Brave doesn't always mean you're never scared—sometimes it's about finding courage when you need it most. In Bowe Balhoff’s delightfully sweet picture book, Brave Enough, we meet Atlan, a boy who’s almost five and pretty brave. He sleeps in the dark and even rides his...

Deep Trauma by Kat Edwards is an exciting introduction to the Riley Brighton series. Dr. Riley Brighton works as an ER doctor and is accustomed to witnessing the worst aspects of humanity. However, when she encounters an accident on the freeway, it leads to far...

Anger and the Birthday Blunder teaches kids how to manage anger. It’s Tessa’s birthday, and she’s desperate for an electric piano. But things don’t go according to plan, and her younger brother Josh gets in the way. Tessa feels like she is going to burst,...

Our Father Who Art in an Iron Lung by Douglas Dodd delivers inspiration in the incredible true story of Bruce Dodd. A Navy veteran, MIT graduate, and production manager, Bruce’s life takes a dramatic turn when he is struck by polio in 1955. From that...

Float Your Boat by Umar Siddiqui presents a framework for engaging with therapy from the perspective of someone living with schizoaffective bipolar disorder. He organizes his approach around three principles: acceptance, persistence, and resistance, applied at three levels. Siddiqui frames therapy as assessment rather than...

Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard follows Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, who is trapped in a marriage to Prince Peter of Oldenburg, who has made his preference for men known. Olga requests a divorce, which both Peter and her brother, Nicholas II, refuse....

P. L. Mendoza's Stories In The Clearing is a fun and thoughtful collection of animal fables centered around the captivating exchanges between a clever wolf, Vargr, and a wise tree, Nemethea. Through five short yet thought-provoking stories, the author (along with Vargr and Nemethea) delivers...

Tiny Wild Things by Danielle M. Wong follows Fran, a magazine writer, who is sent to interview the reclusive artist Jonathan Kramer at his remote estate. Once there, she discovers Kramer’s secret: who he is, what that means to her, and the discovery of another...

At twenty years old, Elysia Dayne is an unflinching wyrm slayer. Together with her team, they move around the desert frontiers of Mesos, her homeland, slaying the monsters for pay and opening up trade routes. Fresh from a daunting but successful mission, Elysia is taken...

At the Heart of Conflict: Talking Resolution, edited by Cheryl Robson, is a compelling collection of twenty first-person interviews with international and local figures engaged in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Through voices ranging from former UN officials and diplomats to grassroots activists, the book offers...

“The truth was usually bulletproof, but people looking for it rarely were.” The interesting thing about truth is that it comes at a cost. In Blood Tide: A Harbor Noir Thriller by Daniel P. Douglas, this cost can be steep. Set in Los Angeles in...

In Church Professionalism, DaLana R. Patterson presents a detailed account of how church work should be executed with the same standards of consistency, clarity, and accountability expected in any profession, but governed by scripture. She defines key terms and applies them directly to ministry roles....

In Dominion by P.T.L. Perrin, Gabri O’Connell and her dragon Makani face a mounting threat as Ozul’s forces tighten their grip, using mind-controlled dragons and advanced weapons to attack refugee strongholds. Gabri’s brother Alex, with his dragon Tito, discovers new telepathic powers and endeavors to...

The Fog City Murders: A Serial Killer in San Francisco by Jimmy Ray Conner is a murder mystery that takes place against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco. The story begins with a prologue that sets the tone for the dark and complex narrative that...

Scourge of the Shores by Lauren Lee Merewether follows Danna Chadwick, captain and heir to a pirate legacy, defending her island from the sea serpent, Cain. Robert Jaymes, the youngest Pirate King, seeks to unify the pirate factions and expand his influence. When Robert’s fleet...

The Silent Library by Salim El Dorra is a haunting, immersive story set in the city of Aerthos, which is unraveling under a strange plague known as the Dustfall. Readers are introduced to Leo, a young archivist entrusted with a dangerous mission to protect his...

Keith Thorn’s No Mud: No Lotus uses the metaphor of mud to describe difficult life experiences such as grief, loss, burnout, and depression, which often precede healing or renewal. He argues that cultural habits encourage avoiding pain, but meaningful change requires fully experiencing discomfort rather...

Getting Ready for an Earthquake: A Fun and Empowering Guide to Earthquake Safety for Kids by Fei Zheng-Ward is a very important and timely book for pre-school children, but older kids can also learn important lessons from it. It starts out by explaining why and...

Losing someone is never easy. What Happens After? by Diane Namm is a compassionate picture book that gently helps children process grief and offers answers to the question posed in its title. Each page shows how a person grieves, but in a way that children...

The Gilded Butterfly Effect is an engaging novel by Heather Colley that depicts the turbulent experiences college students endure as a "rite of passage." The narrative explores the adventures of several students, mainly highlighting the journeys of Penny and Stella. Penny is a reserved girl...