Julia Claiborne Johnson Knihy

Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi” Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, but now she’s writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. Mimi reluctantly complies—with a few stipulations: No Ivy Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids. Quiet, discreet, sane. When Alice Whitley arrives at the Banning mansion, she’s put to work right away—as a full-time companion to Frank, the writer’s eccentric nine-year-old, a boy with the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth graders. As she gets to know Frank, Alice becomes consumed with finding out who his father is, how his gorgeous “piano teacher and itinerant male role model” Xander fits into the Banning family equation—and whether Mimi will ever finish that book. Full of heart and countless only-in-Hollywood moments, Be Frank With Me is a captivating and heartwarming story of an unusual mother and son, and the intrepid young woman who finds herself irresistibly pulled into their unforgettable world.

The anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank With Me, set in 1930s Reno, in which two very different women seeking divorces meet and form an unlikely friendship that is complicated by the handsome young ranch hand who befriends both.

A heart wrenching children's story. A little girl comes across a malnourished cheetah cub caged at the back of a small shop in an Arab souq. Her mother agrees to buy the animal to save its life, and the little girl rears the cub at their house until it grows into a fine young cheetah.

Introduces children to Arabia in pictures and poetry. From a souq filled with sacks of spices to climbing a jebel with Jameela, young readers are taken on an entertaining journey through Arabia, learning about the people and the customs.