Fiction
Sheepish
A Martha’s Vineyard Novel
Tracey Braun ’86 (under her pen name, T. Elizabeth Bell)
Pabodie Press
When tech-savvy Aly Bennett loses her job in San Francisco, she does what any self-respecting millennial in crisis would do — she hops a plane to Martha’s Vineyard. Comforted by her childhood best friend, Aly trades Wi-Fi for ocean waves, laptops for lambs and the hustle of city life for something slower, gentler and unexpectedly real.
As the island works its magic, Aly crosses paths with Whit Dias, a local fisherman with a bruised and wary heart. The attraction is unexpected — and undeniable. Aly begins to imagine a future that isn’t driven by apps and ambition, until the tug of her old life — and the secrets she’s kept hidden — threaten to undo everything.
The Trafficker
Scott Douglas Gerber ’86
Penny-a-Page Press
When a 14-year-old girl is discovered by an off-duty police officer at a truck stop outside of Toledo, Ohio, she won’t reveal her name, what she’s doing or where she’s from. A concerned juvenile court judge appoints acclaimed law professor Cameron Warren as the girl’s guardian ad litem and asks the professor to learn more about the girl so the court can return her to her home. What the professor learns along the way shakes him — and the legal system designed to protect children — to the core.
A Man of Many Hues
William Lucas ’77
Independently Published
In this sweeping two-volume novel based on the life of real-life American Jim Thompson, the architect, Office of Strategic Services officer and eventual CIA operative, military adviser, art collector and storied Thai silk entrepreneur seeks to fashion a new life in post-World War II Thailand, far from the familiar and comfortable routines of friends and family in New York City. Along the journey, Jim meets American, Thai, British, Laotian and Malaysian soldiers, insurgents, diplomats, politicians, entrepreneurs, weavers, journalists, opium smugglers and warlords in the rapidly shifting landscape of Thailand.
Throughout, Jim displays courage, daring and resilience; experiences great loss; suffers hubris; and becomes blinded to the treacherous forces around him. “A Man of Many Hues” covers the many facets of Jim’s journey, from a murderous OSS ambush in the high mountain passes of Southern France to his mysterious disappearance in the highlands of Malaysia.
Initiation at the Scum Pond
A Novel Inspired by a True Story
David Schaeffer ’81
Palmetto Publishing
Trudy Adler’s world is shattered when she learns her son, Nicholas, has been left paralyzed following a hazing ritual at Peach State Polytechnical, where he joined Gamma Beta Gamma fraternity. As she grapples with her son’s devastating condition, Trudy is met with silence from her son and evasiveness from the university and fraternity, leaving her desperate for answers.
Daniel Slater, a seasoned trial attorney eager to pursue a big verdict, takes on Nicholas and Trudy’s case. But the path to justice is fraught with obstacles. As Slater navigates the murky waters of hazing litigation, he faces aggressive tactics and stonewalling by the fraternity and university, which are fiercely determined to protect their reputations at all costs.
As the trial unfolds, the courtroom becomes a battleground of twists, turns and conflicting testimonies, culminating in a dramatic climax that challenges the very foundations of loyalty, truth and justice.
Nonfiction
Washington’s Lieutenants: Major Versus Brigadier Generals in the Revolutionary War
Douglas M. Branson LL.M. ’74
Stackpole Books
As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington developed the strategy that won the Revolutionary War. While Washington directed some battles, his strategy for the most part was carried out — and most battles were won or lost — by his subordinates, major generals and brigadier generals of varying backgrounds, experience and ability. “Washington’s Lieutenants” tells the story of the generals who served under Washington from 1775 to 1781.
Learning to Live from Those Willing to Die
David E. Grogan ’87
Voices to Veterans Press
Grogan’s book helps readers navigate life’s challenges through the real-life stories of 26 veterans. Each chapter introduces a life lesson, such as “If you don’t see a path, blaze a trail,” and then presents one or more veterans’ stories to illustrate it.
From manning the deck of an aircraft carrier during a Kamikaze attack, to patrolling the jungles of Vietnam, to riding in an armored vehicle across the Iraqi desert, the book’s stories portray the full spectrum of wartime and peacetime service.
All royalties from the book will be donated to America’s VetDogs, which provides guide and service dogs to veterans and first responders.
Books Good Enough for You
The Storied Life of Ursula Nordstrom, Editor of Extraordinary Children’s Books
Nancy Hudgins ’78
Abrams Books
“Books Good Enough for You” follows legendary Harper & Row children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom from childhood through her extraordinary career as book editor, literary revolutionary and advocate. Full of anecdotes about some of Nordstrom’s most famous collaborators, like Maurice Sendak, Margaret Wise Brown and E. B. White, this biography is a celebration of creative partnership and friendship.
While many of Nordstrom’s books — from “Where the Wild Things Are” to “Charlotte’s Web” — are now considered classics, they first faced fierce opposition and even censorship from those who deemed them inappropriate for children. In the face of this criticism, Nordstrom pushed back, building up her authors and proudly defending young readers’ access to literature that reflected their worlds.
How to Test Negative for Stupid
And Why Washington Never Will
John Kennedy ’77
Broadside Books
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy’s tongue-in-cheek guidebook through Washington, D.C., offers his thoughts on various issues and humorous stories about life in Louisiana politics and inside the Senate. Kennedy’s bon mots and life lessons include “If you trust government, you obviously failed history class” and “Always follow your heart ... but take your brain with you.”
Power Lines: My American Story
David N. Powers ’82
NFES Publishing
This memoir traces the lineage and life of American lawyer David N. Powers, who grew up in the privileged suburbs of Washington, D.C., among political insiders during the 1960s and 1970s, when radical political and social changes rocked the country and the world. His prominent family provided him with an upscale pedigree and an Ivy League education, which fueled his focus on academic excellence and competitive sports, while also opening doors to positions at powerful law firms that took him across the globe.
Giving Up Is Unforgivable
A Manual for Keeping a Democracy
Joyce Vance ’85
Dutton
As the author of the substack “Civil Discourse,” Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney and University of Alabama law professor, has been a guide to readers concerned about the erosion of democratic norms. Her new book offers “a blueprint for avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle,” as well as a “countermovement to Project 2025.” Vance puts current events in legal and historical context, explains why the rule of law still matters and sketches out a vision for where to go next.2025.” Vance puts current events in legal and historical context, explains why the rule of law still matters and sketches out a vision for where to go next.
Saving Can-Do
How to Revive the Spirit of America
Philip K. Howard ’74
Rodin Books
Alongside his career as a corporate lawyer at Covington & Burling, Philip K. Howard has earned renown for a second intellectual endeavor — his steady flow of books arguing that Americans deal with a little too much law. In his latest, “Saving Can-Do,” Howard says rules and processes are slowing down innovation and progress in the United States, and taking away Americans’ “can-do” spirit.
“We do need to get rid of law in people’s daily lives and interactions,” Howard told the podcast “Keen on America,” hosted by Andrew Keen. “It’s become a form of central planning.”
Officials need more authority — and agency — to use their best judgment, Howard explains in his book.
“The vision is this: Replace red tape with responsibility,” Howard writes. “Give leaders room to lead. Let us tackle local problems in our own ways. Let us interact honestly without the overhang of legal threats.”
Howard said that rules and regulations started to proliferate after the 1960s, when Americans began to distrust authority figures and shifted from a “human responsibility model” to a “compliance system.”
Such regulation has bloated health care costs, led to a lack of standards and cultural values in K-12 schools, and slowed down building projects, where the cost of complying with thousands of pages of regulations includes significant lost time, he says.
Though Howard is sometimes called a conservative thinker, one of the early projects in his career as a public intellectual involved working with Vice President Al Gore on the introduction to Gore’s “Common Sense Government: Works Better and Costs Less.” Gore tapped him for the introduction after Howard published his bestseller “The Death of Common Sense” in 1995.
Howard has also authored “The Collapse of the Common Good,” “Life Without Lawyers,” “The Rule of Nobody,” “Try Common Sense,” “Not Accountable” and “Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society.”
In 2002, Howard formed Common Good, a nonpartisan organization with the goal of simplifying government, for which he serves as chair. He is a frequent media commentator, has appeared several times on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, and his TED talk has been viewed over 800,000 times.
Howard has long been an idea generator — in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health, he has proposed special health courts for handling medical malpractice suits; written for the Yale Law Journal about how the progressive movement’s vision evolved into public paralysis; and curated a six-month-long series for The Atlantic called “America the Fixable,” featuring guest essayists’ ideas for reform.
After graduating from Yale and UVA Law, he practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell, then started his own firm, Howard Darby & Levin (later Howard Smith & Levin), which eventually merged with Covington.
“Saving Can-Do” predicts a time when “big change” is coming: “[T]he ground is shaking, and a coherent new governing vision will be indispensable when the time comes. The red tape state has failed.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Yuval Levin called the 152-page book “brief, accessible and powerfully persuasive.”
—Mary Wood
