Kelsey Chinn and her BFFs are elated to make the freshman girls basketball team for legendary Westside High. Then COVID-19 and a bullying old coach cancel their dreams of playing in their first Warrior hoops season. The girls are stunned when they are abruptly dismissed with zero chance to compete, but don't ever say 'No way' to these teammates. They refine their game on the only court available – the Chinn's DIY driveway hoop – and when the virus suddenly strikes down the Varsity squad, a...

"Wonderfully, in Akashic's Oakland Noir, the stereotypes about the city suffer the fate of your average noir character--they die brutally. Kudos to the editors, Jerry Thompson and Eddie Muller, for getting Oakland right. All those outsize statistics don’t reveal a real city, but this collection of local voices--both established and new--brings it thrumming to life...Readers who know the city will relish its sense of place, and those who only know the stereotypes will be in for a p...