Melissa wants a baby. Not that this is unusual for a young woman, And her mother wanted a grandchild - also not unusual. But there was an important issue... and his name was Thomas. Years earlier, the handsome - if short - Thomas resisted the romantic overtures of Melissa and a woman spurned is... a problem. Melissa had hoped that Thomas would give her a baby in the more traditional method, but she had been rejected. Together, Melissa and her mother decided that they would indeed have a baby and grandchild. And Thomas would be involved, regardless. But not as anyone would have guessed. Thomas himself was going to be the baby - nappies and all.

Melissa wants a baby. Not that this is unusual for a young woman, And her mother wanted a grandchild - also not unusual. But there was an important issue... and his name was Thomas. Years earlier, the handsome - if short - Thomas resisted the romantic overtures of Melissa and a woman spurned is... a problem. Melissa had hoped that Thomas would give her a baby in the more traditional method, but she had been rejected. Together, Melissa and her mother decided that they would indeed have a baby and grandchild. And Thomas would be involved, regardless. But not as anyone would have guessed. Thomas himself, was going to be the baby - nappies and all.

Melissa wants a baby. Not that this is unusual for a young woman, And her mother wanted a grandchild – also not unusual. But there was an important issue… and his name was Thomas. Years earlier, the handsome – if short – Thomas resisted the romantic overtures of Melissa and a woman spurned is… a problem. Melissa had hoped that Thomas would give her a baby in the more traditional method, but she had been rejected. Together, Melissa and her mother decided that they would indeed have a baby and grandchild. And Thomas would be involved, regardless. But not as anyone would have guessed. Thomas himself, was going to be the baby - diapers and all.

"A story that lingers in the heart long after the last page is turned." —HOPE EDELMAN, bestselling author of Motherless Daughters and The Possibility of Everything This provocative, poignant memoir of a daughter whose mother left her behind by choice begs the question: Are we destined to make the same mistakes as our parents? One summer, Melissa Cistaro's mother drove off without explanation Devastated, Melissa and her brothers were left to pick up the pieces, always tormented by the thought: Why did their mother abandon them? Thirty-five years later, with children of her own, Melissa finds herself in Olympia, Washington, as her mother is dying. After decades of hiding her painful memories, she has just days to find out what happened that summer and confront the fear she could do the same to her kids. But Melissa never expects to stumble across a cache of letters her mother wrote to her but never sent, which could hold the answers she seeks. Haunting yet ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother chronicles one woman's quest to discover what drives a mother to walk away from the children she loves. Alternating between Melissa's tumultuous coming-of-age and her mother's final days, this captivating memoir reveals how our parents' choices impact our own and how we can survive those to forge our own paths.

Photos of cute babies have the unique power to unite humanity in one collective "naww". This is the very forefront of chubby-cheek photojournalism. In our current global political climate, we are exposed daily to horrible images of war and pain. Then sometimes, mercifully, we are thrown a lifeline. The viral Instagram account Tiny Gentle Asians is precisely one such lifeline. It's a suite of fun and uplifting images, showcasing adorable pictures of babies - often chubby to the point of absurd - taken by doting mothers across Asia. "It's the best site," says Chelsea Handler, comedian and TV royalty. "Every morning there's a new fat nugget." The sassy captions which accompany each image are written by Melissa Kenny, the mastermind behind TGA. Lately, though, she's been busy... Melissa has just undertaken her most ambitious project yet: Tiny Gentle Asians, the book! Loaded with exclusive cute content, this finally brings TGA into the physical world. Each page is a new adventure in newborns. Expect plenty of fat rolls, screwed up cheeks, dimples on dimples, implausible costumes and plenty of crying bubs. With the success of her Instagram, Melissa's life has been flooded by the endless submissions from photo-mad moms. This book is a careful curation of these submissions, as well as the fruits of her own searches. This book is sure to bring light and joy to any reader with a pulse. We thank Melissa for her noble work in bringing these tots the attention they deserve.

This New York Times bestseller is a hilarious and inspiring tribute to the iconic comedian Joan Rivers by the person who knew her best--her daughter, Melissa. Joan and Melissa Rivers had one of the most celebrated mother-daughter relationships of all time. If you think Joan said some outrageous things to her audiences as a comedian, you won’t believe what she said and did in private. Her love for her daughter knew no bounds—or boundaries, apparently. ("Melissa, I acknowledge that you have boundaries. I just choose to not respect them.") In The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief and Manipulation, Melissa shares stories (like when she was nine months old and her parents delivered her to Johnny Carson as a birthday gift), bon mots (“Missy, is there anything better than seeing a really good looking couple pushing a baby that looks like a Sasquatch who got caught in a house fire?”), and life lessons from growing up in the Rosenberg-Rivers household (“I can do tips and discounts and figure out the number of gay men in an audience to make it a good show. That’s all the math you’ll ever need.”). These were just the tip of the iceberg when it came to life in the family that Melissa describes as more Addams than Cleaver. And at the center of it all was a tiny blond force of nature. In The Book of Joan, Melissa Rivers relates funny, poignant and irreverent observations, thoughts, and tales about the woman who raised her and is the reason she considers valium one of the four basic food groups.

After her mother dies in 1975, ten-year-old Lemonade must live with her grandfather in a small town famous for Bigfoot sitings and soon becomes friends with Tobin, a quirky Bigfoot investigator.