Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections


Sheena Macrae - 2006
    Parenting adopted children requires understanding the extra layer and this book helps in that understanding. Appropriate for the newly created family or the more experienced, Adoption Parenting looks at stumbling blocks to good parenting and standard parenting practices that arent appropriate for adopted children. It looks at the core issues all members of the adoption triad face, and at how it affects standard parenting challenges like sleeping through the night, discipline, and attachment. Adoption Parenting covers specific challenges families have faced: dealing with grief and loss, FASD, Trauma and PTSD, Sensory Integration, Speech and Language delays, and ways to effectively parent a post-institutionalized child or a child who has experienced trauma in their journey to you.

Second Innings: My Sporting Life


Andrew Flintoff - 2015
    The complex and troubled relationship with discipline, alcohol and authority during his exhilarating cricket career. The search for an authentic voice as a player, free from the blandness and conformity of modern professionalism. Is Flintoff the last of his kind, in any sport?Through all his highs and lows, triumphs and reversals, this book reveals a central tension. There is 'Fred' - performer, extrovert, centre of attention. Then there is 'Andrew' - reflective, withdrawn and uncertain. Two people contained in one extraordinary life. And sometimes, inevitably, keeping the two in balance proves too much.We are taken backstage, seeing the mischief and adventure that has defined Andrew Flintoff's story. Above all, we observe the enduring power of fun, friendship and loyalty - the pillars of Flintoff's career. At ease with his faults as well as his gifts, Andrew Flintoff has sought one thing, even more than success: to be himself.

The Dirty Dozen: The real story of the rise and fall of London's most feared armed robbery gang


Noel 'Razor' Smith - 2020
    

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches


Russell D. Moore - 2009
    Moore does not shy away from this call in Adopted for Life, a popular-level, practical manifesto for Christians to adopt children and to help equip other Christian families to do the same. He shows that adoption is not just about couples who want children-or who want more children. It is about an entire culture within evangelicalism, a culture that sees adoption as part of the Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.Moore, who adopted two boys from Russia and has spoken widely on the subject, writes for couples considering adoption, families who have adopted children, and pastors who wish to encourage adoption.

Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care


Tony Merida - 2011
    You'll see a breadth of ways to care with biblical perspective and reasons why we must. Heartwarming, personal stories and vivid illustrations from a growing network of families, churches, and organizations that cross culture show how to respond to God's mandate. The book empowers: - churches--to plan preaching, teaching, ministering, missions, funding adoption, supporting orphans; - individuals and families--to overcome challenges and uncertainties; - every believer--to gain insights to help orphans in numerous ways. Discover how to - adopt; - assist orphans in transition; - engage in foster care; - partner with faith-based fostering agencies; - become orphan hosts. Along with their families' adoption stories, Merida and Morton give steps for action and features on churches doing orphan ministry, faith-based children's homes, orphan-hosting groups, and other resources.

A Little Me


Amy Roloff - 2019
    Finally allowing herself to be vulnerable enough to open up to others, she learned that it’s worth risking possible rejection for a chance at genuine relationships.Ultimately, it was Amy’s faith, as well as the support and encouragement of her community of loving family and good friends, that saw her through the dark times and allowed her to realize her greatest dreams and beyond. Amy’s memoir is an inspiring and at times heart-wrenching account of resilience and the strength of the human spirit to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

The Marvelous Journey Home


John M. Simmons - 2006
    The story is not only engaging and inspiring but also informs readers of the struggles many people face with international adoptions. The Marvelous Journey Home is the perfect blend of realism and invention. The reader is given unique insight into the perspectives of several players in the adoption process including adoptive parents, the children and adoption officials and supervisors. The story also carefully touches on another journey elusive to many, the journey of death. The author makes an enlightening association between the two journeys to help the reader better understand and accept death.

Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World


Kelley Nikondeha - 2017
    Her story and her biblically grounded reflections will give readers rich new insights into the mystery of belonging to God’s big family. The Academy of Parish Clergy’s 2018 Top Ten Books for Parish Ministry

Castaway Kid: One Man's Search for Hope and Home


R.B. Mitchell - 2007
    Left by a dysfunctional family in an Illinois children's home, he grew up with kids who were not friends but rather “co-survivors.” After becoming a Christian as a teenager, Rob found what he was looking for, home and family, in a relationship with God. Rob was able to overcome his past, forgiving his relatives and forging healthy family relationships of his own.

Life in a Jungle: My Autobiography


Bruce Grobbelaar - 2018
    And yet, question marks have followed him around; question marks about his goalkeeping suitability after arriving on Merseyside; question marks about his integrity after match fixing allegations were laid against him. Here, Grobbelaar takes you to Africa, where nothing is at it seems; he takes you back to an era when Liverpool ruled Europe; he takes you to the benches of the Anfield dressing room, where only the strongest personalities survived. For the first time, he takes you inside the court room, detailing the draining fight to clear his name.

A Crafty Cigarette – Tales of a Teenager Mod: Foreword by John Cooper Clarke


Matteo Sedazzari - 2016
    Want to remember what it was like to be young and angry? Buy this book. A great read.’ - Phil Davis (Actor Chalky in Quadrophenia)‘Written in first person narrative, in a style and delivery reminiscent of Hunter S Thompson.’ - Scootering Magazine‘It’s a good book and an easy read. That’s pretty much what most pulp fiction needs to be.’ - Mod Culture‘A coming of age story, ‘A Crafty Cigarette’ maybe Matteo Sedazzari’s debut novel but it’s an impressive story.’ - Vive Le Rock‘Like a good Paul Weller concert the novel leaves you wanting more. I’ll be very interested in reading whatever Matteo Sedazzari writes next.’ - Louder Than WarA Crafty Cigarette is the powerful story of a teenager coming of age in the 70s as seen through his eyes, who on the cusp of adulthood, discovers a band that is new to him, which leads him into becoming a Mod. A mischievous youth prone to naughtiness, he takes to mod like a moth to a flame, which in turn gives him a voice, confidence and a fresh new outlook towards life, his family, his school friends, girls and the world in general. Growing up in Sunbury –on-Thames where he finds life rather dull and hard to make friends, he moves across the river with his family to Walton –on –Thames in 1979, the year of the Mod Revival, where to his delight he finds many other Mods his age and older, and slowly but surely he starts to become accepted....

Fighter Pilot


Mc Scotch - 2018
    The Home of 99p/99c History Books. After two years spent in the infantry at home and no sight of being posted overseas, William MacLanachan, later known simply as McScotch, followed the advice of a friend and applied to transfer into the Royal Flying Corps. Determined to become a single-seater, or “scout”, pilot, his ambition was fulfilled when he made it to the front, joining 40 (Scout) Squadron at Bruay in 1917. At this time, a fighter pilot’s “‘expectation of life’ was journalistically computed at three weeks. Amongst the men of 40 Squadron was Mick Mannock, who became a celebrated flying ace and an early theorist of aviation tactics: the two became close friends as war took its toll. It was Mannock who later dubbed him McScotch, in order to be able to distinguish between the two Macs under his command, and the name has endured. First published in 1936, ‘Fighter Pilot’ is a detailed and exciting account of squadron life in the latter years of the First World War, showing the true bravery and camaraderie of these early aviators and the effect that combat had on them. William MacLanachan, known as McScotch, was a flying ace of the First World War, credited with seven victories. He joined the Royal Flying Corps from the Army, being posted to No. 40 Squadron in the spring of 1917. His lucky mascot, a teddy bear called Scotch Jock, is displayed at the RAF Museum Cosford.

Too Little Too Late


Maggie Hartley - 2017
    Since being taken into care at the age of three, she has had over forty placements. In the last six months alone, she has gone through seven foster carers, each one less able to cope with her anger and destruction than the last. Late one night, foster carer Maggie Hartley receives a terrified call from Leanne's current placement, who has barricaded herself in her bedroom to protect herself from Leanne's rage. With the police on standby, Maggie manages to diffuse the situation and calm the angry little girl down. With no local carers able to cope with Leanne, Maggie steps in and offers to take her in.But this is Leanne's last chance. If this placement fails, she will have to be put in a secure unit.Then Leanne threatens Maggie with a knife and makes accusations against her that have to be investivaged by Maggie's superiors. Where most others would simply walk away, Maggie refuses to give up on the little girl who's never known love. Can Maggie get through to Leanne and begin to help her heal? Or is too little, too late?

Happy for No Reason


Mandira Bedi - 2020
    But behind the six-pack is also a snotty, complaining, can't-get-out-of-bed-today girl who, in her own way, is still searching for true happiness. Not conditional, materialistic, transactional happiness, but just happiness. So has she cracked it yet? Mandira says 'No'. But she genuinely believes that she's headed in the right direction. In her own chaotic way, she seems to have discovered some kind of non-scientific, non-spiritual and as-yet-non-existent formula for finding peace in everything. Just being happy-for no reason. This book is about that.

Almost Heaven: Coming of Age in West Virginia


Jerry S. Horton - 2014
    A very well written book that will be hard for anyone to put down!This is a must read.Jerry's interesting and riveting account of his childhood years and transition to a young adult and Infantry NCO are truly endearing! His honest and impelling novel reminds one of why we serve, fight, and are willing to lay down our lives for God, Country, and our fellow man. God Bless the Infantryman!!Thank the Lord for Soldiers and West Virginia !This book is a great read. This honest account of growing up in West Virginia and becoming a Sergeant in Vietnam is sometimes thrilling and sometimes heart wrenching. Through a lot of true grit, thank goodness Jerry Horton survived to tell this story. I highly recommend this book. It is a Winner.This is an inspiring memoir written about a young man coming of age in West Virginia in the 1960's. It is a memoir but also a real thriller story as we follow Jerry from the streets surrounding Lincoln playground to Chicago Steel mills to the French Quarter in New Orleans and to San Francisco in the Summer of Love 1967. The book then moves you to the Central Highlands in Vietnam where Jerry is an infantry platoon sergeant. Jerry's interesting and truthful account of his childhood years and transition to an adult and Infantry Sergeant are truly endearing. It is an honest and compelling story. It gives a first person narrative of hand-to-hand combat in the trenches of Vietnam that can leave you scared, glad to be alive and eternally grateful to those who died for our freedom. Jerry joined the army to simply be able to afford to go to college. Forty years later he has a PhD and multiple degrees but they were earned at a heavy price for this patriot. Jerry shares his experiences in Vietnam in an articulate, honest and direct assessment of his time in Vietnam, the men he served with and the horrors of war. It is an incredible story of leadership and survival.We see Jerry develop as a young boy who is very independent and then see him being schooled on the streets of Charleston, West Virginia learning how to come to grips with the breakup and divorce in his family. He takes refuge in becoming the best he could be as a basketball player on the courts of Lincoln playground. Later we see him leaving home for the mean streets of the Chicago Steel mills and then on to Louisiana where he completes one year of college and then goes flat broke. Then the book shifts to New Orleans Louisiana and the excitement of the French Quarter. Jerry's life is rocked by the turbulent waters in New Orleans; he had no money no plan and is drifting. He seeks out another lifestyle in California hitching to and then living in San Francisco during the Summer of Love 1967. He describes how it was, the music and time and place and he takes you there through his vivid descriptions. Once again, his life spins into turmoil and as he tries to get back on the path to achieve his life's dream of going to college he is drafted in the Army. He finds himself becoming a leader, an infantry sergeant. His goal is to bring himself and his men back home alive, the reader gets the sense that all his life Jerry has been prepared for this moment. The reader is taken through and sees through Jerry's eyes what combat is really like.This story covers much ground and has something for everyone. You live through Jerry 's experiences of what it's like to conquer your own demons, you read about his mother's courage having Jerry in the Salvation Army by herself, the excitement and freedom of the 1960's and you learn what it is like to want something so bad you lay your life down for it. It is a book you truly won't lay down once you start reading.