Rebel English Academy

by Mohammed Hanif

Elaborate conspiracy theories abound in Mohammed Hanif's darkly satirical Rebel English Academy, a high-stakes historical drama of "dangerous love" and subversive politics set in Pakistan.

Hanif's cleverly plotted fourth novel opens in 1979, at the inauspicious moment when Pakistan's former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed on the orders of the military. The country erupts in protests and celebrations, depending on political affiliations. When a distressing trend emerges of people lighting themselves

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Footeprint: Eunice Newton Foote at the Dawn of Climate Science and Women's Rights

by Lindsay H. Metcalf

Lindsay Metcalf (Tomatoes on Trial) draws climate science pioneer Eunice Newton Foote out of the shadows of history in the expressive, evocative fictionalized novel-in-verse, Footeprint. Through melodic third-person poetry, Metcalf describes both the scientific and women's rights advancements this little-known American inventor achieved. Metcalf based her work of fiction on historical fact, using minimal speculation and including images of various individuals noted in the book as well as reproductions of historical

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Cleaner

by Jess Shannon

Jess Shannon's hypnotic, weird, and dark debut novel, Cleaner, charts the awkward journey of an unnamed narrator as she attempts to discover her artistic self through cleaning.

Overeducated, jobless, and "with an ungodly amount of student debt," the novel's 20-something protagonist moves back in with her laconic parents and discovers she has a passion for cleaning. This leads to a janitorial job at an art gallery, where she meets a cocaine-sniffing artist, Isabella, in the bathroom. When the two are discovered

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The Astral Library

by Kate Quinn

With her gripping novel The Astral Library, historical novelist Kate Quinn (The Briar Club) takes a flying leap into literary fantasy, creating a world where desperate bibliophiles can find literal sanctuary--and, occasionally, dragons--in the pages of a book.

Tough-talking former foster kid Alix Watson is an expert at escaping into her favorite stories. But when her life falls apart on a single terrible day, she steps through a door at the Boston Public Library and finds herself in the Astral Library, which

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The Great Escape

by Deborah Marcero

An older sister's attempts to flee her rowdy siblings lead to a grand family outing in The Great Escape, an imaginative, heartwarming picture book by author/illustrator Deborah Marcero (In a Jar).

Evie, a white girl with huge glasses and a wizard's hat, believes "in all things magic." Still, no spell can quell the "wild tornado" of her intrusive younger siblings, Wolfie, Bunnie, and Teddy (all wearing onesies that match their names). When Evie races outside, her siblings follow. She casts spells, then drops

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Some of Us Are Brave

by Saadia Faruqi

Three stranded middle schoolers brave a flooding Houston during Hurricane Harvey in Some of Us Are Brave by Saadia Faruqi (A Place at the Table), a stirring middle-grade portrayal of newfound friendship.

It's August 2017. Twelve-year-old Pakistani American Yasir wants to play soccer professionally so he can pull himself and his mom out of poverty. First step: become captain of his school team. But current captain, 13-year-old white American Cody, won't back down--not based on his "Go back to where you came

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