Fresh Off the Press
Earthen Vessels
NovelAnne Daly, a teacher at a high school in Yonkers, is glad when her son Corey comes home on an unexpected break from his assignment in El Salvador where he teaches poor children at a rural school. But she is upset by his announcement about what he plans to do with his life. She knows she should be happy about it because he will be doing something he loves, and because it’s aligned with her own values, but she has deep feelings against his plan because of what happened years ago to her only brother.
Margo's Cafe
NovelMargo Walsh, an elderly widow who lives with a daughter and a granddaughter in the house where she grew up, is struggling to pay property taxes that keep increasing. Until now she has been able to supplement her income from Social Security with her earnings from a café that she started five years ago, but her new landlord is doubling her rent, so she faces the risk of losing her business and being forced to sell her house. And while she is struggling to survive she must also deal with the problems of her children and her grandchildren.
Voices in Ramah
NovelEmma Fernández lost her daughter in a school shooting in which a man with an assault weapon killed eleven children and their teacher plus the security guard. She copes with her loss by committing herself to the mission of getting Congress to ban assault weapons. She testifies before a House committee to support a bill that would ban such weapons, she joins two national organizations with gun-control missions, and she participates in a major demonstration in Washington to end gun violence. But Congress does nothing, and in the meantime there are almost two mass shootings per day in America. Finally, she devises a monstrous plot to get Congress to do something.