The setting is Milwaukee, Wisconsin—if not America’s heart, then at least its liver—home to an array of breweries and abandoned factories and down-on-their-luck Eastern European immigrants. The year is 1989. Revolutions are sweeping through the nations of the Eastern Bloc. Communism is unraveling. And nobody feels this unraveling more piquantly than Yuri Balodis—a fifteen-year-old first-generation American living with his Latvian-immigrant parents in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. It’s a turbulent time. And when Yuri falls in love with Hannah Graham—the daring daughter of a prominent local socialist—chaos ensues. Within weeks, Yuri is ensnared by both Hannah and socialism. He joins the staff of the Socialist Worker. He starts quoting Lenin and Marx indiscriminately. His parents, of course, are horrified and deeply saddened. They try to educate him, to show him why, in their opinion, communism has ruined so many lives. But Yuri is stubborn. And his ideological betrayal will have more serious consequences than breaking his parents’ hearts. Red Weather is by turns funny and bittersweet, tinged with a rueful comic sense that will instantly remind you of the absurd complications of love. Pauls Toutonghi’s stunning debut novel is at once reminiscent of Michael Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.

Red Weather: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Toutonghi, Pauls

United States

Shaye Areheart Books

The setting is Milwaukee, Wisconsin—if not America’s heart, then at least its liver—home to an array of breweries and abandoned factories and down-on-their-luck Eastern European immigrants. The year is 1989. Revolutions are sweeping through the nations of the Eastern Bloc. Communism is unraveling. And nobody feels this unraveling more piquantly than Yuri Balodis—a fifteen-year-old first-generation American living with his Latvian-immigrant parents in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. It’s a turbulent time. And when Yuri falls in love with Hannah Graham—the daring daughter of a prominent local socialist—chaos ensues. Within weeks, Yuri is ensnared by both Hannah and socialism. He joins the staff of the Socialist Worker. He starts quoting Lenin and Marx indiscriminately. His parents, of course, are horrified and deeply saddened. They try to educate him, to show him why, in their opinion, communism has ruined so many lives. But Yuri is stubborn. And his ideological betrayal will have more serious consequences than breaking his parents’ hearts. Red Weather is by turns funny and bittersweet, tinged with a rueful comic sense that will instantly remind you of the absurd complications of love. Pauls Toutonghi’s stunning debut novel is at once reminiscent of Michael Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. From the Hardcover edition.

Broadway Books

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

Evel Knievel Days: A Novel

Crown

Dog Gone: A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home

The true story of a lost dog’s journey and a family’s furious search to find him before it is too late. Saturday, October 10, 1998. Fielding Marshall is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog—a six-year-old golden retriever mix named Gonker—bolts into the woods. Just like that, he has vanished. And Gonker has Addison’s disease. If he’s not found in twenty-three days, he will die. The search begins. Fielding and his father, John, are dispatched to the field. They have the family’s other dog, Uli, in tow. Combing the trails, Fielding and his father bond like never before. Fielding’s sister, Peyton, calls and talks him through some of his lowest moments. And—at home—Fielding’s mother, Virginia, sets up a command center. Virginia becomes a field general. With a map and a phone book at her side, she contacts animal shelters, police precincts, general stores, community centers, newspapers, radio stations, churches, and park rangers. She is tireless. The local paper in Waynesboro, Virginia, writes a small story about the family’s search. The story hits the AP newswire. Tips—many of them of questionable authenticity—pour in from across the country. But as the search continues, the Marshalls realize they may not survive losing Gonker. Even as the wounds of their past return to haunt them and threaten to jeopardize everything, they know they have one mission: bring Gonker home. With a big heart, intelligent humor, and a deft touch, Pauls Toutonghi tells this true tale of loss, love, and resilience. Dog Gone is by turns a story about how a family comes together in a crisis—and the way heroism can assert itself in the little things we do each day.

History

Americas

KNOPF

The true story of a lost dog’s journey and a family’s furious search to find him before it is too late. October 10, 1998. Fielding Marshall is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog—a six-year-old golden retriever mix named Gonker—bolts into the woods. Just like that, he’s vanished. And Gonker has Addison’s disease. If he’s not found in twenty-three days, he will die. Dog Gone is the story of the Marshall family—Fielding and his parents, John and Virginia—and their epic hunt to track down Gonker. As their search continues, covered by news outlets and drawing in the community at large, old wounds reemerge, threatening to undo the Marshalls. Suspenseful, heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming, Dog Gone is a true story about the way heroism can assert itself in the little things we do each day.

Parenting & Relationships

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

The true story of a lost dog s journey and a family s furious search to find him before it is too late. Saturday, October 10, 1998. Fielding Marshall is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog a six-year-old golden retriever mix named Gonker bolts into the woods. Just like that, he has vanished. And Gonker has Addison s disease. If he s not found in twenty-three days, he will die. The search begins. Fielding and his father, John, are dispatched to the field. They have the family s other dog, Uli, in tow. Combing the trails, Fielding and his father bond like never before. Fielding s sister, Peyton, calls and talks him through some of his lowest moments. And at home Fielding s mother, Virginia, sets up a command center. Virginia becomes a field general. With a map and a phone book at her side, she contacts animal shelters, police precincts, general stores, community centers, newspapers, radio stations, churches, and park rangers. She is tireless. The local paper in Waynesboro, Virginia, writes a small story about the family s search. The story hits the AP newswire. Tips many of them of questionable authenticity pour in from across the country. But as the search continues, the Marshalls realize they may not survive losing Gonker. Even as the wounds of their past return to haunt them and threaten to jeopardize everything, they know they have one mission: bring Gonker home. With a big heart, intelligent humor, and a deft touch, Pauls Toutonghi tells this true tale of loss, love, and resilience."Dog Gone"is by turns a story about how a family comes together in a crisis and the way heroism can assert itself in the little things we do each day. "

Dog Gone: A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home (Thorndike Press Large Print Popular and Narrative Nonfiction Series)

Self-Help

Death & Grief

Thorndike Press Large Print

The Refugee Ocean

Two refugees find that their lives are inextricably linked--over time and distance--by the perils of history and a single haunting piece of music. 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.

Simon&Schuster

Live Cargo

Always willing to take risks, and always entertaining, Toutonghi's stories will surprise you with their love of language and attention to specific detail.

Contemporary

Livingston Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Toutonghi, Pauls. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Toutonghi, Pauls

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Toutonghi, Pauls. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Red Weather: A Novel

Red Weather: A Novel

Evel Knievel Days: A Novel

Dog Gone: A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home

Dog Gone: A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home

Dog Gone: A Lost Pet's Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home (Thorndike Press Large Print Popular and Narrative Nonfiction Series)

The Refugee Ocean

The Refugee Ocean

Live Cargo