Table of contents for Vol. 120, No. 5/6, 11/1/23 and 11/15/23 in Booklist

I’ve been reading the news about states suing Meta for potentially harming children’s mental health. According to an article in Gallup, “the average time spent on social media ranges from as low as 4.1 hours per day for 13-year-olds to as high as 5.8 hours per day for 17-year-olds. Girls spend nearly an hour more on social media than boys (5.3 vs. 4.4 hours, respectively).” Although not surprising, the data is alarming. That’s why I begin by highlighting this issue’s Focus on Family Life & Parenting, which features titles that will be invaluable to parents and caregivers as they navigate the benefits and drawbacks of technology and its many influences. Books like The Screentime Solution: A Judgment-Free Guide to Becoming a Tech-Intentional Family, by Emily Cherkin, who “offers a pragmatic…

Smartphones are our constant companions and social media is a ready source of information and disinformation, an addiction and a plague, a realm of entertainment and creativity, and a weapon for bullying and worse. These cutting-edge first novels explore the consequences of our pursuit of identity, love, success, and power in the hypnotic and risky hurly-burly of social media. American Mermaid. By Julia Langbein. 2023. Doubleday, $28 (9780385549677). English teacher Penelope Schleeman is stunned and thrilled when her debut novel, American Mermaid, a feminist eco-thriller, goes viral and she ends up in Hollywood. But does she want her heroine, an introspective science student grappling with her asexuality, turned into a superficial teen action-hero? A Burning. By Megha Majumdar. 2020. Knopf, $25.95 (9780525658696). After witnessing a gruesome train-station attack, Jivan responds…

Great romantic comedies are true treasures. Readers who love this genre are heavily invested in the plot and characters and manga has some of the best romantic comedies out there. Here are ten rom-com manga series fans of the genre should not miss. Honey Lemon Soda. (4 volumes, ongoing.) By Mayu Murata. Yen. Gr. 7–12. After a difficult time in middle school, Uka Ishimori is left traumatized. A chance encounter with a boy who has lemon-colored hair reinvigorates her, and she begins to move forward. A sweet story about building independence and moving past a dark time. Honey So Sweet. (8 volumes.) By Amu Meguro. VIZ. Gr. 6–12. When Nao Kogure helps out delinquent Taiga Onise, she doesn’t expect to see him again in high school—or for him to give…

Older Readers Artifice. By Sharon Cameron. Nov. 2023. 416p. Scholastic, $19.99 (9781338813951). Gr. 9–12. In 1943, Isa de Smit’s main concern is finding the money to pay the taxes on her family’s art gallery—even after the Nazis have taken all the artwork. After selling a forged Rembrandt, painted by her father, to the Nazis, she is elated at having fooled them. She decides to sell one more forged painting, a Vermeer, which will ensure the safety of the gallery. But after her friend Truus convinces her to help the Dutch resistance save Jewish babies from annihilation by the Nazis, she decides to use the money to rescue children. With help from unexpected places, Isa rushes to finish and sell the forged painting before the children are taken, all the while…

Debut titles this past year were marked by a focus on history, whether through historical fiction, family histories, or historical figures, as seen in many of these outstanding titles reviewed in Booklist between November 1, 2022, and October 15, 2023. All You Have to Do. By Autumn Allen. 2023. Penguin/Kokila, $19.99 (9780593619049). Gr. 9–12. In chapters alternating between time lines, two young Black men are connected through their struggles for acceptance and equality, one in the 1960s and the other in the 1990s. Constellations. By Kate Glasheen. Art by the author. 2023. Holiday, $22.99 (9780823450718). Gr. 8–12. In 1980s Troy, New York, teenage Claire is ordered by the court to attend addiction rehab, where they must come to grips with both their alcoholism and their gender identity. The Davenports. By…

Fine narrations of first novels bring promising literary voices to a broader audience. From all-star casts to superb accent work, each of these 10 narrations is notable. Amazing Grace Adams. By Fran Littlewood. Read by Claire Skinner. 2023. 10hr. Macmillan Audio, DD (9781250899415). Grace is a frenetic and heartbreaking character, and Skinner’s narration is by turns frenzied, quietly reflective, brash, and deeply moving. Better the Blood. By Michael Bennett. Read by Miriama McDowell and Richard Te Are. 2023. 9hr. Recorded Books, DD (9781705087664). Seasoned Māori actors illuminate filmmaker Bennett’s debut crime thriller centering Auckland detective Hana Westerman, who tracks a killer intent on balancing the wrongs of history and colonization. Cassandra in Reverse. By Holly Smale. Read by Kristin Atherton. 2023. 13hr. Harlequin, DD (9781488228124). British actor Atherton is consistently…

Journalism & Publishing The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers. By Debbie Berne. Mar. 2024. 248p. illus. Univ. of Chicago, paper, $22.50 (9780226822952). 094. Think you’ve written a book? If it currently lives on your computer, veteran freelance book designer Berne has some bad news for you: “It’s not a book unless it’s designed to be a book.” Luckily, she is here to demystify the design process for authors at all levels. From the printer’s specifications—choices about size, binding, and other physical characteristics that dictate the look and feel of the finished product—through typography, layout, and cover design, Berne gives the reader an insider’s look at how a manuscript becomes a book. Especially interesting are the chapters on the unique and often surprising…

These books are recommended by BlueInk Review, a fee-based review service. Every month, BlueInk will compile a list of their favorite self-published titles for Booklist, as a service to librarians hoping to incorporate self-published work into their collections. BlueInk was founded by Patti Thorn, former book review editor of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, and Patricia Moosbrugger, a literary agent who represents several best-selling authors. The company delivers professional, unbiased reviews of self-published books written by critics drawn largely from major mainstream publications and by editors from prominent publishing houses. Stars reflect the decisions of BlueInk reviewers and editors. Booklist is happy to bring this curated collection of the best in self-publishing for adults and youth to our audience. from Adult The Challenge of Choice … How to Make a “Good”…

The ten most astonishing debut novels from the last year took usto worlds familiar and not, introducing families, lovers, loners, and warriors. These novels haunted us, challenged us, and spoke to us with love. As every year, we hope that each is the first of many novels by these promising writers. Bellies. By Nicola Dinan. 2023. Hanover Square, $30 (9781335490889). Writing with insight, compassion, and quiet authority, Dinan offers a love story between a highly empathic couple who breaks up when one transitions, before an opportunity for rapprochement arises. Between Two Moons. By Aisha Abdel Gawad. 2023. Doubleday, $28 (9780385548618). During one hot, hungry month of Ramadan, two teenage sisters in Brooklyn imagine their futures, deal with post-9/11 Islamophobia, and adjust to their brother’s early release from prison. Chain-Gang All-Stars.…

Older Readers Attacked! Pearl Harbor and the Day War Came to America. By Marc Favreau. Nov. 2023. 240p. illus. Little, Brown, $17.99 (9780316592079). Gr. 6–10. 940.5426. It was autumn when a Japanese spy began to gather information about military installations on Oahu, Hawaii, including one at Pearl Harbor. His findings enabled his country to carry out a successful attack on December 7, 1941. Much of the action took place on that day, but this book also reports on how America responded during the months that followed, from the retaliatory bombing of Tokyo to the incarceration of many Japanese Americans. Occasional archival photos illustrate the text. Favreau, whose previous books on American history include Crash (2018) and Unequal (2022), tells the story through the diverse participants and eyewitnesses to the action,…

From books for children taking their first steps toward independent reading to those containing longer narratives, the following beginning readers and early chapter books represent sturdy yet delightful training wheels for kids’ literacy journeys. All books were reviewed in Booklist between December 15, 2021, and October 1, 2023. Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories. By Jarvis. Illus. by the author. 2023. 64p. Candlewick, $15.99 (9781536228328). K–Gr. 3. Four stories about pals Bear and Bird make up this irresistibly funny beginning chapter book for early fluent readers. Childlike art and word repetition offer support to those tackling longer texts. The Case of the Strange Splash. By Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. Illus. by Dan Santat. 2023. 80p. Abrams/Amulet, $14.99 (9781419755132). Gr. 1–3. Wonderful full-color illustrations adorn this early chapter-book…

Look for reviews of these high-demand titles in forthcoming issues of Booklist. All This Twisted Glory. By Tahereh Mafi. Harper, $19.99 (9780062972507). Gr. 9–12. Feb. The third installment in Mafi’s swirling fantasy series inspired by Persian folklore finds Alizeh trapped in a neighboring kingdom, while Kamran embarks on a journey, with the aid of a magical guide, to find her. The Bad Ones. By Melissa Albert. Flatiron, $19.99 (9781250894892). Gr. 9–12. Feb. When Nora’s best friend, Becca, disappears, she’s determined to find out what happened and in the process finds a connection to not only a goddess but to her own childhood in this horror fantasy from acclaimed Albert. Fate Breaker. By Victoria Aveyard. HarperTeen, $21.99 (9780063116061). Gr. 9–12. Feb. Aveyard’s best-selling, high-fantasy Realm Breaker series ends here, with Corayne…

Cayla Fay Ravensong Describe Ravensong in one sentence, using as much alliteration as possible. Grumpy ginger god meets merry new neighbor, fights fiends, fails to flirt. Would you date a god? Seems dicey. I definitely wouldn’t. I’ve read myths and folklore from all over the world, and the general takeaway is that it rarely ends well for the human involved. Sometimes it does! But I’m a little too risk-averse to play those odds. Favorite fantasy trope(s)? I am such a sucker for “the sunshine one x the grumpy one,” especially when one of them is a monster. There’s something about one character refusing to let the other get stuck in the cycle of grimdark angst that is just catnip to me. If you could live in one fantasy universe, what…

Round Here and Over Yonder: A Front Porch Travel Guide by Two Progressive Hillbillies (Yes, That’s a Thing.). By Trae Crowder and Corey Ryan Forrester. Read by the authors. 2023. 7hr. Harper Horizon, DD (9781404117563). Travel books not really your thing? You may be persuaded by this charming and breezy romp around America and the UK. Trae and Corey (WellRED and Puttin’ on Airs podcasts) have made names for themselves as progressive comedians from small southern towns, and they spend their time trying—with varying degrees of success—to smash southern stereotypes and open their own eyes to new parts of the country and world. They begin in the South and try to open Yankee eyes to the charms of their native lands, mostly through food and drink. Then they move through…

The big-deal titles in this month’s hot list include an author’s swan song, historical epics, and thrillers from the three Lisas (Gardner, Scottoline, and Unger). City in Ruins. By Don Winslow. Morrow, $32 (9780063079472). Apr. In what Winslow has promised will be his final novel—and the conclusion to the Danny Ryan trilogy (starting with City on Fire, 2022)—former dockworker Ryan is living a lavish life with his family in Las Vegas when a business deal triggers some bad guys, forcing Ryan back to his old ways. Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You. By A’ja Wilson. Flatiron, $24.99 (9781250290045). Feb. She’s won an Olympic gold medal and WNBA championships, but it hasn’t always been easy, as Wilson details in this collection that highlights the microaggressions, dismissals, and outright…

After Annie. By Anna Quindlen. Mar. 2024. 304p. Random, $30 (9780593229804); e-book (9780593229811). Sometimes the fullness of a life can best be measured by the emptiness left behind. When Annie Brown, age 37, died suddenly of an aneurysm, she left a void that could be measured in fathoms, light-years. There was her beloved husband, Bill; her four children—Ali, Anthony (aka “Ant”), Benjy, and Jamie—and her best friend, Annemarie. Annie herself would have said there was nothing spectacular about her suburban life, married to a plumber, shepherding children through school, and intervening during Annemarie’s troubles with drug addiction. But everyone now living without her would beg to differ. Bill’s grief subsumes his ability to parent his children, so Ali, just 13, steps up while Ant acts out and the younger two…

Adult But You Have Friends. By Emilia McKenzie. Art by the author. 2023. 116p. Top Shelf, paper, $14.99 (9781603095273). 741.5. A peripatetic childhood made lasting friendships difficult for McKenzie until her family moved back to the UK and she met Charlotte: “Beneath C’s cool, sassy person, I found a kind, understanding friend.” Their relationship evolved through college and young adulthood—even as Charlotte struggled with mental illness—until 2018, when Charlotte committed suicide. A few weeks after her death, McKenzie writes, “I started sketching memories of our friendship,” which became this debut memoir. “This story isn’t about C’s life,” she insists, “A humble comic could never do justice to who she was … What this is about is FRIENDSHIP.” A mostly sci-fi comics maker since 2008 (publishing as Emix Regulus), McKenzie unfolds…

Adult Bright Young Women. By Jessica Knoll. Read by a full cast. 2023. 13hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD (9781797154787). Sorority President Pamela Schumacher is the sole witness as the man who attacked two and killed two more of her sorority sisters flees the scene. Pamela is soon introduced to Tina Cannon—who is convinced that the man Pamela saw also killed her friend Ruth—and the two embark on a mission to make sure the truth is told. The story moves between present day and the 1970s and is told from both Pamela’s and Ruth’s perspectives, which makes the use of dual, distinct narrators the perfect production choice. Sutton Foster reads Pamela; at first her narration seems flat, but as the listener gets to know “Pam Perfect,” the reserved and specific…