In Welcome to Utopia, quintessential American stories--the mom anxiously sending her sons to Iraq and Afghanistan, teens longing to escape the familiar, old-timers trying to hold onto their roots while the world around them changes--come to life on every page. Karen Valby's extraordinary capacity to observe and empathize helps us understand that whether we live in a small town like Utopia, Texas, or a large city, we confront the same fears and dream the same dreams. Welcome to Utopia celebrates the bonds that connect us, while proving that the only things that are small about small towns are our preconceptions of them.