Wilson spent the summer in the headlines for her takedown of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey script — a film whose director had cited her translation as an influence. This is the better use of her attention: an orientation for anyone who finishes the Epic and wonders where to go next, a case for returning to the …
1930s Kentucky: Cussy Mary Carter is a packhorse librarian who brings books to the people of Troublesome Creek. She is also part of a family who has a unique shade of blue skin– a trait that causes suspicion and distrust within her own community. This historical fiction novel is as fascinating as it is educational …
Like the authors of some of my favorite recent memoirs—Hilary Peach’s Thick Skin, Finn Murphy’s The Long Haul, Charlotte Gill’s Eating Dirt—Paré-Poupart had access to the class-elevating levers of education but found himself in a blue-collar trade and chose to stay for decades. In his case, that’s hauling garbage in Montreal, hurling bags of trash into the …
This is a superbly brilliant picture book for school-aged kids. Grace is new to her school, but when her teacher asks someone to return a book to Mr. Grimly’s classroom, she can’t help but raise her hand. What follows is a strange, spooky, and hilarious journey through what turns out to be the weirdest school …
An excerpt from Forest Avenue Press publisher and author Laura Stanfill’s August 30, 2026 substack: […] The Sea-Glass Shore by Julie Salmon Kelleher[,] Forest Avenue’s Sept. 1 release[,] is a selkie story that is not about entrapment and escape like the original seal-person myth. It’s a novel about what it takes to stay—in a marriage, in …
[In] Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Truths, the follow-up to her bestselling Big Little Lies, it’s ten years later, and the kids are all in high school now. The core group from the first book—Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie—are all dealing with midlife complications. Everything from the past is good and buried, except . . . …
The Wild Beneath is an epic love story as well as a love letter to the ocean: its danger, mystery, and beauty. In the aftermath of a Pacific Northwest tsunami, Annie—who has lived on a sailboat nearly her whole life—is reeling on the shore, where she’s stayed behind with her best friend, Evan. Her parents and …
I was so excited when I saw this book in my publisher catalogs – Jess Kidd flirted with the mystery genre with her 2020 novel Things in Jars, which also happened to be the first of her novels that I picked up. It was so weird, dark and so delightful. She’s fully embraced the genre with …
Lucy is irresistible. In this beautiful, layered, emotional story about a brother’s death, a resilient young girl finds support in unexpected places. I love how believably flawed the adults are in this novel and how the relationship between Lucy and her brother are depicted with so much heart without shying away from the hard parts. …
The gardens of Lilymoor House are enchanting, whimsical, and full of mystery. When grieving gardener Sophie escapes from the big city to spend the summer revitalizing Lilymoor in time for the bicentennial celebration, she doesn’t quite realize just how much work she is in for. A secret garden behind a blue door makes its appearance …
