Barrett is loving and loyal, but in his world a threat lies around every corner, and so he asks Sophia to stay in Condition Yellow—always aware that her life may be in danger soon. Sophia's heart-wrenching yet humorous narrative about coming to a new understanding of peace and partnership gives hope for healing the deep divisions in our country, from the front lines of a most unusual union.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    You need a new road map, and fast...When Jennifer Groneberg and her husband learned they'd be having twin boys, their main concern was whether they'd need an addition on their house. Then, five days after Avery and Bennett were born, Avery was diagnosed with Down syndrome.Here, Jennifer shares the story of what followed. She dealt with doctors-some who helped, and some who were disrespectful or even dangerous. She saw some relationships in her life grow stronger, while severing ties with people who proved unsupportive. And she continues to struggle to find balance in the hardships and joys of raising a child with special needs. This book is a resource, a companion for parents, and above all, a story of the love between a mother and her son-as she learns that Avery is exactly the child she never knew she wanted.

    An inspirational tale of her journey through extreme personal crisis."You can run, but you can't hide from yourself."Abandoned by her mother as a young child and with a father constantly on the run, Shelley's life was never normal. Her family's involvement with South London's criminal underworld left her isolated, vulnerable and lonely. Falling deeper and deeper into depression and despair - she snapped.Shelley got on the first coach out of London with only the clothes she stood up in and £30 in her pocket. She didn't care where she was going, as long as she could disappear completely from her oppressive life. For years, she lived anonymously in refuges, hostels and on the streets. It would take something remarkable to bring her back to the real world.

    In the 1970s, Pollack had excelled as one of Yale’s first two women to earn a bachelor of science degree in physics. But, isolated, lacking in confidence, and starved for encouragement, she abandoned her lifelong dream of becoming a theoretical physicist. Years later, she thought back on her experiences and wondered what had changed in the intervening decades, and what challenges remained. Based on six years of interviewing dozens of teachers and students and reviewing studies on gender bias, The Only Woman in the Room is an illuminating exploration of the cultural, social, psychological, and institutional barriers confronting women in the STEM disciplines. Pollack brings to light the struggles that women in the sciences are often hesitant to admit and provides hope that changing attitudes and behaviors can bring more women into fields in which they remain, to this day, seriously underrepresented.Eileen Pollack is the author of the novels Breaking and Entering (a New York Times Editor’s Choice selection) and Paradise, New York, as well as two collections of short fiction, an award-winning book of nonfiction, and two creative-nonfiction textbooks. Her work has appeared in Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories. She is a professor on the faculty of the Helen Zell MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan. She divides her time between Manhattan and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    An Inescapable Addiction to Drugs. A Miraculous Redemption through Jesus Christ.You think you've heard this story before but you haven't. Washed by Blood is a look at the dramatic saving power of Jesus Christ unlike any other—one that shows how God looks out for all of us, even those who seem farthest away from his grace.Brian "Head" Welch was a rock star who thought he had it all. He was the lead guitarist in Korn, one of the biggest and most controversial rock bands on the planet. He lived in a mansion, had millions of dollars in the bank, and legions of fans all over the globe.He was living the good life, and it should have been perfect. But it was all a lie.What no one knew was that backstage and away from the crowds, Head was fighting a debilitating addiction to methamphetamines, and that nothing—not even the birth of his daughter—could make him quit for good. He had given up. He was empty inside. He spent his days contemplating suicide convinced that each high would be his last.And that was when he found God.Washed by Blood tells the remarkable story of how God's unconditional love freed Head from his addictions and saved him from death. Here Head describes the joys and struggles of his journey to faith, detailing how Jesus has helped him cope with his pain and find the path that's right for both him and his daughter. An account of triumphs, hardships, and the healing power of Jesus, Washed by Blood is an inspirational demonstration that God is always there to save even the most troubled souls.

    With a small group study guide and "Ten Steps for Developing a Mental Health Ministry in Your Congregation," Blessed Are the Crazy is more than memoir--it's a resource for churches and other faith-based groups to provide healing and comfort. Part of The Young Clergy Women Project.

    Entrusted with the burdens and joys of memory, Elisabeth’s eldest granddaughter, Suzanne Congdon LeRoy, combines lived experience with meticulous historical research as she details a family legacy filled with inconceivable loss, love, and perseverance. Elisabeth Congdon emerges as the messenger of spring and the key to her granddaughter’s survival. Her early efforts to nurture a foundation of hope, optimism, and the power of possibility lead Suzanne to advanced education, a remarkable nursing career and the discovery of the ineffable relationship between healing oneself, service to others, and the connection to the spirit and beauty of the earth that makes her whole again. “Nightingale” is a book of rare power, beauty, and hope. All proceeds, after taxes, are used to support health and human rights initiatives that benefit women and girls with an emphasis on education, reproductive health, and violence prevention.

    She had been taught that Islam was evil, full of lies and darkness, and that the world would be better without it.Luckily, locals show compassion for this blundering outsider who can't keep her headscarf on or her toddlers from tripping over AK-47s. After the murder of several foreigners forces them to evacuate, the Joneses resettle in nearby Djibouti.Jones recounts, often entertainingly, the personal encounters and growing friendships that gradually dismantle her unspoken fears and prejudices and deepen her appreciation for Islam. Unexpectedly, along the way she also gains a far richer understanding of her own Christian faith. Grouping her stories around the five pillars of Islam - creed, prayer, fasting, giving, and pilgrimage - Jones shows how her Muslim friends' devotion to these pillars leads her to rediscover ancient Christian practices her own religious tradition has lost or neglected.Jones brings the reader along as she reexamines her assumptions about faith and God through the lens of Islam and Somali culture. Are God and Allah the same? What happens when one's ideas about God and the Bible crumble and the only people around are Muslims? What happens is that she discovers that Jesus is more generous, daring, and loving than she ever imagined.

    Now the actress recounts the journey she's made in real life, from a shy, small-town girl in Texas to the glamorous life of fame and fortune in Hollywood -- and finally to suburban life as a pastor's wife and homeschooling mother of three. Poignant autobiographical stories reveal the developing trust in God that has enabled Lisa to grow in grace through seasons of pressure, pain, and prosperity.

    She became a public defender, an outspoken opponent of capital punishment, and a supporter of mandatory life sentences for juvenile killers. But all the while she never once spoke the name of her sister's killer aloud, never once cared what had happened to him after he was convicted of the crime.Over time she realized that God was asking more of her. Her responsibility as a Christian was not to simply tell herself that she'd forgiven the young man while secretly hoping he languished in prison the rest of his days. As Christians we have an obligation to work to reconcile with those who have harmed us."Change of Heart" is the story of this transformation, from someone who actively sought the killer's imprisonment for the rest of his life to one who now visits him regularly in prison. It has not been an easy journey, and at times the personal cost has been high. But this change of heart has brought Bishop to a better understanding of what it means to be a person of faith.

    Heather Nestleroad gathers all of her blog posts from the last few years into a comprehensive book that can be enjoyed by parents, chocolate lovers, and coffee drinkers of all types. Read about how Heather learned to like (and order) coffee, explores her questions about the purpose of our lives, bares her neurotic confessions, and details conversations you'll swear you just had with someone in your family.

    A light snow was falling as our family of six and a dog started out in our 1935 Ford. The tires were almost bald and there was a third of the steering wheel missing. The trailer behind was a modified shell of a travel trailer. It was loaded with the bare necessities to set up housekeeping nearly two thousand miles away. We were moving from Kanawha, Iowa to Yakima, Washington to seek our fortune picking fruit in the fruit-rich Yakima Valley.” UPHILL ALL THE WAY, a collection of sixty-seven short stories, is a first hand account of the life of the author’s family and their struggles through the Great Depression and World War II, and their eventual triumph. The circumstances they endured, some beyond their control and some created by the choices they made along the way, provided rich experiences for their family and does the same for the reader. The author’s father suffered ill health the last twelve years of his life. It was during this time that the author spent many hours with his father and heard, for the first time, several of the stories told in this book. After his father died, the author had many visits with his mother to get a better understanding of his parents’ lives before they were married and to clarify some of the things he remembered from his youth, taking notes and recording it all in the form of short stories. The end result is an unusual collection of poignant vignettes that draw the reader in and make the pages turn. More than 2,000 copies have been sold. Here are some comments from readers. * “UPHILL ALL THE WAY” By James Sloter. “Anyone who grew up in small-town Iowa and especially those who grew up right after the Great Depression will find something to relate to in James Sloter’s stories about the obstacles his parents overcame in raising their family in Iowa.” Ellen Heath, Homegrown Writing, The Des Moines Register and Tribune. “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested.” “OF STUDIES” ESSAYS II, Francis Bacon (1561-1626) “Thanks, Jim, for the copy of “UPHILL ALL THE WAY”. We are ‘digesting it’. The book signing was such fun—we’ll do it again for the sequel!” Claudia Warner, Administrator: Algona Public Library, Algona, Iowa “You asked me to tell you what I thought of your book “UPHILL ALL THE WAY”. You said that you rewrote each story several times to ‘make it flow’. Does it ever flow! WOW!” Betty Shipman, Corwith News editor, Corwith, Iowa “I just finished “UPHILL ALL THE WAY”. It was wonderful. I would like to buy ten copies for my book club.” Peg Williams, Minneapolis, MN “This check is for five more copies of your fascinating book. Thank you very much for the privilege of reading it.” Kent Ryerson, Norwalk, IA “I just finished reading your book. I enjoyed it so much.” Delores Huse, Pharr, TX “I enjoyed your book so much and am passing it around for all my family to read.” Maxine S., Dixon, IL “I hope your travels through Iowa and book-signings have been successful. I have finished your book—enjoyed it very much—it has us reminiscing about our own youth.” Pearl White, Sioux Falls, SD “Your book was interesting reading and factual, as I can really remember doing many of the things you mentioned doing in your childhood. The one difference though is that you were loved and you knew it.

     Jordan Wylie, a young man from a tough area of Blackpool where kids like him often went off the rails, chose a life in the army. He saw service in Iraq and learned to cope with the horrors he'd witnessed, then suffered an injury that blocked any chance of climbing up the military ladder. But an old army colleague suggested he join a security team on a tanker in Yemen. Ex-servicemen were offered dazzling salaries and `James Bond' lifestyles between jobs protecting the super-tankers carrying consumer goods to Europe and the US. However, for the men tempted to go, the price they paid was the claustrophobia and isolation of life on board and the ever-present possibility of death skimming towards them across the vast, lonely blue sea. Jordan was one of these men. In Citadel, he writes the first account of these dangerous years from someone 'at the front'. A young soldier from the backstreets of Blackpool, he was determined to make the most of his life, but unsure of the way forward. To his surprise, he found his answers in the perilous waters of 'Pirate Alley'.

    With a career that began in the late 1950s, Joan kept mementos over the course of her entire working life, and Joan Rivers Confidential is a compilation of never-before-seen personal archives. Assembled by her daughter Melissa with Scott Currie, the book contains scripts and monologues, letters from famous friends, exchanges with fans, rare photographs, as well as classic and never-before-heard jokes—many simply scribbled on everything from hotel stationery to airplane boarding passes. Touching on subjects from her 50 years in show business (The Tonight Show, Las Vegas, Elizabeth Taylor, Heidi Abromowitz, the red carpet, and Fashion Police), this is a revelatory and humor-filled insider look at the popular, multitalented comedian.

    The result is a book so relentlessly funny and frank, it's totally refreshing.