"Baltimore Lives" collects 101 black-and-white portraits of residents of the city’s neglected neighborhoods by John Clark Mayden. As noted in the eloquent foreword, they show “the everyday beauty and pain of Black life in... Read More

In Noah Milligan’s startling novel "Into Captivity They Will Go", Caleb, a teenage boy of perceived miraculous birth, is raised by an evangelical, end-times-obsessed mother who’s convinced that he is the second coming of Christ.... Read More

Nancy Au’s exquisite short story collection "Spider Love Song and Other Stories" focuses on survivors—refugees, orphans, widows, single mothers, and village elders—who are caught between old world Chinese values and heritages and... Read More

Emily Arnason Casey’s expansive and elegiac essay collection "Made Holy" is full of unsparing personal revelations and fierce, unflinching insights. The opening essay, “The Cabin,” establishes the collection’s tone. Ruminating on... Read More

When hundreds of hamsters go missing, only a penguin, a ninja spider, a pigeon, two kids, and an elderly woman can interpret the clues left behind in a sleepy mountain town and crack the case. Alex T. Smith’s "Mr. Penguin and the... Read More

Humorous and uplifting, Some Places More Than Others stresses the importance of family, history, and acceptance. Amara Baker, a preteen with good friends and an affinity for Nike sneakers, knows exactly what she wants for her twelfth... Read More

Unable to fly south for the winter, a lone redbird seeks shelter in the surrounding woods, but not every tree is a gracious host. In this folk tale, fairy tale, and just-so story all in one, deep pine greens, bright red feathers, and a... Read More

Maria Tumarkin’s "Axiomatic" focuses on events and people in Australia, and through that lens illuminates a wide spectrum of humanity. Though categorized as a book of essays, “essay” doesn’t do justice to Tumarkin’s lengthy,... Read More