Pederson delivers an irresistible thriller centered on Madison Maxwell, the fresh-faced recruit at Know Inc. replacing a deceased ex-employee who met a tragic end in a hit-and-run incident. Hailing from Boston, Madison relocates to California to outrun her guilt and the haunting specter of her father’s demise in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center—but destiny has other plans. Enter T.J. Khan, the company's enigmatic vice president, whose first encounter with Madison sparks not just a sense of déjà vu, but a palpable sense of danger. Unbeknownst to her, the secrets embedded in her recurring dreams may hold the key to avenging her father's death.

Every chapter races in this fleet-footed debut, teeming with twists and last-minute developments that will shock readers. Even as she slogs through the grief from her father’s death, Madison discovers something sinister behind the hit-and-run—and finds she’s caught in the crosshairs of the FBI’s manhunt for America’s most wanted, embroiled in the center of a national crisis. Pederson delivers an ostensibly overwhelming array of characters—terrorists, FBI agents, CIA operatives, corporate bigwigs—while masterfully anchoring the narrative in shared trauma, humanizing the political and wartime stakes. Even the typically stoic FBI becomes engaging, with Agent Niles poignantly reflecting on his 9/11 experiences: "Suddenly the trumpet wasn’t the most important thing in the world to me—not with all that evil, that darkness, attacking, coming right at us, threatening all of us, our way of life."

Though the portrayal of terrorists might feel one-dimensional at times, Pederson skillfully splices information across various viewpoints, encouraging readers to form their own opinions on the events of 9/11. Reflecting that the fallout from the attacks lingers long after the dust has settled, Pederson takes a stand: instead of hatred and revenge that create a vicious cycle of violence, choose forgiveness and life.

Takeaway: Knockout espionage novel exploring trauma, vengeance, and self-forgiveness

Comparable Titles: Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow, Brad Thor's The Athena Project.

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

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This third volume of autobiographical tales spiked with wit and wisdom finds Mister John beginning, in familiar fashion, by addressing a broad, relatable subject—in this case, his disliking the sound of his voice. From there, he proceeds in a manner that will be familiar to readers familiar with previous "Misfit" installments, telling stories about his Wisconsin childhood, his time spent teaching in the United Arab Emirates and his early retirement in rural Ecuador. Amusing asides abound, with John noting that Floridians “pick and choose what weather to brag about” and that the “they” in “they say you’re supposed to spend three months’ salary on [engagement] rings” certainly “wasn’t a financial advisor. Or an accountant.”

Several chapters deal with serious incidents: learning that his stepfather has cancer and facing the deaths of a family friend and also of a favorite teacher, whom readers of Misfit 2 will recall. These tales of loss give this collection a slightly more melancholic tone, as does the conclusion of a star-crossed romance, though that’s balanced out by wry wisdom and amusing anecdotes, some putting a new spin on familiar settings, like a pungent recollection of the rigors of cleaning the facilities of a tour boat he captained.

A few stories will seem familiar to readers of earlier entries. But there are still some surprises, including how the author got a job teaching in the Middle East. And we also get a closer look at his life in Ecuador, in a house of rammed-earth walls on a road that "aspire[s] to gravel." John's manner of exposition remains as roundabout as ever, taking unpredictable swerves— a yarn about seeing a porn film in a small Midwest town begins with Jaws and ends with an aside about UAE brothels. But the journey, however elliptical, is most of the fun, and brief mentions about witnessing an execution indicate John has more yarns left to spin.

Takeaway: Amusing, surprising stories about growing up, living abroad, and finding yourself.

Comparable Titles: V.D. Bucket’s Bucket to Greece series, Aisha Shakti Hakim’s An American Teacher in the UAE.

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

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Mister John’s second in a continuing series at first appears to be an amiable collection of short, humorous essays on a variety of subjects—the difficulty of reading small print, the strangeness of foreign customs, the challenges that accompany older drivers—seemingly tailor-made for a certain cantankerous demographic. But it quickly becomes apparent that Mister John (the pseudonym for John Curran) is up to something broader and more ambitious: a cycle of vignettes detailing his eccentric life. That whiplash becomes part of the fun as readers gradually get a handle on the general timeline of John's travels and occupations.

Mister John presents these tales out of chronological order, and often without context or connective tissue, which initially makes the far-flung peregrinations hard to track: readers are whisked from his time as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates to his stint as a boat pilot and tour guide in his native Wisconsin to a Canadian crabbing expedition with his wife's family, all without much fanfare or preparation. The subject matter is mostly humorous but can also be serious; one chapter briefly and effectively deals with the unexpected death of his future mother-in-law, early in his relationship with his then-girlfriend.

Not every story here feels essential—an account of kicking a UAE student out of class for playing computer games, for instance—and Mister John's style can be overly elliptical, with one chapter about a favorite professor opening with the teacher lightly mocking the author’s hat. But overall, each brief essay provides an enjoyable window into John's experiences, and readers will finish this entry eager for more. As Mister John writes: "I purposely don't tell you what the big picture, the story of my life unexpected is… I want you to figure out how the pieces fit and what they mean, freeing you to find your answers."

Takeaway: Humorous essays exploring one man’s charming and unusual life.

Comparable Titles: Maeve Brennan’s The Long-Winded Lady, Jenny Allen’s Would Everybody Please Stop?.

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

Click here for more about MISFIT 2

“As Christians, we must bring wisdom, not just science, to the bedside,” Hudson writes in this impassioned and practical debut that examines the gulf between expectations and in-the-field reality by medical professionals performing missionary work. As the title suggests, Healthcare and the Mission of God calls for clear alignment between, as Hudson puts it, saving bodies and saving souls. With clear-eyed candor, Hudson, an internist and epidemiologist, addresses the frustration, disappointment, and burnout he experienced in his first mission, in Ethiopia in the mid-1980s, where he and his team faced outbreaks, malnutrition, and more. He felt then that his efforts were too little, the resources too scant, the churches too disinclined to invest in nutrition, that inevitably led him to work harder and harder—and to lose his clarity of purpose.

After three decades as a medical missionary, however, he now sees that seeds he helped plant have born fruit, with the “physical and spiritual needs of the district” being met “through hundreds of churches” nurtured by those early efforts. Hudson now sees his younger self’s feelings of defeat as rooted in a misunderstanding of the mission: it’s through disciples and churches, he writes, that God changes the world. Hudson’s compact book, targeted at medical missionaries, offers compelling accounts from others who have dedicated themselves to cross-culture missions, moving anecdotes from his own experiences, and a host of deftly incorporated insights from Christian thinkers and writers.

Especially illuminating are Hudson’s explorations of the history of Christian health care and missions, dating back to Rome, and a careful delineation of how, in contemporary times, medical missions differ from healthcare missions. The cases he makes for why today’s healthcare ministries should collaborate with churches—and why “treating the whole person” body and soul is “designed to transform communities by God’s grace and for His glory”—will offer comfort and clarity to his audience.

Takeaway: A Christian doctor’s impassioned call for treating body and soul in missionary work.

Comparable Titles: Jason Baareman’s Rehab the World, Bruce Steffes’s Medical Missions: Get Ready, Get Set, Go!.

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

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Day debuts with a provocative and timely novel delving into the tangle of political polarization, immigration, and personal transformation in contemporary America. When disgruntled conservative Jack O’Malley—injured after a fall from his roof while cleaning gutters—needs a cleaning service to get his house in shape to sell, he hires 16-year-old Sofia Rivera and her mother, undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, kickstarting an uneasy alliance that challenges preconceptions and explores the potential for understanding across deep societal divides. Sofia’s teenage defiance incites Jack’s military compulsion for law and order, propelling the two into an entertaining give and take that leaves them both deeplyreflective.

“Somehow, this train wreck of a girl has blown past the perimeter and reached command and control. She has nailed him in the worst way. She has made him see something of himself in her” Day writes of Sofia’s unique talent to crawl under Jack’s skin and leave him feeling vulnerable. Though the premise of an unlikely duo coming together to bridge ideological gaps is not new, Day's execution feels fresh and relevant to current societal tensions, and he avoids easy resolutions, opting instead for a more realistic and nuanced exploration of how people can change when their worldviews are challenged.

Some readers may find the initial characterizations of Jack and Sofia stereotypical, but the narrative rewards patience, as the characters undergo a profound transformation while gaining depth and complexity. Readers will be captivated as Jack’s exterior softens and he begins to stand up for Sofia and her mother, just as much as they will be when Sofia’s interactions with Jack prompt her to reflect on her own life choices, including her excitable boyfriend, Memo—who loves bombs, overpromises, and drips emotions at every second—and her desire to return to El Salvador. The book concludes with a tender picture of reconciliation—and rebirth.

Takeaway: An unlikely friendship is the catalyst for personal transformation.

Comparable Titles: Jodi Picoult, Celeste Ng.

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

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“There is something good about each day,” Cochran declares in the opening pages of this rousing celebration of a son gone too soon—and of all that Christian, a “radiant spirit” with a “deep appreciation for the beauty of diverse spiritual perspectives,” managed to teach his parents in his 23 years on this Earth. After receiving a fatal diagnosis with a rare and aggressive bile duct cancer in 2020, Christian displayed “a superpower,” sensing and relieving his father’s “pain and fear,” continuing to be joyful and empathetic, and, as Cochran writes, looking “beyond the surface” of days of treatment and medical bureaucracy to “[embrace] the grandeur of existence.” Christian “never stopped living his life,” Cochran notes, with warmth and a touch of awe, describing how after the diagnosis the young man applied to grad school in international studies, started a podcast, continued making music, and forged a touching friendship with another recent college graduate enduring cholangiocarcinoma, becoming a “light” in her journey.

What’s Good About Today? shares similarities with other stories of medical tragedies and traumatic loss, including touching journal entries from family and loved ones, accounts of searching for meaning (“I would often ask ‘Why? Why Christian?’”) and navigating complex medical systems, and touching examples of community support. Cochran and his collaborators, though, emphasize something surprising in this story of loss: what they gained from Christian’s compassion, generosity, and commitment to living life with a “different way of keeping time.”

Readers see what Cochran calls Christian’s challenge, to the rest of us, “to reconsider our relationship with time” and measure it "in the love we spread" in anecdotes and eulogies but also touching excerpts from Christian’s own writing, especially a powerful speech in which he calls the gulf between the “experimental and expensive” care available to him and what others receive around the world “a moral failing and, in a loose sense, a crime against humanity.” Page after page, Christian’s insight, ethics, and open-mindedness shine through, stir tears, and inspire.

Takeaway: Celebration of the life and spirit of a young man who showed how to live

Comparable Titles: Alexandra Fuller’s Fi, Catherine Mayer and Anne Meyer Bird’s Good Grief.

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

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In this meticulously researched fiction debut, Cree whisks readers away to the time of the infamous 1892 Borden murders. Accused of hacking to death her father, Andrew, and her stepmother, Abby, in their Fall River, MA home, Lizzie Borden—later acquitted by a jury during her trial—is seen here through the eyes of an accomplished historian, who draws from several historical sources, including police notes, legal journals, and court transcripts, to craft a compelling story examining the facets and events that led up to “one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in American history.”

Cree is a skilled storyteller, and readers will be spellbound as the tale races to sleuth the answers to this violent, devastating crime. Tantalizing clues and powerful courtroom scenes paint vivid details and foment assumptions, and backstory unveiled near the story’s end provides added depth, offering up Cree’s reasoning as to who the true killer was. The imaginative step-by-step recounting of the actual attacks is gruesome, but Cree painstakingly documents the murders with the help of multiple historical references, sparing no attention to the most minute particulars—including Lizzie’s alleged purchase of prussic acid (now known as cyanide) and the Borden household’s floorplans, reflecting on the role that such factors may have played in the crime. To avoid spoilers, Cree cautions readers not to read the historical afterward until finishing the story.

Cree transports readers beyond the central murders, masterfully exposing the cloud that Lizzie—and her fellow spinster sister Emma—experienced after the acquittal, noting the snubs and dark questions that chased Lizzie until the day she died. Even Lizzie’s name change, to Lizbeth Borden, failed to tamp down the rampant speculation, and Cree invites readers to speculate as well—at least until the tale’s final scene. True crime buffs will eagerly devour this impeccably delivered mystery.

Takeaway: Masterfully crafted tale of one of history’s greatest unsolved crimes.

Comparable Titles: Erika Mailman’s The Murderer’s Maid, Cara Robertson’s The Trial of Lizzie Borden.

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

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Playful orca Yuki learns a valuable lesson on following his mama’s advice in this striking picture book. When Yuki’s mama warns him not to swim close to shore in their Iceland home, Yuki brushes off her advice and returns to his deep-sea antics, diving and cavorting with a cascade of crustacean friends clinging to his back. But when he stumbles onto a ship near the shore, Yuki can’t help but be curious—and swims far closer than he should, netting him a quick capture by humans who force him into a performance show in Mexico.

Film director Bluth, the filmmaker and animator responsible for classics like An American Tail and The Secret of Nimh, doesn’t disappoint in this children’s book debut. The story teems with colorful, bubbly characters who immediately plunge into readers’ hearts, center of which is Yuki, of course, but his underwater pals steal several scenes as well, particularly their open-mouthed despair when Yuki disappears at the hands of humans, a moment that Bluth crafts with stunning emotion: “‘Yuki!’ they whisper. ‘Yuki’, they shout, till their tiny crustaceous voices give out.” That’s just one of several evocative scenes, and young readers will be swept into this tale of friendship and family as they learn, alongside Yuki, that some choices come with devastating consequences—but, in the end, love truly saves the day.

Bluth’s bright, splashy illustrations are the crowning jewel, showcasing Yuki in the best—and worst—moments of his life, always with breathtaking emotion. Color schemes shift from playful to dismal as Yuki works through his forced captivity (and Hollywood takes a swipe at making him the most famous whale ever), but the story’s happy ending is an absolute wonder to behold, rich with the effervescent joy of reunited friends and family. Bluth credits Yuki’s child fans for his happily ever after in an empowering windup that will thrill young readers.

Takeaway: Young orca learns the value of friends and family in this stunning underwater tale.

Comparable Titles: Andrea Zuill’s Gustav Is Missing!, Dan Yaccarino’s Morris Mole.

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

Click here for more about Yuki Star of the Sea

The ancient, the gorgeous, and the touchingly quotidian all cohere in this breezily gorgeous tour of photographer Giglio’s tour of Italy, a nation he toasts in a preface not just as “the land of my ancestors” but as that rare place where “everyone could pronounce my name.” That blended sense of history and the everyday powers Walk With Me, as Giglio and his camera visit Italian cities, taking in the splendors—the cliffs of the Amalfi coast astonish here, even if you’ve seen them in person—and the street life. This he captures with an eye for telling detail, like the hands of the nun in Naples who rushes toward him, urging him to pray for the poor, or the grizzled stub of cigar poking from a tangle of beard on the face of man experiencing homelessness.

That’s not to suggest that Walk With Me emphasizes the darkest corners of Italian life. Giglio’s eyes are clear, but he’s often enchanted, finding beauty in umbrellas in rainy streets, in couples embracing and kissing, and in the rhythms and rituals of life offline, like a man reading the newspaper in the morning in an outdoor café or the several shots of adults gathered together outdoors, relishing each other’s company. Giglio’s captions tend to be playful, like many of his photos, but through them, with a minimum of fuss, he makes a case for the nourishing qualities of such connections.

Amid the courtyards, cathedrals, and hardworking pasta-makers, Giglio’s tour offers welcome surprises, captured on the fly but with striking, resonant compositions: a janitor, eyes glazed, sweeping a train station on a tractor-sized machine; a balloon peddler texting on his phone while his crop of unicorns and other inflated characters bob above. The preserved skeletons of ancient victims of Vesuvius offer a jolt among so many touching scenes of life, but the contrast proves illuminating: like Giglio’s other subjects, they were people, in their time, holding to each other.

Takeaway: Gorgeous tour of contemporary Italy, in photos emphasizing everyday splendor.

Comparable Titles: Harvey Stein’s Movimento, Agostino Priarolo’s People’s Republic of Venice!

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

Click here for more about Walk With Me

Strawberry-haired Andrea is obsessed with Pilates—so much so, she decides to share it with her animal friends in the forest one day, advertising her own special class for them; all they need is a “water bottle and GREAT attitude.” But when no animals show up, Andrea, who’s understandably disappointed, opts to do a round of Pilates on her own, a decision that yields her some pretty awesome results. Before she knows it, her exercising catches the attention of the eyes in the forest around her, and she’s joined by a parade of zippy forest animals, each one curious about Andrea’s larking about.

Chevallier delivers just the right amount of silly fun in this delightful story, and young readers will be enchanted by the animals’ antics. When Raccoon shows up and Andrea tries to teach him the bird-dog pose, he’s skeptical—"Bird-dog? There is no such animal” he says, vowing that Pilates is not for him. But Andrea sees his uncertainty as an opportunity and swiftly jumps in with a new move, encouraging Raccoon to just “sit and play with a balloon” after assuring him “it’s not Pilates.” That tactic pays off for Andrea with every animal that heads her way, all of whom are convinced Pilates is dreary and dull until Andrea shows them how to find joy in movements related to their everyday environment: Rabbit draws a carrot in the air with his toe, Hedgehog rolls into a ball, and Squirrel flaps his arms while counting acorns.

Stefana Argirova’s earthy, energetic illustrations capture Andrea and her cadre of friends in a variety of exercise positions—all Pilates moves cleverly disguised—that kids will love exploring with their adult readers. For added fun, Chevallier includes a list of Pilates poses, with step-by-step instructions and an entertaining animal illustrating each stance, at the end.

Takeaway: Darling introduction to Pilates moves for young readers.

Comparable Titles: Christopher Willard and Daniel Rechtschaffen’s Alphabreaths, Julia Zheng’s When Animals Exercise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about Creating a better climate future

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about Vigilante Priest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about The Council of Wise Women

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about Sylvia Locke's Cinderella and the Evil Fairy Godmother (Tairy Fails #2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about THE END OF EDUCATION: THE RISE OF FIVE WISDOM TEACHINGS