When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Yet despite Ludlow's tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creeds' beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing ... as is evidenced by the makeshift pet cemetary in the nearby woods. Then there are the warnings to Louis, both real...

"Juan Pablo Villalobos's fifth novel adopts a gentle, fable-like tone, approaching the problem of racism from the perspective that any position as idiotic as xenophobia can only be fought with sheer absurdity. In an unnamed city, occupied by an unnamed world power, an immigrant named Gastón makes his living selling exotic vegetables to eateries around the city. He has a dog called Kitten, who's been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and a good friend...

A little girl fondly remembers her bird Michie who died. She recalls common memories of her pet inviting readers to share her feelings.