Booklist Readerの January 2025 の目次

Curiosity, grief, and love propelled the authors of these impassioned tales of exploration and discovery to conduct research, embark on epic journeys, and share social critiques and stories of wonder, humor, beauty, and adventure. Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel. By Shahnaz Habib. 2023. Catapult. Writer and translator Habib, a Muslim and Third World-raised woman of color, observes that the passport is not always a document of access; for some it’s used to prevent travel. And what if true cosmopolitanism isn’t about predictable tourism, but, rather, the education one gets from migration and minorityhood? A timely reframing of what it means to travel. Arctic Traverse: A Thousand-Mile Summer of Trekking the Brooks Range. By Michael Engelhard. 2024. Mountaineers. Wilderness guide Engelhard set out on a solo thousand-mile hike along…

Transformative musicians, key freedom fighters, scientists under siege, women intelligence officers, and an early photographer inspired the most commanding new biographies. 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool. By James Kaplan. 2024. Penguin. Kaplan offers new and revelatory perspectives on three jazz geniuses on the landmark 1959 recording, Kind of Blue, within a sharply drawn social context. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song. By Judith Tick. 2023. Norton. Tick tracks every phase of Fitzgerald’s arduous and influential life as a daringly innovative vocalist, from her rough childhood to legendary records and extensive world tours. Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever. By Rachel Lance. 2024. Dutton. After the disastrous 1942…

Fiction Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right. By Walter Mosley. Little, Brown/Mulholland. The latest in Mosley’s King Oliver series (after Every Man a King, 2023) finds NYPD detective-turned-PI Joe King Oliver on the trail of a billionaire’s wife and daughter while his 94-year-old grandmother asks Joe to track down her son, Chief, who is Joe’s estranged father. Death of the Author. By Nnedi Okorafor. Morrow. Science-fiction giant Okorafor offers a metanovel about an author of midlist literary fiction who decides to write a sf epic, and to her shock, it becomes a megahit complete with a fandom demanding a sequel. This plotline is intercut with selections from the sf novel itself. Good Dirt. By Charmaine Wilkerson. Ballantine. As a child, Ebby lost her brother and a family heirloom in…

Audiobook listeners know that it’s a rare audiobook that truly elevates an already excellent story with performances that bring every page to life. From the moment narrator Jessica Pimentel’s Anita—an artist in the 1980s who rises to prominence before her suspicious death—opens Anita de Monte Laughs Last, by Xochitl Gonzalez, with her simmering frustration, there can be no doubt about the effect on Anita of subtle and overt discrimination. It’s the same for Raquel, the present-day artist studying Anita’s husband, a white sculptor acquitted of Anita’s murder. Pimentel is known for her role playing Maria Ruiz on Orange Is the New Black. Her reading is dynamic, and her energy pushes the story forward even after Anita’s death. Jonathan Gregg captures Jack’s entitlement and jealousy with a similarly volatile range. In…

Award-winning Andrea Davis Pinkney has made a name for herself writing powerful biographies for children, and she brings the same reverence and rigor to her latest project, And She Was Loved, about the life and work of the iconic Toni Morrison, who, among many other important accolades, was the first Black American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Readers interested in more Black twentieth-century literary luminaries will find plenty of inspiration in these books for early elementary schoolers. A Crown of Stories: The Life and Language of Beloved Writer Toni Morrison. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illus. by Khalif Tahir Thompson. 2024. HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Gr. 1–3. Weatherford’s evocatively written picture-book biography of Morrison begins with the Great Migration, which brought her parents to Ohio, and follows her storied life up…

Australia is a world of unexpected wonders. Many of us know of its colorful birds, herds of kangaroo, underwater wonderlands, and frightening spiders. But what do we know of what it’s truly like to live in Australia, from the outback to its bustling cities, from its riverbanks to its coasts? These books are all by Australian authors, and help expose the inner lives and bigger conversations taking place in the country’s cities, small towns, and forests. The books range from a novel about an Aboriginal tribe trying to protect its ancestral land from exploitation to a female-driven mystery surrounding the realities of domestic abuse to the tale of two teen boys being mentored by a surfer with a sketchy personal life. Big Little Lies. By Liane Moriarty. 2014. Putnam/Amy Einhorn.…

The mystery at the center of Better Must Come, by Desmond Hall, is only one element that makes it a notable listen. This audio carries listeners along with a clear “narrator” voice plus a range of beautifully executed Jamaican accents to paint the scene for Hall’s story. Jaime Lincoln Smith’s resonant voice, easily shifting accents, and rich characterization will help listeners connect strongly with the story of Deja, Gabriel, and the days that follow their chance encounter with a big bag of drug money. American Street. By Ibi Zoboi. Read by Robin Miles. 2017. Harper. Gr. 9–12. Like Smith’s, Miles’ voice is deep and rich and slides easily from Fabiola’s Haitian accent to the bold tones of the Detroiters she meets as she struggles to begin her life in the…

Readers of all ages deserve to know about dancers of color, both their place in history and their inspiring work today. These biographies and memoirs shine well-deserved spotlights on some of these astonishing artists. Beautiful Ballerina. By Marilyn Nelson. Illus. by Susan Kuklin. 2009. Scholastic. K–Gr. 3. Nelson’s moving poem directly addresses young dancers and harmoniously matches Kuklin’s expressive photos of real-life students at the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). Final notes about the DTH and short biographies of the girls who appear in the pages close this celebratory title. Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy. By Misty Copeland. Illus. by Salena Barnes. 2021. Aladdin. Gr. 3–6. This gracefully illustrated collective biography show-cases 27 BIPOC ballerinas who have inspired Copeland in her dance career. While discussing the lives and accomplishments…

Older The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting. By Natalie C. Parker. Candlewick. Gr. 7–12. Tru and her extremely resourceful group of friends must protect an infant with a rare, dangerous talent in this swiftly paced adventure, great for reluctant readers. A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools. By Debbie Levy. Bloomsbury. Gr. 6–9. The Scopes trial (1925) featured two great orators debating whether teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution or the Christian Bible was inappropriate in public schools. Everything Is Poison. By Joy McCullough. Dutton. Gr. 9–12. As Carmela ventures into apprenticeship at her mother’s apothecary, she quickly learns there’s more darkness to the work—and the world. The Rival. By Emma Lord. St. Martin’s/Wednesday. Gr. 9–12. College freshman Sadie thinks she’s finally free of her high-school nemesis,…

Rose Carlyle is a lawyer and keen adventurer. She has crewed on scientific yachting expeditions to subantarctic islands and has sailed with her family from Thailand to South Africa. She is the author of the #1 international best-seller The Girl in the Mirror and lives in New Zealand with her three children. 1. Who is Rose Carlyle when she is at home? When I’m not writing, I love to be outdoors. I live near the beach and my favorite thing is to swim or bodysurf, even in winter. I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and I enjoy travelling to far-flung places. I’ve traveled extensively throughout Asia and Africa, and I’ve sailed to some of the world’s most remote locations including New Zealand’s subantarctic islands. I also love spending time with…

A legal eagle, a term coined in 1869, refers to a highly skilled and astute lawyer. As we find ourselves in a time of numerous headline court cases, we turn to biographies and memoirs illuminating the lives, missions, and accomplishments of law professionals, especially those who overcame adversity to work for the common good. Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer’s Pursuit of Equal Justice for All. By Robert L. Tsai. 2024. Norton. Law professor Tsai traces the groundbreaking and influential career of lawyer Stephen Bright, who directed the Southern Center for Human Rights for decades and has not only defended and helped individuals at a disadvantage in the legal system, but also reshaped legal thought and law. Everyone against Us: Public Defenders and the Making of American Justice. By Allen Goodman.…

PBS PBS Books Readers Club PBS Books Readers Club celebrates its oneyear anniversary this month as it reads Remarkably Bright Creatures. Cohosts Fred, Lauren, Heather, and Princess interview author Shelby Van Pelt and explore the dynamic relationship between Tova and Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who lives at the aquarium. It’s a charming and witty exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow’s unlikely connection with an octopus. Read along and join the conversation on Wednesday, January 29, at 8 p.m. ET. The hosts also chat about the upcoming Season 5 of internationally acclaimed All Creatures Great and Small series, which premieres on Sunday, January 12, at 9 p.m. ET. A new TV series adaptation based on James Herriot’s beloved book, this season has heart, a picturesque setting,…

If cars, trains, ships, or airplanes aren’t exactly your thing but you’re still longing for travel, consider quelling your wanderlust with these aural adventures guided by babymooners, royalty, and—most memorably—refugees. The Bump. By Sydney Karger. Read by Ryan Spahn and Michael Urie. 2024. Books on Tape. Spahn and Urie embody dads-to-be who hope to rekindle their stagnating relationship with a cross-country babymoon—Provincetown, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Palm Springs—before their child’s California birth. Shen effortlessly manifests three generations of Chinese women. In 1948, wealthy matriarch Nai Nai’s family flees the rampaging Communists, but without her spineless son’s wife and daughters. The abandonment launches a perilous odyssey through Qingdao, Hong Kong, and Taiwan for the left-behinds. The Guncle Abroad. By Steven Rowley. Read by the author. 2024. Books on Tape. While he’s…

It is perhaps only natural that mangaka would be drawn to the world of art as inspiration for their work. In these manga, artists of all types and art of varying forms take the spotlight. Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey. By Akiko Higashimura. Art by the author. Tr. by Jenny McKeon. 5 volumes (complete). Seven Seas Entertainment. Gr. 7–12. Based on Higashimura’s own experiences, this auto-biographical manga explores how much growth is necessary to become an artist and a popular mangaka. Honest, empathetic, and humorous, this is a story any aspiring artist, especially those who want to make comics or manga, should read. Blue Period. By Tsubasa Yamaguchi. Art by the author. Kodansha. 15 volumes (ongoing). Gr. 7–12. An engrossing story exploring the competitive side of the art world,…