16 Books to Watch for in May 2011
This month, we're showcasing books that tell the truth—or part of it, anyway. From a bittersweet memoir of an exceptionally bad dog to a stunning novel of a family's scandal, there's something for everyone.
Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D
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No Biking in the House Without a Helmet
By Melissa Fay Greene
368 pages;
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
To most readers, Melissa Fay Greene is the prizewinning author of such journalistic gems as The Temple Bombing and Praying for Sheetrock.
To her neighbors in midtown Atlanta, she's also known as the lady who,
in 1999, the year before her oldest child left for college, decided to
adopt more kids, at least partially to ward off empty-nest syndrome. At
last count, she and her husband, Don Samuel, a defense attorney, have
added five kids to their "bio" group of four: one from a Bulgarian
orphanage and four from Ethiopia. Why they did it—and how they do it—is
the subject of Greene's moving, enlightening, and surprisingly funny new
memoir, No Biking in the House Without a Helmet (Sarah Crichton/FSG), which folds an adoption primer into a meditation on family.
— Sara Nelson
Published 04/26/2011