With the novelistic verve that helped make "All Our Kin "a beloved, classic work, Carol Stack tells the story of a little-known yet compelling reverse exodus--of half a million black Americans in the cities of the North, who heard a call to return home to the rural South. Skillfully evoking the terrain of Carolina towns she calls Burdy's Bend, New Jericho, and Rosedale, Stack interweaves a powerful human story with a larger economic and social analysis of migration, families, and poverty. "Call to Home" offers a rare glimpse of African-American communities pulling together, determined to make it in today's America.
Call Me Home has an epic scope in the tradition of Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves or Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and braids the stories of a family in three distinct voices: Amy, who leaves her Texas home at 19 to start a new life with a man she barely knows, and her two children, Jackson and Lydia, who are rocked by their parents’ abusive relationship. When Amy is forced to bargain for the safety of one child over the other, she must retrace the steps in the life she has chosen. Jackson, 18 and made visible by his sexuality, leaves home and eventually finds work on a construction crew in the Idaho mountains, where he begins a potentially ruinous affair with Don, the married foreman of his crew. Lydia, his 12-year-old sister, returns with her mother to Texas, struggling to understand what she perceives to be her mother’s selfishness. At its heart, this is a novel about family, our choices and how we come to live with them, what it means to be queer in the rural West, and the changing idea of home.
When her father kills himself after losing his money in the stock market crash of 1929, twelve-year-old Frances, now a penniless orphan decides to hop abroad a freight train and live the life of a hobo.
For award-winning architect Gil Schafer, the most successful houses are the ones that celebrate the small moments of life—houses with timeless charm that are imbued with memory and anchored in a distinct sense of place. Essentially, Schafer believes a house is truly successful when the people who live there consider it home. It’s this belief—and Schafer’s rare ability to translate his clients’ deeply personal visions of how they want to live into a physical home that reflects those dreams—that has established him as one of the most sought-after, highly-regarded architects of our time. In his new book, A Place to Call Home Schafer follows up his bestselling The Great American House, by pulling the curtain back on his distinctive approach, sharing his process (complete with unexpected, accessible ideas readers can work into their own projects) and taking readers on a detailed tour of seven beautifully realized houses in a range of styles located around the country—each in a unique place, and each with a character all its own. 250 lush, full color photographs of these seven houses and other never-before-seen projects, including exterior, interior, and landscape details, invite readers into Schafer’s world of comfortable classicism. Opening with memories of the childhood homes and experiences that have shaped Schafer’s own history, A Place to Call Home gives the reader the sense that for Schafer, architecture is not just a career but a way of life, a calling. He describes how the many varied houses of his youth were informed as much by their style as by their sense of place, and how these experiences of home informed his idea of classicism as a set of values that he applies to many different kinds of architecture in places as varied as the ones he grew up in. Because while Schafer is absolutely a classical architect, he is in fact a modern traditionalist, and A Place to Call Home showcases how he effortlessly interprets traditional principles for a multiplicity of architectural styles within contemporary ways of living. Sections in Part I include the delicate balance of modern and traditional aesthetics, the juxtaposition of fancy and simple, and the details that make each project special and livable. Schafer also delves into what he refers to as “the spaces in between,” those often overlooked spaces like closets, mudrooms, and laundry rooms, explaining their underappreciated value in the broader context of a home. Part of Schafer’s skill lies in the way he gives the minutiae of a project as much attention as the grand aesthetic gestures, and ultimately, it’s this combination that brings his homes to life. Part II of the book is the story of seven houses and the places they inhabit—each with a completely different character and soul: a charming cottage completely rebuilt into a casual but gracious house for a young family in bucolic Mill Valley, California; a reconstructed historic 1930s Colonial house and gardens set in lush woodlands in Connecticut; a new, Adirondack camp-inspired house for an active family perched on the edge of Lake Placid with stunning views of nearby Whiteface Mountain; an elegant but family-friendly Fifth Avenue apartment with a panoramic view of Central Park; a new timber frame and stone barn situated to take advantage of the summer sun on a lovely, rambling property in New England; a new residence and outbuildings on a 6,000 acre hunting preserve in Georgia, inspired by the historic 1920s and 1930s hunting plantation houses in the region; and Schafer’s own, deeply personal, newly-renovated and surprisingly modern house located just a few feet from the Atlantic Ocean in coastal Maine. In Schafer’s hands, the stories of these houses are irresistibly readable. He guides the reader through each of the design decisions, sharing anecdotes about the process and fascinating historical background and contextual influences of the settings. Ultimately, the houses featured in A Place to Call Home are more than just beautiful buildings in beautiful places. In each of them, Schafer has created a dialogue between past and present, a personalized world that people can inhabit gracefully, in sync with their own notions of home. Because, as Schafer writes in the book, he designs houses “not for an architect’s ego, but [for] the beauty of life, the joys of family, and, not least, a heartfelt celebration of place.”
This book continues where my first book left off—with forty photographs and stories of people experiencing homelessness. It is a part of my ongoing mission, begun with volume one, to change the general public’s perception of those experiencing homelessness. So often, as I stated in my first book, they are viewed as subhuman creatures, or a lower order of being than human. Through my photographs and stories I am trying to humanize them, to help the general public see that, apart from the unfortunate circumstances in which these people find themselves, they are no different than you and I. I am heartened that, judging from the comments that my first book has received from people around the world, my work seems to be having this effect. All royalties from this book will be given to Home Horizon: Transitional Support Program.
Winner! Western Writers of America 2020 Spur Award - Best Western Juvenile Fiction Category. In 1933, what's left of the Turner family--twelve-year-old Hallie and her two brothers--finds itself driving the back roads of rural America. The children have been swept up into a new migratory way of life. America is facing two devastating crises: the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Hundreds of thousands of people in cities across the country have lost jobs. In rural America it isn't any better as crops suffer from the never-ending drought. Driven by severe economic hardship, thousands of people take to the road to seek whatever work they can find, often splintering fragile families in the process. As the Turner children move from town to town, searching for work and trying to cobble together the basic necessities of life, they are met with suspicion and hostility. They are viewed as outsiders in their own country. Will they ever find a place to call home? New York Times-bestselling author Sandra Dallas gives middle-grade readers a timely story of young people searching for a home and a better way of life.
A deep and intimate look at the lives of LGBTQ youth in foster care, vividly chronicling their struggles, fears and hardships, and revealing the force that allows them to carry on: the irrepressible power of hope. In this lyrical debut, Ryan Berg immerses readers in the gritty, dangerous, and shockingly underreported world of homeless LGBTQ teens in New York. As a caseworker in a group home for disowned LGBTQ teenagers, Berg witnessed the struggles, fears, and ambitions of these disconnected youth as they resisted the pull of the street, tottering between destruction and survival. Focusing on the lives and loves of eight unforgettable youth, No House to Call My Home traces their efforts to break away from dangerous sex work and cycles of drug and alcohol abuse, and, in the process, to heal from years of trauma. From Bella's fervent desire for stability to Christina's irrepressible dreams of stardom to Benny's continuing efforts to find someone to love him, Berg uncovers the real lives behind the harrowing statistics: over 4,000 youth are homeless in New York City -- 43 percent of them identify as LGBTQ. Through these stories, Berg compels us to rethink the way we define privilege, identity, love, and family. Beyond the tears, bluster, and bravado, he reveals the force that allows them to carry on -- the irrepressible hope of youth.
Seven hamster brothers, having outgrown their hole, begin an adventure-filled quest that takes them across the sea and a desert, up a mountain, and through a labyrinth as they seek a new home.
Shilling Grange Orphanage, England, 1949. She would do anything to protect the innocent children in her care. But soon they could be sent into danger... When Clara Newton's fiancé died during World War Two, she thought her life was over. But now she looks after orphans who, like her, lost everything during the war. Children like sweet little Peg who won't speak, and Joyce whose body was scarred by polio. Clara loves them all dearly, even though life as a housemother can be lonely - especially now that Ivor, a D-Day war hero with dark brown eyes who once helped with the children, has disappeared... But then Clara receives some terrible news. The orphanage is going to be sold and the children sent far away. Joyce and Peg will be taken to a notorious home for disabled children. The others will be sent to Australia, where Clara fears they will be mistreated by unknown families. Any day now, the children could lose everything she worked so hard to provide... With wealthy buyers lined up to purchase Shilling Grange and a ship already docked waiting to carry the children away, Clara is desperate. She must find loving new homes for them quickly, but time is running out... Can she save the orphans before they lose everything all over again? And even if Ivor returns when she needs him the most, will it be too late? A completely heart-wrenching and unforgettable historical novel, set after the devastation of World War Two. Perfect for fans of Before We Were Yours, Diney Costeloe and The Orphan Sisters. What readers are saying about Lizzie Page: 'What an emotional read!... At parts I found myself shouting "no". At others I just cried... Absolutely loved it.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'My heart is full! Oh, I adored this book so much!... There were moments of pure joy and the book left me feeling uplifted and with a full heart.' Motherhood for Slackers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Exceptional... hits you for six... I am over the moon... brilliantly written and you fall in love... a feel good book that will make you cry... oh my word I loved this.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Wow... this book is outstanding... I couldn't put it down.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I took to all the children with all my heart, such an emotional tale... full of love, compassion and humour... a truly remarkable touching story.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Absolutely loved this... I could hardly bear to finish it... Highly recommend!' Jill Mansell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'It took me about two pages to fall in love with Clara... this book just kept me wanting to know more.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book warmed my heart... Each character is so very special. You will laugh at their childish pranks, their little escapades and cheer at their successes... A delightful, heart-warming story.' Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐