"From the acclaimed author of Use Me, eight provocative and darkly funny linked stories that explore the commonly shared, but rarely spoken of experiences that build girls into women and women into wives and mothers, mapping America's shifting cultural landscape from the late 1970s to the present day."-- From the publisher.

A seventeen-year-old girl discovers she has the reincarnated soul of an ancient warrior destined to battle the reapers--monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell.

In this powerful holiday story, a man who lost everything has his whole life changed after a little girl’s letter reminds him of the true meaning of Christmas.

Ten years later Big Earl meets Gideon, a seven-year-old leukemia patient who believes with all her heart that "Christmas means never having to ask God how much he loves us." Gideon is determined to reach this lonely and hurting man who hates Christmas — and he...

Celebrated NPR personality and acclaimed author Scott Simon is an Emmy and Peabody Award winner. This astonishing novel is based on his experiences covering the siege of Sarajevo. Teenaged Irena and her parents are forced into hiding when Bosnian Serbs launch their war of ethnic cleansing against Muslims. But Tedic, a strong-willed Muslim man, convinces Irena to become a sniper and take up the defense of her home and people. A deadly chess game, Irena's...

A Palestinian P.I. investigates the death of a pregnant Saudi teenager in a mystery that offers “a fascinating glimpse into the workings…of Saudi society” (Publishers Weekly).
 
When sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi goes missing, her prominent family calls on desert guide Nayir al-Sharqi to lead a search party. Ten days later, Nouf’s body is discovered. The coroner determines that she...

The story of the Nolan family, including daughter Francie, and life in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn during the early part of the 20th century.

"Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who is said to be living without food, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl. As Anna's life ebbs away, Lib finds herself responsible not just for the care of a child but for that child's very survival. Haunting and magnetic, The Wonder is a searing examination of doubt,...

Nathan Andrews, who at eight bought shoes for his dying mother (The Christmas Shoes) and as a medical student fell in love with a young heart patient (The Christmas Blessing), takes a backseat in Van Liere's latest Christmas confection. The focus this time is on Patti and Mark Addison. Patti is a devoted social worker, but she can't seem to feel anything for her handsome pilot husband (they sleep in separate bedrooms), and she can't understand why...

Obsessively following the edicts of the Girl Scouts Handbook in spite of her lack of a troop, young Rory longs to escape the Reno trailer park where she lives with her bartender mother.