In this story told from the perspective of a young child, a small town gathers for the masquerade—a West African event where people don masks representing ancestors, spirits, or deities. This masquerade, however, is different for our young protagonist—it’s the first one without Grandpa. Taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells, the child recalls …
Three of the men died in suspicious accidents, one of a drug overdose, another under a train, and another in a bathtub. Determined to score an interview with the assumed murderer, who is in a detention center awaiting a second trial, Rika overcomes the woman’s refusals by expressing great interest in food. To further gain …
“We who dream / mark time by the moon, / a heavenly body containing multitudes, whose many faces mirror our own.” Writing in verse, Ho notes the diversity of the Asian American community. She alludes to the many reasons that people took the risk of immigrating to America: the wounds of colonization, unfair labor practices, …
Arthur, a small bear, is friends with Eddie, an ostrich. After Arthur asks Eddie why he doesn’t fly, Eddie explains that he wasn’t taught. Solicitous Arthur decides to play teacher. He enjoys giving lectures and illustrates aeronautical principles on a chalkboard. Next, Arthur instructs Eddie to flap his wings, but nothing doing. More lessons ensue. …
Doris Day Anderson is like many other 61-year-old women—aside from the fact that she recently solved a murder. Doris has sworn to put her nosy tendencies to rest ever since. However, when she takes an afternoon to go ice fishing with her sisters, Rose and Grace, Doris gets more than she bargained for when the …
A younger sibling has an older—and much cooler—sister. “I want her friends to be my friends. I want her things to be my things,” the child tells us. But “she wants her friends to be her friends. She wants her things to be her things.” When the two fight, the younger child retreats and writes …
“So, being apart happens.” Despite a page design best described as utilitarian, this series entry offers clingy young readers and their concerned parents both a reassuring message and some helpful tools for getting past the angst. Huebner offers a lengthy catalog of animal parents who, much like human ones, “go to great lengths to keep …
After 12-year-old Cameron Poole arrives at Camp Pontchartrain in Louisiana, his anxiety kicks in. Last summer, he and his friends in the Order of the Stones (Karl MacArthur, Leonard O’Malley, Elisa Jarreau, and Bobby Longbottom)battled to save Earth from Malphas, the Demon Lord of Agartha. Now, Cameron sees sinister images in the trees: “A shadow …
This slim, artful novel by Prufer, a poet, imagines a world consumed by a peculiar viral phenomenon—communities are struck by the “Sinaloan condition,” mysterious but brief attacks that force people to collectively nod off for a minute or more. Tornado sirens have been repurposed to sound the alarm when the “sleeps” are coming, but they …
Unsuspecting sailors aboard the USS Eldridge in 1943 are the subjects of an experiment conducted by the United States Navy in which their ship physically disappears then reappears; the experiment goes awry, killing many and wounding several others, including Third Mate Peter Smithwick, whose legs must be amputated at the knees. The narrative flashes forward …
