Brawler

by Lauren Groff

The nine short stories in Brawler, Lauren Groff's exceptional eighth book, profile women in states of desperation and probe legacies of loss and violence.

Most of the stories employ third-person narration and originally appeared in the New Yorker. Often, inherited trauma binds mothers and daughters. The title character is high school swimmer Sara, who shoplifts and fights in frustration at her mother's incurable illness. In "Under the Wave," set after a natural disaster, a woman adopts an orphan as a replacement

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Gunk

by Saba Sams

Saba Sams's thoughtful and provocative debut novel offers an intimate look at motherhood through the complex, unusual relationship between two women. Jules, the novel's narrator, manages Gunk, a divey nightclub in Brighton, U.K. Gunk is owned by Leon, Jules's womanizing, wastrel ex-husband with whom she maintains a strained, barely civil relationship. Jules's life changes dramatically when Leon hires Nim, an enigmatic, self-possessed 18-year-old with a shaved head and a chip on her shoulder. The two women

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The Rare Bird

by Elisha Cooper

A cat plays a delightful make-believe game in the clever, charmingly illustrated The Rare Bird by Caldecott Honor-winner Elisha Cooper (Big Cat, Little Cat).

In pictorial vignettes, an unnamed feline pet imagines himself in a different life. Cooper's action-filled watercolor illustrations open with a cat tumbling through and poring over picture books. The cat begins his voyage in an ordinary urban living room: "The Rare Bird flew through the forest,/ flying so fast he knocked the leaves off the trees." (The

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I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home

by Fergus Craig

Former serial killer Carol Quinn is finally released from prison after 35 years at the start of Fergus Craig's delightfully wicked yet cozy mystery I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home. Carol can't wait to enjoy the rest of her life in her new luxury apartment at a fancy retirement home called Sheldon Oaks. But shortly after her arrival, a fellow resident is murdered. Carol's past is leaked, causing fingers to point straight at her, and the only way for her to be left in peace is to solve the murder

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The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan

by Jasmine Warga

A rescue dog and an orphaned cheetah form a new family in Newbery Honor-winning author Jasmine Warga's The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan, a graceful, ultimately hopeful middle-grade novel inspired by true stories of cheetahs and dogs in zoos across the globe.

A dog flees the cabin that was once his home, gets injured, and is rescued by two strange new humans. Though the humans heal him and name him Finnegan, he is slow to trust. When they explain that Finnegan has a new and important job at the zoo,

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The Future Book

by Mac Barnett, illus. by Shawn Harris

The Future Book, by current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Mac Barnett and illustrated by Shawn Harris, Barnett's collaborator on The First Cat in Space series, is a nonsensical, surreal, and silly picture book where noses are called "mushrooms" and cows are "mooing life-forms."       

At first, the future seems relatively straightforward, albeit peculiar: "the sun is called the moon," "morning is called night," and vice versa. Bananas are called apples... but

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