Esther is one of the Special Ones: four young spiritual guides who live in a remote farmhouse under the protection of a mysterious cult leader. He watches them around the clock, ready to punish them if they forget who they are—and all the while, broadcasting their lives to eager followers on the outside. Esther knows that if she stops being Special, he will “renew” her. Nobody knows what happens to the Special Ones who are taken away from the farm for renewal, but Esther fears the worst. Like an actor caught up in an endless play, she must keep up the performance if she wants to survive long enough to escape.
A claustrophobic and irresistible cult thriller like no other, from master of suspense Em Bailey.... Esther is one of the Special Ones – four people who live under his protection in a remote farmhouse. The Special Ones are not allowed to leave, but why would they want to? Here, they are safe from toxic modern life, safe from a meaningless existence, safe in their endless work. He watches them every moment of every day, ready to punish them if they forget who they are – all while broadcasting their lives to eager followers on the outside. Esther knows he will renew her if she stops being Special, and that renewal almost certainly means death. Yet she also knows she’s a fake. She has no ancient wisdom, no genuine advice to offer her followers. But like an actor caught up in an endless play, she must keep up the performance – if she wants to survive long enough to escape.
In 1951, eighteen-year-old Lee Bouvier and her twenty-two-year-old sister Jacqueline took their first trip to Europe together. Jackie had already spent a year in France living with a French family and attending the Sorbonne. Her many cards and letters had made her sister Lee want nothing more than to see Europe with Jackie. Having convinced their parents, the two young ladies set off to see the continent. As they traveled, they sketched and kept notes, creating an illustrated journal of their time abroad, which they presented to their parents as a thank you upon their return; that delightful chronicle is ONE SPECIAL SUMMER. Join Jackie and Lee for a tantalizing glimpse of a lost world: crossing the Atlantic by ocean liner, visits with counts and ambassadors in Paris, art lessons in Venice, and white gloves in the afternoon. Smile at the social agonies all young women suffer in common--how to politely consume an oversized hors d'oeuvre, the horror of slipping undergarments, and the art of fending off unwanted romantic advances.
When Bridget Fidget takes her favorite toy, Captain Cat, with her to a store to spend the golden coin the tooth fairy brought, she loses him. Full color.
Many people spend considerable time seeking a sense of purpose in life and, concomitant with that, a sense of personal identity. This book demystifies this search, revealing why this search is a fallacy. The purpose is to inform readers about results in neuroscience and biophysics that may guide us to some liberation needed in the current age of great complexity in life with a diverse burden of chores; a deliverance from some afflictions that prevent individuals from achieving the true purpose of our lives. Among these afflictions we find two primordial concerns: the belief and subsequent attachment to a self, and the conviction that life must have a deep purpose in which we are major players. While this is a scientific text, it can easily be read by a lay audience, written with minimal technical jargon and with references to scientific papers enough to satisfy the curious. We have tried to extract the essence of scientific observations such that we can glimpse at those aforementioned concerns about the self and life, observations which help us comprehend what we are and what we become, the being and becoming of our own selves and natural phenomena around us. Jose Luis Perez Velazquez received a PhD in Molecular Physiology & Biophysics. His research seeks principles of biological organisation. He worked at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and was Professor at the University of Toronto. Currently he is a Research Scholar at the Ronin Institute and lives in the natural paradise of Asturias, in Northern Spain. Vera Nenadovic is a nurse practitioner, neuroscientist and entrepreneur. She has 30 years of experience in healthcare from First Nations communities to intensive care units. Her research focuses on predicting brain injury outcomes. She is a clinician and researcher at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital. Her startup company BrainsView is commercializing software that analyzes brainwaves to monitor brain function and recovery after head injury. She is married and lives in Toronto, with her husband and Rottweiler.
Joyce Farmer's memoir chronicles the decline of the author's parents' health, their relationship with one another and with their daughter, and how they cope with the day-to-day emotional fragility of the most taxing time of their lives. Joyce Farmer, best known for co-creating the Tits 'n Clits comics anthology in the 1970s, a feminist response to the rampant misogyny in underground comix, spent 11 years crafting Special Exits, a graphic memoir in the vein of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home or Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, and Frank Stack's Our Cancer Year, about caring for her dying father and stepmother.
Olive Corbett is not crazy. Not anymore. She obediently takes her meds and stays under the radar at school. After “the incident,” Olive just wants to avoid any more trouble, so she knows the smartest thing is to stay clear of the new girl who is rumored to have quite the creepy past. But there’s no avoiding Miranda Vaile. As mousy Miranda edges her way into the popular group, right up to the side of queen bee Katie – and pushes the others right out – only Olive seems to notice that something strange is going on. Something almost . . . parasitic. Either Olive is losing her grip on reality, or Miranda Vaile is stealing Katie’s life. But who would ever believe crazy Olive, the girl who has a habit of letting her imagination run away with her? And what if Olive is the next target? A chilling psychological thriller that tears through themes of identity, loss, and toxic friendship, Shift will leave readers guessing until the final pages.
Does having a new brother or sister make you into MORE than you already are? Spencer is about to find out. He's as strong as a bear, as funny as a monkey, and as wild as a tiger. But on one special day, everything changes. Now Spencer is strong, funny, wild, brave, free . . . and gentle, too. This energetic and heartwarming board book about relishing the joys of individuality and big brotherhood is the perfect gift to celebrate a new sibling.
