To her dismay, Julia earns the part of a Munchkin, along with other local children and three adults with dwarfism. ‘Red Comet’: Heather Clark’s new biography of the poet Sylvia Plath is daring, meticulously researched and unexpectedly riveting.‘Intimacies’: Katie Kitamura’s novel follows an interpreter at The Hague who is dealing with loss, an uncertain relationship and an insecure world.‘On Juneteenth’: Annette Gordon-Reed explores the racial and social complexities of Texas, her home state, weaving history and memoir.‘How Beautiful We Were’: Imbolo Mbue’s second novel is a tale of a casually sociopathic corporation and the people whose lives it steamrolls.Her mother, however, insists that she accompany her younger brother to an audition for a semiprofessional production of “The Wizard of Oz,” directed by a former Broadway luminary.Įditors at The Times Book Review selected the best fiction and nonfiction titles of the year.
Julia considers herself the human version of a terrier: small, but tough.Īs summer vacation begins, Julia has just two objectives: to avoid moping about her size, and to grieve for her late, beloved dog, Ramon. She’s also very short - so tiny she can fit through her family’s dog door. Abandons books half-finished, sneaks coffee, has been known to feed her younger brother dog treats, and is refreshingly unambitious - at least when it comes to household chores, math, Girl Scouts, piano, soccer, writing letters and wearing sunscreen. She’s literal, oddly formal for a child, with an understated (and often unintentional) humor. Julia Marks is a quirky, enjoyable main character. In many ways, Sloan’s latest work of middle-grade fiction, “Short,” continues these traditions. “Appleblossom the Possum” explored a marsupial’s-eye view of the human world. “Counting by 7s” featured an idiosyncratic 12-year-old genius grieving the death of her adoptive parents. Holly Goldberg Sloan has a knack for creating standout protagonists, placing them in unexpected circumstances, surrounding them with vivid secondary casts, and exploring what it means to lose, and to choose, one’s community.