Most Popular Books by Melanie Sumner

Aristotle "Aris" Thibodeau is 12.5 years old and destined for greatness. Ever since her father’s death, however, she’s been stuck in the small town of Kanuga, Georgia, where she has to manage her mother Diane’s floundering love life and dubious commitment to her job as an English professor. Not to mention co-parenting a little brother who hogs all the therapy money. Luckily, Aris has a plan. Following the advice laid out in Write a Novel in Thirty Days! she sets out to pen a bestseller using her charmingly dysfunctional family as material. If the Mom-character, Diane, would ditch online dating and accept that the perfect man is clearly the handyman/nanny-character, Penn MacGuffin, Aris would have the essential romance for her plot (and a father in her real life). But when a random accident uncovers a dark part of Thibodeau family history, Aris is forced to confront the fact that sometimes in life—as in great literature—things might not work out exactly as planned.

In her vividly drawn, bitingly satiric first novel, the Whiting Award-winning young author immerses readers in the wrenching poignancies and comic grotesqueries of one fractious, flamboyant family in contemporary Georgia.

A story of love, death, and mystery that "shimmers with the light and landscape of New Mexico" ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Ignacia Vigil Romero, a full Jicarilla Apache and a curandera—a medicine woman, though some say a witch—begins this tale of star-crossed lovers . . . The two boys she raised in a barrio of Taos, New Mexico—a mixed community of Native Americans, Hispanics, and whites—Mister and Tomás, were best friends until their late teens. Then they both fell for Raquel, a.k.a. Rocky, a mysterious gringa from Santa Fe. Tomás takes the girl for himself, but in a moment of despair, a pledge between the young men leads to murder. The story is taken over by police reports, witness statements, and caseworker interviews that, together, draw an electrifying portrait of a troubled community, and of the vulnerable players in this mounting tragedy. From a Whiting Award–winning author, set in a terrain that becomes a character in its own right, The Ghost of Milagro Creek brilliantly illuminates this hidden corner of American society, both a suspenseful drama and "a love story that unfolds in compelling and unexpected ways" (Joshilyn Jackson). "A splendid novel, rich in character and landscape, daring in form and voice." —Robert Olen Butler

The follies of a Peace Corps woman in Africa. She is Louise Daren Parkman, an unemployed lady from Tennessee who gets herself a job teaching English in Senegal, knowing little of either. A tragicomic tale of incompetence, cultural conflicts and interracial romancing.

Aristotele, detta "Aris", ha dodici anni e mezzo e un progetto ambizioso: scrivere in trenta giorni il romanzo che la farà entrare nella storia della letteratura e tirerà la sua famiglia fuori dai guai. Non è una sfida da poco, ma a solleticare la sua ispirazione c''è un cast di personaggi perfetti e in carne e ossa: Max, fratellino strampalato e dai molti talenti, e Diane, mamma single pericolosamente attratta dalla disoccupazione, determinata a battersi per mille nobili cause, ma non per la ricerca di un compagno. Eppure, Aris lo sa, il candidato perfetto è lì davanti ai suoi occhi: Penn, amico di famiglia, tata tuttofare e, soprattutto, insostituibile IMP, "Influenza Maschile Positiva". E cosa c''è di meglio di un romanzo d''amore? Ma quando si scontra con un aspetto inquietante della sua storia familiare, sepolto da tempo tra le pagine sgualcite di un diario, Aris capisce che il lieto fine non è scontato, proprio come nei migliori romanzi. Una storia brillante e piena di ironia, che ci insegna magistralmente a sorridere di ogni cosa. Diane dice che la nostra famiglia è come un cane a tre zampe e che ce la caviamo benissimo. Io le rispondo che chi se la cava benissimo non diventa scrittore.

I am Love, I am Driven,I am? Mother.The truth is being a mom is a million things. Unfortunately, it''s not always Instagram-ready family selfies or fun-filled vacations in the sun.Unspoken Motherhood is a gripping and candid compilation book of women sharing their powerful real-life experiences-the situations that are rarely shared and brutally honest-but need to be told.These are the tragic moments of loss, of grief and heartache. But also the triumphant examples of nurturing, love and connection.This anthology is an eye-opening guide for every mother as they navigate the long and winding road of being a parent. Including deeply personal accounts such as postpartum depression, child loss, miscarriage, addiction, suicide ideation, and adoption. As well as euphoria, profound gratitude, pride, adoration, serenity and laughter.Unspoken Motherhood is a remarkable, special, and necessary tool, designed to empower and support moms on this wild ride.No one should feel alone on this journey. Get this book today and join us now.