Shake Down the Stars

Description

When you're in trouble and sinking fast, whom do you call? Piper Nelson is stuck. She can't quite stay away from the husband she divorced. She isn't always attentive to the high school students she teaches. And even she admits that she's been drinking too much and seeking out unsuitable men. Piper's mother, married to a celebrity evangelist, and her sister, who's immersed in plans to wed a professional football player and star in a reality TV show, are both too self-absorbed to sympathize with Piper's angst. They tell her to get a grip. But how can Piper ever really recover from the blow she suffered five years ago, when a car accident took the life of her young daughter? When Piper's ex-husband announces that his new girlfriend is pregnant, Piper is forced to take stock. Realizing that it's time for a change is one thing, but actually making it happen is quite another. And despite what she thinks, Piper can't do it alone Lucky for her, a couple of crazy, funny new friends are ready to step in when she needs them most and show her how to live and laugh again. CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

Renee Swindle is the author of Please Please Please, a Blackboard bestseller. She earned her B.A. from UC Irvine and M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University. She lives in Oakland, California.

Praise for Shake Down the Stars "Yes, I know you hear it all the time, but get ready for an absorbing story told with a unique and compelling voice. Shake Down the Stars is a treat. Renee Swindle's writing is funny, sharp, heartbreaking, and quirky, and her non-stock characters wonderfully memorable....Enjoy the ride."-Lalita Tademy, New York Times bestselling author of Cane River and Red River "Renee Swindle's Shake Down the Stars is a rich, savvy exploration of the many kinds of love, loss, and dysfunction that can unearth us or save us, bedevil us or deliver us...as complex and hilarious as it is surprising and lovely. Shake Down the Stars holds a mirror up to our best and worst selves, and Swindle writes with unflagging compassion and irresistible humor."-ZZ Packer, author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere "I love, love, love Renee Swindle's Shake Down the Stars! It's fresh and unfamiliar-which is quite the trick these days! I love the protagonist and the very unlikely yet charming love interest. The novel manages to be both light and heavy all at the same time. I cannot tell you how much I like it. Well, I can...I loved it. Seriously. One of my favorite reads of the past couple years."-Nichelle D. Tramble, author of The Dying Ground and The Last King