Those who Save Us

Those who Save Us

Author: Jenna Blum

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 0151010196

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Trudy Swenson, haunted by her German heritage, embarks upon a deeper investigation of her past and uncovers secrets her mother has kept hidden for five decades.


Those Who Save Us

Those Who Save Us

Author: Jenna Blum

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2005-05-02

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 0156035006

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For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald. Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life. Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation of life during the war, and a poignant mother/daughter drama, Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame.


The Lost Family

The Lost Family

Author: Jenna Blum

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0062742183

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New York Times–Bestselling Author: A Manhattan chef with a tragic past tries to build a new family in this decade-spanning, “exquisite page-turner” (People). In 1965 New York, patrons flock to Masha’s to savor its brisket bourguignon and impeccable service and to admire its dashing owner and head chef Peter Rashkin. With his movie-star good looks, Peter, a survivor of Auschwitz, is the most eligible bachelor in town. But Peter doesn’t care for the parade of eligible women who come to the restaurant hoping to catch his eye. He’s resigned himself to a solitary life. Running Masha’s consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the Nazi death camp while his wife—the restaurant’s namesake—and two young daughters perished. Then June Bouquet, an up-and-coming model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard. Though she’s far younger than he is, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes, believing that beginning a new family with the woman he loves will allow him to let go of the horror of the past. But over the next twenty years, the indelible sadness of those memories will overshadow Peter, June, and their daughter Elsbeth, transforming them in shocking, heartbreaking, and unexpected ways. Spanning three decades, The Lost Family is an insightful, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love. “An extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile, the kind that gives you hope. . . . It is compassionate, masterful and disturbingly contemporary.” —Tatiana de Rosnay, bestselling author of Sarah’s Key “Gripping . . . deeply moving.” —Booklist (starred review) “An evocative look at the legacy of war and how it impacts one memorable family.” —Jami Attenberg, bestselling author of The Middlesteins “Will offer plenty of discussion for book groups.” —Library Journal (starred review)


The Stormchasers

The Stormchasers

Author: Jenna Blum

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2010-05-27

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1101429623

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Twins are forced to confront a violent secret from their past in Jenna Blum's first novel since her runaway bestseller, Those Who Save Us How far would you go to protect a sibling-and at what cost to yourself? In Those Who Save Us, Jenna Blum proved herself a master storyteller with brilliant insight into the spectrum of human emotion. Now, Blum turns her sights to the most intimate and mysterious of family relationships-that between twins-in her powerful and provocative second novel. As a teenager, Karena Jorge had always been the one to look out for her twin brother Charles, who suffers from bipolar disorder. But as Charles begins to refuse medication and his manic tendencies worsen, Karena finds herself caught between her loyalty to her brother and her fear for his life. Always obsessed with the weather-enraptured by its magical unpredictability that seemed to mirror his own impulses—Charles starts chasing storms, and his behavior grows increasingly erratic . . . until a terrifying storm chase with Karena ends with deadly consequences, tearing the twins apart and changing both of their lives forever. Two decades later, Karena gets a call from a psychiatric ward in Wichita, Kansas, to come pick up her brother, whom she hasn't seen or spoken to for twenty years. She soon discovers that Charles has lied to the doctors, taken medication that could make him dangerously manic, and disappeared again. Having exhausted every resource to try and track him down, Karena realizes she has only one last chance of finding him: the storms. Wherever the tornadoes are, that's where he'll be. Karena joins a team of professional stormchasers-passionate adventurers who will transform her life and give her a chance at love and redemption—and embarks on an odyssey to find her brother before he reveals the violent secret from their past and does more damage to himself . . . or to someone else. Watch a Video


Woodrow on the Bench

Woodrow on the Bench

Author: Jenna Blum

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2021-11-09

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0063113201

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“When I say Jenna Blum’s upcoming Woodrow on the Bench wrecked me and that I’m now sobbing eating all the chocolate, I mean it in the best way possible.”—Jodi Picoult "Jenna Blum's wonderful moving memoir, is a “girl and her dog” story for the ages!”—Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Those Who Save Us pays tribute to her beloved black Lab, Woodrow, in this beautiful memoir that recalls the last six months of his life and the ways in which he taught her to live. “For anyone who’s ever loved an old dog.” Since she adopted him as a puppy fifteen years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. Known to many as “the George Clooney of dogs” for his good looks and charm, Woodrow and his “Mommoo” are fixtures in their Boston neighborhood. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love. Aided by an amazing group of friends and buoyed by the support of strangers, Jenna and Woodrow navigate these precious final days together with kindness, humor, and grace. Their unforgettable love story will reaffirm your belief in kindness, break your heart, and leave your spirit soaring.


The Plum Tree

The Plum Tree

Author: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Publisher: Kensington Books

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0758278446

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"A touching story of heroism and loss, a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of love to transcend the most unthinkable circumstances." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris From the internationally bestselling author of The Orphan Collector comes a haunting and lyrical tale of love and humanity in a time of unthinkable horror. The debut novel from a powerful voice in historical fiction, this resonant and courageous saga of a young German woman during World War II and the Holocaust is a must-read for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Alice Network. “Bloom where you're planted," is the advice Christine Bölz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It's a world she's begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for. Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler's regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job—and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo's wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive—and finally, to speak out. Set against the backdrop of the German homefront, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake. "A haunting and beautiful debut novel." —Anna Jean Mayhew, author of The Dry Grass of August "Ellen Marie Wiseman boldly explores the complexities of the Holocaust. This novel is at times painful, but it is also a satisfying love story set against the backdrop of one of the most difficult times in human history." —T. Greenwood, author of Keeping Lucy


All the Light There Was

All the Light There Was

Author: Nancy Kricorian

Publisher: HMH

Published: 2013-03-12

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0547939965

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“Love blooms just as war tears two people apart” in this novel about an Armenian refugee family in Nazi-occupied Paris (The New York Times). All the Light There Was is the story of an Armenian family’s struggle to survive the Nazi occupation of Paris in the 1940s—a lyrical, finely wrought tale of loyalty, love, and the many faces of resistance. On the day the Nazis march down the rue de Belleville, fourteen-year-old Maral Pegorian is living with her family in Paris; like many other Armenians who survived the genocide in their homeland, they have come to Paris to build a new life. The adults immediately set about gathering food and provisions, bracing for the deprivation they know all too well. But the children—Maral, her brother Missak, and their close friend Zaven—are spurred to action of another sort, finding secret and not-so-secret ways to resist their oppressors. Only when Zaven flees with his brother Barkev to avoid conscription does Maral realize that the Occupation is not simply a temporary outrage to be endured. After many fraught months, just one brother returns, changing the contours of Maral’s world completely. Like Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key and Jenna Blum’s Those Who Save Us, All the Light There Was is an unforgettable portrait of lives caught in the crosswinds of history. “Moving . . . With a bittersweet love story, examples of everyday heroism, and a community refusing to give in to tyrants, Kricorian’s work sheds even more light on the German occupation of France.” —Library Journal


Try to Remember

Try to Remember

Author: Iris Gomez

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2010-05-05

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0446569100

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An award-winning poet and expert in US immigration and asylum law delivers a powerful novel about a daughter's attempt to sustain her family as her father struggles with his mental health. "Lyrical, poignant, and smart, as compassionate and hopeful as it is heartbreaking...a novel you will never forget." -- Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us If she tries, Gabriela can almost remember when her father went off to work . . . when her mother wasn't struggling to undo the damage he caused . . . when a short temper didn't lead to physical violence. But Gabi cannot live in the past, not when one more outburst could jeopardize her family's future. So she trades the life of a normal Miami teenager for a career of carefully managing her father's delusions and guarding her mother's secrets. As Gabi navigates her family's twisting path of lies and revelations, relationships and loss, she finds moments of happiness in unexpected places. Ultimately Gabi must discover the strength she needs to choose what's right for her: serving her parents or a future of her own.


Middlesex

Middlesex

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides

Publisher: Vintage Canada

Published: 2011-07-18

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 0307401944

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Spanning eight decades and chronicling the wild ride of a Greek-American family through the vicissitudes of the twentieth century, Jeffrey Eugenides’ witty, exuberant novel on one level tells a traditional story about three generations of a fantastic, absurd, lovable immigrant family -- blessed and cursed with generous doses of tragedy and high comedy. But there’s a provocative twist. Cal, the narrator -- also Callie -- is a hermaphrodite. And the explanation for this takes us spooling back in time, through a breathtaking review of the twentieth century, to 1922, when the Turks sacked Smyrna and Callie’s grandparents fled for their lives. Back to a tiny village in Asia Minor where two lovers, and one rare genetic mutation, set our narrator’s life in motion. Middlesex is a grand, utterly original fable of crossed bloodlines, the intricacies of gender, and the deep, untidy promptings of desire. It’s a brilliant exploration of divided people, divided families, divided cities and nations -- the connected halves that make up ourselves and our world.


Saving Us

Saving Us

Author: Katharine Hayhoe

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-09-21

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1982143851

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United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future in this nationally bestselling “optimistic view on why collective action is still possible—and how it can be realized” (The New York Times). Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet. A Canadian climate scientist living in Texas, she negotiates distrust of data, indifference to imminent threats, and resistance to proposed solutions with ease. Over the past fifteen years Hayhoe has found that the most important thing we can do to address climate change is talk about it—and she wants to teach you how. In Saving Us, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation. We need to find shared values in order to connect our unique identities to collective action. This is not another doomsday narrative about a planet on fire. It is a multilayered look at science, faith, and human psychology, from an icon in her field—recently named chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy. Drawing on interdisciplinary research and personal stories, Hayhoe shows that small conversations can have astonishing results. Saving Us leaves us with the tools to open a dialogue with your loved ones about how we all can play a role in pushing forward for change.