"Nearly a decade after getting chased out of the Army for fighting back against abuse, Monna Locke's skill and discretion have made her the go-to safecracker for Los Angeles clients who need vaults opened and no questions asked. When a lawyer hires her to retrieve a box from his client's mansion, it seems like an easy payday--until she opens the safe and is immediately attacked by heavily-armed men. Locke barely escapes and returns to her isolated...

Witty typewriter Olivetti and twelve-year-old introvert Ernest embark on a mission to find Ernest's missing mother that takes them across San Francisco.

A young boy admires his mother's body art and each part of her life her tattoos show.

Sibylla, an American-at-Oxford turned loose on London, finds herself trapped as a single mother after a misguided one-night stand. High-minded principles of child-rearing work disastrously well. J.S. Mill (taught Greek at three) and Yo Yo Ma (Bach at two) claimed the methods would work with any child; when these succeed with the boy Ludo, he causes havoc at school and is home again in a month. (Is he a prodigy, a genius? Readers looking over Ludo's...

Ian Gray isn't supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn't happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian's adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends,...

"In this poignant memoir from the New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self, a forty-year-old gay man and his eccentric conservative mother travel the country together and find surprising answers to our generational and cultural rifts. When his mother, Barbara, turned seventy, Jedidiah Jenkins was reminded of a palpable, sobering truth: Our parents won't live forever. For years, he and Barbara had talked about taking a trip together,...

Single working mom Christine Campbell has just learned that her ex is dating a much younger woman with the same first name. To avoid any confusion, the new girlfriend is dubbed New Christine, which leaves her with the unfortunate nickname Old Christine. Christine struggles to hold it together as she adjusts to her new nickname, confronts the meanie moms at her son's private school, jumps back in the dating pool-- and gets laughs every misstep of the...

"When Carlos was nineteen years old, his mother decided to leave her life in El Salvador for a new start in the United States. Reluctant to follow, but unwilling to let his mother go without him, Carlos joined her on the journey north. During their trip through Mexico and into the US, they experienced the risks and fears countless people from Central American countries have faced while migrating to different lands. Ten years later, Carlos shared these...