Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/28/2012
ISBN-13: 9781616200398
ISBN-10: 1616200391

Though you don't learn the details right up front, Benjamin Benjamin has lost everything that he values in life when, nearly penniless, he signs up for a caregiving class. Once licensed, his first client is Trevor Conklin, a wheelchair-bound, frank, and horny 19-year-old with muscular dystrophy who wants nothing to do with his father's tentative efforts to re-establish contact after years of estrangement. But among their other activities (watching movies, buying shoes, ogling women at the mall), Ben and Trevor construct a map of odd Americana -- and when Ben decides to take Trevor on a roadtrip, it's that map they follow cross-country, with the end destination being Trevor's father. Humorous, sympathetic, and poignant, this novel is sure to charm.

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/11/2012
ISBN-13: 9780316219365
ISBN-10: 0316219363

Twenty-one-year-old Private John Bartle and his friend Murph went through basic training together and were posted to the same base in Iraq; through it all, Bartle has looked out for the smaller, younger Murph. But as the fighting escalates and the soldiers reach their breaking points, Murph flees the base for the dangerous world outside. Told in alternating first-person perspectives -- of the men's experiences in Iraq and after Bartle has returned home -- this is a powerful, insightful debut. For readers who are interested in other recent fictional treatments of the effects of the Iraq War on those who fought it, try David Abrams' Fobbit or Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, both of which are cynically, blackly humorous but no less powerful.

Publisher: Penguin Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/04/2012
ISBN-13: 9781594203978
ISBN-10: 1594203970

Like John Lanchester's Capital or Sebastian Faulks' A Week in December, NW is a sprawling tale of life in a small corner of London -- in this case, the northwest corner. It follows the lives of four young people growing up in the same 1970s urban planning development as they pursue independent and (in some cases) reasonably successful lives...until they are drawn together once again. Though NW is more adventurously structured and narrated, author Zadie Smith, as in her other novels, creates a strong sense of place as she tackles issues of class, money, fate, and identity in a richly diverse urban environment.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/04/2012
ISBN-13: 9781250001047
ISBN-10: 1250001048

Abandoning her literary education to move to her new husband's California citrus ranch, Claire Nagy forges an all-consuming bond with the land that holds firm through devastating events that lead her to withdraw from her husband and daughters. The land sustains her, but years later, poor health and a caregiver who may not be what she claims to be threaten everything Claire has worked for. Both Claire and her caregiver are fascinating characters with tragic events in their pasts, and the dynamic between them drives a novel full of "beautiful prose and striking detail" (Publishers Weekly).

First Chapter  

Publisher: Riverhead Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2012
ISBN-13: 9781594488085
ISBN-10: 1594488088

Ever since the Japanese occupation of Korea, a daughter in each generation of Janie's Korean family has disappeared. This knowledge has haunted Janie since her sister Hannah's birth, forcing her to assume the role of protective older sister, even though she and Hannah clash more often than not. Then Hannah drops out of college and disappears, their father gets sick and decides to return to Korea, and Janie is tasked with finding Hannah. Bitterness, resentment, rivalry -- all of these emotions play a role in their relationship, and once Hannah is found, they come to a head. Beautifully written, this debut is an insightful examination of the bond between sisters and the role of family and history within the Korean culture.

Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/15/2012
ISBN-13: 9780399158452
ISBN-10: 0399158456

When a U.S. military operation goes wrong in an unnamed Muslim country, 15-year-old Younis is orphaned and sent to live with a host family in Pittsburgh. He changes his name to Jonas, excels in school, and refuses to talk about the attack. Though it's clear that he's troubled, it's not until he responds violently to a bully that he receives counseling for PTSD and begins to talk about the soldier who rescued him before disappearing. But he's also using alcohol to cope, and the devastating secrets he's been protecting for years -- which may finally have an outlet -- are only slowly revealed. Haunting and sobering, this debut will stay with you long after the last page.

Publisher: Dutton
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/12/2012
ISBN-13: 9780525952596
ISBN-10: 0525952594

Three years ago, a young woman named Ella Beene stopped off in a northern California town, fell in love, and never left. For the past three years, she's been happily married to Joe Capozzi and raising his kids from an earlier marriage. But her joyful life is torn to pieces when Joe dies in a drowning accident -- not only does she learn that the small family business is nearing bankruptcy, but Joe's first wife, Paige, has appeared, demanding custody of the kids Ella loves. With beautifully depicted characters (you'll sympathize with everyone, including Paige), this debut is a "pitch perfect" (Publishers Weekly) examination of what it means to make a family.

Publisher: Grand Central
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/25/2012
ISBN-13: 9780446582353
ISBN-10: 0446582352

For two generations in a row, the Slocumb women have met with disaster the year they turn 15: Big got pregnant with Liza; Liza returned the favor and followed it up by disappearing with her daughter, to return a couple years later as a recovering addict. Now Liza's daughter, Mosey, is 15 -- despite being a virgin, she repeatedly takes pregnancy tests just in case. But a different surprise is in store for her in her 15th year: bones are found buried in the yard, and all three generations of the Slocumb family must deal with the story they tell. With its Southern setting and quirky, quick-thinking characters, this family-centered story is a must-read for fans of Billie Letts, Mark Childress, or Lee Smith.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/28/2012
ISBN-13: 9780374117559
ISBN-10: 0374117551

In San Francisco in the 1970s, a disgraced college professor has taken a downtown office to await the verdict of an ethics committee and to plot his return. But he's become distracted by his neighbor's psychotherapy sessions with a woman who seems disturbed by her adoption and the possibility that her birth mother was a Holocaust survivor. Once more showing that he doesn't quite know his boundaries, the professor begins researching this stranger's history, sending her information anonymously. All three individuals -- the professor, the therapist, and the client -- have something to unearth in this brooding, intellectual story.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/24/2012
ISBN-13: 9780345527547
ISBN-10: 0345527542

Whether he likes it or not, 62-year-old widower Edward Schuyler has become that rare thing -- an available man. Though he's still mourning the death of his wife, his friends are eager to set him up, strange women are even more eager to meet him, and even his stepchildren get in the act, placing a personals ad for him that gets nearly 50 responses. But while the women don't really appeal and Edward feels disloyal, he gives it a shot...with mixed results. While some readers may enjoy the humor to be found in this story of dating at an older age, others will be drawn to the way author Hilma Wolitzer writes of love and loss "with remarkable insight, grace, and humor" (Library Journal).

First Chapter