A Season of Learning

Andrea Chan Wang ’92
Summer at Squee
Kokila
320 pages, $18.99

In this coming-of-age novel for young readers by Andrea Chan Wang ’92, middle-schooler Phoenny Fang navigates the changing dynamics at her beloved annual refuge, Summertime Chinese Culture, Wellness, and Enrichment Experience (SCCWEE, or Squee, to those in the know). A senior camper, she had expected she and her friends would be that summer’s most powerful group—but new configurations change that. Phoenny learns she is out of touch with some campers’ experiences—particularly adoptees—and expands her understanding of what it means to be Chinese American.

Adrift

Leslie Stephens ’14
You’re Safe Here: A Novel
Scout Press
320 pages, $28.99

This debut novel by Leslie Stephens ’14, edited by her Wellesley contemporary Taylor Rondestvedt ’15, takes place in 2060. Floating on the Pacific, newly pregnant Maggie awakens in her WellPod, one of a fleet of enclosed vessels designed for health, solitude, and relaxation. The pod is the pinnacle of the latest wellness technology. But all is not well with the WellPods. Maggie’s fiancée, Noa, has discovered a history of faulty tech and dangerous cover-ups in its development. But the WellPods are already at sea, and there’s a storm coming.

Understanding ADHD

Esther Silliman Goldberg ’75
Talking ADHD: The Breakthrough Guide to Understanding, Empowering, and Communicating Without Judgement
Independently published
482 pages, $14.99

Esther Silliman Goldberg ’75, a clinical and educational psychologist, has spent 40 years diagnosing individuals with ADHD and offering personal and group treatment for children, parents, and adults. Her own diagnosis with ADHD when she was working as an intern in a psychiatric hospital transformed her life and led to a career helping families navigate the condition’s complexities. Her treatment model is designed to empower families through open and intentional conversations and to help children understand their symptoms and improve their life skills.

A New Beginning

Suzette Mullen ’83
The Only Way Through Is Out
University of Wisconsin Press
250 pages, $26.95

In midlife, Suzette Mullen ’83 walked away from a successful and established existence—husband, grown sons, oceanside home in Montauk, N.Y.—to live openly as a lesbian. On her website, she writes that her memoir is for anyone who is “longing to live out loud—including LGBTQ+ folx crushed by oppressive religious institutions; women at midlife who have deferred their own dreams; empty nesters who have stayed in unhappy marriages ‘for the kids’—every person who longs to live more authentically but is afraid of the cost.”