Craig's Beach Bag

Craig from Algonquin Books sent this note:

"Can you smell it? It's in the air. The smell of freshly cut grass, honeysuckle, salt water, sunscreen, chlorine and food sizzling on the backyard grill. Ah, summer! And for us at Algonquin, nothing defines summer like a beach bag full of some brand-spanking new paperbacks. And we have four of them that are just itching to make their way to hammocks, Adirondack chairs and beach blankets around the country."

The books he's talking about are:

Mei-Ling Hopgood was an all-American girl. She grew up in the Midwest, studied journalism at the University of Missouri, and became a reporter for a Michigan newspaper. Adopted when she was a baby, she was never really curious about her Asian roots. Then one day, when she was in her twenties, her birth family from Taiwan came calling-on the phone, on the computer, by fax-in a language she didn't understand. The Wangs wanted to meet her; they wanted her to return home. But this unexpected reunion has a price, as she uncovers devastating secrets that haunt the Wangs to this day.

"Lucky Girl" journeys into Chinese culture-its magnificent sights, war-torn history, and sumptuous foods-while revealing the personal suffering wrought by the country's tightly held traditions. Mei-Ling's is a tale of love and loss, frustration, hilarity, deep sadness, and great discovery as she comes to understand the true meaning of family.



Set in 1916, "Far Bright Star" follows Napoleon Childs, an aging cavalryman, as he leads an expedition of inexperienced soldiers into the mountains of Mexico to hunt down Pancho Villa and bring him to justice.




"Peep Show" is the bittersweet story of a young man torn between a mother trying to erase her past and a father struggling to maintain his dignity in a less-than-savory business.





Sumner presents the story of Ignacia Vigil Romero, a full Jacarilla Apache, and the two boys, Mister and Tomas, she has raised to adulthood in a barrio of Taos, New Mexico--a mixed community of Native Americans, Hispanics, and whites. (Coming out July 6, available for pre-order)