than the story of a missing girl; it is history recalled as though in a dream, a
book that reckons with death in the
midst of life.
Ghachar Ghochar
Vivek Shanbhag, trans. from the Kannada by
Srinath Perur (Penguin)
Shanbhag’s concise and mesmerizing
novel traces the effect of a sudden financial windfall on a lower-class Bangalore
family. The family members’ fraught
relationships with each other are further
complicated in their new, unexpected
situation. As dark undercurrents come to
the surface, Shanbhag depicts the fallout
of fortune and how it can alter the foundation of family.
Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado (Graywolf)
Queerness permeates Machado’s eerie,
inventive collection, shaping the stories’
women and their problems,
with a recurring focus on the
inherent strangeness of female
bodies. These bodies, and the
women in them, face an epidemic of inexplicable evaporation, linger as distorted
masses after weight-loss surgery, or gain the ability to
hear the thoughts of actors in
porn.
I Am the Brother of XX
Fleur Jaeggy, trans. from the Italian by Gini
Alhadeff (New Directions)
A woman searches for her friend who
has deserted a psychiatric clinic; a younger
brother feels his life is diminished by his
sister’s influence (“While I spoke to her
of solitude she looked at her watch.”).
Jaeggy’s short stories are nonpareils of
fury and restraint. They dig up chilling
yet beguiling reflections on loneliness,
on regret, and sometimes even on love.
Kintu
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Transit)
Makumbi’s sprawling epic follows a
curse on a Ugandan family that begins
in 1750, when Kintu Kidda inadver-
tently causes the death of his son. Two
hundred years later, the members of the
Kintu bloodline must come together if
they are to free themselves from the
curse. A masterpiece of cultural memory,
Makumbi’s novel is elegantly poised at
the crossroads of tradition and
modernity.
The Locals
Jonathan Dee (Random House)
Dee’s sobering novel is bookended by
9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis.
Between, a cascade of hubris and folly
rumbles through a small Massachusetts
town after a billionaire moves there and
takes over, and a local contractor and his
family are alternately lifted and hammered by a historical moment as it turns
on them. There’s no finger-wagging
here, but rather a smart, lucid take on
everything going to hell.
Marlena
Julie Buntin (Holt)
Fifteen-year-old Cat’s
unenthusiastic outlook on her
move to a small town in
northern Michigan changes
when she meets Marlena, an
electric 17-year-old whose
father cooks meth. In this
poignant, unforgettable
debut novel, Buntin displays
a remarkable control of tone
and narrative arc, charting Cat’s charged
relationship with Marlena and a tragedy
that stays with her for the rest of her life.
(Buntin is married to PW deputy reviews
editor Gabe Habash.)
Motherest
Kristen Iskandrian (Twelve)
When college freshman Agnes learns
her mother has left her father, she begins
writing letters to her as a coping mechanism, though she has no idea where her
mother is and cannot mail them. These
letters, which continue after Agnes
becomes pregnant, showcase Agnes’s
sharp and humorous voice, resulting in
a touching, delightful, and satisfying
novel about motherhood.
sleepingbearpress.com
866-918-3956
Fun Fantastic
Picture Books!
When the Wind Blew
978-1-58536-969-0, Hardcover, $16.99
Petra Brown
When a fierce storm blows through the forest,
Big Bear and Little Bear must find a new home.
They soon realize that home is more than a
place: it is wherever your loved ones are.
“VERDICT With its lovely and meaningful
illustrations, this book makes a perfect
lap read to be cherished by caregivers
and their children.”—School Library Journal
Invisible Lizard
978-1-58536-378-0, Hardcover, $16.99
Kurt Cyrus, Andy Atkins
Despite being the spiffiest chameleon in the
jungle, Napoleon has no friends because he is
practically invisible! Napoleon tries his hardest
to get the other jungle animals to see him, but
it’s his final trick that really gets him noticed.
S is for the Stanley Cup
978-1-58536-972-0, Hardcover, $16.99
Mike Ulmer, Chris Lyons
On its 125th anniversary, S is for the Stanley
Cup pays tribute to one of the oldest and
most prestigious awards in professional
sports. Following the alphabet, young
hockey fans will learn about the Stanley
Cup’s history and records, famous team
captains, unique traditions, and more.
