Mehta (Beyond Chrismukkah), an associate professor of gender studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder, traces in this fascinating account the convergence of contraception and the American religious left. In the 1950s, she writes, Cold War–era family values inspired a coalition of liberal Protestants and Jewish clergy to advocate for contraception, viewing it as a means of shoring up God-honoring marriages in which couples could enjoy sex and parent intentionally. As the diaphragm became a central part of the cultural conversation, some New York City clergy united with doctors to advocate for its availability in city hospitals—a measure that passed, though it was only available to married women. The 1970s saw contraception become aligned with women’s liberation, however, and after the Supreme Court ruled that single women could also be prescribed birth control, the religious left receded from the conversation and the right’s resistance soldified. The author robustly unpacks how the fight for contraception’s availability was often far from a “tale of feminist victory,” while teasing out the complex beliefs and histories motivating elements of the religious left, including those who didn’t support contraception (parts of the Black church, for example, saw it as a possible means of controlling the Black population). It’s an enlightening examination of the tangled intersection of faith, choice, and health in America. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this appealing but underwhelming proposal, geoscientist Hazen (Symphony in C) and astrobiologist Wong present a new law for understanding the universe. While the second law of thermodynamics states that the disorder of a closed system always increases over time, the authors posit that order increases as well. A new law, they contend, should be established to account for how “remarkable states of intricate organization” emerge over time, like how humans have created art and science and birds sing in patterns. They christen their discovery “the law of increasing functional information” and assert that it “describes the generation of order in a world of decay.” Hazen and Wong apply this law to language and music; advances in technology and scientific knowledge; and nonliving systems, including atoms, stars, minerals, and molecules. For example, they note how atoms, the building blocks of matter, emerged in stages after the big bang and how artificial intelligence has evolved to solve crossword puzzles, answer math questions, and hold conversations. According to the authors, their theory could help offer new strategies for tackling “unruly evolving systems” like the climate and cancer cells. Unfortunately, while they assert that any natural law should be able to explain and predict natural phenomena, they struggle to demonstrate this with their own law. It’s a provocative idea, but readers are unlikely to be convinced. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this gut-wrenching work of intergenerational dialogue, Nimura (We Hereby Refuse) braids passages from her late father’s unpublished memoir of growing up in California’s Tule Lake Japanese-American concentration camp during WWII with her own reflections on the text. When Nimura’s father, Taku, was 10 years old and packing for camp in 1942, his family was instructed to burn all of their photos and anything they owned with Japanese writing on it. In his memoir, Taku describes Tule Lake as an unsanitary, demoralizing place whose resourceful residents made crafts and mochi and staged talent shows. His narrative comprises simple, factual descriptions that Nimura notes are short on emotion, in contrast to the expressive man she remembers. Meanwhile, in chapters spanning from 2010 to 2022, Nimura offers her own memories of Taku, who died in 1984 when she was 10; details revisiting his manuscript as an adult; and recounts her pilgrimage from Tacoma, Wash., to Tule Lake. The back-and-forth structure works beautifully, with added poignancy coming from her acknowledgment that “the United States government has begun new waves of mass detention and mass incarceration” under President Donald Trump. It’s a memorable duet. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Stephens’s middling debut and duology launch sets classic urban fantasy tropes against the backdrop of a contemporary New Orleans teeming with the supernatural. Seraphine “Phine” Barreau has spent a decade hiding from the magical world when she wakes to a magical shock signaling that she has been chosen to succeed her mother as the Prime, most powerful of all witchkin. Her inheriting this position breaks the mold, as the role traditionally alternates between the heads of the two witchkin magical Houses. This, combined with Phine’s special ability as a Syphon, one capable of draining people’s essence or stealing their powers, makes many in the magical world mistrustful of her. But with a mysterious magical blight threatening witchkin, Phine must rebuild relationships with New Orleans’s supernatural communities—encompassing shape-shifters, vampires, and Sidhe—while reestablishing a connection with her older sister, Josephine, the family’s golden child. Not much feels fresh, and the narrative struggles to balance personal and world-altering stakes. Stephens sets up some powerful alliances for Phine and lays the groundwork for a climactic confrontation in the second volume, but readers may be left unsure whether the route there will be enough to hold their interest. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

For generations, in the world of this fun if familiar arranged-marriage romantasy from Kova (A Dance with the Fae Prince), one human queen has been chosen from among the young women in the town of Capton and sent to the elven lands to ensure the balance of magic. Luella, Capton’s only trained healer, feels she owes the town everything after the locals came together to send her to school. To pay them back, she’s hard at work trying to find a cure for the withering sickness known as the Weakness that is decimating Capton’s population. When the elf delegation arrives to claim their queen, almost everyone is shocked when they choose Luella and she must return with the elves to their land. There are hints of the Hades and Persephone myth in this setup, which Kova uses to great effect as she dives into Luella’s struggle to balance her newfound role with her deeply held values and lingering desire to do right by her people. Her blossoming relationship with the king, Eldas, is built on mutual discovery and respect as the pair work together to rebalance the worlds despite politics and generational trauma. The plot is fairly predictable, but Kova’s delicious attention to detail and elegant characterization keep the pages turning. The author’s fans will not be disappointed. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this sprawling family saga, historian Brooks (American Exodus) follows the lives of six siblings born to Chinese immigrant parents in Manhattan around the turn of the 20th century. The Moys siblings, Brooks writes, were ardently American, but pervasive anti-Chinese discrimination prompted several of them to move to China in the 1930s in search of greater opportunity—inadvertently landing them in the path of the coming Japanese invasion. The siblings include Kay, who married a wealthy restaurateur and raised a large family in New Jersey, only to lose everything during the Depression; Alice, who went to China with her husband, divorced him and remarried a well-heeled Shanghai businessman, only to lose it all when the Communists seized power in 1949; and, most dramatically, Herbert, a ne’er-do-well who finally found success and fame as an Axis propaganda mouthpiece at a Shanghai radio station, only to die by suicide when Japan lost the war. While the narrative drags in places where the Moys navigate more mundane happenstance, Brooks uses the siblings’ story to deftly explore, in often lively and novelistic prose, much larger themes: the fraught search for belonging in two starkly different cultures, the break with tradition that comes with the forging of modern lives focused on personal autonomy. The result is a rich and resonant exploration of the Chinese diaspora experience. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Pop culture historian Armstrong (Seinfeldia) delivers a heartfelt analysis of the creation and legacy of Parks and Recreation, the mockumentary-style sitcom about local government workers in the fictional town of Pawnee, Ind., that aired on NBC from 2009 to 2015. With its optimism, celebration of friendship, and belief that good people working together can make the world a better place, the show became “a symbol of a better America,” Armstrong argues. Drawing on interviews with the cast, writers, and real-life government officials, she chronicles how the series grew out of Obama-era optimism, with its main character Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, attempting to make residents’ lives better one incremental step at a time. Armstrong highlights endearing on-screen relationships, like the friendship between Leslie and local nurse Ann Perkins and the love story between deadpan Parks Department intern April Ludgate and goofball musician Andy Dwyer, and discusses how the series invented phrases like “Treat yo’ self” and the female friendship–based holiday Galentine’s Day. Though the show struggled with ratings, it later became a streaming hit during the pandemic, offering an idealistic view of politics in a polarizing time, Armstrong explains. Deeply researched and pleasantly nostalgic, this is a treat for fans. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Mount Shasta, Calif., high school senior Izumi Tanaka is a normal 18-year-old American girl: she enjoys baking, watching Real Housewives, and dressing like “Lululemon’s sloppy sister.” But Japanese American Izzy, conceived during a one-night stand in her mother Hanako’s final year at Harvard, has never known the identity of her father. So when she and her best friend find a letter in Hanako’s bedroom, the duo jump at the chance to ferret out Izzy’s dad’s true identity—only to find out he’s the Crown Prince of Japan. Desperate to know her father, Izzy agrees to spend the summer in his home country. But press surveillance, pressure to quickly learn the language and etiquette, and an unexpected romance make her time in Tokyo more fraught than she imagined. Add in a medley of cousins and an upcoming wedding, and Izzy is in for an unforgettable summer. Abrupt switches from Izzy’s perspective to lyrical descriptions of Japan may disrupt readers’ enjoyment, but a snarky voice plus interspersed text conversations and tabloid coverage keep the pages turning in Jean’s (Empress of All Seasons) fun, frothy, and often heartfelt duology starter. Ages 12–up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary Management. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Kelkar’s (Bindu’s Bindis) novel features Oceanview Academy middle schooler Sonali, whose stoicism contrasts with her love of Bollywood movies’ melodrama. Stuck in a Los Angeles home with constantly arguing parents and her sensitive nine-year-old brother Ronak, Gujarati American Sonali, 11, tries to make sense of her world through the Hindi movies she’s seen all her life. Ever since an earnest public attempt five years ago to stop her parents’ fighting led to widespread embarrassment in front of family, Sonali has resolved to hide her emotions and do her best to ignore her parents’ arguments. But her efforts prove futile when her parents decide to try the “nesting” method of separation, where they take turns living in the house with Sonali and Ronak. The contemporary narrative takes an entertaining fabulist turn as Sonali’s life begins to transform into a Bollywood movie, with everything she feels and thinks made apparent through her “Bollywooditis.” Sonali’s first-person perspective is sympathetic as she navigates friendship and family drama, and Kelkar successfully infuses a resonant narrative with “filmi magic,” offering a tale with universal appeal through an engaging cultural lens. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

When she was six, Justice Kasric watched her blue-eyed merchant father play chess with the Faerie King. Now 15, Justice believes the event was merely a dream. She spends her days yearning for adventure, watching from the sidelines while her 16-year-old sister Faith, as slender and golden-haired as Justice but not as curious, becomes the toast of Victorian London society. One night, however, their father shatters their comfortable lifestyles when he forces the family—Justice, Faith, their younger brother Henry, and their constantly medicated, distant mother—into a locked carriage that takes them to a shadowy mansion. Justice’s discovery that the Faerie have invaded the human world and are targeting her family gains further urgency when she learns that her parents are on opposite sides of the conflict. Together, the Kasric siblings—including older brothers Benedict and Joshua—must find a way to save their family. While characters lack depth at times, and insufficient historical details don’t fully evoke the Victorian setting, Klaver’s (the Supernatural Case Files of Sherlock Holmes series) rich, lyrical descriptions augment the fantastical source material in this engaging series starter. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lucienne Diver, the Knight Agency. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink