There is pain in these stories and there is loss. There is death, but there is also rebirth, and there is always the search from each of the narrators for personal truth. Readers will recognize Larry Sole from -The Lesser Blessed- in his story -How I Saved Christmas, - and there are new voices here, new secrets from new characters in communities across the north and the south, yet they are all linked by themes of hope, the spirit of friendship, and hunger. This 20th Anniversary Edition includes a new introduction, a comic version of -Mermaids, - a fresh story and more.