Bandon Public Library

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 is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All is well until the Whitmans move in next door - an apparently traditional family with new money, ambition, and a secretly troubled teenaged daughter. Thanks...

"Takes readers (and listeners) on a rollicking, clanging, clapping tour through the many sounds that fill a neighborhood"--

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

Born in the Hispanic barrio of Los Angeles, Gregory Reeves grew up in poverty, survived the killing fields of Vietnam, and is now a lawyer in San Francisco. Though he has successfully survived this hard journey, Gregory's life has suddenly gone off the rails thanks to an illusory and wrongheaded quest that has left him feeling lost and listless. To find what he is missing and what his heart truly wants, he must return to his roots. Only by excavating...

A couple moves into their new house which is soon filled to overflowing by their neighbors.

"Errol loves gardening, but there isn't enough room in his flat to grow everything that he would like. When he discovers a secret but neglected space at the top of the apartment block, he has a wonderful idea, but to carry it out he'll need some help. Surely the other residents will be too busy to help him realize his dream? Or just not interested enough? In this heart-warming tale of common purpose within a diverse community, Gillian Hibbs illustrates...

The nineteenth installment of the beloved and New York Times bestselling Miss Julia series With her husband Sam off on a trip to Europe, Miss Julia takes a pause to reflect on the past few decades--realizing how the comforts and joys of her life can sometimes give way to boredom. Miss Julia reckons it's about time to roll up her sleeves and be of some use to her community. She's just considering how to get involved when she hears that the nosy do-gooder...

"In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and...

From the author of The White Bone, a piercing novel of passionate attachment and of the fear and freedom of letting go. Louise Kirk learns about love and loss at an early age. When she is nine years old, her former beauty queen mother disappears, leaving a note that reads only, and incorrectly, Louise knows how to work the washing machine. Soon after, the Richters and their adopted son, Abel, move in across the street. Louise's immediate devotion...

Twelve-year-old Indian-American Pandita Paul deals with change, grief, friendship, and growing up in a community facing a housing crisis. Twelve-year-old Indian-American Pandita Paul doesn't like change. She's not ready to start middle school and leave the comforts of childhood behind. Most of all, Pandita doesn't want to feel like she's leaving her mother, who died a few years ago, behind. After a falling out with her best friend, Pandita is planning...