Bard College literature scholar Luzzi posits that Dante was “an intensely experimental writer” one reason that centuries later James Joyce would take so many cues from him. Dante was experimental Luzzi continues first because he did not write his Divine Comedy in Latin—a choice that limited his audience since all literate Europeans would know Latin but almost certainly not the Tuscan dialect of Italian. Tuscan in turn and particularly the Tuscan spoken in Florence provided Dante with a vigorous language that “could capture the intimate rhythms cadences and meanings of everyday speech and by extension the resonances and experiences of daily life.” Despite Dante’s enthusiasm for the language and ways of Florence the city banished him in 1302 which though infuriating convinced Dante that he was on a mission from God to write a sacred poem that would explain the workings of heaven purgatory and hell. It took time for that word to spread; as Luzzi notes “by the end of the 1300s about eight hundred manuscripts of the Commedia were in circulation.” The introduction of movable type and translations into other languages made it a world classic if long after Dante’s own lifetime. Perhaps ironically Luzzi notes one particularly close reader of Dante’s text was a “zealous Spanish cleric” working under the auspices of the Inquisition who diligently crossed out passages that placed wayward popes and priests in hell and condemned “a Vatican that ‘fornicates’ with kings.” Perhaps it’s a sign of divine approval that the censor’s strikethroughs have faded away and Dante’s original text shines through.

Displaying sharp insight into how both pets and middle schoolers see the world the author spins interwoven storylines around regular visitors to a Brooklyn dog run. In this safe social space friendship crises beloved companions lost and found tempests emotional and digestive and new family arrangements play out in benign ways over the course of one June weekend. Narrated in third person the book follows a bevy of canine and human characters giving readers true-to-life glimpses of both viewpoints. The canine cast outnumbers the racially diverse human one and is large enough to necessitate an occasional flip back to Preitano’s opening gallery for a refresher. Still in both the narrative and in the informal ink-and-wash scenes generously distributed throughout the dogs—from 50-pound puppy Cup-Cup to three-legged “corgi adjacent” Panda—are as individualized in looks and temperament as their two-legged devotees. Free of tragedy if not occasional tears guilty secrets and moments of distress this buoyant outing delivers nicely on a reassuring authorial promise at the outset that things will turn out well. Final art not seen.

Light-skinned Snarly McBummerpants is busy sending out Mopey Smokes (evil-looking dark brown clouds) from his volcano on the Island of Woe to create a sad state of affairs. But the caped puppies each equipped with a rocket and hailing from “the outer reaches of NOT-FROM-HERE” use their abilities to conquer the morose McBummerpants and bring happiness back to everyone’s lives. The meticulously detailed illustrations carry the story dark colors turning to rainbow hues and frowns turning to smiles. From Big Brad to Tiny Brad the smallest most powerful puppy who “[licks] a kiss right on the tip of Snarly McBummerpants’s nose” these absolutely endearing pooches elicit a universal “AWWWWWWWWWW!” from all who encounter them. Joyce’s witty illustrations depict diverse children and adults who appear to hail from different decades. Two teenagers wear the bobby socks and saddle shoes of the 1940s and ’50s and sit atop a retro soda cooler. Other kids ride the skateboards of a later era. Laurel and Hardy classic movie performers who may need introduction are amusingly pictured as bullies turned florists (a little odd since only Hardy bullied Laurel). Even McBummerpants seems reminiscent of an old-time movie villain. The text is less inventive than the pictures but the message of good over evil is always timely.

Sixth grade is ending and Airi and her family are going to Japan over the summer. Airi is excited to visit her mother’s relatives and tiny hometown and see the sights in Tokyo and Osaka but she’s a little bummed that she has to spend the summer with her boring brother and not her new friends. Even though the prank squad had a great school year together she’s worried they’ll have so much fun that they’ll forget her. Airi pressures herself: She’s determined to make this the most fantastic trip ever so she’ll have stories to entertain her friends with. Airi plans and executes pranks and even enlists her brother as her deputy. But when some of her jokes and antics backfire causing real problems and hurting people’s feelings Airi reflects on her behavior and how she affects others. Following the same format as before this volume includes Airi’s situation reports text threads emails and funny informational footnotes all of which support this comical and captivating narrative. The story thoughtfully explores themes of friendship and family including sibling and intergenerational relationships. Entertaining black-and-white illustrations add cultural context to the family’s home in Hawai‘i and destinations in Japan.

Andee Paxton is used to things blowing up...literally. She's a fireworks designer and while there aren't many sparks in her love life her career is literallly on fire. For 26 years Andee has been under the impression that her father is Oscar-winning actor Keith Huxley-Beck a fact she regrettably shared with her coworkers who enjoy teasing her about it. Though Andee has never met Keith her single mother swears he's the one. Andee even studied American Sign Language for him since he'd learned it once for a movie role. But then Andee decides to take a DNA test to prove her claim and the results are nothing if not explosive. The same day Andee learns she's not descendant of Hollywood royalty she comes face to face with a handsome CIA operative named Adam Chan who happens to know the identity of her real father—and it turns out to be a man known as Holt one of the most wanted and dangerous drug lords in the world. As fate would have it he's been searching for her too. Just as suddenly as Chan fills Andee in about her father's evil deeds Holt arrives and kidnaps them both. Locked in Holt's secret hideout within the French catacombs Andee and Chan devise a quick plan to parade as a couple which offers them some privacy under the guise of romantic rendezvous. They also have a secret advantage: Chan is hard of hearing and since Andee is fluent in ASL they can communicate virtually undetected. Can Andee stop her father's nefarious plans and score the hot CIA agent or will her plan crash and burn? In Smith's second My Spy novel it's Chan's turn to play the hero and Andee is another savvy-smart heroine. While Holt and his henchmen are caricature villains all guns and bravado Chan is devilishly charismatic and capable and his hearing loss works seamlessly as a critical part of the story.

After Inez Olivera was nearly murdered while assisting with her uncle’s archaeological expedition in Egypt Tío Ricardo is eager to ship her home to safety in Argentina. But Inez burns with the need to stay and make sure that those who committed crimes against her family are held responsible. Unfortunately the law precludes Inez as a young unmarried woman from accessing her inheritance (needed to fund her quest for justice) without her guardian uncle’s permission. Whitford Hayes a former British soldier and her tío’s aide-de-camp proposes marriage which could solve her problems. But can Inez trust the secretive Whit? More danger and intrigue lurk at every turn in this exciting duology closer which fully addresses the first entry’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The well-paced plot encompasses many fresh new adventures and betrayals in this reimagined historical setting in which ancient magic abounds and not everyone or everything is what it seems. Even more captivating however is the complicated nuanced love story between Whit and Inez. Their chemistry sizzles but their relationship is achingly layered with both profound loyalty and deep deception. As their journey unearths new enemies and priceless archaeological finds the duo must try to trust each other enough to survive.

Vivian and Brandy Borne are antique dealers with a sideline in solving mysteries and annoying many people along the way especially Brandy’s fiance local police chief Tony Cassato. Everyone in their household including Sushi the dog relies on legal drugs to deal with the vicissitudes of life. As their Mississippi River hometown of Serenity busies itself with pre-Christmas festivities mother and daughter give a talk at the country club whose golf course was torn up the previous summer when Vivian "borrowed" a golf cart to chase a murderer around the grounds. The women’s group they're addressing is on the dessert course when Norma Crumley collapses face down in her plum pudding. A retired nurse at the event begins resuscitation efforts but stops when she realizes Norma has been poisoned and is decidedly dead. Upon his arrival Tony dismisses all the women except the four who had been sitting with Norma. In the ladies’ Secret Santa exchange Norma had traded her perfume for Ellen Fridley’s box of chocolates which may have been the murder weapon. In that case though for whom was it really intended? Vivian naturally is determined to solve the case much to the dismay of Tony who knows her value as a sleuth but wants to keep her and Brandy safe from danger. Brandy is anxious because her son Jake is coming to stay with them and her former husband is still angry because Jake got involved in one of their previous cases. But Vivian never deterred is ready to drag Brandy in her wake.

Twenty-five years after 12-year-old Penelope Marcus rode into the woods with Frank Ross the owner of High Rise Farms newly revealed evidence suggests that she bashed him to death. She’s arrested extradited from California to New York and uprooted from both Laus her estranged husband and Tella the daughter who struggles with mental health issues. After her arrest we meet the beloved pony she had been riding on that fatal day who’s gone by so many names over the years—Houdini Sequoia O—that the chapters presented from his point of view are wisely labeled “The Pony.” Whatever his name is he’s resented Penny since the day in the past when “out of the blue” he believes “she up and sold me.” He determines to seek Penny out. Conferring with a wide variety of animal companions from Circe the goat and Caya the hound dog to Fifi the sparrow and Cassandra the barn cat the pony dodges the humans who block his path by treating him as property to be used and sold. He is finally reunited with Penny and solves the long-ago mystery—which to be fair isn’t that hard even for a pony. The story is consistently more absorbing when it focuses on the animal characters perhaps because so many of its humans treat each other so inhumanely. The parallels it traces between the imprisonments of Penny and the pony are especially eye-opening.

Rhyming couplets accompanied by nature scenes encourage youngsters to admire what the outside world has to offer in the colder seasons. Perfectly pitched and paced McCanna’s elegant well-chosen words would make this a pleasure to read aloud. “Cold is a feeling / a quiver a quake / that sinks to the bone till you shiver and shake.” Though this isn’t a bedtime tale the text and illustrations have the same calming effect. The artwork is full of curves and swirls—of light water snowmelt patterns even bird wings and raccoon tails. A nicely rounded story arc carries readers from fall to snowy winter. First author and illustrator introduce a family of deer in a meadow on “a morning / dappled in dew.” The following scenes mostly double-page spreads depict other animals in a variety of locations and times of day—even on a desert at night. The last few scenes return to the meadow and woods of the earlier pages and show a human family enjoying the snow as the deer family from the first page grazes nearby. This quiet dreamy narrative concludes with the backmatter which explains not only cold but also climate change. Enlarged snowflake patterns adorn the endpapers. One of the parents is light-skinned while the other parent and the children are brown-skinned.

It’s almost Pongal the Tamil harvest festival and this year 10-year-old Malar is especially excited. Her cousins Priya 11 and Kamal 6 are traveling all the way from their home in Seattle to Pori the coastal Indian village where Malar and her family live. Although Malar is determined to be a “super-host” her cousins don’t make it easy. Kamal ruins the lotus kolam design that Malar draws outside their house and Priya condescendingly calls Malar’s house “tiny” before proclaiming that she’s counting the days until she can return to “civilization.” On top of all this Malar has trouble understanding Kamal’s and Priya’s accents and feels left out of their secret-swapping. It’s only after Priya admits to Malar that she is homesick that Malar begins to empathize with her cousins. As the trio celebrate Pongal with henna bonfires and sweets this understanding grows until the cousins are closer than ever. Malar’s honest insightful narratorial voice deftly guides readers through rural Indian life Pongal traditions and the experience of hosting Western visitors in the global South. While the cousins’ reconciliation feels a bit abrupt overall the layered characters and authentic conflict will resonate with a wide range of readers. Final art not seen.

Historian lawyer and former Congressman Cox writes that Wilson was the first Southern Democrat to occupy the White House since Andrew Johnson. Scholars have long considered him a giant among presidents for his progressive reforms and leadership in World War I. They have not ignored his flaws emphasizing the censorship suppression of civil rights and persecution of war opponents. Cox will have none of that. Sticking to the historical record but keeping Wilson’s achievements in the background he concentrates on his subject’s beliefs morality and intellect—and paints a dismal picture. Born in 1856 in Virginia to a father who enthusiastically supported secession Wilson believed to his death in the righteousness of the Confederate cause the horror of Reconstruction and the inferiority of the Negro race to whom slavery was a positive benefit. He also proclaimed that universal suffrage was “the foundation of every evil in this country.” Only when the 19th Amendment was about to pass Congress overwhelmingly did he express lukewarm support. Perhaps equally distressing is Cox’s low opinion of Wilson’s political talents and learning. As a president of Princeton and an author of college textbooks Wilson is regarded as among our most scholarly presidents but Cox quotes historians who give Wilson’s acumen low marks and his praise of “Aryan” culture and institutions makes uncomfortable reading. Even traditional historians agree that the defeat of America’s League of Nations entry was entirely Wilson’s own doing. When the Senate disobeyed his order to approve the League bill without modifications he urged Democrats to vote no and enough senators changed their votes to defeat it.

An art historian and curator Loske has written several books about her special area of interest color. In her latest title she examines 50 painters and their palettes. In many cases the palettes which range from polished wood to chunks of cardboard still exist and they provide clues about an artist’s method. Most of the book is organized chronologically starting with artists mixing their paints from powdered pigment and arranging the palette according to a strict tonal scale. The development of premixed paint in metal tubes presaged greater dynamism and more choices of color. Artists who specialized in scenes of fantastic coloring among them Marc Chagall and Paul Gauguin understood that the luminosity they were seeking needed subtlety and care according to the evidence found by Loske. The palettes of Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keeffe reflected restraint while Claude Monet’s palette recalls his misty complex images. Francis Bacon famously messy used anything on hand as palettes but was extremely precise when it came to the effects he wanted. Some modernist painters including Helen Frankenthaler moved away from the palette to apply liquid paint directly to the canvas. Loske includes a wealth of lushly produced plates to illustrate her points as well as graphics that show the proportional breakdown of paintings by tone and color. It all makes for an illuminating and attractive book. The palette she writes is “a totemic object a small physical manifestation of the creative spirit of the artist.”

Nathan Isabel and Suresh a motley group of misfits are trying to go back in time to the year 1613. Nathan who got caught cheating in English class wants to make sure Shakespeare’s plays are destroyed in the Globe Theatre fire so no one will ever have to study them. Isabel longs to meet her deceased English professor father’s literary hero. And Suresh who threw a time-traveler party inspired by Stephen Hawking “seems game and needs no convincing.” But the trio instead accidentally land in 1592—and lose their time machine. Japanese Canadian Nathan and Sri Lankan Canadian Suresh soon find that the racism they face in modern times is just as prevalent and dangerous in the 16th century (Isabel is white). The teens encounter assorted historical figures including astronomer John Dee and explorer Sir Francis Drake as well as the titular playwright. Unfortunately the plot wanders incomprehensibly at times dropping plot threads; the confusion is made worse by the difficulty of distinguishing among the multiple narrators’ voices. Kankesan never establishes a clear cohesive tone for the novel and instead bounces unpredictably from irreverent comedy to treatises on colonialism to scientific musings on the space-time continuum.

Marigold Manners who grew up in a wealthy Boston family planned to use her Wellesley education to pursue a career in archeology but it all comes to nought when her parents die after burning through their entire fortune leaving her with a modest annuity and no home. Although she’s mightily attracted to Harvard-educated lawyer Jonathan Cabot Cox who returns her feelings she has no plans to marry. A letter from her mother’s cousin Sophronia Hatchet of Great Misery Island off the New England coast claims that "my man once did your mother…a great and godless wrong" that must be repaired and she invites Marigold to come see for herself. Her courage is tested when she arrives to find a moldering house a hardscrabble farm and an assortment of truly odd relatives. Her handsome cousins Wilbert and Seviah have crude manners and no clue about any wrongdoing. The household also includes her cousin Daisy a stunningly beautiful replica of Marigold’s mother; Cleon a general servant; Ellery Hatchet a religious fanatic; his unseen mother Alva who rules the roost; and Lucy Dove a Black woman hired to care for Alva. Marigold rolls up her sleeves and slowly cleans up the place while setting her cousins on a path to a better life. Great Misery poses many mysteries to be solved beginning but not ending with the deaths of several local women. With help from Cab Cox and several other friends Marigold eventually uncovers a shocking tale of evil.

Sacks the beloved late author is best remembered for The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985) which collected a variety of tales that he had encountered in his clinical practice as a neurologist. In addition to more than a dozen books he wrote numerous essays and articles his work doing much to destigmatize mental illness and promote “patient-centered” medicine. Sacks was also a devoted writer of letters. Edgar who was Sacks’ editor researcher and friend notes that the archive of his correspondence totaled roughly 200000 pages (he kept copies of many of the letters he sent and others were returned to his estate after Sacks’ death in 2015). The early chapters include letters to relatives and highlight his youthful travels and experiences; as he grows older he recounts his evolving thinking about his patients and their therapy. In his correspondence he emphasizes the need to engage with patients and explore innovative therapies including music and visual art. Sacks wrote to colleagues and friends as well as fans often with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Along the way he addresses his recurring depression and his addiction to amphetamines. Marshaling this mountain of words must have been a herculean task but Edgar has managed to compile a collection that is coherent and most of all very enjoyable.

Sixteen-year-old Gracie Hutchinson doesn’t want to be stuck on Fall Island for the impending snowstorm which is expected to be of historic proportions. Snow almost always brings the threat of danger; many have disappeared under mysterious circumstances in snowy weather. The small community in the North Atlantic off the coast of New England was founded by English religious pilgrim Fitzwilliam Wescott. While dutifully taking flowers to her grandmother’s grave before the snow starts to fall Gracie encounters an acquaintance from school Joseph Wescott. The pair stumble upon a gruesome scene in the Wescott family mausoleum: a man and three sheep all recently murdered and bearing symbols carved into their bodies. Strange rituals are afoot on Fall Island and the snowstorm is closing in. Can Gracie escape or will the snow swallow her up too? In this tense atmospheric read it’s never clear who can be trusted. Family secrets intertwine on the remote island creating a web of mysteries that readers unravel alongside Gracie. Fitzwilliam looms over the happenings like a bad dream a figure of religious fervor who remains shrouded in legend. The worldbuilding is solid and the magical elements are darkly whimsical. The dialogue is sometimes stilted but even the awkward lines keep the story moving. Characters are cued white.

Like her father Susan Breedlove has written a string of true-crime books but they’ve been much more successful than his. Susan has just left after a Christmas Day visit with her father who’s only recently learned of her existence when Quarry is menaced by a knife-wielding fake reporter who’s come calling to kill him or maybe just to squeeze money out of him. Female assassin Lu Petersen returns from her own rumored death just in time to save Quarry’s bacon and shortly thereafter they discover that Susan never made it home. The first half of their search for the missing author is standard franchise fare: the deadly duo confronts several contract killers—sometimes at their instance sometimes at the other guys’—and walk away from each encounter hungry for the next. Once they establish that Susan’s latest subject was the perpetrator of Iowa’s “Cheerleader Murders” the tale settles into a very different but equally familiar groove: Quarry and Lu patrol the area questioning variously obliging local police officers and suspects with special attention to bad-boy trucking heir Christopher Lowe hoping against hope that retracing Susan’s steps in the search for the triple murderer will turn her up still alive along the way.

Naomi’s skeptical of the therapy that hasn’t helped her come to terms with the murder of her sister and the fact that the killer walks free. She reluctantly goes to her therapist Mia’s group meeting where she meets Amy Gabrielle Katy Brooke and Olivia all women whose sisters were killed by significant others who went unpunished. At first Naomi’s shocked when Mia mentions Strangers on a Train as providing a pattern for the women to arrange the deaths of their sisters’ killers so that the suspect with a motive has an ironclad alibi. They’ll work in groups of two and carry out each murder by different means so that no pattern is established. Agreeing to go ahead with the plan the women pair up and meticulously plot each death to look like an accident. As a mining engineer Naomi helps Katy plan how to take the first target an opal miner with Olivia as her backup. Well planned and well executed the project goes off without a hitch but it’s too much to hope that none of the others will meet problems. Perhaps the most dangerous problem is Detective Senior Sergeant Fiona Ulbrick who’s not happy about victims of domestic abuse who died in so-called accidents while their abusers were acquitted. After several of the men die Ulbrick begins to notice a pattern after all but can she prove—does she even want to prove—that the men were murdered?

With a paintbrush aimed at the sky a child streams pink purple and yellow beams from a wand. Bright red hearts flutter and fall touching everything the child sees: hills trees zoo animals a group of musicians in the park birds in a nest and of course the child and caregiver. The book has a meaningful message about the reach and spread of acts of love with the child continuing to find and share love. The final two lines of each group of four rhyme but this pattern makes for a disappointingly awkward read-aloud. Still the illustrations featuring people of varying skin tones hair styles ages and abilities are a delight. The child is drawn with light brown skin and dark brown hair while the caregiver has brown skin and black hair. The tricolored ribbon of love is a consistent presence throughout the book and the hearts appear like butterfly wings. This representation of love really brings the concept of “painting love” to life in a way that little readers will be able to visualize. The final images of the child cradling the globe and snuggling with the caregiver bring home the idea of just how much love we hold and how far it can reach if we share it.

In Fort Halcott a small city in upstate New York police officers Vicky Paterson and Ken Grimes investigate a dead body found with its fingernails toenails and teeth cleanly removed and no sign of insects feasting on the remains even though the woman has clearly been dead for several days. Elsewhere in town Will Bennett and Alicia Bennett a divorced pair of “fixers” track down a young woman who’s fallen in with something called the Order of Hemiptera. When they encounter the cult it’s in the midst of a bizarre ritual that changes something in Will prompting him to occasionally utter things like “The signal begins in the soil.” Gradually our heroes note that the hum of cicadas is omnipresent a year ahead of their scheduled appearance. Readers who savor bugs and body horror will find plenty to enjoy here though if you find these things icky you may get nightmares. Gradually the scope of the novel widens to incorporate the perspectives of Rebecca Perez a forensic entomologist and Anton Hajek the founder of a possibly failed tech company. (The board meeting that introduces the company feels a bit digressive but also provides some of the funniest moments in the book.) As the reason cicadas are attacking people becomes clear and the scope of the problem expands far beyond one city in the Adirondacks Marino weaves in more and more elements from mysterious World War II–era experiments to philosopher Timothy Morton’s concept of the hyperobject. It’s a lot—at one point a character summarizes the story thus far as “Possible occult bug ritual sparks a mutant cicada uprising. Comm networks go down. Unknown force cordons off the entire city”—but the book’s blend of ambition and viscera works more often than not.