Hold-Up

A freak blizzard in April and the Rose Avenue Burglar are turning the town of Lincoln upside-down. But for Charlotte (dating amateur with acute pride deficiency), Peg (future Knitting Machine Fixer) and Alex (skateboarding jerk magnet), life is already a little sideways. When Alex discovers evidence linking bully extraordinaire Todd to the burglaries, he plans a dangerous stakeout. Peg spies a week-old fawn buried in the snow and secretly executes a risky rescue mission. And then, one night, the burglar strikes while Charlotte is closing up her family's store. It just might be that a little town chaos is what these self-proclaimed misfits need to turn their lives right-side-up!

CAUTION READERS! While slipping into the shoes of these Lincoln students will be easy, you may experience cringe-worthy embarrassment, heart-shattering sadness and a sugar-sweetness that brings you to tears. Enjoy the ride!

Having been pegged as a future knitting machine fixer herself, Beth is a fervent defender against any and all categories. In high school, she wasn't an athlete or a Homecoming Queen. She was never the president of the student body or a math whiz. But she was patient with her own slow development and had a faith in something special inside her that she couldn't name or understand. Her writing is an effort to privilege that unnamed essence and to illustrate the poetry that underlies failures as well as second (to infinity) chances. She and her husband live in New York with their three daughters and dog, Piglet. She is delighted (and relieved) to say that she has never laid eyes on a knitting machine.