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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The wildly entertaining new novel from the bestselling author of Water for Elephants.
Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but apes she gets—especially the bonobos Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena, who are capable of reason and communication through American Sign Language. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans—until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter writing a human interest feature. But when an explosion rocks the lab, John’s piece turns into the story of a lifetime—and Isabel must connect with her own kind to save her family of apes from a new form of human exploitation.
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wench ‘wench n. from Middle English “wenchel,”
1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.
Situated in Ohio, a free territory before the Civil War, Tawawa House is
an idyllic retreat for Southern white men who vacation there every summer
with their enslaved black mistresses. It’s their open secret. Lizzie,
Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at the resort, building strong friendships over the
years. But when Mawu, as fearless as she is assured, comes along and starts talking
of running away, things change.
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After taking two football seasons off, Riley Covington is attempting to
make a comeback in the league while trying to forget Khadi Faroughi, now
on security detail for a prominent senator.
But a new attack turns
both of their lives upside down yet again. During a state funeral,
terrorists overrun the National Cathedral and take senators,
congressmen, and their entourages hostage, including Khadi. This new
generation of The Cause is made up of homegrown terrorists—an inside
threat to the security of the nation. They release most of the hostages,
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John and Martha Beck had two Harvard degrees apiece when they conceived their second child. Further graduate studies, budding careers, and a growing family meant major stress—not that they’d have admitted it to anyone (or themselves). As the pregnancy progressed, Martha battled constant nausea and dehydration. And when she learned her unborn son had Down syndrome, she battled nearly everyone over her decision to continue the pregnancy. She still cannot explain many of the things that happened to her while she was expecting Adam, but by the time he was born, Martha, as she puts it, “had to unlearn virtually everything Harvard taught [her] about what is precious and what is garbage.”
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Do I have a child? Julia DeSmit knew she would face the question
eventually, but she didn’t expect it now. At twenty-four, she is finally
content with the way her life has unfolded. A single mother to her son
and young brother, she works at the local grocery store while chipping
away at a two-year degree. All her free time is spent with her
unorthodox family—her boys, her grandmother, and her boyfriend of five
years. It’s not perfect, but Julia is happier than ever.
So when she
receives the cryptic e-mail from her son’s father,
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