Her entry begins:
I’m currently drawn to debut novels. The path to publishing is a roller coaster ride, one that’s hard to convey to people not buckled into that terrifying front car. Reading a debut right now feels like making a new friend.About The Probable Son, from the publisher:
A fast and weird and delightful debut I loved is My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithewaite. You know that feeling when your sister calls to say oops, I did it again – and he’s dead? Yeah, me neither. I tore through this tale in one sitting, completely bemused by the style of storytelling. Sparse and dryly funny, it’s a line drawing that gradually reveals its...[read on]
A mother secretly believes she’s raising the wrong son, mistakenly switched at birth. But secrets unravel in a gripping and affecting novel about parental love, impossible choices, and what it means to truly be there for someone.Visit Cindy Jiban's website.
For fourteen years, teacher Elsa Vargas has hidden her belief that she’s mothering the wrong child, accidentally switched at birth. Her beloved son Bird is not likethe rest of the family. He’s the introvert among extroverts, the optimist among skeptics. But Elsa knows love is more important than truth, and the best way to keep Bird is to leave well enough alone.
Then the odds catch up with her. A student named Thomas in Elsa’s math class is suddenly uncannily familiar, an older version of Bird’s little brother. When she realizes Thomas shares a birthday with Bird, Elsa has a terrible realization: Thomas is probably her long-lost son.
Soon Elsa is on a clumsy journey to get to know Thomas―and to confirm the truth. Testing the bonds of family, friendship, and even community will surely all be worth it if she gains a son. But what if she loses Bird, the boy she has loved and mothered since his first days of life?
My Book, The Movie: The Probable Son.
Q&A with Cindy Jiban.
Writers Read: Cindy Jiban.
--Marshal Zeringue
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