1. The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL
So the 2000s are now being used as a period setting for novels – doesn’t that make you feel old? Anyway, this early aughts coming-of-age suspense novel by a Milwaukee native follows two Yale classmates on the equestrian team, one a middle-class striver and the other a mysterious, talented tarot reader. When money starts disappearing from a teammate’s bank account, it becomes clear that one of these two friends is responsible.
Publishes Feb. 23
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2. Dearborn by Ghassan Zeineddine
SHORT STORIES
A graduate of UW-Milwaukee’s creative writing Ph.D. program, Zeineddine turns his sights across the lake with this debut short story collection. Over half the population of Dearborn, Michigan, is Middle Eastern, and over the course of 10 stories, equal parts amusing and tragic, Zeineddine examines the rich lives of that Arab American community.
3. The Price You Pay by Nick Petrie
THRILLER
Peter Ash, a veteran struggling with PTSD, finds himself stumbling into nefarious plots and mysteries across the country in this locally grown series. Petrie, who lives in Milwaukee, won the Barry Award for Best First Novel for The Drifter, the first in the Ash series, and now he’s releasing the eighth volume, which sees Ash struggling to save a friend embroiled in a criminal conspiracy.
Publishes Feb. 6
4. While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger
MEMOIR
Before Meg Kissinger became a Pulitzer finalist reporter with the Journal Sentinel, she grew up in a family of 10 in the suburbs of Chicago. While her life appeared, in many ways, idyllic, her family was hiding darker realities – her mother was hospitalized for anxiety and depression; her father was violent; and her siblings struggled with bipolar disorder, depression and ultimately suicide. In this memoir, Kissinger uses the story of her family’s struggles as a launching pad for deep reportage on the state of mental health care in America.
5. Swimming with Ghosts by Michelle Brafman
SATIRICAL NOVEL
Kids competitive swimming – it’s kinda nuts. Keep that in mind when you crack open this satirical novel based on the author’s experiences as a child swimmer and an eventual “swim mom.” Brafman, a Whitefish Bay native, explores the frantic machinations of a Virginia children’s swim team, from pep rallies and pool parties to bitter rivalries and old wounds.
