Inspired by Frank Bramley’s evocative painting that shares the same name, George’s series starter captures life in the fog-laden, rugged backdrop of 19th century Cornish harbor town Port Quin, chronicling the life of fisherman’s daughter Effy and her unsettling ability to foresee events. Caught in a tumultuous love triangle between Cade, the boy she grew up with, and charming new resident William, Effy feels torn. Outsider William is mistrusted by many in the village, including Effy’s own father, but, despite her familiarity with Cade, she can’t quite ignore his calculating personality. Effy quickly discovers her world harbors secrets she never guessed—and her visions are hinting at dark affairs that could threaten the entire town.

George (Illuminating Darwin) meticulously lays out the history behind this enigmatic story, blurring the line between fact and fiction as she weaves a tale of passion and predestination amid a web of ancient customs and supernatural lore. The ornate descriptions of village life and its economy transfix, as George paints with stunning metaphor and dramatic imagery, from the townspeople’s dependence on fishing, that “silvery lifeblood of their very existence,” to the coastal storms that ravage the village with “wild, darkening majesty.” The saga races forward with escalating tension and stakes that surge, as Effy grapples with one threat after the other, ensuring a compelling and suspenseful read.

Harnessing the power of her prophetic sight is just one of Effy’s many challenges amid her quest to survive, and her efforts are rooted in the time period’s socio-cultural context, including her yearning for knowledge and agency in a community that views women as inferior. Female solidarity and Effy’s bid to break away from the clutches of abusive and strained relationships form important subtexts, transforming this gothic romance into a discerning survey of the hope and resilience that can break through even the most terrifying of circumstances.

Takeaway: Suspenseful gothic romance with a formidable female lead.

Comparable Titles: Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers, Buck Turner’s The Keeper of Stars.

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

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Husband and wife team Halbert offers up a twisty reflection on a flawed, overwrought family in this heart-pounding thriller, the first of their Goodpasture Chronicles. Ian Keane and his wife Lyana have lived in Boston for too long. Still devastated from an earlier miscarriage and desperate for a fresh start to put the pain behind her, Lyana stumbles onto the enigmatic Farr Hill mansion in the bucolic town of Littleton, New Hampshire. Despite the property’s eerie ambiance, the family is hooked; even 15-year-old Ariel and her 12-year-old brother Zach can’t wait to start exploring—though some creepy discoveries, ever-present fog, and a mysterious caretaker suggest there might be more to the house than meets the eye.

Ian and Lyana embody the far-reaching effects of generational trauma, as their troubled childhoods and marital discord seep into the family’s new beginning. Lyana’s disturbing flashbacks to her younger years intensify the moment she sets foot in the mansion, aided by some chilling reflections in an old pantry mirror and whispered voices trailing around the hallways, while the kids bump into their own setbacks. Neurodivergent Zach harnesses the house’s energy to exert power over his popular sister, but the cost is more than he expected, and Ariel’s deterioration is unsettling to watch. Meanwhile, Ian faces his own demons, including a drinking problem and a secret room that transports him to a terrifying event from his childhood.

Despite the family’s excitement at their clean slate, something unusual is definitely happening at Farr Hill, and the suspenseful energy driving the story never lets up. The Keanes are far from perfect but infinitely relatable, rich with undeniable affection and rough edges, and their fight for a new start quickly devolves into a fight to survive, topped off with a shocker of an ending that will leave readers eager for the next installment in this promising series starter.

Takeaway: Troubled family seeks a new beginning in this chilling page-turner.

Comparable Titles: Gilly Macmillan’s The Manor House, Elizabeth Brooks’s The Whispering House.

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

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“I wonder what life's said to me,” Tiess writes in “Said,” from his third poetry collection that sweeps across the globe and the universe, but begins and ends with a seed called wonder that both honors the magnitude of nature’s abundance and “laud[s] the small,” in equal measure. Tiess’s muse is sandstone, whalesong, squirrel, and heron; “once I had no time or mind for them,” the poet admits in “Nature Preserves,” but now his poetry strives toward redemption, and even salvation, for himself and that baffling collective Tiess worships in his collection: nature.

Rather than attempt to define it, Tiess ogles the natural world in his poetry and expresses lessons learned from dandelions, squirrels, mud, and the cascading sunlight of “Enlightening,” a poem that gushes with feeling and humanity as Tiess strives to see again what’s divine in us. That struggle powers much of the collection, as threaded throughout Tiess’s exaltations of natural grandeur is a bleak awareness of humanity’s violation of our compact with the planet itself. As he notes in the anguished title poem, “yes, even Eden had an edge // a gate // a passage to be crossed once, only once,” Yet, though humanity approaches the edge of our Eden, Tiess’s collection remains optimistic, undergirded by the belief that the solution to humanity’s gluttony is a new identity based in the notion that “prosperity can stem from [...] community.”

Humility is the essential element, according to Tiess, in cultivating a global, as opposed to individual, perspective. Rather than assume the role of conqueror, Tiess writes, “I've tried to be // the leaf that finds // its due place // in the dewy earth // when finished spinning // into wind,” and for Tiess, making poetry and sharing it allows himself and readers to spin into wind and find their places in the dewy earth. With “love, that renaissance beyond all death,” Tiess makes the present sparkle and imagines a future where humanity “let[s] the small things be immense”.

Takeaway: Intimate yet cerebral paean to nature and a call to action for its preservation.

Comparable Titles: Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese,” Joy Harjo’s “A Map to the Next World”

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

Click here for more about Gracious Nature: Poems on Earth and Life

Inspiring but highly practical, this follow-up to Reframing Change demonstrates, through real-world stories of navigating differences and fostering inclusive change in the workplace, the utility of the authors’ Conscious Change toolkit, a set of six principles (such as Test Negative Assumptions and Build Effective Relationships) and 36 affiliated skills (“Check to See If You Are Making Cultural Assumptions”; “Distinguish Intent from Impact.”) The framework, laid out with persuasive clarity, encourages readers toward deeper understanding of themselves and others, with a welcome emphasis on controlling emotions, recognizing cultural differences, and navigating the often complex dynamics between members of dominant and nondominant groups. The advice takes much of the edge off hard but necessary conversations.

Personal stories, gathered from Conscious Change workshops, bring the guidance to life, as real people describe thorny interpersonal and institutional challenges—and how the framework either did or could have helped. The stories get at the human messiness of making change, like how to handle aggressions, micro- and otherwise, from a co-worker of a different background who also happens to be close friends with one’s supervisor. A diverse roster of storytellers illuminates situations like that, showcasing how the Conscious Change principles and skills offer a healthy path. “I had to ask myself, Is hers a normal yell, or just not normal to me?” one storyteller asks, describing confronting a Nigerian co-worker over perceived rudeness but then learning about, in an inspiring conversation, unexpected cultural differences.

A social worker shares the story of a new supervisor who, despite not having the credentials, insists she could do the storyteller’s job—the chapter compellingly illustrates the principles “Clear Emotions,” “Conscious Use of Self,” and “Initiate Change.” The stories read briskly but feel authentically thorny, with the framework offering clear, actionable steps toward greater understanding, collaboration, and effectiveness. Conscious Change never promises it will be easy, but the authors demonstrate that change can be achieved—and that doing so is rewarding.

Takeaway: Well-honed tools, lessons, and case studies for fostering inclusive workplace change.

Comparable Titles: Mita Mallick’s Reimagine Inclusion, Ruchika Tulshyan Inclusion on Purpose.

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

Click here for more about Conscious Change

This delightful picture book from librarian/author CarrieAnne (A Natural Alphabet) tells the story of a sweet brown dog who loves nothing more than a good nap on the picnic table, toasting his tummy in the sun. But summer fades, and Brown Dog must also tolerate those less desirable seasons where the wind is cold, the ground is hard (or squishy and wet), and his owners make him brave the elements for those all-important trips outside to potty. Brown Dog's only consolation during those months is a snooze in front of a cozy fire, curled up like a donut. And soon enough, the sun returns, the air is warm, the wind is gentle, and his beloved spot awaits.

As both author and illustrator, CarrieAnne has created a simple, stirring book for small children that charms with its wistful sense of simple pleasures and seasonal changes while inviting new readers with spare, crisp prose and art bursting with canine character. The illustrations, too, tend toward a warm minimalism, the black and white line drawings accented by wonderful bursts of color and capturing well-observed eccentricities of dog movement and behavior. Brown Dog is so lifelike that it’s no surprise that the book is dedicated to the memory of the author's own brown dog, Mr. Buttons, whose photo, like the illustrations, inspire that surge of companionable pleasure that comes with saying “good boy” to a favorite furry companion. The storytelling, meanwhile, encourages empathy for pets in the face of inclement weather, while gently demystifying the cycles of seasons.

Brown Dog is a lovely, gentle offering for young readers and the grown ups lucky enough to read to them, demonstrating that joy is infectious across species. It's a quiet book for quiet moments spent sharing a story and a cuddle, maybe with the family dog curled up close by.

Takeaway: Warm, wonderfully observed story of a dog experiencing the seasons.

Comparable Titles: Luca Tortolini’s My Dog and I, Paul Meisel’s My Happy Year by E. Bluebird.

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

Click here for more about Brown Dog

Concerned with “the grand symphony of time,” honoring “the departed with a heavy heart,” and the “eternal, unwavering glow” of hope, Parihar’s lyric poetry collection debut moves between considerations of existential and cosmic phenomena. Parihar explores themes like grief, time, relativity, displacement, and strength rising from disappointment. While the verses themselves hold to a set form of AABB quatrains, the structure of The Poems and the Poet generally leaves it to readers to discover throughlines between the 38 selections, though at times the poems overlap and reflect each other, like companion verses “The Poem” and “The Poet,” “The Wilted Dew Drops,” and “The Wilted Flowers.” The latter speaks to the poetic balance in nature’s ephemeral cycles: “Each bloom, a poem penned in hues, // A vibrant anthem, a life to infuse. // Yet, petals now droop, in a silent plea, // Wilted flowers, a whispering elegy.”

Parihar’s collection is abundant with such poignant lines, often on the subjects of life and death, as the poet urges readers to “honor the body in decay” and “listen to the eternal song.” Another unifying theme is perseverance amid hardship, with special regard for displaced people, as noted in a dedication “to the disappointments of the displacement” and a trio of displacement poems illuminating lives on “a journey of longing” with “Their spirits unbroken / their hope not withdrawn” despite being umoored “In a world that offers no serenity.” Parihar’s “The Displaced Souls” digs into the immigrant and refugee experience, celebrating resilience born of adversity.

Like the collection as a whole, this poem, urgent in empathy, speaks to the poet’s conception of a universal balance operating within the phenomenon of suffering and beyond; disappointment is countered by wonder, “for in the balance of light and dark, // We find the beauty of the cosmic spark,” and poetry is a means of putting this duality to practice.

Takeaway: Thoughtful, richly human collection exploring death, displacement, and more.

Comparable Titles: Claude McKay’s “After the Winter,” Sun Yung Shin’s “Immigrant Song”

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

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Blending comedy and moral weight, this sun-kissed picaresque from Kurian (author of The Sunlight Lies Beyond) charts the journey of John Balkus into the Ibiz of the late 1980, where John, the rare American to visit the bohemian island, embarks on a quest to find his long lost friend Gunther. Along the way, John also bumps into eccentric characters who become friends, foes, and possibly guides toward something greater—he’s “entrapped in rigid Western thought” and “patterns that have ruined your life,” a tiny German swami tells him, and among hippies and seekers, gurus and frauds, he encounters a Beverly Hills widow, a homeless sculptor, an international DJ and, most crucially, an American named Angela, escaping “the doldrums of widowhood” with parties, dinners, seances, and more.

A New York hedge funder for the last 15 years, John discovered that “hell occupies one of the upper floors.” He knows that finding Gunther—whom he had abandoned mid-way in his youth in order to pursue his career—and likewise rediscovering his own past promise means comprehending this elusive, surprising island. Still, he makes an uneasy fit among the compounds, vineyards, harvest celebrations, kayak voyages, and nude beaches packed with baking bodies. He hopes to reconcile with Gunther, whom he had abandoned years before to pursue a career, but even though Gunther is fondly known throughout the island it’s been a while since anyone’s actually seen him. Meanwhile, the many spirited colloquies push John to face questions about the state of his soul.

Each meeting and situation, described with sumptuous prose and brisk, searching dialogue, also reveals something about Ibiza that either unsettles or awes John. Kurian conjures wonders, like the beautiful beach of Cala Salada and the mysterious mountain Es Vedrá, the novel edging at times toward a travelogue, albeit with an interest in romance, transcendence, and mysteries of the heart. The love story is sweet, but it's the male friendships—both between John and Gunther, and then John and Andre—that prove the richest.

Takeaway: Sumptuous novel of Ibiza, friendship, and recovering one’s soul.

Comparable Titles: Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible, Gayl Jones’s The Birdcatcher.

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

Click here for more about The Canticle of Ibiza

This unconventional and clever title from Gilbert seeds inspirational lessons from her “MyNine Ways” path into a fictional story in which the protagonist, Naomi, a corporate change manager in England, reeling from the death of her partner. Naomi asks “How could things have gone so wrong?” before happening upon the author’s book, finding within it guidance to help set her life on track.Using Gilbert’s Nine Ways—Leading, Partnering, Creating, Building, Transforming, Nurturing, Seeking, Managing, and Giving—Naomi begins a process of transformation, guided by Gilbert’s advice, exercises, tools, and mantras, like “BEST,” which stands for Be Empty, Still and Thoughtful.

Gilbert’s method focuses on small changes, finding what works, adapting when it doesn’t, celebrating contentment as success, and staying connected. The fiction offers a personal, relatable way to outline this, showing the work it takes to change as Wholly Naomi charts Naomi’s progression through the Ways, including breathing and visualization exercises, journaling, and more. Naomi’s attempts, some more successful than others, to achieve facets of each Way find her striving to balance mind, body, and spirit and reach contentment in the moment. Drawing upon the symbolic shapes of numbers one through nine and encounters with individuals who embody the lessons of each Way, Naomi is led from her dependence upon alcohol toward new habits and ways of thinking.

The storytelling is brisk and inviting, and readers who find more traditional self-help books impersonal may enjoy this take on the power of habits to make lasting life changes, especially as Gilbert acknowledges in the narrative the reality of setbacks. Woven throughout Naomi’s story is the parallel tale of an anthropomorphized ginger kitten who gets separated from his family and, after a brief encounter outside a liquor store, feels somehow connected to Naomi. The kitten is a metaphor for tenets of the Ways but also representative of one of a symbol Gilbert introduces early: a circle. The story reflects this in the shared fate of both characters.

Takeaway: Inspiring guide to making positive change in life, written in narrative.

Comparable Titles: James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Katy Milkman’s How to Change.

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

Click here for more about Wholly Naomi

Nalven’s debut, thirty years in the crafting, offers a compelling exploration of a homicide detective’s life and work, as Rafael Mikozy—a man of complex heritage surprised when anyone pronounces his name correctly—investigates a series of deaths connected to a mysterious poison or toxin, alongside a young professor, Lisa Liu-Smythe, in a diverse and vividly drawn Los Angeles. Poisonade’s streets abound with Chinese tacos, multi-lingual street signs that are “a kaleidoscope of history,” mysterious businesses whose sources of profit are stubbornly unclear, and nostalgic cafes whose old-Hollywood celebrity iconography suggests “the new paganism” and the impulse to “bend your knees and pray to LA.” As he struggles to find time to read a seemingly crucial manuscript provided by Deputy Inspector Tomlinson, Mikozy and medical examiner Leslie Cianfrancuso (LC) face military interest in the case, and Nalven explores Mikozy's introspective moments, delving into his past and his contemplations on race, society, and the challenges of police work.

The plot turns on Mikozy—”that crazy street philosopher who knows way too much to be a cop”—uncovering the existence of an AI known as Distributed Integrated Terminal (DIT) and facing layered questions about the influence of Artificial Intelligence on law enforcement. As the case becomes a matter of national security, Nalven immerses readers into Mikozy's world, expertly balancing the complexities of forensic work with personal and professional challenges, plus surprises like the work of Jack London playing a key role. The author maintains narrative authenticity by engaging Mikozy in a myriad of tasks alongside the main investigation, attentive to Los Angeles streets, people, and the city’s history and restless, ever-shifting present.

That literary richness means that readers eager for procedural thrills may find the pace (and occasional page-long paragraphs) frustrating. But Nalven’s literary mystery smartly weaves together elements of romance, culture, and striking insights into technology, police work, and the city in which Mikozy was raised, with ample interest and empathy for a sweeping supporting cast.

Takeaway: Vivid, literary L.A. mystery plunging into a changing city’s heart.

Comparable Titles: David L. Ulin’s Thirteen Question Method, Naomi Hirahara’s Summer of the Big Bachi.

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

Click here for more about Poisonade

Dreiling plunges readers into the heartland fentanyl epidemic in the gripping second installment of the Debbie Bradley Mysteries, as St. Louis is shaken by Caleb Webb's death by overdose after a 60-day rehab. Signs point to the presence of fentanyl in the drug, and Caleb’s childhood friend Macie Holloway—a chemist major with a history of heroin use—stands as the prime suspect, as she was present at the scene. Enter Debbie, a journalist-podcaster known as the Crime Beat Girl, daring to investigate the lethal drug's source and uncovering Dardos Venenosos, a sprawling paramilitary drug cartel that has infiltrated the Midwest—and more dangerous, Debra knows, “than black ice” or the deadly frog that gives the novel its title.

While Debbie remains the centrifugal force and a bold and engaging lead, the lives of a host of characters are given emphasis and empathy in perspective chapters, resulting in a novel more rich than in many protagonist-focused procedurals: young adults Macie, Connor, and Caleb and their world of narcotics and self-destructive secrets; lawyers and detectives; cartel worker José Rodrigo, missing a finger and desperate to save his family. Dreiling dismantles simple views of drug crimes and addiction, revealing human frailty and brokenness. "The truly courageous man was the one who clung to kindness in the face of savagery," Dreiling writes of how José retains his morality despite his association with cartel operations in Mexico and Missouri.

This taut, chilling novel captures, with sharp edges and spirit of humanity, the inner workings of cops, reporters, lawyers, and detectives in the fight against trafficking, while remaining attentive to the everyday reality of drugs destroying lives and family relationships. “Rich. Poor. It doesn’t matter,” pone character notes. “Addiction doesn’t care about income levels.” Dreiling has crafted a potent blend of suspense, drama, strong local color, and emotional exploration of grief and blame, not flinching or sensationalizing her subject while still offering hope for a slice of justice.

Takeaway: High-stakes Midwestern drug-crime thriller, with humane emphasis.

Comparable Titles: Tricia Fields’s The Territory, Amy Pease’s Northwoods.

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

Click here for more about The Poison Dart: A Debbie Bradley Mystery

Munck’s inspiring memoir reveals his tumultuous childhood, military service in the U.S. Marines, and later work in ministry—starting in youth ministry and later planting a church. In turns vulgar and moving, Munck shares how his difficult relationship with his father, who was an addict, shaped his childhood, and how his competitive drive was fed in both high school football and the marines. Munck came to a true faith in Jesus through the intervention of his then girlfriend, now wife, Kymbry, and others and then grew in his faith and leadership, eventually moving from a part-time pastoral role to a full-time one. The Guide shares stories from Munck’s life, including some jolting ones of enduring abuse, and lessons that he derives from it for the reader from his life and scripture.

Munck shares his story with sincerity, though unprepared readers may be surprised by his frankness, from early experimentation with masturbation, adolescent drug use, and teenage sexual exploits. His transparency is deeply affecting when he addresses his military service in the Gulf War, the difficult things he saw and the impact of consequential PTSD. The photos that Munck periodically includes offer clarifying context, and the “Guiding Thought” lessons he offers at the end of each chapter manage to connect stories of, say, drunken “surfing” in the back of a pickup on L.A.’s 405 highway, with Biblical precepts and thoughts about living with purpose.

Munck led a difficult childhood and young adulthood and through great determination made it through poverty, a parent struggling with addiction and personal anger issues.This memoir is a powerful collection of stories of how he did that with the help of his community and God, and his attempt to share a guide for readers (and his children) to not make the same mistakes that he did. Now he is a pastor, father who clearly loves and respects his children, and a leader within his community. Readers looking for a moving story of perseverance and growth from a marine-turned-pastor will appreciate this memoir.

Takeaway: A former Marine’s revealing journey to faith.

Comparable Titles: Owen R. Chandler’s A Bridge in Babylon, and Joey Svendsen’s Fundamentalist.

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

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Set in a Texas where “the bland, khaki shades of drought punished the landscape,” Jimerson’s second cowboy-inflected detective thriller finds Ranger-turned-independent-sleuth E.J. Kane facing off with a terrifying former adversary seeking an exit from prison: white supremacist gang leader and murderer, G..H. Burton, who is attempting to gin up evidence of his innocence—and punish those who convicted him. Kane must work with his ex wife, the hard nosed lawyer Rebecca Johnson, and law enforcement officials skeptical of their disgraced former colleague, to prove that Burton is guilty not only of the crimes with which he was charged but others ongoing right into the present. Burton seems to have inside help, possibly including a DA and a powerful politico.

Jimerson's protagonist is a multi-faceted, decorated hero with a complicated past and his own personal and professional demons as he works to outsmart a cunning enemy. Dealing with the trauma of his son's death and his daughter's drug addiction, Kane is movingly divided between his professional obligations and the impossible hope of righting the wrongs in his personal life. Jimerson seamlessly incorporates gritty violence, bursts of action, and an unsettling feeling of not being sure who to trust with compelling glimpses of Kane’s home life and personal relationships. “Grown men building their lives on the simplistic moral codes of Don Quixote-style heroes,” Kane muses, at one point, contemplating the popularity of a Walker, Texas Hero. Jimerson, in contrast, digs deeper into the hard choices and human costs of heroism without slowing the pace or skimping on explosive twists.

The prose is crisp, sometimes biting, with sharp dialogue, strong local color, and a vivid feel for scrub, mud, trucks, and cottonmouths. But it’s Kane’s wit, intellect, and no-nonsense attitude that make him a cowboy detective readers will root for until the satisfying ending, that, for all the bullets and corruption, pulses with a hopeful spirit.

Takeaway: Fast-paced, character-rich thriller of Texas justice.

Comparable Titles: Jon Land’s Strong to the Bone, Craig Johnson’s Longmire series.

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

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There’s a clear-cut villain in Kaufman’s coming-of-age fantasy, a figure so loathsome to reluctant warrior Zhen that even when she doubts her abilities, her resolve proves unflagging in their eleventh-hour battle strengthens her resolve—as does her belief in the future. Despite the generic title, The Gold Mystery Adventure takes a distinctive approach to dystopian fiction by focusing on the last-ditch efforts to avoid environmental calamity on Odyssey, a planet with surprising connections to Earth. The bucolic forest community of Brix was transformed into a forced labor camp when Razor arrived three years ago, and her brutal regime is maintained by mechanical enforcers called drokes.

Her massive factories spew toxic sludge into the waterways, threatening the underwater city of Genus, where Zhen’s father, Kosni, is chief engineer. The black plumes of runoff distress Zhen, but she’s driven to action by the disappearance of her mother Cyna and uncle (the inventive Professor Mars) during their investigation of Razor’s origins. Zhen has no superpowers, but she’s athletic, observant, determined, and resourceful, and the way she comes to appreciate her value will resonate with young readers who are at the same point of self-discovery. She also learns about Cyna’s history with brothers Kosni and Mars, seeing how youthful decisions affect adult lives.

Kaufman creates an impressive series of action set pieces to test Zhen’s mettle, but some stylistic choices, like formal language and an abundance of modifiers, at times slow down the narrative momentum. But the inspired elements, like an amused narrative voice (“Another planet, another riot”), surprises like dolphin rides, and the scheming of the gloriously Machiavellian tech messiah Razor, demonstrate a fertile creativity and a real love of the genre. Especially engaging is Kaufman’s sense of hope and friendship. With so much young adult fantasy geared to post-apocalyptic survival, the quest to reverse a catastrophic course in The Gold Mystery Adventure offers a welcome dose of hope.

Takeaway: A young heroine fights for a healthy planet in this inventive eco-adventure.

Comparable Titles: Paul Dixon’s Starfall, Maris Noelle’s The Unadjusteds.

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

Click here for more about The Gold Mystery Adventure

Skinning a knee can be a scary and painful experience, but Gandhi’s enlightening picture book for young children reveals the protective science behind this ubiquitous right of passage. Mayu and his older sister Nimi are racing their bikes down the street, and Mayu loses his balance and tumbles to the ground. As Nimi rushes to his side, tears fill his eyes as he observes his bloodied knee. Nimi comforts him and reminds him what their mother always says: “The pain is just the start of the healing process. There’s an army of protectors under our skin. I bet they’ve already started keeping you safe!”

From there the story zooms in on the microscopic events happening beneath Mayu’s skin. The leader is Captain T, the helper cell, who explains the injury and initiates different immune responses designed to protect Mayu from infection. Like tiny, blob-like warriors, different cells such as neutrophils, platelets, and macrophages work together to seal off the wound and fight harmful bacteria, clearly demonstrating the body’s multifaceted response to different threats. Notably, the kids in this story are not wearing bicycle helmets, a missed opportunity to help normalize basic safety gear kids can use to protect themselves.

Tamika Bramwell’s colorful illustrations depict the immune heroes as grinning, wide-eyed, alien-like creatures with a variety of wacky characteristics like green, squiggly hair and long, spiky legs that mimic their true-to-life appearance. The single-minded cells talk to each other and work together to keep out the bacteria, which have between one and three eyes and tiny teeth and multiply rapidly. As Mayu’s body fights the intruders, his face relaxes, and soon he is again ready to play. Showing cells and bacteria in this way will keep kids engaged while also introducing them to the fascinating science of the human immune system.

Takeaway: Enlightening picture book reveals the science behind the human immune system.

Comparable Titles: Steve Haines’s Pain Is Really Strange, Judith Wolf Mandell’s Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing Cast That Fixed It.

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

Click here for more about Immune Heroes

Clarie shines a light on the history of the coastal towns of New Hampshire with seventeen short biographies of summer residents of note at Rye Beach, the Farragut Hotel (the subjects of Clarie’s earlier study Oceanside History at Rye Beach and the Farragut), Little Boar's Head, and more, with an emphasis on the late 19th and early 20th century. That's when the wealthy—including major business people, artists, performers, and political figures like presidential son and secretary of war Robert Todd Lincoln—frequented and built stunning resorts, mansions, arts institutions, and clubs along this stretch of the Atlantic.

This survey starts out strong with an extended history of the Studebaker family and the automobile business they ran for decades, with Clarie’s telling intertwining local and national history with a compelling account of a burgeoning family dynasty. Contemporary press accounts, clarifying historical context, and Clarie’s love for period detail—“Paper lampshades of all colors lit up one corner of the hall like huge blossoms” lit up one corner of the Farragut Casino in 1899—bring life to the milieu, and Clarie throughout documents the construction and utility of Rye Beach landmarks, like the Lincoln-affiliated (and now long gone) Gates Ajar home, in North Hampton, and Norman Williams’ nearby colonial mansion, dubbed “one of the finest specimens of that school [of] architecture that can be seen anywhere” in the New Hampshire Agricultural Report 1907-08.

Clarie brings a strong local focus to the material—there’s much here about the Abenaqui Golf Club, organized in 1897, and its tournaments—but also follows his subjects into the world. A chapter on E. Lansing Ray, a St. Louis newspaper man who invested in Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight and made a summer home out of the former Rye Beach Inn, boasts fascinating material about Ray’s trip England and France at the end of the first world war, and a surprising number of pages on Lindbergh’s flight. While at times discursive, Clarie’s brisk histories are rich with insight, surprises, and striking detail.

Takeaway: Historical survey of homes and lives of coastal New Hampshire’s “summer people.”

Comparable Titles: Lewis T. Karabatsos’s Rye and Rye Beach, Robert C. Gilmore’s Seacoast New Hampshire.

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

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Boyd, a pseudonym for author Carrie Rubin (Fatal Rounds), crafts an artful dual perspective mystery that begins in 1853, when Catherine Miller, one of the first formally trained female doctors in the United States, graduates medical school in Cleveland, Ohio. Shortly after commencement, Catherine is murdered, simply because she was bold enough to study medicine as a woman. When her body is never discovered, her murderer goes free, leaving Constable Whitaker—in charge of solving her disappearance—stymied. Following her death, Catherine is reincarnated as an oak tree, cognizant of her murder but unable to communicate with the world around her. For 170 years, she stands as a passive observer to the world’s changes, all while desperate to solve the mystery of her own death.

A contemporary dual storyline follows homicide detective Lani Whitaker—who in many ways mirrors Catherine’s achievements, as she was one of the first female officers in Cleveland—while she combs through field notes left by her great-grandfather, Constable Whitaker, recounting Catherine’s unsolved disappearance. Boyd subtly connects the two women over time, hitting on the struggles they’ve both faced while fighting to be accepted in male-dominated professions against larger societal attitudes toward women, both in Catherine’s 19th century dealings and Lani’s contemporary crime solving efforts.

Boyd’s emotional language ably captures both relatable female leads, and the suspense builds as the women’s stories intertwine into a multiple mystery fallout, merging both historical and contemporary crimes alongside Catherine’s fears that her tree form is slowly dying, prompting her desperation for justice before it’s too late. Added to that mix is Mark Carver—present day owner of the land next to Catherine’s tree—and his growing cruelty, combined with dangerous secrets he’s determined to hide, with Lani hot on his trail. Amid the capers, Boyd touches on the humanity and understated power of the natural world, before delivering Catherine a respectful and satisfying ending.

Takeaway: Two barrier-breaking women fight for justice across generations.

Comparable Titles: Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time.

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

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