HG Literary News

A MAP OF FUTURE RUINS BY LAUREN MARKHAM / RIVERHEAD BOOKS, FEBRUARY 2024

Represented by Julia Kardon

FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE

“This stunning meditation on nostalgia, heritage, and compassion asks us to dismantle the stories we’ve been told—and told ourselves—in order to naturalize the forms of injustice we’ve come to understand as order.” —Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams

“In this brilliant, timely meditation, Markham explores how the stories we tell about borders and who belongs can harden our hearts or help to open them. The threads she follows weave a tapestry as moving as it is illuminating.” —Rebecca Solnit, author of Hope in the Dark and A Field Guide to Getting Lost

“What does it mean to belong? How is identity built, not just on an individual level but on a national or global scale? Lauren Markham explores these questions in a deeply personal and thoroughly reported story that weaves together her family lore with centuries of Greece’s history. . . . A Map of Future Ruins is a serious but dreamy read.”—NPR, 2024 “Books We Love”

“An expansive meditation on the roles of myth and politics in the stories we construct about our origins.” —New York Times

“Strange and intriguing. . . . Markham’s approach suggests that. . . . sometimes, rather than asking migrants to explain themselves, we, in the countries they are trying so desperately to reach, should be trying a little harder to explain ourselves.” —Washington Post

“A feat of reconstructive reportage, poetically written.”—The Atlantic

“Stunning. . . . the most expansive contribution to border literature I have yet to read. . . . As projects go, it is the intellectual equivalent of a minefield—but Markham proves admiringly nimble on her Converse-clad feet.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“[A] finely woven meditation on ‘belonging, exclusion, and whiteness.’” —The New Yorker

“A remarkable, unnerving, and cautionary portrait of a global immigration crisis.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Blends memoir, history, and reportage in a wide-ranging and unflinching account. . . . Into this heart-wrenching drama. . . . Markham interweaves ruminations on Greece’s twin crises of immigration and emigration. . . . Interspersed throughout are powerful ruminations on ancient Greece as the birthplace of classical Western ideals and the myth-making process inherent to all migration stories. Readers will be thoroughly engrossed.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

intemperance by Sonora Jha / harper via, October 2025

Represented by Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts

"Intemperance isn’t just an intellectually stimulating story; it’s a saucy, sexy and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny tale of a middle-aged woman’s desire and the steps she’ll take to sate it. The woman’s intemperance is seen as a curse, but she sees it as liberation." —BookPage (starred review)

"Contemplating difficult questions about desire, aging, and cultural identity, Jha leverages humor and wisdom for an authentic, compelling blend of modern perspectives and ancient mythology. Readers who enjoyed the cultura tension in Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age and the midlife reckonings in Jenny Offill's Weather will find much to appreciate in Jha's exploration of late-in-life love, tradition, and the courage to challenge conventional expectations." —Booklist

"Delightfully incisive … Intemperance is a deep and honest meditation on love, aging, gender, and partnership. At its core, Jha’s latest is a whimsical tale of joy and freedom. The message being that love—and the search for it—can be a feminist act. And that’s something worth celebrating." —BUST

"Imbued with warmth and wit, Intemperance both satirizes and honors the search for love in middle age. At times laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes achingly poignant, the novel also reckons with serious themes such as the bucking of generational and cultural expectations, and the complexities of masculinity, disability and family estrangement." —Seattle Times

"Sassy, satirical, and oh-so-scintillating, this one-of-a-kind feminist novel is a meditation on marriage, masculinity, midlife, and everything in between. With a captivating narrator and a cast of loveable characters, Sonora Jha provides the perfect satirical escape." —Ms. Magazine

"Oh, what fun I had reading this wild romp of a novel. But Intemperance—narrated by one of the funniest and most charming fictional characters I've met in my life—is more than a good time. It's a disarmingly honest and urgent book about the human search for love in all corners of existence: in the divine; in our fellow beings, human and not; and ultimately, within ourselves." —Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao

"Gorgeous, witty, sexy, and smart, Intemperance is a wonderfully original tale of a woman facing off her own cynicism about love—and prevailing. Jha writes like a dream, and this book will delight you." —Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Library Book

"A subversive storytelling feat: as full of heart and humor and delight in the world as its determined and brilliant heroine. Intemperance is so full of surprising pleasures and gorgeous prose that you’ll be torn between turning the pages as fast as possible and savoring every word. Buy it for your sisters and daughters and wives—and brothers and sons and husbands, too." —V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of Brotherless Night

“A mandatory lesson in flipping off patriarchy but with sublime, seductive grace, Intemperance triumphs at killing them with adaa." — Zara Chowdhary, author of The Lucky Ones

UNDERSPIN by E. Y. ZHAO / ASTRA HOUSE, SEPTEMBER 2025

Represented by Julia Kardon

"E. Y. Zhao's Underspin is an eruption of a debut. This novel displays a wondrous ability that renders both the central sport and lives that weave around it with meticulous precision and tremendous heart. The beauty of sport the spirit of desire and the sacrifice required for greatness are all captured here in this stunner." —Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars

"E. Y. Zhao arrives on the literary scene like Minerva emerging from the head of Zeus: fully formed, formidable, and a superior force to be reckoned with. Who knew the world needed a table-tennis novel? Except that it is not a table tennis novel, or not just one—it is, indelibly, what the novel has always been about: the tangle of human life; error, power, damage, striving; the complicated ties that connect us in a web at once tensile, tough, and frangible. Written in beautiful, burnished prose, and structured in a dazzlingly intelligent way, Underspin will make you ask: How can this be a first novel?" —Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others and Choice

"E. Y. Zhao’s Underspin hurtles down the line and leaves a trail of fire in its wake. An electric debut." —Jenny Tinghui Zhang, author of Four Treasures of the Sky

"An unconventional and stylish portrait of a table tennis wunderkid, Underspin explores the different forces that shape us into who we become. Zhao takes us not only into the packed competition halls and spotless training centers that define one's career, but the intimate hotel rooms and quiet suburban kitchens that define one's coming-of-age. Both tender and brutal, visceral and cerebral, this book will immerse you in its high-stakes world until the very last page." —Alina Grabowski, author of Women and Children First

"A quietly devastating novel… Zhao is a master of careful plotting and mystery—the real kind that cottons to morally complex situations… A poet of table tennis, Zhao turns this underappreciated sport into a nimbly described choreography of Tomahawk serves, switch-handed chops, and forehand and backhand loops. A smart novel that examines the impact competitive sports have on kids without assigning winners or losers." —Kirkus Reviews

"Like Challengers did to tennis last year, Underspin might do for table tennis. Zhao’s debut is wildly ambitious and searingly brilliant, jolting the reader with devastation, nostalgia, embarrassment, prestige, and sex—all in a completely unexpected field. The table is a battlefield, the players guns, the ball a bullet. More weighty still is what happens off the court: a richly imagined world where athleticism bleeds into narratives that are empathetic and sharp, tender and tight… Underspin is meaty with brain and brawn, radically alive in surprising ways. A tremendous writer of fiction is born." —Soft Union

"Andre Agassi’s Open meets Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad in this wildly exciting, whipsmart and beautiful novel of a tragic table tennis star, told by those who were closest to him. Mobile, adventurous, and deeply imaginative, it’s a stunner of a debut." —Our Culture

"A gold medal of a novel." —Debutiful

MIDNIGHT ON THE CELESTIAL by JULIA ALEXANDRA

WEDNESDAY BOOKS, MARCH 3, 2026

Represented by Ellen Goff

OFFICIAL COVER REVEAL!

A STAGE SET FOR VILLAINS by SHANNON J. SPANN

ENTANGLED/MAYHEM BOOKS, SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

Represented by Ellen Goff

People.com A Stage Set for Villains Cover Reveal + Excerpt Exclusive - 17 March 2025

ERASED: WHAT AMERICAN pATRIARCHY hAS hIDDEN fROM uS by ANNA MALAIKA TUBBS / FLATIRON, MAY 2025

Represented by Julia Kardon

“A primer for understanding the way and why of patriarchy that couldn't be more on time. Anna's remarkable storytelling makes this more than an academic exercise—it places you right in the center of it, and asks you to engage directly with how we help patriarchy persist, and more importantly, what's at stake for all of us if we dare to resist—and leave no one behind along the way.” —Alicia Garza, civil rights activist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement

“With Erased, Anna Malaika Tubbs offers a visionary and clear-eyed understanding of patriarchy that goes beyond the incomplete definitions that many of us have grown to accept as fact. This book is not a simplistic story of men vs. women; it’s about the full complexity of our lives and our futures.” —Tarana Burke, activist, author, and founder of the Me Too movement

“Drawing from history, law, and lived experience, this book provides an unflinching examination of how patriarchy has shaped America’s past and present. With masterful prose, Tubbs challenges readers through proven evidence to confront the systems that perpetuate inequity and invites us to imagine a future where those systems are dismantled.” —Eve Rodsky, NYT bestselling author of Fair Play

“Anna Malaika Tubbs has written a book that demands we directly confront the way patriarchy – both systemic and interpersonal – has shaped the history of our country and the reality of our present. Erased is unflinching in its assessment and necessary in its urgency. There is so much to learn from these pages. I am so grateful this book exists.” —Clint Smith, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How the Word is Passed

“An illuminating and inspiring examination of the structures that founding fathers used to establish this country. This is the framework that we all need to understand American history today. At a time when facts are disputed and access to them is contested, Erased is a balm and a breath of fresh air.” —Christy Turlington Burns, Founder & President of Every Mother Counts

“A trenchant treatise on the damaging reach of American patriarchy [...] renders complex concepts a pleasure to read.” —Kirkus Reviews

Big by Vashti Harrison / Little, Brown Books for Young readers, May 2023

Represented by Carrie Hannigan

Winner of the 2023 Caldecott Medal

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award

National Book Award Finalist

RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. COSBY / FLATIRON, JULY 2021

2021 Book of the Year Nominee

Winner of the 2021 Barry Award for Best Novel

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Novel at Bouchercon

Winner of the 2021 Macavity Award for Best Novel at Bouchercon

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

“Cosby’s prose is vibrant and inventive, his action exuberant and relentless…You may come for the setup, but you’ll stay for the storytelling. Cosby writes in a spirit of generous abundance and gleeful abandon.”
—New York Times Book Review

“S.A. Cosby’s new crime novel is provocative, violent — beautiful and moving, too…Elmore Leonard, wherever you are, you’ve got competition…S.A. Cosby has reappeared as one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction.”
—Washington Post

BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S.A. Cosby / Flatiron Books, July 2020

Amazon Editors’ Pick for the BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR in Mysteries and Thrillers, #3 Book of the Year overall. Chosen as a NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020 by the New York Times. Chosen as one of the BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2020 by Lithub, Crimereads, Book Riot, & the New York Post.

BROTHER BRONTE BY FERNANDO FLORES / MCD, february 2025

Represented by Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts

"Deliciously odd, funny and affecting, Brother Brontë delights at every turn—of which there are a glorious many. A puzzle where each piece not only helps complete the picture but expands its margins, I cherished every character, every story, and (again) fell in love with Fernando A. Flores’s profound empathy and wild imagination. Brother Brontë is a gorgeously bonkers joyride." —Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of Monstrilio

"The trick with dystopia is to leave room for light, and lightness; in our real world, tragedy and comedy are braided together. Fernando A. Flores gets this: his imagination ranges from the grimmest realities, of blood and fire and life made small, all the way through to breathtaking hope, and surprise, and solidarity. Brother Brontë evokes Octavia Butler, William Gibson, and John Steinbeck; these are all my favorites, and with this book, Fernando A. Flores joins the list." —Robin Sloan, author of Moonbound

"We fans of Fernando Flores’s work have long admired his virtuoso word play, his wizardly conjuring of images, and the power of his Texas borderlands vision and voice. Brother Brontë is his wildest and bravest work yet.” —Héctor Tobar, author of Our Migrant Souls

"With nods to Fahrenheit 451 and The Grapes of Wrath, Flores’s Brother Brontë carves out a space for itself in the landscape of post-collapse literature—and one which it fills with as much human warmth and vibrant poetry as it does righteous anger and dystopian sadness. A visceral journey through a uniquely American future, and an essential read." —Tim Maughan, author of Infinite Detail

"In rich, exciting prose, Flores takes the reader on a wild and frightening adventure, roving narrative territories left completely unexplored by other recent U.S. writing, territories bordered in the far distance by the fantastic realms of Latin American and Eastern European greats. Sardonic, disturbing, and thoroughly pleasurable, Brother Brontë feels like nothing so much as a profoundly generous gift." —Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

THE BEST WE COULD HOPE FOR BY NICOLA KRAUS / LITTLE A, May 2025

Represented by Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts

“Written with grace and intelligence, Kraus explores the complex intersection of memory and loyalty in a sweeping story of a broken family and the women who knit together the remains. Perfect for book clubs."—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 NYT bestselling author of House of Glass

“From a beloved writer comes a unique, deeply moving story told with heart, depth and humor about the women we are, the women we come from, and the way we heal.”—Rebecca Serle, NYT bestselling author of Expiration Dates

“So heartbreaking and so good I couldn't stop reading--even when I needed to catch a train or make dinner. Like Ann Patchett, Kraus gets at the heart of how people can disconnect from their truest selves, and how, if they’re lucky, they can find their way back."—Caroline Leavitt, NYT beselling author of Days of Wonder

“For anyone who grew up with Kramer vs. Kramer and MTV, Kraus perfectly captures the ache and stretch of adolescence, the grief and rage of middle age, and the loss and doubt that's the drumbeat beneath it all. Consistently surprising in all the best ways, this book is a beacon!"—Catherine Newman, author of We All Want Impossible Things

“Nicola Kraus deftly shows how the fog of generational trauma can finally give way to clarity and understanding when the grown children in a uniquely blended family learn how their mothers’ painful pasts shaped them all.”—Laura Zigman, author of Small World

HG LITERARY ILLUSTRATOR NEWS

September 2021:

Bon Orthwick, HG Literary illustrator of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff, an instant NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller.

HG LITERARY CLIENTS SWEEP THE BANK STREET BOOK AWARDS

Represented by Victoria Wells Arms:

Rural Voices by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Candlewick, October 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 14 and up

The Edge of Anything by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Running Press, March 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 14 and up

Trowbridge Road by Marcella Pixley (Candlewick, October 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 12-14

Nacho’s Nachos by Sandra Nickel (Lee & Low, August 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 5-9

The Three Billy Goats Bueno by Susan Middleton Elya (Putnam, March 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 5-9

Represented by Carrie Hannigan & Josh Getzler:

The Smartest Kid in the Universe by Chris Grabenstein (Random House, December 2020) named a Best Book of 2021, ages 8-12

HIJAB BUTCH BLUES by Lamya H / Dial, February 2023

Represented by Julia Kardon

THEM’S HONOREE IN LITERATURE

WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD, THE ISRAEL FISHMAN NONFICTION AWARD

WINNER of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize

Lambda Literary Award Finalist

Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize, the Stonewall Book Award

An Audacious Book Club pick

Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Autostraddle, Book Riot, BookPage, Harper’s Bazaar, Electric Lit, and Audible

A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from stories in the Quran in this daring, provocative, and radically hopeful memoir.

“To be invited into the richness of their interior world—the beauty of childhood skepticism, the complexity of Muslim storytelling, and the glory of life in a queer body—is no minor gift. Hijab Butch Blues is for anyone coming home to themselves in a world content to disorient us. Lamya H will show us the way.” -Cole Arthur Riley, NYT bestselling author of This Here Flesh

“A masterful, must-read contribution to conversations on power, justice, healing, and devotion from a singular voice I now trust with my whole heart.” -Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed 

“A revelation, an emotional journey of faith, family, community, and sexuality. With precision, compassion, and deeply observed storytelling, Lamya H—a new, distinctive voice—navigates the fault lines of life and love in a queer Muslim body.” -Linda Villarosa, author of Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

“Hijab Butch Blues is more than a must-read. It's also a study guide on Islam, a handbook for abolitionists, and a queer manifesto. It inspires critical thinking, upholds activist self-care, and permits the defining of one's own queerness.” -NPR

THE WITCH HUNTER by Max Seeck / Berkley, November 2020

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, and the Barnes & Noble Mystery & Thriller Pick for November! 

A shocking murder in an affluent Helsinki suburb has ties to witchcraft and the occult in this thrilling U.S. debut from Finnish author Max Seeck.

“One twist follows another, baffling the police and readers alike. Seeck imbues this riveting procedural with a deliciously creepy undertone. Readers will be excited to see what Seeck does next.”–Publisher’s Weekly STARRED REVIEW

TROWBRIDGE ROAD by Marcella Pixley / Candlewick Press, Oct 2020

Represented by Victoria Wells Arms

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST; An Amazon “Hot New Releases;” Shelf Awareness's BEST CHILDREN & TEEN BOOKS OF 2020 in the Chapter and Middle Grade Books category, Chosen as an Amazon BEST OF THE YEAR ages 9-12.

“June Bug narrates this work of historical realism with a magical, poetic quality, turning the ordinary extraordinary. June Bug and Ziggy’s fanciful adventures are likely to resonate with fans of Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia (1977)...An exceptional story for readers who feel deeply.”

—Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

THE NINTH NIGHT OF HANUKKAH by Erica Perl / Sterling, September 2020

Represented by Carrie Hannigan

As seen in the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

A heartwarming picture book with a fresh twist on a Hanukkah celebration: celebrating a ninth night with new neighbors and friends!

“Children will enjoy watching the family’s cat reacting to the various goings-on and seeing the furnishings gradually replacing boxes over the course of the story. Instructions for a DIY “Shamash Night” close the book.” -Kirkus

THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett / Riverhead Books, Jun 2020

Represented by Julia Kardon

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR • ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • VULTURE • USA TODAY • GO • HARPER’S BAZAAR • BUSTLE

New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

2021 WOMEN’S PRIZE FINALIST

From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern Black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations.

“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal

“A story of absolute, universal timelessness . . . For any era, it’s an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it’s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” – Entertainment Weekly