The first of four planned installments in her He Calls Me Harp series, set in the 1990s on an island off the Puget Sound, finds a 14-year-old high school freshman Harper Whitmore catching the attention of senior Scott Pierce and starting a relationship but drawing clear boundaries regarding her willingness to have sex. Scott surprises her with his candor about wanting a relationship as her boyfriend while acknowledging that he previously just used girls who were willing participants in purely physical encounters. Harper’s unusually mature philosophy about not blaming Scott for his past indiscretions is hampered by the bullying she receives from girls jealous of her relationship with Scott. Together, Harper and Scott try to work through their difficulties, complicated by the resurfacing of his past.

Driscoll viscerally brings 1990s high school drama to life, complete with the angst of solidifying a relationship amid the high school rumor mill. Lindsay, a high school girl who had an abortion after Scott got her pregnant, engages in a pretty extensive smear campaign against Harper to make her look bad, and the discussions between Scott, Lindsay and Harper at prom feel cruel but accurate. Despite Harper’s immaturity in dealing with a girl who knew Scott before her, Driscoll instills Harper with more backbone than a typical freshman. Notably, Harper is unwilling to settle for less than a real and public relationship as she abides by her own code of not missing class or sports practices to spend time with him.

With expert pacing, Driscoll draws the reader into the storyline, creating an immersive narrative that holds attention and entices readers to want to discover whether Scott and Harper finish out their year together and make the difficult transition as he leaves for college. While the conclusion is somewhat satisfying, with just enough questions to whet appetites for the next installment.

Takeaway: 1990s high school romance brought to vivid life.

Comparable Titles: Lynn Painter’s Better Than the Movies, Alex Light’s The Upside of Falling.

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

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In Night’s first YA novel, a classic wizard-school premise with a vampiric twist centers the protagonist’s self-discovery, while setting up a world of dangerous creatures from the OtherSide—and, of course, the secret protectors of humanity. Mikey Black, orphaned after his parents were killed by strange monsters, has been shuttled from home to home for years because being around him makes people deathly ill. But when the secret group of young Jaecar-in-training at his new high school identify the effect as his natural ability to drain the Source (life energy) from those around him, Mikey is pulled into a magical school. As he comes to terms with being only half human, he must learn to control his powers while training to protect himself from vampires and to prep for the monster-fighting challenge that will make him and his friends Jaecar.

The plotting holds close to established tropes but executes them well; voracious young readers hungry for chosen ones and mystic academies will feel instantly at home. The idea of magical energy as going through meridians in the body is an original take that works. The core group of friends are all built with distinctive and relatable personalities and roles, and the main peer antagonist is so unsubtle in his non-acceptance of Mikey that readers will relish disliking him.

The storytelling is brisk and assured, as Night takes full advantage of the school setting to introduce the complexities of this world, including inventive lore, terminology, and powersets. The dangers feel real, but Night also exhibits a sure hand for teen thinking and the natural comedy of growing up supernatural. “Being the seventeen-year-old daughter of an 8,000-year-old vampire in the modern world wasn't easy,” he writes, of teen genius Viki, a complex and engaging creation who serves both as romantic antagonist and spying bridge between Mikey and the adult vampires interested in him. The penultimate battle, in which the group dynamic and the teens’ sharp dialogue shines, is a highlight, whetting appetites for more.

Takeaway: Friendships and monster battling power this YA supernatural school adventure.

Comparable Titles: Caleb Roehring’s The Roar of Dark, Patrick Ness’s The Rest of Us Just Live Here.

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

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This warm, heartening memoir details the unlikely romance between author Bernays (Six Legs Walking: Notes from an Entomological Life), a widowed scientist with a passion for entomology, and Linda, a colorful younger woman with a penchant for photography, malapropisms, down-home humor, and a husband to whom she is committed. Despite their differences and some serious hurdles—among them Bernays’s grief at the loss of her husband, Linda's devotion to her own, plus disunities in education, interests and goals—the two forge a long-term relationship that flourishes.

Bernays pens beautiful descriptions of the natural world around Tuscon (“the lonely hills and valleys with their patches of yellow from Tecoma flowers and deep washes highlighted by the light greens of cottonwood trees”) that the women explore together, Bernays as she pursues research, Linda as she accompanies, discovering the rich life of the landscape. Like Linda, readers will develop a rousing sense of the passion that powers Bernays’s work. Other passions are teased out more slowly. Much of the narrative focuses on Linda, her background and struggles, all touchingly rendered, and as it’s only near the end of the book that Bernays directly addresses sexual identity and her bold choice to pursue a relationship with a woman. The memoir reads like it must have been lived, as a series of small discoveries that change two lives.

Especially engaging are stories of the women’s rambles through the desert and around the world, the sense of trust and connection strengthening between them. As Linda endeavors to find out more about her birth family, Bernays offers glimpses into her own childhood with a mother who would not approve of these choices making, making clear how these issues have shaped both of these women’s lives and relationships. Bernays writes with clear-eyed tenderness, stirring readers to invest in this love story.

Takeaway: Touching story of a widowed scientist discovering unexpected love in the desert.

Comparable Titles: Cameron Esposito’s Save Yourself, Sophie Santos’s The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I’ve Had).

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

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Bolinger’s debut, the kickoff to a series, bursts with inventive superheroics as Johnny Churchill, a young man in the late 1960s, discovers that he’s imbued with curious powers: the snowballs that bullies chuck at him vanish just before hitting him. A woman who used to babysit him, Mrs. Underwood, reveals that much like her late husband, a distant relation of Johnny’s who claimed to have lived for centuries, Johnny is a Doxan, someone for whom “the energy field that radiates from all living beings” becomes shield, weapon, and more. Sudden wealth, a thousand-year-old journal, and a warehouse full of historical treasures back up Mrs. Underwood’s story. She also offers a warning: the Doxan she married had been “manipulated, threatened, attacked, imprisoned, enslaved, and pressed into military service” throughout his life.

Johnny, too, faces that fate when his actions during a bank robbery tip off the feds that he’s something special. Soon, he’s being interrogated, then given a deadly Cold War espionage mission that will, of course, have deadly blowback, as it won’t only be the U.S. interested in him. Bolinger writes this all with brisk clarity but a detached tone, observing the characters without digging into their perspectives. That means readers witness Johnny in action, destroying a federal armory or escaping a Russian prison, but have little sense of what he wants in life, what he makes of his astonishing abilities, or what he’s feeling when he offers to give his muscle car to a crush he’s just met.

Much of the story is told through crisp dialogue, while moments of descriptive action tend toward the flatly declarative. What’s memorable are inventive touches like dispatches from history captured in that journal, the clever experiments Johnny’s former science teacher runs him through, Johnny’s surprising uses of his ever-expanding set of powers, and the question of the hero's own future: what would it mean for someone possibly facing centuries of life to fall in love?

Takeaway: Fast-paced super heroics power this inventive series kickoff.

Comparable Titles: Marissa Meyer’s Renegades series, Douglas Smith’s Dream Rider Saga.

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

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Dot is a circular figure who goes to school and partakes in the activities to be found in preschool, such as dress-up, singing, and coloring in this short, sweet, and pointedly minimalist early reader for those going into preschool themselves. Large text and extremely simple digital illustrations—the pages are mostly white space, with a black dot, a line of text, and usually one more small element— assist readers in decoding the short text and reinforces what the text says, as most early reader walk readers through a day in the life of Dot, offering what is essentially a list of activities. The text “Dot Sings” finds the dot with musical notes; “Dot makes new friends” finds the dot in the orbit of plenty more dots. Adults looking to familiarize soon-to-be preschoolers and burgeoning readers with some basics about school may find this helpful.

The book is abstract, the illustrations less emblematic of traditional picture-book storytelling than a collection of graphics more rudimentary than emojis. The titular black circle is generally positioned in the middle of the page, clearly the star of the show, with icons (like grapes for snack time or a cute cowboy hat for dress-up fun) positioned nearby. These simple images convey the activity, but without much in the way of artistry—the effect is something like early computer art from a dot matrix printer. The dot is by design inexpressive, lacking facial expressions, likely making it a challenge to relate to.

Nonetheless, Introducing Dot deep simplicity can be a virtue for the right audience, as it has the potential to be easily understood by the youngest of readers, and the ample white space and general sense of upbeat abstraction offers plenty of room for imagination on the reader’s part. Introducing Dot can be expanded upon or appreciated as the first stepping stone on the way to more reading and schooling adventures.

Takeaway: Minimalist introduction to reading and preschool for early readers.

Comparable Titles: Debora Vogrig and Pia Valentinis’s Line and Scribble, Laura Ljungkvist’s A Line Can Be.

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

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The third entry in Jeffrey’s savvy, team-oriented starship adventure series starts off with a bang, with an assassination attempt on the life of Captain Aidan Macallan and then after an exciting new mission for Aidan and the crew of the Sun Wolf that immediately finds them doing what they (and Jeffrey) do best: crack a cosmic puzzle, in this case coded coordinates. Their mission is to hunt down Cardew Amon, the murderous genius who has claimed a newly accessible astrocell—a huge swath of space teeming with potential life—for his “Posthuman empire,” and he’s creating “cloneborg” assassins, terrifying battle cruisers, and even worse for the cause. Aidan and co. have personal reasons, too, to chase Cardew, and face the exhaustive gauntlet of mysteries, dangers, and wonders that Jeffrey throws at them.

Jeffrey’s novels, like the universe itself, tend toward the expansive, and The Light Within Darkness feels bigger than ever. Still, for all its new worlds (there’s many, and the crew relishes naming them) and unsettling marvels (a "cloneborg crèche”; a tiny, mobile black hole) nobody ever loses sight of home—the Earth—as they venture far beyond our solar system in 2218. Aidan listens to 20th century jazz, worries over “One Earth” movement conspiracy theories, and struggles with a form of addiction.

The action is brainy but still visceral, rendered in crisp prose, with stakes that couldn’t be higher. But the heart of this series is in teamwork, in singular solutions to intractable problems, in impossible dilemmas and hard choices, whether they be cosmic conundrums about the origins of life or the moral question of whether to destroy clones of a genocidal leader. Pacing is brisk, and Jeffrey proves a master of and-another-thing excitement: an early, low-key romantic interlude gives way to discussion of possibility of “intergalactic ecosystems analogous to organic planetary ones,” which is interrupted by a missile attack. Such moments are SF bliss.

Takeaway: Stellar space-faring SF bursting with new worlds and camaraderie.

Comparable Titles: C. J. Cherryh, Robert J Sawyer’s Starplex.

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

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All that Violet Blue wants for herself is a clean place to stay, a hot meal, a high school education…and to get away from her mentally ill, abusive mother and the drug cartels she double crossed. That’s only part of the story. In the superb A Fish has No Word For Water, her highly readable memoir, Blue plunges readers into a life that is both a freewheeling adventure tale and a clear-eyed survey of stories of human wreckage, as she recounts the challenges of survival on the streets of 1980s San Francisco, during the AIDs crisis. Throughout the book she contextualizes her story with illuminating examinations of city history and cultural politics, demonstrating the profound effects of both on hers and other lives on the margins, especially the young people with whom she found community.

A Fish has No Word for Water is a memoir constantly in motion. As it opens we learn Violet Blue’s mother, a former engineer and hacker turned cocaine dealer, is an erstwhile member of the witness protection program. Violet comes home from school one day, at the age thirteen, and finds her Mother has skipped out. Now homeless, she falls in with a group of punks who help her learn the ways of the streets such as which restaurants will give you food, who to watch out for, and how to find a safe place to sleep. “You gotta decide your rules right away,” she is told by her new friend, Rogue, “and you can never, ever break them.”

There is a stark contrast between learning how to live on the streets and the beautiful Victorian mansions draped in the ever present fog. These contrasts are seen throughout (example: a Jewish Nazi skinhead) and drives home the point that nothing’s for certain and tomorrow is never promised. Sharp dialogue, incisive observations, and polished prose power the book: “Both neighborhoods were broken fables with people dying in the street,” she writes, of the Castro and the Haight.

Takeaway: Superb memoir of a punk’s life on the streets in 1980s San Francisco.

Comparable Titles: Aaron Cometbus’s A Cometbus Omnibus,Janice Erlbau’s Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir.

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

Click here for more about A Fish Has No Word For Water

In debut author Cantafio’s bittersweet poetry collection, Grief and Gratitude are sisters who welcome the poet mourning the loss of her mother to their home, where “each room [is] a place of solace” and no one has to “worry about making a mess.” Readers are invited to enter rooms of their choosing and witness the poet’s stages of cathartic unraveling that contain both misery and comedy. Grief and Gratitude represent a paradox that provides the basis for healing, and “if you can’t accept [them] both, loss is skewed,” because living with loss is a balancing act between opposing forces; it is holding multiple contradictory truths at once.

Some of Cantafio’s poems are piercingly somber, as in “mom’s the word”: “mom is the word left on the string// that connected our tin cans,” but a few succeed in straddling the line between heavy and light, as in “sit down, Billy”: “the Bard lied to us. // [...] we do not leave on // iambic pentameter. // it’s more free verse, less sonnet.” Incorporating various poetic forms, including villanelle and haiku, and Sutton’s charmingly disheveled, Shel Silverstein-inspired illustrations of the sisters’ home, Cantafio strives to lay bare the spectrum of emotional response to loss that this purging may heal those in the throes of mourning.

In the house of Grief and Gratitude, mourners can find “an orientation point” amid the vast amount of space and grace that is required to walk from the room of acute grief toward another, where “happy feels like an // old pair of jeans you put on,// surprised they still fit.” There is no end to grief and gratitude; as the poet mentions, “this feeling was — and is — on a loop,” and readers looking for guidance on their own looping journeys through loss will find a gentle sanctuary in Cantafio’s collection and a visit with those sisters.

Takeaway: A poetic odyssey through the house of sisters Grief and Gratitude.

Comparable Titles: Edwin Arlington Robinson’s The House on the Hill, Roberta Bondi’s Wild Things.

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

Click here for more about My Stay with the Sisters

The Neon God has been unleashed, and humanity is at risk of extinction in Gayler’s thrilling followup to Download Incomplete. When phones and computer screens start emitting a series of flashing lights, roughly 90% of the population falls prey to the hypnotizing sequence. The code may be manmade, but the Alternative Intelligence (AI) known as the Neon God has taken over, using mind control to incite mass suicides. Only a small percentage of humans are left unaffected, including a 22-year-old barback, an 11-year-old autistic empath, a computer software engineer, and a few other brave survivors who are left with the harrowing task of saving humankind.

With a large and diverse cast, Gayler creates bold and memorable characters readers will empathize with. Each character comes to life within the pressure-cooker situation which gives readers plenty of opportunities to connect with their favorite. Perhaps the most notable is 11-year-old Mason, whose autism is presented as the underlying catalyst for his empathic abilities. His childlike traits and innocent approach to the end of humankind works well in juxtaposition to the violence and chaos of the setting. Gaylor’s creativity applied to each persona ensures compelling character arcs.

Gayler quickly captivates readers with a gripping premise teeming with moral and ethical conflicts. On the surface, a vast array of characters fight for basic survival in a world gone mad. Characteristics of the unaffected showcase both ends of the moral spectrum: vile actions that target the vulnerable versus empathy and sacrifice for the innocents. Digging deeper into the absorbing narrative allows readers to explore ideas regarding faith, compassion, and survival. AI’s unsettling potential serves as a stark warning, and Gayler excels at placing humanity’s reliance on technology under a microscope and dissects the topic through a vivid and imaginative futuristic reality. SF fans will enjoy the moral debate presented in this engaging thriller.

Takeaway: Gripping story of AI gone awry and the heroes tasked with saving humanity.

Comparable Titles: Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse, Daniel Suarez’s Daemon.

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

Click here for more about The Neon God

Business exec Lembi offers an insider’s look at what makes a successful leader in this polished debut. He differentiates “know-it-all” leaders from “learn-it-all” leaders, drawing on his years of experience as CEO for corporate training company Learnit to reveal the secrets behind professional success. “You’ll never be a great leader if you’re arrogant or naive enough to think you have it all figured out,” he writes, contending that “great leaders aren’t born… they’re constantly creating and re-creating themselves.” That spirit of curiosity permeates his writing, offering readers a host of hands-on techniques and suggestions for transforming into lifelong learners.

Lembi’s passion is contagious, and his sensitivity to the more challenging roadblocks on the path to professional success will energize readers. He delves into imposter syndrome and the poison of fear, insisting that “the key is to find the strength to conquer your fear, not pretend that it isn’t real,” and he recommends hard work, in-depth preparation, and a constant thirst for knowledge as the antidote. Lembi starts each chapter with reminiscences about his personal experiences as a lifelong learner, many of them centered on his father (“[he] taught me the motivational power of having a big, even outrageous, vision”), and encourages leaders to take calculated risks—“learn-it-all leaders can never really fail because they always learn something, no matter the outcome” he posits.

Though his professional acumen is evident throughout, Lembi balances his know-how with humility and a tangible grasp of how great leaders need great teams to truly succeed. Failure is just part of the learning process, he argues, and curiosity, combined with a willingness to draw from others’ expertise, is the recipe for success. Lembi contends that the true spirit of great leadership boils down to a powerful vision and a sense of integrity—in his own words, “people believe what you do, not what you say.”

Takeaway: Practical guidance on becoming an exceptional leader.

Comparable Titles: Daniel H. Pink’s Drive, Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Martin Seligman’s Tomorrowmind.

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

Click here for more about The Learn-It-All Leader: Mindset, Traits and Tools

“Yogananda’s book, his stories and lessons, are as relevant today as they were in the previous century,” writes entrepreneur, programmer, and author Virk (The Simulation Hypothesis) in this illuminating celebration and explication of Swami Paramhansa Yogananda epochal 1945 Autobiography of a Yogi. Virk calls the autobiography a “passport in the form of a paperback,” noting its profound influence to generations of seekers eager to find a “union with the self and with the Divine” and embark on “a path that allowed one to seek God no matter what one’s religion or lineage.” This volume draws on Yogananda’s wisdom, including tales of miracles (or siddhis) and jinn, to present 14 lessons for navigating worldly and spiritual paths, written in crisp, accessible language with contemporary resonance.

An impassioned preface connects Yogananda’s teachings to innovators of recent history, such as George Harrison and Steve Jobs, who, according to Walter Isaacson, only had one book on his iPad: Autobiography of a Yogi. More compelling is Virk’s account of his own spiritual journey, especially the discovery that “Meditation and yoga weren’t there just to help me” in facing life’s trials. Instead, they “were there to help me with my own path of self-discovery and meditation.”

The lessons have been crafted to help readers forge their own path, offering practical reminders to stay out of one’s own way and to accept that setbacks often are a way forward. More provocative are lessons that consider Yogananda’s more fantastical stories, of superpowers and divine figures. Some are tantalizingly updated, such as Yogananda’s conviction that life was like a play in a theater—Virk persuasively argues that we now can see that it’s more like “an interactive video game,” an opportunity for Virk to explore the simulation hypothesis he’s laid out in previous books. Virk recounts the tales with clarity and power, drawing out messages that don’t diminish their rich mysteries. The result is a feast for seekers, a book to explore and revisit.

Takeaway: Compelling contemporary lessons drawn from Swami Paramhansa Yogananda.

Comparable Titles: Swami Rama’s Living with the Himalayan Masters, Sadhguru’s Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny.

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

Click here for more about Wisdom of a Yogi

Zartman (Win at Aging) looks to nature’s most formidable predator as an inspiration—not just because it’s her namesake, but because of the Chondrichthyes’ instinctive wisdom and powerful focus on goals. This concise guide adapts her no-nonsense approach to life, teaching readers how to activate their “inner shark” by using the same methods that have allowed sharks to survive and thrive for over 400 million years. She looks to the formidable predator as an inspiration, not just because it’s her namesake, but because of the instinctive wisdom and powerful focus that sharks possess, organizing each chapter around a strong trait that a shark uses to take charge of its life—and helping readers determine how to modify their own behaviors to do the same.

Zartman’s approach is holistic, with simple steps to achieving lifelong goals and dreams, and her experiences as a coach shines throughout. Each shark trait includes Zartman’s first-hand experiences, alongside funny anecdotes, clear messaging, cutesy illustrations, short exercises for the reader, and famous quotes related to each category. In “Sharks Are Flexible,” Zartman mirrors a shark’s lack of expectations to the need for humans to be present in the moment, rather than allowing past or future events to hold sway over their current decisions, and she encourages readers to tune into their senses more often to better “deal with a changing world”—using the super senses of a shark as a comparison.

Readers looking to improve concentration or achieve goals more easily will find straightforward advice in Zartman’s writing, along with quick motivation, ways to cope with stress and life’s challenges, and easy-follow-advice on adoptng new habits into a daily routine. “Nothing happens in a state of inertia,” she writes, asserting that “most of us know what to do to get what we want.” Zartman argues against playing it safe, urging readers to dive right in and welcome their “inner shark waiting to emerge.”

Takeaway: How to survive, thrive, focus, and set goals like a shark.

Comparable Titles: Deborah Johnson’s Stop Circling, John Belvedere’s The Core of Success.

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

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“Through understanding, you’ll begin to learn about who you are and who you can become” San Filippo promises in this heartfelt debut focused on exploring childhood trauma and learning effective ways to overcome it as an adult. Drawing from her own childhood experiences, San Filippo examines generational violence, addiction, and more, in compassionate language that will resonate with readers who’ve experienced trauma—a term she acknowledges can be challenging to define. In teasing out trauma’s root causes, and delineating how it shapes adulthood, San Filippo offers readers hope with simple, actionable steps and an affirmation that “deep inside of you, you already have everything you need to change your life for the better.”

Readers already familiar with trauma and its long-term impacts may find the material introductory, but for those just starting their healing journey, San Filippo shares valuable tools. She includes quizzes to help readers determine their potential trauma risks and protective factors, sets out guidelines for creating a personal mission statement to achieve peaceful living, and urges readers to “stay in the present moment” by recognizing unhealthy thoughts and emotions that stem from past experiences. Once self-awareness increases, San Filippo writes, recovery is just a few steps away, and her suggestions for intentional journaling, managing triggers, and learning to function without expectations of others will speed that process.

The book’s strength comes from San Filippo’s sensitivity and gentle reminders that “you can accept who you are now” regardless of past experiences. Readers will find that idea comforting, as is San Filippo’s assertion that living in the moment is the key—she recommends against excessively focusing on the future or ruminating on the past, cautioning readers instead to “accept what is and look for steps you can take to make the problem better right now.” This is an illuminating, inviting introduction to understanding trauma.

Takeaway: A strong first step in understanding how to heal from trauma.

Comparable Titles: Mark Wolynn’s It Didn’t Start With You, Michele Rosenthal’s Heal Your PTSD.

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

Click here for more about Find the Peace within You

This rich fantasy debut centers on a musical prodigy apprenticed into a Bardic Order, centuries after the last time anyone so gifted has plucked a harp, blown a flute, or composed a tune. Eleven-year-old Kaelin will only play his self-made flute in the woods, away from people, for fear of the harm he believes his music can wreak upon others. Just as he’s about to be apprenticed to a woodcarver, Kaelin is jolted to hear a song of his own composition played by Bergid, a traveling Master Bard of Kestrel, who agrees to train Kaelin for one month to determine if Kaelin truly has what it takes to be a bard.

Bergid, though, is quickly dazzled by Kaelin’s gifts, which seem connected to something ancient and lost, especially the lad’s ability to capture the musical essence of animals and objects—even seeming to journey, briefly, into a feather that inspires a composition. Complicating matters, of course, is Bardic politics, and the mystery of Kaelin’s refusal to play for anyone other than Bergid. Bergid makes some unorthodox choices in his tutelage, decisions that might provoke the ire of the Bardic Council, though Himeda’s interests are less in suspense than in connections: she writes warm, loving scenes of master and apprentice discussing music, discovering Kaelin’s talents, and traveling the novel’s Celtic island world, which is revealed to readers as it is to the novel’s young hero, who is touchingly awed by the sea.

Himeda writes lush, engaging scenes of travel and music-making, in exacting and evocative prose, but the novel picks up its pace once Kaelin is being tested by Bard Masters and also showcasing another trait—connected to music, of course—that Bergid has cultivated in him: compassion. Readers shouldn’t expect a plot-driven page turner, though the novel’s third “movement” contains more drama than its first two, but overall this is a humane fantasy blissout of training and deepening relationships, with musicology as magic.

Takeaway: Music is magic in this charming, richly written apprenticeship fantasy.

Comparable Titles: Mercedes Lackey’s Bardic Voice series, Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana.

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

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The urge to save a life no matter what powers the bloody and searching third entry in Johnson’s inventive, irreverent Perfect Prophet series. That drive—and a missing young girl abducted by adherents to a vicious cult— clarifies the action in a story whose plotting and metaphysics have, by this volume, gotten thornily tangled. The focus remains on brothers Alec and Lucas, boys born into a mad prophecy and the worship of Satan. Alec started the tale as a Satanic death-metal rock star, became an evangelical faith healer of legendary power, and as Perfect Sacrifices kicks off is living inside the dying body of a billionaire cult leader—but is almost immediately crucified and (apparently) killed at last. (His son lives on, though.) Lucas, meanwhile, lurched from Team Satan—he served as a high priest—to Team God to a life of pained exile.

Now, though, as the cult he once led gathers its power to fulfill that still-unresolved prophecy, Lucas realizes he can’t hide out from responsibility, especially when a teen believer in Alec is taken by the cult and forced to watch her mother’s murder. That’s just scratching the surface of the complexities and surprises of this series, which takes matters of faith, morality, family, and trauma seriously, while still steeping readers in cult and supernatural horror that Johnson, even three books in, pens with fresh, unsettling relish. Highlights include ravens, a wicked knife, a blood ritual, and Lucas’s continual feeling of being “back on his knees, head bowed before the God who hated him.”

The plotting is more dense than in previous entries, with many characters and mysteries to track—new readers should not expect to pick up the gist, and even returning fans should probably look back at the previous book, Prophet Reborn, for context, clarity, and richer connections. What works best is the heart that has always set this series apart, the sense of fraternal bonds and the weight of destiny, but also the possibility, even amid cult murders, of redemption.

Takeaway: Bold climactic volume of a belief-themed horror series that takes faith and evil seriously.

Comparable Titles: Lynn Hightower, Greg F. Gifune’s Children of Chaos.

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

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Meyers debuts with a riveting memoir chronicling her life story from an early childhood diagnosis of polio through her unyielding determination to attend and graduate from college and build for herself a successful career as an engineering executive at Apple. Sharing details about her family history and legacy, key friendships, and the experience of becoming a wife and a mother, Meyer shares her story with vivid transparency and raw honesty that is endearing and inspiring. Meyers's parents received the terrifying telegram that their 11-month-old daughter had polio, which Meyers describes with precision, from diagnosis to treatment to life-long impact: “My right leg is around two inches shorter than the left and doesn’t have much muscle development,” she writes. “It looks more like a stick than a leg."

Though her disability has led to setbacks and obstacles, including unfair treatment from peers and adults, Meyers persevered, as the title playfully suggests. She continually sets goals for herself and maps out the best course to achieve them. Despite her early goal to be accepted and graduate from college, difficulties in her native home of China, where most colleges have unyielding physical education requirements, prompted Meyers to eventually apply to schools in the United States, where she was accepted at Ohio University with a full scholarship and completed her PhD. From her first position as a software scientist in Silicon Valley to an executive role at Apple, Meyers’s determination fueled her ambitions, and her hard work led to successful achievements. "I heard from people what I couldn’t do, I limped forward and did all those things anyway, and I am not done yet," Meyers notes.

From competing in a 100-mile bike ride to challenging herself in karate classes, Meyers reflects on the ways her weaknesses became her strengths, delivering an inspirational narrative of a young woman constantly pushing herself, pursuing her dreams, and always believing in herself no matter what others had to say. The result is inspiring.

Takeaway: An inspirational memoir that highlights living with a disability and persevering.

Comparable Titles: Rebekah Taussig’s Sitting Pretty, Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility.

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

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