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BIG RIVER

Photographer and biologist Moskowitz and nature writer Pearkes survey, in words and images, the enormous Columbia River Basin, stretching from British Columbia to Nevada and from Montana to the Pacific Ocean, its many rivers now punctuated by dozens of dams. The book opens with an expansive essay by Pearkes on the Basin’s natural and human history, including the ancient geology and glaciology that forged its rugged landscape, the evolution of salmon and their epic upriver migrations from the se

THE MYSTERY OF MYSTIC MOUNTAIN

Becca, who’s nearly 13, had different hopes for her summer, ones that didn’t involve leaving Connecticut to bond with her mom at Get Away Ranch, a Montana resort that promises yoga and cooking classes, a spa and swimming pool, and more. Due to a mix-up, they end up instead at rustic Far Away Ranch, with its spotty internet and more down-to-earth facilities. Meanwhile, Jon, who’s almost 14, is working at the ranch with his dad. He’s heard stories from his great-grandmother about the founding of

VENGEANCE OF THE PIRATE QUEEN

In this stand-alone companion to the Daughter of the Pirate King duology, Queen Alosa asks 18-year-old dark-brown-skinned Sorinda to lead search efforts for a missing vessel in uncharted waters north of the Seventeen Isles. “I’m not who you send to save people,” reflects the austere assassin to herself in hopes that the request will prove to be a playful ruse. Though the queen’s invitation seems in conflict with her hitwoman duties, Sorinda accepts the risky endeavor and subsequently receives a

SOUTH OF SOMEWHERE

Unlike her two older siblings, 12-year-old Mavis has never questioned her lavish life—full of vacations and shopping trips, not to mention a home in one of Chicago’s richest neighborhoods. She also doesn’t doubt her position as the most-favored child, her wildly successful mother’s “mini-me.” Then one day, her mother disappears, and the FBI shows up. With their home seized and bank accounts frozen, Mavis’ stay-at-home dad is forced to beg for help from the once-close sister he’s ignored for the

WE ARE NOT ALONE

Thirteen-year-old Sam Kepler Greyson is dealing with “Big Things™”: His Hodgkin’s lymphoma is in remission, but his best friend, Oscar Padilla, recently died of brain cancer. When Sam returns to school, he’s greeted with hostility—thanks to a rumor spread by “former friend, current jerk” Kevin Bellman, who claims that he lied about having cancer. Moreover, he’s partnered with Cat Pellegrini—whose clique peripherally includes Kevin—for eighth grade’s annual California History Project. To cope, S

IZZY WONG’S NOSE FOR NEWS

Canadian sixth grader Izzy Wong is ready for her next story. An aspiring reporter, she’s been producing podcasts in order to hone her journalism skills. When a bathroom flood ruins everything in Ms. Berenstein’s classroom and several books in the library, Izzy’s sure she can find an angle worth exploring. At first, the flood seems to be the result of pipes that have fallen into disrepair. Soon, however, Izzy discovers that the flood was no accident; all four toilets in the girls’ bathroom were

ASH'S CABIN

Ash has always felt like an outsider, and ever since Grandpa Edwin passed away, that feeling of isolation has only gotten worse. Their parents haven’t fully accepted Ash’s recent name change or newly shorn hair, and school isn’t much better. When Ash learns that their family plans to sell Grandpa Edwin’s old ranch, they come up with a plan: to find Grandpa’s secret cabin in the woods and stay there—forever. They earn money, watch online videos to pick up survival skills, and buy food, gear, and

THIS BOOK IS A MISTAKE!

Finn the Frog usually likes his home on the page to be tidy: No doodles allowed by readers—only pictures by the book’s illustrator, Arthur Lin. But at the beginning of this story, Finn decides to try something different and ask his mostly unseen reader for assistance: “I’ve always wanted to look STRONGER. These arms are so thin, I can barely see them. You think you could help with that?” The results are encouraging and even exciting, so Finn decides to ask for more changes. He requests glasses,

LINGUAPHILE

In her fourth book, Sedivy, a Canadian academic specializing in linguistics and psychology and the author of Memory Speaks and Language in Mind, takes a personal tack, recounting how her life has been focused on the search for the essence of language. She grew up speaking several different tongues, which made her particularly sensitive to the twists and turns of language and how words connect to social conventions and the formation of identities. Eventually, “English would come to dominate all

AQUA BOY

Aaron and his sister, Angel, live by the ocean, where they and their parents serve as ocean guardians, volunteers who take care of the beach. Angel, a strong swimmer for whom the ocean is a second home, has nicknamed herself “Coral Girl,” but Aaron fears going underwater. Mom and Dad reassure him that one day he’ll be ready. Later, a big storm litters the beach with trash, which the ocean guardians clean up. The children fantasize about finding a way “to clean up the ocean for good”: with a hug

FAMILY LORE

Acevedo’s widely anticipated new novel, her first for adults, begins with an oblique bit of magic: Flor, who for her whole life has been able to predict when and how people will die, announces that she will be holding a living wake for herself, and all her siblings are invited (and their children, too). Whether Flor has predicted her own death—or anyone else’s—doesn’t become clear to either the reader or Flor’s family until later. In the meantime, we’re introduced to Flor’s sisters, Matilde, Pa

THE SINGULARITY

This astringent, fuguelike novel by Kurdish-born Swedish author Karam opens with an unnamed woman who’s long been on a desperate search for her missing daughter. She walks the streets of a beach town, haunting a corniche where “The Missing One” worked at a restaurant. When the mother’s efforts prove too futile to bear, she leaps from the edge of the corniche. That incident has a witness, a pregnant tourist whose child will later die in utero. Karam interweaves the stories of the two women, conn

RECIPES FROM MY GARDEN

Nothing stirs a memory quite like an herb fresh from the garden. The deep green color, the smell, the taste; for Maril they bring to mind a lifetime of dishes, from childhood spaghetti to new culinary experiments. There’s mint, the “troublemaker in the garden” seizing “every inch of available space.” Parsley, served as part of the Passover meal and dipped in salt water, “A table ritual for everyone / Our food dipped in tears.” Basil tastes like summer, cilantro like “the universe.” Rosemary gro

OUTSPOKEN

As an adolescent, Afghan physician and humanitarian advocate Samar demonstrated a desire to help others, particularly women stripped of their human rights in her home country under the misogynist Taliban regime. Once she fully comprehended how “the unfairness of being a woman” in Afghanistan made the country unjust, she made it her life’s mission to educate, motivate, and empower Afghan women. In her memoir, the author offers a robust combination of historical data and heartfelt stories of grow

RUNNING OUT OF TIME

The authors begin their nonfiction debut starkly: “The Earth is on fire.” Wildfires, they report, raged on every continent in 2020 and destroyed nearly 1 billion acres, 10 million in the U.S. alone, an area the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. And the severity of the problem is only increasing: Since 1970, the annual average temperature in the U.S. has risen by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit; earlier snowmelt leads to drier forests, which result in more and worse fires. These fires have an

THE GARDEN OF SEVEN TWILIGHTS

Originally published in Catalan in 1989, Palol’s novel is prescient in imagining a world riven by predatory capitalism, inequality, and an endless series of conflicts branded as the “Four Wars of Entertainment.” The antagonists—the U.S., Russia, China, and the “Union of Islamic States”—fling nuclear missiles at each other and the rest of the world, and soon cities such as Paris and London are gone. So, too, is Barcelona, where the unnamed inaugural narrator of Palol’s sequence of nested tales h

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) began composing music as a young man in Valencia, Spain, at a school for the blind, where he learned a complex variety of braille that allowed him to make musical notation before dictating it to his assistant. “Being blind affected every aspect of Rodrigo’s life and brought him closer to music through an acute aural sense,” write Suárez-Pajares and Clark, both professors of musicology. Today, he is best known for his Concierto de Aranjuez, “the key with which Rodrigo

WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED

Einav and Finkelstein, professors of economics at Stanford and MIT, respectively, manage the impressive feat of appearing neither liberal nor conservative, portraying the American health care system as not merely deplorable, but grotesque. Its patches, exceptions, complexities, and cutouts illustrate our “plug-the-leaks, squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease approach of the past half century.” The authors make a compelling case for going back to the drawing board to do it right. The idea of universal h

LIFE CLUES

“What is true for children is true for all of us,” asserts the author, the co-creator of the Blue’s Clues franchise as well as the creator of the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Super Why! children’s television shows. In this book, Santomero outlines 20 “life clues,” concepts for adults to ponder while relating how these principles were weaved into her programs. A protégé of Fred Rogers, Santomero starts things off with Life Clue #1, “I Like You Just the Way You Are,” discussing how the vener

ANONYMOOSE

Ana Moose prefers being alone. She doesn’t have to worry about finding the right thing to say or being picked last for teams. Blending into her surroundings, she dubs herself Anonymoose. Then she sees her classmate Peter, a porcupine, building a fort and wishes she could share her own architectural ideas without revealing herself. So, day after day, Ana leaves sketches from “Anonymoose” around; Peter incorporates her plans into his creation. Ana enjoys watching the fort improving daily. Then he