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Pierced by grief and charged with history, this new poetry collection from the award-winning author of Prelude to Bruise and How We Fight for Our Lives confronts our everyday apocalypses.

In haunted poems glinting with laughter, Saeed Jones explores the public and private betrayals of life as we know it. With verve, wit, and elegant craft, Jones strips away American artifice in order to reveal the intimate grief of a mourning son and the collective grief bearing down on all of us.

Drawing from memoir, fiction, and persona, Jones confronts the everyday perils of white supremacy with a finely tuned poetic ear, identifying moments that seem routine even as they open chasms of hurt. Viewing himself as an unreliable narrator, Jones looks outward to understand what's within, bringing forth cultural icons like Little Richard, Paul Mooney, Aretha Franklin and Diahann Carroll to illuminate how long and how perilously we've been living on top of fault lines. As these poems seek ways to love and survive through America's existential threats, Jones ushers his readers toward the realization that the end of the world is already here--and the apocalypse is a state of being.

A dyslexic bookworm joins her school's cheerleading squad to investigate her sister's strange behavior in this insightful and sharp middle grade novel about the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

Seventh grader Bag loves to read. It doesn't come easy to her, thanks to her dyslexia, but she's determined, and she spends every afternoon after school at the library. It's a ritual she refuses to miss.

Then a new career opportunity for her mother means Bag will no longer have a ride to her cherished library. Instead, Bag will have to wait for a ride at school. With her sister, Minerva. At cheerleading practice.

Bag is uncoordinated and completely uninterested in school spirit. But she is curious about what her sister has been hiding. Minerva has been acting stranger than usual, and Bag has been noticing. So while cheerleading practice may be the last place Bag wants to be, she's going to use her time wisely and get to the bottom of Minerva's secrets.

A fun, flirty teen debut from Wattpad phenom Alex Light about a fake relationship and real love. Perfect for Jenny Han fans.

It's been years since seventeen-year-old Becca Hart believed in true love. But when her former best friend teases her for not having had a boyfriend, Becca impulsively pretends she's been secretly seeing someone.

Brett Wells has it all. As captain of the football team and one of the most popular guys in his school, he should have no problem finding someone to date, but he's always been more focused on his future than who to bring to prom.

When he overhears Becca's lie, Brett decides to step in and be the mystery guy. It's the perfect solution: he gets people off his back for not having a meaningful relationship and she can keep up the ruse that she's got a boyfriend.

Acting like the perfect couple isn't easy, though, especially when you barely know the other person. But with Becca still picking up the pieces from when her world was blown apart years ago and Brett just barely holding his together now, they begin to realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined.

When the line between what is pretend and what is real begins to blur, they're forced to answer the question: Is this fake romance the realest thing in either of their lives?

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones, comes a slasher story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose in a small town. Winner of both the 2020 Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards!

We thought we'd play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead.

One last laugh for the summer as it winds down. One last prank just to scare a friend. Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right? Until it wakes up. Until it starts killing.

Luckily, Sawyer has a plan. He'll be a hero. He'll save everyone to the best of his ability. He'll do whatever he needs to so he can save the day.

That's the thing about heroes--sometimes you have to become a monster first.

"A fairy tale of impermanence showcasing Graham Jones's signature style of smart, irreverent horror."
--The New York Times

From the author of the Oprah's Book Club Selection An American Marriage, here is a beautifully evocative novel that proves why Tayari Jones is "one of the most important voices of her generation" (Essence). It was the end of summer, a summer during the two-year nightmare in which Atlanta's African-American children were vanishing and twenty-nine would be found murdered by 1982. Here fifth-grade classmates Tasha Baxter, Rodney Green, and Octavia Harrison will discover back-to-school means facing everyday challenges in a new world of safety lessons, terrified parents, and constant fear.

The moving story of their struggle to grow up-and survive- shimmers with the piercing, ineffable quality of childhood, as it captures all the hurts and little wins, the all-too-sudden changes, and the merciless, outside forces that can sweep the young into adulthood and forever shape their lives.

PRAISE FOR TAYARI JONES
"Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear." -- Michael Chabon

"Tayari Jones has emerged as one of the most important voices of her generation." -- Essence

"One of America's finest writers." -- Nylon.com

"Tayari Jones is a wonderful storyteller." -- Ploughshares

From two of America's most respected journalists, an unflinching and explosive reckoning with one of the most fateful decisions in American political history: Joe Biden's run for reelection despite evidence of his serious decline--amid desperate efforts to hide the extent of that deterioration

In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy.

Joe Biden launched his successful 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump presidential term. He, his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations. At his debate with Trump on June 27, 2024, the consequences of that deception were exposed to the world. It was shocking and upsetting.

Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson take us behind closed doors and into private conversations between the heaviest of hitters, revealing how big the problem was and how many people knew about it. From White House staffers at the highest to lowest levels, to leaders of Congress and the Cabinet, from governors to donors and Hollywood players, the truth is finally being told. What you will learn makes President Biden's decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless--a desperate bet that went bust--and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents. The story the authors tell raises fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will continue for decades.

The irony is biting: In the name of defeating what they called an existential threat to democracy, Biden and his inner circle ensured it, tossing aside his implicit promise to serve for only one term, denying the existence of health issues the nation had been watching for years, dooming the Democrats to defeat. The decision to run again, the Original Sin of this president, led to a campaign of denial and gaslighting, leading directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has happened as a consequence. Rarely does hubris meet nemesis more explosively. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, Original Sin is essential reading.

This irresistible and hilarious rom-com from acclaimed author Alex Crespo is a whirlwind of telenovela-level drama and hijinks when Joaquin Zoido finds himself fake-dating his childhood crush and newly minted date to his queerceañera.

Joaquin Zoido is out and proud of it. And while he knew his dad and sister, Carmen, would be super supportive, he wasn't quite ready for them to surprise him with a queerceañera, a coming out party to celebrate him. Between all the talks of tastings and venues, and the chirping of his family's RSVP texts, the question of who will be his chambelán is on everyone's minds.

What Joaquin is decidedly trying to not think about is whether his mom is going attend or if she's finally replaced him with her favorite godson, Felix--the boy who made Joaquin realize he was gay and who was his first kiss. But when an impromptu lie snowballs into a full-fledged family-group-chat rumor, every Zoido from Texas to Mexico starts believing that Felix is not only Joaquin's chambelán but also his brand-new boyfriend.

To avoid the pity and sympathies of an ill-timed breakup, Joaquin and Felix strike a deal--they'll stay fake boyfriends until the party. Yet, as the day draws nearer and old feelings spark anew, Joaquin will have to decide whether a picture-perfect queerceañera with a fake boyfriend is worth giving up the chance of something real.

"This is the book that would've saved me nine different therapists, decades of self-analysis, thousands of pounds, twelve different doctors and untold amounts of pain, frustration and trauma - in spending a lifetime looking for the right answers in the wrong places I've become an accidental expert."

In this candid, witty and insightful exploration into therapy, Steph Jones uses her professional and lived experiences as a late diagnosed autistic woman and therapist, as well as consulting therapists from across the world and tapping into the autistic community, to create the ultimate autistic survival guide to therapy.

Steph confronts the statistics, inadequate practices and ableist therapists head on and poses the questions of how we can make therapy neurodivergence-affirming and how to create safe spaces for autistic individuals. With strategic and practical advice to help recognise the 'red flags' of a dodgy therapist and provide a clear roadmap to finding your confidence and setting the appropriate boundaries with a new therapist, Steph has every question answered.

To support therapists striving for inclusivity and a neurodiverse affirming practice, the inclusion of a context guide provides a deconstruction of each therapy session so you can recognise how undiagnosed (or diagnosed) autism may present itself during therapy and how you can start to explore this in the therapeutic space.

An original Marvel Comics graphic novel starring the Fantastic Four, written and illustrated by renowned, multi-award-winning artist Alex Ross.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
NAMED A BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST

It's a rainy night in Manhattan and not a creature is stirring except for . . . Ben Grimm. When an intruder suddenly appears inside the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four--Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm)--find themselves surrounded by a swarm of invading parasites. These carrion creatures composed of Negative Energy come to Earth using a human host as a delivery system. But for what purpose? And who is behind this untimely invasion?

The Fantastic Four have no choice but to journey into the Negative Zone, an alien universe composed entirely of anti-matter, risking not just their own lives but the fate of the cosmos!

Fantastic Four: Full Circle is the first longform work written and illustrated by acclaimed artist Alex Ross, who revisits a classic Stan Lee-Jack Kirby story from the 1960s and introduces the storyline for a new generation of readers. With bold, vivid colors and his trademark visual storytelling, Ross takes Marvel's first team of super heroes to places only he can illustrate. The book also features a special poster jacket, with the front flap unfolding to reveal an all-new fully painted origin story of the Fantastic Four.

Welcome to the Negative Zone and MarvelArts--a new collaborative line of books between Marvel Comics and Abrams ComicArts--where nothing is impossible and anything can happen!

From the New York Times-bestselling author of the Indian Lake trilogy: Three stories that uncover what's lurking just beyond your headlights . . .

Take a road trip into your darkest nightmares with three stories from the modern master of horror and "one of the best writers working today" (NPR). Here, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones gives evil an all-too-familiar face, whether it's the man from the dog shelter, a colleague at a work convention, or even just your phone. Horror can reach you everywhere and when you least expect it . . .

In "Interstate Love Affair," a serial killer's unique way of disposing of his victims' bodies gives roadkill an even more gruesome meaning. "No Takebacks" tracks how an app goes from an idea to coding to letting loose its creator's darkest impulses. And there's nowhere to hide during "The Coming of Night," when a predator's latest kill sets off a creepy-crawly timebomb inside of him.

Buckle up for page-turning scares from "a genuine horror superstar" (Esquire).

A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage--Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.

"Kin is the kind of all-encompassing reading experience I'm always hoping to find: smart and funny and deftly profound. This is Tayari Jones's very best work." --Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake

Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother's death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.

A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.

From the legendary editor who helped shape modern cookbook publishing--one of the food world's most admired figures--an evocative and inspiring memoir.
Living in Paris after World War II, Judith Jones broke free of the bland American food she had been raised on and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States--hoping to bring some "joie de cuisine" to America--she published Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking. "The rest is publishing and gastronomic history.
A new world now opened up to Jones: discovering, with her husband, Evan, the delights of "American" food; working with the tireless Julia; absorbing the wisdom of James Beard; understanding food as memory through the writings of Claudia Roden and Madhur Jaffrey; demystifying the techniques of Chinese cookery with Irene Kuo; absorbing the Italian way through the warmth of Lidia Bastianich; and working with Edna Lewis, Marion Cunningham, Joan Nathan, and other groundbreaking cooks.
Jones considers matters of taste (can it be acquired?). She discusses the vagaries of vegetable gardening in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the joys of foraging in the woods and meadows. And she writes about M.F.K. Fisher: as mentor, friend, and the source of luminous insight into the arts of eating, living, and aging.
Embellished with fifty recipes--each with its own story and special tips--this is an absolutely charming memoir by a woman who was present at the creation of the American food revolution and played a seminal role in shaping it.

One of The New Yorker's "The Best Books We Read in 2020" picks

"Jones's great achievement is to reckon with both history and interiority, and to collapse the boundary between them."--Anna Wiener, The New Yorker

The new edition of an American masterpiece, this is the harrowing story of Ursa Corregidora, a blues singer in the early 20th century forced to confront the inherited trauma of slavery.

A literary classic that remains vital to our understanding of the past, Corregidora is Gayl Jones's powerful debut novel, examining womanhood, sexuality, and the psychological residue of slavery. Jones masterfully tells the story of Ursa, a Kentucky blues singer, who, in the wake of a tragic loss, confronts her maternal history and the legacy of Corregidora, the Brazilian slave master who fathered both her mother and grandmother. Consumed and haunted by her hatred of the man who irrevocably shaped her life and the lives of her family, Ursa Corregidora must come to terms with a past that is never too distant from the present.

Selected, edited, and first edited by Toni Morrison, it is "the most brutally honest and painful revelation of what has occurred, and is occurring, in the souls of Black men and women," (James Baldwin) and "a tale as American as Mount Rushmore and as murky as the Florida swamps." (Maya Angelou).

Alex Pheby's Mordew launches an astonishingly inventive epic fantasy trilogy.

God is dead, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew.

In the slums of the sea-battered city, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.

The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength--and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.

So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him--and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets, and vendettas of the city where God was murdered, and darkness reigns.

Propulsive, compulsively readable, full of unforgettable characters and a talking dog who wants to be a philosopher, Mordew is an epic fantasy strange, new, and terrifyingly alive.

A sweeping historical novel for readers of all ages.

O​liver Atkinson begins life invisible-an orphan bound in servitude to a cruel English baron, imprisoned for a debt that was never his. But destiny has other plans. A daring escape makes him a stowaway across the Atlantic on The Beaver, landing him in Boston Harbor just as the first sparks of the American Revolution ignite. From the shadows of the Boston Tea Party, Oliver is drawn into the secret world of the Sons of Liberty.

​ As protests erupt into open war, Oliver comes of age beside a nation fighting to be born. He walks the cobblestones of colonial Boston, stands on Lexington Green, and witnesses the sacrifices that shape the struggle for American independence. But Oliver is no mere observer-he is pulled into the war's most dangerous fronts, from the chaos of early rebellion to Yorktown's final thunder. Along the way, he crosses paths with the figures who will shape history, seeing firsthand the burdens behind their legends.

​ Set amid the turmoil of the American Revolutionary War, The Unlikely Life of Oliver Atkinson is a sweeping work of Revolutionary War historical fiction that brings colonial America vividly to life. Through Oliver's journey-from indentured servant to witness of a nation's birth-readers experience the courage, sacrifice, and faith that marked the founding of the United States and the fight for liberty that changed the world.

The New York Times-bestselling author "shows how a serial killer's paradise and a serial killer's hell are really the same place" (Brian Evenson, O. Henry Award-winning author).

When a serial killer hits the top of his game, where does he go from there? William Colton Hughes finds out. Not interested in notoriety, Hughes just wants to do what he's good at: torture and murder. It never occurs to him that he could make a living at it . . . until the yoga instructor.

She happens to be the girlfriend of a powerful and cunning crime boss who catches Hughes literally red-handed. In a twist even Hughes never sees coming, he's not immediately put down. Instead, he's set up in a warren of apartments. Hughes's own private high-rise sanctuary, where his new benefactor feeds victims to him. He couldn't ask for more. But when his supplies stop coming, Hughes begins to lose his already tenuous grip on reality--and learns that even monsters have their own boogeymen to deal with . . .

"A grim, funny, stylish hallucination of a book--murderous insanity seen from the inside out. You'll be revolted by this guy, but he'll fascinate you too." --Jack Ketchum, Bram Stoker Award-winning author

"[Jones's] writing is hallucinogenic, varied, fascinating. . . . Big names in writing [come] to mind: Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, even Faulkner." --New Pages

New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones is back with the first novel in the brand-new snarky, sassy, wickedly fun Sunshine Vicram series--A Bad Day for Sunshine!

"Laugh-out-loud funny, intensely suspenseful, page-turning fun."--New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan

"A Bad Day For Sunshine is a great day for the rest of us."--New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o' joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.

Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee--and, now, a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff--thanks to her adorably meddlesome parents who nominated her--and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter's new school, plus and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny.

But even clouds have their silver linings. This one's got Levi, Sunshine's sexy, almost-old-flame, and a fiery-hot US Marshal. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol's normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger. Can Sunshine face the call of duty--and find the kidnapper who's terrorizing her beloved hometown--without falling head over high heels in love...or worse?

From the award-winning author of MELISSA, a sweet and tart story about unexpected friendship and family reconciliation.

THIS IS NOT THE SUMMER CHRIS HAD PLANNED...

Chris does not want to be spending the summer with her grandparents and her little sister. Her grandparents aren't bad -- they just don't let Chris do what she wants to do, which is sit around and read all day. And her sister, Becca, is the opposite, never sitting still and never being quiet.

The good part is that Chris's grandparents are always telling her to go outside and "get some air" -- so she can escape into the woods with a book and get some alone time. Or at least it's alone time until Mia comes along. Mia is also in town for the summer, and she understands Chris in a way that Chris's family just can't.

Soon Chris is sneaking off to spend as much time with her friend as possible. But is there more to Mia than Mia is saying?

"By God, Brooke Jones is a Hell of a writer!" -- Ben Fong-Torres/former EDITOR of ROLLING STONE Magazine

If you think a CONVERSATION WITH GOD could not possibly be FUNNY, you're in for a very BIG surprise!

Brooke Jones, Breast Cancer Warrior, Political Satirist, and former San Francisco and Los Angeles Radio Personality died, but her death was short-lived. Eight minutes passed on Earth while she was busy being dead, but she wasn't on Earth, she was at Heaven's Front Door, interviewing God!

"What is the meaning of life?" "What religion is God?" "Is God male or female?" Brooke asked every question she could think of, and God provided the answers. The first thing she learned was that God has a sense of humor! (of course God has a sense of humor -- have you ever seen a Platypus?)

Was she returned to the Land Of The Living because of the startling final question she asked? Did all that she experienced really happen, or was it just the hallucination of her dying brain? She didn't know, until she was given proof - absolute proof - proof she could not possibly deny!

"WHY ARE THERE MONKEYS? (and other questions for God)" is the absolutely TRUE, deeply INSPIRATIONAL, laugh-out-loud FUNNY story of one woman's Near-Death Question and Answer Session with God. (and there is undeniable proof that it really did happen!)

"PROFOUND...HYSTERICALLY WITTY...NOT TO BE MISSED!" US REVIEW OF BOOKS

"A HOOT & A HALF WITH A POWERFUL & INSPIRING MESSAGE!" ***** READERS' FAVORITE

"A BRILLIANT BOOK! I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!" ***** READERS' FAVORITE

"FASCINATING...HUMOR-LADEN...THOUGHT-PROVOKING...UNRESERVEDLY RECOMMENDED!" MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"By God, Brooke Jones is a hell of a writer!" Ben Fong-Torres -- former Editor of ROLLING STONE Magazine

"Smart, funny and profoundly spiritual -- a deeply-moving experience that skeptics and believers alike can embrace. I loved it!" Howard Rosenberg - Pulitzer Prize winning former Los Angeles Times columnist and author.

"Delightful, insightful, spiritual and startlingly funny! It left me, an atheist, more of a believer than I was before!" Ray Richmond -- former columnist with The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Orange County Register, LA Herald Examiner.

Don't miss this timely contemporary young adult novel from Alex Flinn, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beastly, about a teenage boy's struggle to break free from the cycle of abuse.

"Gripping." --Publishers Weekly

Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas is pretty much perfect--on the outside, at least. What no one knows--not even his best friend--is the terror and anger that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father.

Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person he can confide in, the only person who understands him. But when Nick's anger and jealousy overtake him, things begin to spiral out of control and Nick realizes that he's more his father's son than he wants to be.

Now Nick must confront his inner demons to stop the history of violence from repeating itself.

Winner of the Black-Eyed Susan Award

An ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults

An International Reading Association Young Adult Choices List Pick

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age Pick

Best Book of the Year
NPR - The Washington Post - Boston Globe - TIME - USA Today - Entertainment Weekly - Real Simple - Parade - Buzzfeed - Electric Literature - LitHub - BookRiot - PopSugar - Goop - Library Journal - BookBub - KCRW

- Finalist for the National Book Award
- One of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year
- One of the New York Times Best Historical Fiction of the Year
- Instant New York Times Bestseller

A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.

Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man--a fellow slave--seeks to gain favor by preaching the master's gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony.

With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries--of ancestors and future generations to come--culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

In Alex Z. Salinas' previous poetry collections, he commenced conversation between the damaged body politic within himself and the bizarre, sometimes beautiful dream worlds of writers, painters and musicians-Muses-living and dead. In Hispanic Sonnets, the dials are turned up, the stakes (whatever they may be) are heavier, and the chorus of voices is louder, clearer. Hispanic Sonnets is part homage to the venerated and part turning the other cheek. In the final section of this book, a series of 15-line, free-verse sonnets continue the dialogue Salinas started in South Texas, or, to him, the center of his heart. This collection is the dream the poet still lives in, shattered and stitched back together with family, love, loss, pride and dignity; in short, Hispanic Sonnets is the book that least embarrasses him.

A note on Hispanic sonnets

What is a Hispanic sonnet? It is a 15-line, free-verse poem with a separated last line as its own

stanza. Each Hispanic sonnet's second and final stanza-that lonely little manmade

island-serves as its volta, or turn, meaning that where the poem ends in idea, tone, or spirit is

not necessarily where it begins.

Let it be known, then: a Hispanic sonnet is not really a sonnet.

Shakespeare transformed the 14-line English sonnet. Petrarch perfected the much-older 14-line

Italian sonnet. Wanda Coleman dazzled with her rule-busting, 14-line American sonnets, and

Terrance Hayes carried her tradition to new heights.

Corpus Christi's first Poet Laureate, Alan Berecka, informed me that writers he'd encountered

have penned 15-line sonnets called quince sonnets. Having never attended a quinceañera or a

quinceañero, I-a non-Spanish-speaking South Texan-smiled upon learning this grain of

poetry's organic history. Quince sonnets seemed to me, naturally, inevitable. The sweetest,

tangiest apples and oranges ever within reach.

The poet Iliana Rocha, whom I had the pleasure to read with on a virtual open mic, has authored

a beautiful, 18-line (by my count) poem titled "Mexican American Sonnet." Juan Felipe Herrera,

former United States Poet Laureate and the first Hispanic appointed to that role, once told me

he'd removed commas from a poem after having mastered them.

It is in this shadow, perhaps, that I arrived at the Hispanic sonnet, whose name is the only

invention herein I claim. The chasm between two stanzas representing everything and

nothing-the worst and best of what we are capable of in community and in solitude.

Everything else remains an inevitability.

ONE DAY, YOU'RE A VALUED EMPLOYEE OF THE COMPANY ... THE NEXT DAY, YOU'RE BEING PUSHED OUT THE DOOR.

What happens when your secure corporate job suddenly becomes precarious? Book editor Sarah Morris finds herself in this predicament when the company she has served for twenty-one years is reorganized. Sarah's boss gives all the company's book editing projects to freelancers and a pet employee, unofficially demoting Sarah, who must spend her days tagging documents. And when Sarah's boss starts bullying her, she realizes that she's been pigeonholed into a dead-end job.