The novel by Thompson, author of "The Year We Left Home," follows a teenager who survives a school shooting and is sent to live with her father. Her father's neighbor has recently been put in charge of an odd charity fund called The Humanity Project. Nelson says she admires Thompson's ability to write novels that are so perfectly grounded in an era. "It's about the last five years," she said of the tale of a contemporary family struggling through economic hard times. "She was right there in the moment. That's what's so wonderful about her books. They're regular people."
