Evan Weaver an English teenager from Elmwood Vale keeps his warlock identity secret. Although magic is legal in witches’ and warlocks’ homes—as long as it doesn’t affect the mundane—only Gran a witch herself knew the truth about Evan and she warned him that “People fear what they don’t understand and fear makes them do terrible things.” Evan’s own father is a witchfinder someone who hunts down witches and warlocks and strips away their magic. Orpheus whose late father was human has an angel mother who escorts the dead to the afterlife but her keys have been stolen. Without them the doors between the mortal and spirit realms can’t be properly locked and no one can die. Orpheus’ mother like the witchfinders is quick to blame witches for the theft. While she must remain in the Hall of Styx she sends Orpheus to the human world—in the form of a teenage human boy—to retrieve the keys. After they meet and he detects Evan’s warlock identity Orpheus asks him for help with his mission. The novel would have benefited from further exploration and development of the story’s Greek mythology elements but the white-presenting boys’ naturally progressing relationship is just as lovely as Orpheus’ declaration that “Whether it’s romantic or platonic love persists beyond life.”

Suitcase and surfboard in tow Fox sets out on foot to catch a wave. En route to the beach he passes a bus a train and a plane (“catching” none of them) though Tabor’s images of these modes of transportation invite readers to catch fun details such as a pigeon riding the bus a bat hanging upside down on the train and a turtle waving from the cockpit of a vintage biplane. Then Fox catches a wave on his surfboard still toting his suitcase and rides it to shore. From here Tabor provides a gently slapstick series of events—involving a tumble down a waterfall and a splash in a chilly pool of water—culminating in Fox catching a cold. A final wordless image offers a laugh-out-loud punchline to the story with Fox dreaming of catching a bus in a most unusual way. In this latest clever offering in his winning series Tabor writes in short sentences with controlled vocabulary to make text accessible for the newest of readers while illustrations rendered in pencil and watercolor add visual interest and humor.

Every Western historian knows the name of Frederick Jackson Turner who in 1893 declared that the American frontier was closed. (It was just a year after Wounded Knee after all pretty well the closing shots of the American Indian Wars.) No one remembers Turner’s wife Mae. Granted that she figures only slightly in Nelson’s narrative Mae Turner is emblematic of the fact that women are often airbrushed out of Western history apart from inevitable characters like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane. Nelson restores women to history most vividly in her account of the Sonoran entrepreneur María Gertrudis Barceló who settled in Santa Fe at the upper reaches of New Spain in 1815 and made a fortune as a saloon keeper gambler and businesswoman. Another of the seven chief players in Nelson’s account is the “Black Indian” Jim Beckwourth a reliable go-between among white settlers and Indians along the Front Range of the Rockies until he made the unforgivable error of guiding a murderous militia to the site of a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment that would give its name to the Sand Creek Massacre. Had he not Beckwourth later told a group of Cheyenne leaders “the white chief would have hung me.” The Cheyenne were unconvinced. Still another player in Nelson’s account was Polly Bemis a Chinese immigrant who “embodied the characteristics of the white pioneer.” All were significant in their time and all are largely forgotten today and for various reasons chief among them by Nelson’s account the flourishing of the myth of the frontier in Turner’s time and ever after one that “whitened the West and this transformation resulted in the oppression of Indigenous peoples women of all races and ethnicities and migrant communities.” While Nelson’s narrative sometimes plods it makes a valuable corrective.

For the past two years Driver X has been the getaway driver for the Tiger Syndicate. When he was younger all he could think about was being a racer and winning glory but chasing his dreams and going against his father’s wishes led to X getting into a major accident. Now his family thinks he’s dead and it’s safer for them if they continue to believe that. But when X’s younger brother Speed Racer shows up on the racing circuit X knows he can’t stay off the track any longer; someone needs to be there to watch his brother’s back. Using the skills his father forced him to master as a teen X designs the “Shooting Star” which is more than just a race car—it comes with everything X will need to knock other drivers out of the race and ensure Speed Racer’s win. Just one other minor hiccup: When X left the Tiger Syndicate he took the money from their latest bank robbery and left them high and dry and now they’re gunning for him. (“Formula X has the highest mortality rate of any sport” and it’s even worse when the head of a gang puts a hit out on you.) In this action-packed graphic novel Russell and artist Nuno Plati deliver an exciting tale that takes place in the world of the famous Speed Racer featuring Speed’s mysterious sibling the track phantom formerly known as Rex Racer. The kinetic artwork depicting chaotic racing scenes and flashy cars is sure to delight any longtime fans of the series (and attract new ones). The narrative blends a redemption story a battle between good and evil and a good old-fashioned racing drama; there’s something here for everyone (even a little romance when X and the mischievous racer Hellkitten share a kiss). Fast fun and feisty this adventure is sure to please. The volume includes a short story “Episode 0” at the end of the book.

A violent entity attempts to kill her by possessing anyone Egyptian American Mina is alone with. To protect her friends and family Mina cuts them off without explanation retreating as she searches for a solution. The only person who seems to understand what she’s facing is Jesse Talbot her reclusive classmate and neighbor who presents white. He reveals that he carries a similar burden. As Mina and Jesse investigate they discover that the intergenerational curse Mina is living with is tied to her maternal line. Mina struggles under the weight of fear and feelings of cultural dislocation and as her late mother’s past rises to meet her she must make an impossible choice between two heartbreaking outcomes. In her YA debut Hashem delivers an engaging cohesive genre-blending novel executing the concept of a monster that weaponizes isolation with clarity and mounting suspense and seamlessly incorporating Egyptian Arabic and other culturally rooted details. Mina and Jesse’s developing relationship is grounded in mutual vulnerability bringing a warmth and romantic intimacy that effectively strikes an equilibrium with the horror elements. Mina’s struggle to belong to understand her family’s past and to reconcile the parts of herself shaped by two worlds gives the novel a lingering emotional depth.

Fourteen-year-old Mikayla Grebe is days away from taking the Fulfilled Genetic Potential test and proving she’s worth society’s investment. The fear of losing Elite status and becoming a Defective or an Expendable always looms. She knows that “you can lose everything in a moment”—like her friend Carmen who vanished with her family one day. But shortly before the test Mikayla learns her GRC is lower than she thought sending her on a high-stakes journey accompanied by her friend Garith Marquez out of the Elite zone to see what’s been hidden from her all her life. The more Mikayla learns and the more people she meets the more she questions her society’s priorities and starts to dismantle her own assumptions many instilled in her by her brilliant and ambitious mother. The story’s countdown structure starting six days before the FGP enhances the tension and makes readers aware of the stakes as Mikayla’s test approaches a beloved teacher disappears and steely Dr. Ava who runs the weekly lab assessment targets her. Debut author Monders’ detailed worldbuilding includes just enough hints about the past to create a convincing dystopian world. Mikayla develops a strong moral core and inwardly declares “I can make a difference just by being me.” Dark-haired Mikayla has “medium-light” skin and Garith has light brown skin.

With overtones of both Predator and Lord of the Flies Reintgen’s latest includes a power struggle and multiple secret agendas which come into play after a storm-tossed disaster leads to a rapidly rising body count among the dwindling handful of survivors. The author’s proven flair for concocting unusual sorts and strains of magic is on full display too. The largely white-presenting human cast includes Marken Burke a wizard who’s being transported in chains to be tried for mass murder and Pearl Trask a young pig keeper who proves to be nursing more secrets than just a sideline in trafficking deadly animals. Plus in a terrifying embodiment of William Golding’s imaginary beast there’s a cunning murderous dragoness who escaped during the crash and whose ability to become virtually invisible by adopting anything she touches—from rocks and water to flesh—as a camouflaging “skin” leads to a thrillingly gruesome climactic battle. Whether Marken is a wronged character who’s worthy of sympathy or a conceited and manipulative crumb Pearl at least can see right through him to the good heart beneath. By the open-ended finish the two have found enough common ground for tender budding romance and mutual respect.

Sam is in her early 30s two years out of her English and Comparative Literature Ph.D. program and like many of her cohort barely scraping by as an adjunct. When she lands a spot at Rosedale an elite private college as a last-minute replacement for an older professor her problems seem temporarily solved. Sam is optimistic even if her schedule is grueling and her salary minuscule; even if the classes she’s teaching—The Masculine Voice and The Campus Novel—are barely veiled attacks on the #MeToo movement; even if the person who hires her says “I just need a live body.” Then on her first day Sam runs into another recent hire: Tom Sternberg her grad-school adviser with whom she’d had a complexly intimate relationship. Sam discovers Tom’s long-awaited new novel centers around an older professor “reckoning with his checkered past” as the “feminist movement sweep[ing] the nation” emboldens a bitter former student to publicize their affair. The premise sounds familiar to Sam as does the female antagonist—and she certainly sounds familiar to Sam’s grad-school classmates who close ranks against her. Reeling under Tom’s repurposing of their shared history as a springboard back into relevance and stung by reviews lauding the book as “fiercely honest” Sam begins a downward spiral that gains speed as she nears rock bottom. The harsh realities of Sam’s exploitation by systems that were meant to both educate and employ her are leavened by the character’s wry humor; however the novel suffers at times from a reliance on expository info-dumps to underscore its critique of higher education’s abuses which are more effectively explored in-scene. Regardless this exposé of academia from the perspective of its most vulnerable residents offers a vital message at a time when it’s easy to forget what’s supposed to be at the center of all institutions: people—messy unpredictable and filled with fragile hope.

Tess Hawthorne would rather be home in Norfolk even though she’s seen as the “scandalous spinster of Wiggenstow.” But she’s happy to have found a job so she’s in London helping a rich woman catalog her library until a run-in with a “tall broad-shouldered madman” leads to her losing her position. Back home she’s excited to learn that a rich American has agreed to finance a dig in her town that she’s longed to work on—then discovers that the rogue from the library will be running things on the funder’s behalf. Dominic Prince comes from a family of antiquarians so Tess has to admit he’s ideal to lead the project. They make peace after Dominic apologizes and welcomes her on the dig though she’s dismayed to hear that any discoveries aren’t likely to stay in England. Despite her misgivings they fall into an easy pattern which leads to an undeniable attraction that turns physical quickly. And though their connection only deepens from there things get more complicated when the dig starts turning up unexpected treasures. The second entry in the Princes of London series is a charming low-stakes romance with lots of fun archaeological details based in the actual history of the area (though with a few small tweaks to the timeline). Tess and Dominic have a kind easy chemistry that will please readers looking for a cozy story as their relationship is both spicy and straightforward. Though this is a fairly traditional Victorian romance in many ways the focus on Norfolk over London is compelling and Carlyle’s fans will love the clever heroine who prefers digging for ancient artifacts over digging into society drama.

Legend has it that a doubting Jewish man reviled Jesus on his way to the Crucifixion. Condemned to live forever he walks the earth without a family or home. As Princeton University historian Mintzker writes this is the origin of the “Wandering Jew” a figure reimagined in modern Europe to symbolize the supposed rootlessness of Jewish people. He became a sighting an apparition coalescing fear and angst into a man of rags. He became a literary figure inhabiting the corners of the Yiddish imagination. But he came ultimately to stand as “an allegory of the history of the Jewish people.” He lived a diasporic life exemplifying “Jewish progress…and the future Zionist movement which envisioned a linear path leading Jews out of Europe and into a better future in Palestine.” But for others the Wandering Jew embodied all that was alien about a culture of exclusive faith and practice. German stories proliferated in print and were revived in the 20th century to give weight to antisemitic legislation. This book is rich with scholarly inquiry. But it is also rich with personal reflection. The author’s own life—from a family of immigrants to Palestine to an Israeli youth to an American academic career—takes on new meaning as ghosts of friends and relatives haunt his dreams and the modern state of Israel betrays his hopes. Mintzker writes “The estranged lover leads a life of exile constantly on the lookout for a way back to a lost (real or imaginary) home.” Historical research grants insight into our desires and we make sense out of love and loss by turning to the myths of culture. “Aren’t all our lives bound in intimate bonds of fiction?”

Promising 20-something vampire-romantasy author Ruby Madison has been stuck in a brutal slump ever since her ex-boyfriend stole her book idea and spun it into a bestseller. Her own latest release flopped and she hasn’t sold anything since. Just as she’s starting to feel hopeless an editor at a top publishing house expresses interest in an old baseball romance she’d written years ago. There’s a catch: They want her to rewrite it as a hockey-themed romance and Ruby knows absolutely nothing about the sport. Luckily her agent comes up with a plan: Ruby will travel from Arizona to Moonshot Montana where she’ll spend six weeks interviewing the famous—and ruggedly handsome—hockey player Nick Galaxy while staying in a cabin next to his house. What she doesn’t realize is that 31-year-old Nick’s well-meaning father has orchestrated the entire arrangement to play matchmaker for his son. Nick isn’t thrilled by the surprise houseguest but Ruby’s contagious chaotic enthusiasm eventually breaks through his guarded demeanor. As she embeds herself in his world—getting to know his teammates and his tween son Aidan—she finds that Moonshot is beginning to feel like home. A looming question becomes unavoidable: What happens when she finishes the book and she and Nick are 1000 miles apart? Jenshak tells her tale from Ruby’s and Nick’s alternating first-person perspectives and the characters’ chemistry is palpable. The novel manages to strike a balance between playful banter and emotional depth. Along the way the author handles Nick’s health anxieties and Ruby’s imposter syndrome with care and it’s heartwarming to watch them work through their insecurities as they fall for each other. Ruby’s relationship with Aidan is especially wholesome adding warmth to the narrative without feeling forced. Jenshak’s novel combines the bookish charm of Emily Henry’s work with the sporty-romance appeal of Elle Kennedy’s. Readers will be eager to book a return trip to Moonshot.

In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built or a great big data center or who knows what. If Tommy’s son Eugene can get elected to the local council then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow and the farms will disappear. Eugene who’d been romantically involved with Rachel is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland” and Trey wants to quit school against Cal’s advice. Finally the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”

The Indian government has a family-planning slogan: “Hum do hamare do”—literally “two of us two of ours” or “[Mom + Dad] + [Kid 1 + Kid 2].” So why does 12-year-old Chandni’s household number five with Diya Masi her maternal aunt living under the same roof? Neither Chandni nor her older brother Suraj ever asks; the subject seems to be off-limits. As this novel in verse unfolds the answer to that question confirms the troubling suspicion Chandni has long held—one that soon becomes too heavy to bear. She was an A+ prize-winning student; now her grades slip her focus wavers her health suffers and even her friendship with bestie Ramya becomes strained under the weight of all she’s holding inside. Stirring further emotions is Rohan the boy Chandni longs for; due to cultural expectations and school rules she must keep this secret too. Her inner turmoil threatens the prestigious boarding school opportunity she both craves and fears. Are her family’s bonds strong enough to endure the forces tearing at them? In Patel’s debut Chandni is a resilient and realistic tween character who’s drawn with authenticity—caught between determination and desperation and tormented by what she knows. While the work doesn’t exhibit the most effective use of verse the format still adds moments of heightened tension and drama.

Freed from an abusive marriage by a World War I casualty American Jane Wunderly is eager to savor the sights and sounds of Venice with her second husband British intelligence officer Redvers Dibble. Her plans change when her officious Aunt Millie and her husband Lord Hughes turn up at the couple’s romantic but modest hotel. Determined to liven up the newlyweds’ stay socially connected Millie invites them to a costume party at the palazzo of Clara Ann Morton heiress to an American salt company fortune who greets them clothed in a giant snake and little else. The entertainment includes magicians fortune tellers and soon a murder. The victim is Clara’s ex-husband Italian poet Christopher D’Annuzzio. But instead of suspecting the spouse Ispettore Fizzoli of the Venice police arrests tarot reader Deanna Parks an acquaintance of Jane’s from Egypt. Jane confesses to Redvers that she finds sightseeing slightly boring and she’d much prefer investigating D’Annuzzio’s death. After interviewing a host of colorful characters Clara claims were her or her ex-husband’s former lovers (or both) Jane concludes that “everyone we’ve spoken to is absolutely screwy.” For better or worse that observation applies equally to the detectives. Following the newlyweds as they tool around the canals in a boat they rent from a total stranger break into suspects’ apartments and barge into a police station demanding to interview suspects in custody may delight readers who can suspend a lot of disbelief.

In the village of Marka 13-year-old Rada and her best friends Mika and Sara are leaving school when a group of men abduct them. Rada certain her father will rescue her is immediately defiant. The men take the girls to a remote compound run by Shaban a radical cult leader who perverts the teachings of Islam to justify his kidnapping girls and bombing villages. At the compound Shaban terrorizes the girls kills the men who kidnapped them and shows them propaganda of villages decimated by those he calls the “enemies of Allah.” Shaban marries the girls off choosing Rada for himself. Though even Rada recognizes Shaban’s power (“Knowledge of things beyond my understanding seemed to seep out of him”) she loathes him and she and Mika continue to resist him as much as possible. Sara however the most docile of the group quickly succumbs to Shaban’s brainwashing. Wanting to fight alongside Shaban Sara—only 12 years old—enlists in a violent mission that has devastating consequences. Later though physical escape seems possible the girls must face the reality that within their culture they’re seen as tainted and left with few if any options to lead independent lives. As Nora one of Shaban’s wives tells them early on in their abduction “Once you come here no one wants you…once you’re taken you belong only to Shaban.” Kusow a Somali-born author and teacher authentically portrays a real-world issue in this powerful novel. The prose however could use more polish (“A thought occurred to me at that very second”). Still Kusow is a born storyteller who movingly conveys the danger and hopelessness of the girls’ situation.

Though he’s just 13 Radley Shaw is a seasoned and occasionally cynical content creator with an outdoors-themed YouTube channel “Rad Wilderness.” He has the right influencer look practiced patter and enough success to have his own manager (Marcos) and tutor (Juliana) a Portuguese-speaking father-and-daughter team. Sadie Hahn 12 learned serious outdoor skills from her late father and even though the show is too commercial and inauthentic for her tastes she tolerates “Rad Wilderness” because her autistic 9-year-old brother Silas idolizes Rad. Silas insists that Sadie enter Rad’s contest—he’s seeking someone between ages 12 to 16 to be his tour guide in the Colorado Rockies. Her win allows Silas to meet Rad at a trailhead for staged photo ops which try Sadie’s patience. Rad and Sadie who present white join river guide Chuck for a short rafting excursion but a natural disaster followed by a terrible accident leaves the young people stranded alone with just their wits and a few supplies. The dual narration helps readers empathize with both leads and ramps up the tension during three days of life-or-death wilderness survival. Debut author Brorsen tempers the adrenaline rush with sensitive explorations of Rad’s ADHD food anxiety and influencer pressures and Sadie’s genetic predisposition to celiac disease panic attacks and guilt over her father’s death.

Charity fundraiser Freya Adams and her husband Charlie an up-and-coming chef love each other madly. A year and a half after their whirlwind courtship and wedding they still feel blissfully “stuck in a constant honeymoon state.” But everything changes one evening at a dinner party where Charlie accepts an offer from his boss to become a business partner. Blinded by jealousy when she overhears him talking intimately to his boss’s wife she returns home and awakens the next morning to police at her door with news that Charlie’s car has been involved in a hit-and-run accident. Moving between Freya and Charlie’s first- and third-person perspectives Jones spins a darkly compelling story of love betrayal murder and marital collapse all while offering at times disturbing insight into the nature and motivations of each of the main characters. While Freya hides the shame of alcoholism personal volatility and an unresolved preoccupation with her Australian ex-husband Charlie hides a wandering eye and the stress of a faltering business for which he’d make any sacrifice. When the man struck by Charlie’s car finally dies in the hospital under mysterious circumstances masks begin to fall. Tensions and emotional toxicity levels rise as Freya and Charlie a couple once committed to protecting each other reveal just how far each will go to protect the secrets they have been keeping from each other. Sinister and propulsive this romantic thriller leads readers through mazes of intrigue that reveal the author’s keen eye for character psychology and masterful control of pacing and plot.

The title of Brandy’s memoir is taken from a North African folktale about a girl who is taught by the moon how to come to terms with her own sadness. One can see why the story appeals to Brandy; the actor and R&B singer’s own life and career have been marked by distinct phases and moments of intense sorrow. A native of Mississippi Brandy and her family moved to a Los Angeles suburb when she was 4 and her early experiences in school there were rough: “It seemed like every kid in Carson hated Brandy Rayana Norwood” she writes recalling a string of bullies who made her life hell. At 10 she was determined to get a record deal like her idol and later friend Whitney Houston and her dreams came true four years later. Brandy balanced recording her self-titled debut album—which would spawn the hit singles “I Wanna Be Down” and “Brokenhearted”—at the same time she was starring in Moesha the UPN sitcom that lasted six seasons; the stress led to an eating disorder and a nervous breakdown. Brandy writes about all of this with grace and her anger is palpable when she tells of the relationship she had with Boyz II Men singer Wanya Morris when she was 16 and he was 21: “I was a child. And he was an adult. And it’s time the world understood the difference.” Brandy concentrates more on her lows than her many considerable triumphs which suggests that she wrote the book for girls and women who like her have had to deal with people who have sought to dim her light. Her candor and conversational prose will appeal to many.

Adkins currently the president of the 3RAM Group presents a memoir and leadership manual that tracks a familiar earnest arc: a gifted kid from an under-resourced neighborhood later becomes a senior executive and an influential board member by asking better questions than everyone else. This book is organized chronologically with chapters tracing the author’s life and career—“The Kid” “The Student” and “The Professional”—before shifting into more prescriptive territory in “The Recipe” “The Steps” and “The Exit.” Adkins frames his life as both a case study and a blueprint. His curiosity manifested early on—he enjoyed dismantling and reassembling appliances—and he credits teachers parents and various community figures with channeling his intellect toward engineering. Georgia Tech sharpened his focus he says and fraternity life reinforced loyalties and networks. His years at IBM form the book’s backbone; Adkins recounts his rise through technical and managerial ranks. He also emphasizes moments in which asking “Why?” “How?” or “What if?” led to turnarounds. In the second half the book moves from ambition to stewardship; board service mentoring and philanthropy dominate these chapters culminating in a meditation on legacy. Adkins stresses that success should “be shared because it came from the benefit of acquired knowledge help and support you received from others along the way.” Curiosity is less a tactical tool than a moral posture as he frames it. As a guide to succeeding in business the book is steady if familiar. Its advice to stay curious work hard be prepared build relationships take the high road and invest in other people is sound and clearly earned. Other aspects of business however such as digital disruption platform economics and the precarity of modern careers receive little sustained attention. For readers seeking reassurance a framework for professional ethics and a story of honorable success it delivers. For those looking for a playbook for the future it reads more like a valedictory address than a field manual.

Bydlowska became a self-proclaimed “mid-list author” with her book Drunk Mom (2013) which chronicled her journey to sobriety as a young mother. Her latest memoir opens with a vivid description of a biking accident that occurred while she was secretly drunk. The accident was a result of a relapse during the Covid-19 pandemic one of at least 20 relapses she’s had throughout her life. To help pay for the dental surgery she needed after crashing into a wall she started a GoFundMe campaign for which she lied and claimed that her injuries were the results of a series of bad decisions rather than an end to her sobriety. As the author of a memoir about sobriety she felt deep shame about the “optics” of relapsing. “Most addicts unlike me haven’t told the entire world of their sobriety and then published a book about it” she writes. Recounting the GoFundMe campaign led her to examine the many other sources of shame that continued to affect her including her feelings about dating a man who cheated on her and her shame about failing her son. These feelings she says were the root cause of her frequent relapses. Eventually it was her ability to confess her shame in an online Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that put her back on the path to sobriety. Bydlowska’s confessional tone and trenchant self-reflection make the memoir an excellent read. The author’s use of footnotes and meandering style can sometimes make the plot difficult to follow but overall this is a page-turner that’s full of vulnerability and heart.