Requiem, Mass.

“Dufresne’s incandescent novel makes it clear that just living to tell a tale can be enough.” —PeopleWelcome to Requiem, Mass., heart of the Commonwealth, where Johnny's mom, Frances, is driving in the breakdown lane once again. She thinks Johnny and his little sister, Audrey, have been replaced by aliens; she's sure of it, and she's pretty certain that she herself is already dead, or she wouldn't need to cover the stink of her rotting flesh with Jean Nate apres le bain. Dad, truck driver and pathological liar, is down South somewhere living his secret life. And Audrey, when she's not walking her cat Deluxe in a baby stroller, spends her time locked in a closet telling herself stories. Johnny, meanwhile, is hell-bent on saving the family from itself, but he'll need Miss Teaspoon's help, and Regina Caeli's. And, if he must, he'll call on the made-up Sandilands because the nuns at St. Simeon Stylites School are sure not going to help.