Each month, the students in Miss Brady’s class vote for a new class president. Upon winning, Cooper immediately makes some changes, handing out extra snacks…but only to those who voted for him. Cooper shirks his presidential responsibilities and favors some students over others. Soon, he is making rules for the whole school: Students must wear…
President James Frederick Herdener is a swaggering, self-aggrandizing populist whose constant self-comparisons to past presidents may remind readers of certain current political figures (Herdener on George Washington: “Washington, he was a schmuck. Not that good a general”). Evil, scheming billionaire Rudolph Conover sees Herdener less as a leader than as an opportunity. A reclusive oligarch…
Leda Balni celebrates her 15th birthday with the charismatic but thuggish Nico Salisi; now dating, they’ve come a long way since their combative relationship as children, but they’re still not quite synced. Nico, unlike Leda, has zero interest in books, philosophy, or emotional conversations. Instead, he’s consumed by lust, while Leda is sexually curious but…
At 42, New Hampshire ski salesman Frank Cadwallader has settled into an increasingly lifeless marriage. A lifelong Quaker, he joins a peace mission to the Soviet Union, but the first cracks in his familiar world appear before he leaves—Russian lessons lead to an obsession with his alluring teacher, Olga, whose own titillating secrets prove nearly…
It’s 1926, and China is in a precarious state, with Chiang Kai-shek fighting various warlords for the future of the country. The setting, Hankow, sits at the junction of the Yangtze and Han Rivers: It’s a vibrant mix of American, British, Japanese, and of course Chinese people. Young Marine 2nd Lt. Jack Gaines is part…
A narrating chameleon who has quite a high opinion of himself doesn’t appreciate his camouflage capability: “I am a KING! But how can I command a king’s respect…when color-changing skin makes me so tricky to detect?!” The chameleon proceeds to regale readers with a series of springy rhymes that offer hints about his location in…
A black-haired, peach-skinned girl visits her Grampa on the reserve. They plan to collect cedar branches to bring as an offering for drummers performing at their community feast. The young girl shares her concern that taking the branches might hurt the tree. Grandpa assures her they will snip branches sparingly and bring an offering of…
Sparky’s no mutt; as his young owner tells us, he’s the “perfect mix of French bulldog, German poodle, and Andalusian rat terrier.” “His style and elegance, without a doubt, come from his French side.” (The accompanying illustrations show a chuckle-worthy parade of extravagantly modish canines.) His “loud bark” and “curly fur” are from his poodle…
Ten-year-old Kabir doesn’t fit the boxes everyone else does; he draws crayon monsters in his science textbook and keeps a list of things he’s not allowed to make up that includes imaginary friends, voices of aliens who live on the roof, and shadows. After a fight and a public rebuff from a popular older boy,…
In a village by a river, several round, anthropomorphic blobs called blue fuzzies live in little round huts. One day, a storm damages their homes, and as the blue fuzzies try to rebuild, a stranger—an orange fuzzy—arrives to live with them. The blue villagers shun the newcomer until one of them realizes that “sometimes, the…