There are many ways to plan the first reading foray of the year. One might be to reflect on the new voices from the year just closed. Below, a group of librarians share the debuts they enjoyed in 2015.

Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capó Crucet (St. Martin’s. ISBN 9781250059666. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466865044) follows Lizet Ramirez from Miami to upstate New York, where she is a first-generation student at the prestigious and lily-white Rawlings College. Lizet is baffled by her new environment but equally disoriented when she returns to a changing home and neighborhood. The candid narration captures utterly realistic encounters with microaggressions and major upheavals alike. Lizet’s nuanced relationships with her sister, high school boyfriend, and college love interest make this coming-of-age story especially relevant to readers who enjoy new adult and YA works.

Asher Kravitz’s Israeli best seller, The ­Jewish Dog (Penlight. tr. from Hebrew by Michal Kessler. ISBN 9780983868538. $19.95; ebk. ISBN 9789655242225), provides a unique view of the Holocaust. Strikingly, the storyteller is a dog named Caleb, who views the world from 20 inches above the ground. Perceptive and bright, he belongs to a Jewish family until the Nazis forbid Jews to keep pets. His owners are forced to place him with their housekeeper, and Caleb is eventually trained to be a guard dog in a concentration camp. The haunting and affecting story, filled with touches of irony and humor, offers keen insight into human nature and canine intellect. This English-language debut introduces more readers to Kravitz’s skills and vision.

Iowa policeman Virgil Holt captures the Amazing Arden as she flees the theater after her last act, leaving her husband dead beneath the stage. Holt gives Arden one night to convince him of her innocence; in the morning, he must decide whether to hand her over to the sheriff or let her go. In Greer Macallister’s lyrical and mesmerizing The ­Magician’s Lie (Sourcebooks Landmark. ISBN 9781402298684. $23.99; ebk. ISBN 9781402298691), Arden seizes the opportunity to weave a tale full of danger, love, and betrayal. Swept along by Arden’s convincing voice, Holt wants to believe her, but can he? Author Macallister’s debut will appeal to fans of turn-of-the-20th-century historical fiction and magic; readers will root for Arden, even as they are unsure of whether to trust her.

In Renée Knight’s unsettling thriller, ­Disclaimer (Harper. ISBN 9780062362254. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062362278), documentarian Catherine Ravenscroft finds a mysterious book on the bedside table of her new home. It recounts disturbing events that are eerily similar to those Catherine has kept under wraps for 20 years—incidents only one other person knew about, and that person is dead. Soon Catherine discovers that this story is not fiction at all; it reveals every­thing about her and the secret she has concealed. The tension mounts when her son, Nicholas, receives the book as a gift, and Catherine realizes it is time that the hunted becomes the hunter.

After the Parade (Scribner. ISBN 9781476790107. $25; ebk ISBN 9781476790121) by Lori Ostlund is a sensitive and psychologically acute novel reminiscent of the work of Carson McCullers and Elizabeth Strout. In the middle of the night, middle-aged ESL teacher Aaron leaves his longtime partner, driving off in a U-Haul to San Francisco. Readers delve into the traumas of his Midwestern upbringing, gradually learning his reasons for trying to piece together a humble new existence. An excellent candidate for book clubs, ­Ostlund’s novel of community and outsiders is bursting at the seams with an exceptionally convincing and empathetic cast of characters.

In Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot (Knopf. ISBN 9780385351812. $25.95; ebk. ISBN 9780385351829), Mark Vanhoenacker invites passengers to step away from the endless aggravation of air travel and ponder the absolute beauty of flight. In his role as philosophical pilot-poet, the author offers a discursive, musing, and ruminative memoir that highlights the exquisiteness of flying at night and the almost mythic geography of the atmosphere. Restless red-eyed passengers can let go of their worries and instead stare out the window at the stars. Marked by a melodic grace, his leisurely paced work unfolds in lazy pinwheels connecting his personal history to the majesty of soaring through the air.

This column was contributed by Brita Zitin, Adult Services Librarian, Lincolnwood and Winnetka-Northfield Public Library Districts, IL; Barbara Bibel, formerly with Oakland Public Library; Jenny Arch, Adult Services Librarian, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA; Charlene Rue, Deputy Director of Collection Management, BookOps; Stephen Sposato, Manager, Content Curation, Chicago Public Library; and Neal Wyatt. Selections and annotations are in the order given

Neal Wyatt compiles LJ’s online feature Wyatt’s World and is the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction (ALA Editions, 2007). She is a collection development and readers’ advisory librarian from Virginia. Those interested in contributing to The Reader’s Shelf should contact her directly at Readers_Shelf@comcast.net