Readers first meet the four Heppenheimer cousins in Frankfurt in 1930, where they have gathered for their grandmother’s funeral. Gertrude, the youngest, is just 10 years old, and she’s excited because she’ll get to see her father, Robert—a rare occurrence since he moved to Strasbourg three years ago, after he and Gertrude’s mother, who’s Lutheran, divorced. Trudi and Gustav are both 16, and Bettina is 19; each is the sole offspring of a different Heppenheimer brother. Over the years, they develop a closeness that continues to evolve as they move into adulthood. Along the way, Gertrud and Gustav create a “cousins’ code”; although it’s designed to help them keep secrets among themselves and signal the uniqueness of their relationship, it also enables them to communicate when the Nazis make their lives increasingly precarious. Germany is in a deep economic depression following its defeat in World War I, and antisemitism is rising around the country. When Adolf Hitler comes to power in 1933, the persecution of Jewish people, and anyone with Jewish relatives, increases exponentially. Suchman’s disturbing family drama, filled with long-held secrets, feuds, and resentments, offers readers a visceral, up-close, and terrifying inside view of life in Germany, Belgium, and France for the Jewish characters, and for their spouses and children who don’t or can’t flee Germany before the borders close. Readers, with the benefit of chilling hindsight, will be pulled into the hellish setting as new Nazi regulations come into effect, banning Jewish people from many stores, from owning businesses, or from holding funerals before sunset; later, the characters experience the burning of temples, have their property confiscated, and endure horrific beatings—all before the terrifying deportations begin.

To be a cat owner is to spend innumerable hours entranced by the things your cats do. The author, a prolific documenter of her cats both in photographs and in verse, knows this all too well. “I have a camera that’s inside my eye,” begins one poem. “My little babies are always posing for me. / Sometimes they run, and sometimes they play, / then my minds eye video stores it all away.” In these 24 poems, McCready praises her many cats, current and former, documenting the joys and trials of cat ownership. She composes odes to particular cats, like Devlin and Rhys, and writes from the perspective of others, like the “terrible and alone” Daisy. Her cats are of the sphynx breed, some short-haired and some hairless, and the poet relishes in the unusual aesthetic of their wrinkled skin and bat-like ears: “A thing that might seem odd and wrong, that looked as ancient as a crone, / someone once found beauty there, and now I’ll never be alone.” McCready grapples with the occasional heartbreak, like the strange illnesses cats sometimes get, or the knowledge that she will outlive them: “Eventually they always go / In the back of our mind we knew, we know. Love in a body will never stay, although we wish it was that way.” The rhyming verses are full of memorable figurative images, as here when the author describes the cats sleeping on her bed at night: “Tonight my bed’s like a sanded shore, / where naked sun worshipers have come to snore.” The poems are accompanied by photographs of the cats by the author and Bray and by McCready’s illustrations, most of them realistic though some fantastical (including, in one disturbing tableau, two cats spliced into Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, reaching toward one another with human hands). The book captures the strange worlds pet owners create for themselves and their animals, and while fellow cat owners may or may not enjoy these highly specific poems, they will undoubtedly recognize some of their own obsession.

Hermium Goodspeed has something that thousands of kids his age want: an acceptance letter to one of the elite Seven Thunder military schools. However, Hermium is more nervous than he is excited; he doubts he’ll fit in at the school, because he’s scrawny, shy, and tends to sleepwalk. He’d much rather stay home and tinker with household objects and tools, turning them into little contraptions like a cow-milker and a bedmaker; he even makes things while sleeping. Hermium’s school troubles begin before the transportation ship even sets sail when he’s given a second acceptance letter, changing his placement from the Hammerfeld academy, where he’d learn to wield a deadly Woe Hammer, to Glimmeroc. There, he’ll train as an airjock and learn how to fly with a pair of wings called an Aeriatis. A second acceptance letter is unheard of, and it sets Hermium apart from the other students—and not in a good way. As he undergoes the rigorous summer bootcamp, he finds himself under intense scrutiny from Glimmeroc’s faculty and his peers and becomes more determined than ever to earn his place. However, there are monsters at Glimmeroc—and they’re hunting Hermium. Desperate to understand why, the preteen learns that his destiny is very different than he thought. Jaime’s series starter is an intriguing coming-of-age story in a magical steampunk fantasy setting. Readers will be enthralled by the author’s meticulous and detailed worldbuilding. Hermium is clever, snarky, and brave, even as he copes with health issues—chronic headaches, the aforementioned sleepwalking, and frequent nightmares. The supporting characters are also intriguing and well-developed, including Hermium’s new friends Tayori Keelaroo and Duma Petalborn, the antagonistic Cadet Sgt. Neffery Iggsworth, and even a group of demigods. Some fall into very familiar types—Duma as the academically driven know-it-all, Tayori as the loyal best friend, and Wuvi Wuvain as the bully with a well-connected father—but the novel remains an exciting read, nonetheless.

Wallace, professor of history at John Jay College and author and contributor to previous volumes in this series, points out that two national leaders entered and left office during these years: Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is social history, so the Depression, war, politics, and these two men, although rarely absent from the pages, remain in the background. Those unfamiliar with earlier volumes will find that they are in the hands of a master. Hitler takes power on page 1; storm troopers attack Jews throughout Germany; outrage among 2 million New York Jews produces a call for a national boycott. Wallace is off and running—and delivers the first jolt. Most national Jewish organizations opposed mass action. “Gentile allies were in short supply.” Although happy to welcome Einstein and other big names, a solid majority of Americans opposed accepting refugees fleeing Nazism, and Germany’s small legal immigration quota was not even met. Keeping his focus narrow, Wallace shows a talent for delivering insights revealed by trivial events or half-forgotten celebrities. A chapter on boxing matches between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling illuminates American racism and anti-Nazi opinion. Two on Cardinal Spellman reveal how Catholics entered the political mainstream; one on anthropologist Franz Boas describes how, almost single-handedly, he kicked white supremacy out of it. The two greatest technical achievements of World War II, the atomic bomb and radar, were nurtured in New York, whose arts sector “had a spectacular war.” Frank Sinatra has his chapter, as does modern jazz; even prostitutes have their say, complaining of losing customers and taking blame for the VD epidemic, the responsibility of a flood of amateurs who didn’t understand the business. Calling a nearly 1,000-page volume a wild ride is no exaggeration, because few of the 168 short chapters fail to deliver.

The year is 1974, and Mike Turner is a 13-year-old boy living at Children’s Christian Hostel in Singapore. He spends his time going to school, putting up with his immature roommates, and most notably, awaiting his parents’ return from South Vietnam. However, during their time working in the Foreign Service, Mike’s parents suddenly go missing. Then things only get weirder when a mysterious man in a Hawaiian shirt starts appearing everywhere Mike goes. Soon, Mike is recruited by the CIA to work undercover in order to serve his country in the Cold War, but not everything is what it seems. Armed with fierce faith, a strong sense of morality, and The Boy’s Book of Spy Craft, Mike decides to do whatever it takes to save himself and find his parents. This is a steadily paced historical novel that interweaves both international diplomatic adventure and pre-teen angst; it also works as a pulse-pounding political thriller and poignant coming-of-age story. There are also themes dropped in here that any young adult can relate to: strict teachers, annoying roommates, and the awkward isolation of youth, to name a few. However, the novel could benefit from further historical context surrounding Mike’s adventures throughout. Adult readers will likely be familiar with the seemingly unending Cold War-related global conflicts of the 1970s, including the 12-year-long Vietnam War; however, young teens may not be as well informed, which could lead to difficulty understanding Mike’s motivations and the extent of the danger he faces. Still, though, the author creates a unique narrative starring a likable protagonist, a thrilling conspiracy, and enough espionage to keep the reader guessing with every turn of the page.