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| The Leaversby Lisa KoDeming Guo is a fifth grader in the Bronx when his mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, disappears. Adopted by two white academics and renamed Daniel, he appears to be well-armed for success, but ten years later Daniel has failed out of college. Then he learns that his mother, who he has never stopped wondering about, is still alive. Told first from his perspective and then from hers, this moving, character-driven novel explores the lack of options for undocumented workers. It won the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction in 2016. |
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Exit Westby Mohsin HamidBestselling author Mohsin Hamid has been a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award (Moth Smoke) and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize (The Reluctant Fundamentalist); we're curious to see where this incredibly timely fourth novel will go. Set in an unnamed country torn apart by violence and repression, it follows two young lovers: independent Nadia, and quiet Saeed, who keep their heads down until the day comes that they must flee for their own safety. For the right price, they are allowed access to portals that lead them to a crowded refugee camp, a cramped London apartment, and a home in California. It's an interesting take on migration (instantaneous!) that those curious about the subject may enjoy exploring.
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Every Wild Heart by Meg Donohue Passionate and funny, radio personality Gail Gideon is a true original. Nine years ago when Gail’s husband announced that he wanted a divorce, her ensuing on-air rant propelled her local radio show into the national spotlight. But fame comes at a price. After all, what does a woman who has staked her career on being single do when she finds herself falling in love? And is the person who is harassing her in increasingly troubling ways a misguided fan or a true danger to Gail and her daughter, Nic? Fourteen-year-old Nic has always felt that she pales in comparison to her vibrant, outgoing mother. Plagued by a fear of social situations, she is most comfortable at the stable where she spends her afternoons. But when a riding accident lands Nic in the hospital, she awakens from her coma changed. Suddenly, she has no fear at all and her disconcerting behavior lands her in one risky situation after another. And no one, least of all her mother, can guess what she will do next.
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The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman GillRecruited into his estranged father's illicit architectural salvage business in 1974 Manhattan, young Griffin is assigned to steal 19th-century gargoyle sculptures while navigating the challenges of his father's increasing demands. Desperate both to connect with his father, Griffin is slow to recognize that his father’s deepening obsession with preserving the architectural treasures of Beaux Arts New York is also a destructive force, imperiling Griffin’s friendships, his relationship with his very first girlfriend, and even his life. As his father grows increasingly possessive of both Griffin’s mother and his scavenged touchstones of the lost city, Griffin must learn how to build himself into the person he wants to become and discover which parts of his life can be salvaged—and which parts must be let go. Maybe loss, he reflects, is the only thing no one can ever take away from you.
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Edgar & Lucy by Victor LodatoEdgar's father died when he was a baby. Since then Edgar, now eight, has been living with his grandmother and his self-destructive mother. It's not the happiest of situations (the two women fight a lot), but it gets worse when his grandmother (and primary caregiver) dies. Saying much more than that may spoil the plot for some readers; you should know that this two-hankie book is mostly a story of loss, grief, love, and maybe a bit of madness. Engaging, realistic characters populate the dark and emotional tale, told primarily from Edgar's insightful and unusual viewpoint.
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The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard SchlinkAs a young lawyer, the nameless protagonist of The Woman on the Stairs became entangled in the affairs of three people mired in a complex and destructive relationship. An artist, the woman whose portrait he had painted, and her husband became a triangle that drew the lawyer deeper and deeper into their tangled web. Now, encountering the painting that triggered it all, the lawyer must reconcile his past and present selves; when he eventually locates the woman, he is forced to confront the truth of his love and the reality that his life has been irrevocably changed.
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Complicated Family Dynamics |
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| Silver Sparrowby Tayari JonesDana Yarboro's father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist. Though both Dana and her mother have always known this, James goes to great lengths to protect his first family from the truth. Despite her mother's tendency to spy on the first wife, Dana is kept from her half-sister by a simple rule: Chaurisse picks first (camp, job, college), and Dana gets what's left. After the two meet accidentally and Dana pursues a friendship with her unsuspecting half-sister, James' secrets inevitably unravel. Set in Atlanta's middle-class African-American community in the 1980s, this novel is peopled with complex, believable characters. |
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| We Are Waterby Wally LambFramed by an intriguing story of a black artist, this complex novel revolves around Anna Oh, a middle-aged artist and mother who's left her Chinese-Italian husband for her art dealer, a Greek woman. Told in alternating perspectives and evoking Greek mythology, the story tangles the past and the present together -- Anna's recollections of her brutal childhood and her soon-to-be wife's prenup request each lead to the exploration of painful family dynamics. |
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| They May Not Mean To, But They Do by Cathleen SchineTaking its title from a famous poem by Philip Larkin, this darkly comic novel is full of sharp commentary and awash in guilt, all focused around family relationships. Joy Bergman is 86, recently widowed, and about to be forcibly retired. She doesn't want to be a burden, and isn't ready for a nursing home, but shouldn't really live alone in her Manhattan apartment. Her kids do the best they can for her, but they are busy with families and complications of their own. Narrated in turn by each of the Bergmans, this story may well hit home with readers who have aging parents of their own. |
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| Modern Lovers by Emma StraubIn college, Elizabeth, Andrew, Zoe, and Lydia were friends and bandmates; after a brush with fame, Lydia OD'd at 27. The rest are middle-aged, still close but distracted by common mid-life problems. Elizabeth and Andrew, married to each other, disagree on an important point, while Zoe's marriage to outsider Jane is faltering. Career woes, lack of fulfillment, an awareness that youth is fleeting -- these are just a few of the issues that keep them up at night (there's also the troubling fact that their teenage children have discovered sex -- and each other). Character-driven and witty, Modern Lovers alternates between the perspectives of each of the well-drawn protagonists. |
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Thursday, July 6 Google Apps - Drive and Beyond 1:00 p.m. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
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Wednesday, July 19 Tiny Desserts with Pam Parseghian 6:30 p.m. Pam will demonstrate different methods of creating small desserts with big impact!
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Cranbury Public Library
23 North Main Street ~
Cranbury, NJ 08512 ~ Phone: 609-655-0555 ~ Contact Us
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