Anahita Sadeghi, a typical, happy-go-lucky American ten-year-old, was not too keen on traveling to the other side of the world to meet her father’s family. But her month-long vacation turns into a nightmare when her Persian relatives refuse to let her return to the States.
She is forced to deal with the dizzying maze of social customs, resist her grandmother’s efforts to mold her into the proper Persian girl, dodge her aunt’s schemes of marriage, and fight to make her own life choices until she can find a way to return home. Longing for her friends and her freedom, only the enigma of her missing aunt, Scheherezade, gives Ana a glimmer of hope of one day escaping Iran for good.
Will Ana’s family marry her off and forever bind her to this country, or will she break free of Iran’s walls and find her way back to America?
The Shared Lives are the Ladino (Jewish) community that resides world wide that share their faith outwardly Christian/Catholic and privately in their home--Jewish. The Twin Sun represents the original Sun that appeared in our universe that imploded and gave life to our Sun and Milky Way. This original Sun was the Semano-heaven for the original star that was cryptically hidden that provided the impetus for these writings. Garcia writes a "fascinating overview of the Ladino community -- Jewish people that have had to hide their religious identity (The Great Veil of Concealment)-- and fit in with a heavily Catholic society in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico."
Allison Couch has her hands full dealing with the assorted flakes, fruits and nuts in the small town of Granola. One summer morning, Toby Davenport moves back home. A young, black, Afghanistan War veteran, he has a heart of gold but a guilt-fueled addiction. Together, they take on parades, pit bull rescues, game show auditions, driving lessons, building inspectors, racism and falling in love. Heartbreaking, slapstick, and rambunctious, life never goes as planned. But there’s always hope, in Granola, Mn.
