33 novels, thrillers and young adult books you'll want to read this summer

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

By Gabrielle Zevin

The act of playing, according to Sam Masur, one of two brilliant video game creators in Gabrielle Zevin’s marvelous new novel, is the most intimate act in which one can participate. Yes, that includes sex (in Sam’s mind, anyway; the internet disagrees). Playing together “means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back — I know you won’t hurt me, even though you can.” Naturally, the characters in “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” hurt each other, even when they don’t mean to. In games you get to start over. But in life, you just keep going.

Writing a novel in which video game creators take center stage could be risky. Does the Venn diagram of readers and gamers overlap much? We aren’t sure. But Zevin, who calls herself “a lifelong gamer” in the book’s afterword, has faith in her audience, and readers don’t need to know games to love this book. She builds a fascinating story about the creative spark and the sacrifices that come with making art. She brings the same knowledge and passion to the gaming universe as she did to the world of books in her debut, “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” a novel that won the hearts of readers everywhere.

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” deserves equal attention. It’s a polished, thoughtful novel about loyalty and love that, like the best video games, grows more absorbing the further you venture into it. The story follows the partnership between Sam and Sadie Green, childhood friends who create some of the most revolutionary and popular video games of all time. Sam grew up in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, mastering “Donkey Kong” at his Korean grandparents’ pizza joint and grappling with a disability that makes walking somewhere between a chore and torture. Sadie comes from a wealthy Jewish neighborhood in Beverly Hills, privileged, she knows, but often isolated as a woman in the gaming world. Orbiting Sam and Sadie is Sam’s college roommate, the smart, kind and handsome Marx, whose college acting credits belie his business acumen. He understands instinctively what draws gamers to the games: “It’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” The title of the book, borrowed from “Macbeth,” indicates that tragedy lies ahead, as Marx, Sam and Sadie find success and fame. But Marx is right: Whatever happens, don’t opt out. Just keep playing. (Alfred A. Knopf, $27, July 5)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

This Time Tomorrow

By Emma Straub

Fans of ’90s nostalgia will fall in love with Straub’s “This Time Tomorrow,” in which a woman on the eve of her 40th birthday stumbles upon a wormhole that sends her back to 1996 and her 16th birthday. Life has been difficult for Alice lately — her single father, a writer, has been hospitalized with a serious illness, and the thought of losing him devastates her. Returning to high school provides her with the opportunity we all dream of: living our lives over again and getting a second chance to erase complacency and bad choices. The time travel aspect adds an unexpected twist on Straub’s witty, character-driven examination of family dynamics, and she serves up a surprising, unique solution to Alice’s troubles. The novel is also a heartfelt elegy to the disappearing landscapes of New York City. (Riverhead, $28)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Tracy Flick Can’t Win

By Tom Perrotta

If you met her now, you might not recognize Tracy Flick, the straight-A student whose quest to be president of a New Jersey high school was the focal point of Tom Perrotta’s hilarious novel “Election.” Twenty-five years later, Tracy is still smart and driven, but her life has not blossomed quite the way she expected. She’s not the first female president; she’s not even a senator or a lawyer. She’s a friendless single mom and assistant principal at a different suburban high school, pondering her youthful experiences in a new, #MeToo light. She’s on the short list to become the new principal, until a roadblock to promotion looms in an all-too familiar form. Perrotta’s satiric window into the absurdities of American suburban life is as clear as ever, and his depictions of high school politics and unfortunate adult decision-making still ring true. (Scribner, $27, June 7)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Nuclear Family

By Joseph Han

For the Cho family, separation is a way of life. They abandoned South Korea for Hawai’i, leaving loved ones behind. But now their restaurants are struggling, even after a visit from the patron saint of diners and dives, Guy Fieri. Daughter Grace is finishing college and almost constantly stoned, while son Jacob has moved to Seoul for a teaching job. When a video surfaces of Jacob being arrested trying to cross the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea, the repercussions on the business and the family are swift. What no one knows is that Jacob has been possessed by his grandfather’s ghost, an unhappy spirit trying desperately to return to the family he left long ago. The bizarre comic plot showcases Han’s uncanny ability to expose in a fresh way the battles inherent in preserving a complicated cultural identity. (Counterpoint, $26, June.7)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

The Girls in Queens

By Christine Kandic Torres

What loyalty do we owe the people who share our roots? Torres tackles the thorny question with compassion in her impressive coming-of-age novel. Brisma and Kelly, two young Latinas growing up in a tight-knit, working-class Queens neighborhood, have been friends since childhood, forging a bond that’s strong enough to weather Kelly’s flirtation with Brisma’s boyfriend Brian. But as their beloved Mets start a playoff run, Brian is accused of sexual assault. Kelly refuses to believe the allegations, made by a college girl from a well-off family, but Brisma begins to wonder about Brian’s guilt and what it might mean about the way they grew up and what they accepted. Is it fair to demand consequences for bad male behavior when your community is already marginalized? Torres offers no easy answers to difficult questions. (HarperVia, $26.99, June 14)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Jackie & Me

By Louis Bayard

The charms of Bayard’s delightful new novel about Jackie Kennedy aren’t only found in its historical context but also in its intelligent, witty tone and poignant dissection of friendship, class and betrayal. Set in the year leading up to Jackie’s marriage to Jack Kennedy, the story is narrated by Lem Billings, Jack’s friend and fixer, who finds himself all but wooing Jackie himself in Jack’s place (the congressman is busy with work — and other pursuits). Not born into wealth, Lem is fascinated by the push and pull of Jackie’s ambitions: “She was a creature bending both toward and away from matrimony.” But Lem, who guards the secret of his personal life carefully, finds his loyalty to the Kennedys tested when Jack asks for a big favor. The outcome is surprisingly affecting, and Bayard’s gamble of embarking on a well-known path from an unusual perspective pays off handsomely. (Algonquin, $26.95, June 14)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Flying Solo

By Linda Holmes

Though it focuses on different characters, Holmes’ latest novel is set in small-town Maine, the same universe as her delightful debut “Evie Drake Starts Over.” Laurie Sassalyn has left Seattle for her hometown of Calcasset for a few weeks to sort through the estate of her beloved great aunt Dot, a free spirit who traveled the world and collected mementos. Hidden among Dot’s possessions is a wooden duck of mysterious origin, which sets Laurie on a quest for its provenance. Along for the ride are June, her longtime best friend, and her first boyfriend Nick, now divorced, hot and running the town library. The novel is diverting, romantic and a lot of fun, but Holmes adds depth by delving into Laurie’s conflicting feelings about partnering up. Does her need for solitude and her own space mean there’s no hope for a future with Nick? Holmes has a creative solution. (Ballantine, $28, June 14)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic

By Lauren Ho

Highly regarded at her management consultancy firm and working in Manhattan, Lucie Yi is due to return to Singapore and should be thinking about the next stage of her career. Instead, her biological clock erupts while she’s shopping at an upscale baby store. With no prospective father in the picture after an ugly split with her fiancé, Lucie joins a co-parenting website to find a father and meets the perfect (platonic) match in laid-back Collin, who’s happy to move to Asia to raise their child. But Lucie’s conservative parents, the return of her ex, raging hormones and complicated feelings for Collin throw her plans into chaos. Like Ho’s hilarious “Last Tang Standing,” “Lucie Yi” is a mix of laugh-out-loud humor and surprisingly sharp insight, in this case about parenthood. Finding new twists on the rom-com is hard, but Ho makes it look easy. (Putnam, $17, June 21)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Invisible Things

By Mat Johnson

In this biting comic allegory, Johnson (“Pym”) uses a space mission gone awry to expose our preference for embracing mass denial over grappling with distressing truths. When a spaceship discovers a settlement on Jupiter’s largest moon, scientists aboard are sucked into the bubble of New Roanoke, a comfortable replica of life on Earth. Life there can be pleasant for some (if “it was hell, it was a hell with a Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken and three Massage Envys”). But contentment requires ignoring the fact everyone in New Roanoke has been abducted and refusing to discuss the mysterious invisible force that occasionally delivers a slap to the head (or worse). When rescue arrives and rebels demand an election to determine the colony’s fate, the chaos that ensues will sound awfully familiar. Johnson’s showstopping finale reminds us how much we can accomplish if we dare to face reality. (One World/Random House, $27, June 28)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

The Mermaid of Black Conch

By Monique Roffe

Trinidad-born Roffey’s vivid reimagining of a mermaid myth, previously published in the U.K., won the 2020 Costa Book of the Year. A searing blend of Caribbean magical realism and contemporary examination of misogyny and the reverberations of colonial oppression, the novel is set in 1976 and follows the story of David, an island fisherman, and Aycayia, a lonely mermaid cursed by jealous women to remain forever in the sea. When Aycayia is captured by an arrogant American, David rescues her and hides her in his home, eventually enlisting help from a rich white neighbor. Aycayia, whose language is beautifully rendered in verse, adjusts to life on land but doesn’t know if she can stay. Roffey’s fable is a moving love story, full of messy, glorious eroticism, but she also shines a light on the dangers of toxic masculinity, racial inequity and the difficulty of understanding our true natures. (Knopf, $26, July 12)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

Any Other Family

By Eleanor Brown

Brown’s treat of a novel brings new meaning to the phrase “yours, mine and ours.” Three sets of Colorado parents create an extended family by adopting four siblings. Capable, wealthy Tabitha, married to Perry, adopted twins and acts as cruise director, scheduling frequent get-togethers and stage-managing every scene. The obligations exhaust single mom Ginger, who adopted the oldest daughter, while Elizabeth, struggling with money issues and a challenging baby, hides her unhappiness from her husband and worries that she shouldn’t have adopted at all. During an awkward family vacation, they learn the birth mother is pregnant again and wonder how to incorporate a new child into the group. The plot may sound farfetched, but Brown addresses obvious questions deftly, and her characters are appealing. She examines the pressures placed on mothers while considering what makes a family and comes up with a wonderful answer: commitment and love. (Putnam, $27, July 12)

Reviewed by Connie Ogle, Special to the Star Tribune

And There He Kept Her

By Joshua Moehling

Whether Acting Sheriff Ben Packard turns out to be the hero of his own life, or whether “that station will be held by anybody else,” I don’t care. I’m all in with him. OK, so Packard isn’t exactly David Copperfield, but Charles Dickens’ novel does play a pivotal role in Minneapolis author Joshua Moehling’s stellar debut. I’ll happily follow Packard’s adventures in a fictional Sandy Lake, Minn., for as long as Moehling wants to keep writing them.

Moehling’s atmospheric thriller explores “the untold stories” (and one or two diabolical secrets) buried beneath the Minnesota Nice of Sandy Lake. You’ve been there. It has a poultry processing plant and “an outdoor Sportcraft manufacturer” nearby. It’s a place where the cabins on Lake Redwing have wine cellars and the homes in town have basements, where tourism has replaced agriculture, mining and logging and the economic gap, according to Packard, is “the kindling that fueled almost all of the crime in the area.”

Our hero is self-deprecating, tough and compassionate. He has a keen wit and a candid Minnesota sensibility that can be as sharp and subtle as a paper cut. When he’s offered seconds at meals, he notes, “it’s easier to accept the first offer than decline ten more.” He’s tall and handsome. Women are “drawn to the size and shape of him … men intimidated by it.” He also swims April to November from the dock in front of his house (swoon), where every room is under construction and furniture is draped in tarps.

Ironically, despite his candidness with others, Packard has spent his life in “camouflage.” He’s running from grief, taking a “geographical cure,” to flee the “pain and confusion” resulting from the murder of his lover, Marcus, a St. Paul detective (Packard and Marcus were known at the academy as the Twins). Packard has relocated to Sandy Lake because it’s a town where “he has no alliances, no grudges, no debts.” His only connection to the area is that his family once had a lake place where his brother Nick drowned as a teenager, a tragedy that upended Packard’s privileged life and broke apart his family. So, yeah. Our hero’s lying to himself.

Eventually, there’s a price to pay for Sandy Lake’s “untold stories.” The first rip in the community’s camouflage occurs when two teenagers go missing, the result of attempting to steal prescription pain meds from Emmett, an elderly retired killer, whose story is all about a pink caged room in his basement. Even the most disturbed and disturbing characters in Moehling’s novel are compelling and complex. Emmett really does resist coming out of retirement. When he does, Packard races to find the teenagers before the gash widens and he’s offered another hot dish. (Poisoned Pen Press, $26.99, June 14)