A Good Neighborhood

　　你有好好了解過你的鄰居嗎？

　　「這是本閱讀的饗宴，讓人一口氣讀完。沒錯，本書就是如此精彩！」－《姊姊的守護者》作者茱迪．皮考特強力推薦

　　「今年夏天，當那場葬禮舉辦之際，想必媒體們又將大肆地討論這件事到底是誰的責任了吧！」

　　教授森林生態學，同時也是位單親黑人母親的Valarie教授，與她在音樂方面有著天賦異稟的兒子Xavier，兩人居住在位於北卡羅萊納州內，一個綠意盎然的社區。生活中的一切都風平浪靜，直到隔壁搬來那家新鄰居。

　　Brad Whitmans帶著他才17歲的繼女Juniper，住進了Valarie一家的隔壁。這位經營空調系統非常出色的白人企業家新貴，打從一開始就讓Valarie留下不好的印象－他剷平了原有的綠意，並且破壞了Valarie庭院裡那顆蓊鬱的老橡樹。鄰居之間的關係，在Valarie一怒下狀告法院Brad與他的房屋承包商破壞他人財產後，更是降到了冰點。在兩家劍拔弩張的氣氛下，Xavier與Juniper之間，卻悄悄滋生了曖昧情愫！？

　　交織了種族、階級、偏見等議題探討，同時以青少年那青澀又純淨的愛戀情節穿插其中，宛若羅密歐與茱麗葉的古典悲劇。精彩的文字表現，更獲得茱迪．皮考特等多位暢銷作家聯合背書。

　　“A feast of a read... I finished A Good Neighborhood in a single sitting. Yes, it’s that good.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light

　　In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son, Xavier, who’s headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans—an apparently traditional family with new money and a secretly troubled teenaged daughter—raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace.

　　With little in common except a property line, these two very different families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.

　　A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today—what does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye?—as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.