The New York Times Book Review featured Melissa L. Sevigny’s BRAVE THE WILD RIVER: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (Norton). Reviewer Deborah Blum said: “[A] cascade of a story, colored by sun and water and driven by courage and determination.”
Vogue interviews Jenny Fran Davis on her newly published novel, Dykette.
Vanity Fair interviews Jenny Fran Davis on her new novel DYKETTE.
"Davis’s new novel reads like a taxonomy of queer theory, references, and history, while offering up wholly new words and takes on contemporary lesbian life."- Svetlana Kitto, Vanity Fair
Dr. Thema Bryant appears on CBS Mornings on an expert panel to discuss finding mental health care, healing trauma, and supporting the mental health of teens for "Wellness Week" during Mental Health Awareness Month.
Kirkus Reviews named Ralph White’s GETTING OUT OF SAIGON (Simon & Schuster) one of the “10 Most Addictive Books of 2023 (So Far).” In its starred review, Kirkus said: "White tells his inspiring story with wit, panache, humility, and a captivating sense of time and place. A fantastic read."
Christian Science Monitor named its 10 Best Books of April and included Ralph White’s GETTING OUT OF SAIGON (Simon & Schuster). They said: “His well-documented, true story offers a gripping play-by-play about the choice to do what’s right instead of what’s authorized.”
"That's the story that we're telling within White House Clubhouse: of all the great dreamers who decided to dare greatly."
Former White House speechwriter Sean O'Brien discusses his debut middle grade series. In WHITE HOUSE CLUBHOUSE, First Daughters Marissa and Clara discover a hidden tunnel that leads to an underground clubhouse full of antique curiosities, with doors heading in all directions—and a mysterious document addressed to them for their signatures. Upon signing, the girls find themselves transported back to 1903, to Teddy Roosevelt's White House. Marissa and Clara, along with Roosevelt's irrepressible children, are swept up on a cross-country railroad adventure to save California's redwoods from destruction.
From the imagination of a former White House speechwriter—and his own kids—comes an inside look at White House administrations throughout history through the eyes of its youngest residents.
Oprah Daily selected ten books to consider giving a grieving friend, including Mary-Frances O’Connor PhD’s THE GRIEVING BRAIN: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss (HarperOne). About the book, they say: "For those who want to understand what’s happening to them and why grief is so confounding, this is a fascinating and comforting read."
Booklist bestows a star on Melissa Sevigny’s BRAVE THE WILD RIVER: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (Norton): “A spellbinding writer of informed and ardent attentiveness, wit, and empathy, Sevigny splendidly conveys the dramatic beauty of this unique riverscape and casts light on the Indigenous people who cultivated plants in the canyonlands for millennia before being forced off the land… A breath-catching, enlightening, and significant work of scientific, environmental, and women's history.”
—Booklist (starred review)
Writing for the Washington Post, Mark Atwood Lawrence said of GETTING OUT OF SAIGON: How a 27-Year-Old American Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians (Simon & Schuster): “Ralph White’s captivating memoir shows that fresh revelations [about America’s war in Vietnam] are still possible… White is at his storytelling best when recounting his frenetic shuttling between the U.S. Embassy, the Saigon airport, hotel cafes and seedy bars in search of clear-eyed American officials who might help. This ‘pinball odyssey’ includes wary encounters with a Viet Cong operative, a run-in with South Vietnamese police and a chaste infatuation with a teenage Vietnamese prostitute, a cast of characters reminiscent of The Quiet American, Graham Greene’s classic 1955 novel of wartime Saigon.”
Kathryn Judge’s DIRECT: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source (HarperBusiness) has been named a Gold Medalist for the 2023 Axiom Awards in the Business Theory category. According to Axiom: "The Axiom Business Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary business books and their creators. The awards were created in 2007, and have since become the largest and most respected critical guidepost for business books in today's new world of publishing. These prestigious and competitive awards are presented in 25 business categories and serve as the premier list to help readers discover new and innovative works."
"An edge-of-your-seat, too-insane-not-to-be-true story,” says Oprah Daily about Ralph White’s GETTING OUT OF SAIGON (Simon & Schuster).
Booklist writes a glowing review of Dykette.
The review will appear in the April 15, 2023, issue of Booklist, scheduled to mail and go live online, on April 13.
"An engagingly self-aware and entertainingly claustrophobic story of performance and realness."- Booklist
Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?, written by Leslie Connor, is a 2023 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Award book.
I'M NOT BROKEN by Jesse Leon is a 2023 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. I'M NOT BROKEN is also on 2022 NPR's Books We Love and 2022 Best of San Francisco Chronicle. It won the 2022 San Diego Writers Festival Memoir Writer of the Year Award.
"Decades after they escape from a church-supported conversion therapy program, two old friends reunite as adults and come to terms with their shared trauma."
Nearly 50 years after Lucy Jane Bledsoe helped convince Portland leaders to create the first girls’ basketball league in Oregon, she returned to Ida B. Wells High, her alma mater, to mark Women’s History Month and discuss her new YA novel, NO STOPPING US NOW.
Cal Newport, author of A World without Email (Portfolio) and six other books” was profiled in a Financial Times Magazine piece by Courtney Weaver called, “How Cal Newport Rewrote the Productivity Gospel.” "Newport, a preternaturally upbeat millennial with a penchant for dad jokes, is an unlikely messenger.… But the quiet radicalism in Newport’s books on productivity and his coping strategies for 21st-century knowledge workers have helped him sell more than two million copies in 39 languages, making him a celebrity in the field."
Kirkus Reviews gives Dykette a glowing review.
"In her first novel for adults, Davis explores what happens when people are isolated physically while remaining very much online."- Kirkus Reviews
"A view of contemporary queer life presented by a spectacularly unreliable narrator."- Kirkus Reviews
Dykette makes Autostraddle's queer and feminist books list for the spring of 2023.
Library Journal has given Ralph White’s GETTING OUT OF SAIGON: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians (Simon & Schuster) a starred review, saying: "This enthralling story is highly recommended for readers specifically interested in the fall of Saigon or in memoirs generally.”
Publishers Weekly has given Melissa L. Sevigny’s BRAVE THE WILD RIVER: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (W.W. Norton) a starred review, saying: “Marvelous… as propulsive as the current of the Colorado. Readers will be swept away.”
Kirkus Reviews has given Melissa L. Sevigny's BRAVE THE WILD RIVER: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (W.W. Norton) a starred review, calling the book: "A beautiful tribute to two pioneering women of science.”
"I have long believed that art and sports are two sides of one coin. What poetry and basketball share is a way of parsing the world, of comprehending and shrinking its problems to a manageable size—a poem or a court. They allow the practitioner to make religion out of a passion or a pastime. With Tell the Rest, Bledsoe succeeds in giving life to my conviction on this point, focusing not on the art or the game itself (except in small doses) but rather on their ability to save, redeem, and uplift, to help us construct or reconstruct our faith."
Bust magazine loves Dykette! Check out their review of Dykette in the newest issue of Bust.
"Dykette is a riveting and often darkly funny novel that accurately examines New York queer culture with an insider's authenticity."- Bust
The New York Post lists Stars In An Italian Sky as one of the best new books to read.
Stars In An Italian Sky by Jill Santopolo is recommended by USA Today as one of the best new books to read this week.
Amazon Studio has picked up the rights to Daring to Live produced by DeVon Franklin's (“Breakthrough”) Franklin Entertainment. Previously set up at Paramount Players, the project is now in development at Amazon Studios.
The film is inspired by Sheri Hunter’s 2020 memoir Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy. It follows Hunter’s journey of “embracing life anew” after the sudden loss of her husband, thanks to the support of her group of friends —collectively known as the “Dare Divas” — who encourage her to step outside her comfort zone.
Pretend It's My Body by Luke Dani Blue is longlisted for the Story Prize for story collections published in 2022.
Publishers Weekly gives The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher a starred review.
“A young Palestinian American woman explores her identity in Cypher’s lush debut. It makes for a captivating stream of consciousness: 'You were not a linear person, preferring to stuff your discomforts and difficulties inside eddies and convolutions.' With beautiful writing and evocative themes, this author makes a notable entrance.”- Publishers Weekly
Reading the West has nominated Michael P. Branch’s ON THE TRAIL OF THE JACKALOPE: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer (Pegasus Books) for its 33rd Annual Reading the West Book Awards in the nonfiction category. Reading the West seeks to "celebrate the diversity, courage, tenacity, expertise, and indie spirit of the bookstores in the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association.” Independent booksellers in the region will next determine the shortlist.
How to Deceive a Duke by Samara Parish is on the New York Public Library List of Best New Romances for Adults.
Kirkus Reviews Gives Stars in an Italian Sky by Jill Santopolo a heart-warming review.
"A romantic, sweeping story that’s satisfying and heartbreaking at the same time."- Kirkus Reviews
Science Friday has selected Mary-Frances O’Connor’s THE GRIEVING BRAIN: The Surprising Science of How we Learn from Love and Loss (HarperOne) as their March Book Club pick. Join the SciFri Book Club to read about and discuss the neuroscience of grief throughout the month of March.
The Children's Book Committee named RED HOUSE, BROWN MOUSE one of the best board books of 2023. The mission of the Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature is to create, identify, and advocate for the highest quality literature for all children from infancy through adolescence. One of the components of the Center is the Children’s Book Committee. They create a list of the very best board books for ages zero to four that were published in 2021 and 2022.
Jill Schlesinger Discusses Her New Book The Great Money Reset on CBS Mornings. She provides advice on understanding your personal finances and what you need to change to change your life.
Jill Schlesinger discusses her new book THE GREAT MONEY RESET on WBUR with Robin Young.
Buzzfeed lists Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa as one of 33 romance books to look out for in 2023.
Lucy Jane Bledsoe's No Stopping Us Now will be honored this year on the Rise 2023 Booklist by Rise: A Feminist Book Project in the young adult fiction category.
Moon's Ramadan by Natasha Khan Kazi receives a starred review from The School Library Journal.
"A delightful read that teaches students about Ramadan and emphasizes the diversity in the Islamic world. This book will definitely be a go-to for librarians and teachers who want to expand awareness of Ramadan."- Peggy Henderson Murphy, The School Library Journal
YALSA names Frizzy written by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra a YALSA top ten title on the Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. Great Graphic Novels for Teens is a list of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction for those ages 12-18, prepared yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).
Frizzy written by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra wins the 2023 Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award.
Staff writer David Marchese of the New York Times Magazine interviewed Cal Newport about digital tools and our work lives in “The Digital Workplace Is Designed to Bring You Down.”
The Wall Street Journal reviews KARMA OF THE SUN by Brandon Ying Kit Boey.
“Boey’s exploration of human values and philosophical conundrums—including the difficulty of finding hope and purpose in the face of the end of everything—is no sophomoric thought experiment, and his stark world is poetically rendered. A thoughtful read perfect for this moody season.”
Literary Hub reveals the cover for Shannon Sanders’ debut story collection, Company, which Graywolf Press calls “a richly detailed, brilliantly woven collection about the lives and lore of one Black family.”
The New York Times recommends reading BEAVERLAND this week.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with environmental journalist Leila Philip about her new book, Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America. Martin says he could "not put it down."
"I loved that the beaver's kind of a little jerk."- NPR, Michel Martin
"...in an unexpected bonus, they harass New Yorkers who escaped the city to move upstate during the pandemic and enrage recreational snowmobilers in New Hampshire."- The New York Post, Susannah Cahalan
Leila Philip, author of Beaverland, writes an opinion piece on how the role of beavers in the ecosystem aids in fighting the coming wildfires and fighting climate change.
"Beavers are one of the greatest conservation comeback stories of the 20th century. They were almost wiped out during the fur trade, but smart wildlife reintroduction programs in the early 1900s returned them to the landscape. Now beavers have a new role to play in creating climate resiliency if communities, municipalities, and individual landowners can take advantage of what they naturally do."- Leila Philip, Boston Globe
The Millions lists Dykette as one of the best and most anticipated books in the first half of 2023.
“Like a tightly rolled spliff passed around the room,” Samantha Hunt writes, “you will inhale Dykette.”
"Following three queer couples on a 10-day country getaway, Dykette takes on desire, debauchery, and destruction through a distinctly queer—and propulsively entertaining—lens." —SMS
The New York Times gives Beaverland a heartwarming and charming review.
"[It] offers an appreciative account of the North American rodent, whose habit of taking down trees and causing floods has given it a reputation as a nuisance."- Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
Dykette is listed as one of the buzziest debut novels in 2023 on Goodreads.
Dykette is #14 on Buzzfeed's list of Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books in 2023.
"Davis shrewdly explores issues of gender and sexuality while her characters confront the idea of what it means to seek the life you truly want."- David Vogel, Buzzfeed Contributor
Kirkus Reviews has bestowed a star upon Ralph White’s debut memoir GETTING OUT OF SAIGON: "A unique, gripping story from the Vietnam War....White's persona seems like something out of a Terry Southern or Ian Fleming novel—as does his writing. White tells his inspiring story with wit, panache, humility, and a captivating sense of time and place. A fantastic read.”
Good Morning America interviews Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore about their new book, LITURGIES FOR HOPE.
"Two friends join forces to share powerful prayers in new book"- Good Morning America
The audiobook of LITURGIES FOR HOPE received a starred review from Booklist.
"Prayers are softly spoken by the writers with sensitivity, purity, and an understanding of the power and word of God. Listeners will perceive their abiding faith and relate to each prayer’s depth of honesty, relevance, wisdom, and truth."- Booklist
Life planner and relationship expert, Chanel Dokun, discusses the best way to work through issues and relationships this holiday season on Good Morning America.
"Two conversion therapy survivors go back to the site of their trauma, hoping the truth will set them free...The compelling leads, engaging blow-by-blows of basketball games, and small-town feuds ground a heartening, issues-driven book. Secondary characters shine, too...This satisfyingly nuanced story tackles sexuality and spiritual abuse, offering connection and redemption."