For all those urgent themes and dangers, much of this hopeful novel portrays middle school antics and angst between PJ and her African immigrant friend Hakima, who are working on their environmental awareness school project. But PJ notices that any time someone speaks out about combating climate change, a coldness somehow manifests, and along the wall a dark, intimidating shadow seems to creep toward them. A letter addressed to PJ that her kindly retired postman neighbor had kept for the last 12 years sets in motion PJ’s destiny as a one of a group of children around the world who will not be silenced by the darkness. Instead, she will speak for the children, animals, habitats, and cultures that will soon be extinct if we don’t stop the devastation.
Tween readers will relate to the schoolroom bullying, sibling rivalry, friendship dynamics, and desire to be special and valued, but will wait impatiently for PJ’s destiny to finally be revealed, and for resolution of the cryptic clues that keep their secrets hidden until the last quarter of the book. Nevertheless, the heartfelt message is in the right place that children must play an important role to safeguard the future of the planet they will inherit.
Takeaway: A spunky tween delivers a message of hope for a world facing climate destruction.
Comparable Titles: Lauren James’s Green Rising, Mark Smith’s If Not Us.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
Particularly helpful are Blackburn’s hands-on applications that range from guided reflections exercises designed with interaction in mind. (One roleplay centers on resolving challenging relationship issues, and readers are encouraged to practice forgiveness when collaborating with others.) Drawing on her and her interviewees’ personal experiences for learning opportunities, Blackburn shares how she has cultivated inclusivity while building new relationships with co-workers, neighbors, and others—and she commiserates with the inner fears and struggles many face when initiating new friendships or social encounters.
Blackburn professes "I believe that we have no choice but to figure out how to honor, respect, and know 'the others’ in our midst.” That rousing sentiment runs throughout the book as she provides tips to engage in healthy communication and active listening in an effort to build commonality with others. The material is as inspirational as it is constructive, but it’s also practical. Blackburn examines how to set boundaries and stretch comfort zones. This is a winning resource for anyone seeking meaningful and strong connections with the people around them.
Takeaway: Innspiring, practical resource for cultivating multicultural community.
Comparable Titles: Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, Jennie Allen’s Find Your People.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Hale has created an engrossing world powered by inventive technology and social structures, complex modulation simulations and training drama, and compelling dystopian themes—the written word is illegal and only digital communication is allowed, dark hints of a potential human future. With an eclectic group of characters that are powerful, smart, and entertaining, Runners is never dull. Hale prioritizes character amid the action, exploring the tight familial bond of Alexander's diverse crew, which ensures the suspense ramps up as the connections strengthen, the trash-talk flies, and readers become attached. For all the crisp dialogue, the novel at times suggests a science-fiction take on progression fantasy, offering superpowered villains, out-of-this-world tech weapons, and an urgent mission to destroy the final boss.
Fans of intricate world building, action packed fight sequences, and ensemble character arcs will enjoy this, though at times the flatly declarative lines describing actions during dialogue get awkwardly repetitive. Emotions will run high as each character faces their own tragic loss, or be put at risk themselves as they face off against the Shadows, the powers that be, and former friends turned enemy.
Takeaway: Space-assassins in training power this fast-paced SF adventure.
Comparable Titles: Tochi Onyebuchi’s War Girls, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A

Broken down into four tenets of socially conscious communications, which include “Dare to Ask,” “Dig In,” “Widen Your Lens,” and “Follow Through,” Fox’s guide is brimming with practical guidance, like how to use an “equity lens” in order to minimize stereotyping and biases, a tutorial on “radical listening” to allow for the inclusion of historically silenced perspectives, a clarifying breakdown of the asset-framing storytelling model, and many other practical strategies that show readers how to use the mechanism of empathy to shift companies’ purpose from productivity to people.
Fox’s guide is direct, inviting, and accessible, but it’s also hearteningly bold, as the empathy method challenges orthodoxies of traditional profit-first business communications practices that ignore what Fox calls “the human factor.” Fox notes that, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements and how they’ve affected consumer consciousness, “empathy is an essential tool for business success, directly correlating to growth, productivity, and earnings per employee,” and this guide offers the tools to show business leaders across various industries how to flip the paradigm and put that empathy into practice.
Takeaway: Human-centric business guide centering communication as a facilitator of social change.
Comparable Titles: Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, David Bornstein’s How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
After being tragically widowed, Skye, John’s wife, finds comfort in the arms of the attentive Thomas, though as the years pass Thomas becomes secretive, controlling and short-tempered, culminating in a shocking burst of domestic violence. Readers know from the beginning that Thomas is psychologically troubled, and what John’s fate will be, which diminishes suspense and surprise. The twists that do come are welcome: Thomas believes that mysterious "assets” are in danger, as Cruickshank drops hints about a Conquistador's journal and underground vaults, and a number of relationships eventually are revealed to be quite different than what readers expect.
The story is good and fast-moving, with welcome moral weight offsetting some dark material, such as graphic descriptions of sexual assault, torture, and abuse. The swings of sanity and madness in Thomas are scary, and Cruickshank’s portrait of the insulating—and possibly deadening—effects of wealth and power often chill, and not just when Thomas performs dark acts. “Love, integrity, and goodness are relative qualities for people like me,” he declares to a priest, seeming truly to believe it. Cruickshank’s decade-spanning portrait is damning, inviting readers not to wonder whodunnit but just how much worse he’ll still do—and whether a new generation can set things right.
Takeaway: Generation-spanning thriller of murder, power, and a wealthy family’s secrets.
Comparable Titles: Michael Robotham’s The Other Wife, May Cobb’s My Summer Darlings.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

As a healthcare provider himself, Turker’s experience in the American healthcare system shines throughout, both in memorable incidental detail and surprising-but-convincing plot points that center on the shark-like nature of donors or patients whose hateful natures demand healthcare providers work doubly hard on their bedside manners. One scene finds Marty giving care to a neo-Nazi, and discovering that his conception of the Hippocratic oath has limits; meanwhile, a bishop is eager to “rid St. Salacious of Marty’s ‘taco-crowd’ have-nots, [and] Sister Catherine’s meddlesome oversight.” This sometimes dark material is handled a fiery wit that keeps the pages turning.
Turker’s own compassion powers the novel, the satire more outraged than outrageous. As he faces religious fervor, bigotry, and good old-fashioned greed in a succession of compelling scenes with whip-smart dialogue, Marty becomes one of the rare voices of compassion and courage in a system that consistently has cared more about the dollar value than the care provided. As Marty becomes a catalyst for change, readers of thoughtful literary fiction, no matter their faith or lack thereof, will find this polished novel’s observations darkly comforting—eventually even hopeful—in the face of rising intolerance and a national health crisis.
Takeaway: Stellar novel of a Jewish doctor bringing change to a corrupt Catholic hospital.
Comparable Titles: Yan Lianke’s Heart Sutra, Kyle Bradford Jones’s Hospital!.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

As noted in a sensitive author’s note, Medusa broaches painful subjects, such as spousal abuse and rape, demonstrating with some power how urgent and distressingly familiar these issues have remained over millenia, and how easily the perpetrators of such outrages can find excuses for them—and even societal support. In Medusa’s narrative, the abuse comes from what gods feel they’re owed, whereas for Chloe it comes as punishment when her husband sees her true bisexual self as an affront to God, his brutal behavior excused by her pastor and mother.
Transmuting tragedy into something inspiring, Fisher shows that even the bleakest moments don’t have to limit one’s possibility of future happiness, even as one must still bear the pain. Medusa learns to live with her curse rather than let it destroy her, and when she meets Chloe her own history becomes something she can draw on for good: to help a stranger who’s struggling with a similar weight. The lesson of standing up for yourself and unconditionally loving others is a powerful and positive message that’ll leave readers feeling heartened.
Takeaway: Mythology, fantasy, and empathy power this story of Medusa and millenia of abuse.
Comparable Titles: Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
McMahon’s language is subtle and shrewd, and he’s adept both at backroom dialogue and polished political speechcraft and TV appearances. The different timelines and the sense—stirred by the title and Teddy’s arresting announcement that “I am writing this for you in case anything happens to me”—that a tragedy is looming will set readers on edge, especially as McMahon suggests that everything’s not exactly as Teddy perceives it to be. The happenings and discoveries of both timelines clash tellingly with each other, adding nicely to the tension. The characters, too, are well-etched and convincing; McMahon favors empathy and complexity over easy villainy, and in spite of their failings this cast succeeds in winning reader affection.
The intriguing, complex nature of Teddy’s love both for Charlotte and Conrad is delineated well. One final twist strains credulity, but McMahon writes with compelling power of the feeling of getting in too deep and possibly losing one’s self. A sharp line like this, about Teddy handed a bag to vomit into, lingers after the last page is turned: “I deposited some jerk chicken and whatever was left of my soul into it.”
Takeaway: Compelling novel of love, politics, and the loss of one’s soul.
Comparable Titles: Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, Kennedy Ryan’s The Kingmaker.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Pooh fans will find this as charming as the familiar bear himself, and Gundrum works hard to keep the reading simple but powerful. For the letter “H,” Pooh and Piglet embrace—and Gundrum encourages readers to use hugs as a way to heal, while the entry for “D” expresses the importance of a Difficult Day made better by the quiet presence of a friend. In classic Pooh fashion, wisdom is dispensed freely but subtly, as when Pooh declares “sometimes the smallest things take up the most ROOM in your heart,” and Gundrum takes time to bolster Pooh’s advice with her own understanding of just what cancer patients need: “If you do nothing every day, that’s ok! Your job is to get better. Let your medical team do the work. Let your friends and neighbors lend a hand if you need help with anything!”
For readers newly diagnosed with cancer, Gundrum explains the different tests they may face and offers practical tips to help negotiate treatment—including suggestions for keeping the body and brain active and diet recommendations for days when “your appetite is gone and nothing tastes like you remember.” The book’s strength is Gundrum’s tender reminders to never give up, wrapped in the gentle ambience of Winnie the Pooh and his friends. In Christopher Robin’s words, “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”
Takeaway: Whimsical Pooh-isms to inspire and uplift cancer patients.
Comparable Titles: American Cancer Society’s Because… Someone I Love Has Cancer, Nancy Emerson et. al’s Finding the “CAN” in Cancer.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: B
God Luv Us is a racially charged thriller that, as it tears into a heart-racing plot, at times plunges readers into the perspectives of the hateful: “White freedom comes with a cost,” one POV character declares, not long after insisting “This isn’t cross burning or storming the U.S. Capitol. This is all out war.” The stakes feel urgent and personal as Jeffers squares off with Tarpon and other monsters, and Starr digs deeply into both characters’ perspectives, creating an explosive tension—and moments of sickening unease—that keep the pages turning. Readers with the stomach for it will be intrigued and engaged from the opening chapter, as Jeffers’s voice and unusual yet exciting occupation grab from the start.
Written with dark, gritty prose and a wicked sense of humor, God Luv Us mines tension from the ways in which these characters perceive and scheme against each other, as neither Jeffers nor readers ever feel confident about who they can trust. The result is a thrill ride, often blood-spattered, that bucks expectations right up to a satisfying, climatic ending that will leave readers wanting to dive into the next installment. Fans of action thrillers that feature real world, social justice themes, and frank talk about race in America will enjoy the inventive setup and lead, as well as the accomplished story.
Takeaway: Dark crime thriller that pits a “counter-racist hitman” against white supremacists.
Comparable Titles: Aaron Philip Clark’s Trevor Finnegan series, Attica Locke.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A

Every word here has earned its place on the page. Descriptions of Kentucky nature and contrasting city structures effortlessly draw readers into the scene, and both characters and setting pulse with life. Kiser’s people are full of incisive questions about identity, family, and generational trauma, especially in relation to southern culture. In “Daughters,” women in a family ranging over four generations grapple with the meaning of miscarriage, pregnancy, and motherhood in their shared experiences of grief and fear, while “Decoration Day” finds a daughter visiting her father’s gravesite, reminiscing on their complicated relationship, nostalgic for the place that brought both hardship and belonging: “the hills and the long chain of kinfolk who had been left behind.”
Kiser’s especially good at communicating legacy and connection through objects, such as a “Wedding Ring” quilt made by one narrator’s mother “of swatches of brocade dresses that had belonged to her own mother.” Those connections especially resonate because, as the subtitle suggests, many stories center on women who abandon the valleys of their childhood for city landscapes and college campuses. Kiser captures both the promise and loss of this, the complexity, common for first-generation students, of being caught between two worlds shaped heavily by class, generation, and locale. This collection is perfect for readers who have found themselves caught between two different lives and understand the many varied definitions of “home.”
Takeaway: Accomplished stories of being pulled towards and away from a rural home.
Comparable Titles: Beth Gilstrap’s Deadheading, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Yet there is purpose to this yearning, suffering, and questioning, just as Jesus had purpose in the Gospels to seek a desert of solitude, too, and face trials there. “All the pain and sorrow” Spratley writes in “Perspectives,” “served as a tool” to look inward and find a spiritual awakening and a new purpose in life: creativity, generosity, and love. The narrator’s outlook shifts from a state of longing for answers and connection toward a state of curiosity in which there’s “much to discover but even more to create” and a willingness to help others who are walking through the desert, seeking the other side.
Paired with each of these somber yet hopeful verses are often oversaturated landscape photos and contrived works of surrealist digital art from the public domain whose inclusion appears largely extraneous, though at times they offer a striking visual complement to Spratley’s poems. But it’s in the poet’s own words and ruminations—and in the aching spiritual journey the narrator takes through them—that is where Desert Plains shines. Readers seeking accessible but not simple poems that delve deeply into the complexities of Christian spirituality will find Spratley’s debut validating and inspired.
Takeaway: Poems of faith exploring suffering, raw landscapes, and spiritual awakening.
Comparable Titles: Daniel C. Colesworthy, Greta Zwaan
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: B
Illustrations: B
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Bell does an excellent job carrying the main plot at the right pace, introducing characters and incidents frequently enough to keep the energy up while still maintaining the bucolic, slightly lazy vibe of the sheep farm The explanation of the murder motives and execution surprises in its specifics while still feeling logical and supported by what comes before, especially the substantial amount of farming information relevant. Copper Waters will satisfy fans of both sheep and sleuthing stories.
Some heavy exposition up front is understandable, as it brings readers new to the series up to speed, though it slows immersion in the current situation. Personal plot elements, like the romance between Annalisse and Alec, continue without resolution, and the fast pace leaves little time for reflection. The mutual support in Annalisse and Bill’s relationship, meanwhile, is endearing, stirring warm feelings and readers’ connection with the hero. Sleuthing aficionados who love being led to a solution that relies on both technical and social clues, and fans of Bell’s ready for a middle story in Annalise’s arc, will find this story solidly on-point.
Takeaway: Sleuthing aficionados will find this story solidly on-point.
Comparable Titles: Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, Belinda Pollard’s Poison Bay.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Unsurprisingly, that, soon leads to his paying for their more conventional services, too. Despite the cutesy title, the lives of sex workers here are examined with empathy and a lack of sensation or condescension. Some tell Gil lies; some challenge his assumptions; some reveal heartbreaking lives. Elsewhere, Beck pens sharp comic scenes of floundering grad students, a shady dentist who purports to offer psychological evaluations, and Gil’s conflicts with an ex and the authorities at his job. Dialogue is sharp and slicing throughout, the students’ chatter as preening as the sex workers’ is reluctant.
Eventually Gil endeavors to enlist his subjects in a big-idea (but somewhat vague) scheme—getting them to approve his posting of their photos and contact info on a newfangled “website” that he conceives of as vital to completing his research while also helping them drum up business.Gil’s website plan is, like all of Gil’s plans, half-baked. Since the protagonist is forever uncertain, the novel, despite polished prose and strong scenecraft, often lacks narrative momentum, with scant rising or falling action. Gil calls himself a “slug” early on, and he mostly stays just that as his life lurches toward minor, inevitable comic scandal.
Takeaway: Humane academic satire finds an anthropology student investigating sex work.
Comparable Titles: Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members, John Williams’s Stoner.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
Her story evokes an awareness of how the disarray in the way she manages her life is nothing but a reflection of the inner workings of her mind. Moreover, it shows how that reflection goes a long way back, to being a neglected child with undiagnosed ADHD, and the impact of this—shame, doubt—on her self perception. As a child, she once wondered if something was wrong with her brain. Now, as a mother of three neurodiverse children, two of whom share in her diagnosis, she dares to seek unconventional ways for herself and her family to learn to live with ADHD while also living the best life. Her accounts of this are moving.
While this memoir navigates the complexities of ADHD, including the challenges it brings to relationships, Livingston demonstrates throughout the urgency of having a support system whose members both passively understand the situation and actively participate in seeking help and spreading awareness. Her story, told with incisive scenecraft and an eye for the affecting detail, calls for empathy and action, all stirring hope that peace and understanding are possible, even for people who have spent years believing entropy and chaos to be innate to their identity.
Takeaway: Hopeful memoir of living with ADHD and finding and creating support.
Comparable Titles: Tom Nardone's Chasing Kites, Rebecca Schiller's A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Despite being a chosen one, Chip experiences relatable moments of self-doubt over what he must do, lamenting the dangers of the journey itself and that he’s not strong enough to defeat Pea Brain. Ultimately Chip embraces his inner power, and in a clever touch literally pops his own negative thought bubbles with the tip of his finger. By drawing attention to the dishonest origins of such harmful inner messages, Chip is able to help others turn away from fear and stay “calm and peaceful and centered.” For most kids, feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy start shockingly young, so this message of mindfulness will help them recognize and overcome these destructive lies.
Wendy Lorenzana’s beautiful, zen-like illustrations seem to glow from within, radiating a sense of possibility and magic. The Harmony Animals’ eyes are wide and expressive and their faces appealingly calm and friendly as they frolic on grassy hillsides and commune with the Wise One, a tree person adorned with leaves and feathery moss. By contrast, Pea Brain’s dark world is filled with people frowning, yelling, and crying. This stark contrast in moods makes it all the more rewarding when the characters’ focus shifts back to spreading love—to others and themselves.
Takeaway: A chipmunk helps people overcome negative thoughts and learn to spread love.
Comparable Titles: Bonnie Clark’s Catching Thoughts, Jennifer A. Swenson’s Chirp!: Chipmunk Sings for a Friend.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
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