Susan Shreve

A Country of Strangers is a magnificent exploration of the psychological landscape where blacks and whites meet. To tell the story in human rather than abstract terms, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David K. Shipler bypasses both extremists and celebrities and takes us among ordinary Americans as they encounter one another across racial lines. We learn how blacks and whites see each other, how they interpret each other's behavior, and how certain damaging images and assumptions seep into the actions of even the most unbiased. We penetrate into dimensions of stereotyping and discrimination that are usually invisible, and discover the unseen prejudices and privileges of white Americans, and what black Americans make of them. The book makes clear that we have the ability to shape our racial landscape - to reconstruct, even if not perfectly, the texture of our relationships. There is an assessment of the complexity confronting blacks and whites alike as they struggle to recognize and define the racial motivations that may or may not be present in a thought, a word, a deed. The book does not prescribe, but it documents the silences that prevail, the listening that doesn't happen, the conversations that don't take place. It looks at relations between minorities, including blacks and Jews, and blacks and Koreans. It explores the human dimensions of affirmative action, the intricate contacts and misunderstandings across racial lines among coworkers and neighbors. It is unstinting in its criticism of our society's failure to come to grips with bigotry; but it is also, happily, crowded with black people and white people who struggle in their daily lives to do just that.

Presents essays by thirty of America's most acclaimed authors, including Julia Alvarez, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Edgar Wideman, sharing memories of growing up in America.

Ten-year-old Liam is stunned to learn that his perfect family is about to be ruined when his parents announce that they are getting a divorce.

Headstrong Kate finds her experience in a home for unwed mothers a stifling one. When she returns home she must face the undesired attentions of a former playmate, now a mentally ill young man.

"Lady Georgiana Rannoch, thirty-fifth in line for the British throne, knows how to play the part of an almost royal--but now she's off to Hollywood, where she must reprise her role as sleuth or risk starring in an all-too-convincing death scene ... My mother, the glamorous and much-married actress, is hearing wedding bells once again--which is why she must hop across the pond for a quickie divorce in Reno. To offer my moral support, and since all expenses are paid by her new hubby-to-be, Max, I agree to make the voyage with her. Crossing the Atlantic, with adventure in the air and wealthy men aboard, Mother all but forgets about Max and matrimony--especially when movie mogul Cy Goldman insists on casting her in his next picture. Meanwhile, I find myself caught up in the secret investigation of a suspected jewel thief. Lucky for me, the lead investigator happens to be my dashing beau, Darcy! Mother's movie and Darcy's larceny lead everyone to Cy's Hollywood home, where the likes of Charlie Chaplin are hanging about and there's enough romantic intrigue to fill a double feature. But we hardly get a chance to work out the sleeping arrangements before Cy turns up dead--as if there wasn't enough drama already ..."--

After three months as a nobody in junior high, Amanda finds her world changing when members of the popular and exclusive clique The Club set their sights on her for membership.

From Tales of a fourth grade nothing / Judy Blume -- From the chalk box kid / Clyde Robert Bulla -- From Ramona forever / Beverly Cleary -- From fourth-graders don't believe in witches / Terri Fields -- From the adventures of Ali Baba / Johanna Hurwitz -- From Pippi Longstocking / Astrid Lindgren -- From skylark / Patricia MacLachlan -- From fourth grade is a jinx / Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna -- Being nine is just fine / Patricia C. McKissack -- From the Hoboken chicken / Daniel Pinkwater -- From the flunking of Joshua T. Bates / Susan Shreve -- From fourth grade rats / Jerry Spinelli.

It is 1973 and Watergate is on everyone's lips. Lucy Painter is a children's book illustrator and a single mother of two. She leaves New York and the married father of her children to live in a tightly knit Washington neighborhood in the house where she grew up and where she discovered her father's suicide. Lucy hopes for a fresh start, but her life is full of secrets: her children know nothing of her father's death or the identity of their own father. As the new neighbors enter their insular lives, her family's safety and stability become threatened. This is a story of how shame leads to secrets, secrets to lies, and how lies stand in the way of human connection.

Julie MacNeil feels threatened both in the family and on the soccer field when her widower father begins to date the mother of her arch-rival Benji True.

The Frayn family of Washington, D.C., is coping pretty well with twenty-first century realities of life-snipers, bomb threats, natural disasters, etc. Then, in the moment it takes Claire Frayn to dig for her umbrella, her politically outspoken brother Steven is shot down right next to her on the library steps.Steven's murder shatters the tightly knit Frayn family, and his sister Claire becomes determined to unravel the mystery of why her brother was killed. Searching for answers, Claire meets Victor, an enigmatic stranger who claims to know who killed Steven. Claire begins an unusual correspondence with the suspected assassin, but instead of uncovering the truth of her brother's death, she finds herself drawn to this man, and increasingly apprehensive about cooperating with Victor's plans to avenge Steven's death.A gripping family drama with an unusual love story at its center, this is an intimate portrait of grief, the futility of revenge, and the miracle of forgiveness.

Eleven-year-old Joshua, worried about fitting in at school, feels awkward when the new student he is supposed to be helping becomes the target of the fifth grade's biggest bully. Sequel to "The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates."

Fourth-grader Miranda starts a successful club to take care of latchkey children and finds herself competing with the president of a rival club for publicity and local support.

Third-grader Lily, a middle child who feels neglected at home, decides to run away and take her infant sister with her.

In Washington to avenge the senseless slaughter of his brother, a young actor catches the eye of lovely Annie Blakemore, who, on instinct, follows him throught the city.