He has been brought to her by the police, but he is calm, polite, and very well spoken, and not at all like the children she normally fosters. The social worker gives Cathy the forms which should contain Tayo’s history, but apart from his name and age, it is blank. Tayo has no past.Tayo is an 'invisible' child, kidnapped from his loving father in Nigeria and brought illegally to the UK by his drink and drugs dependent prostitute mother, where he is put to work in a sweat shop in Central London. When he sustains an injury and is no longer earning, he is cast out.When Cathy takes Tayo to school he points out a dozen different addresses where he has stayed in the last six months, often being left alone. Tayo lies, and manipulates situations to his own advantage and Cathy has to be continually on guard. Tayo’s social worker searches all computer databases but there is no record of Tayo – he has only attended school for 3 terms and has never seen a doctor. He and his mother have been evading the authorities by living ‘underground’.With his mother recently released from prison, Tayo is desperate to live with his father in Nigeria, but no one can track him down or even prove that he exists.

    Yet her father, Bill, has always seemed to resent her. For her mother's sake, Sophie learns to live with Bill's animosity - until the night he drunkenly forces himself upon her.Left pregnant and ashamed at seventeen, Sophie doesn't know where to turn. So when she meets the charming Ben Lewis and he offers her refuge at his mother's hotel, she accepts. At first it seems that Ben and his mother are quite the good Samaritans. But there is little goodness in the Lewises' hearts. As Sophie realises their dark intentions, a web of danger and deceit wraps itself around her. She knows if she is to survive, she will have to fight for all she's worth...

    Her last hope is Cathy Glass. At the Social Services office, Cathy (an experienced foster carer) is pressured into taking Jodie as a new placement. Jodie's challenging behaviour has seen off five carers in four months. Despite her reservations, Cathy decides to accept Jodie to protect her from being placed in an institution. Jodie arrives, and her first act is to soil herself, and then wipe it on her face, grinning wickedly. Jodie meets Cathy's teenage children, and greets them with a sharp kick to the shins. That night, Cathy finds Jodie covered in blood, having cut her own wrist, and smeared the blood over her face. As Jodie begins to trust Cathy her behaviour improves. Over time, with childish honesty, she reveals details of her abuse at the hands of her parents and others. It becomes clear that Jodie's parents were involved in a sickening paedophile ring, with neighbours and Social Services not seeing what should have been obvious signs. Unfortunately Jodie becomes increasingly withdrawn, and it's clear she needs psychiatric therapy. Cathy urges the Social Services to provide funding, but instead they decide to take Jodie away from her, and place her in a residential unit. Although the paedophile ring is investigated and brought to justice, Jodie's future is still up in the air. Cathy promises that she will stand by her no matter what -- her love for the abandoned Jodie is unbreakable.

    An I wanted te cry inside meself. I wasn't dead any more, I was lifted away, far away. I can do anythin. I can be somebody, I can be beautiful, I can be gentle, I can be rich, I can smell good. The world is waitin fer me. I can be what I want. Then it ended. An I was back in the room. I opened me eyes slowly an took in everythin aroun me. One day I'll be able te stop this. Nobody will keep me down. I'll work hard, an I'll be at the top, cos I don't want anyone lookin down on me.'Born a bastard to a teenage mother in the slums of 1950s Dublin, Martha has to be a fighter from the very start.As her mother moves from man to man, and more children follow, they live hand-to-mouth in squalid, freezing tenements, clothed in rags and forced to beg for food. But just when it seems things can't get any worse, her mother meets Jackser.Despite her trials, Martha is a child with an irrepressible spirit and a wit beyond her years. She tells the story of her early life without an ounce of self-pity and manages to recreate a lost era in which the shadow of the Catholic Church loomed large and if you didn't work, you didn't eat.Martha never stops believing she is worth more than the hand she has been dealt, and her remarkable voice will remain with you long after you've finished the last line.

    To deal with the pain of her loss, and to better understand the confounding aspects of living with a disease that afflicts four and a half million people every year, Kessler enlisted as a caregiver at a facility she calls Maplewood. Life inside the facility is exhausting and humbling, a microenvironment built upon the intense relationships between two groups of marginalized people: the victims of Alzheimer's and the underpaid, overworked employees who care for them. But what surprises Kessler more than the disability and backbreaking work is the grace, humor, and unexpected humanity that are alive and well at Maplewood.Dancing with Rose is forceful and funny, clear-eyed and compelling. An intriguing narrative about the relationships and realities of end-of-life care, it stars an endearing cast of characters who give a human face to what has always been considered a dehumanizing condition. Illuminating and beautifully written, Kessler's immersion offers a new, optimistic view on what Alzheimer's has to teach us.

    Beaten, humiliated and sexually abused by him from the age of six, she thought her life couldn't get worse. But one day it did."I was used to Daddy screaming 'whore's child' at me, over and over again. But I couldn't get used to what he made me do."Anya was too terrified to tell anybody about what her uncle did to her. But then he got careless and started abusing her in front of the other children. When her brothers started calling her a 'whore', Anya cracked and all her terrible secrets came pouring out.Anya had always coped because there was one woman who loved her deeply, her 'Mummy'. But this time love was not enough. One morning 'Mummy' just left.Determined to make a new life, Anya buried her feelings and tried to move on. But when she ended up homeless, living in her car, she knew she had to face her past if she was ever going to find happiness and security again.Top 10 Sunday Times Bestseller, Abandoned is Anya's inspirational story of her fight to find love, acceptance and a place to belong.

    His father, desperate to settle his business affairs, travels to France, leaving Michael in the care of his mother and Gertruda Bablinska, a Catholic nanny devoted to the family. When Michael's mother has a stroke, Gertruda promises the dying woman that she will make her way to Palestine and raise him as her own son. Written with the invaluable assistance of Michael, now seventy-two and living in New York City, GERTRUDA'S OATH re-creates Michael and Gertruda's amazing journey. Gripping vignettes bring to life the people who helped ensure their survival, including SS officer Karl Rink, who made it his mission to save Jews after his own Jewish wife was murdered; Rink's daughter, Helga, who escaped to a kibbutz, where she lived until her recent death; and the Jewish physician Dr. Berman, who aided Michael and Gertruda through the worst of times. GERTRUDA'S OATH is a story of extraordinary courage and moral strength in the face of horrific events. Like "Schindler's List," it transcends history and religion to reveal the compassion and hope that miraculously thrives in a world immersed in war without end.

    On the morning of New Year's Day 2003, Rachel Moran left her family’s home for a quick stop at her apartment and feed her new kittens. After not hearing from Rachel for some time, a search for her began. It was two weeks before her belongings were fished out of a nearby drain and another two weeks before her body was discovered. At some stage during that twenty minute walk, she had been abducted near her apartment and raped and murdered. This heartbreaking account details the family grief and mourning, the extensive search for the killer, and the trail that followed.

    He also saw their amazing ability to survive those unpromising beginnings. In this book, he tells four heartbreaking true stories of damaged children and of his battle to help them.

    Sheen and St. Th r se of Lisieux, the Little Flower. How else to explain the enduring popularity of Sheen's videos and books nearly 30 years after his death, or that, despite there already being 900 books on St. Th r se and her spirituality, more and more come out each year? Now, for the first time, Basilica Press has put into written form Archbishop Sheen's compelling words about the Little Flower. Taken from the still-popular talks he gave on her in 1973, the archbishop explains why people from all walks of life and in nearly every country of the world so universally love, invoke, and imitate St. Th r se, who has been called the greatest saint of modern times. This beautiful hardcover book will be something you and your customers will treasure. Even readers familiar with St. Th r se's life will find their eyes opened to many new insights given by the incomparable Archbishop Sheen.

    The Johnson children would turn up to school with broken fingers and chipped teeth, but no one ever thought of investigating their home life. Mark just slipped through the cracks, and kept on falling for years. Constantly in trouble at school, Mark began stealing at the age of seven, was drinking by the age of eight, and took his first hit of heroin at eleven. A sensitive, intelligent boy, he could never stay on the right path, and though art college beckoned, he ended up in Portland prison instead. With searing honesty, Wasted documents Mark’s descent into the depths of addiction and criminality. Homeless, hooked on heroin and crack, no one—least of all Mark—believed he would survive. And yet, astonishingly, he somehow pulled himself through, and now runs his own thriving tree surgery business, employing and helping other recovering addicts. His story is at once shocking and inspiring a compelling account of one man’s struggle to save himself, and help save others in the process.

    On a daily basis both Michael and his mother would fall under the man’s wrath, and one awful night Michael’s father began sexually abusing his son, a trend that would continue for years. Worse still, the abuse did not stop at home. Once he began school, Michael fell victim to terrible bullying and a teacher who violated him repeatedly. Despite the horror of these years, Michael was ultimately saved by his own will to live, which inspired him to seek a better life as a friar. This is the remarkable story of an individual who, against all the odds, managed to preserve his own dignity and finally escape the horrors of a stolen childhood.

    When they married seven years later, Paul had become a golden boy in the world of snooker, dubbed "the Beckham of the baize," having won the Masters trophy three times, and attained a world ranking of number four, and Lindsey's happiness looked assured. But tragedy struck when Paul was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, neuro-endocrine tumors in his abdomen. Aggressive chemotherapy appeared to work, and within six months Paul was competing in a major championship, with Lindsey cheering him on from the side-lines. More joy came when Lindsey gave birth to their daughter, Evie Rose. But tragically, Paul died in October 2006, 18 months after his diagnosis, leaving Lindsey a widow and single mother. Lindsey was determined to celebrate Paul's life rather than mourn his death, and has dealt with the loss of her young husband on the beginning of their life together with strength and courage, for the sake of their daughter. This is not just a heartbreaking and inspirational story about Lindsey and Paul's unbreakable love but a testimony to one of the greatest sportsmen the snooker world has ever seen.

    Since 1987, the Bathroom Readers’ Institute has led the movement to stand up for those who sit down and read in the bathroom (and everywhere else for that matter). With more than 11 million books in print, the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series is the longest-running, most popular series of its kind in the world.Where else could you learn about a woman who broke her legs flying a pig, a student who got credit for dressing like a lobster, and a man who patented a method for determining the sex of a spinach plant? Uncle John rules the world of bizarre information and humor, so get ready to be thoroughly entertained. Read all about…* The world’s longest ear hair* A girl raised by dogs* Celebrity death conspiracies* Goblins, the horny horse man, Yowie, and other strange creatures* And much more!

    Thirteen infant colonies challenged the mightiest military power on earth and won! What sustained them through the six long years of war? It was their dream of freedom and liberty that drove them ona dream shared by thousands of little people, both men and women, whose deeds and names are now mostly forgotten. The true stories in this book will inspire readers and help them value the freedom we may take for granted. Youll gain a new appreciation for the unsung heroes who helped give birth to a nation!

    More than forty stab wounds and blows to her head with a blunt instrument had cut her life short. What monster had struck in the heart of a peaceful New England town? A Trust Betrayed Jeanne was a hard-working single mother. Nicole, her fourteen-year-old daughter was on the honor-roll and head over heels in love--with an eighteen-year-old man she'd known only through the Internet. Once the lovers met in person, Jeanne's motherly instincts sensed trouble. If only she'd known that the life in danger was her own. In The Name Of Love With a history of psychological trouble and family misfortune, Billy Sullivan's obsessive and controlling power over Nicole contributed to the brutal slaying of her mother. But it was Nicole's stunning confession and guilty plea that led to Billy's sensational trial, where a sordid tale of love, loss, betrayal and murder finally took a cold-blooded killer offline--and on line for justice. "Phelps is a first-rate investigator." --Dr. Michael M. Baden Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos Investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the author of Murder in the Heartland, Perfect Poison, Every Move You Make, Lethal Guardian, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace. He has appeared on dozens of national radio and television programs, including Court TV, The Discovery Channel, Good Morning America, Geraldo at Large and Montel Williams, and has consulted for the Showtime cable television series Dexter. He lives in a small Connecticut farming community with his wife and children.

    Read about the origin of the fork, strange pet lawsuits, first-lady firsts, astounding Earth science, and the chimp that saved TV! Uncle John's fans will find hours of entertainment in over 700 pages of forgotten history, pop culture, humor, quotes, science, and unusual people, and much more.

    But he returned to the profession he loved, and in Last Ditch House he revisits four more cases from his childcare days, using a technique similar to the first book. The narrative is set a year after Wednesday s Child and tells of a summer spent working with four unusual cases for a voluntary child-protection group.Last Ditch House is more complex, richer and a little darker than its predecessor and Shane Dunphy has consciously given more of himself this time, going into his own motivations and feelings in greater detail. The cases recounted here are those of four children from very different aspects of Irish society, each with a unique story to tell.Once again, Shane Dunphy draws on the real-life experience of fifteen years working in child protection, and while these events did not, in reality, happen concurrently, he has woven them together to create a non-fiction book that has the pace, atmosphere and dialogue of a thriller. Yet everything recounted here really happened. These stories - shocking, heart-breaking and inspiring - are all true."

    What they got was a cultural phenomenon that not only launched the film into the stratosphere, but also turned its young cast into superstars. The first time the show aired, it drew almost eight million viewers; the next night, on a repeat airing, another six. The movie soundtrack hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop-music charts six weeks after its release, with nine singles from the soundtrack on the chart in the same week. The May 2006 release of the DVD sold 400,000 units on its first day; Disney has a version that high schools around the country can license and perform; there are talks about a Broadway version, the sequel High School Musical 2 is scheduled to go into production in January 2007 for a summer 2007 airing, and the soundtrack album has gone triple platinum and remains in Billboard’s Top 20. All In This Together: The Unofficial Story of High School Musical is a comprehensive look at the creation and making of this landmark film. It provides detailed profiles of its cast members, including Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and Corbin Bleu. It explores in detail the film’s impact, following the cast as they promote High School Musical around the world, and providing all available information and conjecture about High School Musical 2. Timed for release in advance of the movie’s sequel, All In This Together: The Unofficial Story of High School Musical is the perfect collectible for the film’s millions of fans.

    You will read of his near-death experiences, the first after dying of a drug overdose at age fifteen and being pulled into hell. Decades later, after dying of a brain aneurysm, he entered heaven and saw his son who had been killed years earlier. The first 126 pages of this book detail Earthquake s personal life story. The rest of the book provides practical and informative knowledge of deliverance. This book gives a clear and enlightening picture of what happens in the unseen spirit realm when we fail to live a holy life based on biblical principles and mandates, or when we fail to use our spiritual authority to overcome the enemy. If you are a devout follower of Christ, this book will challenge you to live a holy and victorious Christian life.

    It is the tale of two people who came together to change each other's lives, about things that should never have happened but did, and about the dreams that come true as a result.

    'Survivor' is the story of impossible misfortune and improbable good luck - the compelling and uplifting account of the boy who made it out of the ghetto, survived Auschwitz and Stutthof and endured the Dresden bombing, before escaping to England.

    Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Margaret Sanger, and Eleanor Roosevelt. But did you know that a female microbiologist discovered the bacterium responsible for undulant fever, which then led to the pasteurization of milk? Or that a female mathematician's work laid the foundation for abstract algebra?Her Story is a one-of-a-kind illustrated timeline highlighting the awesome, varied, and often unrecognized contributions of American women throughout U.S. history, beginning in the 1500s and spanning all the way through 2011. The women featured in Her Story range from writers, artists, actors, and athletes to doctors, scientists, social and political activists, educators, and inventors, and come from all backgrounds and philosophies. Her Story is a captivating look at America's often unsung female champions that will resonate with women and men alike.

    Dorcas Smucker once again writes so vividly about life with her six kids that you'll be convinced you have a place at their table, your own seat in their van, a list of chores with your name at the top, and a small hankering for trouble -- just like one of the family. She and her kids are innocently funny and usually well-meaning, trying hard to manage all their energy and their peculiar points of view.           Jenny asks questions endlessly like, "What's inside your lips?" Matt has serial obsessions -- animals to astronomy. Ben drops caterpillars down the gaps in the porch floor and has a 12-year collection of scars. Emily moves effortlessly from being a whirling Queen of the Smuckers to posing as a pompous science lecturer. Amy phones home to report that, "New York City is not dangerous," and "We girls walk outside at night." And 9-year-old Steven from Kenya joins the family, soon demonstrating the same compulsion as his new brothers by throwing balls in the living room.           What makes this collection a stand-out is Dorcas' "Mother voice." With each new development, she's clear about the outcome she's hoping for, less certain about how she'll accomplish it, willing to confess the way things unfold. Dorcas Smucker, writer and mom, is bravely honest and hilariously humble. She never fails to give courage to any parent who reads these joyride chapters, while relentlessly entertaining.

    Jailed for his crimes with the help of her testimony, Antoinette believed she was finally safe, but it was not to last…Being despatched to collect her father from the station by herself marked a new low for young Antoinette. Realising that she was no longer safe at home, she was forced to leave. Her mother did nothing to protect her or prevent her going.Traumatised and alone, Antoinette was unable to cope, and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, sinking deeper into despair every day. Finally transferred to the dead-end ward with no hope of recovery, Antoinette slowly began to improve, by the sheer force of her indomitable will.

    In this insightful and heartfelt account, Sue Owen reveals what happens when a child cannot rely on the family home to be the safe and respectable refuge it should be. Neglected and bullied by her step-mother throughout her formative years, and abused by her father in her teens, Sue somehow survived to tell the tale and have a family of her own. Determined that her own children would grow up in a happy, loving, and stable environment, Sue began facing her demons through counseling. Yet it wasn't enough, she was still haunted by the past and knew that she would never find peace until she confronted her tormentors. Taking her father to court, Sue began a battle which took her extended family to the brink of destruction as they all tried to come to terms with the awful truth.

    At age 13, she was sent to Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent, a home which soon became her prison and worst nightmare. Teresa found herself a victim of a terrible regime: she was injected with dangerously high doses of drugs and sexually abused. As a result of this cruel and vicious treatment—accompanied by punishments such as 163 days spent in solitary confinement—it was not long before Teresa began to harm herself and even attempt to take her life. After three years of hell, Teresa thought her nightmare was over but another was about to begin. Teresa survived, however, and today she works to fight against a corrupt social care system. She has taken her case of abuse and drugging to parliament, and is fighting to prevent many more children from suffering at the hands of unethical doctors and abusive foster parents.

    Beginning in the late 1960s, the author plunged into the scene, filming concerts, directing documentaries, launching her own music career, and befriending artists, all the while taking the photographs that are featured in this collection.

    This is the story of New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, his remarkable recovery from a stroke and his eventual comeback into the NFL.

    Within 48 hours, the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing had blasted through the Irish Sea. By the time it had passed, it had thrown one of the world's most prestigious races into bedlam and taken the lives of fifteen sailors. Ward's boat, Grimalkin, was capsized again and again, and the skipper lost overboard; after hours of struggle, three of the crew fled the boat for the liferaft. Nick and his crewmate Gerry, both injured, unconscious, and presumed dead, were abandoned on the beleaguered yacht. Gerry died a few hours later, and Nick was left alone to face down a storm that has become legendary among sailors and racing fans alike. "Left for Dead" is Nick Ward's harrowing and inspirational memoir of how he survived that dreadful night. After his dramatic rescue, Ward was overwhelmed by media and decided in 1980 not to speak of the incident again. It wasn't until this book's coauthor, Sinead O'Brien, approached him about the story that he began the personal writings that became this book. Here at last is the untold true story of an accident that has intrigued lovers of the sea for almost thirty years.

    Amazingly, in the midst of the traumas Frida found Christ. Her story is for all those who have gone through life shattering experiences and are unable to forgive.

    Finding it was like discovering that I really did exist after all . It was as if someone was saying ‘No, it wasn’t all in your imagination, that childhood really did happen, and it happened to you.’ Brought up in South London by violent and abusive parents, the Roche children knew only cruelty, neglect, starvation and squalor. As one of ten and regularly beaten, Peter searched dustbins for food and slept rough when he couldn't face going home. It was survival at all costs, every child for itself. Expelled from school at the age of 14, Peter’s life of petty crime landed him in borstal – and exposed him to yet more sickening abuse.Then, years later, a chance meeting with a social worker led to his discovery of a photograph - a portrait, taken by Lord Snowdon, of a toddler dressed in rags. It was an image that had shocked the world. The boy in the picture was Peter. Unloved is a harrowing account of a shattered childhood, told by a man who has finally found the courage to speak out. This is his story.

    He was schooled first as a liberty (rider-less) horse and then as a “dancing” (dressage) performer. Dancing was what he did best, and he was often observed trotting on the spot whenever he heard music. He matured into a magnificent, highly trained and valuable animal. But then tragedy struck.Confined in his stall after an exhausting day of performances in unbearable heat, Miskeen was spotted by a boy. The boy took up a training whip and beat the horse mercilessly until, in panic, Miskeen struck out. The boy was bitten severely, and, in retribution, Miskeen was ordered to have all his teeth pulled so that he could never “turn vicious” again. Suddenly the magnificent animal was disabled, humiliated, unable to eat, and totally worthless to those who had prized him.Miskeen would have died, had he not been rehabilitated by a young British woman named Vicky Malia. He recovered, eventually rewarding his new owner with private dance performances. It seemed he still had an ear for music and a memory of grander days. Miskeen is dancing still.

    The training was brutal, with discipline enforced by regular beatings, and desertion punishable by mutilation or imprisonment. Somehow Lewis made it through and, thanks in part to his fluent English, was soon offered a post in Iraqi military intelligence. The job would have made him powerful, comfortably wealthy . . . and a cog in Saddam Hussein’s massive machine of terror. Unable to accept becoming a member of Saddam’s secret police, yet knowing that turning down this “honor” would be considered treasonous, Lewis made plans to flee Iraq. His escape was fraught with peril–he was shot, detained at borders, even pursued by hungry wolves across the desert–but the teenager made his way to Jordan, then Malaysia, and finally to England, where he was granted political asylum. Lewis began building a life for himself, even falling in love and getting married. But he was haunted by thoughts of the loved ones he left behind in Iraq, his uncle’s words echoing in his ears: we are sending you to freedom so that one day you may rescue us from this place. One day, shocking news arrived: because of his escape, Lewis’s family–including his mother and sister–had been interrogated, beaten, and thrown into prison. Frantic with guilt and worry, Lewis was forced to steal the thousands of dollars he needed to buy their release and smuggle them out of Iraq. Then, accompanied by his wife, he embarked on a desperate journey in hope of bringing his family to freedom. Escape from Saddam is a powerful nonfiction thriller that, even as it plunges the reader into a netherworld of crooked border police, military checkpoints, counterfeiters, and smugglers, provides a fascinating window into a totalitarian regime. It is also a remarkably inspirational story of a resourceful young man who refused to accept his fate . . . and then risked everything he’d achieved to save his family.From the Hardcover edition.

    True story of German Adventist soldier on Russian Front.

    clear and interesting."—Foreign Affairs"Direct and clear... it lays bare a most complicated course of events so that even the layman can follow."—New Republic Named as One of The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth CenturyWith diplomacy unraveling during the summer of 1914, Germany swept into Belgium during the first week of August in an audacious attempt to catch France and England off guard. First contemplated after the Franco-Prussian War, the Schlieffen Plan was designed to keep Germany from fighting on two fronts. With a quick and decisive victory over France and its allies to the west, Germany could then confront Russia to the east. Despite the surprise of Germany's initial advance, the plan ultimately failed because it required much more mobile troops than were available at the time - something that would have to await the mechanized blitzkrieg of World War II—allowing France and British Expeditionary Forces to establish a tenacious defense. What followed was a stalemate along the Marne River and the beginning of four long years of destructive trench warfare that would only be lifted by a joint French, British, and American offensive across this same river plain in 1918. In The Campaign of the Marne, the entire genesis of the Schlieffen Plan, its modification, implementation, and the complex series of grueling battles that followed is laid out with the intent to make the entire episode comprehensible to the general reader. Hailed as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of the twentieth century by eminent military historian John Keegan, this is the first time the book has been available since its original publication in 1935.