Fiction

Could she have done something then to prevent the shooting now? VERDICT Presenting realistic characters, Juska (The Blessings ) explores the aftermath of a violent event in a story that successfully speaks to issues of gun violence, the rise of anxiety in young people, the use and abuse of social media, and the role of educators today, capturing human vulnerability and the impact of tragedy on survivors. [...]it's a novel about detection: F Review by Joshua Finnell Powers's debut novel, The Yellow Birds , a National Book Award finalist, offered a poignant rumination on America's reverence for patriotism but simultaneous amnesia regarding the lives of deployed soldiers in a story drawn from the author's own experience as an Iraq War veteran. M Short Stories Review by Faye Chadwell Inspired by leading abolitionist and physician James McCune Smith's Heads of the Colored People, Done with a Whitewash Brush , Thompson-Spires offers a powerful debut of 11 original, multilayered stories that focus on the African American community, exploring race and the politics of identity but also class issues and the privileges of the black middle class.