Akron Public Library

Rachel is a woman with a problem: she can’t die. Her recent troubles―widowhood, a failing business, an unemployed middle-aged son―are only the latest in a litany spanning dozens of countries, scores of marriages, and hundreds of children. In the 2,000 years since she made a spiritual bargain to save the life of her first son back in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, she’s tried everything to free herself, and only one other person in the world understands:...

Traces three thousand years of Western history to profile influential ideas and setbacks that have shaped the modern world, from the spread of monotheism and the invention of the printing press to the U.S. metric campaign and the smart drink trend.

"Finn is awakened in the night by something rustling around inside their head. It isn't heavy like a worry, it doesn't swirl like a fear, and it certainly isn't shaped like a question. It's something much more exciting--an idea! Finn can't wait to share it, and they do, at school, with their best friend Sima. Sharing energizes the idea. Then the more Finn thinks about it, the more the idea grows, and by the end of the day the idea is huge and amazing....