We stopped at a roadside diner. People asked if I was his daughter. They ask all the time. Hoping, accusing. We never say yes, and we never say no. We ate our food at a booth in a hungry, self-conscious rush, straight out of the wrappers. They didn't have plates. We left a tip, just change. The waitress scooped it up straight away as we slid out of the booth. She was middle-aged and bulgy, in a proper matronly waitress's dress. She shot us what I suppose was intended to be a look of gratitude. She really only managed a weak glare. I guess that's the countryside for you. People are a little edgy.' Across the heartless expanse of middle America, a teenaged girl is riding shotgun with an older man. She watches him; she sees her fascination tallied in the black looks of waitresses, the knowing smiles of motel clerks. The man can see no proper way of conducting this relationship but is bound to her by concern and tenderness; perhaps desire. The girl craves only closeness. She knows the Ice Age is coming, and we will need to huddle together for warmth. Kirsten Reed's debut novel, with its echoes of Nabokov, Kerouac and Bret Easton Ellis, captures the translucent moment at the end of childhood in all its awkwardness, sincerity and heedless vulnerability. In prose both lyrical and earthy, comic and darkly harrowing, this extraordinary young writer creates a journey of irresistible momentum and tragic possibility. It will leave you with the sense that you have met someone significant; and you will not soon forget her.

Funny I Reed A Lot Saxophone Player Alto Sax Tenor Sax Gift Journal - Funny Gift Notebook This snarky funny sarcastic blank lined journal is better than a card and makes the perfect gift for a coworker, boss, friend, family member and even fun for yourself! Features: Descriptive and mysterious title to keep your friends and colleagues guessing 120 blank lined 6x9 pages for journaling, a diary, taking notes, keeping lists, etc. Premium black matte softcover Perfect binding

Bill Reed has not seen or spoken to his cousin John, an adult suffering from Down Syndrome, for four years, until he receives a cryptic and disturbing letter from the mentally disabled man. The letter, composed entirely of pasted-together numbers and crudely scribbled lines, makes no sense, but gives Reed a definite sense that something is very wrong at the private, isolated facility where John resides. A former FBI agent who has recently lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, Reed has problems of his own. The last thing he needs right now is another person to look out for. Yet the more Reed tries to check on his cousin, the more resistance he encounters from the people who are supposed to be caring for John and the other residents of the Ullman Institute. Reed smells trouble, and he's not about to give up. Despite his own disability, he vows to find out what the Institute is hiding--and to rescue his cousin before it's too late!