by Alex Wright
Alex Wright's Empire of Ink serves as a vital reminder of why the print medium matters and how its history still influences people's behavior. He presents that history in context with how a sprawling, disconnected collection of colonies evolved into the singular, if argumentative, United States.
The narrative begins with the persuasive premise that the United States existed as a rebellion on paper long before the first shots of the revolutionary war. The colonies were already connected by a chaotic web of
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by Lois Romano
Mary Todd Lincoln, the "most misunderstood and tragic first lady in American history," finally receives her due in Lois Romano's sympathetic and superb biography, An Inconvenient Widow. The wife of President Abraham Lincoln aroused strong opinions in her day, but in this comprehensive look at Todd Lincoln's life--from the charming conversationalist who first won Lincoln's heart to the cash-strapped and grief-stricken widow the country forgot--Romano portrays a woman failed by everyone: her family, her friends,
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by Ray Nayler
Ray Nayler's Palaces of the Crow brilliantly blends the historical and the speculative to tell the story of four young people and the highly intelligent crows helping them survive the horrors of Nazi occupation. In addition to offering a thrilling plot and indelible characterization, the novel explores animal behavior, evolutionary theory, and the possibility of community care as survival mechanisms more powerful than individual strength and violence.
Nayler (The Mountain in the Sea; The Tusks of Extinction
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by Maddie Frost
Eleven-year-old Rubie Fox navigates summer camp without her more confident best friend in Really Rubie, the first in a sincere and hilarious diary-style middle-grade series by Maddie Frost (Iguana Be a Dragon).
Rubie just finished fifth grade and is excited to attend her first (all-girl) sleepaway camp with her "total PIC (partner in crime)," Riley. They've even created "the TUCE TRUCE": a list of five must-do activities to guarantee "The Ultimate Camp Experience." The list includes making friendship bracelets,
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by Jen St. Jude
In the enchanting, affecting Where You'll Find Us, Jen St. Jude's sophomore YA novel, a transgender teen stumbles upon a magical refuge for queer youth where gender-expansive people from different eras live forever, paused in time.
Eighteen-year-old Cal's post-high-school plans are in flux. They had hoped to attend a women's college with their girlfriend, Ramona, until Cal's mother used Cal's iPad to look something up and searches for "transgender, transmasc" popped up, after which Cal's parents disowned them.
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