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JINGLE BELL JOY

This charming homage to Christmas-preparation merriment is expressed through simple, four-line verses as various animal families, friends, and neighbors are depicted gaily getting ready for the holiday. Each verse seamlessly incorporates a boldfaced, italicized word or phrase drawn from the lyrics of one of 14 well-known Christmas songs, including “Deck the Halls” and “Joy to the World.” These songs are listed in the back of the book, and readers may access the full lyrics to all the carols via

JUSTICE KETANJI

As befitting a tribute to a potential role model who has only recently become a national figure (though Ketanji Brown Jackson’s legal career began in 1996), the focus here is less on her specific achievements and decisions than early influences—particularly her father (“ ‘You can do anything. You can be anything,’ he told his bright-eyed brown daughter”)—and insights into her character as she went from high school class president to U.S. district judge on the way to taking a seat on our highest

ANY OTHER CITY

Lead singer and guitarist of Static Saints, Tracy has divided her two personal epochs into Sides A and B, locating her firmly on a wry, lo-fi, then-and-now Gen X axis where reality can bite. Or as she says, “I felt like a hot aging punk dyke and realized that maybe I was a hot aging punk dyke.” Side A has an un-deadnamed Tracy chronicling first love and loss with Astrid while living in an unnamed city, alone until falling in with a dazzling coven of trans artists. In Side B she’s back in the sa

THE GREAT TEXAS DRAGON RACE

Cassidy lives on her family’s dragon ranch in Texas with her Grandma Lynn and her Pa; her mother, the first woman to win the Great Texas Dragon Race, was killed by a Texas coral viper. When a representative from massive energy company FireCorp, who cruelly use dragons for oil production, offers to buy their ranch, Cassidy seizes her chance to save it—and their rescue dragons—by entering the race. With hospitalized Gran’s signature on the application (but without Pa’s permission), Cassidy and he

SING, MEMORY

Drawing on abundant archival sources, Paris-based journalist Eyre makes his book debut with a well-researched dual biography of two men who brought the consolation of music to the Nazi concentration camp at Sachsenhausen: Polish nationalist and amateur musician Aleksander Kulisiewicz (1918-1982) and Jewish choral conductor Rosebery D’Arguto (1890-1942). Although Aleks, as he’s referred to throughout, had been a member of antisemitic groups as a young man, he later renounced those views. After G

JUST A FLING

Entering a conference room, Dawn Mathison is shocked to see Callan Marlowe, a solar energy entrepreneur apparently doing business with the New York City law firm where she works while studying for the bar exam and paying off student loan debt. Dawn calls her best friend, Jane, who still lives in hometown Canton, Alabama, and who refers to Callan as “your hot but emotionally unavailable British fuckwad.” Callan then appears at Dawn’s desk, noting he is surprised to see her, too. The narrative pr

WISH SOUP

It is Seollal, and Sohee is thrilled that this year, she’ll become an eonni, or older sister, which means she’s old enough to stop hanging out with her younger sister, Somi, and baby cousins and can instead help the adults get ready for the celebration. After the children bow to the elders and receive gifts “of money and wisdom,” everyone is given a bowl of tteokguk—as Sohee’s harabeoji says, “We get one year older for every bowl we eat!” Sohee is determined to eat her bowl of tteokguk to cemen

MINDSTUCK

“Our perceptions of value may be unconscious,” writes the author, a corporate conference circuit veteran, “but they are extraordinarily powerful.” Once we have an established notion of something, he observes, we tend to color subsequent impressions with that idea, and changing this perspective can be seemingly impossible. McQueen has spent two decades researching trends and technology, and he’s consistently returned to the same question: What stops people from changing, even when they know they

INDIANA BONES AND THE INVISIBLE CITY

Though the villainous Sir Henry Lupton, self-styled “the Serpent,” and his oily associate, Philip Castle, seem always a step ahead, the plucky pooch and allies, including young “kick-ass archaeologist” Aisha Ghatak—dubbed the “Good Team” lest readers somehow confuse the sides (not likely)—travel from the catacombs of Paris to an underwater cave near Marseille. But it’s on the remote Orkney Isle of Skara Brae where the adventure comes to an end amid just deserts, family reunions, and, as promise

THERE ARE DINOSAURS IN THE LIBRARY!

Alyssa loathes the library, and she’s skeptical when her teacher, Mrs. Barker, asserts that there are dinosaurs there. During a class visit to the library, Mrs. Barker pulls out a book about the prehistoric creatures. Alyssa initially scoffs at this, but when the teacher opens the book, a stegosaurus leaps out and begins to eat the library’s plants. Each time Mrs. Barker turns the page, a different herbivorous dino emerges to frolic with the kids. Alyssa wants to try it herself, so she grabs th

MURDER IN AN ITALIAN VILLAGE

To the Positanesi, Bria Bartolucci, who grew up in neighboring Ravello, might as well have been from Australia. But when her husband, Carlo, announced he was buying a bed-and-breakfast in the seaside town, Bria was swept up in his enthusiasm for the unexpected but welcome adventure. Now, a year later, Bria’s on the verge of unveiling Bella Bella, although without Carlo, who was killed in a plane crash. Her determination to open despite her loss is a tribute to her love for Carlo and her desire

WORDS LINED UP

The core theme of this poetry collection is identity; in a poem titled after the first-person singular, “I,” the speaker concludes “I am/ Just…I.” The poems leading to this revelation trace the speaker’s quest to find out who he is, who he is meant to be, and who he is meant to be with. The speaker is biracial, with “the white side/the black side,”and his experience of identity is one in which he tries to reconcile his two lineages and reckon with what it means to be a biracial man in America.

I AM ON THE HIT LIST

In September 2017, Gauri Lankesh, a self-described “activist-journalist,” was killed at her home in Bangalore. Her assassination sparked protests and drew international attention to India’s rising culture of intolerance. Following years of reporting on southern India for the New Yorker and New York Times Magazine, Romig uses the story of Lankesh’s life and work, her murder and its investigation, to track India’s risky path from the “world’s largest democracy,” known for its religious plurality,

NOAH'S NOT SO SUPER SUMMER

Twenty years after the “Super phenomenon,” when the antibiotics used to treat a lethal stomach parasite that infected much of the world’s population had unexpected DNA side effects, Lincoln City is filled with mutated animals and superhumans—some of them heroes and some of them villains. Twelve-year-old Noah Reagan, a regular human, has big plans for his summer break: avoid the school bullies and take part in the “Summer with Supers Youth Program.” Off to a bad start, with the bullies after him

ALL GOOD IN THE HOOD

Mom, Dad, and Big Bro are ready to walk to the center of town for the big celebration, but the narrator, Lil’ Bro, feels more comfortable and safe at home. Reluctantly, he joins the family and slowly begins to come out of his shell. He wants to play basketball, and with Big Bro’s encouragement, the other kids let him play. When the ball flies into the street, Big Bro pulls Lil’ Bro out of the path of a truck just in time. At the park, the celebration is noisy and overwhelming, but Big Bro helps

THE HONOLULU SITUATION

Jefir Zaqq lives a simple life in Taboor City, Zazaristan, a (fictional) Islamic nation in Central Asia that’s experienced dizzying shifts in political fortune. Jefir sells melons with his brother, Rahim, but lands himself in trouble one day when he’s stopped at a checkpoint by Bashir Hallazallah, a powerful warden looking to shake him down. Jefir attempts escape, and in the process stabs Hallazallah’s son with a corkscrew, which proves fatal. Now Jefir’s life in Zazaristan is in danger, but wh

WHERE TO START

This offering from a major U.S. mental health nonprofit offers teens an overview of psychological concerns, explains what can be done to address them, and provides self-help tips. An opening list of ways to use the book details its flexibility and adaptability. Next, there are four main sections: The first describes major types of mental health disorders and includes a self-assessment; the second supports readers in reaching out to parents and caregivers; the third is a guide to professional su

DINOSAURS LIKE BANANAS TOO!

One night, a boy named Logan gazes out the window and wishes “he had someplace exciting to be.” Suddenly, he’s shaken out of his reverie by a T. rex hatching under his bed. Already raring to go, the small dinosaur beckons Logan to follow him, and the pair travel down a “slide of tangled twisty straws” that takes them to a jungle in the boy’s closet, complete with a dancing monkey. After that, the two find a whale singing in the bathtub and a bear painting on Logan’s bedroom-turned-cave walls be

INSPIRED TO ACTION

Readers facing a world full of distressing problems are encouraged to become involved in changemaking. The writer argues that teens have characteristics that make them particularly effective: energy; a willingness to take risks, try new things, and speak out about their passions; and wide-ranging social networks. She begins with stories of 12 young activists, most from the U.S., although three international subjects are included, two from Brazil and one from Uganda. Refreshingly, these are not

THE ROOM WITH EIGHT WINDOWS

Part of former DCI Henry Johnstone recognizes that his battered body just won’t stand up to the rigors of regular police investigations. But from his drafty room in Sir Eamon Barry’s crumbling home, where eight tall windows set in an alcove let in the worst of the wind, his new job cataloging the late scientist’s library seems hardly less strenuous than chasing down criminals. Henry is grateful to his sister, Cynthia, for having arranged his paid occupation once the injury he sustained in his l