An American Girl

<p><span style=color: rgba(32 33 36 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>EMMA'S life wasn't supposed to be like this. She was a</span><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> high school valedictorian then a Princeton grad now an English professor-and so what if she's just an adjunct? But her marriage has blown up and she has to make a living somewhere so she's moved home with her son to central Pennsylvania where things have changed. Her mom died during the pandemic and her dad's living in a tent with dementia. Her son Thomas whose dad is Pakistani doesn't fit in. When Emma's asked to help create a list of diverse books for their school district her life intersects with other unforgettable local characters. She dates the college baseball coach a lifelong underachiever whose older brother is the firebrand school board president; she befriends the one sensible school board member whose lesbian daughter is struggling to come out; she endures the lonely school principal who might have a crush on her; and she encounters the young local reporter who gets thrust into a national news story: The school board bans the books.</span></p><p></p>