families

In S?i G?n, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their b?nh m? stall. Her secret passion, however, is A B?nh M? for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing. Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Vi?t Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She?s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she?s seen on her favorite food blog, A B?nh M? for Two. When Vivi and Lan meet in S?i G?n, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother?s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.

"Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he's been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a 'blip' everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. . . . Even though Marco's trip is supposed to provide answers--about himself, about his family--all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions. But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it's time for Marco to get a few things wrong. And hooking up with a hot dancer from the ship is only the beginning"--OCLC.

"It's 1825, four generations after Berggrund Island's women stood accused of witchcraft under the eye of their priest, now long dead. In his place is Pastor Silas, a widower with two wild young daughters, Beata and Ulrika. The sisters are outcasts: imaginative, oppositional, increasingly obsessed with the lore and legend of the island's sinister past and their absent mother, whom their father refuses to speak of. As the girls come of age, and the strictures of the community shift but never wane, their rebellions twist and sharpen. Ever-capable Ulrika shoulders the burden of keeping house, while Bea, alone with unsettling visions and impulses, hungers for companionship and attention. When an enigmatic outsider arrives at their door, his presence threatens their family bond and unearths--piece by piece--a buried history to shocking ends. All the while Berggrund's neighboring island the Blue Maiden beckons, storied home of the Witches' Sabbath and Satan's realm, its misted shore veiling truths the sisters have spent their lives searching for."--.

"From the midcentury metropolis of Chicago to the windswept lands of the Dakh?ta people to the brutal Indian boarding schools, [this book] . . . is the tale of three extraordinary women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried. Sissy, born 1961: Sissy's relationship with her beautiful and volatile mother is difficult--even dangerous--but her life is also filled with lovely things, including a new Christmas present: a doll called Ethel. Ethel whispers advice and kindness in Sissy's ear, and in one especially terrifying moment, maybe even saves Sissy's life. Lillian, born 1925: Raised in her tribe's reservation in a time of terrible change, Lillian clings to her sister Blanche and her doll, Mae. When the sisters are forced to attend an Indian boarding school far from their home, Blanche refuses to be cowed by the school's abusive nuns. But when tragedy strikes the sisters, Mae finds her way to defend the girls. Cora, born 1888: Born just after the genocidal 'Indian Wars,' Cora still isn't afraid of the white men who take her away to be 'civilized.' When teachers burn her beloved buckskin doll Winona, Cora discovers that the spirit of Winona may not be entirely lost"--Provided by publisher.

"Molly hates Christmas. Ever since her parents released a cheesy Christmas song ten years ago--complete with a video of Molly dressed as the cutest little elf--December has gone from Ho! Ho! Ho! to Hu-Hu-Humiliating! This year takes a turn for the worse when the song of Molly's nightmares is included on the soundtrack for the hottest new holiday film. This mortifying tune is everywhere--again! As Molly tries to hide her true elf, a Christmas connection with a cute guy at the movie's premiere may make this holiday season one to remember. All she has to do is keep him from finding out the truth about the ghost of elf-mas past. But Molly isn't the only one hiding her real identity. Will her Christmas romance have a Hollywood ending--or will it be one big mistletoe mess?"--Back cover.

Sixteen-year-old Niarah's perspective on life changes when she joins a hiking/camping club and befriends Mac Torres and his wanderlust-driven friends, but as summer draws to a close and her new friends leave, existential dread challenges her new outlook.

Ever since her mom died, Josie Lawrence has been content with her safe, predictable life. She hangs out with exactly two people: her best (and only) friend, Louise, and her stepdad, Matt. She has exactly one (unrequited) crush on resident high school himbo, Isaac. And she?s fully prepared to spend the end senior year preparing for Stanford and actively avoiding anything that reminds her of her mother. But when Josie discovers that her biological father is the recently deceased Ali Mashad?patriarch of America?s original reality TV family, dripping with wealth, fame, and Vogue magazine covers?Josie?s ?predictable? life is gone quicker than you can say ?you?re doing amazing, sweetie.? Being a Mashad means that the entire world is now at Josie?s feet?desperate to dress her, to photograph her, to know her?opening a door to a world that Josie never expected to find: one with a cute guy who just might be her soulmate, three ridiculous but wonderful sisters, and answers to all the questions she wishes she could ask her mom. But the biggest question of all is: If being a Mashad is the chance of a lifetime, will Josie be brave enough to take it?.

Castillo Torres, Student Body Association event chair and serial planner, could use a fairy godmother. After a disastrous mishap at her sister?s quincea?era and her mother's unexpected passing, all of Cas?s plans are crumbling. So when a local lifestyle-guru-slash-party-planner opens up applications for the internship of her dreams, Cas sees it as the perfect opportunity to learn every trick in the book so that things never go wrong again. The only catch is that she needs more party planning experience before she can apply. When she books a quincea?era for a teen Disneyland vlogger, Cas thinks her plan is taking off? until she discovers that the party is just a publicity stunt?and she begins catching feelings for the chambel?n. As her agenda starts to go way off-script Cas finds that real life may be more complicated than a fairy tale. But maybe Happily Ever Afters aren?t just for the movies. Can Cas go from planner to participant in her own life? Or will this would-be princess turn into a pumpkin at the end of the ball?.

This book is a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora. It is a book centered on one extended family - the Bele?ns - across multiple generations. It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa - and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights, too. It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical - and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.

Told in diary format, 14-year-old Franny journals about the year when she moves to Japan to be with her father and all the adventures she has learning a new culture, fitting in at a new school, and navigating feelings for more than one boy.