Welcome to California! Whether they're locals or visitors, young readers will love this bright, cheerful, fact-filled picture book celebration of "The Golden State." With information about the state's animals, plants, regions, food, people, customs, and fun places to visit, this tribute to California is the perfect gift for vacationers and residents alike. The warm, bright illustrations highlight the many delights to be found throughout the state, and the easy-yet-informative details ("The biggest trees you'll ever see are in California! The redwood tree is the tallest living thing on Earth") give just the right amount of information to kids from preschool on up.
A stunning, funny, and heartbreaking memoir, Welcome to California recalls one woman’s diagnosis with bipolar disorder, which ultimately leads to her wrongful and traumatic incarceration in the Los Angeles County jail system. At age thirty-one, Sandra Boszko leaves her Winnipeg home for Hollywood with two secrets: her desire to perform and her mental illness. Although her health has already twice sent her packing from L.A.’s world of acting schools, auditions, and stunt work, she’s determined to succeed this time. But shortly after her arrival, Sandra’s mind clicks into a manic state, and within twenty-four hours she finds herself in the worst hell imaginable: detained and manic in a system that refuses to follow protocol for inmates with mental illness. While her family scrambles to find her in the system and convince the courts she requires medical care, Sandra is subjected to a nightmare within a nightmare. As her mind spirals with delusion, she experiences abusive guards, isolation, and neglect. By the time she’s finally released for hospitalization, the damage is done. This memoir chronicles not only Sandra’s health, struggles, and achievements after release, but also her life before as an ambitious, positive, and bright young woman growing up in Canada amongst loving family and friends. Welcome to California details how bipolar has affected Sandra’s life with remarkable clarity and depth. It examines the devastating effects of stigma and miseducation surrounding mental illness, as well as the frightening statistics of mentally ill inmates in the California prison system and beyond. Perhaps most importantly, this book explores the miracle of compassion, and the beauty in perseverance and healing. Named one of the best Indie books of 2021 by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group. Next Generation Indie Book Awards in: 1) Social Justice 2) Memoirs (Personal Struggle/ Health Issues)
Along the winding Monongahela River and forty miles south of Pittsburgh lies California, Pennsylvania. Hopeful prospectors settled the area in 1849 and named their town in honor of those hunting gold out West. California, Pennsylvania traces the growth of this Mon Valley town and nearby communities from the days of boatbuilding, coal mines, and railroads to today. Drawing on the California Area Historical Society's extensive collection of old newspapers, municipal documents, and vintage photographs from the Harry Harris Photographic Collection, this volume also explores the history of early houses and local businesses, and the emergence of higher education from a state normal school into the California University of Pennsylvania.
