Indies Introduce Summer Fall 2017 Titles

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Fiction

  • Hum If You Don't Know the Words, Bianca Marais
    G.P. Putnam's Sons, 9780399575068, April 27, 2017 (Fiction)

    “Against the backdrop South Africa in the 1970s, Hum If You Don’t Know the Words follows Robin, a young white girl whose parents were killed, and Beauty, a black woman who searches for her activist daughter in the aftermath of the Soweto uprising. Bianca Marais has written a crisp, clear-eyed story that doesn’t shy away from the racism and devastation of her home country’s apartheid history, while also showing that family and love can come in many forms.”

    – Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The Graybar Hotel, Curtis Dawkins
    Scribner, 9781501162299, July 4, 2017 (Fiction)

    “Curtis Dawkins is a flat-out great writer who is also incarcerated for life in a Michigan prison for a drug-related homicide. The stories he tells in The Graybar Hotel are small masterpieces of the daily drama of prison life, reminiscent of John Cheever or Raymond Carver. In deceptively simple sentences, Dawkins pries into the inmates’ complex relationships with each other, their coping mechanisms, and their lives on the outside that brought them to where they have ended up. A transformative reading experience.”

    – Sarah Goddin, Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, NC)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • We Shall Not All Sleep, Estep Nagy
    Bloomsbury, 9781632868411, July 4, 2017 (Fiction)

    “I was completely immersed in this perfectly constructed novel of two families vacationing on an island in Maine during the Cold War summer of 1964. Nagy contrasts the warm, idyllic, beautifully rendered setting with the chill of manipulations and deceptions both personal and political. The family dynamics could best be summed up by the father, who explains to his young son how important it is to ‘learn when to lie, to whom, and to do it well.’”

    – Sarah Goddin, Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, NC)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt
    Atlantic Monthly Press, 9780802126597, August 1, 2017 (Fiction)

    “Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done takes all the major players in the Fall River murders (including Lizzie Borden) and brings their inner thoughts to life. In this thriller of a debut, each character has alternating chapters and a distinct voice, illustrating the class divisions, tensions, and possible motivations for the famous murders of 1892. I couldn’t put it down!”

    – Carolyn Hutton, Mrs. Dalloways Literary & Garden Arts (Berkeley, CA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The Readymade Thief, Augustus Rose
    Viking, 9780735221833, August 1, 2017 (Fiction)

    “Lee is a 17-year-old girl who has gotten into a bit of trouble. Not that she is innocent, or completely guilty either. She runs with the wrong crowd, steals something that is not hers, and now she is on the run with nobody to turn to. Rose takes readers into the underbelly of Philadelphia, the sections that people have abandoned, to solve the mystery Lee has fallen into, which has to do with the famous artist Duchamp. Rose melds together information and story methods with amazing skill, drawing on secret societies, hacking, art theft, conspiracies, drugs, and so much more. This plot moves; it does not slow down until it reaches the conclusion, which will have you gasping for breath. Such a brilliant journey.”

    – Jason Kennedy, Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee, WI)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • Girl in Snow, Danya Kukafka
    Simon & Schuster, 9781501144370, August 1, 2017 (Fiction)

    “I loved the slow-burn mystery quality of this book. It reminded me of Everything I Never Told You in its focus on character instead of plot. It’s a whodunit with the bonus of rich, wonderful characters and good writing.”

    – Courtney Flynn, Trident Booksellers & Cafe (Boston, MA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • A Kind of Freedom, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
    Counterpoint, 9781619029224, August 15, 2017 (Fiction)

    “I loved the different generations in A Kind of Freedom, beginning with the parents of Evelyn and Ruby, who seem so proper and clean, to present-generation TC, a very likable, hopeful character, but one whose circumstances involve him in drugs and prison. I found the evolution of the family to present day sad but fascinating, and I couldn’t help but root for every single character. In the end, you still feel hopeful despite it all.”

    – Margot Farris, pages: a bookstore (Manhattan Beach, CA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The End We Start From, Megan Hunter
    Atlantic Monthly Press, 9780802126894, November 7, 2017 (Fiction)

    “I loved this slim, beautiful book. Megan Hunter’s sparse prose makes it one of the most affecting and poetic novels about the end of the world and beyond. Despite being a dystopian novel, it is hopeful. Perhaps the end is not the end.”

    – Anton Bogomazov, Politics & Prose (Washington, DC)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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Non-Fiction

  • The Long Haul, Finn Murphy
    W.W. Norton, 9780393608717, June 6, 2017 (Non-Fiction)

    “Finn Murphy’s memoir of working as a long-distance mover is a delight. These are stories of people and their stuff, the nuts and bolts of moving and hauling, all with a healthy dose of astute sociological commentary. Murphy has a true gift for storytelling, making this one of the year’s sharpest, most compelling memoirs.”

    – Anton Bogomazov, Politics & Prose (Washington, DC)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The Glass Eye: A Memoir, Jeannie Vanasco
    Tin House, 97819410407750, October 3, 2017 (Non-Fiction)

    “An absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness, The Glass Eye is outstanding. Jeannie Vanasco promised her father before his death that she would write a book for him, never knowing the psychological and mental toll the process would ultimately take on her. Vanasco explores her family’s history: the entirely separate family her father had before she was born, the late-in-life marriage that led to Jeannie’s birth, and her own destructive behavior as she falls in and out of a mental illness, which informs the truly fascinating structure of the book. The layers found in this memoir are as plentiful as the layers found in the human eye; ultimately, it is as deeply layered as the human experience itself.”

    – Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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Middle Grade

  • Sidetracked, Diana Harmon Asher
    Amulet Books, 9781419726019, August 22, 2017 (Middle Grade)

    “Joseph Friedman is a middle-school student for whom nothing goes well. He’s scrawny, he’s bullied, he has no real friends, and he has ADD. On the other hand, Joseph is very self-aware and has one teacher who pushes him to do better. Mrs. T is also his new cross-country coach. Joseph’s journey through woods and up hills slowly transforms his relationships and his confidence. Asher gives us a narrator to root for with a unique voice and a strong supporting cast.”

    – Dave Shallenberger, Little Shop of Stories (Decatur, GA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The First Rule of Punk, Celia C. Pérez
    Viking Books for Young Readers, 9780425290408, August 29, 2017 (Middle Grade)

    “Twelve-year-old María Luisa (aka Malú) has moved from Florida to Chicago with her mom. For Malú, ‘fitting in’ doesn’t fit on her list, as the first rule of punk is ‘be yourself.’ Celia C. Pérez takes the ‘new kid’ story and infuses it with freshness and terrific energy.”

    – Dave Shallenberger, Little Shop of Stories (Decatur, GA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • Greetings from Witness Protection!, Jake Burt
    Feiwel & Friends, 9781250107114, October 3, 2017 (Middle Grade)

    “What happens when you take a feisty, pick-pocketing teen out of foster care, give her a whole new identity, a Taser, and a new family to protect from mobsters? Greetings From Witness Protection! is a funny, entertaining, and unique story about family, friendship, identity, and starting over.”

    – Lauren Savage, The Reading Bug (San Carlos, CA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, Karina Glaser
    HMH Books for Young Readers, 9780544876392, October 3, 2017 (Middle Grade)

    “If Wes Anderson wrote The Penderwicks, it might look like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. From the moment you step into the brownstone on 141st Street, the five Vanderbeeker children and their eccentric collection of family and friends will charm and delight you. Their attempts to keep their Scrooge-like landlord from evicting them from their beloved home are both hilarious and heartwarming, and this modern-day classic in the making will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.”

    – Melissa Posten, The Novel Neighbor (St. Louis, MO)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend
    Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316508889, October 31, 2017 (Middle Grade)

    “Morrigan is cursed. Not cursed with warts or short height, but well and truly cursed. Every bad thing that happens to people around her must be a result of her curse. It is a lonely existence. In a world of giant talking cats and umbrella transport, this novel wraps the reader in the joy of wonderful world-building and classic middle-grade fantasy. After turning the last page, readers will be hungry for the sequel.”

    – Karin Schott, Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers (Farmington, ME)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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Young Adult

  • Saints and Misfits, S.K. Ali
    Salaam Reads, 9781481499248, June 13, 2017 (Young Adult)

    “In an ideal world, Saints and Misfits wouldn’t need to be an important tent-pole book of Muslim representation; it would be one of many books about Muslim teens doing all sorts of things. And then we could just talk about how it’s a funny, sharp, feminist book that tackles real issues with grace. It’s just really good. Read it, for that reason and more.”

    – Anna Kaufman, DIESEL: A Bookstore (Santa Monica, CA)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, F.C. Yee
    Amulet Books, 9781419725487, August 8, 2017 (Young Adult)

    The Epic Crush of Genie Lo is here to fill that Buffy- or Sailor Moon-shaped hole in your life. Warm, action-packed, and absolutely the most fun you’ll have reading a book this summer. Give Genie Lo a CW series!”

    – Allison Senecal, Old Firehouse Books (Fort Collins, CO)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • All Rights Reserved, Gregory Scott Katsoulis
    Harlequin TEEN, 9780373212446, August 29, 2017 (Young Adult)

    “In a dystopian future in which almost all words and gestures have been copyrighted and citizens are charged for even the most basic forms of communication, the ultimate act of resistance may be to choose silence. In this richly imagined novel, Katsoulis explores ideas of free speech and the consequences of intellectual property law through characters that are sympathetic, tough, and thoroughly believable. All Rights Reserved is an excellent sci-fi thriller (with some of the best world-building I’ve seen in ages) with a great sense of humor and a political conscience. For anyone who feels the need for a little bit of revolution in their fiction, this book is just the thing.”

    – Annie Farrell, Labyrinth Books (Princeton, NJ)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • An Enchantment of Ravens, Margaret Rogerson
    Margaret K. McElderry Books, 9781481497589, September 26, 2017 (Young Adult)

    An Enchantment of Ravens is one of the most original and beautifully written fairy stories I have read in years. Rogerson’s depth of knowledge about mythology and fairy lore shines through the crafting of this story. Isobel, the gifted human artist, and Rook, the fairy prince, pursue a quest to save themselves from the harsh traditions of the fairy court.”

    – Laura Delaney, Rediscovered Books (Boise, ID)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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  • Dear Martin, Nic Stone
    Crown Books for Young Readers, 9781101939499, October 17, 2017 (Young Adult)

    “I picked up Dear Martin and could not put it down. A gripping, real story that is both eye-opening and heartbreaking. This should be required reading for everyone.”

    – Kate Schlademan, The Learned Owl (Hudson, OH)
    Additional blurb(s) available here


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