2024 NATIONAL MEDAL
for Museum and Library Service Finalist

Contemporary Fiction

The Perfect Mother

They call themselves the May Mothers-a collection of new moms who gave birth in the same month. Twice a week, with strollers in tow, they get together in Prospect Park, seeking refuge from the isolation of new motherhood; sharing the fears, joys, and anxieties of their new child-centered lives. When the group's members agree to meet for drinks at a hip local bar, they have in mind a casual evening of fun.. But on this sultry Fourth of July night , something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is abducted from his crib.

The Garden of Small Beginnings

Lilian Girvan has been a single mother since her husband died in a car accident. Three years later, she's starting to get the hang of it. But she's about to discover -- with the help of her insanely supportive sister, a charming gardening instructor, and her quirky fellow students -- how to let nature take its course in gardening, in life, and in love.

Fierce Kingdom

One of the New York Times Book Review's Best Crime Novels of 2017 "Warning: you'll finish this in one sitting." --TheSkimm "Expertly made thriller . . . clever and irresistible." --The New York Times An electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she'll go to protect him. The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect.

The Almost Sisters

Leia discovers she is pregnant with a biracial child but before she can tell her conventional Southern family, her grandmother slips into dementia and Leia discovers that the elderly woman has been hiding a secret linked to the Civil War.