Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo

ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOW by Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X) is an emotional story about Lil, a high school student, and her friends and family. Everything, including the beautiful, eye-catching cover, combines to produce an extremely high quality, engaging read. In fact, ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOW received at least SIX starred reviews (Booklist, BookPage, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Kirkus (“handles the issues Lil faces with believable sensitivity and insight”), Publishers Weekly (“a striking and nuanced portrait of the realities of juvenile detention and mental illness”), and School Library Journal). Lil (Liliana Teicuh Pantaleon-Ortiz) faces some daunting circumstances, including family economic stresses, a food truck crash and subsequent arraignment, as well as trying to help her older brother through his own mental health crisis. Set in the Washington, DC area, ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOWchronicles Lil’s coming of age as she struggles with her impulsivity, building strength from her family, a love of books shared with a supportive school employee, and a new set of friends. Her mixed heritage and cultural myths are woven throughout, but award-winner Acevedo truly excels by using poetry to express Lil’s thinking:

I Am Not From

people who
can fix clocks.
I wish I could touch the big hand
and turn it back,
loop the yesterdays
to a time when things were simple.
Reset the rotating Earth,
and unwind my biggest mistakes.
They say time heals all wounds. 
I am not from people
who can fix clocks,
make it so there was never a wound
to begin with.

ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOW is a story of resilience which should be in all high school libraries.

Situated by Angela Duckworth

SITUATED by Angela Duckworth is her first full length book since 2016’s Grit and she builds on that bestseller by arguing that “grit is necessary—but not sufficient.” Duckworth, a psychologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, encourages her readers to think about the three box problem: the Situation – Thoughts – Response sequence and how changing the situation (e.g., removing tempting foods or keeping your phone farther away when studying) can result in better thoughts and an easier response (less temptation to actively avoid). In fact, SITUATED is subtitled “Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best.” Duckworth references scientific studies (notes and an index comprise roughly twenty percent of the text), but she is more apt to illustrate a point with a story (e.g., Michael Phelps’ development as a winning swimmer). Relying on others and asking for help are key components of her advice, as shown in the recent New York Times article, “I Study Successful People. They Have One Habit in Common.” Want to learn more about her thinking regarding culture, mentors, teammates? Duckworth will be discussing SITUATED with fellow author Nicholas Epley at a Family Action Network event on Thursday, evening October 22, at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

For those who are interested in her earlier work, here is her TedTalk, which has almost 40 million views:

Meals You Can't Mess Up by Shay Spence

MEALS YOU CAN’T MESS UP by Shay Spence is one of several cookbooks I will be reviewing in the near future. Spence, a food and travel writer, delivers “100+ Actually Easy Recipes for Big Flavor with Little Effort.” A few examples are sweet potato & asparagus fri-tot-a, muffin-tin honey-butter ham and cheese biscuits, and lemon chicken tortellini soup or chicken enchilada tamale pie. Most serve a minimum of four and often six or eight. He divides the cookbook into sections labeled for breakfast, soups and salads, sandwiches, pasta & pizza, chicken dinners and other meats, plus seafood & vegetarian, party snacks, and desserts & cocktails. One aspect that surprised me (in a good way) was that Spence did not hesitate to mention brand names or use already prepared ingredients; this reinforced the idea of being “actually easy” and mirrored the type of recipe that one might receive from a friend. In addition, most recipes in this cookbook can be prepared in one pan; plus, none of them has more than ten ingredients. MEALS YOU CAN’T MESS UP includes colorful photos for practically every recipe and a helpful index, although there is no nutrition information.

The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Wellington Rollins

THE THREE GRACES OF PEARL STREET by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins shares the intergenerational story of three women who carry the same name: Graziella. Graziella Valentini, ninety-six years old, is full of purpose as she directs life in her New York City neighborhood, at the church’s food pantry, and within her family. Her daughter Grace is a psychology professor and struggling with her own identity issues after a failed marriage. Granddaughter Ella is a brilliant scientist who lost her way at MIT and, with few options, returns to stay at her grandmother’s home on Pearl Street. At first, this novel was difficult to read due largely to the sadness, despair, and miscommunication experienced by the characters. But gradually, the three women begin to better understand themselves and each other, as told in chapters which alternate perspective. They strengthen a bond while learning new skills, whether it be cooking or using a computer. THE THREE GRACES OF PEARL STREET is a wonderful debut novel and received starred reviews from Booklist (“this comforting family tale is full of heart and humor”) and Library Journal (“With as many layers as Graziella's lasagna, this is a story that will satisfy readers for a long time.”). Readers intrigued by an Italian heritage may also want to look for Adriana Trigiani’s novels like The View from Lake Como; others seeking an intergenerational tale should look for Catherine Newman’s Sandwich or Randy Ribay’s Everything We Never Had.

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves

THE DYING LIGHT is the latest Detective Matthew Venn novel from prolific author Ann Cleeves (in her fortieth year as a published author). This new mystery follows The Heron’s Cry and The Raging Storm, both of which were also narrated by Jack Holden. Once again, he does a superb job of conveying the emotions and backgrounds of Venn and his team, Sergeant Jen Rafferty and DC Ross May, supplying local accents as needed. In this case, the police are investigating the death of two seventeen-year-old girls, Hannah Armstrong (daughter of a UK politician) and Lottie Cauldwell (who craved attention as her parents are divorced). Cleeves excels at introducing well-rounded characters, including the grieving parents, local business owners, school friends, and Hannah’s boyfriend and his family. It’s a jumble of motives and relationships, laced with resentment and secrets which Cleeves’ many readers will enjoy. I am already looking forward to the next in this series.

The Everywhere Millionaire by Owen Zidar & Eric Zwick

THE EVERYWHERE MILLIONAIRE by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick explores “Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There” in a fascinating way. As one would expect from their credentials -- Zidar is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University and Zwick is the Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business – the authors rely on economic and government data to portray these American millionaires. Building on over a decade of study and research, they explore so many aspects (inheritance vs. self-made; type of industry; impact of the tax code; human capital associated with the owners) that are truly interesting and somewhat surprising. Just one example: "For every member of the Forbes 400, more than four thousand private business owners each have at least $10 million in net worth [together, more than thirteen times the wealth of that list].” Plus, “the average private business owner in the top 1 percent [of income] made 1.5 times as much as the average public company CEO.” These authors also personalize the data by sharing numerous anecdotes and stories of these individuals, particularly small business entrepreneurs who often experienced income mobility and fulfillment of the American Dream. One such example is Dick Portillo who founded the Chicago-based restaurant chain; another is Karen Bentlage who expanded her wealth through tanning salons and personal care. Both of these millionaires “give back” through donations of money and time, but the authors show that many others use their wealth to influence public policy in an ultimately self-serving manner, saying “We sometimes call them the Stealthy Wealthy because they fly under the radar. … We want to make the rich visible and correct misconceptions about who they really are.”

In addition to being reviewed and summarized by NPR’s Planet Money, THE EVERYWHERE MILLIONAIRE appears on the Next Big Idea Club’s must-read book list for September 2026. As Publishers Weekly says, “At turns inspiring and maddening, this is a vivid depiction of America’s millionaire class.” I, too, found this account to be very readable and would definitely recommend.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley

MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL by Lucy Foley (The Guest List and others) features Miss Marple, the famous Agatha Christie character. Miss Marple, her friend, and her friend’s companion are vacationing in a Swiss hotel. Also staying there are an English businessman, his wife, his mistress, and his former comrade in arms. Set in 1950, the story is told by alternating narrators (The Help, The Wife, The Friend, and The Star) and harkens back to events during WWII. Almost cutoff from the world, there is a sense of menace and it’s not long before a dead body appears. Evoking a winter wonderland, Foley supplies plenty of suspects and surprises along with sharing many of Miss Marple’s references to the villagers of St Mary Mead. Chosen as a LibraryReads Hall of Fame title for September 2026, MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL is sure to engage and entertain readers. Booklist, Library Journal (“a modern tribute to Christie's classic Marple novels that is perfect for avid mystery lovers or those new to the genre”), and Publishers Weekly all gave well-deserved starred reviews.