Pines and Plains Libraries

All Alison ever wanted for her six children was a blissful childhood. Together with Ingrid, the family au pair, she transformed a shabby Edwardian mansion into a veritable shrine of togetherness, complete with special-occasion dinners and elegant birthday parties. Allison has perfected the persona of devoted wife and doting mother. Beneath the postcard sheen, however, this picture is clouded.

Ivan has been happily living in a wildlife sanctuary, with his friend Ruby next door in the elephant enclosure, frequent visits from his canine friend Bob, and his mate Kinyani by his side. And in the happiest turn of all, Ivan and Kinyani have welcomed a set of twins to their family!

"A soul-wrenching story of love, heartache, and murder that is practically impossible to put down" from the New York Times–bestselling author (Fresh Fiction). Felled by a cowardly shot to the back, Stanton Youngblood has just enough time before he dies to leave a single clue to his killer's identity: the word Wayne, scrawled in his own blood. That word means everything to his widow. Leigh Youngblood was once Leigh Wayne, but she left her wealthy...

Ernie Cunningham, crime fiction aficionado, is a reluctant guest at his family reunion. Family reunions aren't for everyone, of course. But Ern's part of a notorious crime family, and three years ago, he witnessed his brother kill a man and immediately turned him in to the police. Now Ern's brother is being released from prison, and the family is gathering to welcome him home. As if that weren't bad enough, the reunion is taking place at a remote...

The author describes a family trip to the Greek island of Corfu. First published in 1956.

Fortified with Yankee ingenuity and western can-do energy, the Moody family, transplanted from New England, builds a new life on a Colorado ranch early in the twentieth century. Father has died and Little Britches shoulders the responsibilities of a man at age eleven.--From publisher description.

"Vance, a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, provides an account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like...

Meet Jing and her family. Jing was adopted. Learn all about what being adopted means and how there are all different kinds of families and they are all special. -- Amazon.com.