Ben Wiseman: Elliot Alagash

New from Random House.  Elliot Allagash is an evil teeange billionaire who befriends Seymour, a chubby outsider at a Manhattan prep school. In exchange for doing whatever Elliot tells him, Seymore becomes a Harvard-bound, straight-A class president. The author, Simon Rich, is a 25-year old writer for SNL.

Elsa Chiao: A Thread of Sky

New from Penguin Press, printed on gritty matte. The story follows six Chinese-American women, three sisters, their mother, her sister and their grandmother, who tour China and in the process come to terms with their personal problems and a dark family secret.