Nora Frost and her mum are “fine.” Mum’s PTSD from her work as a paramedic means sometimes she has bad days where she stays in bed. Nora has distanced herself from her friends rather than have to explain and face their pity—she doesn’t need any help. At least, that’s what she keeps telling herself and […]
Boaz’s novel opens two weeks after George’s mother, Louise, vanished from Willow, New Mexico. In the year or so before her disappearance, George and their girlfriend, Truley, had been living with Louise in her home. Cobbling together part-time jobs, the two semi-adrift 20-somethings pursued their creative pursuits while Louise, a native New Yorker and former […]
In this short, somewhat whimsical tale, two very different men meet in a ward for patients with mental illness: a short Jewish man named Josh with a brown beard, and Nick,a big-bellied fellow with white whiskers. Josh was just committed by paramedics because he was found wandering in traffic after breaking up with his boyfriend; […]
Cooper Stanley is a gifted young stage magician whose father, an electrician named Eddie, taught him all he knew about the craft, creating a strong father-son bond. But when Eddie (whose magical alter ego was the Great Eduardo) suddenly and tragically dies, Cooper struggles with his volatile emotions. Although he tries to internalize his grief, […]
Nel’s interest in the picture book Harold and the Purple Crayon began five decades ago, when he encountered the book as a child. In the ensuing decades, he not only wrote a biography of the book’s author, Crockett Johnson, but also aspired to write the current volume, which he calls “a biography of a book.” […]
Drawing on considerable archival sources, journalist Gorton creates an informative history of the fight for women’s reproductive rights in her dual biography of activists Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) and Mary Ware Dennett (1872-1947). Dennett came to the cause from her personal experience of accidental pregnancies and birth trauma; Sanger, from work as a visiting nurse among […]
Born in Kentucky, the Bean brothers—James, Samuel, Joshua, and Roy—were living emblems of westward expansion. All possessed, to varying degrees, something of the rule-evading, even lawless ethos of the Anglo conquest, from outright murder to the mere gaming of the system. Trade brought some brothers west, war others; several thrived in an economy of contraband […]
Growing up in a village where few families believed in educating their daughters, Umm Kulthum (1898-1975), who was named after a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, defied expectations early by memorizing the Qur’an. Described as “no ordinary girl,” she became known across the countryside for her resonant voice. She appears here with a large head […]
Serious, unflappable Mariel Hartley-Hood has a lot to live up to as Captain of the Merry Men. Her father is Commander Hartley, and she’s the granddaughter of Robin Hood himself. Her ragtag team is on the right track until a botched kidnapping lands her with a very annoying (and distractingly cute) captive: Clemence Causey. Clem […]
Several teams of Pine Hills, Ohio, residents are working to solve a fake murder that’s part of an event directed by Oliver Quick. One of the teams includes a real police detective, John Buchannan; another includes coffee shop owner Krissy Hancock, who’s already solved several murders, much to Buchannan’s annoyance. Originally, Oliver was going to […]