I’m so honored and excited to be included as a debut author on this list of “family dramas that will tug at your heart strings” by She Reads Magazine.
(Is that my name in the same list as Celeste Ng and Brit Bennett, as well as those other amazing authors?)
Click below to see details of the list:
Family Dramas That Will Tug at Your Heart Strings – She Reads Magazine
The journey continues!
I made the list!
My debut novel, The Unraveling of Michael Galler, is one of five books selected by the Philadelphia Inquirer for 2026 summer reading written by authors with ties to Philadelphia.
(I always knew my University of Pennsylvania education would come in handy one day!)
LAUNCH PARTY
Saturday, May 16, 2026
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
The Tailored Home ~ Studio Café
Sconset Square ~ 15 Myrtle Avenue
Westport, CT
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Publication day!
Announcing the anticipated publication of my debut novel, The Unraveling of Michael Galler.
Publication date: May 12, 2026.
For fans of nuanced, slow-build narratives, a psychological family drama about a teenager whose entanglement in an intense, complex new relationship exacerbates his obsession over his greatest fear.
After observing multiple terminal effects of varying illnesses of those close to him that he perceives only as cancer, Michael Galler gains a heightened cognizance of the physical threats that can grow unknowingly inside a person. As a result, he dedicates himself to healthily fortifying his body against any comparable assault.
While growing up with his loving, widowed father and the younger brother he feels compelled to protect, Michael is able to balance the pressures of his young life—academic achievement, high school athletic competition, and even training for the Boston Marathon. But as he moves toward college life, he develops a promising relationship with a girl who too easily fills the gaps of his motherless upbringing—and his long-held fear of what he now thinks of as capital-C Cancer begins to take over. Everything he experiences, he experiences through the filter of trying to outrun a disease he thinks is pursuing him.
A dramatic coming-of-age tale with a dark psychological twist, The Unraveling of Michael Galler explores the motives of a teenage boy so overwhelmed by an obsessive fear that may be losing his grip on reality.
Available to order on Simon & Schuster.
Steven M. Rubin 