A History of Violence: Living and Dying in Central America by Óscar Martínez

Verso, 288 pages

　　El Salvador and Honduras have had the highest homicide rates in the world over the past ten years, with Guatemala close behind. Every day more than 1,000 people-men, women, and children-flee these three countries for North America. Step outside yourself for a couple hours and immerse yourself in one of the most incredibly vivid, well-reported journeys through Central America that you will ever experience. Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard

Harper Perennial, 384 pages

　　Sarah Gerard deftly takes the reader through the most essential issues of our time-homelessness, addiction, incarceration-via a coming-of-age lens in the state of Florida, where, as we all know, anything goes. The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day

William Morrow Paperbacks, 432 pages

　　An incredibly complex and smart novel, The Day I Died contains all the features of a small-town murder mystery but takes it one step further with a narrative about a woman's unbreakable search for the answers to not just a crime but about her own identity. 1. If you want to know about social problems in the US, you will probably choose _______.

A. Void Star B. A History of Violence

C. The Day I Died D. Sunshine State

2. Which statement is NOT true according to these books?

A. Void Star is a science fiction with a highly addictive plot.

B. The American healthcare system is favored by all Americans.

C. A History of Violence perhaps involves violence problems.

D. The Day I Died is a novel not only about a murder mystery.

Dear Amy,

　　My in-laws are all the products of failed marriages, so there are blood relatives and step relatives to deal with on both sides of the aisle.

　　For years, my in-laws have told my children that my wife's stepmother's grandchildren are their cousins.

　　This alone is not true, since these kids are only involved in our lives due to marriage. I just keep talking to my kids and explaining to them the way the family tree works and that these kids are not their cousins.

　　At one point, my oldest son got mad and told one of these kids that he was not his real cousin, and then my in-laws confronted my son about what he said. They were apparently upset about it.

　　Amy, I am not going to create a world that does not exist. They are stuck on taking in these kids that have zero actual blood relation to them at all.

　　I stand my ground on this, and my wife just thinks that I am being an ass. Your thoughts?

　　　　　　Disturbed Dad