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Crazy-but-true stories about the natural world make this acclaimed nonfiction series perfect for fans of curiosities and wondersand anyone looking to explore ways to separate fact from fiction.This nonfiction chapter book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 7 to 9 who are reading independently. ItDid you know that too many fidget spinners spinning in the same directioncouldhavean adverse effectonEarthsgravitational field? Or thatthe remains of a deceased loved one can be turned into a diamond? Or that the loudestknownsound in history was made bya volcanic eruptionin 1883, with the echoing blast circling the planetmore than threetimes?Welcome to Two Truths and a Lie: Forces of Nature! Youve heard of the game: Every story in this book is strange and astounding, but one out of every three is an outright lie. Picking out the fakes isnt as easy as you think, however. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable! Dont be fooled by the photos that accompany each storyits going to take all your smarts and some clever research to ferret out the truth.From a man who gave himself an appendectomy to radio signals from other planets to eagles that have been trained to take out spy drones, the stories in this third installment in the Two Truths and a Lie series will amaze you! Just dont believe everything you read. . . .

HOW DOES MAGIC HAPPEN? The Ogilvy advertising legendone of the leading minds in the world of branding(NPR) and "e;the don of modern advertising"e; (Sunday Times)explores the art and science of conjuring irresistible products andideas."e;Sutherland, the legendary Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, uses his decades of experience to dissect human spending behavior in an insanely entertaining way.Alchemycombines scientific research with hilarious stories andcase studies ofcampaigns for AmEx, Microsoftand the like. This is a must-read."e; Entrepreneur, A "e;Best Book of the Year"e;Why is Red Bull so popular, though everyoneeveryone!hates the taste? Humans are, in a word, irrational, basing decisions as much on subtle external signals (that little blue can) as on objective qualities (flavor, price, quality). The surrounding world, meanwhile, is irreducibly complex and random. This means future success cant be projected on any accounting spreadsheet. To strike gold, you must master the dark art and curious science of conjuring irresistible ideas: alchemy.Based on thirty years of field work inside the largest experiment in human behavior ever conceivedthe forever-unfolding pageant of consumer capitalismAlchemy, the revolutionary book by Ogilvy advertising legend Rory Sutherland, whose TED talks have been viewed nearly seven million times, decodes human behavior, blending leading-edge scientific research, absurdly entertaining storytelling, deep psychological insight, and practical case studies from his storied career working on campaigns for AmEx, Microsoft, and others.Heralded as one of the leading minds in the world of branding by NPR and "e;the don of modern advertising"e; by The Times, Sutherland is a unique thought leader, as comfortable exchanging ideas with Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler (both interviewed in these pages) as he is crafting the next product launch. His unconventional and relentlessly curious approach has led him to discover that the most compelling secrets to human decision-making can be found in surprising places:What can honey bees teach us about creating a sustainable business?How could budget airlines show us how to market a healthcare system?Why is it better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong?What might soccer penalty kicks teach us about the dangers of risk-aversion?Better branding, Sutherland reveals, can also be employed not just to sell products, but to promote a variety of social aims, like getting people to pay taxes, improving public health outcomes, or encouraging more women to pursue careers in tech. Equally startling and profound, Sutherlands journey through the strange world of decision making is filled with astonishing lessons for all aspects of life and business.

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.Reminiscent of the bestsellers of Laura Lippman and Harlan Cobenwith a dose of Big Little Lies or Stranger Thingsan absorbing, addictive tale of psychological suspense from the author of the highly acclaimed stand-alone novel What Remains of Me and the USA Today bestselling and Shamus Award-winning Brenna Spector series, in which a seemingly open-and-shut police case with a clear-cut hero and villain turns out to be anything but simple.Late one night in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Havenkill, a distraught woman stumbles into the police stationand lives are changed forever. Aimee En, once a darling of the 80s pop music scene, claims that a teenage boy stole her car, then ran over another young man who'd rushed to help. As Liam Millers life hangs in the balance, the events of that fateful night begin to come into focus. But is everything as it seems? The case quickly consumes social media, transforming Liam, a local high school football star, into a folk hero, and the suspect, a high school outcast named Wade Reed, into a depraved would-be killer. But is Wade really guilty? And if he isn't, why won't he talk?Told from a kaleidoscope of viewpointsWade's mother Jackie, his younger brother Connor, Aimee En and Pearl Maze, a young police officer with a tragic past, If I Die Tonight is a story of family ties and dark secretsand the lengths we'll go to protect ourselves.

Isabel Allendethe New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Mayas Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, and Zorro, have sold more than 57 million copies around the worlddemonstrates her remarkable literary versatility with Ripper, an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery involving a brilliant teenage sleuth who must unmask a serial killer in San Francisco.The Jackson women, Indiana and Amanda, have always had each other. Yet, while their bond is strong, mother and daughter are as different as night and day. Indiana, a beautiful holistic healer, is a free-spirited bohemian. Long divorced from Amandas father, shes reluctant to settle down with either of the men who want herAlan, the wealthy scion of one of San Franciscos elite families, and Ryan, an enigmatic, scarred former Navy SEAL.While her mom looks for the good in people, Amanda is fascinated by the dark side of human nature, like her father, the SFPDs Deputy Chief of Homicide. Brilliant and introverted, the MIT-bound high school senior is a natural-born sleuth addicted to crime novels and Ripper, the online mystery game she plays with her beloved grandfather and friends around the world.When a string of strange murders occurs across the city, Amanda plunges into her own investigation, discovering, before the police do, that the deaths may be connected. But the case becomes all too personal when Indiana suddenly vanishes. Could her mothers disappearance be linked to the serial killer? Now, with her mothers life on the line, the young detective must solve the most complex mystery shes ever faced before its too late.

Once again Alexander Cold and his indomitable journalist grandmother, Kate, are braving the mystical unknown, this time in the heart of Africa. Along with Alexs friend Nadia Santos and a photographic crew from International Geographic magazine, they have travelled to Kenya to work on an article about the continents first elephant-led safaris. But when a missionary approaches their camp in search of companions who have mysteriously disappeared, Alex, Nadia, and their group find themselves embarking on a dangerous mission to Africas equatorial forest to aid a clan of Pygmies. For the Cold expedition is the tribes last hope for survival in a world where poaching, corruption, and slavery run rampant.Forest of the Pygmies is the concluding volume of acclaimed author Isabel Allendes celebrated trilogy, which begins with City of the Beasts and continues with Kingdom of the Golden Dragon.

Reunited once more, young Alexander Cold and his best friend, Nadia, embark upon a new adventure, following Alexs frighteningly fearless journalist grandmother Kate to a forbidden kingdom hidden away in the frosty peaks of the Himalayas. They seek the fabled Golden Dragona sacred statue and priceless oracle coveted by a greedy and powerful outsider. To prevent the desecration of the holy relic, they will need the help of a sage Buddhist monk, his young royal disciple, and a fierce tribe of Yeti warriors. But even the mystical power of their totemic animal spirits may not be enough to save the teenagers and this remote world from the destructive encroachment of civilization.Kingdom of the Golden Dragon is the second book in a remarkable trilogy by internationally acclaimed author Isabel Allende.

Drawing on such unique sources as the authors unpublished letters, business records, and obscure family recollections, Tappan Wilders Afterword adds a special dimension to the reissue of this hilarious tale about goodness in a fallen world.Meet George Marvin BrushDon Quixote come to Main Street in the Great Depression, and one of Thornton Wilders most memorable characters. George Brush, a traveling textbook salesman, is a fervent religious convert who is determined to lead a good life. With sad and sometimes hilarious consequences, his travels take him through smoking cars, bawdy houses, banks, and campgrounds from Texas to Illinoisand into the soul of America itself.

The queen of paranormal romance!J.R. Ward,New York Timesbestselling authorThe ninth book in #1New York Timesbestselling author Christine Feehan's paranormal Dark series.They were masters of the darkness, searching through eternity for a mistress of the light. . . He ran with wolves. . . materialized from the mists. . . hijacked the very heavens to whims. . .He was the dark guardian of his people. So how, after centuries of a bleak, soulless existence, had he, Lucian Daratrazanoff, suddenly come to the crave petite, curvy colorful lady cop Jaxon Montogomery, who foolishly made it her life's work to protect others from harm?Fiercely daring, Jaxx would sacrifice anything ot shield others particularly since a deadly menace dogged her every footstep, threatening all who got close to her. And strangely seductive, piercingly erotic Lucian was no exception. Lucian was powerfully, piercingly mesmerizing oddly gentle yet clearly a born predator. He had vowed to possess her, to guard her for all time. Yet with his every thirsty kiss, was he drawing Jaxon more deeply into danger . . . and his dark, mysterious desires?

From a brilliant new voice comes a brilliant new epic fantasy saga of war, prophecy, betrayal, history, and destiny.When Acting Lt. Jim Chee catches a Hopi poacher huddled over a butchered Navajo Tribal police officer, he has an open-and-shut caseuntil his former boss, Joe Leaphorn, blows it wide open. Now retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, Leaphorn has been hired to find a hotheaded female biologist hunting for the key to a virulent plague lurking in the Southwest. The scientist disappeared from the same area the same day the Navajo cop was murdered. Is she a suspect or another victim? And what about a report that a skinwalkera Navajo witchwas seen at the same time and place too? For Leaphorn and Chee, the answers lie buried in a complicated knot of superstition and science, in a place where the worlds of native peoples and outside forces converge and collide.

The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, Startlingly original. The Washington Post raves, Brilliantly conceived and executed. A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the reader into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia and is unlike anything youve ever read before.

SOON TO BE A NETFLIX SERIES!Award-winning author Lola Shoneyin delivers an irresistible and entertaining story of marriage, family, power, and heartache set in modern-day Nigeria in her debut novel.When Baba Segi woke up with a bellyache for the sixth day in a row, he knew it was time to do something drastic about his fourth wife’s childlessness. For Baba Segi, his collection of wives and gaggle of children are a symbol of prosperity, success, and a validation of his manhood. All is well in this patriarchal home, until Baba arrives with wife number four, a quiet, college-educated, young woman named Bolanle. Jealous and resentful of this interloper who is stealing their husband’s attention, Baba’s three wives, begin to plan her downfall. How dare she not know her place, they whisper. How dare she offer to teach them to read. They will teach her instead, they vow, and open their husbands eyes to this wicked wind who has upturned the tranquility of their home. Bolanle’s mother worked hard to educate her daughter and save her from a life of polygamy and dependence. She cannot understand why her daughter has chosen such a fate. But Bolanle hides a terrible secret—a secret that will unwittingly exposes the deception and lies, secrets and shame upon which Baba Segi’s household rests. A stirring rale of men and women, mothers and children, servitude and independence, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives illuminates the common threads that connect the experiences of all women: the hardships they bear, their struggle to define themselves, and their fierce desire to protect those they love.

Now a Major Motion Picture In this National Book Award finalist set in the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trustIt is 1870 and Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forging a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself. Exquisitely rendered and morally complex, News of the World is a brilliant work of historical fiction that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.

Don’t miss this Epic Reads paperback, featuring a brand-new look and an exclusive Q&A with Becky Albertalli—available for a limited time only!With a stunning new design, this Epic Reads edition of Becky Albertalli’s beloved bestselling novel is the perfect addition to any YA bookshelf! Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight.Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: If he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing with, will be jeopardized.With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated.Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out-without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

“Poignant and hilarious . . . . Irresistible.” — Washington PostOne of the most beloved novels from the critically acclaimed novelist Laurie Colwin, Goodbye Without Leaving explores a woman’s attempts to reconcile her rock-and-roll past with her significantly more sedate family life as a wife and mother.As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Coleshares is plucked from her too-tame existence when she is invited to tour as the only white backup singer for Vernon and Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes. The exciting years she spends as a Shakette are a mixed blessing, however, because when she ultimately submits to a conventional life of marriage and children, she finds herself stuck in bittersweet recollections of life on the road. As she grudgingly searches for a path toward happiness that doesn''t involve a Day-Glo neon minidress, readers will be enchanted by Geraldine’s attempts to grow up, even though she’s already an adult.Employing Colwin’s usual dry wit and candor, Goodbye Without Leaving is a classic novel from the writer hailed as “ingenious, comic, and spirited” by the Boston Globe and “a writer of originality and vision" by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mayas Notebook is a startling novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende.This contemporary coming-of-age story centers upon Maya Vidal, a remarkable teenager abandoned by her parents. Maya grew up in a rambling old house in Berkeley with her grandmother Nini, whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973 with a young son, and her grandfather Popo, a gentle African-American astronomer.When Popo dies, Maya goes off the rails. Along with a circle of girlfriends known as the vampires, she turns to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime--a downward spiral that eventually leads to Las Vegas and a dangerous underworld, with Maya caught between warring forces: a gang of assassins, the police, the FBI, and Interpol.Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. In the care of her grandmothers old friend, Manuel Arias, and surrounded by strange new acquaintances, Maya begins to record her story in her notebook, as she tries to make sense of her past and unravel the mysteries of her family and her own life.

An affecting memoir from the country’s youngest sommelier, tracing her path through the glamorous but famously toxic restaurant world At just twenty-one, the age when most people are starting to drink (well, legally at least), Victoria James became the country’s youngest sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Even as Victoria was selling bottles worth hundreds and thousands of dollars during the day, passing sommelier certification exams with flying colors, and receiving distinction from all kinds of press, there were still groping patrons, bosses who abused their role and status, and a trip to the hospital emergency room. It would take hitting bottom at a new restaurant and restorative trips to the vineyards where she could feel closest to the wine she loved for Victoria to re-emerge, clear-eyed and passionate, and a proud leader of her own Michelin-starred restaurant.Exhilarating and inspiring, Wine Girl is the memoir of a young woman breaking free from an abusive and traumatic childhood on her own terms; an ethnography of the glittering, high-octane, but notoriously corrosive restaurant industry; and above all, a love letter to the restorative and life-changing effects of good wine and good hospitality.

For fans of the Netflix show Narcos and readers of true crime, Kilo is a deeply reported account of life inside Colombia’s drug cartels, using unprecedented access in the cartels to trace a kilo of cocaine—from the fields where it is farmed, to the hit men who protect it, to the smuggling ships that bring it to American shores."Toby Muse’s tautly written account of his intimate prowl through Colombia’s narco world is both compelling and unforgettable. With Kilo, cocaine now has its own Dispatches. Simply kickass.” — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker and author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary LifeCocaine is glamour, sex and murder. From the badlands of Colombia, it stretches across the globe, seducing, corrupting and destroying. A product that must be produced, distributed, and protected, it is both a harbinger of violence and a source of immense wealth. Beginning in the jungles and mountains of Colombia, it filters down to countryside villages and the nightclubs of the cities, attracting money, sex, and death. Each step in the life of a kilo reveals a different criminal underworld with its own players, rules, and dangers, ranging from the bizarre to the diabolical. The killers, the drug-lords, all find themselves seduced by cocaine and trapped in her world.Seasoned war correspondent Toby Muse has witnessed each level of this underworld, fueled by the appetite for cocaine in America and Europe. In this riveting chronicle, he takes the reader inside Colombia’s notorious drug cartels to offer a never before look at the drug trade. Following a kilo of cocaine from its production in a clandestine laboratory to the smugglers who ship it abroad, he reveals the human lives behind the drug’s complicated legacy. Reporting on Colombia for the world’s most prestigious networks and publications, Muse gained unprecedented access to the extraordinary people who survive on the drug trade—farmers, smugglers, assassins—and the drug lords and their lovers controlling these multi-billion dollar enterprises. Uncovering stories of violence, sex, and money, he shows the allure and the madness of cocaine. And how the War on Drugs has been no match for cocaine.Piercing this veiled world, Kilo is a gripping portrait of a country struggling to end this deadly trade even as the riches flow. A human portrait of criminals and the shocking details of their lives, Kilo is a chilling, unforgettable story that takes you deep into the belly of the beast.Kilo includes 16 pages of photographs.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins, the latest riveting, deeply imaginative thriller in the Sigma Force series, told with his trademark blend of cutting-edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action.It begins in Africa . . .A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. An unknown force is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, catatonic state. The environment surrounding them—plants and animals—has grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. The insidious phenomenon is spreading from a cursed site in the jungle — known to locals as the Kingdom of Bones —and sweeping across Africa, threatening the rest of the world.What has made the biosphere run amok? Is it a natural event? Or more terrifyingly, did someone engineer it?Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are prepared for the extraordinary and have kept the world safe, vigilance for which they have paid a tragic personal price. Yet, even these brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors do not understand what is behind this frightening development—or know how to stop it. As they race to find answers, the members of Sigma quickly realize they have become the prey.To head off global catastrophe, Sigma Force must risk their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of the African continent—a truth that will illuminate who we are as a species and where we may be headed . . . sooner than we know.Mother Nature—red in tooth and claw—is turning against humankind, propelling the entire world into the Kingdom of Bones.

Founder of popular website Get Your Shit Together blends personal story and must-have advice in the ultimate guide to getting your affairs in order—from wills and advance directives to insurance, finances, and relationships—before the unthinkable happens.On July 17, 2009, Chanel Reynolds’ husband, José, was struck by a car while cycling near their home in Seattle. In the wake of her husband’s untimely death, Reynolds quickly realized that she was completely unprepared for what came next. What was the password to his phone? Did they sign their wills? How much insurance did they have? Could she afford the house? And what the hell was probate anyway? Simply put, when life went sideways she didn’t have her shit together.As it turns out, most of us don’t either. We’re too busy, in denial, overwhelmed by too much information, uncertain where to start, or just uncomfortable having those difficult conversations. Reynolds learned the hard way that hoping for the best is not a plan, but you don’t have to. Drawing on her first-hand experience, expert advice, and the unparalleled resources she’s compiled for her celebrated website, Reynolds lends a human voice to a warren of checklists and forms and emotional confusion, showing readers how to:Create a will and living willUpdate (or finally get) the right life insurance policyStart or grow an emergency fundMake a watertight emergency planKeep secure, up-to-date records of personal informationAuthoritative yet personal, grounded but irreverent, Reynolds’ voice carries readers through a tough subject with candor and compassion. Weaving personal story with hard-won wisdom, What Matters Most is the approachable, no-nonsense handbook we all need to living a life free of worry and "what ifs."

Share this Kwanzaa story with your family or in the classroom. "Very bright, playful, textured pictures capture the spirit of community that is the essence of the holiday. The two final pages about ''The Nguzo Saba––The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa'' will take kids back to the story to find the holiday message in action."*The story of Li''l Rabbit captures the true meaning of Kwanzaa—coming together to help others. Donna L. Washington''s story, with art from Shane W. Evans (Chocolate Me!), provides a fun introduction to the holiday.Li''l Rabbit is not having a very good Kwanzaa. Granna Rabbit is sick, and so his family won''t celebrate his favorite part of Kwanzaa this year: a big feast called Karamu.Li''l Rabbit knows what to do! He''ll find Granna Rabbit a special treat for Karamu so she can celebrate anyway.He looks under a pile of logs, in the field, and in the pond and along the way meets Groundhog, Momma Field Mouse, and the frogs—but he doesn''t find anything for Granna Rabbit.Maybe I''m just too little to help Granna Rabbit celebrate Kwanzaa, Li''l Rabbit thinks. Or maybe he just needs a little help from his family and friends.*Booklist

InThe Other Madisons, Bettye Kearsea descendant of an enslaved cook and, according to oral tradition, President James Madisonshares her family story and explores the issues of legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth.

?Captivating.? ?Publishers Weekly (starred review) In this companion to Fletcher and the Falling Leaves and Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas, Fletcher the fox returns for another seasonal adventure. A perennial favorite for storytime sharing! Fletcher enjoys the sunny weather and the warmth of spring. But when he stumbles across snowy flakes gently floating to the ground, he spreads the news of winter's return to all his friends. But spring is full of wonderful surprises for Fletcher and his friends.The Fletcher books are enjoyable picture books for sharing at home or in the classroom and are perfect for units on the seasons.

When Pete the Cat gets a goldfish, he decides to paint a picture of his new pet. But what will Pete do when everyone wants one of his paintings?

A New York Times Book Review New Noteworthy TitleA collection of essays, letters and poems from E.B. White, one of the countrys great literary treasures (New York Times), centered on the subject of freedom and democracy in America.I am a member of a party of one, and I live in an age of fear.These words were written by E. B. White in 1947.Decades before our current political turmoil, White crafted eloquent yet practical political statements that continue to resonate. Theres only one kind of press thats any good he proclaimed, a press free from any taint of the government. He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing that in doubtful, doubting days, national morality tends to slip and slide toward a condition in which the test of a mans honor is his zeal for discovering dishonor in others. And on the spread of fascism he lamented, fascism enjoys at the moment an almost perfect climate for growtha world of fear and hunger.Anchored by an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, this concise collection of essays, letters, and poems from one of this countrys most eminent literary voices offers much-needed historical context for our current state of the nationand hope for the future of our society. Speaking to Americans at a time of uncertainty, when democracy itself has come under threat, he reminds us, As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman . . . the scene is not desolate.

In this propulsive debut thriller, two women with deep secrets are thrown together by an unexpected meeting that plunges both their lives into chaos. But its a sick little girl whose fate hangs in the balance.Motherhood is tough.But then, so is daughterhood.When we first meet Claire, shes living in Sedona, Arizona with her boyfriend Cal and ducking calls from her mother. Her mom is a world class psychic on the East Coast and Claire doesnt want her to discover the truth. Claire works in the family business and calls herself a psychic, but she doesnt really have the gift and hasnt for a long time. Shes a fraud.Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Rena, a young mother, has family issues of her own.Shes divorced and her four-year-old daughter, Stephanie, suffers from mysterious, seemingly incurable stomach problems.No matter how many specialists Rena drags her to, no matter how many mommy-blog posts she makes about her childs health issues, trying to get help and support from her online community, Stephanie only gets sicker.When Claire and Rena meet by chance on an airplane, their carefully constructed lives begin to explode. Can these two women help each other and can they help Stephanie before its too late?

A painful truth of family life: the most tender emotions can change in an instant. You think your parents love you but is it you they love, or the child who is theirs? --Joyce Carol Oates, My Life as a RatWhich should prevail: loyalty to family or loyalty to the truth? Is telling the truth ever a mistake and is lying for ones family ever justified? Can one do the right thing, but bitterly regret it?My Life as a Rat follows Violet Rue Kerrigan, a young woman who looks back upon her life in exile from her family following her testimony, at age twelve, concerning what she knew to be the racist murder of an African-American boy by her older brothers. In a succession of vividly recalled episodes Violet contemplates the circumstances of her life as the initially beloved youngest child of seven Kerrigan children who inadvertently informs on her brothers, setting into motion their arrests and convictions and her own long estrangement. Arresting and poignant, My Life as a Rat traces a life of banishment from a familybanishment from parents, siblings, and the Churchthat forces Violet to discover her own identity, to break the powerful spell of family, and to emerge from her long exile as a rat into a transformed life.