Amid the astounding achievements and enthralling energy of the 1960s space race in the U.S., Joe Mitchell is chosen for a mission to orbit the moon in Chanel Cleeton's An Infinite Love Story. But Joe's dream quickly turns into his wife Vivian's nightmare: communication with Joe's aircraft is lost, forcing those on the ground to assume the worst. Overwhelmed by fear, anger, and uncertainty, Vivian begins to hear and see clues that Joe is trying to communicate with her. Curiosity and hope guide Vivian to attempt to make sense of what happened to Joe and his crew, protect his memory, and understand if--and how--her husband may be trying to reach her.

Cleeton's poignant prose launches readers into the riveting spirit of the space age to explore the extraordinary strength of true and enduring love. Vivian's memories reveal the endearing story of how she and Joe came together. Their connection was instant and intertwined with lofty dreams. Vivian's journalistic pursuits illuminate themes of women's roles in the 1960s workforce, and Joe's aspirations of becoming an astronaut highlight the burgeoning efforts of space travel.

Through incredibly skilled and well-researched writing, Cleeton (Next Year in Havana; The Cuban Heiress) celebrates the successes of the space program while also drawing attention to the devastating hardships and high expectations of the early astronauts' wives and families. An Infinite Love Story is a gripping portrayal of overwhelming grief that turns one woman's greatest love and hardest loss into an inspiring message. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer

Two characters in conversation in Ia Genberg's acutely drawn Small Comfort reveal the competing fascinations of this International Booker Prize-nominated novel: "The subject interests me. Money? I ask. No, people, she tells me. Their behavior." Translated from the Swedish by Kira Josefsson, Small Comfort creates an intricate exploration of wealth, behavior, and justice in five distinct chapters (the original 2018 Swedish version markets the work as a short story collection) that are tangentially linked by character or incident, but heavily related by theme.

The first chapter contains a transcription of an interview between a former child actor, Greger Johnson, now a petty criminal, and a journalist who shares a name with the author. "Do they have money? That's what I mean by success," Johnson asks, referring to other actors, but also pointing to a thread that's followed throughout the work. The second chapter comes in the form of a letter in which the story of a rogue employee is slowly revealed. The third follows a shocking speech by a hired actor at the secret, private wedding of a wealthy man--both end explosively. In yet another wonderfully bespoke structure, the fourth chapter is a doctoral student's research log recording an experiment that manipulates the rules of Monopoly to introduce temporary wealth. The last section adeptly dramatizes how far a family will push a farce to secure an inheritance. All in all, Genberg (The Details) takes readers on a keenly provoking, wild ride. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator

In Tata, Valérie Perrin (Fresh Water for Flowers) weaves a mystery that connects complex characters and subplots, plumbing the depths of the performing arts.

Now a talented filmmaker, Agnès is the only daughter of two musicians--pianist Jean Septembre and violinist Hannah Rubin--in Lyon, France. Every summer while they toured, Agnès stayed with Colette, her father's sister, in the small town of Gueugnon. The novel opens on October 21, 2010, when a gendarmerie captain calls Agnès to tell her that Colette has died. The trouble is, her aunt was buried three years ago.

Colette leaves Agnès a cache of 119 cassettes, which reveal much--but not all--of their family's history. As Agnès sets out to discover who lies in her aunt's grave and listens to the cassettes, she realizes how little she knew her aunt. Through Colette's childhood friendship with Blaise, whose aristocratic parents employ her father to tend their land, Perrin exposes France's class divide. Blaise's mother created opportunities for Jean to study piano when she recognized the boy as a prodigy. Colette's other childhood friend, Blanche, a high-wire acrobat who wanted to escape her controlling, murderous circus-owner father, exemplifies the limited opportunities for women in post-World War II Europe. Always Colette is at the center, a woman of few words but great acts.

Translated from the French by Hildegarde Serle, Perrin's passages on music and cinema give the novel its soul (Hannah thinks of "the great joy of a piece you know backwards, but feel as if you're discovering each time"). Tata is a gorgeous reminder of the moments that shape a life, and what a gift it is to truly know the people who matter. --Jennifer M. Brown

An influencer making ends meet by grave robbing takes a special job to steal a rock star's body only to find that the corpse has his own plans in Fabulous Bodies, the overlap in the Venn diagram of zombie horror and Faustian bargains by Chuck Tingle (Lucky Day; Bury Your Gays).

Poppy Stringer is determined to give her daughter, Marlo, everything she lacked as a child. She's building a fantasy as a fashion influencer with a little light queer commentary, but in the meantime she deals in corpses. The bodies don't care what happens to them, and Poppy trusts that by being as ruthless as a shark in both of her jobs, she'll rule her ocean. Then Eddie Michaels, a queer piano-playing rock star in the vein of Elton John, is struck by a car and killed, and Poppy is offered $5 million to steal his body. It's everything she needs to set up her family and career, and it seems suspiciously simple--until Eddie's body wakes up.

Faced with an undead passenger who has mysterious powers of coercion and a predilection for over-the-top violence, Poppy quickly turns her singular powers of focus to keeping herself safe for Marlo's sake. Tingle, also an author of short surrealist erotica, again combines a talent for shocking, visceral descriptions with his belief that "love is real." His sharp satirical eye brings a nuanced perspective to Poppy's influencer career, traditional rock stardom, and the dangers of both. The result is social horror with thrills and heart. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library

Lisa Jewell has a knack for introducing nice protagonists in picturesque neighborhoods, only to have the creepiest incidents befall them. Reading the riveting It Could Have Been Her feels like watching a Nancy Meyers movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Jane Trevally, a supporting character in Jewell's Don't Let Him In, has been promoted to the lead here. While walking her dogs, Jane encounters a lost white terrier. A veterinarian scans his chip and identifies the dog as Hugo. But Hugo has a London address--how did he get to where Jane lives on the coast outside Brighton? When she takes Hugo back to his home, she has a startling realization: she's been inside the decrepit house. Twenty-six years ago, late one night, with a man who would've done her harm if she hadn't escaped. The man who answers the door now is a different one, but Jane feels unsettled nonetheless. Upon returning home, her sense of foreboding intensifies once she learns that a young woman who recently rented a property near Jane's has gone missing. And she had a white dog. The woman's disappearance, the old house, and what happened to Jane all seem connected, prompting her to investigate and finally confront her past.

The goings-on inside the house where Hugo lives are the stuff of nightmares. Plus, there's a terrifying clown. But Jewell balances out the dark elements by placing the affable Jane at the heart of the story. With her--and Jewell's alluring prose--leading the way, it's hard to resist going down to the basement where the monster lurks. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, reviewer and freelance editor at The Edit Ninja

Memories of her disastrous nuptials haunt the heroine of Aisha Saeed's The Wedding Week, an entertaining thriller set at an opulent South Florida resort. The property is surrounded by a swamp infested with alligators, but those deadly creatures are no match for the "sea of side-eyeing aunties" in attendance. A talented storyteller, Saeed centers her second mystery novel around Bollywood-style festivities, while the delightful frivolity of her "swamp chic" masks the horrors to follow.

Hena Mirza and her sister, Lulu, were raised in the Everglades, but Hena fled to California when, on the eve of her wedding, her husband-to-be vanished and she was violently attacked by a masked stranger. It's been three years since that terrible day, and Nasir, her former fiancé, is still missing. Now Hena is back in town to attend Lulu's wedding, and many are unhappy to see her. After all, "if disappearances were contagious, Hena was Typhoid Mary."

While wedding guests exchange juicy gossip about Hena's past, a series of frightening incidents featuring pythons and pistachios and amounting to attempted murder sends shudders through the bridal party. Hena is convinced the incidents are linked to her own wedding fiasco but is uncertain why someone is trying to harm her and Lulu. She worries that the culprit could be Reza, the groom's handsome friend. Suspense builds as she and Reza find themselves lost in the resort's giant maze and Hena, distracted by romance, makes a near-fatal misstep. Saeed (The Matchmaker) skillfully untangles the mystery at the heart of The Wedding Week with a stunning conclusion that, if only they knew, would render the chattering guests speechless. --Shahina Piyarali

In Heather Frances's Chase Me if You Can, wedding photographer Sloane Michaels waits all year to capture images that are much more dangerous than angry brides. For six adrenaline-spiked weeks, Sloane chases storms to get the perfect landscape shot. This year, the stakes grow even higher when the prominent magazine Nature Shots announces a contest. The winner will receive a cash prize and a chance to showcase their best photograph of the season on the publication's cover--both of which Sloane desperately needs in order to pay her bills and fulfill her creative ambitions.

Sloane is not surprised to hear "Wild Wes" Talbot has also been invited to compete. During nearly 10 years of running in the same storm-season circle, Wes's overinflated ego, reckless habits, and annoying good looks have irritated Sloane. But right as this season picks up, Wes gets in an accident and wrecks his car. A promising storm pattern and a desire to beat Wes on an even playing field prompts her to offer him a seat in her vehicle until the contest ends.

Frances's background as an occasional storm chaser adds veracity to her striking depictions of the beautiful and destructive nature of tornados. She showcases Sloane and Wes's heated, heartfelt romance through witty banter and sweet moments shared over gas station snacks and middle-of-nowhere motel rooms. While portraying heart-pounding storms and even more suspenseful romantic tension, Frances also skillfully captures the tender feelings and explosive passion of a frenemies-to-lovers trajectory. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer

A bioengineered raccoon private investigator must find a missing mouse in Adrian Tchaikovsky's action-driven, wildly inventive sci-fi noir, Green City Wars.

Skotch lives in a green city, the creation of humans who finally figured out how to live a carbon-neutral, plush life by employing Little Helpers, animals made intelligent with the use of medications that grant them advanced cognitive capacity. Most animals receive regular doses of Plangent in exchange for services. Others must rely on less legitimate sources.

Skotch is running low when Benson, the snapping turtle manager at the Uzco human services corporation, offers him a job: find a mouse called Doctor Meece and bring him in. If the job seems too good to be true, that's because it is. Seemingly everyone is looking for and willing to fight over this mouse, but no one will tell Skotch why. And if Skotch can't find Meece quickly, it's going to cost him more than his intelligence.

Tchaikovsky (Alien Clay) flavors the familiar rhythms of noir dialogue and plotting with bits of different animal and human cultures--a rat gangster boss inquires, "Where's the mouse, Herr Washbear?" The Redcoats and Graycoats are squirrels in a never-ending turf war. The femme fatale is a graceful, deadly stoatweasel--not a romantic prospect for a raccoon, though Skotch can see the appeal for those of the right species. All this cleverness is both a wink to readers and a shorthand for understanding the rather complicated world Tchaikovsky has created.

Sci-fi fans who enjoy classic detective stories or the Redwall series should pick this up. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian

The teen daughter of a convicted murderer attempts to prove her own innocence after a deadly weekend getaway in the chilling and captivating YA horror thriller I Didn't Do It by Elle Gonzalez Rose (The Girl You Know).

It's been more than a year since Dina Soto's father, a "beloved soccer coach," was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to the murder of two teenage boys. The crime turned the Sotos into "villains" in their small town of Millcreek, and Dina's already overprotective Mami now insists that Dina stay close to home when not at school. Dina's only escape is volunteering at Sunny Hills Assisted Living, where she meets the popular, charming, Black and Puerto Rican Kai Thompson. When Kai invites Dina for a getaway at his parents' cabin in the nearby woods, Dina's attendance means defying her Mami and spending the weekend with teens who see Dina as the daughter of the man who killed their classmates. By the end of the group's first night at the cabin, the house is "soaked in blood" and Dina is the "only girl left standing."

I Didn't Do It is a taut, sinister thriller that pairs shocking twists with moving explorations of grief and fraught familial relationships. Rose makes skillful use of slasher-movie tropes combined with memorable characterization to create a distinctly suspenseful and emotional narrative that includes thoughtful commentary about prejudice and persecution. I Didn't Do It is a satisfyingly unsettling story for readers who, as Rose writes in the novel's acknowledgments, "find comfort in stories that take place in the dark." --Alanna Felton, freelance reviewer

Farah's Nose by author Humera Malik (The Great Henna Party) and illustrator Chaaya Prabhat (World Kitchen) is a rewarding picture book that demonstrates how an understanding of history can help a child learn to love the little--or big, strong, and prominent--parts of herself.

Farah's classmates all have "small noses, cute noses, button noses." Farah, however, has a "long. Pointy. Hooked" nose. She tries wearing glasses to make it look smaller, a scarf to cover it up, even a diamond nose ring to make it sparkle, but nothing makes her hate it less. Mama calls her nose "strong" and Dadi Ama says her "whole face is a map of who [she comes] from." Farah doesn't understand what her family means until she visits a South Asian photography exhibit and is surrounded by "faces that look... like hers," all featuring the same black hair, brown eyes, and prominent nose. She learns the women in these photos were brave, hardworking, and determined activists, trailblazers, and leaders. Finally, Farah understands what it means to have a "strong" nose that maps her own proud history.

Malik's earnest focus on one body part allows for a definitive path to self-acceptance while also depicting what it feels like to grow up looking or feeling different. Farah's initial discouragement and confusion is relatable, and her growth and shift in perspective are satisfying. Prabhat's illustrations use dynamic layouts and a palette of warm reds, yellows, and browns offset by hues of blue to celebrate Farah's burgeoning pride in her heritage. Farah's Nose is an excellent read-alike for fans of Peter Reynolds and lovers of Vashti Harrison's Big. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Author Andrea Zimmerman (If I Were a Tree) and illustrator Dan Yaccarino (City Under the City), who first collaborated in 1999 for the picture book Trashy Town, have once again teamed up to create the Big Jobs, Bold Women series. In the eye-catching, rhythmic fourth installment, Digger Daisy!, a strong woman leads a construction crew as it cleans up the aftereffects of flooding at a park.

Daisy, a white woman with a brown bob and pink construction hat, receives a summons from the park ranger to clear the wreckage from a storm. She and her diverse team set right to work: "They scoop and dump. They lift and load. They clean the mess to clear the road." When a piece of equipment sinks in the mud, Daisy uses her sharp wit to solve the problem. "The people cheer, 'HIP HIP HOORAY!'"--Daisy's quick thinking has "saved the day." With the job complete and the park restored, the ranger celebrates the team. "The park looks great. The work is done. The road is clear. Time for fun!"

Yaccarino's digital illustrations employ fully saturated, lively colors and simple geometric shapes that mesh seamlessly with the playful nature of the text. Although the pink of Daisy's hard hat and digger reinforce gender stereotypes, the work she performs, her role as the crew's leader, and her ability to problem solve all work to depict women as powerful and skillful in a position traditionally assigned to men. Digger Daisy! is a dynamic picture book in a series that serves up an encouraging message for all readers. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Fatal Glitch: Camp Zero, about an 11-year-old gamer who enters a Black Mirror-esque nightmare of her own making, is the first installment in a compelling middle-grade technological horror series by two-time Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly (Hello Universe; The First State of Being) and Stonewall and Printz Honor winner Eliot Schrefer (The Darkness Outside Us; Queer Ducks (and Other Animals)).

Sofia Mendoza spends most of her time on her tablet, building worlds and slaying monsters in her favorite game, Sandbox. After Sofia's gymnast sister, Isabella, trips over Sofia's (purposefully?) outstretched foot and fractures her kneecap, Sofia's dad, thinking Sofia needs some "perspective," drops the girl off at Forestjaw, a remote summer camp. Sofia is aghast when the menacing camp head, Monarch, demands Sofia hand over her electronics. The camp's few shadowy cabins don't endear Sofia to Forestjaw, but her fear is replaced by elation when it's revealed that the camp is "sponsored" by Sandbox, and one of the campers will leave with one million credits to use in the game. Sofia is determined to be that camper--but first, she'll have to figure out how to play on the camp's terms.

Camp Zero mirrors the darkly comic morality tales of R.L. Stine's iconic Goosebumps series, while likely keeping readers' mortal terror at a lower simmer. Kelly and Schrefer replicate something like the creepily atmospheric style of The Twilight Zone, bolstered by Jeannette Arroyo's black-and-white full-page and spot illustrations of looming trees and silhouetted figures. At just under 150 pages, this is a quick-paced, accessible read for the horror curious. --Mariel Fechik Deslaurier, librarian, freelance writer, music reviewer