The family is powerful for the same reasons it is vulnerable. There are deadlines for nurturing and restoring relationships, and, with its intricate makeup, it takes the entire family to save itself. THE CHINABERRY TREE is a rare memoir of a family at war with itself. It lays bare the erosion of the author's family of origin in the absence of divorce and any criminal or heinous behavior. Perception is the pivotal force in the family. This innovative memoir offers a slideshow viewing of the interwoven dynamics that fueled the author's original family life: harmony, humor, separation, sorrow, discord, despair, surrender and death. The youngest of four children, the author presents each and every family member, including herself, from the unusual viewpoint of an insider with no agenda, an insider spreading out pieces of a puzzle with no intention of finding the missing ones. Making no pretense of telling the whole story, she revisits her life within the family. The author began writing THE CHINABERRY TREE long before her family's fate had run its course. In the end, the author discovers that the undying family bond she counted on was a deep-rooted myth she cultivated amidst all the evidence to the contrary. In ruins, the family finally loses its power over her and the grief the author thought she would carry to her grave is put to rest.

     Social Welfare Policy; 2008 Election; Proposition 8; Economic issues. Social work and social welfare practitioners and students interested in enhancing their understanding and analysis of social welfare policy.

    We need to know how he sees us. Come on, girl, he says. Let my light shine in. Breathing Eden is forty raw, honest, heartbreaking and encouraging conversations between women and God. These prayers are like our own: full of pain, celebration, anxiety, and joy. Each one helps the reader hear God whisper love and hope into their lives. And after each story, Jennifer offers readers a guided invitation to listen for what God is saying to them. In these pages, readers will find hope and fresh perspectives. It's an invitation to come. Breathe Eden.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Includes: Book 1: Ellis and Alexi Book 2: Beckett and Amanda Book 3: Finch and Jessica Book 4: Matteo and Lani Book 5: Keene and Chloe [cliffhanger]Note: Smokejumpers: Werebear 6 & 7 are available as individual titles.Bear shifter romances, full of comedy, action, suspense and lots of hot sex! (HEA and almost no cliffhangers.)Smokejumpers: Werebear 1Rich BBW, Alexi, has run away from her abusive fiancée the day before her wedding. She ends up miserable, living in the Flathead National Forest in the middle of Montana working in a roadside diner and living in a rundown garage. But when she meets the local fireman, a group of big, sexy, muscular, witty, dirty talking, smokejumpers, she may just find the paradise she is searching for.Ellis is a hot, adventurous, risk taking, smoke-jumping bear shifter. His inner bear has been desperate to find a mate and its tearing him apart. When he starts losing control of his animal, his big brother, and alpha, is ready to kick him out of the crew. Until he meets the new waitress at the diner who changes everything.Passion heats up between them, but when Alexi's violent past catches up with her, she may put the whole clan of bear shifters in danger, and the two lovers may be torn apart forever.Smokejumpers: Werebear 2Flirty and sexy BBW, Amanda Pike, has taken a new job as a pilot in Montana for the Hudson Crew. She is shocked to find that not only are these big, burly, sexy smokejumpers a crew of werebears but that the hot alpha of the crew has seemed to have bonded strongly to her.Alpha of the Hudson Crew, Beckett Jacoby, is torn. Every shifter knows that an alpha can't take on a mate. It makes a bear soft, weak and careless and can tear even the most cohesive crew apart. But when his bear bonds with the new pilot living in his camp he can't seem to follow even his own rules.Tensions rise around camp as the alpha begins neglecting his duties, choosing passion over responsibility. But when Beckett goes too far he not only risks losing his alpha position but his whole crew all together.Smokejumpers: Werebear 3BBW and werebear, Jessica White's, life is a mess. She's the little sister of the sociopathic alpha of the Flint Crew named Kai. She has bonded to the mortal enemy of her brother, a man she has only seen once. Now Kai has her locked in the basement and her bear is driving her crazy, yearning for this man she knows so little about, not even his name.Loyal member of the Hudson Crew, Finch Bender, is on a suicide mission. He knows that he can't win in a fight against the cruel alpha of the Flint Crew, Kai, but that doesn't stop him from sneaking around his camp looking for Kai's gorgeous sister, a werebear who he has bonded strongly with.The two bonded werebears will risk anything to be together, including their lives. But when Kai discovers their forbidden relationship their lives may be the very thing they will be forced to give.Smokejumpers: Werebear 4BBW, Lani Jacoby, has been gone for ten years. She is reckless, selfish, bitchy and the sister of the Hudson Crew alpha, Beckett, and the number two of the Crew, Ellis. She has returned to the life and home that she escaped from all of those years ago and is causing chaos wherever she goes. Werebear, Matteo Brown, has finally gotten his bear under control when Lani, the crazy woman that he bonded to a decade ago, returns to his camp. His emotions, and whole way of life, is thrown upside down as he has to deal with the heartache and desires that he successfully buried so long ago. It turns out that Lani isn't just back to create trouble. She wants something from the man that bonded to her. Will Matteo stand strong and kick her to the curb where she belongs? Or will he let his bear have his way and give her everything?Smokejumpers: Werebear 5BBW and journalist, Chloe Sparks, is about to break the biggest story of her life. She has found a source that has the ultimate scoop on shifters. Now if only she can get him to talk. Joker and giant polar bear shifter, Keene Watts, is a little, shall we say…f#cked! It is against the Hudson Crew’s, and not too mention the vicious, SEA (Shifter Enforcement Agency), rules to reveal shifter secrets to reporters. And now he has brought one into his Crew’s camp with promises to reveal all of their secrets. He is torn between his loyalty to his Crew and to the new bond with his bear’s new mate. But the turmoil that Chloe brings into the Crew of werebears will be nothing compared to what the SEA will bring when they discover that the Hudson Crew is housing a reporter… [This bear shifter romance has a cliffhanger.] (I don’t normally do cliffhangers but I figured that if you’ve gotten this far - chances are you’re willing to read the last two!)Note: The books, Smokejumpers: Werebear 6 & 7, are available as individual titles.

    They used him to kill. Now they’ve lost control. When a man wakes up face-down in the middle of a garbage dump, he naturally has a few questions.Why is he in a hand-tailored suit with a bullet hole in his back? Why are there homicidal robots trying to kill him? Why can’t he remember his own name? And how did he get so good at killing? But the more he learns, the less he likes—and the more he starts to think this will end very, very badly. With a faceless organization hunting him, bloody flashbacks haunting him, and an intriguing new companion helping him, the clock is ticking on whether he can escape his past before it devours him.Will he recover his memories before it’s too late, or be forced to become a pawn for the forces hunting him down?Perfect for fans of The Bourne Identity and James Prescott, The Quantum Price is the thrilling first book in the brand-new Ethan Price series. If you like your technothrillers with a side of cyberpunk, scroll up and grab your copy today!

     Ludus is a dangerous fantasy world from the series Delvers LLC and Nora Hazard. Surviving Ludus can be enjoyed by fans of Delvers LLC, or any readers who enjoy sword and sorcery fantasy, dungeon exploration, survival, portal fantasy, magic-on-monster violence, or touching moments of love and honor. *** Blaise Corvin - "Missing in Action" A story about redemption, family, and loyalty. This story will directly tie into the Delvers LLC storyline, and contains a major reveal for a Delvers LLC main character. Bastian Knight - "Friends and Enemies" With a little bit of luck, could an ordinary guy survive on Ludus? What if he meets the wrong sort of people? Then again, what if he meets real friends? Raymond Johnson - "A Guiding Hand" Everything Peacehatchet ever cared about has been ripped from him. Does an ork have a soul? Jon Svenson - "Beyond the Village Borders" Poor villagers can become adventurers too. Some people on Ludus fall into this lifestyle, but some search for it. Cory Gaffner - "Enemy Mine" When a World War II American soldier and a German soldier are transported to Ludus at the same time, will they be able to repay a debt, or kill each other first? Daylan Ethridge - "Just Another Life on Ludus" During an attack on Mensk by demons and cultists, many will lose their lives, but some will step up to become heroes. Will an orphan girl defending younger children be a victim, or a shield for the helpless? Austin Eberle - "Engineering Ludus" A wide variety of people have been transported to Ludus over the last thousand years. Will an engineering student have any advantage? Is it possible to thrive on Ludus through using brains, not brawn?

    Their loyalty to each other has no boundaries, until it starts to affect India's relationship with her boyfriend. Will she have to choose between her friends and her man, or will he chose for her?

    Frantic, he calls on the Honolulu Chief of Police Walter Tseng, demanding that the perpetrator be brought to justice as swiftly and silently as possible, fearful a scandal might destroy whatever chance he still has at gaining re-election.Blackmailed into complicity and unable to draw from his active force, Tseng calls in Kalani Lewis, a young detective three months off the job. Still battling her own demons from an investigation that resulted in the death of her partner, Kalani is forced back into action, pulled into a life she isn’t certain she still wants to be a part of, a family friend that was once a military policeman and now a full-time surfer as her only support.Inch by inch they work their way through the investigation, navigating mounting crime scenes and intense bureaucratic pressures as the election looms ever closer, the killer growing more emboldened by the day…

    This is the complete novel version--no cliffhangers. Billionaires don’t date real women like Jada ... they marry them. Jada Howarth doesn’t believe in fantasies, unlike her sister who dreams of being swept into happily-ever-after in the sculpted arms of a handsome billionaire. Jada knows the truth, that rich men want supermodels, actresses and heiresses. They don’t want women from small towns with smaller bank accounts, women who lead normal, ordinary lives like Jada. Then the day arrives when Jada awakes to find a swarm of reporters outside her house. They want the scoop on her secret marriage to Ian Buckley, one of the wealthiest, most sought-after bachelors in the country. Jada is dumbfounded. She has no idea what they’re talking about, but no one’s listening to her. Ian Buckley, billionaire and man-in-charge, couldn’t be more surprised when he’s told that a marriage license was leaked to the press proving he married someone named Jada Howarth. He’s never heard of her, and he definitely doesn’t remember marrying her. Either he’s lost his wits, or someone’s out to make a fool of him. When Ian sees the disheveled, lovely Jada on TV, peeking out her door in horror at the press crushing her lawn, he’s confident she’s not behind the scam. He’ll have to meet her to be certain. Men should probably meet their wives, anyway, shouldn’t they? It’ll be fun getting to the bottom of this fiasco. Whodunnit? Perhaps spending time with his bride at Ian’s lakeside estate will solve the mystery.

    Spanning two decades, this is a cocktail of love, betrayal, politics and revenge.

    Perfect for fans of George and Gracefully Grayson.Twelve-year-old Shane Woods is just a regular boy. He loves pitching for his baseball team, working on his graphic novel, and hanging out with his best friend, Josh. But Shane is keeping something private, something that might make a difference to his teammates, to Josh, and to his new crush, Madeline. And when a classmate threatens to reveal his secret, Shane’s whole world comes crashing down. It will take a lot of courage for Shane to ignore the hate and show the world that he’s still the same boy he was before. And in the end, those who stand beside him may surprise everyone, including Shane.

    For fans of Alex Gino's George and Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz. Obie knew his transition would have ripple effects. He has to leave his swim coach, his pool, and his best friends. But it's time for Obie to find where he truly belongs.As Obie dives into a new team, though, things are strange. Obie always felt at home in the water, but now he can't get his old coach out of his head. Even worse are the bullies that wait in the locker room and on the pool deck. Luckily, Obie has family behind him. And maybe some new friends too, including Charlie, his first crush. Obie is ready to prove he can be one of the fastest boys in the water--to his coach, his critics, and his biggest competition: himself.

    Especially when she catches the eye of the captain of The Fallen football team for all the wrong reasons.Determined to keep her head down and survive, Ana swears off guys. Until she meets the gorgeous, yet mysterious, Jackson. He sees past her walls, her pain and secrets, and slowly, Ana finds herself unable to fight their undeniable connection.But Jackson harbors a dark secret too...One that might destroy her.*Loyalty and Lies is the first book in Ana and Jackson’s trilogy. Due to mature content this book is recommended for readers aged 17+

    The twelfth edition provides current, accurate, scientifically based information about a wealth of health and wellness topics and issues. Connect Personal Health is now seamlessly and deeply integrated with Blackboard and Blackboard related course management systems. Connect is an interactive online learning system that provides interactive multimedia-driven activities and assessments, such as interactive quizzes, video activities, health assessments, Internet research activities, online behavior change workbook, a fitness and nutrition log, and a multimedia ebook. Most activities and assessments are auto graded, entered into the grade book, and automatically uploaded to blackboard. This saves you time, holds your students accountable, and allows for seamless Course Management integration. Only one sign-on is needed for access to Blackboard and Connect, the grade book is integrated, and much much more. To address today's students' need for more portable, more relevant classroom tools, we are providing the book in a three-hole punched, loose-leaf version. "Ask your rep for the correct ISBN to also provide each student full access to Connect Plus and the multimedia e-book at no extra charge with each copy of the loose-leaf text."