United States of America
Wave goodbye to the anacondas because we’re heading north, just a hop, skip and a jump over the Caribbean and we’ve hit our next stop: The United States of America! More than the land of the free and home of the brave, USA has been the setting for a multitude of great books.
Courtney Miller Santo is going to start us off on the West coast in a small town in Sacramento Valley in Northern California. In The Roots of the Olive Tree, Santo introduces us to the Keller family where 5 generations of first-born women live in an old house on their olive grove. Anna, the family matriarch, is 112 years old and determined to be the oldest person in the world. For a woman her age, Anna is in impeccable physical and mental shape. Anna’s age has caught the attention of a geneticist who believes that the Keller family may hold the key to slowing down the process of aging. As the geneticist digs deep into their DNA the Keller women find themselves digging deeply within themselves to try and keep their secrets hidden from each other, a task made exponentially harder when the youngest Keller woman, Erin, arrives back home alone and pregnant.
Hold on because we’re zipping across the country to the East coast, North Carolina to be more exact, where Wiley Cash’s novel A Land More Kind than Home is set. Jess and his older brother Christopher – a mute that everyone in town calls Stump – love to spy on grown-ups. Their mother has warned them not to snoop but they just can’t help that they’re curious. That is until one day when Christopher sees something he’s not supposed to and it shatters his and Jess’s worlds. The discovery thrusts Jess into adulthood unprepared and confused, but he now knows that a new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil—but also the possibility of freedom and deliverance as well.
There’s so much to discover in the large and diverse country of USA. Click here to start your American adventure by entering to win a copy of these books!
