Rita H. Rowe’s The Bad Seed features Jenna’s love for a boy who nobody likes based on his parents’ poor choices. After watching Tommy attempt to embarrass Joey, Jenna feels drawn to Joey. That afternoon, Jenna's mother tells her to stay away from Joey, and...

The Salt Line by Youval Shimoni, translated into English from Hebrew by Michael Sharp, is a work of literary fiction that, after a political assassination, has Russian Jewish rebel Poliakov running from the law and ending up in Leh, India. A British doctor, McKenzie, provides...

A.D. Craig’s The Queen of Two Hearts: The Indie Hearts features the dynamics of an open relationship. Avi is the lead singer of Indie Hearts. He is also known for his one-night stands, recreational drug use, and excessive drinking after his performances. Before one of...

Jasmine C. Caldwell’s The Geek Girl Squad: Rosie features a budding romance between Rosie and Matt. Rosie is a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit with an affinity for science fiction. Matt and Olivia agree that Matt can sublet her apartment while he interns...

These Things Happen by Michael Eon revolves around the life of Daniel Zimmer and the challenges he faces, centered on family dynamics, addiction, and personal growth. After a devastating opening scene, the story shifts between periods of Daniel's life, from tense family memories to Daniel's...

E. Jak Neumann's satirical book The Chronicle of Aladdin explores politics, society, and culture in Romania and Europe through the lens of the author's own experiences and observations. Neumann discusses issues such as political manipulation, social conventions, historical movements, and the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on...

The Edge of Brilliance by Susan M. Traugh is a riveting and thought-provoking young adult novel about a teenage girl who suffers from bipolar disorder. Fifteen-year-old Amy Miles hated her life and believed that her disease was a curse. She refused to take her medication...

Narrated by a deceased family dog, Molly, The Lede to our Undoing by Donald Mengay, provides insight into the lives of Jake and Wren, twins in 1970s rust-belt America. Molly's observations reveal their experiences as they navigate a changing society against a backdrop of civil,...

This Side of the Darkness by Andromeda Storm is a dark narrative that Annie relates as she navigates life while fighting monsters. Annie viewed her mother as perfect, unless her father was home. Their fighting escalated until she witnessed her father push her pregnant mother...

Jeffrey M. Feingold’s The Black Hole Pastrami is a colorful, humorous, wise, and often deeply moving collection of short stories about growing up in Boston’s Ukrainian-Jewish community and navigating the challenging terrain of adulthood in the shadow of high expectations, inevitable loss, and an ever-present...