Book picks similar to
I Should Have Worn A Curtain: A Novella (Book 1 of 2) by Samyra Alexander
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Shelterbelts
Candace Simar - 2015
The neighbor she hopes to marry chooses a town girl for his new wife.The Potato King listens to the radio preacher and prays for a miracle. Eddy Root fears a return to the asylum. A German war bride struggles to find acceptance in this tight-knit Scandinavian community. Woven throughout is the man who walks lizards, a grieving father, a disillusioned pastor, and the neighborhood gossipmonger. Shelterbelts chronicles the life of a community struggling to return to normal after war. This is a story true to history of those difficult times while rich in the complications of the human spirit.
Kissing the Bee
Kathe Koja - 2007
While Dana plans on college, Avra plots escape once school is over—and plans to take Emil along for the ride. What does Emil want? He's not saying. Dana studies bees for a biology project, fascinated by their habits and their mythological imagery – but in real life, emotions can sting, and while two's company, these three may just become a crowd. As Dana reminds us, in every hive there is only one queen bee.With remarkably textured language and a distinctive heroine, Kissing the Bee is a novel of rare depth and stark honesty that will draw readers in from the very first page.Kissing the Bee is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
You Never Called Me Princess
Elaine Babich - 2006
To stop the name calling, she decides to go on a crash diet. A very strict and unhealthy diet. A diet that works all too well. After all, it’s easy to lose weight when you don’t eat, right? Kaitlyn quickly discovers that the rewards of being thin are fantastic. Boys in school take notice. Her popularity soars. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn restricts her diet even more. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn’s unhealthy weight loss falls under the radar since her family has other problems. Big problems, life-changing problems. But when Kaitlyn's weight loss reaches a critical phase, as her family rallies around her, Kaitlyn will discover that there's more to life than being popular and thin. But will this revelation come too late? **Acclaim for the Novels of Elaine Babich** "Heartbreaking and touching. A powerful story of a teenager's struggle with anorexia, told in a straight forward and powerful way, without talking down to the reader and without being overly sentimental. YOU NEVER CALLED ME PRINCESS is an honest look at what could happen when a young girl decides to lose weight at all costs. Should be mandatory reading for any parent who suspects their child might have an eating disorder. I believe the novel will show the reader that there are answers to their problems, and that they are not alone. Highly recommended. An important novel." —J.R. Rain, author of MOON DANCE and THE BODY DEPARTED "An intriguing debut, and an excellent read. Gripping and touching, a story written from the heart. Elaine Babich has fashioned a story that many young girls could relate to. In the end we are left with a poignant glimpse into the beauty of family and the love of life and the wonder that connects us all." —Summer Lee, author of ANGEL HEART and KINDRED SPIRITS "Elaine Babich has created such a vivid tale of teenage angst and redemption—one that will stay with me for a long time." —Aiden James, author of CADES COVE and PLAGUE OF COINS "In RELATIVELY NORMAL, author Elaine Babich weaves a compelling book of angst and illness in the believable, first-person voice of Kaitlyn Simmons, a fifteen-year-old girl from a dysfunctional family. Kaitlyn, who is only semi-recovered from a serious eating disorder, is diagnosed with serious epilepsy and other health issues. The heroine comes to terms with her disease as she adjusts to her medications, backslides into her eating disorder again, explores relationships with boyfriends (age-appropriate), and handles problems with a girl bully. Her coming-of-age story of self-discovery, acceptance of her imperfect body, and a surprise twist at the end will leave readers with a smile and hope for every teenage girl to overcome debilitating ED illness and difficult family issues. I loved this book and want to recommend it to teenage girls, especially. The heroine is likable, and one to whom YA readers will relate. High moral values, with exploration into body image and excellent life lessons, with no preachiness. Five stars!" —Eve Paludan, author of LETTERS FROM DAVID and TAKING BACK TARA "This is a great story of the trials and tribulations of a young girl struggling through more than just your average teenage troubles. An inspiring tale, Babich has delivered a masterpiece! Two thumbs up!" —Jen Ashton, author of WHOLE IN MY HEART
Good Enough
Jen Petro-Roy - 2019
Especially since under the influence of her eating disorder, Riley alienated her friends, abandoned her art, turned running into something harmful, and destroyed her family's trust.If Riley wants her life back, she has to recover.Part of her wants to get better. As she goes to therapy, makes friends in the hospital, and starts to draw again, things begin to look up.But when her roommate starts to break the rules, triggering Riley's old behaviors and blackmailing her into silence, Riley realizes that recovery will be even harder than she thought. She starts to think that even if she does "recover," there's no way she'll stay recovered once she leaves the hospital and is faced with her dieting mom, the school bully, and her gymnastics-star sister.Written by an eating disorder survivor, this is a realistic depiction of inpatient eating disorder treatment, and a moving story about a girl who has to fight herself to survive.
Tune: Vanishing Point
Derek Kirk Kim - 2012
He left art school with his career all worked out ahead of time, but ...to say it didn't work out is the understatement of the century. Unemployed and living with his overbearing parents, Andy struggles to keep sight of the lofty goals that once drove him. But it's hard, even when he reconnects with his old art school crush, Yumi. Things look better, briefly, with Yumi back in the picture and an actual job offer on the table. But then Andy takes the job offer--to work at a zoo--and finds himself in an alternate dimension. The zoo? It's run by aliens. The exhibit? It's him. Derek Kirk Kim is back with an offbeat, poignant new project. The first volume of a series, Tune is a science fiction comedy, but it's also a smart and affectionate examination of human nature.
Fat Chance
Lesléa Newman - 1994
And she's convinced, as she confides in her diary, that she'd be happier if she were skinnier. So when Judi becomes friendly with pencil-thin, glamorous Nancy Pratt, she learns Nancy's secret and joins her in the secret binge-and-purge cycles of bulimia. Before long, Judi's life spins out of control and her obsession with food, calories, and pounds is no longer another typical eighth-grade problem--it's a matter of life and death.
The Education of Nevada Duncan: A Family Business Novel
Carl Weber - 2021
N. Phillips for this fresh, enthralling spin-off to the Family Business series as the heir to a crime family finds himself targeted by an enemy and he'll need more than his family by blood to save him...Nevada Duncan is the heir to the Duncan and Zuniga crime family fortunes, but before he can take the mantle of power, he has to be educated about the family business. So, with the encouragement of his father and grandfather, he enrolls in his father's alma mater, Chi's Finishing School. Chi's is the world's most elite school for the children of underworld figures.On Nevada's first day of school, he hooks up with a group of misfit freshmen from around the world who quickly become his new best friends. However, Nevada is unaware of the deadly adventure that awaits him with a sinister new enemy lurking in the shadows. Montez wants what Nevada has, and he will do anything to get it.Accustomed to relying on his family and his superior intelligence, Nevada Duncan will soon learn the importance of friendship when the threats are aimed directly at him and he's the only Duncan around.
Fat Girl Slim
Marina Johnson - 2018
She feels powerless to help herself until one day she encounters the person she would like to be and determines to transform herself. Admiration soon turns to obsession and as Alison loses weight she discovers she’s capable of things she never imagined. Will she get the life she desires or the life she deserves?
Gravity Journal
Gail Sidonie Sobat - 2008
Hospitalized for anorexia, she wonders about the point of it all. Her frigid mother and ineffectual father seem oblivious to her struggle. Her beloved brother is too busy screwing up his own life to take note of hers. Living on the loony ward seems not to be making any difference at all, and Anise feels like a prisoner. Her only free choice is to turn to her journal--the place where she can make scathing observations about her family, other people, the world; the place where she can dream, and where she can decide whether to live or die.
Andrea's Voice: Silenced by Bulimia: Her Story and Her Mother's Journey Through Grief Toward Understanding
Doris Smeltzer - 2006
But after a one-year struggle with bulimia, she died in her sleep at age 19, catapulting her mother Doris into a wrenching but ultimately rewarding journey of discovery. This unabashed account not only speaks about one family’s tragedy, but also critiques the social and personal attitudes toward our bodies and appearance that create victims like Andrea. Andrea's poetry and journal entries, combined with her mother's reflections, offer insight and understanding about a crushing disorder that afflicts far too many young people.
Expect God: What To Do When Your Problem is Hiding Your Promise
Rachel Shafer - 2019
While it’s often easy to see God in the good times, it can be challenging to hold onto hope in the midst of tragedy and impossibilities. In the darkness, things often seem hopeless. But what if God could introduce unexpected, supernatural solutions? What if the giants you are facing didn’t have the final word? What if something impossible and irreversible could be changed miraculously? Wife, mother, and minister Rachel Shafer takes you on a raw journey through her compelling story, filled with angelic intervention, Holy Spirit revelation, divine dreams, and supernatural encounters. From five miscarriages, to adopting a child with special needs, to a ceaseless onslaught of medical issues, Rachel learned in the darkness how to expect God to come through—and He did, again and again!
Be empowered to believe in the One who does the impossible.
Be overwhelmed by Jesus, not your situation.
Step beyond belief into the supernatural dimension of full trust.
See emotional scars reversed and rewritten in the signature of Jesus.
When you expect a God-encounter in your darkest hour, He will redeem what seems hopeless with supernatural answers!
Mothers and Other Strangers
Gina Sorell - 2017
While coping with threats that she suspects are coming from the cult-like spiritual program her mother belonged to, Elsie works to unravel the message her dying mother left for her, a quest that ultimately takes her to the South African family homestead she never knew existed.
How It Feels to Fly
Kathryn Holmes - 2016
For as long as Samantha can remember, she’s wanted to be a professional ballerina. She’s lived for perfect pirouettes, sky-high extensions, and soaring leaps across the stage. Then her body betrayed her.The change was gradual. Stealthy.Failed diets. Disapproving looks. Whispers behind her back. The result: crippling anxiety about her appearance, which threatens to crush her dancing dreams entirely. On her dance teacher’s recommendation, Sam is sent to a summer treatment camp for teen artists and athletes who are struggling with mental and emotional obstacles. If she can make progress, she’ll be allowed to attend a crucial ballet intensive. But when asked to open up about her deepest insecurities, secret behaviors, and paralyzing fears to complete strangers, Sam can’t cope. What I really need is a whole new body.Sam forms an unlikely bond with Andrew, a former college football player who’s one of her camp counselors. As they grow closer, Andrew helps Sam see herself as he does—beautiful. But just as she starts to believe that there’s more between them than friendship, disappointing news from home sends her into a tailspin. With her future uncertain and her body against her, will Sam give in to the anxiety that imprisons her?
Football Widows
Pat Tucker - 2011
NFL wife B.J. Almond has had enough. When she walks in to find her head coach husband in bed with one of his assistant coaches’ wives, she is livid. But what really sets her off is when she discovers the other wives knew about the affair all along. Now she’s furious and hungry for revenge. And what better way to exact that revenge than to air everyone’s dirty laundry in a juicy tell-all book. B.J. knows where all the bodies are buried, and she’s digging up all the dirt. But before she starts writing, she’s running up the score with a lawsuit against her husband and his mistress. Armed with flight records, copies of naughty emails, phone records, and pictures, B.J. isn’t holding back. And neither are the other football wives, who will stop at nothing to keep their dirty secrets from going public.