Hush Little Children: The debut novel by poet Hayan Charara

In a city divided by fear and hate, a couple must fight to protect their unborn child

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.