A Loblolly Tree is removed from the only home he has ever known and sent on a journey where he faces fear, uncertainty and physical transformation, all the time wondering where he belongs and where his new home will be. After a difficult adventure, he arrives at his new home, learning he was never really alone, and discovering new friends, new purpose and new opportunities
A Pura Belpré Honor Book An immigrant teen fights for her family, her future, and the place she calls home. In the spring of 2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros "Millie" Vargas knows her life is about to change. She has lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, ever since her parents sought asylum there when she was a baby. Now a citizen, Millie devotes herself to school and caring for her younger siblings while her mom works as a housekeeper for the wealthy Wheeler family. With college on the horizon, Millie is torn between attending her dream school and staying close to home, where she knows she's needed. She is disturbed by what's happening to asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, but she doesn't see herself as an activist or a change-maker. She's just trying to take care of her own family. Then Mr. Wheeler, a U.S. Senate candidate, mentions Millie's achievements in a campaign speech about "deserving" immigrants. It doesn't take long for people to identify Millie's family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Faced with journalists, trolls, anonymous threats, and the Wheelers' good intentions—especially those of Mr. Wheeler's son, Charlie—Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.
“Now I know this is where I belong.” Follow Grandfather, Marcus and their vibrant friends in this multi-generational story of acceptance and camaraderie as they navigate through nature’s beauty and learn the rewards of friendships both old and new. In this beautifully illustrated tale by the author and illustrator of such favorites as Only One You and Love You When, we see that by working together, we can find common interests and a place where each of us feels at home. Learn more about Linda at www.lindakranz.com
Because this writer spent much of her own life wondering if and where she belonged, there is now a compelling unction to reach out to those with similar feelings of uncertainty. She is trusting that, by the grace of God, this book will be able to minister some degree of healing and significance to you - the hurting who are already a part of the Body of Christ; but, most especially to you - who do not yet even realize that God loves you and that He has a very unique plan for your life. "...the product of a sincere heart in search of the Living God...explores questions and answers found over the course of a lifelong pilgrimage. Each chapter is a conversation with a trusted friend who remains ever in awe of her Savior." John Abuso, D.Min., LMFT "...an excellent book that holds the reader's attention from start to finish. It inspires new, struggling, and seasoned "believers" alike to access God's love and all of its benefits." Veronica Montgomery, LCSW "...insight into God's enduring love for us expressed in this book is that which can only be discovered through an intimate relationship with Him. The real life examples bring to life the Spirit of His plan for us in an easy-to-read style." Dana R. Pina, BSN, RN "...an instrument of holistic healing...practical, transparent approach...filled with life-changing principles that will augment your mindset and perception of life...with purpose and direction." D. H. Dawkins, Senior Pastor Praise Tabernacle International, Ft. Lauderdale, FL E-mail: [email protected] BE BLESSED...and BE a BLESSING!!!
A steamy best friend's older brother, standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author, J. Daniels. When Mia Corelli returns to Alabama for a summer of fun with her childhood best friend, Tessa, there's only one thing keeping her on edge. One person that she’d do anything to avoid. Benjamin Kelly. World’s biggest d*ckhead. Mia hates him with a fury and has no desire to ever see him again. When she decides to start her summer off with a bang and finally give away her v-card, she unknowingly hands it over to the one guy that excelled at making her life miserable, learning a valuable lesson in the process. Always get the name of the guy you’re going home with. Ben can’t get the girl he spent one night with out of his head. When she leaves him the next morning, he thinks he’ll never see her again. Until he sees her lounging by the pool with his sister. Mia is determined to hate Ben, even though she can’t forget him. Ben is determined to prove he’s not the same guy he used to be. What happens when the one person you wish never existed becomes the one person you can’t imagine being without?
Rummanas writing is thoughtful, heartfelt and encompassing of ever-widening experiences and a deepening knowledge of the human condition. This volume, Where Do I Belong, takes the reader on a journey that involves a thematic stream stretching from the shores of the Padma to Lake Ontario. There is nostalgia and longing in such a journey, brought out in such pieces as Hot Apple Fritters and Hot Roshogollas, a prose meditation on the manner in which Canadian apple fritters evoke the earlier experienced pleasures of roshogollas from a sweet shop in Noakhali, Bangladesh, and the shores of Lake Ontario conjure up early layers of the Padma, Megna and Jamuna, while listening to jazz resonates with the earlier folk music of Bengal. The imagery in Radhachura Kathalchapa and Bogainvillea contrasts the snow and frost of an adopted northern country (admittedly along with the compensating cherry blossoms of spring and autumn colours) with the warmth and breathtaking beauty of the radhachuras at dawn in a long forgotten ethereal unbelievable bliss of my birthplacethe only base where it is possible to have total relaxation. Themes of displacement, discrimination, oppression and the violence of war are worked out in cultural specificity in such poems as Blood Road Solitary confinement and The darkness of the night pulled her. Others such as The rat race, From captivity to captivity and Wrong address concern the universal human condition and struggles that transcends race, colour and linguistic differences.
A guide for families of all backgrounds to celebrate cultural heritage and embrace inclusivity in the home and beyond. Gone are the days when socially conscious parents felt comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. A Place to Belong offers a path forward for families to honor their cultural heritage and champion diversity in the context of daily family life by: • Fostering open dialogue around discrimination, race, gender, disability, and class • Teaching “hard history” in an age-appropriate way • Curating a diverse selection of books and media choices in which children see themselves and people who are different • Celebrating cultural heritage through art, music, and poetry • Modeling activism and engaging in community service projects as a family Amber O’Neal Johnston, a homeschooling mother of four, shows parents of all backgrounds how to create a home environment where children feel secure in their own personhood and culture, enabling them to better understand and appreciate people who are racially and culturally different. A Place to Belong gives parents the tools to empower children to embrace their unique identities while feeling beautifully tethered to their global community.
In the spirit of Gretchen Rubin’s megaseller The Happiness Project and Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss, a journalist embarks on a project to discover what it takes to love where you live The average restless American will move 11.7 times in a lifetime. For Melody Warnick, it was move #6, from Austin, Texas, to Blacksburg, Virginia, that threatened to unhinge her. In the lonely aftermath of unpacking, she wondered: Aren’t we supposed to put down roots at some point? How does the place we live become the place we want to stay? This time, she had an epiphany. Rather than hold her breath and hope this new town would be her family’s perfect fit, she would figure out how to fall in love with it—no matter what. How we come to feel at home in our towns and cities is what Warnick sets out to discover in This Is Where You Belong. She dives into the body of research around place attachment—the deep sense of connection that binds some of us to our cities and increases our physical and emotional well-being—then travels to towns across America to see it in action. Inspired by a growing movement of placemaking, she examines what its practitioners are doing to create likeable locales. She also speaks with frequent movers and loyal stayers around the country to learn what draws highly mobile Americans to a new city, and what makes us stay. The best ideas she imports to her adopted hometown of Blacksburg for a series of Love Where You Live experiments designed to make her feel more locally connected. Dining with her neighbors. Shopping Small Business Saturday. Marching in the town Christmas parade. Can these efforts make a halfhearted resident happier? Will Blacksburg be the place she finally stays? What Warnick learns will inspire you to embrace your own community—and perhaps discover that the place where you live right now . . . is home.
Ginna Aiken just wants to be loved. As a child, she receives little affection from her parents and begins building walls, finding happiness only in her books and in listening to music. At age thirteen, she attempts to take her life for the first time. As the victim of a broken family, Ginna must somehow move from childhood to adulthood, all while on a seemingly endless quest for inner peace. It turns out that dealing with her dysfunctional family is not Ginnas only thorny challenge. After an attempted rape by a trusted family friend, Ginna discovers a bottle of tranquilizers in her mothers dresser drawer. She swallows what is left in the bottle and begins an addiction to prescription drugs that masks her pain, but clouds everythingincluding her judgment. Ginna just longs to sink her roots into a place where she finally feels like she belongs, but first she must somehow find the power to forgive. Where Do I Belong? is a poignant and powerful tale about the acts of love, betrayal, and the devastation that accompany a broken childhood.
