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MY BEAUTIFUL VOICE

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A child with brown hair and skin observes in amazement as their teacher bursts into the room. An illustration of Miss Flotsam, an older, brown-skinned, bespectacled woman with flowing gray hair, scarf, and coattails, depicts her surrounded by flowers, tropical birds, and pops of color. The poetic narrative reveals Miss Flotsam as a world traveler with tales of “cycle rides in / booming hurricanes” and surviving “flights through / scary storms.” As the students start to write poems, Miss Flotsam … Read the rest

KAY’S ANATOMY

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Leaving the titular riff on the classic reference work Gray’s Anatomy unacknowledged, Kay moves from skin-side to inside and back—beginning with the cloud of germs, dead cells, and “farticles” that surround us all, covering anatomical features from internal organs to hair and nails, and closing with a frank, if sometimes giddy, description of the reproductive system (“the male one is mostly on the outside, dangling there like a chandelier”), brisk and sensible remarks about death, and a final sweep past … Read the rest

ENFANT TERRIBLE

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Damen Warner is the frontman for the band OBNXS, which has just been dumped by its label. Damen lives with a motley crew of roommates and a rooster in Chicago who are on a downward spiral: “It hadn’t taken long for” the band’s “bad habits to settle into a routine…boozing and jamming,” messing around with “dancers and drugs…until the sun came up and the whole cycle started over again.” But there is hope for the group when an investor agrees … Read the rest

ZELENSKY

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In 38 short, zingy “episodes” that play on Zelensky’s TV career before winning the presidency of Ukraine in April 2019, Ukrainian journalist and political commentator Rudenko explores his subject’s life and important influences on the brash new leader, mostly before Russia’s invasion in February 2022. A popular actor prior to his candidacy—he was especially beloved for his role as history teacher Vasyl Horoborodko, who becomes head of state in the film and TV series Servant of the People—Zelensky was … Read the rest

A DARKNESS AT THE DOOR

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Rae has been abducted, mutilated, and imprisoned on a snatchers’ ship, at risk of being sold along with other stolen young people. Escape is seemingly impossible because of the Darkness, a curse that steals the minds of the captured if they attempt to run away. But, pulled into a botched escape plan, Rae is thrown overboard and rescued by a Fae sorceress who places life debts upon her. Nonetheless, she vows to rescue her companions and bring to justice the … Read the rest

PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN WOMAN

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One-time assassin and legendary spymaster Gabriel Allon has finally retired. After saying farewell to his friends and colleagues in Israel, he moves with his wife, Chiara, and their two young children to a piano nobile overlooking Venice’s Grand Canal. His plan is to return to the workshop where he learned to restore paintings as an employee—but only after he spends several weeks recovering from the bullet wound that left him dead for several minutes in The Cellist (2021). Of course, … Read the rest