“Call me Herman.” Such a commandment could come from only one writer, Herman Melville, who stands at the center of Fresán’s narrative. Occupying much of that space, too, albeit in sometimes spectral form, is Melville’s father, Allan Melvill (the -e a typo that his son, the victim of a bureaucrat’s pen, stuck with, even as, […]
On a snowy school night, a child narrator is picked up from his mom’s place. Daddy is there with his old, rusty car and telltale frayed black knit cap (“his crown”). The duo hop in the car together and head to Grandma’s house. The slightly somber car ride introduces some familial tension (“Don’t matter what […]
Boston-based jazz lover and alcoholic Elder Darrow owns a bar—the Esposito—but he’s been slowly losing his passion for the business, and the drinking is starting to catch up with him. When Elder’s best friend, Boston police detective Dan Burton, is gunned down in what appears to be a random liquor store robbery, Elder barely has […]
Leah Covington, on her way home from the restaurant she runs with her uncle in Oklahoma City, survives a frightening assault. The assailant lands in jail, but Leah’s social life, even months later, has yet to recover. When she finally goes out with her little sister, Kayla, Leah reunites with the muscular, handsome police officer […]
Tess Rosenbloom hasn’t had much of a life recently. Working the night shift at a Brooklyn hotel helps her manage the chronic insomnia she’s been dealing with ever since a traumatic experience caused her to drop out of grad school. The only escape she’s had through her biggest ups and downs are her favorite vampire […]
Only two children have survived attempts to bring viable embryos to the new world: Owl, who yearns to explore much like her aunt Minerva, from whom she was cloned, and sensitive, steady Yarrow, who has “no blood relations.” Upon turning 16, Yarrow starts acting oddly, but the threat of a comet strike takes priority, and […]
In 1976, as the United States celebrated its bicentennial, Morris found herself alone on a hilltop at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge near Seneca Falls, New York, playing “Mother Eagle” to two bald eaglets. She had been selected to participate in a program to reintroduce bald eagles into the state. Following the ravaging effects on […]
Sixteen-year-old Eirene and her twin, Phoebe, who have light brown skin and curly black hair, live in Zakynthos, a town controlled by Leandros, a descendant of Eros. Women there are manipulated by Leandros’ Desires, magic that seemingly brainwashes them into being under their husbands’ control. After Alexandra, Leandros’ 18-year-old wife, dies suddenly and mysteriously, he […]
Twelve-year-old Jax Freeman is an unwilling transplant to Chicago, sent away from his Raleigh, North Carolina, home by his parents after an incident lands him in the juvenile justice system. Just about as soon as he descends from the train, the weirdness starts: Inanimate objects speak to him, a strange old woman tells him his […]
When Crystal Giordano, who’s Puerto Rican and Italian American, recognizes new student Aaron Fortin as the Speaker—the masked streamer her friends obsessively follow—she blurts out that fact at their lunch table, not realizing the havoc that will follow her revelation. Aaron insinuates himself into the friend group, easily winning over “Extremely Online” Harmony and standoffish […]