Pauls Toutonghi

Two refugees in America find that their lives are inextricably linked—over time and distance—by the perils of history and a single haunting song. Born in Beirut in 1922, Marguerite Toutoungi lives a life of loss and sacrifice. She dreams of traveling to Europe and studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris but her family—and her society—hold her back. When she meets the son of a Cuban tobacco farmer at a formal dance, love transforms her life. Together with him, she flees across the Pacific Ocean. She’s hoping for a new beginning. Instead, she finds revolution and chaos. Over fifty years later, Naïm Rahil is a teenage refugee from Aleppo, Syria. A former piano prodigy who struggles to thrive in America—and who has lost part of his hand in the war—he dreams of a simple, normal life. Moving from Aleppo on the brink of civil war, to Lebanon in the late 1940s, to Havana during the Cuban Revolution, to the suburbs of Washington, DC, The Refugee Ocean grapples with what it means to be an immigrant, shows how wounds can heal, and highlights the role of music and art in the resilience of the human spirit.

The Refugee Ocean

Feeling out of place in a Montana home where nobody can pronounce his name, recently jilted Khosi Saqr travels to Cairo in search of his father and a connection to his heritage before discovering profound lessons about belonging, family and culture. By the Pushcart Prize-winning author of Red Weather. 20,000 first printing.

A Novel

Evel Knievel Days

"After its dog, Gonker, disappears along the Appalachian Trail, a family begins a frantic search, one that is spurred on by the fact that Gonker will die from Addison's disease if he is not found within 23 days"--

A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family who Brought Him Home

Dog Gone

Yuri, a Latvian American teenager, struggles to cope with the complexities of adolescence, including conflict with his patriotic parents, who disapprove of his relationship with Hannah, the daughter of a prominent socialist.

Red Weather

From the critically-acclaimed author of Red Weather comes a heartwarming, witty story of immigration and belonging, false starts and new beginnings, and finding out what home truly means Khosi Saqr has always felt a bit out of place in Butte, Montana, hometown of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Half-Egyptian, full of nervous habits, raised by a single mother, owner of a name that no one can pronounce -- Khosi has never quite managed to fit in. But when a mysterious stranger arrives in town (and Khosi's longtime love uses Butte's annual festival, Evel Knievel Days, as a time to announce her impending marriage to someone else), Khosi takes his first daredevil like risk, and travels to Egypt to find his father -- and a connection to his heritage. What he discovers, in Cairo, is much more startling than he'd imagined it could be. The city is a thrilling mix of contradictions -- and locating his father turns out to be the easy part. Through mistaken identity, delicious food, and near tragedy, Khosi and his parents rediscover what it means to be connected to each other, to a family, and to a culture. The timely story of a young man searching for his roots, and along the way finding his identity, Evel Knievel Days is Khosi’s charming and funny journey to learn where he came from, and who he is. “A funny, heart-warming, compulsively readable novel about the unbreakable bonds of family — and baklava.” —Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

Pauls Toutonghi

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