Operation Wandering Soul

National Book Award FinalistFrom the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of TheOverstory and the forthcoming Bewilderment, an exquisitely renderednovel set in the pediatrics ward of a public hospital that examines the power,joy, and anguish of storytelling.If you have children or will have children,if you know children or can remember being a child, dare to read OperationWandering Soul. . . [it] is bedtime reading for the future. USA TodayIn the pediatrics ward of a public hospitalin the heart of Los Angeles, a group of sick children is gathering. Surrogateparents to this band of stray kids, resident Richard Kraft and therapist LindaEspera are charged with keeping the group alive on make-believe alone.Determined to give hope where there is none, the adults spin a desperateanthology of stories that promise restoration and escape. But the inevitable isforeshadowed in the faces theyve grown to love, and ultimately Richard andLinda must return to forgotten chapters in their own lives in order to makesense of the conclusion drawing near.