Best Selling Books by Melanie Sumner

This is the story of the Peppers family of Counterpoint, Georgia. Henry and Florida Peppers are pertinacious Baptist parents whose dearest wishes are to keep their asthmatic son Roderick alive and their smart-ass daughter Louise from going to hell. Louise, the little hellion, tells the story. And what a story it is, about how ponderous Henry, hysterical Florida, and hell-bent-for-rebellion Louise, awash in grief after Roderick''s death at fifteen, go on living. Steady-at-the-helm, Henry buries himself in his work managing Southern Board, the local cardboard factory. Flamboyant Florida, with a fine-honed knack for losing her cool, redecorates their custom-built house, the Aerie, and takes up painting by numbers. Louise indulges her addictions: at nine, she discovers vanilla extract. After Roderick dies, she adds liquor, food, sex (at sixteen, she seduces a Southern Board laborer), and out-and-out danger, finally, at eighteen running off to join the circus (a carnival, actually). Louise gets to be the clown. THE SCHOOL OF BEAUTY AND CHARM is a daring novel that walks a fine line between high comedy and real tragedy. But at heart, it is a moving portrait of a father and mother, two good-hearted people doing everything wrong to win back their daughter.

Aristotle "Aris" Thibodeau is 12.5 years old and destined for greatness. Ever since her father’s death, however, she’s been stuck in the small town of Kanuga, Georgia, where she has to manage her mother Diane’s floundering love life and dubious commitment to her job as an English professor. Not to mention co-parenting a little brother who hogs all the therapy money. Luckily, Aris has a plan. Following the advice laid out in Write a Novel in Thirty Days! she sets out to pen a bestseller using her charmingly dysfunctional family as material. If the Mom-character, Diane, would ditch online dating and accept that the perfect man is clearly the handyman/nanny-character, Penn MacGuffin, Aris would have the essential romance for her plot (and a father in her real life). But when a random accident uncovers a dark part of Thibodeau family history, Aris is forced to confront the fact that sometimes in life—as in great literature—things might not work out exactly as planned.

"Devastating . . . [Ghost of Milagro Creek] simmers with metaphysical tension."—Time Out Chicago The story of Ignacia Vigil Romero, a full Jacarilla Apache, and the two boys, Mister and Tomás, she raised to adulthood unfolds in a barrio of Taos, New Mexico—a mixed community of Native Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Now deceased, Ignacia, a curandera—a medicine woman, though some say a witch—begins this tale of star-crossed lovers. Mister and Tomás, best friends until their late teens, both fall for Rocky, a gringa of some mystery, a girl Tomás takes for himself. But in a moment of despair, a pledge between the young men leads to murder. When Ignacia falls silent, police reports, witness statements, and caseworker interviews draw an electrifying portrait of a troubled community and of the vulnerable players in this mounting tragedy. Set in a terrain that becomes a character in its own right, The Ghost of Milagro Creek brilliantly illuminates this hidden corner of American society.

The follies of a Peace Corps woman in Africa. She is Louise Daren Parkman, an unemployed lady from Tennessee who gets herself a job teaching English in Senegal, knowing little of either. A tragicomic tale of incompetence, cultural conflicts and interracial romancing.

Aristotele, detta "Aris", ha dodici anni e mezzo e un progetto ambizioso: scrivere in trenta giorni il romanzo che la farà entrare nella storia della letteratura e tirerà la sua famiglia fuori dai guai. Non è una sfida da poco, ma a solleticare la sua ispirazione c''è un cast di personaggi perfetti e in carne e ossa: Max, fratellino strampalato e dai molti talenti, e Diane, mamma single pericolosamente attratta dalla disoccupazione, determinata a battersi per mille nobili cause, ma non per la ricerca di un compagno. Eppure, Aris lo sa, il candidato perfetto è lì davanti ai suoi occhi: Penn, amico di famiglia, tata tuttofare e, soprattutto, insostituibile IMP, "Influenza Maschile Positiva". E cosa c''è di meglio di un romanzo d''amore? Ma quando si scontra con un aspetto inquietante della sua storia familiare, sepolto da tempo tra le pagine sgualcite di un diario, Aris capisce che il lieto fine non è scontato, proprio come nei migliori romanzi. Una storia brillante e piena di ironia, che ci insegna magistralmente a sorridere di ogni cosa. Diane dice che la nostra famiglia è come un cane a tre zampe e che ce la caviamo benissimo. Io le rispondo che chi se la cava benissimo non diventa scrittore.

I am Love, I am Driven,I am? Mother.The truth is being a mom is a million things. Unfortunately, it''s not always Instagram-ready family selfies or fun-filled vacations in the sun.Unspoken Motherhood is a gripping and candid compilation book of women sharing their powerful real-life experiences-the situations that are rarely shared and brutally honest-but need to be told.These are the tragic moments of loss, of grief and heartache. But also the triumphant examples of nurturing, love and connection.This anthology is an eye-opening guide for every mother as they navigate the long and winding road of being a parent. Including deeply personal accounts such as postpartum depression, child loss, miscarriage, addiction, suicide ideation, and adoption. As well as euphoria, profound gratitude, pride, adoration, serenity and laughter.Unspoken Motherhood is a remarkable, special, and necessary tool, designed to empower and support moms on this wild ride.No one should feel alone on this journey. Get this book today and join us now.