The Barbarian Nurseries

A great panoramic social novel by the only writer qualified to capture LA in all its glory and complexity. Araceli is the live-in maid in the Torres-Thompson household, one of three Mexican employees in a stunning Spanish-style house. She was responsible strictly for the cooking and cleaning, but the recession has hit and she's the last Mexican standing. Unless you count Scott Torres, whom you'd never suspect was half Mexican but for his surname and an old family photo with central LA in the background. Finances are causing fights even Araceli knows the children shouldn't hear; then one morning, after a particularly dramatic fight, Araceli wakes to an empty house--except for the two Torres-Thompson boys. Their parents are unreachable, and the only family member she knows of is Senor Torres, from that old family photo. She does the only thing she can think of and heads to the bus stop to seek out their grandfather. It will be an adventure, she tells the boys. If she only knew.