Keep your large print collection up to date with a curated set of buzz books, new and noteworthy reads, and other popular titles, hand-selected by librarians from across the country.
A waitress at the Betsy Ross Diner, Elsie hopes her nickel-and-dime tips will add up to a new life. Then she meets Bashkim, a married man who left Albania to chase his dreams and wound up working as a line cook in Waterbury, Connecticut. Seventeen years later, headstrong and independent Luljeta receives a rejection letter from NYU and a suspension from school on the same day. Now she’s stuck in Connecticut with her mother, Elsie — a fate she refuses to accept.
“A boldly witty and astute inquiry into the nature-versus-nurture debate, the inheritance of pain, and the dream of transcendence.”
— Booklist (starred)
“Deftly written in a style that is evocative of time and place, this universal story of the search for home is well translated into the blue-collar world of Elsie and Lulu.”
— Library Journal (starred)
“This glimmering debut novel reflects on mother-daughter connections, abandonment and resilience, and dreams that endure despite the odds.”
— starred, Kirkus Reviews
