Books: 723

Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100
Dan Buettner /Photos: David McLain
National Geographic
$35

There’s living longer, there’s living healthier; they’re better combined. Dan Buettner has identified and studied various areas world-wide–the Blue Zones–whose citizens demonstrably enjoy longer, more active lives: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica. Seeking specifically American Blue Zones, Buettner and photographer David McLain toured the country to discover five: “Indigenous, Native and Early American,” “African American,” “Latin American,” “Asian American,” and “Regional and Contemporary American,” interviewing cooks and chefs, with full-page, mouthwatering illustrations. Not surprisingly, fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and lentils predominate, but in a beckoning, enticing manner. In these 100 recipes, from Gullah Geechee okra stew to Roasted Okinawa Sweet Potato with Coconut Ginger Cream, the ordinary becomes unique; the bland, savory; each nourishing to the body and mind.

A Kids Book About Racism
Jelani Memory
A Kids Company About
$19.95

An exciting new series designed to give kids and their caretakers a means to read together and discuss complicated topics. This volume–and some 70 others– is aimed for the 6-up range, their “A Little Book About” series for even younger children. A child is never too young to fear, worry, question; overburdening won’t help, but nor will ignoring divorce, death, or anxiety. Existing volumes currently target anger, grief, depression, incarceration, money, emotion, imagination, love. Here, Jelani Memory, a mixed-race dad, speaks to his son about race and racism; what it is, how shown, in both big ways and small, how to think about others who look different than you. Texts, layouts, are designed to encourage discussion, not overwhelm. Visit “akidsbookabout.com” for more complete information.

White Smoke
Itamar S.N.
eBookPro Publishing
$12.99

Yonatan Green, bisexual, intellectual, delights in provoking his right-wing father–who happens to be this futuristic novel’s Prime Minister of Israel–in part because the father  puts the country before his son and his family. Yonatan changes his tune as his father negotiates the creation of Isratine, a democratic union of Israel and Palestine, offering a ray of hope for peace and unity. Yonatan meets High-Tech entrepreneur Meir and the two decide to marry, while Amal, a young Palestinian girl disfigured by an “honor” acid attack, is brought within the couple’s protective circle. But the Israeli-Palestinian peace is short-lived and difficult to mend as many besides Itamar have found. The Prime Minister must rethink his path; Yonatan, too, must make wrenching decisions. Is there time?

The First to Die at the End
Adam Silvera
Quill Tree Books
$19.99

This book is the prequel to They Both Die in the End, published in 2017, and opens on the eve of the launch of Death-Cast, a company that promises its subscribers an announcement on the day they will die, presumably so they can tidy up and make their last farewells. Orion Pagan, a young, aspiring author with a heart condition, has arrived in Manhattan’s Times Square, as has Valentino Prince, a rising young model who doesn’t quite believe the company’s claims, but has joined the throng. By chance they meet, shots ring out, one saves the other, one gets a call as the first “Decker” to die during that 24-hour period. Their lives are changed forever, and they’ve only hours to discover just how radically.