Based on historical research and inspired by the lives of the women living in New York during the American Gilded Age, PANDORA is perfect for fans of the TV blockbusters The Gilded Age and Bridgerton.
PANDORA
by Anita Abriel
Lake Union, Spring 2023
(via Writers House)
In early 1920s New York, during the height of the Victorian Gilded Age, when fortunes were made and most young women dreamt of the most eligible bachelor, Pandora Carmichael dreams of becoming a fashion designer and achieving the independency forbidden to women of the time. Her main impediment is that she does not belong to the right family.
Pandora begins a journey of love and ambition that takes her from the rolling hills of Hyde Park, New York to 1920s Manhattan.
Anita Abriel was born in Sydney, Australia. She received a BA in English literature with a minor in creative writing from Bard College. She is the internationally bestselling author of The Light After the War and Lana’s War.
Jesse Braddock is trapped, living in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and her exboyfriend, a wannabe reality-TV star who turned out to be a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost treasure, which could solve all her problems—if she can figure out how to keep it. The problem is, some very bad men are also looking for the treasure, and they know Jesse knows where it is. Meanwhile Jesse’s ex has become involved with Ken Bortle, of Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer, who has hatched an insane scheme to attract tourists to his failing store by making viral videos of a creature called the Everglades Melon Monster, which is in fact an unemployed alcoholic newspaperman named Phil wearing a repurposed Dora the Explorer costume head. Incredibly, this plan is wildly successful, which means a huge horde of Tik-Tokkers swarm into the swamp looking for the monster at the same time a variety of villains are hunting for Jesse. In the midst of this mayhem a presidential hopeful arrives in the Everglades to preside over the official launch of the Python Challenge. Needless to say it does not go as planned. In fact nothing in this story goes as planned. This is, after all, Florida.
For the first time in history, we have instantaneous access to the world’s knowledge. There has never been a better time to learn, to contribute, and to improve ourselves. Yet, rather than feeling empowered, we are often left feeling overwhelmed by this constant influx of information. The very knowledge that was supposed to set us free has instead led to the paralyzing stress of believing we’ll never know or remember enough.
Ordinary pig, Gary Yorkshire, has his entire life turned upside down when a bite on the nose from a radioactive bat turns him into . . . BATPIG. With the support of his best friends, Brooklyn the bat and Carl the fish, he finally feels like he’s getting a handle on this whole superhero business. That is, until he faces a battle against time itself, when an underappreciated janitor slows down the clock so much that a math class never ever ends (the horror!). Can Batpig save the class from never-ending fractions?
In this hilarious, hijinks-filled graphic novel super-swine Batpig is ready to face even bigger bullies, harder fights, and scariest of all—meeting his superhero idol.
A SMART, SMART SCHOOL