Life by Committee

Two estranged childhood best friends reunite as expectant mothers, after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years​. Perfect for readers of Claire Lombardo and J. Courtney Sullivan.<BR><BR> When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers—the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni—agree the girls are made for each other, and it's not long before even the mothers become inseparable.   <BR><BR> Then a falling out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme, exacerbated by the demands of her inflexible mother, Beth Ann, whose constant scrutiny seems reserved only for her daughter.   <BR><BR> Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni, whose mysterious death holds as many unanswered questions as Mae does herself. Mae is an artist who has lived under the shadow of the one painting (of two girls) that made her famous years ago, the success of which confines as much as it defines her.   <BR><BR> When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. Each begins to pull the other away from the coercive influence of outsiders—mommy groups, marketing schemes, artistic pressures, and ex-boyfriends. But the two women will soon discover that it’s not destiny that has drawn them together this time, but a devastating secret at the center of their orbits—a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them, for good.   <BR><BR> An intimate and searing novel about mothers and daughters, and destiny and desire, Mothers and Other Strangers takes a full-hearted look at those relationships in life that are as impossible as they are utterly essential.

In this poignant, magical tale by the acclaimed author of Eventown, two girls find themselves dropped into each other’s world—and must face down dragons they’ve only imagined. Auden “Denny” Greene is happiest with her friend Runa, creating stories set in their imaginary land of Sorrowfeld, where princesses rule and cursed dragons are a constant danger. But now that they are turning twelve, Runa seems ready to give up on the magic of Sorrowfeld just when Denny needs it the most…Princess Auden is the last remaining princess of Sorrowfeld—and on her twelfth birthday, she will be expected to vanquish the dragons that took her family. Only, when a swarm attacks her birthday celebration, all she can do is run…But suddenly. Auden is in Denny’s world. And Denny is in Auden’s.The two Audens have switched places. No one but them has any idea. And now, each girl must come into her own power in order to fight the other’s dragons. The magical beasts of Impossible Creatures meet the body-swap of Freaky Friday, set in a world as fantastical as Wicked’s Oz!