The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow

This debut novel certainly deserved winning the Barbara Kingsolver Bellwether Award for books on social justice and change. It is a beautifully written book about Rachel, a young Danish/African American blue-eyed girl who is sent to live with her grandmother and aunt in Portland, Oregon after a family tragedy. Rachel struggles with being bi-racial because no one seems to accept her in school. Her lighter skin and blue eyes cause people to ridicule her and sometimes threaten her – no matter their race. This is a book about labeling people and how people can overcome the prejudice of others and just live for themselves. It is told with alternating chapters from various character’s versions of the story. It would be an excellent book club selection because of the many discussion points it offers.

Heidi Durrow is also Danish/African American with lovely blue eyes. Go to her website for more about the amazing projects she is involved in – like her mixed chicks chat podcast.

Lisa

Generosity: an enhancement by Richard Powers

When a young Algerian refugee is discovered to possess the happiness gene, a struggle in the scientific community and a media frenzy ensue. Thought-provoking and insightful.

Jill

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon

This fabulous novel consists of three overlapping stories. In one a college student is recruited to perpetrate identity theft by a man who may be his father. In another, a magic shop salesman sets off for the northern reaches of Canada to search, yet again, for his long lost twin brother. Finally, a young woman has run away from home with a man that she believes is a high school teacher. Chaon’s writing has a wistful, youthful quality that is haunting and appealing.

Jill

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Its owners – mother, son and daughter – are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? This chilling ghost story was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Linda R

The White Garden: a Novel of Virginia Woolf by Stephanie Barron

From the vantage point of present day England, Stephanie Barron, a bestselling historical mystery author, writes a compelling story about what lies beneath the surface of the six decades old death of Virginia Woolf.

Linda R

Love and Summer by William Trevor

This is a simple and quiet story of a summer love between former convent-raised foundling, now farmer’s wife Ellie Dillahan and bicycle-riding, quasi-photographer Florian Kilderry. Their affair develops quite innocently but affects several characters quite profoundly in the small town of Rathmoye, Ireland. Trevor’s writing is subtle and restrained, yet he manages to capture the essence of each characters’ deepest emotions.
Laura

In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

Gabriel Lightfoot seems to be on the road to success. He escaped the mill town drudgery of his father to become a top chef at a posh London hotel, his beautiful girlfriend is just waiting for the marriage proposal, and he’s finally got backers for his long-awaited eponymous restaurant. If only the Russian porter Yuri hadn’t died in the restaurant’s cellar. Already tightly wound, Gabe begins to unravel after he agrees to take in another young new porter, Lena, as she hides from authorities.

Laura

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Twin boys, orphaned by an Indian mother, grow up in an Ethiopian hospital compound. This book is magical and sprawling, filled with characters you’ll never forget. An ode to Ethiopia, the art of healing and families, Verghese’s first novel carries all the passion and artistry of his two non-fiction works, My Own Country and The Tennis Partner.

Laurie

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

In 1937 Shanghai, Pearl and her beloved sister May are “beautiful girls” (we’d call them models today) who are living a charmed life. But when their father loses his money and sells them into marriage to Chinese-Americans, they have much to overcome in their new life in America.

Dedra

The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips

After young Tess watches as a stranger tosses a baby down their family well life is never the same. Like an object hitting the water, this incomprehensible action has a ripple effect on all the members of the Moore family, causing them to look at their community, and themselves, in a whole new light.

Laura