In this autobiographical graphic novel, Beldan Sezen revisits the various instances of her coming of age, and her coming out as lesbian, in both western and Islamic cultures (as the daughter of Turkish immigrants in western Europe)—to friends, family, and herself. Through a series of vignettes, she navigates the messy circumstances of her life, dealing with family issues, bad dates, and sexual politics with the raw honesty of a young woman looking for happiness. Snapshots is an amusing, thoroughly modern take on dyke life and cultural identity. Beldan Sezen's previous graphic novels were Zakkum and #GeziPark .
Each story within Snapshots places the characters in situations where their past behaviors will be changed in a moment that is like a snapshot picture: freezing in time who they are in a moment but facing new challenges that will alter that snapshot and create a new reality. Eudora Welty’s quote “A good snapshot keeps a moment from going away” is a theme that permeates all of the stories in Eliot Parker’s collection of short stories, Snapshots. These stories are set in West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. In the plots of the stories, the makeup of the characters is more interesting and important than the circumstances that the characters find themselves trying to manage. Each protagonist finds themselves in a complicated set of personal and professional relationships. By their nature, relationships are complicated. The protagonists in these stories are shaped by their backgrounds, life experiences, and expectations of other people. Conflicts arise for these protagonists when decisions and choices made by others alter the expectations and circumstances expected by the protagonists. In each of these stories, the lives, values, and beliefs held by the characters are deconstructed and each of them face a new reality brought on by an experience or situation that forces them to reexamine who they are and who they need to become. Each of these characters occupy a variety of professional spaces: cops, a rich, successful couple, convicted criminals, and others grieving the loss of a loved one and grieving the absence of love.
Emerging brittle and cynical from a wildly dysfunctional family, Ngaio careers from ice cream factory to children's home to Oxford to rehab. Along the way, she discovers herself and her sexuality -- at raucous parties with trainee nurses, in feminist encounter groups and Wiccan covens, in university classrooms and legendary sapphic hotspots. This novel delivers vivid and hilarious snapshots of late 20th Century lesbian life: witty, tender, frank.
Twelve-year-old JJ loves three things: her great-grandma, her cat, and photography. But she's never going to be a real photographer unless she gets better equipment. When her best friend, Kat, discovers a photo contest with the grand prize of a fancy digital camera-the kind JJ's parents could never afford-she jumps at the chance to win it. Things start going wrong when ditzy Aunt Lissa moves in under mysterious circumstances and JJ's forced to share her room. Why did Lissa lose her job anyway? Kat has all sorts of theories-theories that bring more trouble than the girls can imagine. Gram's not doing so great, the cat's always trying to sneak out, and Aunt Lissa's ruining JJ's summer. According to Gram, photography is JJ's God-given talent, but how can that be true when everything keeps going wrong? "The moving story of a young girl who finds her God-given gift, while coming to terms with loss and change." BILL MEYERS, Author of Eli and The Jesus Experience "Young readers will relate to the story of a girl trying to find her place in her family and in the world, and the strong voice and gentle sense of humor will keep them reading. Not to mention a wayward cat and a mystery or two. A fun read with real emotions and good values." JEANNIE ST. JOHN TAYLOR, Radio Host and Author/Illustrator of thirty-plus books "Delightful characters, realistic situations, and beautifully expressed emotions make Picture Imperfect the perfect read." ANGELA RUTH STRONG, Author of The Fun4Hire Series
The story of a young Mexican boy living in a colonia (trash dump community) who takes the first steps toward realizing his dream of getting an education.
Snaden portrays vivid snapshots of the loving meetings between Jesus and the women he encountered. Readers will be encouraged to imitate Jesus in their relationships with others and to have a deeper understanding of grace, God's life-changing love for women, and the realization that true self-esteem can only come from a committed relationship with him.
For the awesomely daring women in our lives comes the perfect gift: a jewel of a book that collects vintage candid snapshots of women enjoying unconventional activities. For the last two decades, Peter Cohen has been combing estate sales and flea markets collecting vernacular, or "found," photography taken in the middle part of the twentieth century. In his collection are countless images of women of all ages in various unconventional activities for the time: there are women swigging booze out of a bottle, boxing, playing pick-up football, smoking, or shooting arrows or guns—incongruous and playful behavior, all the while often performed in lovely dresses. Snapshots of Dangerous Women collects many of these period photographs, showcasing women from the thirties, forties, and fifties who are equal parts badass and rebellious, and, above all, clearly having a lot of fun. This charming book makes the ideal gift for the bold and free-spirited women in our lives.
