With its graceful subject gazing out from a shimmering peacock's tail of a dress, Gustav Klimt's gold-flecked 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer has an equally spectacular backstory, complete with a breathtaking woman, turn-of-the-century Viennese society, Nazis, and, of course, an inspired painter. Anne-Marie O'Connor sweeps us up in this true story of high art and high-stakes intrigue.

In her debut novel, Tupelo Hassman channels the brash but vulnerable voice of Rory Dawn Hendrix, a young girl growing up in a seedy Reno trailer park. Determined not to follow the going-nowhere path prescribed for her -- the one her Mama is currently on -- Rory checks out the Girl Scout Handbook from her school library over and over again, even though she isn't in a troop. Will advice on subjects like "Finding Your Way When You Get Lost" help her escape?