In a prologue, Peter Jay uses the key given to him by his recently deceased father, John, to access a manuscript that “looks beneath the record” with margins “crowded with a single name, written over and over—Mr. Smith.” The narrative then continues in chapters that jump back and forth in time to share the saga […]
After spending a year convalescing, 14-year-old Ella finds herself changed. Her left leg is weak, leaving her with a limp and requiring her to wear a special shoe. Being around a lot of people is overwhelming, which makes crowding into the Underground every night to shelter from air raids nerve-wracking—especially because the tunnels trigger memories […]
Charlie Wags may appear to be an average golden-brown puppy, but he has a very special trick: with a wag of his tail, he can travel the world. In a departure from previous titles, the most recent of which is The Tales of Charlie Wags: London (2025), the Christmas season inspires Charlie to visit several […]
Tergit’s novel, hitherto unavailable in English, is in part a roman à clef, narrated in unadorned, matter-of-fact prose. The Effinger family is a blend of urban and rural, secular and religious, socialist and capitalist, its paterfamilias a watchmaker in a small German town, his children striving to find their places in the world as the […]
This clever mashup includes actual 18th-century women pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny, not to mention Blackbeard’s son, Tobias, legendary pirate Calico Jack, and a whole host of captains (Ahab! Crunch! Hook!). Woebegone mermaid Mary falls in love with a boy she rescues and becomes human to be with him. Alas, he turns out to […]
In humanity’s space-colonizing future, would-be Mars settler Michelle Arensen tries to put the suicide of her father behind her, working with her husband and brother to build a lasting Red Planet base. Suddenly, a bizarre phenomenon engulfs Michelle and other women on the expedition who find themselves held prisoner by faceless, noncommunicative humanoids. After a […]
Noted political scientists Pierson, author of Winner-Take-All Politics, and Schickler, author of Racial Realignment, draw on their extensive scholarship to examine various periods of American history during which polarization was particularly virulent, yet held largely in check until the 1960s by the regional diversity of political mechanisms and institutions of state political parties, media, and […]
Tomorrow marks a momentous occasion for an East Asian–presenting child with pale skin and straight black hair: a musical performance in front of a crowd of people. “But there are thousands of butterflies fluttering in my tummy,” the child tells us. White-outlined butterflies surround the youngster. “I believe in you,” Papa says as he hands […]
Patricia is a middle-aged, single mother whose newlywed only daughter, Ashley, died after being denied a medically necessary abortion. Ashley’s husband, David, is suing Ashley’s doctor, the hospital, and the hospital’s lawyer, Brenda Phillips, who plans to run for office on a conservative, pro-life platform. Patricia plans a more drastic action: murder. But when she […]
This fourth installment of the author’s Ghosted series introduces Anna Benoit, who works as a housekeeper for Max Barone, the owner of a wildly successful jewelry empire in Geneva, Switzerland. For Anna, meeting Max was love at first sight, despite the fact that Max barely seems to register her existence: “Looking at him was like […]