In her senior year of college, Alice slips down the rabbit hole into a world as topsy-turvy and disturbing as any adventure in wonderland. The downward slide begins when Amelia shows up to run Alice's life. Funny thing about Amelia, though. No one else can see or hear her. But Amelia takes care of Alice, all right. Straight through the drugs and restraints of a mental institution and right out onto the streets, where Alice lives as confused as any frightened rabbit. All hope of FINDING ALICE (4.5) has deserted her, until she begins to realize that someone much bigger than her fears and far smarter than Amelia loves her and has never let go of her hand. In a remarkable story of mental healing, Melody Carlson sweeps the reader into the mind of a woman battling schizophrenia. Amid all the voices in Alice's head, the voice of God stands out clearly, subtly, poignantly—drawing the reader and Alice into the knowledge that finding oneself sometimes means denying what seems to be real in order to see what is truly real. (Sep., 384 pp., $12.99)

—Jill Elizabeth Nelson