Hush Little Children

On the same day the child suicides first start, a couple in the East Side finds out they're pregnant. One has nothing to do with the other, but in a city rife with tension between the East Side and the West Side, they have reason to be concerned. Then when a teen's murder-suicide rocks the city, many see a pattern, that it's the failings of the East Side and those people—you know, those people—who live there. The incidents are politicized, disinformation is spread, and a group called "The Good Neighbors" is created. Led by a preacher-politician whose entire platform is built on hate, and egged on by TV and social media, The Good Neighbors launch a campaign of violence and fear to rid East Side of all children—born and unborn—whom they think will infect the young minds of the neighboring communities. For our protagonist and his pregnant wife, their status as East Sider's—both by address and appearance—means having to look over their shoulder. And as tensions mount, it means protecting their unborn child at all costs. With themes of xenophobia, reproductive rights, and media-driven extremism, this book is more timely than ever.