A refusal to shy away from the horrors of the past adds urgency to the climactic third entry in Graham’s saga of young Britons emigrating to the Americas—especially Philadelphia—just after the Revolutionary War. This volume, following Voices Whisper, finds Liam Brock, the orphaned Scot, now just a test away from being a Philly lawyer. His thoughts, however, are as always on women, specifically Rhiannon Ross, now married to an old wealthy plantation owner, Albert, who has spirited her away to Jamaica and can’t bring himself to visit her bed at night. At the Fain Hill plantation, Rhiannon quails at the “harsh human suffering” of slavery, and she yearns to be useful, even visiting the understaffed “hothouse” to try to help tend to ill slaves. Her heart, though, is in Philly, Liam, and the inn that she has, through some complex financial cleverness, trusted Liam to secure for her, in the hope that one day she can get Albert to settle there.

Complicating matters, of course, are the horrors of slavery. Rhiannon’s interventions when slaves face cruel punishments tend to make matters worse, she exhibits grace for Albert’s out-of-wedlock son and his enslaved mother, and as hints of a revolt rock Jamaica as surely as the earthquakes, Rhiannon’s feelings for Fain Hill are complicated, and not just because of the centipedes. Liam, meanwhile, is soon en route to Jamaica as chaperone to a prickly young woman (“Even her curls appeared tightly wound,” Graham writes). His real mission, of course,is to see Rhiannon. One delicious twist: rather than find the young man, an abolitionist, a threat, Albert hires him on.

Graham spins the tale with brisk, engaging prose, palpable longing, and a strong sense of intrigue and gathering dread. The novel builds to inevitable but surprising tragedies but also a satisfying ending that does not diminish the weight of the history. Like Rhiannon, Graham abounds in grace, with even that tightly wound young woman proving, in the end, a compelling and nuanced creation.

Takeaway:Humane historical novel of love, law, and the horrors of slavery in the Americas.

Comparable Titles: Natasha Boyd’s The Indigo Girl, Sarah Lark’s Island of a Thousand Springs.

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

Click here for more about Voices Echo

In this provocative SF adventure, humans and advanced AI must work together to save Earth from the catastrophic damage of climate change. State-of-the-art Andronaut Zaylen is the first autonomous android designed for deep space exploration. With a human crew at the helm, Zaylen and his team must traverse a volatile alien planet and secure Tridisiom, an isotope with the ability to restore Earth. Tensions rise over the crew’s divided attitude toward dependance on AI, all as Zaylen wrestles with his growing need for acceptance from his human colleagues. Meanwhile, Earth’s fate rests in the ability of man and machine bridging a partnership, but embracing new complex technology proves more challenging than anticipated.

Scott creates fast-paced action that volleys between efforts to save Earth, protect the lives of the crew from various unforeseen perils, and, for Zalen, understand an android’s place within human society. Scott employs this repetitive pattern to build empathy between readers and the Andronaut by providing Zaylen ample nail-biting opportunities to prove his importance to humanity. Shocking twists keep readers engaged while Scott quickly escalates the tension between humans and AI. On the page, a palpable divide grows with some characters embracing the impressive tech abilities presented by Zaylen and others expressing their fearful and suspicious concerns of the Andronaut’s enhanced skills. Zaylen serves as a compelling catalyst to incisive and in-depth debates revolving around the complexities of machines’ integration into civilization.

Scott’s passion regarding innovative technological advancements shines through the narrative and sparks meaningful questions readers will feel compelled to investigate long after the final page. Several intriguing topics are explored such as will humanity eventually be replaced by androids and what if androids develop the ability to reject their code and go rogue? Readers interested in exploring the role of AI integrating with humanity will enjoy this compelling story.

Takeaway: A provocative adventure diving into AI’s role in human civilization.

Comparable Titles: Tony Laplume’s Sapo Saga, Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries.

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

Click here for more about The Andronaut's Journey

In this tense, funny novel, Sarah Morris, a 49 year-old editor, faces upheaval at the publishing company, Quill Pen Press, where she's worked for the past 21 years. Though there is no change in her job title or pay, all of her job responsibilities are now different and she is forced to do overtime without pay for new daily tasks that she hates. With a recession ravaging hopes of economic stability, and finding herself her family’s sole income-earner following her husband’s dismissal from his banking job, Sarah must decide what steps she needs to take in her career to find her way back to being happy in the workplace. Does she dare a job search, as she puts it, “In middle age. In a crappy job market … that’s hostile to older people like me”?

Sarah exemplifies the emotional turmoil many feel when facing discontent in the workplace as Jones delves into self-doubt, the fear of starting over, and being complacent in a dead-end job. With wit, snark, and a striking sense of all-too-real realism, Jones writes a relatable and personable narrative about being pigeon-holed and feeling stuck with work that is no longer fulfilling or providing the space or opportunity for advancement. Exploring toxic work cultures, micromanagers, and workplace favoritism, The War on Sarah Morris is punchy and pained, outraged and comic, offering much that readers—especially women working in troubled industries—will find resonant. While set in 2011, the novel feels pointedly of the moment.

Jones convincingly captures the inner workings of a publisher and the ever-increasing responsibilities that fall onto lower level staffers, plus the indignities of a job search, from “biographical resumes” to pop-quiz writing assignments in job interviews. In this, Jones blends the engagingly dishy with sharp-elbowed analysis of power dynamics. Readers who have ever worked under tyrannical managers or for companies who only care about how much money is coming in will be impacted and feel a personal connection to Sarah's struggle.

Takeaway: Sharp-elbowed novel of a woman facing a job hunt after 20 years in publishing.

Comparable Titles: Lisa Owens’s Not Working, Liz Talley's Adulting.

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

Click here for more about The War On Sarah Morris

Inspirational life coach and podcaster McAfee debuts with a warm, inspired, and polished Christian new-adult romance that overflows with grace as its heroine strives for perfection. Away from her small South Carolina hometown, UNC freshman Gabby falls hard for a bad-boy guitarist during her first week of nursing school. Her grades nosedive as the couple moves in together and marries, much against her loving sister’s wishes. Despite Adderall addiction, losing a coveted internship, and divorce, Gabby claws her way out of depression into the arms of firefighter Griffin Gerardi. But her toxic insecurities threaten to shatter their love as bumps in the road to becoming a nurse challenge her perfectionism.

Thoroughly realistic in its representation of new-college student challenges, this cautionary tale depicts the temptations of parties and romance, which distract Gabby from her academic goals. Luckily, her modern, laid-back faith strengthens her. Voices of reason come in the forms of rock-song lyrics and a radio DJ, as well as her sister, who steady Gabby when she most needs direction. The Christian element does not slow the pace or dominate the narrative, and it’s unlikely to deter secular readers, as many of the novel’s resonant gems of wisdom belong to no one tradition. Gabby embodies the classic picture of a college girl, sporting crop tops and drinking with the opposite sex. Love scenes remain implicit.

An action-packed prologue hooks the reader and offers a sneak peek at how Gabby and Griffin meet. First-person point-of-view in present tense lends an active voice to quieter passages and showcases Gabby’s diamond-in-the-rough, courageous character. Likewise, the conversational writing style promotes a sense of intimacy between protagonist and reader. Poetic prose matches swoon-worthy characters, like the bad boy with “a laugh that makes his whiskey-colored eyes bloom to sunburst.” Burning Hope’s satisfying narrative and characters will uplift fans of contemporary, sweet love stories.

Takeaway: Warm, realistic, uplifting romance with nuanced messages of faith.

Comparable Titles: Jessica Park’s Flat-Out Love, Jill Penrod’s Girls Aglow series.

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

Click here for more about Burning Hope

In this genre-blending future thriller, FBI agents Zahra Washington and Mason Deane, a mind hacker, team up to "rescue the world from certain destruction" after investigating multiple cases with mysterious murders and a new case where the suspect swears she's been framed. Set in an imaginative future of hologram news, underwater colonies, and a United States that’s no longer united, Powers’s debut pits the agents against a high-tech mind-controlling killer named Moloch, “king of the mindhackers,” who’s bent on taking over the world one host at a time, making everyone a drone under his control. “You’re reasonably intelligent,” Moloch tells Deane, early on. “That will make your brain easier to rewire.” Then Moloch divides into an army and rushes for him.

Inventive and unsettling scenes like that power Dreaming Under an Electric Moon, a fast-paced, impossible-to-predict ride starring two sharp-witted FBI agents each equipped with their own special set of skills. Powers pushes the narrative forward with surprising action, laugh-out-loud banter, and a tense storyline that takes full advantage of its future setting. Teaming up with software expert Ernestine Paul and her "black market guy", Garrett, the agents and their assembled team search both virtually online and multiple real-world locations to find Edward Blunt, the mysterious and supposedly dead creator of the vU, the virtual-reality "universe," in the hopes that he can help them stop Moloch, who is gathering countless drones.

In their race to save humanity, the team encounters characters from vNovels, aliens, ghoul-clowns, and Moloch himself in multiple hosts, creating a creepy level of distrust and uncertainty over who is an ally and who is the enemy. Blending shoe-leather procedural work, bursts of crisp but wild action, a viral update on super villainy, and a concluding reminder of the temptations of abusing cheat codes, this tech-run-amok plot will please fans of stories of investigating disturbing VR futures.

Takeaway: Inventive SF crime thriller pitting feds against “the king of the mindhackers.”

Comparable Titles: Caitlin Starling's The Luminous Dead Simon Jimenez's The Vanished Birds.

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

Click here for more about Dreaming Under an Electric Moon

This upbeat guidebook to strengthening and maintaining relationships from Chaleff (author of The Wounded Healer) goes beyond the romantic to explore how to spark genuine, substantial, enduring connections with others in all different types of relationships, from friends to family to collaborators and beyond. Urging readers to understand the importance of trust and respect when forming bonds, and offering clear-eyed insight and exercises to develop the self-awareness it takes to be supportive, less judgemental, and better at not taking things personally, The Connection Playbook is an invitation to transform how readers relate to others, resolve conflicts, and above all embrace authentic connections where all involved feel supported, respected, and capable of navigating difficult conversations without defensiveness.

The Connection Playbook advises not only on how to become the person one wants to be, seeing those one cares about through the “lens of love” and communicating with intent and clarity, but also how to avoid perpetuating unhealthy cycles. “If we’re not conscious of what lies behind our triggers, we can turn into the very people we try our best not to be,” Chaleff notes. To that end, Chaleff offers original strategies, techniques, and clarifying examples exploring how to face challenging moments in relationships—like flashpoint interactions that could lead to conflict—with grace and empathy. Relevant and practical exercises are found at the end of each chapter, reinforcing concepts like viewing mistakes as “moments to create connection.”

This warm, illuminating guide is a toolbox for building relationships, enhancing professional connections, and simply understanding more of the world around you–and understanding your own triggers, defensiveness, and responsibilities in relationships as well. Chaleff persuasively argues that “if we can’t see how we create barriers between ourselves and others, we have no way of dealing with those barriers.” With clear eyes and an open heart, The Connection Playbook deftly demonstrates how to create healthy attachment styles at a time when people feel increasingly distant.

Takeaway: Original, informative guide to building relationships on trust and respect.

Comparable Titles: David Bradford and Carole Robin’s Connect, Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas’s When Sorry Isn’t Enough.

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

Click here for more about The Connection Playbook

Warm, clever, and balancing playful narrative ambition with the traditional pleasures of its genre, Goldsmith’s ambitious fantasy, her debut, centers storytelling itself as an act of heroism, bringing pleasure and imagination to those who dwell in the novel’s many taverns but also something deeper. “Language and music are magic in themselves,” says the Rooke, a man robed in red, the last of his kind, dispatched on a most unlikely quest: to reawaken love of stories and the truth about a mythic, dragon-rich past in those oppressed by imperial rule. Stories spun by rookes—and then re-told by the people moved to reach into a rooke’s robes for a coin—also have a traditional side effect: soothing those dragons, who aren’t so mythic after all. They’re only sleeping.

Salvation Taverns offers a classic quest narrative, complete with a party of do-gooders, accumulated over chapters, pursued by strange creatures and elite soldiers (here, Spytes and the Scarlet Bans) and facing overwhelming odds, in this case an empire that bans books and demands citizens wear metal sleeves denoting each individual’s trade and standing. But Goldsmith balances the escapes, travels, friend-making, and betrayals with the tales of the Rooke, who in each chapter visits a tavern (The Dragon’s Toenail; The Glittering Raptor) and unspools a yarn. These awaken something in the listeners, reveal urgent backstory, and give Goldsmith opportunity to play in a host of fantasy subgenres.

The stories feature demons, pirates, purple foxes, and a host of figures of legend. Their narratives often are connected, with characters making multiple appearances. Before the Rooke regales a tavern, Goldsmith often devotes a perspective section to new characters who will become embroiled in the cause. This fills out the cast and world, but—combined with the storytelling—comes at the expense of narrative momentum. But Goldsmith’s fantasy asks readers to dig in deeper than most page-turners: it’s about gathering, sharing a tale, and making one’s own magic in the world.

Takeaway: Fantasy of storytelling deftly blending the epic and the cozy.

Comparable Titles: Ellen Kushner’s Thomas the Rhymer, Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes.

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

Click here for more about Salvation Taverns

This ambitious, genre-blending series starter from Springett (author of The Lions from Kiev) centers, a millennia now, on something like an idealized vision of the pastoral past: Matthew Stone, often on horseback, safeguards a Shenandoah Valley that, through dedicated reforestation, now looks like it must have when “man first discovered it many thousands of years earlier.” There, Matthew, a warden, ensures the security of the kingdom ruled by his brother, the Alliance leader Michael Stone. But Springett’s unique tale unfolds not on a fallen Earth but one where humanity has expanded into the solar system, with colonies on Mars, several moons, and multiple stations orbiting the other planets—and humanity, as is its wont, is divided into factions with competing interests. While the Stones maintain their kingdom and an antiquated lifestyle subtly supported by modern technology, a rogue AI and others will soon embroil the Valley in conflict.

Springett immerses readers in Shenandoah Valley's everyday life as Matthew returns to his brother’s castle on his horse for his niece's “name day,” but also in engaging political intrigue rooted in the flaws and future of humanity itself. The narrative gains momentum when assailants wielding banned Outer Rings weaponry target Matthew’s brother-in-law, exposing a conspiracy involving Earth’s Ambassador, the AI Statera, and a mysterious group called the Destiny Project. Forced to journey to the Alliance's capital, Copernicus, on the Moon. Stone survives attacks on the embassy and its Diplomatic Dome, where ambassadors from across humanity soon convene to face the danger. There Stone unearths a grand conspiracy.

Matthew encounters a host of interesting characters, establishing the richness of this future. The thoughtful story of diplomacy and secret machinations often leans on conversations rather than action, an approach that Springett executes with suspense. This vision of humanity’s future is smart and surprising, but always plausible and even revealing of who we’ve always been—and likely always will be. The conclusion this all builds to is a touch less exciting than the hints at what’s to come in the next installment.

Takeaway: Smart space opera pitting the warden of the Shenandoah Valley vs. a system-spanning conspiracy.

Comparable Titles: S.B. Divya’s Machinehood, James S.A. Corey

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

Click here for more about Warden of the Valley

Two of the most terrifying words in English: “Personnel changes.” LaPierre’s sprawling debut, a drama of succession, business, and love centered on a wealthy Ontario family and a small software company in early 2000s, builds to those words with pained suspense, the lives of its rich, poor, and in-between characters surging towards tragedy amid soirees, job interviews, not-quite-affairs, and a hotshot investment banker’s insistence that the best way to run a business is to “Get on top of a wave and sell. Don’t ride the wave to shore.” The Equity of Love examines the cost in human lives of such thinking, as LaPierre pins down his milieu with persuasive power, charting the aspirations, machinations, and life-upending lusts of the Hardich family’s two privileged but reckless adult children, and the beleaguered team at Enigma Solutions.

Chief among that staff is Richard Earning, whose resonant name and love of Dickens suggests something of LaPierre’s ambitions and approach. After the senior Hardich dies, his offspring Xavier and Augusta become the chief investors in Enigma, and Xavier, taking an interest in the company despite his lack of experience, spends much time with Richard, spouting vagaries about taking Enigma “to the next level.” Richard meets and soon falls for Augusta, a grad student whose progressive sloganeering doesn’t disguise her cynicism. “We’re self-interested,” she confesses, in a discussion of humanity itself. “I see how we all use each other for our own ends.”

Humanist Richard, though, believes in happy endings, but LaPierre is savvier than that, as Richard’s love yields painful dividends. Meanwhile, LaPierre, a Dickens fan himself, spins an intriguing subplot involving the executor of the Hardich estate and the young woman he feels obliged to assist—and to warn away from Xavier. Entertaining despite a protracted length and a tendency toward rumination, The Equity of Love is precise in its characterization, alive with memorable dialogue, animated with moral purpose, and jolting in its revelations and reversals.

Takeaway: Engaging Dickensian novel of an Ontario software company.

Comparable Titles: Susan Rieger’s The Heirs, Sharon English’s Night in the World.

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

Click here for more about The Equity of Love

This heartening memoir tells us what diligence and optimism can achieve in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Born into a household of modest means, Douhadji, a quiet boy with a sunny disposition, discovers early the benefits of optimism. Faced with an abusive father, Douhadji seeks refuge in the library at a nearby hospital where his father works and books prove a lasting inspiration. Though his parents’ separation and the absence of his mother saddens him, he persists in his efforts at school. Battling near-starvation and a severe lack of facilities, he finishes high school with a GED and then graduates from college, falls in love and gets married, all the while keeping his dream of emigrating to America alive.

What’s amazing about Douhadji is his refusal to be broken by the circumstances of his upbringing, thus making the title apt. His attitude of seeing the positive side of any situation and his determination to overcome limiting circumstances and excel are indeed inspiring. Douhadji’s father, though physically and emotionally abusive, is also always supportive of his academic dreams, a complexity that Douhadji explores. It is also amazing how, even in his darkest moments, young Douhadji finds inspiration in books. In a moving incident, his friend, though unable to provide him food, gives him a book, and it is while reading this gift Douhadji experiences a life-changing incident that frees him from hunger.

Throughout the narrative, Douhadji pauses to generalize and draw lessons from his experiences, no matter how grueling they are. Sometimes this does sound clichéd, a danger that the author acknowledges but doesn’t always avoid. Still, his attitude of gratitude, cheerfulness, diligence, and determination to move forward to live a purposeful life, together with his risk taking and positive use of criticism, makes him an excellent self-help coach. These, combined with the uniqueness of his experience go a long way in shaping this memoir into an immersive and inspiring one.

Takeaway: Deeply engaging memoir of overcoming obstacles and achieving one’s dreams.

Comparable Titles: Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, Chris Gardner’s The Pursuit of Happyness.

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

Click here for more about Unbroken Optimist

In this inspirational collection of short stories, McKenzie (author of The Wisdom Teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and other titles) explores the spirit realm, the metaphysical, human consciousness, and questions of identity, with an emphasis on enlightenment and awakenings to deeper realities and the truth of the human condition. In "A Ghost Story" a yogi traveling alone encounters a ghost, Hugh, struggling to identify the meaning of his existence. Constructing himself out of utensils and kitchen appliances, Hugh is shown that he is not who he believes himself to be. In "The Day the Children Remembered,” kids across the nation begin to remember their past lives, causing a shift in the dynamics of relationships as more people begin to delve into each other's backgrounds by inquiring about previous existences. Meanwhile, "You Might Get Bored of Heaven" finds a woman reuniting with lost loved ones in Heaven where she learns the meaning of life, "true identity,” and the joys of the human "process of discovery".

Each story holds clear but also subtle messages and spiritual lessons for readers to interpret and glean their own understanding and pause to reflect on its underlying meaning. McKenzie spins an eclectic batch of tales that are insightful, revealing, and at times enigmatic. Juxtaposing ideas such as life and death, self and identity, and even teacher and student, Hair on Fire is a thought-provoking offering that centers the transcendent nature of consciousness and makes the case that, despite our short life spans, it never truly dies. Each story, though brief, brings its characters and its plot "full circle"—much like, as McKenzie’s “A Ghost Story” suggests, our consciousness itself.

McKenzie's storytelling is inviting and positive, even when exploring the heavy topic of death, which McKenzie assures readers is not the end of consciousness. Whether through exploring reincarnation, spiritual entities, or spiritual realms, each story suggests the possibility of life thriving long after the body stops. Seekers will relish this.

Takeaway: Inspiring spiritual stories of life, consciousness, and awakenings.

Comparable Titles: William Buhlman and Susan Buhlman's Beyond the Astral, Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die.

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

Click here for more about Hair on Fire

In this heart-warming children's book, Dottie, on the cusp of her eighth birthday, is finally getting "her biggest wish": the puppy she's always wanted. But first she has to make straight As on her report card and save up "50 big ones" to pay for a dog license. Dottie knows right away that she wants a Dalmatian puppy, and at the pet shop, Daphne's Dal House, she makes fast friends with a pup named "Nothin' but Trouble,” though she has the good sense to rename the pup Guinness the Good Girl. As the pair bonds, Dottie trains Guinness to become a well-behaved dog that knows a few tricks (such as the biscuit roll), while Guinness teaches Dottie a thing or two as well, like the quickest way to get into a piggy bank and how to shuffle a crowd.

Set in Tune Town, a burg boasting colorful characters like Stan the Muscle Man and the President of Earl & Roth Enterprises, Guinness the Good Girl will keep young readers—and especially dog lovers—engaged, even as author Gillmann, making his debut, works in valuable lessons about the responsibilities that come along with pet ownership, naturally, but also the importance of education, saving money, and earning the things we want in life. Guinness creates a little chaos at home but eventually performs heroics around town, proving to be "the good girl" Dottie knew she would from the start.

Penny Weber’s illustrations capture the essence of a playful Dalmatian, capturing Guinness and her spots in a host of cute, comical, and exciting poses, each spirited and precise, although some of the human faces are less convincing. With educational facts about Dalmatians such as their heart shaped noses and how they are born without their spots, young readers will grow to love Guinness and look forward to future books in this projected series.

Takeaway: Adorable adventures between a smart young girl and her Dalmatian.

Comparable Titles: Amanda McCardie’s Our Very Own Dog, Alexandra Day's Good Dog, Carl.

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

Click here for more about Guinness the Good Girl

"The future depends on what we do in the present,” Mahatma Gandhi says in this beautifully illustrated children's book, centered around Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta's, 1959 journey to and through India. The visit, which King called a “pilgrimage,” spanned "4 weeks, 12 days, 3 continents,” as the Kings paid homage to and learned from Gandhi, whose ethos of non-violent resistance inspired King in his boycotts, marches, and impassioned speeches during the Civil Rights Movement. This culturally rich voyage through India follows the Kings as they visit Mumbai, the city Gandhi called home, the "bustling metropolis" of Madras, and the famed "wonder of the world," the Taj Mahal. Along the way, young readers will learn about justice, Gandhi and his beliefs, and Dr. King and his work in America's South.

Welcomed with great fanfare, the Kings soak in the knowledge of the culture and the teachings of Gandhi. Filled with inspiring quotes from Gandhi (such as "nonviolence is a weapon of the strong") and eye-pleasing, easy-to-follow mixed-media artwork putting the Kings in vibrant tableaus suggesting geographical locations and cultures of the subcontinent, Dr. King Goes to India is a touching narrative rooted in deep respect for both leaders’ philosophies and the vital connection between colonial India and the segregation and Jim Crow laws of the American South.

Reese’s book highlights the importance of global community and acceptance amongst different cultures in clear and inviting prose, though the text at times can be challenging to read against the colorful backgrounds. Still, young readers will learn about two positive leaders who impacted their community through peaceful movements and insightful messages. In this engaging resource for young minds to learn about diversity, India and its rich history, King’s legacy, and the power of cross-cultural connections, Reese (author of Black Artists Rock) admirably showcases Gandhi and King's reach and impact as two worlds collide to pay respect and honor each other.

Takeaway: Gorgeous children's book of two iconic leaders from different cultures.

Comparable Titles: Shane W. Evans's We March, Brad Meltzer's I Am Brave.

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

Click here for more about Dr. King Goes to India! A Cool Kids' Guide

Jerickson’s quirky and hilarious space adventure tickles with interdimensional mayhem. Orion Spatial, the behemoth corporation that manufactures platforms for instantaneous travel through the multiverse, has abducted criminal Pharos Barton Plyaedes while still in his pajamas. A clone committee hires him to retrieve an errant droid that is pursuing the Entirely Unwelcome and Unjust Tite, an entity that has caused death and destruction in the galaxy. The company gives Barton a K-Drive capable of traveling through time, as well as a persnickety Bookkeeper to keep track of his expenses. To help him locate the Tite, Barton employs a grumbling Monk of Karlof named “Brother Can Point In The General Direction Of What It Is You Seek,” and kidnaps the last known person to have seen the Tite, Harry Patterson, from the backwater planet Dirt, er, Earth. The quest has its difficulties: the Tite may be mythical, only travels through time, and can appear in two places at once.

Jerickson injects this brisk farce with a paranoid android, doppelgangers, a neuro-positronic initializer Mind Helmet to boost brain power, luck waves emanating through the galaxy, and Quasi-Investment Dollars (QuID). Interspersed throughout the book are comical extracts from the multi-volume History of the Multiverse explaining this uncanny world, including elements like “I-Drives” and “Planet Hubs,” which, on some “Planets of Little Interest” (PoLIs), were great stone circles whose original use was forgotten over millenia and mistaken by locals for “a clock, or something. Or somewhere to kill things for God.” Barton and his motley crew, including engineer Hong, who is stuck inside the ductwork, must find and return the missing droid before Orion Spatial’s Supreme Manager EMM erases the Tite from existence by blowing up the entire universe.

This tropey romp through multiple dimensions and outrageously bizarre aliens and tech delights with action and heart. Readers of classical science fiction and fans of humor will have much to smile about, and will hope for more rowdy adventures in Jerickson’s Multiverse.

Takeaway: Hilarious SF adventure with silly aliens, rogue cyborgs, and interdimensional fun.

Comparable Titles: Douglas Adams; Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.

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

Click here for more about A History of the Multiverse: Orion Spatial

Puchalski traces the course of constructing a new garden over a year, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, in this refreshing debut. A New Jersey transplant, Puchalski grew up working outdoors in his family’s backyard, but it wasn’t until his move to Pittsburgh—and purchase of a 100-year-old brick house—that his green thumb truly blossomed. Starting in March of 2020, Puchalski chronicles the remodel of his outdoor space, detailing the demolition, planting, and harvesting that went into building his own “private oasis.” His labors were not in vain; the garden renovation produced physical beauty, wholesome food, and a sense of community with his neighbors in a time when fear and isolation were the norm.

Readers interested in starting their own garden will relish Puchalski’s practical advice; from how to check growing zones to avoiding rot in certain crops to the growing phases of rhubarb, he transports readers into a lush atmosphere of sunshine, soil, and sustenance. A top 10 list of dramatic plants for home gardeners (coneflower and lavender steal the show), unique recipes—such as elderflower liqueur or rhubarb syrup—and access to Puchalski’s regularly updated garden tracking page with farming spreadsheets and more give this journal serious clout. Photographs sprinkled throughout add personality, particularly those of Puchalski’s landscape progress and crop growth.

Beyond the practical advice, Puchalski writes with an easy humor that will delight readers as he reflects on lessons learned during the pandemic (“Seeds make great roommates during a global pandemic. They stick to their room, never use all the hot water, and if you maintain your relationship with them, make excellent company in the kitchen.” he claims). Even though the journal is based in Pittsburgh—from the growing season to the concrete garden to the steep hills—it will resonate with gardeners worldwide.

Takeaway: Charming journal devoted to the joys of city gardening.

Comparable Titles: Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates’s Paradise Lot, Page Dickey’s Uprooted.

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

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Digging deeply into the concept of the muse, including its spiritual aspects, and exploring techniques to help writers ignite their own spark, Hawkin, author of the Hollystone Mysteries urban fantasy series and a former part time lighthouse keeper, lays out a path for embracing creativity, finding inspiration, and not over-thinking one’s writing. “Remember,” she writes, in a passage about meditative techniques, “the goal is to stop thinking and start connecting.” To that end, Hawkin invites readers on a journey through art, literature and encounters with the spiritual world, plus a history of the “muse” as developed by the ancient Greeks and celebrated for its ability to inspire us to reach our creative peak.

Describing writers as “luminaries” who “envision” words that get “taken into our reader’s or listener’s brain and stimulate a private pyrotechnic show,” Hawkin builds on the muse tradition, citing several of her own out-of-body experiences as well as contact with other teachers and artists and the impact such “spirit guides” have had on her personal creative output. Writing with Your Muse blends exploratory spiritualism, including movement meditation and connecting with the “divine source”—or getting into “the zone, a place of intuition”—with pragmatic writing tips and techniques tackling such issues as conquering fear, getting started, developing plots, characters, and imagery. Along the way she explores the “Celtic-Shamanic Journey,” writing to heal, and dispelling fear.

While the mix of personal anecdotes, practical advice, and spiritual musings at times can feel circuitous, Hawkin serves hearty doses of inspiration and imagination while frequently drawing on giants of literature and philosophy. She writes a rousing explanation of the motivation behind characters in Jaws before segueing into a brief chapter on writing sex scenes with one’s muse, where she urges writers to “Shed your moral cap and stop worrying about your mother”—vital advice for the tale spinner in each of us.

Takeaway: Encouraging and spiritual guide for writers seeking connection to the muse.

Comparable Titles:Priscilla Long’s Minding the Muse, Jill Harris’s The Writing State of Mind.

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