First published 2009
Rita works as a social worker and makes a terrible decision. She rents the empty half of her duplex to her loser ex-husband. The arrangement goes badly wrong. In another story, Lydia is a linguist without children of her own. She cares for her four-year-old niece while the girl's mother faces jail time. Ted is a teenager who finds himself at a homicide survivor's picnic with his sister. His sister mourns her boyfriend who was recently killed. Ted barely knew the dead man. The stories move between family members connected by blood and by choice. Characters come from Latino and other backgrounds. Most live in the South. They face difficult situations that test their relationships. Bad behavior becomes a way to break free from their problems.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, social-issues, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: South
Period: 21st-century
264 pages · Paperback · BKMK Press
Content warnings: mental-illness