Seeking your next good read? Emma Snyder, owner of The Ivy Bookshop at 5928 Falls Road in Baltimore, offers recommendations for must-read titles for adults and children.
Fiction
“Outlawed” (Hardcover)
By Anna North, Bloomsbury Publishing
272 pages, $26
“The Crucible” meets “True Grit” in this riveting adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West.
“The Girl with the Louding Voice: A Novel” (Newly in paperback)
By Abi Daré, Dutton
400 pages, $17
An unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself.
Nonfiction
“The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine” (Hardcover)
By Janice P. Nimura, W.W. Norton & Company
336 pages, $27.95
In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. She was soon joined by her younger sister, Emily Blackwell, MD. Nimura presents a story of trial and triumph.
“How the Post Office Created America: A History” (Paperback)
By Winifred Gallagher, Penguin Books
336 pages, $18
A masterful history of a long underappreciated (but newly spotlighted!) institution. How the Post Office Created America examines the surprising role of the postal service in our nation’s political, social, economic, and physical development.
Children
“A Song Below Water: A Novel” (Hardcover)
By Bethany C. Morrow
288 pages, $17.99
A captivating modern fantasy about Black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today’s racism and sexism. Protagonists Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable sisterhood proves to be the strongest magic of all. (Ages 13-18)
“Starla Jean” (Hardcover)
By Elana K. Arnold, Roaring Brook Press
96 pages, $14.99
Introducing Starla Jean! She’s full of moxie, clever as a fox, and obsessed with catching a chicken she finds at the park. This is
book number 1 in the Starla Jean series. (Ages 4-7)
The BCO, founded in 1984, will perform the works of Frank Zappa, Beethoven, Mason Bates and Karena Ingram.
Led by local Israel-American cellist Amit Peled, the Mount Vernon Virtuosi aims to inspire people beyond musical enjoyment.
Container vegetable gardening is a terrific option for people with limited space and/or time. Rebecca Brown and Norman Cohen share some tips.
Filmmaker Justin Schein looks at wealth and inequality through the very real story of his late father.