Realistic Fiction

The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Phoebe and Lila are about to become best friends, but they don't know each other yet. Lila has booked the Cornwall Inn for the wedding week to end all wedding weeks, and Phoebe is the lone guest at the inn who isn't one of the wedding people. When she gets pulled into Lila's (bridal) wake, it proves to be a life-changing event for all kinds of people. This book is dense with so many genuinely charming characters, but I particularly was rooting for Phoebe to overcome her hurdles. The Wedding People is an intriguing commentary about how we are possibly most ourselves when we have nothing left to lose, and how devastating loss doesn't have to mean the end of happiness in our lives.

Pet by Catherine Chidgey
Extraordinary story from Catherine Chidgey- I highly recommend for anyone who likes psychological twists and an unexpected ending!! Justine is a 12 year old girl navigating her last year of school before hitting high school. As if it weren't difficult enough to puzzle your way through puberty and first crushes, Justine must do so without her mother, who died of cancer less than a year before.
Now, add a new element to the story. Mrs. Price, her teacher, is beautiful and charismatic and all the students (including Justine) are constantly vying to be her favorite. But..is Mrs. Price a savior or a manipulative demon, casting her net of persuasion and division over Justine and her classmates? Put it this way: when items are stolen from the classroom, Mrs. Price gives each student a slip of paper and encourages them to write the name of the student who they think is responsible so she can out them. Diabolical! And not, by far, the worst thing that Mrs. Price will do. Did I mention that Justine's father was an eligible widower????

Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow
Ian's family has fallen on tough times, and he and his mother struggle with getting by. Things are about to get much worse for them, but what should enter into Ian's life but a gigantic stray dog? Why is this pertinent to the situation, or even to this book? Gather, the eponymous dog, is the one thing Ian can rely on, and Gather is also totally reliant on Ian. Their friendship provides a warm center to a tragic story, one that will, unfortunately, resonate with many young adult readers. Other points that will sound familiar to rural kids (this story takes place in Vermont) are family farms, hunting, solace in nature, and (I hope) finding a compassionate adult at school to provide assistance. I very much look forward to recommending this coming of age story to reluctant readers in my school!


Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
I must admit, I haven't been reading many challenging books this fall. Instead, I've been going for the cozy, warm read. Remarkably Bright Creatures certainly fits that description as it features a tidy little woman in a tidy story with a very neat ending. Tova is an elderly woman, alone after the death of her husband from cancer, and mourning the disappearance of her son 30 years ago. She fills her extra time with a group of friends who call themselves the Knit-Wits, and a job cleaning the local aquarium. Interspersed with Tova's story is a narrative by the aquarium's aging octopus, Marcellus. Marcellus is, of course, much cleverer than the humans give him credit for, and he is able to connect the dots on events unfolding around him much better than the oblivious and self-absorbed humans. The magical realism of Marcellus' voice is sweet and really helps pull Tova's story together. However, as I said, don't go looking for any revelatory concepts about life here, just be satisfied with getting to know some very endearing characters.

The Dog of the North by Elizabeth Mckenzie
Don't let Elizabeth McKenzie's whimsical writing style and superb wordsmithery distract you from the poignancy of the deeper issues she addresses. Although this highly recommended read was laugh-out-loud funny, it also dealt with deeper issues of loss, divorce, isolation, childhood trauma, and illness. Does that sound incompatible? Meet Penny, our heroine (for whom the bizarre is also quotidian), "..I took careful hold of the bloated milk carton and chucked it into the dumpster, wherein it exploded like a stink bomb. Peering over the side, I observed a spray of curds in a halo around the ruptured vessel. What a relief that it hadn't erupted in the van during the night! That I had avoided being covered with sour curds surely counted as the day's first success."
Penny needs all the help she can get as she navigates her divorce, her parents' disappearance, a new friend who might or might not resemble a hedgehog, and a grandmother who is suspected of sociopathic activity. 5 Stars all the way!!


The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
Phenomenal story about a girl named Tiffany (self-named Blandine, after a Catholic female mystic) who is struggling to make sense of her life, especially a toxic encounter that has derailed her future and unmade her. Blandine lives in a decrepit apartment complex called La Lapiniere -the Rabbit Hutch. And, much like a real hutch, the building is packed with a host of mindless individuals in various stages of life and various states of apathy, depression, and violence. There are definitely shades of Watership Down here, as well as Ian McEwan.
Aside from the artistry required to entertwine so many different stories and metaphors into one cohesive whole, Tess Gunty couldn't have written about more timely themes, as seen in this fabulous article from Iain McGilchrist: Left-brain thinking will destroy civilisation. At the heart of it, though, Gunty writes beautifully about intentions, actions, misgivings, and transcendence. She definitely earned the Nat'l Book Award!

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
It's nice to have an Indigenous writer from the Northeast join the pantheon of celebrated Native voices currently out there: (Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, Stephen Graham Jones, Joy Harjo. In this series of short stories, we see life in a Maine Indigenous family through the eyes of a boy and a young man. It's not perfectly clear that these are the same person, but I think we can assume they are.
In any case, we are introduced to a community that not many are privy to -in fact, most readers will not have heard of the Wabanaki before. Some of the issues will have a familiar ring to them, such as substance abuse and poverty. But Talty liberally sprinkles in the details of what makes his character's experience unique to a Penobscot. Language, family dynamics, and customs are fleshed out with the vivid descriptions of life on Indian Island. An excellent companion piece would be Women of the Dawn, particularly the chapter on Molly Dellis.
*Talty won the National Book Critic Circle Award for John Leonard Prize, 2022

Beneficence by Meredith Hall
 Eloquently written story about a Maine farm family in the 1950s who experience a divisive, tragic event and their arduous efforts to get back to their previously good and happy life. Tup and Doris run the family farm and have three children; the narration swings between the two of them and their daughter, Dodie. Each individual blames themselves for the incident, and each navigates a very different pathway to recovery. Tup struggles to think of himself as a 'good man'. Doris cannot seem to connect with the world anymore and drifts through, mired in the past. Dodie's determination to experience a good life again, 'beneficence', is heroic. Essentially, a prototype of how different perspective colors our memories of the past, our hopes for the future, and our ability to fully engage in the present.
It's a rarity to come across an author who writes so poignantly and whose words become so translatable into the reader's daily life. I'm grateful to have never gone through an ordeal like the Senter family's, yet I find Meredith Hall's observances and descriptions to be fully applicable to my own setbacks and struggles. I would liken her style to Amor Towles, another fabulous author who encapsulates his characters' thoughts and feelings in a universal way. As Ms Hall writes, "We will ourselves to live this day grateful and unguarded. We decide. We make ourselves ready to participate in beneficence and goodness. There is no peace outside that."

Don't Know Tough by Eli Cranor
 A surprisingly complex YA book that tackles child abuse, addiction, accountability, and the pull and power of high school athletics in small town America. Billy is a very talented running back on the local football team -but can he keep his rage and violent tendencies in check? Trent is the coach, and while he truly does his best to live a Christian life, will he be able to when it counts the most? These questions will both beg for answers when a life is snuffed out, either by accident, negligence, or murder. Very, very suspenseful, and enough sports references to keep the athletically minded fully engaged. 

Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel
Another book exploring the vacuity and self-serving behavior of the morally hollow, narcissistic young? Well, kinda. But also an examination of the dangers of being impressionable and directionless, which is Zoe's achilles' heel. Zoe, a college student who has just lost her best friend to murder, is adrift for several reasons. One of which is that she was so attached to Ivy that she often imitated her style of hair and dress -and even ends up dating Ivy's ex-boyfriend. Not the most psychologically stable person, Zoe's escape from reality via exchange year as art student in Berlin morphs into her forming other unnatural attachments, and when unstability meets unstability meets unstability, it's an explosive combination of carnage that results. Ostensibly a tale of two girls immersed in a hedonistic year abroad, this is also very much a murder mystery and the last third of the book draws many elements together for a surprising ending. Excellent!

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
This is a really intriguing coming-of-age story, mostly because it presents the events that happened one summer to 16 year old Frankie in a completely nonjudgmental, unbiased way. Sort of, here, this happened, then that happened, and we're not going to decide whether it's good or bad. The jist is that Frankie and her new friend, Zeke, decide to make a poster with a curious and meaningless phrase layered over an equally curious and meaningless drawing. They then surreptitiously paper the town with hundreds and hundreds of photocopies of this image, and it takes off like wildfire. No one can figure out who did it, and it leaps into the national press. Is it the work of a cult? A political movement? What does it mean? Unfortunately, the fever drives some people to bad choices, and there are consequences, including the irrevocable rending of Frankie and Zeke's fledgling friendship.
Flash forward 2o years, and the secret is finally about to be exposed. Is this a good thing for Frankie, or will it spell disaster? A great YA novel about keeping your perspective in life when all about you are losing theirs.

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
Delicate, descriptive, and metaphorical, Winter in Sokcho speaks volumes about loneliness, desolation, and suffering.
A young Korean-French girl works at a tatty guesthouse in Sokcho, right on the border with North Korea. The winter setting, her absentee and vacuous boyfriend, and the yearning she feels when a French artist comes to the guesthouse for a stay are a melancholic feast of words. Beautifully done. 

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
Annie Hartnett has cemented her place on my list of favorite authors with this humorous and poignant novel about a New Hampshire family dealing with brain disease, failed potential, missing persons, and the opioid crisis. Doesn't sound very funny, does it? Annie's light touch and whimsical take on serious issues is her magic touch. Speaking of which, let's talk about the story. Emma heads for home to help take care of her dad, afflicted with hallucinations and memory issues, which seems like a natural fit, since as far as her family knows, Emma is in med school. Also, Emma was born with 'the charm', the ability to heal with her touch, albeit only minor illnesses. What her family is about to discover is that Emma never went to med school, she's lost the charm, and she doesn't particularly want to come home as she's nursing a grudge against her father and doesn't want to deal with her brother -a recovering addict.
Add to the mix that her dad is obsessed with finding Emma's missing ex-best friend, another opioid addict. Her mother has had it with her dad's shenanigans, Emma's status as golden girl is tarnished, her brother is resentful, and yet..it all comes together with a beautiful mix of wryness, loveliness to each other, and the surprise life-changing event of Emma subbing for a 5th grade class. Absolutely 5 stars!

Building Stories by Chris Ware
I had this on my to-read list for years, so I was very excited when I finally picked it up.  If you're not familiar, this is a box full of graphic stories that are interrelated, the common denominator being residence by several protagonists in a particular Chicago apartment building.
Cool concept, but absolute maelstrom of material, in no discernable order. I would donate it to my library, but random inappropriate drawings, not particularly apropos to the story lines, abound. I feel like I tried to read this while on the teacup ride at Disney!

The Other Mother by Matthew Dicks
There is a logical explanation for why Michael Parsons believes his mother has been replaced by an identical imposter -but is it the correct one? This marvelous novel really captures the voice of Michael, an extremely likeable (albeit troubled) 14 year old boy, and explores this very issue. Michael obviously has some deep-seated emotional issues stemming from the early death of his father,his mother's subsequent quick remarriage, the grind of adolescence, and a lot of responsibility for his younger siblings. When Michael finds one day that he no longer believes that his mother is his real mother, he sets off on a quest to find some answers -and ends up affecting some of the lives around him in unexpected ways. A very enjoyable read.

 

Girl A by Abigail Dean
Loosely based on (I'm assuming) the nauseating case of the Turgeon Family , Girl A is the story of Lex, a survivor of horrendous abuse and neglect. In a family ruled by an insane, violent father and a traumatized and passive mother, seven siblings are reduced to starving near-corpses, wallowing in filth, until Lex at 15 years of age somehow makes a break for it and goes for help. After rescue, the children are all referred by pseudonyms to protect their anonymity, and thus Lex becomes Girl A.

Flashing back and forth between her nightmare of a childhood and the current day, Lex tries to act as the executor of their parents' estate after her mother dies in prison-while also grappling with memories she doesn't want to relive, and contact with siblings she would just as soon forget.

This isn't a true crime recounting, but a perching inside the headspace of someone so traumatized that it's hard to know when details are exaggerated or perhaps even glossed over. Really excellent writing that leaves lots of unanswered questions about whether one could ever truly recover from something like this.

Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff
This book is an emotional investment in two ten year old boys, Fish (Fischer) and Bread (Dale), caught up in the grip of a situation that is bigger than they are. Bread is the victim of abuse at the hand of his father, but things come to a head when Fish steps in and takes action. A shot rings out, and events inexorably cascade until the boys find themselves on the run in 90 miles of Wisconsin wilderness. Graff effectively brings these boys to life without either making them precious or wise and capable beyond their years.
Equally compelling are the adults who spring into action to rescue the boys. Fish's mother and grandfather are joined by Cal, the sheriff, and Tiff, whose connections to the others is vague but plausible. They are flawed but ferocious in their determination to find these boys before it's too late. No kidding, a real page turner!

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
A captivating story about a young orphan, Beth Harmon, who turns out to be a chess prodigy. Told in a starkly clear style, Beth moves through a somewhat troubled life with one focus: becoming a grandmaster. I don't play chess myself, so I didn't make much of an effort to understand the passages that detailed the games she played. Nevertheless, this was an insightful glimpse into the mind of a savant, and so therefore fascinating.

 

The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
Excellent novel about the repercussions that result after a trio of siblings find the victim of an attack lying in a field. Naturally we would expect that anyone who has been assaulted would have their life upended, but what about those on the periphery? For Duncan (13 yrs old), Zoe (16), and Matthew (17), their perspective on the world around them shifts slightly when they spot an injured and bleeding boy on their way home from school one day. In the aftermath, they each begin questioning their views on love, the future, and family. One thing that remains solid is the affectionate and respectful relationship that the three share with each other -it's a beautiful thing to read. Themes of mother/child bonding, beauty, and passion thread through the story, lending a warm patina.

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Reading a book depicting a plane crash with 191 fatalities and 1 survivor is probably not the best way to begin the bleak month of March. I couldn't tell if Napolitano's writing was compulsively easy to glide through or if I was just deperate to make the sadness end. In either case, a well-done, albeit grief-filled story about 12-year old Edward picking up the pieces of his life after his family is killed in the accident and he incomprehensively survives. Juxtoposing Edward's passage toward emotional and physical healing in the aftermath with an hour by hour narrative of the flight through different passengers' eyes, the reader gets a full sense of the tragedy that has occurred. Your heart will be heavy, but all hope is not lost. A testament to our ability to mend, rebuild, and continue on, even when the future seems insurmountable.

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
 There's something so haunting about children who are older than their years, who are forced by circumstance to become parents to themselves, their siblings, or perhaps even their own parents. In this book, we meet a large coalition of such children, narrated through the voice of Evie, a precocious teenager whose world-weariness is earned honestly from parents who are profligate in their indulgences. The situation at first seems idyllic: a group of old friends rent out a magnificent mansion on the coast for a summerlong, hedonistic reunion. Dubbed a 'multi-family vacation', the dozen or so children are quickly relegated to the periphery whilst the parents party down. The kids resort to their own devices, but are still clearly far more mature in their antics than any of the older generation.
And then: the world falls apart. A horrific hurricane, fueled by the unstable climate, leads the kids to make a life-changing decision to flee their neglectful parents and strike out for parts unknown, all in the interest of finding safety and relieving themelves of the burdensome adults. Evie focuses on saving her little brother, Jack, whose copy of A Children's Bible(fraught with its own series of apocalyptic events) provides solace of a kind.
There are some interesting parallels that form between the kids' circumstances and events in the Bible, if you are familiar enough to pick them out. Really, I believe that Millet, an ardent environmentalist, is trying to point out that whether you believe God placed us here on Earth or not, we have but one home and our self-centeredness is breaking the world as we know it. Highly recommended!!
 

Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump

A frank and sincere portrayal of an African-American boy named Claude, growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Claude is not: a gang member, drug user, victim of unspeakable crime, superior athlete, or chess protege. He is, in fact, just a guy trying to live his life. Sometimes that means parents leaving, sometimes that means narrowly escaping a riot, sometimes it means falling in love or leaving for college. Always, it means that, black or white, kids deserve the opportunity to find out who they are and what they're made of. There's a lot of humor and sorrow in Claude's well-written tale, underscored by this stark truth:
"Of course, I knew. I understood the difference between how society treats misbehaving white teenagers and misbehaving black teenagers. Those parties on frat row-just turn it down, bring it inside; those black kids arrested for smoking weed in a parking lot. Those cashiers in the campus grocery store looking at me walking down the candy aisle; those white students pocketing beer cans without hesitation." Highly recommended for high school readers. 

 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Reid relies so heavily on stereotypes that it was hard to think of her characters as having real lives. Her somewhat wooden descriptions about their pasts didn't help, "Kelley Copeland was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He had an older sister who had one child, and two younger brothers who worked in the same post office (as) his father. Kelley made a huge effort to avoid screens after ten p.m."
Nevertheless, she does a great job of showcasing that we can make such assumptions about the motives, emotions, and desires of the people we know that it makes it very hard to discern who we're really dealing with. Although this has been marketed as a book that addresses the racial divide, it also confronts differences in social classes, upbringings, and Millennial mindset, and how our own experiences color the interactions we have with others.

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Taking place in the '8o's at a performing arts high school, this is the story of a group of teenagers dealing with love, passion, and adolescence, exacerbated by the high drama of their involvement in the theatre program. Or is it?
While the first half of the book depicts a tumultuous romance between sophomores Sarah and David (with some pretty tawdry and unnecessary sex scenes), An abrupt shift midway reveals that the first half was a novel written by the now adult Sarah, and her frienemy "Karen", as she is named in the novel, has a bone or two to pick with her about the veracity of the tale. Namely, Karen feels that the story somehow glosses over a few devastating events that shift the tone from young love to victimhood, narcissism, and tragic aftermath.
Honestly, I thought the first half of the book was fine as it was, but didn't necessarily see the story's worth as a National Book Award winner until the voice changed to Karen's, and we start to understand all that we didn't previously comprehend. This book leaves a lot up to the reader's interpretation and would yield a fantastic discussion for a book group.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
The starkest contrast between this book and Lolita is the point of view. Although there is still a predatory man and a vulnerable girl, it is an entirely different scenario when witnessed through her eyes instead of his. I never could make it through Lolita without tasting bile in my mouth, but Vanessa conjures up a different feeling, one of sadness and pity instead of pure revulsion.
Vanessa is a girl/woman with a joyless, loveless life.  As an awkward, angry 15 year old, she had trouble feeling love for herself, and that made her ripe for the plucking by Strane.  Strane's claims of loving her and being pulled into a relationship by her are utter B.S.  He carefully gleans her from the other students in order to get what he wants-innocence, trust,dependence, malleability.  He didn't love her, he loved that he had absolutely control over her -body and mind.  He brainwashed her into protecting him at all costs, and she thought that was what love felt like, because her understanding of love was so sparse.  Ah, that's heart-wrenching. Mostly, these are two people who don't like or love themselves very much and are seeking validation from outside sources, which never ends well. Vanessa at 32 is a shadow of who she might have become, frozen in time and unable to come to grips with what she has anesthetized herself into believing was her first romance.
Reading this has helped me to understand more why this story replays itself over and over again between adolescent girls or boys and pedophiles all over the world.  This story is so well written, you would swear it was autobiographical, although Russell takes pains in the foreword to assure us that it is not.

Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll
This is a sweet story about three kids: Doris, Nell, and Grant. They work together at a store called Unclaimed Baggage, which sells the contents of lost luggage that the airlines auction off when it goes unclaimed for too long. The deeper story is that all three of the teens have their own baggage: Doris has unexpectedly lost a beloved aunt, and she is also dealing with an issue that occurred when she was twelve. Nell was forced to move to Alabama from Chicago after her mother takes a new job, and has left behind a boyfriend she loves and misses greatly. Grant's story is the one that ties it all together; he is a star football player who is grappling with the fact that he's probably an alcoholic. Although sometimes it feels like the girls are a little too good to be true, and the loose ends tie up maybe a little too easily, this is a beautiful story of the power of friendship and understanding.
 

Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkings
This is a heartwarming story about a group of high school kids going to Kolkata, India for 10 weeks over their summer break to work with a group who helps victims of human trafficking. Handled very delicately, the scenario highlights not only the tragedy of sex slavery that is pervasive worldwide, but also the issues each of the students brings with them. Robin 'Ravi' Thornton was adopted by white American parents after being abandoned in Kolkata. This is his first time back, and he's hoping to find his birth mother. Katina, a jiu jitsu student, is struggling in the aftermath of an assault that makes her very leery of any males. Gracie is looking for a change from her life of often being the caregiver to her younger siblings. They all find a deeper understanding of their place in the world, even if they don't always find what they were looking for. Nicely done.



Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Pick a family and you'll find a set of incidences that have shaken it to its core: illness, poverty, substance abuse, violence, loss. And a truism that follows family dysfunction is, as Keane writes, "We repeat what we don't repair". In this soulful novel, two neighboring families are linked initially because the husbands are both NYC cops, then because two of their children become inseparable friends. A long simmering problem erupts in a spasm of violence that leaves both families shattered and estranged. Until...Kate and Peter, the aforementioned friends, find their way back to each other in young adulthood, drawn together by a love that each refused to give up on.
This isn't a simple love story by any means. This novel beautifully demonstrates the way love, forgiveness, and perspective provide the tools to overcome almost anything. I particularly enjoyed the way different characters were able to grow beyond the adversity of the past, not because of any spectacular insight or awakening, but simply because (as in real life) they endured and came out of their hardships stronger, and more cognizant of the frailty of those around them. Truly an inspiring read. 

The Overstory by Richard Powers
I wanted to love this book: Trees! Environmental Warriors! The Pulitzer! Forgive the pun, but this is a book I can only describe as 'wooden'. The first half introduces us to no less than nine separate protagonists, and if that's not enough, the nine different trees that profoundly affected them and led them on their inevitable path to activism. The stories are as slow growing as a white cedar. By the way, the white cedar is the slowest growing tree, and that's just the kind of scintillating fact that's sprinkled throughout the tales of the humans. I get it, the point is that we are all intrinsically intertwined and dependent on each other for the health and future of our planet.
The pace continues to decelerate in the second half of the novel -just as the characters are coming together and the action, such as it is, starts to happen. If long, drawn-out futility sounds like a fun read to you, by all means dive in. If you're interested in a story that uses magical realism to more effectively underscore the way all of nature is related and connected, maybe try Sweet Lamb of Heaven



Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong
Skye's life fell apart after her brother was killed in a school shooting. But Luka wasn't a victim, he was a shooter, and one of the students gunned down was the brother of her best friend/crush, Jesse. Flash forward three years and Skye is moving back to the town that her family fled in the aftermath of the tragedy. Her Dad is gone, Mom is clinically depressed, her grandmother is very ill, and she hasn't seen or spoken to Jesse since the incident-but she's still convinced that her brother was innocent.
Skye is shocked to find that Jesse -previously a straight A student-is troubled and struggling. When she finds herself the victim of a series of cruel pranks and bullying at school, she and Jesse team up to find out what really happened that day, but it seems that someone will do anything to keep the past buried.
This is a timely subject for a mystery, and highlights how an act of violence victimizes many people, including the family of the shooter.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Richardsons are a family living in Shaker Heights, OH in the '90s.  The suburb was originally built in the early 1900s to attain a black and white kind of perfectionism, based on rigid rules.  Although life is fairly good here, it is also pedantic and predictable.  Elena Richardson, the matriarch, is the living embodiment of everything that Shaker Heights stands for, which works out okay with her first three kids, but sets her at odds with her youngest, the impetuous and fiery Izzy.
A catalyst enters the picture when Elena rents an apartment to an artist named Mia, a tumbleweed of a person who brings with her a teenaged daughter, Pearl, and a past loaded with secrets.  Pearl finds the Richardsons'  lifestyle intoxicating after the ragtag existence she's accustomed to.  Lexie, Moody, and Trip Richardson all become entangled with Pearl, Izzy is fascinated with Mia, Elena struggles to control everyone and everything, and the swirling mass of churned up emotion will result in huge life changes for all of them.
Desire, envy, and jealousy are well-expressed in this story, but there is very little true warmth or love between characters.  A side story about a white couple attempting to adopt a Chinese baby who was abandoned by her mother is difficult to empathize with because the adoptive mother is cold and entitled and the biological mother seems unable to take care of herself, let alone an infant. 
The point of the book seems to be to highlight the difficulties experienced in the mother-daughter relationship, and how sometimes those we are closest to are the ones we know the least. Perhaps a little of 'love conquers all' thrown in there, too.  However, the story left me despairing for women everywhere, because if these are typical relationships for females, then we have a lot of work to do.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Jojo is a 13 year old boy in Mississippi who's trying diligently to figure out how to grow into a man of substance.   His elderly black grandfather, whom he lives with, is working hard to make ends meet while taking care of his cancer-stricken wife. Pop is a good man, but he struggles with the accidental death of his own son, and chaotic life of his meth-addicted daughter Leonie, Jojo's mother.
His white grandfather despises him for his color and has never acknowledged his existence. Jojo's father, who is also white, is currently serving time in a state penitentiary for drugs. Things come to a head when Michael is released from the pen and Leonie decides that the family (she, Jojo, and his younger sister, Kayla) will go upstate and pick him up -a happy reunion that will turn out to be anything but.  The story gets a little complicated when a ghost enters the picture.  This 13 year old boy was actually imprisoned with Pop, back when they were kids.  Their only crime, a ugly reality of life in the South, was being black.  This magical twist blends well with Jojo's awakening sense of who he is, and who he wants to be.



Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
Since a benefit of reading fiction books is gaining empathy and understanding of others' lives, this would certainly help someone who is confused about what it means to be transgender.  Handled sensitively, but not with any pat answers, Brian Katcher gives us a snippet of the life of a teen who feels she is a girl despite having been born male.  A precarious situation occasionally tips to a dangerous place when a straight male friend falls for Sage before learning that she is still anatomically male.  I'm not sure that many straight teen guys would be as open to the relationship that takes place between these two star-crossed kids, but perhaps.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

Better than anticipated...Billy Lynn is an war hero, one of the few to survive a brutal assault on his unit when it's stationed in Iraq. Their 'reward' is a media-blitz Victory Tour that ends at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. There is a gaping contrast between what civilians at home celebrate as 'heroic' and what soldiers in the field have experienced. Excellent book!







Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
This book was very cute, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. Lots of young adult fiction tries to be cutting edge, writing about the issues, using 'teen' language, and it often turns into a bit of a sludge, and feels false. Dumpling addresses some real life concerns (body image, loss, relationships) and it feels authentic.  Willowdean, is a happy girl who is trying to figure out why a cute, popular boy has a crush on her when she is self-described as fat. She decides the way to break through her self-doubt is to enter the beauty pageant (run by her mother, a former beauty queen who's obsessed with looking 'perfect'). Read this book only if you're prepared to smile to yourself while doing so.
Soon to hit the movie theatre: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4878482/

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor might be a social misfit, but her wry observations about manners, conventions, and the inexplicable ways people relate to each other all bear the seeds of truth. Her isolated and damaged childhood has left her a stranger in a strange land, until a friendship springs up between herself and Raymond, the IT guy at her office. This is a vast oversimplification, because I don't really want to recount the plot (although it was marvelous), but I want to focus on Honeyman's wit and beautiful use of language. You will see words used in this book (tagine, numerate, epistolary) that have disappeared from the common vernacular, and gems of wisdom ("weak people fear solitude") as well as pithy descriptions (people dancing at a party appear to Eleanor to be "free-form jigging") that will result in laughing out loud. I would compare Honeyman to another favorite author, Karen Joy Fowler. If you enjoyed "Eleanor Oliphant", be sure to pick up We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Kudos for all the Sense and Sensibility allusions!


Maybe I Will by Laurie Gray
Very quick read, about a student who is violently victimized and doesn't know where to seek help. I'm not sure the rapidity with which the victim sank into alcohol abuse was plausible, but very, very, very clever twist by not letting the reader know if the main character was male or female. Especially in light of the fact that s/he is the victim of a sexual assault. This unique feature has quickly becoming a talking point between me and the several students I have recommended the book to -provocative!

Science Fiction

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
What does it mean to be an Expendable? It means that, when colonizing new planets, ships can only carry so many humans. They need biologists, doctors, botanists, security, pilots, etc. But, there are some dangerous jobs in space and when landing on unknown worlds, so each crew needs some...redundancy. A crew member that they don't mind losing. In Mickey's case, he is that redundancy. He has no usable job skills and so joins a crew as an Expendable-talk about dirty jobs! In case of death, his body has been mapped and his memory uploaded so that they can just print out a new Mickey and carry on. And the law is ironclad: there can only be one copy of each Expendable at one time, or they all get chucked down the corpse hole and a new copy is made.
You'd think he'd be used to dying by the time he wakes up as Mickey7, but you would be quite wrong. Even worse, when Mickey7 finds out that his death has been reported prematurely and there's already a Mickey8, that's when the trouble starts. Not to mention that the cause of his latest death are the inhabitants of the planet they're trying to colonize, and they don't play well with others. Fantastic book, soon to be a loosely adapted movie.

Providence by Max Barry
Reasons to read a Max Barry sci fi novel:
1. Believable dialogue, relatable characters. I haven't found a character he's written about yet that didn't seem like someone I'd want to have a cup of coffee and chat with about their life experiences. That takes some finesse!
2. Inventive and unique premises in every book. In Providence, 4 humans are sent on a 4 year mission in an AI ship that doesn't seem to need them at all. Are they a PR stunt, to gain humanity's support for their fight against a destructive alien species that creeps ever closer? Or will they, in fact, turn out to be pivotal to the war effort and ultimate survival of earth?
3. As engaging as Neal Stephenson, without the ICK factor. Inevitably, Stephenson will put something inappropriate or just plain gross and unnecessary in his novels (exception: Anathem). Barry doesn't seem to struggle with that, although Machine Man was occasionally gross, but with purpose.
4. Lastly, Barry's cool sci fi concepts go hand-in-glove with lots of social commentary that will give you something to think about.
Providence is an action packed novel that will leave you pondering about AI, propaganda, and what will actually happen when we meet up with an alien species. 

Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Finally, a book that elevates cats to their rightful place at the apogee of society! Scalzi has written a cool, funny book about villains, a la Dr. Evil, but it's also a book about a guy who is just looking to get his life together. When Charlie's life takes some down turns (a painful divorce, loss of his job, loss of his dad), things are looking grim. So when he's approached by the estate of his recently dead and estranged uncle, what else does he have to do but comply with their increasingly unusual requests?
And when said uncle turns out to have been something of a villain? Charlie is about to find out what he's really made of! Something of a light, quick read -but don't we all need one of those every now and then?

The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry
Oh, Max Barry, you crazy, mad genius! Barry really excels at futuristic scenarios that resonate with realistic dialogue and flawed yet extremely likeable characters. In this novel, Felicity is a journalist who, in poking around the murder scene of a young realtor named Madison May, gets pulled into a multiverse chase involving herself and a man who's in Sing Sing for stabbing his wife multiple times-and he's not even the psychopathic killer they're trying to stop!
Clay, the aforementioned wack job, is obsessed with the version of Madison May from his own universe. But...things didn't work out with her, yada yada, so now he's on a quest to find the Madison who will love him back. But if she doesn't, he's prepared to terminate her with extreme prejudice (extreme prejudice, in this case, meaning a very large knife). And he will keep traveling to new worlds murdering her unless Felicity can pull herself together, figure out what's going on, and get at least one step ahead of him. Highly recommend!

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson
Lydia, a young woman from a backwater British town, is a fantastic underdog -her one discernible job skill is being able to talk to Logi, the aliens with whom humans have established trade and communication. Only certain humans are able to do this, because Logisi is essentially telecommunication with the aliens. A peculiar and fun side effect of speaking Logisi is a feeling of drunkenness (the brain can only take so much translating before-whoopsie-do! Things happen).
Lydia is assigned as a translator to the Logi Cultural Attache in NYC, which leads to some interesting situations as Lydia is something of a sloppy loud drunk. A tragic event happens that upends Lydia's world, all the more so because someone has set her up as the fall gal for a crime that will have global implications if she can't find the real villain. Lydia is spunky, the aliens are cool, plot twists abound, and the AI driven lifestyle is perfectly plausible. A very funny, original, and intriguing read!

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
 Reading this book, I could both understand how it had inspired Orwell and Huxley to write their dystopian masterpieces, and why this wasn't a masterpiece in its own right. We is a synesthetic explosion of Expressionism in novel format, at times confusing and vague, but also imaginative and thought-provoking.
The story is essentially the log book of D-503, the Builder of a new rocket that is set to go into outer space and "fix" all primitive civilizations to become the automaton ideal of the One State that earth has evolved into. He is a mathematician, and rationalizes their restrictive lifestyle (run on a timetable) and unanimity (they all live in glass buildings and are visible at all times) with insights such as, "Freedom and crime are as inextriably linked as...well, the motion of an aero and its velocity: when an aero's velocity=0, it doesn't move; when a person's freedom=0, he doesn't commit any crimes. That much is clear. The only way to eradicate crime is to eradicate freedom."
Inevitably, D-503 accidently falls in love with a rebel, the lovely I-330, and attempted revolution ensues. Clearly, many creative minds harbor fear about the horrors of living in a surpressed society and Zamyatin was able to craft a cautionary tale about this in 1923, long before 1984 (1949), Brave New World (1931) or Fahrenheit 451 (1953). It's always a cool experience to read a book that's one of the first of a genre (Frankenstein, The Woman in White) and therefore We is worth the read.

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
As near as I can figure, Frankenstein in Baghdad is a metaphor for the ugly reality of life in Iran, constructed out of the ruins of wars, tyrants, and tribalism over the past few generations. Like Shelley's Frankenstein, the Whatsitsname is made up of corpse parts. Hadi, a drunken junk dealer, tries to pick up his assistant at the morgue after he's killed in yet another car bombing and is told that there's not much left of the man, but Hadi can 'reconstruct' the assistant's remains out of the many body parts lying around. Indeed, Hadi does, if only to make a political statement about the injustice of life in violence-torn Baghdad. Imagine his surprise when the creature, dubbed Whatsitsname, comes to life and starts a murderous streak of vengence. At first, the creature only exacts revenge on those who killed one of the body parts of which he is comprised. Eventually, he/it reasons that everyone is at least partially guilty of something, and he expands the pool of potential victims.
There are also rich storylines about the other people in the neighborhood, including a grieving mother whose son disappeared long ago (she, in her blindness, mistakes the creature for her son), a devious realtor, a naive journalist, a canny government official, and the hapless Hadi.
Saadawi shows the pitfalls of blind ambition, weak character, and lack of compassion in a story that you don't have to be Iranian to understand and apply to the world around you.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Much like a B rated Godzilla movie, The Kaiju Preservation Society was mildly entertaining but not very substantive. I'm disappointed as I've come to expect meatier plots and more plausible scenarios from Scalzi, but I guess everyone pushes the easy button sometimes. If you didn't know, 'kaiju' is the japanese movie genre featuring giant monsters (i.e. Godzilla, Mothra), usually attacking cities. The Kaiju Preservation Society works to protect kaiju living on an alternate earth, but sometimes the barrier between worlds thins and the 'monsters' can cross over. The question becomes, which are the bigger monsters, humans or kaiju? Trope heavy, explanatory science thin.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Turns out all sci fi isn't a dystopian nightmare! As the dedication reads, this book is for 'anybody who could use a break.' Yes, that is certainly true. Thank you, Becky Chambers! More of a novella than a novel, this is about a tea monk named Sibling Dex, who is one of the few characters I've read whom I could picture as myself. Sibling Dex lives in a post industrial world (not earth, although they are human), going from town to town, dispensing tea, comfort, and solace. It seems like a wonderful and fulfilling life, but Dex craves more -they crave the wilderness. What starts as a solitary journey to a long forgotten hermitage gets tipped sideways when Dex encounters a robot. The robots left humanity behind generations ago, once they reached sentience and decided their purpose in life was not to have their purpose in life dictated to them by humans. And so, they slowly evaporated into the wild and were never seen or heard from again, until now. What does the robot, Mosscap, want from Dex? And will Dex ever find what they need to fill their soul? You won't regret taking the time to curl up with this book and a cup of tea to find out.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Evelyn is a geneticist who has perfected the science of cloning. Clones aren't human, they're temporary specimens who are meant to be destroyed after they've fulfilled their purpose. For example, a body double for a politician who's under threat of assassination. The clones are 'conditioned' to think, behave, and look exactly like the human they are standing in for, and then they're destroyed. So imagine Evelyn's surprise and consternation when she realizes that her husband is cheating on her with...herself. Nathan has stolen Evelyn's data and method and created, in essence, the perfect Evelyn (or the perfect Evelyn for him, at any rate). This new version, Martine, contacts Evelyn: once to tell her that she is somehow, incongruously, pregnant, and the second to let her know that Nathan is dead.
This is a powerful story on the malleability of what makes us human, and how, whether you're a high achieving scientist or a facsimile thereof, the impact that others have on our lives is inestimable. Do be sure to read Sarah Gailey's Acknowledgements page at the end.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Let me say from the onset: you have to like novels with alternating narrators to enjoy this book as there are five different voices, four different timelines, and a Greek tale about a character named Aethon that binds them all together. Moreover, two of the storylines are historical, two are realistic, and one is very sci-fi. This sounds like a perplexing mishmash of stories, but it actually comes together quite nicely, if you have the tenacity to stick with it to find how they all blend and swirl together to create a picture of hope and perseverance.
In the 1400s, Anna is a Christian in Constantinople and Omeir is a Muslim who has just been conscripted by the Sultan to attack the city: their paths will cross. Anna is poor, but she has learned to read and one of the scraps she has been able to read is the Greek tale of Aethon and Cloud Cuckoo Land. In the present, Zeno is an older gentleman who is volunteering his time with children at the library to produce a play about the story of Aethon and Cloud Cuckoo Land, which he has translated from the ancient Greek. Seymour is a troubled youth from their town who is about to make a very bad and violent decision; their paths will cross. And lastly, Constance is traveling on a spaceship with a group hoping to populate a new, more hospitable planet now that Earth is so damaged. In the ship's virtual library, there is a copy of the tale of Aethon and Cloud Cuckoo Land.
A mind that could conceive this many disparate strands and somehow weave them together is a wonder to behold! Doerr already proved himself the master of this art with All the Light We Cannot See, and while I enjoyed that novel a bit more than this one, it's still well worth the immersive experience. 

Network Effect by Martha Wells
I didn't like this book as much as the others in the Murderbot series, but I suspect that's because I read 3 of the books in 10 days. Sort of like that 4th piece of cake that you should have paced yourself on. Plot was intricate and engaging, albeit a bit more convoluted than previously seen (probably because this was a full-fledged novel as opposed to the others,which were novellas.) Murderbot still provides us with a one of a kind, loveable (just don't hug it) protagonist. Excellent! 

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin 

 My most fervent hope, after reading this book, is that nobody gets the idea to start producing kentukis in real life!!! A kentuki is basically a stuffed animal with wheels for feet, a little motor, and a webcam for eyes- something that could easily be constructed and sold in 2021. In Little Eyes, kentukis are the newest rage sweeping the global markets, and the consumer has two options: 1. buy a kentuki and be a 'keeper', allowing the kentuki access into your home and life, sort of like a pet (Attention seekers-a dream come true!), OR 2. buy a connection card and become the kentuki, a 'dweller' who anonymously sees and hears what the kentuki is experiencing and controls the movements of the kentuki remotely (Voyeurs -this is your moment!) Keep in mind that no information is exchanged about locations, names, etc. Both keepers and dwellers are as anonymous as they choose to be. At first, like any trendy toy, the experiences are fun and everyone wants one. But then things turn dark -but you expected that, didn't you? After all, social media was supposed to be a boon to a new and wonderful life for everyone and look how that's turned out. Connecting with someone, somewhere, at any time quickly develops kinks. You could buy a kentuki for your child with a pedophile on the other end, you could be giving a criminal access to your private information, or as a dweller you could be exposed to something that you really, really wish that you hadn't seen or heard, witness a crime with no way of helping the vicim, experience bullying, blackmail, etc. Little Eyes follows several kentukis, some through the dweller, and some through the keeper. By turns shocking or banal, the kentuki reveals how anonymity seems to bring out the very worst behavior in people, and exposes the raw loneliness that lack of real human connection brings. The most heart wrenching part is when you realize how close we are to living this reality. Read this book! And then share a conversation, a cup of coffee, or a hug with a real, living human being -you're going to need it!

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic story about a security bot who hacks its compliance program and goes rogue. Honestly, one of the most relatable and likeable protagonists I've come across in a while.
This is what happens when the humans it's assigned to protect discover that it's rogue:

"Gurathin hesitated. 'It's downloaded seven hundred hours of entertainment programming since we landed. Mostly serials. Mostly something called Sanctuary Moon.' He shook his head, dismissing it. 'It's probably using it to encode data for the company. It can't be watching it, not in that volume; we'd notice.'
I snorted. He underestimated me.
Ratthi said, 'The one where the colony's solicitor killed the terraforming supervisor who was the secondary donor for her implanted baby?'
Again, I couldn't help it. I said, 'She didn't kill him, that's a f**king lie.'
Ratthi turned Mensah. 'It's watching it.'"

We so often read about AI that is lofty and boringly, intellectually logical. Or out to dominate or extinguish all human life. But what about an AI who only wants to discover what it wants? And what if what it wants is sort of what we all want? I cannot wait to pick up book #2 in this series!

 Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A habitable planet is found, and it looks like it might be the solution to the climate change, pollution, and dire lack of resources that humanity is facing -but it's a journey of 23 years to get there. Hence, it is imperative to train a crew of exceptional people who will be still young enough at journey's end to settle Terra-Two and prepare for other pilgrims from earth. Six of the nine chosen have been training for 5 long years, since the ages of 13 or 14, to man this mission -knowing that to go means to leave behind everything they've ever known, forever. The others are older and more experienced astronauts who know they might not make it to the end. Thus sparks an epic odyssey that is more about the people aboard ship than the destination. Even the most mature and intelligent of these adolescents still will grapple with issues of loyalty, love, and purpose. An interesting take on a captivating idea. The science is a little weak, but still engaging.

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
In this alternate future, Alan Turing, pioneer of artificial intelligence, doesn't commit suicide in 1954 but lives to revolutionalize the world with his advanced theories on mathematics and robotics. Okay, that part was a little dry. Much more fascinating was heart of this story: the purchase of one of the first lifelike androids, named Adam, by a young Englishman named Charlie. Their relationship is full of pitfalls as Adam quickly outclasses Charlie intellectually and gains sentience, but falls hopelessly in unrequited love with Charlie's girlfriend, Miranda. As it turns out, Miranda has a big secret she's keeping, and Adam knows all because of his 24/7 access to the internet. Adam's quest to understand the irrationality of humans plays out side by side with Charlie's realization that his immaturity and self-centeredness makes him a worse 'human' than his robot companion.
I closed this book marveling at the complexity of the human brain, and the transcendence of the human soul and its ability to love. Thank you for another great novel to ponder on, Ian McEwan!

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
This post-apocalyptic fairy tale was imaginative and a blast! Red is a young woman named Cordelia, a name she despises.  But, like Shakespeare's Cordelia, Red is tough and resourceful and determined to make it through what appears to be The End of Civilization at any cost.  When a pandemic hits, Red relies on her vast knowledge of horror movies (never separate, never deviate from the plan, expect monsters) to prepare herself for what quickly becomes a world populated by roving militias and the kind of men who hurt women they find wandering alone in the forest. Adding to the crisis, Red has a prosthetic leg, impeding her escape, and there appears to be something out there killing people that's worse than the Cough. Woe to anyone who tries to stop this Little Red Riding Hood from making it to Grandma's house!


A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher
It's hard to find an apocalyptic scenario that hasn't already been written about, and this isn't the first book I've read that touches on the theme of infertility as a humanity-ending device (The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Future Home of the Living God, The Handmaid's Tale). However, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is unique and compelling, principally because the barren landscape that Fletcher brings us focuses on the aftermath: what if most of the human race was gone?
Griz and his family live on an island off the coast of Scotland, and in his whole life, he's never seen enough people to form two football teams. Their isolated existence is manageable because they have a close-knit, loving family -including their four dogs (another species which is slipping precariously close to extinction). So when a genial tinker sails into their cove one day, offering news, stories, and items for trade, it's shocking that he absconds with one of Griz's beloved pets. Without thinking twice, Griz is in his own boat, sailing after Broad into the wild world in the hopes of rescuing his terrier, Jess.
Some of the terrors that are introduced: packs of wolves, treacherous ruins, etc., are expected, but I found myself pondering how I would fare in the world so vividly brought to life in this book. It's fascinating to read about the lengths Griz will go to for the one he loves, and nothing -NOTHING-is as it seems. Highly recommended!

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
This book is grounded in actual science, something I'd never heard of called Zero Shadow Day . This happens in India twice a year, when the sun is at the exact right angle to cast no shadows. Peng Shepherd takes this concept one step further, when an Indian man loses his shadow -and it doesn't come back. The anomaly doesn't seem consequential, until it becomes evident that the loss of one's shadow correlates with the loss of one's memory. Soon the phenomenon occurs in other people (only people, nothing else), then exponentially increases until it hits every country on earth-but not every person. In an additional twist, which can only be called magic, when one of the Shadowless forgets something, or mis-remembers someone or something, then it irrevocably changes the world. For example, Max, one of the main characters, mis-remembers that deer have antlers, so her husband sees a deer with little wings on its head, instead.
Soon, it's Shadowed battling Shadowless (who forget their friends, their enemies, and even the basic rules of society), and an eerie group of Shadowed called the Transcendence, who are convinced that the loss of shadows is a religious miracle.
At its heart, this is a story of how people will do anything to save the ones they love, and the intermingling of science and miracles. Excellent read, full of unexpected twists.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
What if the Civil War were disrupted by something even worse than a nation of brother killing brother? What if that something was the dead soldiers rising from the battlefield in Gettysburg, feasting on the living and turning them into fellow 'shamblers'? This is not just another zombie apocalypse! The War Between the States is abruptly halted as the living on both sides are engaged in stopping the undead, but don't think for a second that this is an end to the troubles of former slaves. Because of the Native and Negro Education Act, all African American and Indian children are forced to enter combats schools at the age of 12 so that they can provide the first line of defense between the shamblers and the upper echelons of society (aka, the white folks). Jane McKeene is a feisty girl from Kentucky, conscripted into service and ready to fight shamblers as well as society's injustices. Things definitely don't work out smoothly for Jane, but it's a rollicking tale, steeped in enough historical fact to almost make you believe that there was a zombie outbreak in 1863. Can't wait for the sequel!


The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan
In the year 2020, climate change has produced a startling effect -it's the beginning of the coldest winter ever recorded (forecasts predict -50 in parts of Europe) and an iceberg has appeared off the coast of Clachlan Fells, Scotland. Just when it is of paramount importance that humanity work together for mutually assured existence, we meet a diverse set of loners living in a tiny caravan park, hoping to survive what appears to be the inception of a new Ice Age.
But the weather isn't the only thing that's cold and foreboding. Dylan is mourning the back to back deaths of his mother and grandmother -the only family he's ever known. Constance is a rugged, self-reliant woman who lives in a kitted out caravan, fully prepared to outlast the winter. But she is stuck between two on-again, off-again lovers, and is also grieving the loss of her 13-year old son, who has recently announced that he is a transgender girl named Stella. Stella is feisty young lady who is so warm and genuine, she proves the spark to pull together these lost souls. Although this book does a good job of showing a transgender person without sensationalizing, there are lots of references to porn and substance abuse that seem calculated to add a bit of outre modernity, but simply seem contrived.
Jenni Fagan does a wonderful job of illustrating how arduous it can be to connect with others, and how much we need the warmth and acceptance that only love brings, especially when the world around us is cold and barren.      

    

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis
Speth Jime lives in a bleak future where every word and gesture is copyrighted and trademarked.  What this means is that after the age of 15, she will be charged every time she speaks or uses body language to communicate to others.  This repressive environment, ruled by lawyers and frivolous lawsuits, results in Speth's parents being taken into indentured servitude to work off debt.  When, right before Speth gives her first (charged) speech as a 15-year-old, one of her friends commits suicide rather than work off his family's debt, Speth discovers the awesome power of complete silence.  Her refusal to talk spawns a movement, frenetic media coverage, and even a new job opportunity.  But will it be enough to break the oppressive bonds that hold them all?

The concept of people completely losing their freedom of speech to corporations and lawsuits is just crazy enough to be believable, and Speth is a strong willed girl whose dedication to her cause is admirable.  As we currently live in an era when the things we say, the searches we conduct, and the pages we click on are assiduously cataloged and sold as data to any and all takers, this leads me to wonder if our futures might not hold something similar.

Invictus by Ryan Graudin
Time travel is always a sticky subject, lots of scientific conjecture melded with a hint of the impossible.  In Invictus, Farway Gaius McCarthy is born between times when his pregnant mother, a Historian, travels from 2354 AD back to 95 AD, stays too long, and ends up giving birth in the Grid, the space between time. 

Flash forward to Far's 17th birthday (which he doesn't technically have, since he was born out of time), and he is taking the exam to become a Historian, himself.  His mother Empra disappeared on an expedition a decade ago, and Far needs to be able to time travel so that he can find her.  One flunked exam later, he finds himself desperate and signing a contract with a notorious black marketeer -anything to get access to a time machine, the only way to find his mother.

Although Farway is surrounded by a crew of close friends, including his girlfriend Priya, things don't go as planned when a mysterious girl named Eliot breaks in on their heist at the Titanic, and things unravel from there.  The story doesn't always move as quickly as it should, but there are likable characters, love interests, and a snuggly red panda. 

Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist 

When the Wild West is swept up in a plague that turns people and animals into undead things called shakes, it takes a very special kind of girl to survive such circumstances. Willie is that girl. Her mother dies from the disease, and Willie is left to raise her younger siblings as their father is a shiftless drunk who they rarely see. The kids are holed up in Glory, Texas, an isolated town fenced in to keep the shakes out, and fallen under the rule of ruthless shake hunters. Willie finds her family in peril when her father steals a huge sum of money from one of the hunters, and Willie must pay the debt. Luckily, she finds two young hunters willing to help her for cheap, and they venture out into the shake-filled desert to find her father, get the money, or die trying. It's not often you find a book peopled with both cowboys and zombies, but "Devils Unto Dust" does it very well. The scenario works well in a post Civil War Texas, and there is even reference to timely historical innovations, such as vaccinations and the transcontinental railroad. Best of all, Willie isn't just another spunky pioneer girl, but a young woman who tries to do the right thing even though she is lonely, afraid, and angry.

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

 Ariel, a young refuge from an unspecified war-torn country is adopted by an American couple after either 'accidentally' or 'miraculously' surviving when everyone he knows has died (depends on how you look at it). Ariel's new father is a Merrie-Seymour Corp. scientist who brings back extinct species via DNA cloning -but all the resurrected life forms seem to have a death wish, as if they have a desire to stay extinct. Ariel and his adopted brother, Max, find themselves at the Merrie-Seymour Camp for Boys, on a collision course with a lunatic named The Melting Man, who is driving towards their neck of the woods with a homemade radioactive bomb in his U-Haul. Juxtaposed with these stories is the tale of Dr. Merrie, a scientist and explorer from the late 1800s whose odd choices have trickled down through the years and resulted in the events that are currently happening. If this seems like an incongruous mishmash of stories, it is. But Smith is able to bring them all together in an excellent example of absurdist fiction for the young adult set. In fact, when Ariel recounts his experiences before being adopted, you can almost hear Vonnegut add, "and so it goes".


Version Control by Dexter Palmer
Version Control is where literature and science fiction collide, giving it strong appeal to fans of Atwood's Madd Adam trilogy or The Haidmaid's Tale. Like her works, Palmer infuses his world (namely, a physicist's lab with a prime directive to create a viable Causality Violation Device -a time machine) with characters whose perceptions of their shared reality are never quite the same. The physicist, Phillip, is married to Rebecca, who, after a tragic event, has been feeling that something is amiss, as if the world isn't quite the way it's supposed to be. Phillip can't begin to understand her pain because his obsession with the CVD supersedes all else. All this takes place in a world so obsessed with data (is this sci fi or reality?) that even the President of the United States is reduced to an online avatar. This book is a thrilling look at scientific possibilities, but it also tenderly reveals the miasma of thoughts and feelings between Phillip and Rebecca, as there are in any relationship between sentient beings.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
In the not-so-distant future, something called the Epstein Drive has enabled travel throughout the galaxy in a fuel and time efficient manner, and mankind has expanded its habitat to include Luna, Mars (in the process of terraformation) and the Outer Planets, which would include Ceres (the largest asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter), Io, Ganymede, and various stations. While this could be a symbiotic and friendly partnership, it has devolved into a hostile co-dependent relationship. Earth has the most resources, Mars has the most fire-power, and the OPA (Outer Planets Assoc) has the rich, mineral resources needed to run the whole thing. But, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and there is no such thing as peaceful co-existence. The petty striving for power and suppression of anyone presumed weaker undercuts progress -and then a potential weapon is discovered that changes everything. If it can be controlled (a very big IF), then the holder of this weapon would rule the known universe.
Enter into this morass our erstwhile heroes: the remnants of a crew from an exploded ice-hauler, the only ones who seem to have a clue that life as we know it is about to go south: James Holden, righteous (and self-righteous) Earther captain, Naomi, brilliant and compassionate XO and committed Belter, Alex, the cowboy-pilot from Mars, and Amos (oh, we love Amos!) the Earther mechanic who is either the most heroic or most sociopathic man out there. Add a noir detective, complete with porkpie hat, from Ceres who's on a mission to bring some justice to a missing girl, and you have all the makings of an interplanetary war. This incandescent opening novel is the first book in a trio and there's lots of action yet to be had. The series has been excellently translated to the small screen -Check out The Expanse on the SciFi channel or Amazon!

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong

Get ready for a world in which anyone can have the powers of a god or the fame of a pop star, in which human achievement soars to new heights while its depravity plunges to the blackest depths. A world in which at least one cat smells like a seafood shop's dumpster on a hot summer day.

This is the world in which Zoey Ashe finds herself, navigating a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish and ridiculous on any street corner. Her only trusted advisor is the aforementioned cat, but even in the future, cats cannot give advice. At least not any that you'd want to follow.

My review: Mob activity, weapons grade human enhancements, a Sin City that makes Vegas pale by comparison, gruesome injuries, holographs, a reluctant heiress with a price on her head, and a stinky cat. Wong weaves these improbably elements together for a sci fi tale that brims with off-beat humor. This is a compulsive read that probably won't make you a better human being, but certainly a happier one.

Landscape with Invisible Hands by M.T. Anderson

Many authors have asked the question, "What if we were invaded by aliens?", and the answer is usually some kind of subjugation or mass destruction of humanity.  In "Landscape with Invisible Hand", it certainly doesn't work out well for the humans, but with an inventive twist: the alien invaders bear the humans no malice, in fact, they give them medical and technological advances that solve a lot of humanity's problems.  HOWEVER, that is no guarantee that life is good, as the invaders really could care less about the quality of life on earth, particularly for the many inhabitants who struggle with no money and no job. This forces our protagonist, Adam, to become very creative to ensure the survival of himself and his loved ones. The aliens, called the Vuvv, are enamoured with "classic" Earth culture, so Adam starts video streaming old-fashioned dates that he stages with his girlfriend.  This works well as a source of income until they start to despise each other. One of the great things about SciFi is that there are no foregone conclusions -anything can happen, and frequently does.  Adam's plight -and the many unanswered questions surrounding the vuvv and future of humans-forces the reader to take a hard look at how they would fare in this kind of future. 


Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
My heart aches with the beauty of this story, the desolation that might be our future. In this depiction of what could be, Cedar Hawk Songmaker is an American Indian woman, adopted and raised by liberal white parents (her Indian birth name, Mary Potts). Cedar finds herself pregnant at a time when the earth and all its creatures seem to be de-evolving. Birth defects, throwbacks, are appearing all over -chickens are starting to resemble lizards, for example-and many human babies aren't surviving the birth process. Understandably, a pregnant woman's life is at a premium, and Cedar is forced into hiding so that she isn't taken to a government birthing center, where she will surely lose control of her life and her baby. In her quest to remain a human being with free will, Cedar reconnects with her Ojibwa family of origin and stockpiles for the future, but it seems that nothing can save her from the mass panic of humanity as mankind struggles to understand and survive what might be the final threat. In between the descriptions of society crumbling, there are touching scenes in which Cedar and her two families cling to what it is that makes them (and all of us) human: love, beauty, kindness, longing, and hope.