I don't know what I'm doing here. Well, I do really ... I have been sent here to learn to talk again. Sent here because my mother can't stand my silent presence at home. Sent here because of my face...' She watches; she dreams. She sees more than they realise. She has worries and fears, hopes and desires. She is troubled; she is angry. Above all, she is lonely. She may be someone you know. She may be you. In John Marsden's acclaimed debut novel, she tells her story, with humour and insight, with sensitivity and strength, with painful honesty. You will never forget her. When it was originally published, SO MUCH TO TELL YOU won a Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award, a Victorian Premier's Award and a Christopher Medal (USA), as well as being selected by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults.
From Internet sensation Anna Akana comes a candid and poignant collection of essays about love, loss, and chasing adulthood. In 2007, Anna Akana lost her teen sister, Kristina, to suicide. In the months that followed, she realized that the one thing helping her process her grief and begin to heal was comedy. So she began making YouTube videos as a form of creative expression and as a way to connect with others. Ten years later, Anna has more than a million subscribers who watch her smart, honest vlogs on her YouTube channel. Her most popular videos, including “How to Put On Your Face” and “Why Girls Should Ask Guys Out,” are comical and provocative, but they all share a deeper message: Your worth is determined by you and you alone. You must learn to love yourself. In So Much I Want to Tell You, Anna opens up about her own struggles with poor self-esteem and reveals both the highs and lows of coming-of-age. She offers fresh, funny, hard-won advice for young women on everything from self-care to money to sex, and she is refreshingly straightforward about the realities of dating, female friendship, and the hustle required to make your dreams come true. This is Anna’s story, but, as she says, it belongs just as much to Kristina and to every other girl who must learn that growing up can be hard to do. Witty and real, Anna breaks things down in a way only a big sister can. Praise for So Much I Want to Tell You “This book is filled with the kind of honesty, vulnerability, and determination that makes Anna such a captivating person. One warning: You’ll want to hug her a lot while reading this.”—Natalie Tran, actress and comedian “As a woman working in entertainment, Anna Akana is accustomed to feeling vulnerable. Which means that she’s used to being brave. This book is a tribute to the duality of bravery and fear as told through Anna’s experiences to date.”—Hannah Hart, New York Times bestselling author of Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded “Frank advice on how to live a productive, happy life . . . written in tribute to a ‘fearless, talented, and bold’ sister.”—Kirkus Reviews
Taryn Taylor knows the only thing worse than growing up in the shadow of a rock star is gaining your own spotlight—then losing it. She’s powerless as she watches the lead singer of their indie band destroy everything they’ve worked so hard for, right on the cusp of super-stardom. Grieving her famous dad at the age of four was heart-breaking, but this is soul-crushing. Barely out of high school, Taryn struggles to hold onto her dreams and navigate the complicated, secret relationship she has with her bassist, Shay. But Taryn never wanted to fall in love and after spending so much energy seeking the limelight, she might be blinded by it. It’s time to grow up and face the music. But betrayal hovers close by, and the hurts of Taryn’s past are far from over. Raw, funny, and unforgettable, There’s So Much I Need to Say to You is an #OwnStories LGBTQIA2S+ novel about losing your way and finding your truth.
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.
Kaye Webb, a journalist with no publishing experience, burst into the world of children's books in 1961 and changed the face of children's publishing forever. Her child-like enthusiasm and shrewd business mind led her to become Puffin's most successful editor and the genius behind the Puffin Club, which opened up the exciting world of authors and books to children across Britain. But whilst Kaye's professional life had worked out beautifully, her private life had been the reverse. Kaye had two husbands before her marriage to the artist Ronald Searle, and the torment of his sudden and shocking departure never left her. Yet to the outside world Kaye Webb remained passionate and unstoppable. This is the unknown story of the woman who brought the joy of books to children everywhere whilst battling the emotional pain that plagued her private life.
Intimate pictures of the top artists in rap music from one of the most influential and culturally relevant photographers of his generation Photographer Gunner Stahl has captured shots of some of the world's most famous rappers including Drake, Migos, Kayne West, A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino, Gucci Mane, Post Malone, and many others. He started by capturing the burgeoning hip-hop scene in Atlanta with an undeniable raw energy that has led to professional opportunities with magazines like Vogue, Fader, and Highsnobiety as well as brands like Google, Red Bull, Moncler, Adidas, Stella McCartney, PUMA, and Kylie Jenner's Thick clothing collection. In Portraits, he will publish unseen images of rap's most famous artists along with written contributions from rapper Swae Lee and photographer Chi Modu.
Winner of Australia's Book of the Year Award. Set in Australia and written in the form of a diary, this is the tragic story of the effects of divorce and her parents' anger on a young woman's life. "Remarkable...few readers will come away from the portrait of Marina's ordeal unshaken. "--Publishers Weekly
A collection of poems, stories, and essays written by girls twelve to eighteen years of age and revealing the secrets which enabled them to overcome the challenges they faced.
The stage adaptation of John Marsden's award-winning, bestselling novel. 'I don't know what I'm doing here. Well, I do really I have been sent here to learn to talk again. Sent here because my mother can't stand my silent presence at home. Sent here because of my face ...' She watches; she dreams. She sees more than they realise. She has worries and fears, hopes and desires. She is troubled; she is angry. Above all, she is lonely. She may be someone you know. She may be you. In So Much to Tell You she tells her story. With humour and insight, with sensitivity and strength, with painful honesty. You will never forget her. 'impressive emotional power, style, freshness and originality' CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
