Johnson has created an important work of sports—and American—history. In the 1930s, UCLA added five prominent black athletes to its football team, and they helped to turn the Bruins into a powerhouse. In "The Black Bruins", James W.... Read More

This satisfying crime thriller is elevated by its twisting writing and snappy dialogue. Douglas Light’s fast-paced "Where Night Stops" is a well-executed thriller that combines genre staples with literary style. Orphaned and living in... Read More

Young students compete in a futuristic setting in this story that teaches useful lessons about teamwork, family, and forgiveness. Jackie Yeager’s "Spin the Golden Light Bulb" is a relatable story with valuable lessons for young... Read More

Jerome Cardano may not have specifically discovered quantum theory, but his work on probability and binomials helped make it possible. In The Quantum Astrologer’s Handbook, Michael Brooks explores the Renaissance mathematician’s life... Read More

Richard Robbins’s "Overtaken by the Night" is an extremely detailed account of Vladimir Dzhunkovsky’s life. His story spans not just one, but several of the most tumultuous periods in modern Russian history, and Robbins nicely... Read More

Kinky Friedman is something of a Texas legend. The satirist has, at various times, made his name as a singer-songwriter, a mystery author, an essayist, a columnist, an animal-rescue crusader, and a political candidate. Mary Lou... Read More

One of the seminal events in both Spanish and Muslim history, the 1492 handover of Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella effectively ended seven hundred years of an Islamic kingdom in southern Spain. Less known is the story of the man who... Read More