Simon Schuster

A Covert Affair Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS Jennet Conant Simon & Schuster: 397 pp., $28

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes A Novel Brandon Mull Aladdin / Simon & Schuster: 456 pp., $19.99, ages 9 and up For decades, kids have been inadvertently stumbling into alternate realities through children's literature. In "The Chronicles of Narnia," it was a wardrobe that served as the portal. With "Beyonders: A World Without Heroes," it's the yawning jaws of a hippo. This intriguing beginning leads to an even more imaginative quest in the kickoff to a new fantasy trilogy from Brandon Mull, bestselling author of the young-adult series "Fablehaven.

Ah, the sounds of spring. The crack of the bat, the smack of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt, the ka-ching of cash registers totaling up sales of books on baseball out this season. Just as ESPN seems to lean toward the American League East for broadcasts, book publishers this season also are looking in that direction, especially to the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and ? surprisingly ? the Tampa Bay Rays. Citizens of Red Sox Nation may find the team's unlikeliest of heroes in knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and his book "Knuckler: My Life With Baseball's Most Confounding Pitch" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

One of the disturbing paradoxes of contemporary American life is the way in which our capacity for genuine outrage has declined as the general rancor of our political and cultural conversations has risen. FOR THE RECORD: Political novel: Tim Rutten's Feb. 2 Op-Ed column about Simon & Schuster's promotion of the political novel "O" cited two passages it said were from the book, saying they demonstrated the author's partisanship. Neither passage actually appeared in the book.

O A Presidential Novel Anonymous Simon & Schuster: 353 pp., $25.99

Just as there are said to be no atheists in foxholes, the truth is that there are few true cynics in American politics. The style of our professional politics ? never mind the party ? suggests otherwise, but the fact is that even though those who make the electing of our lawmakers their vocation wear a protective carapace of indifference, get three inches under that hardened skin and you will find somebody who took up the work because they believed in something or someone ? whether it's Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, the labor movement or limited government.

The Gun C.J. Chivers Simon & Schuster: 484 pp., $28

The Lampshade A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans Mark Jacobson Simon & Schuster: 358 pp., $26