Moving to a cottage in the countryside unsettles a boy in Maggie O’Farrell’s fantasy story "The Boy Who Lost His Spark". Jem misses the city. He struggles with school: A learning disability is hinted at, and he’s prone to... Read More

In this picture book, the life and work of Pauline Baynes, the iconic illustrator of the worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, receive overdue credit. Though Pauline brought magical worlds to life, her own story was less fantastical... Read More

Sylvian Trudel’s novel "The Harmattan Winds" is an unusual coming-of-age tale imbued with undercurrents of magic, mystery, and tragedy. Hugues is an adopted orphan of unknown ethnic origins who falls under the spell of Hakébé, an... Read More

Alex Green’s fascinating book reconstructs the life and legacy of Walter E. Fernald, a polarizing architect in the US’s treatment of the mentally disabled. A physician from Maine who established and influenced institutions across the... Read More

Eduard Altarriba’s Politics, part of the My World series, introduces general concepts of politics and its component parts without focusing on specific forms of government. Though its discussions are high-level, it gives its audience... Read More

Set in a postapocalyptic world, Ingvild Bjerkeland’s chilling novel "Beasts" is about children who hope to reunite with their father. Thirteen-year-old Abdi is the guardian of his five-year-old sister, Alva, since a beast killed their... Read More

A forensic reconstruction of the life of North Korea’s founding dictator, Kim Il-sung, Fyodor Tertitskiy’s "Accidental Tyrant" covers the regime that has dominated North Korea for seventy-nine years. A man of many names, the... Read More

A girl learns about setting boundaries with a close imaginary friend in this ethereal picture book. Mrs. Nobody always has the best ideas, from haphazard haircuts to drawing on walls. When Alice disagrees with what they should do next,... Read More