false 669092 1 <B>A rich and suspenseful novel about two enterprising young women who unwittingly run afoul of the notorious Jewish Purple Gang in Prohibition-era Detroit.</B><BR><BR>The year is 1928, the height of Prohibition; the setting is a resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Bearwalds are the only Jewish family in town, owners of the local dry goods store. Cleo, the elder daughter, is a beautiful, autistic twenty-year-old who, in her own way, operates more successfully than her loved ones. Rebecca, eighteen, yearns to escape what looks to be a lifetime of "taking care of Cleo"&#151;the only role her parents see for her. Cleo herself has other ideas.<BR><BR>The novel's intricate plot is set in motion when Cleo discovers a beached bootleggers' yacht filled with illegal liquor. Using materials and tools from the boatworks where she is an apprentice boatwright, she renovates the yacht and coerces her sister into helping her to sell the liquor so that Rebecca, who is unaware of the plan, will have money to attend the University of Michigan. Cleo's activities cause the Purple Gang, famous Jewish gangsters out of Detroit, to mistake her father for a rival bootlegger, with near-fatal results.<BR><BR>Running through <I>Taking Care of Cleo</I> is a subtle and life-affirming reevaluation of autism, which becomes one bright thread in a novel that is by turns serious, ironic, and comic, and ends with a happy surprise. 655133 2002 Taking Care of Cleo: A Novel total:11|5:2|4:5|3:3|2:1|1:0| 11 41 18 3 4 0 false false Wed Jun 24 11:06:13 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 11:03:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 15:27:48 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 06 09:36:39 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 18 10:17:45 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 06:25:46 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 06:26:45 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Wed Oct 21 09:44:22 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 14:51:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 14:52:10 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 14:02:46 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 14:03:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 13:56:57 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 14:00:30 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 18:02:42 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 18:02:57 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jun 24 11:26:51 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 11:26:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Apr 30 18:40:29 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 18:40:29 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Mar 06 09:49:50 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 09:49:50 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jan 23 17:22:55 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 17:22:55 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Jan 01 08:20:28 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 08:20:54 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 04 08:59:59 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 08:59:59 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Mar 29 09:21:48 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 09:21:48 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Thu Feb 14 06:42:23 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 06:42:29 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Dec 10 07:43:27 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 10 07:43:27 -0800 2007 0 0 false false Tue Nov 13 09:36:31 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 13 09:36:41 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Wed Jun 27 17:57:02 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 18 19:01:54 -0700 2009