Big fall books by local writers

BIG FALL BOOKS BY LOCAL WRITERS

FICTION

"The Fall of Alice K." by Jim Heynen (Milkweed Editions): Everything in Alice K.'s life is changing -- her parents' farm is failing, the millennium is ending, and a Hmong family has moved into her extremely Dutch town. Oh, and she's fallen in love.

"The Round House" by Louise Erdrich (Oct. 2, Harper): The mother of young Joe Coutts is attacked, and Joe sets out to solve the crime and see that justice is served. The second book in a planned trilogy that began with "Plague of Doves," a Pulitzer finalist.

"The Lighthouse Road" by Peter Geye (Oct. 2, Unbridled Books): Like Geye's first novel, "Safe From the Sea," this is set along Minnesota's North Shore. It's the story of a young man in the 1920s who falls in love with the one person he should not. An "Indie Next" pick by the American Booksellers Association.

POETRY

"Rough, and Savage" by Sun Yung Shin (Coffee House): Shin's second collection draws on Korean and American myths and history to create what one critic calls "a new mythology."

"Y" by Leslie Adrienne Miller (Graywolf Press): Miller's sixth poetry collection explores motherhood with humor and elegance.

"Odessa" by Patricia Kirkpatrick (Dec. 11, Milkweed): Winner of the first annual Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, Kirkpatrick's collection examines life after a diagnosis of brain cancer.

YOUNG ADULT

"Shadow on the Mountain" by Margi Preus (Amulet): A 14-year-old Norwegian boy gets involved in the resistance against the Nazis. Based on a true story. Preus, of Duluth, is the author of "Heart of a Samurai," a 2011 Newbery Honor Book.

"Iron-Hearted Violet" by Kelly Barnhill (Oct. 9, Little, Brown): Princess Violet is bright, reckless and daring. And when she finds a secret, forbidden book, she learns that power lies with those who tell stories.

"The Vengekeep Prophecies" by Brian Farrey (Oct. 23, Harper): The story of Jaxter Grimjinx, an inept young thief in a family of thieves. The first volume in a planned trilogy by the winner of a 2012 Minnesota Book Award.

LAURIE HERTZEL