From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
Little: A Novel by Edward Carey (Riverhead, $27, 9780525534327). "I am astounded. I am charmed. I am awaiting the manifestation of pure joy this enchanting book will be for the ages. Anne Marie Grosholtz is as tall as the human heart but her outlook is to the moon. Orphaned at a young age, this child is apprenticed to a physician whose wax modeling lends a twist of the macabre and is a precursor to Marie's wondrous involvement with French royalty, a revolution, and museums. Complete with elucidating illustrations, Little is a bold imagining of Madame Tussaud. To be clear, I love it! I love it! I love it!" --Jeanette Creager, Mitzi's Books, Rapid City, S.D.
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon (Scribner, $26, 9781501125652). "Telling the truth has always been a radical and political act, but Kiese Laymon writes in Heavy with a rare, vulnerable unity of personal urgency and political clarity. This is a story about how our country's lies and thefts weigh heavily on the hearts and souls of its black mothers and sons. About how dishonesty about white supremacy, money, sex, and violence threads through our most intimate relationships and causes us to become strangers to ourselves. If Heavy is about lies, it is also fundamentally about the redemptive power of truth, stories, language, and joy. If there's a way out of the loneliness of being human in a country that does not value or support humanity, Laymon suggests, it is in the connection we find in the words we toss to one another, like lifelines, like laughter." --E.R. Anderson, Charis Books & More, Atlanta, Ga.
Paperback
Scribe: A Novel by Alyson Hagy (Graywolf Press, $16, 9781555978181). "Scribe is a novel about dystopian Appalachia following the Civil War, a place ravaged by sickness and divvied up by the brute strength of men and their ability to defeat any invaders. If that doesn't pique your interest, its main character is a complicated woman with a highly valued skill: the ability to write. In the wake of war and widespread fever, she sustains herself by creating paper and ink and writing the most heartbreakingly poetic letters to help others declare their triumphs and sins. After getting a special request from an unusual passerby, she finds herself in danger and must flee the once-beautiful but now brutal farmland she's always called home. Scribe is as deeply imaginative as it is viscerally emotional, and Alyson Hagy's ability to temper darkness with light makes it a spellbinding novel." --Morgan McComb, Raven Book Store, Lawrence, Kan.
For Ages 4 to 8
Winter Is Here by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow, $17.99, 9780062747181). "Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek have done it again! Winter Is Here makes you want to snuggle up to its cozy pages with a cup of hot chocolate and savor all of your favorite aspects of the season. Dronzek's illustrations are beautiful and warm, despite the winter scenery, and Henkes' prose is playful and perfect. Simplistic and full of depth, Winter Is Here also comes with a bit of springtime at the end to keep you hopeful." --Juliette Munda, Bookbug, Kalamazoo, Mich.
For Ages 9 to 12
Knights vs. Dinosaurs by Matt Phelan (Greenwillow, $16.99, 9780062686237). "In Knights vs. Dinosaurs, Matt Phelan has created a roaring romp of a good time, bringing together the knights of King Arthur's Round Table and DINOSAURS! Though it may at first glance seem a book for boys, a plot twist will have girls loving it, too! With knights, dinosaurs, a wizard, and some great battles wonderfully illustrated by Phelan, this exciting tale demonstrates the value of being true to yourself while being part of a team." --Jim Hess, Let's Play Books!, Emmaus, Pa.
For Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth (HarperTeen, $17.99, 9780062696878). "Laura Weymouth's debut novel, The Light Between Worlds, is a captivating tale of two sisters struggling to find home and to find themselves. The younger, Evelyn, longs for the days when she and her sister and brother lived in the Woodlands, a mystical Narnia-like land Weymouth paints with beautiful lyricism. Evelyn has carried the weight of her longing since she and her siblings returned to post-WWII England. When Evelyn goes missing, Phillipa carries the loss of her sister, as well as the pain of her own choices. They embark on their own journeys of healing and belonging, each searching for what they've lost and where they belong. Written with meaning, feeling, and depth, The Light Between Worlds is a stunning debut." --Hannah Wilson, Out West Books, Grand Junction, Colo.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
