In the third installment of his Masquerade series, (after The Detour), Hiemstra delivers an action-packed mystery centered on CIA agent Luke Stevens—currently undercover as a pastor thanks to North Korean terrorists—who is still reeling from his ex-wife’s death but hopeful he’ll have a chance for love again. Meanwhile, North Korean Yong Dae Chû, known as Ruth in America, is a law student working as a courier for North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB). The two are drawn to each other, but both are wary of new love—and when international tensions start to rise, it throws the couple into a dangerous mix of intrigue and betrayal.

Hiemstra favors a lightning pace and rapid-fire dialogue, fashioning scenes that turn on a dime with the craftiness that can accompany international politics. Ruth is desperate to help her family back home, a desire she’s granted in exchange for helping North Korea set up a meeting with CIA agent Tom Roberts, who, in the course of that meeting, learns that China’s preparing to invade Taiwan—and Havana, Cuba plans to help out with diversionary attacks on major shipping ports. The subterfuge grows more elaborate from there, with a rogue Chinese operative, Lei Han, approaching Ruth for intel and suddenly working his way up to RGB director, a move that ends with a contract on Luke’s life.

Amidst all the intrigue, Luke and Ruth grow closer, quietly supporting each other, even when that means opening up about their troubled pasts. Their united front renders an interesting counterpart to the political machinations playing out on a bigger stage, as Hiemstra hints at “impolitic actions by the current U.S. administration” that only serve to shore up China’s designs on Taiwan. Hiemstra relays the action with little emotional investment, but for those enticed by political scheming—and familiar with characters in his previous books—this will entertain.

Takeaway: International politics and romance intertwine in this lively mystery.

Comparable Titles: Graham Moore’s The Wealth of Shadows, Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy.

Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: B
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: C
Marketing copy: B

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Physician and researcher Gabayan shares her journey creating The Wisdom Research Project, born out of her experiences navigating her own physical health issues, in this intuitive debut. Hoping to “understand wisdom from a scientific perspective,” she interviews 60 adults, probing their values, advice for younger generations, coping skills for the rough patches in life, and more, teasing out eight common elements—resilience, kindness, positivity, spirituality, humility, tolerance, creativity, and curiosity—that relate to wisdom. Those elements, Gabayan asserts, will help guide readers in developing their own wisdom, “to build a stronger, more supportive society and connection with one another.”

Beyond Gabayan’s scientific-based research, this guide offers readers several opportunities for personal reflection, in the form of journaling prompts and interactive questions, that drive home the advice Gabayan gleaned from each interview. Her interviewees are an eclectic group—ranging from scientists to ministers to authors—with dynamic pointers that cover an array of topics, including the need to understand others’ perspectives when resolving conflict, how tolerance can enhance self-esteem, and why “creativity is essential to our growth as a people.” Also important, writes Gabayan, is the skill of playfulness in the face of life’s difficulties: “have a sense of humor about yourself as much as possible. Doing this will lighten any mood” she encourages.

Gabayan consistently returns to her eight wisdom elements throughout the guide, with accessible language that makes the counsel easy to follow. She closes by revisiting her initial quest to define wisdom, identifying her emerging elements of wisdom as universal (“incorporating them will enrich your life in ways you might not even have imagined. They will give your life more meaning and a greater purpose” she writes), while still urging individuality and balance when mastering them. Above all, she reminds readers that the “search for wisdom is just the beginning of a journey to a better life.”

Takeaway: Researcher defines wisdom through a scientific lens.

Comparable Titles: Paul Roden’s 5,000 Years of Wisdom, Ervin Laszlo’s The Wisdom Principles.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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Casteele spins a rousing debut tale about the infamous Prince of Pirates, Samuel Bellamy, narrated by a seasoned seaman named Loyd, speaking to his curious grandchildren, Clarissa and Charlie, as a tempest brews over present-day Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Drawing heavily from historical accounts, Casteele humanizes the legendary figure of Sam—from his tragic birth and his mother's subsequent death, his mischievous escapades with his ragtag crew of friends, The Scalawags, to his passionate love affair with the unconventional Maria Hallet, and his rise as the wealthiest pirate in the Golden Age of Piracy after a 12-year stint in the navy.

Brimming with energy and thrilling depiction of pirate life—racing with ships, battling storms, smuggling furs, linen, silver, gold, and other treasures, posing as faux traders, keelhauling, and enduring the stench of slaver ships—Casteele masterfully portrays the gritty reality of 18th-century naval life, when ships were the arteries for global trade, without romanticizing its unlawful glory. Sam is not ignorant that The Whydah Gally—his most coveted prize to prove himself worthy to Maria and her disapproving Puritan parents—originally served as a human cargo vessel for 600 slaves. Breaking the tradition of ruthless pirates, he treats his crew fairly and without prejudice, earning him the title of an honorable captain.

While the storytelling is slightly unrealistic—compressing a lengthy saga into a single stormy day—its strength lies in its sharp contrast to modern-day living. Readers, alongside Charlie and Clarissa, are transported to a time when families of seamen have no means of communication other than awaiting their return, people are commodified, and uncommon women are branded as witches "in league with the devil" and hanged. Casteele unearths unflinching truths of a bygone age, reminding us of the progress—and the pitfalls—of our own time, all while readers anticipate the curious end of Sam's voyage and his reunion with Maria.

Takeaway: Humanizing tale of history’s wealthiest pirate.

Comparable Titles: Angus Konstam's Blackbeard, Richard Zacks's The Pirate Hunter.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A-

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This heartwarming and inspirational tale by Parker (author of The Constantine Conspiracy) offers a unique perspective on small-town dynamics, personal growth, and the transformative power of sports. Set in a picturesque mountain town where football is more than just a game, Parker’s compelling narrative centers on three characters whose lives intersect on and off the field: Chelsea Deal, interim head football coach for Georgia’s Rabon Knights; new transplant Palmer Norman, whose music holds “a touch of darkness born by suffering”; and quarterback Ty Rogers, brimming with natural talent—and haunted by a dark, threatening disease.

The novel's strength lies in its well-developed characters and their intertwining storylines. Chelsea, a refreshing protagonist who brings a unique perspective to the male-dominated football world, boasts a journey from big-city lawyer to small-town coach that is both believable and inspiring, and the young players under her wing are equally compelling, each grappling with personal demons that add depth and relatability to their characters. Parker's attention to detail in describing the atmosphere of high school football in a small Southern town is commendable, from the crowded diners to the tension on the sidelines, allowing readers to feel as if they’ve stepped onto the fifty-yard line themselves, dazzled by bright lights and the roar of the crowd.

Though some of Parker’s sports drama feels predictable, he avoids clichés by focusing on the characters' personal growth rather than just their athletic achievements, granting them the space needed to navigate their troubles and accept each other for being flawed, and, above all, united against the heartbreak life pours their way. The pacing slows at times, especially during the more reflective moments, but those sections ultimately contribute to the story’s emotional payoff, and Parker’s skill at capturing the essence of teamwork and the impact mentorship can have—as when Palmer notes that Rabon “[became] my family… [lifted] me up when I fell down”—resonates.

Takeaway: Thoughtful exploration of community, personal transformation, and believing in yourself.

Comparable Titles: H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, T.L. Simpson’s Strong Like You.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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In 1979, 14-year-old Suzanne Parry's mother, Alex, was murdered in their modest family shop, Zoe's Records. Since that fateful day, Suzanne's childhood gift of clairvoyance has allowed her to sense her mother's spirit—an eerie presence she calls Mom-not-Mom—warning her about Peggy, her father's old high school flame, who worms her way into their lives and starts playing mom to Suzanne's six-year-old brother, Chris. Fast forwarding to 2004, financial woes compel Suzanne’s family to return to their hometown in Denver, allowing the past a chance to rear its ugly head, when a recent kidnapping event that occurred before their move reopens old wounds that never truly healed.

"For me, Denver meant the past would encroach," Suzanne says. Still, she reluctantly approves with an agenda in mind: uncovering her dad's history may provide answers to her son Austin's undiagnosed cognitive and behavioral lapses. Suzanne's story, both past and present, is an unflinching portrayal of a family gone haywire, when, in the face of tragedy, communication lacks and secrecy builds. Swanson (author of The Glass Forest) cranks up the tension between well-drawn leads—Suzanne’s rebellious teenage daughter, Caitlin, seethes with jealousy over the attention Austin receives, their home becomes a target of a suspicious intruder, and her husband is becoming cozy with his coworker.

Despite the narrative's slow burn and somewhat predictable past, the clever use of alternating timelines keeps readers on their toes as they follow the young Suzanne sneaking to decode Mom-not-Mom's cryptic warnings juxtaposed with the adult Suzanne, who might be bordering on insanity. Alex's on-point words, "what we feared most was what we most needed to confront," overarch the central theme in this satisfying blend of supernatural and coming-of-age mystery—that children require a parent’s unequivocal attention, for childhood shapes the kind of person we eventually become.

Takeaway: Grieving, clairvoyant teen unravels the mystery of her mother’s murder.

Comparable Titles: Rene Denfeld’s The Child Finder, Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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Penned with grace, power, and insight into the power and nature of both faith and discipline over the body, this compact memoir of recovery and mentorship packs a serious punch. At its heart is the inspiring figure of Bob Gorinski, the physical therapist whom Allen meets after an ACL tear upends Allen’s college football career. At the time, Allen, a sophomore, was a promising Christian athlete who felt out of step with hard-partying students —he recounts the “the usual awkwardness of reading my Bible while [his roommate] played video games”—and some elements of the college’s curriculum. Recognizing a kindred spirit, Gorinski sprung a surprising invitation on Allen: “Why don’t you come to the house, and I’ll show you some exercises?”

At Gorinski’s house on Bonny Lane, Allen soon found himself challenged to push himself and grow stronger through simple but innovative workouts, including obstacle courses, jumping and agility exercises, weightlifting, and more, all without what Gorinski would call “fancy gym equipment.” This proved fruitful not just for recovery, though Allen faced setbacks and fresh injuries that eventually ended his dreams of rejoining the team. Gorinski also guided Allen and other friends and proteges in workouts of mind and heart, through readings and spirited discussions. Gorinski’s faith—captured in conversations and excerpts from Gorinski’s writing—proved as nourishing as his PT, teaching Allen that faith’s essence “isn’t the absence of uncertainty—uncertainty is necessary—but rather just the right amount of confidence to act in spite of it.”

Allen’s briskly told account is inviting and moving, written with an open-heartedness and a commitment to caring for the body that will inspire young people. (Even the roommates who leave dirty underpants in his bed are treated, ultimately, with a touching lack of judgment.) The story’s end will stir tears, but Allen demonstrates, through his own mentorship and storytelling, that the wisdom and lessons of those who shape us have power as long as we keep them alive.

Takeaway: Rousing story of mentorship and a Christian athlete’s physical and spiritual recovery.

Comparable Titles: Blake Sebring’s Brave at Heart, Keith E. Webb’s The Coach Model for Christian Leaders.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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“There is something good about each day,” Cochran declares in the opening pages of this rousing celebration of a son gone too soon—and of all that Christian, a “radiant spirit” with a “deep appreciation for the beauty of diverse spiritual perspectives,” managed to teach his parents in his 23 years on this Earth. After receiving a fatal diagnosis with a rare and aggressive bile duct cancer in 2020, Christian displayed “a superpower,” sensing and relieving his father’s “pain and fear,” continuing to be joyful and empathetic, and, as Cochran writes, looking “beyond the surface” of days of treatment and medical bureaucracy to “[embrace] the grandeur of existence.” Christian “never stopped living his life,” Cochran notes, with warmth and a touch of awe, describing how after the diagnosis the young man applied to grad school in international studies, started a podcast, continued making music, and forged a touching friendship with another recent college graduate enduring cholangiocarcinoma, becoming a “light” in her journey.

What’s Good About Today? shares similarities with other stories of medical tragedies and traumatic loss, including touching journal entries from family and loved ones, accounts of searching for meaning (“I would often ask ‘Why? Why Christian?’”) and navigating complex medical systems, and touching examples of community support. Cochran and his collaborators, though, emphasize something surprising in this story of loss: what they gained from Christian’s compassion, generosity, and commitment to living life with a “different way of keeping time.”

Readers see what Cochran calls Christian’s challenge, to the rest of us, “to reconsider our relationship with time” and measure it in the love we spread in anecdotes and eulogies but also touching excerpts from Christian’s own writing, especially a powerful speech in which he calls the gulf between the “experimental and expensive” care available to him and that others receive around the world “a moral failing and, in a loose sense, a crime against humanity.” Page after page, Christian’s insight, ethics, open-mindedness shine through, stir tears, and inspire.

Takeaway: Celebration of the life and spirit of a young man who showed how to live

Comparable Titles: Alexandra Fuller’s Fi, Catherine Mayer and Anne Meyer Bird’s Good Grief.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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Day debuts with a provocative and timely novel delving into the tangle of political polarization, immigration, and personal transformation in contemporary America. When disgruntled conservative Jack O’Malley—injured after a fall from his roof while cleaning gutters—needs a cleaning service to get his house in shape to sell, he hires 16-year-old Sofia Rivera and her mother, undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, kickstarting an uneasy alliance that challenges preconceptions and explores the potential for understanding across deep societal divides. Sofia’s teenage defiance incites Jack’s military compulsion for law and order, propelling the two into an entertaining give and take that leaves them both deeplyreflective.

“Somehow, this train wreck of a girl has blown past the perimeter and reached command and control. She has nailed him in the worst way. She has made him see something of himself in her” Day writes of Sofia’s unique talent to crawl under Jack’s skin and leave him feeling vulnerable. Though the premise of an unlikely duo coming together to bridge ideological gaps is not new, Day's execution feels fresh and relevant to current societal tensions, and he avoids easy resolutions, opting instead for a more realistic and nuanced exploration of how people can change when their worldviews are challenged.

Some readers may find the initial characterizations of Jack and Sofia stereotypical, but the narrative rewards patience, as the characters undergo a profound transformation while gaining depth and complexity. Readers will be captivated as Jack’s exterior softens and he begins to stand up for Sofia and her mother, just as much as they will be when Sofia’s interactions with Jack prompt her to reflect on her own life choices, including her excitable boyfriend, Memo—who loves bombs, overpromises, and drips emotions at every second—and her desire to return to El Salvador. The book concludes with a tender picture of reconciliation—and rebirth.

Takeaway: An unlikely friendship is the catalyst for personal transformation.

Comparable Titles: Jodi Picoult, Celeste Ng.

Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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“As Christians, we must bring wisdom, not just science, to the bedside,” Hudson writes in this impassioned and practical debut that examines the gulf between expectations and in-the-field reality by medical professionals performing missionary work. As the title suggests, Healthcare and the Mission of God calls for clear alignment between, as Hudson puts it, saving bodies and saving souls. With clear-eyed candor, Hudson, an internist and epidemiologist, addresses the frustration, disappointment, and burnout he experienced in his first mission, in Ethiopia in the mid-1980s, where he and his team faced outbreaks, malnutrition, and more. He felt then that his efforts were too little, the resources too scant, the churches too disinclined to invest in nutrition, that inevitably led him to work harder and harder—and to lose his clarity of purpose.

After three decades as a medical missionary, however, he now sees that seeds he helped plant have born fruit, with the “physical and spiritual needs of the district” being met “through hundreds of churches” nurtured by those early efforts. Hudson now sees his younger self’s feelings of defeat as rooted in a misunderstanding of the mission of the mission: it’s through disciples and churches, he writes, that God changes the world. Hudson’s compact book, targeted at medical missionaries, offers compelling accounts from others who have dedicated themselves to cross-culture missions, moving anecdotes from his own experiences, and a host of deftly incorporated insights from Christian thinkers and writers.

Especially illuminating are Hudson’s explorations of the history of Christian health care and missions, dating back to Rome, and a careful delineation of how, in contemporary times, medical missions differ from healthcare missions. The cases he makes for why today’s healthcare ministries should collaborate with churches—and why “treating the whole person” body and soul is “designed to transform communities by God’s grace and for His glory”—will offer comfort and clarity to his audience.

Takeaway: A Christian doctor’s impassioned call for treating body and soul in missionary work.

Comparable Titles: Jason Baareman’s Rehab the World, Bruce Steffes’s Medical Missions: Get Ready, Get Set, Go!.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Healthcare and the Mission of God

Pederson delivers an irresistible thriller centered on Madison Maxwell, the fresh-faced recruit at Know Inc. replacing a deceased ex-employee who met a tragic end in a hit-and-run incident. Hailing from Boston, Madison relocates to California to outrun her guilt and the haunting specter of her father’s demise in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center—but destiny has other plans. Enter T.J. Khan, the company's enigmatic vice president, whose first encounter with Madison sparks not just a sense of déjà vu, but a palpable sense of danger. Unbeknownst to her, the secrets embedded in her recurring dreams may hold the key to avenging her father's death.

Every chapter races in this fleet-footed debut, teeming with twists and last-minute developments that will shock readers. Even as she slogs through the grief from her father’s death, Madison discovers something sinister behind the hit-and-run—and finds she’s caught in the crosshairs of the FBI’s manhunt for America’s most wanted, embroiled in the center of a national crisis. Pederson delivers an ostensibly overwhelming array of characters—terrorists, FBI agents, CIA operatives, corporate bigwigs—while masterfully anchoring the narrative in shared trauma, humanizing the political and wartime stakes. Even the typically stoic FBI becomes engaging, with Agent Niles poignantly reflecting on his 9/11 experiences: "Suddenly the trumpet wasn’t the most important thing in the world to me—not with all that evil, that darkness, attacking, coming right at us, threatening all of us, our way of life."

Though the portrayal of terrorists might feel one-dimensional at times, Pederson skillfully splices information across various viewpoints, encouraging readers to form their own opinions on the events of 9/11. Reflecting that the fallout from the attacks lingers long after the dust has settled, Pederson takes a stand: instead of hatred and revenge that create a vicious cycle of violence, choose forgiveness and life.

Takeaway: Knockout espionage novel exploring trauma, vengeance, and self-forgiveness

Comparable Titles: Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow, Brad Thor's The Athena Project.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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In this meticulously researched fiction debut, Cree whisks readers away to the time of the infamous 1892 Borden murders. Accused of hacking to death her father, Andrew, and her stepmother, Abby, in their Fall River, MA home, Lizzie Borden—later acquitted by a jury during her trial—is seen here through the eyes of an accomplished historian, who draws from several historical sources, including police notes, legal journals, and court transcripts, to craft a compelling story examining the facets and events that led up to “one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in American history.”

Cree is a skilled storyteller, and readers will be spellbound as the tale races to sleuth the answers to this violent, devastating crime. Tantalizing clues and powerful courtroom scenes paint vivid details and foment assumptions, and backstory unveiled near the story’s end provides added depth, offering up Cree’s reasoning as to who the true killer was. The imaginative step-by-step recounting of the actual attacks is gruesome, but Cree painstakingly documents the murders with the help of multiple historical references, sparing no attention to the most minute particulars—including Lizzie’s alleged purchase of prussic acid (now known as cyanide) and the Borden household’s floorplans, reflecting on the role that such factors may have played in the crime. To avoid spoilers, Cree cautions readers not to read the historical afterward until finishing the story.

Cree transports readers beyond the central murders, masterfully exposing the cloud that Lizzie—and her fellow spinster sister Emma—experienced after the acquittal, noting the snubs and dark questions that chased Lizzie until the day she died. Even Lizzie’s name change, to Lizbeth Borden, failed to tamp down the rampant speculation, and Cree invites readers to speculate as well—at least until the tale’s final scene. True crime buffs will eagerly devour this impeccably delivered mystery.

Takeaway: Masterfully crafted tale of one of history’s greatest unsolved crimes.

Comparable Titles: Erika Mailman’s The Murderer’s Maid, Cara Robertson’s The Trial of Lizzie Borden.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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Playful orca Yuki learns a valuable lesson on following his mama’s advice in this striking picture book. When Yuki’s mama warns him not to swim close to shore in their Iceland home, Yuki brushes off her advice and returns to his deep-sea antics, diving and cavorting with a cascade of crustacean friends clinging to his back. But when he stumbles onto a ship near the shore, Yuki can’t help but be curious—and swims far closer than he should, netting him a quick capture by humans who force him into a performance show in Mexico.

Film director Bluth, the filmmaker and animator responsible for classics like An American Tail and The Secret of Nimh, doesn’t disappoint in this children’s book debut. The story teems with colorful, bubbly characters who immediately plunge into readers’ hearts, center of which is Yuki, of course, but his underwater pals steal several scenes as well, particularly their open-mouthed despair when Yuki disappears at the hands of humans, a moment that Bluth crafts with stunning emotion: “‘Yuki!’ they whisper. ‘Yuki’, they shout, till their tiny crustaceous voices give out.” That’s just one of several evocative scenes, and young readers will be swept into this tale of friendship and family as they learn, alongside Yuki, that some choices come with devastating consequences—but, in the end, love truly saves the day.

Bluth’s bright, splashy illustrations are the crowning jewel, showcasing Yuki in the best—and worst—moments of his life, always with breathtaking emotion. Color schemes shift from playful to dismal as Yuki works through his forced captivity (and Hollywood takes a swipe at making him the most famous whale ever), but the story’s happy ending is an absolute wonder to behold, rich with the effervescent joy of reunited friends and family. Bluth credits Yuki’s child fans for his happily ever after in an empowering windup that will thrill young readers.

Takeaway: Young orca learns the value of friends and family in this stunning underwater tale.

Comparable Titles: Andrea Zuill’s Gustav Is Missing!, Dan Yaccarino’s Morris Mole.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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The ancient, the gorgeous, and the touchingly quotidian all cohere in this breezily gorgeous tour of photographer Giglio’s tour of Italy, a nation he toasts in a preface not just as “the land of my ancestors” but as that rare place where “everyone could pronounce my name.” That blended sense of history and the everyday powers Walk With Me, as Giglio and his camera visit Italian cities, taking in the splendors—the cliffs of the Amalfi coast astonishing here, even if you’ve seen them in person—and the street life. This he captures with an eye for telling detail, like the hands of the nun in Naples who rushes toward him, urging him to pray for the poor, or the grizzled stub of cigar poking from a tangle of beard on the face of man experiencing homelessness.

That’s not to suggest that Walk With Me emphasizes the darkest corners of Italian life. Giglio’s eyes are clear, but he’s often enchanted, finding beauty in umbrellas in rainy streets, in couples embracing and kissing, and in the rhythms and rituals of life offline, like a man reading the newspaper in the morning in an outdoor café or the several shots of adults gathered together outdoors, relishing each other’s company. Giglio’s captions tend to be playful, like many of his photos, but through them, with a minimum of fuss, he makes a case for the nourishing qualities of such connections.

Amid the courtyards, cathedrals, and hardworking pasta-makers, Giglio’s tour offers welcome surprises, captured on the fly but with striking, resonant compositions: a janitor, eyes glazed, sweeping a train station on a tractor-sized machine; a balloon peddler texting on his phone while his crop of unicorns and other inflated characters bob above. The preserved skeletons of ancient victims of Vesuvius offer a jolt among so many touching scenes of life, but the contrast proves illuminating: like Giglio’s other subjects, they were people, in their time, holding to each other.

Takeaway: Gorgeous tour of contemporary Italy, in photos emphasizing everyday splendor.

Comparable Titles: Harvey Stein’s Movimento, Agostino Priarolo’s People’s Republic of Venice!

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Walk With Me

Abrahmson, a pseudonym for Mark Binder, shines in this winning story of strength and determination, the third in his Village Life series. In Chelm, Poland, after the birth of her twins Rachel and Yakov, Sarah Cohen starts to see cracks appear in her marriage. Her husband Benjamin dotes on Yakov, while seeming to care less about Rachel, but Sarah has other things on her mind, too—a group of fellow Jewish women tap her after the twins’ birth to join their secret Council of Wise Women, women who are the movers and shakers in Chelm. Sarah, aware of the rough patch she’s going through, agrees, kickstarting a string of unlikely events in her life.

The story starts with Sarah, but it quickly becomes apparent that Rachel is a prodigy, and Abrahmson often examines the unique cultural aspects of the women in Chelm through Rachel’s experiences. At seven, she teaches herself Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and German, all while gently caring for the ailing widow Oma Levitsky, whose magical chicken soup is said to cure all ills. Those snapshots give the story a folksy feel and a delicate humor that entertains, as when Oma’s soup cures a sick group in a nearby town, sparking a famine of sorts and forcing Chelm residents to eat endless cabbage, with predictably gassy results.

Abrahmson (The Village Feasts) maintains that playful touch throughout, painting characters who leap off the page. Chelm’s wise women are delightful and perceptive, their conversations a joy to read, whether they’re toiling over the latest relationship problems or debating whether girls in the village should be formally educated (“We women [are] able to cherish our subtle knowledge passed through words and whispers and gentle guidance” one woman observes). Abrahmson douses the story with welcome tension at times, and his sparkling prose and enviable world-building make this a beautiful testament to tradition and values.

Takeaway: Charming testament to Jewish traditions and the power of women.

Comparable Titles: Sydney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family series, Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: NA
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Council of Wise Women

In Horn’s rollicking, compulsively readable take on the Cinderella story, a young girl named Sylvia Locke learns to appreciate what she has. Living at her grandparents’ farm after her adventurer parents go missing, Sylvia is known throughout Fairytale Land as something of a “bad girl.” She is routinely rude to her grandparents and refuses to work on her manners, so she is sent to live with her “goody-goody” Aunt Marjorie and twin cousins in the hilariously (to kids) named suburb of Buttzville. While she is there, the family receives an invitation to the ball where Prince Quinn of Rainbow City will choose his princess.

Because Sylvia’s aunt doesn’t want her to attend, she decides she must go, and she enlists the help of self-proclaimed “evil fairy godmother” Pamela to get her there. But Pamela’s magic doesn’t always work quite right, so Sylvia ends up wearing a white tracksuit and driving a 1996 “Merkury Sable” to the party. Her unusual attire attracts the attention of the prince, who ends up being just as sarcastic as Sylvia. When Sylvia abruptly flees the party before her car and clothes transform to a bike and potato sack at midnight, Quinn stops at nothing to find her. She even gets her happy ending —though likely not the one readers will expect.

Admittedly, Sylvia is not the most admirable character—she is rude and selfish, and she doesn’t have any qualms about lying or stealing to get what she wants. However, her behavior is clearly a reflection of her inner world—she has, after all, been abandoned by her parents, and she struggles to make friends because of harmful rumors surrounding her family. This offers kids a compelling example of empathy for others and a reminder that, in the real world as well as Fairytale Land, things are frequently more complicated than they appear.

Takeaway: Rollicking take on the Cinderella story, with a young girl learning to appreciate what she has.

Comparable Titles: James Riley’s Half Upon a Time; Lisa Brasweell’s Twisted Tales series.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A-
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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Fully living up to its title, Gallagher and Bowden’s swaggering thriller debut centers on Father Tony, a priest whose tangled past has brought him to the Vatican—but also to the conviction that he had been “a coward” about facing sexual abuse within the church. With the support of an ailing billionaire, Father Tony returns to New York with a list of “problem priests” whose crimes had been covered up. Also supporting the cause: the “connected” family, the Centenos, who inevitably will go further than Father Tony prefers. When a Bronx priest vanishes, the case falls to hothead Eddie Rodriguez, a Fort Apache detective busted down to Missing Persons after a reckless shooting.

Mostly told from Eddie’s heated perspective, this sprawling thriller captures the mind, mouth, and world of an aggrieved cop who gets that the IA officer assigned to him blames “systemic racism and toxic masculinity for breeding scumbags like me.” When a second priest goes missing, and a flinty federal agent starts poking around with next-level brusqueness, Rodriguez will find his assumptions about everything challenged, especially once he learns that Centenos and the NYPD may be trying to hush something up. One surprise, expressed in a sharp narrative voice that playfully tweaks pulp-fiction masculinity: that the FBI’s Special Agent Murray has “the kind of body a navy-blue pantsuit couldn’t ruin.”

That line’s clipped power and comic edge exemplifies the authors’ prose, which pulses memorably as Vigilante Priest digs into a tricky investigation that will wreak havoc within the department and on Eddie’s own life—the suspense comes from the lengths the powerful will go to shut Eddie down. Despite brisk, striking sentences, the plotting tends toward the baggy, the novel taking its time with an investigation where readers are ahead of the cops. Often, though, the authors use the extra length well, delving into character—like Eddie’s family—and even welcome comedy. The scene where Agent Murray catches Eddie daydreaming about Chris Pine playing him in a movie is irresistible.

Takeaway: Epic procedural of a Bronx cop, missing priests, and organized vengeance.

Comparable Titles: Alex Kava’s An Unnecessary Evil, Jeff Spence’s The Priest Hunter.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+

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