We had no warning that she'd come back. Hollow's Edge used to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors, celebrated graduation and holiday parties together, and looked out for one another. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow's Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated...

"As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all--including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom's teenaged son Freddie--a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5--excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father....

One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled, inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and, in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.

"In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son, Xavier, who's headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans--a family with new money and a secretly troubled teenage daughter--raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace. With little in common except a property line, these two families quickly...

"In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel and his first...

Britt-Marie can't stand mess. She eats dinner at precisely the right time and starts her day at six in the morning because only lunatics wake up later than that. And she is not passive-aggressive. Not in the least. It's just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. But at sixty-three, Britt-Marie has had enough. She finally walks out on her loveless forty-year marriage and finds a...

When his parents separate, Daniel very unhappily moves to a cottage on While-A-Way Lane, but neighbor Tilda Butter helps him discover he has a special gift like hers.--

In search of writing ideas, an author takes a walk with his dog around the neighborhood.

"A group of kids celebrate the joy and freedom of summer on their Brooklyn block"--

"Almost-eight-year-old" Ruby Lu spends time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic tricks and learns to drive, and has adventures with both old and new friends.