Set in a 1974 Boston alive with local color and the winds of change, this sensitively told novel from Waite (author of Walking on Train Tracks) follows 16-year-old Jezebel, eager to become a musician, experiences a summer of transition, growth, and discovery as she explores her sexuality, experiences love and heartbreak, and searches for meaning, in encounters with Hare Krishnas, in letters to Dear Abby, and in bold books from the library, like the one arguing that Jezebel’s biblical namesake was in truth “wise, out-spoken, independent and beautiful.” At times reckless and always with a zeal for life, Jezebel is running head first into adulthood, striving to find herself in the midst of her parents' marital problems, facing life without her older sister, as dynamics shift within her tight circle of friends.

The predatory nature of the men she encounters during the summer—including her own father—pushes Jezebel into developing her interests in feminism and following her dream of learning jazz and the piano. Waite has created a bold, relentlessly questioning protagonist whom readers of character-driven coming-of-age stories will empathize with, especially those who understand how it feels to burn to speak truths to a world disinclined to hear them. The city and era are vividly evoked, from Jerry’s Diner to anti-Nixon rallies on the Common to jazz broadcasts on WBCN, as is the touching blend of uncertainty and utter conviction of a bright teenager figuring out her place in the world. When Jezebel gets curious about the possibilities of LSD helping her chart a course, she—what else?—writes a letter to Timothy Leary.

Jezebel is a moving narrative, rich with everyday detail, that conjures its milieu without wallowing in nostalgia. Despite its setting in the past, there’s much here that will resonate with young adults currently facing the transition into adulthood, including a violent confrontation with a drunk man. Waite surveys, with heart and power, the end of adolescence and the challenge of discovering the woman this girl will become.

Takeaway: Touching story of finding strength, feminism, and herself in 1970s Boston.

Comparable Titles: Misa Sugiura’s This Time Will Be Different, Crystal Maldonado’s Fat Chance, Charlie Vega.

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

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A self-help guide for teenagers actually written by a teenager, high schooler Colton Fidelman, The Teenage Guide to Success shares up-to-date tips for setting their lives on a path toward achievement, from seizing control of one’s time on social media to choosing a mentor and finding your passion. Through his own personal experiences, Fidelman highlights the ways that teenagers can fall into depression, become negative, and begin to alienate themselves from friends and family. Meanwhile, Fidelman’s interviews with 19 successful expats—including surprising sources like Army Major General Peggy Combs, billionaire Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management, and Mike Mills of R.E.M.—power his tools and guidance to help young adults "build a strong foundation" to be successful in life and continue to grow. The keys: “Being passionate and having a purpose.”

Fidelman breaks his approach down into his TICK TOCK formula, a classic self-improvement rubric offering actionable steps for embracing hard work, networking, and a balancing work and play. "Focus on moving forward, one day at a time," Fidelman writes, urging readers to invest in themselves and offering insight into time management, financial responsibilities, and the benefits of being well-traveled. Young readers will take away a wealth of practical advice that they can implement into everyday life, especially a focus on positivity and success, choosing a mentor or role model in a field of interest, finding a true passion to fuel success, cultivating healthy habits, and building lasting beneficial relationships.

Through personal narrative, Fidelman shares how he shed "a negative mindset" and pushed himself to be disciplined and accomplish his goals to change his life. Young readers will gain encouragement and wisdom from a peer as well as "billionaires, world champions, and creative geniuses,” with straight talk and a lot of heart, especially from his interviewees, whose quotes are all original to this project, rather than—as in so many books offering life guidance—pulled from secondary sources. Fidelman exemplifies the ambition he encourages.

Takeaway: Original guide to achieving success for teens.

Comparable Titles: Sydney Sheppard’s A Growth Mindset for Teens, Claude Larson’s The Power of Choice.

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

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Las Vegas police detective Maria Varela faces the darkest case of her career when her brother Tommy is murdered. She semi-officially works the case with her partner, Michael, and soon they link his murder with the "Desert Saint," a longtime local serial killer. Flashbacks reveal the case is more complicated than anyone can guess, and riddled with sex and violence. What starts out as a procedural takes a noirish turn, as Maria must question everyone she knows, all as she struggles to maintain her bond with romantic partner Carla and cope with her broken mother and her family’s reactions to her same-sex relationship.

Debut author Pascarella presents a frightening view of Las Vegas, far from the glamor and glitz of the Strip. This is a world of terrified prostitutes and men who cheat on their wives and batter their mistresses. Against this dark background, Pascarella has set a hauntingly vivid cast of characters, such as Maria's father Dominic, a tough retired cop with a secret soft side. Maria's fraught relationship with the troubled Carla is beautifully handled, and leaves the reader cheering for them. The plot gets overly complex at times, and even seasoned mystery readers will have to pay attention to the time jumps, but the so-real characters ensure that they won't put down the book until the last page.

Although set up as police procedural, the book delves into far grimmer territory than most. Maria isn't hunting the merely greedy; she's facing some true psychopaths. A fight scene with one of them will leave even the most jaded readers breathless, and the denouement, especially Maria's impossible ethical choice, will leave her fans waiting for the promised sequel. But be warned: on the last page, a character sums up to Maria the horrific tragedy that's unfolded: "There’s not enough therapy for anyone to get over this one."

Takeaway: Noirish, hard-edged, and memorable Las Vegas procedural.

Comparable Titles: Faye Kellerman’s Moon Music, Leslie Wolfe’s Baxter and Holt series.

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

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Mental health poet Erin (author of Beyond the Table) turns anguish into art in this searing, frank collection of twenty concrete poems that explore the experience of living with bipolar disorder and PTSD. In "Hazel Nuts" she writes that "the mixed episodes” of the disorder “prompt an eclectic concoction of mood swings / a manic high / which usually results / in a refreshed ginger hair color / and / a crash." Through the rise and fall of rhythm, each poem immerses readers in the swirling, tossing, reaching, floating, and plummeting existence, in indulgences (“Chips, dip, and alcohol”), moments of bleak clarity entwined with sex (“liar, liar pants off entire-ly”), and emotional extremes (“panic-induced chill swells over my body and encapsulates / my soul”), all often followed by an unwilling numbness.

Erin's verses strip away the desensitizing connotations of terms like “mental health,” instead digging into the emotional reality of bipolar living and a host of dynamic, wide-ranging traumatic experiences, recounted in language that slices, stings, and illuminates. "Panic & Other Bedtime Stories" delves into visceral bouts of panic attacks, with electric language and jarring enjambment. "Ap Parently Not" captures the haunting grief of being a mom for a night, and the urgent "Live, Laugh, Lamictal" takes on the façade of composure, revealing the unmedicated truth and inner turmoil that “ordinary house guests / aren't supposed to see.” Other threads touch on mental health consultations, distrust, abuse, identity crises, bodily shame, eating disorders, self-harm, and what it feels like to “have a case of hypersexual psychosis manifested in the most detrimental way.”

This raw collection commences with a ballad of self-introduction pulsing with rage, and culminates in a tribute to the alter ego "that resides at the bottom / of my wine glass." The fluidity of this collection propels readers through the accounts of a pained past and present afflictions, sweeping to a conclusion that sounds a note of hope and renewed faith in professional help.

Takeaway: Raw, powerful poetry of life with bipolar disorder and PTSD.

Comparable Titles: Mary Lambert’s Shame Is an Ocean I Swim Across, Kaveh Akbar’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf.

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

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