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    		•  September paperback releases offer good choices for reading groups

    REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE

    Cover Caramelo
    This national bestseller, based on the author's childhood experiences, is the story of teenage Celaya, known as Lala, the youngest member of the Reyes clan. Surrounded by her six rowdy brothers, Lala struggles to find an identity within her large, exuberant family, which includes her iron-willed grandmother in Mexico City. When the family makes its yearly trek from Chicago to Mexico by car to pay her grandmother a visit, Lala ends up connecting in ways she hadn't expected with her elderly relative, who comes from a long line of shawl, or caramelo, makers. Listening to her grandmother's anecdotes inspires Lala to spin her own tales about the family, making the novel both a coming-of-age story and a multi-generational saga. Poignant and beautifully rendered, Cisneros' book offers an eloquent portrait of a modern-day Mexican-American family. A reading group guide is available at www.vintagebooks.com/read.

    Cover Middlesex
    This Pulitzer Prize-winning volume from the author of The Virgin Suicides is narrated by a hermaphrodite. That's right, the gender-blending star of Eugenides' masterful novel is one Calliope Stephanides, an individual of Greek descent who lives the first 14 years of her life as a girl, then switches sexes. In an effort to explain his unusual condition, Cal recounts his tangled family history, starting with the incestuous relationship that occurred between his Greek grandparents, a brother-sister pair who immigrated to America in the early 1900s. It's during the 1970s in Grosse Point, Michigan, in the midst of a normal suburban upbringing, that Cal's metamorphosis occurs—a deepening voice, a towering height of 5-foot-10, a decided indifference toward boys. Life takes another dramatic turn when Cal falls in love with a female schoolmate. Expansive, original and funny, Middlesex showcases Eugenides' many talents, including his uncanny ability to channel the teenage female voice. A reading group guide is available in print.i

    Cover Blessings: A Novel
    When a baby is abandoned at the Blessings mansion, life is never the same for the estate's crusty 80-year-old owner, Lydia Blessing. Along with handyman Skip, she is charmed by the infant, whom they name Faith. A long-time widow, the wealthy Lydia was never close to her own daughter, and as Skip becomes a surrogate father to Faith, she is transformed by his experience. Despite the joy it brings, the clandestine adoption of the baby by Lydia and Skip—a comically mismatched pair—is soon threatened by interference from the outside world. Quindlen's wonderful descriptions of the estate's diminished splendor, her rich characterizations and pitch-perfect dialogue will satisfy her old fans and earn her some new ones. A reading group guide is included in the book.

    Cover The Half-Mammals of Dixie
    This second collection of Southern-bred short stories showcases Singleton's offbeat vision of everyday folks going about the daily business of living. Most of the narratives are set in or near a fictional South Carolina community called Forty-Five, a small town brimming with unexpected tales. "What Slide Rules Can't Measure" is a surreal look at flea market frequenters, while "Show and Tell" features a lovesick father who tries to win the heart of his son's third grade teacher by sending the boy to school with some very special items for show-and-tell. Singleton does a wonderful job of capturing the idiosyncrasies of Southern syntax. His expert use of first-person narration has won him comparisons to Eudora Welty and Barry Hannah, and, hence, recognition as one of the region's most promising new writers.


    Has your club recently read an excellent book that sparked good group discussion? If so, BookPage would like to hear about it. Contact us at reading@bookpage.com with a description of the book and the reasons for your recommendation. We'll pass the top choices along to our readers.

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