How a young teen comes to accept herself for who she is. Twelve-year-old Kari Ann is angry her family insists she attend a family reunion with them instead of going with her best friend to the Mall of America. She feels awkward, out-of-sink with her body and life. She hates being twelve! When Kari Ann's mother gives her a journal to capture her thoughts during the reunion, Kari Ann takes the assignment seriously and so begins a journey of discovery about life-including an exciting rescue, faith and herself. It was good at the beginning of the story. It was great to the end. I liked it very much. Thumbs up. --Alicia Age 9
The New York Times–bestselling author of A Wrinkle in Time takes an introspective look at her life and muses on creativity in these four memoirs. Set against the lush backdrop of Crosswicks, Madeleine L’Engle’s family farmhouse in rural Connecticut, this series of memoirs reveals the complexity behind the beloved author whose works have long been cherished by children and adults alike. A Circle of Quiet: In a deeply personal account, L’Engle shares her journey to find balance between her career as an author and her responsibilities as a wife, mother, teacher, and Christian. The Summer of the Great-Grandmother: Four generations of family have gathered at Crosswicks to care for L’Engle’s ninety-year-old mother, whose health is rapidly declining and whose once astute mind is slipping into senility. L’Engle takes an unflinching look at diminishment and death, all the while celebrating the wonder of life and the bonds between mothers and daughters. The Irrational Season: Exploring the intersection of science and religion, L’Engle uncovers how her spiritual convictions inform and enrich the everyday. The memoir follows the liturgical year from one Advent to the next, with L’Engle’s reflections on the changing seasons in her own life as a writer, wife, mother, and global citizen. Two-Part Invention: L’Engle beautifully evokes the life she and her husband, actor Hugh Franklin, built and the family they cherished. Beginning with their very different childhoods, their life in New York City in the 1940s, and their years spent raising their children at Crosswicks, this is L’Engle’s most personal work yet. Offering a new perspective into her writing and life and how the two inform each other, the National Book Award–winning author explores the meanings behind motherhood, marriage, and faith.
In the summer of 1957, eight-year-old Penelope Evans was sexually molested. Two months later, the man who molested her was found dead in his car from a gunshot wound to the head. It was ruled a suicide. Now, thirty-six years later, Elizabeth Scott—the granddaughter of the dead man and a police investigator—wonders why her beloved grandfather would commit suicide. Elizabeth is intent on finding out if it really was suicide or if he was actually murdered. Unaware of Penelope’s experience in 1957, Elizabeth asks her former childhood friend to help get the case reopened. Penelope refuses, and after secretly reading her mother’s diary, she is determined to keep Elizabeth from reopening the case. As these two women move forward on divergent paths, Elizabeth discovers unfathomable secrets her family has kept from her. Penelope is forced to confront her past as her current life unravels. Both women are faced with life-changing decisions that will affect their lives and the people they love most.
Jeff Kinney is best known for his series, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He is an American children�s book author, game designer, cartoonist, producer, actor, and movie director. This detailed biography about this widely celebrated author and illustrator reveals the cultural impact of his work. Readers will experience how this fascinating artist was drawn to his profession through this notable personal review of Kinney�s life.
Lenny Puddock writes of his experiences as a Chicago Cub during the 2011 baseball season. Puddock is a 32-year-old physical therapist for the Indianapolis National Institute of Fitness and Health who attended Randy Hundleys Fantasy Camp. Part of the Fantasy Camp experience is his developing friendship with Gertrude Castellano, a waitress who becomes a singing star. They romance at a distance. Puddock is invited to the Cubs Spring Training after an outstanding performance at the Camp. The Cubs offer him a contract with the Daytona Class A team and he accepts. Puddock is moved up to Class AA Tennessee in mid-May and is called up to the Cubs in mid-July. He was batting .378. In mid-August Mike Quade resigns as manager. Ryne Sandberg, who had an escape clause in his contract with a Phillies Minor League team, becomes the Cubs manager. When Puddock joined the parent club, the Cubs were 10 games out of first place. By the end of August they are four from the Wild Card spot. In the waning days of August the roster was two short due to injuries. Sandberg did not want to disrupt the Iowa or Tennessee playoff-bound teams, so he activated Greg Maddux and himself, thinking the roster had to contain the maximum 25 players. Plans were to activate two players before the August 31 midnight deadline but due to an interns goof not recognizing the difference in Eastern Standard Time and Central Standard Time, the move came too late. In essence the Cubs would have only a 23-player Post-Season roster. The Cubs win their Division and League playoffs and enter World Series for the first time in 76 years. In an amazing ninth inning of the seventh game, the Cubs win the Series.
