Men, Women, and Children


Chad Kultgen - 2011
    Among the families traced in Men, Women & Children: •Kent, a recent divorcé re-entering the dating world—and his son, Tim, a football star-turned-World of Warcraft-addict, who learns via Facebook that his mom is getting remarried. • Dawn, a single mom who charges anonymous men $12.95 a month to view suggestive online pictures of her daughter, Hannah—who wants to lose her v-card before any other eighth grader. • Don, who sneaks onto any available computer for his daily fix of streaming porn—and his son, Chris, whose porn tastes make his father’s look like Disney. • Patricia, who is determined to keep the demons of the Internet from preying on her daughter, Brandy—who uses her secret MySpace identity to try on an alternative Goth identity and blog about threesomes she’s never had. Whether thirteen or thirty-five, Kultgen’s characters inhabit a world where privacy is non-existent, sex is currency, and information never disappears—yet happiness is still a dream.

If at Birth You Don't Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny


Zach Anner - 2016
    Two months early, underweight and under-prepared for life, he entered the world with cerebral palsy and an uncertain future. So how did this hairless mole-rat of a boy blossom into a viral internet sensation who's hosted two travel shows, impressed Oprah, driven the Mars Rover, and inspired a John Mayer song? (It wasn't Your Body is a Wonderland.)Zach lives by the mantra: when life gives you wheelchair, make lemonade. Whether recounting a valiant childhood attempt to woo Cindy Crawford, encounters with zealous faith healers, or the time he crapped his pants mere feet from Dr. Phil, Zach shares his fumbles with unflinching honesty and characteristic charm. By his thirtieth birthday, Zach had grown into an adult with a career in entertainment, millions of fans, a loving family, and friends who would literally carry him up mountains.If at Birth You Don't Succeed is a hilariously irreverent and heartfelt memoir about finding your passion and your path even when it's paved with epic misadventure. This is the unlikely but not unlucky story of a man who couldn't safely open a bag of Skittles, but still became a fitness guru with fans around the world. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall in love with the Olive Garden all over again, and learn why cerebral palsy is, definitively, "the sexiest of the palsies."

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him


Mimi Baird - 2015
    Perry Baird was a rising medical star in the late 1920s and 1930s. Early in his career, ahead of his time, he grew fascinated with identifying the biochemical root of manic depression, just as he began to suffer from it himself. By the time the results of his groundbreaking experiments were published, Dr. Baird had been institutionalized multiple times, his medical license revoked, and his wife and daughters estranged. He later received a lobotomy and died from a consequent seizure, his research incomplete, his achievements unrecognized.Mimi Baird grew up never fully knowing this story, as her family went silent about the father who had been absent for most of her childhood. Decades later, a string of extraordinary coincidences led to the recovery of a manuscript which Dr. Baird had worked on throughout his brutal institutionalization, confinement, and escape. This remarkable document, reflecting periods of both manic exhilaration and clear-headed health, presents a startling portrait of a man who was a uniquely astute observer of his own condition, struggling with a disease for which there was no cure, racing against time to unlock the key to treatment before his illness became impossible to manage.Fifty years after being told her father would forever be “ill” and “away,” Mimi Baird set off on a quest to piece together the memoir and the man. In time her fingers became stained with the lead of the pencil he had used to write his manuscript, as she devoted herself to understanding who he was, why he disappeared, and what legacy she had inherited. The result of his extraordinary record and her journey to bring his name to light is He Wanted the Moon, an unforgettable testament to the reaches of the mind and the redeeming power of a determined heart.Soon to be a major motion picture, from Brad Pitt and Tony Kushner

Do Not Disturb: How I Ghosted My Cell Phone to Take Back My Life


Jedediah Bila - 2018
    Stepping back from the whirlwind of texting, social media, and an endless sea of apps, Bila questions how our relationships, character, and sanity have suffered from our deep dive into the digital abyss. Exploring the toll that tech addiction took on her life, Bila reveals her missteps and mistakes, including several upending, life-altering months swirling in an ex-boyfriend’s cell-phone-enabled double life, and how a low-tech millennial later stole her heart.Travel with Jedediah through the embarrassing and catastrophic consequences of Ménage-a-Tech relationships, social media's Perception Deception, and the One-Potato-Chip-Problem of trying to resist Silicon Valley's hypnotic, slot-machine software designed to lure you in. Bila reveals how she navigated away from an unhealthy, oversaturated diet of tech junk food to striking just the right balance with technology to let her unplugged, real-life moments take charge.In #DoNotDisturb, Bila applies her trademark no-nonsense, common-sense, personal responsibility and accountability-centered approach, warning us that if we don’t stop acting like robots, our very humanity is at stake.   Through warm anecdotes and cold, hard truths, Bila reveals how she pulled her way out of the tech fog to keep her eyes focused on the life right in front of her. And how you can too.

No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America


Ron Powers - 2017
    Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers's beloved son Kevin--spirited, endearing, and gifted--who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic.A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood.

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey


Jill Bolte Taylor - 2006
    Through the eyes of a curious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for the cells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completely recovered. In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendations for recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functions of the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of her left brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal reality where she felt "at one with the universe." Taylor helps others not only rebuild their brains from trauma, but helps those of us with normal brains better understand how we can consciously influence the neural circuitry underlying what we think, how we feel and how we react to life's circumstances.

Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Lives


Cathleen Lewis - 2008
    Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Lives

Win from Within: Finding Yourself by Facing Yourself


John W. Gray III - 2018
    In Win FromWithin, John Gray helps readers identify how best to handle the most difficult, challenging and yet necessary battle that we all face-our inner struggle to overcome the worst versions of ourselves. He offers biblical lessons to aid in combatting bad habits and limiting patterns so that the best version of ourselves emerges. Win FromWithin gives practical application to the story recorded in Genesis of Jacob wrestling with the man at the River Jabbok, and through it readers will learn how to become the persons they were created to be. The persons God intended each of us to be develops as we face our inner battles. With examples from his own life as well as his ministerial counseling, Gray provides a pathway to awakening. He includes strategies for confronting the past, how we have been labeled, who people have said we are, even who we think we are, so that we can win the battle and be who God intends us to be. Jacob spent much of his life running and hiding from himself. At a certain point we, like Jacob, cannot run from our true selves anymore. We must stop and face ourselves if we are to become great. Win FromWithin helps us conquer our inner darkness and overcome such hindrances as fear, shame and guilt. This powerfully biblical self-help guide will push us toward victory over our inner struggles. Winning will make us the persons we have always wanted to be, the persons we have dreamed about becoming, the persons God created us to be.

Earn It!: Know Your Value and Grow Your Career, in Your 20s and Beyond


Mika Brzezinski - 2019
    The whirlwind of job applications, interviews, follow-up, resume building, and networking is just the beginning. What happens after you've landed the job, settled in, and begun to make a difference-where do you go from here? What if you feel stuck in what you thought would be your dream profession? New York Times bestselling author Mika Brzezinski and producer Daniela Pierre-Bravo provide an essential manual for those crucial next steps. Earn It! is a practical career guidebook that not only helps you get your foot in the door; it also shows you how to negotiate a raise, advocate for more responsibility, and figure out whether you're in the career that's right for you. A blueprint for your future success, Earn It! features insightful and inspiring interviews with leaders in media, fashion, and business, recruiters, HR, execs, and kickass young female entrepreneurs like Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin of theSkimm, Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud, and Jane Park, founder of the cosmetic subscription company Julep

Happiness Is a Choice


Barry Neil Kaufman - 1991
    His shortcuts to happiness include: making happiness the priority; accepting your personal authenticity, the freedom to be yourself; learning to discard regrets about the past and worries about the future, and so much more.

Until I Say Goodbye: A Book about Living


Susan Spencer-Wendel - 2012
    She was forty-four years old, with a devoted husband and three young children, and she had only one year of health remaining.Susan decided to live that year with joy.She quit her job as a journalist and spent time with her family. She built an outdoor meeting space for friends in her backyard. And she took seven trips with the seven most important people in her life. As her health declined, Susan journeyed to the Yukon, Hungary, the Bahamas, and Cyprus. She took her sons to swim with dolphins, and her teenage daughter, Marina, to Kleinfeld's bridal shop in New York City to see her for the first and last time in a wedding dress.She also wrote this book. No longer able to walk or even to lift her arms, she tapped it out letter by letter on her iPhone using only her right thumb, the last finger still working.However, Until I Say Good-Bye is not angry or bitter. It is sad in parts--how could it not be?--but it is filled with Susan's optimism, joie de vivre, and sense of humor. It is a book about life, not death. One that, like Susan, will make everyone smile.From the Burger King parking lot where she cried after her diagnosis to a snowy hot spring near the Arctic Circle, from a hilarious family Christmas disaster to the decrepit monastery in eastern Cyprus where she rediscovered her heritage, Until I Say Good-Bye is not only Susan Spencer-Wendel's unforgettable gift to her loved ones--a heartfelt record of their final experiences together--but an offering to all of us: a reminder that "every day is better when it is lived with joy."

Self-Discipline: Develop Daily Habits to Program Your Mind, Build Mental Toughness, Self-Confidence and WillPower


Ray Vaden - 2019
    Self-discipline is a wonderful thing. It can mean the difference between achieving goals or not achieving goals. It can give a person a greater sense of self-worth. It can allow someone the ability to work harder for a shorter amount of time and accomplish much more than before. Self-discipline can make the process of dropping bad habits in favor of good ones much easier to accomplish.People who have self-discipline are happier in life.They have a greater sense of purpose overall and a greater sense of accomplishment in everyday life. Seeking self-discipline is the best way to a better life.Self-discipline is a goal that will only be accomplished by following a path that will cause a great deal of pain. Walking this path will require a good deal of hard work and dedication because this path is not an easy one to walk. Sometimes, people fall off. Sometimes, the direction of the path needs to be changed. Sometimes, the path needs to be broken up into smaller trips in order to be able to complete the whole journey.Self-control and self-discipline require hard work and serious commitment. If a person is not really serious about the need to develop self-discipline, then it just will not happen. No one can give anyone else self-discipline. It needs to be learned within. However, consider what happens if self-discipline is never developed. Can a person go on in life without ever developing any level of self-discipline? Of course, they can. What they will be missing out on is a lifetime of achievement. They will be giving up all sense of self-worth and self-fulfillment. They will lose out on the ability to replace bad habits with good ones. They will never know the joy of getting rid of addictions and temptations. They will be forever plagued by negative feelings of anger and regret and guilt. They will live their entire lives accomplishing nothing because they lack the necessary self-discipline to accomplish anything. They will not succeed.Of course, it is a purely personal choice. It is possible to live life without accomplishing anything. It is possible to just skate through life devoid of any sense of self-worth and self-love. It is possible to get to the end and never achieve any type of goal. However, what kind of life would that really be?The best way is to begin today to work on personal goals. Start now by deciding which habits are bad and need to be replaced. Make a list of good habits that need to be cultivated. Decide when this new lifestyle will begin--keeping in mind that sooner is better. Write down all the goals that need to be achieved and all the good habits that need to be cultivated. Post this list where everyone can see it.Tell family and friends.Get everyone involved! Most importantly, remember that a successful outcome will be its own best reward!

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach


Terry Overton - 1991
    Each chapter starts out with a chapter focus that contains CEC Knowledge and Skills Standards that show you what you are expected to master in the chapter. Concepts are presented in a step-by-step manner followed by exercises that help you understand each step. Portions of assessment instruments, protocols, and scoring tables are provided to help you with the practice exercises. Additionally, you will participate in the educational decision-making process using data from classroom observations, curriculum-based assessment, functional behavior assessment, and norm-referenced assessment. New to the seventh edition: An emphasis on progress monitoring, including progress monitoring applied to the acquisition of knowledge and skills presented in this text The assessment process according to the regulations of IDEA 2004 A separate chapter on transition issues and assessment A separate chapter on assessment in infancy and early childhood A new chapter on the measurement aspects of Response to Intervention Increased consideration of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the assessment process

Things I Should Have Known


Claire LaZebnik - 2017
    Ethan was a perfect match. Ethan’s brother, David, was an arrogant jerk.Things Chloe should have known: Setups are complicated. Ivy can make her own decisions. David may be the only person who really gets Chloe.Meet Chloe Mitchell, a popular Los Angeles girl who’s decided that her older sister, Ivy, who’s on the autism spectrum, could use a boyfriend. Chloe already has someone in mind: Ethan Fields, a sweet, movie-obsessed boy from Ivy’s special needs class.Chloe would like to ignore Ethan’s brother, David, but she can’t—Ivy and Ethan aren’t comfortable going out on their own, so Chloe and David have to tag along. Soon Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan form a quirky and wholly lovable circle. And as the group bonds over frozen-yogurt dates and movie nights, Chloe is forced to confront her own romantic choices—and the realization that it’s okay to be a different kind of normal.

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood


Edward M. Hallowell - 1992
    Discusses the causes, symptoms, and treatment of attention-deficit Disorder (ADD).