A gripping horror tale that deftly weaves Indian lore with suspense amid a northern Michigan setting

This “meticulously plotted” novel explores “the mysteries of dysfunctional families . . . and adolescents’ imperfect . . . understanding of the world of adults” (Sarah Lyall The New York Times Book Review). “The night we left Ellen on the road, we drove up the mountain in silence.” It is the early 1980s and fifteen-year-old Libby is obsessed with The Field Guide to the Trees of North America, a gift her Irish immigrant father gave her before he died. She finds solace in “The Kingdom,” a stand of red oak and thick mountain laurel near her home in suburban Pennsylvania, where she can escape from her large and unruly family and share menthol cigarettes and lukewarm beers with her best friend. One night, while driving home, Libby’s mother, exhausted and overwhelmed with the fighting in the backseat, pulls over and orders Libby’s little sister Ellen to walk home. What none of this family knows as they drive off leaving a twelve-year-old girl on the side of the road five miles from home with darkness closing in, is what will happen next. A Crooked Tree is a surprising, indelible novel, both a poignant portrayal of an unmoored childhood giving way to adolescence, and a gripping tale about the unexpected reverberations of one rash act. “Beautifully written with tenderness and wisdom.” — Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine “Suspenseful, affecting, and disarmingly evocative of childhood and the not-so-distant era of the 1980s.” —Kirkus Reviews “Filled with pathos, nostalgia, and the best kind of suspense..” — Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River “Completely entrancing.” —Julia Pierpont, New York Times–bestselling author of Among the Ten Thousand Things

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When the cowboy meets the guy from the city, he knows everything will have to change. On the spur of the moment, with his life collapsing around him, Jay Sullivan answers an ad for a business manager with expertise in marketing, on a dude ranch in Montana. With his sister, Ashley, niece, Kirsten, and nephew, Josh, in tow, he moves lock stock and barrels from New York to Montana to start a new life on Crooked Tree Ranch. Foreman and part-owner of the ranch, former-rodeo star Nathaniel 'Nate' Todd has been running the dude ranch, for five years ever since his mentor Marcus Allen became ill. His brothers convince him that he needs to get an expert in to help the business grow. He knows things have to change, but when the new guy turns up, with a troubled family in tow - he just isn't prepared for how much.

In this real-life Christmas fable, when a Dad decides to let his kids select the family Christmas tree, he gets an unexpected lesson about God's love. In this thoroughly contemporary holiday story, a father lets his children choose the family Christmas tree. To his surprise, the kids pick one that is crooked. As he tries one thing after another to make the tree look right, he rediscovers the power of God's love. He begins to understand Christmas in a new way, particularly when his family decorates their tree and crown it with a star, never even noticing the crookedness he spent hours in the garage struggling to hide. The tender and laugh-out-loud narrative of real-life relationships propels the reader through the most un-generic Christmas story. This upbeat and comedic treasure refreshes the Christmas message of love and faith.

Among the rows and rows of little trees growing on Brown's Christmas Tree Farm, there is one tree that is not like the others. This little spruce asks the same two questions of every creature he meets: "What is Christmas? What is a Christmas tree?" The little tree hears no response until one day he shelters a white dove from a storm. Through this friendship, the little tree learns the meaning of love, sacrifice and Christmas. Since its fi rst publication in 1990, the book has become a Christmas favourite. The new edition features a sparkly foil cover, redesigned artwork and an extended page count. A must-have for the holidays!