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ED CODISH

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This selection of works, edited by composer, retired professor, and debut editor Horenstein, opens with “Voyage to Gaza,” a lengthy, semiautobiographical, and wide-ranging sonnet sequence that runs the gamut from referencing Noah in the Old Testament to providing humorous, off-color plays on words: “when Haephestus bangs his forge or wife / so sparks or spasms flare and thunder quakes.” Later love poems, often directly addressed to the poet’s wife, Susann, are deeply personal but written with an eye toward more … Read the rest

THE PUFFIN KEEPER

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Allen’s English father has died, and he and his French mother are going to live with his paternal grandparents on Dartmoor. After sheltering in the lighthouse, whose walls are covered in Benjamin’s paintings of boats, Allen is sent away with the gift of a small work painted on a scrap of wood. This secret treasure and memories of the comfort of that night sustain Allen through his mother’s depression, life with unaffectionate grandparents, and banishment to boarding school. His letters … Read the rest

BOX LUNCH LIFESTYLE

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The author opens by describing her dissatisfaction with a previous job, which involved researching and creating psychology tests, and how she began noting the gray sameness of employees’ workspaces. She soon articulated a wish that everyday people could “feel proud of themselves…for making something quietly remarkable happen nearly every day.” In this book, she focuses on trying to help others make better use of their lunch breaks by adopting her titular “Box Lunch Lifestyle.” Specifically, she encourages people to spend … Read the rest

COME OVER COME OVER

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Eighth grader Maybonne (sometimes “helped” by her little sister, Marlys) journals the trials and tribulations of her life. She stays up all night during a sleepover, fights with her mom and her sister over phone privileges, and protects her runaway best friend from nosy parents. In between episodes from Maybonne’s school year (originally published as the weekly newspaper strip “Ernie Pook’s Comeek”), 8-year-old Marlys sometimes invades the journal, writing about “The! Planet! Of! Marlys!!!!!!!” Maybonne expresses her frustration when Marlys … Read the rest

THE WIND WHISTLING IN THE CRANES

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The lonely death of Dona Regina, the matriarch of the influential Leandro family, prompts her granddaughter Milene to investigate its circumstances so she can explain them to the rest of her extended family, all of whom are out of reach on vacation at the time. Milene, an opaque and guileless sort, revisits the site of her grandmother’s demise, the family’s former cannery on the Portuguese coast. Her futile investigative efforts bring her into the orbit of the Mata family, the … Read the rest

GRATEFUL JAKE

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Before Jake, a small, white canine, found a loving forever home, he lived alone on the streets. During this “very scary” time, Jake explains, he “wished for even the simplest of things to help me feel better.” Repeating the phrase “I am so grateful,” Jake describes what he values. Some of the things are practical, like water, food, and the ability to read. Others are fun, as when Jake says, “I am so grateful I can…PICK.” The image shows Jake … Read the rest