Tabla de contenidos para Vol. 118, No. 15, 4/1/22 en Booklist

Philosophy & Psychology The Mind and the Moon: My Brother’s Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches. By Daniel Bergner. May 2022. 320p. Ecco, $28.99 (9780063004894). 150. New York Times Magazine writer Bergner (Sing for Your Life, 2016) delves into difficult questions surrounding mental health in his sixth nonfiction book. Bergner brings in his own personal stake in this topic: his younger brother had severe struggles with mental health, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and spent significant periods of time living in psych wards. Examining also the stories of Caroline, a woman who battles psychosis, and David, who is dealing with depression, Bergner discusses how mental illnesses are perceived, diagnosed, and treated, as well as how all of those elements have shifted over time. Glimpses into…

A beach read is anything that takes the reader on a little inner vacation. In other words, for us, “beach” is a state of mind. For some, a beach read is a leisurely stroll through a simple story; for others, it’s a fast-paced, danger-soaked thriller. Or maybe it’s a long, sweeping saga or a book of transporting, incisive poetry. With all that in play, here is our annual selection of beach reads that can be read anywhere, anytime and that are sure to provide readers with just the immersion they crave. We hope this list inspires you to find your own, appeal-based approach to recommending beach reads. At Your Leisure You can find lists of nail-biting thrillers anywhere, but what about the reader who wants to slow down and savor…

Social justice, current events, and thoughtful examinations of history are well represented in this year’s best series, but explorations of art, geology, and neighborhood locales can also be found. All series were reviewed in Booklist between April 1, 2021, and March 15, 2022. —Julia Smith CORE Library Guide to Racism in Modern America (ABDO; 6 titles) Gr. 5–8. Hot-button topics, ranging from police violence to civil unrest, are presented in these fact-based and evenhanded volumes. Statistics, graphs, large photos, and primarysource quotes boost this series’ value. I, Witness (Norton; 4 titles) Gr. 6–9. This compellingly written #OwnVoices series offers a fantastic way of connecting teens with activism and current events. Firsthand accounts of young people’s experiences escaping the Taliban, surviving Hurricane Maria, and more bring these stories home. In Our…

Whether you’re interested in petting sweet dogs, solving decades-long mysteries, or honing magical gifts, you’ll be able to find something to read in this list of hotly anticipated books. —Sarah Hunter Blade Breaker. By Victoria Aveyard. HarperTeen, $19.99 (9780062872661). Gr. 9–12. June. This sequel to Aveyard’s best-selling Realm Breaker finds Corayne and her crew facing new dangers and an emboldened enemy in a fast-paced fantasy plot. Every Dog in the Neighborhood. By Philip C. Stead. Illus. by Matthew Cordell. Holiday/Neal Porter, $18.99 (9780823444274). K–Gr. 2. June. Caldecott Medal–winning Cordell teams up with Stead (author of the Caldecott-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee) for this sweet and playful picture book about lovable dogs. Nothing More to Tell. By Karen M. McManus. Delacorte, $9.99 (9780593175903). Gr. 9–12. Aug. When Brynn returns…

Adult Berlin Exchange. By Joseph Kanon. Read by Jonathan Davis. 2022. 10.5hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD, $34.99 (9781797129877). In 1963 Berlin at a discreet border crossing, American physicist Martin Keller is released from British custody into the hands of the Communists. Martin is eager to see his son and ex-wife, but must also find out why he was released from prison and what the Communists really want with him. Davis’ narration is a superb match for this sophisticated Cold War–era spy novel. He offers authentic, consistent accents for the mix of American, German, and Russian characters. In addition to the espionage, this work has a very emotional component. Davis utilizes tone and pace to distinguish the sentimental and emotional conflicts from the tension-filled negotiations. East Berlin is a looming…

Our latest look into the crystal ball of the publishing calendar reveals a future brimming with good books, and thank goodness for that. —Annie Bostrom Afterlives. By Abdulrazak Gurnah. Riverhead, $28 (9780593541883). Aug. 2021 Nobel Prize–winner Gurnah offers a historical epic featuring three interconnected young people affected by colonization and war in east Africa. Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. By David Quammen. Simon & Schuster, $28.99 (9781982164362). Oct. Closely following the scientists who worked to identify COVID-19 and create vaccines against it, acclaimed science writer Quammen sheds not-yet-seen light on our current pandemic. Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships. By Nina Totenberg. Simon & Schuster, $27.99 (9781982188085). Sept. NPR correspondent Totenberg and Ruth Bader Ginsberg were close friends for decades before the…

Older Readers Inheritance: A Visual Poem. By Elizabeth Acevedo. Illus. by Andrea Pippins. May 2022. 48p. HarperCollins/Quill Tree, $16.99 (9780062931948). Gr. 6–10. 811. Acevedo’s poem “Hair,” which was written for a thesis in 2009 and went viral with her spoken-word performance in 2014, has now been beautifully adapted as a visual poem with the help of Pippins in Inheritance. In this small book, every square inch of every page is full of color and visual depictions of the poem’s evocative lines. The palette in Pippins’ illustrations—every shade of brown and warm terra-cotta earth tones—echoes the poem’s sentiments. When Acevedo writes of hair strangling the air, the page seems to be swallowed by curls. A Dominican hair salon, a person with straightened hair shining like the sun, two people coming together…

High-school librarian Cicely Lewis has brought her popular Read Woke reading program to Lerner, which has created a Read Woke Books brand that is putting out compelling series (Issues in Action; American Slavery and the Fight for Freedom) for middle-grade readers. She took the time to chat with me about the process of creating series for Read Woke Books, why these topics are important for kids, and how to integrate them into classrooms and school libraries. Smith: Can you give a little bit of background on your Read Woke program? Lewis: I started it in my school’s library because students were struggling to process all the information in the news and in their communities; they were frustrated and looking for answers. As the librarian, I knew that I could reach them…

Rubyfruit Jungle. By Rita Mae Brown. Read by Anna Paquin. 2022. 6.5hr. Blackstone, DD, $16.95 (9781665063418). Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 debut novel, Rubyfruit Jungle, was not just a coming-of-age story. This breakthrough book shocked and invigorated book groups and motivated nationwide creations of CRGs (Consciousness Raising Groups) where women held audacious book gatherings, frankly sharing dreams of equality and then-forbidden yearnings in their frustrated lives; Rubyfruit sparked women’s voices and the feminist movement. Academy Award–winner Anna Paquin sensitively narrates Rubyfruit’s first-ever audio version, honoring the 50th anniversary of this tale told by an illegitimate orphan who was adopted by an impoverished Southern family. A smart, unruly girl, Molly earns a scholarship that allows her an education. Paquin’s presentation clearly delivers Molly’s longing for freedom, her eventual experience of vibrant…

General Fiction 2 A.M. in Little America. By Ken Kalfus. May 2022. 248p. Milkweed, $25 (9781571311443). A migrant flees an imploded America, but he cannot escape its violent tribalism, his increasingly unreliable memories, or his American dreams. Having escaped the civil war that bloodied his hometown back in the states, Ron Patterson lays low, sharing a room with other migrants and repairing security systems in an unnamed foreign city. His visa status is problematic—Americans are now unwelcome internationally—but he escapes his loneliness with a woman who resembles someone from his past. Following an immigration crackdown, Ron lands in an enclave of American migrants trapped between competing militias, each insisting upon its own version of American history and suspicious of anything resembling middle ground. Confusion abounds. Familiar names are assumed by…

Older Readers All the Best Liars. By Amelia Kahaney. Apr. 2022. 336p. Flatiron, $18.99 (9781250312709). Gr. 9–12. Money rocked Sydney’s life once before, when the family of her friend, Brie, moved away from the downtrodden neighborhood of Thermal for a more lavish lifestyle. And it struck again, years later, when the mother of her closest confidant, Rain, won the lottery and exchanged a dingy prefab house for a mansion in Palm Springs. The class schisms that divide these three former friends only pull them farther apart as the end of senior year looms. But Sidney is not prepared for just how corrosive an effect her friends’ fortunes have had on them. Kahaney has penned an intimate, suspenseful mystery that burns slowly until its surprisingly explosive ending. Underneath the surface is…