Books With Flair

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

Conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister, teenage Kate begins to question her moral obligations in light of countless medical procedures and decides to fight for the right to make decisions about her own body.

Now a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV-movie starring Kathy Bates, Elizabeth Perkins, and Lynn Redgrave.

Ever since his younger sister Martha woke him early one Sunday morning holding a Rubic's Cube in the palm of her hand with all the colored squares in perfect alignment, in some backward way, twelve-year-old Richard Baimbridge became his sister's motivation. If she saw me give up on anything, regardless of how insignificant-forgetting a phone number, finding the right nut to fit a bolt, or fixing a broken toy-she'd go after it with fanaticism and would not give up until she'd figured it out.Being better than Richard challenged Martha and when she succeeded, it fulfilled her. Richard was proud of her, but not like their Dad. Their Dad loved it. It seemed the more Martha outdid Richard, the more he liked it. By the time Richard left home at eighteen, there was a gap between his father and him that an ocean couldn't fill.But when Martha is brutally attacked while investigating the rape and attempted murder of a thirteen-year old for the News & Observer, Richard Baimbridge moves back to his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, to assist his family in caring for his sister and comes face to face with his tormented past and a dark family secret.Despised by his father and haunted by his past, he fights to stay above the flood of childhood trauma while longing to return to the life he'd built in New York City. But when the police exhaust all leads in his sister's case, wheelchair-bound Martha refuses to let her case die and, with Richard as her legs, insists on continuing the investigation herself, drawing Richard into the darker side of Wilmington - a place of greed, violence, and murder - where he, himself, becomes a primary murder suspect.

Police chief of a small Massachusetts town, Cameron McDonald makes the toughest arrest of his life when his own cousin Jamie comes to him and confesses outright that he has killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy. Now, a heated murder trial plunges the town into upheaval, and drives a wedge into a contented marriage: Cameron, aiding the prosecution in their case against Jamie, is suddenly at odds with his devoted wife, Allie -- seduced by the idea of a man so in love with his wife that he'd grant all her wishes, even her wish to end her life. And when an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Allie faces the hardest questions of the heart: when does love cross the line of moral obligation? And what does it mean to truly love another? Praised for her "personal, detail-rich style" (Glamour), Jodi Picoult infuses this page-turning novel with heart, warmth, and startling candor, taking readers on an unforgettable emotional journey.

From the time Elise was fifteen years old, she knew she was different and that society did not embrace her difference. While in high school, Elise existed on the edge of the dating game. After graduating college she makes a decision to change her life. She wants to be the daughter her parents have always wanted. Elise terminates all of her old friendships, dates and becomes engaged to a well-respected young man. For some reason her engagement wedges a gap between Elise and her younger sister. But Elise is too concerned with changing her life to fix things with her sister. Then Elise meets a young woman who makes her question the path she's chosen. As Elise fluctuates between conflicting emotions, her indecisiveness alienates her family and sends her sister on a path of destruction. A tragedy forces Elise to rethink her decisions and accept that she is the master of her fate.S. Stephens has written a mournful yet optimistic story about overcoming the pressures of society. She explores one woman's turmoil and the emotional havoc it caused in her life. The secondary characters were pivotal to the story, in their attitudes about people's views on alternative lifestyles. The writing, characterizations and pace of the story are good. I applaud Ms. S. for this honest, emotional, and penetrating view of family influence and self-worth: she is an author who bears watching. -aNN Brown, Rawsistaz ReviewerGrab your blanket, a cup of steaming hot whatever you drink, and this book, curl up on the sofa, and spend the day wrapped up in Am I My Sister's Keeper?" -Shameal K. Nelson, Nghosi Books.com Reviewer A story of self love, sister love, and the family ties, which threaten our ability to be true to ourselves. S. Stephens has created an insightful and entertaining story that takes us into the life of a woman who must come to terms with her sexuality and face the responsibility that she has a role model t others. A page turner and must read for people from all walks of life. -Shonia Brown, Author of "A Deeper Lover"

In a tight, dramatic, two-character, two-act play Ted Allan, one of Canada's best-known playwrights, challenges us to think again about love and guilt, about madness and normalcy. My Sister's Keeper was first produced at the 1976 Lennoxville Festival in Quebec. (an earlier version, entitled 'I've Seen You Cut Lemons,' had been directed by Sean Connery at the Fortune Theatre in London in 1970.) It is a play about sensitivity and about victims; about what we do to each other and particularly about what society does to women; about what makes us able to love and what prevents us from allowing ourselves to love. One day 'schizophrenic' Sarah arrives--to stay--at the London flat of her successful, 'normal' brother. The ensuing confrontations lead us, when we can catch our breath, to ask just who it is that is insane, and why?

Nothing is ever easy for policewoman Jenny Jacobs. She just wants to be in love. Sound simple? Well, there's a catch. She wants to be deeply in love with someone who is also deeply in love with her. Jenny must face the past and the present when she discovers her lover's infidelity and her first love walks back into her life. Her life becomes even more complicated when old feelings surface for her first love -- the woman who broke her heart as a teenager, then entered the church and became "Sister Rachel". In her third published book, Mavis Applewater brings to the printed page a perfect combination of heat and romance, with just the right amount of adventure. Second Edition, revised and re-edited.

When wealthy cosmetics mogul Louise Towers is brutally attacked in her New York mansion, her friends realize that the perpetrator must be someone close to her. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.