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Pig's New Bed

Pig's New Bed

Jodi Franzke

Tellwell Talent
2023
sidottu
We didn't think big enough, we didn't know, that this tiny pig would grow, grow, GROW How do you find the best bed for a pig? Be taken on a journey searching for the best new bed to satisfy a fast-growing pig.What seems perfect might just surprise you
We Dig Ammonites

We Dig Ammonites

Jodi Summers; Andy Secher; Neal L. Larson

Columbia University Press
2025
sidottu
Ammonites swam in Earth’s ancient seas for nearly 400 million years, diversifying into more than 10,000 species before meeting their demise during the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. These spiral-shelled invertebrates are among the most abundant fossils in the geologic record, found from snowcapped Himalayan peaks to parched South American arroyos. People around the world have long been drawn to the mystery and beauty of ammonite fossils. These preternaturally preserved creatures have inspired age-old myths and legends, and studying their secrets has spurred crucial scientific discoveries.Jodi Summers—an accomplished journalist and passionate fossil collector—guides readers through the entire arc of ammonite history. She explores the evolution, proliferation, extinction, and fossilization of these captivating cephalopods, situating the story in the progression of deep time. Summers also prospects prime fossil-hunting locations, sharing tips and inside scoops for enthusiasts and collectors in search of notable specimens. She takes us along on her globe-spanning journeys: from the desert to the seashore, up mountains and down canyons, to the backrooms of natural history institutions and the floors of fossil shows.We Dig Ammonites features hundreds of lavish color photographs of rare specimens that showcase the splendor of these magnificent mollusks. This book is an ode to one of the world’s most compelling fossils and an invitation to catch a glimpse of vanished epochs.
By Any Other Name

By Any Other Name

Jodi Picoult

PENGUIN BOOKS LTD
2024
sidottu
The Number 1 New York Times bestseller from the author of My Sister’s Keeper and Mad Honey'Her best one yet’ JOJO MOYES'A timeless classic’ CHRIS WHITAKER--Student playwright Melina Green finds that even in New York, her words will struggle to make the stage, when the power is held by men. Inspired by the life of her ancestor Emilia Bassano, a gifted and witty storyteller herself, Melina takes a lesson from history, and submits a play under a male pseudonym . . .As Melina discovers more of Emilia’s extraordinary life in Elizabethan England, she is determined to right the wrongs of the past – and finally tell her story.Two women – centuries apart – are both forced to hide behind another name.But can either make their voices heard?--'A likeable heroine and a fun, readable evocation of Elizabethan court life and theatre' The Times'Stunning. So interesting, clever, educational and moving. One of the best books I've read in recent times' GILLIAN McALLISTER'[An] inspiring work of feminist literature' ELLE'Had me absolutely captivated . . . I loved all the questions this novel raised about who gets to tell which stories and how complex that can become. Jodi Picoult is a genius' JENNIFER SAINT'Timely and affecting . . . Picoult’s many, many fans will pounce on her latest incisive, pot-stirring tale' BOOKLIST, Starred'You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life. Book clubs will embrace this rich, inspiring story' KRISTIN HANNAH'A blend of historical fiction and modern-day settings, the novel gives us timelines that intertwine and surprise. Picoult has done her research' HARPER'S BAZAAR'Picoult creates a richly detailed portrait of daily life in Elizabethan England, from sumptuous castles to seedy hovels. . . A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman' KIRKUSJodi Picoult, New York Times bestseller, April 2023Jodi Picoult's books have sold 40 million copies worldwide, BBC May 2024Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestseller, September 2024
By Any Other Name

By Any Other Name

Jodi Picoult

Penguin Books Ltd.
2024
nidottu
What if Shakespeare was a woman? 1581. Emilia Bassano is allowed no voice of her own, but finds a way to bring her work to the stage secretly. Yet by paying a man for the use of his name, she will write her own out of history. His name? William Shakespeare. Now. Playwright Melina Green is determined to see one of her shows make the stage, but it appears a woman’s voice is still worth less than a man’s. Women have long been written out of history, but what if they held the pen all along? The literary powerhouse and repeat no. 1 bestseller takes on her most heartrending and headline grabbing story yet Jodi Picoult is the author of 29 novels, with 40 million copies sold worldwide. She has had 17 Sunday Times number one bestsellers. Five novels have been made into movies and Between The Lines (co-written with daughter Samantha van Leer) has been adapted as a musical. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, the Alex Award from the YA Library Services Association, and the NH Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit. She is also the co-librettist for the musicals BREATHE and THE BOOK THIEF, which debuted in the UK in 2022. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. ‘Her best one yet. Jodi Picoult has combined her trademark research with an astonishing and heart-rending story, embedded in truth, and turned it into a gripping novel’ Jojo Moyes ‘Stunning. So interesting, clever, educational and moving. One of the best books I've read in recent times ’ Gillian McAllister, bestselling author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time
The Obamas

The Obamas

Jodi Kantor

Penguin Books Ltd
2012
pokkari
'The fullest picture of this presidency yet' Daily Telegraph'Kantor digs for detail and strikes gold' The TimesWhen Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible.Then they moved in.In The Obamas, the New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be President and First Lady.
Judicial Reform As Political Insurance

Judicial Reform As Political Insurance

Jodi S. Finkel

University of Notre Dame Press
2008
nidottu
During the 1990s, judicial reform swept Latin America. While some of the region's supreme courts have been able to exercise increased power as a result of these reforms, others have not. Why do some instances of judicial reform appear to be leading to the development of a powerful judiciary while others have failed to do so? In this careful analysis, Jodi S. Finkel investigates judicial reform in Argentina, Mexico, and Peru. She suggests that while ruling parties can be induced to initiate judicial reforms by introducing constitutional revisions, they often prove unwilling to implement these constitutional changes by enacting required legislation. To understand the outcomes of judicial reform, as well as to predict where reforms are likely to empower courts, it is necessary to examine the political incentives faced by politicians at the implementation phase. Finkel argues that the implementation of judicial reform may serve the ruling party as an insurance policy, in that a strong judicial branch reduces the risks faced by a ruling party once it loses power and becomes the opposition. Finkel suggests that as the ruling party's probability of reelection declines, the likelihood of the enactment of reforms resulting in an empowered judiciary increases.
The Muddied Mirror

The Muddied Mirror

Jodi Cranston

Pennsylvania State University Press
2010
sidottu
Ideal painting in the Renaissance was an art of illusionism that eliminated for the viewer any overt sense of its making. Titian’s paintings, in contrast, with their roughly worked and “open” surfaces, unexpected glazes, and thick impasto brushstrokes, made the fact of the paint increasingly visible. Previous scholars have read these paintings as unfinished or the product of lesser studio hands, but in The Muddied Mirror, Jodi Cranston argues that this approach to paint is integral to Titian’s later work. Rather than presenting in paint a precise reflection of the visible world, the artist imparted an intrinsic corporeality to his subjects through the varying mass and thickness of the paint. It is precisely the materiality and “disfiguration” of these paintings that offer us the key to understanding their meanings. More important, the subjects of Titian’s late paintings are directly related to the materiality of the body—they represent physical changes wrought through violence, metamorphosis, and desire.
Green Worlds of Renaissance Venice

Green Worlds of Renaissance Venice

Jodi Cranston

Pennsylvania State University Press
2019
sidottu
From celebrated gardens in private villas to the paintings and sculptures that adorned palace interiors, Venetians in the sixteenth century conceived of their marine city as dotted with actual and imaginary green spaces. This volume examines how and why this pastoral vision of Venice developed.Drawing on a variety of primary sources ranging from visual art to literary texts, performances, and urban plans, Jodi Cranston shows how Venetians lived the pastoral in urban Venice. She describes how they created green spaces and enacted pastoral situations through poetic conversations and theatrical performances in lagoon gardens; discusses the island utopias found, invented, and mapped in distant seas; and explores the visual art that facilitated the experience of inhabiting verdant landscapes. Though the greening of Venice was relatively short lived, Cranston shows how the phenomenon had a lasting impact on how other cities, including Paris and London, developed their self-images and how later writers and artists understood and adapted the pastoral mode.Incorporating approaches from eco-criticism and anthropology, Green Worlds of Renaissance Venice greatly informs our understanding of the origins and development of the pastoral in art history and literature as well as the culture of sixteenth-century Venice. It will appeal to scholars and enthusiasts of sixteenth-century history and culture, the history of urban landscapes, and Italian art.
Animal Sightings

Animal Sightings

Jodi Cranston

Pennsylvania State University Press
2024
sidottu
Animal Sightings challenges two common ideas about the depiction of animals in early modern European court art: first, that the human figure relegated animals to peripheral and often symbolic roles, both compositionally and conceptually, and second, that the representation of animals during this period was predominantly tied to a growing interest in naturalism derived from scientific study and discovery. Art historian Jodi Cranston considers the diversity of art representing animals common to that time and place, including dogs, stags, falcons, and even insects. She discusses how early modern European courts (primarily in northern Italy, Tyrol, Saxony, and southern Germany, where the preponderance of European courtly activity related to animals occurred) acquired and kept living animals, sponsored hunts in purpose-cultivated forests, and fostered trade in animal products. The diverse works created by artists associated with those courts reveal an ambivalent and complex view of animals as beings who shared and shaped the world alongside humans. Ultimately, Animal Sightings explores how early modern artists and viewers thought about human-animal interactions, how visual representation facilitated and inhibited knowledge about animals, and how animals could reveal the limits and possibilities of visual representation. It should be of special interest to scholars of early modern studies, art history, and animal studies.
Empire and Identity in Guizhou

Empire and Identity in Guizhou

Jodi L. Weinstein

University of Washington Press
2013
sidottu
Open-access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295804811This historical investigation describes the Qing imperial authorities' attempts to consolidate control over the Zhongjia, a non-Han population, in eighteenth-century Guizhou, a poor, remote, and environmentally harsh province in Southwest China. Far from submitting peaceably to the state's quest for hegemony, the locals clung steadfastly to livelihood choices—chiefly illegal activities such as robbery, raiding, and banditry—that had played an integral role in their cultural and economic survival. Using archival materials, indigenous folk narratives, and ethnographic research, Jodi Weinstein shows how these seemingly subordinate populations challenged state power.
Empire and Identity in Guizhou

Empire and Identity in Guizhou

Jodi L. Weinstein

University of Washington Press
2013
pokkari
Open-access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295804811This historical investigation describes the Qing imperial authorities' attempts to consolidate control over the Zhongjia, a non-Han population, in eighteenth-century Guizhou, a poor, remote, and environmentally harsh province in Southwest China. Far from submitting peaceably to the state's quest for hegemony, the locals clung steadfastly to livelihood choices—chiefly illegal activities such as robbery, raiding, and banditry—that had played an integral role in their cultural and economic survival. Using archival materials, indigenous folk narratives, and ethnographic research, Jodi Weinstein shows how these seemingly subordinate populations challenged state power.
By Invitation Only

By Invitation Only

Jodi Della Femina; Sheri McInnis; Della Femina

St. Martins Press-3pl
2010
nidottu
Nobody knows the Hamptons like Jodi Della Femina, who captures the inside world of love, society, and scandal in this delicious summer page-turner. Toni Fratelli has a busy summer ahead. After several setbacks in Manhattan force her to move home to East Hampton, her To Do list is full. She has to help her father run his popular Italian restaurant, start up her own catering company--and be the Maid of Honor at her best friend's wedding on the beach. Unfortunately for Toni, the groom's mother is a competitive socialite who'll stop at nothing to make sure her son doesn't marry a local girl. The biggest caterer in the Hamptons is trying to run her new business out of town. And worse than anything, she seems to be losing her best friend to a circle of snooty bridesmaids. At least Toni finds love. When she meets a sexy surfer named Chris, it quickly turns into the most romantic summer fling of her life. But there's more to Chris than his vintage Mustang and used guitar ... and Toni's going to like the truth. Before the end of the summer she'll be forced to face her hopes - and fears - as trying to forgive becomes her biggest challenge of all.
Obamas

Obamas

Jodi Kantor

Back Bay Books
2012
nidottu
Award-winning reporter Jodi Kantor takes readers deep inside the White House in an "insightful and evocative" portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama (Chicago Tribune) that will surprise even readers who thought they knew the two icons. When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible. Then they moved in. In the Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they try to grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be the first black President and First Lady. The Obamas is filled with riveting detail and insight into their partnership, emotions and personalities, and written with a keen eye for the ironies of public life.
How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover: What Autism Can Teach Us about Difference, Connection, and Belonging
A powerfully moving read from beloved Love on the Spectrum star and disability rights advocate Jodi Rodgers, sharing lessons from her work within the autistic community that can help create a more inclusive society for us all. In How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover, Jodi Rodgers gives us inspiring, heartwarming stories from her years of experience as a teacher and counselor supporting autistic people. While acknowledging our differences, these stories invite us to expand our empathy and compassion for the neurodivergent people in our lives. Throughout, Rodgers explores the powerful impact of embracing neurodiversity and forming meaningful connections with those around us. Each chapter highlights a different story and an aspect of human behavior, including: How we perceive the world, and our own unique experience of thinking, sensing, and feeling How we communicate our perspective to others, understand one another, and express ourselves How we can better connect with one another With dozens of moving stories, How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover will give readers a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the neurodiverse community around them. Above all, it will inspire a profound sense of belonging, revealing that we're much more similar than we think.
You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets
A kick-in-the-pants wake-up call to start living meaningfully in light of how many Mondays you have left from longtime coach, positive psychology expert, and Penn Resilience Program instructor Jodi Wellman "Wellman poses a profound question we too often avoid: How many Mondays do you have left? This book will jolt you out of complacency and redirect your limited time toward joyful, meaningful pursuits." - Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and A Whole New Mind How many Mondays do you have left? Does that question send you into a panic spiral, or are you convinced that, unlike everyone in the history of life on earth, you will somehow avoid the tragic end and live to tell the tale? Statistically, we get about 4,000 Mondays in our lifetime, so if you're halfway through your life, you might have roughly 2,000 Mondays to go. The good news is that you are in charge of how you spend those days: toiling at a job you hate, or creating a career you love; scrolling mindlessly for hours a day, or pursuing the hobbies and travel that light you up; dreading the end, or living a full life that allows you to greet the Grim Reaper with a smile. Built around the principles of positive psychology, You Only Die Once is the jolt that will bring you back to life, no near-death experience required. Full of practical takeaways and research-backed content, this book will motivate readers to take action on the life they want to be living, acting like a defibrillator for the soul. Accompanied by author Jodi Wellman's charming illustrations, this book won't lecture you about eating more kale or insist that the only path forward is to quit your job and move to Provence (although it's not not suggesting you do that either. The latter, that is. We'd never ask anyone to eat more kale.). Instead, it's a real-life guide to small changes that reawaken your passion and curiosity for life. Packed with inspiring stories, exercises, quizzes, quotes, and a step-by-step plan to awaken the liveliest version of you, You Only Die Once is the healthy dose of mortality you need to start living with urgency and meaning.
Leaving Time (with Bonus Novella Larger Than Life)
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner about a daughter's search for her mother, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.Includes the novella Larger Than LifeThroughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that "not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us" (The Boston Globe). Now, in Leaving Time, she has delivered a book unlike anything she's written before. For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice's old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother's whereabouts. Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who'd originally investigated Alice's case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they'll have to face even harder answers. As Jenna's memories dovetail with the events in her mother's journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.Praise for Leaving Time "Piercing and uplifting . . . a smart, accessible yarn with a suspenseful puzzle at its core."--The Boston Globe "Poignant . . . an entertaining tale about parental love, friendship, loss."--The Washington Post "A riveting drama."--Us Weekly " A] moving tale."--People "A fast-paced, surprise-ending mystery."--USA Today "In Jenna, Jodi] Picoult has created an unforgettable character who will easily endear herself to each and every reader. . . . Leaving Time may be her finest work yet."--Bookreporter " A] captivating and emotional story."--BookPage
Small Great Things

Small Great Things

Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books
2016
sidottu
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A stunning page-turner with richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and raceLook for Jodi Picoult's new novel, By Any Other Name, available now " Picoult] offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book."--Booklist (starred review) Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene? Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family--especially her teenage son--as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others--and themselves--might be wrong. With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion--and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game. Praise for Small Great Things "Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. . . . It will challenge her readers . . . and] expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice."--The Washington Post "A novel that puts its finger on the very pulse of the nation that we live in today . . . a fantastic read from beginning to end, as can always be expected from Picoult, this novel maintains a steady, page-turning pace that makes it hard for readers to put down."--San Francisco Book Review
Small Great Things

Small Great Things

Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books
2018
nidottu
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A stunning page-turner with richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and raceLook for Jodi Picoult's new novel, By Any Other Name, available now " Picoult] offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book."--Booklist (starred review) Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene? Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family--especially her teenage son--as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others--and themselves--might be wrong. With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion--and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game. Praise for Small Great Things "Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. . . . It will challenge her readers . . . and] expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice."--The Washington Post "A novel that puts its finger on the very pulse of the nation that we live in today . . . a fantastic read from beginning to end, as can always be expected from Picoult, this novel maintains a steady, page-turning pace that makes it hard for readers to put down."--San Francisco Book Review
A Spark of Light

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books
2018
sidottu
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. Look for Jodi Picoult's new novel, By Any Other Name, available now "Picoult at her fearless best . . . Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate."--The Washington Post The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center--a women's reproductive health services clinic--its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard. Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day. One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding. Praise for A Spark of Light "This is Jodi Picoult at her best: tackling an emotional hot-button issue and putting a human face on it."--People "Told backward and hour by hour, Jodi Picoult's compelling narrative deftly explores controversial social issues."--Us Weekly
A Spark of Light

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books
2019
nidottu
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. "Picoult at her fearless best . . . Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate."--The Washington PostLook for Jodi Picoult's new novel, By Any Other Name, available now The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center--a women's reproductive health services clinic--its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard. Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day. One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding. Look in the back of the book for reader's discussion questions and a conversation with Jodi Picoult.