Lara Tupper’s melancholy alternative history combines the romance of visionary, socially outlying artists with down-to-earth events that reveal them as fallible people. "Off Island" reimagines Paul Gauguin’s final year and connects... Read More

"Penny Helps Portia Face Her Fears" is a charming chapter book with friendship at its center. Penny is an adorable pit bull who was abandoned by her original family. She’s set free by a neighbor, but living on the streets, she’s... Read More

Middle school crushes, competitive sports games, and teenage shenanigans play out on Jupiter’s ice moon Europa in Myles Christensen’s "Frozen Secrets". Thirteen-year-old Max and his family move to Europa for his father’s job.... Read More

Soviet Jews faced anti-Zionist actions within the USSR; under pressure from human rights campaigns, they were finally offered opportunities for emigration, though leaving was risky. Poignant and suspenseful, Emil Draitser’s "Farewell,... Read More

Marty Chan’s fascinating "Metamorphosis" takes place in a steampunk, alternate reality version of early twentieth-century New York City, wherein interdimensional travelers and Earth’s natives clash. Ehrich Weisz, a former demon... Read More

Kristian Novak’s "Dark Mother Earth" is a fraught work involving tragedy, mythology, trauma, and history. Set in northern Croatia, the novel follows the tortured memories of a stalled writer, Matija. It begins in present day Zagreb and... Read More

Gunnar Staalesen’s "Wolves at the Door" is a chilling thriller made engrossing thanks to the sarcastic sallying and social conscience of its lead detective. Falsely accused of having child pornography on his computer, private... Read More

The United States is one of three nations that do not offer parental leave to new parents. "Fixing Parental Leave" forwards a viable plan for changing that. Inducing fury as it exposes American workplaces that give lip service to family... Read More