Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen

Tess Gerritsen's latest novel is about a violin player. Violinist Julia Andsell finds a piece of music in a shop in Italy called the Incendio waltz. Julia is determined to bring the piece to life but the music stirs up decades-old secrets. 

Night at the Fiestas: Stories by Kirstin Valdez Quade.

Each of stories in Night at the Fiestas are about family members embroiled in complicated, ambivalent relationships.

Maria both admires and despises her cousin, Nemecia, in the story called "Nemecia."

After leaving her first husband who was rich yet abusive, Monica of "Mojave Rats," marries an impoverished geology graduate student. Monica gives an expensive dress away to one of the children in the trailer park yet her past still lingers.

In "Five Wounds," a father who will soon play Jesus is embarrassed of his daughter who is unmarried and pregnant. The daughter in "Night at the Fiestas" is embarrassed of her hard-working yet unsophisticated father.

Perhaps the ultimate embarrassing father is Victor of "The Guesthouse." After shirking his duties to his children, he wants to live in their guesthouse with his snake and rats. 

Kirstin Valdez Quade is a writer to watch. She won the 2014 National Book Award "5 Under 35" award. 

Eleanor : A Novel by Jason Gurley

Eleanor is one of the most intriguing works of fiction. Jason Gurley, the author, spent fifteen years writing the book. He self-published it before it was picked up by a mainstream publisher--Crown of Random House. 

Eleanor is a tour de force; At its heart is a brave fourteen-year-old girl who wants to change her family's tragic trajectory. Her grandmother, also named Eleanor, was deeply unhappy. Her unhappiness spread to her daughter and grandchildren.

What makes the work different is that its a ghost story unlike any other. After reading about the tragic history of the Witts, readers are confronted with a brand new reality--Mea and Efah. Who are these mysterious beings and how do they affect Eleanor and Jack?

Eleanor is filled with searing images. Readers can see the two protagonist jumping off Huffnagle Rock, hand in hand. They can see Eleanor falling and then disappearing. They can see Jack's grief after Eleanor is transported to an mysterious place--the Rift.

Eleanor, a teen-aged warrior, discovers the power to heroically change her present and her past by entering people's dreamscapes. She encounters a witch, a frosty environment, dinosaurs, and the plane responsible for her cousins' deaths. 

After researching the author, I've discovered why the novel seems so alive with vibrant images. Gurley devised Eleanor as a graphic novel as he attests in his blog, 
https://conditionclear.wordpress.com.



Thank you to Library journal for sending me an advance reader's copy of Eleanor. What a fabulous read it has turned out to be!