by Claire Fuller
Bitter Orange, Claire Fuller's follow-up to Swimming Lessons (2017), details the life of a woman obsessed with the young couple she lives above. It's 1969, and for the first time, Frances is leading a life independent of her mother. She's come to Lyntons, an old British country house, to study the gardens, but is distracted by Peter and Cara, who seem to be just as infatuated with her as she is with them. The three drink, eat and lounge the summer away together, but soon their relationships turn stale. Frances
Read More »
by Phoebe Robinson
The title of comedian Phoebe Robinson's second book of essays may sound glib, but she means it seriously: Everything's Trash, but It's Okay. According to Robinson (You Can't Touch My Hair), everyone--nuns, parents, celebrities and the author herself--has ridiculous moments. And between climate change, battles for human rights, the resurgence of neo-Nazis and much more, the problems in the world can feel overwhelming. But, Robinson says, recognizing that everything is trash allows us to see ourselves and the
Read More »
by Kate DiCamillo
Readers who first met Louisiana Elefante in Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo's Raymie Nightingale will be thrilled to get to know her better in Louisiana's Way Home. According to the quietly dramatic 12-year-old, this stand-alone middle-grade novel is "a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings." Oh, "[a]nd also curses." The curse is one of "sundering," attached to the story of Louisiana's great-grandfather, a "most elegant and deceitful" magician, who in
Read More »
