Picture books are for little kids. Chapter books are for elementary students. Young adult novels are for teens. Everything else is for adults, right? Well, kind of. While most books written for adults aren’t intended for children, the opposite is certainly not true. Picture book creators’ work must appeal to the grown-ups who read to kids. Middle grade novels make great read-a-louds for all ages. And the audience lines between teen and adult fiction have been blurring for years. All of this to say, no matter your age, read what you love. It may just be one of these locally written tales.
Books for the Ages
Field Guide for Accidents: Poems
By Albert Abonado
Beacon Press, 2024, paperback, $18.00
Through first-person narratives, the author takes readers on an emotional and sensory journey anchored by his parents’ emigration from the Philippines. The poems relate to family, identity, and feeding minds and bodies through sweet and spicy flavors. One lengthier poem shares the book’s title and delves into sleep, memories, and the perils of exhaustion.
Field Guide for Accidents contains five sections, and the poems are written in various styles, none of them overwrought or overwritten. Like in his first book (JAW, Sundress, 2020), Abonado heavily references food (he likes to eat) and teeth (he finds them fascinating). It is a slim volume to savor.
Abonado has received poetry fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches English courses at SUNY Geneseo and Finger Lakes Community College, where he is the Bare Hill Review managing editor. You can find him around Rochester co-hosting poetry open mics, dining at Angelina’s (angelinasonsouth.com), or writing at Winter Swan (winterswancoffee.com). He recommends Knives Out #3, Becoming Ghost by Cathy Linh Che, and he prefers dogs over cats “because they are pure.” Find more wisdom here: albertabonado.com.
By Edward Ashton
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2026, paperback, $18.00
After a diplomatic mission goes wrong, human Dalton Greaves finds himself stranded on a newly discovered planet with a stickman-shaped alien and the insect-like residents. It is not long before he is taken as their leader’s “fourth consort” with no option to refuse. Through some sketchy translations, Dalton does his best keep the channels open for a united future, but his own human partner may have other plans in mind.
Ashton once again raises questions about the morality of interplanetary settlements and destructions. This time he does it with a wry main character; a serious, creepy alien; straightlaced Second and Third Consorts; and an irreverent AI ear implant. It is a thought-provoking sci-fi with a story progression that works and surprises, and there are laughs aplenty.
Ashton is a cancer researcher, teacher, and the author of several novels, including Mickey7, which was adapted into the film Mickey17 (2025). His latest book, After the Fall, released in February 2026 (St. Martin’s Press), but The Fourth Consort is still one of his favorites. Read them all and you be the judge. edwardashton.com
A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States: From Margins to Mainstream
By Carolyn Wolf-Gould, Dallas Denny, Jamison Green & Kyan Lynch
SUNY Press, 2025, paperback, $44.95
France’s soldier Chevalier d’Eon (1728–1810), Denmark’s painter Lili Elbe (1882–1931), and England’s race car driver Roberta Cowell (1918–2011) are just three of the transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people profiled in this book. There are also research-based essays and footnoted articles written by more than forty contributors with personal connections to the topic, making each chapter info-packed and meaningful.
This 750-page volume of history, medicine, sociology, gender roles, and identity doesn’t have to be read in its entirety or in order. It can be used as a reference guide or text book for serious study or general knowledge—and readers will certainly learn a lot.
Lynch is an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Rochester Medical Center. His expertise is HIV prevention and LGBTQIA+ health and affirming care, and his hobbies include playing music and taking photos. Lynch and his wife have a three-legged chihuahua/pit bull mix (Lulu) and a four-legged Australian cattle dog/pit bull mix (Rafa) who act as his writing assistants. kyanlynch.com
A Jacket Off the Gorge: True Story of the Biggest Liar
By Susan Ashline
Post Hill Press, 2023, paperback, $21.99
When the author met Jon Fontaine in 2011, she didn’t know that seven years earlier he had faked his own death at Letchworth State Park. The pair had an on again/off again relationship through truths and traumas. In the end, an act of violence and a questionably handled police encounter threw away any possibility of a future together—or at all.
Ashline’s honesty about being hooked into an abusive relationship can serve as a mirror and window to others. She also shines a light on the calculating, manipulating mind of a criminal. The narrative becomes more intense and personal as it progresses, revealing failures in the police, justice, and mental health systems. Ashline’s page-turning story proves once again how truth is stranger than fiction.
Ungrateful Bastard, Ashline’s latest true crime account, released in February 2026 (Bloomsbury). Her first book, Without a Prayer (Pegasus, 2019), led to her appearances on Hulu’s Cult Justice (2022) and How I Escaped My Cult (2025). Besides writing award-winning pieces of journalism and hanging with her rabbit, cats, kids, and first grandbaby, she can be found playing outdoors: hiking, kayaking, skiing, and garage sailing. And if your kid is selling lemonade or friendship bracelets, she’s buying every time. She hopes you do the same. IG: @SusanAshline
By L. M. Reed
MaLaRe Books, 2023, paperback, $14.95
EJ is in juvie after being convicted of rape in eleventh grade, a crime he admits he committed. Nevertheless, new evidence emerges, and he is freed. Because of the high-profile nature of his case, EJ and his siblings move to a new town with pseudonyms. His resentful sister and own personal guilt may leak his true identity after all.
This novel is told with a nonlinear timeline, switching from before EJ’s conviction to after his release. The fallout with friends and family members includes confusion, embarrassment, and resentment from younger siblings. Authentic teen dialog adds to the book’s credibility. The author’s endnote explains that processing the rape through the assailant’s point of view shows that not just stereotypically “dangerous”people commit this crime. It is a powerful story that is all too real.
Reed, a school librarian, gets to push books for a living. She also has the travel bug and recommends visiting her top five destinations: Thailand, Japan, Portugal, England, and the Pacific Northwest. At home, she lives with Nina, the therapy Shih Tzu, who spreads joy at schools, libraries, and nursing homes. Reed believes she is destined to master “Great British Baking Show levels of confectionary wizardry.” Find out when she accomplishes this—and when her companion novel comes out—at lmreed.com.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of (585).
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