While in her twenties, Shanna was full of hopes and aspiration for her future, until a physician coldly delivered a grim prognosis: “Be prepared to be disabled and in a wheelchair by the time you reach your forties.” Shanna defied that doomsday sentence and fought hard to discover her full capabilities, crushing every daunting circumstance that tried to prevail. Shanna lives by the words she coined: “Just because the sun set yesterday does not mean there won’t be a fresh dawn tomorrow.” With each morning sunrise, she embraced the day, full of new hope and opportunities. Through relentless persistence and hard work, she overcame every obstacle that came her way, becoming all she ever dreamed possible, and more. It is her hopes to not only recapture the memories that made this book, but offer hope to any and all who desire to live their dreams and reach their full potential.
Painstakingly honest, this chilling memoir reveals how a teenager became immersed in the bizarre life of legendary porn star John Holmes. Starting with a childhood that molded her perfectly to fall for the seduction of “the king of porn,” this autobiography recounts the perilous road that Dawn Schiller traveled—from drugs and addiction to beatings, arrests, forced prostitution, and being sold to the drug underworld. After living through the horrific Wonderland murders of 1981, she entered protective custody, ran from the FBI, and turned in John Holmes to the police. This is the true story of a young girl’s harrowing escape from one of the most infamous public figures, her struggle to survive, and her recovery from unthinkable abuse.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made. After the crash landing, the airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways—the first known map of the afterlife. As the story unfolds, Dawn’s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them. Dawn must confront the questions she’s never truly asked: What does a life well lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices . . . or do our choices make us? And who would you be if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are right now?
In the explosive finale to the epic romantic saga, Bella has one final choice to make. Should she stay mortal and strengthen her connection to the werewolves, or leave it all behind to become a vampire? When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved? To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs. This astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic. It's here! #1 bestselling author Stephenie Meyer makes a triumphant return to the world of Twilight with the highly anticipated companion, Midnight Sun: the iconic love story of Bella and Edward told from the vampire's point of view. "People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there." -- Time "A literary phenomenon." -- The New York Times
When children learn about something big and bad - even when they hear only bits and pieces - their brains get busy trying to make sense of it. Where did it happen? Why did it happen? And especially, will it happen again? Something Bad Happened guides children ages 6 to 12 and the adults who care about them through tough conversations about national and international tragedies. The non-specific term "bad thing" is used throughout, keeping this a flexible tool, and so children are never inadvertently exposed to events their parents have chosen not to share. Fear, sadness and uncertainty about the "bad thing" all are normalized, and immediately usable coping tools provided. For children and parents to read together, this one-of-a-kind resource by child psychologist and best-selling author Dawn Huebner provides comfort, support and next steps for children learning about troubling world events.
Imagine this: You're having an amazing family holiday, one where everyone is there and all 18 of you are squeezed into one house. All of sudden it's 4 o'clock in the morning and there's banging and yelling and screaming. The police are in the house pulling people out of bed ... Sofia is like most 12-year-old girls in New Zealand. How is she going to earn enough money for those boots? WHY does she have to give that speech at school? Who is she going to be friends with this year? It comes as a surprise to Sofia and her family when her big brother, Lenny, starts talking about protests, "overstayers", and injustices against Pacific Islanders by the government. Inspired by the Black Panthers in America, a group has formed called the Polynesian Panthers, who encourage immigrant and Indigenous families across New Zealand to stand up for their rights. Soon the whole family becomes involved in the movement. Told through Sofia's diary entries, with illustrations throughout, Dawn Raid is the story of one ordinary girl living in extraordinary times, learning how to stand up and fight.
Mark Langley and his brother Robbie are half of a four man team on a robbery in London. Two guards and Robbie are shot dead and Mark Langley survives only to get sent down for thirty years. The sixteen million pounds is never recovered and while Langley's inside, Robbie's young daughter is raped by two drug-dealing Yardies who have now moved on to bigger deals and sex slaving with the Russian gangster Gorkhov. Unexpectedly released, Langley now wants his share of the robbery money. He also wants his lover Liz Chambers back. With help needed and two friends already onboard, Langley recruits Colin Voss a gun-dealing wheelman who's having a nervous breakdown. Now ready to go, Langley embarks into a web of desperate financial moves brought on by a collapsing global bank system and the repercussions of his actions reach much further than anyone could ever imagine.
Dawn thinks that her mother, Irene, hates her. She is not sure why, or what she did, but this is the only explanation that she can think of for how her mother has always treated her... And so begins the story of a child’s life with a mother who hides in closets to get away from her children, walks around with a weapon in her hand to instill fear, and turns a blind eye to the sexual abuse of her daughters. But the abuse and dysfunction doesn’t end there, as Dawn also must deal with her brother’s mental illness, her sister’s bitterness, and her father’s inability to protect her. Even as an adult, Dawn struggles to defend herself from a mother who so jealously withholds her father from her that she is willing to break up her daughter’s marriage so his attention will fall elsewhere. But as Dawn slowly learns to protect herself and put up boundaries, she is faced with the most difficult challenge of all—having to walk away from a mentally ill son so he can reach his rock bottom and finally find help. Both gripping and disturbing, Part Truths unflinchingly shows the dark side of abuse and mental illness. Yet it is also inspirational, as despite everything, Dawn ultimately learns to love herself and reclaim her strength, dignity, and own voice.
THE FACES OF 266 Shocking! Vivid! Factual! Dramatic! Three young women, three friends in high school, three years after graduation, they reconnect. Meanwhile, three pregnancies, three mothers (two of them single), three decisions: birth, adoption, abortion, even suicide. From life-supporting pregnancy care centers to unethical, self-promoting counselors at abortion sites, these three women experience the everyday workings of abortion. They deal with the evil reality this right has caused. Daring! Hair-raising! Heart-wrenching! Gut-punching! Four thousand abortions are done every day in the USA. One every twenty seconds. "See" an abortion to learn who you are. Dare to face yourself and think. Dare to discover what you really believe about the gift of love in life and why. These three young, pregnant women grow up fast when forced to face the hard facts of life beyond oneself. Each mother asks her heart can she ever love anyone if she can't love her baby as herself. Two hundred sixty-six is the number of days from human conception to birth-this number no lover of life will ever forget to win the War for Life. These women soon understand for whom the bell tolls. They see how abortion affects every single one of us. They realize that no man is an island. Provoking! Soul-searching! Life-celebrating! Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is love. Abortion is taking life. Giving life is giving birth. The Faces of 266 is the hard-hitting, emotionally charged eye-opener to the most unforgettable chapter in United States history that is still being written with the blood and bodies of American babies. This novel strikes a blow to the heart while joyfully celebrating every wonderful life revealed when true love is a baby. If you can't love a baby, you can't love anybody. "The book engaged me from start to finish, weighing heavily on me with reality and instruction to start and then moving me literally to tears of joy and victory at the end." --Rev. Dr. Christopher C. DeGreen, author of 60 Days of Praise! Devotional "The Faces of 266 presents sort of a mini-course in life-crisis management as the reader encounters the choices and consequences of the characters, the hidden motives of their advisors, and the powerful victory of embracing the call to love." -Ellen Marie Edmonds, author of Embracing Dementia-A Call to Love and of Cardiophany of the Sacred Heart-Divine Mercy in the Womb For news and updates go to [email protected]
