“Poor dear,” Margaret’s mother says about their neighbor, whose little girl, Agnes, has gone to a “better place.” But what 4-year-old Margaret hears is “Poor Deer.” And so the title creature of Claire ...

On the first page of Claire Oshetsky’s new novel, “Poor Deer,” a 16-year-old girl named Margaret sits at a motel desk. She’s decided to write her “confession” — the true account of what happened to ...

SANTA CRUZ — Although childhood is often considered the most innocent time in a person’s life, not all memories are rosy. Many have moments they would like to forget, but they always linger in the ...