Tabla de contenidos para Booklist, Vol. 120, No. 11, 2/1/2024 en Booklist

The first few weeks of the new year offer a chance to reflect and to look forward, a chance to work on resolutions and make changes for the better. At a macro level, I feel as if, at least in a figurative sense, we start this leap year on shaky ground, in a world with many unknowns and fraught with worry and uncertainty. Clouding all that we do professionally—working with books, publishers, and libraries—is the struggle against book banning and censorship. This is happening in a larger, fragile ecosystem, one on tenterhooks, with wars flaring, seemingly with no end in sight, and with one of the more important elections in our country’s history pending. All of this can be overwhelming to process; that said, so much is simply out of…

General Fiction American Spirits. By Russell Banks. Mar. 2024. 224p. Knopf, $28 (9780593536773); e-book (9780593536780). The late Banks was our chief chronicler of the working class, the patron saint of the blue collar. This collection of three stories returns to the memorable haunt of Sam Dent, where the locals struggle to pay the bills while performing odd jobs for the wealthy summer folks. In “Nowhere Man,” young couple Doug and Debbie are raising their two children in a small house built on a parcel of land that is a fraction of the vast acreage once owned by Doug’s family. When the new landowner begins operating a firing range, Doug becomes enraged and begins a battle he cannot possibly win. In “Homeschooling,” new residents Barbara and Kenneth Odell buy a house…

With the popularity of One Piece (published by Viz) never waning from its 1990s inception and the Netflix show giving it a “live action” bump, this series has become a perennial favorite in libraries. At a daunting 100-plus volumes, it can be challenging to collect, but given an arc approach, libraries can invest in segments in physical form and supplement with digital resources elsewhere. The first major arc that libraries should stock on their shelves consists of the first 12 volumes, which is generally recommended for grades 7–12 and coincides with the first season of the Netflix show. As might be expected for a pirate story, characters drink grog (clearly alcohol) and routinely smoke both cigarettes and cigars and while most deaths happen off-panel, there is fantasy violence throughout. Volume…

Older Readers Born a Girl: It Takes Courage. By Alice Dussutour. Illus. by the author. Tr. by David Warriner. Mar. 2024. 176p. Orca, $29.95 (9781459838987). Gr. 7–10. 305.2352. This accessible offering comes with a bright, cheerful cover with vibrant, eye-catching illustrations of five young women representing various cultures. This engaging artwork belies the serious content of the book, a look at five contemporary misogynistic cultural practices intended to isolate, humiliate, and control women. Chapters begin with a first-person, graphic-novel-format introduction to a representative character invented by the author, in which a teen explains the realities of her life, followed by informative and straightforward commentary. Kaneila lives in Tibet and is banished to a shed in the forest every time she has her period. Mahnoosh lives in Afghanistan and is a…

Children of Anguish and Anarchy. By Tomi Adeyemi. Holt, $24.99 (9781250171016). Gr. 9–12. June. In the long-awaited third and final book in Adeyemi’s blockbuster series, Zelie finds herself captured on a ship on her way to an unknown land, held by a dangerous new enemy. A Crown of Stories: The Life and Language of Beloved Writer Toni Morrison. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illus. by Khalif Tahir Thompson. HarperCollins/Quill Tree, $19.99 (9780062911032). PreS–Gr. 3. Apr. Award-winning Weatherford brings her signature piercing, lyrical writing to this picture book biography of the iconic writer Toni Morrison. Joyful Song: A Naming Story. By Lesléa Newman. Illus. by Susan Gal. Levine Querido/Arthur A. Levine, $18.99 (9781646143702). PreS–Gr. 2. May. A boy invites his neighbors to his baby sister’s naming ceremony as they walk to the…

Some of the first books ever written were stories within stories, think The Tale of Genji, The Odyssey, One Thousand and One Nights, The Canterbury Tales. The popularity of this multi-layered literary tradition has never waned; examples abound. Here’s a rather eclectic list of titles to delightfully decipher. 1Q84. By Haruki Murakami. Tr. by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel. 2011. Knopf. At the core is a spectacular love story about a girl and boy who briefly held hands when they were both ten. That said, with the fiercely imaginative Murakami as author, the exposition is gloriously labyrinthine with multiple narratives, including the revision of a 17-year-old’s prescient novella destined for a top literary prize. Blackouts. By Justin Torres. 2023. Harper. Illuminating the relationship between two gay men—one dying, the other…

Journalism & Publishing Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page before Lights Out. By Shannon Reed. Feb. 2024. 336p. Hanover Square, $27.99 (9781335007964); e-book (9780369746603). 028. So why do we read? Humorist Reed offers a generous assortment of answers in this splendid collection of 40 mini-essays, which run about eight pages on average. We read for pleasure, for company, for comfort (see Reed’s very funny essay on Amish romance novels), to feel less alone, to feel superior (see Moby-Dick in its many manifestations), and because it’s fun. Like this book is. Arranged roughly chronologically, essays limn a lifetime of reading and become a de facto memoir, introducing readers to the author’s many years of teaching (she’s currently a professor at the University of Pittsburgh). Her pieces…

The most resounding history books reviewed in Booklist over the past 12 months take us to ancient Rome, the U.S. during the Civil War, Ukraine, and into the lives of WWII servicewomen. Alexandria: The City That Changed the World. By Islam Issa. 2024. Pegasus, $29.95 (9781639365456). Gloriously multicultural Alexandria has been conquered, yet never colonized, by all of Europe and Asia’s major empires, a history native son Issa recounts with verve. American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden. By Katie Rogers. 2024. Crown, $30 (9780593240564). White House correspondent Rogers examines the first lady’s role from the Clinton administration forward, portraying each FLOTUS and how she interpreted the purview of the office. Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during…

An absolute connection between manga and anime adaptations fuels mutual interest in both formats. Manga fans enjoy seeing how their favorite stories are adapted into full motion, and anime fans often seek out the manga because it may expand the story in more detail. No matter which order readers enjoy these stories in, here are a few popular manga series with an anime adaptation. Akira. Katsuhiro Otomo. Kodansha. Gr. 11–up. One of the first manga ever to be translated into English, Akira is the inspiration behind the transformative 1988 film of the same name. Set in a post-apocalyptic “Neo-Tokyo,” the manga centers on biker-gang leader Kaneda and resistance-fighter Kei as they attempt to prevent Kaneda’s former best friend and gang member, Tetsuo, from using his violent new psychic abilities to…

The following works, reviewed in Booklist between February 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, bring new perspectives to the table, uncovering important and fascinating aspects of history from ancient to modern times. America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History. By Ariel Aberg-Riger. Illus. by the author. 2023. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, $24.99 (9780063057531). Gr. 9–12. This visually stunning compilation assembles stories typically left out of U.S. history textbooks, with short, poignant sections centering on events’ effects on marginalized people. Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art. By Hannah Salyer. Illus. by the author. 2023. Clarion, $19.99 (9780358469841). K–Gr. 3. This look at early-human imagination and storytelling illuminates the wonders of prehistoric cave and rock paintings around the world, breathtakingly captured in the illustrations. Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers. By Zora…

Adult Fiction Black Sheep. By Rachel Harrison. Read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker. 2023. 10hr. Books on Tape, DD (9780593747995). Vesper Wright—such a clever name!—left home six years ago to escape the stifling religious dogma that controlled her community. After getting fired from her waitressing job, she returns to her apartment to find a wedding invitation on her doorstep; her cousin (and best friend) is marrying her first (and only) boyfriend. She can’t stay away, and arrives to a prodigal welcome, except from her (always) coldly detached movie-star mother. Vesper realizes soon enough that she’s not exactly the guest of honor. What a fatal mistake she’s made thinking she can go home again. Parker is a lively force, clearly enjoying the twisted shocks and delicious manipulations Harrison reveals: exploding nacho cheese,…

A fascinating work of science writing, history and historical fiction, tales from icons from all ends of the literary spectrum, and a handful of entrancing beach books make up this month’s list of titles your patrons will definitely be hearing about. The Cemetery of Untold Stories. By Julia Alvarez. Algonquin, $28 (9781643753843). Apr. A celebrated writer literally buries her drafts and revisions on the property she inherited in the Dominican Republic, only to find that these stories have ideas of their own about staying hidden, in master storyteller Alvarez’s extraordinary latest. Eruption. By Michael Crichton and James Patterson. Little, Brown, $32 (9780316565073). June. Crichton plus Patterson. Need we say more? Okay, we will: Patterson wrote the novel based on the late Crichton’s notes, resulting in a breakneck thriller about a…

Nate Powell is an accomplished comics artist with an impressive backlist, most notably creating the artwork for John Lewis’ beloved graphic memoir series, March. His latest work of nonfiction is a comics adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, which offers a new path into the critical examination of how history is taught (or mistaught) in schools throughout the country. We caught up with him to talk about the project, nonfiction comics, and why this book is more important than ever in our current moment. Hunter: What initially drew you to this project? Powell: Lies My Teacher Told Me was already one of my favorite books; I’d read it several times between 2005 and 2019. Another one of James Loewen’s books, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, was…

Stirring fantasy, poignant memoir, and thought-provoking speculative fiction round out this list of the top 10 graphic novels for teens, all reviewed in Booklist from February 1, 2023 through January 2024. Brooms. By Jasmine Walls. Art by Teo DuVall. 2023. Levine Querido, $24.99 (9781646142675). Gr. 7–12. In an alternate 1930s Mississippi, two sisters develop magical powers, and in order to raise desperately needed money, they enter the thrilling world of underground broom racing. Call the Name of the Night, v.1. By Tama Mitsuboshi. Art by the author. Tr. by Amanda Haley. 2023. Yen, $13 (9781975352004). Gr. 6–11. Mira leads a gentle life with a doctor who helps her control a condition that transforms her surroundings into night, but when a former patient arrives, she needs to confront the darkness. Constellations.…

Older Readers The Absinthe Underground. By Jamie Pacton. Feb. 2024. 304p. Peachtree Teen, $19.99 (9781682634929). Gr. 9–12. Sybil goes home with Esme one night after a shift at the Rosemary Thistle cafe to sleep on her sofa, and a little over a year later, they’ve made a life together, complete with a few cats. Sybil supplements Esme’s meager cafe earnings by pilfering posters by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Mucha and then selling them to collectors. On the night Sybil swears will be their last of thieving, the girls meet Maeve, beguiling proprietress of the Absinthe Underground, Severon’s most exclusive nightclub. The shrewd businesswoman recruits the naive young women and their skills for a heist that is guaranteed to change their lives forever. Secrets can only be kept so long,…