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The trouble up north / by Mulhauser, Travis,1976-author.;
"An atmospheric, haunting novel about a family of bootleggers, their troubled history, and the land that binds them. The Sawbrooks have lived on prime real estate on the lakes of Michigan since before there was prime real estate. A family of smugglers and bootleggers, every man, woman, and child in each generation has been taught to navigate the nooks and crannies of the rivers and highways that flow in and out of Canada. The hidden routes are the family's legacy. But today, the Sawbrooks are deeply fractured, and the money that's sustained the family is running out. Edward, the Sawbrook patriarch, is dying from cancer, and his wife, Rhoda, is bitterly disappointed in her three adult children. The eldest daughter, Lucy, is now a park ranger, working to federally protect the land against her mother's will; the middle son, Buckner, hasn't been the same since he came back from the army suffering from alcoholism; and the youngest daughter, Jewell, is wasting her potential as a card player and bartender. When Jewell is asked to commit a crime for a major insurance payout, she agrees, eager for the cash, but too late, she realizes that that the boat she torched wasn't empty ... Together, the Sawbrooks will have to contend with the old, familial ways and the new, shifting world, and face each other-and their pain-filled past-to smuggle one more thing through and out of their land to safety"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Novels.; Alcohol trafficking; Arson; Families; Murder;

Pieces of blue / by Sloan, Holly Goldberg,1958-author.;
"From New York Times bestselling author Holly Goldberg Sloan, a hilarious and heartfelt novel for fans of Maria Semple and Emma Straub about a family trying to restore a ramshackle beachside motel-and their own lives. What good was thinking the future only held cloudy skies? Wasn't the reality that pieces of blue were always there, waiting to break through? When Paul Hill drowns in a surfing accident, he leaves his wife, Lindsey, and their three children with broken hearts and a mountain of debt. Once Paul's life insurance finally comes through, Lindsey impulsively uses the money to buy a charmingly ramshackle motel in Hawai'i, hoping for a fresh start. Teenage Olivia quickly develops a crush on a handsome but monosyllabic skateboarder. Twelve-year-old Carlos reinvents himself as a popular kid named Carl. And Sena, the youngest, will do whatever it takes to protect her beloved motel chickens. But while the kids adjust, Lindsey is flailing, trying to pretend she knows how to bring a motel-and herself-back to life. Then a handsome stranger rolls into the motel parking lot, and she's surprised to feel a long-dormant part of herself stirring. She accepts his offer to help, unaware that he may have secrets of his own. And all the while, out in the Pacific, the trade winds are fiercely blowing. Funny and tender, full of twists and turns and heart, Pieces of Blue is a portrait of an irresistible family learning to start over"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Families; Man-woman relationships; Motels; Mother and child; Widows;

The last queen / by Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee,1956-author.;
"In this dazzling historical novel, bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni presents the unforgettable true story of Jindan, who rose from daughter of the royal kennel keeper to become the last reigning queen of India's Sikh Empire. Sharp-eyed, stubborn, and passionate, Jindan was known for her beauty. When she caught the eye of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, she was elevated to royalty, becoming his youngest and last queen--and his favorite. And when her son, barely six years old, unexpected rose to the throne, Jindan assumed the regency, transforming herself into a warrior ruler, determined to protect her people and her son's heritage from the encroaching British Empire. Defying tradition, she stepped out of the zenana, cast aside the veil and conducted state business in public. Addressing her Khalsa troops herself, she inspired her men in two wars against the 'firangs'. Her power and influence were so formidable that the British, fearing an uprising, robbed the rebel queen of everything she had, including her son. She was imprisoned and exiled. But that did not crush her indomitable will. An exquisite love story of a king and a commoner, a cautionary tale about loyalty and betrayal, and a powerful parable of the indestructible bond between mother and child, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel brings alive one of the most fearless women of the nineteenth century, one whose story cries out to be told, an inspiration for our times."--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Queens;

All adults here / by Straub, Emma,author.;
"A warm, funny and keenly perceptive novel about the lifecycle of one family -- as the kids become parents, grandchildren become teenagers, and a matriarch confronts the legacy of her mistakes, from the New York Times-bestselling author of Modern Lovers and The Vacationers. When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days, decades years earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she'd been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence? Astrid's youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid's 13-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most. In All Adults Here, Emma Straub's unique alchemy of wisdom, humor and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Adult children of aging parents; Mothers; Child rearing; Brothers and sisters;

Queen Esther : a novel / by Irving, John,1942-author.;
"From one of the world's most critically acclaimed and beloved writers comes a big-hearted and intricately crafted novel about purpose, belonging, and the lengths we will go to find ourselves. Thomas and Constance Winslow of Pennacook, New Hampshire are the quiet iconoclasts of their tidy New England town, their subtle rebellions against stodgy, churchgoing conformity the perennial subject of the townspeople's inconsequential murmuring. That is, until their adoption of a precocious fourteen-year-old Jewish girl from the quietly infamous orphanage in St. Cloud's to serve as an au pair to their youngest daughter, Honor, gives the townspeople of Pennacook something to talk about. ... Two decades later, amid the outbreak of the Second World War, the fiercely self-reliant Jewish au pair, Esther Natch, is in Europe fighting Nazis, but still devoted to Honor, and to a special arrangement between the two of them: Esther will be the surrogate biological mother of a child that Honor and the Winslow family will raise as their own. True to her word and better, in 1941 Esther gives birth to James "Jimmy" Winslow, who quickly becomes the apple of the Winslow family's eye. In 1963, Jimmy is twenty-two and determined to be a fiction writer. His studies take him to Vienna, where he spends an eventful year, during which his mother Honor is determined to secure him a draft deferment by any means--whether by physical injury or by "knocking someone up." In Vienna and the years that follow, the mysterious activities of Jimmy's Jewish birthmother Esther and her covert, globetrotting activities remain a poignant throughline in Jimmy's life, leading to a revelatory journey to conflict-torn Jerusalem in 1981. A triumphant return to the literary universe of John Irving's beloved, landmark novel The Cider House Rules, Queen Esther is a touching, timely, and propulsive masterwork from one of the most accomplished novelists of the last century."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Adoption; Adoptees; Authors; Family secrets; Families; Jewish women; Mothers and sons; Surrogate mothers;

Radio free Afghanistan : a twenty-year odyssey for an independent voice in Kabul / by Mohseni, Saad,1966-author.; Krajeski, Jenna,author.;
"From Saad Mohseni, the deeply moving and surprising story of the attempt to build a truly independent media company in contemporary Afghanistan. Saad Mohseni, chairman and CEO of Moby Group, Afghanistan's largest media company, charts a twenty-year effort to bring a free press to his country after years of Taliban rule, and how that effort persists even after the Taliban's return to power in 2021. In the heady early days of the American occupation, Mohseni returns to Kabul which he had last seen as a child before the Soviet invasion. Casting about for ways to be involved in the dawn of a new Afghanistan, Mohseni makes what seems like a quixotic decision to leave the comforts of a career in international banking to start a Kabul radio station with his three siblings. This unlikely venture quickly blossoms into a burgeoning television empire, bringing Mohseni and his family and employees into sometimes uncomfortable contact with everyone who has a stake in the country -- from the government of Hamid Karzai to White House officials. Moreover, their radio and television networks soon become a necessary beacon for millions of Afghans, who rely on them not just for independent news but for joyful pleasures like soap operas and Afghan Star, a beloved national singing competition in a country whose previous rulers had banned (and would again ban) music. Mohseni's position at Moby affords him unique insights into this extraordinary yet troubled country, the youngest in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, and his powerful account captures the spirit and resilience of the Afghan people -- notably the hundreds of men and women still working in Moby's Kabul office today, who, once again under Taliban rule, create programs, report the news, and educate the public. Radio Free Afghanistan is a stunning, vibrant portrait of a nation in turmoil, poised between despair and hope"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Mohseni, Saad, 1966-; Mass media; Mass media;

Over the influence : a memoir / by JoJo,1990-author.;
"Joanna Levesque, better known as "JoJo", knew she was her family's ticket to financial freedom. Born in Foxborough, MA, to parents who self-identified as addicts, her smooth voice captured the attention of a record label exec when she was just twelve years old. That exec put the machine in motion, and JoJo would go on to be the face for the ever-more-popular hip hop and R&B sounds of the early aughts. She'd be the kind of star young girls could relate to as they dressed up for dances and football games. In 2004, you couldn't leave the house without hearing her hit single "Leave (Get Out)". Nearly two decades later, she remains the youngest-ever solo artist to have a debut #1 single in the U.S. But what happened to JoJo? That's the first question Google suggests when you search for her name. In this debut memoir, JoJo mines diary entries, photos, song lyrics, and conversations with loved ones to share what really happened. From growing up in a broken home to being raised by a broken music industry, to tales from her darkest ten years, when a marathon lawsuit with her music label prompted a period of proper rebellion, complete with drugs, drinking, sex, and complicated relationships, JoJo holds nothing back in these pages. She also interrogates how race intersected with her career, her relationships, and the public's perception of her, reflecting on how operating with a victim mentality left her feeling stuck in her ability to move forward in life and as an artist. By sharing her story in the tradition of other child stars like Drew Barrymore and Jennette McCurdy, JoJo hopes to help readers who see themselves in her journey see the light sooner -- and avoid making the same mistakes she did. As intimate as it is inspiring, and as refreshing as it is revelatory, this breathtakingly candid memoir is JoJo's chance to finally tell her story in her own words for the first time"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; JoJo, 1990-; Actresses; Singers;

My friend Victoria [videorecording] / by Civeyrac, Jean-Paul,film director.; Malanga, Guslagie,actor.; Mouchet, Catherine,1959-actor.; Moussa, Nadia,actor.; Zeitgeist Films,publisher.;
Guslagie Malanga, Nadia Moussa, Catherine Mouchet.The wealthy, white, well-intentioned, family of one of her schoolmates takes in an eight-year-old black child, named Victoria, for a night. The experience haunts her for years to come, shaping her desires and offering a mirage of privilege that she dreams of but finds impossible to attain. As an adult, she drifts from job to job, but then unexpectedly reconnects with the family's youngest son in an encounter that will reshape her life yet again.PG.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Motion pictures, French.; Foreign films.; Feature films.; Women, Black; Interracial friendship; Man-women relationships; Children, Black; Privilege (Social psychology);
For private home use only.