Annabel Abbott's twin sister Julia has committed suicide. This act turns Annabel's life upside down. She simply cannot comprehend why Julia, who had everything, would call her life a senseless rip-off and put an end to it. While Annabel, the studious one, the boring insurance consultant, has doggedly kept moving forward year after year. The detectives who have responded to her call have no explanations to offer, but one of the pair, Harry Schoenman, is very taken with Annabel and offers unexpected comfort. Their brief affair results in Annabel's pregnancy and also inspires her decision to create a special pregnancy insurance company for women. Working with her feisty assistant Joan and her equally feister lawyer, Frieda, Annabel begins putting her company together -- along the way encountering nonstop negativism from the men with whom she has to deal. Surprisingly, the person who seems to understand best what it is she's attempting to do, and who takes a personal interest in Annabel is her doctor, Rhys Bowen. As Annabel's due date draws nearer, she is forced to turn everything over to Joan and, resigned, goes home to wait for the arrival of the baby. And, frighteningly, the birth of the child proves as daunting and dangerous -- but, finally, as deeply rewarding -- as everything else in her life.

Seven-year-old Julia longs to have a sister whom she can play and share silly moments with. But all she's left to play with are her dolls and toys. While silently wishing to have someone to seesaw with in the park, Julia was approached by a little girl named Tammy and invited her to be a playmate. Instantly, Julia and Tammy became the best of friends. Julia didn't only get to have a playmate but found a sister in Tammy.

Cara Segal is a born worrier. She figures her worrying works like a whisper in God's ear - if Cara's concerned about car crashes, kidnappings, or murders, she lets God know, and he always spares her. But Cara never thought to worry about a fire. And one night while she's sleeping at a friend's house, her house catches fire, and her mother and younger sister are both killed. Throughout shiva, the initial Jewish mourning period, Cara can't help wondering about God's role in the tragedy. And what is her father's role in her life now? He walks around like a ghost and refuses to talk about the fire. Cara longs for her family and her home, where sweet smells filled the house as Cara's mom filled orders for her catering business, Julia's Kitchen. Then one day a call comes in for a cookie order, and Cara gets a wild idea. Maybe by bringing back Julia's Kitchen, she can find a way to reconnect with everything she's lost. Complete with a glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish terms and a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, this debut novel is a joyous tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit. Julia's Kitchen is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

The First Lady's account of experiences during her husband's military and political careers.

Written in the early twentieth century for her children and grandchildren and first published in 1975, these eloquent memoirs detail the life of General Ulysses S. Grant’s wife. First Lady Julia Dent Grant wrote her reminiscences with the vivacity and charm she exhibited throughout her life, telling her story in the easy flow of an afternoon conversation with a close friend. She writes fondly of White Haven, a plantation in St. Louis County, Missouri, where she had an idyllic girlhood and later met Ulysses. In addition to relating the joys she experienced, Grant tells about the difficult and sorrowful times. Her anecdotes give fascinating glimpses into the years of the American Civil War. One recounts the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Grant insisted she and her husband turn down an invitation to the theater. Her decision saved her husband’s life: like Lincoln, he too had been marked for assassination. Throughout these memoirs, which she ends with her husband’s death, Grant seeks to introduce her descendants to both her and the man she loved. She also strives to correct misconceptions that were circulated about him. She wanted posterity to share her pride in this man, whom she saw as one of America’s greatest heroes. Her book is a testament to their devoted marriage. This forty-fifth-anniversary edition includes a new foreword by John F. Marszalek and Frank J. Williams, a new preface by Pamela K. Sanfilippo, the original foreword by Bruce Catton, the original introduction by editor John Y. Simon, recommendations for further reading, and more than twenty photographs of the Grants, their children, and their friends.

Julia Ellis wants to have a baby. Actually, it was David’s idea first. Like the day he proposed, David got down on one knee and asked Julia to be the mother of his children. However, with each negative sign on a home pregnancy test, Julia slips further into depression, crippling the couple’s bond. She loses a friend who can’t understand the pain and bitter jealousy she is experiencing and she harbors strong resentment toward her sister who clearly cannot sympathize. Spying on a fertility support group, Julia discovers new friendships and insights. After a year of failure and loss, she lies to her husband and begins fertility treatments. This is a fight Julia needs to win to save her marriage and to save herself.