Black Hole

By Charles Burns

Black Hole tells the strange story of a group of teens in the 1970s who contract a sexually transmitted disease. But it’s not your average STD. This one causes bizarre mutations, like horns on your head or mouths on your neck. The hapless kids who contract “the bug” are sudden outcasts who bind together in awkward teenage love stories. Soon enough, the mutations are just the backdrop for a compelling coming-of-age tale in bizarro world. The throwback graphic novel comes from storyteller and artist Charles Burns, whose black-and-white artwork is plain and understated — the perfect compliment to his rich and complicated characters.

— Stuart A. Thompson

The History of Love

By Nicole Krauss

Krauss’ novel is not a typical love story. Rather, it’s a story about love in all capacities found in different settings, time periods and relationships. The History of Love follows two unlikely characters: Leo Gursky, a lonely old Polish man living in New York City, and Alma Singer, an imaginative fifteen-year-old from Brooklyn. The two are soon to find they have more in common than they think. They are bound by a long-lost book, The History of Love, which they both covet for different reasons.

Krauss seamlessly jumps between past and present as well as between Poland and New York, to demonstrate the power of literature through multiple narratives. The History of Love is historical fiction, a love story, a coming-of-age tale, and a memoir all rolled into one beautifully written novel.

— Maddie Leznoff

A Fine Balance

By Rohinton Mistry

*****

If you are in search of a light, fun summer read, Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance definitely isn’t it. The politically-driven novel takes life’s demising realities and bluntly shoves them in your face, outlining the changes in Indian society in 1947.  Mistry is well-informed and is able to lift the four principal characters off the pages and transform them into complex figments of the imagination. Each character’s compelling story is memorable and they are all provoked by a thick layer of political turmoil. The 700-page novel is full of political crisis and details a series of lives through a fine lens. Mistry’s transformative writing allows for a smooth read through each chapter, while leaving a true sense of satisfaction after every page.

—Nicole Gibillini

The Girls

By Lori Lansens

Lansens’ follow-up to her critically acclaimed Rush Home Road deals with the the themes of sisterhood and family. A fictional autobiography, The Girls tells the story of Ruby and Rose Carlen, the oldest surviving twins in the world conjoined at the head. Abandoned by their teenage mother, the pair are taken in by their attending nurse and grow up in a small town near Leaford. At 29, the twins’ health begins to deteriorate drastically and Rose proposes writing their autobiography to let others to know their history. What follows is a story of friendship, love, cruelty and survival told from the unique viewpoints of two very different girls.

—Meagan Kashty