Bookshelf

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Scaffolding

by Lauren Elkin ’00

This first novel by Elkin, an essayist, cultural critic, and translator, tells the story of two young couples living in the same Parisian apartment nearly 50 years apart yet experiencing similarly complicated lives. The dreamlike narrative shifts between the characters and across time, as they confront the challenges of marriage, fidelity, pregnancy, loss, and the turbulent times they find themselves in. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

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This Is Not a Dead Girl Story

by Kate Sweeney ’06

Jules Green is the only person left who believes that her cousin, Remy, is still alive. Still reeling from the death of Remy’s boyfriend, River, and her cousin’s subsequent disappearance, Jules embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind her missing cousin. Sweeney writes for young women discovering their own power via a tale seeped in family secrets, true crime intrigue, and small town lore. (Penguin Random House)

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Becoming Carly Klein

by Elizabeth Harlan ’67

Harlan’s writing sets us in gritty, 1980s New York City and introduces us to Carly Klein, a high schooler suddenly bored with life after her neglectful parents divorce and her best friend moves away. Her solution is a new obsession with one of her mother’s therapy patients: Daniel, a blind student at Columbia College, who is unaware that Carly is only pretending to be a student at Barnard. Carly comes of age via heartbreak and rebellion and learns how to find herself even amid dubious life choices. (Simon & Schuster)

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Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America

by Paola Ramos ’09

Ramos takes a hands-on, journalistic approach to uncovering an unexpected new demographic in the U.S.: far-right Latino voters. The book profiles various conservative figures in the Latino American community — politicians, vigilantes, religious figures — and traces the influences that form their policies and values. Ramos’s research provides a sympathetic but critical look at a powerful voting base that could have a great influence on American democracy. (Penguin Random House)

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Derek Walcott’s Encounter with Homer: Landscape, History, and Poetic Voice in Omeros

by Rachel D. Friedman ’89

Friedman contextualizes the work of poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who uses his epic poem Omeros and his own Caribbean heritage in dialogue with Homer’s Odyssey. A professor of Greek and Roman studies at Vassar College, Friedman illustrates how each poem enriches the other by comparing and contrasting their depiction of the sea versus land — and poet versus person. (Oxford University Press)

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Paper of Wreckage: The Rogues, Renegades, Wiseguys, Wankers, and Relentless Reporters Who Redefined American Media

by Susan Mulcahy ’79 and Frank DiGiacomo

In this oral history, Mulcahy and her co-author capture the past 50 brazen, boisterous years of a provocative publication, the New York Post, tracking its transformation since 1976 into a full-blown tabloid in the hands of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Interviews with key players reveal the story of a mass media empire founded on big personalities and broken rules. (Simon & Schuster)

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My Book of Palindromes

by Ora (Gorin) Kurland ’77

A two-in-one language learning experience for young ones. Using her own illustrations and text, Kurland sets out to teach the concept of a palindrome — words and phrases that read the same in both directions — in both Hebrew and English. Intended to sharpen early reading skills, this book will delight young readers while expanding their vocabulary across two different languages. (Morah Ora Products LLC)