To My Daughter, Book Oneby Shaina Richmond

In her final month of pregnancy, Susie uses her time on bed rest to relay tales of her life to her soon-to-be-born daughter, Britta.

Susie was fifteen years old when her mother passed away. Five years later, she learned that her paternity was a lie.

Motivated by the recent loss of a friend, Susie starts a journal with the hope that, in the unfortunate case of her own untimely passing, her precious daughter will not be forced to draw her own conclusions about her mother’s life.

Susie’s thoughts turn to the summer of 1999, when she was a fourteen-year-old outcast. As punishment, her father sends her to church camp where she encounters the boy who ruined her reputation with lies the previous summer. When he goes too far to get her attention, a twenty-three-year-old hero named Jerry Lyons steps in, sweeping Susie off her feet in the process.

After a few private talks in his cabin, Susie leaves camp desperately in love with Jerry, and hopeful that he will overlook her age and give her a chance to be more than his secret friend, but he soon breaks her heart.

Susie is distracted from her pain when she lands her first job, working alongside her mother, Priscilla. With her domineering father out of town, Susie gets closer to Priscilla and learns surprising new information about her.

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things: A Novelby Jon McGregor

In this Booker Prize–nominated “dream of a novel,” ordinary middle-class lives converge and collide one summer day in England (The Times).

In delicate, intricately observed close-up, this novel makes us privy to the private lives of residents of a quiet street over the course of a single day, to the hopes, fears, and unspoken despairs of a diverse community: a single father with painfully scarred hands; a group of young club-goers just home from an all-night rave, sweetly high and mulling over vague dreams; and the nervous young man at number 18 who collects weird urban junk and is haunted by the specter of unrequited love. What eventually unites them is an utterly surprising and terrible twist of fate that shatters their everyday, ordinary tranquility, and all that they take for granted.

A prose poem of a novel with a mystery at its center that “recalls To The Lighthouse or Mrs. Dalloway” (The Times), If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things was the recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award and the Betty Trask Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times. It is, in the words of Ali Smith, “a tremendous read.”

“A wonderful evocation of the beauty and horror of the literally everyday.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Absolutely resplendent . . . does for urban England what John Cheever did for Westchester County.” —Bookpage

The Jennifer Projectby Larry Enright

In 2096, Deever MacClendon creates Jennifer, the first proto-conscious cybernetic processor. It is hyper-intelligent, aware, and evolving. Deever wants to use his creation for the good of all, to help fix a broken world, but knowing what a powerful weapon it could be in the wrong hands, he hides it. When his secret is uncovered, he is forced to plunge into a high-tech morass of deception and treachery to avoid catastrophe and save a world where humans are no longer the most intelligent species.

Children of the Knightby Michael J. Bowler

An orphan boy. A mysterious stranger. A city in crisis.

When 14-year-old Lance is saved from death, his life is forever changed. For starters, his savior claims to be King Arthur, the once and future ruler of ancient Britain. Lance has met lots of weirdos on the streets of L.A., and they claim to be many things. But this “king” not only reeks of sincerity, he wears armor, rides a gorgeous white horse, and lives in the storm drains underneath the city! Arthur has a throne, old-school clothes, and weapons up the wazoo. Swords, daggers, bows and arrows–the kind Lance has only seen in movies.

Turns out this Arthur guy wants to start some kind of revolution. He plans to collect other cast-off kids like Lance–even teen gang members–and create a New Camelot of Knights to gain more rights for youth and shake up the out-of-touch politicians who run Los Angeles.

Lance is all for helping kids like him. He’s spent his entire life in and out of the system, and it sucks. And he wants to believe in Arthur, but doubts even a king can accomplish such lofty goals. Despite these uncertainties, Lance readily accepts the position of First Knight–youth leader of Arthur’s new army–thereby setting in motion a crusade of tsunami proportions. When the children rise, will the city fall?

The Lance Chronicles begin…

Children of the Knight is for readers who love urban fantasy mixed with action-adventure and populated by unforgettable characters. It’s the first in a complete five-book series intended for high school age youth and adults who love rousing coming-of-age stories that showcase strong adult characters in addition to the teenage protagonists.

There are instances of PG-13 language, drug addiction, and teen characters who suffer the aftereffects of abuse, but there are no graphic descriptions.

The Lance Chronicles opens up a world of possibilities for how we can better ourselves as a society. It’s an anti-dystopia series for those who prefer hope over pessimism.

Winner of the 2013 Gold Medal from The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Winner of the 2020 Gold Medal from the NYC Big Book Awards

Surreal Absurdityby Jim Lively

What is it about Charles Pierce that makes people want to kill him?

He’s retired from his law practice, does pro bono work for non-profits, and has turned all his attention to focus on his art. He even rented a studio, as part of a gallery where exhibitions are well attended and the wine flows freely.

So why does a mysterious and hostile young man threaten him, while the woman who tried to poison him last year shows up at an exhibition to purchase one of his abstract paintings?

Charles can’t seem to avoid associating with criminals. Even Detective Gonzales believes he is somehow involved in a series of local murders because his business cards are found at the scene.

No one, least of all Charles, can explain it, but the more he seeks clues and answers, the more he finds the whole situation to be a Surreal Absurdity.