by Kevin Wilson
Kevin Wilson's best book yet--a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable abilities.
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they've barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.
Madison's twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there's a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it's the truth.
Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison's buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn't this be the start of the amazing life she'd always hoped for?
With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love.
"Good Lord, I can't believe how good this book is. I know you're supposed to begin book reviews with subtlety and a nod to storytelling's past and the long literary tradition that the book has managed to hook itself onto. But "Nothing to See Here," the third novel by Kevin Wilson ("The Family Fang"), defies an entry like that because it's wholly original. It's also perfect... " - The New York Times, Taffy Brodesser-Akner
"Nothing to See Here, which has been chosen for the "Today" show book club, raises the temperature on themes Wilson has explored before. The result is his most perfect novel. Paradoxically light and melancholy, it hews to the border of fantasy but stays in the land of realism." - Ron Charles
"Wilson captures the wrenching emotions of caring for children in this exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The book's denouement is a bit predictable, but Lillian develops into an engaging parental proxy in Wilson's latest whimsical exploration of family. A funny and touching fable about love for kids, even the ones on fire." - Kirkus Reviews
"There's hardly a sentence that feels like anything you've read before, that's how fresh his voice is...Witty, confiding, breezily profane...That the supernatural elements feel so right is a testament to Wilson's innate skill as a storyteller." - Entertainment Weekly
"Weird, funny, but also unexpectedly moving...An affecting reflection on the blithe cruelty of the rich and what it means to be a good parent." - Buzzfeed
"Quirky and insightful, strange and delightful." - Popsugar
"Laugh out loud funny. I love the way Kevin Wilson writes." - Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kevin Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Nothing to See Here, which was a Read with Jenna book club selection; The Family Fang, which was adapted into an acclaimed film starring Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman; and Perfect Little World; as well as the story collections Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award; and Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Southern Review, One Story, A Public Space, and Best American Short Stories. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.
Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.
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