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The Adventures of Nanny Piggins (Nanny Piggins #1)
by Dan Santat R. A. SprattMary Poppins meets Babe in this hilarious novel about three children under the watch of their wonderfully quirky nanny, who happens to be a pig!Yes, a pig. A fabulously sassy and impeccably dressed pig as a matter of fact! With her insatiable urge to eat chocolate (and feed chocolate to everyone she loves), her high-flying spirit, and her unending sense of fun, Nanny Piggins takes Derrick, Samantha, and Michael on a year of surprises, yummy treats, and adventures they'll never forget. Paired with Dan Santat's charming illustrations, comedian and children's TV writer R.A. Spratt's wildly funny debut novel will have adults and kids alike laughing and rooting for the feisty porcine nanny and her three lovable human charges.
The Adventures of Wrong Man and Power Girl!
by C. Alexander LondonAll he wants is to be a hero, but he's the hero no one wants! This heartwarming story shows that dads can be superheroes--as long as they have their daughters by their side to do the real rescuing.When trouble is brewing, Wrong Man is there to make it worse. When someone needs help, Wrong Man does just the opposite of what's needed. And when situations go awry, Wrong Man helps them go awry-er. Luckily, Wrong Man's daughter is there to really save the day.In this comic-book inspired picture book, our hero accidentally melts stinky cheese all over the city, lets sharks loose, and turns one big meteor into many little ones! But all Wrong Man wants to do is help -- and try to help he does, until he finally gets it right. He may be laden with mishaps, but Wrong Man is also full of heart. And in this fun- and adventure-filled book, readers can celebrate love and imagination even as they laugh at the silliness of it all.Praise for The Adventures of Wrong Man and Power Girl:"A lighthearted adventure story that charms and entertains." —Kirkus Reviews"Kids will want to pore over this hilarious romp that's expertly executed--simply amazing." —School Library Journal"Morrison's detailed, dynamic illustrations lend themselves well to London's comic scenarios." —Publishers Weekly
Adventures with My Daddies
by Gareth PeterSet off on a series of incredible adventures with a family that has two dads! As they read bedtime stories with their little one, the pages burst into colorful life. Together, this LGBTQ+ family battles dragons, dodges deadly dinosaurs, zooms to the moon, and explores the world in a hot air balloon, before winding down to sleep in a wonderfully cozy ending. This rhyming read aloud celebrates the power of imagination and champions the love that brings all kinds of families together. Author and illustrator team Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons deliver an imaginative, heartwarming tale filled with bright and optimistic acrylic and pencil illustrations
Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids
by Greta EskridgeA modern, practical, and inspiring guide to creating deep heart connections with kids by regularly creating new experiences and intentional adventures together.Parents today complain of fragmented relationships with their kids. What parents yearn for--and their kids too--is deep, heart-to-heart connections. But how can parents compete with all the other noise fighting for their kids' attention?The answer, says Greta Eskridge, is to break free from regular routines and familiar comforts of home to experience new places and adventures--even if those adventures go awry. From simply reading a book together to going on an overnight backpacking trip, activities together provide unique and crucial bonding opportunities. Adventuring Together highlights Greta's stories of doing just that, includingan array of ideas for outdoor and indoor ventures,what to do when your finances are limited,and how to adventure if your family can't hit the hiking trail or spend the night at a campground. Giving readers the tools to make adventures happen, Adventuring Together is a step-by-step guide for parents--whether in the city or the country--to start building connections today that will last a lifetime.
The Adventurous Eaters Club: Mastering the Art of Family Mealtime
by Misha Collins Vicki CollinsNATIONAL BESTSELLERTV star Misha Collins and his wife, journalist and historian Vicki Collins, show families how to be mealtime adventurers so that kids might have a lifelong relationship with real foodChicken nuggets. Hot dogs. Macaroni and cheese. These are just some of the greatest hits we offer kids at mealtime. Misha and Vicki Collins totally get it. When their son West was a toddler, he began refusing anything that wasn’t bland and beige. At first, they succumbed, anything to end the mealtime battles. But with sinking hearts they realized fruit snacks and buttered noodles weren’t just void of nutrition, they were setting him up for a lifetime with a limited palate and a reliance on convenience foods. So, as a family, they decided to lean into what they love best—adventure—and invited their kids to be playful and exploratory in the kitchen. Now, in The Adventurous Eaters Club, Misha and Vicki share how they created a home where mealtime doesn’t involve coercion or trickery, and where salad, veggies, fresh soups, and fruit are the main course. Combining personal anecdotes and practical tips with over 100 creative, delicious, whimsical recipes little hands can help prepare The Adventurous Eaters Club offers readers all the support, encouragement, and practical advice they need to make lifelong adventurous eaters out of their kids.
The Adversary: A Novel
by Michael CrummeyFrom the award-winning, bestselling author of The Innocents, a dark, enthralling novel about love and its limitations, the corruption of power and the power of corruption.In an isolated outport on Newfoundland's northern coastline, Abe Strapp is about to marry the daughter of a rival merchant to cement his hold on the shore when the Widow Caines arrives to throw the wedding and Abe's plans into chaos. That ruthless act of sabotage is the opening salvo in a battle between the man and woman who own Mockbeggar's largest mercantile firms, each fighting for the scarce resources of the north Atlantic fishery, each seeking a measure of revenge on the person they despise most in the world. As their unshakeable animosity spirals further each year into vendettas and violence, the community is increasingly divided and even the innocents in Mockbeggar find themselves forced to take sides, with devastating consequences. Through merciless seasons of uncertainty and want, through predatory storms and pandemics and marauding privateers, it is the human heart that reveals itself to be the most formidable and unpredictable adversary for each person drawn, inevitably and helplessly, into that endless feud. Compulsively readable and uncompromising, The Adversary is a pitch-perfect evocation of a lost time, and a shadowed mirror to our modern politics of grievance and retribution. It is Michael Crummey's finest novel to date.
The Adversary: A Novel
by Michael CrummeyAn enthralling novel about the corruption of power and the power of corruption from one of our greatest writers, the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of THE INNOCENTS (Extraordinary&”—Wall Street Journal)"MASTERPIECE" —Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)"CEASELESSLY ENTERTAINING" —Kirkus (Starred Review)"ONE OF OUR BEST WRITERS" —Booklist (Starred Review)In an isolated outport on Newfoundland's northern coastline, Abe Strapp is about to marry the daughter of a rival merchant to cement his hold on the shore when the Widow Caines arrives to throw the wedding and Abe's plans into chaos.That ruthless act of sabotage is the opening salvo in a battle between the man and woman who own Mockbeggar's largest mercantile firms, each fighting for the scarce resources of the north Atlantic fishery, each seeking a measure of revenge on the person they despise most in the world. As their unshakeable animosity spirals further each year into vendettas and violence, the community is increasingly divided and even the innocents in Mockbeggar find themselves forced to take sides, with devastating consequences. Through merciless seasons of uncertainty and want, through predatory storms and pandemics and marauding privateers, it is the human heart that reveals itself to be the most formidable and unpredictable adversary for each person drawn, inevitably and helplessly, into that endless feud. Compulsively readable and uncompromising, The Adversary is a masterful evocation of a lost time, and a shadowed mirror to our modern politics of grievance and retribution.
Advika and the Hollywood Wives
by Kirthana RamisettiA page-turning tale of marriage, scandal, and fame, perfect for readers of Taylor Jenkins Reid: &“The glitz and underlying darkness of Hollywood make for a setting as complex and compelling as Ramisetti's characters . . . rings with insight—and with heart&” (Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author). At age 26, Advika Srinivasan considers herself a failed screenwriter. To pay the bills and keep her mind off of the recent death of her twin sister, she&’s taken to bartending A-list events, including the 2015 Governors Ball, the official afterparty of the Oscars. There, in a cinematic dream come true, she meets the legendary Julian Zelding—a film producer as handsome as Paul Newman and ten times as powerful—fresh off his fifth best picture win. Despite their 41-year age difference, Advika falls helplessly under his spell, and their evening flirtation ignites into a whirlwind courtship and elopement. Advika is enthralled by Julian&’s charm and luxurious lifestyle, but while Julian loves to talk about his famous friends and achievements, he smoothly changes the subject whenever his previous relationships come up. Then, a month into their marriage, Julian&’s first wife—the famous actress Evie Lockhart—dies, and a tabloid reports a shocking stipulation in her will. A single film reel and $1,000,000 will be bequeathed to &“Julian&’s latest child bride&” on one condition: Advika must divorce him first. Shaken out of her love fog and still-simmering grief over the loss of her sister—and uneasy about Julian&’s sudden, inexplicable urge to start a family—Advika decides to investigate him through the eyes and experiences of his exes. From reading his first wife&’s biography, to listening to his second wife&’s confessional albums, to watching his third wife&’s Real Housewives-esque reality show, Advika starts to realize how little she knows about her husband. Realizing she rushed into the marriage for all the wrong reasons, Advika uses the info gleaned from the lives of her husband&’s exes to concoct a plan to extricate herself from Julian once and for all.Includes a Reading Group Guide.
Advocating for Children in Foster and Kinship Care: A Guide to Getting the Best out of the System for Caregivers and Practitioners
by Mitchell Rosenwald Beth RileyThis book is the first to provide strategies for effective advocacy and placement within the foster care and kinship care systems. It also takes a rare look at the dynamics of the foster and kinship relationship, not just among children and the agency workers and service providers who intervene on their behalf, but also between children and those who take in and care for them as permanency develops. Drawing on their experience interacting with and writing about the institution of foster care, Mitchell Rosenwald and Beth N. Riley have composed a unique text that helps practitioners, foster parents, and relative caregivers realize successful transitions for youth, especially considering the traumas these children may suffer both before and after placement.Advocating for a child's best interests must begin early and remain consistent throughout assignment and adjustment. For practitioners, Rosenwald and Riley emphasize the best techniques for assessing a family's capabilities and for guiding families through the challenges of foster care. Part one details the steps potential foster parents and kinship caregivers must take, with the assistance of practitioners, to prepare themselves for placement. Part two describes tactics for successful advocacy within the court system, social service agencies, schools, and the medical and mental health establishments. Part three describes how to lobby for change at the agency and legislative levels, as well as within a given community. The authors illustrate recommendations through real-life scenarios and devote an entire chapter to brokering positive partnerships among practitioners, families, and other teams working to protect and transition children.
Aednan: An Epic
by Linnea AxelssonThe winner of Sweden&’s most prestigious literary award makes her American debut with an epic, multigenerational novel-in-verse about two Sámi families and their quest to stay together across a century of migration, violence, and colonial trauma.In Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the earth, and my mother. These are all crucial forces within the lives of the Indigenous families that animate this groundbreaking book: an astonishing verse novel that chronicles a hundred years of change: a book that will one day stand alongside Halldór Laxness&’s Independent People and Sigrid Undset&’s Kristin Lavransdatter as an essential Scandinavian epic.The tale begins in the 1910s, as Ristin and her family migrate their herd of reindeer to summer grounds. Along the way, forced to separate due to the newly formed border between Sweden and Norway, Ristin loses one of her sons in the aftermath of an accident, a grief that will ripple across the rest of the book. In the wake of this tragedy, Ristin struggles to manage what&’s left of her family and her community.In the 1970s, Lise, as part of a new generation of Sámi grappling with questions of identity and inheritance, reflects on her traumatic childhood, when she was forced to leave her parents and was placed in a Nomad School to be stripped of the language of her ancestors. Finally, in the 2010s we meet Lise&’s daughter, Sandra, an embodiment of Indigenous resilience, an activist fighting for reparations in a highly publicized land rights trial, in a time when the Sámi language is all but lost.Weaving together the voices of half a dozen characters, from elders to young people unsure of their heritage, Axelsson has created a moving family saga around the consequences of colonial settlement. Ædnan is a powerful reminder of how durable language can be, even when it is borrowed, especially when it has to hold what no longer remains. &“I was the weight / in the stone you brought / back from the coast // to place on / my grave,&” one character says to another from beyond the grave. &“And I flew above / the boat calling / to you all: // There will be rain / there will be rain.&”
The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones
by Alister E. McgrathThe land of Aedyn, once under the peaceful rule of the Great King, has been overtaken by mysterious lords who trust only in their own reason. Two children called from our world have the power to lead the revolution, but will they find the courage to face their own destiny?
The Aerodynamics of Pork: A Novel
by Patrick GalePatrick Gale's perennially popular debut novel takes a wry and romantic look at love both in and out of the closet. At fifteen years and eleven months, violinist Seth Peake is a musical prodigy who's secretly attracted to men. Scheduled to begin music college in the fall, he is en route to Cornwall to spend the summer at the Trenellion Festival, a pacifist festival of art and music his family helped to found. There he falls head over heels for a gorgeous, unsuitable sculptor named Roland. Seth's older sister, Venetia, has a problem. Her period is five weeks late. But she's a virgin and no one has touched her sexually except her father, Huw--a secret she has told no one. Is the world about to bear witness to history's second immaculate conception? Doing her best to hold the family together is mother and wife Evelyn, who prays for Venetia to find fulfillment, Seth to be spared from pride, and her problems with Huw magically to vanish. Inspector Maude Faithe--Mo to her friends--is a lesbian cop who fought for the right of policewomen to wear pants, given that they're doing a "man's job." She has risen through the ranks of London's Metropolitan Police and been promoted twice for bravery. She lives alone with her large cat and a secret tragedy--until she falls passionately in lust with a singer. As Mo and Hope become lovers, Mo's dogged pursuit of the person responsible for stealing and desecrating the predictions of a newspaper astrologer leads to a surprising culprit. A witty and wise novel about sexual equality and the thrills and perils of wish fulfillment, The Aerodynamics of Pork is an exhilarating ode to love that remains a cult favorite with Patrick Gale fans and readers of gay and lesbian fiction.
Aerogrammes
by Tania JamesFrom the highly acclaimed author of Atlas of Unknowns ("Dazzling...One of the most exciting debut novels since Zadie Smith's White Teeth" --San Francisco Chronicle),a bravura collection of short stories set in locales as varied as London, Sierra Leone, and the American Midwest that captures the yearning and dislocation of young men and women around the world. In "Light & Luminous," a gifted instructor of Indian dance falls victim to the vanity and insecurities that have followed her into middle age. In "Tonto and the Undertaker," a widower copes with his loss by cruising Kentucky highways and burying roadkill. In "The Scriptological Review" a damaged young man obsessively studies his father's handwriting in hopes of making sense of his suicide. And in "What to Do with Henry," a white woman from Ohio takes in the illegitimate child her husband left behind in Sierra Leone, as well as an orphaned chimpanzee who comes to anchor this strange new family. With Aerogrammes, Tania James once again introduces us to a host of delicate, complicated, and beautifully realized characters who find themselves separated from their friends, families, and communities by race, pride, and grief.This eBook editional includes a Reading Group Guide.
Aetherbound
by E.K. JohnstonA thought-provoking new YA space adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka.Set on a family-run interstellar freighter called the Harland and a mysterious remote space station, E. K. Johnston's latest is story of survival and self-determination. Pendt Harland's family sees her as a waste of food on their long-haul space cruiser when her genes reveal an undesirable mutation. But if she plays her cards right she might have a chance to do much more than survive. During a space-station layover, Pendt escapes and forms a lucky bond with the Brannick twins, the teenage heirs of the powerful family that owns the station. Against all odds, the trio hatches a long-shot scheme to take over the station and thwart the destinies they never wished for.
The Affair: Escape to Lake Como with this year’s most intoxicating and emotionally gripping read
by Hilary BoydEscape to the sun-drenched shores of Lake Como in the irresistible and gripping new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of Thursdays in the Park, The Anniversary and The Lie'Held me spellbound . . . This novel is unmissable' 5***** Reader Review'Magnificent! So refreshing, this left me on the edge of my seat' 5***** Reader Review'The tension builds up to a heart-stopping crescendo' 5***** Reader Review_______On the glamorous shores of Lake Como, Connie meets Jared.She's married. He's young. But that doesn't stop the heat rising between them.And so begins a long, hot, intoxicating summer where Connie succumbs to temptation - breaking her marriage vows.At the end of summer, Connie returns to her husband, ready to put the affair behind her.But Jared has other ideas . . ._______Praise for Hilary Boyd'Hilary Boyd nails family dynamics and misplaced loyalties with pin-sharp precision in an impressively well-written tale' Daily Express'I was ripping through this book . . . addictive' Evening Standard'Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life' Daily Mail
The Affair: A Novel
by Danielle SteelIn this riveting novel, Danielle Steel explores a high-profile affair that reverberates throughout an entire family, from the wounded wife to her husband—torn between two women—to the wife’s close-knit sisters and their mother. <P><P>When Rose McCarthy’s staff at Mode magazine pitches a cover shoot with Hollywood’s hottest young actress, the actress’s sizzling affair with a bestselling French author is exposed. The author happens to be Rose’s son-in-law, which creates a painful dilemma for her. Her daughter Nadia, a talented interior designer, has been struggling to hold her marriage together, and conceal the truth from their young daughters, her family, and the world. But Nicolas, her straying husband, is blinded by passion for a younger woman—and not only that, she is pregnant with his child. Nadia’s three sisters close ranks around her, flying to Paris from Los Angeles and New York to lend support and offer their widely divergent advice. <P><P> Athena, a jovial celebrity chef with her own TV show in Los Angeles, is leery of marriage. Olivia, a stern conservative New York superior court judge, is haunted by a shocking secret of her own. Venetia, a zany fashion designer, happily married with three kids, has the gentlest, most realistic point of view. Despite their well-meaning advice, Nadia needs to figure out what she herself thinks, and what to do next. <P><P> The Affair is about the painful journey to discover who you are, what you want, and how much forgiveness and compromise you are capable of in order to be loved. It’s about finding yourself at the crossroads of life when everything is on the line. It’s about the hard lessons we are forced to learn about others and ourselves. Right up until its final twist, this gripping novel is full of powerful insights about who we love, how much—and even how much we love ourselves. <p><p>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
An Affair of the Mind: One Woman's Courageous Battle to Salvage Her Family from the Devastation of Pornography
by Laurie HallWhen You're Blinded by Lust, You See No Evil ... It began with a casual glance at a girlie magazine but turned into something far more insidious. "Innocent" fascination with softcore pornography eventually led to skin flicks, frequent visits to strip clubs, and encounters with prostitutes. Jack Hall's secret obsession was just that-a secret. And right before her eyes, Laurie watched her husband dissolve into a shadow of the man she loved. None of it made sense. Compelling and poignant, An Affair of the Mind tells the story of one woman's struggle to protect herself and her children from the devastating effects of pornography. With both candor and sensitivity, Laurie Hall relives the nightmare that nearly destroyed her family, warning others of porn's seductive, addictive nature. She opens her heart and bares her soul, imparting keen insights and comfort. And she shares the hard lessons God taught her-among them, the virtues of patience, trust, and perseverance.
Affair-Proof Your Marriage: Understanding, Preventing and Surviving an Affair
by Lana StaheliThis singular guide presents the straightforward facts on affairs, as well as advice to affairees and spouses on how to cope with them.Since 60% of marriages are affected by affairs, you should know the facts:Women under 30 are as likely as men to have an affair.Love affairs are different from sex affairs.Most affairs last between and three years, but the consequences can last a lifetime.Fewer than 10% of affairees divorce their spouses then marry their lover.Over 75% of those who do divorce and marry their lover divorce again.Nearly 80% of those who divorce during an affair are sorry later.Most marriages survive affairs. If you want to stay married, you can.Prevention works. You can -- and should -- affair-proof your marriage right now.
An Affair with My Mother: A Story of Adoption, Secrecy and Love
by Caitríona Palmer'Incredibly moving' --Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker PrizeAn Affair with My Mother by Caitriona Palmer: a moving and gripping story of love, denial and a daughter's quest for the truth.Caitriona Palmer had a happy childhood in Dublin, raised by loving adoptive parents. But when she was in her late twenties, she realized that she had a strong need to know the woman who had given birth to her. She was able to locate her birth mother, Sarah, and they developed a strong attachment. But Sarah set one painful condition to this joyous new relationship: she wished to keep it - to keep Caitriona - secret from her family, from her friends, from everyone. Who was Sarah, and why did she want to preserve a decades-old secret? An Affair with My Mother tells the story of Caitriona's quest to answer these questions, and of the intense, furtive 'affair' she and her mother conducted in carefully chosen locations around Dublin. By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, An Affair with My Mother is a searing portrait of the social and familial forces that left Sarah - and so many other unwed Irish mothers of her generation - frightened, traumatized and bereft. It is also a beautifully written account of a remarkable relationship.'Caitriona Palmer has called out the false shame of her origins, with a kind of anguished courage that is incredibly moving. An Affair With My Mother is a forensic account of how it feels to be - in the interests of Catholic "respectability" - excluded from the facts of your own life. In its commitment to family love, to joy and truth, it is a gift.' Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker Prize
Affinographs: A Dynamic Method for Assessment of Individuals, Couples, Families, and Households
by Davor JedlickaThe need for a new method for assessment and imaging of families, couples, and individuals has emerged in response to changes in family forms during the twentieth century. In the twentieth century divorce, remarriage, out-of wedlock child bearing, and alternate life styles have replaced monogamy as predominant form of marriage and the family. The methods of representation and assessment on the other hand remain based on the nineteenth century eugenics models embedded in the modern day genograms. This book is based on the premise that changes in family structure require changes in methods of representation, assessment, research, and teaching. This book introduces such a method in the form of a model named the affinograph. The affinograph provides a method which allows a greater respect for individuals, especially if their relationships contradict the preconceived institutional notions of marriage and the family. Improvement in visualizing families of various types and complexities can make affinographs an important new method that can bring together the theory, research, and application across varied disciplines that comprise family sciences.
The Affirmation Crisis: Healing the Wounds of a Fatherless Generation
by Randy HixThere is an Affirmation Crisis. It is the result of fatherlessness. Generations have grown up without a father. Whether physically or emotionally absent, it leaves in the child a wound of absence. Fatherlessness has become a major social problem in America, even an epidemic, with approximately 50% of children under the age of 18 not living in the same home as their biological father. It has been documented in many ways and, yet it is a secret hidden in plain view. Over the last fifty years the family has been under attack. Concepts and opinions concerning the family have changed and a new perception of family has emerged. Much of the destruction of the family has been popularized and normalized through the media and arts and entertainment. The large percentage of marriages that end in divorce and the increasing trend of out of wedlock births, seems to have contributed to a widespread belief that being a single parent is somehow a noble venture, and that the father is unimportant to raising children. There are indeed many exceptional single parents. But these are the exceptions to the rule as statistics prove.It is as if there were a systematic scheme in the works to destroy our society by using progressive cultural engineering. The influence of popular approaches to the family in the media, that rejects traditional and biblical norms of family construction, is creating a confused, depressed, and fractured population. Men and women with a confused self-identity and self-confidence are the product of this fatherlessness epidemic and this affirmation crisis.Today, after over a hundred years of cultural fatherlessness, we have seen multiple generations who have grown up without the father’s emotional and often physical influence and support. Combine that with two world wars, economic challenges, media influence, rising divorce rates, sexual identity conflict, and you are left with a generation of wandering fatherless children. Many of these fatherless children are wounded adults who continue to live their lives not knowing that they are suffering from the wound of absence referred to as the “father wound.”The “father wound” in short is the absence of the emotional blessing that only the father can provide to the child. One of the major responsibilities of the father is the modeling and impartation of true fatherhood. A father is the God given instrument that identifies the child as well as gives the child a sense of self and self-confidence. This is true for both men and women. Every young man is waiting for his father to tell him he has what it takes. Every young woman is waiting for a father to show her that she is beautiful and worthy to be pursued and protected. Every young man looks to his father for affirmation and identity. Every young girl is looking to the father for her identity and affirmation as a woman.The father identifies the child. The father calls forth the masculine in the son and the femininity of the daughter. Without this essential input from Dad, the boy struggles to see himself as a man and the girl struggles to identify as a woman. Their spirit cries out for a father to save them.Our fathers have a special role to play in our discovery of who we are in life. This is why a father telling his child a statement like "You'll never amount to anything" has such a devastating effect. On the other hand, a father who lovingly affirms his child is giving him a solid foundation towards developing into a healthy, well-adjusted adult.In ‘The Affirmation Crisis’ Pastor, Teacher and Missionary, Randy Hix details the serious impact this fatherlessness epidemic is having on our society and individuals. Randy explains our Heavenly Father’s original plan for the family and how to receive the needed affirmation and healing needed to mend the wounded heart
Affliction: Growing Up With a Closeted Gay Dad
by Laura HallIn 1937, at the age of nineteen, Ralph Hall, suicidal, revealed his sexual orientation to his grandmother, knowing she would comfort him. He was out for three years afterwards, until an indiscretion sent him back into the closet. At twenty-four, while in the army, he met and married Irene. The couple made their home on the San Francisco Peninsula and had four children. Ralph was an attentive husband and father—albeit with an intense interest in interior design, flower arranging, and fine objects—and a diligent worker who rose to payroll accountant at Standard Oil. It wasn't until 1975 that Ralph came out to his middle daughter, Laura, telling her that he had once considered his sexuality an aberration, an affliction. She was shocked, as the possibility her father might be gay had never crossed her mind. Irene had known Ralph’s secret for eighteen years, but the two remained married until she died. It was only then that this charismatic man and devoted father, by now in his eighties, could freely express his authentic, gay self.Here, Laura paints a vivid and honest portrait of her beloved father and the effect his secret had on her own life.
Afraid to Tell
by Heidi Harding Tom Harding Chloe HardingHe was our abusive father.We were just children.No one could know.Heidi was 18 when she read her little sister Chloe’s diary, and discovered that they shared a terrible secret: they had both been abused by their father. After years of fear and isolation, Heidi knew she had to go to the police. For a long time, Chloe resented Heidi for forcing her to disclose what had happened when she wasn’t ready, while their brother, Tom, couldn’t understand how he had so misjudged his father, and at first he didn’t believe their tale. The truth threatened to destroy them all. This is the very honest story of three siblings, and how a man they trusted threatened to tear their family apart.
African American Girls: Reframing Perceptions and Changing Experiences (Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development)
by Faye Z. BelgraveThe teenage years can be exciting for girls, as they develop into young women and anticipate their future. For some, however, this developmental stage may be tempered by increased risks for teen pregnancy, school failure, and some health problems. African American Girls: Reframing Perceptions and Changing Experiences explores not only the challenges and stressors confronting this unique population, but also the strengths and resiliencies used to meet them. Examining prevailing trends while avoiding simplistic generalizations, the book is both descriptive (e.g., explaining similarities and differences with girls of other ethnicities and African-American boys in critical areas) and useful (e.g., providing concrete guidelines for professionals working to support prosocial development and prevent risky behaviors). This unique volume: addresses salient issues of self and identity, examines crucial domains, such as relationships, achievements and expectations, and issues that have a major impact on health and well-being, offers practical recommendations and resources for working with African-American girls during the period when life experiences and decisions are most likely to affect adult outcomes, discusses the lives of girls from diverse families, communities, and circumstances, explores the influences of family, peers, community, and cultural traditions, features sample activities for promoting positive development and includes quotations reflecting the perspectives of the girls in their own words. African American Girls is an essential resource for a wide range of professionals, including clinical, child, and school psychologists, counselors, therapists, and social workers. Whether one's specialty is prevention, intervention, education, or research, this book is a must-have volume.
African American Relationships, Marriages, and Families
by Patricia DixonAfrican American Relationships, Marriages, and Families is a historically and culturally centered text designed for relationship, marriage and family educators and therapists who work with African American singles and couples. Complete with numerous exercises, the book helps singles and couples increase their self-awareness, partner awareness and respect, and appreciation for difference. It also helps foster effective communication and conflict resolution skills, showing readers how to develop and maintain healthy relationships, marriages, and families. No ground is left uncovered in Dixon's thoughtful and considered analysis.