Afterlife (fiction), Julia Alvarez   –  “A moving portrait of a retired English professor and novelist dealing with her husband's sudden death and the plight of fellow Latinos in her Vermont town. In one moving scene after another, Alvarez dramatizes the sustaining power of stories, whether for immigrants in search of a better life or for widows surviving a spouse's death. True to its title, Afterlife cannily explores what it means to go on after a loss” (2020)

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All the King’s Men (fiction), Robert Penn Warren  –  The rise and fall of demagogue Willie Talos, a fictional Southern politician who resembles the real–life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. A classic revisited. (1946)

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All the Light We Cannot See (fiction), Anthony Doerr  –  The bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. (2014)

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American Dervish (fiction),  Ayad Akhtar  –   Twelve–year–old Hayat Shah is a Muslim American who plays baseball, studies the Quran with his Aunt Mina and listens to his mother complain about his father.  When Mina falls in love with a non–Muslim, Hayat does what he thinks is best for everyone, not realizing the disastrous consequences of his actions. (2012)

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An American Marriage (fiction), Tayari Jones   –   Roy, an African American executive, is sentenced to 12 years in jail for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. His wife takes solace in the company of her childhood best friend, and is surprised by Roy’s sudden release. Can their rocky, new marriage stand the test of time? (2018)

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And the Mountains Echoed, (fiction), Khaled Hosseini   –   This new novel from the author of The Kite Runner takes the reader back to Afghanistan where a father tells a folktale of love and sacrifice to his two children. The next day the folktale begins to come true as the father gives away his young daughter because he cannot care for her. Hosseini beautifully details the fifty– year interval that ultimately brings the family full circle. (2013)

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The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human Centered Planet (nonfiction), John Green   –   “The Anthropocene is the current geologic age in which humans have greatly altered the planet and its biodiversity. A collection of essays expanded from his popular podcast; each chapter reviews a topic on a five-star rating scale.” (2021)

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The Art Forger (fiction), B.A. Shapiro   –     Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the studio of a young artist. This is but the beginning of seeing, and not seeing, the secrets that lie beneath the canvas. (2012)

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The Art of Racing in the Rain (fiction), Garth Stein   –   “Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift. Frustrated by his inability to speak, he watches Denny's old racing videos, coins aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when he can be reborn a man.” (2008)

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Atonement (fiction), Ian McEwan   –   “An upper–middle–class girl in England, who aspires to be a writer, makes a serious mistake that has life–changing effects for many. Consequently, through her remaining years, she seeks atonement for her transgression.” (2001)

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Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” (nonfiction), Zora Neale Huston    –   Oluale Kossola, who became known as Cudjo Lewis (1840-1935) divulges the remarkable story of his life in a 1927 interview with Hurston. She captures the rare account of his life during and after the trans-Atlantic slave trade that was supposed to have been abolished in 1807. (2018)

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Becoming (nonfiction), Michelle Obama  –  An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States. Photos (2018)

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Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family (biography), Amy Ellis Nutt    –   The story of identical twin boys and their family as they confront their own views on gender identity and prejudice in society. Personal photos, diary entries, and medical reports help chronicle this inspirational transgender journey. (2016)

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Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (nonfiction), Katherine Boo   –   The author embedded herself in this slum of Mumbai, India, so readers could see, hear, and understand the lives of the residents who all have dreams of a better life. (2012)

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Behold the Dreamers (fiction), Imbolo Mbue   –  The intersection of the lives of two families in NYC, one a working-class immigrant family and one a wealthy family, leading up to the financial crisis in 2008. (2016)*

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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (nonfiction), Atul Gawande   –   The author, a practicing surgeon, addresses medicine’s ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. (2014)

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Beloved (fiction), Toni Morrison  –  “Set in post-Civil War Ohio, this is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave living in a small cabin with her teenage daughter, her aged mother-in-law, and the disturbing, entrancing, wildly intrusive ghost of her dead infant.” (1987)*

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Between the World and Me (nonfiction), Ta-Nehisi Coates   -   In a series of essays, written as a letter to his son, Coates confronts the notion of race in America and how it has shaped American history, many times at the cost of black bodies and lives. (2015)

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Big Little Lies (fiction), Liane Moriarty - Marriage, motherhood, and modern upper-middle-class family life, including one surprising death. (2014)

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Blackbird House (fiction),  Alice Hoffman   –    “In this collection of tales, the author takes readers into the lives of the people who lived in Blackbird House from the time of the American Revolution to the present. The house has a haunting presence throughout the book; the characters themselves, their stories and their relationships with others are most compelling.” (2004)

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Black Cake (fiction), Charmaine Wilkerson   -    “In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron, and Benny: a voice recording and a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history. A story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history.” (2022)

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Black Man in a White Coat (nonfiction), Damon Tweedy   -    As the author grows from medical student to practicing physician he discovers how often race influences his encounters with patients. his book is a thoughtful reflection about himself and about the health implications of being black. (2015)

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The Bluest Eye (fiction), Toni Morrison  –  A poignant reflection on a young black girl's struggles with race and identity in the 1940s. This heartbreaking classic is the author’s debut novel. (1970)*

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A Book of American Martyrs (fiction), Joyce Carol Oates - The story of two very different American families: that of Luther Dunphy, the ardent Evangelical who assassinates an abortion provider, and that of Augustus Voorhees, the idealistic doctor who is killed. (2017)

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The Book of Unknown Americans (fiction), Cristina Henríquez   –   These unknown Americans came from Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. The Riveras came for special education for their teenage daughter Maribel. Other families struggle to maintain visa status, find jobs, feed their families and educate their children. A look at what life is like for some current immigrants. (2014)

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The Book Thief (fiction),  Markus Zusak   –    “It’s a story about a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist–fighter, and quite a lot of thievery  . . .  Set during World War II in Germany, Zusak’s novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich.”  (2005)

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The Boys in the Boat (nonfiction), Daniel James Brown   –   In 1936, the University of Washington’s eight–oar crew team began its unlikely route to the 1938 Berlin Olympics. How this team, composed of rowers who were sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers defeated Hitler’s racers is a story of determination, teamwork, and what it takes to achieve glory. The Boys in the Boat is a character–driven story with a race to the finish. (2013)

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Brooklyn (fiction), Colm Toibin    –   A young, Irish woman starts fresh in post-World War II Brooklyn until tragedy makes her question the course of her life. Caught between two worlds, she must choose between obligation and affection. (2009)

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A Burning (fiction), Megha Majumdar    –   “Jivan, a young Muslim girl, is accused of involvement in a terrorist attack after a comment on social media. Her only alibi, an outcast called Lovely, has to choose between achieving her dream and saving Jivan. This fast-paced novel explores class, fate, corruption, justice, and pursuing your dreams in the face of profound obstacles.” (2020)

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Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven (fiction), Fannie Flagg   –   “Feisty, inquisitive octogenarian Elner Shimfissle falls out of her fig tree and is presumed dead. While her family and friends mourn, she makes a ‘temporary’ visit to heaven, where she runs into her deceased sister, Ida, as well as Ginger Rogers and Tom Edison. When she ‘returns,’ she shares details of her experience.”  (2006)

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The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls (fiction), Anissa Gray  –  Follow three adult sisters who confront their family's dark and fractured past while searching for a way forward amid countless challenges. An engrossing debut novel by an award-winning CNN journalist. (2019)*

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Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (nonfiction), Isabel Wilkerson  –  “Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations. Using riveting stories about people, she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day” (2020)

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The Children Act (fiction), Ian McEwan   -    Judge Fiona Maye presides over cases in Family Court. She is called on to hear an urgent case: Adam, a seventeen-year-old boy, is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life. His devout parents agree. Should a secular court overrule them? (2014)

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Circling the Sun (fiction), Paula McLain   -    This historical novel from the author of The Paris Wife is a story of love and adventure in colonial Africa in the 1920s and 1930s: with gorgeous landscapes, dissolute British ex-patriots, and lots of derring-do with horses, motorcars and airplanes. Beryl Markham, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic from east to west is in the center of things. (2015) *

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Claire of the Sealight (fiction), Edwidge Danticat   –   Just as her father makes the wrenching decision to send her away for a chance at a better life, Claire Limyè Lanmè, Claire of the Sea Light, suddenly disappears. As the people of the Haitian seaside community of Ville Rose search for her, secrets, memories and truths emerge. (2013) *

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The Color of Water (nonfiction),  James McBride   –   “The author, a man whose mother was white and his father black, tells two stories: his own and that of his mother …  a wonderful story of a bi–racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way.” (1995)

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The Cove (fiction), Ron Rash   –   A brother and sister struggle to make a life in a backwoods cove that locals avoid as haunted. The appearance of a mute stranger changes their lives. (2012)

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Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (fiction), Tom Franklin   –   Larry was the child of lower– middle–class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, black single mother. But then Larry took a girl to a drive–in movie and she was never seen or heard from again. He never confessed . . . and was never charged.  And now another girl has disappeared. (2010)

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Cross Creek (nonfiction), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings   -   A classic in modern American literature, this is the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two- acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs and a succession of unruly farmhands, Rawlings describes her life at the Creek with humor and spirit. (1942) *

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night–Time (fiction), Mark Haddon    –   “A murder mystery of sorts told by an autistic fifteen–year–old. Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working–class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers. (2003)

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The Day the World Came to Town (nonfiction), Jim Defede  –  “The True Story behind the events on 9/11 that inspired Broadway's smash hit musical Come from Away. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander whose acts of kindness have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill” (2003)*

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Deacon King Kong: A Novel (fiction), James McBride    –   After old Deacon Cuffy, known affectionately as Sportscoat, loses his wife, he spends his days arguing with her ghost and drinking “king kong” moonshine. When he shoots a young drug dealer in broad daylight, everyone assumes his days are numbered. Those affected by the shooting come together in a hilarious twist of fate. (2020)

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Defending Jacob (fiction), William Landry   –    This legal thriller is wrapped around a family in crisis. The plot hinges on the murder of a high school boy. (2012)

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Demon Copperhead (fiction), Barbara Kingsolver – “In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.” (2022)

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The Devil in White City (nonfiction), Erik Larson   –   The incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair are fact that reads like fiction. “Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.” (2003)

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The Dictionary of Lost Words (fiction), Pip Williams   –   “This remarkable debut is based on actual events. As a team of male scholars compiles the first Oxford English Dictionary, one of their daughters decides to collect the ‘objectionable’ words they omit” (2021)

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Don’t Stop the Carnival (fiction), Herman Wouk - A comedy about Norman Paperman, a New York City press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvent himself as a hotel keeper. A heaven that quickly turns into a hell. (1965) *

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Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America (nonfiction), Beth Macy - According to Macy, “Americans, representing 5 percent of the world’s population, consume 80 percent of its opioids”. Disturbing stories of opioid abuse in the US that examine the medical, social, historical and legal effects through current research (2018)

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Educated (nonfiction), Tara Westover    –   Raised in an alternative Mormon home in rural Idaho, Westover eventually overcomes her parent’s oppressive views. Westover's vivid prose details this powerful coming-of-age story of deprivation and survival. (2017)

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Emma (fiction),  Jane Austen  –  “A scheming heiress, who is determined not to marry, ends up embracing love and growing in maturity, without dying or becoming impossibly insipid.” (1815)

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Emperor’s Children (fiction), Claire Messud   –     “The novel focuses on the stories of three friends in their early thirties, living in Manhattan in the months leading up to September 11, 2001. All three are well–educated and privileged, but struggle with realizing the lofty expectations held for their personal and professional lives.” (2006)

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Everything I Never Told You (fiction), Celeste Ng   –   A teenage girl goes missing and is later found to have drowned in a nearby lake. Set in the 1970s, her father, an American born of first– generation Chinese immigrants, is conspicuous in any setting. Her mother is white, and their interracial marriage raises eyebrows.  What follows is a novel that explores achievement, race, gender, family, and identity –– as the Lee family discovers the sister and daughter that they hardly knew. (2014)

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The Faith Club (nonfiction),Ranya Idliby and Suzanne Oliver  –  In the wake of 9/11, Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, sought out fellow mothers of Jewish and Christian faiths to write a children's book on the commonalities among their respective traditions. More Fight Club than book club, the co–authors pull no punches; their candor makes for a page– turning read. (2006) *

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Faithful Place (fiction), Tana French    –    French takes readers into the mind of Frank Mackey as he wrestles with his own past and the family, the lover and the neighborhood he thought he had left behind for good. A “Whodunit” with multiple twists. (2010)

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The Fire Next Time (nonfiction), James Baldwin  –  A bestseller that gave voice to the emerging civil rights movement. Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose." (1963)*

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First Ladies (nonfiction), Margaret Truman  –  “With her unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady, Ms. Truman reveals the truth behind some of the most misunderstood and forgotten First Ladies of our history, as well as the most famous and beloved” (1996)*

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The Fortunate Pilgrim (fiction), Mario Puzo   –   Written before The Godfather, this classic story of love, crime and immigrant struggle has been hailed as Puzo’s masterpiece. (1965)

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The Four Winds (fiction), Kristen Hannah   –   “One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. An indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation” (2021)

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The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (nonfiction), Eric Weiner    –   “Using travel, psychology, science and humor, Weiner explores the notion of where happiness can be found.” (2009)

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The German Girl (fiction), Armando Lucas Correa - Twelve-year- old Hannah Rosenthal’s harrowing experience fleeing Nazi-occupied Germany with her family and best friend, only to discover that the overseas asylum they had been promised was an illusion. Based on a true story. (2016) *

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The Girls at 17 Swann Street (fiction), Yara Zgheib    –   An emotional chronicle of one woman’s battle with anorexia. Fighting for her life, Anna Roux meets women with similar disorders and works towards recovery. (2019) *

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The Glass Castle (biography), Jeanette Walls  –   “In her memoir, freelance writer Jeannette Walls tells of being raised by a father who drifted from town to town, picking up work or gambling their meager savings away, and an artist mother who went along for the ride.” (2005)

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Go Set a Watchman (fiction), Harper Lee   –   Set twenty years after To Kill a Mockingbird, this novel begins with Scout, the daughter of Atticus Finch, returning home from New York City for a visit. She arrives at a time that civil rights tensions and political turmoil are transforming the South to find her father, family and friends unaccepting of the changing times. (2015)

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Gone Girl (fiction), Gilliam Flynn   –    On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy disappears. As revelation after revelation unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth is far darker, more twisted and creepier than you can imagine. An extraordinarily clever mystery. (2012)

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Gorky Park (mystery), Martin Cruz Smith   –   First in the Arkady Renko novel series, this espionage classic opens with three corpses found frozen in the snow. Chief Investigator Renko must battle the KGB, FBI and the police to uncover the truth and identity the victims. (1981)

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (fiction), Mary Ann Shaffer   –   “This novel, based on Mary Ann Shaffer’s research, is an homage to booklovers and a nostalgic portrayal of an era. However, it is the tragic stories of life under Nazi occupation that animate the novel, and give it its urgency.” (2008)

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* Book Kits with asterisks are gifts from St Lucie County Book Clubs or individuals.

Annotations in quotation marks have been summarized from reviews found on Amazon.com.

For more information or to book your kit, please call 772–462– 2190.

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