In the vein of Year of the Dog and The Higher Power of Lucky, this Middle Eastern coming-of-age story is told with warmth, spirit, and a mischievous sense of humor Spunky eleven-year-old Wadjda lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with her parents. She desperately wants a bicycle so that she can race her friend Abdullah, even though it is considered improper for girls to ride bikes. Wadjda earns money for her dream bike by selling homemade bracelets and mixtapes of banned music to her classmates. But after she's caught, she’s forced to turn over a new leaf (sort of), or risk expulsion from school. Still, Wadjda keeps scheming, and with the bicycle so closely in her sights, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Set against the shifting social attitudes of the Middle East, The Green Bicycle explores gender roles, conformity, and the importance of family, all with wit and irresistible heart.
A beautifully written, unforgettable novel of a troubled marriage, set against the lush landscape and political turmoil of Trinidad—by the award-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch and Passiontide Monique Roffey's Orange Prize-shortlisted novel is a gripping portrait of postcolonialism that stands among great works by Caribbean writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Andrea Levy. When George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England, George is immediately seduced by the beguiling island, while Sabine feels isolated, heat-fatigued, and ill-at-ease. As they adapt to new circumstances, their marriage endures for better or worse, despite growing political unrest and racial tensions that affect their daily lives. But when George finds a cache of letters that Sabine has hidden from him, the discovery sets off a devastating series of consequences as other secrets begin to emerge.
One of the first true freedoms you experience as a kid growing up is your first bike. It becomes your transportation to explore the world... or at least the local neighborhood! All the kids in my neighborhood had bikes, and we roamed like packs of unwashed hooligans with torn jeans and bloody knees. We stuffed playing cards in our spokes and chewed on black licorice sticks as we rode around looking for the next jumping contest to break out. It was magic! But to a kid, a bike is more than transportation, it becomes an extension of your personality. Everybody's bike was as unique as the person who rode them. Stingrays, 10 speeds, mountain bikes, BMX, cruisers... everybody had something a little different, and they all had their strengths and weaknesses. This is where the idea for the PURPLE BICYCLE came from. Just as a bike might wish it had the abilities of a different make or model, so might a person tend to overlook how truly unique God has created each one us and long for someone else's gifts and talents, color, or ethnicity because they seem better than ours. It's a simple story, but one we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
Situated opposite the mouth of the Orinoco River, western Trinidad has long been considered an entrepôt to mainland South America. Trinidad’s geographic position—seen as strategic by various imperial governments—led to many heterogeneous peoples from across the region and globe settling or being relocated there. The calm waters around the Gulf of Paria on the western fringes of Trinidad induced settlers to construct a harbour, Port of Spain, around which the modern capital has been formed. From its colonial roots into the postcolonial era, western Trinidad therefore has played an especial part in the shaping of the island’s literature. Viewed from one perspective, western Trinidad might be deemed as narrating the heart of the modern state’s national literature. Alternatively, the political threats posed around San Fernando in Trinidad’s southwest in the 1930s and from within the capital in the 1970s present a different picture of western Trinidad—one in which the fractures of Trinidad and Tobago’s projected nationalism are prevalent. While sugar remains a dominant narrative in Caribbean literary studies, this book offers a unique literary perspective on matters too often perceived as the sole preserve of sociological, anthropological or geographical studies. The legacy of the oil industry and the development of the suburban commuter belt of East-West Corridor, therefore, form considerable discursive nodes, alongside other key Trinidadian sites, such as Woodford Square, colonial houses and the urban yards of Port of Spain. This study places works by well-known authors such as V. S. Naipaul and Samuel Selvon, alongside writing by Michel Maxwell Philip, Marcella Fanny Wilkins, E. L. Joseph, Earl Lovelace, Ismith Khan, Monique Roffey, Arthur Calder-Marshall and the largely neglected novelist, Yseult Bridges, who is almost entirely forgotten today. Using fiction, calypso, history, memoir, legal accounts, poetry, essays and journalism, this study opens with an analysis of Trinidad’s nineteenth century literature and offers twentieth century and more contemporary readings of the island in successive chapters. Chapters are roughly arranged in chronological order around particular sites and topoi, while literature from a variety of authors of British, Caribbean, Irish and Jewish descent is represented.
Shaun, the little Leprechaun, who lives near Larne, in N Ireland, has many adventures. During a holiday visit to the island of Cyprus, he performs magic, and saves a village from disaster, much to the delight of the residents in this Cypriot mountain village. There are 4 other short stories – ranging from “Hannah’s birthday bicycle” to the tale of the “Cyril & Mabel - the red Squirrels”, which should delight young people from the ages of 5 to 9 years. With the help of lovely illustrations the young person will be able to meet and follow Shaun and the other characters in these stories.
