Jenny Offill

"Lizzie Benson slid into her job as a librarian without a traditional degree. But this gives her a vantage point from which to practice her other calling: she is a fake shrink. For years, she has tended to her God-haunted mother and her recovering addict brother. They have both stabilized for the moment, but Lizzie has little chance to spend her new free time with husband and son before her old mentor, Sylvia Liller, makes a proposal. She's become...

A girl wants a pet but her mom keeps saying no to all the animals she picks. Finally her mom says, "You can have any pet you want as long as it doesn't need to be walked or bathed or fed." With the help of her school librarian, she finds a pet that fits the bill-- a sloth.