Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Brave Enough to Try

TJ Klune’s latest novel continues the adventures of a marvelous magical family

By Tina Chambers | September 25, 2024

Somewhere Beyond the Sea, the funny and thought-provoking sequel to TJ Klune’s bestselling 2020 fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea, provides another chapter in the inspiring story of the mostly unflappable Arthur Parnassus, his sweetheart Linus Baker, and the extraordinary magical children in their care. Klune will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

The Depths

Playground brings Richard Powers’ inimitable storytelling to the world of Earth’s oceans

By Emily Choate | September 23, 2024

In his recent novels, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Powers invites us to set down the blinkered limitations of human perspectives and connect to the natural world in deeper, more urgent ways. Now, with Playground, Powers brings his inimitable storytelling to Earth’s subterranean depths, illuminating the abundant riches of our oceans and the critical dangers they face.

Protecting What We Love

This Is How a Robin Drinks makes the case for urban nature

By Sara Beth West | September 19, 2024

In This Is How a Robin Drinks, Joanna Brichetto makes the case that urban landscapes can be perfect places to fall in love with the wonders of nature. Brichetto will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 23 and the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 26-27.

Memory and Forgetting

Wright Thompson’s The Barn reckons anew with the infamous murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till

By Odie Lindsey | September 18, 2024

Wright Thompson’s latest book, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, revisits what is often considered the most galvanizing event of the civil rights era: the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in rural Sunflower County, Mississippi. Thompson will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on October 3 and Barnes & Noble in Brentwood on October 4.

A Magical Mountain Fairy Tale

Natalie Lloyd demonstrates the power of friendship against a backdrop of legend and loss

By Tina Chambers | September 17, 2024

Chattanooga author Natalie Lloyd’s latest tale of heartbreak and hope for middle school readers is The Witching Wind. Roxie Darling and Grayson Patch become friends as incoming sixth graders at Camelot Middle School in fictional Silas County, Tennessee. And, as is always the case in a Natalie Lloyd book, fantastical adventures are soon afoot.

A Runaway’s Story

Rachel M. Hanson’s memoir recounts her flight from abuse

By Jane Marcellus | September 12, 2024

Rachel M. Hanson’s The End of Tennessee takes readers inside a teen girl’s decision to run away from an abusive home and her struggle to create a new life.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher