The Two Elsies
Author: Martha Finley
Publisher:
Published: 1885
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13:
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Switched at Birth
Author: Jessica Pitchford
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Published: 2016-04-10
Total Pages: 210
ISBN-13: 1868426734
DOWNLOAD EBOOK'Well ... I got the test results back and he's not the father. But it's more complicated than that ...' He was holding a sheet of paper in his hand, but seemed unable to articulate what was on it. Megs reached out for it: 'Let me read it then.' 'And that's how I found out. Boom! It was like I had been stabbed ... I collapsed on the floor at the back of the shop. It was as if I had passed out from shock. Then I cried. I cried for the child I had and the child I didn't have. I knew without a shadow of a doubt my life had changed forever.' In 1990 two South African mothers were faced with an impossible choice, one that no mother should ever have to make. Should they surrender the child they had lovingly raised in order to get back the baby they had given birth to? Megs Clinton-Parker and Sandy Dawkins chose nurture over nature, simply unable to give up their two-year-old sons who were switched at birth at an East Rand hospital. Instead they decided to try to make their strange relationship work, although they lived in different cities, 500 km apart. And they decided to sue the South African state, whose negligence had altered the fates of the two families forever. Robin Dawkins and Gavin Clinton-Parker grew up living each other's lives, brothers-but-not-brothers, acutely aware that their mothers' hearts were torn. Unable to escape the consequences of the swap, Robin decided at the age of 15 that it was time to claim what was rightfully his, adding a further twist to this bitter saga. Theirs is a story of how to live with the unliveable, and how some decisions can never be unmade.
A Dream Called Home
Author: Reyna Grande
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Published: 2019-07-02
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 1501171437
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“Here is a life story so unbelievable, it could only be true.” —Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street From bestselling author of the remarkable memoir The Distance Between Us comes an inspiring account of one woman’s quest to find her place in America as a first-generation Latina university student and aspiring writer determined to build a new life for her family one fearless word at a time. As an immigrant in an unfamiliar country, with an indifferent mother and abusive father, Reyna had few resources at her disposal. Taking refuge in words, Reyna’s love of reading and writing propels her to rise above until she achieves the impossible and is accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz. Although her acceptance is a triumph, the actual experience of American college life is intimidating and unfamiliar for someone like Reyna, who is now estranged from her family and support system. Again, she finds solace in words, holding fast to her vision of becoming a writer, only to discover she knows nothing about what it takes to make a career out of a dream. Through it all, Reyna is determined to make the impossible possible, going from undocumented immigrant of little means to “a fierce, smart, shimmering light of a writer” (Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild); a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist whose “power is growing with every book” (Luis Alberto Urrea, Pultizer Prize finalist); and a proud mother of two beautiful children who will never have to know the pain of poverty and neglect. Told in Reyna’s exquisite, heartfelt prose, A Dream Called Home demonstrates how, by daring to pursue her dreams, Reyna was able to build the one thing she had always longed for: a home that would endure.
The Choice
Author: Edith Eva Eger
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2017-09-05
Total Pages: 228
ISBN-13: 1501130811
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA New York Times Bestseller “I’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.”—Oprah “Dr. Eger’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate “Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
Elsie's Impossible Choice
Author: Martha Finley
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Published: 2006-07-25
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781928749813
DOWNLOAD EBOOKTwo decades before the Civil War, an eight year- old Southern heiress longs for the love of the father she has never known---but when they meet at last, nothing is as Elsie expects. Can the proud and willful Horace Dinsmore learn to love his only child---a little girl whose first allegiance is to God? Introducing soft cover editions in the Elsie Dinsmore Series with newly designed covers.
Impossible
Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2009-08-11
Total Pages: 294
ISBN-13: 1101575956
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA beautifully wrought modern fairy tale from master storyteller and award-winning author Nancy Werlin Inspired by the classic folk ballad “Scarborough Fair,” this is a wonderfully riveting novel of suspense, romance, and fantasy. Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that she is the latest recipient of a generations-old family curse that requires her to complete three seemingly impossible tasks or risk falling into madness and passing the curse on to the next generation. Unlike her ancestors, though, Lucy has family, friends, and other modern resources to help her out. But will it be enough to conquer this age-old evil?
Understanding Conflict: (And What It Really Means)
Author: Janice Hardy
Publisher: Fiction University Press
Published: 2017-08
Total Pages: 144
ISBN-13: 9780991536481
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDo you struggle with creating conflict in your novel? You don't have to. Janice Hardy, award-winning author and founder of the popular writing site, Fiction University, takes you deep inside one of the most important aspects of storytelling--conflict. She'll help you understand what conflict really is, discuss the various aspects of conflict, and reveal why common advice on creating conflict doesn't always work. With in-depth analysis and easy-to-understand examples, Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) looks at how to develop and create conflict in your novel. It also explores the things that affect conflict (such as tension), and the misconceptions that confuse and frustrate so many writers. This book will help you: Understand what conflict means and how to use it Tell the difference between external and internal conflicts See why conflict isn't a "one size fits all" solution Determine the type of conflict your story needs Fix lackluster scenes holding your writing back Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do-it's a down and dirty road map to how conflict works, designed to help you create the right conflict for whatever genre you're writing. By the end of this book, you'll have a solid understanding of what conflict means and the ability to use it to craft strong and compelling fiction.
Pretty Is What Changes
Author: Jessica Queller
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2008-04-01
Total Pages: 258
ISBN-13: 0385525710
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFaced with the BRCA mutation—the so-called “breast cancer gene”—one woman must answer the question: When genetics can predict how we may die, how then do we decide to live? Eleven months after her mother succumbs to cancer, Jessica Queller has herself tested for the BRCA gene mutation. The results come back positive, putting her at a terrifyingly elevated risk of developing breast cancer before the age of fifty and ovarian cancer in her lifetime. Thirty-four, unattached, and yearning for marriage and a family of her own, Queller faces an agonizing choice: a lifetime of vigilant screenings and a commitment to fight the disease when caught, or its radical alternative—a prophylactic double mastectomy that would effectively restore life to her, even as it would challenge her most closely held beliefs about body image, identity, and sexuality. Superbly informed and armed with surprising wit and style, Queller takes us on an odyssey from the frontiers of science to the private interiors of a woman’s life. Pretty Is What Changes is an absorbing account of how she reaches her courageous decision and its physical, emotional, and philosophical consequences. It is also an incredibly moving story of what we inherit from our parents and how we fashion it into the stuff of our own lives, of mothers and daughters and sisters, and of the sisterhood that forms when women are united in battle against a common enemy. Without flinching, Jessica Queller answers a question we may one day face for ourselves: If genes can map our fates and their dark knowledge is offered to us, will we willingly trade innocence for the information that could save our lives? Praise for Pretty Is What Changes “By turns inspiring, sorrowful and profoundly moving. Queller’s sense of humor and grace transform the most harrowing of situations into a riveting and heartfelt memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews “Seamless and gripping. Readers will be rooting for Queller and her heroic decision to confront her genetic destiny.”—Publishers Weekly “Jessica Queller gives us a warm, chilling, unflinching look at her personal journey of survival with style. The ending will surprise you. Her prescience is astounding. Her courage is inspirational. Brava Jessica!”—Marisa Acocella Marchetto, author of Cancer Vixen
First, Do No Harm
Author: Lisa Belkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2021-02-16
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13: 1982173394
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“Crammed with provocative insights, raw emotion, and heartbreaking dilemmas,” (The New York Times) First, Do No Harm is a powerful examination of how life and death decisions are made at a major metropolitan hospital in Houston, as told through the stories of doctors, patients, families, and hospital administrators facing unthinkable choices. What is life worth? And when is a life worth living? Journalist Lisa Belkin examines how these questions are asked and answered over one dramatic summer at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. In an account that is fascinating, revealing, and almost novelistic in its immediacy, Belkin takes us inside a major hospital and introduces us to the people who must make life and death decisions every day. As we walk through the hallways of the hospital we meet a young pediatrician who must decide whether to perform a risky last-ditch surgery on a teenager who has spent most of his fifteen years in a hospital; we watch as new parents battle with doctors over whether to disconnect their fragile, premature twins from the machine that keeps them breathing; we are in the operating room as a poor immigrant, paralyzed from a gunshot in the neck, is asked by doctors whether or not he wishes to stay alive; we witness the worry of a kidney specialist as he decides whether or not to transfer an uninsured baby to the county hospital down the road. We experience critical moments in the lives of these real people as Belkin explores challenging issues and questions involving medical ethics, human suffering, modern technology, legal liability, and financial reality. As medical technology advances, the choices grow more complicated. How far should we go to save a life? Who decides? And who pays?
The Impossible Fortress
Author: Jason Rekulak
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2017-02-07
Total Pages: 304
ISBN-13: 1501144413
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe year is 1987 and Playboy has just published scandalous photographs of Vanna White, from the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. For three teenage boys, Billy, Alf, and Clark, who are desperately uneducated in the ways of women, the magazine is somewhat of a Holy Grail: priceless beyond measure and impossible to attain. So, they hatch a plan to steal it.
