DISCUSSION GUIDES

In 1929, twenty daredevil women take to the skies in the most dangerous race of their lives. Florence "Pancho" Barnes--heiress, rebel, and the most colorful pilot in America--can outfly, outswear, and outdrive any man. When Hollywood tries to turn the first-ever cross-country National Women's Air Derby into a publicity stunt with movie starlets and their male "mechanics" doing the real flying, Pancho rallies the greatest female aviators of the era to fight back. Alongside aviation legends Amelia Earhart, Louise Thaden, and Marvel Crosson, these fearless women demand the right to fly solo across 2,800 miles of treacherous terrain in primitive, fragile aircraft held together by glue and prayers. But as the race begins, sabotage strikes. Someone wants these women to fail--or worse. As increasingly serious incidents mount, the pilots realize they're not just racing for glory. They're fighting for their lives and the future of women in aviation. United in their determination to finish the derby, they refuse to back down, watching each other's backs as they barrel across the country in a white-knuckle race that will determine once and for all whether women belong in the skies. From high-speed car chases to emergency landings, speakeasy showdowns to courtroom battles, Where the Sky Begins is a thrilling ride through one of aviation's most dramatic chapters--a story of courage, sisterhood, and the unbreakable spirit of women who refused to be grounded.

For fans of Sloane Crosley, another mostly true memoir from the acclaimed author of Sit, Cinderella, Sit about whether she’s finally ready for marriage before she turns fifty. For years, Lisa Cheek believed commitment wasn’t in her genes. Her dating patterns were clear—date a lot and widely, but never settle down. When anyone wanted to marry her, she backed away. So even she is surprised when, at forty-nine, she finally says “yes” to a proposal and commits fully to her boyfriend, Big Johnson. But when she finds out on their wedding day, after the vows, that they aren’t actually married, she hesitates. Should she take this as a sign to run while she still can? In The Big Day, Lisa Cheek invites us to witness her wedding day, with all its hilarity, chaos, and unexpected turns. Throughout, she reviews both her past relationships and the marriages of her family and friends, analyzing the choices of others and reliving the biggest ups and downs of her own love life. Ultimately, she must decide once and for all whether she’s just not marriage material—or if she’s finally found a love worth staying for.

The Tide Comes Around explores how we are all strangers, uncertain travelers in a world that is never quite what we think or might positively become. Penelope, an American woman of Korean descent, has exiled herself to Los Angeles to escape a complicated love affair and her beloved brother's suicide, the tragic consequence of another life-defining event that occurred years before. Filling her days of exile by babysitting for her deceased brother's fiancée's wealthy friends and working on her dissertation, Penelope can't help but feel lost. But when Lauren starts an affair with a married neighbor, the circle quickly becomes a gauntlet of drawn knives on all of the neighborhood.

Penelope realizes that she will never rest until she faces the consequences of her brother's suicide and seeks revenge on the person she believes caused her family the most pain in life, so she returns to New York. Once back home, she creates her own upheaval by falling in love with someone she did not expect. Love and anger lead her into dark and desperate places, and she must learn to bring them together in personal reconciliation.

A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of Please See Us.

1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley's twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what's going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she's always called home.

A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman's life is often complicated and unknowable—to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself.

FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE MASS BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION

"That rarest phenomenon: a war novel that feels at once timeless and precisely of the moment…" —Washington Post

A poignant coming-of-age story with the sensitivity and haunting power of What Belongs to You and Swimming in the Dark, about a young boy wrestling with his sexuality as war breaks out in modern Ukraine.

In many ways, twelve-year-old Artem’s life in Chernihiv, Ukraine, is normal. He spends his days helping on his grandfather’s sunflower farm, drawing in his sketchbook—a treasured gift from his father, who works in America—and swimming in the river with his little brother, Yuri. In secret, Artem has begun wrestling with romantic feelings for his best friend, Viktor. In a country where love between two boys is unthinkable, Artem has begun to worry that growing up, his life will never be normal.

Then, on a February night, Artem and Yuri are woken by explosions—the beginning of a war that will tear their life in two. The invading Russians destroy their home, killing their mother and grandfather, and leaving young Artem and Yuri to fend for themselves. Fleeing in hopes of somehow reuniting with their father, the brothers traverse the country their ancestors once fought and died for, with nothing but their backpacks and each other. Surrounded by death and destruction, Artem is certain of one thing—that whatever may come, he must keep himself and his brother alive.

A harrowing and gorgeous tale of love, identity, lost innocence, and survival set in a time of devastating war, The Sunflower Boys is a powerful, heartrending exploration of young queer love, the Ukrainian spirit, and a family’s struggle to survive.

Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of the '60s summer when everything changed in Elin Hilderbrand's #1 New York Times bestselling historical novel. Hilderbrand's characters are utterly convincing and immediately draw us into their problems, from petty to grave...To use the parlance of the period, a highly relevant retrospective." ―Kirkus

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An extraordinary book about a gifted architect who reluctantly begins a secret life of resistance, devising ingenious hiding places for Jews in World War II Paris.

In 1942 Paris, architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him a great deal of money--and maybe get him killed. All he has to do is design a secret hiding place for a Jewish man, a space so invisible that even the most determined German officer won't find it while World War II rages on. He sorely needs the money, and outwitting the Nazis who have occupied his beloved city is a challenge he can't resist.

Soon Lucien is hiding more souls and saving lives. But when one of his hideouts fails horribly, and the problem of where to conceal a Jew becomes much more personal, and he can no longer ignore what's at stake.

"A beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war."--Malcolm Gladwell

Book clubs will pore over the questions Charles Belfoure raises about justice, resistance, and just how far we'll go to make things right.

Also by Charles Belfoure:
The Fallen Architect
House of Thieves

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN A MILLION COPIES SOLD--Sold on a Monday is the unforgettable book-club phenomenon, inspired by a stunning piece of Depression-era history.

"A masterpiece that poignantly echoes universal themes of loss and redemption...both heartfelt and heartbreaking."--Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale

2 CHILDREN FOR SALE. The sign is a last resort. It sits on a farmhouse porch in 1931, but could be found anywhere in an era of breadlines, bank runs and broken dreams. It could have been written by any mother facing impossible choices.

For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family's dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when it leads to his big break, the consequences are more devastating than he ever imagined.

Inspired by an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation, Sold on a Monday has celebrated five months on the New York Times bestsellers list and continues to especially captivate fans of Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours and Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds.

Look for the new novel by Kristina McMorris, The Ways We Hide, a sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path.