The 26 Best New Books You Need to Read This Fall

The first novel by acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer takes us to pre-Civil War Virginia, where Hiram Walker is born into slavery. His mother is sold away, and he thinks of himself and the other slaves as "the tasked." When he discovers that he has a mysterious power that saves his life, he creates a plan to escape. The Water Dancer is a complex, powerful story about the heartbreak of separating families, and the price of freedom.

Release date: Sept. 24