Winner of the National Book AwardJesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner & author ofSing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family & poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.A hurricane is building over theGulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town ofBois Sauvage,Mississippi, &Esch'sfather is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn't show concern for much else.Esch& her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn't much to save. Lately,Eschcan't keep down what food she gets; she's fourteen & pregnant. Her brotherSkeetahis sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull's new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. Meanwhile, brothersRandall&Juniortry to stake their claim in a family long on child's play & short on parenting.As the twelve days that make up the novel's framework yield to their dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family--motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting & nurturing where love is scarce--pulls itself up to face another day. A big-hearted novel aboutfamilial love&community against all odds, & a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, & restrictive realities ofrural poverty,Salvage the Bonesis muscled with poetry, revelatory, & real.°°°Jesmyn Wardreceived her MFA from the University of Michigan & is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University. She is the author of the novelWhere the Line Bleeds.She is thehistoric winner—first woman & first Black American—of twoNational Book Awardsfor FictionforSing, Unburied, Sing(2017) &Salvage the Bones(2011).She is also the editor of the anthologyThe Fire This Time& the author of the memoirMen We Reaped, which was a finalist for theNational Book Critics Circle Award. In 2016, the American Academy of Arts & Letters selected Ward for theStrauss Living Award.