The Price of Their Toys: Stories by John P. Loonam (Cornerstone Press). Reviewed by Chris Rutledge. “Brooklynite Loonam taught in New York City public schools for over three decades and uses his exposure to young men of all ages to inform his writing. The father of two grown sons, he casts a sympathetic eye on those who wrestle with what it is to be a man in 21st-century America.”

Scale Boy: An African Childhood by Patrice Nganang (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Reviewed by Gretchen Lida. “In the end, Scale Boy might feel to readers unfamiliar with Cameroon the same way Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ feels to those unfamiliar with 18th-century England. In the latter case, it’s the reader’s job to find out whom ‘the Pretender of Spain’ refers to. In the former, the reader must learn what granduras, sanjas, and other things are. Perhaps reading, like traveling, should be an act of de-centering ourselves. By working to understand different cultures, we also work to undo the horrors of colonialism. Because it forces us to do that work, Scale Boy is worth its weight in gold.”

The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts: A Novel by Kim Fu (Tin House). Reviewed by Emily Hall. “A harrowing work of psychological horror, Kim Fu’s third novel, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, explores the complexities of caretaking. The story begins after its protagonist, Eleanor Fan, has lost her mother, Lele, to cancer. Following Lele’s last wishes, Eleanor uses her inheritance to buy a house. Although Eleanor is initially excited by this purchase, she soon realizes that the house is in disrepair. Overwhelmed by home ownership and still grappling with grief, she struggles to take care of herself.”

Mule Boy: A Novel by Andrew Krivak (Bellevue Literary Press). Reviewed by Raima Larter. “The short novel explores the myriad effects trauma can have on a young life through unflinching depictions of addiction, problems connecting with others in intimate relationships, and the overarching, driving need for a person who suffered early trauma to achieve closure and, ultimately, to confess his own role in the tragedy. And the author does it all in exquisite prose that explores a fascinating period in American history.”

Medium Rare: A Novel by A. Natasha Joukovsky (Melville House). Reviewed by Serena Zets. “As someone largely unfamiliar with the inner workings of college basketball, let alone March Madness, I found Medium Rare fun, digestible, and compelling. Phil’s arc is as much about ambition and luck as it is about sports. He isn’t a very likable hero — he’s cocky and often annoying — but the author is as intentional and thoughtful in depicting these traits as she is in capturing Cassandra’s observation of them.”

Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry by David Streitfeld (Mariner Books). Reviewed by Eugene L. Meyer. “As Streitfeld walks us through McMurtry’s serial adventures, through the making of films and the writing of books, he reveals the backstories that contemporaneous reviewers had somehow missed. ‘The Last Picture Show,’ for instance, was a hotbed of, well, hot beds as the casting couch took on new meaning on and off the set. During filming, McMurtry, Streitfeld writes, had an affair with debut actress Cybill Shepherd. But then, Shepherd slept with Jeff Bridges, too, who played her boyfriend in the movie. (There’s enough here for another film, ‘Backstage at the Last Picture Show.’)”

Sweet Home Feliciana: Family, Slavery, and the Hauntings of History by Rashauna Johnson (Cambridge University Press). Reviewed by Nicole Schrag. “In between these bookends, Johnson paints a rich picture of a place that could’ve easily been written off as an antebellum backwater, arguing persuasively for its complex global significance. Feliciana did have plantations owned by white families and worked by enslaved Black people. But long before that, it was home to Tunica Indians and was later subject to conflict among the Spanish, French, and American governments — and those who would rebel against them.”

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