Author:  Nicola Yoon
Young Adult; cultural difference, emotions, romance

Natasha and her family are being deported to Jamaica in 12 hours.  Daniel, the "good son" of Korean immigrants, is going to his Yale interview with the expectation of becoming a doctor.  Daniel and Natasha's lives collide-- literally-- and we follow them through just one day.  A lot happens in this day! More than is probably possible, but it is fiction. 

Read this one to reconnect with the teen mindset, to understand how cultural expectations and circumstances affect young adults, and for the fun of reading a story that is engaging and moves quickly.  

Author: Olivia Hawker
WWII, German family in small community, based on real people and events

1942 Germany, a widow places an ad in the paper for a husband, she's having difficulty raising three children alone. A friar, no longer able to continue that work in Nazi Germany, answers the ad. The plot follows their struggles to become a family and the real and psychological struggles to maintain dignity and faith in a country ruled by hatred. 

Hawker's writing is described as "beautiful prose," and her writing is excellent.  Her characters are thoughtful and conflicted people, and narrative takes you into their mind as they live with guilt and fear. If you read for action, you might want her to get to the point. But if you enjoy the use of words to set you in time and place, you'll appreciate her work. 

As a bonus, we learn the entire books is based on real people and actual events. It reminds us of people's resilience and power during during horrendous times... and that is a great reason to read this book.   

Author: Amy Harmon
Historical fiction/romance- 1853, a 20 year old widow on the Oregon Trail

Most novels are about struggles-- with nature, people, self. The characters in Where the Lost Wander experience all of these as they cross through the harsh conditions of the Oregon Trail.  

Naomi, a young widow, and John, half-Pawnee, are drawn to each other through their strength, circumstance, and need to belong. And yes there's a little romance. But the dominant theme is resilience-- the fight with nature that is both giving and deadly, the conflicts with culture and families, and the struggles with self to accept and move forward. 

The author takes you through their struggles with a tight plot that keeps you reading well past when you should put the book to sleep, eat, or work.  But it will be worth you "sacrifice." 

Author: Christina Baker Kline
Historical fiction; England, Australia, women's struggles

Christina Baker Kline, also author of Orphan Train, writes compelling stories that are sometimes difficult to read. In this novel we are taken to 1840's prisons in England that retain women for minor offenses. Ships of lascivious men take these same women to Australia.  And Australia where they spend years imprisoned when the real crime is being poor and female. 

As in Orphan Train, Kline creates emotion and understanding through the characters and the narrative. I knew Australia was colonized with exiles from England, I hadn't thought what that experience would be for the women or the Aboriginal people involved. Good historical fiction takes you there and creates an understanding, and  that's what this novel does. 

Author: John Larison
Western fiction, female heroine

It's 1885, the American west, orphaned and abandoned, 17 year old Jessilyn remakes herself into Jess.  Her chances of making it as a female would have been slim but as a guy who is skilled with a gun, she is determined to find only kin--her outlaw brother. That's how it starts, the adventure continues from there.

The plot is definitely interesting. The written language of the novel needs acquired appreciation as it is spoken in Jess's authentic voice-- verb tense and all other grammar rules are set aside. But it is the language, her phrasing and comparisons, that will draw you in and put you into the story. 

I appreciated this book for the author's imagination, the unique language, and the grit and determination of the characters-- a reminder of who made our history.

    

Author:  Minka Kent
Psychological suspense.

Stolen identity, stolen life, stolen assets... it could all happen if you were convinced you were crazy.  There are a few things to recommend this book. The plot doesn't lag, there are twists every few chapters. You know the characters, you get into their heads through their internal dialogue. And for most, you'll say it has a satisfying ending.  Could it really happen? I hope not! And probably not, but it is entertaining, keeps your interest, and is wrapped up in 280 pages.  

​Read this one for a little escape.
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Author: Francisco Cantu
Nonfiction; immigration and the US Southern Border

Francisco Cantu grew up in the Southwest, his mother the daughter of Mexican immigrants. After graduating from college with a degree in political science he joins the border patrol. They track humans in blistering sun and frigid nights, finding the dead or barely living. This is the personal story of agents and their experience, and of those trying to cross and their plight.

Cantu's description of this dehumanizing operation takes you into the world of the southern border like no news outlet, journalist, or politician can.  His writing is deep, almost lyrical, and often emotional. Read this one because you should.

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Author:  Ben Sass
Nonfiction. "Why we hate each other and how to heal." Conservative perspective on what our nation needs.

Ben Sass, currently US Senator for Nebraska, is also an academic-- government degree from Harvard, a year at Oxford, and US History and philosophy PhD from Yale, college president, author. His writing tracks as that of a college professor-- laying out historical data, perspectives, explaining how different segments of society evolved in their thinking. 

Conservatives will read this book and say "yes, you get me!"  Progressives will have a better understanding how and why people think differently from them.  Very readable and worth your time, even if if doesn't change any beliefs.  

To have a full picture of how this cultural divide happened, read Them with Why We're Polarized, by Ezra Klien, journalist. political analyst, co-founder of Vox.

Author:  Alex Michaelides
Bestseller; psychological thriller, Cambridge England

Current day Cambridge: female students are being murdered in an almost cult-like setting. Clues? Few. Suspects? High on the list, a charismatic professor with a rock star following. The characters are multilayered, the plot has unexpected turns, and the writing has the feel of being in a collegiate setting. 

This isn't an edge of your seat page turner.  It is a slow burn that draws in the reader compelling you to read on.  And the reward is there-- a plot well developed and an ending that will have most readers saying, "I didn't see that one coming."