A multilayered, beautifully textured novel about family and self, self-indulgence and generosity, against the vivid backdrop of contemporary Miami.
In the tropical paradise that is Miami, Avis and Brian Muir are still haunted by the disappearance of their ineffably beautiful daughter, Felice, who ran away when she was thirteen. Now, after five years of modeling tattoos, skateboarding, clubbing, and sleeping in a squat house or on the beach, Felice is about to turn eighteen. Her family-Avis, an exquisitely talented pastry chef; Brian, a corporate real estate attorney; and her brother, Stanley, the proprietor of Freshly Grown, a trendy food market-will each be forced to confront their anguish,
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The middle-American coming-of-age has found new life in Ryan Van Meter’s coming-out, made as strange as it is familiar by acknowledging the role played by gender and sexuality. In fourteen linked essays, If You Knew Then What I Know Now reinvents the memoir with all-encompassing empathy—for bully and bullied alike.
A father pitches baseballs at his hapless son, and a grandmother watches with silent forbearance as the same slim, quiet boy sets the table dressed in a blue satin dress. Another essay explores origins of the word “faggot,” and its etymological connection to “flaming queen.” This deft collection maps the unremarkable landscapes of childhood with compassion and precision,
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Mattie’s body has healed from the cancer that nearly took her life . . . but can she find the man who can mend her lonely heart?
Mattie has faced more in her twenty-three years than she ever imagined possible. Having successfully battled cancer, she’s ready to reenter the world with hopes for her future. But while she was in and out of hospitals, other Amish girls her age were courting and finding the men they would marry. The only man who’s ever made her heart beat faster is Graham Weaver, her best friend, who has always been there to comfort her,
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Eleven-year-olds Nora and Charlotte were best friends. When their teenage babysitter, Rose, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the girls decided to “investigate.” But their search—aided by paranormal theories and techniques gleaned from old Time-Life books—went nowhere.
Years later, Nora, now in her late twenties, is drawn back to her old neighborhood—and to her estranged friend—when Rose’s remains are finally discovered. Upset over their earlier failure to solve the possible murder, Charlotte is adamant that they join forces and try again. But Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and she’s not ready to revisit her troubled adolescence and the events surrounding the disappearance—or face the disturbing secrets that are already beginning to reemerge.
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This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai’i more than a century ago,
is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place—and a deeply
moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.
Rachel
Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting
far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a
rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from
her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the
quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i.
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Light from a Distant Star is a gripping coming-of-age story with a brutal murder at its heart and a heroine as unforgettable as Harper Lee’s “Scout.”
It
is early summer and Nellie Peck is on the cusp of adolescence – gangly,
awkward, full of questions, but keenly observant and wiser than many of
the adults in her life. The person she most admires is her father,
Benjamin, a man of great integrity. His family’s century old hardware
store is failing and Nellie’s mother has had to go back to work.
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