Summer Books Preview

BLACK BOY SMILE: A MEMOIR IN MOMENTS, by D Watkins

When the author was sexually abused at the age of 9 at a summer camp for urban youth, the shame that resulted curdled into anger, toxic masculinity and street violence. After believing he would always be an emotional outsider, true love and fatherhood entered his life like a miracle. (Hachette, out now)

THE FOUNDLING, by Ann Leary

Set in the 1920s at an institution for "feeble-minded women of childbearing age," this novel features an irresistible teenage narrator who grew up in an orphanage herself and now is secretary to the director, a woman she idolizes. Just wait until you see what she does once she sees through the lies. (Scribner, out already)

ALSO A POET: FRANK O'HARA, MY FATHER AND ME, by Ada Calhoun

The 1966 death of poet Frank O'Hara in a dune buggy accident put Fire Island on the map of literary history. Calhoun's father, art critic Peter Schjeldahl, spent years researching but ultimately abandoned a biography. Daughter Ada tried and failed to finish it, writing this delightful memoir in the process. (Grove, June 14)

THE HOTEL NANTUCKET by Elin Hilderbrand

It wouldn't be summer without a new Hilderbrand, and No. 28 is among her best. The story revolves around a haunted hotel that's reopened by a London billionaire. He charges a staff of Nantucket locals with bringing it up to "five keys," the highest rating offered by an undercover hotel critic. Just watch 'em try. (Little Brown, June 14)

HURRICANE GIRL by Marcy Dermansky

Alison Brody has owned the beach house of her dreams for a week and a half when along comes a storm and blows it down. Unfortunately, her troubles have only just begun. As bad luck chases this poor girl up the East Coast, Dermansky weaves a tale that is absurdly funny and cheering. (Knopf, June 14)

JOBS FOR GIRLS WITH ARTISTIC FLAIR, by June Gervais

Shirley-Mastic-Yaphank-area native Gervais sets her debut in a South Shore tattoo parlor circa 1985. Recent high school graduate Gina convinces her proprietor brother to give her shot at learning what was then an all-male trade. When she falls in love with Anna, who works for a traveling tarot reader, complications ensue. (Pamela Dorman Books, June 21)

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE by Riley Sager

Celebrity satire meets suspenseful vacation thriller when an actress whose name sounds a lot like Carrie Fischer (Casey Fletcher) leaves Broadway in boozy disgrace, hiding out at in rural Vermont. There she whiles away the time spying on the tech mogul and his supermodel wife across the lake.-- until the latter disappears. (Dutton, June 21)

THE ANGEL OF ROME by Jess Walter

The beloved “Beautiful Ruins” author is back with a collection of upbeat short stories. The title story recalls his hit novel with its Italian setting, beautiful movie star character and goofy male protagonist. Even in stories about dealing with troubles like cancer, a parent with Alzheimer's, homophobia and climate change, Walter finds humor and warmth. (Harper, June 28)

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, by Gabrielle Zevin

If you're into video games, this extraordinary coming-of-age/love story/social novel has your name on it. The story follows terrific characters from youth into their adult lives as founders of a successful gaming company. Even if you couldn't care less about video games, Zevin's signature narrative charms will still keep you riveted. (Knopf, July 5)

THE WORK WIFE by Alison B. Hart

The rich are different than you and me, and boy, does this novel show how. Set inside the fortress of privilege that is a movie producer's Hollywood compound, it tracks a single explosive day when a high-profile benefit party is ripped apart by #metoo revelations and rebellion. (Graydon House, July 19)

BOOKISH PEOPLE by Susan Coll

What could be more fun than a week of chaos at a Washington, D.C., bookstore? Nothing, at least not in the hands of this queen of literary comedy, once a bookstore events manager herself. Hipster employees, self-involved writers, cruel tow-truck drivers and a malodorous store pet are all present and accounted for. (Harper, Aug. 2)

THE LAST WHITE MAN by Mohsin Hamid

Just like Gregor Samsa woke up and found he was a cockroach, a white personal trainer named Anders wakes up and finds he's turned brown. What's more, it's happening to everyone in town. As in "Exit West," Hamid creates a fable that combines vivid realism with magical elements and sharp political awareness. (Riverhead, Aug. 2)

Howard Simmons