Shobha Rao´s Girls Burn Brighter explores the extraordinary bond between two poor, ambitious girls driven apart by circumstance, but relentless in their search for one another. In Tupelo Hassman’s novel, gods with a little g, threats against the Psychic Encounter Shoppe become serious actions in a California town run by evangelical Christians. Lisa Howorth’s Summerlings is a Cold War coming-of-age story in which three best friends confront their fears of the Bomb, Russian spies, bullies, and their role in the tragic event that ushers them into adulthood.