HOW TO NOT KNOW: The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers by Simone Stolzoff C’13 (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026, $29.99.) By blending engrossing storytelling, research, and practical insights, Stolzoff [“In the Balance,” Jan|Feb 2023] presents a guide to navigating uncertainty in careers, politics, and our personal lives with courage and clarity. Buy this book
WORLD NEWS FROM WAVERLY HIGH by Linda Stern Kass PT’75 (She Writes Press, 2026, $17.99.) It’s 1969 and high school junior Lena Rosen is taking classes in history and journalism when issues such as the Vietnam War, racism, and environmental destruction are in the news. When civil unrest breaks out at her school, the headlines hit closer to home and Lena awakens to her responsibility for the world she will soon claim. Buy this book
AMERICAN PERIL: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism by Scott Kurashige C’91 (University of California Press, 2026, $27.95.) Scholar and activist Kurashige offers a probing account of anti-Asian violence in America—from the lynching of Asian immigrants during the exclusion era to the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin to the racism fomented by the COVID-19 pandemic—and calls us to build lasting solidarity. Buy this book
WHAT KIND OF MOTHER: A Reckoning by Judy Sandler C’84 (West Virginia University Press, 2026, $22.99.) A mother’s memoir that reckons with her son’s descent into severe mental illness, this book chronicles Sandler’s initial denial of the truth, her painful awakening to mental illness in her family, and her eventual acceptance that she cannot save her son—only he can save himself. Buy this book
THERE’S SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND by Gloria Ketterer C’86 writing as Gloria Duke (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2026, $17.99.) In this paranormal rom-com, a man washes up on shore and is rescued by a kindhearted bed-and-breakfast owner. Soon, he casually reveals that he’s a merman, the same merman who rescued her a decade ago. Can their surfside chemistry survive above water, or is it just a fling? Buy this book
WHAT ART IS NOW: Creativity in the Age of AI by Michael E. Jones WG’74 and Michael Caballes (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026, $40.50.) Artificial intelligence is reshaping the way we define, create, and experience art. Can AI be truly creative? Will human artists be replaced? And what rights do humans have over works produced in partnership with machines? Blending philosophy, law, neuroscience, and cultural history, the authors investigate how AI challenges traditional notions of authorship, originality, and artistic value. Buy this book
REIKO AND THE VISITOR: Can Two People, One Irradiated in Nevada, the Other in Hiroshima, Meet and Transform Us All? by John A. McCabe LPS’15 (Purple Crow Publications, 2025, $23.99.) In 1962, 19-year-old Army recruit Joe McGrath is exposed to the ravages of atomic bomb detonations in the Nevada desert. In 1968, he meets Reiko, a Japanese girl who survived the bombing of Hiroshima. In this novel, their sorrow and anger shifts to a passion for the true confessions long overdue in the atomic age. Buy this book
FROM THE ASHES: The Documents of a Jewish Family, Volumes I and II by Sherwin Gluck EAS’92 (Tisza Publishing, 2026, $99.95 per hardcover volume; $49.95 for the combined Kindle edition.) Drawing on the Gluck Family Papers, this two-volume documentary history reconstructs one Jewish family’s struggle to emigrate, survive the Holocaust, trace missing relatives, and rebuild after the war through translated correspondence, official records, Holocaust documentation, and postwar tracing and restitution files. The work also analyzes photographs from the Auschwitz Album that may depict members of Gluck’s family. It is the fourth work in the Gluck Family Legacy series. Buy this book (Vol 1, Vol II)
ANTIRACISM TO ABOLITION: Professional Learning for Liberating Schools by Abby C. Emerson C’09 (Harvard Education Press, 2026, $36.00.) An education professor shares how school leaders, equity facilitators, and educators can transform schools into truly equitable and liberatory spaces. Buy this book
ELF UNWRAPPED: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Christmas Classic by Aaron Karo W’01 and Andy Richter (HarperCollins, 2026, $30.00.) Featuring a foreword by actor Will Ferrell, this is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most beloved holiday movies of the modern era, written by two comedians and including interviews with Ferrell, director Jon Favreau, costar Zooey Deschanel, and many others who brought Elf to life. Buy this book
ALBERT’S TIME by Marc Bookman C’78 (Black Rose Writing, 2026, $20.95.) Public defender Marc Bookman has penned a novel that is a deeply realistic portrayal of a life-or-death sentencing in a capital murder trial. When a client insists on his guilt, attorney Simon Koufax struggles to understand his motivations and discovers some crimes have explanations that defy simple judgements. Buy this book
