From the ages of 5 to 15, Jess Smith lived with her parents, sisters and a mongrel dog in an old, blue Bedford bus. They travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, and much of England too, stopping here and there until they were moved on by the local authorities or driven by their own instinctive need to travel. By campfires, under the unchanging stars they brewed up tea, telling stories and singing songs late into the night. "Jessie's Journey" describes what it was like to be one of the last of the traditional travelling folk. It is not an idyllic tale, but despite the threat of bigoted abuse and scattered schooling, humour and laughter run throughout a childhood teeming with unforgettable characters and incidents.
"Jessie's journey is the true story of a sheltered Edwardian girl and her husband who became missionaries in one of Peru's most ancient cities, Cuzco." -- p. 8.
A thirteen-year-old Jewish orphan reluctantly leaves her grandmother and immigrates to New York City, where she works for three years sewing lace and earning money to bring Grandmother to the United States, too. Reprint.
Critically acclaimed author Joseph Bruchac's exciting JOURNAL OF JESSE SMOKE is now in paperback with a dynamic repackaging! In 1838 in Tennessee, the Cherokee Nation is on the brink of being changed forever as they face the Removal -- being forcibly moved from their homes and land, in part because of a treaty signed by a group of their own people. Sixteen-year-old Jesse Smoke has been studying at the Mission School, but it has been shut down and turned into a fort for the ever-increasing number of soldiers entering the territory. Now Jesse has returned to his home to live with his widowed mother and two younger sisters. All hope lies on the Cherokee chief, John Ross, who is in Washington, D.C., trying to delay the Removal. Then one night, family members are suddenly awakened, dragged from their homes, and brought at gunpoint to a stockade camp. From there, Jesse and his family are forced to march westward on the horrifying Trail of Tears during the long, cold winter months. It's a difficult journey west, and Jesse's not sure if he and his family can survive the journey.
When the most unpredictable happens..... Parenting is challenging under the best of circumstances. If your child suddenly begins exhibiting strange behaviors and appears to be contracting an unknown psychiatric or neurological illness, parenting becomes even more confusing. If the medical professionals can’t seem to figure out what kind of disease your child has, where does a parent go for help? Discovering the answers to Julia’s mysterious illness was a long and complicated journey. A misdiagnosis of Schizophrenia delayed proper treatment. Once a correct diagnosis was given, finding and receiving the appropriate treatment for her condition was another major challenge. This story is a journey of perseverance amidst many obstacles.
Travel with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins on her compelling journey from America’s heartland to international sports history, navigating challenges and triumphs with rugged grit and a splash of glitter Pyeongchang, February 21, 2018. In the nerve-racking final seconds of the women’s team sprint freestyle race, Jessie Diggins dug deep. Blowing past two of the best sprinters in the world, she stretched her ski boot across the finish line and lunged straight into Olympic immortality: the first ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the United States at the Winter Games. The 26-year-old Diggins, a four-time World Championship medalist, was literally a world away from the small town of Afton, Minnesota, where she first strapped on skis. Yet, for all her history-making achievements, she had never strayed far from the scrappy 12-year-old who had insisted on portaging her own canoe through the wilderness, yelling happily under the unwieldy weight on her shoulders: “Look! I’m doing it!” In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete; learning how to push through and beyond physical and psychological limits; and the intense pressure of competing at the highest levels. She openly shares her harrowing struggle with bulimia, recounting both the adversity and how she healed from it in order to bring hope and understanding to others experiencing eating disorders. Between thrilling accounts of moments of triumph, Diggins shows the determination it takes to get there—the struggles and disappointments, the fun and the hard work, and the importance of listening to that small, fierce voice: I can do it. I am brave enough.
Wake up. Train. Sleep. Repeat. Socializing not encouraged. Eating not recommended. Welcome to the life of Chinese American pop star Rose B.D. The headlines will tell you that the thin, talented, and adored Flower Princess of Shanghai has it all. No one suspects that dangerous struggles linger beneath the surface - not even Rose herself. But after crossing paths with outgoing college student Lucas, Rose's eyes are quickly opened to the reality of what living in the spotlight means. When symptoms of an eating disorder become too much to ignore, Rose finds herself having to choose between the life she has worked so hard to build and the severe aftermath of neglecting her needs. Through Rose's story, Cheng shines a light on the inadequate conversation surrounding mental health within the entertainment industry. In Unglamored, beauty standards within Asian culture are challenged, the power of celebrity influence is recognized, and readers are reminded that true healing comes through vulnerability and meaningful human connection.
Winner of the 2019 Dzanc Prize for Fiction Set in small-town West Virginia in the twilight of the eighties, Call It Horses tells the story of three women--niece, aunt, and stowaway--and an improbable road trip. Frankie is an orphan (or a reluctant wife). Mave is an autodidact (or the town pariah). Nan is an artist (or the town whore). Each separately haunted, Frankie, Mave, and Nan--with a hound in tow--set out in an Oldsmobile Royale for Abiquiú and the desert of Georgia O'Keeffe, seeking an escape from everything they've known. Frankie records the journey in letters to her aunt Mave's dead lover, a linguist named Ruth, sketching out her troubled life and her complicated relationship with Mave, who became her guardian when Frankie was orphaned at sixteen. Slowly, one letter at a time, Frankie exposes the ruins of herself and her fellow passengers: things that chase them, that died too soon, that never lived. With lush prose and brutal empathy, Frankie tells Ruth--and herself--the story of liminality experienced by a woman standing just outside of motherhood, fulfillment, and love.
