These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang

I picked up the newly published THESE DEADLY PROPHECIES by Andrea Tang because I had not read much young adult fiction lately. This clearly fits the label with several main characters in their teens and plenty of romantic angst as well as rebellion against authority figures. It is an unusual mystery in that the murder victim foretold his own death: Julian Solomon was a skillful and powerful prophetic sorcerer who made his apprentice, Tabatha Zeng, promise to help protect his youngest son, Callum, who attends her high school. Studious Asian girl thrown together with popular white jock try to solve the mystery. They are hampered by the involvement of Callum’s older siblings, Felix and Circe, as well as interference from Julian Solomon’s two wives and also the chief detective of the local occult crimes unit. If readers can deal with the numerous sorcery references, the story moves along fairly well for its intended audience, with Tabatha and Callum having to decide if they trust each other or not. A diverting blend of mystery and magic that seems to fit within the newer "romantasy" genre.

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

MRS. QUINN'S RISE TO FAME by Olivia Ford certainly celebrates food, especially baking, but it also harbors some dark secrets despite its colorful, attractive cover. In this debut novel, Jenny Quinn is seventy-seven (married to Bernard for almost sixty years) when she decides to stealthily apply to Britain Bakes (yes, think The Great British Baking Show) and takes readers through her many bakes and memories, with numerous flashbacks to her childhood and life choices as a young woman. As she reflects, “it's strange, ... how recipes outlive the people that wrote them and yet they almost bring a part of that person back to life, as if a tiny piece of their soul lives in those instructions.” Even as she seems to take him a smidgen for granted, her husband is very supportive and patient, and summarizes the success of their long marriage, saying, “over the years you will both inevitably change but you will always have one thing in common, and that is that you're both only human, so try to be kind.” MRS. QUINN'S RISE TO FAME was one of Washington Post's 10 Noteworthy Books for January and an early draft was long-listed for the Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries Prize.

Readers looking for a “cozy” read with likeable characters, a bit of history, and centered on cooking may also want to explore: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, Love & Saffron, The Kitchen Front, and, of course, Lessons in Chemistry. More of a mystery element behind the scenes of a cooking contest is available in The Golden Spoon.

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Stevenson

EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT by Benjamin Stevenson (Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone) takes place while several writers, including narrator Ernest Cunningham, travel by train (called the Ghan) from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia. With varied expertise and styles (literary, legal, forensic, thriller), they form a panel discussing mystery writing for several devoted fans. It is a luxurious adventure until one of them is killed and the others transform into “wannabe detectives.” The writing is often humorous: “besides, there are too many clues in this chapter to skip over even the seemingly innocuous dialogue.” And Stevenson succeeds in maintaining suspense, once again alerting readers to some mystery writing rules (including a second death) and managing to use the killer’s name, as promised, exactly 106 times. EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT was a LibraryReads Selection in January and received starred reviews from Kirkus (“punctuated by snarky dialogue, murder, and a zillion inventive misdirections”) and Publishers Weekly (“brilliant and creative”). Enjoy this puzzling whodunit; after all, “a book isn’t a book until it’s read.”

Safe by Mark Daley

SAFE by Mark Daley is subtitled “A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family.” I had asked for this preview because I have had students who feel passionately about the foster care system and any related research. It truly is eye-opening to learn more about the traumas involved and to recognize the support that these children (like the students involved with Learning Bridge) need. Mark Daley, the author, is a communications professional with experience in the political sphere and has now turned his attention to activism as a founder of TheFosterParent.com. His book was a bit surprising because it is so personal, very emotional and moving. After four months of marriage, Daley and his husband decided to foster children, with the hopes of eventually adopting. The first few chapters of his book deal with their relationship, marriage, and decision to try fostering. Then, the focus turns to the realities of childcare, especially for infants, and much learning that being a new parent entails. Subsequent sections look at visitation rights, the birth family situation, custody battles, and adoption protocols. In this memoir, Daley employs a conversational tone to share the story that he and Jason experienced, but he also incorporates relevant statistics (e.g., in California about 55 percent of foster children are eventually reunified with their birth parents). Told with emotion and primarily from an adult perspective, SAFE is a heartfelt introduction to the foster care system in California and points to its inadequacies as well as to the importance of a support network for all involved. To the End of June, published roughly a decade ago, is another excellent text on this subject. More recent titles include the coming-of-age memoir Troubled by Rob Henderson and Anne Moody’s analysis which also covers international adoptions titled The Children Money Can Buy. There are also multiple books written for young children to help prompt discussion and hugs. I hope SAFE gets the wide readership it deserves. 

Disillusioned by Benjamin Herold

Described as “a powerful account of the intersection of race, housing, education, and injustice in America,” DISILLUSIONED by Benjamin Herold is the product of four years of thoughtful research and writing. Herold is a prolific journalist with a master’s degree in urban education and he brings that expertise to a study of five families, the suburbs where they live, and their schools. They are geographically and, to some extent, culturally, diverse:  the Becker family from Lucas, Texas, Robinsons from Gwinnett, Georgia, Adesina family from Evanston, Illinois, Smiths from Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, and Hernandez family from Compton, California. However, Herold points to commonalities: the history of “white flight” and “red-lining” discrimination; the dreams and pursuit of a better life; and the more recent reality of high taxes and fragile infrastructures, with a special emphasis on school districts. He skillfully employs personal anecdotes as well as surprising statistics. For example, he notes that for suburbs “white people went from 79% of the population in 1990 to just 55% three decades later.” Those demographic shifts are also outlined in a 2022 report from The Brookings Institution. DISILLUSIONED received a starred review from Kirkus (“ambitious narrative about the simmering inequities in American suburbs”) and this title appeared on The Washington Post’s list of “10 noteworthy books for January.” Herold’s own essay in Kappan Online provides an overview. Interested readers may also wish to turn to Dream Town by Laura Meckler, The Injustice of Place, or even Our Hidden Conversations by Michele Norris.