<div><b>The striking debut novel from award-winning writer Pete Fromm</b><br><br>Abilene and Austin, a sister and brother frustrated with the small-town Texas life their parents have chosen, turn to each other to escape the story they're all too tired of hearing: their father's unvarying account of "How All This Started"-how he met their mother then settled down in the middle of nowhere.<br><br>Pinning her dreams on her younger brother, Abilene becomes dead-set on making Austin a pitching star, a "fireballer" like Nolan Ryan. Swept up in her irresistible exuberance, they try, with baseball and firearms, to combat the stagnation of the Texas landscape--so fiercely it's uncertain whether either of them will survive Abilene's manic dreams.<br><br>Introducing one of the most memorable female characters in contemporary literature, <i>How All This Started </i>portrays with strength and subtlety the visceral bond between a brother and sister.<br></div>