"It was dusk on a winter day, and from high on the mountain came barking, drifting down above the snow like peals of a bell... just to say the light was leaving, but that was all right: here I am, I'm a dog, all is well." And so begins The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances, a charming novel about damaged souls looking for a "forever home." Longtime creative-writing teacher and novelist Ellen Cooney (A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies) is not afraid to take risks, and she reveals the details of the protagonist's past in gentle and surprising ways.

Evie, a troubled 24-year-old, describes herself in a haiku after spending a few months attempting a dog-training job for which she has no background, experience or guidance: Came in as a stray/ Is not completely hopeless./ Please allow to stay. However, Evie soon learns all she needs to know about trust, unconditional love and second chances from the rescued pups in her care. The narrative alternates between Evie's point of view and the perspective of the "Warden," Mrs. Auberchon, another lost soul taking refuge in her job at the school. Both characters must share the narrative stage with a host of fully realized canine characters (inspired by the author's own pups): Tasha, a rottweiler abandoned on the road, Dora, a miniature schnauzer left behind when her owners moved, Alfie, a greyhound fresh off the track and others, all of whom embrace Evie and are sure to captivate the reader. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics

It's easy to see from the very first pages of If Not for This that something will go awry. That may be the greatest testament to Pete Fromm's moving novel about a couple of rafting guides who battle rapids both literal and metaphorical. Though an early and devastating diagnosis means the course will not run smoothly for the protagonists, Fromm (As Cool As I Am; How This All Started) weaves a narrative that is compelling enough to bind readers to these characters almost as closely as they're bound to one another.

If Not for This is, at its core, a story about gravity, about the ways in which the physical world tries to thwart these characters' spirits and bodies. When we meet Maddy and Dalt, young and fearless, they make their living navigating rivers. We see them through a whirlwind courtship, a wedding, and then an illness that looks like mono but acts like something more sinister. When Maddy finds out that she's pregnant and suffering from multiple sclerosis, the reader's stomach drops like a tourist on a Class V rapid.

What might be an overwhelming story finds unexpected levity in Maddy's voice, a spitfire narrator who's unafraid to intersperse reflections on her illness with memories of her moonlight trysts with Dalt. This is a tough read, but a worthy one; it asks unnerving questions about mortality and resilience, and answers them with the example of one couple's devotion. Maddy and Dalt call themselves "The Luckies," and despite everything, Fromm proves that they're not wrong. --Linnie Greene, freelance writer and bookseller at Flyleaf Books

Annie Weatherwax is an accomplished visual artist and sculptor. In her debut novel, All We Had, she crafts three-dimensional, multifaceted characters and infuses gritty humor and poignancy into the story of the hardscrabble existence of a mother and daughter.

Ruthie Carmichael, the narrator, is a precocious, jaded 13-year-old who lives with her 29-year-old mother, Rita--a woman with "movie-star looks and Oscar-worthy acting." Together, they're poverty-stricken drifters, moving from town to town in California, until they decide to cut and run from Rita's latest beau (one of many) who has taken them in. They head East in their beat-up 1993 Ford Escort, as Rita has high hopes that one day Ruthie will attend Harvard. When their car breaks down in Fat River, N.Y., the extended detour seems like more hardship in a string of difficulties for the penniless pair. But after Rita and Ruthie are befriended and offered jobs by the owner of a local diner, the breakdown appears suddenly providential.

Quirky townsfolk--each with their own challenges, including a transgender waitress and an older couple who owns the hardware store--welcome and support Rita and Ruthie in their effort to put down roots. But when Rita falls for a slick mortgage broker who helps her qualify for a subprime housing loan she cannot afford, it seems possible mother and daughter may slip back into old habits. Weatherwax's tight dialogue and short, emotionally charged scenes examine hope, the meaning of home and the unbreakable bond of love between mother and daughter. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Journalist and history professor David Shafer's debut novel concerns three 30-somethings as they attempt to find meaning in their lives by pursuing the Committee, a cabal of corporate industrialists and media barons who want to privatize all the world's data in hopes of selling it back to the highest bidders--whether they're individuals, corporations or governments.

Members of the resistance front, Dear Diary, choose silly code names like Dixon Ticonderoga so they can anonymously pursue their plan of freeing humanity with new, plant-based computers that are not yet fully understood. In order to join the revolutionaries, the three protagonists must each take an eye test, which opens their minds to a new level of connectedness--essential to take on the Committee.

Leila Majnoun is a Persian-American who travels through underdeveloped nations looking to help women receive education and medical supplies. Leo Crane works with kids at a daycare facility, slacks daily, and has a decent trust fund, along with bipolar disorder. Self-hating self-help guru Mark Devreaux (Leo's childhood friend) works for the Committee, and could be Dear Diary's way in, if Leila and Leo can convince him that he's sold out to an evil cabal.

Blending elements of spy, science-fiction and literary genres, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a fun debut full of rich characterization and a just-complex-enough plot that takes place in evocative locales like Myanmar, Oregon and London. The action never overwhelms the interaction within and between the main protagonists, making for an engaging read. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor

Fresh from cracking a hard case in the Big Easy, Chet and Bernie leave the bayous of The Sound and the Furry and head for D.C. In Spencer Quinn's seventh PI-plus-canine partner mystery, the duo gets to Foggy Bottom just as old friend Suzie Sanchez needs them to impose some Paw and Order on a deadly situation.

Bernie Little and Chet, his four-legged partner, are both sweet on Suzie, who left them in Arizona to write for the Washington Post. Happy to see her surprise visitors but preoccupied with work, she takes Chet along to meet a source for a story on an aspiring candidate for the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Unfortunately, they arrive to find the informant expired--setting Chet's experienced nose to work and drawing the Little Detective Agency into its next case.

Chet isn't a talking dog but a thinking (and very funny) narrator, so the reader knows the big picture even if Bernie doesn't. The duo pursues the case in Bernie's latest Porsche; readers following the series will know this isn't the original, but, as Chet would say, "That's a story for another time."

Chet and Bernie, as usual, find themselves at the heart of a knotty case, leading from back-alley bars to political fund-raisers to Virginia horse country. Quinn adds another layer to enigmatic Bernie's history--we learn he attended Annapolis and fought in Iraq. Close calls, Russian spies and a nasty guinea pig don't deter the Little Detective Agency and, as man and dog close the case with Suzie's help, readers will wonder where the Porsche is headed next. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, manager, Book Passage, San Francisco

Gibraltarian lawyer Spike Sanguinetti is torn. He's following a trail of clues across Italy, searching for his girlfriend, Zahra--who disappeared in Malta months before--when he receives a mysterious phone call from Zahra warning him to stop looking for her before his loved ones get hurt. Then he finds out that his partner, Peter Galliano, is in a coma, the victim of a hit and run. Reluctantly, Spike heeds Zahra's warning and heads back to Gibraltar.

He immerses himself in work, trying to pick up the slack in Peter's absence. While researching a case, he meets a beautiful young widow, Amy Grainger, who is convinced that her husband, Simon, did not commit suicide and that the police investigation was too hasty. Digging further into Simon's life leads Spike in an unexpected direction--a conspiracy as deep as the Rock itself.

Thomas Mogford (Shadow of the Rock; Sign of the Cross), brings the quirky culture of Gibraltar to life in Hollow Mountain. The Spanish-British-Moroccan mélange lends an unusual air to the characters, and the proximity to the Mediterranean influences the cases that Spike takes on (including one involving a ship searching for sunken treasure). Fans of international mysteries with a strong sense of place will love Hollow Mountain. Though this is the third book in Spike's series, readers will have no difficulty starting with this installment. After they finish, they'll probably be tempted to go back and catch up on what they missed. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

In her fourth novel, Alone in the Classroom, Elizabeth Hay (Late Nights on Air) awakens the hidden histories of Saskatchewan and the small-town Ottawa Valley, as her narrator Anne Flood researches the life of her aunt, Connie.

Connie Flood taught for one year, 1929, at a small prairie school in the town of Jewel. Among her students, she worked closely with one challenged boy, Michael Graves. The strikingly portrayed principal, Mr. Burns, surveyed them with an ominous air. One of Connie's students died a tragic and mysterious death; some 80 years later, the repercussions of that death still swirl through Anne's life. Likewise, the unrelated murder of another child shortly thereafter haunts Connie, Mr. Burns and Michael Graves for years to come.

Alone in the Classroom is not really a murder mystery (although no slack is permitted in the plot); it's a lyrical, thoughtful exploration of a town's secrets. The Flood family's history and the legacy of Mr. Burns make for a taut, suspenseful and compelling tale. There are threads of romance intertwined with obsession, sensuality paired with threat. Anne's relationships with mother, aunt and grandmother--both sinister and everyday--form a central theme as well. Though it's a slim book, at just over 200 pages, Alone in the Classroom begs to be read slowly; at the novel's close, it's easy to feel an intimate connection with Anne and her forebears and, having come so far with her, be strangely refreshed by the journey. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

The name's Bonde--Jane Bonde--and she's one of the finest English spies of the 19th century. Jane needs all her skills to destroy a French spy ring before it destroys her. At the same time, her spymaster uncle has thrown her life into turmoil by decreeing that Jane must marry to avoid suspicion of her high-society persona, and he's chosen the worst possible fiancé for her: Dominic Griffyn, a man handsome enough to tempt her, smart enough to ferret out her double life, and bold enough to win her heart. How can Jane keep her beloved career if she marries someone so distracting?

Dominic is no more eager about the marriage than Jane. After a false paternity claim scandalizes his family, his stepfather (the marquess) insists Dominic mend his wild ways and settle down with a gently bred bride. Who better than impeccable beauty Jane Bonde? But while Miss Bonde may be a diamond of the first water, Dominic quickly realizes she's much more than meets the eye. How can he marry a gorgeous firebrand clever enough to uncover his dark past?

Shana Galen (True Spies) offers more Regency-era passion and fast-pace derring-do in the third novel in her Lord and Lady Spy series. Despite the level of action and the occasional dead body, Galen keeps this spy caper light and breezy, with just enough 007-inspired jokes to make readers chuckle, not groan. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Helen Thorpe (Just Like Us) captures the lives of three women, who, for different reasons, decided to join the Indiana National Guard. Michelle was 18 and found her "circumstances dreary"; she drove a beat-up old car, drank excessively, smoked too much pot and was having trouble in her community-college classes. The National Guard would pay for her tuition and get her in better physical shape. Debbie ran a beauty salon and was soon to be grandmother, but she joined the Guard at the age of 34 to emulate her father, who had been a drill sergeant in the army. Desma grew up in and out of foster homes, was a mom at 17, and said she "joined the military on a dare."

What none of these women anticipated were the September 11 attacks, which eventually led to their deployment first to Afghanistan in 2004 and then to Iraq in 2007. Thorpe thoroughly details the lives of these three women at home, while in training and then on deployment. While on duty, they survived sexual harassment, loneliness, depression and the explosion of a roadside bomb, and they forged strong bonds with each other because of their circumstances. Once home and struggling with often-overwhelming choices and decisions in their daily lives, they turned to one another for support despite the miles that separated them. Thorpe's careful exposition of the life women face in the armed forces is highly enlightening and should be considered a must-read for anyone--particularly women--who thinks she might enlist. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer

The Real Cost of Fracking asks what degree of risk and environmental degradation is "acceptable to obtain energy--and who should profit?" Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, involves blasting millions of gallons of water and chemicals thousands of feet below the aquifer in order to extract natural gas from the earth. The resulting wastewater is sometimes spread on roads as deicing fluid or returned to the earth by injection. While some believe fracking could eliminate U.S. dependency on foreign oil, Bamberger and Oswald--a veterinarian and a pharmacologist, respectively--believe the cost to the environment and to human health is too high.

"Silence is the sound of money talking." Sandra Steingraber's foreword describes three layers of silence surrounding fracking: legal exemptions granted by the 2005 Energy Policy Act that allow companies to conceal and inadequately monitor the chemicals blasted into the ground; state and federal agencies refusing to investigate the public health effects of fracking (despite 161 cases of water contamination in Pennsylvania alone); and nondisclosure agreements signed by homeowners after they have alleged their water and health were ruined by nearby fracking operations.

The Real Cost of Fracking focuses on animals and children as "sentinels of human health," since their immature neurologic and detoxification systems make them prone to the adverse effects from environmental hazards. Stories of healthy pets and cattle dying or suffering miscarriages after exposure to hydraulic-fracturing fluid, children struggling to breathe air poisoned by hydrogen sulfide and other effects of "Shale Gas Syndrome" (including headaches, nosebleeds, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes and the loss of the sense of smell) show that a national discussion about fracking is needed. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics

Parents and children will welcome back everyone's favorite student and teacher, Rocket and the little yellow bird, in their beginning-reader debut. Having learned that he fancies reading (in How Rocket Learned to Read) and writing, Rocket now stars in a Step into Reading book that shares his love.

"Rocket and the little yellow bird love words," the book begins. "They love their word tree, too." Fans of Rocket Writes a Story will recognize the word tree in the opening scene, as the little yellow bird adds "tree" and "dog" to its branches. "Rocket finds a leaf. 'Drop it, Rocket,' says the bird," standing on Rocket's nose on the left-hand side of the next spread. "Rocket drops the leaf. He is a good dog," accompanies the picture on the right-hand side of the same spread. Hills shows the leaf on the ground as Rocket faces forward with the yellow bird on his head. The same series of events occur when Rocket finds a hat and a star. Leaf, hat, star and bird all appear on the word tree now. However, Rocket rather likes a red boot. He's not so eager to part with it. This allows Hills to repeat "Drop it, Rocket" several times and to use his illustrations to escalate the humor. Owl comes to the rescue.

The repetition of key words and of sentence structure, and Tad Hills's wonderful illustrations all help to guide children through the action, as they learn to recognize letters and word combinations. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

The fun of Adam Auerbach's debut picture book springs from his illustrations of exotic Asgard, "a land full of magic and adventure," and its "littlest Valkyrie," Edda.

Edda, in full Viking regalia, stands with one foot on a stone, while a dragon peeks at her from behind a tree, a giant pursues a warrior, and tiny bearded men sit on a branch above her. Edda helps her father and sisters find monsters, but she believes there's more to life. "Papa... I want to find someone my own age," she says. The wise man knows of such a place, and takes her to Earth for the first day of school. When she gets to the classroom (still in full Viking gear), no one says hello: "She wishes she were back home in Asgard." In a series of vignettes, Auerbach contrasts what Edda does at home ("what she wants") and in school ("she is expected to sit still"). The funniest contrast occurs at lunchtime, when Edda thinks about the feasts in Asgard and how everyone shares: "In school, no one wants to make a trade." Could it be because of her giant steakbone and strange, tail-shaped drinking vessel?

By day's end, Edda has made a friend, who comes home with her to Asgard, and the next day Edda brings her nervous dragon to class. "Don't worry... Dragons are very brave," she tells her companion, echoing the very words her father told Edda. She's telling readers, "If I can do it, you can, too." --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

Margery Cuyler and Bob Kolar (the team behind The Little Dump Truck) will boost the confidence of first-time bus riders thanks to this perky book featuring a four-wheeled cheerful yellow bus.

Let's begin with introductions: "I'm a little school bus,/ my driver's name is Bob./ Rumbling, shifting, clunking,/ we like to do our job." The bus and Bob rise at five ("Driver Bob drinks coffee,/ then we start to drive"). Kolar portrays the bus with eyes at half mast as Bob boards with his java, then the two get lively as they make their way through town. Other early risers walk dogs and drive trucks. Author and artist demonstrate safety with the flashing red lights and stop sign that extends while "picking up my children/ as they stand in line." The little school bus also lowers a ramp for a wheelchair, to "[give] Kate a ride,/ letting down my platform,/ so she can wheel inside." The children "sit and laugh and talk" on the bus, then safely disembark (children who like to keep track will find all eight of the passengers who boarded) when they reach "Friends School."

Other safety rules apply: "No hands out the windows," says Driver Bob to his young riders; he gets a tune-up when it's time, and on a day of ice and snow, the little school bus and Driver Bob stay home. It's as if the little yellow bus is saying, Nothing to fear here! --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness