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 | Midwestern Strange: Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country Nonfiction by B.J. Hollars University of Nebraska Press September 1, 2019 Paperback $19.95 ISBN: 9781496215604 Visit the author's website Tag the author on Twitter Tag the imprint on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram Read more about this title on Edelweiss |
- Midwest Connection: B. J. Hollars grew up in Indiana and now resides in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The book considers monstrous happenings in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Indiana, West Virginia, and elsewhere in the Midwest.
- Shelf-talker: Think there's nothing odd, mysterious, or phenomenal about flyover country? Look a bit closer.
| Overview Midwestern Strange chronicles B.J. Hollars’ exploration of the mythic, lesser-known oddities of flyover country, from bipedal wolf sightings to run-ins with pancake-flipping space aliens. The goal is not to confirm or debunk these mysteries but to seek out these unexplained phenomena to understand how they complicate our worldview and to discover what “truths” might be gleaned by reexamining the facts in our “post-truth” era. B. J. Hollars is an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He is the author of The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders, Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds (Nebraska, 2017), and From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human (Nebraska, 2015). Target Readers Readers of nonfiction and local oddities (secondary interest in mystery, science fiction). Comp Titles The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway by Ben Mezrich Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting by W. Scott Poole On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma | Blurbs “From Bigfoot to Area 51 to the Jersey Devil, the United States boasts plenty of legendary unsolved mysteries, and the Midwest has had its share of odd occurrences. B. J. Hollars takes a look at a few of these in the entertaining and informative travelogue Midwestern Strange." —Jeff Fleischer, Foreword Reviews “What happens when a professor ventures out to discover the unusual? Werewolves, UFOs, and mysterious creatures become his field of study, the road becomes his classroom, and this book becomes your guide to adventure.” —Chad Lewis, author of Minnesota Road Guide to Mysterious Creatures “In this intriguing travelogue of marvels, B.J. Hollars encounters werewolves, giant turtles, Mothmen, flying saucers, and other phantoms that haunt the landscape of flyover country. The real wonders in this extraordinary book, however, are the fascinating people that Hollars meets along the way. Midwestern Strange has something for those who want to believe as well as for those who are looking to find the human heart at the center of these charming tales of the unknown.” —Gregory L. Reece, author of Creatures of the Night and Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs |
 | The Topeka School Fiction by Ben Lerner Farrar, Straus & Giroux / Macmillan October 1, 2019 Hardcover $27.00 ISBN: 9780374277789 Visit the author's website Tag the imprint on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram Read more about this title on Edelweiss |
- Midwest Connection: Set in Ben Lerner’s hometown of Topeka, Kansas in the 1990s, this novel reckons with the political contradictions, social neuroses, complex histories that define the region—and the country. Lerner writes with the lyricism of a poet and the tender generosity of a local.
- Shelf-talker: From the author of 10:04, a new novel on family, masculinity, and the changing shape of American political life.
| Overview From the award-winning author of 10:04 and Leaving the Atocha Station, a tender and expansive family drama set in the American Midwest at the turn of the century: a tale of adolescence, transgression, and the conditions that have given rise to the trolls and tyrants of the New Right. Ben Lerner was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1979. He has received fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundations, and is the author of two internationally acclaimed novels, Leaving the Atocha Station and 10:04, and of a book-length essay, "The Hatred of Poetry." He has published three poetry collections: The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, and Mean Free Path. Lerner is a professor of English at Brooklyn College. Target Readers Literary fiction. It's for sons, daughters, parents, poets, and anyone interested in our political moment. | Blurbs "The Topeka School is one of those amazing novels that captures a specific place and period, even as it reveals transcendent truths about the human condition. I cannot stop thinking about all the humanity infused in each character.” —Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS “Leaving the Atocha Station and 10:04 set the stage for The Topeka School, a bracing look at a family coming to terms with itself in Kansas. There are brilliant narrative steps back as well as forward, giving this late twentieth century setting even more resonance. A readerly joy.” —Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA “One of the most powerful, resonant inquiries into what, in dangerous and disjointed times, might possibly constitute a good life.” —John Ganiard, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI |
 | We Speak in Storms Young Adult Fiction by Natalie Lund Philomel Books / Penguin Publishing Group September 3, 2019 Hardcover $17.99 ISBN: 9780525518006 Visit the author's website Tag the author on Twitter / Instagram Tag the imprint on Twitter / Instagram Read more about this title on Edelweiss |
- Midwest Connection: We Speak in Storms is set in small-town Illinois. Natalie Lund lives in Chicago.
- Shelf-talker: A powerful and haunting debut novel about friendship, acceptance, and learning to let go as the balance between the living and the dead is upended, perfect for fans of We Were Liars.
| Overview It's been more than 50 years since a tornado tore through tiny Mercer, Illinois, leaving a whole generation of Mercerites dead in its wake. And when another tornado touches down in the same spot on the anniversary of this tragedy, loners Brenna Ortiz, Joshua Calloway, and Callie Keller find their lives intersecting alongside some of the town’s long-gone inhabitants. Natalie Lund is a former middle and high school teacher. A graduate of Purdue University's MFA program, she taught introductory composition and creative writing there, and also served as the fiction editor of The Sycamore Review. Natalie lives in Chicago with her husband. Target Readers This is contemporary YA fiction with a bit of ghost-lore, and would be enjoyed by readers 12+. | Blurbs “A hauntingly atmospheric coming-of-age story . . . with fully realized characters, an empowering message, and a highly satisfying conclusion." —SLJ "A lingering, quietly paced story about the echoes of trauma and the persistence of hope." —Booklist "This suspenseful novel . . . immediately grabs the reader’s attention . . . [Readers] will be eager to find out what happens next." —SLC Comp Titles Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab We Were Liars by E. Lockhart |
 | A Map into the World Juvenile Fiction by Kao Kalia Yang Illustrated by Seo Kim Carolrhoda Books / Lerner Publishing Group October 1, 2019 Hardcover $17.99 ISBN: 9781541538368 Visit the author's website Tag the author on Twitter / Facebook Tag the imprint on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram Read more about this title on Edelweiss |
- Midwest Connection: Kao Kalia Yang lives in St. Paul, MN.
- Shelf-talker: Kao Kalia Yang's debut picture book features a young Hmong American girl who seeks out beauty everywhere. By sharing all she's seen with her grieving widower neighbor, she finds a true connection.
| Overview As the seasons change, so too does a young Hmong American girl's world. She moves into a new home with her family and encounters both birth and death. This moving picture book debut from acclaimed Hmong American author Kao Kalia Yang celebrates connections formed through art and friendship. Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American writer and author of the award-winning books The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir and The Song Poet. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, her daughter, and twin sons. A Map into the World is her first picture book. Target Readers Children age level 5 to 9. Comp Titles Niko Draws a Feeling by Bob Raczka Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford Joy in Mudville by Bob Raczka | Blurbs "A young Hmong girl settles into her new home, and as the seasons change, so does the world around her. A Map Into the World is a beautiful and hopeful story about love and loss, family and friendship, and it belongs in every reader's hands." —Sarah Park Dahlen, Associate Professor in the MLIS Program at St. Catherine University "With the clear, careful, and beautiful language we've come to expect from her, Kao Kalia Yang unfurls her first children's book, a journey waiting to reward our every step. This sad but heartening work reminds us how important it is that we care for our neighbors, and in so doing, we may discover we are not so different—a message that our children need now, more than ever." —Bao Phi, author of A Different Pond "There is a timeless, familiar quality to Kao Kalia Yang's lovely, gentle picture book that will keep readers young and old returning to these pages again and again." —Alison McGhee, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Someday |
