change public consciousness. and turn the lights back on.” Though sometimes repetitious, To Gotham Book Mart owner Frances Steloff, he cited Bernard Freeman encourages and uplifts. “We are going to change this,” Shaw’s plays, which he read as a teenager, as a decisive influ- he writes, “one day and moment at a time, on our own and with ence, especially the prefaces, which illuminated “the relation- each other.” ship between ideas, art, and politics.” “Frankly, we are angry,” he Exuberant and inspiring clarion calls for activism.

wrote to a friend in 1939, but the prominence of figures such young adult as Richard Wright and Langston Hughes was proof that Afri- can American authors “have overcome the cultural and intellectual isolation” that, until recently, they experienced. Ellison’s cultural landscape expanded vastly when he was in residence at the American Academy in Rome in 1955: “Ruins, architecture, art, palaces, churches and graveyards, my head is whirling with it all.” Surely, he said, “human aspiration found its most magnificent expression here.” Among Ellison’s many literary correspondents was Saul Bellow, with whom he felt aesthetic camaraderie. Together, he wrote in 1959, “we’re moving toward an emancipation of our fiction from the clichés of recent styles and limitations of conception.” An impressively edited volume commemorates a canonical literary figure.

DICTIONARY OF THE UNDOING Freeman, John MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (192 pp.) $15.00 paper | Nov. 12, 2019 978-0-374-53885-9

A dictionary of political activism. Freeman (Writer-in-Residence/New York Univ.; Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation, 2017, etc.), editor of Freeman’s literary journal and executive editor of the Literary Hub, is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. As he writes, our government is like a house on fire, with a “will- fully ignorant and gloatingly cruel president.” Freeman argues that “we need to take the one tool being vandalized before our very eyes—language—and reclaim it, and redefine what it means to be an ethical citizen in the present moment.” He orga- nizes his appeal for action around 26 words, creating a “lexicon

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 51 For creative types, Friedman takes the pressure off, redefining success in more ways than reaching the limelight. and then we grew up

AND THEN WE GREW UP AMERICAN MANIFESTO On Creativity, Potential, Saving Democracy From and the Imperfect Art of Villains, Vandals, and Adulthood Ourselves Friedman, Rachel Garfield, Bob Penguin (256 pp.) Counterpoint (208 pp.) $17.00 paper | Dec. 31, 2019 $26.00 | Jan. 14, 2020 978-0-14-313212-7 978-1-64009-280-8

A writer and former violist examines The Peabody Award–winning co-host the delicate divide between giving up on of public radio’s On the Media offers his a dream and moving forward. take on how to make America great again When she was 11, Friedman (The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting despite Donald Trump and his enablers. Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unex Garfield’s Bedfellows ( , 2012, etc.) manifesto stands out pected Adventure, 2011) attended summer camp at the prestigious from those already published partly because of the specific Interlochen Center for the Arts, which “stoked…an ambition to proposals but mostly because of the breezy, often glib tone. achieve musical greatness.” Years later, she abandoned the musi- Some readers will appreciate the irreverence as they digest cal path she’d thought would propel her to glory and turned to the proposed solutions while others will find the tone jarring writing. Dismayed by her “failed potential,” she interviewed in the context of the serious subject matter. Before reaching her Interlochen classmates to learn where their ambitions led. the solutions portion of the manifesto, the author takes a stab Conversational anecdotes, memories, popular science, research at how the mess occurred. His primary culprit is the “well- on creativity, and a medley of quotes from Joan Didion, J.K. intentioned multiculturalism” espoused by progressive, liberal Rowling, and others form an intriguing, sometimes-indulgent citizens. Garfield suggests that the emphasis on personal iden- exploration of talent and expectation. Why some people com- tity has damaged our sense of common cause, atomized soci- bine ability, luck, grit, and opportunity to break away from ety, and, most significantly, led to a vicious backlash among the pack while others quit remains unanswerable, but Fried- millions of citizens who voted Donald Trump into office and man explores the topic with an appealing mix of trepidation gave Republican Party faux patriots control of Congress. The and curiosity. Once a fan of the myth that true “art monsters” antagonism between belief systems became so toxic, Garfield are single-minded individuals who sacrifice everything for the argues, that in some respects, the nation has become a fascist sake of mastery, the author encountered adults whose quieter state. The author also places blame on mainstream media pursuits challenged her conception of contentment. From a moguls and their newsroom functionaries. Without vigorous high school music teacher who balances creativity with fam- journalism that can be trusted to disseminate accurate, fair ily life to a scriptwriter who doesn’t equate the time he spends reports, the current national crisis shows few signs of abating. working with what he gets in return to a dancer-turned–Pilates As Garfield rightly points out, the respectable, trustworthy instructor, her classmates paint a mature alternative to the journalists who remain are too few and scattered to serve as winner-take-all view of a fruitful life. Though they often dwell an effective watchdog on government and corporate waste, on self-criticism, Friedman’s reflections on her own zigzagging fraud, and abuse. So-called digital journalists, writes Garfield, journey are striking and raw. The author chronicles familiar often spread lies and find receptive audiences among con- doubts and daydreams on alternative futures with a bemused sumers who don’t do their homework. The author also offers tone that changes over time. Sections on social media’s ten- some proposed solutions, including vastly improved, signifi- dency to fuel comparisons add tension to already heavy ideals. cantly more responsible journalism. “We can hold our heads in When the author finds that an ordinary life after a precocious despair,” writes Garfield, “or we can repair what has been put start is fine, it’s anticlimactic but palpably relieving. asunder. Wishful thinking, you say? Pollyanna, you say? Totally For creative types, Friedman takes the pressure fucking delusional, you say? No. It can be done.” off, redefining success in more ways than reaching the An interesting manifesto that will incite debate, includ- limelight. ing whether it is overly simplistic and/or impractical.

52 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | THE CRIMINAL CHILD As journalist Gibian acknowledges, there is no shortage And Other Essays of information about Ruth Bader Ginsburg (b. 1933), whose Genet, Jean rise to the Supreme Court and accomplishments within it Trans. by Mandell, Charlotte & have been well-documented. So, why this chatty little volume? Zuckerman, Jeffrey “This book,” writes the author, “explores the idea that there New York Review Books (144 pp.) are lessons we can all take away from RBG’s life and apply to $15.95 paper | Dec. 17, 2019 our own lives to maybe become a little more successful in our 978-1-68137-361-4 relationships and careers and efforts to create change.” Unfor- tunately for readers, the “secrets of success” invoked by the Literary odds and ends from the con- subtitle don’t offer much in the way of revelation. “Ginsburg troversial French writer. is proof that working hard and turning in your best work actu- This brief collection of eight essays ally does pay off,” writes Gibian in the first of nine chapters, by Genet (1910-1986) were written from 1949 to 1958. All which are divided into three sections “because in full cheesi- are deeply infused with his sexuality, philosophy, and bizarre, ness, there are three branches of government and the Supreme metaphysical writing style. In a footnote to one of them, he Court is made up of nine justices.” We learn that Ginsburg writes, “with my cold chisel, words, detached from language, overcame childhood hardships and considerable gender dis- neat blocks, are also tombs.” The titular essay, from 1948, was crimination to become “a rock star litigator” and a feminist originally written for radio broadcast but was never recorded. “badass.” When life presented challenges, she persevered. The Genet was then facing a prison term, and the station wanted author also emphasizes the importance of having a supportive to avoid a scandal that his “deliberately provocative rhetoric” partner or a network of support, because “we all need to have

would have caused. Drawing on his experiences as a criminal young adult child incarcerated in Mettray, a correctional facility, Genet proclaims his “love for these ruthless little kids” and his dis- dain for the society that punishes them: “I want to insult yet again the insulters.” “Adame Miroir” is a short, surrealist ballet/screenplay “for the Grand-Guignol.” In “Letter to Lenor Fini,” Genet writes to a female painter with whom he worked. In a style exuberant in image and metaphor, he describes works “voluptuous and sprinkled with arsenic.” They “seem to me comparable to the complex architecture of swamp odors.” And that is a compliment! An admiring piece on Jean Cocteau praises the “goodness” of his heart. His work “lets anguish be discovered in the fissures.” A lengthy, dazzling piece on Alberto Giacometti, which is part interview and part critique, reads like a magazine profile. In his work, Genet sees “sculp- tures standing up in their bones” with a “strange power to penetrate that realm of death.” The final piece, sensitive and erotic, is “The Tightrope Walker,” about Abdallah Bentaga, whom Genet was emotionally attached to. The author waxes lovingly euphoric about the performer’s artistry on the wire and the “bulge accentuated in your bodysuit, where your balls are enclosed.” An introduction with biographical and historical contexts would have been helpful. For fans.

THE RBG WAY Secrets of Success of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Gibian, Rebecca Skyhorse Publishing (216 pp.) $17.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 978-1-5107-4958-0

A self-help book distills the experiences and inspiration of the Supreme Court justice into a series of life lessons.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 53 people there to remind us to sleep, shower, and eat” and that narrative is occasionally scattershot, he effectively captures the “while anger sometimes has a place in this world, it is worth try- disturbing nature of this new global threat. ing to persuade someone to join your line of thought through A credible, breathless account of the discovery and cold hard facts and a strong argument.” Ginsburg’s career has defeat (perhaps) of major Russian computer cyberattacks. certainly demonstrated that persuasive reasoning works better than lashing out angrily. In summary, Gibian concludes, “if you want to be like the Notorious RBG, you must follow the FIRST, THEY ERASED path that she laid out: roll up your sleeves, do the work (and do OUR NAME it well) to create change through incremental steps.” A Rohingya Speaks Good advice from a life well lived but nothing you Habiburahman with Ansel, Sophie didn’t already know. Trans. by Reece, Andrea Scribe (256 pp.) $19.00 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 SANDWORM 978-1-947534-85-8 A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s A survivor of an Asian military dicta- Most Dangerous Hackers torship recalls his brutal childhood and, Greenberg, Andy later, human rights activism. Doubleday (368 pp.) Habiburahman was a boy when Myanmar outlawed his $28.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 ethnic group, the Rohingya, stripping its members of citizen- 978-0-385-54440-5 ship and turning them into a stateless people. His book is a rare account of growing up during the subsequent catastrophe Cyberwar Armageddon hasn’t hap- for the Rohingya, more than 700,000 of whom have since fled pened yet, but it’s coming, according to across the border to Bangladesh. Writing in a spare and unre- this disturbing but convincing journalis- lenting present tense—as if to emphasize that the disaster is tic chronicle. ongoing—the author describes how he and other Rohingya Wired senior writer Greenberg (This Machine Kills Secrets: were reviled as “black infidels,” sent into forced labor, and How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim To Free the trapped in villages they couldn’t leave without a permit. As a World’s Information, 2012) begins in 2014, when an analyst at a young adult, writes Habiburahman, he had to use fake identity small, private intelligence firm learned of a security flaw in papers to study at a technical institute, where he worked with Microsoft Office, “one of the world’s most ubiquitous pieces pro-democracy companions until someone betrayed the group of software,” and Russian malware designed to take advantage and he was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned. After a jailbreak, of it. Reverse engineering soon revealed that this malicious he fled to Thailand and Malaysia and then, via a smuggler’s boat, software, Sandworm, was not the usual effort to spread disin- to Australia, where he spent more than 30 months in detention. formation or steal data but was instead meant to cause physical Eventually, he lost faith that the needed help for the Rohingya damage. The analyst, Greenberg writes, considered this a whole would come from Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto head new ball game: “Like many others in the cybersecurity industry, of state, and he became an activist. Written with French journal- and particularly those with a military background, he’d been ist Ansel, the book doesn’t explain how Habiburahman recon- expecting cyberwar’s arrival: a new era that would finally apply structed his memories of events that occurred when he couldn’t hackers’ digital abilities to the older, more familiar worlds of have been taking notes; at times, the facts are open to question war and terrorism.” In 42 short chapters, the author chronicles or appear to conflict with remarks he has made in interviews. his travels around the world, with an emphasis on Ukraine, to Most notably, he writes in an afterword that he has cut ties to his describe the consequences of Sandworm and the efforts of mother, believing his family needed “to become self-sufficient,” software experts to analyze, ward off, and (ultimately) repair a statement that’s hard to fathom after he’s shown repeatedly the damage. Ukraine, a test bed for cyberwarfare, remains in how hard it is even for a young Rohingya man to achieve self- the crosshairs of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who ordered sufficiency. Despite such inconsistencies, accounts by journal- the invasion of Crimea in 2014, supports a nasty insurgency in ists and other observers support the broad outlines and some border areas, and opposes closer Ukrainian ties with Western particulars of the moral outrages he describes, so his story is a Europe and NATO. Since the invasion, Russian hackers have useful addition to the literature of human rights abuses. been honing their skills on Ukraine’s infrastructure, shutting A refugee courageously recalls his persecution in a down electric grids, internet, railroads, hospitals, and even book with some iffy details. ATMs. Confident that America’s systems are less vulnerable and hobbled by Donald Trump’s clear admiration of Putin, U.S. leaders have downplayed the risk, although Russia and a host of other hackers are already flexing their muscles and wreaking havoc across the world. Throughout, Greenberg writes in the fast-paced style that characterized his first book, and while the

54 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | A devastating examination of the limits of the written word. the dolphin letters, 1970-1979

THE DOLPHIN LETTERS, MEDIEVAL BODIES 1970-1979 Life and Death in the Elizabeth Hardwick, Middle Ages Robert Lowell, and Hartnell, Jack Their Circle Norton (352 pp.) Hardwick, Elizabeth & Lowell, Robert $29.95 | Nov. 12, 2019 Ed. by Hamilton, Saskia 978-1-324-00216-1 Farrar, Straus and Giroux (560 pp.) $50.00 | Dec. 10, 2019 An in-depth look at the medieval 978-0-374-14126-4 conception of the human body. Some readers may be put off initially A peculiarly fascinating volume by this head-to-toe dissection of the body, containing hundreds of letters between poet Robert Lowell but they should press on to encounter a delightful mixture of (1917-1977) and his estranged wife, novelist and critic Elizabeth thought, experiment, discovery, and religion. In his debut book, Hardwick (1915-2007). Hartnell (Art History/Univ. of East Anglia, Norwich) uses his Beginning in 1970, Lowell was living in England, where he knowledge of art history and the drawings and paintings that met and later married his third wife, Caroline Blackwood. Hard- showed then-current thinking on organs, bones, blood, and the wick was living in New York with their teenage daughter, Har- body in general. The key to understanding this era is the inter- riet, during the school year and on the coast of Maine during the action among diverse cultures. “A shared classical heritage unde- summer. This is a long, lush, and impeccably footnoted volume, niably binds together the medieval history of the regions on all

and yet some of the most intriguing action happens between sides of the Mediterranean,” writes the author, “separating them young adult the lines. Poet Hamilton (English/Barnard Coll.; Corridor, 2014, somewhat from the busy parallel stories of the Far East, India, etc.), who also edited The Letters of Robert Lowell (2005), sets up China, sub-Saharan Africa or the pre-Columbian Americas. the book with a well-informed section of biographical context Three principal inheritors of the legacy of Rome [Byzantium, and a chronology covering both the two writers and the broader Western and Central Europe, and the Islamic world] come to political arena. As a result, before the exchange of letters begins, the fore, each representing a different texture of the medieval readers knows what Hardwick doesn’t: that Lowell, playfully bodies that I want to try to trace.” With the exception of the depicting his time in England and dithering about when he will Crusades, the Muslim kingdoms thrived through tolerance for return to the States, is already deep in a relationship with Black- other religions and cultures, enabling trade and, most impor- wood. This quality gives the letters the sometimes-voyeuristic tantly, the sharing of ideas. For Hartnell, two of the most inter- thrill of watching a slow motion train wreck. As Hardwick gains esting illustrations are the “Hebrew Bloodletting Figure” and awareness, the dynamic between the two becomes apparent: the “German Wound Man.” The bloodletting figure provided Hardwick, forced to be the practical one, dealt with Harriet’s a map of the most efficacious spots to bleed a patient while the daily life and begged Lowell to pay his taxes while Lowell, fre- Wound Man offered cures for punctures and other wounds as quently hospitalized for bipolar disorder, wrote whimsical let- well as instructions on the placement of a styptic. Among other ters to Harriet and focused on his own internal feelings. All the intriguing topics, the author discusses a 10th-century Arabic while, they exchanged their thoughts about their work and their author who provided dental advice and instructions on suturing reading. In addition to the marital betrayal, the volume covers wounds. As Hartnell shows, medieval conceptions of medicine another, more insidious one: Lowell, writing the confessional and the body fluctuated between tangible and fantastic and volume of poetry called The Dolphin, appropriated and changed often conflated thoughts, philosophy, and religion with artistic lines from Hardwick’s letters to create a series of poems about imagination. When we consider that observational dissections his estrangement from her and love for Blackwood. The book didn’t regularly take place until the 1500s, the scope of the work includes not just Hardwick’s shocked responses to the poems, of these cultures is quite impressive. but also the more outraged reactions of poets Adrienne Rich, A wise, eye-opening interdisciplinary view of an era who broke off her friendship with Lowell, and Elizabeth Bishop, that “featured numerous exciting conceptions of the who famously told Lowell that “art just isn’t worth that much.” human form.” (95 color illustrations) A devastating examination of the limits of the written word. (8 pages of b/w illustrations; 19 b/w illustrations in text)

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 55

ON THE COVER Edward Snowden

THE EXILED NSA WHISTLEBLOWER TELLS HIS SIDE OF THE STORY IN A NEW BOOK, PERMANENT RECORD By Gregory McNamee Photo courtesy Frederick Florin-AFP-Getty Images revoked his passport. Six years later, he remains there, with three pending charges awaiting him back home, two under the rubric of the 1917 Es- pionage Act, which would mean the possibility of immediate long-term imprisonment without the benefit of a public trial. Speaking to Kirkus Reviews through a back channel befitting his former profession, the 36-year-old Snowden notes that he revealed that evidence to journalists for a reason: They would act as filters and help determine which of the thousands upon thousands of pages of data was relevant and worthy of publicizing. Snowden speaks to a conference in France via video link earlier “I could have posted a bunch of NSA documents to the this year. internet, and I probably could have done that without Edward Snowden didn’t set out to become a even leaving my job or getting caught,” he says. “Why household name. A retiring person, more at home I didn’t—why I decided to go to journalists and avail with computers than people, he joined the CIA as a myself of the freedom of the press—is a major topic young man and later went to work for the National in the book.” Security Agency, mixing time on the Beltway with That book is a carefully written blend of mem- assignments abroad as an IT guy. He discovered that oir and exposé. Snowden argues that the Bill of his bosses, as he writes in his new memoir, Permanent Rights and other foundational documents were Record (Metropolitan/Henry Holt, Sept. 17), didn’t meant to serve as restraints on a government that understand a key fact: The higher a “computer guy” is forever inclined to amass more and more pow- rises in the organization, “and the more systems-lev- er. Those documents, he argues, are “an anti-effi- el privileges he has, the more access he has to virtu- ciency manifesto” to brake such inclinations, writ- ally every byte of his employer’s digital existence.” ten by people who saw where too-powerful govern- It was true of Snowden, and when he came ment could lead. across mountains of evidence that the intelligence The intelligence community for which he community was gathering data on ordinary citi- worked does its job in a different spirit: It knows zens, he revealed it to journalists Laura Poitras and that knowledge is power, and it seeks to know as Glenn Greenwald. That act immediately propelled much as it can about enemies foreign and domes- him into the headlines in the spring of 2013. Soon tic; real, potential, and imagined. Snowden notes afterward, hunted by his former colleagues, he left that other institutions still act as checks on our the country but was stranded in Moscow on the spies: “Several times in the last few years, the Su- way to Latin America after the U.S. government preme Court has recognized that the Fourth

56 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

Amendment still applies in the digital age by hold- treason. He begs to differ. He notes that the Espio- ing that police need a warrant to track the lo- nage Act makes no distinction between someone’s cations of our phones or place GPS devices on selling secrets to an enemy power or leaking docu- our cars or search our phones after an arrest.” In ments to the press as an act of public service—and Permanent Record, he writes repeatedly of his re- he certainly considers his revelations to be just the spect for the Constitution, the document that en- kind of act that benefits a public that has no idea shrines such protections and that makes the work of how much information has been collected on its of law enforcement, by design, harder and less apt members, gleaned from emails, phone calls, and to be capricious. The fact that he kept a copy close other private communications. at hand and read it on lunch breaks at his NSA “As for a lesson for these readers to take away,” he desk, he writes, “freaked out my co-workers.” says, “I hope they will understand that there are no The Fourth Amendment, Snowden holds, is on heroic people, only heroic acts, and that every one his side. Even so, he harbors few illusions that in an of them—every one of us—will face moments in life era of mass surveillance—part of the intelligence where the choice to act heroically is available. Every community’s sweeping response to 9/11—organi- one of us will have to decide at some juncture wheth- zations like the CIA or the NSA will ever be held er to take an easy path that may not align with our to account or honor the Constitution that they are deepest values or to choose a more difficult path that pledged to preserve and protect. The temptation is truer to who we are or who we want to become.” to violate it is too great; as an intelligence agent, he says, “you develop a disregard bordering on con- Gregory McNamee is a contributing editor. Permanent tempt for the opinions of people outside the inner Record is reviewed on page 75.

circle. Security-cleared technologists can be even young adult worse, because they have both knowledge and skills that they believe to be exceptional.” Snowden keeps himself well under wraps at his Moscow home, varying his routes while out and about and disguising his technology to avoid being spied on—and surely such efforts are being made, not just at Langley and Fort Meade, but also in his country of exile, since he hasn’t been shy in criticiz- ing Russia for its “repressive surveillance possibilities” and suppression of democratic protests and movements. Allowing that “there’s no such thing as safe, there’s only safer,” he notes that ordinary citizens can make their own activities online a little harder to trace. “Everyone should be using en- crypted messaging apps like Signal or Wire; everyone should be browsing the internet using Tor; and everyone should be using a password manager (no more ILOVEMOM1234).” After all, he writes in Permanent Record, the little communications devices that we carry with us are nothing but spy machines, keeping tabs on our comings and goings and those with whom we come and go, “census-takers that remember everything and forgive nothing.” No, Edward Snowden didn’t set out to be a household name, but neither does he seem to have regrets for an act that many politicians have called

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 57 A tender and engrossing travelogue that fully embodies “what it means to be a man and a father.” once more to the rodeo

A CRISIS OF PEACE Nile was just 5 when his father decided to take him on a George Washington, the road trip to create lasting, significant memories. The firstborn Newburgh Conspiracy, and son of the author, who is white, and his Haitian wife, Belzie, a the Fate of the American middle school teacher, Nile had progressed from a tantrum- Revolution filled toddlerhood into a “sensitive, big-hearted kid, quick to Head, David fall in love with new people and places.” Together, they set out Pegasus (400 pp.) from Massachusetts on a 10-day road trip with “impossibly $28.95 | Dec. 3, 2019 high” expectations, and they hoped to end up at the annual two- 978-1-64313-081-1 night rodeo in Hennick’s hometown of Maxwell, Iowa, a place he hadn’t visited since his teenage years. The trip was a fasci- A tale from the very beginnings of the nating exercise in parental patience for the author, who was republic—and of its disaffected military. chronically challenged with weight issues and excessive drink- As Head (History/Univ. of Central Florida; Privateers of the ing. The narrative progresses day to day as Hennick effectively Americas: Spanish American Privateering From the United States incorporates his adventures with Nile with personal anecdotes in the Early Republic, 2015, etc.) observes early on, the British about the author’s relationship with Belzie, his experiences as didn’t march away after Yorktown, never to return. Instead, a father, and his own family history (“divorce is the organizing they retained control over New York as well as Savannah and principle”). Along the way, father and son grew closer through Charleston and held them for another year and a half until the stirring and educational conversations about the racial politics Treaty of Versailles was ratified. George Washington took his of skin color and baseball history in Cooperstown, New York, as tired army to the banks of the Hudson River to keep an eye on well as challenging swimming lessons. After reuniting with Bel- the British, and there, at Newburgh, a “crisis of peace” emerged, zie and his daughter, “Peanut,” in Chicago, they made it to Iowa; one that pitted some of Washington’s officers against Congress. at this point, Hennick painfully lingers over the impact of his For its part, the Continental Army was still irregularly equipped lackluster relationship with his errant, indifferent father. Still, and poorly paid while Congress and its civilian employees he was able to maintain a cleareyed resolve. “I want to be for counted on regular paychecks and led comfortable lives in my children the father I never had: present, sober, responsible, Philadelphia. Head recounts the origins of the revolt that came hard-working, competent, loving, organized, attentive.” Par- close to erupting within the ranks of the revolutionary forces, ents will find a great amount of relatable material in Hennick’s pitting the military against the government. Along the way, he affecting, often poignant memoir. “One day,” he writes, “all that examines Congress’ monetary policy and notes that financing will be left of me is what my children remember.” the Revolution had led to near ruin not just because of the huge A tender and engrossing travelogue that fully embodies cost of the war, but also its inability to collect taxes across state “what it means to be a man and a father.” lines, leading to “a canyon of debt” that made the dollar effectively worthless. Robert Morris, appointed superintendent of finance, floated credit from his own fortune until Alexander AN UNCONVENTIONAL WIFE Hamilton could come along to straighten up the house, even The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold as Washington quelled an uprising in the making that might Hoban, Mary have allowed Britain “to steal a victory in the end.” The author’s Scribe (320 pp.) narrative has its moments, but his approach is of the rocks- $30.00 | Jan. 7, 2020 for-jocks and gods-for-clods variety, as when he adverts to The 978-1-947534-82-7 Godfather (“But just when Morris thought he was out, Congress and the army pulled him back in”) and affects breeziness (“the An illuminating portrait of a Victo- British Army was really good”), slips that do the book no favors. rian wife and mother who was rescued A footnote to the larger history of the Revolution, of from silence. some interest to buffs. (16 pages of color illustrations) Recipient of the inaugural Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, an award honoring the esteemed Australian biographer, historian Hoban ONCE MORE TO makes her debut as a biographer with an absorbing, deeply per- THE RODEO ceptive life of Julia Sorell Arnold (1826-1888). Grandmother to A Memoir novelist Aldous Huxley and his brother, biologist Julian Huxley; Hennick, Calvin sister-in-law of poet and critic Matthew Arnold; and mother of Pushcart (220 pp.) bestselling novelist Mary (Mrs. Humphry) Ward, Julia, after her $16.95 paper | Dec. 10, 2019 marriage to Tom Arnold, became ensconced in one of the most 978-1-888889-97-0 famous families in 19th-century England. As the “ruling belle” of Hobart, Australia, she caught Tom’s eye in February 1850, and the A father-son soul-searching expedi- romance quickly progressed; in less a month, they were engaged. tion forms the heart of Boston-based Two months later, they married. Although Julia often found Tom’s writer Hennick’s moving memoir. jealousy irritating and knew that he believed husbands should

58 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | master their wives, she was enamored by his “earnest, sensitive insurance can make life a living hell, and partly about the effects nature, his deeply spiritual temperament, and his self-deprecat- on a marriage from such unexpected strains. “Years of writing ing humour.” For his part, he absolutely adored her. Drawing on and columnizing on a daily basis had made writing reflexive to archival sources, histories, and memoirs, Hoban creates a reve- me,” writes Holston. “I try not to let any experience go to waste. latory, sympathetic portrait of a woman whose married life was To paraphrase an old saying, that which doesn’t kill you makes undermined by financial pressures and a rift between husband for a good story.” An appendix includes useful information and wife that proved unbridgeable. In Tasmania and later in Ire- about the benefits and risks of cochlear implants. land and England, the couple was saddled with debt; and through A worthwhile memoir about hearing impairment and the years, with eight children to support, debts increased. Money struggling with the complex medical community. (photos) was an enduring problem, but religion even greater. Tom’s early skepticism took a sudden turn when he decided to convert to Roman Catholicism, a resolve that Julia met “with a torrent of AT THE EDGE OF TIME hate and despair.” The abyss between Anglicans and Catholics Exploring the Mysteries was profound. “Religion,” writes the author, “was never simply of Our Universe’s First about belief. It was about position, about economic stability, Seconds about possible trajectories, not just for Tom and Julia, but also Hooper, Dan for their children.” Risking the family’s well-being seemed to Princeton Univ. (248 pp.) Julia unconscionable, but she struggled with her decision to be, $24.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 as Tom put it, “a revolutionary wife or a Christian one.” She chose, 978-0-691-18356-5 at last, hard-won independence.

A sparkling biography and cultural history. (8-page b/w A fine history of the universe from young adult photo insert) the Big Bang to the present. Hooper (Astronomy and Astrophysics/ Univ. of Chicago Nature’s Blueprint: Supersymmetry and the Search for LIFE AFTER DEAF a Unified Theory of Matter and Force, 2009, etc.), a senior scientist in My Misadventures in Hearing the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at Fermilab, explains that the Loss and Recovery Big Bang is simply the consequence of rewinding time in today’s Holston, Noel universe, which is expanding and cooling. As time moves back- Skyhorse Publishing (240 pp.) ward, the cosmos shrinks and becomes hotter until, 13.8 bil- $24.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 lion years ago, according to calculations, it becomes infinitely 978-1-5107-4687-9 small and infinitely hot. During that early period, “matter likely interacted in ways that it no longer does, and space and time After losing most of his hearing in themselves may have behaved differently than they do in the 2010, a journalist’s frustration mounted world that we know.” Nothing existed except a uniform soup. as insurance and the medical community Since Einstein—whose theory of relativity provides the sci- entangled him in red tape. ence behind the Big Bang—proved that matter and energy are As a music lover who had spent much of his career in cover- equivalent, the particles that make up matter did not yet exist. age and criticism of popular culture, Holston faced a shocking After a few millionths of a second, the universe cooled enough transition when he awoke one morning to discover that he could for familiar subatomic particles (protons, neutrons, electrons) barely hear anything. Though there had been warning signs— to form, but it remained too hot for these to combine. The hearing aids and measurable loss—this was sudden, unexpected, universe was dark because charged particles (i.e., protons and and close to absolute. Thus began an extended period of difficult electrons) soak up light. At 380,000 years ago, the temperature adjustment: communicating at work with colleagues by email had dropped enough for these to combine into atoms. The and pen on paper, navigating marital turbulence, dealing with universe became electrically neutral, and light spread every- strangers who didn’t understand his condition or who thought where; it is still present in the cosmic microwave background. he lacked mental capacity. But the biggest issue was trying to Stars, galaxies, and planets followed. Progress in cosmology has figure out what had happened and how to fix it. Doctors weren’t increased our ignorance as well as our knowledge. A good sport, absolutely sure on the former, and their attempts to address the Hooper seems positively excited as he describes the discoveries latter caused even more frustration when an expensive cochlear of dark matter and dark energy, which reveal that everything implant failed to help. This left the author wondering “whether we observe represents less than 5% of the universe. Beginning something was still wrong with me systemically, something as with Carl Sagan’s Cosmos in 1980, Big Bang books have become yet undetected that was rendering the implant less effective, or a genre that curious readers should check out every few years whether the implant itself might be a problem.” Consultations to keep up with breakthroughs (gravity waves being the latest). with other doctors meant he had to go out of his insurance net- They can’t go wrong with Hooper’s. work, and haggling over the phone became nearly impossible A lucid account that is neither dumbed down nor overly due to his condition. This book is partly about how hearing loss difficult. (11 b/w illustrations) affects every aspect of one’s life, partly about how dealing with

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 59 Even though there is little derring-do, this is a delightful account of World War II espionage. agent jack

ALL MY CATS who had joined a tiny fascist group (Mussolini had many admir- Hrabal, Bohumil ers during his early years). While there, he was recruited as a spy Trans. by Wilson, Paul by an oddball anti-Bolshevik organization run by a wealthy busi- New Directions (120 pp.) nessman. Roberts turned out to have a talent for undercover $18.95 | Nov. 26, 2019 work, and MI5, Britain’s minuscule internal security agency, 978-0-8112-2895-4 was happy for assistance from this private intelligence service. Roberts continued to clerk, devoting free time to unpaid spying, T.S. Eliot wrote, “The Naming of at first on communists but then against British Nazi sympathiz- Cats is a difficult matter.” So is the killers. In 1940, finally flush with money, MI5 hired him full-time. ing of them. A different MI5 department handled German spies; Roberts’ Hrabal (Mr. Kafka: And Other Tales superiors concentrated on their British supporters, which, to From the Time of the Cult, 2015, etc.) states their surprise, were not scarce. Even during the war’s darkest at the outset of this memoir—set in 1983, 14 years before his days and with prewar fascists behind bars, a scattering of Brit- death at 82—that he loved cats. At his cottage in Kersko, an ons hoped for a Nazi victory. Their efforts revealed a mostly hour’s drive from Prague, he and his wife would open the door comic-opera incompetence, but MI5 took no chances, setting each morning, and “five grown cats would come charging into up a fake fifth-column organization with Roberts (“Agent Jack”) the kitchen and lap up two full bowls of milk.” Then, “meshugge posing as its Nazi agent/leader. A trickle of volunteers signed up Stunde, this crazy hour” would begin: cats racing around the cot- and recruited friends. Most varied from useless to wacky, but a tage, fighting over slippers, and so on. Hrabal loved “our chil- number “were capable of inflicting serious harm on the British dren” so much that he’d dry their paws when they came in from war effort. Had Roberts not posed as their Gestapo spymaster, the rain. But his wife often asked, “what are we going to do with they might have approached Germany directly themselves.” all those cats?” The author had an upsetting answer: When two Few were arrested, because a trial would have blown Roberts’ of them had five kittens apiece, he concluded that he had to cover. After an undistinguished postwar decade, Roberts retired “be the executioner” and control the population. So he lured six into obscurity. Many MI5 records from WWII were destroyed, kittens into a mailbag, took it to the woods, and beat them to and others remain classified. While there are no firsthand par- death. He feels this act was justified, yet those kittens “would ticipants alive to give evidence, Hutton has done an impressive haunt me like a bad conscience whenever I’d lie awake toward job assembling transcripts, letters, interviews, and declassified morning, unable to sleep.” The feelings these killings engen- documents into a delicious spy story. dered led him to write this thoughtful, if sometimes-repetitive, Even though there is little derring-do, this is a delight- essay on the nature of guilt. Was he not like soldiers who killed ful account of World War II espionage. (31 b/w photos) innocents during wartime? Isn’t killing just the nature of life, he argues, as when his two tabbies caught and tortured a bunny until it died of terror? This alternately sweet and gruesome WHITE NEGROES memoir challenges readers to think about their own actions When Cornrows Were in and their own vulnerability. Cats serve as a metaphor for the Vogue...and Other Thoughts many forms of guilt each person carries and the challenges of on Cultural Appropriation rationalizing problematic behavior. Indeed, what is one to do Jackson, Lauren Michele with all those cats? Beacon (184 pp.) A disturbing work that is deep but not inscrutable. $25.95 | Nov. 12, 2019 978-0-8070-1180-5

AGENT JACK A literary scholar examines the The True Story of MI5’s many ways in which African American Secret Nazi Hunter influences are incorporated, without Hutton, Robert acknowledgment or thanks, into the white cultural mainstream. St. Martin’s (336 pp.) Cultural appropriation, writes Jackson (English and African $29.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 American Studies/Northwestern Univ.), “gets a bad rap.” Rap, 978-1-250-22176-6 for instance, borrows from the styles of earlier generations— soul, disco, funk, even gospel—but includes the likes of Billy Though British Nazi sympathizers Joel and Paul Simon in its DNA. Appropriation, she writes, never posed a major threat, MI5 took “is everywhere, and it is inevitable,” though it is also a matter them seriously. This account of its ener- of power as much as artistic license: The culturally dominant getic battle makes entertaining reading. group gets away with borrowing fashions, musical styles, and Capably bringing to light a forgotten World War II story, language, developing “black aesthetics without black people.” British political correspondent Hutton (Would They Lie to You?: In a lucid explication of the work of appropriation in music, How To Spin Friends and Manipulate People, 2015) begins in the she examines borrowings not just by white artists such as Brit- 1920s with his major character, Eric Roberts, a bored bank clerk ney Spears, but also members of minority populations such as

60 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | Jennifer Lopez, who, by Jackson’s account, lifted liberally from note, he pulls it so hard”), and of course “Green Onions,” which a less-known artist named Ashanti. It’s Lopez’s good luck that countless kids use to learn keyboards. the borrowing, including the passing insertion of the N-word, A thoughtful autobiography that takes in not just the took place in a time when “the internet wasn’t then what the tunes, but the times that produced them—a delight for internet is now, and time forgives all slurs.” Pop star Pink took a fans. different course, gradually shedding any blackness in her sound, even as Miley Cyrus dropped her white-pop teen persona to embrace the hip-hop world and Khloé Kardashian did her hair LISTENING FOR AMERICA up in cornrows and called herself a “Bantu babe.” The author Inside the Great American ranges across a broad field of reference, writing of the appropri- Songbook From Gershwin to ation of the Southern-ism “chile” (child, that is) by means of the Sondheim TV show Real Housewives of Atlanta and the culinary borrowings Kapilow, Rob of Paula Deen, “white Mammy, plumping America one fried Liveright/Norton (448 pp.) delicacy at a time,” who got in trouble not for her lifting reci- $39.95 | Nov. 4, 2019 pes but instead for using the N-word. Jackson is evenhanded 978-1-63149-029-3 throughout, though there’s a welcome fire to her discussion, as when she writes, “America is addicted to hurting black people. A user-friendly guide to appreciating America is addicted to watching itself hurt black people.” show tunes. A revelatory, well-argued work of cultural criticism. Composer/conductor Kapilow’s (What Makes It Great: Short Masterpieces, Great Composers, 2011, etc.) popular NPR program,

What Makes It Great? inspired this lively and highly informa- young adult TIME IS TIGHT tive look at what makes musical show tunes great. Using 16 of My Life, Note by Note his favorite songs by eight of Broadway’s greatest songwriters, Jones, Booker T. he focuses on the “intersection between history and music,” Little, Brown (336 pp.) employing a “close-focus musical reading” of each song to $30.00 | Nov. 1, 2019 demonstrate how they are “deeply meaningful reflections of 978-0-316-48560-9 an evolving America finding its voice.” Kapilow includes basic musical notations to show how the songs’ notes, melodies, har- The legendary Stax artist and com- monies, and rhythms fit together to fashion masterpieces. Each poser looks back on a long, fruitful life chapter is a gem of explication and informed opinion. Jerome in music. Kern’s “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” from Show Boat, “turns “The truth is I was never in it for the on the relationship between black music and white music.” money. I loved the people and the music.” The “landmark” show, Kapilow writes, “radically widened the So writes Jones, the keyboard wizard who helmed Booker T. & dramatic range of the Broadway musical.” The final cadence The MG’s, so named for a car one of their producers owned, a in Kern’s “All the Things You Are,” from Very Warm for May, a group that touched off a revolution in Southern soul music that “complete flop,” is “one of the most remarkable in the Ameri- cleared a path for Otis Redding, Irma Thomas, and dozens of can Songbook.” George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” from Girl other players. Remarkably, given the time and place, Jones’ band Crazy, with its gay, Jewish, and Native American sensibilities, is was interracial, with guitarist Steve Cropper and, later, bassist the “voice of a southern black community in a work that would Duck Dunn adding to the mix. The author writes about grow- ultimately become the quintessential American opera.” Har- ing up in a segregated South where it was entirely unexpected old Arlen “became famous overnight thanks to the success of a that he should know the likes of Dvorak and “Clair de Lune,” single song,” “Stormy Weather,” from The Cotton Club Parade of music that, along with church gospel, worked its way into com- 1933. Before The Wizard of Oz film was released in 1939, studio positions such as “Green Onions”—which, as it happens, was head Louis B. Mayer wanted to cut out Arlen’s iconic “Over the born as “Funky Onions” but was renamed for fear that the word Rainbow.” Kapilow considers Stephen Sondheim “one of the would scare off listeners in that benighted time. Jones reflects greatest innovators in the history of the musical theater.” The deeply on matters of race and the many injustices he had to author also discusses Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rog- endure. He’s at the top of his form, clearly enjoying the task, ers, and Leonard Bernstein, and the prologue contains useful when he writes about music, however. One of the book’s many information about minstrel shows, vaudeville, revues, operetta, highlights is his mystified childhood realization that while “C ragtime, the blues, and jazz. was the natural key for the earth, humans, and the universe at A seamless blend of music, history, and biography. (100 large,” other chords had their say, too: B flat for the clarinet, a music examples) discovery that “wreaked havoc in my young, developing mind— to find out the C was not really a C, but a B flat in clarinet world.” Fortunately, he overcame his shock to write tunes that shaped the zeitgeist of 1960s pop, such as “Hip Hug-Her” (“the sound… makes it seem like Duck is going to break the string on every

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 61 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Jeannie Vanasco

AS A TEENAGER, THE AUTHOR WAS RAPED BY A BEST FRIEND. FOURTEEN YEARS LATER SHE INITIATED A CONVERSATION WITH HIM ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED By Marion Winik Photo Drenner courtesy Dennis to me or how things would unfold. As I transcribed our conversations, there were things I might have wanted to censor out, but I left them in.

After each conversation, you get together to discuss what was said with female friends. My friends helped me process what had happened— some of them have also been raped, and because of those experiences, they encouraged me to ask harder questions. Their prominence in the book shows how important a support network is, not just for rape survivors, but for everybody.

One friend points out that your book participates in the #MeToo genre but says something a little bit different. What is the “little bit different”? I think it’s having the conversation, listening to him, letting him have a voice. Honestly, when I was working on this, I was sick to my stomach every day. Thinking about what I was doing, it felt so wrong. I was so nervous about Among the swelling ranks of #MeToo narratives, releasing this book. Jeannie Vanasco’s Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl (Tin House, Oct. 1) stands out. In this work that It’s pretty controversial to let the rapist have a voice. combines the techniques of memoir with those of jour- Yet he seems to accept full blame for his actions. nalism, Vanasco contacts a man who used to be a close Yes—but what disturbs me about our conversation friend, even after he raped her one night in his basement. is the fact that he said all the right things. He said all They fell out of touch years ago…until the day Vanasco the right things back when we were friends, too. That tracked him down and asked him if he would participate doesn’t mean he was lying but that our words and our ac- in a book project. tions don’t always align the way we think they will. Mark didn’t think he was capable of rape—and I didn’t think Is the book what it seems—the real-time journal of I would handle our conversations the way I did. I didn’t an investigation? think I would be so accommodating and concerned Yes, very much so, starting in January 2018 and going about how he felt. through August. I didn’t know if Mark would agree to talk Yes, he did agree to the project, and yes, he did try to

62 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | give honest answers, but one sticking point for me is that he’s withheld the story from his parents all this time. I may be 35 years old—but I still want to tell his parents! I was so close with them, and I could never explain what happened. He said he was protecting them, but I feel he was protecting himself. And men in general, because the longer we go on thinking certain men are incapable of THE BROKEN ROAD rape, the harder it will be for survivors to come forward. George Wallace and a Daughter’s Journey to Have you continued to be in contact with him? Reconciliation Kennedy, Peggy Wallace We haven’t been, and he didn’t insist on reading the book Bloomsbury (304 pp.) before publication, but I just heard from him today and $28.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 am sending him a copy. And now he says if his family 978-1-63557-365-7 reads it, so be it. That means a lot. A segregationist’s daughter recalls growing up on the wrong side of history in her debut memoir. Marion Winik, author of The Big Book of the Dead, teaches Kennedy, who lives in Montgomery, Alabama, makes it memoir at the University of Baltimore. Things We Didn’t Talk clear that she has no plans to whitewash the legacy of her father, About When I Was a Girl received a starred review in the Sept. four-term Alabama governor George Wallace (1919-1998), who proclaimed: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segre- 1, 2019, issue. gation forever.” The author writes that when Wallace denied any role in the brutal assaults on civil rights marchers in Selma, on the day known as Bloody Sunday, he resembled “Pontius Pilate washing his hands” of guilt. However, she tries gently to correct

a few misperceptions of her father. When Wallace renounced young adult his views on segregation after an assassination attempt left him a paraplegic, many observers saw it as another crass political move, but the author notes that in private conversations late in life, he was sincerely “ashamed and regretful.” She also shows poignantly the toll his actions took on his family and draws parallels between his tactics and those of Donald Trump. Before Wallace persuaded the Alabama legislature to change the law to allow him to serve more than one term as governor, he had his wife, Lurleen, run as his stand-in despite a recent diagnosis of uterine cancer; she died after 15 months in office. The author has suffered from chronic depression and received electroconvulsive therapy for “reactive psychosis caused by stress” even as she’s tried to ease others’ pain through civil rights activism. She doesn’t say whether the ECT helped or how she evolved from loyal daughter to social justice advocate—did she have a Dama- scene moment?—two of many subjects on which she seems to repress as much as express. Kennedy tells her story well, but she leaves the impression that—whether because of her Southern good manners or because some subjects are still too painful to talk about—her history involves more than she can yet say. A fair-minded memoir and portrayal of an exception- ally divisive civil rights–era politician.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 63 A book that belongs on every designer’s shelf—and that consumers of design will enjoy, too. user friendly

THAT WILD COUNTRY THE THANK-YOU PROJECT An Epic Journey Through the Cultivating Happiness One Past, Present, and Future of Letter of Gratitude at a Time America’s Public Lands Kho, Nancy Davis Kenyon, Mark Running Press (208 pp.) Little A (300 pp.) $22.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 $24.95 | Dec. 1, 2019 978-0-7624-6845-4 978-1-5420-4304-5 How writing letters helped the A nature writer and hunting and fish- author better appreciate her life. ing podcaster offers an account of his When freelance writer Kho (The travels in and the history of American Family Mix: Essays on Family Life From MidlifeMixtape.com, 2013) public lands. turned 50, she decided to mark the year by writing 50 letters to American citizens, writes Kenyon, “are collective co-owners her family, friends, and anyone else who had motivated or guided of…approximately 640 million acres” of land designated for out- her in her life. One of the first letters she wrote was to her father, door recreational activities like camping, hiking, hunting, and an act that gained further significance when he was diagnosed fishing. In his first book, the author explores a variety of fed- with cancer. Through the act of writing, the author discovered erally protected natural areas, including Yellowstone National forgotten moments that have shaped her life, making her even Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Arches National more grateful for having lived them, including those that caused Park, while delving into the embattled history of America’s pain. When she was done writing, she printed out copies of all wild places. Born into a family of Michigan hunters and anglers, the letters so she could read them and relive her thoughts, which Kenyon’s passion for the outdoors developed after college. His reinforced the feelings of love and bounty that she obtained from research into American public lands transformed him into a these people and events. Kho’s personal story is intertwined with political advocate who, over the course of 18 months, traveled guidelines on how to start your own letter-writing project. She across the United States to ground himself in the “national for- lists the obvious choices for such letters—among others, parents, ests, monuments, wildlife refuges and wilderness…that hung in siblings, spouses, children, extended family—but also provides the balance.” Camping trips, like one he took through the “shim- other interesting choices, including a doctor or dentist, favorite mering plains and badland buttes” of North Dakota’s Theodore artist or musician, or even an ex-partner. She notes that while Roosevelt National Park, made the author aware that such many of these letters may never be sent to the recipient for one areas received federal protection only because champions like reason or another, it does not negate the positive effect of writ- Roosevelt stood up to industrialists and developers who sought ing it. Kho also moves beyond people and includes places, home- to use the land for profit. Laws, such as Roosevelt’s Antiquities towns, hobbies, ideas, etc. The last letter, she writes, should be to Act of 1906, granted presidents sole executive power to “desig- yourself as you think about all the previous letters you’ve written. nate lands as having ‘historical landmarks, historic preservation Although emails, texts, and tweets have taken over much of life, structures and other objects of scientific interest.’ ” However, this old-fashioned method of communication has the potential legislation has never guaranteed that natural areas would receive to increase one’s happiness as well as that of the recipient. Kho’s protected status or that lands with that status would remain safe idea is simple and quaint and will appeal to those seeking to from predation. Kenyon cites the case of the 1980s Sagebrush understand “the importance of expressing appreciation.” Rebellion, which sought to place control of federally protected A genial volume about a fun approach to showing oth- Western lands into the hands of privatization-friendly state ers how much they mean to you. governments. The author also references Donald Trump’s legal encroachments on the Antiquities Act and reductions of such wilderness areas as the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. USER FRIENDLY Thoughtfully observed throughout, Kenyon’s book offers fond How the Hidden Rules of recollections of his experiences in the American outdoors while Design Are Changing the reminding readers of their obligation to protect their right to Way We Live, Work, and Play lands too often taken for granted. Kuang, Cliff with Fabricant, Robert An intimate and informative journey. (photos) MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (416 pp.) $28.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 978-0-374-27975-2

A readable, instructive study of the role of design in making our lives easier to live. Forget about the perfect mousetrap—how about a better fly swatter? A century ago, an enterprising fellow named

64 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | Henry Dreyfuss—a hero among many in design editor Kuang Marx and Disraeli set the tone for “a century of Jewish inven- and designer/writer Fabricant’s lively book—came up with one. tion,” unafraid of criticism from those in power. They paved “The paddle had concentric rings like a pistol target,” write the the way for diverse successors, as well, including Trotsky, Sarah authors, “which made swatting flies into a game.” It was a tossed- Bernhardt, Jonas Salk, and through to Larry Page, Sergey Brin, off design, but it had a singular virtue: It was self-explanatory and Mark Zuckerberg. Taking us into many spheres of endeavor, “so that the user could readily understand all its functions.” Not Lebrecht offers revealing portraits of and stories about these that a fly swatter has all that many functions, but Dreyfuss’ Top- Jews, practicing and not, as they crossed artistic boundaries, erator washing machine did; with easy-to-read controls, it was a advanced science, and reshaped myriad aspects of Western revolutionary and fast-selling device. A lesson there is that sim- society in the period through the 1947 founding of Israel. He plifying things so they become second nature is never a bad idea. provides nuanced explorations of individuals from Einstein, “a Neither is reading the wind and the zeitgeist to figure out where religious man of no religion, a perfect Jewish paradox,” to Kafka, needs lie that may not have been imagined before. That was the who knows “something terrible is about to happen and there case with a different kind of 911 alert that recognized the fact is nothing anyone can do about it.” Written with passion and that most attacks on our persons come not from strangers but authority, this book shows how these great minds always took from people we know—and voilà, a device was born that sum- a different point of view—and changed how we see the world. moned a concierge to provide “a plausible excuse to dip out of Lebrecht also includes a helpful glossary of Jewish terms. whatever situation you were in, if needed.” For the last century, An absorbing, well-told story of Jewish achievement the authors write, the designer’s great challenge has been to that is a pleasure to read. “reignite the consumer impulse” in a time of general plenty and of constant technological evolution, inventing markets along

the way: the iPhone, for instance, or Facebook. (Who knew SUCCESSFUL AGING young adult that coming up with the “like” button required so much work A Neuroscientist Explores to concoct “the simplest, friendliest way to express positivity”?) the Power and Potential of Of a piece with the work of Henry Petroski or Donald Norman, Our Lives Kuang and Fabricant’s book serves up plenty of useful examples Levitin, Daniel J. and offers a few rules for would-be designers, the very first of Dutton (544 pp.) which is “start with the user.” $30.00 | Jan. 7, 2020 A book that belongs on every designer’s shelf—and that 978-1-5247-4418-2 consumers of design will enjoy, too. An enthusiastic review of old and new research into the means of extend- GENIUS AND ANXIETY ing life. How Jews Changed the Neuroscientist Levitin (Emeritus, Psychology and Neu- World, 1847-1947 roscience/McGill Univ.; A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Think- Lebrecht, Norman ing in the Information Age, 2016) emphasizes “that it is the Scribner (432 pp.) interactions of genes, culture, and opportunity that are the $30.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 biggest determinants of the trajectory our lives take; how 978-1-9821-3422-8 our brains will change; and whether or not we’ll be healthy, engaged, and happy throughout the lifespan.” He adds that How adversity shaped a century of since our years are divided into what he calls “healthspan” and Jewish creativity and invention. “diseasespan,” we should aim to prolong the former. As back- “A Jew is like a man with a short arm,” ground, he devotes more than half the text to a fine overview said the composer Gustav Mahler. “He of brain function, human physiology, and psychology that sup- has to swim harder to reach the shore.” In this beautifully ports his point. Good genes are necessary but not sufficient; crafted work, music historian and novelist Lebrecht (Why upbringing and environment play an essential role, and both Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed the World, work best if one takes advantage of opportunities. Real sci- 2010, etc.) argues convincingly that “existential angst”—a dread ence books have minuscule audiences compared with books of losing their rights to citizenship and free speech amid wide- that promise the secrets of perfect health; Levitin, a genuine spread persecution—freed many Jews to pursue unusual accom- scientist, aims to enjoy the best of both worlds. Some of his plishments with abandon. Not expecting acceptance, “free breathless prescriptions are old favorites—happy people live to think the unthinkable,” Freud, Proust, Einstein, and oth- longer; eat mostly plants; have lots of friends; don’t retire—but ers worked brilliantly in such fields as science, art, and music, he relies heavily on legitimate science, so readers will encounter not because of any genetic advantage but out of opportunity life-extenders supported by studies (although not in humans) made possible by “marginality.” With anxiety as a “primary such as calorie restriction, metformin, and rapamycin, as motivating factor, the engine of fresh thinking,” they began well as long-in-the-tooth favorites like antioxidants and fish in the mid-19th century, and especially in the decade after the oil, which he advocates for while admitting that recent stud- Dreyfus Affair, to engage in acts of genius. Such individuals as ies are not impressive. Warning against popular nonsense, the

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 65 A thoughtfully researched, poetically inspiring call to action that will resonate with a broad range of readers. our wild calling

author nevertheless includes a generous selection of nutrients, OUR WILD CALLING lifestyles, and pharmaceuticals supported by little more than How Connecting With reasonable theories or obsessively health-conscious colleagues. Animals Can Transform Levitin seems to underestimate his skill as an educator, and he Our Lives―and Save Theirs has written a lucid explanation of brain and body function. His Louv, Richard longevity advice has plenty of competition, especially David Algonquin (320 pp.) Sinclair’s Lifespan, but this book’s breadth is impressive. $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 Excellent popular science in the service of fending off 978-1-616-20560-7 aging. The renowned nature writer explores how we can find better ways to coexist LABYRINTH OF ICE with animals in the future. The Triumphant and Tragic In his latest, Louv (Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature- Greely Polar Expedition Rich Life, 2016, etc.) expands on key themes he has addressed Levy, Buddy in his previous books: specifically, how we must engage more St. Martin’s (400 pp.) directly and harmoniously with nature. He offers an impas- $29.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 sioned and compelling case for establishing a sustainable bond 978-1-250-18219-7 with animals by proactively seeking to protect them. With extensive urbanization and the devastating effects of climate A blow-by-blow account of the change driving more wild animals outside of their traditional Greely Expedition to the northernmost habitats and into the cities, the urgency is greater than ever. polar regions from 1881 to 1884. “Wild animals, for their solitude or independence, stay a respect- In the lore of Arctic exploration, able distance from us,” writes Louv. “How do we do the same for the Greely Expedition, aka the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, them? How do we protect the spaces in which other animals live holds a special place. Named after its commanding officer, Lt. and still watch them, connect with them, be with them? The Adolphus Greely, the expedition, comprised of 24 scientists point is not just to fulfill our human need for connectedness but and explorers, achieved the distinction of making a docu- to mindfully replace our destructive interactions—as individu- mented foray to the farthest north, but it also carried accusa- als, as a society.” Weaving his personal experiences into accounts tions of cannibalism during its last days afield before rescue. In of his interviews with wildlife experts, psychologists, teachers, this highly detailed account, Levy (River of Darkness: Francisco and others, the author recounts spiritual and sometimes mind- Orellana’s Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Ama- altering or life-changing encounters with various types of wild zon, 2011, etc.) makes full use of all the writings—journals, books, animals. These range from dogs to cattle to birds to snakes to and articles—that the expedition spawned. The adventurers sea creatures (a particularly interesting section involves a diver’s wanted to establish a chain of research stations to collect data enigmatic meeting with a giant octopus). Louv offers glimpses on the region, and they also set out to search for survivors of the of how animals can effectively communicate with their own USS Jeannette expedition, which had disappeared two years prior. species and remarkable examples of cross-species interactions. Furthermore, they sought to “attain Farthest North, an explor- He further considers how interactions with animals can be ther- er’s holy grail of the highest northern latitude, which had been apeutic, both physically and mentally, including our increasing held by the British” for three centuries. Levy does a remarkable dependency on support animals and evidence of how animal- job of keeping things lively despite the crush of detail (“it car- assisted therapy can benefit autistic children. By understanding ried a load of five thousand pounds of coal (in thirty-nine bags), how to effectively connect with the animal world, argues the gear, and men, drawing five feet of water”). When Greely finally author, we will not only reduce human and animal loneliness; decides to make a dash for it, having waited in vain for two years ideally, we could find the key to our survival on this planet. for supply ships to rendezvous with his team, the author comes A thoughtfully researched, poetically inspiring call to into his own, grippingly chronicling their harrowing jour- action that will resonate with a broad range of readers. ney. Through the bitter cold and long nights, the men slogged in retreat south, suffering frostbite so bad that one explorer pleaded, “Oh, will you kill me? Please.” They ate the soles of their boots and, later, “nothing but a few swigs of water since eating the last of Greely’s sleeping bag cover.” Levy presents the evidence for cannibalism in a balanced manner, and he does a solid job situating the expedition’s scientific achievements in the history of polar exploration. A graphic tale of horrific deprivation that is sure to be the benchmark account. (maps and photos)

66 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | THE WORLD’S MOST CHECKPOINT CHARLIE PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, The Inside Story of the and the Most Dangerous Nobel Peace Prize Place on Earth Lundestad, Geir MacGregor, Iain Oxford Univ. (256 pp.) Scribner (352 pp.) $24.95 | Nov. 12, 2019 $30.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-0-19-884187-6 978-1-982100-03-2

The history, importance, and impact A big-picture history of a Berlin of the Nobel Peace Prize. divided by postwar ideologies—and Lundestad (The Rise and Decline of the barbed wire. American “Empire”: Power and its Limits in Comparative Perspective, London-based publisher MacGregor brings a useful per- 2012, etc.) brings 25 years of experience as director of the Nor- spective to his study of divided Berlin by reminding American wegian Nobel Institute and secretary of the Norwegian Nobel readers that the Cold War was fought not just by the U.S. and Committee, which awards the prize. For the historical sections, the Soviet Union, but by many allies on both sides—especially, the author draws on his two earlier books published in Norwe- among the occupying powers, the U.K. and France. Checkpoint gian in 2015 and 2017. Lundestad begins with the life of Alfred Charlie, long a metaphor for a carved-up Germany, stood near Nobel, who “held over 350 patents in widely varying areas, his the boundary of the American and Soviet sectors and became will, and the influences on him. Then the author considers the a potent symbol of the struggle between East and West: It was

evolution of the Nobel Prize through three eras—the years there that American and Soviet tanks held a standoff in 1961 young adult prior to World War I, the League of Nations years from 1919 and there where the Berlin Wall rose. At the beginning, the to 1939, and the United Nations years from 1948 to the pres- author observes that the division of Germany into commu- ent—and shows how the focus of the prize shifted from inter- nist and noncommunist parts helped create a buffer zone that, national structures promoting peace to opposition to specific foremost, protected the Soviet Union from overland attack. It regimes to promotion of human rights and democracy and then also created two very different nations, one wealthy and one to protecting the environment. In Chapter 6, Lundestad shifts desperately poor; when reunited in 1990, the weak economy of gears, providing a range of personal profiles of laureates, includ- East Germany fell apart. As noted by a German journalist the ing Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Kofi author interviewed, “too many East Germans lost their jobs Annan, and Barack Obama. The history section of the narra- and their confidence in this new order. That is one of the rea- tive is instructive but decidedly academic while the easy-read- sons, in my opinion, for the rise of the Neo-Nazi movements ing portraits are revealing about the recipient, the decision to in East Germany today.” There is little of the gripping thriller award the prize, the controversies surrounding the awarding of in MacGregor’s sober account, with its specific details of such the prize, and its impact. However, the author does not disclose things as the exact configuration of the no-man’s land between what individual committee members had to say about the nomi- East and West, with its “3.6-meter-high Grenzwall” and “BT-11 nees being considered. Lundestad admits that some mistakes guard tower, manned 24/7 by teams of 2-5 with clear fields of have been made, but his arguments for the importance of the fire” and the rotational schedule of the U.S. Berlin Brigade. Yet Nobel and its continuing influence are convincing. At the end, there are plenty of human-interest stories as well, such as Mac- the author includes a valuable reference tool: a chronological Gregor’s portrait of the Greek-born cantor who helped rebuild list of Nobel Peace laureates, which gives not just the laureate’s the city’s tiny surviving Jewish community and who “seemed to name and country, but also a brief statement of the committee’s float between the two halves of the city pre-1961.” rationale for the award. Cold War Berlin is already well documented, but Mac- An odd juxtaposition of objective institutional history Gregor writes with depth and precision of events that still with a more interesting insider’s look at the laureates. reverberate.

MUDLARK In Search of London’s Past Along the River Thames Maiklem, Lara Liveright/Norton (320 pp.) $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-1-63149-496-3

British editor Maiklem shares her obsession with the treasures she has found in the mud of the River Thames.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 67 A valuable companion for aspiring writers. before and after the book deal

The author takes us on a tour from the end of the tidal father, and in Mexico, with her mother, Bea, whom Norman Thames at Teddington down to the estuary at Lower Hope divorced in 1952. The author loved her life with her mother and Point. As she notes, the tides dictate the course of her investi- new father, and she enjoyed school and learning Spanish. Even- gations. A mudlark, someone who “scavenges for usable debris tually, she would marry happily and have children. She writes in the mud of a river or harbor,” must know all of the permuta- about her father’s drinking and pot smoking in the 1960s, his tions of the tides throughout the year. The author’s discover- mood swings, and the “The Trouble”—when he stabbed his ies range from Roman coins to the ubiquitous clay pipes and second wife, Adele, twice with a penknife. The author also pieces of tile and pottery to unexploded ordnance from World discusses her father’s work. An American Dream both “repelled” War II. Mudlarks are easy to spot, with their dirty boots, knee and “fascinated” her. The Armies of the Night was “a brilliant piece pads, latex gloves, and waterproof suits smeared with mud. of journalism and an innovative experiment.” The Executioner’s Maiklem explains how they rely on luck but also have the Song, her favorite, “blew me away.” While watching him edit his patience and time to devote to their craft. Their best guides, she film Maidstone, she felt like an “unwilling witness” to his “sexual writes, are old maps, especially the Agas map of 1561, which pres- fantasies.” The author fondly recalls her annual visits to the Big ents a wealth of clues to population activity. Barge beds, wharves, House in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the large Mailer and revetments deteriorate, dislodging the domestic refuse and family gathered and where her dying father sought forgiveness. rubble that filled them, an ever changing source of both banal An affable memoir of superficial interest to those grap- and intriguing items. Some mudlarks use metal detectors while pling with the Mailer mystique. others dig. After the tides expose her finds, the author has to properly identify and preserve them; if they dry too fast, they could crumble. The author also discusses the role of government BEFORE AND AFTER THE in her endeavor, as a permit is necessary and discoveries must be BOOK DEAL reported to the Museum of London. In 1957, the Natural History A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Museum declared the river biologically dead, and the cleanup has Publishing, Promoting, and been ongoing ever since. In the 1970s, fish returned to the river, Surviving Your First Book but there are still dangerous microbes lurking, and London’s Maum, Courtney storm drains dump raw sewage into the river after heavy rains. Catapult (384 pp.) Throughout the narrative, Maiklem’s imagination and infectious $16.95 paper | Jan. 7, 2020 enthusiasm make for a lovely fantasy world where “the tiniest of 978-1-948226-40-0 objects…tell the greatest stories.” Entertaining reading for British history buffs and bud- A seasoned writer offers advice on ding archaeologists. (15 b/w illustrations) “the professionalization of creativity.” Novelist and founder of the learning collaborative The Cabins, Maum (Costalegre, 2019, etc.) mines her own experi- IN ANOTHER PLACE ences as an author, as well as advice and anecdotes from editors, With and Without my Father publicists, literary agents, and other writers, to offer a sensible Mailer, Susan and brightly encouraging guide to publishing. Maum covers Northampton House (304 pp.) just about everything a first-time author needs to know: how to $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 make time to write, learn to revise, deal with rejection, find an 978-1-937997-99-1 agent, choose a publisher, and juggle the many tasks involved in promotion. With warmth and candor, she addresses the emo- Norman Mailer’s daughter writes tional stresses and “existential ups and downs” that buffet many about her relationship with him. writers and responds to myriad questions that novice writers “I had been born [in 1949] to a man ask, from whether to go to book parties to whether to enroll who became a celebrity at the age of in an MFA program. What about multiple submissions? Or twenty-five,” writes the author, a psy- self-publishing? Or deciding if an advance is fair? How crucial choanalyst based in Santiago, Chile. In this subdued, reflective is it to have an agent? “It is very, very hard to get a book pub- memoir about her famous author father, Norman (1923-2007), lished,” admits the author, but getting a contract is not the end she psychoanalyzes herself as she offers up a conflicted por- of the process: There are editorial revisions to consider, a pub- trait of their relationship. Her father married six times and had lishing team (designer, publicist, copy editor, sales and market- numerous affairs and nine children. It was all part of the “Mailer ing departments) to work with, blurbs to request, social media routine. One in, the other out.” He was always busy writing or connections to make, and a publicity campaign to get rolling. enjoying his boisterous public image and didn’t have much time Maum offers useful information about the different kinds of for his children. Her story, told in dry, lackluster prose, is about publishing houses, including micropresses, nonprofit indepen- trying to find herself while under the large and imposing shadow dent presses, for-profit independent houses, midhouse publish- of her father. When she was 8, he told her he “hadn’t really loved ers, and the Big Five. “Many writers—myself included,” Maum me when I was born.” Susan was hurt and developed a “tough- writes, “toggle between commercial and independent houses kid persona.” Her early years were spent in New York, with her based on the nature of the book that’s up to bat.” Once a book is

68 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | published, pressures don’t abate. For example, anticipating and RELIGION AS WE KNOW IT reading reviews can generate “elation, doubt, despair, pervasive An Origin Story unease, and bolts of white-hot pride.” Maum cautions writers Miles, Jack to tamp down their expectations of having a “break out” book Norton (160 pp.) that sells tens of thousands of copies. Most debuts, she reveals, $14.95 paper | Nov. 12, 2019 perform conservatively (under 5,000 copies). She also advises 978-1-324-00278-9 authors to read only professional reviews, not “the reviews of overcaffeinated strangers who just want to vent online.” Why religion is seen as an activity all A valuable companion for aspiring writers. its own. Pulitzer Prize winner Miles (Emeri- tus, English and Religious Studies/Univ. CAMGIRL of California, Irvine; God in the Qur’an, Mazzei, Isa 2018, etc.) presents a slim volume drawn from his work as gen- Rare Bird Books (288 pp.) eral editor of The Norton Anthology of World Religions. Miles sets $27.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 out to explain the process by which the West, and then the 978-1-64428-035-5 world, came to see “religion” as a distinct activity which could be observed, categorized, and studied apart from language, cul- A former internet live-action “cam- ture, and other aspects of society. After an unnecessarily long girl” divulges the secrets and the snags of introduction—at roughly one-fifth the length of the book, the the provocative lifestyle. preface wears out its welcome—the author examines the idea

In Mazzei’s debut memoir, she of religion, an ill-defined yet universal concept, which he and young adult describes growing up in Santa Monica, the Norton Anthology approach through the aspect of practice California, as the daughter of a hip, bipo- rather than “belief.” He moves on to note that until the advent lar cinematographer and an alcoholic of Christianity, there was no sense of religion as we understand makeup artist. After an earthquake and subsequent fire damage it today. “Religious” practices could not be divorced from one’s forced the family to relocate to Colorado, they thrived until her culture and/or ethnicity. However, as Christianity took aspects mother’s addiction became unmanageable. From a young age, of Judaism and transferred them into a proselytizing, transcul- Mazzei’s biggest desire was to be the center of attention, and, tural movement, the Christian faith became something unique. almost as a diversion from her home life, she attracted atten- Eventually, Islam would do much the same thing. As Christen- tion by being the “strangest girl in middle school,” embracing a dom came to dominate Western thought, Europeans increas- seductive alter ego, “Isa, Queen of Boys,” and seducing her male ingly saw other faith traditions from a Christian viewpoint classmates. Later, the author also began exploring different and thus imposed the idea of “religion” on cultures where such aspects of her sexuality, including an attraction to women, sex forms of practice had hitherto been inseparable from other work for wealthy men, and a stealth introduction to “camming.” aspects of life. With time, this view spread and became a world- Mazzei writes about her online adventures with a self-assured, wide phenomenon. Within this global story, Miles succinctly casual flow and never skimps on the details of her racy, erotic encapsulates what is essentially the history of religious studies, two-year tenure as a camgirl. She explains how she developed including particular scholars and authors who made surprisingly a unique, arousing identity named “Una” and began amassing vast contributions to the world’s understanding of religion. The donated “tokens” from fans for her increasingly sexual group author’s use of his own personal story in this already-small vol- and private room virtual interactions. Readers interested in ume is not particular helpful. However, his presentation of a fas- the fascinating world of online chat-room hosts will get a fully cinating and rarely understood background to modernity’s way guided tour courtesy of Mazzei’s intimate, interactive broad- of thinking is worth the read. casts. Her early on-camera fumbles with tangled garter belts A brief but beneficial guide to where “religion as we and random insecurities (“was I really going to masturbate in know it” comes from. front of three hundred strangers?”) gave way to a dominant yet playful online persona whose content’s intensity increased as she networked with other girls and promoted her cam profile page on Twitter. Mazzei ended up creating a mini empire for herself and banked thousands of dollars. Only in the concluding chapters does the author openly reveal her lifelong issues with self-control, anxiety, and depression, which resurfaced during a mental breakdown at the height of her cam business and con- tributed to its closure. A vivacious chronicle of how Mazzei channeled her sexuality into a lucrative business, which became an epiphanic experience as well.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 69 A solid combination of candor, clever turns of phrase, and clear insight into the English psyche. the politics of pain

MANHUNTERS While Britain shared in the war victory and avoided becom- How We Took Down ing Germany’s colony, it lost an empire. Meanwhile, former Axis Pablo Escobar powers and the countries that had been invaded were thriving. Murphy, Steve & Peña, Javier F. All those countries moved on after WWII, but England never St. Martin’s (352 pp.) did, writes O’Toole (Judging Shaw: The Radicalism of GBS, 2017, $28.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 etc.), a winner of the Orwell Prize and the European Press Prize. 978-1-250-20288-8 The desperate fear of Europeanization and loss of Englishness called for “Empire 2.0,” built on an Anglosphere incorporating Two former Drug Enforcement Admin- Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Caribbean. As the istration operatives serve up a thriller- concept of political correctness took over, a new scapegoat pre- esque account of chasing down a notorious sented itself in the form of the EU. The threats posed to national narco kingpin. health and public housing were invented, causing unreasoned “It was our colleagues from the Colombian National Police yet omnipresent fear and encouraging vociferous nationalism, who actually pulled the trigger, but after spending every waking which eventually led to the Brexit decision. The grievances it moment going after that scumbag for six years, it was our vic- was supposed to address never existed. “The great upheaval of tory as well.” So writes Peña at the end of a narrative in which 2016 was never really about Europe,” writes the author. “Those he and Murphy—the agents who were portrayed in the Netflix who have caused it turned out to have very little interest in… series Narcos—take turns recounting the hunt for Colombian the EU itself….They had no plan for how the UK would relate drug lord Pablo Escobar. The exultation at Escobar’s demise in to the EU after Brexit, largely because that relationship was a monsoon of bullets is a little unseemly, but one quickly comes not the real focus of their obsessions. They were concerned… to understand why the world should be happy that Escobar is with Britain’s relationship to itself and its own self-image. gone—even if, as the authors allow, not a whole lot has changed, Their desire was to exit a condition of ordinariness which, they with actors on the bad side simply shifting roles and positions had succeeded in convincing themselves, is an unnatural and of authority. Among the players that Murphy and Peña describe oppressive imposition on an extraordinary country.” As the is a “sicario,” or hit man, who boasted of killing more than author shows, Brexit trivializes the serious and takes the trivial 300 people on Escobar’s behalf. Most such foot soldiers were seriously. Brexiteers Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson spout lies teenagers who lived for only a year or two before being killed and invent enemies and insults, which leads to chaos and long- by paramilitaries, vigilantes, rival gangsters, or the police, but lasting consequences. “Whatever happens with Brexit,” writes while they lived, they were able to provide for their families O’Toole in this deft assessment, “this toxic sludge will be in in ways unavailable to otherwise unemployed youth. The nar- England’s political groundwater for a long time.” rative is a pretty by-the-numbers affair: There are the obliga- A solid combination of candor, clever turns of phrase, tory scenes of their early years and how they came to be federal and clear insight into the English psyche. agents, the academy hijinks, and the internal politics and inter- agency rivalries. The best part of the book is the authors’ portrait of two very different countries, Colombia and the U.S., and DANGEROUS CHARISMA the different cultures of the police in each country. For example, The Political Psychology one leading Colombian law enforcement official who figures of Donald Trump and His prominently in their account was glad to yield to Escobar in Followers negotiations, a concession that “prolonged the war against him Post, Jerrold M. and led to the deaths of thousands of innocent victims.” Mark Pegasus (352 pp.) Bowden’s Killing Pablo is by far the better book, but this one $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 reveals enough interesting details to keep the pages turning. 978-1-64313-218-1 For Narcos fans and drug-war buffs. (first printing of 100,000) When the CIA’s former lead shrink starts examining your head, a person might suspect that there’s trouble afoot. THE POLITICS OF PAIN There’s a long-standing principle in psychiatry that a doc- Postwar England and tor should not venture an analysis—a public profile, more for- the Rise of Nationalism mally—of someone without that person’s consent and without O’Toole, Fintan having made an in-person assessment. “The ethical principle Liveright/Norton (256 pp.) seemed extreme and overdrawn,” writes Post (Narcissism and $27.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 Politics, 2014, etc.) in light of the fact that other academicians, 978-1-63149-645-5 including psychologists and political scientists, regularly deliver opinions about the mind of Donald Trump. Forgive An award-winning British journalist him the professional transgression, for what the author has to offers a straightforward view of the rise of say is of pressing interest and helps elucidate much of Trump’s English nationalism since World War II. eccentric behavior. At the heart of the narrative is a portrait

70 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | of the mental makeup of the narcissist, coupled with the mass early 20th century, Rader drops geography to devote the final 100 psychology of a crowd of supporters who are locked into near pages to the history of flight and space travel and the possibilities worship of a charismatic leader. That charisma may not always of reaching the planets and stars. Inevitably, he ends with a great be a bad thing; Post, for instance, attributes to it the success deal of speculation, but it is good scientific speculation that will of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. But the narcissism leave readers yearning to see how it turns out. “If the history of component is seldom positive, and it explains many things exploration has taught us anything,” he writes, “it’s that amazing about Trump. “The only loyalty a person with his malignant or things happen when humans force themselves to try something pathological narcissism has is to himself and his own survival,” no one has done before.” Post writes, and never mind the fate of those around that per- An astute—and highly flattering—view of human son, since loyalty flows only in the direction of Trump and not aspirations. the other way. Paranoia, insecurity, bluster, constant aggres- sion, and utter lack of empathy are other components of the template. Worse news comes at the end of this complex but THE HARDER YOU WORK, unflagging account when he ponders the possibility that this THE LUCKIER YOU GET will all end not with a whimper but a bang, either through the An Entrepreneur’s Memoir nuclear war that Trump has long feared or the refusal to relin- Ricketts, Joe quish office if defeated in 2020, since “the loss of the limelight Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) which has been such a rewarding accompaniment of the presi- $28.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 dential role will be very difficult for him to tolerate.” 978-1-5011-6478-1 A damning study of Trump’s mind that goes a long way

toward explaining some damnably odd behavior. The founder of Ameritrade delivers young adult a blend of memoir and entrepreneurial manifesto. BEYOND THE KNOWN While he never quite slips into Ayn How Exploration Created the Rand territory, Ricketts, who founded Ameritrade as a vehicle Modern World and Will Take for simplifying stock trading for a mass audience, strikes the Us to the Stars pose of businessperson as hero and artist: “Business was an act Rader, Andrew of creativity and courage. Other people didn’t seem to see it Scribner (352 pp.) this way, but to me, business was where life came alive.” For all $28.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 that, it was a slog for him at first. The author recounts starting 978-1-982123-53-6 out as a credit reporter in the 1960s, taking his father’s advice that exposure to a variety of businesses would be useful to him An aerospace engineer makes a rea- in his career, whether a hamburger franchise or a wholesale sonable argument that progress owes furniture warehouse. Connecting the lessons he had learned less to war, politics, or religion than love in economics classes with the real world, he became a broker of exploration. in an era when the Dow was about to break 1,000 and, “for the A mission manager at SpaceX, Rader is no scholar, but he has first time since the stock market crash of 1929, large numbers read the scholars as well as the popular books, so he has done his of individual investors had jumped into the market,” fueling homework. As a result, his history of the human species, which the rise of the newfangled mutual fund. His breakthrough makes up most of his book, has an air of authority as well as a came a decade later, when he figured out how to trim costs lively pace. While no historical expert claims that East Africa by inducing customers to come to him, eliminating the need circa several million years ago was overpopulated, almost every- for commissioned reps, and otherwise “disintermediating” to one agrees that our ancestors wandered. Even before Homo sapi offer trades at $25 a pop. Bingo: The phone started ringing ens appeared about 200,000 years ago, hominids spread across from customers “who didn’t want advice, just a better deal.” Asia and Europe. Our species followed in several waves, arriving However, as Ricketts recounts, technical challenges were con- at America and Australia and, within the past 1,000 years, the stant companions, from computers that would backfire with Pacific islands. Rader emphasizes that these were not accidents. static electricity to the need for equipment that could keep It’s likely that reaching America and certain that reaching Aus- up with the speed of real-time trading in the days before the tralia required a sea voyage, and finding isolated Pacific islands quants and algorithms took over. Securities and Exchange required almost superhuman navigation skills. Furthermore, Commission challenges, fraud, troubles with risk-averse part- these travelers brought along families, domestic animals, and ners, and other bugs posed problems as well. Ricketts fights plants as well as their culture and technology. The author marches them off page after page, all while extolling the need for non- quickly through the history of civilization, leaving no doubt in conformity in the quest for getting “some happiness and satis- the reader’s mind that nations driven to explore—a word which faction out of doing something new.” he takes to include trading, conquering, or simply traveling— Good reading for budding businesspeople. prospered. No good resulted if they gave it up (see 16th-century Japan or medieval Europe). With polar regions explored in the

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 71 A richly detailed and freshly illuminating musical/political history. dangerous melodies

RACHEL MADDOW DANGEROUS MELODIES A Biography Classical Music in Rogak, Lisa America From the Dunne/St. Martin’s (288 pp.) Great War Through the $28.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 Cold War 978-1-250-29824-9 Rosenberg, Jonathan Norton (448 pp.) Journalist Rogak (Angry Optimist: $39.95 | Dec. 10, 2019 The Life and Times of Jon Stewart, 2014, 978-0-393-60842-7 etc.), who has profiled Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, rounds out her take For half a century, classical music on controversial TV personalities with reflected America’s identity on the a breezy biography of MSNBC anchor and political pundit world stage. Rachel Maddow. In a thoroughly researched and engrossing history, Rosen- Rachel, as the author chummily refers to her, has spoken berg (Twentieth Century U.S. History/Hunter Coll. and CUNY candidly about herself in many print interviews, speeches, and Graduate Center; How Far the Promised Land?: World Affairs and talk show appearances, material that Rogak liberally mines. the Civil Rights Movement From the First World War to Vietnam, The result is a book so filled with quotations that it reads like 2005, etc.) reveals the surprising connection between classical a very long interview. Readers will discover that Maddow first music and world politics from the early 1900s until the end came out as an undergraduate at Stanford, where she became of the Cold War. During these years, classical music became “the most visible out lesbian on campus” and involved herself in imbued “with political and ideological meaning” that helped gay and lesbian organizations. She also devoted herself to AIDS Americans “decide what was worth fighting for and why. It activism, choosing courses that would give her a rigorous back- helped to illuminate the meaning of democracy, freedom, and ground in public policy and health policy. A stellar student, she patriotism” as well as “tyranny and oppression.” Because music won a prestigious Rhodes scholarship that funded a doctorate seemed so potent a force, debate raged over which music and program at Oxford, where she wrote a thesis on “HIV/AIDS which performers should be heard in concert halls: Musical and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons.” nationalists believed that certain composers, performers, or Returning to the U.S., Maddow continued activism and floated conductors could contaminate the nation and should be banned; among menial jobs before she landed a gig at a local radio sta- musical universalists held that music transcended politics and tion, where “she was surprised to discover that the thing she “could speak to the hopes and dreams of all humanity.” The two enjoyed most was to provide her own spin on the topics of the positions became violently opposed during World War I, when day.” Rogak reiterates Maddow’s goal to “help people” by “dis- “uncontrolled xenophobia and hypernationalism” focused on seminating information backed by knowledge and fact and Germans. Concerts and contracts were canceled, two acclaimed tempered with concern and more than a little bit of humor.” In maestros were imprisoned, and “The Star-Spangled Banner” 2004, she graduated from the local station to the newly formed became a requisite part of an orchestra’s repertoire. Americans, Air America, where she started as a “rip-and-read newsgirl” and Rosenberg writes, “came to see Germans as demonic, whether ended with her own two-hour show. In 2008, MSNBC offered they were fighting on a European battlefield or directing sym- her an exclusive contract. Among Rogak’s revelations is Mad- phony orchestras.” By the next war, however, universalists pre- dow’s love of making artfully crafted cocktails; her meticulous vailed, and the idea of “enemy music” disappeared, replaced by pre-show preparation, spurred by her fear of failure; and her “the notion that classical music, German compositions included, reluctance to marry her beloved partner because of “qualms” could help vanquish malevolent regimes.” As Boston Symphony about assimilating into the mainstream and losing her identity conductor Serge Koussevitsky put it, “of all the arts, music is with gay culture. the most powerful medium against evil.” That sentiment con- Maddow’s own voice dominates a brisk, largely by-the- tinued during the Cold War, when the American government numbers biography. (8-page color photo insert) sent symphony orchestras and performers throughout the world “to display the fruits of liberal democracy to friend and foe.” Among the stars of that effort was New York Philhar- monic conductor Leonard Bernstein, who believed that classical music “might play a part in building a more compassionate and cooperative world.” A richly detailed and freshly illuminating musical/ political history.

72 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | THE SEINE THIS LAND IS The River That THEIR LAND Made Paris The Wampanoag Sciolino, Elaine Indians, Plymouth Colony, Norton (304 pp.) and the Troubled History of $26.95 | Nov. 1, 2019 Thanksgiving 978-0-393-60935-6 Silverman, David J. Bloomsbury (528 pp.) The veteran New York Times contrib- $30.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 uting writer and former Paris bureau 978-1-63286-924-1 chief shares her love affair with Paris and the Seine with enchanting anecdotes and An impassioned, deeply knowledge- insights. able history of the “first contacts” between the Indigenous peo- Sciolino (The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs, ples of the Americas and the English and Europeans, this time 2016, etc.), who has lived in Paris since 2002, presents more of told from the Native side. a voyage than a history, from Burgundy to the sea, traveling A scholar of Native American, Colonial, and racial history the 483 miles on the river’s looping path from the Plateau de in America, Silverman (History/George Washington Univ.; Langres to Honfleur and the English Channel. Along the way, Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native the Seine is anchored by Paris and then Rouen, where it widens America, 2016, etc.) first orients readers toward what the land- enough for oceangoing ships to reach the port of Le Havre. The ing Pilgrim scouts at Cape Cod in November 1620 would have

source of the river is the underground springs where the Gauls actually seen in the environs: evidence of an undeniable Native young adult worshiped the healing goddess Sequana, who, according to the civilization. As the author shows, the Wampanoag Indians had author, is the true symbol of the river. Through the years, the already adopted horticulture (maize, beans, squash); created a river has been altered many times. Napoleon eliminated many system of governance via individual sachems (chiefs), inherited of the islands to ease navigation, and he established the river through the male line; and established proprietorship of the as the center point for Paris’ street-numbering system. Baron land stretching back generations. Moreover, there had already Haussmann transformed the riverfront with bridges, locks, and been a history of violence between the Natives and the ship- dams as well as tree-shaded promenades. As we travel downriver board European explorers for at least 100 years, as the explorers with our genial guide, we note that the right side of the river often lured the Natives into unfair trade, which often led to vio- symbolizes money, politics, scandal, and the power of the media lence, and spread fatal diseases that decimated their population. while the left signifies freedom, liberty, free speech, and free sex. “The ease of some of the Wampanoags with the English,” writes Throughout, Sciolino provides wonderful, detailed interviews the author, “suggests that there had been other more recent of former barge people, houseboat dwellers, booksellers, and contacts than surviving documents report. At Martha’s Vine- members of the River Brigade, which polices the river. The yard, thirteen armed men approached the Concord without any author also takes us into the world of the impressionists, and fear, as if they had experience with such situations.” Through- in Rouen, once the most important port, we find ancient wind- out this well-documented, unique history, Silverman offers a mills, Joan of Arc, and the place where Monet obsessed over the detailed look at the long, tortured relations between the two light on the cathedral. Then it’s on to Le Havre, the port cre- and captures the palpable sense of overall mourning after the ated by François I in 1517, and finally, Honfleur, which “travel aftermath of King Philip’s War and the attempt to annihilate guides often refer to…as one of the prettiest towns in France.” (and assimilate) the Wampanoags—and their incredible abil- Francophiles will adore this book, and others may ity to transcend the dehumanization and prevail. Ultimately, become Francophiles as they read. the author provides an important, heart-rending story of the treachery of alliances and the individuals caught in the crosshairs, a powerful history that clearly “exposes the Thanksgiving myth as a myth rather than history.” Silverman also includes a helpful “Glossary of Key Indian People and Places.” An eye-opening, vital reexamination of America’s founding myth.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 73 Pervasive, deep research informs this inspiring story of a writer who demonstrably earned such a sturdy, illuminating biography. alice adams

THE GREAT DEMOCRACY ALICE ADAMS How To Fix Our Politics, Unrig Portrait of a Writer the Economy, And Unite Sklenicka, Carol America Scribner (624 pp.) Sitaraman, Ganesh $35.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 Basic (272 pp.) 978-1-4516-2131-0 $28.00 | Dec. 10, 2019 978-1-5416-1811-4 A thorough and often surprising life of the celebrated author of short stories A multipronged plan to transform and novels. the United States into a compassionate Sklenicka, whose earlier biography democracy grounded in economic equal- (Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life, 2009) ity among individuals. earned high praise, returns with an intimate, detailed life of Sitaraman (Director, Law and Government/Vanderbilt Adams (1926-1999), who did not begin publishing regularly until Univ.; The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution: Why Economic the mid-1960s. But when she did, she received recognition Inequality Threatens Our Republic, 2017, etc.) believes that U.S. quickly. By the time she died of heart failure, she had estab- history is cyclical and that the time is ripe for a major transfor- lished herself as a gifted, perceptive, and popular writer, pub- mation, in the manner of abolition or the New Deal. The most lishing stories often in the New Yorker and books with Knopf. As significant policies within the author’s grand plan would rescue Sklenicka relates, she enjoyed some hefty paydays. The author the deteriorating climate before it destroys the planet, balance focuses mostly on a couple areas of Adams’ life: her writing and discriminatory immigration quotas, inject true justice into law her active love life. Frequently, Sklenicka points out how deeply enforcement, require national service as a path to unify antago- Adams drew from her own life to inspire her fiction; she wrote nistic population sectors, and promote responsible journalism about settings and people that she knew. As Sklenicka reports, both locally and nationally. Some of Sitaraman’s less detailed frequently, Adams was an attractive woman who displayed a proposals include effective universal health insurance for U.S. great sense of sexual freedom. One brief marriage was followed residents and the reduced influence of private-sector corpo- by a lengthy cohabitation with another man (it didn’t end well), rate behemoths. The author believes that citizen participation and once she became financially secure, she enjoyed travel, fine in what he terms “the great democracy” would increase vastly food, and a nice house in San Francisco. Sklenicka also charts through legislation and regulations removing barriers based on Adams’ acceptance of the women’s liberation movement and geography, race, and access to cultural opportunities. Sitaraman writes perceptively about her relationship with her gay son. The also addresses the possibility that his great democracy might author doesn’t provide much information about Adams’ work not evolve. Undesirable alternatives include a slightly altered routines, but there is a deep undercurrent of admiration that version of what he terms “neoliberalism,” which would solidify sometimes bubbles to the surface. “Alice Adams lived for love economic inequality among individuals based on market-driven and for stories,” writes Sklenicka. “Her courage and vulnerabil- capitalism; “nationalist populism,” a way of thinking that led to ity, tenderness and tenacity allowed her to break the strictures the rise of Donald Trump; or outright authoritarianism, akin to of her upbringing and transform her intense emotional sensibil- dictatorship and in ascendancy in numerous nations around the ity into enduring short stories and novels that illuminate wom- world. Despite cataloging outcomes that he finds alarming, Sita- en’s lives in the twentieth century.” Near the end, Sklenicka raman projects hope that the next historical cycle will affirm his herself appears in a startling tale about Adams’ ashes. agenda. How a reader will react to this monograph will depend Pervasive, deep research informs this inspiring story heavily on that reader’s inclination to see drinking glasses as of a writer who demonstrably earned such a sturdy, illumi - half full or half empty. “Optimists hope that generational and nating biography. demographic change will restore inexorable progress,” writes the author. “Pessimists interpret the current moment as the decline and fall of democracy.” THE RUSSIAN JOB A knowledgeable appraisal of our current moment The Forgotten Story of featuring sensible options for moving forward—but will How America Saved the policymakers take notice? Soviet Union From Ruin Smith, Douglas Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) $28.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-0-374-25296-0

The hair-raising account of a great humanitarian act in which the United States provided vital assistance to the Soviet Union.

74 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | Historian and translator Smith (Rasputin: Faith, Power, and ambitious project. When Snow finally visited, in 1959, at the age the Twilight of the Romanovs, 2016) reminds readers that World of 12, he arrived with high expectations that, he recalls happily, War I and civil war devastated Russian agriculture because the “were met and surpassed.” The author’s admiration for Disney- fighting armies lived off the land. By 1920, the Bolsheviks had land infuses his brisk, thorough history of the huge theme park, largely won, but the government continued to forcibly extract from an idea conceived by “the powerful personality of one grain from the peasants. Then the rains stopped. At first, Lenin man” to its realization as a monument to “an America where all “welcomed the famine, since he believed it would destroy the is prosperous and convivial”—a place, as writer Ray Bradbury people’s faith in God and the tsar. Revolution, not charity, commented, that “liberates men to their better selves.” Snow would save the peasants, he said.” By the summer, faced with portrays Disney as a tireless and demanding boss who was mass starvation and violence, he changed his mind. Many phi- “often dissatisfied with things as he found them; his preferences lanthropists and international charities responded to pleas for changed from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour.” He was help, but only one organization had the immense resources a perfectionist determined to build his park no matter who (his required: the American Relief Administration, led by Herbert brother, for example, who balked at the expense) or what (prob- Hoover, who had already impressed the world with his relief of lems building a scale model of the Matterhorn, for one, and mass starvation in Belgium and northern France during WWI installing a jungle in arid California) got in the way of his dream: and then again in Europe after the armistice. A successful busi- “something of a fair, an exhibition, a playground, a community nessman, Hoover employed the same talents to organize a vast center, a museum of living facts and a showplace of beauty and enterprise led by loyal underlings who oversaw the distribu- magic.” Snow chronicles in detail the process of finding a site tion chain, from docks to warehouses to transportation to the (Anaheim, in southern California); hiring engineers, designers, soup kitchens. A few Soviet leaders were congenial, but most architects, landscapers, artists, and an ever increasing number

believed that the ARA was a nefarious capitalist plot. Secret of genial, polite staff; building the park’s structures and rides; young adult police harassed the Americans and arrested Russian employ- planning for visitors’ movements through the park, expendi- ees but sometimes, unpredictably, helped by cutting through tures, and needs such as water, toilets, and food; dealing with red tape. Local officials were usually grateful. Infrastructure, unions’ demands; promoting the new destination as “a place for housing, sanitation, and disease were terrible, far worse than in people to find happiness and knowledge”; and overcoming an Europe. In an often agonizing but necessary book, the author opening described as nothing less than mayhem. includes letters and anecdotes by participants as well as often An animated history of an iconic destination. horrific photographs, all of which tell a grim story. Starving people do not overthrow governments, so it’s unlikely American aid saved the Soviet Union, but it was a magnificent achievement— PERMANENT RECORD and Smith adeptly navigates all elements of the story. Except for Snowden, Edward Hoover biographers, American scholars pay little attention to Metropolitan/Henry Holt (352 pp.) this episode; it quickly vanished from Russian history. $30.00 | Sept. 3, 2019 Although the catastrophic Russian famine and Ameri- 978-1-250-23723-1 can relief efforts are not completely forgotten, this expert account deserves a large readership. (54 b/w illustrations; map) The infamous National Security Agency contractor–turned–leaker and Rus- sian exile presents his side of the story. DISNEY’S LAND Snowden opens with an argument Walt Disney and the he carries throughout the narrative: that Invention of the Amusement revealing secrets of the U.S. intelligence Park That Changed the community was an act of civic service. “I used to work for the World government,” he writes, “but now I work for the public.” He Snow, Richard adds that making that distinction “got me into a bit of trouble at Scribner (432 pp.) the office.” That’s an understatement. A second theme, equally $30.00 | Dec. 3, 2019 ubiquitous, is that the U.S. government is a willing agent of “sur- 978-1-5011-9080-3 veillance capitalism, and the end of the Internet as I knew it.” The creative web fell, replaced by behemoths like Facebook and How nostalgia, fantasy, and cutting- Google, which keep track of users’ comings and goings, eventu- edge engineering merged into the “tire- ally knowing more than we do about ourselves and using that less commercial dynamo” of Disneyland. data as a commodity to buy and sell. Corporations lust for the For Snow (Iron Dawn: The Monitor, the Merrimack, and the commercial possibilities of targeted advertising and influence- Civil War Sea Battle That Changed History, 2016, etc.), former peddling. As for governments, that data is something that on- editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine, a fascination the-ground spies could never hope to amass. Snowden insists with amusement parks began at Playland in Rye, New York, and that he did not release NSA and CIA secrets willy-nilly when he intensified when he raptly watched Disneyland, a show airing leaked his trove of pilfered information (“the number of docu- weekly on ABC that whetted viewers’ appetite for Walt Disney’s ments that I disclosed directly to the public is zero”); instead, it

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 75 A smooth delivery of the nit and grit behind the success of the Hubble. handprints on hubble

went to journalists who he trusted would act as filters, reveal- woman without familial support or reliance on the Jewish coming the newsworthy to the public. Most of those secrets remain munity receives too little attention. unpublicized even as Snowden also insists that he held much A sometimes-illuminating yet unbalanced journey into material back. He is good at describing the culture of the intel- true identity and out of the Hasidic faith. ligence community and especially its IT staff, who hold the keys to the kingdom, with access to data that is otherwise available only to a tiny echelon of top brass. The secrets are generally HANDPRINTS ON HUBBLE safe, he writes, only because “tech people rarely, if ever, have a An Astronaut’s Story of sense of the broader applications and policy implications of the Invention projects to which they’re assigned.” He was an exception, and Sullivan, Kathryn D. therein hangs most of his tale. MIT (248 pp.) Snowden’s book likely won’t change the minds of his $26.95 | Nov. 19, 2019 detractors, but he makes a strong case for his efforts. 978-0-262-04318-2

A retired astronaut’s memoir of that BECOMING EVE most celebrated eye in the sky, the Hub- My Journey From Ultra- ble Space Telescope. Orthodox Rabbi to Hubble has only improved with age, Transgender Woman being inherently maintainable in design and open to innova- Stein, Abby Chava tion since its deployment in 1990. Though it was ridiculed Seal Press (272 pp.) when its initial photographs were unrefined, it has since been $28.00 | Nov. 12, 2019 fixed and upgraded multiple times, with amazing results. Sul- 978-1-58005-916-9 livan, the first American woman to walk in space, was on the shuttle involved in deploying the Hubble, and she spent years A transgender woman recounts her on the design and capabilities of the telescope. Her motives for evolution from a male-born child in the writing this book were to bring to light the practical reality of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish commu- tending to a telescope in orbit and to show what it took in terms nity to a thriving independent activist. of experimentation—tools, support equipment, operating pro- In this coming-of-age memoir, Jewish educator and trans cedures, etc. She also wanted to sing the praises of the engi- activist Stein describes her birth in 1991 as a firstborn son fol- neers and astronauts who invented, produced, and tested all the lowing five older sisters from parents who descended from maintenance features of the telescope. As a participant in and rabbinic dynasties. She recalls a childhood steeped in staunch observer of the events, Sullivan had a prime seat to the think- Hasidic theology in New York; she was forbidden from indulg- ing that goes into what makes something maintainable: “able ing in any cultural, historical, artistic, or other “spurned” activi- to be sustained or restored to proper operating condition.” She ties. Throughout her youth, the author internally identified as clearly describes the taxing innovation and training involved, female—she recalls how, at age 4, she became angry that she which included such rigors as reliability analysis, predictive had a penis—and this frustration caused behavioral issues maintenance modeling, and basic principles of human factors and depression in grade school and beyond. Stein gracefully engineering in assessing every dimension of every component describes an attraction “tingle” for a fellow male classmate when on the telescope. In the process, she delves into the history of she was a teenager, which led to a nascent forbidden love and a the space shuttle, chronicling its many highs and the lowest of much-awaited departure from her overly protracted childhood. its lows, the Challenger tragedy of 1986. As a participant, it was Despite this clandestine interaction, the author still feared the Sullivan’s job to embark on a space walk to the telescope should consequences of going against the grain, so she proceeded, as anything go awry during its deployment, and she spent years in tradition and gender roles dictated, to marry a woman at age 18 preparation for such an event. Throughout the narrative, her and bear a son at 20. Soon after, Stein became overwhelmingly easy hand with details and infectious enthusiasm make for a frustrated by the state of her true identity. “It started punch- winning combination. ing me in the face,” she admits. Consequently, she began the A smooth delivery of the nit and grit behind the success transitional process toward abandoning her Orthodox faith of the Hubble. and becoming female, two decisions she knew were considered “deplorable” in the eyes of the Hasidic community. In the final chapter, the author chronicles coming out to her father (and his abrupt rejection) and her plans to become Abby. Unfortunately, these pages skimp on details about her post-transition lifestyle once she left the Hasidic community. Jewish readers focused on Stein’s rabbinic upbringing, Talmudic cultural experiences, and the significance of studying the Torah will find a wealth of emotionally limned anecdotes. However, the author’s life as a

76 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | HOW MONEY STARRING RED WING! BECAME DANGEROUS The Incredible Career of The Inside Story of Our Lilian M. St. Cyr, the First Turbulent Relationship With Native American Film Star Modern Finance Waggoner, Linda M. Varelas, Christopher & Stone, Dan Bison/Univ. of Nebraska (504 pp.) Ecco/HarperCollins (400 pp.) $32.95 | Nov. 1, 2019 $28.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-1-4962-1559-8 978-0-06-268475-2 An independent scholar of Ho- An insider’s view of how an increas- Chunk (Winnebago) history explores ingly abstract financial system fails to the life and work of the first Native align with human needs. American actress, Red Wing (1884-1974). Investment banker and fund manager—and, as is often Born Lilian St. Cyr on the Ho-Chunk Reservation, Red mentioned, former Disneyland employee—Varelas begins with Wing came of age at a time when the U.S. government refused a poignant lesson. As an elementary school student, he was to recognize Native Americans as full citizens. Orphaned at age impressed by a classroom visit from a banker who revealed 4, she was sent to “the Homes,” a boarding school in Philadel- that saving a dime each week would yield the fortune of $3 by phia dedicated to preparing Native American children for lives the end of the remaining school year. He worked through high as servants of the “Great [White] Father.” It was here that she school, amassing even more money in a savings account, only to first began to perform for white audiences fascinated by the

discover that it had zeroed out when the bank introduced a ser- culture of the “noble savage.” She graduated from the Carlisle young adult vice fee without telling him. Therein was the end of his “naïve Indian Industrial School in 1902 and worked for a time as a trust that the system cared, somehow, about my well-being.” It domestic in Washington, D.C., and then married James John- doesn’t. What it cares about is how the numbers look at the end son. The couple went to upstate New York in 1906, where the of the year so that the person manipulating them qualifies for author hypothesizes that St. Cyr sold her beadwork to tourists promotions, bonuses, and all the “perverse incentives” of con- caught up in the “Indian craze” sweeping the country. That fall, sumer society. Gone are the days, writes the author, when a per- they went to New York City, where they began crafting theatri- son like his first major client, a diamond vendor, could borrow cal personas for themselves. St. Cyr became Princess Red Wing, money on a handshake—and gone are the days when character and Johnson became Young Deer, in part to hide his African mattered as much as collateral and capacity (i.e., “a borrower’s American background. Red Wing landed her first role in the ability to handle debt and expenses”). Varelas charts the evolu- musical Pioneer Days. After that, the couple performed in Wild tion—or, more, accurately, devolution—of the modern financial West vaudeville shows until 1909, when then began working for sector, noting that when banking firms went public there was East Coast–based film companies. They moved to California no longer a personal stake in the game but instead only “employ- soon after, and Red Wing worked with screen legends Tom Mix ees looking to maximize annual compensation” without suffi- and Max Sennett, and her husband made films. Over the next cient concern for risk, one of what Walt Disney called “the hard half-decade, the actress honed the Indian princess role—which facts that have created America.” Other negatives in the system, Waggoner astutely points out also supported racist stereotypes writes the author, are time-sensitive algorithms whose speed of the faithful, self-sacrificing Native woman—to perfection. divorces prices from “reality” and a corporate culture that turns At the height of her fame, she starred in two silent-era classics: the financial-sector worker into “merely a cog in a global deliv- Cecil B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man (1914) and Donald Crisp’s ery mechanism.” The author’s exercise in forensic accounting Ramona (1916). Illustrated with black-and-white photographs, as he examines a case of government bankruptcy is particularly this lively biography pays long-overdue tribute to a forgotten fascinating. star of the silent era while celebrating Native American contri- Alarming at moments and a welcome user’s manual for butions to the motion picture industry. anyone with investments, large or small, in the current A well-researched, sharp biography. (two inserts of b/w market. illustrations)

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 october 2019 | 77 Satirical, raw, and unapologetically real, West delivers the bittersweet truths on contemporary living. the witches are coming

THE WITCHES ARE COMING THE MAN WHO SOLVED West, Lindy THE MARKET Hachette (272 pp.) How Jim Simons Launched $27.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 the Quant Revolution 978-0-316-44988-5 Zuckerman, Gregory Portfolio (384 pp.) A cornucopia of shrewd cultural $30.00 | Nov. 5, 2019 observations from New York Times col- 978-0-7352-1798-0 umnist West (Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman, 2016). Accessible if sometimes-turbulent In 18 pointed essays, the author portrait of “arguably the most successful addresses a variety of topics, including trader in the history of modern finance.” frivolous internet sensation Grumpy Cat, South Park, Guy Fieri, James Simons, a math professor, founded Renaissance Tech- and the global significance of abortion rights and gender equal- nologies in 1982 and has since leveraged a battery of other math- ity. In West’s opening tirade, she denounces Donald Trump’s ematicians and machines to earn more than $7 billion per year in repetitive usage of the term “witch hunt” while scrutinizing his market gains—a sum that, Wall Street Journal writer Zuckerman uncanny “ability to conjure reality out of hot air and spittle.” (The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire This essay serves as the launching pad for further pieces expos- Wildcatters, 2013, etc.) notes, is greater than the annual revenue ing the sorry state of contemporary American politics and of Levi Strauss and Hyatt Hotels. The firm does this with a staff popular culture. Tough, irritated, and eager to speak her truth, that’s markedly smaller than the usual investment house, all of the author expounds on the unifying aspects of visibility and them “quants” devoted to a scientific approach to playing the activism to cultivate change, especially when countering the market. Whereas investors such as Warren Buffett followed a denigration of women. Her sharp wit and no-nonsense sense of “value” strategy that, as the textbooks have it, “recommended humor also shine through her dissection of the work of Adam buying when prices cheapened and taking money off the table Sandler, Gwyneth Paltrow’s diet plan (her avocado smoothie when prices richened,” Simons—who had earned his wings “could give diarrhea an existential crisis”), and how movies like developing algorithms to break Soviet codes in the Cold War— Clue shaped her perspectives and appreciation for one-liners followed trends closely, amassing historical price information and physical comedy. West rarely minces words, especially and hiring people devoted to “foraging and cleaning data the rest regarding documentaries on the Ted Bundy murders and the of the world cared little about.” Data can be cooked, of course; Fyre Festival or when expressing her sheer appreciation for the Zuckerman writes that Simons was impressed by the figures a legacy of Joan Rivers, and her writing is fluid and multifaceted. rising investment manager named Bernard Madoff was posting, Though she often rages at social injustice, she also becomes though he pulled his funds when he came to suspect them well solemnly poetic when discussing her fondness for the drizzly before Madoff’s vast Ponzi scheme was exposed. Simons’ devo- Pacific Northwest, where she was raised and still resides, a tion to numbers and algorithms did not rule out gut instincts, place where she can still feel her deceased father’s presence “in as with the near-ruinous market crash of 1987, though, as Zuck- the ridges and grooves of my city—we are close, superimposed, erman notes, the quants did better than their nonquant coun- separated only by time, and what’s that? This is the only reli- terparts—one reason why the quants now rule the market. Of gion I can relate to.” Only occasionally are the smoothly writ- more than passing interest are the liberal Simons’ dealings with ten essays hijacked by intrusive asides—e.g., her experience partner Robert Mercer, who applied quant methods to politics inside a proselytizing Uber driver’s car, a scene wedged into her and came up with the likes of Donald Trump and Steve Ban- reflections on climate change. Though uneven at times, the non, a decision that brought enough heat on the house to force author drives home the critical issues of our time while taking Mercer’s resignation. time to tickle our funny bones. Worthwhile reading for budding plutocrats and numer- Satirical, raw, and unapologetically real, West delivers ate investors alike. the bittersweet truths on contemporary living.

78 | 1 october 2019 | nonfiction | kirkus.com | children’s CHERRY BLOSSOM AND These titles earned the Kirkus Star: PAPER PLANES Aerts, Jef CHERRY BLOSSOM AND PAPER PLANES by Jef Aerts; Illus. by te Loo, Sanne illus. by Sanne te Loo; trans. by Polly Lawson...... 79 Trans. by Lawson, Polly Floris (48 pp.) JIMENA PÉREZ PUEDE VOLAR / JIMENA PÉREZ CAN FLY $17.95 | Jan. 21, 2020 by Jorge Argueta; illus. by Fabricio Vanden Broeck; 978-178250-561-7 trans. by Elizabeth Bell...... 81 MOST OF THE BETTER NATURAL THINGS IN THE WORLD A deep connection between friends blossoms after winter. by Dave Eggers; illus. by Angel Chang...... 86 Adin and Dina live on a fruit farm, blonde, white Dina “at the top of the hill” and black-haired, brown-skinned Adin, ROLY POLY by Mem Fox; illus. by Jane Dyer...... 90 whose mother works picking fruit, “at the bottom.” So close young adult that each “knew what the other one was thinking,” they share BEDTIME FOR SWEET CREATURES by Nikki Grimes; a love of cherries, climbing into the trees to eat the fruit and illus. by Elizabeth Zunon...... 90 saving the pits to plant around the village. Te Loo’s gouache- THIS BOOK IS ANTI-RACIST by Tiffany Jewell; and-pen illustrations are gentle, filled with greens and yellows illus. by Aurélia Durand...... 96 that are echoed in the village and, later, more subtly, in the city Adin and his mother move to. Each double-page spread shows a DOG DRIVEN by Terry Lynn Johnson...... 96 world that is wide yet comfortably familiar. When Adin and his mother leave, the sense of loss is conveyed simply. Dina pres- FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON by Janae Marks...... 99 ents Adin with a farewell bag of cherry pits, “self-picked and NOT A BEAN by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez; self-spat out.” When she visits him in the city Dina is momen- illus. by Laura González...... 99 tarily without words seeing Adin, hair combed, in “smart new clothes.” But Adin has been tossing cherry pits from his apart- THE OLD TRUCK by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey...... 104 ment balcony and shows Dina how he’s found a way to send the seeds even farther via paper plane. When spring arrives THE PRESIDENT OF THE JUNGLE by André Rodrigues, the cherry trees seem to light a path between the two friends. Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo & Pedro Markun; Aerts’ story, translated from the Dutch, resonates honestly and illus. by Lyn Miller-Lachmann...... 104 clearly with reassurance that friendship can weather changes SUNNYSIDE PLAZA by Scott Simon...... 106 and bridge distances. Memorable and visually rich. (Picture book. 3-7) MARTIN MCLEAN, MIDDLE SCHOOL QUEEN by Alyssa Zaczek ...... 110 THE RIDE HOME Anderson-Dargatz, Gail THE OLD TRUCK Orca (128 pp.) Pumphrey, Jerome & $13.99 paper | Jan. 28, 2020 Pumphrey, Jarrett 978-1-4598-2142-2 Illus. by the authors Norton Young Readers A move lands Mark on a rowdy (48 pp.) school bus fraught with both social and $17.95 | Jan. 7, 2020 meteorological peril. 978-1-324-00519-3 Canadian middle schooler Mark can no longer ride public transit since he’s left the big city. Instead, after changing schools in mid-November, he’s forced to take the hourslong school bus route. His grandmother encourages him to make friends, but Mark sees little in these

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 79 children deserve to know

Photo courtesy Leah Overstreet How do we tell the children? We do it because there are college-educated adults That’s a question that bedevils any in America who are totally ignorant of Ford’s views. adult who’s tasked with interpret- This is why I tend to lean toward exposing our icons’ ing a complex world for a child. dark sides to children—so they aren’t blindsided later Most adults know that there on—or, worse, never learn. are few if any icons or institu- We need, as a nation, to be more comfortable with tions who were or are without these dualities. Being a human is complicated. Every flaw. Thomas Jefferson wrote the child learns early on, through hard experience, that Declaration of Independence, and their parents, whom most love unconditionally, are im- he was a slave owner whose legal perfect. To hide the dark sides of our national heroes property included his own chil- is to pretend that there are dren. Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic perfect people. and admired the Nazis. Martin Luther King led the Sometimes it’s not a per- civil rights movement and routinely slept around. son whose treatment cries Far too often, our heroes’ darker sides are con- out for nuance and context cealed from children in favor of a simpler, more palat- but an institution. In Paper able binary that celebrates the good while concealing Son, by Julie Leung and illus- the not-so-good. It’s easy to understand why: There’s trated by Chris Sasaki, read- only so much space, particularly in a picture-book for- ers meet artist Tyrus Wong, mat, and contextualizing such concepts as Nazism and a Chinese immigrant who entered the country at the philandering can be a challenge. age of 9, slipping past the Chinese Exclusion Act by But I feel it’s absolutely necessary. posing as a merchant’s son. He found work at Disney Take Full of Beans, by Peggy Studios, creating the lush woodland scenes of Bambi. Thomas and illustrated by Ed- The book adequately celebrated his artistry, we felt, win Fotheringham. It’s a live- but it downplayed the racism he experienced both per- ly picture book, with a timely sonally and professionally. Isn’t it important that read- environmental theme, about ers understand that Disney Studios was not above the Henry Ford’s Depression-era racism that’s defined so much of American life? More- initiative to provide a market over, in soft-pedaling that racism, the book undercuts to struggling farmers by devel- Wong’s true achievement in oping soybean-based alterna- succeeding despite it. tives to some of the traditional Acknowledging the dark- materials used in the manufacture of his automobiles. ness can be tough. Ashley Who knew? But our reviewer expressed her uneasiness Benham Yazdani does it in about Henry Ford to me privately. He was an impor- her celebration of Central tant innovator whose work was world-changing. And Park, A Green Place To Be. In- he was, as my reviewer wrote, “a virulent, extreme stead of plunging right into anti-Semite [who] lectured about Jewish conspiracy Calvert Vaux and Frederick and blamed the Jews for both world wars,” going so far Law Olmsted’s genius, she opens with a somber dou- as to purchase a newspaper to promulgate his views. ble-page spread that depicts the residents of Seneca Do we damn the book for celebrating him? No, but we Village—mostly African American—as they are evict- make sure our readers know that nowhere in the book ed to make way for the project. It makes for a strange are his anti-Semitic activities mentioned. tonal shift, but it’s a brave move and one I hope to see Why, one might ask? Ford’s anti-Semitism has more and more often. —V.S. nothing to do with his objectively cool soybean work. Vicky Smith is the children’s editor.

80 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | A poignant, sincere, empathetic glimpse at family border separation. jimena pérez puede volar / jimena pérez can fly

small-town folk who, frankly, act like wild animals. He faces an THE MONSTER HYPOTHESIS irate driver, gross public displays of affection, pyromaniacs, and Bernard, Romily snack-food projectiles. Plus, there are all these unspoken rules Disney-Hyperion (304 pp.) foreign to him. Mark just wants to survive the ride. However, $16.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 harsh weather conditions make the roads snowy and icy, which 978-1-368-02855-4 lands the bus stuck on some train tracks due to an accident. This title offers a low decoding level of mastery, so it’s accessible to a A skeptic finds herself caught up in wide range of readers. Yet the simplicity does not compromise paranormal shenanigans. the storytelling or the realistic depth of the characters. In fact, Bernard situates readers in Southern, Mark comes to realize that the other passengers are more than swampy, alligator-populated Bohring, amid they appear. Even he is eventually forced to admit the reason for the debris of 11-year-old Karis “Kick” Win- his move—a bipolar single mother who recently attempted sui- ter’s explosion. Kick plans a career in cide. Bullying and complicated family lives make for empathetic STEM, like her “super scientist” mother, Dr. Georgia Winter, plot beats for this evidently all-white cast of characters. who leaves Kick with her admittedly fake-psychic and quite This is an accessible narrative with a layered reading stylish mother, Grandma Missouri, at her home, the Hollows. experience. (Fiction. 10-13) Kick’s visit coincides with the 100-year occurrence of the town’s curse, in which “the children turned into monsters and took over the town.” Kick’s scientific mind dismisses the lore, JIMENA PÉREZ PUEDE which comes with a nursery rhyme, even as she lies about being VOLAR / JIMENA PÉREZ a psychic to fit into her new school. This strategy backfires

CAN FLY when one of the mean-girl bullies demands that she use that young adult Argueta, Jorge ability to remove the curse. Then Kick smells the “porta potty” Illus. by Vanden Broeck, Fabricio odor and sees a “smear of glowing green” and “horrible figures,” Trans. by Bell, Elizabeth and she wonders if science can so easily dismiss these supernat- Piñata Books/Arté Público (96 pp.) ural phenomena…and, halfway through the book, readers will $10.95 paper | Nov. 30, 2019 wonder if the plot will pick up or stay plodding along. When 978-1-55885-889-3 done well, Southern ease, as heard in its legendary drawl and tasted in its cuisine, slows the pace to an elegant, earthy perfec- Argueta tells the story of 10-year-old tion. Alas, here Bernard’s use of the Southern idiom just bogs Jimena Pérez, who unexpectedly journeys from her home in El her plot down. There are some secondary characters of color, Salvador to the U.S. but most of the cast presents white. Several of Kick’s experi- Told in a sequence of short poems first in Spanish and con- ments are appended. sequently in English, this poignant story introduces Jimena’s This ambling tale takes too long to get going. (Paranor home through her senses: “Me gusta / el color de las zanaho- mal adventure. 8-12) rias…. / Pero más me gusta / el olor de los marañones”; “I like the color / of the carrots…. / But what I like most / is the smell of the cashew fruit.” When young boys from a neighborhood ODD DOG OUT gang threaten Jimena’s schoolmate, Jimena’s parents, fearing Biddulph, Rob for their own daughter, decide that Jimena and her mother will Illus. by the author join family living in Texas. After exiting El Salvador and later Harper/HarperCollins (32 pp.) Guatemala, Jimena and her mother climb atop a train—La Bes- $17.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 tia, known for its ruthlessness and peril—and later trek by foot. 978-0-06-236726-6 Authorities find Jimena and her mama and pull them from each other. “I feel alone. / Other kids are crying. / We’re little birds In a copy-cat world where all dogs / alone and sad / in a metal cage.” The harrowing tale ends in a look the same, one dachshund finds her detention cell for children, yet in this realistic hell, Jimena man- own identity and learns to love being ages to find some small hope. It leaves Jimena scared and uncer- different. tain, and it won’t be a stretch for readers to understand that the A bouncy, rhyming text presents a city with rows and rows questions they have about Jimena apply to far too many real-life of identical dachshunds driving on busy roads or engaging in children like her. activities such as swimming, sailing, and camping. Each group A poignant, sincere, empathetic glimpse at family bor- of dogs is dressed identically, with the members of each set der separation. (Verse fiction. -8 14) lined up in robotic, expressionless fashion. One female dog, however, dances to a different drummer. She wears a colorful cap and a rainbow-hued scarf, and she listens to her own music playing on headphones. She feels she doesn’t fit in anywhere, so she leaves home to find a new life. She lands in Doggywood, where she does fit in, as many other dogs there look just like her.

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 81 Fauvel’s ability to show complex feelings with the smallest possible strokes of ink is remarkable. catherine’s war

She meets another outlier, dressed in a black cap and Nordic I AM PERFECTLY DESIGNED sweater, who’s “whistling a different tune.” That dog causes her Brown, Karamo & Brown, Jason “Rachel” to be proud of her outsider status, and the unnamed heroine Illus. by Syed, Anoosha returns to her original town, where she has been missed. Her Henry Holt (40 pp.) return sparks an outbreak of individuality, with all the dachs- $18.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 hunds making a group decision to dress in wildly different attire. 978-1-250-23221-2 While the sudden transformation from boring conformity to intriguing originality is a bit abrupt, the story successfully intro- A black father and son share a loving, duces the idea that just one individual may effect a change in nostalgic dialogue in this empowering a larger group. Graphically striking, patterned illustrations use picture book. vibrant colors and a wide variety of perspectives and page for- Whether it’s a pancake breakfast, playing in the falling mats to keep visual interest high. leaves of an autumn walk, wearing coordinating Halloween A cheery, creative look at celebrating being different costumes (a bottle of organic maple syrup and a waffle), or from the crowd. (Picture book. 3-7) enjoying a healthy salad picnic in the park, it is clear that this pair is made for each other. The all-dialogue text is written by real-life father-and-son pair Karamo Brown (of Queer Eye) and CATHERINE’S WAR Jason Brown; reminiscing through baby pictures, reaching for Billet, Julia the stars on a rooftop deck, or pretending to be statues, these Illus. by Fauvel, Claire characters pull readers in with every turn of the page. “I had Trans. by Hahnenberger, Ivanka such a big baby head!” remarks the boy; “Indeed,” replies his Harper/HarperCollins (176 pp.) father. “But your big baby head was perfectly designed for you.” $21.99 | $12.99 paper | Jan. 21, 2020 Syed’s bright, cartoon illustrations showcase the warmth of city 978-0-06-291560-3 life with an abundance of endearing, diverse families. The art- 978-0-06-291559-7 paper work includes details among background characters that enrich the tale with a meaningful message of kindness and inclusion, This story will make readers want to as in T-shirts with such slogans as “Be Kind” and “Feminist,” join the Resistance. multiple same-sex couples, and characters with various types of In 1942 France, Rachel calls the religious garb. With tenderness and wit, this story captures the people who run the Children’s Home where she lives by animal magic of building strong childhood memories. names—Seagull, Penguin, Shrew—to keep their real names hid- The Browns and Syed celebrate the special bond den from the Nazis. As the Nazis add more and more restric- between parent and child with joy and flair.(Picture book. 4-8) tions against Jews, Rachel must change her identity also, to Catherine. Catherine, unlike Rachel, is allowed to eat pork. The expression on her face as she tries it for the first time is nearly DON’T WORRY, BEE HAPPY glowing. In a lovely three-panel sequence, Fauvel captures each Burach, Ross tiny shift in emotion. Her ability to show complex feelings with Illus. by the author the smallest possible strokes of ink is remarkable, and Billet Scholastic (48 pp.) has given her memorable scenes to draw, such as a sequence in $4.99 paper | Dec. 26, 2019 which students are drilled on their new names, over and over, in 978-1-338-50492-7 a classroom exercise. Her skill at staging a scene helps the book Series: Bumble and Bee, 1 survive its main flaw: There are too many characters, and they arrive and depart too quickly. In another book, this might have Two bees show a frog that friendship been a virtue, creating a nightmarish sense of chaos, but here it is as sweet as honey. simply makes the plot feel rushed. In this claustrophobic war- In the first of three short chapters, Bumble (a bumblebee) time setting, the characters are all white and frequently Jewish. and Bee (a honeybee) are absolutely thrilled it’s “Best Friends Characters are drawn so vividly that, long afterward, Picture Day.” But Froggy wishes they were somewhere else. Not readers will remember their names. (Graphic historical fiction. even counting to three and saying “BEES!” elicits a smile as big 8-12) as Bumble’s or Bee’s. Froggy just frowns. The insects devise a brilliant plan to turn Froggy’s frown upside down—literally. In the next chapter, Bumble and Bee show their compassionate sides and scare Froggy out of a bad case of the hiccups. The final chapter sees the bees showing off their “Waggle Dance” (an actual communication method among honeybees) while trying to get Froggy to follow along. With their quick pace and comic-book layout, the chapters function like miniature cartoon episodes. Burach’s well-structured, thick-outlined panels create a rhythm to each punchline—and the punny jokes just

82 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | keep coming. The bees’ theatrics and infectious enthusiasm A FLICKER OF COURAGE pitted against Froggy’s deadpan dryness place the trio on par Caletti, Deb with greats like Bob Shea’s Ballet Cat and Sparkles or Mo Wil- Putnam (256 pp.) lems’ Piggie and Gerald. The stories are told almost entirely in $13.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 dialogue; color-coded speech bubbles (yellow for Bee, green 978-1-9848-1305-3 for Froggy, and orange for Bumble) max out at three per panel. Series: True Tales of Triumph and The bright colors, expressive characters, and attention to detail Disaster, 1 will attract multiple reads. Readers will eagerly await the future planned books in the series. Four kids fight back against an evil Buzz-worthy. (Graphic early reader. 4-6) tyrant in this fantasy geared for middle graders from a veteran YA author. Anxious, lonely Henry lives with his parents next to the raucous, loving Dante family, and he’s long yearned to befriend the family’s oldest son, Apollo. However, it’s only after Apollo’s little brother Rocco is changed into a lizard by Vlad Luxor, their Horrible Ruler with Magic, that Henry gathers his nerve to band together with Apollo and Jo and Pirate Girl, two other kids, to try to find a way to break the spell. Playful names and vocabulary set a fantastical mood, and stylized, vintage-looking drawings and diagrams are young adult

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 83 peppered throughout. From the start, it’s clear that a familiar RORY BRANAGAN : epic battle is to be fought between the decent young people DETECTIVE and the sinister megalomaniac leader. Luxor is described as a Clover, Andrew science-denying, thick-fingered, image-obsessed oaf with an Illus. by Lazar, Ralph inability to spell—a setup that feels heavy-handed even with Penguin Workshop (352 pp.) the abundance of quick-paced action that propels the novel $9.99 paper | Jan. 28, 2020 along, which seems destined for a sequel. Most of the charac- 978-1-5247-9364-7 ters, including Henry, the Dantes, and Pirate Girl, are white, Series: Rory Branagan: Detective, 1 or at least are assumed to be by default. Jo and her family are South American. You might not guess, but Rory Brana- Too-clever details and cloying messages get in the way gan is a detective. of this story. (Fiction. 8-12) Rory’s dad disappeared seven years ago, and no one will tell Rory why—in fact no one tells him anything. Rory lives with his annoying brother, Seamus, and their I SEE mom and Auntie Jo (who is actually just a lodger, not their real Cepeda, Joe aunt); his best friend is Wilkins Welkin, the neighbor’s sausage Illus. by the author dog. When Cassidy Corrigan (or is it Callaghan?) moves in next Holiday House (32 pp.) door, she suggests Rory become a detective and find out the $15.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 things no one tells him—and she volunteers to be his sidekick. 978-0-8234-4504-2 When “Guinea Pig” Gilligan (father to odd neighbor Connor Series: I Like to Read Gilligan) keels over in the street after eating takeout, Rory and Cassidy are on the case. The detective duo checks out the aptly Two kids, probably siblings, explore named Deadly Pirate restaurant, where Auntie Jo works. At first, their surrounding world through Rory is laughed at, but the mystery deepens…bad guys, poison magnification. octopuses, deception, betrayal…and Mom? Can they sort the While the older one remains inside with a microscope, case and get Seamus to admit Rory really is a detective? British the younger prefers the outside, examining all with a large actor, comic, and writer Clover’s foolishly fun detective series hand-held magnifying glass. “I see,” the kid declares, focus - ably jumps the pond (there are five of a projected seven out in ing on several insects and animals while peering through the the U.K.), and fans of 13-Story Treehouse and the like will prob- glass. A large, blue-black ant grins up through the glass as the ably jump for joy. Lazar’s scribbly line drawings decorate most child states, “I see an ant.” A butterfly, a snail, and robins’ pages and often amusingly depict Rory’s imaginings. Characters eggs similarly appear through the glass, all narrated in the present white. short, patterned text. Arriving home with discoveries crawl- Such fun! And, happily, more to come! (Mystery. 6-11) ing and flapping behind, the explorer now declares, “We see,” to the older child. The minimalist text is perfect for emerging readers, allowing children the ability to successfully read WINTER SCIENCE a whole book. Each repetitive sentence with its additional Coppens, Katie new word is coupled with recognizable picture cues to help Illus. by Hatam, Holly in decoding. Cepeda’s characteristically energetic artwork Tilbury House (88 pp.) offers sharp-edged, jagged lines that give it a scratch-art look. $13.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 The siblings are dressed nearly identically, in blue shorts and 978-0-88448-607-7 red polo shirts, and they have tousled brown hair, beige skin, Series: Acadia Files and big smiles. The book’s simplicity guarantees achievement for Acadia and two friends learn more beginning readers. (Picture book/early reader. 4-6) science while enjoying a Maine winter. This is the third in a thoughtful series that began with Summer Science (2018). Like its predecessors, this combines a slight storyline with science facts, definitions, and descriptions of experiments using the scientific method. A melting snowman, a floating balloon, a paper-airplane contest, a wait outside in the cold, and a sledding challenge prompt 11-year-old Acadia’s questions, which are presented in a present- tense narrative with unlikely dialogue but realistic daily details. Her parents are always happy to help her find answers, offering clear explanations, demonstrations, and encouragement for further experimentation. This outing introduces the topics of climate change, food waste, recycling and repurposing, atoms

84 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | A carefully diverse roster of “dominant dames” demonstrably capable of breaking gender molds. the book of queens

and elements, buoyancy, aerodynamics, animal adaptations for THE BOOK OF QUEENS winter, and the physics of sledding. In each chapter, the pro- Legendary Leaders, Fierce tagonists accomplish some activity, one that could be easily rep- Females, and Wonder licated by readers at home or in school: listing ways to reduce Women Who Ruled the World one’s carbon footprint or looking for animal tracks in the snow, Drimmer, Stephanie Warren for example. The author appends a list of helpful websites for National Geographic Kids (176 pp.) further exploration of each topic. Acadia is pictured as pale and $14.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 blonde; Joshua is darker, with straight hair, and brown-skinned 978-1-4263-3535-8 Isabel wears her hair in two Afro puffs. Experiments, charts, and definitions are hand-lettered and profusely decorated with A united nations of leading ladies of sketches, and each chapter ends with further questions. the past and present, commingled with Accessible and approachable, a useful tool for science luminaries in the arts, sciences, and annals of piracy. learning. (Informational fiction. -8 12) Leading off with full-page portraits of Aretha Franklin and Joan of Arc to herald her glittering gallery’s expansive purview, Drimmer dishes up short introductions to over 100 strong HENRY HECKELBECK GETS women who either headed states or shone in academic or pub- A DRAGON lic spheres. Gathered thematically, each comes with a picture— Coven, Wanda some true to period but many done in newer styles, including Illus. by Burris, Priscilla lots of stock images looking like models in costume—and a Little Simon/Simon & Schuster (128 pp.) biographical note. Along with well-documented royals from

$16.99 | $5.99 paper | Dec. 1, 2019 young adult 978-1-5344-6104-8 978-1-5344-6103-1 paper Series: Henry Heckelbeck, 1

This first installment in a Heidi Heckelbeck series spinoff stars Heidi’s younger brother. Henry Heckelbeck’s perfectly fine with being an ordinary person, unlike his female witch relatives. A kid focused on saving time, Henry’s excited about being prepared for another year at school. For their first assignment, Henry and his classmates must make All About Me bags containing three items that reveal things about them. While trying to get his remote-controlled toy dragon off the shelf to complete his bag, Henry stumbles upon a mysterious old book containing both a medal and a personal dragon spell. When putting on the medal and chanting the spell unexpectedly brings his toy dragon to life, Henry must catch his dragon and keep the magical mischief under wraps. A secondary character named Mackenzie “Max” Maplethorpe (in case readers miss it, Henry makes the connection between Max and Heidi’s classmate Melanie Maplethorpe) is a particularly observant threat to Henry’s new, magical secret. Although the broad strokes of setup and plotline are beyond familiar, Henry’s character—high energy and believably quirky—makes up for a lot. Aside from the story, the familiar format’s large print with easy words and frequent picture breaks results in an unintimi- dating book for emergent independent readers. The illustrations—black line art on white page—generally lack racial cues, though on the cover Henry is depicted with light skin. This gentle, lightly magical story leans on the comfort of familiarity over novelty. (Fantasy. 5-9)

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 85 Readers’ interest will be sustained by looming questions and deft shifts of visual perspective. most of the better natural things in the world

Hatshepsut to the Elizabeths I and II, Catherine the Great to THE TRUTH ABOUT HAWKS Anne Boleyn (“her reign was cut short”), readers will get gan- Eaton III, Maxwell ders at such non-Western achievers as Himiko, Japan’s earliest Illus. by the author known ruler, and Ashanti rebel Yaa Asantewaa. Venturing into Roaring Brook (32 pp.) realms beyond the geopolitical, Trimmer profiles Simone Biles $16.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 and other “Sovereigns of Sports,” “Monarchs of Music,” “Leg- 978-1-250-19845-7 endary Leaders” like Wonder Woman (the film version), and Series: The Truth About Your Favorite assorted aeronauts, astronauts, and “Nobel Nobles.” A num- Animals ber of male monarchs, mostly from the co-published Book of Kings, sneak into side boxes, and occasional featurettes focus Hawks star in this sixth episode of on queenly armor, bling, and emblems. Considering the perva- Eaton’s The Truth About Your Favorite Animals series. sive evidence of bloody-mindedness, readers in search of “lean The author uses familiar North American species to illus- in” role models may justly scoff at the closing tally of positive trate hawks’ hunting behavior, family life, migration, and queenly character traits. threats. Text on the page gives the facts while the various hawks, A carefully diverse roster of “dominant dames” demon- a brown-skinned bird-watcher, a threatened vole, and a sky-glid- strably capable of breaking gender molds…along with ing Dall sheep provide commentary. As in previous books, there records and/or heads. (index) (Collective biography. 9-12) are also signpostlike text boxes with further facts along the way. The author has a knack for picking facts his young readers will enjoy: “Baby hawks often go to the bathroom over the edge of BON VOYAGE, MISTER the nest instead of in it.” But they will also come away know- RODRIGUEZ ing the more general characteristics of the hawk family—the Duchesne, Christiane excellent vision, hooked beak, strong, sharp-taloned toes, large Illus. by Thisdale, François wings, and special tail feathers that make them such deadly Pajama Press (32 pp.) hunters—and much more. Although the illustrations are car- $18.95 | Nov. 5, 2019 toons, and sometimes wildly out of proportion (a fox taller than 978-1-77278-089-5 the human child), the hawk species are both actually recognizable and usually labeled on the page. It should be easy for read- Observed by village children, an ers to distinguish fact from exaggeration, and the humor may elderly man prepares for death in this make the science stick. The backmatter includes illustrations of misty allegory. wingspans, air movements that help them fly, migratory routes, Mr. Rodriguez appears outdoors at 4 p.m. daily, communing and suggestions, both easy and challenging, for further reading. with a different animal each day: a dove on Monday, a pet fish Cartoon humor and solid information make an appeal- on Tuesday, an old sheepdog on Wednesday, a lame cat on Thurs- ing introduction to an impressive bird family. (Informational day. On Friday, a piano appears on the street, and Mr. Rodriguez picture book. 4-8) sits atop it as “a fine melody flowed out to sea.” Mr. Rodriguez levitates slightly above the cobbled streets along with the animals (and piano) he shepherds. On Saturday, Mr. Rodriguez fails MOST OF THE BETTER to appear. The children rise early on Sunday to discover whether NATURAL THINGS IN he’s changed his routine. Their curiosity is rewarded: The elder THE WORLD appears on his piano, floating in the air, the animals arrayed Eggers, Dave around him. “He winked and pointed to the clouds in the dis- Illus. by Chang, Angel tance.” Duchesne adopts a first-person-plural narrative voice in Chronicle (52 pp.) which matter-of-fact declaratives bob against mild speculation $17.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 and culminate in an unflappable conclusion: “He had gone away, 978-1-4521-6282-9 probably forever. But we know he was happy.” Thisdale’s paintings depict a white-presenting Mr. Rodriguez and the coastal An artistic envisioning of a list poem, village’s mutable sky, cerulean sea, whitewashed buildings, and of sorts, about place. omnipresent lighthouse. He sometimes duplicates and flips his With the exception of two double-page spreads reading images of the village’s diverse children. With their precisely “CLOUD FOREST” and “ALPINE LAKE,” Eggers’ text con- lit, unchanging or mirrored facial expressions, these recurring sists of single words on successive spreads, each one naming images convey, perhaps unintentionally, a robotic eeriness. a geographic feature. Chang’s lush illustrations place a white, This surreal allegory of death’s release will intrigue bipedal tiger in each setting, a yellow chair lashed to its back as some readers while puzzling others. (Picture book. 4-7) it travels left to right with the page turns. There’s a dreamlike quality to the scenes as the intrepid tiger traverses, among other places, a gorge, a fjord, an atoll, an estuary, and a lagoon. At the center of the book, a dramatic double-gatefold spread presents (what else?) a “VISTA.” But where is the tiger going? And what

86 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | is the chair’s purpose? Readers’ interest will be sustained by FINDING LUCY these looming questions and by deft shifts of visual perspective Fernandes, Eugenie offered in the illustrations. The reward is an instance of clever Illus. by the author wordplay in a concluding spread that shows the tiger arriving at Pajama Press (32 pp.) a “TAIGA” (which, along with the other geographic terms, is $18.95 | Oct. 29, 2019 defined in a backmatter glossary). Amid this “swampy forest... 978-1-77278-088-8 found in the northern parts of the globe,” a tiger family sits around a table set for a meal, with an empty place awaiting the Everybody’s a critic. tiger who’s traveled so far. Lucy, an elementary-age white girl who appears to live alone Repeated perusals will have readers proclaiming it’s with her cat, is an artist, painting happily in her garden until a grrrrr-eat. (Picture book. 4-8) reporter from the local paper comes by. “I am painting the color of laughter,” she explains. The reporter scoffs: “It looks like JELLYBEAN SOUP!” Nevertheless, the press brings curious CASPER TOCK AND THE art lovers to see for themselves. One thinks the laughter should EVERDARK WINGS be louder; another is disappointed that it’s not actually jelly- Elphinstone, Abi bean soup. With each complaint, Lucy changes her painting. Aladdin (384 pp.) More visitors come, each demanding that Lucy create some- $17.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 thing that in some way represents their own self-interest. Only 978-1-5344-4307-5 her cat supports her vision. When a “big-city critic” declares Series: Unmapped Chronicles, 1 her work insufficiently “FEROCIOUS,” Lucy tries hard to young adult An unlikely pair in need of adventure is now responsible for saving worlds known and unknown and maybe finding a friend. Casper Tock is just your average, orderly middle schooler trying to stay safe from bullies, turn in homework, and survive the haphazard hurricanes slamming England. That is, until a bully sneaks into his turret to torment him; forced to hide in a broken grandfather clock, he finds himself in Rumblestar, being detained by Utterly Thankless, a girl known for taking risks and causing mayhem, and her dragon, Arlo. Bewildered by this kingdom in the clouds—it’s responsible for creating “marvels” (the purest forms of snow, rain, and sun) that the other three unmapped kingdoms use to create weather—Casper learns that the unexplainable weather occurring through all of the Faraway is actually the doing of Morg, a nefarious harpy who wants to steal all of the unmappers’ magic, and her minions. Casper, Utterly, and Arlo set out for the Beyond on the advice of Slum- bergrot, a cloud giant who can’t stay awake long enough to help. On their journey, Casper, who’s black, finds that he’s capable of bravery; Utterly, who’s white, considers that it might OK to open up; and both find that friendship isn’t completely terrible. The jam-packed plot, conveyed in a third-person-omniscient voice, is steadily paced, with plenty of action and just enough detail. This whimsical, humorous, richly built world sets the stage for more courageous adventures. A delightful series opener. (Fantasy. 8-12)

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 87 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Maulik Pancholy

IN HIS FIRST CHILDREN’S BOOK, THE ACTOR AND ACTIVIST PORTRAYS A GAY INDIAN AMERICAN EIGHTH GRADER FIGURING OUT HIS PLACE AT SCHOOL—AND IN THE WORLD By James Feder Photo courtesy Luke Fontana portive grandfather, and a best friend with endless reserves of strength and loyalty. But for Rahul, it’s not enough. Looking around his small-town Indiana school, he sees plenty of examples of the types of boy he’d like to be; they just don’t look like him. To grow up in the United States is to grow up with a very specific understanding of beauty, of manhood, of what it means to be American. The heartthrobs on television, the action heroes in films, and the models in magazines are all overwhelmingly white and muscular. For people who are different in any way, the understanding is that they don’t quite belong. “When you’re young,” Pancholy says, “you don’t even realize what’s happening. You don’t understand that you’re being sent silent messages that you and your story don’t matter or don’t exist, that if you’re going to move through the world you’re going to need to be something like the characters you see in books or television or film.” For young people, fitting in is so often what matters most. So kids look at the world they know and must decide between two choices: accepting an unwanted place outside the norm or trying to mold themselves to better fit in. For Rahul, that means steering clear For his debut middle-grade novel, actor Maulik Pan- of mathletics and trying out for the football team choly, of 30 Rock and Phineas and Ferb fame, took liber- even though he can solve complex equations in min- ally from his own experiences growing up Indian Ameri- utes and has never so much as touched a football. But can, gay, and nerdy in the Midwest. But if readers come the effects run deeper, leaving him so confused that away surprised by the underlying sense of hope and op- he finds it hard to even understand his own feelings. timism, given what we have come to expect from stories In a particularly poignant and heart-wrenching mo- of such kids in such environments, that’s because Pan- ment, Rahul admits to his friend that he isn’t sure choly wanted it that way. In writing The Best At It (Bal- what it is that draws his eyes again and again to Justin, zer + Bray, Oct. 8), he channeled what he terms “truthful a white, athletic boy in their class; does he want to be possibility.” Just because something is unexpected, or Justin, or does he want to be with Justin? even unlikely, doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. “When I was a kid and we traveled to India for Eighth grader Rahul is luckier than most. He has the first time,” Pancholy says, “I remember turning loving and understanding parents, a playful and sup- on the television and seeing people who looked like

88 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | me. There was this sense of belonging and validation that came with that. I think it’s something about being human,” he reflects, “this need that we have to know that we belong.” When literature and film take representation seriously, kids don’t need to fly halfway around the world to see themselves reflected in human terms. And real progress is being made. Pancholy, who served please, “splatter[ing] the beautiful painting with ink and gar- on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission bage and mud,” but the critic is not impressed. The cat com- on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, notes that forts a glum Lucy, quietly encouraging her to return to her own style—and when she does, she’s happy again. Fernandes’ illus- “things have gotten so much better in television and trations borrow both palette and a sense of vegetative lushness film and books, in particular for young people. But I from Gauguin; Lucy’s creations are almost wholly abstract. She still feel like there’s a long way to go.” is also the only human in the story—all the carping critics are That’s especially true in the current political cli- anthropomorphic animals, lending a sense of fun and softening the unkindness of their remarks. The text shares the illustra- mate. “We’re hearing these ideas that brown peo- tions’ whimsy, delighting in words as much as Lucy delights in ple are terrorists or that immigrants should go back her art. where they came from,” Pancholy says. “I think A valuable lesson in pursuing your own artistic star. we’re at a precarious moment historically. But,” he (Picture book. 5-8) adds, “I’m kind of excited that this book is coming out now, when it can have a real impact, when it can MY SURVIVAL serve as a conversation starter. Rahul’s parents are A Girl on Schindler’s List Finder, Rena with Greene, Joshua M. immigrants, and we see that it’s an imperfect world, Scholastic (144 pp.) but we also see a large number of friends corralling $16.99 | Dec. 26, 2019

behind them. People don’t always react in the best 978-1-338-59379-2 young adult ways, and I wanted to be honest about that, but I A straightforward and accessible also wanted to show something positive, to show Holocaust survivor’s memoir shows how it could be.” Oskar Schindler through the eyes of a young person he saved. Before the Nazi invasion, Rena’s Jew- James Feder is a New York–born, Scottish-educated writer ish family members are patriotic Poles; her uncle had been a based in Tel Aviv. The Best At It received a starred re- decorated war hero. After the occupation, the everyday anti- view in the July 1, 2019, issue. Semitism 10-year-old Rena has faced all her life is replaced with something terrifyingly worse. The anti-Jewish laws start small: curfews, forbidding bank accounts, requiring hard-to-obtain work permits, deportations. The local non-Jewish Poles ignore the horrible treatment of their neighbors, looking away during mass arrests. The Nazis’ crimes escalate until the Jews are locked in the Krakow ghetto, then eventually deported to concentration or death camps. Rena is nearly murdered as well—in fact, she is briefly taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau—but she manages to get herself and her mother on Oskar Schindler’s list. Rena credits the quiet heroism of Emilie and Oskar Schindler with saving herself and nearly 1,200 Jews from Nazi atrocities. She recounts that Oskar’s original goal in obtaining imprisoned Jewish workers for his munitions factory was saving money, but he and Emilie risked their lives and spent their fortune protecting their workers. Rena, now 90, is a Holocaust educator, and her matter-of-fact narration reflects this. She urges readers, “when you see a bully, do something. Go get help.” A vital look at one complicated man’s unwillingness to be complicit. (photos) (Memoir. 11-14)

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 89 ROLY POLY temperature in the room, the breath in the body. Nothing in Fox, Mem the content of the stories stands out as especially noteworthy; Illus. by Dyer, Jane however, in this case, this is an asset and not a deficit. The Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) objective is not to tantalize the imagination but to help chil- $17.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 dren move their brains from a state of arousal to one of rest. 978-1-4814-4556-6 Extensive information on how to use the book is provided for adults. The illustrations are gentle and delicate, with each A young polar bear learns to accept story allotted its own single-color palette. his role of big brother to a new arrival in his family. Used regularly, this predictable and practical resource Roly Poly is happy being the only child, cherished by his lov- could easily become a bedtime staple. (Short stories. 4-10) ing parents. He enjoys skating, fishing, and snuggling up in his own cozy bed. On the nightstand next to Roly Poly’s bed is a tiny copy of Time for Bed, the beloved 1993 classic by Fox and BEDTIME FOR Dyer, reunited again as a creative team with this heartwarming SWEET CREATURES story. Roly Poly’s world is shaken when a little brother named Grimes, Nikki Monty shows up unexpectedly one morning, sleeping right next Illus. by Zunon, Elizabeth to Roly Poly. The older brother is annoyed by Monty’s attempts Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (32 pp.) to play and is horrified when Monty grabs a freshly caught fish $17.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 and steals Roly Poly’s special walrus tooth. But when Monty’s 978-1-4926-3832-2 life is in danger as he floats away on an ice floe, Roly Poly realizes he does care for his brother, and he dives into the icy water A patient mother with a healthy sense of whimsy helps pre- to save Monty. The dramatic rescue isn’t shown in the illustra- pare her headstrong toddler for bed. tions, so readers must imagine the specifics of saving Monty for The story opens with a toddler, fists raised into the air, themselves. In a departure from her signature watercolors, Dyer proclaiming, “No! No! No!” Thank goodness this not-at-the- has created charming, needle-felted polar bears as the charac- moment-sweet creature’s mother is patient and creative as she ters, photographed with tiny accessories in miniature rooms corrals her child into a bedtime routine that may feel familiar or snowy, outdoor settings. Fox’s spare text demonstrates her to many readers. The words and behaviors of the child evad- deep understanding of a youngster’s intense emotions, subtly ing bed are translated into animal sounds and behaviors: wide- showing Roly Poly’s growth from a self-centered toddler to a eyed and asking “Who? Who?” like an owl; shaking hair and big brother who can take responsibility for a younger brother roaring like a lion; hanging on for a hug like a koala. And, of he has grown to love. course, the requisite leaving bed for a last trip to the bathroom A new classic for new big brothers and sisters. (Picture and drink, like a human child. Zunon’s art takes this book to book. 3-7) the next level: Her portrayals of the animals mentioned in the text are colorful and full of intriguing patterns and shapes. Additionally, the expressions on the faces of the mother, child, THE SLEEPY PEBBLE AND and animals speak volumes, portraying the emotions of each. OTHER BEDTIME STORIES Arguably, the sweetest part of the story comes at the end, when Gregory, Alice & Kirkpatrick, Christy the child asks to sleep with Mommy and Dad. Though the Illus. by Hardiman, Eleanor mother sighs, the child climbs in, along with “owl, bear, snake, Flying Eye Books (96 pp.) kitty, fawn, squirrel, koala, tiger, wolf.” (Readers attuned to $17.95 | Oct. 15, 2019 details will notice the father’s look of delight at the parade of 978-1-911171-8-12 animals.) All characters are black. An adventurous treat of a bedtime story. (Picture book. A consistent bedtime routine is a help- 2-5) ful tool in creating the conditions for restful sleep. This premise is the central theme in this book of five short stories designed for parents to read aloud to their children at bedtime. Within the text of each story, three components are embedded: imagery, muscle relaxation, and mindfulness. The imagery section asks children to imagine in as much detail as possible something from the story, such as a pebble getting cozy in a bed of seaweed or the colors on the shell of a sleepy snail. The muscle-relaxation section invites a tensing and relaxing of first the hands, then the feet, and then the entire body. Finally, the mindfulness section encourages children to notice what is: the feeling of a pillow under the head, the

90 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | Gaugin’s richly detailed pen-and-ink drawings, touched with pops of color, heighten Hagerup’s zaniness. little parsley

IF THE SHOE FITS She also introduces such memorable figures as “My Cousin,” Guarino, Deborah who “wrangles reptiles / for the city fire station. / It is a marvel- Illus. by Hippen, Seth ous vocation, / wrangling writhing reptiles,” and “my little niece Schiffer (32 pp.) Patrice, / who is permitted to run wild— / she is a beastly child.” $16.99 | Nov. 28, 2019 Gaugin’s richly detailed pen-and-ink drawings, touched with 978-0-7643-5843-2 pops of color, heighten Hagerup’s zaniness throughout the collection, here capturing cheeky Patrice onstage, ready to curtsy, Everyone knows the story of Cinderella—but what about with her tongue sticking out. Cinderella’s shoemaker? Inventive and fun: a sassy, vividly illustrated child’s After a fairy godmother’s magic runs out before her god- introduction to the gifted Norwegian versifier.(Picture book/ child has shoes for the ball, a shoemaker steps up with perfect poetry. 3-8) glass slippers. But the shoemaker’s clerk, Mona, convinced she’s the one who will marry the prince, persuades the shoemaker to guarantee her royal marriage by making a glass slipper just her NUMENIA AND size—which is nine, in contrast to the unnamed godchild’s five. THE HURRICANE The shoemaker, whose love for Mona is unspoken, sadly agrees. Inspired by a True When the prince appears, Mona performs a shoe switcheroo, Migration Story puts “her best foot forward,” and declares herself the prince’s Halliday, Fiona intended. The honorable prince pales, but their wedding is Illus. by the author on until a furious (but romantic) fairy godmother intercedes Page Street (40 pp.)

and true love reigns. Comical cartoons in full-page scenes and $18.99 | Jan. 21, 2020 young adult smaller cameo illustrations pair well with a rhyming, tongue-in- 978-1-62414-999-3 cheek text, though the scenes’ busyness will make them hard to share with groups. Both the fairly wordy text and the premise Migrating south with her sisters, a whimbrel is caught in a skew this tale toward older preschoolers at the youngest, as lis- hurricane but eventually battles her way to warm winter safety. teners will need both some patience and an understanding of This imagined journey is loosely based on the real experi- the story this one subverts. The cast is an all-white one, with ence of a whimbrel fitted with a solar-powered transmitter who primary characters running toward caricature: the short, portly traveled from the Arctic coast in Canada’s Northwest Territo- shoemaker; homely, frizzy-haired Mona; the Roman-nosed ries to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2011, at one point prince; and a decidedly zaftig fairy godmother. flying nonstop 27 hours through a tropical storm. (This story A comedic happily-ever-after one-on-one read-aloud. is related in an author’s note.) Wildlife photographer Halliday (Picture book. 5-8) has used a combination of traditional and digital media to create striking, allusive images, many of them dark double-page spreads in which spots and streaks emphasize the power of LITTLE PARSLEY the storm and the viewpoint twists and turns. Like many bird Hagerup, Inger migrations, most of this tale happens at night. At dawn the Illus. by Gauguin, Paul René whimbrel starts off again. Color and light return, and by sun- Trans. by Crook, Becky L. set she reaches the tropics, where she faces new dangers before Enchanted Lion Books (40 pp.) reuniting with her sisters. The author/illustrator has added $17.95 | Oct. 15, 2019 details, including the bird’s nestmates and a pause on a city win- 978-1-59270-286-2 dowsill where sympathetic hands offer her a restorative plate of small fish, but on the whole the saga rings true. Naming her pro- Floridly illustrated nonsense verse, tagonist Numenia, from the bird’s Latin name, Numenius phaeo Norwegian style. pus, the writer crafts her story as a ballad, with carefully chosen First published as Lille persillein 1961 words and plenty of alliteration. It would make a suspenseful and newly translated by Crook, this storytime read-aloud. Pair with Nancy Carol Willis’ more infor- book brings the arresting combination of light verse from one mational Red Knot (2006). of Norway’s most famous 20th-century poets and the ornate A dramatic depiction of a remarkable avian accom- illustrations of the grandson of French post-impressionist Paul plishment. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-7) Gaugin to a U.S. audience. Hagerup published her first collection of poetry in 1939, and though she gained fame as a powerful voice in the Resistance when the Nazis occupied Norway, she was also beloved as a writer of children’s verse. Here Crook unleashes the sonic force of Hagerup’s rhymed lyric somersaults as she imagines the inner life of a host of common creatures: a crab, a “pondering” pig, a hedgehog, a wasp—even plants like gooseberries, chervil, sweet peas, and the eponymous parsley.

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 91 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Amy Sarig King [sponsored]

THE AUTHOR OF THE YEAR WE FELL FROM SPACE HOPES THAT HER BOOKS—AND HER SCHOOL VISITS—CAN HELP YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN TO TALK ABOUT AND PROCESS THEIR FEELINGS By Alex Heimbach Photo courtesy Krista Schumow Photography 15), illustrated by Nina Goffi, is similarly star obsessed. Liberty Johansen is determined to change the way people see the night sky, but lately she’s been busy with seismic changes to her own life: Her dad left her mom, her sister stopped going outside, and her former friend excommunicated her from the sixth grade. King takes an unusual approach to divorce: As disruptive as it is, there’s no doubt the split is for the best. “You know, people shouldn’t stay married just because. That doesn’t make sense. If things are falling apart, they fall apart and you can rebuild,” she says. “It’s a great kind of model of hope, in a way, to watch the family move forward in different spaces.” The novel takes on a lot of challenging topics, from bullying to parental depression, as her parents’ divorce reshapes the lives of Liberty and the members of her family. “I always find books are a good place to start conversations,” King explains. “That’s for me what books have always been about.” King focuses on the way Liberty learns to pro- From the time she was small, Amy Sarig King was cess and express her emotions in a healthier way— obsessed with the sky. She’d lie on her back, trying talking to a therapist, for example, instead of throw- to pick out shapes in the clouds. As she got older ing a toaster. “The mental health of young people and stayed up later, that fascination grew to encom- is my life’s work,” King says. “It’s very important to pass the night sky. “I used to sit there and try and me on a personal level, on a public health level, on find shapes in the stars, the same as I would in the a societal level.” She points out that the incidences clouds,” she says. of depression and anxiety in children and teens are The narrator of King’s new middle-grade novel, only increasing, and suicide remains a leading cause The Year We Fell From Space (Levine/Scholastic, Oct. of death for people ages 15 to 24.

92 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | King is especially concerned with how adults often minimize or ignore young people’s negative feelings. “What’s one of the first things we do to children?” she says. “We shush them.” Moreover, many parents have fallen into the trap of believing that the most difficult thing for a kid is necessarily the best thing for them. By insisting children face their SWIM SWIM SINK Harney, Jenn fears in the way we deem necessary, we end up deny- Illus. by the author Disney-Hyperion (40 pp.) ing them the opportunity to manage their own anxi- $12.99 | Jan. 21, 2020 ety. “Why does everybody think you should be hap- 978-1-368-05276-4

py all the time?” King often asks the kids she meets. Three ducklings hatch and try to fol- “I will tell you, that question blows young people’s low their mother, with a watchful worm observing. “Three tiny ducks jump right in. / SPLISH! SPLISH! minds every time I ask it.” SPLASH!! / Swim. Swim… // Sink.” At that point the author/ Because she’s so passionate about these topics, illustrator calls a do-over, understanding that the rhythm and logical story arc are off. The ducks try again, the third duck is King especially loves the opportunities her work again unsuccessful, and the worm comments with a quizzical look on its face: “Huh...I didn’t know ducks could sink. This is provides to visit schools and speak with young peo- a problem. Ducks need to swim.” The narrator laments: “AND ple directly. “I really don’t know which one comes all of this sinking is ruining the rhyme.” Following this, the sinking duck uses an array of humorous strategies to achieve first now,” she says. “I don’t know if I write books its goal, winsomely depicted in the bold, firmly outlined illus- so I can still go and hang out with young people trations, with their lovely aqueous blue water and white, yellow,

and orange ducks. Some of the solutions are ingenious: “Stilts young adult and talk with young people, or if it’s the other way to stay high and dry?” “State-of-the-art scuba gear?” “A Jet Ski” around, and if I still write books to write books.” motors the duck along in one of the more exciting pictures, full of froth shaking up fish in the wake left behind by the machine. Both approaches seem to work beautifully for her. But none of these ploys works until the worm and the duck create a pirate sailing ship out of the duckling’s cracked eggshell. Maybe this will work for the youngest pirate fans—but as the Alex Heimbach is a writer and editor in California. The narrator feared, it makes for a pretty flat arc. A duck turns into a pirate, but not much adventure hap- Year We Fell From Space was reviewed in the Aug. 15, pens. (Picture book. 3-5) 2019, issue. THE TREACHEROUS SEAS Healy, Christopher Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $16.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 978-0-06-234200-3 Series: Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem, 2

Following A Dastardly Plot (2018), the plucky heroes seek vindication and victory through a daring quest to discover the South Pole. Although the government has sworn Molly Pepper, her inventor mother, Cassandra, and her friend Emmett Lee to secrecy regarding the truth of the World Fair—meaning they can’t claim ownership of their heroics—things should be looking up for the Peppers. But when Thomas Edison and Alexan- der Graham Bell fail to secure the votes to allow women into the Inventors’ Guild, which would secure Cassandra both recognition and financial rewards, the inventor goes into a funk and her daughter schemes to let the truth out. Also schem- ing is intrepid young investigative reporter Nellie Bly (whose constant disguises and alter egos are a running gag). Thwarted by the government, they launch a desperate gambit with the

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 93 help of the Mothers of Invention to beat Bell to the South Pole, FROM FARMWORKER TO where he’s pursuing the villainous Rector. The first act’s pacing ASTRONAUT / DE CAMPESINO is a little off, but the characters’ frustrations with their circum- A ASTRONAUTA stances and oppressions are tangible. As the plot (a string of My Path to the Stars / Mi treacherous betrayals) picks up, so does the humor. While racial Viaje A Las Estrellas descriptors are mainly absent (leaving most characters assumed Hernández, José M. white), people of color are present in a stop in Barbados, and Trans. by Figueroa, Darío Zárate African American inventor Sarah Goode returns. Furthermore, Piñata Books/Arté Público (384 pp.) the oppression experienced by Chinese-born Emmett Lee is $10.95 paper | Oct. 31, 2019 openly dealt with. The ending is a minor cliffhanger. A glossary- 978-1-55885-868-8 style afterword separates fact from fiction. Readers new to the series should start with Vol. 1. Hernández’s amazing journey from toiling in a field of Slapstick leavens this back-stabbing adventure. (Histori cucumbers to floating among a field of stars is a powerful tale cal science-fantasy. 8-12) of perseverance. After 10-year-old José announces his intention to explore space one day, his Mexican-born father sits him down and gives CUDDLE MONKEY him the formula he will need to achieve his goal. As Hernández Hellman, Blake Liliane plows through obstacle after obstacle, from learning to speak Illus. by Otis, Chad English to attending university classes on only three hours of Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum (40 pp.) sleep after working eight-hour shifts in a cannery, his father’s les- $17.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 sons keep him going. When NASA accepts his 12th application, 978-1-5344-3117-1 the former farmworker finally realizes his life’s dream of becoming an astronaut. In marked contrast to his stellar picture-book Lewis, an anthropomorphic monkey, account, The Boy Who Touched the Stars / El Niño Que Alcanzó las can’t get a cuddle. Estrellas (2019), Hernández’s middle-grade autobiography is a Little Lewis longs for a cuddle from mixed bag of dense technological jargon and inspiring personal his parents, but they’re busy with baby brother Owen. He triumphs. Readers must persist through the entire first chap- improvises by trying to cuddle books, toys, and then others ter, which reads like a science blog, before getting a glimpse of at school. “He even tried to cuddle a puddle (just because it the child who would become an American hero. Instead of end- rhymed).” Back at home, his mother urges him to teach Owen ing his incredible story with the words of encouragement that to cuddle, but the results are “wiggly and squiggly” rather than “You’re never too old to dream, let alone make those dreams a cozy. Otis’ art shows great energy and a strong design sensibility, reality,” he meanders along for another three pages, the final but the characters themselves, all anthropomorphic monkeys, paragraph falling flat with philosophical musings. may give readers pause in the wake of librarian Edi Campbell’s Despite weaknesses, this account of triumph over public scholarship on the racist history of illustrated apes or adversity may successfully ignite the same drive in other Henry Louis Gates’ coverage of the same content in Stony the kids. (glossary, diagrams, photos) (Memoir. 10-16) Road (2019). Author Hellman’s bio claims “cuddle monkey” as a self-identifier, and illustrator Otis dedicates the book to his “two cuddle monkeys,” demonstrating both innocent intentions TOMORROW I’LL BE KIND and, perhaps, the lack of awareness that undergirds them. By Hische, Jessica the time Lewis finally gets a bedtime cuddle from his parents, Illus. by the author storytelling rather than ideology may trip up readers: Why was Penguin Workshop (40 pp.) a quick hug so hard to come by earlier in the day? Poor Lewis! $17.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 Not a sure pick to cuddle up with. (Picture book. 3-7) 978-1-5247-8704-2 How will you behave tomorrow? Utilizing the same format and concept of her popular Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave (2018), Hische presents young listeners with short, studied rhymes that describe various positive attributes (being helpful, patient, gentle, honest, generous, graceful, and kind). Also included are kid-friendly ways to incorporate these behaviors into daily life, with the underlying goal of making the world a better place. The illustrations, which feature friends in the forms of a mouse, cat, and rabbit, are colorful and appealing, and they extend the text by showing some additional ways of realizing the characteristics mentioned. Overall, the intentions

94 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | A grand tapestry of scientific thought and invention in action over many centuries. earth sciences

are aboveboard, but this is a volume intended to teach about THE GIRL AND THE DINOSAUR positive values and behavior, and as such, it comes across as Hughes, Hollie somewhat treacly and proselytizing. The key words, incorpo- Illus. by Massini, Sarah rated into the illustrations in a graphic manner, are sometimes Bloomsbury (32 pp.) a bit difficult to read, and occasionally, select vocabulary and $17.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 phrases (“to myself I will be true”; “my heart, my guiding light”) 978-1-5476-0322-0 seem better suited for an older readership. Still, as an introduction to personality characteristics, beneficial behaviors, and What would you do with a dinosaur? social-emotional skills, this is a solid choice, and fans of the pre- Young Marianne would share won- vious volume are likely to embrace this one as well. “I’ll dream of drous nighttime adventures. First, she’d all the good that comes / when we all just do our best,” the text dig up a dinosaur on a beach, assemble its bones, and wish it explains—a sentiment that’s hard to rebut. alive. She does so in this rhyming picture book while “fisher- Gently encourages empathy, compassion, and consider- folk” worry about her. For some adults, this “Marianne” who ation. (Picture book. 3-5) discovers a seaside dinosaur might conjure Mary Anning, the 19th-century English paleontologist. Like that scientist, the protagonist diligently arranges bones until her fossils take LEADING THE WAY shape. Unlike Anning, Marianne names her discovery Bony, Women in Power fervently wishing it to spring to life. The book then soars into Howell, Janet & Howell, Theresa the dream world; readers probably won’t notice or mind the dis- Illus. by Akia, Kylie & Bye, Alexandra connect. Bony, a smiling, green-scaled apatosaurus look-alike,

Candlewick (144 pp.) swims and flies with Marianne into magical lands where they young adult $24.99 | Oct. 8, 2019 meet fanciful beings and discover a “magical moonlit island” 978-1-5362-0846-7 filled with diverse children and their fantasy dinos. (Marianne presents white.) Since all this happens before these children go Inspirational profiles of 50 women to sleep, what will they possibly dream about after? The end- who threw their hats into the U.S. politi- ing finds the story back at the beach, the residents now uncon- cal arena. cerned, and the kids digging for dinosaurs—and holding fast to Flanked by various combinations of “power symbols” rep- their nighttime secrets. The verses in this cheerful dreamscape resenting positive values or character traits, the alphabetically mostly read and scan rhythmically, but some are clunky. The arranged entries include both current presidential hopefuls scribbly illustrations, dominated by pale greens, teals, and sandy Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren and the iconic likes of yellow and punctuated by Marianne’s red mop, are lively and Eleanor Roosevelt, “Battling Bella” Abzug, Barbara Jordan, Abi- atmospheric. Kids will appreciate the silver-foil patches on the gail Adams, and deep state chief executive Edith Wilson, “the book cover’s round moon. first woman to act as president of the United States” while her Dreamy dinosaur doings. (Picture book. 3-6) husband was incapacitated. Focusing more on each woman’s achievements and major areas of interest than party affiliation or political lean, the authors offer a good mix of players on EARTH SCIENCES state and local as well as national stages, with a conscious eye to An Illustrated History of diversity: Nonwhite women make up just under half the roster. Planetary Science The profiles all come in at a little more than a page in length, Jackson, Tom and, along with the selected symbols, each features two quotes Shelter Harbor Press (168 pp.) and a career resume (to date). Each also comes decorated with $24.95 | Oct. 29, 2019 a smiling painted portrait so staid that even Shirley Chisholm 978-1-62795-142-5 and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who in real life had, and have, Series: Ponderables world-class game faces) look constipated. Nonetheless, younger activists and public servants in search of courageous, tough- Highlights of our historical study of minded role models will be spoiled for choice even before they what’s happening in, on, and above Earth’s surface. get to the concluding list of 30 “more leaders to discover.” Jackson hangs this sumptuously produced overview on an Makes a strong case that where “she persisted,” others expansive if arbitrary 100 topics or discoveries—beginning with really can follow. (index, endnotes) (Collective biography. 10-13) ancient celebrations marking the solstices and equinoxes and ending with a look at the next Mars rover. In between he builds a roughly chronological picture of how scientific fields ranging from chemistry to seismology and paleontology developed over time and have helped us to understand geological processes, explore our planet and reconstruct its long history, measure and at least try to predict weather and natural disasters, and provide some clues to conditions on other worlds. Plentiful side boxes,

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 95 This powerful book has something for all young people no matter what stage they are at in terms of awareness or activism. this book is anti-racist

period or later images, and finely detailed diagrams enhance the THIS BOOK IS half- to two-page entries. A big folded timeline poster tucked ANTI-RACIST into a back pocket summarizes the contents and also expands 20 Lessons on How To on them by tracking select contemporaneous world cultural Wake Up, Take Action, and milestones. After pondering a few “Imponderables,” such as Do the Work whether climate is actually controllable and why the notion Jewell, Tiffany that Earth is flat just won’t die, the author finally shovels in all Illus. by Durand, Aurélia sorts of useful backmatter. Though he displays an overall paro- Frances Lincoln (160 pp.) chialism reflected in a closing gallery of earth-science greats in $14.99 paper | Jan. 7, 2020 which but three of the 23 are women, and only two not white, 978-0-7112-4521-1 he crafts a grand tapestry of scientific thought and invention in action over many centuries. A guidebook for taking action A rich, if patchwork, view of large-scale events and our against racism. evolving understanding of them. (index, resources) (Nonfic The clear title and bold, colorful illustrations will imme- tion. 11-14) diately draw attention to this book, designed to guide each reader on a personal journey to work to dismantle racism. In the author’s note, Jewell begins with explanations about word THE BIG RACE LACE CASE choice, including the use of the terms “folx,” because it is gender Jacobs, Paul Dubois & Swender, Jennifer neutral, and “global majority,” noting that marginalized commu- Illus. by West, Karl nities of color are actually the majority in the world. She also Aladdin (80 pp.) chooses to capitalize Black, Brown, and Indigenous as a way of $16.99 | $5.99 paper | Jan. 21, 2020 centering these communities’ voices; “white” is not capitalized. 978-1-5344-4113-2 Organized in four sections—identity, history, taking action, and 978-1-5344-4112-5 paper working in solidarity—each chapter builds on the lessons of the Series: Mack Rhino, Private Eye, 1 previous section. Underlined words are defined in the glossary, but Jewell unpacks concepts around race in an accessible It’s up to a rhino private eye to solve a way, bringing attention to common misunderstandings. Activi- mystery and prevent a cheater from win- ties are included at the end of each chapter; they are effective, ning the Big Race. prompting both self-reflection and action steps from readers. Private eye Mack Rhino and his trusty bird assistant, Redd, The activities are designed to not be written inside the actual are off to buy new furniture (as the rhino has splintered yet book; instead Jewell invites readers to find a special notebook another desk chair) when a mysterious phone call offers Mack and favorite pen and use that throughout. Combining the dis- his 100th case: a mystery concerning shoes. But the harried ruption of common fallacies, spotlights on change makers, the caller, who dropped clues off at the wrong address, doesn’t give author’s personal reflections, and a call to action, this powerful Mack much to go on. Even worse, a jailbreak at the ant farm book has something for all young people no matter what stage upstate means some of the usual suspects are back in action— they are at in terms of awareness or activism. and likely with an ally. Meanwhile, the two favorites for the Big Essential. (author’s note, further reading, glossary, Race are Jackie Rabbit, who wants to donate the prize money select bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-18) to build a playground, and Skunks McGee, under scrutiny for his track record of cheating. Other runners experience pre-race troubles in the form of vanishing shoelaces. Mack must think DOG DRIVEN fast to distract Skunks during the race so that the sabotaged Johnson, Terry Lynn Jackie can win, and then to explain how Skunks did it—the HMH Books (240 pp.) suspected team-up with the Ant Hill Gang. The clues are clear $16.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 enough for the target audience of emerging readers to solve the 978-1-328-55159-7 mystery themselves (the cast size and subplots made manage- able with a cast of characters and glossary), and the puns bring A teen enters a challenging, multiday laughs. Black-and-white cartoon illustrations tend to highlight dog sled race to raise awareness of the slapstick. incurable disease that’s blinded her sister A soft-boiled animal detective story sure to please and now claims her own sight. beginning readers. (Mystery. 5-8) To retain her independence, McKenna, 14, has hidden her deteriorating vision from her family, dropped extracurricular activities, and withdrawn from friends. Only 8-year-old Emma knows that McKenna, too, inherited Stargardt disease, a juvenile form of macular degeneration. (Both retain some peripheral vision.) Observing how parental conflicts, exacerbated by their mother’s overprotectiveness,

96 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | have undermined Emma’s progress toward self-reliance, McK- THE INVISIBLE LEASH enna’s avoided disclosing her disability. She’s certain the knowl- A Story Celebrating Love edge would devastate her parents, but hiding vision loss is a After the Loss of a Pet risky strategy—especially on demanding, unfamiliar terrain, the Karst, Patrice route Canadian couriers once used to deliver mail by dog sled. Illus. by Lew-Vriethoff, Joanne An experienced musher—her (presumed white) Michigan fam- Little, Brown (32 pp.) ily raises and trains sled dogs—McKenna hopes her skills can $17.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 compensate. As the weather deteriorates, sighted competitors 978-0-316-52485-8 (the daughter of a famous musher and the descendent of a dog sled courier) also make dangerous mistakes. McKenna’s dread This book aims to help young children cope with the loss of losing her autonomy while her teen peers move toward inde- of a pet. pendent adulthood resonates. Giving and accepting help, she Zack’s dog, Jojo, aged, fell sick, and died; this weekend will confronts her own beliefs and fears about disability. Johnson’s be Zack’s first without him. Despite his parents’ best efforts to mushing expertise pays off in a suspenseful plot laden with con- make Zack feel better—they buy him a cupcake and promise to vincing details. The lively, crowded, chaotic world of dogs and adopt a new dog soon—he is sad and angry. The stages of grief mushers is memorably complemented by the silent, icy wilder- are clearly written and illustrated throughout the book, with ness they race through. ghost Jojo appearing on most pages to watch over Zack, who is A densely plotted, fast-moving, thematically rich tale clearly in pain. When his friend Emily, whose cat died recently, set at the intersection of ability and disability. (author’s sees him crying, she tells him that the pets aren’t actually gone note) (Adventure. 10-14) forever because there is an “Invisible Leash” that connects their

hearts after the pets go to the place “beyond.” Zack is under- young adult standably skeptical, but Emily insists that just because he can’t CRUSHING THE RED FLOWERS see the Leash doesn’t mean it isn’t there, and if he tries, he will Kaplan, Jennifer Voigt be able to feel it. Emily does her best to convince Zack, and Ig Publishing (248 pp.) here the writing gets repetitive, until he finally believes and is $18.95 | Nov. 19, 2019 able to sleep knowing Jojo is always with him. Zack is biracial— 978-1-63246-094-3 his dad is black and his mom is white—and Emily appears white. This is the author and illustrator’s The Invisible String (2018) for Two boys forge a brief and dangerous pets, so readers will not find anything new here. Still, some pet alliance in 1938 Germany. parents might find this helpful for grieving children. Friedrich Weber is a 12-year-old Repetitive—but a potential resource. (Picture book. 3-6) member of the Jungvolk in Hannover. Membership is mandatory if quietly reluctant on his part. Emil Rosen is a THE MYSTWICK SCHOOL 12-year-old Jewish boy in Hannover. Restrictions on Jewish life OF MUSICRAFT are coming into force, but Emil is still required to practice the Khoury, Jessica piano and study for his bar mitzvah. The two cross paths at a Illus. by Frenna, Federica remote spot on the Leine River, Emil finding peace there and HMH Books (368 pp.) Friedrich remembering that it was his papa who had shared $16.99 | Jan. 21, 2020 this “special place, their secret.” But in the weeks leading up to 978-1-328-62563-2 Kristallnacht, each is caught up in the all-consuming anti-Semi- tism of their country as Jews are declared “non-German.” Fried- A toe-tapping fantasy novel mixes rich becomes one of those throwing rocks at Jewish businesses music and mystery. as his parents embrace Hitler in the hope it will “keep [them] Aficionados of middle-grade fantasy safe.” Emil’s family is torn between immigration to Paraguay may find the premise recognizable: A and bewilderment; his vati fought for Germany in the Great parentless 12-year-old with unusual magical gifts is summoned War. The author has based her story on family history. She to attend an elite boarding school in order to hone their craft. writes in alternating chapters that focus on each boy’s struggle What makes this, YA author Khoury’s middle-grade debut, to make sense of ominous events during increasingly oppressive stand out is the focus on a special type of magic involving spells times. Family loyalty, government opposition, bullying, and fac- cast by playing musical instruments. After narrowly being ing total upheaval in one’s life are dealt with memorably in this accepted into Mystwick to study Musicraft with the most tal- multilayered tale. The titular flowers, red poppies, have special ented musicians in the world, Amelia Jones must prove that meaning to each family. she has what it takes to perform musical spells and secure her A German boy makes an extraordinary and life-affirm- spot at the school—or risk expulsion. Amelia struggles with dif- ing choice in this compelling Holocaust tale. (author’s note, ficult classes, mountains of homework, plus a roommate who selected resources) (Historical fiction. 12-14) hates her, and she quickly learns that someone—or something— seems to have it out for her. Staying at Mystwick will be more

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 97 difficult than she ever imagined. Amelia’s only hope is the music LILY THE THIEF she knows she is capable of creating, but she must find the cour- Kukkonen, Janne age and confidence to play it. Frenna’s lightly cartoony grayscale Illus. by Kukkonen, Janne with Bazot, Kévin illustrations bring some of the pivotal scenes to life. Sparse Trans. by Rogers, Lola physical descriptions paired with student names from a variety First Second (288 pp.) of cultures seem like a missed opportunity to describe ethnic $21.99 | $14.99 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 and racial diversity explicitly; Amelia is white. Victoria, a guitar- 978-1-250-19355-1 ist who uses a wheelchair, is a featured secondary character. 978-1-250-19697-2 paper A few missed notes don’t prevent this novel from delivering a satisfying story even if the tune is familiar. (Fantasy. It might be a man’s world, but one 9-13) young thief wants to change that. In this graphic offering from Finnish author/illustrator Kukkonen, Lily, a small, parentless girl with NOTORIOUS choppy dark hair is an extremely talented thief who bounds Korman, Gordon about her seemingly medieval village, picking pockets with Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (320 pp.) panache. She works with elderly, gray-bearded Seamus, who $16.99 | Dec. 12, 2019 treats her kindly, serving as her parental figure. Lily is deter- 978-0-06-279886-2 mined to prove herself and secure a spot in the male-only thieves’ guild. When the Guildmaster laughs off any chance Barney was legendary for appalling of entry because of her age and gender, she steals one of the acts of canine depravity until his recent scrolls that act as the guild’s job assignments out of spite. Lily death; two kids—Zarabeth, his (one) soon finds herself facing corrupt nobility, the shadowy Brother- mourner, and Keenan, her at-first-skep- hood, and a mysterious legend as she dashes through dungeons tical new friend—investigate his possible and rushes among relics. Lily must now decide exactly how far murder. she will go to get what she wants. A headstrong character, often Keenan misses his cosmopolitan life in Shanghai, where his blinded by her own impetuousness, Lily is a joy to follow as she mom and stepdad teach at an international school. Recovering wends her way through a male-dominated world (Lily is, in fact, from tuberculosis at his dad’s house on tiny Centerlight Island, nearly the only female character). Her sass, swords, and soaring divided between the U.S. and Canada, is beyond boring until arrows keep the pages flying and eyes racing over tidy panels he meets Zarabeth, with Barney’s well-behaved (but sadly dis- colored by Bazot with a palette of cool blues countered by warm dained) replacement and colorful tales of famous Prohibition- brown tones. Lily’s adventures feel familiar and a bit well trod- era gangsters attracted to the quiet island’s largely unguarded den, but they are as cozy and comfortable as a warm blanket on international border; Tommy-Gun Ferguson, who built her a cold day. All characters present white. family’s house, might have hidden his gold bullion on the island. A fun page-turner sure to steal readers’ attention. When Keenan, now well, proves popular at his new island (Graphic fantasy. 7-12) school, Zarabeth feels isolated. Centrelight’s few Canadian kids must attend mainland schools via ferry. Not incidentally, the island’s more-numerous American kids resent contrarian Zara- UNDER THE MILKY WAY beth’s stubborn advocacy for anything-but-lamented Barney. Traditions and Celebrations Now snubbed by Zarabeth, Keenan looks into Barney’s death Beneath the Stars to appease her—and finds her suspicions well founded. Like Lessac, Frané the island’s two spellings, Zarabeth’s cross-border observations Illus. by the author wryly assert Canadian cultural identity. She and Keenan, both Candlewick (32 pp.) presumed white, alternate narration and are good company. $16.99 | Dec. 24, 2019 Vivid secondary characters commit spontaneous acts of hilari- 978-1-5362-00959 ous mayhem—the unscheduled school-lockdown drill is one standout—though Barney’s extreme depredations (like destroy- Communities across the United States and Canada dance, ing a Porsche and a house porch in one go) occasionally strain play, and tell stories under the same stars. credulity. Readers need to buy such pivotal plot points. In this colorful smorgasbord of evening-centered tidbits, Chalk up another treat for Korman fans. (Fiction. 8-12) prolific illustrator Lessac describes some of the celebrations that take place after sundown in North America. Amid bustling scenes featuring multiracial faces, Lessac highlights events such as bat-watching on Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge (home to “over 1.5 million bats…which migrate each spring from Mexico”), Toronto’s food-laden night markets, Washington, D.C.’s “spectacular” Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall, and “gliding across the ice” in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Information

98 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | González’s bright, friendly illustrations depict a vibrant desert teeming with life. not a bean

about the science, geography, or history of each setting or cel- FROM THE DESK OF ebration is peppered in the pictures’ negative spaces, drawing ZOE WASHINGTON the eye around the full-bleed paintings. A somewhat dense Marks, Janae collection of Milky Way galaxy facts as well as a quick guide Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins to locating the North Star make up the backmatter. Included (304 pp.) in Lessac’s survey are brightly positive treatments of two con- $16.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 troversial observances: the telescopes erected on Mauna Kea (a 978-0-06-287585-3 site of yearslong protests by Native Hawaiians against the des- ecration of their sacred mountain) and the rodeo of Prescott, After receiving a letter from her Arizona, (events that are often cited for animal cruelty). Read- incarcerated father, whom she’s never ers may recognize Lessac’s formula from the simultaneously met, 12-year-old Zoe sets out to prove his released title, Under the Southern Cross, which highlights the eve- innocence. ning celebrations of Australia and makes only a passing mention It’s the summer before seventh grade, and aspiring pastry of its Aboriginal peoples’ traditions. chef Zoe sets her sights on perfecting her baking skills to audi- A sparkling concept executed with a few glaring flaws. tion as a contestant on Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge. One (Informational picture book. 5-10) day, she receives a letter from her father, Marcus, who was sent to prison for murder right before Zoe was born. She’s never met Marcus, and her mother wants her to have nothing to do with THE BOOK OF KINGS him. So Zoe keeps the letter a secret and begins corresponding Magnificent Monarchs, with Marcus on a regular basis. He shares his favorite songs and

Notorious Nobles, and encourages Zoe’s baking-competition dreams. When Marcus young adult Distinguished Dudes Who proclaims his innocence, Zoe is shocked: How could someone Ruled the World innocent end up in prison? With the help of her grandmother Magyar, Caleb & Drimmer, Stephanie and her friend Trevor, Zoe begins to learn about systemic rac- Warren ism and how black people like her and Marcus are more likely National Geographic Kids (176 pp.) to be wrongfully convicted of murder than white people. Zoe’s $14.99 | Nov. 12, 2019 relationship with Marcus is at the center of the novel, but her 9781-4263-3533-4 relationships with her mother, stepfather, grandmother, and Trevor are also richly conveyed. This powerful debut packs both A wide-angled survey of men who ruled—and not just depth and sweetness, tackling a tough topic in a sensitive, com- empires or countries. pelling way. Crowning a series that began with Drimmer’s The Book of An extraordinary, timely, must-read debut about love, Heroines (2016) and Crispin Boyer’s The Book of Heroes (2016) and family, friendship, and justice. (Fiction. 8-12) publishes simultaneously with Drimmer’s The Book of Queens, this gathering of glitterati covers not just historical heads of state from Akbar to Shaka Zulu, but also fictional ones such NOT A BEAN as T’Challa of Wakanda. Readers will also meet Martin Luther Martínez, Claudia Guadalupe King Jr. and other “Kings of Change,” “Aristocrats of Action” Illus. by González, Laura (Babe Ruth, Dwayne Johnson), preeminent performers (Elvis, Charlesbridge (32 pp.) Lin-Manuel Miranda), and sci-tech sovereigns such as Steve $16.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Compiled with an eye to examples 978-1-58089-815-7 both good and bad, the roster includes an admixture of tyrants, losers, and deposed rulers, and it closes with a blanket summary Martínez reveals the hidden secrets of the legendary Mexi- of positive characteristics supposedly common to great lead- can jumping beans in her picture-book debut. ers. Despite occasional flubs, such as an all-white selection of As the title asserts, the jumping bean is “not a bean” but “Emperors of Exploration,” said roster also shows commend- the seed pod of a desert plant known as the yerba de la flecha, able racial and geographic diversity—and even includes queens which hides a secret stowaway. A female moth has laid her eggs and other notable women in frequent sidebars (in case, appar- near the seed pods of the yerba plant, and when they hatch, the ently, readers don’t want to check out or buy two books). The caterpillars crawl inside, using the seed pod for protection and profiles range from two pages in length to a quick paragraph, sustenance before pupating and emerging as adult moths. As a and they focus more on quick summaries of accomplishments seed-encased caterpillar jumps around the desert floor seeking (or failures) than biographical details. Though the layout has a shelter and safety, readers count along in Spanish while learning dense look, the bright colors and graphics, as well as a plethora vocabulary related to the desert ecosystem: cascabeles (rattle- of photos, period images, and fanciful but realistically modeled snakes) and arroyos (streams), for example. González’s bright, modern portraits, provide plenty of life and visual energy. friendly illustrations depict a vibrant desert teeming with life— A salutary gallery of monarchs—or at least monarchial far from the desolation often associated with its dry climate. types. (index) (Collective biography. 9-12) “Siete amigos” also join the proceedings, depicted in varying

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 99 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Aimee Lucido

A GIRL FINDS HER PLACE—AND COMBATS STEREOTYPES—AS A COMPUTER CODER IN THE AUTHOR’S DEBUT MIDDLE-GRADE BOOK By Alex Heimbach Photo courtesy Nina Pomeroy do that you could use poetry to teach code. That idea inspired her debut middle-grade book, Emmy in the Key of Code (VERSIFY/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Sept. 24). A novel in verse, Emmy in the Key of Code is the story of a girl struggling to figure out where she fits in the world. Emmy’s a Midwesterner in California, a terrible singer in a family of musicians, and the new girl at her school. She feels out of place everywhere except her computer science class, where a kind teacher and a new friend help her explore the possibilities of her new life in San Francisco. The book tackles some surprisingly technical concepts, but Lucido started with the basic building blocks of Java: public static void main(String args[]). This line of code goes at the top of every Java program, but it takes both Emmy and the reader some time to understand what exactly it means. “I don’t necessarily want the book to teach kids how to code,” If you’re unfamiliar with coding it can seem like Lucido says. “There are plenty of resources to teach a form of magic. But Aimee Lucido wants to push kids how to code. But it was important to me that back against that assumption. “When people think they realize that code isn’t scary, because I think so of code,” she says, “they think of ones and zeros and often we don’t know what code is until we see it.” wires, and it isn’t at all. Coding is English.” Lucido also wanted to explore the common As both a coder and a writer, Lucido is uniquely ground between making art (whether visual, literary, attuned to the relationship between language and or musical) and coding. “For me, [coding] was always code. “I was reading Andrea Davis Pinkney’s book about making things,” she says. “It was about cre- The Red Pencil, which was written in verse. And some- ation.” That attitude sometimes left her feeling like thing about the way that she uses tabs and new lines an outsider in the tech world, especially as a woman. and colons and just spacing in general reminded me “Sexism is just ridiculous in general, but in tech of the coding language Python.” It occurred to Luci- it always felt even more ridiculous because women

100 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | started out as the people programming computers,” she says. “It wasn’t considered elegant work. It was considered women’s work.” That history is an important part of the book, as Emmy learns how difficult it can be as a woman in tech and how to rise above the narrow-minded unkindness of others. Lucido herself refuses to accept conventional shades of tan and peach, appearing to represent some of the diversity in skin tone among Mesoamerican peoples. Much like wisdom about what’s good or important or even pos- the seed pods’ concealed cargo, this informational picture book packs plenty of facts and learning moments into a thoroughly sible, in part because she knows firsthand how that entertaining package. kind of thinking can crush the joy out of something Engaging and fun, as all learning should be. (glossary, author’s note) (Informational picture book. 4 8) you love. “At the beginning of high school, I kind - of stopped reading. And I think that was because, EMBER for most of my life, reading was a challenge. It was Mason, Jane B. & Stephens, Sarah Hines Scholastic (304 pp.) something that I had to be really good at,” she says. $6.99 paper | Jan. 7, 2020 “And so I had to read impressive books, and they had 978-1-338-36202-2 Series: Rescue Dogs, 1 to be really thick, and they had to be really long, and they had to have fancy Russian authors...it couldn’t A shelter dog is given a chance to become a search-and-rescue dog. just be reading for fun. It had to be work.” Ember, a yellow Lab mix, is a tiny Lucido has no patience with the binary thinking puppy when she is rescued from a

house fire by dark-skinned firefighter young adult that so often dictates who can do what, from “girls Marcus and brought to a shelter. But after the third adoptive family returns her, Jo, the shelter director, on a hunch, calls a can’t code” to “writers hate math.” Computers may ranch that trains SAR dogs, and they agree to give Ember a try. run on binaries, but as Emmy discovers, life rarely Authors Mason and Stephens go into copious but interesting detail about the procedure of training SAR dogs, but the many does. “You don’t have to be either computer science human characters the plot introduces are dizzying: The ranch or music,” Lucido says. “You can be both.” is peopled by interracial parents Georgia (a trilingual Eritrean German immigrant) and Martin (a white American), their four biracial children, Latinx handler/trainer Pedro, and white dog-trainer Roxanne. The children, especially, have their own Emmy in the Key of Code received a starred review in tangential subplots, which has the effect of diffusing, rather the June 1, 2019, issue. than focusing, the plot. This wandering focus is not helped by the narrative point of view, which switches from character to character, often within scenes. The story finds its footing again when Marcus (who by coincidence is at the ranch training to be a SAR handler) and Ember reconnect to become a team. Kudos to the story’s easy character diversity and equity in gender roles, but the pace can be meandering, and eagerly anticipated action doesn’t appear until the last 50 pages. Competent, if somewhat rambling. (Fiction. 9-14)

JINXED McCulloch, Amy Sourcebooks (336 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2020 978-1-4926-8374-2

Even robot cats have a mind of their own. All 12-year-old Canadian Lacey Chu’s ever wanted was to become a companioneer like her idol, Monica Chan, co- founder of the largest tech firm in North America, Moncha Corp., and mastermind behind the baku. Bakus, “robotic pets with all the features of a smartphone,”

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 101 revolutionized society and how people interact with technol- STAND UP! ogy. As a companioneer, Lacey could work on bakus: designing, Be an Upstander and Make innovating, and building. When she receives a grant rejection a Difference from Profectus Academy of Science and Technology, a school Moss, Wendy L. that guarantees employment at Moncha Corp., she’s devastated. Magination/American Psychological A happenstance salvaging of a mangled cat baku might just Association (112 pp.) change the game. Suddenly, Lacey’s got an in with Profectus and $14.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 is one step closer to her dream. Jinx, however, is not quite like 978-1-4338-2963-5 the other bakus—he’s a wild cat that does things without com- mands. Together with Jinx, Lacey will have to navigate competi- A guide on how to take on the role of tive classmates and unsettling corporate secrets. McCulloch an “Upstander,” someone who “supports effectively strikes a balance between worldbuilding and action. fairness and respect while also trying to High-stakes baku battles demonstrate the emotional bond decrease bullying and injustice.” between (robotic) pet and owner. Readers will also connect to Young people today live in a world where almost daily they the relationships the Asian girl forges with her diverse class- have to navigate injustice, whether personally or as a witness to mates, including a rivalry with Carter (a white boy who’s the son the suffering of their peers, and this book aims to give them help of Moncha’s other co-founder, Eric Smith), a burgeoning crush with that. Short quizzes opening each thematic chapter help on student Tobias, who’s black, and evolving friendships new readers understand where they may stand when confronted and old. While some mysteries are solved, a cliffhanger ending with challenging situations; these are followed by illustrative raises even more for the next installment. scenarios. In the chapter “Kindness and Anger Can Be Conta- A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers gious,” a student learns that he wasn’t invited to a friend’s birth- alike. (Science fiction. -8 13) day gathering, then takes out his anger on his sibling. Following the story, the author provides bullet points of advice, suggesting how a young person can regulate negative emotions. This REAL PIGEONS FIGHT CRIME example is one of many where, in seeking accessible universal- McDonald, Andrew ity, the book unfortunately falls short as a 21st-century motiva- Illus. by Wood, Ben tion guide. Moss fails to specifically address current issues that Random House (208 pp.) young people face daily. She briefly name-checks Rosa Parks $13.99 | $16.99 PLB | Jan. 7, 2020 and Martin Luther King Jr. but doesn’t address everyday racism. 978-0-593-11942-6 There is no mention of LGBTQ issues nor the intolerance that 978-0-593-11943-3 PLB many immigrant students must confront daily. A two-and-a-half Series: Real Pigeons, 1 page section on stereotypes wanly makes an attempt but falls far short. When crime rears its ugly head, who Lacking tough, real-world examples, this sanitized better than pigeons to have on your side? guide fails in its mission. (Nonfiction. -8 12) Rock Pigeon loves nature and dressing up—as other birds, animals, even vegetation. He’s a master of disguise, and that’s why Grandpouter Pigeon flies from the city to the farm where SOMETHING FOR YOU Rock lives to recruit him to join a crime-fighting pigeon team. Mylie, Charlie Rock Pigeon joins Tumbler, Homing, and Frillback, pigeons Illus. by the author who each have their own special talent to apply to their first Farrar, Straus and Giroux (32 pp.) case: Where have all the breadcrumbs in the park gone?! The $17.99 | Nov. 26, 2019 crime fighters stage a stakeout. Rock disguises himself as a bag 978-0-374-31235-0 of chips. Frillback uses super strength to create a pile of acorns to hide in. Tumbler’s ultraflexibility makes hiding in a crack easy, When a fancy present for a sick friend goes awry, a kind- and Homing…well, Homing takes a nap. Eventually they realize hearted mouse realizes friendship is the greatest gift of all. there are no animals or, more importantly from the breadcrumb Upon finding a friend ill, a fawn-colored mouse provides standpoint, humans in the park. Though the humans are still tender care. With sweet devotion the visitor brews tea, plays buying bread at a nearby bakery, both humans and animals think music, and tucks in the blankets. While the ailing friend sleeps, the park may be haunted. What haunts the park? It’s terrifying the visiting mouse journeys out, gathering pocketfuls of flowers (and foolish). This series opener from an Australian author-and- to bring back; but when a storm blows the bouquet away, the illustrator team (three others are already out Down Under) is a bereft mouse dejectedly returns empty-handed. Kind words goofball farce, Wood’s line drawings visually amping up the slap- and a hug await as the gray mouse offers reassurances that being stick. Following the breadcrumbs mystery, this episodic volume together is enough. The text is kept to a bare minimum, consist- offers two other cases for the crime-busting birdies, and young ing mostly of variations on the titular phrase. The illustrations, readers will make quick work of them all. done in watercolor, pen, and pencil, carry the narrative and offer Totally coo! (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 8-12) shades of meaning that keep the repetition from feeling stale.

102 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | This idea-packed book is satisfying in its energy, style, and use of metaphor. the peacock detectives

Frequently laid out in overlapping panels, they feature simply Together they craft bird wings and pretend they are flying, cartooned, expressively appealing characters. While the pastel which sparks May’s interest in going to space. Each year May palette may be reminiscent of Kevin Henkes, these mice—with prepares for the Space Fair contest, and Grama is always eager their rounder faces and physiques—are all sincerity, without the to help. Each year May’s hard work pays off, eventually land- individuality or hilarity of Henkes’ mice stories. Sophisticated ing her the opportunity to be an astronaut. May seems ready layouts and clever use of panels create a visual narrative that to leave without looking back, but Grama hopes for one more takes readers on a journey with the character. hug. Nielander creates a lovely story focused on a girl in STEM A comforting reminder of friendship’s restorative and the family who supports her. The story holds meaning for properties. (Picture book. 3-6) both children and adults, reminding adults to cherish the little moments that are so special and also encouraging children to work toward their dreams. The illustrations add so much detail, A GOOD DAY such as the plans and testing of her different Space Fair projects. Nesquens, Daniel The interactions between May and Grama are sweet, and the Illus. by Lora, Miren Asiain emotions illustrated bring their relationship to life. May and Eerdmans (32 pp.) Grama have beige skin, and May has black hair. There is diver- $16.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 sity among the other people in the book. 978-0-8028-5530-5 Heartwarming and encouraging for both children and adults. (Picture book. 4-8) A tale of longing, friendship, and the power of freedom.

Originally published in Spain as Un buen día, this story fea- THE PEACOCK DETECTIVES young adult tures two unusual friends, a well-dressed cat and a tiger inhabit- Nugent, Carly ant of a retro-style zoo. The tiger lives in a rounded cage, where Harper/HarperCollins (288 pp.) he is stared at by crowds of visitors, next to an elephant, mon- $16.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 keys, birds, and more—also in cages. The tiger longs for the wild, 978-0-06-289670-4 where he could roam as he pleased. The cat wants his friend to be happy and eventually finds a way to help him fulfill his dream. An 11-turning-12-year-old girl looks In so doing, the cat discovers a new friend at the zoo. Muted for lost peacocks as a distraction from illustrations depict the zoo in a panorama that scrolls from The Truth about the things that are spread to spread, giving readers a view of the exhibits. However, changing in her life. the design, which lays the zoo’s cages out in a line at the bottom Cassie, short for Cassandra, is not of nearly all spreads that don’t depict the tiger’s natural habitat, unlike her namesake from the Greek while reflective of the monotony of zoo life, is repetitive and myth: She is cursed to know the truth, but no one quite believes lacks interest and variety. One illustration—in which the tiger her. Australian debut writer Nugent employs this disarming seems to act out his wish to leave the zoo—offers viewers an narrator to take readers through a painful period of her life in intriguing set of images laid out in vertical panels. Straightfor- which she gradually discovers (like a detective) that her grand- ward, dry dialogue belies the depth of the friendship between father is dying, her father is struggling with mental health issues, the tiger and cat. As a result, this story may need a grown-up to her mother needs to move out of the house in order to cope, help young readers grasp the subtle humor. and her only sister, at 15, is becoming her own person. What An understated and perhaps too-quiet friendship story. saves her are her connection to her family; her friendship with (Picture book. 5-8) Jonas, a science-minded, fact-oriented soul; and honest interactions with her unpredictable schoolmate Rhea. Cassie is also an aspiring and conflicted writer with a propensity for capital GRAMA’S HUG letters who shares with readers the many components of a good Nielander, Amy story even as she is engaged in telling one. This idea-packed Illus. by the author book strains credulity at times but is satisfying in its energy, Page Street (40 pp.) style, and use of metaphor—most of all the peacock, symbol of $18.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 vision and awakening. Characters present white. 978-1-62414-926-9 Approaches tender topics with unflinching courage and aplomb. (Fiction. 8-12) With the support of her grandmother, a young girl strives for her astronaut dreams. May and Grama, whom May lives with, are a team. On her first day of school, May is nervous and asks for more hugs, which get her through the transition. Through the seasons, they watch the birds together, and May wants to “soar just like them.”

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 103 The declarative simplicity of the text is perfect for an emerging reader without betraying the strength of the story. the old truck

MIDNIGHT ON At night, the daughter dreams: “The old truck sailed the seas, / STRANGE STREET braved the skies, / and chased the stars.” As the truck ages, so Ormsbee, K.E. does the family; most notably, readers see the girl grow into a Disney-Hyperion (400 pp.) woman. Now “the new farmer,” she tows the truck out of tall $16.99 | Jan. 21, 2020 grass. She works long into the night to repair it. But dreams and 978-1-368-04768-5 persistence pay off: “VROOOOOOOM!!” This heartfelt celebration of resilience in the face of change, with a determined Four kids with inexplicable powers black woman at its center, packs a powerful punch. have a close encounter in a near-future As the old truck stays with its family, this charming Texas. book will stay with readers. (Picture book. 4-8) The Sardines just want to ride their glowboards, hang out in their clubhouse, and be left alone by the class bully. It’s been years since Com- THE PRESIDENT OF ponent G—glow—was discovered in Callaway, and on the THE JUNGLE coasts the Global War is raging, but Callaway is just a regular Rodrigues, André; Ribeiro, Larissa; American suburb. Regular, that is, except for the Sardines: Dani, Desgualdo, Paula & Markun, Pedro Avery, and the twins, Bastian and Lola. The four best friends Illus. by the authors and passionate glowboarders discover something else they have Trans. by Miller-Lachmann, Lyn in common: They can all hear one another’s thoughts and move Nancy Paulsen Books (40 pp.) things with their minds. The telekinesis and telepathy (or, as $17.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 Dani says, “tele-whatevers”) are scary, but maybe it can help 978-1-9848-1474-6 them win the big glowboarding championship! But the Sardines start to receive terrifying messages from outer space. Are aliens From Brazil, a refreshing look at the way democratic elec- coming to destroy the Earth? Faux typescript interludes from the tions work. point of view of an unnamed stranger working with the govern- Lion, the King of the Jungle, wants a swimming pool, but ment introduce a different menace, one the kids only slowly when he diverts all the river water to fill in his front yard, the become aware of. The Sardines, from a variety of white ethnic other animals begin to wonder if he “should not be King of the backgrounds, need to win the race, escape the government, and Jungle.” Deciding they want a new leader, the animals plan to prevent the destruction of the Earth. Easy peasy. The setup is hold an election, and Monkey, Sloth, Snake, and Lion decide so compelling that kids will keep going even though the pace they want to be candidates. They campaign and hold debates. doesn’t always live up to the page count. Important vocabulary such as “candidate,” “campaign,” and Telepathic kids on futuristic skateboards fleeing “vote” are set in bold in the friendly typeface, and their defini- G-men; a little too long but totally fun. (Science fiction. 12-13) tions are presented in a glossary on the final page. Narrative text combines with dialogue bubbles to keep the pace lively and the concept engagingly simple. The equally friendly-looking illus- THE OLD TRUCK trations were made using paper cutouts with pencil and char- Pumphrey, Jerome & coal “doodles,” the animals fancifully colored against a largely Pumphrey, Jarrett gray-and-white jungle background. The visual result is casual, Illus. by the authors integrative, and altogether fun. Together, the words and pictures Norton Young Readers (48 pp.) bring to life a democratic election that is stripped of acrimony, $17.95 | Jan. 7, 2020 divisiveness, and ignorance and is instead full of engagement, 978-1-324-00519-3 discussion, and earnestness—but not sappiness. Young readers are introduced to the idea of an engaged electorate, a concept The eponymous old truck serves as whose empowerment will hopefully stay with them as they age. the vehicle for a quiet story about farm A fun, lively, accessible primer on the democratic pro- life and hard work. cess (good for weary adults, too). (Picture book. 4-8) Brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey created over 250 stamps to create the striking illustrations that give the book a distinct look and echo the message of hard work and persistence pouring from it. The declarative simplicity of the text is perfect for an emerging reader without betraying the strength of the story. As the book describes how hardworking the truck is, readers see the smiling, brown-skinned parents and daughter, wordlessly at work. The family can be seen loading produce onto the truck, carrying baskets back into the barn, feeding chickens, and fixing the truck. The placement of the sun on the horizon line demonstrates how long the family works each day.

104 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | THE GANG OF THE Humorously melodramatic, irrepressibly modern Ada Ru per- FELINE SUN fectly showcases the Old World charm of the Highlands as she Salati, Giorgio comes to love the place and its people. Scots dialect is liberally Illus. by Cornia, Christian interspersed throughout, but natural translations render it eas- Trans. by Doni, Olivia Rose ily comprehensible. Savage places relationships at the forefront: Papercutz (88 pp.) Family ties, found friendships, and community support give $14.99 | $9.99 paper | Jan. 14, 2020 this novel its heart. Darker issues, such as the impact of drug 978-1-5458-0425-4 addiction on child-rearing, near-death experiences, and the 978-1-5458-0426-1 paper marginalization of the blind, are tenderly explored alongside Series: Brina the Cat, 1 the exhilarating fun of the Nessie Race. The cast is white. Nessie may elude us still, but this friendship-driven City kitty Brina has a mountain vacation adventure. quest should not do the same. (Fiction. 8-12) Out in the country for the first time since she was -a kit ten, calico cat Brina is entranced by the wide-open spaces. She wanders off from her human family and meets Vespucci, a ALMOST TIME one-eyed, rough-and-tumble stray, and his Gang of the Feline Schmidt, Gary D. & Stickney, Elizabeth Sun. Vespucci hates humans due to early abandonment, and he Illus. by Karas, G. Brian taunts Brina until she joins his band—much to the distress of Clarion (32 pp.) her humans, Sam and Margaret, both white. The feline gang $17.99 | Jan. 14, 2020 members tussle with one another and snitch food around town. 978-0-544-78581-6

Meanwhile, an increasingly upset Sam and Margaret search for young adult their lost cat, usually one step behind the gang. At first, Brina Time crawls for Ethan as he anxiously enjoys the freedom of stray life and meeting other cats. But awaits the beginning of sugaring season. after a particularly vicious training with Vespucci ends with Sunday should mean maple syrup one of the gang returning to their human family, Brina realizes on any breakfast his dad cooks. But the who really loves her and returns to her own humans. The trio maple syrup is used up, and sugaring time won’t happen until head back to the city, a happy family. Cornia’s bright, expres- the days lengthen. Is the sunny day just a little warmer? Is that a sive, animation-inspired art in this Italian-import graphic novel sliver of daylight at bedtime? Or is it only wishful thinking? Dad is the main attraction of this series opener. The translated text also says his new loose tooth will fall out when the sap runs. The is often awkward, and the occasional present-tense narration days creep by, and it’s still cold and dark, and his tooth is still serves, oddly, to slow the action down. there. Then, finally, the tooth is out, and his father is waiting Finicky readers should just prowl away. (Graphic fantasy. after school to begin the sugaring process. They work together 6-11) as a team during the whole process of lifting, carrying, boiling, and pouring to make the longed-for syrup. That first slightly lighter Sunday morning and a breakfast of pancakes with maple NESSIE QUEST syrup are blissful. Young readers will relate to Ethan’s impa- Savage, Melissa tience with the slow march from winter to spring, as they hope Crown (352 pp.) and wait along with him, even if they are used to the faster $16.99 | $19.99 PLB | Jan. 14, 2020 pace of city or suburbia. Karas’ illustrations beautifully depict 978-0-525-64567-2 both the wintry farm in day and night and the loving, trusting 978-0-525-64568-9 PLB father-and-son team as they share everyday moments and work together contentedly. Ethan and Dad present white. A summer on Loch Ness might be a A gentle tale that is as sweet and delicious as maple dream vacation to some, but to home- syrup. (Picture book. 4-7) body Ada Ru, it’s a nightmare come true. Ada Ru would much prefer to go to Walt Disney World—or, barring that, to stay at home in Denver with her full life. She tries to ignore her mother’s challenge to “make the best of things” in Scotland but is gradually drawn into the notorious Nessie Race, putting her writer’s instinct to the ultimate test. She befriends Hamish “Hammy” Bean Tibby III, a blind cryptid enthusiast who runs the Nessie Juggernaut newsletter, and Dax Cady, an affably brooding American guitarist. The three kids are determined to be the first to find conclusive evidence of the existence of the elusive Nessie, proving that even a close-knit town like Fort Augustus can hide secrets in its watery depths.

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 105 EMERGENCY KITTENS! are presented with love and appreciation for their best quali- Shaffer, Jody Jensen ties. Sally’s challenges are part and parcel of her shining human- Illus. by Mottram, Dave ity, and readers will come to love her. Naming conventions and Doubleday (32 pp.) descriptions indicate wide diversity, but Sally’s implied Japanese $17.99 | $20.99 PLB | Jan. 7, 2020 heritage plays no part in the story. 978-1-9848-3008-1 A tender insight into being different and wonderful. 978-1-9848-3009-8 PLB (author’s note) (Mystery. 9-14) The power of cute is the only superpower these kitties need. Are you in trouble? Just having a tough day? “Maybe you SISTERLAND need a superhero! Someone muscly and fierce, possibly wear- Simukka, Salla ing tights. Or maybe you need… / EMERGENCY KITTENS!” Trans. by Witesman, Owen Frederick Mimi, Twee-Twee, and Adorbs are three giant-eyed kittens in Crown (208 pp.) capes ready to help humans in a bind. They can catch a falling $16.99 | $19.99 PLB | Dec. 3, 2019 scoop of ice cream, hide a bad haircut, or rescue little children 978-1-5247-1878-7 from trees, but not everyone knows about their services. Young 978-1-5247-1879-4 PLB Sheldon is beset by bullies who take his ball. Several superheroes come to his aid; they lift bulldozers and leap over buildings, Two lonely preteens meet in Sister- but none of that helps until the EMERGENCY KITTENS land, a beguiling world of wonders, and (always set in all-caps) arrive. They roll and knead and chase begin to forget their snowbound world and pounce and finally purr—no one can resist that. With the and the families they left behind. bullies distracted by their sheer adorableness, Sheldon easily Alice is following wolf tracks that have appeared from gets his ball back! Through text and speech bubbles (and with nowhere when she falls through the snow, losing conscious- tongue firmly planted in cheek), Shaffer mashes up felines and ness and then awakening to a night sky sparkling with stars superheroes to giggle-inducing effect. Mottram’s colorful car- and five moons. The tracks belong to a shape-shifter who gives toon illustrations feature humans of many skin tones—Sheldon her a key to open the gate to the Garden of Secrets. Inside, she presents black—and his three furry warriors pack action and finds Marissa, a strange girl who’s arrived the same way. It’s endearing antics on every page. always summer in this lush and forested garden, home to the These kitties will win hearts with a glossy-eyed glance. inquisitive question flowers, wind fairies, dream weavers, sing- (Picture book. 2-7) ing roses—and it’s constantly changing. Exploring its dreamlike wonders together, the girls grow close. As they lose track of time, they’re occasionally troubled—Alice especially—by SUNNYSIDE PLAZA memories and dreams of the world and families they barely Simon, Scott remember. Their idyll’s interrupted when they’re told the Little, Brown (208 pp.) powerful queen ruling Sisterland is sending the snow that’s $16.99 | Jan. 21, 2020 overwhelmed their world and only the girls can save it. When 978-0-316-53120-7 their difficult quest leads to a tragic separation, the way forward is less clear. Well served by Witesman’s supple translation Sally Miyake is a 19-year-old woman from Finnish, Simukka incorporates elements from classic who tells readers, “I can’t read, but I see, children’s literature inventively. The enticing setting, quirky I hear, and I notice things.” creatures, and humans (who default to white) are entertaining, She lives in Sunnyside Plaza, a group but the passionate friendship is the story’s heart, providing home for developmentally disabled emotional heft. adults of all ages and abilities. The staff A girl-centered hero’s journey, at once princess-free members are dedicated to providing physical and emotional and enchanting. (Fantasy. 8-12) care as well as a bit of independence and responsibility. The residents have difficulties understanding concepts such as death or the passage of time. But they accept one another’s strengths and weaknesses, valuing kindness above all. Sally proudly works in the kitchen under the direction of Conrad, doing small but necessary chores. When one of her family of friends dies from a stroke, detectives Bridges and Rivas are called to investigate. They soon come to admire Sally’s directness and warm heart, and they become part of her life outside the investigation. Sally uses her observational skills to try to understand what has happened, actually cracking the case when she learns that someone who has been trusted is not trustworthy. Supporting characters

106 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | Rich in history, Stone’s middle-grade debut entertains and informs. clean getaway

DON’T TELL THE NAZIS Kat’s grandfather, Britain’s minister of defense, have to do with Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk it all? Amazingly, all 10 mysteries do intertwine, though it takes Scholastic (240 pp.) some extraordinary strokes of luck along with Kat’s commend- $17.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 able sleuthing skills. St John makes some missteps with the 978-1-338-31053-5 American characters, using a lot more British language patterns and words than seems plausible for people who didn’t grow up Liberated from the Soviets by the there. Adult characters are silly enough that the kids get to be Nazis: Frying pan, meet fire. the heroes of the story, but they’re not so buffoonish that they’ll When the German army marches insult the intelligence of the characters or readers. Kat presents into Krystia’s Ukrainian town, everyone white while brown-skinned Harper is of Cuban descent, and greets the soldiers as liberators. Kind their community reflects a vigorously diverse England. Mrs. Segal, ethnically Ukrainian Krys- Animal lovers transitioning from middle grade to YA tia’s Jewish neighbor, takes a lovely photograph of Krystia fling- will find a lot to enjoy here.(Mystery. 10-14) ing a flower into the air as they celebrate their rescuers. The local Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians (considered ethnic groups at the time, not nationalities or religions, as Krystia makes quite CLEAN GETAWAY clear) are perhaps excessively naïve about the goodwill of the Stone, Nic invading Germans, as seen through Krystia’s optimistic eyes. Illus. by Anyabwile, Dawud But that hope is soon shattered, as the Nazis, like the Soviets Crown (240 pp.) before them, take any property they desire and hold human $16.99 | $19.99 PLB | Jan. 7, 2020

life cheap. Ukrainians and Poles are wretched subhumans to 978-1-9848-9297-3 young adult the Nazis, unfit for schooling or any life but labor—but that’s 978-1-9848-9298-0 PLB nothing on how they treat the local Jews. On a trumped-up charge, the Nazi commandant arrests 101 Jewish men and has Using the Negro Travelers’ Green Book them shot. Krystia sees her neighbors buried in a mass grave and her hidden past as a road map, a and their meager clothing given to ethnic German interlop- grandma takes her grandson on a cross ers. Shockingly, the situation only deteriorates from there, as country journey. the Nazis execute their solution to the “Jewish Question.” The When G’ma pulls up to William “Scoob” Lamar’s house first-person account, based on the real-life Krystia’s memories in a brand-new Winnebago and invites him on an adventure, as told to Skrypuch, reads like a memoir; despite the historically Scoob leaves a note for his dad and jumps in. Despite not accurate body count, it retains a sense of hope. knowing where they are going, or why G’ma has traded in her An accessible entry in a crowded, vital field, honoring Mini Cooper and house for the RV, Scoob is a willing wing- those who risked everything to save others. (historical man because he wants to save spring break and escape his note) (Historical fiction. 9-11) strict single dad for a few days. Readers will appreciate the bond between Scoob and G’ma; Stone balances fun with emotion for a compelling read. After they cross from Georgia to KAT WOLFE TAKES THE CASE Alabama and G’ma keeps avoiding Dad’s calls, Scoob begins St John, Lauren to get suspicious. When G’ma lets him see the contents of her Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) once off-limits treasure box, which includes a 1963 edition of $16.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 the Travelers’ Green Book, Scoob understands this trip means 978-0-374-30961-9 much more than even he imagined. The complex role race Series: Wolfe and Lamb Mysteries, 2 plays in their family and on this trip—Scoob is mixed-race and presents black, and G’ma is white—is explored in a mean- Kid detectives find themselves mixed ingful way that provides details about a period in time as well up in 10 interconnected mysteries. as present-day realities. Rich in history, Stone’s middle-grade Native Briton Kat Wolfe and her debut entertains and informs young readers. The subdued American friend, Harper Lamb, daugh- ending may frustrate, but the journey, punctuated by Anyab- ters of a veterinarian and a paleontolo- wile’s grayscale cartoons, is well worth it. gist, respectively, feel fully equipped to take on a mystery or A road trip to remember. (Fiction. 8-12) two—after all, they’ve done it before (Kat Wolfe Investigates, 2018). But this new one proves to be a little more complicated—they count at least 10, many pertaining to endangered and extinct (and maybe fantastical) creatures, from bluefin tunas to dinosaurs. Is the new fossil unearthed in their Dor- set, England, town a dinosaur or a dragon? Why are two Hol- lywood stars interested in it, and why won’t they pay Kat for all the petsitting she’s doing for their Pomeranian? What might

| kirkus.com | children’s | 1 october 2019 | 107 Strong lines and bold shapes create the groundwork for compelling illustrations. vivaldi

SPIES, LIES, AND DISGUISE rescue, Dad finds himself more and more defeated in his quest The Daring Tricks and Deeds to complete bathtime, but ultimately he starts to find the infec- That Won World War II tious joy that only the ridiculousness of children can bring out Swanson, Jennifer in an adult. The art is bright and finds some nifty ninja perspec- Illus. by O’Malley, Kevin tives that use the space well. It also places an interracial family Bloomsbury (144 pp.) at its center: Dad has brown skin and dark, puffy hair, and Mom $21.99 | Nov. 26, 2019 is a white redhead; when out of his ninja cowl, Will looks like a 978-1-68119-779-1 slightly lighter-skinned version of his father. Kids will laugh at everything the dad is put through, and parents will knowingly During World War II, the Allies nod, because we have all had nights with little ninjas soaking developed myriad tricks, promulgated deceiving information, the bathroom floor. The book starts out a little text heavy but employed spies and double agents, and in general, did whatever finds its groove quickly, reading smoothly going forward. Lots they could to confuse the enemy. of action means it’s best not to save this one for bedtime. Unlike the limited focus of Paul Janeczko’s Secret Soldiers Good fun for all little ninjas and their parents. (Picture (2019), Swanson’s effort describes a wide range of varied subver- book. 4-8) sive operations, including plans for biological warfare, the use of camouflage, the work of spies, and the efforts to blow up important dams in Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley, each chapter VIVALDI beginning with an imagined, humorous “wanted” poster. Much Torvund, Helge of the information is presented in a somewhat flippant way that Illus. by Johnsen, Mari Kanstad sharply contrasts with the subject matter. Material on the war Trans. by Shaterian, Jeanie & Reinhard, work of gay, closeted mathematician Alan Turing, who died Thilo tragically some years after the war, blithely concludes, “Cheers New York Review Books (96 pp.) to Alan!” A chapter that describes plans to use anthrax to kill $15.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 German cows begins with a “wanted” poster seeking volunteers 978-1-68137-374-4 to assist: “It will be a great way to cull the herd,” it suggests. Factual errors appear often enough to undermine the presenta- A cat and a composer create an escape for a young bullied tion: Sheep and not cows perished in one of the anthrax experi- girl. ments described; brave spy Noor Inayat Khan, a British Muslim Tyra dreads school—not because she’s a poor student but woman, didn’t assist before and after D-Day operations since because she is ostracized by the other kids. She never speaks the Germans arrested her eight months before; and the state- at school, only inside her house. But when she’s alone with ment that the atomic bomb Little Boy “rocked the homes” of Vivaldi, her adopted kitten, or with Grandma listening to the the residents of Hiroshima is a severe understatement. In con- music of the composer Vivaldi, or even playing the piano, then trast to the narrative, this effort includes outstanding period Tyra comes alive. The complex, contradictory emotions and photographs. nature-evoking sounds in Vivaldi’s music allow her to fly away, Disappointing. (Nonfiction. 10-14) into the music. Tyra’s internal life is conveyed in a linear set of loose third-person vignettes, as if each page or two is a textual and visual poem, a bite-sized insight. The text, translated from NAUGHTY NINJA TAKES the original Norwegian, is lyrical, at times gently humorous and A BATH at others poignant, yet ultimately life-affirming. Strong lines Tarpley, Todd and bold shapes in a striking array of muted colors create the Illus. by Vogel, Vin groundwork for compelling illustrations filled with symbolism, Two Lions (32 pp.) such as the giant eyes that float around a shrinking Tyra sitting $17.99 | Jan. 1, 2020 at her classroom desk. Eventually, Tyra’s classmate alerts adults 978-1-5420-9433-7 to her situation, and the ending leaves Tyra connecting with the school psychologist through her love of her cat. Created by an After swinging out from the jungle award-winning author-and-illustrator duo, this long-format pic- after a long day of ninja-ing, Will makes ture book with a compact trim is a shorter, more visual read- his way home just in time for a bath. But alike for R.J. Palacio’s Wonder (2012) and other books about as all ninjas know, danger lurks around every corner. kindness and compassion. Tyra is depicted with beige skin and Even naughty ninjas get hungry, but Dad says, “Pee-yew,” and black hair. insists his little ninja get clean before going near a morsel. Ever This quiet, contemplative story explores the beautiful, the Naughty Ninja, Will follows his dad into the bathroom and complex internal lives of children. (Fiction. 7-12) immediately spies danger: Poisonous flies that have followed him from the jungle! As any parent would, his dad begs him not to say, “Ninja to the rescue,” because we all know what comes after a catchphrase…chaos! Through each increasingly rough

108 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | INTO THE BLIZZARD discovering each of the snowman’s components’ actual pur- Heroism at Sea During the pose: ingredients for dragon-tooth soup, fuel to cook it with, Great Blizzard of 1978 and a table and accessories. Whimsical, playful illustrations Tougias, Michael J. depict these critters’ cozily appointed home, full of rodent- Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt (288 pp.) sized human appurtenances. It’s all so dear that readers may $19.99 | Dec. 10, 2019 not wonder how it is that the snowman’s accessories are such 978-1-62779-283-7 a mystery to animals who have a well-appointed kitchen that Series: True Rescue includes cans of tomatoes, a pepper grinder, and a great many very nice-looking pots and pans. During a severe blizzard in 1978, This sweet read will encourage young ones to look at Gloucester, Massachusetts, mariner Frank everyday items in brand-new ways. (Picture book. 3-5) Quirk II took his 49-foot pilot boat out into the teeth of the storm in an attempt to aid Coast Guard vessels in peril. ON THE ROCKS Just as had been the case with the three Coast Guard boats, Walters, Eric Quirk lost his radar almost as soon as the Can Do passed the Orca (128 pp.) shelter of the breakwater. On the open ocean, facing waves $14.99 paper | Jan. 28, 2020 that topped 30 feet, wind gusts slamming his boat at nearly 978-1-4598-2364-8 100 miles per hour, and driving thick, swirling snow, Quirk had few clues to his location, and jagged ledges, invisible in A teen connects with his grandfather

the maelstrom, loomed perilously close. With failing radios, on a remote island. young adult he had occasional contact with those on shore, providing an Fourteen-year-old Dylan has been intermittent narrative of impending disaster. Before the night sent to live with his maternal grandfa- ended, the Can Do and her crew of five were lost at sea. This ther, Angus. Angus resides on a remote young readers’ adaptation of Ten Hours Until Dawn (2005) island, content to live quietly holed up reads like a thriller, suspenseful and ultimately tragic, effec- in his tiny cabin and cut off from every- tively capturing the desperate situations of the three Coast one else in the world. Dylan is disgruntled by the lack of 21st- Guard boats that were dispatched to aid a supposedly sinking century amenities on the small island, but he slowly comes tanker (it wasn’t) and that of the spirited crew of the Can Do. around to the solitary lifestyle. When a young orca is beached The tale concludes with an epilogue that briefly chronicles the upon the island’s rocky shoreline, Angus and Dylan must lives since 1978 of some of those involved, even delivering one cement their bond by getting it back in the water. The novel final gut punch. Characters depicted in the archival black-and- gets right to the point, traversing its slim page count quickly white photos are all white. and sketching a grandfather-grandson relationship with effi- Riveting. (Nonfiction. 11-16) ciency and ease. Angus and Dylan are both hurting, but they don’t jump right at each other’s throats in some form of manu- factured drama. There’s a soft masculinity here, an old-school ONE SNOWY MORNING “gotta keep those feelings deep down inside” way of thinking Tseng, Kevin that gives the book a steady and quiet pace. Those looking for Illus. by Wulfekotte, Dana screaming matches and flipped tables will be left disappointed, Dial (32 pp.) but there’s an effective maturity to the relationship built here $16.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 that is the book’s big draw. Dylan and Angus both present 978-0-7352-3041-5 white; one of the book’s few secondary characters is Sikh. A short and simple but nevertheless effective tale of One snowy morning, two forest friends stumble across an intergenerational understanding. (Fiction. 10-14) unexpected surprise…a snowman. Readers who ever wondered what forest creatures think when they come across elements of humanity in their natural world need wonder no more, and they will delight in the naiveté of this woodland’s denizens. They see not a snowman but a “giant pile of snow” with “long wooden legs” (its arms) “lumpy kickballs” (the nuggets of coal used for its eyes) and even a “dragon tooth” (its carrot nose). But what to do with all of this newfound treasure? The squirrel and chipmunk who kick the action off have an idea that will surely surprise the rest of their friends and bring them all together. Children and adults alike will have fun watching these little critters as they creatively play with top hat, mittens, and scarf before

Martin McLean, you’d better work it. Mixed-race (Afro-Cuban and white) Martin McLean’s seventh grade year starts out with a bang. On his first day, Martin has a panic attack in math class when a comment made by a bullying Mathletes teammate makes Martin wonder if he’s gay. Sensing this conversation might be on the horizon, Mar- tin’s Afro-Cuban single mother calls in her brother, Tío Billy, a gay theater producer and sometime drag queen who has been a strong male figure in Martin’s life. Billy, sensing the need to help Martin discover a broader community than his school peers provide, takes Billy to an LGBTQ–friendly cafe that’s hosting an all-ages drag competition. Bit by the showbiz bug, Martin wants to enter only to realize that it’s on the same night as the Mathletes’ regional championship. What’s a queen-in-training to do? Overall, Zaczek tells an amusing story that’s bursting with diversity at every turn. Martin doesn’t have the snap of Tim Federle’s Nate, but his often naïve approach to life will attract fans of Richard Peck’s The Best Man (2016). Die-hard fans of drag and RuPaul’s Drag Race may spot thin plot points now and then: Why isn’t Martin YouTubing makeup tutorials? Does he really not know about RuPaul? Readers new to drag culture will most likely overlook these points and enjoy Zac- zek’s sweetly crafted world. A tasty treat. (Fiction. 9-12)

110 | 1 october 2019 | children’s | kirkus.com | young adult

This title earned the Kirkus Star: PRACTICALLY EVER AFTER Bandeira, Isabel Spencer Hill Press (400 pp.) AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, AND ACTIVISTS by Mikki Kendall; $9.95 paper | Nov. 12, 2019 illus. by A. D’Amico...... 115 978-1-63392-109-2 Series: Ever After, 3

A stressed-out high school senior struggles to balance logic and love. Grace Correa has made all the “right” decisions, including choosing a high- salaried career concentration and forgo-

ing her love of dance for cheerleading in order to enhance her young adult transcript and social status. Weeks before graduation, she has a tight group of friends at her suburban Pennsylvania high school and a loving girlfriend, Leia, who attends the local private school. But when Grace overcommits to a grueling final engineering project and a substitute teacher gig at her aunt’s dance studio, her personal life falls apart—and she questions whether to stay with Leia when, statistically, most high school relationships don’t survive the freshman year of college. The third entry in the Ever After series is full of charming, nuanced characters, most of all Grace, whose passions range from designing a reha- bilitation glove that’s functional yet fashionable to teaching modern dance to adults. Most characters seem to be white, although naming conventions imply that Grace and her family might be Latinx and that some secondary characters are ethnically diverse. Grace’s relationship with Leia is embraced by everyone around them. A satisfying romance whose queer narrator possesses a desire to have it all. (Romance. 13-18)

INTO THE PIT Cawthon, Scott & Cooper, Elley Scholastic (208 pp.) $9.99 paper | Dec. 26, 2019 978-1-338-57601-6 Series: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights, 1

AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, AND ACTIVISTS Three spooky novellas pit teens A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights against mechanical creatures. Kendall, Mikki Oswald, Sarah, and Millie are dissat- Illus. by D’Amico, A. isfied with their lives. Oswald’s father is Ten Speed Press (208 pp.) unemployed and money is tight—and to make things worse, his $19.99 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 best friend has moved away. Sarah has a poor self-image, disor- 978-0-399-58179-3 dered eating, and wants to be model-pretty and popular. Goth Millie is miserable living with her grandfather in his overstuffed

| kirkus.com | young adult | 1 october 2019 | 111 the value of a sensitivity reader

Photo courtesy Leah Overstreet The use of sensitivity readers— The result is characters who are, at best, superficially consultants with lived experience of diverse. Physical descriptions of white characters are often one or more marginalized identities rendered in exquisite, individualized detail while charac- who comment on manuscripts—is ters of color are reduced to brown skin or almond eyes— hotly debated. Some feel the prac- or, sometimes, race alone. White characters get to grapple tice constitutes censorship and sti- with many aspects of being human, while non-#ownvoices fles creativity while others believe diverse characters frequently lack texture and complexity, that it is too easily abused, allowing as if race were the sum total of their being. authors to abdicate responsibility Yet, two Chinese American kids attending the same for developing their own awareness mostly white school will share the commonality of endur- while hiding behind the sensitivity ing the same stereotypes of Chinese people and at the same reader if the resulting work is criticized. time have vastly different experiences based on individu- Tu Books’ Stacy Whitman wrote thoughtfully about al circumstances. One might be an artsy theater girl with this—and like her, I prefer “cultural expert” (or “expert dyslexia from an upper-middle-class family while the other reader”), as “sensitivity” has been weaponized against peo- might be a working-class boy whose life centers on church ple seeking equity. This is not about tiptoeing around sen- and baseball. sitivities but about basic respect. The conversation also People also need to let go of the idea that there should often veers into “rights”: Does the right of the author to be a final authority on whether a particular book “is au- say whatever they want trump the impact on those who thentic” or not. One story is just that, one story—but face bias in real life as well as in the fiction they read for each story is nevertheless grounded in reality (yes, even pleasure? (Never mind the right of readers to respond to the wildest fantasy). There is a meaningful difference be- materials published for public consumption.) tween tropes and stereotypes versus cultural norms, just Power imbalances matter too—not just (often) white as there is between statistical averages versus individual authors versus readers from marginalized groups but also lives. Cultural experts can help authors understand the adult versus young person. Books still cross my desk con- world their character is moving taining blatant, ugly stereotypes that would make many through, the baggage the world readers feel disrespected by those they trusted to entertain will heap on that character, and them. So why is there still resistance to the concept of ask- the filters through which they ing for input from an expert reader? will be viewed by others. They Some people who would do meticulous research before can also help authors understand writing fiction that features submarines or the life cycle of typical cultural practices, beliefs, slugs nevertheless believe that doing due diligence to learn references, in-jokes, and more. about entire groups of marginalized people is absurd. Peo- They can help them avoid both ple dream up fantasy and science-fiction worlds, forgetting laughable errors as well as larg- that while these worlds may be imaginary, they stem from er missteps that may reduce a the brain of a real human which has been shaped by years young reader to tears (I’ve been of acculturation (see Jewel Davis’ presentation on Specula- the librarian facing that child) tive Worlds of Color). and feed internalized racism. The underrepresentation of youth of color (see Dr. That still leaves ample room for creativity and artistic Sarah Park Dahlen’s and David Huyck’s infographic) and expression. Julie Berry’s Lovely War (March 5) is set against the high proportion of non-#ownvoices titles (as per the the backdrop of World War I and infused with Greek my- Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s data) indicate a thology. The white author received a Kirkus star (and wide- pressing need for authors to be mindful. I believe some re- spread acclaim) for her imaginative epic—and she consult- sistance is based on the “colorblind” mindset, which posits ed multiple cultural experts, as she told Jewish sensitivity that differences are external and that “we are all the same reader Marjorie Ingall. Change is always painful, and we underneath”—an approach that renders people deeply un- are in a period of turmoil and transition. I look forward to comfortable about acknowledging that race (and other seeing how this conversation evolves. —L.S. marginalized differences) in fact has a powerful impact on daily experiences. Laura Simeon is the young adult editor.

112 | 1 october 2019 | young adult | kirkus.com | Heartbreakingly honest, refreshingly victorious. furious thing

Victorian. Yet all three find that wishing for things to change SONG OF THE can have consequences far worse than their previous troubles— CRIMSON FLOWER ones that may claim their lives. Several characters from the Five Dao, Julie C. Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise feature in this short Philomel (288 pp.) collection, and the animatronics in these original stories evoke $18.99 | Nov. 5, 2019 the game’s clunky, fear-inducing characters. While the novellas 978-1-5247-3835-8 are certainly engaging in terms of plot and include some terrifying—albeit gory—imagery, the characters and their stories The return to the kingdoms of Feng border on cliché. Debut author Cooper’s contributions are at Lu relies heavily on the richly detailed times inventive, with nonlinear plots and inconclusive end- East Asian worldbuilding. ings, but all the stories include similar, predictable plot points Eight prosperous years after Empress and occasional passages that could have been edited for clarity. Jade and Lord Koichi completed their There is a notable amount of repetitive and (too) straightfor- quest to defeat the evil Empress Xifeng, a terrifying bloodpox ward dialogue throughout, but the simplicity overall makes for outbreak and the illegal trade of forbidden black spice has a smooth read that’s devoid of ambiguity, focusing instead on left the kingdom on the brink of war. Bao is a gentle-spirited the forward movement of action, which may draw in reluctant orphan and a physician’s apprentice whose heartbreak over Lan, readers. Main characters are white; there is some minor diver- the royal minister’s marriageable daughter, drives him to seek sity in secondary characters. out a river witch. The witch turns out to be his vengeful aunt, Head into the pit for a quick horror read; those looking who curses Bao with blood magic—casting a spell that traps for immersion should keep out. (Horror. 12-16) him in his beloved flute. Lan deeply regrets her harsh words to

Bao and vows to help him break the curse. A sincere declaration young adult of love before the next full moon will break the spell, so the THE SILVER EYES two embark on an epic journey to find answers. Lan and Bao’s Cawthon, Scott & Breed-Wrisley, Kira story is a stand-alone tale, but fans of the Rise of the Empress Illus. by Schröder, Claudia duology will appreciate the entourage meeting up once again Scholastic (192 pp.) with Commander Wei, Wren, Jade, and Koichi. In this latest $12.99 paper | Dec. 26, 2019 quest, characters are literally and figuratively transparent, and 978-1-338-29848-2 mentions of the long-dead Xifeng’s rise to villainy only makes Series: Five Nights at Freddy’s, 1 readers long for more intriguing characters. Unfortunately, this companion title is weak in character development and engaging Old friends find that nostalgia isn’t dialogue. the only thing lurking in their childhood An ambitious premise that does not live up to previous stomping ground. entries in complexity and depth. (Fantasy adventure. 12-16) Charlie and her friends gather in their small hometown of Hurricane to honor their deceased friend, Michael, in this graphic-novel adaption of the 2016 FURIOUS THING novel by the same name inspired by the video game franchise. Downham, Jenny Previously owned and operated by Charlie’s father, Freddy Faz- David Fickling/Scholastic (384 pp.) bear’s Pizza has been subsumed by the construction of a mall. It $18.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 was a primary source of entertainment for her and her friends— 978-1-338-54065-9 as well as the site of Michael’s mysterious disappearance. Yet when the friends break into the pizza parlor to reminisce and Alexandra has always been told that explore, they find that in addition to abandoned animatronic her anger is her biggest problem when characters, arcade games, and rides, their childhood playground really, it might be her greatest gift. holds dark forces looking for prey—and disturbing memories Fifteen-year-old Alexandra is furious from the past begin to intrude. The full-color art is simple, with all the time. Everyone notices when she’s ample white space, and the illustrations are effectively creepy, mad at her mother’s fiance, John, who with variations in the layout of the panels. However, readers makes everyone in her family miserable. But most of all, she’s may have trouble tracking the large cast of characters and their mad at herself and her inability to be the daughter she thinks relationships, especially with several flashbacks that reveal past her mother needs. As the wedding approaches and Alexandra’s traumas. The action-packed and occasionally gory plot will relationship with John rapidly deteriorates, she finds herself engage, but abrupt transitions and a too-quick resolution take facing some hard truths about her past, including her role in her readers out of the world of the story. All main characters are beloved grandfather’s death. As Alexandra begins to see through white, with the exception of one who is black. the haze of John’s abuse, she starts to realize that despite what Will find a ready readership among fans.(Graphic horror. he says, she is not the problem: John is. This unflinchingly hon- 12-16) est tale of emotional abuse is masterfully paced and deeply felt. Alexandra’s evolution from self-hatred to self-realization, as

| kirkus.com | young adult | 1 october 2019 | 113 A critical work. stolen justice

well as her mother’s struggle to protect herself and her children, SCARED LITTLE RABBITS is as authentic as it is heartbreaking. Other than the spattering Geiger, A.V. of third-person fairy tales, which unfortunately jolt readers out Sourcebooks Fire (368 pp.) of the story, the tone strikes just the right balance of urgency, $10.99 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 desperation, and hope. Readers will root for Alexandra and her 978-1-4926-4828-4 anger—and, in the process, examine the potentially transforma- tive role of fury in their own lives. Main characters seem to be A summer coding competition ends white, and there is some indication of diversity through names. in tragedy. A heartbreakingly honest, refreshingly victorious, fem- Shy, 16-year-old coding whiz Nora inist take on surviving emotional abuse. (Fiction. 16-adult) Weinberg is a ball of nerves when she arrives at New England’s venerable Win- throp Academy for the Summer Maker HEARTS, STRINGS, AND Program, which showcases the brightest young talents in cod- OTHER BREAKABLE THINGS ing and culminates in a cash prize. Nora feels constantly over- Firkins, Jacqueline looked and is dying for someone to notice her. Luckily, she has HMH Books (384 pp.) InstaLove, an augmented reality social app. When InstaLove $17.99 | Dec. 17, 2019 pings on the handsome Maddox Drake, Nora is instantly smit- 978-1-328-63519-8 ten—and she’s thrilled when he asks her to help him tweak InstaLove’s programming using an InSight Visor, a type of AR A bookish musician moves in with glasses. Unfortunately, Maddox has a long history with the wealthy relatives and finds romance and beautiful and very rich Eleanor Winthrop, who makes it clear renewed hope in this modern-day take she doesn’t want Maddox anywhere near Nora. But Maddox is on Mansfield Park. falling for Nora, and Eleanor is hiding a secret hinted at through Edie Price spent three years in foster entries in her online journal. Cue the virtual and IRL shenani- care following her mother’s death, until finally her snobbish, gans. Nora’s constant self-deprecation grates, her romance with WASPy aunt and uncle deigned to take her in. Life in Mansfield, Maddox is underdeveloped, and side characters mostly exist to Massachusetts, is both alien and familiar to Edie, since she used service the plot. The disappearance of a student leads to a mud- to spend summers there before a long-ago family rift—and dled denouement that fails to shock. Minor diversity can be since the socio-economic divide between herself and her fam- found in the supporting cast, but most main characters appear ily is now so extreme. Her aunt’s performative charity doesn’t to be white, and Nora briefly mentions her Jewish heritage. extend to real kindness, and her cousins, Maria and Julia, at first Heavy on angst, light on suspense. (Mystery. 13-18) seem shallow and catty to Edie. Still, she remembers boy-next- door Sebastian Summers with a fondness that quickly reignites into a crush when the two start swapping literary references STOLEN JUSTICE and longing glances. However, complications arise in the form The Struggle for African of Sebastian’s glamorous girlfriend, Claire, and Claire’s brother, American Voting Rights a gorgeous, notorious player named Henry. Edie immediately Goldstone, Lawrence idealizes Sebastian and dismisses Henry, but as she gets to Scholastic (288 pp.) know more about Mansfield’s high society, and about herself, $18.99 | Jan. 7, 2020 she learns to question almost all her first impressions. Edie’s ex– 978-1-338-32348-1 best friend and two background characters are implied people Series: Scholastic Focus of color; all others are white. The prose is heavier on alliteration than Austen-esque wit, but the author of Mansfield Park would What happens when the right to vote no doubt approve of this retelling’s dreamy romance and sly is systematically withheld from a portion social commentary. of the electorate? A sweet, gentle modernization of Jane Austen that Goldstone (Unpunished Murder, 2018, etc.) details the com- packs a little subversive punch. (Romance. 14-18) plex history of voting for African Americans, including the lasting impact of major decisions made at pivotal points in American history: the Constitutional Convention, the Civil War, the 13th and 14th amendments during Reconstruction, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act and its dismantling by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts in 2013. By interweav- ing stories about African Americans who fought for the right to vote and those who worked against them, Goldstone deftly highlights the adversities African Americans have faced to gain and retain access to the ballot. He unpacks many of the structural, systematic, state-sanctioned, and legal blockades to

114 | 1 october 2019 | young adult | kirkus.com | voting, including state constitutional amendments in North AMAZONS, Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina that insidi- ABOLITIONISTS, ously virtually eliminated African American participation. Run- AND ACTIVISTS ning parallel to the stories are portrayals of lesser-known heroes A Graphic History of like Alex Manly, Judge Alexander Rivers, Cornelius Jones, and Women’s Fight for Their Jackson W. Giles who worked to dismantle systemic racism at Rights the ballot box. Goldstone resurrects decades-old court cases, Kendall, Mikki bringing new life to the past by clearly connecting yesterday to Illus. by D’Amico, A. today and invoking current questions about which Americans Ten Speed Press (208 pp.) have participatory access to democracy. Short chapters, ample $19.99 paper | Nov. 5, 2019 photographs and illustrations, judicious use of illustrative quo- 978-0-399-58179-3 tations, and straightforward prose make this an engaging read. A critical work. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, This graphic narrative traces the history of women’s rights illustration credits, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18) around the globe. When their purple-skinned, white-haired AI instructor introduces the subject of women’s rights, the class of six young WATCH OVER ME women breaks out in argument. The instructor responds by Gray, Mila transporting them across time and space to show them the his- Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) tory of women’s rights. Starting with ancient Sumer, the instruc- $18.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 tor exposes her class, and consequently, readers, to influential

978-1-5344-4281-8 women from diverse backgrounds by highlighting the struggles young adult and achievements of nearly 200 individuals who were leaders in After a horrific domestic violence a variety of areas of pursuit, including well-known figures such incident, Zoey Ward and her family as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Harriet Tubman as well as others finally find their footing in Las Vegas who deserve to be better known. The content is both historical only to have their lives overturned by a and up to the minute, with relevance to current issues, covering, house fire. among other topics, colonization, suffrage, civil rights, redress Learning that her father has been movements, the wage gap, sexual harassment, reproductive recently released from prison, Zoey suspects he had something rights, and LGBTQ rights. Kendall’s (contributor: Here We Are, to do with the blaze. After their lives go up in flames, literally, 2017, etc.) informative text and D’Amico’s realistic full-color Zoey along with her mom and her younger siblings, Kate and illustrations also include brief biographies of contemporary Cole, flee Las Vegas with the help of her older brother, Will, women, including Naelyn Pike, an environmental and Indig- and his best friend, Tristan. They take refuge in California, enous rights activist, and Alice Wong, who advocates for dis- where Tristan and his sister welcome them into a world where ability rights. The unnamed students represent a diverse range things seem hopeful and more stable than anything they have of identities and manners of gender expression: Five of the six ever known. Yet the fear of being hunted down by her father are people of color, one has a prosthetic limb, and another is consumes Zoey. The story is narrated from Zoey’s and Tristan’s hijabi. Source notes and suggestions for further reading would first-person perspectives, and GrayRun ( Away With Me, 2017, have been valuable additions. etc.) has masterfully captured the uncertainty and terror that A fabulous introduction—informative, forthright, and come from domestic violence. Tristan and Zoey share a budding highly appealing. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-16) romance in which Zoey slowly but surely learns to love and be loved in a nondestructive, healthy way despite her fears and res- ervations. With everything she has been through, Zoey is the JUST DON’T MENTION IT underdog readers will find themselves rooting for. Gray spares Maskame, Estelle no detail in this intense tale. All characters are assumed to be Sourcebooks Fire (496 pp.) white; Tristan is dyslexic, and there are several queer characters. $10.99 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 An unflinching portrayal of the devastating effects of 978-1-4926-8295-0 domestic violence. (Fiction. 16-adult) Seventeen-year-old Tyler Bruce is spending the summer before his senior year of high school in turmoil. Through flashbacks, readers learn of Tyler’s physical abuse by his father before he went to jail. Now, his mother is married to Dave Munro, and Dave’s daughter, Eden, is coming to Santa Monica to stay with them for the summer. Eden’s first impression of Tyler is that he is a major jerk, but over time Tyler

| kirkus.com | young adult | 1 october 2019 | 115 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Kim Liggett

THE AUTHOR’S NEW YA NOVEL, THE GRACE YEAR, IS A DYSTOPIAN TALE OF TEENAGE GIRLS, DRAWING COMPARISONS TO THE HANDMAID’S TALE By Kristen Evans Photo courtesy Luke Fontana system. You set up these girls on these pedestals just to knock them down.” Liggett boarded her own train and immediately started writing The Grace Year (Wednesday Books, Oct. 8), a YA novel that has already drawn comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies. Set in an alternate past, the novel follows 16-year- old Tierney, who is exiled to an isolated compound in the woods with other girls her age to release her “magic” before returning to a constrained life as the wife of a councilman. There’s a catch, though. Prowling outside the compound are poachers who will kill the young women in exchange for bounty. Soon enough, the young women engage in power struggles with one another instead of helping each other survive. “As girls and women, we’re conditioned to compete with one another,” Liggett observes. “The way I was raised, it was really the only way that girls were allowed to show their anger.” This idea became even more urgent for Liggett Kim Liggett, the Bram Stoker Award–winning au- after the 2016 election. “I think of myself as being thor of The Last Harvest, Blood and Salt, and other a very good feminist,” she says, “but when I started novels for young adults, was standing at the depar- writing this book, I really had to take a hard look at tures board in New York’s Penn Station when a teen- how I see women and the judgments that I put on age girl waiting with her family caught her eye. them.” “She was right on the verge of womanhood, and Reflection about internalized sexism became a a businessman passed, instinctively looking her way, large part of her writing process for The Grace Year. like stem to stern,” Liggett recalls. “I knew that look, “This book changed me,” she says. like she was fair game now, she was prey.” Given its preoccupation with oppressive patri- A woman passed by soon after, “drawn to that archy, the novel doesn’t shy away from violence—or same energy, but what I imagined for entirely differ- the steaminess of its (mostly implied) sex scenes. ent reasons,” she adds. “This girl was now competi- Liggett says that’s because she wrote the book first tion.” Liggett pauses. “I just thought, it’s a horrible and foremost for herself. “The minute you start try-

116 | 1 october 2019 | young adult | kirkus.com | ing to censor yourself, or appeal to parents, that’s a quick death,” says Liggett. “I don’t want to write that way. “Teens are so cool. They’re amazing and smart and wonderful and savvy,” she adds. “Girls in particular know violence. It’s all around them.” The Grace Year was recently optioned by Eliza- beth Banks for Universal Pictures, and Liggett says finds he cannot stay away from Eden, and she, in turn, is drawn to him. Will they be more than friends—and can Tyler finally the film will be helmed entirely by women—from begin to heal? This companion novel to Maskame’s Did I Men- the executives to the screenwriter. “I didn’t expect tion I Love You? trilogy is narrated from Tyler’s first-person perspective. Maskame (Dare To Fall, 2017, etc.) skillfully moves to be involved,” says Liggett, who was offered an the plot forward with chapters alternating between the present executive producer credit. “They have been un- and 5 years ago. Readers will feel invested in the story, wonder- believably inclusive. They call me on every single ing what will happen with Tyler’s questionable relationship with substances and where Eden fits into his life. However, Eden thing.” and Tyler’s developing romance often feels unrealistic because Liggett is still overwhelmed by how many oth- he is so cruel to her and others that his appeal can be difficult to understand. The book situates whiteness as the norm, and er women—from her new connections in Holly- it is unfortunate that the one significant adult male character wood to early readers—have connected with what of color, Tyler’s half Mexican/half white father, is violent and she thought of as a largely personal story. “Women abusive. A quick guilty pleasure. need to be heard,” says Liggett. “Young women es- (Fiction. 14-18) pecially need to be heard and seen, not as prey or competition but as our greatest hope.” THE LAST WITNESS McFall, Claire

Sourcebooks Fire (272 pp.) young adult Kristen Evans reviews for Kirkus and writes for $10.99 paper | Jan. 1, 2020 978-1-7282-0024-8 BuzzFeed, the Los Angeles Times, the New Repub- lic, NYLON, and elsewhere. The Grace Year received Five friends travel to Black Cairn Point, but only two come back. a starred review in the July 15, 2019, issue. Heather, Martin, and Dougie set off to celebrate Dougie’s birthday with a camping trip to an isolated coastal spot in Scotland together with Heather’s best friend, Emma, and her annoying new boyfriend, Darren (the one with the car). If Heather’s crush on her friend Dougie didn’t already make things awkward enough, the dynamics are further disturbed by Darren’s confrontational demeanor, which spurs tension and divides the group. Then things take a turn for the worse when one of them goes missing after they find an ancient burial site. One year later, while the only other survivor continues to suffer from the aftereffects of the trip, Heather is still struggling to tell the truth about what happened in an attempt to prove both her innocence as well as her sanity. With a narrative that alternates between then and now, this atmospheric novel straddle the line of the supernatural while keeping up with its teenage protagonists’ lives. Readers know from the start that something has gone terribly wrong during that trip, but the author deftly keeps the tension going, efficiently playing with horror tropes and unreliable narratives as the two timelines ultimately converge. All characters seem to be white. A suspenseful thriller that will leave readers guessing until the end. (Thriller. 14-adult)

| kirkus.com | young adult | 1 october 2019 | 117 INTERVIEWS & PROFILES R. J. Palacio

THE AUTHOR EXPANDS HER WONDER UNIVERSE WITH WHITE BIRD, A GRAPHIC NOVEL SET IN FRANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST By Anjali Enjeti Photo courtesy Heike Bogenberger (whom readers meet in Auggie and Me), take center stage. Grandmère tells Julian the story of his namesake—a brave classmate named Julien whom she used to ignore at school because of his disability. When Nazis begin rounding up Jews in Aubervilliers-aux-Bois, Julien saves her life by hiding her in his family’s barn. Despite the horrors encircling them, their friendship soon blossoms. There are too few books for children about the Ho- locaust and other genocides, but with this exquisite story, Palacio succeeds in expanding what she sees as a limited literary canon. “We need an age-appropriate curriculum in school that highlights how people are singled out and scapegoated and must do more to introduce students to historical events—the good and the bad,” she says. Which points to the main lesson Palacio hopes children will take away from White Bird. “Kindness to our fellow human beings,” she says, “means having the courage to do something.”

R.J. Palacio, the middle-grade author of Wonder and Anjali Enjeti is an Atlanta-based writer and a vice president Auggie and Me, was in the midst of writing her next nov- of the National Book Critics Circle. White Bird received a el in November 2016 when Donald Trump won the starred review in the July 15, 2019, issue. presidential election. “I was alarmed by a lot of things I was seeing—the Muslim ban, anti-immigration sentiment, and the dehumanization of people of color,” she says. “I’m a daughter of Colombian immigrants. I spoke Spanish before English. I saw the terrible similarities between the vilification of immigrants at the border and Nazi Germany.” For Palacio, the Holocaust is also personal. The Third Reich murdered several of her husband’s Jewish ancestors who were living in Poland. In January 2017, she decided to abandon the novel she was working on to begin a new project, her first graphic novel,White Bird: A Wonder Story (Knopf, Oct. 1), which she wrote and illustrated with Kevin Czap. In the story, Julian (Auggie’s bully, first introduced in Wonder) and Grandmère, his French grandmother

118 | 1 october 2019 | young adult | kirkus.com | THE SECRET a legitimate claim to the throne—arrives, Mirage must battle COMMONWEALTH both Gavin’s machinations and her peoples’ perception that Pullman, Philip he’s the true Sun Heir. A mysterious, ancient, magical test to Knopf (656 pp.) determine succession surfaces, and it’s clear that Mirage has $22.99 | Oct. 3, 2019 grown: She no longer believes she’s owed the throne by virtue 978-0-553-51066-9 of her birth but instead chooses to fight for it. Secondary char- Series: The Book of Dust, 2 acters are better fleshed out than in the first book, though the penchant for excessive metaphors and similes remains and is A desert rose with mysterious prop- distracting. Most significant characters are described as white. erties sets off a rush. There’s enough here to please fans of the first novel. The events of The Book of Dust (2017) (Fantasy. 14-18) and the His Dark Materials series behind her, Lyra Silvertongue has grown into a rude post-teen so enthralled by the existential hyperrationalism of two popular writers that even her daemon THE WEIGHT OF A SOUL Pantalaimon can’t stand to talk to her. Believing that Lyra’s Tammi, Elizabeth imagination has been stolen, Pan braves mutual anguish to slip Flux (320 pp.) off to fetch it back. Meanwhile, hints of a rare Central Asian $11.99 paper | Dec. 3, 2019 rose whose attar confers the power to see Dust arrive in Bry- 978-1-63583-044-6 tain, the theocratic Magisterium is poised to expand its reach under the sway of a sinister mastermind, and Malcolm Polstead, After her sister is murdered, a griev-

Oxford professor and secret agent, finds himself involved in ing girl is pulled into a life-or-death game young adult ominous local events—all adding up to multiple characters between Norse gods. embarking on parallel journeys across Europe and onward. Pull- Lena Freding thought her biggest man places his cast of white main characters in a Eurocentric problems were keeping her village from world marked by rising authoritarianism, general anxiety, des- revolting against her family while her perate refugees, and anonymous terrorists violently destroying father, Chief Fredrik, neglected his duties and helping her rose crops in the name of a vaguely religious Holy Purpose. He younger sister, Fressa, gain approval for her engagement to skillfully weaves in deeper themes of change and of love’s com- Amal. Upon his return from a long journey, Fredrik presents plexities, ruminations on the nature of evil, evidence of magi- Fressa with an unassuming blade that, in her hands, becomes cal truths beneath reality’s veneer, swipes at organized religion, something otherworldly, setting off a chain of events that just and the powerful—if often twisted—ties of family. This entry, might break Lena. After it is revealed that their parents actually while well stocked with familiar characters in a story founded intend Lena and Amal to marry, Fressa runs off into the woods on ideas, is also not lacking in grand events and narrow squeaks. only for Lena to find her dead soon after. Grieving Lena’s search Exhilarating. (Fantasy. 14-adult) for answers leads her to the goddess of death, Hela, and a bargain: a soul for a soul. But Lena questions how far she will go to bring back her sister. While preventing Ragnarok—the begin- DIAMOND & DAWN ning of the end of the world—she must also delay her marriage Selene, Lyra to Amal. Lena’s melancholy brooding over her inaction weighs Scholastic (368 pp.) the story down, and the flat characterization of most secondary $18.99 | Dec. 3, 2019 characters and inconsistent pacing also detract from the read- 978-1-338-54759-7 er’s experience. The Viking-era setting clashes with the charac- Series: Amber & Dusk, 2 ters’ modern speech patterns. All characters seem to be white, and there are veiled hints about Lena’s bisexuality. Mirage, now dauphine, is back in this A middling fantasy. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18) sequel to Amber & Dusk (2018). Mirage has succeeded in dethroning her half sister, Severine, but ruling isn’t easy, and the tension of the transition is worsened by the rise of a religious zealot and his followers who incite citizens against Mirage and wreak havoc in the Amber City. Though Mirage is a sympathetic character, readers may wonder if she’s actually fit to rule: She’s learned to read but doesn’t understand much about the kingdom she’s ruling and makes impetuous choices, sometimes ignoring feedback from advisers and other times following said advisers’ plans seemingly without thinking things through. When her charming, handsome, distant cousin Gavin—the only other person with

| kirkus.com | young adult | 1 october 2019 | 119 Shelf Space

A Q&A With Richard De Wyngaert of Head House Books, Philadelphia By Karen Schechner

Shortly after Philadelphia’s inaugural event with Jennifer Weiner, now a friend and Head House Books opened in 2005, neighbor, was huge. When we opened 15 years ago, we were the bookselling world had several struggling to establish our identity. Jennifer launched one of tectonic shifts. Head House own- her bestselling titles at Head House Books. The store was er Richard De Wyngaert sets the filled with adoring fans—immediate street cred. Earlier this scene: “Amazon went full throt- summer, Jennifer launched the bestselling Mrs. Everything. tle, Borders declared bankruptcy, The store was again packed, oozing love for Jennifer’s writ- Barnes & Noble remained Barnes ing and piercing wit. This book was somewhat different for & Noble, e-readers spread like a vi- her. I love and admire the changes and growth she has un- rus, the relevance of actual books dergone, as a person and as a writer. And similarly, we have was questioned, and then…the fi- undergone changes and, I like to think, grown, evolving as nancial world caved.” Born into tur- a bookstore. Both Jennifer and Head House Books are still bulent times, Head House Books, standing, both advancing, and both contributing in different whose motto is “Stay Curious,” has nonetheless thrived, voted ways to the same community. Best Bookstore by Philadelphia magazine. Here we talk with De How does the bookstore reflect the interests of Wyngaert about the indie’s “wild, turbulent, robust journey.” your community? How would you describe Head House Books to As we all know, the bookselling landscape has undergone the uninitiated? dramatic, almost tectonic changes. Books were commod- We strive to be welcoming. To quote New York Times bestsell- itized and readily available from multiple sources. What is ing author Jennifer Weiner, “Walking into Head House Books not available and not replicable is our capacity to curate, our is like walking into the well-appointed living room of your most particular aesthetic, our broad smiles, and our unwavering well-read friend.” We want customers to feel appreciated and commitment to serve with pleasure. We have a playful chil- right at home. The selections are exquisitely curated, and our dren’s section, serving the growing number of young fami- values and aesthetic frame everything. We enjoy seeing custom- lies in our community. Beautifully illustrated books, funny ers molt their “the-books-I-read” skin and feel inspired to read books, games, puzzles, cards, and complimentary wrapping something new and different. But mostly, we want our custom- paper from which those heading straight to a birthday party ers to delight in their experience—and refer a friend, of course. can choose. We feature many events for local authors, host If Head House Books were a religion, what would a chess club, open mic night, French club, story hour, and be its icons and tenets? multiple book clubs and music morning are all part of the community calendar. Fun question. Were Head House Books a religion, we’d es- chew dogma and eliminate barriers to entry. Eternal dam- What trends are you noticing among nation would not exist—so Cerberus, the three-headed dog, young readers? would be out of a job! Our faith is rooted in renewal and au- Our young readers are insatiable—so very much encouraged thentic connections—to ourselves, to one another, to our by their zeal and commitment to reading amid the pull of our communities, and to our planet. A suitable icon would be the culture’s attention magnets. Clearly, series are big—keeps mature salmon swimming upstream—the difference being them reading, engaged, and forward looking. Our young fam- the salmon makes only one journey before dying while we sur- ilies love the hardcovers for their toddlers—home libraries vive and struggle and swim upstream again and again—per- carefully crafted with care. Beautifully illustrated books are haps a salmon with nine lives. always snapped up. The vigorous demand for and growing Which was your favorite event and/or most supply of books with strong, independent girl protagonists— memorable disaster? at last—are gratifying and promising for our world. We have had so many wonderful events, both at the store and off-site. But two are particularly significant. First, our Karen Schechner is the vice president of Kirkus Indie.

120 | 1 october 2019 | young adult | kirkus.com | indie These titles earned the Kirkus Star: A SAVAGE TRICK Andre, Sarah Beach Reads (384 pp.) ONE LESS RIVER by Terry Blackhawk...... 123 $12.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Apr. 13, 2019 WILD HARE by Laura Koerber...... 131 978-1-946310-03-3

WE GOT THIS ed. by Marika Lindholm, Cheryl Dumesnil, A bitter custody fight leads to an Katherine Shonk & Domenica Ruta...... 132 unexpected connection in the third installment of Andre’s (Capturing the THE INVISIBLE BOAT by Eric G. Müller...... 133 Queen, 2017, etc.) romance series. Lt. Patrick “Trick” Quinn is a

RANDALL AND RANDALL by Nadine Poper; respected firefighter in Chicago who’s young adult illus. by Polina Gortman...... 135 never lost anyone that he was sent to rescue. He’s seemingly happily married to his wife of nearly 17 years, Eve, with whom he has two young daughters, Amy and Tina. A surprise $4 million lottery win seems to continue his unbroken streak of good fortune. But shortly before their anniversary, Trick is blindsided when Eve gets a restraining order against him, alleging that he abused her and their daughters. Desperate to clear his name, Trick agrees to monitored visits with his daughters, supervised by social worker Zamira Bey. A dedicated professional and a devout Muslim, Zamira is torn between her family’s wish that she marry the assistant to the imam at their mosque and her own interest in pursuing an independent life, like her sister, Shadi. Initially, Zamira is skeptical of Trick’s insistence that he never hurt his family, but eventually, she begins to believe him. Meanwhile, the city is rocked by a series of terrorist bombings linked to Islamic extremism. As Zamira tries to help Trick prove his innocence, they discover that they share a deep, profound emotional bond. However, a mysterious fire and an ominous new danger threaten to permanently separate them. Andre’s latest book offers fast-paced romantic suspense with well- developed characters and a multilayered, nuanced plot with a poignant love story at its center. The personal journeys of Trick and Zamira anchor Andre’s sprawling narrative, and their relationship develops slowly and methodically in scenes marked by introspective conversations, such as one about the importance of religion in their lives. The novel opens with the charges that alter Trick’s life, and Andre skillfully uses flashbacks to trace the history of Trick’s relationship with Eve and the sequence of RANDALL AND RANDALL events that led to the accusations. Along the way, the narrative Poper, Nadine deftly and satisfyingly moves between Trick’s fight to clear his Illus. by Gortman, Polina name and the investigation into the terrorist bombings. Blue Whale Press (32 pp.) A thoughtful and sensitive romance that makes for a $16.99 | $10.99 paper dynamic series installment. 978-0-9814938-7-9 978-0-9814938-8-6 pap

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 121 fish tales

Often, when an author writes about TRANSGRESSION sea life, it’s either a threat—as in Peter Ange, Brandy Benchley’s Jaws or Steve Alten’s Meg— Marturia Publications (416 pp.) or a source of food for human charac- $16.99 paper | $9.99 e-book ters. However, fish can make for dy- Nov. 11, 2017 978-1-947992-00-9 namic characters themselves—and not only in kids’ entertainment. Here A teenage girl learns that she’s part are few examples that bubbled up in angel in this debut YA fantasy. the Kirkus Indie section: Sixteen-year-old Achaia Cohen In Larry and Bob, written by Kar- thinks that she and her father, Shael, en Schaufeld and illustrated by Kurt move around so much because he’s a writer who’s always on assignment. It’s actually because he’s Schwarz, Larry, a bald eagle, catches a smallmouth bass one of the Nephilim—the guardian angels of God. Years ago, named Bob who convinces him his charge had been U.S. Sen. Anna Connolly, as per God’s to spare his life for a year so that plan, but they fell in love and had a child. After a demon he can raise his 19,000-plus off- killed Anna, Shael traded his angelic soul to Lucifer for the spring that are about to hatch. chance to raise Achaia, the only human/Nephilim hybrid Later, Bob saves Larry’s chick’s in existence. Now, in New York, Shael continues the diffi- life. Thus begins a longtime cult task of protecting his daughter, who’s unaware of her lineage, from evil forces. As demons stalk the pair, Shael friendship. Kirkus’ reviewer, in a enlists his angelic colleague, Naphtali, for added defense. starred review, calls the children’s More aid comes in the form of several Nephilim disguised as book “touching” and notes that high school kids: Noland, Olivier, Yellaina, Emile, and Ame- “the placement of the two male lia. They help Achaia settle into school and city life while characters as caregivers and primary parents puts a nice keeping their angelic superpowers (and wings) hidden. Still, spin on gender expectations.” Achaia feels like a hostage, as her father is always afraid for her safety. Then Shael vanishes, and Achaia must confront Fritz, the titular character in author Erin Ball and il- the truth about her background. For this series opener, Ange lustrator Pervin Özcan’s Have You Seen This Fish? is a some- sculpts a heroic teen saga in the mold of X-Men comics, sub- what less active participant in his story, but he’s unques- stituting a speedster (Olivier), a firestarter (Noland), and a tionably its driving force. When language expert (Yellaina) for the latter’s mutant heroes. At the spiny fish goes missing, his one point, she appealingly nods to the supreme deity’s cul- young, redheaded human owner tural malleability: “Today, God appeared as a tall man wear- goes on a quest to find him, plas- ing white robes, his skin changing colors in ever-shifting hues of black, white, olive, and maple.” The imagery is often tering his picture all over town graceful, as well: “Shael sat silently, letting [Lucifer’s] words and following clues until his jo- meet him like the tide on the beach.” The concept of free vial companion turns up in an un- will weaves its way into the action-oriented plot, which also usual place. Kirkus’ review deems includes romance elements; Achaia’s half-human nature the book a “clever introduction to allows her to make decisions that her full-Nephilim cohort sleuthing for young readers.” can’t, and following one’s heart is shown to be more impor - tant than strict adherence to heavenly mandate. Ange leaves Fish characters aren’t only all the pieces in place for a grander sequel. found in children’s books, though. A dark and inviting supernatural thriller. J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison’s comedy-fantasy parody Fish Wielder, for example, features an air-breathing, talking koi named Brad, who accompanies swordsman Thoral Mighty Fist through the magical land of Grome, offering commentary along the way: “ ‘A castle,’ Thoral mused. ‘And it appears to be abandoned.’ ‘They always appear that way, don’t they?’ Brad asked rhetorically.” Kirkus’ starred review praises “Hardison’s comedic inventiveness and stam- ina.” —D.R.

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.

122 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | BURIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD: found a way to bring them home in a manner that was respect- NOT MY BOY ful to all the men with whom they were interred. The Return of the Dead From A moving tribute to fallen soldiers and their survivors. World War Two Beigel, William L. Midnight to 1 AM Publishing (248 pp.) ONE LESS RIVER $28.95 | May 16, 2019 Blackhawk, Terry 978-1-73361-250-0 Mayapple Press (64 pp.) $16.95 paper | $9.99 e-book | Jul. 9, 2019 Beigel tells the story of the American 978-1-936419-89-0 government’s efforts to bring home the country’s World War II dead in this non- Blackhawk (The Whisk and Whir fiction debut. of Wings, 2016, etc.) offers a series of Of all the nations that participated in World War II, only contemplative poems about solitude in the United States repatriated its war dead. This is now com- nature and crowded city streets. monplace, but at the time, it was an unprecedented logistical The poet delicately embroiders themes feat, intended to bring closure to the families of those who of separation and retreat into this elegantly lost their lives in overseas conflicts: “In many cases, the recov- conceived collection. The first line of the opening poem, “The ery and return of the remains happened five years or more Door,” asks, “Why is it lately closed to me?” Although this imme- after their deaths,” writes Beigel in a preface, adding that “The diately establishes a sense of being shut out, there’s no heavy

time, effort, and national treasure spent to repatriate the war sense of angst here: “I will not complain. These grasses share young adult dead of the United States…is utterly unique in the annals of the light. / They bend and catch the wind gracefully.” There’s global history.” Beigel is a professional researcher who’s inves- an easiness with this state of separation, in part because it tigated the deaths and burials of over 2,000 American service allows the speaker to receive gifts from nature that society can’t members on behalf of their relatives, and in this book, he tells provide. The poem ends: “A sauna’s slats, so fragrant, wrap me the largely unknown story of how the “Return of the World now. / I’ve crawled into a barrel on the hill.” The speaker enters War II Dead Program” came about. He includes excerpts the sensually evocative interior of the sauna as a hermit crab from the letters of grief-stricken mothers and contemporary enters its shell—an image to which Blackhawk returns later in newspaper reports that show the growing public demand for the collection. The poet is a great observer of nature; in “The bringing the soldiers’ bodies home. In the book’s second half, Woodcock,” for example, she writes, “I loved the feathers’ / Beigel goes into the stories of individual soldiers, describing deckled edges and the light weight it made / as I scooped it up how they were killed, the feelings of their families, and the and put it, limpsy and weak, / into an old canvas book bag.” This struggles of military officials to deliver on their promises. dazzlingly clever image magnifies the bird’s wing by comparing Beigel’s prose is clean and concise throughout. His tone is it to the rough-cut page of a book before the bird itself is slid often quite sentimental, but he still manages to tell soldiers’ into a “book bag.” Blackhawk is equally at home playing the stories with poise: “He was buried on the twelfth of July in flâneuse, observing a city, as in “Noon in a Corner Café: The a very small cemetery located on the road from St. Croce, Sign,” in which the miscellany of urban life parades before her: Camerina, northwest one-half mile. Sergeant Drullinger was “cups, traffic, taxis, / mopeds, their signature sounds.” But soon, laid to rest between two of his fellow soldiers from F Com- the hard-edged, concrete metropolis melts into smooth natural pany, both, by chance, small-town Oklahomans.” The words imagery that looks beyond city living: “These stones / outlast of the parents themselves are even more affecting; for exam- us, pages / picked up by / the breeze can say almost / anything.” ple, here’s the father of Sgt. David Wilson, who feared that The poet makes her literary influences explicit, referencing the Army hadn’t kept track of his son: “We realize that he was Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and others—but although just a common G.I. and rated very low with the army. But he she draws from the American romantic movement, she shows was very dear to us and our only son, so you can see how we no need to imitate it. would appreciate some detailed information.” Overall, the Refined, learned, and liberating poetry. book provides a clear window into an operation that most Americans will likely know little about. Readers will also be left with a great feeling of respect for the importance of ritual when dealing with the deceased. One particularly difficult situation involved Maj. Frederick Koebig and 1st Lt. Anthony Kuhn, two bomber crewmen who survived the crash of their plane only to be captured by the Japanese in the South Pacific. They were killed when their prison camp was unintentionally bombed during an Allied raid, then cremated by the Japanese and placed in a box along with the ashes of 27 other Ameri- can and Australian prisoners. Nevertheless, the U.S. military

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 123 MARRIED A HIKER, PROPHET OF THE GOT A COWBOY TERMITE GOD Brown, Nancy W. Carlton, Clark Thomas iUniverse (186 pp.) Harper Voyager Impulse (640 pp.) $13.99 paper | $3.99 e-book $8.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Mar. 31, 2019 May 14, 2019 978-1-5320-6874-4 978-0-06-242977-3

An avid outdoorswoman recalls her An epic tale of tiny humans and war- many adventures in this tender memoir. ring insect empires continues in this sequel. Debut author Brown was born in Carlton’s (Prophets of the Ghost Ants, California’s San Francisco Bay Area in 2011) saga picks up where the earlier 1943, and her recollections of the growth and change of the novel left off: in a world called Dran- American West form the core of a family history that stretches veria, where humans exist alongside various species of insects from the mid-20th century to the present day. Brown grew up (they’re all roughly the same size). Here, a former lower-caste, in an exciting time in California, and her teenage years coin- midden-slave human named Anand finds himself in the unlikely cided with the growth of folk music by the likes of Pete Seeger, position of national savior. He led an insect army to defend his Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. Her parents instilled a love of the home of the Slope against the invading forces of Hulkrish and outdoors in her from a young age, and she spent many hours their Prophet-Commander, his own cousin Pleckoo. Against all hiking under canopies of coastal redwoods and exploring Cali- odds, Anand was victorious, but Pleckoo isn’t dead—the threat fornia’s beaches. She was attending Marin Community College, posed by the followers of the god Hulkro remains. This latest studying art and photography, when the Cuban missile crisis volume employs a split narrative in order to trace the separate and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy occurred. adventures of Anand—who must deal with the many problems After getting married to her first husband on New Year’s Eve facing his fledgling kingdom, from new rumblings of war to a 1964, they began crisscrossing the country in a Volkswagen van, building refugee crisis and potentially deadly palace intrigue— exploring America’s protected wilderness areas when the camp- and Pleckoo, now a fugitive. Pleckoo seemingly has the whole ing and hiking industries were just beginning to form—long of Dranveria against him—except for Hulkro, in whose service before they became as successful as they are today. Her adven- he is still a vision-driven fanatic despite dream-world visitations tures would eventually span Europe and North America, and from other insect deities. “Hulkro does not rule the Nether- she crossed paths with theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking world. I do,” one god tells him. “Where is Little Termite now?” and rebellious author Edward Abbey, who wrote the 1975 novel “High above, in the night sky, where He rules over all,” the The Monkey Wrench Gang. In its best moments, Brown’s mem- faithful Pleckoo responds. “You have said He is the only god,” oir paints a loving portrait of a life spent exploring the Ameri- the rival deity answers, “yet here I am, deciding your fate for can West, from joyous ordinary events, such as cooking simple eternity.” The proceedings are suffused with the complicated meals in Death Valley, to adrenaline highs while rafting down dynamics of clashing religions, and this volume in the Antasy the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Along the way, Brown series places slightly more emphasis on Pleckoo’s story, making describes many remarkable experiences, including getting shot it an intriguing counterpoint to the previous installment. at in a California desert where members of the Manson fam- As in that earlier novel, Carlton displays in his insect ily roamed and scaling some of the West’s grandest mountains. high fantasy tale a completely assured—and totally infec- Toward the end of the memoir, Brown’s writing sometimes tious—imagination while employing precisely controlled nar- devolves into lists of events rather than telling the solid stories rative pacing. There’s a minor strand of purple prose running that make other sections shine. These latter parts sometimes through the book that can easily be read as a winking hom- seem more like a letter to a distant relative than a fully realized age to the hyperventilation of classic pulp fantasy authors like memoir, but they still clearly come from a place of deep love. Edgar Rice Burroughs (“Knowing he was alone, Pleckoo fell A sweet, detailed recounting of a life well-lived in to his hands and knees and wailed. He choked on his own sob- America’s wild places. bing, hoping to cough out the hundred thousand demons that warred inside him”; and Anand’s reflection on his predicament later in the story: “My wife is the pregnant prisoner of the dis - eased man inflicting his madness on the world”). This kind of rhetorical playfulness perfectly serves the boilerplate of the plot, and it’s expertly balanced with Carlton’s insightful realization of the internal facets of his realm. Anand, for instance, is still scornfully referred to as “Roach Boy” by some of the very people he tried to help. When he asks what he’s done to warrant such hostility, he’s told: “What haven’t you done? You’ve turned our lives downside up. We was fine in the old way, as good as anybody else in the midden.” The characters

124 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | The stories—strong and graceful—raise issues that children and parents could profitably discuss together. zizzle literary: issue 3

of Pleckoo and Anand dominate the volume’s two scenarios, expectations could be another topic. “Serbian Dracula Myster- but the tale unfolds in a way that very naturally expands to ies,” for example, takes its horror influences in an unexpected embrace not only a host of secondary characters, but also an direction, with Arsen reinvigorated, not drained, by his encoun- abundance of intricate worldbuilding. Readers should keep in ter with the unknown. Depending on reader taste, some stories mind that the titles of these novels are apt: No detail of Dran- could also invite more critical analysis. For example, is Eugenia veria’s vast theological mosaic is left unexplored. perhaps too obviously a stand-in for an adult sensibility with A dense, complex, and engrossing second installment dialogue like, “your false tests, your arbitrary trials”? Adding to of a genuinely promising high fantasy series. the issue’s charm are debut illustrator Moriyama’s lovely, otherworldly rabbit-themed paintings resembling Japanese wood- block prints. ZIZZLE LITERARY Well-wrought, unusual, and memorable fiction beauti- Issue 3 fully illustrated—a keepsake. Ed. by Dahl, Lesley Illus. by Moriyama, Schinako Promiseshore (126 pp.) THE FOREVER TIME $13.65 The Wolf & the Warlander 978-9-8879360-2-2 Davis, Chip & Valenti, Mark Illus. by Taylor, James Third in a series, this illustrated collection of flash fic - Mannheim Steamroller (107 pp.) tion edited by Dahl (Zizzle Literary: Issue 2, 2019, etc.) for 978-0-9656909-2-8

middle schoolers and up focuses on fantasy and magic. young adult Zizzle Literary publishes concise, imaginative pieces that A young horse and a wolf pup tran- both parents and kids can enjoy and discuss. Each of the 10 scend their natural instincts to form stories is tagged with its reading level, from “Easy” to “Not an unlikely bond of friendship in the Easy.” Magic is the theme of this third issue, whether “outright first of a three-part series for middle- fantasy” or a more subtle variety, according to the Foreword. grade readers. The opener, “A Reluctant Fairy Tale,” by Karen Heuler, riffs When Ghost, a wild Warlander horse, and his father, on elements from childhood classics like “Little Red Riding Pegasus, stumble upon a dead female wolf and her litter of Hood.” Instead of being helpful and complaisant, the heroine newborns, the young horse feels an inexplicable tie to the refuses to help an old lady—with at first “delicious” and then sole surviving pup. He persuades his father to bring him to more disturbing consequences. In other stories, magic can their pasture to look after. As the little wolf, Seti, grows, he be delicate and poignant, as in “The Shelter of Abandoned becomes Ghost’s playmate and companion, although the Dreams” by Kimberly Huebner. An old woman works at a shel- young horse’s parents warn him that one day “he won’t see ter that reunites people with their lost dreams. By the story’s you as a friend. He’ll see you as his prey.” A dangerous chance end, she’s able to nurture her own adrift dream. Other sto- encounter with Seti’s father separates them, and, during ries tap into the anarchic energy of childhood, such as “Dead their time apart, Seti lives as a junior member of his father’s Mudge” by Melissa Ostrom; a teacher’s death in the classroom pack, learning how to be a wolf. Although tragedy brings the liberates the children’s vitality and creativity. Magic can shade horse and wolf back together briefly, they can’t deny their into the sinister, as in “Uncle Frank” by Wendy Nikel. The title natures and their separate destinies. The link between them, character insinuates himself into a family, but the child narra- however, will prove unbreakable. This action-packed and tor knows she’s never had an Uncle Frank. In “Serbian Dracula compassionate story is credited to Davis, the founder of Mysteries” by Kate Felix, magic takes a turn for the funny and the multiplatinum-selling New Age music group Mannheim sweet. The story’s puckish narrator, Arsen, is sent to school Steamroller; the text is written by TV and YA writer Valenti counseling for his pranks. Amateur detection is meant to be (Last Night at the Monarch Motel, 2013, etc.). It pulls read- a good outlet for him, but investigating the daytime doings of ers into a human-free, natural world of wild forest and pas - his attic-dwelling uncle reveals nothing ominous. Instead, his tures where the young animals grow through friendship and uncle smiles at him “with more admiration than I have ever adversity. The tale employs a deft blend of authentic animal enjoyed from anyone else in my growly, vampiric family.” The characteristics and humanlike thoughts and speech (the lat- book also includes photos, usually of the authors when they ter rendered in italics). Realistic charcoal images by Taylor were children, and in a final section, contributors talk about effectively complement mood and action; a subtle design of their favorite books from childhood. hoof and paw prints running throughout the pages under- The stories—strong and graceful—raise issues that chil- scores the theme of interspecies friendship. The book also dren and parents could profitably discuss together. “A Reluctant includes information about the lives and histories of real- Fairy Tale,” for example, might prompt questions about why it life Warlander horses and timber wolves and a brief glossary feels good to be bad, what the consequences are of defying such of story-related words. In addition, there’s a 45-minute CD cultural norms as helping old ladies, or why the narrative seems of “soft atmospheric effects”—rain and thunder, running to both admire Eugenia’s defiance and punish her for it. Genre water, buzzing insects, frogs, and birds—and a bit of musical

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 125 pageantry and otherworldly sound effects that seem to rep- is skeptical, especially when her mom says, “We must look resent the magical bond between Ghost and Seti. at everything we own and keep only the things that have a An eventful coming-of-age novel with vivid, relatable ani- necessary purpose or are very special to us. We’re going to do mal characters and the promise of more adventures to come. what’s called a possessions purge.” Sissy feels reassured after talking to friends who already live tiny. They teach her how to repurpose old items, such as turning her baby blanket into a HUNTER’S SUPER NIGHT pillow, and how to take pictures of her “Favorite Things” and Ellen, Laurel put them in a memory book. Sissy feels good about donating Illus. by Laurice, Skye her old toys to families in need and becomes very excited FriesenPress (48 pp.) when the tiny house arrives. She is thrilled to explore the $22.49 | 12.99 paper | $3.99 e-book house on wheels and especially loves her tiny bedroom; the Jun. 20, 2019 bookshelves feature maps and home-schooling works, indi- 978-1-5255-5000-3 cating that her new journey is just beginning. Flansburg and 978-1-5255-5001-0 paper Norrgard offer an inventive concept here. Weber’s (I Belong, 2018, etc.) illustrations are colorful and appealing, featuring A group of tiny owls face their first-day-of-kindergarten friendly faces and realistic depictions that skillfully comple- fears in this sweet debut from Ellen and Laurice. ment the text. Throughout the story, the authors deftly dem- At dawn, Hunter and all the good little owls are going to onstrate their knowledge of the tiny house movement. The sleep, excited but nervous about starting kindergarten the next book also includes a page listing facts about tiny houses and a night. Grecko is afraid the other owls will make fun of his miss- short history of Sissy (who was “named after” Norrgard’s tiny ing talon; Luma worries that others won’t like his colorful wings; house, Sisu). The tale’s positive message should be welcomed Little Hoot is nervous that she’ll be too small; and Melody wor- by teachers and librarians. But the work relies heavily on tell- ries she won’t make friends because of an injured wing. The lit- ing instead of showing, with some long-winded descriptions tle owls’ families—a diverse group that includes single parents (“The twinkle lights that used to be on her headboard were and older siblings as mentors—all offer the same encouraging now wrapped around the handrail, and, just as she predicted, song: “Be brave. Be kind. / And smile. In a while / Everything her homemade sun catcher glittered and danced in the light will be alright / It could be a super night!” The wise owl teacher that streamed in from her new skylight window”). Still, the welcomes the kindergarteners and helps each of them appreci- topic is timely, and Sissy’s situation will be relatable to many ate their special gifts, sending them home with greater confi- kids as the concept of tiny living gains traction. dence and fewer worries. Laurice’s beautifully shaded cartoon An engaging and child-friendly look at a growing lifestyle. illustrations feature a range of owl types—spectacled, snowy, barn, pygmy, and barred—to highlight the owls’ differences and strengths and balance realistic owl features with anthropo- MISTRESS OF BEACON HILL morphic expressions. Ellen’s accessible prose is complemented Gentry, Leigh by the rhyming verses seeded naturally into the dialogue, and Archway Publishing (355 pp.) the refrain will inspire lap readers to join in. Although Hunter is the title character and does save the day, he’s one of a strong A lovely Irishwoman immigrates to ensemble of likable youngsters. Kentucky in this debut historical novel. These charming, differently abled owls give just the Arrabella “Ella” McCarthy expects right comforting encouragement. to marry her childhood friend and remain in Ireland with her loving family for the rest of her life. But there are SISSY GOES TINY limited prospects for a talented Irish- Flansburg, Rebecca & Norrgard, Ba woman in 1897, so when her American Illus. by Weber, Penny uncle proposes naming her his heir in exchange for moving Audrey Press to Kentucky and marrying a neighbor’s wealthy son, Ella can’t 978-1-936-426-22-5 refuse. Her major consolation is that she’ll be able to bring four of her beloved horses to her new homeland. But to do so, A young girl adapts when she and her she must survive a dangerous ocean crossing where unlucky family move into a tiny mobile house in circumstances make her a target for harassment and assault. If this debut illustrated children’s book. readers know that Ella disguises herself as a man in response, Sissy, a biracial girl, loves her life, especially waking up they will begin to understand the contours of this adventure. in her big, spacious room. One day, Sissy’s parents inform The first of several romantic options comes to her aid as well, her that soon they will be moving out of their house and and he soon admires her beauty, resilience, and humor. Land- “going Tiny.” They explain: “Our new Tiny House will be on ing in America presents Ella with two more dubious romantic wheels…we can live wherever we want!…Living Tiny means choices in the form of the Brannock brothers, Padraig and we can own Fewer things and have More experiences.” Sissy Sean. The latter is Ella’s intended, and she soon realizes that as

126 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | Gomez gives a classic tale new life and sheds light on an underacknowledged chapter of American history. unfamous men

sons of a recently deceased hotel tycoon and landowner, they mass deportation effort. In this way, Gomez gives a classic tale have a world of expectations on their shoulders. Sean copes by new life and sheds light on an underacknowledged chapter of drinking and gambling, and Padraig locks his feelings away to American history. better perform his many duties. Violence, passion, and easily A convincing fictional exploration of human optimism avoidable miscommunications ensue before Ella can comfort- and weakness. ably call herself the mistress of her new Kentucky estate. An early scene in Gentry’s romance where Ella’s Irish Catholic mother frankly discusses the pleasures of sex alerts readers WALKER’S KEY that love and marriage will be framed in a contemporary, rec- Haddleton, Frank B. ognizable manner. Ella herself is a mix of a 21st-century woman Onion River Press (360 pp.) and a historical creation; situations are crafted to display her $16.99 paper | $11.99 e-book bravery, brains, and compassion, but this unblemished perfec- Jun. 4, 2019 tion can read like a portrait of a saint. Despite these motley 978-1-949066-23-4 tones, this series opener presents a beautiful thesis: that true love shapes people to notice others’ needs before their own. Haddleton’s debut is a striking, mul- Darker events near the end suggest an intriguing, if straight- tifaceted take on the family-secret novel. forward, continuation of the saga. In the year 1900, Darby Walker A gentle, frothy take on classic romance set pieces. makes the trek across Florida’s Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg; his brother Tul- ley’s lighthouse has gone dark, and their father is dead under

UNFAMOUS MEN suspicious circumstances. The timelines are split between young adult Gomez, Jeff this urgent present and the brothers’ childhood, starting with Harrow Books (154 pp.) Darby’s birth in 1865. These sections provide background $14.00 paper | $14.00 e-book on the bitter conflicts between gregarious, sensitive Darby Nov. 12, 2019 and boundary-pushing, standoffish Tulley, but they also delve 978-1-73311-280-2 deeper into the Walker family’s roots and its history in Cape Cod. Haddleton’s use of multiple time periods offers various Two Mexican American workers pur- perspectives on both Darby’s and Tulley’s backstories. Most sue dreams of independence in this rei- strikingly, the novel outlines the life of the boys’ grandfather magining of John Steinbeck’s classic 1937 Nathaniel, a staunch abolitionist who once helped to free slaves novella Of Mice and Men. from Florida plantations. Nathaniel’s history in particular sets On a warm spring day, two men arrive at a lemon ranch in up powerful themes, connecting the family to the land and seas Saticoy, California. Juanito Sanchez is much gentler than his of Florida and Massachusetts as well as their participation in huge stature might indicate. After the death of his aunt, who historical events and prejudices. Some paths, like Nathaniel’s, raised him, he’s traveling to Los Angeles, where his uncle runs are heroic, but others contain dark chapters that pit brother a small grocery store. Because he’s intellectually disabled, his against brother, foreshadowing Darby and Tulley’s present-day aunt entrusted his inheritance money to his friend and travel conflict. The nuanced exploration of these themes of compas- companion, Tomás Delgado. Tomás is sharp-witted and per- sion and strife would be enough to recommend the book, but ceptive, but he’s unable to resist a gamble. He insists to Juanito it also drives the plot in the present as Darby questions Tulley that their lives will be better soon, as Juanito’s uncle has prom- about his role in their father’s death. The writing here lends a ised them both employment and shelter. Juanito yearns for sol- strong sense of place to the proceedings, as do thorough—but itude and stability, and Tomás looks forward to the freedoms not overwhelming—details on ships, lighthouses, and the sea: that such a job would give him. To that end, he reassures Juan- “Darby only had to make it six miles across the bay….There were ito that they’ll head to LA as soon as they earn enough wages no passengers aboard to complain about the rough ride or about as migrant fruit pickers. However, during their first week in getting wet, and a little salt water on the boat didn’t concern the lemon groves, Tomás takes an interest in Celedonia, the Darby in the slightest.” With the initial murder mystery link- lovely wife of the boss’s son, which creates tensions that lead ing all these disparate elements together, this must-read novel to tragedy. Gomez (Our Noise, 1995, etc.) excels at creating a maintains a consistent, compelling sense of tension and feeling. sense of impending catastrophe as Tomás and Juanito’s situa- A well-researched mystery punctuated by thrilling ten- tion worsens. Tomás is a complicated and engaging character sion and deep emotion. who resents the limitations imposed on him by white society and who’s haunted by his wartime naval experience. The narrative parallels to Of Mice and Men are handled well, as the author uses many motifs from the original work to very different ends. The story exposes the plight of Mexican Ameri- can workers of the era through conversations that address the abysmal conditions on migrant farms and the injustices of a

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 127

INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Robert L. Slater

WITH HELP FROM HIS LOCAL BOOKSTORE, A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER PUBLISHES A DYSTOPIAN SERIES ADDRESSING AT-RISK TEENS By Rhett Morgan Photo courtesy Vines Damian three nonfiction books. But the most influential family member in terms of writing was always my older brother, James. He wrote in high school, took journalism in college, and then went into the Navy as a media specialist. I wanted to follow in his footsteps but ended up being the first to publish a novel.

When did you start writing yourself? I started writing in grade school—stories, poetry, and song lyrics. In college, I started writing plays and got a few of them produced. Started my first novel in 1991 when I should have been focusing on my term paper, spent the next dozen years or so collecting 555-plus rejection notices for about 14 sales.

How has your work as a teacher influenced Ever since reading A Canticle for Leibowitz as a middle your writing? schooler, Robert L. Slater has been drawn to apocalyp- I started teaching at alternative high schools by accident tic fiction. Slater has spent 20 years as a teacher, inspiring in 1999 and wanted to write plays with more good parts for young adults to take an interest in literature and in turn be- young women and fiction for teens who didn’t like to read. ing inspired by his students. Coming from a family of writ- After a few years, I realized that so many girls had the same ers, the author combined his love for apocalyptic fiction basic story that it became Lizzie’s backstory. The stories with the challenges facing today’s at-risk youth. The result are pretty archetypal for the kids I worked with. was All Is Silence, the first book in the Deserted Lands series, which follows Lizzie—a suicidal teen who survives a What led you to publish All Is Silence? disease that has ravaged the States. Deserted Lands has be- I’d created the idea of the Deserted Lands, and I real- come a hit for Slater, especially among locals in his home- ized that setting a young, at-risk teen female in the lead town of Bellingham, Washington, where his local book- would make a fantastic story. I thought about it for a lit- store, Village Books, helped him independently publish, tle more than a year, then wrote almost 60,000 words for getting his work out to the local community and beyond. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in No- vember 2012. I had spent the previous 20 years trying to Why do you call yourself a third-generation writer? break into publishing, and dystopian/apocalyptic young My grandfathers were storytellers, my mom’s dad actually adult fiction was huge. My story had a couple twists on wrote them down and composed poetry in his Scottish tropes that no one had done, and I didn’t want to wait for dialect. My mother wrote a few novels and has published a publisher.

128 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com |

How did Village Books help make All Is Silence a reality? As a resident of Bellingham since arriving at Western Washington University in 1991, I have developed a lot of connections in education, libraries, arts organizations, and bookstores. Village Books facilitated the interactions as I learned book design the hard way. They allowed me STAGECOACH WILLY to host a book release party and reading in their reading 600 Bloody Miles room. It was one of the best attended presentations up Harris, Scott to that time. I have been willing and able whenever there Dusty Saddle Publishing (196 pp.) $6.99 paper | $0.99 e-book | Jun. 3, 2019 is an opportunity to partner with Village Books: authors 978-1-07-205054-4 talk about favorite authors, Indie Day as a “bookseller,” and Writer’s Resolutions New Year’s presentations. A Western adventure explores the danger and excitement of the stagecoach era. In this latest foray into the Old What do you think makes younger readers respond West from Harris (A Novel Journey, 2019, etc.), readers are introduced to strongly to Lizzie? colorful driver Stagecoach Willy and his taciturn shotgun I think most readers either see themselves or someone messenger, Ten. The two are dragged down from their moun- they love in Lizzie. Her behaviors are impulsive but al- taintop retirement cabin for a special assignment. They have to carry $250,000 in cash and gold and plans for a new type ways based out of love. She’s definitely an underdog, and of sawmill from Portland, Oregon, to Sacramento. There is a her quirks are charming as long as you don’t have to live wrinkle to which the old partners must agree. The plans are with her! It also resonates with older folks who recognize locked in a briefcase held by Kate Warren, a beautiful Pinker- ton agent. To put Willy’s and Ten’s minds at ease, Kate lists her their own past! credentials, adding: “I can’t pee standing up, but I can do just young adult about everything else you boys can do.” Kate quickly proves herself, even stopping the first attempt to rob the partners of Rhett Morgan is a writer and translator living in Paris. their cargo. The group even adds a passenger, Sydney, a dog that was being mistreated at one stop. The quartet settles into the challenging routine of rolling from stop to stop over often treacherous roads, looking out for trouble. The four also bond as a result of their exhilarating exploits. In this first installment of a series, Harris deftly summons the spirits of the old pulps for a new generation. Long before armored cars, stage- coaches transported important cargo. The author’s intrepid odd couple have a history of success: The two men never lost a load during their time together. The gregarious Willy always has a story to tell, and Ten, too often his friend’s audience of one, longs for the quiet of his cabin. While this pair isn’t terribly nuanced, Kate proves a deeper character, being orphaned and ending up the head of her family at too young an age. The author’s thorough research is apparent in his vivid descriptions of the stagecoach life. What results is an invigorating novella with the feel of a fast-paced movie serial from yester- year, which will leave readers pondering what will happen next to the heroes. This lively series opener reveals why Wild West tales continue to entertain.

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 129 MIGHTY MOMMIES AND THEIR progresses from making out to sex that is fully carnal (though AMAZING JOBS demurely described) despite Gem’s lack of corporeal substance. Jacobsen, Donald Alas, the world just won’t let them be. After she slashes a homo- Illus. by Evans, Graham phobic bully and tells unbelieving adults about Gem, Cassie is Three Suns Press (50 pp.) packed off to Chose People Ministries, a coercive Christian $21.99 | $12.99 paper | $4.99 e-book therapeutic group that specializes in curing kids of gay sexuality Jan. 10, 2019 and ghost delusions. There, she is subjected to aversive electro- 978-1-73282-731-8 convulsive treatments while viewing Sapphic pornography and 978-1-73282-732-5 paper pictures of specters. Jannerson’s (Thanks for Nothing, 2018, etc.) winsome yarn handles its magical realism in a vivid but matter- Author Jacobsen (Stinky Winky, 2018, etc.) and illustrator of-fact, no-jump-scare fashion, with the only horrors being Evans (The Wishing Feather, 2019, etc.) highlight moms in a vari- those of religious intolerance and psychiatric abuse. Her treat- ety of mostly STEM-related jobs. ment of gay sexuality is likewise positive and nonspooky. She In this picture book, Jacobsen presents a number of dif- nicely evokes the visceral wrongness Cassie feels dancing with ferent working mothers, matching children’s names to their a boy—“As the song progressed, Mackey’s hands drifted lower, parents’ careers (“Daniel’s mommy is a Doctor”). The moms and a nauseous lump formed in my throat”—and the giddy portrayed include an architect, a police officer, an engineer, and rightness she feels with Gem. The author at times brings a little an attorney. The accompanying rhymes are short and accessi- too much maturity to the story: 13-year-old Cassie sometimes ble, presenting a simplified version of what each job entails. In sounds like a 24-year-old graduate student—“both the activity some cases, the text offers a joke, as when Paul’s paleontologist and the actual notes felt, in the end, disingenuous,” she sighs mother is said to want to clone dinosaurs. Many of the jobs are when kids sign her seventh grade yearbook—and the third act associated with science and technology (marine biologist, phar- bogs down in mundane relationship issues as college proves a macist) or high-risk careers (firefighter), but teachers also get direr threat than electroconvulsive therapy to Cassie and Gem’s a shoutout. Evans’ illustrations have a Cartoon Network–like love. Still, Jannerson’s appealing characters, deft prose, and psy- style; although all of the mothers shown here seem to have the chological insights will hold readers’ attention. same types of noses, eyelashes, and body shapes, they have a An entertaining fantasy that nicely balances some range of skin tones; moms with disabilities, however, go unrep- ghostly melodrama with whimsy, teen wish fulfillment, resented. The book’s organization is a bit haphazard—the jobs and coming-of-age lessons. aren’t sorted alphabetically or by type—but that may have been intentional so that each of the different occupations feels unique among the others. FLYGIRL A nice mix of careers that may be inspiring to young Kardon, R.D. readers. Acorn Publishing (310 pp.) $24.95 | $14.95 paper | $4.99 e-book Jan. 3, 2019 THE WOMEN OF DAUPHINE 978-1-947392-22-9 Jannerson, Deb 978-1-947392-21-2 paper NineStar Press (229 pp.) $14.99 paper | $5.99 e-book | Jun. 5, 2019 A determined female commercial 978-1-950412-89-1 pilot must navigate complex company politics and personal drama as she Death is no barrier to lesbian love in attempts to advance her career in this this YA supernatural romance. debut romantic suspense novel. Cassie is a shy, bookish New Orleans Tris Miles is a turboprop pilot on a small commuter airline junior high student who feels alienated in the late 1990s when she gets the opportunity to interview from her churchy parents and almost with the flight department of a large corporation. Enthralled by everything that goes on in school, espe- aviation since childhood, Tris is eager to earn the rank of cap- cially the crushes her classmates are contain and gain certification on big corporate jets. She also has a stantly gushing about. Her only real friend is Gem, a girl who deeply personal reason for proving herself, tied to the guilt she looks about 15 years old; likes to wear a Boy Scout shirt, green feels over the death of Bron, her lover and fellow pilot. A com- skirt, and fishnets; and has haunted Cassie’s house for the two petent and cool-headed aviator, Tris has become accustomed to decades or so since she was murdered there in 1969. The school- being on the receiving end of casual sexism, frequently being girl and the ghost become soul mates and talk about everything, mistaken for a flight attendant. But as she starts her new job at including Gem’s history with a girl named Daze, her “Hellcat” Tetrix, Inc., she steps into a new level of professional pressure lover in reform school before their relationship ended in blood and intrigue. Working alongside Larry Ross, an alcoholic with and fire. Cassie and Gem eventually come out to each other. an unhappy home life, and Ed Deter, overtly hostile to female After Cassie enters high school, they kindle a passion that aviators, and under the supervision of Brian Zorn, a manipulator

130 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | Kelso’s prose is detailed yet taut as he roots the plot believably in medical research. hyperion’s fracture

with a tendency to hold dangerous grudges, Tris soon begins to the novel, the overall story appears fairly outlandish from a dismiss the camaraderie among the pilots at her old job. As she tance. However, the reading experience is immersive and feels doggedly tries to get the training she needs to make captain, far from melodramatic; instead, the reader gets the sense that she feels increasingly alone in a fight to resist being drawn into all the espionage, gun battles, and hostage situations are mere deception and danger. Kardon’s narrative is both thoughtful annoyances keeping the dedicated scientists from the most and gripping. She vividly portrays the fine line between respect important thing: their work. and familiarity that women in nontraditional roles must walk A fast-paced but well-grounded adventure. to do their jobs well in the face of sexual harassment on one hand and antagonistic resistance on the other. Tris is an appealing and relatable character who struggles to keep both her self- WILD HARE respect and her ambition intact while negotiating the slippery Koerber, Laura morality of the corporate world. The conclusion comes a bit too Who Chains You Books abruptly and is perhaps too grounded in realism to provide a (184 pp.) satisfying win, but it remains true to Tris’ character. The details $11.97 paper | $3.97 e-book of the “true ballet” of piloting a plane add an evocative dimen- Jun. 12, 2019 sion to the text that may leave readers longing to take to the air. 978-1-946044-51-8 An absorbing, if somewhat abbreviated, portrait of a woman’s experience in the largely male world of aviation. Koerber (The Eclipse Dancer, 2018, etc.) offers readers an embittered narrator, a dystopic near future, and an intriguing,

HYPERION’S FRACTURE nuanced treatment of magic, nature, and young adult Kelso, Thomas justice in this urban-fantasy tale. Jolly Robin Press (408 pp.) Bob Fallon is half-human and “half-forest spirit from the Aug. 8, 2019 wild hare clan,” and he owns one of the last remaining bits 978-0-9994561-4-9 of forested land in northern Wisconsin. It would be easy for him to dismiss humankind entirely—and on some days, that’s Kelso’s (Fractured, 2019) medical thriller exactly what he wants to do. His clan’s mantra of “feed, fuck, sequel tells the story of two doctors fight” has governed a lot of his life, and he can’t help but feel a whose discovery of a cancer cure might smoldering rage about the destruction of the forests and other get them killed. injustices in his surroundings. Koerber’s characterization of Synthetic-biology expert Claire Bob is perhaps the book’s strongest element; the protagonist’s Hodgson travels to Panama to meet with jaded, acidic attitude will put readers perfectly into a noirish her old friend Meera Jindal about a long-lasting antibiotic that mindset. At the same time, Bob does a great job of providing Meera discovered while doing research in the Panamanian rain- context, both for the decaying world he inhabits and for his forest. According to Claire’s trials, the drug, Endovancin, may own limited abilities: “since I’m a fairy, why can’t I fix things?” be a cure for cancer. As another scientist describes it: “It’s not When Arne, one of his few friends, is jailed for failing to pay hyperbole to say it could wind up in the pantheon of drugs speeding tickets, Bob starts raising money for his release, but alongside penicillin, insulin, cortisone, and aspirin….Millions this is easier said than done, as Bob has spent years avoiding of patients would benefit from it annually.” Soon after Claire’s townspeople, doing begrudging odd jobs for them, or outright arrival, however, a group of armed men, who want the drug stealing from them—and the state adds Arne’s room and board for themselves, kidnap both doctors. Claire and her research to the fine every day. Bob works inside and outside the law as partner, orthopedic trauma surgeon Mark Thurman, had been he runs afoul of local militia, a congressman with shady ties, planning to do experimental surgery to heal the leg of a prize and a host of other fairies, spirits, and tricksters. Overall, the racehorse named Hyperion, but their treatment will be useless story manages to weave together a complex tapestry of themes, without Endovancin. Meanwhile, an unscrupulous pharma- from climate change to poverty to what qualifies as morality in ceutical company—which happens to be run by the owner of a world that’s facing catastrophe. The prose is clear and concise Hyperion’s chief rival, a horse named Rampage—also sets its throughout, giving readers a sense of each scene and character sights on Endovancin, going so far as to bribe one of Claire and through the protagonist’s eyes. Mark’s lab technicians. Now Mark must call on John Bristow, A wrenching, complex novel that any fantasy fan would an old Special Forces friend, to help him rescue Claire, secure do well to pick up. the Endovancin formula, and prevent the death of a world- class racehorse. Over the course of this novel, Kelso’s prose is detailed yet taut as he roots the plot believably in medical research: “It’s all pharmaceuticals, Doctor. Just how do you think you’re getting paid? The signing bonus you deposited didn’t appear out of thin air….Whether you like it or not, your hands are dirty like the rest of us.” By the time readers finish

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 131 LITTLE BY LITTLE WE WON WE GOT THIS A Novel Based on the Life of Solo Mom Stories of Angela Bambace Grit, Heart, and Humor Lamphier, Peg A. Ed. by Lindholm, Marika; Dumesnil, Cheryl; Barbera Foundation (288 pp.) Shonk, Katherine & Ruta, Domenica $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book She Writes Press (352 pp.) Jul. 31, 2019 $17.95 paper | $9.95 e-book | Sep. 10, 2019 978-1-947431-24-9 978-1-63152-656-5

A historical novel focuses on a leg- Seventy-five writers share the experi- endary union organizer and anarchist ences, hardships, and triumphs of single during the 20th century. motherhood. Angela Bambace is born in Brazil in 1898 and spends the In 2015, Lindholm, a contributor to and one of four co-edi- first year of her life in Calabria, though Harlem is the initial tors of this collaborative debut anthology, founded Empower- place she calls home. Not yet a teenager, she witnesses the ing Solo Moms Everywhere, a social platform and “informative gruesome carnage at a garment factory that burns down to the community for single moms, who currently raise 22 million ground on aptly named Misery Lane, a catastrophe that claims American children.” This was the genesis for this collection, the lives of more than 140 workers, mostly immigrants and which seeks to eliminate the stigma of solo motherhood by women. Nevertheless, Bambace follows her mother’s example combatting outdated stereotypes. Along the way, the essays out of economic necessity and becomes a seamstress, burdened show the writers’ grace, their humor, and even their mis- by long hours and meager compensation. But she begins orga- takes. Readers will find some of the authors’ names familiar, nizing for the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union although their stories may not be. Ariel Gore, the award-win- and participates in the historically significant strikes of 1919, ning writer and founding editor of the periodical Hip Mama, watershed events in the transformation of labor dissatisfaction shares lies that she told in the Sonoma County welfare office into a political movement, astutely portrayed by Lamphier (Iron in order to keep both her child and her creativity alive. Iraqi Widow, 2019). Bambace is compelled to put her aspirations on writer Faleeha Hassan recalls fleeing her home country after hold when her father forces her into an arranged marriage with appearing on dangerous militants’ “death lists”; in Turkey, she Romolo Camponeschi, an abusive husband with whom she struggled to enroll her children in school—not just for their bears two children. But she eventually leaves him—he sues her education, but for the warmth that their unheated apartment for divorce and full custody of the children—and falls in love couldn’t provide. Amy Poehler of Parks and Recreation fame with Luigi Quintiliano, a lawyer who worked for the defense of breaks down divorce with heartbreaking and sidesplitting Sacco and Vanzetti. Bambace eventually moves to Baltimore to hilarity. Among these and other well-known names are emerg- organize for the ILGWU, a temporary assignment that grows ing writers, poets, and performers. They include writers with into a permanent, high-ranking post. This novel is part of the ties to ESME, authors of color, military mothers, and LGBTQ Mentoris Project, which highlights notable Italians and Italian parents and those who were raised by them. The well-curated Americans. In these pages, the author deftly captures not only collection is divided into seven chapters with strict, but never the social unrest of the time and the ghastly conditions under restrictive, themes, such as raising children, seeking help, and which laborers were compelled to work, but also the plights of dating while single. Readers will be able to revisit these essays female employees and Italians, both often cruelly dismissed by for laughs, inspiration, or a cathartic cry. their counterparts. Lamphier shows Bambace tirelessly fighting An engaging tribute to the heart, soul, and ingenuity of for the rights of all workers, though her name is tarnished by her solo moms. ideological association with anarchists, an affinity she proudly defends: “I am an anarchist because I believe people, all people, have the right to live with dignity, to work for a living wage, and MURDER, CURLERS & KEGS to make real choices about their lives.” This is a historically edi- McFarlane, Arlene fying book, skillfully depicting both the tumultuous times and ParadiseDeer Publishing (196 pp.) Bambace’s considerable contributions. $11.99 paper | $4.99 e-book A rigorously researched tale about a union leader that’s Jul. 19, 2019 brimming with historical insights and thrilling drama. 978-0-9953076-7-4

A hair salon owner finds herself in the middle of another murder mystery, much to the dismay of her favorite police detective. Valentine Beaumont, owner of Beau- mont’s beauty parlor, is having a very bad morning. First, she poked her eye with her mascara wand. Then she walked out on her porch only to

132 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | discover that somebody had left an upright sex toy there with a courage, and good hearts to help them. Many writers have tried perm rod wrapped around it—an ominous reference to the time to conjure up that true feeling of magic in their fantasy adven- she caught a murderer by using a similar implement to injure tures, but Müller (Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, 2018, etc.) his “family jewels.” It’s clear that the most infamous stylist in is one of the few who succeed. Lush, appealing descriptions Rueland, Massachusetts, is being stalked. Still, she shows up to stand out, as in an area packed with hundreds of captivating help her friend Jimmy O’Shea get ready for the grand opening of temptations that the children must resist: rooms full of sweet his new pub, the Wee Irish Dude. (Jimmy was a California surfer songbirds; “every imaginable toy”; intriguing weapons; jugglers before moving to Rueland years ago.) As Valentine and the and acrobats; and much more. Like C.S. Lewis, Müller offers entertainingly offbeat staff at Beaumont’s begin to clean and set effective characterizations (some may object to Annabel’s being up, a large beer keg comes crashing down the pub’s staircase. It described as “lame,” but her point of view is represented) and an breaks open, revealing the dead body of Jimmy’s cousin, Dooley. exciting plot that’s ballasted by moral seriousness. The quest’s McFarlane’s (Murders, Curlers & Cruises, 2018, etc.) fourth vol- puzzles and challenges are original and involving, and the end- ume of her madcap mystery series is off to a rousing start as the ing is genuinely moving. It also suggests further escapades to police arrive, headed by Michael Romero, a man that Valentine come—let’s hope so. calls a “extremely sexy, ruggedly handsome, tough police detec- A delightful, compelling fantasy adventure sure to tive.” He brings more bad news: Ziggy Stoaks, the killer taken win fans. down by Valentine’s perm rod, has escaped from prison. This beach-read lark is part cozy mystery and part farce, as when Val- entine defends herself by squirting hand lotion into the mouth THE ORANGE GROVE of a gun-wielding assailant. The feisty, pleasantly sarcastic hero- Murdoch, Kate

ine is an able narrator who can turn just about anything in her Regal House Publishing (253 pp.) young adult bag of beauty supplies into an imaginative weapon—even if it’s $16.95 paper | $9.99 e-book just a rubber band. Well-paced action scenes and two roman- Oct. 11, 2019 tic suitors add to the fun. Of the latter, Romero has the inside 978-1-947548-22-0 track, but McFarlane makes Jock, an Argentinian hair stylist, very tempting. In this historical novel set in 18th- A frothy adventure with a cache of inventive weaponry century France, the mistress of a power- and a final surprise. ful aristocrat becomes caught between her principles and prosperity. Henriette d’Augustin is one of sev- THE INVISIBLE BOAT eral mistresses kept by Duc Hugo d’Amboise and, as a result, Müller, Eric G. lives a life of comfortable leisure in his chateau with her The Association of Waldorf daughter, Solange. But the Duc becomes infatuated with his Schools of North America (336 pp.) most recent romantic addition, Letitia du Massenet, “ravish- $18.00 paper | Dec. 7, 2013 ing and virginal,” who “possesses an uncommon wit for a girl 978-1-936367-44-3 of eighteen.” The Duc desperately pines for a son, one thing his wife, Charlotte, despite years of effort, has proven unable In this middle-grade novel, three to give him. She feels predictably threatened by Letitia’s hold children journey in a magical boat to help on her husband. Charlotte is encouraged by Madame Céline de reunite humans with the elemental world. Poitiers, another mistress who is worried that she too will be It’s a sad day for the white Temple cast aside and left penniless, to conspire against Letitia. Their family when it has to leave Honey Creek collaborative efforts grow increasingly diabolical, all the more Farm for the city. Before leaving, Julie, 11, and her almost two so after Letitia becomes pregnant. Charlotte recruits the help years younger brother, Leo, make several surprising discoveries, of Romain de Villiers, an old friend and tarot reader with whom including a little bottle with an exquisitely made tiny ship inside, she engages in an illicit romance. Murdoch (Stone Circle, 2017) complete with a swan figurehead. They also meet a little man deftly portrays the unenviable way in which Henriette becomes called Curly Beard, who explains how they can sail in the magi- entangled in the web of Charlotte’s campaign to ruin Letitia. cal boat. But it’s not a toy; a crucial plan is afoot to save Earth Henriette wants to defend Letitia, who is sorely dependent on from ecological disaster by reuniting humans with elementals the Duc for funds, but is wary of crossing Charlotte, for whom like Curly Beard, “little folk…such as elves, fairies, wights, imps,” loyalty is a zero-sum game. Henriette has her livelihood, reputa- and more. (It’s unclear what these Old World beings are doing tion, and daughter to protect as well as a closely guarded secret in what’s apparently North America.) Joining their mission is that, if uncovered, could spell her downfall. The author expertly a new neighbor, Annabel, a pretty black girl around Leo’s age re-creates high-society France at the beginning of the 18th cen- who walks with crutches. Healing the planet begins with aid- tury—this is a well-researched and historically valid depiction. ing the Queen of the Waters, but first, the children must free In addition, she skillfully keeps the plot a tensile cord of sus- Curly Beard, who’s been captured. Their path will be filled pense, revealing and concealing just enough to keep readers with danger and difficulty—but the kids have guides, resources, immersed and guessing. And while she doesn’t break any new

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 133 Peterson’s highly ambitious sci-fi debut offers serious speculation into the future of humanity. gardeners of the universe

literary ground, this book isn’t an overly sentimental iteration character. Rick sometimes sees “coldness” in her eyes or lack of of the genre. Consider Henriette’s counsel to Letitia: “You see emotion, but she easily charms people. What she’s thinking or child, men are quite stupid and simple. They do not plan, devise, feeling is nearly impossible to determine, and readers may won- or see subtleties the way we do. This is our advantage.” der how much of what she’s relaying to Rick is true. The author A historically authentic and intelligently crafted period generates a modicum of sympathy for Harriet, who supposedly drama that’s romantically stirring. has an inoperable brain lesion and a daughter whom someone took from her. Rick, meanwhile, makes a disturbing request of Harriet, which plays out in a twisty final act and open ending. COMBUSTIBLE PUNCH An enthralling and unnerving probe into the complex Peters, Paul Michael mind of a murderer. Self (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Aug. 13, 2019 GARDENERS OF 978-1-73308-831-2 THE UNIVERSE Peterson, Ronald E. In this thriller, a desperate author PTB Books (394 pp.) agrees to write the story of an enigmatic, $19.95 paper self-professed serial killer. 978-0-9997035-1-9 Rick Philips’ days of being a famous author may be behind him. It’s been In Peterson’s (An Introvert Learns more than a decade since he released the bestselling Shelter in to Fly, 2018) novel, godlike aliens give Place, in which he recounts his experience as the sole survivor three Earth children extraordinary gifts of a high school shooting. He now teaches writing at Dupont to guide humanity’s technological and University. But the college’s dean implies that if Rick doesn’t social progress. soon produce something substantial, he’ll lose his job. As it hap- The Torae, an ancient, advanced alien race who consider pens, Rick has already found a topic for his next book: a female themselves stewards of all intelligent life, judge Homo sapiens serial killer. Or rather, she found him. He and Harriet Bristol to be a promising species for development. They imbue three Wheeler met recently at a writers’ conference, where she admit- American children with vast mental abilities—Californian ted she is a serial murderer and told him she wants him to tell Rianne, a budding bioengineer; working-class Minnesotan Dan, her story. He complies and begins regularly interviewing Har- a computer prodigy; and insightful Sarah, a Virginian who’s a riet. She says she’s killed 12 individuals but insists they aren’t vic- natural diplomat and ethicist. Via intermittent direct commu- tims, as they were all “bad people.” To allay any doubts Rick may nication with the Torae and through their own maturation, the have, Harriet takes him to a dumped body that she later IDs. three lead humankind to radical technological and conceptual Beyond that, she’s predominantly evasive: She reveals her his- breakthroughs. But there’s a complication that not even the tory but only gradually names the others she’s murdered. Rick far-seeing Torae imagined: the Unity, a spacefaring, insectlike doesn’t immediately see the danger in his frequent proximity race who have the astounding ability to manipulate tiny black to a serial killer, but his life has been in turmoil for years, as he holes. The Torae judge the Unity to be a galaxy-threatening pest drinks excessively and has nightmares of Ian Maynard Abbot, and launch a war of extermination against them. When the exis- the school shooter who nearly killed him. It may not be long tence of Earth is threatened, the children’s mission becomes before Harriet, who’s both clever and unpredictable, becomes even more urgent. Most of the leapfrogging narrative involves the “monster” Rick fears the most. Rianne, Dan, and Sarah as adults. Over the course of their lives, Peters’ (The Complete Collection of Short Stories, 2019, etc.) they witness mankind’s implantation with communication evenly paced novel is a riveting look at a serial killer, even if devices; fight a cyber-based world war; create new life; and med- only in glimpses. Despite Harriet’s openness in detailing cer- ically unlock secrets of immortality. Peterson has an impressive tain murders, she’s shrouded in mystery. Harriet isn’t her real background—he’s a physicist and the former vice president of name, and she cryptically tells Rick that, while she’s killed some, technology at Honeywell—and his expertise comes through in others have “just happened to die around” her. Rick also has a his highly ambitious sci-fi debut, which offers serious specula- somewhat murky background. But this slowly comes to light tion into the future of humanity. At the same time, however, the through interactions with two strong female characters: Paige story never feels didactic or constrained by an agenda to edu- Turner, his first ex-wife, with whom he’s still on good terms; and cate readers with techno-speak. Instead, the author manages to Samantha Taylor, a neighbor, Dupont graduate student, and juggle a large ensemble cast while clearly exploring the ramifi- potential love interest. Though Rick and Harriet often assert cations of each paradigm shift within the suspenseful narrative. that she’s a cunning murderer who doesn’t fit serial killer pro- Still, it’s a bit odd that humanity has such a low-key reaction to files, it’s not clear how she’s eluded detection for so long. For finding out that the Unity and the Torae exist; they just seem to example, most scenes show Harriet killing someone with little take it all in stride. to no planning and no indication she took precautions to avoid A fluid, grand-canvas, peripatetic future-history leaving evidence behind. Still, Harriet is an endlessly intriguing adventure.

134 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | RANDALL AND was mostly made up of women, and the editors note that “bitter RANDALL whispers ran through the crowd.” This anthology—the third in Poper, Nadine a series—offers a satisfying rejoinder to that panel’s focus on Illus. by Gortman, Polina men. The editors preface each piece with a bio and short intro- Blue Whale Press (32 pp.) duction by the writer, in which she provides thoughts on the $16.99 | $10.99 paper writing process, her career, and her story topic. These riveting 978-0-9814938-7-9 introductions grant brief but intriguing glimpses of how Rachel 978-0-9814938-8-6 paper Aviv’s editor talked her through moments of doubt, for example, or how Nikole Hannah-Jones reconciled her personal and Young readers get a slice of science in professional views on a thorny topic. The subjects range widely this undersea tale about symbiosis. and include school segregation, Jerry Lewis, the vaping industry, Randall the pistol shrimp accidentally gets a new roommate hate crimes, the Islamic State group, and campus sexual assault. when he snaps at a fish he believes is a threat. But the goby fish, A few stories stand out: Aviv’s terrifying piece on Nevada’s also named Randall, offers to let the shrimp know when genu- flawed system of guardians for the elderly from the New Yorker ine predators are around. Unfortunately, the goby misidentifies and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s hilarious, detailed profile of Gwyn- plankton, a sand dollar, and a sea cucumber as dangerous foes, eth Paltrow and her lifestyle brand, Goop, from the New York all the while singing songs that drive the shrimp to distraction. Times Magazine. The most recent stories were published in 2018, Likewise, the noises the shrimp’s snapping claws make irritate and the oldest, Sara Corbett’s profile of skateboarder Cara-Beth the goby. After a huge fight, the goby leaves only to run into Burnside, in 2000. Only the latter piece feels a bit dated now, a real killer: a shark. Randall the shrimp to the rescue. His with its references to a “super-caffeinated Red Bull soda” and

snapping scares the shark away, and the goby learns to value “Skateboard Shannen, a new remote-control toy from Mattel.” young adult the sound and his shellfish friend. Based on a real-life symbi- A well-selected anthology of potent stories by formi- otic relationship, this silly tale makes the science approachable dable women writers. through the goby’s giggleworthy antics. Notes from ichthyolo- gist Dr. John Randall describe the phenomenon for adults, and Gortman’s (Fishing for Turkey, 2016) closing illustrations supply THE DON OF SIRACUSA diagrams of the charismatic creatures. The picture book’s car- Rea, Sean toonish interior images deftly mix human and animal charac- FriesenPress (383 pp.) teristics, showing the shrimp’s long antennae as mustaches. 978-1-5255-3881-0 Poper’s (Frank Stinks, 2017, etc.) simple English text seamlessly 978-1-5255-3882-7 paper introduces a few straightforward Spanish-language phrases (“mi casa”) due to the coastal Mexico setting. The ingenious aquatic A talented Italian American business- tale also encourages readers to realize they can find friendship man is tempted by an alliance with Mafia- even if they don’t see eye to eye with their cohorts. connected figures in Rea’s debut novel. A clever introduction to a scientific concept that Stefano Caruso spearheaded the suc- includes an accessible moral. cessful international expansion of the automotive manufacturing company founded by his father. Since then, he’s been setting his sights NEW STORIES WE TELL even higher, diversifying his investments into horse racing, real True Tales by America’s New estate, tech startups, and oil. He’s ambitious and unafraid of Generation of Great Women risk, but his life takes an unexpected turn when his long-term Journalists business partner Vincent sets up a meeting with a mysteri- Ed. by Ralph, Kaylen & ous man who introduces himself only as Daniel. The stranger Demkiewicz, Joanna warns Caruso of corruption and embezzlement within his own The Sager Group (385 pp.) company, and he sets up a meeting between Caruso and Benito Oct. 21, 2019 Cuggi, an old Mafia boss who now runs a vast, legitimate business empire. Cuggi offers to help Caruso ferret out the thieves Two former journalism school class- in his company, but Caruso struggles with the fact that his fam- mates offer a vibrant array of long-form ily had previously vowed to steer clear of Mafia violence. While writings by women in this collection. mulling over what to do, Caruso flies to Mexico to personally In an editor’s note, Teen Vogue columnist Ralph and Demkie- inspect his factories near the U.S.–Mexico border for signs of wicz, the marketing director of small press Milkweed Editions, corruption; then, he orchestrates high-stakes deals between trace their book’s origin to a 2012 panel that they attended at Chinese and German auto industry titans. He later meets a the Missouri School of Journalism. The panel was part of a two- beautiful horse trainer named Arianna Rosetti—a woman day seminar celebrating the release of a different long-form unlike anyone he’s ever met. Readers of Rea’s novel will likely be anthology. The six panelists were male, and 16 of the 19 antholo- able to predict the outcomes of Caruso’s business negotiations gized stories had been written by men. The student audience and personal decisions, but they’ll still find them to be highly

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 135 Rossman elegantly expresses Owen’s efforts to connect with a possibly kindred soul. seven photographs

entertaining. Along the way, the author also shows how Caruso’s THE WINDOW TRAIL feelings for Arianna further complicate the high-stakes corrup- Rusz, JJ tion investigation. The prose sometimes includes broad stylistic CreateSpace (284 pp.) flourishes; for example, here’s Rea’s description of Daniel when $12.99 paper | $2.99 e-book | Jul. 4, 2019 Caruso first meets him: “His hair was short, black, and curled 978-1-72242-487-9 like the waves against Amalfi’s stony cliffs.” For the most part, though, the author has a straightforward style that effectively In this series opener, a gruesome mur- propels the story forward. der with far-reaching consequences unset- A well-paced mob thriller that immerses the reader in tles a Texas town and brings together an a dangerous world. attractive college professor and a young lawman intent on solving the case. Before professor Claire Harp came SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHS to the state university in Alpine, Texas, a sophomore called Rossman, Alan Mote McCrary hiked up the Window Trail into the moun- iUniverse (354 pp.) tains of Big Bend National Park and leaped off a cliff. Mote’s $34.99 | $20.99 paper | $3.99 e-book professor and mentor, Michael Kincaid, subsequently rocked Feb. 13, 2019 the publishing world with a much-lauded book based on con- 978-1-5320-6531-6 versations with the teen. The site of Mote’s death became a 978-1-5320-6529-3 paper destination for young devotees of Kincaid’s literary triumph. When two of them persuade Claire to take them there, it A grieving graphic designer forms a turns out to be a distressing trip, made more disturbing on unique bond with a depressed neighbor the way back when a coyote passes by with a woman’s hand in Rossman’s debut novel. in its mouth. Claire and Capt. Clayton Alton Shoot from It’s been a year and a half since Owen the sheriff’s office find the rest of the remains the next day and Janey Conway’s son, Aaron, died. To deal with his grief, in a remote area of a wealthy rancher’s property. The dead Owen has been attending a support group called SOS. He’s also woman turns out to be a part-time tech assistant at the uni- interested in a neighbor named Wilson Lacy, a retired scientist versity, notorious for her multiple affairs. The attraction and teacher. Owen barely knows him, but he’s seen him tool- between Claire and Clayton grows; meanwhile, the solution ing around the neighborhood in his 1950s sports car. Because to the murder, obscured by an abundance of motives, is com- Owen is sad, he’s drawn to what he senses is Wilson’s sadness, plicated by Alpine’s overly ambitious chief of police. Claire so he approaches his neighbor with a proposal. Owen’s a graphic also finds herself on the trail of a second mystery that may or designer, and he wonders if Wilson might want to take part in may not be related to the brutal crime. Rusz (How To Write a project involving seven photographs, carefully chosen to Anything, 2019, etc.) deftly gives his characters substance represent significant points in the neighbor’s lifetime. Wilson, and weaves humor and poignancy into escalating plot twists whose wife has recently left him due to his depression, agrees and turns. (Even the revelation of the perpetrator’s identity to the plan. “Maybe he was beginning to see something else in doesn’t quite lead where expected in the aftermath.) And his photographs that could be used to shed some light on his the author, who clearly knows the territory, brings alive the darkness—and that glimmer moved him with an amalgam of book’s setting, the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, where read- desperation and hope,” narrates Owen. His plan involves what ers can picture “a silhouette of mountains, purple and black he calls “visual literacy” (“The idea is that there is meaning against a sky that would not quite disappear, the horizon a engraved in all visual images”), and he presents the project to bazaar of volcanic tents and towers” and the “northern fin- Wilson as a kind of science experiment. Then Sophie, the host- gers of the Chihuahuan desert reaching into Far West Texas.” ess at the local pub, enters the picture; Owen introduces her An absorbing, well-crafted mystery alive with colorful, to Wilson without fully realizing the effect that she might have. substantive characters in a vivid setting. Rossman’s novel about grief and its aftermath is truly heartfelt in its execution. Over the course of the story, the author clearly describes his protagonist’s complicated thought processes as he wades through grief on the way to acceptance. The characters are all thoughtful people who are clearly interested in finding answers to hard questions, and Rossman elegantly expresses Owen’s efforts to connect with a possibly kindred soul. The novel is long-winded, however, and the dense prose can make some of the book’s loftier concepts a bit hard to grasp. An extensive epilogue with photographs provides helpful insights, but other parts of the story remain hazy. A perceptive novel about human connection that sometimes gets lost in its own thoughts.

136 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | CAROL’S QUEST FOR a hook for a hand, add to Ripley’s problems or solve a few? COURAGE Stricklen’s (The Heart of the Swarm, 2016) latest novel deftly bal- Sky, JoAnn ances romance, sportsmanship, and lessons in racism. When a Illus. by Koehler, Ed girl named Dixie gives Ripley a jean jacket, it’s adorned with Dogs & Books (36 pp.) the Confederate flag (after her name), and he thinks nothing 978-0-9998430-6-2 of it. Later, Ripley hangs out with Hawk, his African American wrestling teammate. In Hawk’s predominantly black neighbor- Sky and Koehler (No Heartbreaker, hood, Ripley feels white for the first time and is reminded that 2019, etc.) return to Santa Claus’ dog park with another Christ- the Confederate flag represents slavery. The boys also have an mas tale of love and courage starring a cute canine. escapade involving destroyed property that leads to Ripley’s Carol, one of 100 dogs who live at the North Pole’s dog learning that honesty is the best policy. The author gives sports park, loves to sing, but she’s afraid to do so in public. She sets fans plenty to love in the wrestling scenes, and music nerds will off on a journey by train to find her courage, but the pup has adore Geddy, who’s named after the band Rush’s singer. Strick- no luck locating it. Then she sees a young girl performing at a len skillfully weaves together numerous plot threads, though Christmas Eve variety show who panics onstage. Carol races some readers may find the story arc focusing on an elderly black to the rescue, howling alongside the youngster to the tune woman named Betsy Turner overly sweet. of “Silent Night.” Carol then realizes she didn’t have to travel Unlikely elements blend wonderfully in this eclectic to find her courage—it was inside herself all along. As in the adventure. previous installment, Carol is given the option to return home with Santa or live with her new friend, where she fits in. The

fact that Carol’s kindness brings her courage into existence THE LIGHT IN THE RUINS young adult offers a strong message for young readers, and Sky smoothly Tavella, Michael G. tells this story in cheerful rhyme. Koehler’s bright, cartoonish Westbow Press (424 pp.) illustrations depict a diverse human crowd, and the girl’s family $42.95 | $27.95 paper | $3.99 e-book appears to be of mixed heritage. Carol’s eyelashes are perhaps a Jul. 27, 2018 bit overstated, but the Christmas-y details in the illustrations’ 978-1-973626-59-6 margins add to the holiday appeal. 978-1-973626-58-9 paper A strong holiday story about courage, caring, and finding one’s voice. Tavella’s debut Christian novel tells the story of a Lutheran pastor who embarks on a mission from God in a RIPLEY ROBINSON AND THE future, dystopian Pennsylvania. WORM CHARMER In the early 22nd century, the United States has fallen into Stricklen, David a second Dark Age, with a ruined economy and a population Beachhead (206 pp.) diminished by disease. Pastor Jonathan Klug, the leader of the $1.99 e-book | Jun. 13, 2019 Lutheran congregation in the small town of Felderheim, Penn- sylvania, has seen a decline in people’s faith in God. One day, This YA novel sees a wrestler meet he finds an old letter in an unused church room. Written in the challenges of bullying and his crush’s 2008, it offers an apocalyptic vision: In the near future, there strange hobby. will be a monumental local confrontation between good and Seventh grader Ripley Robinson has evil. “You, the discoverer of this letter, have been selected as an just moved to Hidden Mountain with his instrument of God’s purpose in the dark time,” reads the mis- family. At school one day, his only friend, sive. “You will seek and find a manuscript of great importance Jasper, warns: “You never want to be the last one in the bath- at the church in ruins.” Jonathan elects to establish a monastic room.” But Ripley lingers, and bully Dirk Heartley stuffs his retreat in an abandoned cave attraction outside town, encour- head in the toilet and flushes. A talented wrestler, Ripley uses aged by a disembodied voice that only he can hear, which says the back of his head to break Dirk’s nose. Ripley runs, hiding in to “Build here, Jonathan.” An ancient manuscript discovered in a janitor’s closet. A girl named Geddy spies him and investigates. the cave supports Jonathan’s intuition, and with the help of a Ripley is instantly smitten by her freckles and quirky style. He local Roman Catholic priest and like-minded neighbors known learns from her about the town’s worm-charming competi- as the Amici Christi, he sets about preparing for the coming tion, which consists of coaxing the creatures to the surface of storm. Evil is already upon them, however, in the form of rov- a field. The team that charms the most worms wins clues to a ing bands called Goths—and a treacherous figure in their midst. secret treasure of $300,000. Geddy hopes to triumph so that Over the course of this novel, Tavella’s lean prose succeeds in she and her mother won’t have to move to Oregon and live with conjuring the mysticism of Jonathan’s world: “The brazier fires Grandma. Ripley wants to help, but he must also concentrate were burning low. With startling abruptness, a flame shot into on wrestling, dodging Dirk, and grappling with being popular the air from the altar.” The future society intriguingly replicates after busting the bully’s nose. Will Chet, the eerie janitor with a medieval setting, and the author seamlessly weaves religiosity

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 137 This is a book that may initially inspire fear, but ideally, it will also be one that engenders discussion. a planet of 3 billion

into his characters’ daily lives. However, at the same time, the convert, or die. In his debut novel, Taylor (Medicine/Univ. Coll. characters also have a certain pre-modern flatness, and readers London) details Maimonides’ lifelong search for a safe environ- may wish that Tavella had given them a bit more complexity. ment—one that’s stable enough for him to pursue his monu- The distinctive dystopian environment, however, effectively mentally significant intellectual ambitions. Maimonides’ family combines the history of Pennsylvania with Christian monasti- finally flees Córdoba, and then Spain entirely, and after aborted cism, which sets this novel apart from typical genre fare. attempts to settle in Morocco and Palestine, they finally find a An imaginative and convincing account of God-fearing home in Egypt. While in Morocco, Maimonides nominally con- survivors in tumultuous times. verts to Islam but continues to secretly worship as a Jew—a criminal apostasy that’s punishable by death. The author deftly charts Maimonides’ intellectual development, particularly his attempt FROM MOSES TO MOSES to reconcile supernatural elements of the Jewish faith with natu- Taylor, Irving ral science: “He remained convinced of the importance of the sci- AuthorHouseUK (352 pp.) entific method, of the need for independent observation, and of $20.95 paper | $4.99 e-book the requirement to be rational in delivering treatment.” Taylor’s Mar. 22, 2019 command of the details of Maimonides’ life, as well as the cul- 978-1-5462-9755-0 tural and political features of the historical period, is simply mag- isterial. His account of his subject’s valiant attempt to preserve A historical novel that chronicles the the Jewish culture and its ancient repository of biblical teach- trials and triumphs of the great Jewish ings is as engaging as it is moving. The prose is unfailingly clear philosopher Moses Maimonides. throughout, but it’s more academic than literary in tone, and it Moses ben Maimon, more widely reads more like scholarly history than literary fiction. Neverthe- known historically as Moses Maimonides, less, the author shows Maimonides’ life to be both dramatically grows up in Córdoba during Spain’s thrilling and philosophically important. “golden age,” during which not only prosperity reigns, but also A rigorously researched and lucidly presented account religious tolerance, which permits adherents of the three Abraha- of a philosopher’s extraordinary journey. mic faiths to live and worship side by side. Still, Jews are considered “dhimmis”—second-class citizens, below Muslims. But after the generally lenient Almoravid rulers are replaced by draconian A PLANET OF 3 BILLION Almohads, Maimonides and his family face a stark choice: flee, Mapping Humanity’s Long History of Ecological Destruction and Finding Our Way to a Resilient Future: A Global Citizen’s Guide to This Issue’s Contributors Saving the Planet # Tucker, Christopher ADULT Atlas Observatory Press (342 pp.) Maude Adjarian • Mark Athitakis • Joseph Barbato • Amy Boaz • Catherine Cardno • Tobias Carroll Sep. 9, 2019 • Lee E. Cart • Kristin Centorcelli • Devon Crowe • Dave DeChristopher • Kathleen Devereaux • 978-0-578-51530-4 Amanda Diehl • Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer • Lisa Elliott • Mia Franz • Amy Goldschlager • Janice Harayda • Natalia Holtzman • Laura Jenkins • Jessica Jernigan • Skip Johnson • Jayashree Kambel • Tom Lavoie • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Peter Lewis • Elsbeth Lindner • Michael Magras • Joe Tucker argues for the benefits of decreasing Earth’s popula- Maniscalco • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Clayton Moore • Ismail Muhammad • Jennifer tion in this debut work on sustainability. Nabers • Christopher Navratil • Liza Nelson • Therese Purcell Nielsen • Connie Ogle • Mike Oppen- heim • Scott Parker • Jim Piechota • William E. Pike • Steve Potter • Margaret Quamme • Karen Rigby Earth has a carrying capacity, according to the author, and • Leslie Safford • Rosanne Simeone • Linda Simon • Margot E. Spangenberg • Claire Trazenfeld • it’s less than half the number of human beings that it currently Jessica Miller • George Weaver • Steve Weinberg • Kerry Winfrey • has: “In effect, humanity has been on a century-long binge,” he CHILDREN’S & TEEN says, “featuring exponential population growth, continuous Marcie Bovetz • Christopher A. Brown • Timothy Capehart • Ann Childs • Alec B. Chunn • Amanda growth in industrial output and individual consumption, and Chuong • Tamar Cimenian • Jeannie Coutant • Erin Deedy • Elise DeGuiseppi • Brooke Faulkner • Amy Seto Forrester • Ayn Reyes Frazee • Carol Goldman • Hannah Gomez • Melinda Greenblatt • the ecological devastation that goes with it.” He argues that the Kathleen T. Isaacs • Darlene Sigda Ivy • Deborah Kaplan • Megan Dowd Lambert • Lori Low • Joan ideal population is 3 billion people—approximately the num- Malewitz • Kirby McCurtis • Sierra McKenzie • Kathie Meizner • Mary Margaret Mercado • Daniel ber that were alive on Earth in the mid-20th century. This may Meyer • J. Elizabeth Mills • Lisa Moore • Tori Ann Ogawa • Sara Ortiz • Deb Paulson • John Edward Peters • Deesha Philyaw • Susan Pine • Andrea Plaid • Asata Radcliffe • Amy B. Reyes • Nancy Thalia sound like a low number, but Tucker’s method of calculating it Reynolds • Erika Rohrbach • Ronnie Rom • Leslie L. Rounds • Katie Scherrer • Stephanie Seales • sounds quite reasonable. The population is not only growing, John W. Shannon • Rita Soltan • Jennifer Sweeney • Christina Vortia • Bean Yogi • but becoming increasingly “middle class,” he asserts, meaning INDIE that each person is able to consume more things and gener- Alana Abbott • Kent Armstrong • Jillian Bietz • Darren Carlaw • Charles Cassady • Michael Deagler • ate more waste. Even if the population were to stabilize and Stephanie Dobler Cerra • Steve Donoghue • Tina Gianoulis • Lynne Heffley • Jennifer Helinek • Justin humanity found new, hyperefficient ways to recycle its trash, Hickey • Ivan Kenneally • Barbara London • Mandy Malone • Dale McGarrigle • Randall Nichols • Jamison Pfeifer • Alicia Power • Matt Rauscher • Walker Rutter-Bowman • Jerome Shea • Mary Slos- the author argues that we’ve already passed the point of sustain- son • Holly Storm • Gale Walden • ability given the size of the planet and its amount of resources.

138 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | The author presents and analyzes many different population- his life and that he chose to enlist after he almost failed out sustainability hypotheses and also examines historical trends of his first year at Blackburn College. He was assigned toa from humanity’s first 200,000 years, which had relatively medical dispensary at the Pentagon after medic training, and minuscule population growth. Tucker then lays out his case for his descriptions of the Pentagon as a city unto itself, before why estimates above 3 billion are, in his opinion, starry-eyed. So the existence of cellphones or the internet, are compelling. what, then, do we do with all the extra people? The author has Turner’s prose is clear and informative, as when he describes a long-term plan—and it’s actually much simpler, and less sinis- the Pentagon internal phone system: “this network included ter, than one might think. In the second half of the book, the one hundred thousand miles of telephone wire…enough to author provides a strategy for getting back to a sustainable civi- encircle the globe four times at the equator.” Turner remem- lization—an act that he characterizes not as a retreat or decline bers being on duty in Washington in 1968 when Martin Luther but as a chance for a new beginning. King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, and this This book has a premise that’s likely to alarm the vast major- historical material is often compelling. He also highlights how ity of readers at first glance, but Tucker executes his argument his grandparents and good teachers helped him during his life, in a tone that’s calm and even cordial. Although he admits that during which he eventually found success as a doctor. That his target number might be wrong—and encourages others said, the book might have been improved by a stronger edit, to attempt to raise it, based on the available data—he shows particularly when the author tells other people’s war stories. a deep familiarity with the issue of overpopulation and comes However, readers who are interested in this memoir’s setting— to his argument armed with information. Indeed, many read- primarily the ’60s, in a predominately male domain—will find ers may find themselves marveling at the complexity of Earth’s this book of interest. resource cycle, as he lays it out. Even those who finish the book An informative account of 1960s stateside military life

unconvinced of the necessity of curbing Earth’s population will by a man who lived it. young adult get a better understanding of the factors that go into human sustainability—and of how easily they can become imbalanced. In the end, Tucker’s primary theme seems to be that human- ROAMERS AND WANDERERS kind needs to start thinking about its problems in a geographic A Collection framework: “Without a shared geographical understanding of Webb, Frances our planet, our species, and the civilizations we have created, Strategic Book Publishing & Rights we will soon find ourselves unable to deal with the unfortunate Agency (112 pp.) consequences of ignoring certain realities about our planet.” $25.50 | $9.99 e-book | May 2, 2019 This is a book that may initially inspire fear, but ideally, it will 978-1-948858-90-8 also be one that engenders discussion. A book that offers an engaging and sometimes-fright- A dozen poems and short stories ening dose of overpopulation reality. about people in transit and the interper- sonal dramas that emerge in the course of travel. TIME AND EFFORT Webb (A Short Joy for Alma Hedman, 2018) offers a collection Turner, James E. of cursory tales and vignettes, set between the 1950s and 1970s. Burning Barn Books (426 pp.) In each of these stories, characters are on the move from one $17.99 paper | $9.99 e-book place to another. There’s a woman in “Getting to Verdun” who Jan. 17, 2019 accompanies her father and husband to Holland, where her dad 978-1-73272-891-2 had fought in World War I. In “The Convention,” Sally joins her husband, Harold, at a business convention in Atlantic City, A debut memoir about a student New Jersey, where she witnesses the trivialities of business din- with learning disabilities who, through ners and happy hours. “On a Bench in the Amtrak Train Station” guidance, luck, and a stint in the U.S. centers on the thoughts of a woman as she closely observes military, got accepted to Northwestern a mother and child: “She is standing still and itching to hold that University’s medical school. baby again!” Stories like this one, as well as “The Guide and the Turner says in an introduction that he’d originally intended Boy”—set during a guided tour of the Teotihuacán area in Mex- to write down his memories only for his children, but then he ico—and poems such as “Really, Isn’t it Strange” read more like thought that some of his stories might have wider appeal—and, vignettes, with their close attention to detail and lack of resolu- in this, he’s right. His account provides a close-up view of his tion. Overall, Webb writes in a crisp, casual style that empha- late-1960s studies to become a medic; most of his colleagues sizes mundane details and interactions. In “The Convention,” were later shipped off to Vietnam, where they faced grave dan- for example, she describes a dinner attentively: “Harold fiddled ger. Turner’s own two-year stint in the Army is at the heart of with his fork. / Janet drank her water. / I drank my water. / Ed the book, but he began his journey in a small Southern Illinois shook out his napkin.” Familial themes also loom large, with farming community. He writes that his dyslexia and attention tales featuring married couples, father-daughter relationships, deficit disorder resulted in academic challenges throughout and thoughts of childbearing. “Norway,” one of the collection’s

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 139 Ziemba’s examination of the evolution of football from a “brutal, controversial display that was more of a curiosity” to the “obsession it remains today” is engrossing. cadets, cannons and legends

most successful stories, describes the disorienting experience Sova, the circus girl who rides the elephant. But bad luck and of traveling and encountering new languages: The protagonist bad company keep dogging him until he is linked to a homicide thinks in response to a Norwegian man’s attentive questioning (Jakes again). Through it all, people either believe in Hughey’s over a business dinner, “Was this a list of prepositions?” Some innate innocence or are dumbfounded by him. Wright is a won- readers may be frustrated by the lack of narrative development; derful writer (The elephant “slapped lazily across a crazed and indeed, Webb’s description of a Tupperware demonstration in wirehaired shoulder with its pendulous and serpentine trunk”). “The Convention” could apply to the collection as a whole: “No The big question is: What are readers to make of Hughey? Is final outcome. No outburst.” Still, readers will find plenty of he hopelessly naïve or naïvely hopeful? A subtitle might be The detail and emotional complexity here. Education of Hughey Gibson, but what he learns seems to be a kind Descriptive, understated stories of characters in flux. of fatalism and acceptance. Which is hardly surprising. This is a hard world of creepy criminals and corrupt cops, a lesson that over time he reluctantly accepts. As an apt coda, the final chap- YELLOW SKY ters feature the mother of all dust storms. Hughey finally “sees Wright, Brooks the elephant,” as the old idiom goes. Still, as the author skillfully Artichoke Press (285 pp.) shows, this world needs its Hughey Gibsons. And that turns out $15.95 paper to be a terrible indictment of this world. 978-1-388-19341-6 Grim doings, grim humor, and grim wisdom abound in this masterful tale; a book well worth reading. Good versus evil, the Depression, the Dust Bowl, a vagrant elephant, and a traveling circus— this novel has all that CADETS, CANNONS AND and more: Step right up, folks. LEGENDS Wright (The Sky Is Far Away, 2019, Ziemba, Joe etc.) has created a superb character in his Gatekeeper Press (474 pp.) protagonist, young Hughey Gibson. By $19.95 paper | $11.99 e-book the world’s reckoning, Hughey is a naif and a dreamer. Early on, Nov. 7, 2018 he sees an elephant moseying along the tree line of the Gibson 978-1-64237-341-7 farm (or what’s left of it). A hundred pages later, his improbable vision is vindicated, but his reputation for being a moony inno- A debut sports book offers a compre- cent still stands. Hughey’s opposite is Jakes McConnell, the hensive history of a military academy’s epitome of bad company. He talks Hughey into going to the football program and the development circus, and soon Hughey is accused of being Jakes’ accomplice of the game itself. in a burglary. So now there is no going back to Shelbyville, Mis- The Morgan Park Military Academy was first established souri. Like it or not, Hughey is now a roustabout. And he does in 1873 in Chicago. The school was then called the Mt. Vernon come to like it, especially when he catches the eye of Marlina English, Classical, and Military Academy. According to extant records, the academy first participated in an organized football game in 1893 and fielded a team for a full season of competition

KIRKUS MEDIA LLC the following year. Ziemba chronicles the arc of the football program’s growth in detail so journalistically microscopic the # study is simultaneously impressive as a feat of archival precision Chairman HERBERT SIMON and tedious to read. The academy was originally a part of the University of Chicago. The coach of the college team, Amos President & Publisher MARC WINKELMAN Alonzo Stagg, quickly took over as the leader of the academy players as well, using the school as a kind of farm squad to train Chief Executive Officer MEG LABORDE KUEHN and recruit talent for the university. The author tracks not only # the academy team’s triumphs and defeats—it had its first losing season in 1903—but also the school’s intramural disputes, like Copyright 2019 by Kirkus Media LLC. its controversial decision in 1900 to close its doors to female KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 1948-7428) is published semimonthly by Kirkus Media LLC, students. Ziemba’s account is not only spangled with black-and- 2600Via Fortuna, Suite 130, Austin, TX 78746. Subscription prices are: white photographs of the campus and key figures, but is filled Digital & Print Subscription (U.S.) - 12 Months ($199.00) with statistical information as well, including an appendix that Digital & Print Subscription (International) - 12 Months ($229.00) documents the team’s results for decades. His scholarly rigor Digital Only Subscription - 12 Months ($169.00) Single copy: $25.00. is indefatigable and remarkable, although the results of it are All other rates on request. unlikely to grab the attention of anyone who doesn’t have some POSTMASTER: kind of personal relationship to Morgan Academy. But Ziemba’s Send address changes to Kirkus Reviews, PO Box 3601, Northbrook, IL 60065-3601. examination of the evolution of football from a “brutal, contro- Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710 and at additional mailing offices. versial display that was more of a curiosity” to the “obsession

140 | 1 october 2019 | indie | kirkus.com | it remains today” is engrossing. The author expertly discusses how different football was as a game in its embryonic stage: “The bloodshed and physical dismay endured by football players in the early days of the game was certainly not anything new. With little padding, archaic rules, and often ill-advised officials, the examples of horrific injuries and multiple deaths on the football field had become alarming.” For readers interested in an astute history of the game’s inception, this is a worthy option. A remarkably well-researched history of a football team that should appeal to fans of the school or the game. young adult

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 october 2019 | 141 Field Notes Photo courtesy Noam Galai-Getty ImagesPhoto courtesy Noam Galai-Getty By Megan Labrise Photo courtesy Michael Tran-FilmMagic

Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporters who broke the “He sat forward and gripped his cane story of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct and abuse in 2017—and galva- with both hands. He was wearing nized the #MeToo movement—appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss black leather gloves with his symbol their new book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped on them. ‘Have you talked to Random Ignite a Movement: House?’ he asked. ‘You have power “This was an example of journalism stepping in where other systems had failed.” now,’ he said. ‘Learn to wield it. It’s —Jodi Kantor you, it’s me, and it’s them. Convince “Nobody was immune from sexual harassment. Even the most famous, shiny them that they need to put everything women and celebrities, including people like Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, behind me.’ He locked eyes with me. ‘I had been victims of this themselves.” trust you. Tell them I trust you.’ ” —Megan Twohey —Dan Piepenbring recounts working with Prince on his memoir, The Beautiful Ones, Photo courtesy Karen Krogh in the New Yorker “To be invited and then disinvited—it brings up all sorts of middle school feel- “It was a knife party, man. Everyone was ings. ‘You can come to our party. Uh no, constantly fearing their execution and you can’t come to our party.’ One thing their evisceration in the press, or some- I’ve learned from this: I shouldn’t take my one was trying to go after them so they freedom of expression for granted.” would have to go to someone else. This is —YA author Julia Watts (Quiver, Finding how a lot of investigative reporting works: H.F.), who was disinvited from the Knox There’s a dysfunction, and that’s when County Public Library’s teen literary festival after an organizer learned she’s also leaks start to occur. It’s like Facebook— written lesbian erotica, in Publishers Weekly once the election happened there were leaks like crazy because people were just disturbed about what was going on. But I’ve never encountered a cast of characters that were willing to kill each other.” “Now he is a narcissist.” —Mike Isaac, author of Super Pumped: The —author and poet Linda Boström Knausgård (Welcome to America), speaking of ex-hus- Battle for Uber, in New York Magazine band Karl Ove Knausgaard with interviewer Lisa Abend, in Vanity Fair

142 | 1 october 2019 | field notes | kirkus.com | Appreciations: Harlan Ellison’s Dog Days

BY GREGORY MCNAMEE

Photo courtesy Barbara Getty Alper Images The year 1984 came and went, and England—much as Margaret Thatcher might have wished otherwise—did not become a dictatorship. The year 2001 came and went, with no strange mono- liths discovered on distant moons. But 2024 is fast upon us, and, to judge by the cycle of stories that makes up Harlan Ellison’s slim book Vic and Blood, that way truly lies apocalypse—and with it, telepathic dogs, dumb-as-dirt humans, and other plausibilities. Half a century ago, Harlan Ellison was known among sci-fi aficionados for the Hugo Award–winning short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” and “The City on the Edge of Forever,” perhaps the best Star Trek episode ever made. He also had a bit part in Gay Talese’s legendary 1966 magazine piece “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” in which Sinatra criticized Ellison’s sartorial sense and Ellison, ever fearless, snarked right back. Then, in 1969, Ellison (who died last summer at the age of 84), wrote a short story in which nuclear nightmare

rained down and the surface of the world was left “for anyone with a taste for radiation and rubble”—mostly young adult disaffected teenage boys with a yen for violence. In “A Boy and His Dog,” that inaugural tale, Vic is a dim young man without much sense while Blood, the descendant of a motley breed of dogs that “had become the shock commandos of a new kind of war,” can see through waves of radiation and read minds—all very helpful when “roverpaks,” gangs of enemy kids and their killer dogs, are in the neighborhood. Vic meets a young woman who takes him underground, where the God-fearing citizens of the surface had long ago fled, founding theocratic cities that one might find in a more cynical version of The Handmaid’s Tale. One is a replica of Topeka, Kansas, where Vic is put to work breeding with the young women of a place where radiation has made the menfolk incapable of the task—work that quickly grows tiresome. To boot, as Vic grouses, the new Topekans eat “artificial peas and fake meat and make-believe chicken and ersatz corn and bogus bread, and it all tasted like chalk and dust to me.” He and Blood flee, the young woman in tow, but then things get ugly, and—well, an injured Blood needs his protein, and not fake stuff. The actor L.Q. Jones made a movie of “A Boy and His Dog” in 1975, starring a young and unknown Don Johnson, and it brought Ellison a huge new audience. Jones threw in a twist at the end that made the film instantly controversial. The twist had to do not with the sex, which was true to the book, but to the already abundant violence, which Jones, a veteran of Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 shoot’em-up splatterfest The Wild Bunch, amplified. Ellison, who called himself a misanthrope but not a misogy- nist, wasn’t pleased with the modification, pointing out that the deed hinted at—those who have seen the film will know what I mean—didn’t take place in his pages. Still, he allowed, it shook people up, a transgression that suited Harlan Ellison, the poet of dangerous visions, just fine.

| kirkus.com | appreciations | 1 october 2019 | 143