Tony D'Souza has used his experience as a Peace Corps worker in the Ivory Coast to conjure up a bewitching medley of characters and locales deep in the African bush that is less a novel than a series of vignettes. The "whiteman" of the title is one Jack Diaz, who comes to help improve the potable water situation and finds himself caught up in the unfathomable mystery, beauty, and violence of an ancient world as it descends into modern warfare.

Newspaperwoman Emma Lord takes some time off to do some soul-searching. When her old Jag breaks down in a coastal town, Emma's relaxation ends as she helps friends investigate a grisly discovery: a skeleton in their basement.

Investigative reporter Cat Marsala uncovers the circumstances surrounding a case of police brutality in Chicago.

Mark Z. Danielewski, famous for his labyrinthine HOUSE OF LEAVES, takes the formal elements of fiction to dizzying new heights in ONLY REVOLUTIONS. The novel reads in both directions, with two narrators telling the story in free verse--the reader must flip the book, turn it upside down, and read from both ends. It's a wild, somewhat annoying, conceit, but the overall effect of the converging stories is fiendishly fun. Sam and Hailey, the teenage protagonists, embark on a cross-country (and cross-time) journey filled with crime and outlandish characters. Danielewski's super postmodern allegorical romp through America is so all-encompassing and expansive in nature that it resembles a crash course between HOUSE OF LEAVES and LEAVES OF GRASS--a true ode to the depths and reaches of American life.

Another beginning chapter book featuring Amber Brown. In this entry, Amber must deal with the engagement of her mother and her boyfriend, Max, and the loss of her father, who is moving back to the United States from Paris. To further complicate matters, Amber is going through a growth spurt and must deal with having a haircut that she hates.

A debut novel about the difficulties of growing up in a biracial family. Birdie, the narrator, is the daughter of a Boston Yankee and a black intellectual who met him at Harvard. While Birdie can pass for white, her sister Cole is darker and usually considered black. Both Birdie and Cole are taunted by their black classmates at school, and Birdie is favored over Cole by their white relatives. Eventually Birdie's parents separate and Birdie goes to live with her mother, while Cole moves to Brazil with her father.

A debut novel about the difficulties of growing up in a biracial family. Birdie, the narrator, is the daughter of a Boston Yankee and a black intellectual who met him at Harvard. While Birdie can pass for white, her sister Cole is darker and usually considered black. Both Birdie and Cole are taunted by their black classmates at school, and Birdie is favored over Cole by their white relatives. Eventually Birdie's parents separate and Birdie goes to live with her mother, while Cole moves to Brazil with her father.