A well-written look at how immigration works on an individual level.
An immigration lawyer shares client stories.
In this debut nonfiction book, Cohen relates the tales of several of the people she represented as an immigration attorney at a leading law firm, some paying clients and others pro bono. The stories reveal a range of experiences, from refugees seeking political asylum to middle-class professionals immigrating by choice. Several of the author’s clients qualified for “extraordinary ability” status, including an Albanian writer, an Asian violinist, and a Honduran school principal, while others followed more mundane paths, which Cohen still depicts in detail, showing each individual’s merit. The case studies also examine the complicated and often bureaucratic process of establishing legal status, permanent residency, and citizenship, revealing how a single sympathetic or disdainful immigration officer can determine a person’s fate. Although the epilogue offers some suggestions for activism and a broader look at immigration rules, the book approaches the issue from the perspective of individual cases rather than policy, an effective method of addressing a complex and often emotional topic. The author’s personal interest in and respect for all her clients is evident (“I felt fiercely protective of him, a feeling I have about all my clients who face life-altering consequences if their cases fail,” she explains at one point), making it easy for readers to connect with each case she profiles. Throughout her book, written with Taylor, Cohen reminds readers that her position at a major law firm allowed her clients access to more connections and influence than most people have. The concluding pages suggest ways in which the immigration process can be made more equitable. The writing is strong, and readers of legal dramas will enjoy the tales of racing to courthouses, developing winning strategies, and waiting for verdicts. Readers who are unfamiliar with immigration law will find the volume extremely informative without being overly technical, while those with knowledge of the process will not consider it too simple. The focus on the clients’ experiences makes the book broadly appealing.
A well-written look at how immigration works on an individual level.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63299-487-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: River Grove Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.
Enduring the unthinkable.
This memoir—the first by an Israeli taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023—chronicles the 491 days the author was held in Gaza. Confined to tunnels beneath war-ravaged streets, Sharabi was beaten, humiliated, and underfed. When he was finally released in February, he learned that Hamas had murdered his wife and two daughters. In the face of scarcely imaginable loss, Sharabi has crafted a potent record of his will to survive. The author’s ordeal began when Hamas fighters dragged him from his home, in a kibbutz near Gaza. Alongside others, he was held for months at a time in filthy subterranean spaces. He catalogs sensory assaults with novelistic specificity. Iron shackles grip his ankles. Broken toilets produce an “unbearable stink,” and “tiny white worms” swarm his toothbrush. He gets one meal a day, his “belly caving inward.” Desperate for more food, he stages a fainting episode, using a shaving razor to “slice a deep gash into my eyebrow.” Captors share their sweets while celebrating an Iranian missile attack on Israel. He and other hostages sneak fleeting pleasures, finding and downing an orange soda before a guard can seize it. Several times, Sharabi—51 when he was kidnapped—gives bracing pep talks to younger compatriots. The captives learn to control what they can, trading family stories and “lift[ing] water bottles like dumbbells.” Remarkably, there’s some levity. He and fellow hostages nickname one Hamas guard “the Triangle” because he’s shaped like a SpongeBob SquarePants character. The book’s closing scenes, in which Sharabi tries to console other hostages’ families while learning the worst about his own, are heartbreaking. His captors “are still human beings,” writes Sharabi, bravely modeling the forbearance that our leaders often lack.
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063489790
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper Influence/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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