A celebration of family, culture, and the enduring bond between generations Sadie’s grandmother is studying art and invites Sadie to learn and share her passion. But Sadie’s grandmother passes on more than her love of art to her grandchild; she also shares her knowledge of Jewish cultural traditions. Sadie learns about the meaning of “chai”—the Hebrew word for life—and the significance of the lucky number eighteen. Her grandmother will soon graduate from college, so Sadie commits herself to finding a perfect way to celebrate with a gift that combines her love of art and newly learned traditions. Readers will appreciate the relationship at the heart of the story in which a passion for art and cultural traditions are lovingly shared between the generations. Eighteen Flowers for Grandma is where love, tradition, and creativity intersect; it will leave an indelible mark on the hearts of readers young and old. Backmatter includes additional information about several Jewish cultural references found in the book, the Hebrew alphabet, and a note about the author’s inspiration for the story.
The first time I lost all memory of Tucker, we had just met. We were seventeen, stuck in the disco room of the children’s hospital, both of our heads covered in electrodes wrapped in gauze. Not exactly attractive. Except we were—attracted, that is. I never got to meet boys my age back then. Or any boys. Mother made sure of that. There was no point, she said. I would forget them the next time I had a seizure. That’s right. I didn’t mention that. I have epilepsy. It started in kindergarten. Spacing out. My eyes clocking back and forth. Then the whole enchilada. On the ground, shaking all over. Not all my seizures erase my memory. But some do. Every year or two I go down, and bam, that’s it. My entire history evaporates like water on a skillet. But on that first magical day, Tucker yelled, “Come here often?” over the mechanical thrashing of a song I’d never heard, at least not since my last memory reset. “Never! Do you?” I yelled back. That was all we got. The disco lights switched to strobes, the kind designed to cause a seizure. That’s why I was there. For the wires on my head to collect data. To show the doctors what was going on inside my brain. And hopefully, to help me. I took one more look at him as my legs gave way, and the sizzle in my head turned my vision black. Tucker. I had no idea then that I had just met the love of my life. In a few seconds, I wouldn’t remember him at all. ___ This Kiss is an extraordinary romance between two people with epilepsy who fall in love in the toughest of circumstances. As Tucker unfailingly convinces Ava to return to him over and over again, he teaches her that even when memory fails, the heart remembers. ---- -- With heartfelt sweetness and a poignant love story, this novel is a must-read for anyone seeking a touching and unforgettable romance. "This Kiss" is my new favorite book to make me cry! ~ Krista Lakes, New York Times bestselling author -- This compelling, heartfelt story is exactly what I love in romance reading. These truly special characters will burrow into your heart and their story will live in your soul long after the last page. ~ BookAddict -- This Kiss is a beautiful and emotional journey of finding your soulmate again and again. ~ Jenn Reads Romance Book Blog
Built on twenty years of fieldwork in rural Jiangyong of Hunan Province in south China, this book explores the world's only gender-defined and now disappearing "women's script" known as nüshu. What drove peasant women to create a script of their own and write, and how do those writings throw new light on how gender is addressed in epistemology and historiography and how the unprivileged social class uses marginalized forms of expression to negotiate with the dominant social structure. Further, how have the politics of salvaging this disappearing centuries-old cultural heritage molded a new poetics in contemporary society? This book explores nüshu in conjunction with the local women's singing tradition (nüge), tied into the life narratives of four women born in the 1910s, 1930s, and 1960s respectively, each representative in her own way: a nüge singer (majority of Jiangyong women), a child bride (enjoying not much nüshu/nüge), the last living traditionally-trained nüshu writer, and a new-generation nüshu transmitter. Altogether, their stories unfold peasant women's lifeworlds and forefronts various aspects of China's changing social milieu over the past century. They show how nüshu/nüge-registering women's sense and sensibilities and providing agency to subjects who have been silenced by history-constitute a reflexive social field whereby women share life stories to expand the horizon of their personal worldviews and probe beneath the surface of their existence for new inspiration in their process of becoming. With the concept of "expressive depths," this book opens a new vista on how women express themselves through multiple forms that simultaneously echo and critique the mainstream social system and urges a rethinking of how forms of expression define and confine the voice carried. Examining the multiple efforts undertaken by scholars, local officials, and cultural entrepreneurs to revive nüshu which have ironically threatened to disfigure its true face, this book poses a question of whither nüshu? Should it be transformed, or has it reached a perfect end point from which to fade into history?
Inspired by the classic song, this magical story from the New York Times bestselling author of Always and Blackberry Winter tells the tale of a woman with the unusual gift to see true love—but will she be able to find it for herself before it’s too late? Born during a Christmas blizzard, Jane Williams receives a rare gift: the ability to see true love. In spite of her unique talent, Jane has emerged from an ailing childhood a lonely, hopeless romantic without love on her life. On her twenty-ninth birthday, a mysterious greeting card arrives. The card specifies that Jane must identify the six types of love before the full moon following her thirtieth birthday—or face grave consequences. But when Jane at last falls for a science writer who doesn’t believe in love, she fears that she may never accomplish her task—and that her loveless fate may be sealed... “Jio has become one of the most-read women in America.”—Woman’s World
[Book Summary] Emigration seemed the only path to the future in 1962 when Marita O'Connell left Ireland for America with two bulging suitcases and $10 to finance her new life. Based on childhood diaries, Galloping Green: From Dear Distant Damp Dublin tells her engaging and humorous story of growing up with a mother whose family were British Protestants, and an Irish Catholic father with colorful republican ancestry. The second half shows Marita searching for a better life in America and recounts how her invincible spirit helped her to overcome numerous hurdles in her quest. Through example, Galloping Green shows readers that no matter what life presents, there is always another path "where the air will smell fresh and the sun will warm your face."
A relationship with a mysterious pop star turns a girl’s life upside down in “a great novel about first love . . . a very touching book” (Fresh Fiction). These are the things that I’ve always wanted: To get the top grades in my class. To make my grandmother proud. And most of all, proof that I could succeed where the rest of my family had not: a Stanford acceptance letter, early admission. My mother and my sister were obsessed with boys and love and sex. So obsessed that they lost sight of their futures, of what they wanted. And in the end, they lost everything. I’ll never let a boy distract me. I promised myself that. But that was before Tate. Before the biggest pop star on the planet took an interest in me. Before private planes and secret dates and lyrics meant for me alone. There’s so much I don’t know. Like why he left music. Where he goes when we’re not together. What dark past he’s hiding. But when we kiss, the future feels far away. And now . . . I’m not sure what I want. “Fun and enjoyable to read . . . Fans of musicians and YA contemporary romance will devour it like I did.” —Buried in a Bookshelf
Cherry Blossom Epiphany - the poetry and philosophy of a flowering tree - a selection, translation and lengthy explication of 3000 haiku, waka, senryû and kyôka about a major theme from I.P.O.O.H. (In Praise Of Olde Haiku)by robin d. gill 1. Haiku -Translation from Japanese to English 2. Japanese poetry - 8c-20c - waka, haiku and senryû 3. Natural History - flowering cherries 4. Japan - Culture - Edo Era 5. Nonfiction - Literature 6. Translation - applied 7. You tell me! If the solemn yet happy New Year's is the most important celebration of Japanese (Yamato) ethnic culture, and the quiet aesthetic practice of Moon-viewing in the fall the most elegant expression of Pan-Asian Buddhism=religion, the subject of this book, Blossom-viewing - which generally means sitting down together in vast crowds to drink, dance, sing and otherwise enjoy the flowering cherry in full-bloom - is less a rite than a riot (a word originally meaning an 'uproar'). The major carnival of the year, it is unusual for being held on a date that is not determined by astronomy, astrology or the accidents of history as most such events are in literate cultures. It takes place whenever the cherry trees are good and ready. Enjoyed in the flesh, the blossom-viewing, or hanami, is also of the mind, so much so, in fact, that poetry is often credited with the spread of the practice over the centuries from the Imperial courts to the maids of Edo. Nobles enjoyed link-verse contests presided over by famous poet-judges. Hermits hung poems feting this flower of flowers (to say the generic "flower" = hana in Japanese connotes "cherry!") on strips of paper from the branches of lone trees where only the wind would read them. In the Occident, too, flowers embody beauty and serve as reminders of mortality, but there is no flower that, like the cherry blossom, stands for all flowers. Even the rose, by any name, cannot compare with the sakura in depth and breadth of poetic trope or viewing practice. In Cherry Blossom Epiphany, Robin D. Gill hopes to help readers experience, metaphysically, some of this alternative world. Haiku is a hyper-short (17-syllabet or 7-beat) Japanese poem directly or indirectly touching upon seasonal phenomena, natural or cultural. Literally millions of these ku have been written, some, perhaps, many times, about the flowering cherry (sakura), and the human activity associated with it, blossom-viewing (hanami). As the most popular theme in traditional haiku (haikai), cherry-blossom ku tend to be overlooked by modern critics more interested in creativity expressed with fresh subjects; but this embarrassment of riches has much to offer the poet who is pushed to come up with something, anything, different from the rest and allows the editor to select from what is, for all practical purposes, an infinite number of ku. Literary critics, take note: Like Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! (2003) and Fly-ku! (2004), this book not only explores new ways to anthologize poetry but demonstrates the practice of multiple readings (an average of two per ku) as part of a composite translation turned into an object of art by innovative clustering. Book-collectors might further note that while Cherry Blossom Epiphany may not be hardback, it takes advantage of the many symbols included with Japanese font to introduce design ornamentation (the circle within the circle, the reverse (Buddhist) swastika, etc.) hitherto not found in English language print. It is a one-of-a-kind work of design by the author.
