Patel, an executive medical director and section chief of neurosurgery, offers an illuminating guide for doctors and medical professionals about the importance of emotional intelligence in their work, from the “crucial skill” of empathy, thoughtful communication to build trust and alliances, and much urgent, humane advice that goes beyond medical school studies, like “The mark of an extraordinary doctor is not how well you manage patients when outcomes are favorable; it is how you manage them when outcomes are not favorable.” Patel takes readers on an intimate journey through what he’s discovered in 15 years in the medical field, with a welcome emphasis on what it takes for doctors to “live up to the special status conferred” upon them by society. He thoughtfully considers the challenges of the work, and acknowledges that it’s hard to admit mistakes—but also that doing so makes it easier to cope with and learn from them.

Throughout Patel demonstrates acute understanding of doctors’ mindsets: “You know you’re superhuman,” he writes with a wink, “but patients appreciate it when you humanize yourself with a little humor and a smile in your voice.” Cooperation, empathy, active listening, and connections are some of the operative words as Patel offers detailed examples of his and his colleague's experiences, both positive and negative, showing the harsh reality of crazy hours, challenging emotions, high-level surgery, and patient care, with a little joke here and there and much clear-eyed guidance about how “the emo- tionally intelligent physician understands that managing chaos doesn’t mean you act chaotically.”

Patel’s advice and anecdotes read like intimate talk from a caring mentor urging for a new level of bedside manner. He’s not just pushing for niceness—this is about listening to the patient, putting aside the ego, and creating solutions. Patel’s encouraging call for self-awareness and improvement is specific to the medical world but readers from any field will find this rousing.

Takeaway: Rousing call for self-awareness and emotional intelligence in medical careers.

Comparable Titles: Michael Stein’s Accidental Kindness, Shareef Mahdavi’s Beyond Bedside Manner.

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

Click here for more about Extraordinary Doctor

This energetic debut—a rousing adventure of teens proving their worth as future rebels, ready to topple a dystopian society—takes place in 2075, after an ecological collapse allows the fascist Democratic Union for a Sustainable Tomorrow (D.U.S.T.) to take control. The Dust locks up dissidents, controls the media, and alters history books to favor the regime. Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, 17-year-old Everly Dahl faces her father’s imprisonment for treason and the government withholding life-saving medicine from her ill sister, Shelby. After Shelby is also arrested, a despondent Everly agrees to be whisked away by the total stranger Micah, who is with the rebel Bloodwood Society, “the most notorious group on the planet.”

As the Naked Mole Rats (all teams are named for underground animals), Everly, along with her teammates—the bulky and clever Inuit Katak, belligerent Indian Vashti, and insecure Latina Inés—must triumph at a series of trials, including an obstacle course, marathon race, free climbing a 500-foot tree, and anagram puzzle, all under the watchful eyes of their perpetually scowling mentor Micah. Readers young and old will be captivated by Doty’s swift-moving plot and fierce motivations of diverse, quirky teenagers who are troubled by anxieties and impetuousness, countermanded by their fierce desire to achieve independence as emerging adults.

This is a light read, but it covers familiar themes of teenagers learning how to work together, united by dedication and grit against a corrupt government. Doty’s message of loyalty to family and friends, along with the novel’s strongly drawn characters who succeed despite their difficult circumstances, rings universal. The exploits are satisfyingly demanding and exciting, rewarding readers with a healthy slice of action alongside the more character-driven drama. Doty draws a nuanced and powerful portrait of the type of camaraderie that can save a world teetering on disaster, as Everly herself realizes that “come hell or high water, their fates were intertwined.”

Takeaway: Eager teenagers undergo trials to prove them worthy for a rebellion.

Comparable Titles: Shade Owens’s Chosen, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.

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

Click here for more about The Bloodwood Society

Tyler (author of Blue Glass) delivers a wry but ultimately tender memoir focused on her relationship with her aging mother, drawn against the context of her own role as mother of two young children. Though largely focused on the latter part of her mother Elizabeth’s life, Tyler’s introspective reminiscences reach back into her own childhood and forward—into the experience of her mother’s death and its aftermath. Tyler’s dialogue of her conversations with her mother, and with her live-in aide, Chandice, sparkle with lively, personality-filled wit, spotlighting the strong sense of each individual character.

Tyler’s skill in bringing thoughtful perspective and lyrical prose to the mundanities of daily life shines through in her expression of the deep love for a person so central to her life, alongside the intense frustration that comes with managing her mother’s lucid stubbornness and cognitive confusion. Though there are amusing moments that spring from both Elizabeth’s larger-than-life personality and the dissonance that accompanies her failure to acknowledge her own decline, these mostly serve to lighten a compassionate but sometimes heavy narrative.

Though Tyler references the logistical complexities of parenting young children while managing an aging parent—and of curating her children’s relationship with a declining grandparent—she keeps her focus primarily on her own experiences. Her relationship with Elizabeth’s artistic side comes through as she considers the titular painting, which Elizabeth’s own mother rejected, but which Tyler tries to embrace after her mother gifts it to her; this also aids Tyler’s later asides into deep explorations of identity, as she muses “even here, in this murky suspension between the then and now, I was this: I was my mother’s daughter.” Tyler’s expression of the difficult transformations that occur between caregiving and requiring care, especially for women who take on traditional familial roles, resonates with human universality.

Takeaway: Beautifully honest memoir of an adult daughter caretaking her aging mother.

Comparable Titles: Katie Hafner’s Mother Daughter Me, Loretta Anne Woodward Veney’s Being My Mom’s Mom.

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

Click here for more about The Night Garden: of My Mother

This inviting picture book by Osara (author of Early Coders) whisks young readers away, to a STEM-filled adventure into space and a celebration of STEM careers and breakthroughs. Osara starts with a brief explanation of what’s included in STEM activities—science, technology, engineering, and math—before opening a new world for curious fans, an imaginary galaxy brimming with fun STEM planets, like Planet Technology, “the tie that binds all the planets together.” She lists common careers for each planet as well, ranging from cybersecurity on Planet Technology to epidemiologists for Planet Science, and each planet readers explore brims with educational facts and entertaining ways to apply STEM knowledge to everyday living.

Osara infuses this book with diversity, offering readers an array of professionals in skilled positions, many of whom are female. She references famous trailblazers in each area, including Julia Robinson, a mathematician specializing in cryptography, Gladys West, who helped develop our global positioning system (GPS), and Grace Hopper—a computer programmer credited with creating the language FLOW-MATIC, making it “easier for people to tell computers what to do.” Osara references how some of those STEM pioneers have paved the way for our current work in the field as well, such as Hopper’s work inspiring the invention of the computer language COBOL, still used in contemporary times.

Beyond the variety of STEM facts included here, readers will find a feast of fun as well. Osara addresses AI (“super smart machines that can learn and think just like us. Sounds like magic, doesn’t it?”), the processes behind foods like potato chips, and more. The illustrations are interesting, offsetting weighty material with entertaining images like a vacuuming robot, though the art styles, which at times suggest clip art, vary at times for reasons that aren’t clear. Osara closes with a glossary and interactive STEM activities kids can do at home, including making a rainbow in a jar or crafting a binary bracelet.

Takeaway: STEM learning transformed into an intergalactic adventure.

Comparable Titles: Jane Bull’s The Simple Science Activity Book, Robert Winston’s Ask a Scientist.

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

Click here for more about Idia Techne, STEM Explorer

St. Clair’s debut novel centers around the life of psychotherapist Beth Linn and her increasingly fraught work in a small, troubled town. As Beth goes about her job, having hard conversations about people’s lives, she is jolted to discover that therapy clients seem possibly implicated in a school bomb threat—“If you believe he’s dangerous,” she is told of one, “then you’re responsible to report it.” Even as she strives to understand who did what, what they’re capable of in the future, and her own complex ethical obligations (the situation, she tells her mother, involves “confidentiality that I can’t break without some form of proof”), the tense situation continues to escalate, with threats targeting religious minorities at the high school, all as Beth faces personal problems of her own, involving a DNA test and a secret that could shock her family.

Beth’s office sits at the heart of the narrative: the reader is offered a glimpse of clients who walk in and out of therapy sessions, venting their issues and listening to Beth’s guidance, a lot of them identified by quirky nicknames like “dancer” and “queen.” St. Clair’s experience as a psychotherapist shines through, as the novel oscillates between psychological drama and detective story, as Beth gets wrapped up more deeply in the explosive situation at the school. The narrative picks up pace with each passing chapter, punctuated with twists, turns and truly surprising revelations.

The many therapy scenes, some from other perspectives, set the novel apart, and readers fascinated by the rules, tensions, and promises of such encounters will relish these. Some twists strain credulity, and a climactic confrontation feels somewhat rushed. But fleet, clear writing, an authoritative depiction of therapy, and St. Clair’s firm grasp on the tangled threads keep the pace strong and the mysteries intriguing, leaving readers with a chance to breathe only once it’s all settled.

Takeaway: Intimate psychological thriller of a therapist and the possibility of deadly clients.

Comparable Titles: Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient, A.F. Brady’s The Blind.

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

Click here for more about Slow Slide into the Truth

Adegbite and artist Quantum Servus craft the first chapter of an ongoing series about an ex-Air Force agent named Teriba Fashina of the fictional United African Republic (UAR), a nation facing terrorism and political and economic instability while Teriba endures personal tragedy. Thanks to political corruption, he's relieved of his command after a strike against terrorists that goes too well for the tastes of traitors in the government. But both his and the UAR’s fortunes begin to turn when Teriba, who has dreamed of flying in space and even meeting extraterrestrials, recovers a meteor suspected of being an alien spacecraft—and seems chosen, by beings from elsewhere, to become a hero.

This is a brisk, exciting introduction for a character and series that celebrates African culture and storytelling with a sharp political edge, a hearty dash of flying-saucer and alien-abduction SF, crisp, exciting art, and clear love for superheroes, which here feel grounded despite some literally high-flying action. Adegbite blends the fantastical aspects with real-world commentary on colonialism and its short and long-term effects on sovereign African nations, all while telling a somewhat traditional origin story—Teriba puts his new alien powers to thrilling use, for the public good, but they come with wrenching loss, pressing questions of responsibility, and a host of complications. The president of Westernia, a U.S.-like country, makes a veiled threat to the president of the UAR regarding the spacecraft if he doesn't hand it over. When terrorists take tourists hostage, Teriba boldly uses his new powers to free them, all while the UAR faces a coup attempt and an international conspiracy, plunging the nation into chaos.

Servus’s action is exciting, with inventive panel angels never diminishing the clarity, and the characters prove distinct and engaging with a minimum of us. It's fascinating to see how Adegbite creates a narrative that turns the tables on greed, corruption, and foreign exploitation in such an exhilarating manner, all while leaving so much to explore in the future.

Takeaway: Surprising superhero origin involving UFOs and an African republic.

Comparable Titles: Roye Okupe and Sunkanmi Akinboye’s Windmaker series, Loyiso Mkize and Clyde Beech’s Kwezi series.

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

Click here for more about Saucerman

Ricketts makes a strong debut with this swift, polished, funny SF adventure of a scrappy spaceship captain forced to take on one deadly last job six months after the death of her crew. Haunted by events that the novel teases out over its briskly exciting present, Sam just wants to sell her kraken-class ship and start a new life, leaving shipping behind. But for all her grief and pointed gruffness, she can’t resist coming to the rescue of a woman, Kate, whom she sees flee a dive-y station bar. Soon after, an encounter with Miles Floodwater, the gangster who previously claimed a couple of Sam’s fingers, upends her vague plans. Turns out a member of Sam's crew had been smuggling a parcel for this tyrannical boss, and now Kate is on the hook for it.

The Ship freshens up classic space-adventure elements with vibrant prose, welcome wit, and a clear love of the genre—Ricketts both honors and challenges readers expectations. For all the fun, action, and mystery, the characterization archetypal but alive, with the burgeoning relationships between Sam and her quickly assembled crew proving the novel’s heart. Sam and Kate bicker, but they quickly fall in together as trusted compatriots—"Do you have a splicer and some proto-casing?” Kate asks, early on, as Sam monkeys with the kraken’s innards. As those two edge toward acknowledging their interest in each other, Ricketts contrasts them with the hilariously blunter attraction Addy feels for mercenary Parker, a “tall drink of 70-round pulse rifle” keeping tabs on Sam for Floodwater.

Ricketts introduces her universe on the fly, through the eyes of Sam and co. and through the blaster shots of the pirates and others they encounter. Surprises like Kate’s status as a “Purifier” and the secrets of her old crew contribute to keeping the somewhat familiar milieu lively, but what makes this ship soar is its first-rate dialogue and character connections, which blend salty, sharp-elbowed chatter with found-family warmth.

Takeaway: Stellar SF adventure debut, bursting with wit, pirates, and found-family warmth.

Comparable Titles: Becky Chambers, G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward’s Invisible Kingdom.

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

Click here for more about The Ship

Walker’s sprawling but gripping debut follows the antics of paranormal hunters as they uncover an alien conspiracy. In 2015 at Chaco Canyon National Park in New Mexico, tour guide Katy Olmos finds a man staggering, covered in blood not his own. After the police take him, Katy reads the papers she finds in a backpack he left behind, discovering a manuscript that mentions Kevin Starkly, the frumpy “urban spelunker” and leader of the “Nerd Legion,” podcasters hunting the paranormal. The Legion—which includes Tony, a psychic who talks to the dead in his dreams; Richard, the scientist and skeptic; and John, the art curator—roadtrips America, gathering content, but on an expedition in Pine Barrens, New Jersey, hunting the Jersey Devil, Starkly is surrounded by mysterious balls of light and promptly disappears.

Composed of podcast and video transcripts, newspaper clippings, police reports, blog comments, dream journals, texts and even fan fiction, the quick-paced narrative follows the remaining members of the Legion as they continue their cross-country tour, gathering clues as to Kevin’s whereabouts. The mystery starts with an 1897 newspaper report of an airship crash in Aurora, Texas, and the remains of its pilot, “not an inhabitant of this world,” who was buried in a local cemetery. The Nerd Legion follows signs declaring “The Pilot Awakens,” a message revealing that the pilot told Starkly’s great-grandfather his name was Max As Abraxas, and aliens who communicate with us through lucid dreaming.

Walker skillfully manipulates these disparate clues and reports into an intricate chronicle of this dedicated troupe of ufologists and ghost hunters, with welcome attention paid to the thinking and language of Starkly and company, whose takes sometimes surprise: “the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) has done more damage to the study of the UFO phenomena than all the crackpot conspiracy theorists,” Starkly argues. The paranormal intrigue is infused with humor, true science, and literary and pop culture references for a playful and suspenseful adventure. Fans of The X-Files will feel right at home.

Takeaway: Gripping alien conspiracy adventure told in found documents.

Comparable Titles: Connie Willis’s The Road to Roswell, Patrick Lee’s The Breach.

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

Click here for more about The Aurora Revelations

Licensed psychologist Jamison digs into her personal struggle with substance abuse in this candid, inspiring memoir. “This is the story of a woman whose entire personality was shame-based, and whose childhood wounds created an adult who was driven by perfection and invulnerability” she writes, setting the stage for a brutally honest, often hard to read story covering her ongoing battles with weight, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Jamison acknowledges that she is “one of the lucky ones,” and her dual perspective as counselor and person with a substance use disorder lends authority to this vulnerable debut—a sensitive, transparent journey of pain, healing, and, eventually, peace.

Jamison recounts her secret life as an addict, opening up about the hidden shame, attempted suicides, and ultimately successful recovery she experienced. From writing her own prescriptions to stealing pills from the medicine cabinets of friends and family, this harrowing story of one survivor's private struggle with substance abuse probes the steps it takes to truly recover from addiction—and the rippling effect substance abuse has not only on addicts, but on their loved ones as well. Jamison shies away from nothing, chronicling her life’s precarious balance as she gains accolades in her career all while harboring dark secrets: “I was achieving great things in my life, but underneath I was hiding a seething boil of inescapable turmoil,” she writes.

This memoir is unique in its exploration of both the wounded and the healed side of trauma and addiction, and readers struggling with similar issues will find Jamison’s emotive writing spellbinding. More than just a chronicle of the devastation wrought by addiction, Jamison’s story is ultimately an homage to her triumph over years of mental anguish and pain—so much so, she coins her own phrase, “surthriving,” to describe her transformation from “mere survival to one of truly thriving, in all the best ways.”

Takeaway: Vulnerable memoir of a psychologist’s triumph over substance abuse.

Comparable Titles: Laura Cathcart Robbins's Stash, Sarah Michaud's Co-Crazy.

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

Click here for more about Wounded Healing

Davies crafts contemporary fables reminiscent of classic Aesop in this creative reimagining. In "The Peacock and the Lion", a male peacock and male lion meet “under the shade of a lofty limba" tree to regale each other with tales of their masculine prowess, only to learn a valuable lesson about humility after their wives point their own role in ensuring each family’s survival, while “The Angling Otter” finds a lazy otter learning the devastating effects of pollution caused by his own carelessness. Throughout this debut, Davies addresses racism, classism, and deforestation, among other topics, through vivid imagery, engaging prose, and entertaining lyrical alliteration.

In traditional Aesop form, Davies animates her featured animals, endowing them with very humanlike emotions and problems, and offers a moral at the end of each story—themes that are both “current and controversial,” in Davies’s words. From a productive goat who becomes lazy and unfocused after he’s gifted a mobile phone to a moth who hates his own reflection, Davies tackles issues that young readers will immediately relate to. In “The Owl and His Dilemma,” a rollercoaster loving owl learns to deal with bullying over his dinner choices, after a gaggle of geese tease him for enjoying a “fieldmouse burger.” That incident prompts him to explore the culinary choices of other birds, inciting his epiphany that “we should just eat what tastes good to us and not mock anyone if their dinner is different to ours,” a message that Davies ties into accepting others and avoiding judgment.

Each fable begins with a colorful, hand-sketched illustration hinting at what readers can expect from the tale, and younger readers will enjoy Davies's outlandish characters, humorous situations, and figurative language (just as adult readers will appreciate the opportunities scattered throughout to learn new, unfamiliar words, such as “pulchritudinous” and “avaricious”). This is a lighthearted tribute to Aesop’s brilliance.

Takeaway: Lighthearted reimagining of Aesop’s fables, for today's youth.

Comparable Titles: Vivian C. Olsen’s The Good, The Bad, and the Goofy, Mike Bennett’s Aesop’s Fables Reimagined.

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

Click here for more about IF AESOP WERE ALIVE TODAY

“Soon, Chris Davis would lie in a pool of blood,” the villain vows of her long-time protege turned adversary early in this gripping sequel of kill-shots, high-stakes targets, and a pair of resultant “silentcide” assassins, Chris and his sister Michelle Barton, eager to exact revenge against their murderous master, Irene Shaw, whom they at last escaped—and whose hatred they earned—in the previous book. But the duo can’t manage that if Irene and her commissioned killers take them out first. As the bullets fly, the principals chase each other around the world, and Irene again targets Chris’s girlfriend, Anna Monteiro, whom he was once himself tasked with killing. Ebert ups the stakes, with Irene taking on a shocking new “commission” with global consequences: the poisoning of multiple U.S. senators.

Ebert’s fast-paced thriller again combines explosive action with complex character development, creating a thrilling and an urgent, emotionally resonant narrative as invested in these highly-trained killers’ hearts as much as it is their skills at subterfuge. Ebert deepens the sibling relationship between Chris and Michelle, while introducing new dynamics with Anna Monteiro and their former foster brother, Ansel Meehan. The storytelling smartly balances intense, inventive action with moments of introspection, even on Irene’s part in a glimpse of her past, adding depth and many personal touches to what could have been a straightforward action plot.

Irene is the standout character, a refined yet ruthless villain whose machinations drive much of the plot and add a layer of political intrigue amid all the personal vendettas. Ebert's prose is, again, taut and efficient, propelling the reader through a series of heart-pounding set pieces across Canada and the US. The author demonstrates a keen eye for detail in his action scenes, making them vivid and immersive, ensuring the reader is fully engaged in the narrative. While the plot is engaging, the multitude of swift-developing elements can sometimes feel overwhelming. However, Ebert keeps these threads cohesive, tying them together in a satisfying climax.

Takeaway: Swift, smart thriller of silent assassin siblings seeking revenge.

Comparable Titles: Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series, Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series.

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

Click here for more about Silentcide 2

Giordano’s second installment in her Strange Eden series thrusts readers back into the tumultuous regency period of colonial Nassau, diving into Eliza Sharpe’s troubled marriage to the island’s commander, Charles Sharpe. As she grapples with the loss of her illicit lover, Jean, her despair deepens when she discovers she’s pregnant—a child whose future seems grim. Meanwhile, Lord Dunmore’s political intrigues and illicit dealings collide with Charles’s sense of duty and honor, further straining the fragile foundations of his estate and the colony, with potentially devastating consequences.

Giordano weaves a riveting tale deeply embedded in colonial life and subtly laced with the harsh realities of slavery, nimbly portraying colonialism and the imperial enterprise’s many contradictions, often through probing questions. Her nuanced descriptions and skillful integration of surrealism, particularly through the otherworldly mystique of dream sequences, add a haunting layer to the narrative. The oracle Cleo, a central figure, guides both Charles and Eliza through their respective dilemmas and premonitions, and, as the story delves deep into Eliza’s psyche, readers will also be drawn into her slow descent into madness, captured here in vivid detail.

At its core, The Island King is a tale of two individuals haunted by their pasts, grappling with the guilt that shadows them. Themes of honor and betrayal permeate, fueling the dilemmas they face, and Giordano deftly captures Eliza’s emotional transformation as her feelings for Charles shift from intense hatred and disgust to care and affinity. The saga unfolds gradually, with inner monologues that occasionally drift away, but the rich, period-appropriate details firmly ground the story in its sociocultural context. The looming threat of the governor and Captain Bruin escalate the tension, injecting much-needed pace into the narrative's second half, and Giordano ends the novel on a cliffhanger that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Takeaway: Regency-era historical fiction blending surrealism with harsh reality.

Comparable Titles: Amita Murray’s The Marleigh Sisters series, Natasha Boyd’s The Indigo Girl.

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

Click here for more about The Island King

Calkosz’s charming adventure invites readers of all ages into a whimsical world where magic and reality intertwine. Set in an alternate New York City, this entertaining debut follows Olaf, a kind-hearted bear living in Central Park, who unknowingly scares off a pair of witches, leading to an unexpected discovery—a baby left behind in the chaos. Believing the child needs saving, Olaf, with the help of his loyal friend Essex the fox, sets out on a journey to return the baby to its presumed parents, Mabel and Harvey.

Olaf, Essex, and their newfound companions handily navigate this magical city where foxes communicate with trees and witches lurk under cover. The novel delves into themes of connection and belonging, with each character on a quest to find or reconnect with loved ones; Olaf yearns for his mother, Baby the cat yearns for her former owner, Betty, and Essex pines for her late mate, Bolton. That thread of longing loops the different characters together into a united quest, of sorts, forcing them to consider how a makeshift family may be just the answer they’re all looking for—despite the lack of blood ties.

Olaf—who eventually decides to keep the child and soon learns that she was kidnapped from her true father, Chief Detector Damon Thomas—embraces his role as protector and, with the help of witches Hilda and Helga (one evil, one good), he and Essex face challenges that test their bond and resolve, but ultimately reaffirm the power of love and chosen family. “Life was not a tale signifying nothing. He loved other beings, and they loved him. That was something. That was neverending” Olaf muses. Xiao’s black and white illustrations bring the story’s animals to vivid life, making this heartwarming tale a delightful read for both children and the young at heart.

Takeaway: Sweet tale of the power of found family.

Comparable Titles: S.D. Smith’s The Green Ember, Dave Eggers’s The Eyes & the Impossible.

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

Click here for more about Olaf and Essex

Sweepingly ambitious yet focused with intimate detail on one family, this forecast/call-for-action from Bengier (author of Journey to 2125) surveys the next century of life on Earth. In 2033, Max Yang MacGyver, now over 100 years old, is surprised in his Northern California home by a visit from his grandson, who has eluded the guard robot at his Texas commune and come seeking answers to how his family and a baking world got this way. Max guides him through roughly a hundred years of recent history, starting with Max’s own rescue, as a boy in Taiwan, from a 2033 Chinese attack, and then his life as a refugee adopted into a Bay Area family. Max’s family is deeply connected to the forces shaping our future: his adopted father has committed to fission power as the best energy source in the face of climate change, while his sister marries an entrepreneur seeking a fortune in robots.

There is serious opportunity there, of course, but as Bengier reminds readers throughout this humane, surprising novel, the course of technological shifts is never predictable, and it will take a generation or two for robots, AI, and other technologies to reach their potential—and, for some of the descendants of Max’s adopted parents, to fight against. The episodic plotting is concerned with changes over decades, cultural and sociopolitical in addition to technological. Bengier considers the fates of the global superpowers, how long it takes smartphones and online eyeglasses to be supplanted by brain-computer interfaces, and why “All robots except the military ones and those in factories have a blind spot behind.”

“You are here to save the planet,” an engineer tells grad students in the mid 21st century. Journey to 2125 explores how some could try. The result is a thoughtful, human-scaled future history, examining the lives—some hopeful, some tragic—of refugees, engineers, public policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and more as they’re both shaped by the world they’ve inherited and committed to saving it.

Takeaway: Sweeping, humane SF novel of one family, the next century, and all the change to come.

Comparable Titles: Kim Stanley Robinson, Sequoia Nagamatsu.

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

Click here for more about Journey to 2125: One Century, One Family, Rising to Challenges

In Fagan’s gripping, fast-paced third installment of the Pepper Ryan Mystery Thriller Series, FBI Special Agent Pepper Ryan is on a “losing streak”—he’s recovering from a break up with his girlfriend and his job with the Bureau is at risk. But when his friend Angel calls him to ask for help finding his girlfriend Marisol, who mysteriously disappeared from a street market in Cuba, Pepper doesn’t hesitate to board a plane. With only Marisol’s broken pink high-heeled shoe to go on, he finds himself on a dangerous unauthorized mission that leads him into a risky web of secrets in Cuba’s capital.

Fagan brings Havana to life, weaving its landmarks, vibrant culture, and menacing political landscape seamlessly into Pepper’s exploits. As his investigation deepens, the lively cast of supporting characters infuses the story with energy: Hector, Angel’s Elvis-loving cousin, reluctantly shepherds Pepper through Havana’s dicey underworld; grizzled, tenacious Cuban detective Juan Guiteras sets himself against Pepper at every turn (even in the boxing ring); laconic Belarusian filmmaker Victor Beriev’s camera is always watching; and gorgeous actress Dayana de Melina distracts Pepper with her sensual beauty even as her charm opens doors in his investigation. While the arc of their relationship occasionally feels predictable, their romance is disrupted when Pepper discovers that Dayana knows more about Marisol’s disappearance than she claimed.

With a hurricane approaching and tensions escalating, Pepper must make a crucial decision that will impact this case – and the rest of his life. Though readers may find some of his initial discoveries too convenient, as Pepper’s investigation deepens and he finds himself on the trail of a serial killer who is targeting Cuba’s well-known artists, his trademark intelligence, wit, and resourcefulness create exciting confrontations and thrilling revelations. The story’s relentless pace and action-packed twists and turns through Havana’s dark underbelly will have fans of international thrillers on the edge of their seats.

Takeaway: Exciting and witty missing-person thriller, with a Cuban twist.

Comparable Titles: Carl Hiaasen, Janet Evanovich.

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

Click here for more about Havana Fear

Bellano tackles an infamous decade for sports in this entertaining “celebration of an otherwise lamentable era” from a sports fan’s perspective. Bellano convincingly sets the stage that the 1970s were a home run for the sports world, especially for his favorite teams—the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Pittsburgh Steelers, each legendary organizations in their own right. He touches briefly on the music and political scenes for the ‘70s before diving into his recollections of the “greatest single decade experienced by any sports fan,” transporting readers down a memory lane swamped with sports statistics, family history, and a string of athletic idols in all their strapping glory.

Bellano takes readers on a lively journey, from the streets of New York City and its surrounding suburbs to extended visits with cousins in hardscrabble western Pennsylvania towns, regularly reserving a close eye and gentle love for his numerous sports subjects. The unique differences he observes are striking and play a role in the man he becomes; like his hardworking immigrant family finding its way in a new country with a heavy influence from the Catholic Church, Bellano transforms as he grows, from precocious youngster to sensitive young man.

Sports fans who came of age during this period will appreciate Bellano’s recreations of timeless moments in ‘70s sports history, while also welcoming his intertwining of more serious news, such as the impact of Watergate and inflation on his generation. His recounting of such seemingly mundane things like the “finely manicured grass” of Yankee Stadium or the apparent desperation within Pennsylvania’s all-but-abandoned mining towns is unadulterated and nostalgic, as he reaches the happy realization that the ‘70s were not a “forgettable” decade by any stretch, but one of the greatest, and most under-appreciated, on the books, a “golden age” when “our appetite for sports was voracious.”

Takeaway: Emphatic tribute to the sports triumphs of the 1970s.

Comparable Titles: Mike Greenberg’s Got Your Number, Michael MacCambridge’s The Big Time.

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

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