October 15, 2014

It was one year ago that we offered you a list of pretty incredible literary Halloween costume ideas. If we do say so ourselves: “A zombie from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Seth Grahame-Smith --- Classic on classic on classic. Need we say more?” or “Patrick Bateman from AMERICAN PSYCHO by Bret Easton Ellis --- You still have two weeks to whip that body into shape. Don’t forget your bone-colored business cards!” We even warned you that “these costumes are not for the weak of heart or weak of mind.” How nice of us!

We were younger then. We were not yet hyperaware that our late 20s were creeping up on us (read: #pushing30) or that eventually it might not be so easy to pull off wearing whatever Halloween costume our adolescent, carefree hearts desired (read: our metabolisms are slowing down). Our suggestions from one year ago were on-point, downright good, and we’re finding them tough to top this year, in our old age. Maybe it’s because we don’t know what we want to be yet...and this time last year, we had already rush-ordered all the pieces of our elaborate costumes, with a variety of in-case-of-emergency back-ups on hand.

To be honest, it feels like we’ve run the gamut on drumming up ideas. Brainstorming? More like braindrizzling. We’ve scoured Twitter logs (#trending), doggedly revisited pop culture events of the past year, leafed through expired Buzzfeed articles and even went to the local Halloween pop-up shop to jumpstart our brittled minds. It was there that we almost succumbed to (settled for?) mass-produced ensembles for the hefty price of $39.99. (Where have all the DIY cowboy costumes gone?)

Don’t get us wrong. We LUVVV All Hallows’ Eve. We have since birth, or at least since we were old enough to realize that Halloween = free candy. The spirit of Halloween still lives within us; the power of October compels us. Just last week, while frequenting our local Halloween pop-up shop (which was terrifying --- Nikki’s screams are still ringing in Emily’s ears), we held out for homemade costumes, but couldn’t resist investing in some pranks for the office. Let’s just say Editorial Director Tom Donadio is still finding fake mice in and around his desk and shoes. And Carol pronounced the plastic gray mouse on top of cheese in the fridge to be "clever."

So what gives? We’re supposed to be wiser with age, and if wisdom doesn’t equal infinite costume ideas, then we don’t want any part of it. It’s certainly not because we’ve matured out of our interest in spooky fun (Tom can attest to that). We like to think that maybe we’re costume-blocked because we’re getting more comfortable with ourselves in our real lives, and we’re a little less eager to pretend to be something we’re not (#deep). Maybe we’ve settled into ourselves, and we don’t need to constantly test drive different identities. Or maybe we’re just reading too much GONE GIRL.

Anyway, we’re still looking forward to a scary good Halloween. Perfect costumes or not, we’re going to make sure this year is one to remember (or forget?). May we rejoice that it falls on a Friday this year? As Edgar Allan Poe always used to say: (quoth the raven) YOLO! Get out there and have fun! And if all else fails, just go as Becky. A Taylor Swift joke never hurt anybody.

Speaking of costumes (cough cough, cosplaying), this past weekend was New York Comic Con, hosted at the well-lit and conveniently located Javits Center. Local news reported that attendee numbers surpassed the famous San Diego Comic Con, with 150,000 people (20,000 more than SDCC) making the trek to the west side of Manhattan. George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) and Adam West all congregated in the same place over the weekend --- and NYPD called in extra security to celebrate the 75th birthday of Batman. Coincidentally, the 75th birthday of Marvel was also a celebratory moment, in which the first five minutes of Avengers 2 (word on the comic street is that it looks fantastic!) and Ant-Man (starring Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd, both as Ant-Man) were screened for fans.

As per usual, we have some wonderful things happening on our site that we must draw your attention to. First, we have three reviewed books that you should add to your "To Read" list.

THE ASSASSINATION OF MARGARET THATCHER: Stories by Hilary Mantel is the latest work from the celebrated author of the historical novels WOLF HALL and BRING UP THE BODIES. This collection of 10 stories is Mantel’s first collection since 2003’s LEARNING TO TALK. Many of these contemporary tales play with the conventions of genre; there’s even a vampire tale. But the title story, about an imagined attempt on the former Prime Minister’s life, will, not surprisingly, get the most attention.

THE INNOVATORS: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson is a particularly special book that many of us are holding dear to our hearts. A few of us from The Book Report Network staff were lucky (read: honored) to see Walter Isaacson speak about this book at BEA, back in early June. It's safe for us to say that Isaacson was, by far, the best speaker we've ever heard in BEA history. Sharp-witted and painfully intelligent, Isaacson delivered an hour of insightful delight. In his latest work, Isaacson asks: What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail? He begins with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s, and he explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Doug Engelbart, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Larry Page. A note to all: We will definitely be hoarding our copies and proudly displaying on our bookshelfs upon completion.

DR. MUTTER’S MARVELS: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz chronicles the life of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, a Philadelphia plastic surgeon who revolutionized the face of American surgery and founded a museum of medical oddities. An eccentric innovator, Mütter pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed. DR. MUTTER'S MARVELS offers both a biography of this unconventional doctor and a revealing portrait of 19th-century medicine.

Secondly, we've said it once before, and we'll probably say it again, there's an "everything French" revival among us (okay, we admit it's also perhaps sparked by Nikki's whirlwind long weekend in Paris last month). In celebration of that revival, we have a very special contest hosted on ReadingGroupGuides.com that we think you 20somethings will find interesting. HOW TO BE PARISIAN WHEREVER YOU ARE is written by four stunning and accomplished French women who will make you laugh as you slip into their shoes to become bold and free and tap into your inner cool. Their perspective on French living is a fresh and spirited take on what it really means to be a Parisienne: how they dress, entertain, have fun and attempt to behave themselves. Click here to enter to be one of five lucky winners who will receive a copy of this book, along with a copy of THE SECOND SEX and SUITE FRANÇAISE. The contest ends on Thursday, November 6th at noon ET.

Thirdly, Teenreads.com is showcasing a "Beyond the Grave" bookshelf in honor of the upcoming fall festivities (read: Halloween). To celebrate October 31st, our younger-sister site curated some of our favorite YA books that feature people, creatures or demons from "beyond the grave." Whether they're narrated by a ghost, take place in a cemetery or feature some unexpected person-spirit interactions, these books are sure to prepare you for the eeriest holiday of the year...and maybe leave you scrambling for a nightlight.

Fourthly, like many of our fellow 20Something friends over the past week, we finally saw Gone Girl last Monday --- A WHOLE 3 DAYS after it was released in theaters. The suspense of waiting to see it was nearly as emotionally taxing as the suspense in the book. Nikki wrote a short roundup of the perks (The Characters, The Emotional Suspense, The Set and The Score) of the Hollywood blockbuster that got everyone all hot and bothered. Read more about it in her blog post, How Gone Girl Gave Me Most of What I Wanted.

Lastly, for those interested in graphic novels, be sure to check out GraphicNovelReporter.com's "75 Years of Batman" bookshelf, staff-curated by John Maher, with the help of Matthew Burbridge. We call him the Dark Knight or the Caped Crusader, the World's Greatest Detective or simply the Bat. By any name, Batman has become by far the most popular comics hero in America since his premiere in 1939 in Detective Comics No. 27. Join GraphicNovelReporter.com this October as they celebrate Batman's 75th year haunting the pages of DC Comics with 20 of his most iconic tales. And if Gone Girl taught us anything, it's that Ben Affleck will make a stunning Batman --- and we're not worried that he can't fill out that batsuit. If this is a point of contention for any of our readers, we suggest you bring it up with Amy.

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1) Ben Affleck’s “physique.” Congrats, Jennifer Garner.
2) Winter coats...too soon?
3) “Hack Into Broad City,” a collection of Abbi and Ilana’s webisodes to tide us over until “Broad City” comes back in 2015.
4) #bookselfies
5) The all-female Ghostbusters reboot!

Nicole Sherman (Nicole@bookreporter.com) + Emily Hoenig (Emily@bookreporter.com)

What’s the difference between the month of October and a Peter Jackson movie? October doesn’t go on forever! Which is unfortunate, but necessary, as it brings us one month closer to Oscars season. And by the invariable mathematics of Hollywood: Oscar-hopeful movies > movies. So grab a pumpkin spice latte (and then carefully tuck it into your jacket so it doesn’t get confiscated by a ticket taker), and click here to see what you should see this month!

We're celebrating our six-month mark of the launch of our "REAL TALK Publishing" feature. Over the past half year, we've sat down with the following people to learn more about the work they do:

• Sarah Harrison Smith: Children's Book Editor for the New York Times
• Chip Kidd: Associate Art Director at Alfred A. Knopf
• Barbara Marcus: President and Publisher of Random House Children's Division
• Walter Mayes: School Librarian
• Annie Philbrick: Bookstore Owner
• May Wuthrich: Audiobook Producer and Director

Click here to check out the feature, discover the people behind the books and get a sneak peek inside the publishing industry.

A Little Bit More About the "REAL TALK Publishing" Feature...

We know you love to read, but have you ever considered working with books as a career? If so, there are tons of options to explore. With this feature, we'll introduce you to book editors, librarians, booksellers, children's literature professors, book cover designers, publicists, professional reviewers and more. Through interviews, guest posts and sometimes sneak peeks inside their offices, we'll take you into their worlds so you can learn about the book industry.

• ASYLUM by Madeleine Roux
• BLACKBIRD by Anna Carey
• DEAD ZONE by Robison Wells
• THE GRAVEYARD BOOK COMMEMORATIVE EDITION by Neil Gaiman, illustrations by Dave McKean
• THE PERFECTIONISTS by Sara Shepard
• SINNER by Maggie Stiefvater

THE ASSASSINATION OF MARGARET THATCHER: Stories by Hilary Mantel (Fiction/Short Stories)
The latest work from the celebrated author of the historical novels WOLF HALL and BRING UP THE BODIES is a collection of 10 stories, Hilary Mantel’s first collection since 2003’s LEARNING TO TALK. Many of these contemporary tales play with the conventions of genre; there’s even a vampire tale. But the title story, about an imagined attempt on the former Prime Minister’s life, will, not surprisingly, get the most attention. Reviewed by Michael Magras.

AUTUMN KILLING by Mons Kallentoft (Mystery/Thriller)
The discovery of a brutally stabbed body floating face down in the moat of Skogså Castle chills one town to the bone. Malin Fors is already struggling to keep her life together following the recent murder attempt on her teenage daughter, Tove. Now, as this case forces Malin to delve deep into her town’s history and her own family’s past, the secrets she uncovers threaten to drown her, too. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

BIBLICAL by Christopher Galt (Apocalyptic Thriller)
All around the globe, people are having visions, seeing angels, experiencing events that defy reality. There is the graffiti WE ARE BECOMING that has popped up in every major city around the world. And people everywhere are starting to talk about John Astor, the mysterious author of the book that seems to be at the center of it all. After a rash of suicides, psychiatrist John Macbeth and a team of FBI agents and scientists assemble to find out what's going on. Is this a spiritual phenomenon or something more sinister? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE BOY WHO DREW MONSTERS by Keith Donohue (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, 10-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, he spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. While those around him are haunted by what they think they see, only Jack Peter knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

BURN: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Thriller)
Back in the city that never sleeps, Detective Michael Bennett takes over a chaotic Outreach Squad in Harlem, where he receives an unusual call: a man claims to have seen a group of well-dressed men holding a bizarre party in a condemned building. With no clear crime or evidence, Bennett dismisses the report. But when a charred body is found in the same building, he is forced to take the caller seriously --- and is drawn into an underground criminal world of terrifying depravity. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

DEADLINE: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford (Thriller)
In Southeast Minnesota, a school board meeting is coming to an end. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter. The vote is four to one in favor. Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A murdered body has been found --- and the victim is a local reporter. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

DR. MUTTER’S MARVELS: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (Biography/Medicine)
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz chronicles the life of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, a Philadelphia plastic surgeon who revolutionized the face of American surgery and founded a museum of medical oddities. An eccentric innovator, Mütter pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed. DR. MUTTER'S MARVELS offers both a biography of this unconventional doctor and a revealing portrait of 19th-century medicine. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

GETTING EVEN by Sarah Rayner (Fiction)
How would you feel if your best friend at work betrayed you? Was secretly having an affair with an influential colleague? Won a coveted promotion, then teamed you up with a mere junior, leaving you feeling completely demoted? What would you do? For Ivy there's no choice. The only person she has ever trusted, Orianna, has blown it big time. So there's only one way forward: revenge. But is Ivy really the innocent party? Or is she hiding secrets of her own? Reviewed by Vivian Payton.

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Ruth Rendell (Psychological Thriller)
In the waning months of World War II, a group of children discover an earthen tunnel in their neighborhood. The subterranean space becomes their “secret garden,” where the friends play games and tell stories. Six decades later, beneath a house on the same land, construction workers uncover a tin box containing two skeletal hands. The friends come together once again to recall their days in the tunnel for the detective investigating the case. Is the truth buried among these aging friends and their memories? Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE INNOVATORS: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson (History/Technology)
What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail? In THE INNOVATORS, Walter Isaacson begins with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Doug Engelbart, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Larry Page. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

MR. MIRACLE: A Christmas Novel by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Harry Mills is a guardian angel on a mission: help 24-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track and help her find love. Posing as a teacher at a local college, Harry is up to the task, but not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store when Addie and her polar-opposite next-door neighbor, Erich, are forced to spend Christmas together. However, Addie and Erich soon find they have more in common than they thought --- and that two people who seem so wrong for each other may actually be just right. Reviewed by Michele Howe.

THE NEWS SORORITY: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour -- and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News by Sheila Weller (Biography)
For decades, women battered the walls of the male fortress of television journalism. After fierce struggles, three women --- Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Christiane Amanpour --- broke into the newsroom’s once impenetrable “boys’ club.” Drawing on exclusive interviews with their colleagues and intimates from childhood on, THE NEWS SORORITY reveals the hard struggles and inner strengths that shaped these women and powered their success. Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth, founder of HeadButler.com.

PARIS MATCH: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller)
Stone Barrington has returned to Paris to attend to some business concerns, and finds himself embroiled in high-stakes trouble on both sides of the pond. An old enemy is still in hot pursuit, and this time he might have a powerful local resource on his side: a gentleman with his own ax to grind against Stone. In the US, the swirling rumor mill threatens to derail a project of vital importance. Though Stone is no stranger to peril, never before has he faced threats from so many directions at once. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

THE PERFECT WITNESS by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
When Teresa Casali was young, she discovered she had a strange gift: the ability to read people’s memories. But the gift seemed more like a curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his world of corruption and violence. Exposed by her own family to the darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected. She realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.

REUNION by Hannah Pittard (Fiction)
Five minutes before her flight is set to take off, Kate Pulaski, failed screenwriter and newly failed wife, learns that her estranged father killed himself. More shocked than saddened by the news, she reluctantly gives in to her older siblings' request that she join them --- and her many half-siblings, and most of her father's five former wives --- for a final farewell. As Kate battles with family secrets and lies, she discovers that she has more in common with her late father than she ever had expected. Reviewed by Donna Smallwood.

SAVING SIMON: How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion by Jon Katz (Memoir)
When Jon Katz got a call from an animal control officer about Simon, a neglected donkey who had been found on a failing farm, he wasn't expecting to take him in. But when he made the trek out to meet Simon, he couldn't help falling in love with the skinny, mangy donkey, and ended up taking him into his home. Simon listened in the fields as Jon read and discussed philosophy, forcing Jon to confront the most difficult parts of life and bringing him to a new understanding about mercy and compassion. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

THE SILENT SISTER by Diane Chamberlain (Fiction)
Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister, Lisa, committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over 20 years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina, cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? Reviewed by Jennifer McCord.

A SLIP OF THE KEYBOARD: Collected Nonfiction by Terry Pratchett (Essays)
A SLIP OF THE KEYBOARD brings together for the first time the finest examples of Terry Pratchett's nonfiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important); from memories of Granny Pratchett to speculation about Gandalf's love life, and passionate defenses of the causes dear to him. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.

SPARK by John Twelve Hawks (Thriller)
Jacob Underwood is a hired assassin. Suffering from a condition that causes people to believe they are dead, Jacob perceives himself as nothing but a Shell with no emotion and no sense of right or wrong. Jacob's handler assigns him the task of tracking down an associate who has disappeared and neutralizing her. But as his new assignment draws him inside a labyrinthine network of dark dealings, Jacob finds himself up against something he is completely incapable of understanding. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

STRONG DARKNESS: A Caitlin Strong Novel by Jon Land (Thriller)
The son of Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong’s boyfriend is nearly beaten to death at Brown University. The investigation leads back to Texas and to the Chinese high-tech company awarded the contract to build the US’s 5G network. Li Zhen, the company’s founder, counts that as the greatest achievement of his career, but it hides his true motivations --- nothing less than China’s total domination of the United States. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

A SUDDEN LIGHT by Garth Stein (Supernatural Mystery)
In the summer of 1990, 14-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. The legendary mansion is built of giant, whole trees, and Trevor’s father --- in a trial separation with his wife --- wants to sell it. Trevor soon discovers the ghost burdened by the final wishes of the Riddell patriarch, Elijah: that the mansion is returned to untamed forestland as penance for the trees harvested by the Riddell Timber Company. Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

TRUTH BE TOLD by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Thriller)
In digging up the facts on a heartbreaking story about a middle-class family evicted from their suburban home, reporter Jane Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret. Meanwhile, Boston police detective Jake Brogan has a liar on his hands. A man has just confessed to the famous 20-year-old Lilac Sunday killing, and while Jake’s colleagues take him at his word, Jake is not so sure. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE WHITE VAN by Patrick Hoffman (Thriller)
At a dive bar in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, drug-hustling Emily Rosario is looking for an escape from her desperate lifestyle. When she is approached by a Russian businessman, she thinks she might have found her exit. A week later --- drugged, disoriented and wanted for robbery --- she finds herself on the run for her life. When cop Leo Elias hears about an unsolved bank robbery, he takes the case into his own hands, hoping to find Emily and the money before anyone else does. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS by Jason Mott (Fantasy)
It starts as an ordinary day in an ordinary town, at an ordinary air show. But when one of the planes crashes, killing and injuring dozens, a 13-year-old named Ava is discovered healing her best friend, Wash. Her secret gift is now known to the entire world, and Ava is thrust into the spotlight. But at what cost does this gift come, and how much will Ava have to sacrifice to save the one she loves most? Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson (Young Adult, Fiction)
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At 13, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else --- an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world. Reviewed by Brianna Robinson.

LOVE IS THE DRUG by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Young Adult, Science Fiction Thriller)
Emily Bird was raised not to ask questions. She has perfect hair, the perfect boyfriend and a perfect Ivy-League future. But a chance meeting with Roosevelt David, a homeland security agent, at a party for Washington DC's elite leads to Bird waking up in a hospital, days later, with no memory of the end of the night. Meanwhile, the world has fallen apart: A deadly flu virus is sweeping the nation, forcing quarantines, curfews, even martial law. And Roosevelt is certain that Bird knows something. Something about the virus --- something about her parents' top secret scientific work --- something she shouldn't know. Reviewed by Charles Payseur.

THE ONLY THING TO FEAR by Caroline Tung Richmond (Young Adult, Dystopian Thriller)
It's been nearly 80 years since the Allies lost WWII in a crushing defeat against Hitler's genetically engineered super soldiers. America has been carved up by the victors, and 16-year-old Zara lives a life of oppression in the Eastern America Territories. Under the iron rule of the Nazis, the government strives to maintain a master race, controlling everything from jobs to genetics. Reviewed by Lexibex V., Teen Board Member.

RETHINKING NORMAL: A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill (Young Adult, Autobiography)
Katie never felt comfortable in her own skin. She realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers’ bullying and the mounting pressure to be “normal,” Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that “Katie” --- the girl trapped within her --- was determined to live. Reviewed by Anita Lock.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen by Katie Rain Hill (Young Adult, Autobiography)
We’ve all felt uncomfortable in our own skin at some point, and we’ve all been told that “it’s just a part of growing up.” But for Arin Andrews, it wasn’t a phase that would pass. He had been born in the body of a girl and there seemed to be no relief in sight. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED is a true coming-of-age story about knocking down obstacles and embracing family, friendship and first love. But more than that, it is a reminder that self-acceptance does not come ready-made with a manual and spare parts. Rather, some assembly is always required. Reviewed by Rachel D., Teen Board Member.

THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2014 by Scott McCloud and Bill Kartalopoulos, editors (Graphic Novel)
THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors and highlights both fiction and nonfiction --- from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, minicomics, and the Web --- to make a unique, stunning collection. Frank Miller (SIN CITY, 300) called guest editor Scott McCloud “just about the smartest guy in comics.” Reviewed by John Maher.

- Click here to read Dr. Katie Monnin's interview with series editor Bill Kartalopolous.

THE MOTHERLESS OVEN by Rob Davis (Graphic Novel)
In Scarper Lee’s world, parents don’t make children --- children make parents. Scarper’s father is his pride and joy, a wind-powered brass construction with a billowing sail. His mother is a Bakelite hairdryer. In this world it rains knives, and household appliances have souls. There are also no birthdays --- only deathdays. Scarper’s deathday is just three weeks away, and he clings to the mundane repetition of his life at home and high school for comfort. Rob Davis’s dark graphic novel is an odyssey through a bizarre, distorted teenage landscape. Reviewed by Ed Cress.

IN REAL LIFE by Cory Doctorow (Graphic Novel)
Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role playing game that she spends most of her free time on. But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer --- a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake. Reviewed by L. Whitney Richardson.