“I want to know that I have affected people for eternity. I matter 10 billion years from now.” Thus said the normally retiring David Green founder of Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby. The location is no accident for Oklahoma has long been home to countless fundamentalist congregations and businesses a font of support for Christian nationalism. Privately owned Hobby Lobby has supersized this movement with financial support flowing from what investigative reporter Blanding reckons to be $8 billion in annual revenues. With this funding he says Hobby Lobby has pressed for the removal of contraception from the Affordable Care Act opposed gay marriage and civil rights protections for minorities and battled to make abortion illegal acting through dozens of organizations and churches. One approach the author reports has been to buy properties and donate them to fundamentalist churches on which Hobby Lobby spent $100 million between 2000 and 2002 alone. “Obviously it’s a tax write-off but we do it for the ministry that’s our motivation” said Green. In funding the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. Blanding writes “they built up the largest private collection of biblical antiquities in the world….And when it turned out that many of those items…had been looted stolen or forged they presented themselves as naïve victims of unscrupulous black-market dealers—paying little mind to the extent to which their reckless desire to obtain items to justify their religious beliefs had led them to ignore multiple red flags.” Elsewhere writes the author the Green family has turned its attention to such matters as introducing religion courses in public schools. A leading biblical studies scholar said one curriculum was founded on “oversimplifications misrepresentations logical fallacies and outright mistakes.” No matter writes Blanding in closing: “They’ll no doubt continue trying to impose their biblical worldview on America.”

In August 1993 Stevens was public defender for the courts of the North Slope Borough in Utqiagvik Alaska previously known as Barrow a fishing town with a majority Inupiat population. While on vacation in the Lower 48 Stevens learned of the possible rape and double homicide of sisters Bernice and Wanda Ipalook of a large and prominent local family. Back in Utqiagvik she was assigned to defend Amos Lane a prickly suspect in the killings who had yet to be charged but was being held for misdemeanors that authorities hoped would keep him in jail while they built their case. Stevens got his bail reduced and when the local investigator switched his suspicions toward Bernice’s fiancé John Adams she succeeded in getting Lane immunity in exchange for testimony as a witness for the prosecution meaning he would never be tried for murder. Though the case ended in a dramatic trial most of this book focuses on Stevens’ adventures as a tanik (an outsider) among the locals. They accept her (though never entirely) as one of their own. The heady mix of true crime and clashing cultures makes for a thrilling thought-provoking read. “The legal system was Anglo and the location was Native” Stevens writes. “The two didn’t fit….The Anglo system of written law due process and witnesses and juries…did not work well in a place where community and family values took precedence…and where even such seemingly universal qualities as time or factual evidence were blurred in the day-warping constant sunlight.” Stevens studied English before devoting herself to the law and her talents as a writer shine through in scene after memorable scene that evoke Scandinavian noir.

Democrats urges political journalist and podcaster Cohen need to stop playing nice which has been what allowed autocracy and plutocracy to rule the land. Instead he writes Democrats “need to understand [that] the old norms aren’t coming back”: Congress now functions like a parliamentary system where “there is no notion of bipartisanship no value placed on agreement across the aisle. There’s a majority and that’s where the power lies.” Americans also need to recognize that there’s “nothing conservative” about the so-called conservatives in power he writes; the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is “radical and revolutionary” and it means to strip Americans—pretty much everyone except straight white males that is—of their rights. The work after Trump will take years the author says and it will involve constitutional amendments and a wholesale remaking of the government: “Our goal should be the transformation of our institutions not merely their restoration.” To that end he argues a number of key steps will need to be taken. One is to eliminate the filibuster which “protects a status quo that the voters have rejected time and time again.” On that note he adds since the popular vote seems not to matter much anymore the Electoral College needs to be scrapped. Still more sweeping is Cohen’s call to remake the Supreme Court adding four more justices (one for each federal circuit court) term-limiting them to eight years (which Cohen notes 76 percent of Americans support) and requiring a justice’s retirement at age 70. Add to that his suggestion among many others to retool the Justice Department so a whole division is devoted to prosecuting “corruption cases throughout the Trump years.”

In a world that’s been divided into four rival factions in the wake of a devastating event known as the Annihilation 23-year-old Rubi Morningtail—an Azure refugee living in the Dominion of the Silver Tyger—finds herself thrust into a world of political intrigue powerful magic and deadly martial arts. When Rubi injures a battle tyger in order to save her own life she gains the unwanted attention of Blake Axefire the devastatingly handsome leader of the royal Tyger Warriors and a powerful metal mage. To hurt a tyger is a punishable offense so Blake sentences Rubi to the Bonding a deadly trial in which tygers choose their riders and the rest are slaughtered by the beasts. If she survives Rubi must join Blake’s elite magical team racing against time to seal the Anchors to the demon realm before it’s too late. To say there’s a lot happening in this novel would be an understatement. There are shifters as well as benders who can manipulate metal fire and water. Rival factions are distinguished by their blue and metallic hair. Giant tygers—which are indistinguishable from tigers but spelled with a y—roam the world and there are demons and a rebellion to contend with. The result while ambitious is messy and it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on. In addition the romance between Rubi and Blake progresses too quickly to feel authentic. One moment they’re strangers who are at each other’s throats the next they’re acting like inseparable soul mates—this only adds to the confusion and sporadic pacing of the book.

“What must be understood about tales like this one is that hardly any story has a true beginning”: So begins Tierney’s debut novel. In a village stuck between the intruding ocean sky and forest four sisters find themselves in the middle of a queer retelling of a Portuguese folktale. Elixane the youngest and the daughter of luck and fortune only remembers her older sisters in “faded scraps of memory.” Years earlier they were stolen by their future husbands: Adelina child of the night and sea married the king of the ocean; Borboleta child of the day and sky married the king of the air; and Dores child of the wind and rain married the king of Misery. Their lives and marriages are a blend of beauty and horror joy and fear fulfillment and longing. When a plea for help reaches her from Dores Elixane sets off on a hero’s journey full of adventure danger and anthropomorphic animals. With a little help from her previously unknown lifelong companions—Marquês Boaventura known as Luck the clever and foolish lord of good luck and his mischievous and gorgeous sister Marquesa Másorte or Jinx the marquesa of misfortune—Elixane tries to break magical curses stop an unending war and save her sister from the king beyond death. Tierney renders Elixane’s transness and queerness in beautifully understated ways. Describing how Elixane was at first mistakenly believed to be a boy the narrator says “These things happen and are remedied easily enough once the child can put a voice to the truth.” And Elixane lives her truth unapologetically if a little nervously especially around Jinx. If the repetitive nature of the narrative device leaves little space for suspense Tierney’s poetic prose consistently elevates the tale. The novel particularly shines when exploring sisterhood grief trauma and the process of stepping confidently into one’s power.

“Each night I hear noises—and I don’t mean Dad’s snores. My imagination takes flight and quickly it soars.” On Sunday a “BOOM! BASH! BAM!” is surely the result of a “donkey kicking a pan!” On Monday the youngster hears a “SLITHER! SCRAPE! SCRATCH!” But don’t worry; it’s just a “snake and it’s lighting a match!” Walton’s painterly artwork initially sets an eerie tone; the tale opens on a bedroom dominated by blue the sole contrast coming from beneath the coverlet: the young narrator’s pale face red hair and round white eyeballs. But the child’s fantasies are entirely goofy: The donkey sports a mustache and a chef’s cap; the bowtie-clad serpent lights a candle while gazing at a plate of spaghetti. Finally at breakfast on Saturday the child opens up about the strange sounds. The rest of the family begins hearing them too and after Dad and the protagonist investigate they find the true culprit bringing the tale to a satisfying conclusion. Walton’s chipper text will have kids happily anticipating the refrain (“What’s that in the wall?”). Alternating fearful moments with sillier ones Walton acknowledges that nighttime can be unnerving for youngsters while encouraging them to face their anxieties head-on.

Jazzy the “famous biking witch” and her gal pal Aggie are preparing for a new school year at the Enchantra School of Craft. On the first day of school Jazzy and Aggie meet their new classmate Estrella Moonbeam who over the course of just one day manages to provide all the right answers in Madame Melcha’s witchstory class take over Aggie’s role as assistant to Madame Henbane and insult Jazzy’s stitching of her broom seat. After Estrella challenges Jazzy to a bike race to school—and beats her—the friends declare that they must keep an eye on Estrella. Will Jazzy and Aggie ever find common ground with the new girl? The book approaches themes of insecurity bullying and unkindness with care and lots of comic touches that lighten the mood. Jazzy lives with her moms and Granny Titch broommakers who run a local besom shop. They’re always willing to dispense sage advice and following a comical mix-up with a broom supplies order lots and lots of popcorn. Mom Mama and Granny Titch help Jazzy see Estrella in a different and more compassionate light. The simple backgrounds primarily in white and shades of gray allow the brightly colored people and important objects to pop. Jazzy and her family read Black aqua-haired Aggie appears white and Estrella has tan skin and purple hair.

Zaza’s intriguing noir procedural moves kaleidoscopically with themes far more provocative than a traditional whodunit. At the center are three police detectives all in different stages of their careers. The story set in and around Helsinki opens with veteran detective Charlie Yeats staring at the detritus that a fire has wrought upon his home. Just hours earlier he was hosting a party whose guests included colleagues James Grey a fledgling mystery writer recently gone part-time at the precinct and Aija Kivinen the youngest of the group and Charlie’s assistant. The English speakers of the title have bonded over their non-Finnish status. Even Charlie’s residence in the suburb of Rastila rather than in the city stamps him as an outsider. Two cases follow: the murder of a woman identified as American Lucinda Barnaby and the possible suicide of Gerald Venter whose connection to James triggers something of a rift between the two men. As the tale scrolls in short chapters through the perspectives of these three characters Zaza provides a full description of the internal politics of the Helsinki precinct where they work. Microaggressions in the workplace and the subtleties of human interaction leave their mark on the developing investigations. Themes of ostracism and conflicts that color workplace performance add depth without overshadowing the tension of the whodunit.

This story for striving readers from acclaimed British novelist McKenzie is a fast-paced thrill ride. Hailey Jones who has light skin freckles and pink hair is a member of the Hightop Youth Singers teens who perform numbers from musicals. As they leave their latest gig at a clifftop retirement home an ominous storm is brewing. Even though their worried teacher is rushing them onto the bus Hailey is distracted—brooding over her crush a cute blond boy named Kit who’s taken with new girl Bex. Everyone seems fascinated with beautiful talented Bex who has glossy black hair and tan skin. Hailey takes a seat at the end of the bus far from her friends Rosie and Samira and her mood sinks even lower when Kit and Bex choose seats right in front of her and start eagerly chatting. Then disaster strikes: A tree crashes through the roof of the bus trapping Hailey Kit and Bex. They don’t know whether the others can hear their cries for help—and the back of the bus is teetering on the edge of a cliff overlooking the rocks and sea. In the ensuing series of nail-biting events relationships shift among the trio as Hailey grows in her understanding of their social dynamics. Badosa’s stylish dramatic illustrations appear throughout greatly enhancing the emotional stakes of this page-turner which is printed in a dyslexia-friendly font.

In a clever combination of fiction and outright coding instruction with inset vocabulary and snatches of actual samples high schooler and tech entrepreneur Mehta and co-author Stevens pitch fretful Sama into middle school. There while forming new friendships and seeing old ones change Sama also struggles for acceptance in Tech Club after finding herself odd girl out. But after she maps a quicker route for her beleaguered school bus driver she figures out a way to optimize bus routes for her whole district and town and even pitches in to improve an underwhelming amusement park ride. Along the way she and readers painlessly absorb coding techniques (the creation of stacks and arrays) and learn definitions of for instance “conditional statements” and “functions.” By the end Sama has not only invented an instructional board game (with a name similar to one that Mehta herself peddles) but also earned her way back into the Tech Club. Joining a racially diverse student body in Alvarado’s cleanly drawn panels this brown-skinned go-getter displays lively intelligence a vivid personality and strong emotions.

There are two kinds of people in the world said Søren Kierkegaard: those who write and those who don’t. Nunez best known as a novelist writes up a storm with her first story “Philosophers” a tour de force of resignation. Her protagonist who back in high school had a crush on a boy with a muscle car adds to the categorization: “There was the kind of person who said Let’s split the check and the kind who reminded you you’d had the extra beer.” And then there are “good soldiers and bad soldiers” and “two kinds of Vietnamese” wrote the young man from the combat zone. The Danish philosopher figures in this portrait and so does heartbreak. Then there are the mentally ill and those on the way to being so as a therapist reflects in “Greensleeves” a title that speaks to a song with hidden dimensions. As to that many of Nunez’s characters harbor secrets mostly small but some very large indeed as with a serial killer who “had never had sex without shame.” Shame doesn’t keep him from the hunt and everyone is fair game: “People he knew people he didn’t know. People. They were all candidates.” It’s a masterwork of horror that slowly unfolds to a creepily affectless ending. Nunez is a strong writer at every level but she’s especially good at closings that nail their points in place from the everyday to the sublime as toward the end of the title story and its reflection on “why we get so much wrong for why memory is so easily overruled by fiction and why it can be so hard no matter how we struggle to get at the truth of our lives.”

Luke Harper Sophie and Gus made videos for the social media platform Cre8 while dressed in costumes that hid their faces. As summer vacation begins they learn they’ve been banned from the site after someone reported them for violating community guidelines. Exuberant Harper heads to theater camp while Gus is enrolled in a writing class at the community center. Luke and Sophie the older siblings face complicated problems. Autistic computer genius Luke misses Cre8 the most of the bunch. Sophie who’s worried about turning 13 and “all this stuff about being a girl” that she doesn’t know drifts through the summer missing her best friend who’s now part of Made Ya Laugh a group making prank videos. Luke launches a lawnmowing business and Sophie becomes a counselor-in-training at the rec center and a deepening friendship (with a hint of romance) develops between them. The chapters rotate among the four leads’ voices and are enlivened by text chats and comments from their followers. But without the first book’s wacky filming scenes and need to hide everything from their parents much of the fun is lost and the story falls flat. Contextual clues in the first volume pointed to Luke and Harper being white and Gus and Sophie being Black.

Williams compares his story to Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest lamenting that “not much has changed” in the treatment of inmates since that novel was published. The bulk of the book centers on 28 days in 2018 that Williams spent in a Massachusetts psychiatric hospital after his hypomania had led to what he calls a “serious psychotic break.” His wife insisted he see his psychiatrist who was known as one of the top practitioners in the country; the visit ultimately led to Williams’ institutionalization. Despite the hospital’s prestigious reputation the author describes experiences of emotional and psychological torment there in horrifying detail. For example he asserts that the staff embraced practices that triggered his intense claustrophobia by constricting him “in a straitjacket-like restraint” and that they alluded to using electroconvulsive shock therapy as punishment after he “ticked off” a doctor. Blended within these harrowing recollections are autobiographical vignettes from the author’s eclectic life experiences: Williams notes that he’s the grandson of a legendary 1930s-era aviator who set records for cross-continental flights alongside Howard Hughes and he recounts his own daring pursuits as a climber including surviving a fall from Mt. Fuji. He also tells of his very different careers as both an acclaimed artist and a founding partner of a financial firm. Williams’ stream-of-consciousness prose style makes for an engaging if disjointed read that often jumps from social commentary to pop-culture references to anecdotes that toe the line between humor and vulgarity. Although this approach may not resonate with every reader the work as a whole does effectively provide a damning indictment of dehumanizing policies and practices in mental health treatment facilities.

The USA was founded by flawed men who created a flawed system; such is the premise of this volume which delves into the history of the country as an experiment launched by the founders. The author summarizes events that will be familiar to anyone who listened in history class in school covering the Boston Massacre the Intolerable Acts the Boston Tea Party and so on. Throughout Morrow emphasizes that individual freedom—including freedom regarding religion—is a core tenet of the nation. The author examines the grievances expressed within the Declaration of Independence and makes some pointed arguments about the modern U.S. government doing some of the very things the founders objected to. He walks readers through the creation of the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation to the Bill of Rights emphasizing that there were always flaws in these documents as well as problems the country would have to contend with that the founders didn’t anticipate. The author discusses threats to the experiment including slavery and the Civil War the development of the U.S. as a global superpower race relations the Red Scare and the Great Depression. The section of the book titled “The Experiment Concludes” begins with the Cold War; the latter half of the 20th century was per the author a time when the dynamics of the country were in tension (liberty vs. safety progress vs. economic growth). Morrow insightfully analyzes the growth of the religious right the Tea Party and the cult of personality around Donald Trump convincingly arguing that these developments are in direct opposition to the freedom the founders envisioned (“The MAGA movement can be dispassionately defined as a cult”). The author comes to the conclusion that the U.S. is now a country that would seem utterly foreign to its founders sounding the pessimistic note that the experiment is over. The text is well researched and well argued if sometimes lacking in nuance.

At nearly 12 Theodora “Thunder” Underwood is used to being alone. Every summer while her scientist parents travel for research she’s shipped off to a different relative or professor friend of theirs and every summer she feels out of place and in the way. But when she arrives in Philadelphia to stay with eccentric Aunt Hazel at her historic mansion Mount Pleasant Thunder dreams of making a discovery that will put her on the path to becoming a historian. On her very first day there she finds hidden in the floorboards a letter written in 1780 by a previous inhabitant one 11-year-old Miss Margaret Percy who goes by Mercy. Suddenly Thunder is swept up into a story of intrigue treason spies and daring escapes. The letter references Mercy’s journal concealed somewhere within Mount Pleasant which may hold the key to momentous events. But in order to find the journal and solve the puzzle Thunder will have to do something she’s never done before: trust new friends. An adventure in the vein of Varian Johnson’s The Parker Inheritance and Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin’s The Bletchley Riddle this novel has strong secondary characters and a well-established setting that carry it through the slow parts of the plot. Except for an enslaved historical character the main cast presents white.

Depicted with the same tragicomic narrative undertones found in prior memoirs comedian and social media personality Clery’s third book chronicles the three-year timespan beginning in the summer of 2022 at the onset of her 10-year marriage’s toxic unraveling. She met her husband and creative collaborator Stephen Hilton a British composer and music producer in 2011 during different stages of their sobriety: He was 10 years clean and divorced and Clery was only three months sober. Though their union was fraught with episodes of infidelities and relapses the author reached her limit after following his “digital trail” indicating that his sex addition issues had resurfaced. The pair went through a heated antagonistic and internet-publicized separation to eventually divorce but not before Clery instinctually sheltered herself and their two young children from Hilton through a restraining order. After eventually finding a somewhat amicable coexistence as childrearing exes the couple produced a risky and short-lived podcast on co-parenting but their relationship had many more obstacles to surmount before the dust settled somewhat. Underpinning all of these ordeals is Clery’s strength and ability to grin (and cringe) through everything including chapters elaborating on her post-divorce search for new love and her sudden life as a single mother within a “not-so-nuclear family.” With the supportive counsel of her recovery sponsor Joy and her therapist Clery successfully navigated the fallout from her divorce which reverberated in harrowingly difficult ways for years—until she was able to reach a happy medium with Hilton her children and her life in general. In darkly humorous conversational prose the author admits that while marital discord is a harsh unmooring gut punch it can also provide opportunities for personal growth clarity and enlightenment.

Set free on a class trip to gather dino facts from encounters with miraculously preserved recently thawed Fry-assic Era nuggets cut into dino shapes Sweets Waffle and Curly (otherwise known as the Fry Guys) are at first a-sizzle with excitement. But signs of rot set in as the young visitors see nothing but unhappy unhealthy critters confined in cramped and unsafe pens or roped up for rides. Then the fat really hits the fire when a rampaging T. Rex leads a stampede of breaded beasts out of the poorly planned poorly run park. Geron ruthlessly leaves no pun unturned while plopping his tater tots into one yam after another on the way to a delectable denouement. Readers in the know will recognize plenty of nods to the film Jurassic Park including the park’s half-baked proprietor (who bears a striking resemblance to the movie’s John Hammond). Ho enhances the salty banter with action-packed cartoon scenes of fast-food morsels in a diverse array of cuts and colors featuring lots of extremely cute nugs and one french fry in a wheelchair.

U.S. Army soldiers are mum on details while rushing married couple Kai and Jules Bevins to Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier. The Californian astrobiologists are there to investigate an alien ship that’s been uncovered inside a chasm in the ice. Kai and Jules who had no choice but to bring along their 11-year-old daughter Charlie quickly realize that something has disembarked from the craft. In little time they and the soldiers are facing off against strange vicious beings. Elsewhere in Alaska two state troopers find a seemingly deserted town and bodies that have been left in horrifying conditions. All hope is not lost—an otherworldly artificial intelligence has awakened nine towering warriors who’ve been in stasis for 1000 years; their purpose is to defend Earth against such threats. But with the extraterrestrial creatures spawning at an alarming rate it won’t be long before there are no earthlings left to save. Newman and Land waste no time in jump-starting this novel as troopers search for a “wayward delivery van” under Alaska’s heavy snowfall. The story masterfully builds to thrilling moments such as the arrival of “the Nine.” Intense clashes showcase the Nine’s advanced weaponry (including nanotechnological kaelens that take on various forms) and take nerve-wracking turns (like creatures “slamming parts of themselves against the windows spiderweb cracks appearing in the moments before the black metallic remnants of the ruined sentinels shattered the glass with violent thrusts”). Once the action decelerates the authors add layers to the cast such as the Nine’s gradually returning memories and a secret that Jules keeps from Charlie. It all culminates in a memorable climax that leaves several potential avenues for sequels to take.

Haber specializes in wry taut intellectual historical fiction featuring accomplished if deeply flawed male narrators. Here that’s Gerard Desacroux IV the son of a dead French nobleman who’s been exiled to Berchtesgaden “a lump of land tottering between Bavaria and Saxony.” Gerard’s opinion regarding his geographical location is just the start of his bottomless apathy and contempt. Leadership largely means keeping the locals at bay (a bell-ringing sequence informs him if an uprising is in the offing) and the perks of royalty are clouded by paranoia. (He has a series of food tasters ready to monitor potential poisonings.) Where is the joy for a man stationed in a place where winter is “greedily devouring ten months of the year with the remaining two left for mud and disease”? A woman Ada with whom he once had a brief fling in Paris. He believes she is coming to visit—alas with a husband inheritor of a fortune in the paisley-design business. Though the setting is the 18th century on the last legs of the Holy Roman Empire Gerard’s character is amusingly thoroughly applicable to any era—he is the quintessential failson incompetent yet constantly fuming at everybody else’s inability to measure up. Though this is a short novel his ignorance seems bottomless: He respects books for their aesthetic value not their contents and scoffs at the idea of a musket when it’s described to him. The novel is formatted as one paragraph which accentuates the constrained frustrated tone with Gerard condemned to jabbering about his romantic desperation and life in a “bleak morass with generations of unrest due to plague famine and vague religious feuds.” His ignorance is comic but Haber tunes the humor carefully; after all his narcissist narrator is a man in power.

Hugo’s forgetfulness leads to lost belongings overlooked responsibilities and messed-up schedules. Not fun. Hugo suffers so much that he imagines a “sneaky little trickster” who might be behind it all undermining him. Artistically inclined Hugo even provides a droll labelled portrait of the creature! We follow Hugo through his disasters: missing a soccer session with his friends because he’s looking for his cleats neglecting to take his puppy for a walk and forgetting about a field trip. Even his short-term memory is wonky. Then Hugo finally decides to make some changes. He implements common-sense steps: early preparation checklists calendars and scheduling planners and other memory helpers like mnemonics. He also enlists help from trusted adults and peers and rewards himself when he does well. Hugo’s forgetfulness doesn’t vanish but he tames the goblin. A final spread summarizes all the strategies covered. This Czech import offers useful advice presented in a gentle nonpreachy way. In amusing vignettes against minimal backgrounds tousle-haired jug-eared tan-skinned Hugo and other big-eyed loose-limbed kids who vary in skin tone are rendered with specificity along with the cute but troublesome goblin.