A Philadelphia journalist describes his return to his small Louisiana hometown after the death of his younger sister, a schoolteacher around whom the community rallied and who inspired the author to move back to the town with his wife to raise their three children.

"When they were born on May 28, 1934, quintuplets Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie captivated the world, defying medical history with every breath they took. In an effort to protect them from hucksters and showmen, the Ontario government took custody of the quints, sequestering them in a private, custom-built hospital across the road from their family. Here, Sarah Miller reconstructs their unprecedented upbringing with depth and subtlety,...

"The spellbinding story of Chris McCandless, who gave away his savings, hitchhiked to Alaska, walked into the wilderness alone, and starved to death in 1992, fascinated not just New York Times bestselling author Jon Krakauer, but also the rest of the nation. Krakauer's book, Into the Wild, became an international bestseller, translated into thirty-one languages, and Sean Penn's inspirational film by the same name further skyrocketed Chris McCandless...