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Finding Fish
by Antwone Fisher Mim E. RivasThe author recounts his life from birth in prison to success in Hollywood in the New York Times–bestselling memoir that inspired the film Antwone Fisher.Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment he was born to a single mother in prison. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his mid-teens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself.Finding Fish shows how, out of this unlikely mix of deprivation and hope, an artist was born—first as the child who painted the feelings his words dared not speak, then as a poet and storyteller who would eventually become one of Hollywood's most sought-after screenwriters.A tumultuous and ultimately gratifying tale of self-discovery written in Fisher's gritty yet melodic literary voice, Finding Fish “reads like a great work of fiction” (Denzel Washington).
Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France
by Thad CarhartA beguiling memoir of a childhood in 1950s Fontainebleau from the much-admired New York Times bestselling author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank For a young American boy in the 1950s, Fontainebleau was a sight both strange and majestic, home to a continual series of adventures: a different language to learn, weekend visits to nearby Paris, family road trips to Spain and Italy. Then there was the château itself: a sprawling palace once the residence of kings, its grounds the perfect place to play hide-and-seek. The curiosities of the small town and the time with his family as expats left such an impression on him that thirty years later Carhart returned to France with his wife to raise their two children. Touring Fontainebleau again as an adult, he began to appreciate its influence on French style, taste, art, and architecture. Each trip to Fontainebleau introduces him to entirely new aspects of the château's history, enriching his memories and leading him to Patrick Ponsot, the head of the château's restoration, who becomes Carhart's guide to the hidden Fontainebleau. What emerges is an intimate chronicle of a time and place few have experienced. In warm, precise prose, Carhart reconstructs the wonders of his childhood as an American in postwar France, attending French schools with his brothers and sisters. His firsthand account brings to life nothing less than France in the 1950s, from the parks and museums of Paris to the rigors of French schooling to the vast château of Fontainebleau and its village, built, piece by piece, over many centuries. Finding Fontainebleau is for those captivated by the French way of life, for armchair travelers, and for anyone who has ever fallen in love with a place they want to visit over and over again.From the Hardcover edition.
Finding Fortunato: How a Peruvian Adventure Inspired the Sweet Success of a Family Chocolate Business
by Adam PearsonEmbark on an up-close and personal journey into the northern Peruvian jungle as last-chance entrepreneurs accidentally stumble upon a variety of cacao thought to be extinct, in this chocolate-rich business adventure memoir. Take a front row seat to a family of entrepreneurs searching relentlessly for a sustainable competitive advantage in the wake of many failed attempts at starting a family business. When they inadvertently discover the legendary Nacional white cacao bean in a remote canyon of the Peruvian jungle, the USDA calls it &“an unprecedented discovery.&” The cacao is so rare that even acclaimed author and travel host Anthony Bourdain and chef Eric Ripert trek to this particular jungle to film a segment for Bourdain's "Parts Unknown." With no job and no other way to earn a living, the author&’s brother, Brian, moves to the jungle to live with cacao farmers—and Fortunato Chocolate is born. The family soon realize that their chocolate dream will only work if they reconceive and disrupt the supply chain. Instead of middlemen hoarding profits and keeping farmers in relentless poverty, they trade directly with them and produce what the BBC hails as "the Rolex of chocolate." Follow along as these intrepid entrepreneurs endure many heartbreaking near-victories and nail-biting adventures, ultimately shaking off failure and finding their competitive advantage in the humble white cacao bean and their ethical direct trade with the bean&’s farmers. Finding Fortunato is an inspiring and improbable tale that's infused with the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit, and revels in the gut instincts that lead to unimaginable success.
Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch
by Erin French**New York Times Bestseller**From Erin French, owner of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen, a TIME world dining destination, a life-affirming memoir about survival, renewal, and finding a community to lift her upLong before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir—a classic American story—invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the “girl from Freedom” fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin’s life triumphant. In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food—as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin’s experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom.
Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
by Omid Scobie Carolyn DurandThe first, epic and true story of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s life together, finally revealing why they chose to pursue a more independent path and the reasons behind their unprecedented decision to step away from their royal lives, from two top royal reporters who have been behind the scenes since the couple first met. <P><P>Finding Freedom is complete with full color photographs from Harry and Meghan’s courtship, wedding, Archie’s milestones, and many more unforgettable moments. When news of the budding romance between a beloved English prince and an American actress broke, it captured the world’s attention and sparked an international media frenzy. But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines—from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their unprecedented decision to step back from their royal lives—few know the true story of Harry and Meghan. <P><P>For the very first time, Finding Freedom goes beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together, dispelling the many rumors and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond. <P><P>As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British Royal Family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple’s lives as few outsiders can. With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, Finding Freedom is an honest, up-close, and disarming portrait of a confident, influential, and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke and Opened My Heart
by Jarvis MastersA remarkable story of personal transformation and spiritual awakening from a Buddhist man on death row.There are many forms of liberation--some that exist at the mercy of circumstance and others that can never be taken away. In this collection of stories, essays, poems, and letters from death-row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters, he explores the meaning of true freedom on his road to inner peace through Buddhist practice. He reveals the life of a young man surrounded by violence, his entanglement in the criminal justice system, and--following an encounter with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche--an unfolding commitment to nonviolence and peacemaking. At turns joyful, heartbreaking, frightening, and soaring with profound insight, Masters's story offers a vision of hope and the possibility of freedom in even the darkest of times.
Finding Glory In The Thorns: Hope And Purpose In Life's Painful Seasons
by Larry Jamieson Lisa JamiesonIn Finding Glory in the Thorns, Larry and Lisa Jamieson recount their incredible trials in attempting to help their third daughter survive debilitating health and developmental issues. As they relate their journey from agony and desperation to understanding and acceptance, they provide an inspiring lesson for all of us who are seeking to understand life's lessons and our relationship to God.
Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart
by Dion LeonardA man, a dog, and the lengths to which love will go to sacrifice for its companion.Finding Gobi is the miraculous tale of Dion Leonard, a seasoned ultramarathon runner who crosses paths with a stray dog while competing in a 155-mile race through the Gobi Desert in China. The lovable pup, who would later earn the name Gobi, proved that what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in heart, as she went step for step with Dion over the Tian Shan Mountains, across massive sand dunes, through yurt villages and the black sands of the Gobi Desert, keeping pace with him for 77 miles.As Dion witnessed the incredible determination and heart of this small animal, he found his own heart undergoing a change as well. Whereas in the past these races were all about winning and being the best, his goal now was to make sure he and Gobi’s friendship continued well after the finish line. He found himself letting Gobi sleep in his tent at night, giving her food and water out of his own limited supply, and carrying her across numerous rivers, even when he knew it would mean putting him behind in the race, or worse, prevent him from finishing at all. Although Dion did not cross the finish line first, he felt he had won something even greater – a new outlook on life and a new friend that he planned on bringing home as soon as arrangements were made. However, before he could take her home, Gobi went missing in the sprawling Chinese city where she was being kept. Dion, with the help of strangers and a viral outpouring of assistance on the internet, set out to track her down, and reunite forever with the amazing animal that changed his life and proved to him and the world that miracles are possible. “Leonard and Gobi’s story represents the power of people working together and the profound depth of feeling possible between a man and his dog.”--Publishers Weekly
Finding God in the Ruins
by Matt BaysWhen the reality of your pain doesn't line up with what you've been taught in church, then what? While many abandon their faith or embrace hopelessness, it is possible to discover the God who heals your heart in the midst of the pain. Matt Bays has been where you are. His unforgettable stories of loss and healing will usher you into a life where gratitude overpowers anger, hope overcomes despair, and hunger for God replaces indifference to God. With a fresh and original writing style, Bays demonstrates that true redemption is far more powerful than the temporary fixes of sanitized Christianity.
Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science
by Rob Bell Mike MchargueFrom the host of the popular podcasts, The Liturgists Podcast and Ask Science Mike, a story of having faith, losing it, and finding it again through science--revealing how the latest in neuroscience, physics, and biology help us understand God, faith, and ourselves. What do you do when God dies? It's a question facing millions today, as science reveals a Universe that's self-creating, American culture departs from Christian social norms, and the idea of God begins to seem implausible at best and destructive at worst. Mike McHargue understands the pain of unraveling belief. In Finding God in the Waves, Mike tells the story of how his Evangelical faith dissolved into atheism as he studied the Bible, a crisis that threatened his identity, his friendships, and even his marriage. Years later, Mike was standing on the shores of the Pacific Ocean when a bewildering, seemingly mystical moment motivated him to take another look. But this time, it wasn't theology or scripture that led him back to God--it was science. In Finding God in the Waves, "Science Mike" draws on his personal experience to tell the unlikely story of how science led him back to faith. Among other revelations, we learn what brain scans reveal about what happens when we pray; how fundamentalism affects the psyche; and how God is revealed not only in scripture, but in the night sky, in subatomic particles, and in us. For the faithful and skeptic alike, Finding God in the Waves is a winsome, lucid, page-turning read about belonging, life's biggest questions, and the hope of knowing God in an age of science.From the Hardcover edition.
Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science
by Rob Bell Mike MchargueFrom the host of the popular podcasts, The Liturgists Podcast and Ask Science Mike, a story of having faith, losing it, and finding it again through science—revealing how the latest in neuroscience, physics, and biology help us understand God, faith, and ourselves. Forty-four percent of Americans will go through a major faith transition in their lives. And now, with church attendance on the decline and increasing cultural independence from Christian social norms, this trend has reached a tipping point: the fastest growing religion in America is "none." Mike McHargue understands the pain of unraveling belief. In Finding God in the Waves, Mike tells the story of how his Evangelical faith dissolved into atheism as he studied the Bible, a crisis that threatened his identity, his friendships, and even his marriage. Years later, Mike was standing on the shores of the Pacific Ocean when a bewildering, seemingly mystical moment motivated him to take another look. But this time, it wasn't theology or scripture that led him back to God—it was science. Full of insights about the universe, as well as deeply personal reflections on our desire for certainty and meaning, Finding God in the Waves is a vital exploration of the possibility for knowing God in an age of reason, and a signpost for where the practice of faith is headed in a secular age. Among other revelations, we learn what brain scans reveal about what happens when we pray; how fundamentalism affects the psyche; and how God is revealed not only in scripture, but in the night sky, in subatomic particles, and in us.From the Hardcover edition.
Finding God in the Waves: How I lost my faith and found it again through science
by Mike McHargue'Through the lens of neuroscience, McHargue makes his case for valuing religion not for its factual explanatory power but rather for its ability to give meaning to human existence . . . For those who fear science will rob them of both God and Christian community, this work may offer much-needed hope that Christianity and science can coexist.'-Publishers Weekly'I thoroughly recommend this book. It is written with humility, honesty and a liberal sprinkling of humour ... not only thought-provoking, but also a jolly good read ... A review does not do it justice, so I suggest you read the book!'- Methodist RecorderWhat do you do when God dies? It's a question facing millions today, as science reveals a universe that's self-creating, western culture departs from its Christian heritage and the idea of God begins to seem implausible at best and barbaric at worst. Mike McHargue understands the pain of unravelling belief. In Finding God in the Waves, Mike tells the story of how his evangelical faith dissolved into atheism as he studied the Bible, a crisis that threatened his identity, his friendships and even his marriage. Years later, Mike was standing on the shores of the Pacific Ocean when a bewildering, seemingly mystical moment motivated him to take another look. But this time, it wasn't theology or scripture that led him back to God - it was science. In Finding God in the Waves, 'Science Mike' draws on his personal experience to tell the unlikely story of how science led him back to faith. Among other revelations, we learn what brain scans reveal about what happens when we pray; how fundamentalism affects the psyche; and how God is revealed not only in scripture, but in the night sky, in subatomic particles, and in us.For the faithful and sceptic alike, Finding God in the Waves is a powerful, page-turning read about belonging, life's biggest questions, and the hope of knowing God in an age of science.
Finding God: A Treasury of Conversion Stories
by John M. MulderThe search for God is a staple of human history. Finding God records sixty first-person accounts of Christians who found God in different ways and the impact this discovery made on their lives and on the world in which they lived. Ranging from the first century to the present, Finding God is a fascinating digest of conversion stories from a wide variety of people -- from the apostle Paul to the rock musician Bono. These narratives together demonstrate the remarkable diversity of spiritual journeys and the dramatic changes that can result from encounters with God. Both instructive and inspirational, Finding God will expand horizons and deepen the faith of those who seek insight into the age-old spiritual quest to find God.
Finding Happy: A User's Guide to Your Life, with Lessons from Mine
by Peter SamuelsonA master class for every Gen Z and Millennial to Find Happy in a dizzying worldAlmost everyone looks back on their youth and thinks, &“I wish I knew then what I know now.…&” This is a book for young adults who want to know right now what it is so many wish they had known back then. What is happy, anyway? Where do you find it? Finding Happy is for young adults starting their adult journey, and for those well into theirs who have not yet sighted land. It is written by a master storyteller who learned to scale walls and blew them up rather than be stopped, and who learned in the process that our happiness flows from leaving the world a better place than we found it. Ultimately, it&’s about how best to channel this glorious life we are each privileged to enjoy and to make it truly happy. Finding Happy is filled with gripping adventures and misadventures that demonstrate just how possible the seemingly impossible often is, from daredevil filmmaking in Africa and Asia to making daunting rules work for you, to earning a full college scholarship after being completely unable to answer the entrance exam essay question…to climbing down a hundred-foot pipe shaft at 3 a.m. to rescue a kitten, with no plan for how to climb back up. It is about how best to seize the day, which risks are brave and which foolish, about roadblocks and solutions, learning from leaders and finding your own secret sauce. Samuelson explains how to find your compass and persuade others to help you. He shows how to live your passion, make a living, take off your mask, build your best place in the universe, and find your own unique and personal Happy.
Finding Home
by Jim DalyJim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, managed to rise above his harrowing childhood, which included living in Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles. In this deeply personal memoir, he relives horrors no child should endure. A bloodcurdling neighborhood murder merely serves as the backdrop to the abuse and alcoholism within the four walls of his own home, a cycle broken only by the cancer that left him motherless. Orphaned at an early age, Jim saw firsthand the worst this world had to offer. He somehow managed to catch enough glimpses of grace that he knew he wanted more, both from himself and from a God he had to believe existed. And from that small spark of grace, a great man emerged.
Finding Iris Chang: Friendship, Ambition, and the Loss of an Extraordinary Mind
by Paula KamenIris Chang’s mysterious suicide in 2004, at age thirty-six, didn’t seem to make any sense. She had so much to live for, including fame, fortune, beauty, and a husband and child. Some even wondered if the controversial author of The Rape of Nanking had been murdered. Longtime friend Paula Kamen was among those left wondering what had gone so wrong. Seeking to reconcile the suicide with the image of Chang’s "perfect” life, Kamen searched her memory and scoured Chang’s letters and diaries to fill in the gaps of Chang’s personal transformation-from "ex-shy person” to world-class speaker and international rights pioneer-and her later decline into mental illness. The result is a "riveting narrative that is part detective story, part psychological drama, part homage to a friend” (Helen Zia).
Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life without Opening the Fridge
by Valerie BertinelliWelcome back to chez Bertinelli, where life is as crazy and comical as ever. In revealing talks with her longtime boyfriend, Tom, Valerie gets even more personal about her inner worries: her maternal anxieties about her son, Wolfie (he's fallen in love and, as she writes, "getting your sex talk from Eddie Van Halen wasn't recommended in any of the parenting books I read"); the challenges of dealing with a blended family; her mother's own new diet adventure; and a craving for a deeper relationship with a Higher Power ("I have experienced days of inner peace and connectedness with a larger spirit -- twice," she writes. "Why not more often?"). And as if these everyday challenges weren't enough, Valerie is work-ing to maintain her own very public weight loss. She even gets to thinking she might kick it up a notch, shed more weight and get so buff she can wear a bikini -- in public. In this new, inspiring memoir from the beloved actress and author of the bestseller Losing It, Valerie tells the story of what happens after you change your life. It's not all peaches and cream, or even non-fat yogurt. In Finding It, Valerie comes face-to-face with hard questions of family, faith, and beachwear, and realizes that she's hungering for another transfor-mation -- to become better, not just thinner. Forget the scale; the real change is happening inside, and Valerie realizes that this is the part of dieting that no one ever talks about -- the reality of keeping the pounds off. Dieting fixes one problem, she discovers, but to maintain that weight loss, she has to work on everything else -- all the reasons she got fat in the first place.Warm and friendly, honest and self-aware -- like a talk with your BFF -- Finding It tells of the common worries and frustrations, the funny and fabulous moments in Valerie's publicly private life. Humorous and humble, it is also the emotional story of family and the deep bonds and patterns that persist through generations: for as Valerie transitions to her latest role of motherhood with an increasingly independent son, she connects with her own mother in a profound new way. With the same winning wit and candor that touched several generations of fans in Losing It, Finding It is an optimistic story for trying times. It's about believing in love and happiness, having faith that both are possible, and finding out that God does want you to enjoy life's desserts -- even when you're on a diet.
Finding Jackie: A Life Reinvented
by Oline Eaton“Penetrates the mystique and unravels the myth with the best Jackie biography ever.”—Kitty Kelley, New York Times bestselling author of Jackie Oh! and Oprah: A Biography A brilliant biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, casting an era’s biggest “star of life” in a new light for a new generation In Finding Jackie, Oline Eaton resurrects the Jackie Kennedy Onassis who has been culturally erased, who we need now more than ever—not the First Lady who was a paragon of femininity, fashion, American wifeliness and motherhood, but rather the kaleidoscopic Jackie who emerged after the murder of her husband changed her world and ours. Here is the story of Jackie’s reinvention into an adventurer, a wanderer, a woman and an idea in whom many Americans and people around the globe have deeply, fiercely wanted to believe. Traumatized and exposed, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy nonetheless built a new life for herself in an America similarly haunted by upheaval. She dated and traveled relentlessly before scandalizing the world by marrying a foreigner, living abroad, climbing ruins, cruising the oceans, and wandering Europe braless and barefoot. She was an era’s most celebrated, exposed, beloved, reviled, written about, and followed “star of life.” Jackie’s story—treated like a national soap opera and transmitted through newspapers, magazines, images, and TV during the 1960s and 1970s—became wired into America’s emotional grid. Touching down everywhere from London, Paris, the Watergate, and 1040 Fifth Avenue to Skorpios, Athens, Capri, and Phnom Penh, Finding Jackie returns Jackie’s narrative to its original context of a serialized drama unfurling alongside the Civil Rights movement, women’s liberation, and the Vietnam War.
Finding Joy
by Gary Andrews'Perhaps the sweetest and most poignant book of the year . . . It's often said that men don't talk about their feelings enough: this widowed father has doodled about them instead, and the result is more eloquent than any words' DAILY MAIL, BOOKS OF THE YEARWhen his wife, Joy, died very suddenly, a daily drawing became the way Gary Andrews dealt with his grief.From learning how to juggle his kids' playdates and single-handedly organising Christmas, to getting used to the empty side of the bed, Gary's honest and often hilarious illustrations have touched the hearts of thousands on social media. Finding Joy is the story of how one family learned to live again after tragedy.An uplifting, funny and beautifully illustrated journey to hope, for fans of Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, and Raymond Briggs' Ethel & Ernest
Finding Kansas: Living and Decoding Asperger's Syndrome
by Aaron LikensAll I want is someone to care, to know, to understand. And maybe, for a brief moment, I will be free. . . Finding Kansas is a memoir like no other, written by an unlikely author who at first never dreamed he would find even one reader. When he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age 20, Aaron Likens began to collect his thoughts and experiences on paper-the highs, the lows, the challenges, and the unexpected joys. What he found was hope -- not only for himself, but also for others with Asperger's. Now a sought-after speaker and blogger, he is passionate about sharing his insights into this often misunderstood condition. Aaron has another passion, too: the world of auto racing. A successful flag man at racing events across the country, Aaron calls racing his Kansas-a place where he feels safe, confident, and normal. For others on the autism spectrum, Kansas might be trains, history, or the weather. It is here where, like Aaron, they find freedom, and the possibility for growth and change Finding Kansas brings us into Aaron's world and, in the process, offers a richly observed, deeply thoughtful, and sometimes painful picture of what it's like to live on the autism spectrum.
Finding Katie
by Beatrice SparksThis appealing teen read tells the story of Katie, a teen from an abused home, and her journey through foster care. Katie is always surrounded by wealth, but feels terribly alone because of the secret horror of her angry, abusive father. When she's thrown out of her house and put into foster care, it seems like the end of the world. But as she moves through the foster care system, she begins to realize that she can help others. Can she, at last, find courage and strength of her own?
Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity
by Paola RamosYoung Latinos across the United States are redefining their identities, pushing boundaries, and awakening politically in powerful and surprising ways. Many of them—Afrolatino, indigenous, Muslim, queer and undocumented, living in large cities and small towns—are voices who have been chronically overlooked in how the diverse population of almost sixty million Latinos in the U.S. has been represented. No longer. In this empowering cross-country travelogue, journalist and activist Paola Ramos embarks on a journey to find the communities of people defining the controversial term, &“Latinx.&” She introduces us to the indigenous Oaxacans who rebuilt the main street in a post-industrial town in upstate New York, the &“Las Poderosas&” who fight for reproductive rights in Texas, the musicians in Milwaukee whose beats reassure others of their belonging, as well as drag queens, environmental activists, farmworkers, and the migrants detained at our border. Drawing on intensive field research as well as her own personal story, Ramos chronicles how &“Latinx&” has given rise to a sense of collectivity and solidarity among Latinos unseen in this country for decades.A vital and inspiring work of reportage, Finding Latinx calls on all of us to expand our understanding of what it means to be Latino and what it means to be American. The first step towards change, writes Ramos, is for us to recognize who we are.
Finding Lina: A Mother's Journey from Autism to Hope
by Helena HjalmarssonLina was a precocious toddler—charming, chatty, joyful. At the age of three, in the aftermath of her second MMR vaccine, first came a seizure, and then, to her parents’ horror, the loss of Lina’s ability to play, use language, and control her impulses. Over the next few years they continued to lose Lina. She communicated her acute discomfort by biting, screaming, hitting, laughing maniacally, and throwing violent tantrums. As a single mother, with the help of her ex-husband, Helena Hjalmarsson tirelessly pursued every possible avenue to find a diagnosis, and more importantly a treatment, for her daughter, and the search continues to this day. Lina is nine.Special schools, restrictive diets, sensory stimulation, relationship-based therapy, gastrointestinal links, homeopathy, and allergy treatment are all explored in detail. Hjalmarsson finds out what helps Lina and what doesn’t. She introduces sign language to Lina. She engages in lengthy daily intensive one-on-one sessions. With the help of her ex, angelic babysitters, Lina’s exceptionally empathetic younger sister, and supportive friends, Hjalmarsson manages to create a meaningful life for Lina, and for herself—a life of love and transcendence.Lina, for all her challenges, has much to teach, and Hjalmarsson is a receptive student: finding joy in moments of connection, learning to live in the present, taking nothing for granted, accepting what others find unbearable, and finding a strength and spiritual base for inspiration and healing.Unflinchingly honest and courageous, Finding Lina will open the eyes and hearts and minds of all parents, whether they have a child with autism or not.
Finding Lincoln
by Ann Malaspina Colin BootmanLouis needs to write an essay for school about young Abraham Lincoln. But it's 1951 in Alabama, and African Americans cannot use the public library. Mama says one day soon they'll be able to check out books, but Louis isn't going to wait! <P><P> When he makes a brave journey into the "whites-only" library, something surprising and wonderful happens - he meets a brave young librarian. Ann Malaspina's moving story and Colin Bootman's rich paintings evoke the troubles and triumphs of days not long past. <P> Includes a note on the history of racial segregation in public libraries, a brief history of Abraham Lincoln's life, and an "If You Want to Read More" listing.
Finding Magic: A Love Story
by Sally QuinnThe author, journalist, television commentator, and longtime Washington insider reflects on the spiritual quest that has brought deeper meaning to her life—and kept her grounded within the high-powered political world of Washington, D.C.’s elite—her renowned writing career, her celebrity marriage, and her legendary role as doyenne of the capital’s social scene.In this emotionally involving, illuminating memoir, the legendary Washington Post journalist, and author talks candidly about her life at the white-hot center of power and the surprising spiritual quest that has driven her for more than half a century.While working as a reporter, caring for a learning-disabled son with her husband, longtime Washington Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee, reigning over the capital’s social scene, and remaining intimately connected with national politics, Sally Quinn yearned to understand what truly made the world—and her life—tick. After years of searching, most of which occurring in the secular capital of the world, she came to realize that the time she spent with friends and family—the evenings of shared hospitality and intimate fellowship—provided spiritual nourishment and that this theme has been woven into all the most important moments of her life. In this spiritual memoir, Quinn speaks frankly about her varied, provocative spiritual experiences—from her Southern family of Presbyterians and psychics, to voodoo lessons from her Baptist nanny, her trials as a hospitalized military kid in Japan as the Korean War begins, to her adventures as a Post reporter and columnist and her experience as one of the first female news anchors on national television; her battles with the Nixon administration, Watergate, and other scandals that have rocked the nation; her courtship and long marriage to one of the most authoritative figures in the media; her role as the capital’s most influential hostess; and her growing fascination with religious issues. This fascination led to her pioneering work in creating the most visited religious site on the web, OnFaith.co, where she reports on the unseen driving force of American life. Throughout this radiant, thoughtful, and surprisingly intimate memoir, Quinn reveals how "it’s all magic"—the many forms of what draws us together and provides meaning to all we do. Her roller coaster and irreverent but surprisingly spiritual story allows us to see how the infinite wonder of God and the values of meaningful conversation, experience, and community are available to us all.Finding Magic includes 16 pages of exclusive photographs.