Mr. Jenkins loves to spend sunny days by his pool, but finds it can get lonely; he invites his neighbor and her pet pig, Percy, over for a swim. The next day, Percy brings his friend Wanda, too. Mr. Jenkins doesn’t mind—until... Read More
This emotional story starts with a loss: Lilah returns home from school and learns that her cat, Olive, has passed away. Her grief is deep. She pushes others away, and she avoids the activities and places that Olive once enlivened. A... Read More
Grief and reckoning take many forms in Paige Clark’s expressive collection "She Is Haunted". Haunting is most often a regret that tethers one to a place or people: that is the concept at the core of this collection. Every character is... Read More
Frederic Tuten dares to question the nature of art and life in the short stories of "The Bar at Twilight", several of which were written to accompany gallery exhibitions. In “Winter, 1965,” an aspiring writer is disappointed to find... Read More
In Emi Watanabe Cohen’s family-oriented fantasy novel The Lost Ryū, a boy, with his miniature dragon, comes to grips with past tragedies and forges ahead with optimism. Ten-year-old Kohei lives in Japan, where most people keep ryū,... Read More
A wronged, bitter young man welcomes his fate in Natalia García Freire’s novel "This World Does Not Belong to Us". Lucas was just a child when his father sold him to another farmer as a laborer. Years later, Lucas returns, full of... Read More
In Li Kotomi’s empathetic novel "Solo Dance", a young woman struggles to find her place in a world that is hostile to her sexual identity. Norie’s early years in Taiwan were difficult. Known then as Yingmei, she felt early on that... Read More
In this vibrant story, a Ukrainian girl resists a national culinary staple. Her family wants her to try just one more spoonful, but she’s definitive about her “No!” The popping, bright illustrations invite attentiveness: there’s... Read More