The closest he will ever come to happiness is when he's hurting her. Will she let him? A beautiful and twisted story of first love and innocence lost -- written when the author was just eighteen. Sphinxie and Cadence. Promised to each other in childhood. Drawn together again as teens. Sphinxie is sweet, compassionate, and plain. Cadence is brilliant, charismatic. Damaged. And diseased. When they were kids, he scarred her with a knife. Now, as his illness progresses, he becomes increasingly demanding. She wants to be loyal -- but fears for her life. Only the ultimate sacrifice will give this love an ending.
June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one—and a secret one. Not even her dad knows the truth, and she can't find the words to tell anyone else. She's trapped like a butterfly in a net. Then June meets Blister, a boy from a large, loving, chaotic family. In him, she finds a glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away. Because she deserves her freedom. Doesn't she?
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, internationally bestselling author and literary icon Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies is "beautiful, heartbreaking and alive ... a lyrical work of historical fiction based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, revolutionary heroes who had opposed and fought against Trujillo." (Concepción de León, New York Times) Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, is coming April 2, 2024. Pre-order now! It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—the Butterflies. In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters--Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé--speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from secret crushes to gunrunning, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human costs of political oppression. "Alvarez helped blaze the trail for Latina authors to break into the literary mainstream, with novels like In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents winning praise from critics and gracing best-seller lists across the Americas."—Francisco Cantú, The New York Times Book Review "This Julia Alvarez classic is a must-read for anyone of Latinx descent." —Popsugar.com "A gorgeous and sensitive novel . . . A compelling story of courage, patriotism and familial devotion." —People "Shimmering . . . Valuable and necessary." —Los Angeles Times "A magnificent treasure for all cultures and all time.” —St. Petersburg Times "Alvarez does a remarkable job illustrating the ruinous effect the 30-year dictatorship had on the Dominican Republic and the very real human cost it entailed."—Cosmopolitan.com
General information about butterfly gardening and prime butterfly locations in Arkansas complements an illustrated guide to 263 butterfly species, which includes detailed descriptions of each species and its life cycle, habitat, and behavior, as well as more than three hundred color photographs. Original.
Waiting for Butterflies is an achingly tender portrait of a mother whose love reaches beyond the possible. When tragedy strikes, Maggie discovers a mother's love never ends--not even when her life does. Longing for her family after her sudden death, she becomes a lingering spirit and returns home where she helplessly witnesses her family's downward spiral in the aftermath of her passing. Her husband is haunted by past mistakes and struggles to redeem himself. Her teenage daughter silently drowns in her own guilt, secretly believing she caused her mother's death. Only her five-year-old, full of innocence, can sense her presence. Although limited by her family's grief and lack of faith, Maggie is determined to keep a sacred promise and save her family before her second chance runs out.
The unfiltered story of Shane Burke, a simple man who broke the cycle of trauma and created a beautiful life from nothing. You will laugh, you will cry; you will feel hope and sadness. A memoir written by the love of his life, Sheila, wife of 32 years, this book was born on the advice of their adult children, a hospice social worker, and good friends. Over the years, Shane learned to grapple with patience, generate a positive attitude, and rally support for the underdogs of the world-even during the most difficult times of his life. He found humor in everything and always aimed to enjoy life, and greatly encouraged others to do the same. He was a man who beat the odds all his life until cancer came calling. In his youth, he picked himself up and became the example he was missing of what a good person should be and showed the world what that looked like. And approaching his death, he gifted us a glimpse behind the veil. His experiences were a comfort to him and his family until his last breath. His story teaches us how to live-as well as how to die-with courage, dignity, and grace. BULLSH*T TO BUTTERFLIES will make you think. About your own death and enduring the death of those you love greatly. Shane's story is a good reminder to cherish every moment we have in this world-and those whom we love in it. Through all the turmoil this man endured in his life, he kept going until he simply couldn't go anymore. What those who loved him realized is that he was always teaching. Always learning. Always curious. Always grateful. When forced to face his own mortality, none of that changed. This is the very real story of a very ordinary man. He could just as well be you or I.This is a book for people who want to understand the plight of cancer, the challenges of facing death, and how to comfort the dying. You will take away much more than the story of this man. You will glean information on how to have a good death for yourself or for someone you love.
