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 […]
Hollinghurst’s seventh novel features a narrator who, like his creator, is about 70: David Win—the dark-skinned son of a British woman and a man she met while working as a typist in Burma after World War II—was raised by his mother on her own in provincial England. The story opens with a fairly recent event: […]
The author has spent over a decade teaching her writing method to a variety of audiences, helping to prompt procrastinators or aspiring writers who don’t know how to get started. The steps cover topics including generating ideas; developing characters, settings, and plots; and drafting and revision. Each day’s agenda begins with “warmups,” moves on to […]
World War II had barely ended, writes former Associated Press chief correspondent Petty, when German chancellor Konrad Adenauer declared impatiently, “This sniffing around for Nazis has to stop.” It did, quickly. As Petty notes, 24 major players in the Third Reich were put on trial “on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes […]
Andee Paxton is used to things blowing up…literally. She’s a fireworks designer, and while there aren’t many sparks in her love life, her career is literallly on fire. For 26 years, Andee has been under the impression that her father is Oscar-winning actor Keith Huxley-Beck, a fact she regrettably shared with her coworkers, who enjoy […]
In this heart-stopping sequel to Thieves’ Gambit (2023), Ross, an 18-year-old professional thief, once again finds herself at the whims of the organization, competing in something that’s “less like a gambit, more like a gauntlet” to help their leader retain control after a takeover attempt puts the Quest family at risk. From New Orleans and […]
Prolific picture-book author and illustrator Brett depicts Alice with short black hair, tan skin, and a fur-lined parka, while Lewis Carroll’s well-known characters are recast in new guises: The Cheshire Cat and Queen of Hearts appear as a Smilodon (saber-toothed cat) and snowy owl, respectively. Progressing at a rapid-fire pace, the narrative follows key moments […]
Robin, a nonbinary kid who lives with their uncle Miles, sits alone in the basement, bored and lonely, as they do every night. Suddenly, a “tall figure in a thundery coat” enters: the Cat-Headed Wanderer. The dapper, anthropomorphic feline whisks Robin to a magical purple treehouse filled with mystical characters from Robin’s dreams. Everyone has […]
The author’s recounting of his “psychospiritual growth” follows his story from boyhood to medical school and beyond, detailing his slow introduction to the world of altered consciousness. He recalls the desire to reinforce his “masculine qua masculine credentials” among his peers, his first rum-and-Coke (“I gulp down the rest of the drink,” he writes. “It […]
Bold and ambitious, Miss Harriet Morrow has wrangled herself a position as the first female field operative for the Prescott Detective Agency, quite an experiment for agency principal Theodore Prescott. Maybe it’s her ankles, which Prescott deemed “thick and sturdy” in her interview, but Harriet just isn’t built like other women in the late 1890s, […]