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THE WILD ONE

Two years have passed since Sam left her father and their Nevada ranch: Dad sent her away to be closer to good medical care after a fall from Blackie, her beloved mustang, left her with a concussion. Sam’s time in San Francisco with Aunt Sue was filled with joy—movies and basketball—but Sam can’t stop thinking of Blackie, who escaped after the accident, and life with Dad. Finally back home, Sam tries to settle into life as usual but can’t seem to move past the trauma of the incident, especially

SHOOT THE MOON

When Annie Fisk was a child growing up in New Mexico, she had a best friend, Diana, who would appear and disappear in her backyard. A number of small trinkets appeared and disappeared in the same way. As Annie grew up, she decided her friend must have been imaginary, and she never told her mother or her father—a physicist working on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos—about it. After her father’s death and her graduation from high school, Annie headed to college in San Antonio, where she met and fell

EXPLORING MATH-FOCUSED CAREERS

Dougherty opens by explaining the many ways that math is applied in the real world, including online data encryption, digital animation, and even when strategizing specific plays in sports. The six subsequent chapters each focus on specific careers that center on math—being an actuary, economist, financial analyst, math teacher, physicist, and operations research analyst. Each section follows a consistent format, clearly breaking down what goes into preparing for this particular career and what

MURDERS OF A FEATHER

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Dr. Kate Turner is a little bummed that the only Cupid in her life is a Doberman with a bladder infection. But she’s typically too slammed with work for much of a love life, especially since she’s been filling in at the Hudson Valley’s Oak Falls Animal Hospital while Doc Anderson is on a yearlong cruise. Though she’s been happy in Oak Falls, it’s hard for Kate to know what’s next in life. She doesn’t have much going on in the romance department, but she does have

DEATH SICKNESS AND THE NEED TO BELIEVE

One of the most distinct psychological traits possessed by humans, author Rye notes in the book’s introduction, is object permanence. This ability to know that something exists even when out of view is connected, per Rye’s analysis, to humanity’s adherence to intangible belief systems. In other words, “All our political, economic, and religious institutions are based upon ideals which can only be conceptualized in the abstract.” As belief in traditional institutions has eroded—particularly reli

THE BALLERINA OF AUSCHWITZ

Edith was the youngest of three daughters in an ethnically Hungarian Jewish family in a Czechoslovakian town. She trained as a gymnast and made plans beyond high school with her sweetheart, Eric. Edith was 16 in 1944 when all appearances of normalcy were torn away, and Jewish families were crowded onto trains destined for Auschwitz. Her parents were killed on arrival at the camp. Edith and her oldest sister, Magda, labored amid horrific conditions and uncountable deaths. Dreams of reuniting wit

REACHING FOR VENUS

On an environmentally devastated Earth, Leah and Rachel Silverton, orphaned sisters born a year apart who can pass for identical twins, struggle to get by. Leah has severe asthma, but each year the government offers 16-year-olds the opportunity to try out for a chance to live in the Floating City on Venus. Only 50 boys and 50 girls may go, however—and they must be healthy. When Rachel is selected, she devises a plan for 17-year-old Leah to go in her place, before the pollution kills her. Leah t

NAUGHTY NOEL NO, NO, NO!

Grandma Patsy adopts a “fluffy white kitten with big blue eyes” from an animal shelter near her Florida home. It’s almost Christmas, so she names the kitten “Noel.” The two become great friends, and Grandma Patsy gives him food, treats, and lots of cuddling—but Noel wants to find other furry companions. He meets his neighbor Mr. Guster’s big yellow dog, Max. Noel wants to play by jumping on Max’s back, but he is quickly rebuffed. Next, Noel meets two Siamese cats named Lucy and Lizzie. They are

A SAFE GIRL TO LOVE

Sophie returns to Winnipeg to spend the holidays with family. Lizzy and Annie wake up in bed together and begin a new relationship. Zoe helps her mother pack up her childhood home in Eugene, Oregon. These snippets of everyday life include friends with blue hair and blue hoodies that make them look like “an angry drunken Skittle” or text messages from parents that read, “Your room is a shithole. I love you!” They also come with an ever present tension, a feeling that the other shoe could drop at

A LINE IN THE SAND

Powers returns to the subject of war and its collateral damage that he first studied in The Yellow Birds (2012), an acclaimed debut published after his own Army service in Iraq. A Shout in the Ruins (2018) followed fallout from the Civil War and slavery. In the new book, the pivotal character is Arman Bajalan, a refugee from Iraq living in the U.S., who worked as an interpreter for the American military in Mosul in 2004. He finds a dead man in a suit lying on a Norfolk, Virginia, beach. He carr

LORE ISLE

A century ago, Newfoundland wolves were hunted to extinction by humans. So when 13-year-old Peter Connors sees a wolf while he’s out fishing with his grandfather, he is bewildered. Life gets turned upside down when Grandpa dies suddenly, and his will discloses that the house has been left to all his daughters, not just Peter’s mother, who has been living there. With the home he grew up in being sold and Mom struggling with anxiety, Peter accepts an offer from Mr. Doyle, a strange man claiming t

DO A POWERBOMB!

Combining the first seven issues of a comic originally issued in 2022, the tale begins with the accidental death of Tokyo Grand World Heavyweight champion Yua Steelrose, who reads Asian, in a match with hooded Mexican Canadian luchador Cobrasun. It then picks up 10 years later with Lona, Yua’s fierce daughter, trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps—and with the promise of a sleazy necromancer to revive her dead parent if she wins. She’s even willing to team up with the still grieving Cobras

ALI CROSS

Ali’s friend Gabe Qualls has disappeared; several days later, someone breaks into the Cross home. Plus, Ali’s father, under investigation for assault charges, is being hounded by the press. Could it all be linked? Ali’s friends—all people of color—are sure that the media would be covering the disappearance if Gabe were white; they and Ali’s family support him in his search. Alex helps Ali hone his deductive skills, while Ali’s grandmother reminds him that he’s capable of great accomplishments t

EVERYTHING I NEVER WANTED TO KNOW

Situated at the intersection of prose and poetry, Hume’s essay collection explores patriarchy’s ongoing war against girls and women. The author divides the book into two sections, the first of which deals with female physical and sexual vulnerability. In the opening essay, Hume muses on what it has meant to live in the city of, Ypsilanti, Michigan, where the weekend she moved in, “a stranger raped our neighbor in her home” and where “one in twenty-six men…are registered sex offenders.” Within a

STUFF NOBODY TAUGHT YOU

This self-help book contains 40 lessons from the author’s own online M. E. School, a place where, McStravick asserts, “everything that’s stuck in your life starts moving again, where everything unhealed gets healed, and new choices and opportunities take shape and begin to blossom.” The transformation process begins with identifying “Weasels in the Road,” or obstacles to evolution. The author urges readers to get out of the “Known Zone” and into the “Grow Zone” and explains why “The Queen” (the

GLOBAL WARMING, ENERGY, AND WORLD PEACE

The author’s proposed ideas frame the debate as a worldwide issue. Youssef uses his experience living and working in Egypt, Canada, and the United States and numerous trips all over the world to interrogate the history and contemporary development of energy sources. He pays special attention to energy consumption differences in developed and developing countries, noting that some parts of the Middle East and Africa account for the least contributions to climate change but are the “most vulnerab

WHEN TWO STARS COLLIDE

Eighteen-year-old Cinder Kato, who has Japanese and Scottish ancestry, performs music incognito on a popular video-sharing platform under the stage name Umbra. With his eyeliner, tattoos, and lip piercing, not to mention a less-than-perfect, secret-filled home life with an abusive stepfather, he self-identifies as a dark soul, channeling his pain into his musical talent. Beautiful, blond Henrietta Cunningham, who’s cued white, is the 18-year-old star of a hit rom-com TV series. Outwardly, Henri

MAMA'S YEAR WITH CANCER

Cancer, Mama says, is a “big sick.” But she might be better in a year if she listens to her doctor, and then she’ll get to ring a bell to celebrate her last day of chemotherapy. The young narrator relates how Mama receives chemo through a port, loses her hair, and experiences fatigue. Mama explains that cancer isn’t contagious and is nobody’s fault. Sometimes it’s hard; Mama’s port makes cuddling difficult, and she’s too tired to play much. But the family’s love shines through as Pink’s cozy ca

TONIGHT, I BURN

Thorn witch Penelope Albright’s upcoming 21st birthday means she’ll finally be of age to cross into Death and fulfill the duties of her coven—protecting the veil between Life and Death and guiding souls through Death to the horizon. Imprisoned within the walls of the Colligerate, thorn witches have two paths: They can serve the High Warden as death-walkers by periodically being burned on a pyre, or they can release their identities and become part of his soulless Gilded army. When Penny’s siste

ABUELA’S WISHING TREE

On the eve of her quinceañera, or 15th birthday celebration, the narrator thinks about the tree her abuela (grandmother) planted from a seed after immigrating to the United States from Cuba. That tree, now grown tall, represents hopes and dreams. Inspired by her love for her family, the narrator imagines a wishing tree that could conjure physical manifestations of their most precious memories: summer carnavales, beloved foods, Spanish movies, and the smell of the ocean. As she and her family ce