- Table View
- List View
Hold Me Close, Let Me Go: A Mother, a Daughter and an Adolescence Survived
by Adair LaraWhat does a mother do when her teenaged daughter is spinning out of control and nothing is bringing her back? Here is a searingly honest memoir of motherhood and a testament to the power of love and family. When Adair Lara's daughter Morgan turned thirteen, she was transformed, seemingly overnight, from a sweet, loving child into an angry, secretive teenager who would neither listen nor be disciplined. The author, her youngest son, Patrick, her ex-husband, Jim, and her new husband, Bill, all stepped on a five-year roller-coaster ride in which Morgan incarnated the chaos principle in torn jeans and dyed hair. Drinking, drugging, disappearing, suspicious companions, failing and cheating at school, joy riding in a stolen car--there was no variety of adolescent acting out that she didn't indulge in. For Adair Lara it became an endless sojourn at the end of her rope, a trial immensely complicated by the reappearance in her life of her aging father, a man who had abandoned his wife and seven children decades earlier. Inevitably, Morgan's misbehavior revives memories of her own headstrong adolescence, while her father's presence makes agonizingly real for her the consequences of giving up. Paradoxically, he also becomes the source of her best advice. Hold Me Close, Let Me Go is an emotionally charged, often brutally honest memoir that all parents (and anyone who was ever a teenager) will experience shocks of recognition from while reading. It imparts invaluable lessons about holding loved ones close through the roughest passages and about the power of family to overcome the most grievous obstacles. Adair Lara is a clear-eyed and eloquent witness to the complex costs and rewards of motherhood, and her book will redefine for readers their idea of what being "a good enough mother" really means.
Hold Me Tight & Tango Me Home: A Memoir
by Maria FinnA “lively” memoir of a woman finding the cure for a broken heart in the world of ballroom dancing (Booklist). Maria Finn’s husband was cheating. First she threw him out. Then she cried. Then she signed up for tango lessons. It turned out that tango had a lot to teach about understanding love and loss, about learning how to follow and how to lead, how to live with style and flair, take risks, and sort out what it is you really want. As Maria’s world begins to revolve around the friendships she makes in dance class and the milongas (social dances) she regularly attends in New York City, we discover with her the fascinating culture, history, music, moves, and beauty of the Argentine tango. With each new dance step she learns—the embrace, the walk, the sweep, the exit—she is one step closer to returning to the world of the living. Eventually Maria travels to Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango—and finds the confidence to try romance again.
Hold On to Your Music: The Inspiring True Story of the Children of Willesden Lane
by Mona Golabek Lee CohenDiscover the inspiring illustrated true story about one girl's escape from the Holocaust to become a concert pianist against all odds, made popular by the beloved novel The Children of Willesden Lane.In pre-World War II Vienna, Lisa Jura was a musical prodigy who dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. But when enemy forces threatened the city—particularly the Jewish people that lived there—Lisa's parents were forced to make a difficult decision. They chose to send Lisa to London for safety through the Kindertransport—a rescue effort that relocated Jewish children. As Lisa yearned to be reunited with her family while living in a home for refugee children on Willesden Lane, her music became a beacon of hope for those around her.A true story of courage, survival, and determination, this compelling tribute to a gifted young girl has already touched the lives of many around the world. Originally published in 2017 for older readers, The Children of Willesden Lane has sold hundreds of thousands of copies globally; now this picture book retelling will inspire a new generation.
Hold On with a Bulldog Grip: A Short Study of Ulysses S. Grant
by John F. Marszalek Frank Williams David Nolen Louie GalloIn this new short biography of Ulysses S. Grant, leading scholars provide an accessible introduction to Grant and his legacy. Grant led Federal forces to victory in the Civil War, was the first modern American president, and authored his memoirs, which would eventually become one of the greatest books of nonfiction by an American author. The authors present a thematic exploration of Grant, providing the necessary insight to appreciate Grant and correct the myths that for too long clouded his true importance. They highlight specific moments or relationships in Grant’s life—including his connection to such key figures as Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain—and elaborate on the more controversial elements of Grant’s legacy, such as accusations about his drinking and corruption during the Grant presidency. Not to overlook his military accomplishments, they devote time to the study of Grant’s war strategy and military career, beginning as early as his reluctant enrollment into West Point. From humble birth to tragic death, this new take on Ulysses S. Grant instills readers with a deeper understanding of the military legend’s nuanced personal history and an appreciation for the late president’s tragic and triumphant story.
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
by Sally MannNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARThe New York Times, Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue, NPR, Publishers Weekly, BookPage A revealing and beautifully written memoir and family history from acclaimed photographer Sally Mann. In this groundbreaking book, a unique interplay of narrative and image, Mann's preoccupation with family, race, mortality, and the storied landscape of the American South are revealed as almost genetically predetermined, written into her DNA by the family history that precedes her. Sorting through boxes of family papers and yellowed photographs she finds more than she bargained for: "deceit and scandal, alcohol, domestic abuse, car crashes, bogeymen, clandestine affairs, dearly loved and disputed family land . . . racial complications, vast sums of money made and lost, the return of the prodigal son, and maybe even bloody murder." In lyrical prose and startlingly revealing photographs, she crafts a totally original form of personal history that has the page-turning drama of a great novel but is firmly rooted in the fertile soil of her own life.
Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS
by Martin DubermanIn December 1995, the FDA approved the release of protease inhibitors, the first effective treatment for AIDS. For countless people, the drug offered a reprieve from what had been a death sentence; for others, it was too late. In the United States alone, over 318,000 people had already died from AIDS-related complications-among them the singer Michael Callen and the poet Essex Hemphill.Meticulously researched and evocatively told, Hold Tight Gently is the celebrated historian Martin Duberman's poignant memorial to those lost to AIDS and to two of the great unsung heroes of the early years of the epidemic.Callen, a white gay Midwesterner who had moved to New York, became a leading figure in the movement to increase awareness of AIDS in the face of willful and homophobic denial under the Reagan administration; Hemphill, an African American gay man, contributed to the black gay and lesbian scene in Washington, D.C., with poetry of searing intensity and introspection.A profound exploration of the intersection of race, sexuality, class, identity, and the politics of AIDS activism beyond ACT UP, Hold Tight Gently captures both a generation struggling to cope with the deadly disease and the extraordinary refusal of two men to give in to despair.
Hold Tight the Thread (Tender Ties #3)
by Jane KirkpatrickBASED ON A TRUE STORY In a land occupied by foreign powers and torn by confusion and conflict, a mother seeks to weave her family and her past into a fabric that will not tear. Their Lives Were Woven by Wars and Wilderness Places, and Tied by the Peace of Family and Faith. As the 1840s bring conflict to the Pacific Northwest's rugged Columbia Country, new challenges face Marie Dorion Venier Toupin: the wife, mother, and Ioway Indian woman who crossed the Rocky Mountains with the Astor Expedition, the first big fur trapping expedition after Lewis and Clark's. On French Prairie in the newly forming Oregon Territory, Marie strives to meet the needs of her conflict-ridden neighbors: British settlers and Americans, missionaries and disease-stricken natives, fur trappers and French Canadian farming families, and the surviving natives of the region. At the same time, as a mother, Marie must weave together the threads of an unraveling family. One daughter compares and judges as she seeks to find her place; another reaches for elusive evidence of her mother's love. Marie's memories are threatened with the emergence of a figure from the past. In the midst of this turmoil, Marie discovers an empowering spiritual truth: Unconditional love can shed light on even the darkest places in the heart.
Hold for Shirley rev. 1 WISH LIST The Devil In Pew Number Seven
by Elisa Morgan Bob DeMossRebecca never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him—with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church. Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, he unleashed a plan of terror that was more devastating and violent than the Nichols family could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away by acts of intimidation, Rebecca’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen . . . And Rebecca’s life was shattered. If anyone had a reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca. Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story. It is the amazing true saga of relentless persecution, one family’s faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her the power of forgiveness.
Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul
by John Shiffman Michael FanoneAn urgent warning about the growing threat to our democracy from a twenty-year police veteran and former Trump supporter who nearly lost his life during the insurrection of January 6th. <p><p>When Michael Fanone self-deployed to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he had no idea his life was about to change. When he got to the front of the line, he urged his fellow officers to hold it against the growing crowd of insurrectionists—until he found himself pulled into the mob, tased until he had a heart attack, and viciously beaten with a Blue Lives Matter flag as shouts to kill him rang out. <p><p>Now, Fanone is ready to tell the full story of that fateful day, along with exploring our country’s most critical issues as someone who has had firsthand experience with many of them. A self-described redneck who voted for Trump in 2016, Fanone’s closest friend was an informant—a Black, transgender, HIV-positive woman who has helped him mature and rethink his methods as a police officer. <p><p>With his unique insight as an undercover detective and intense desire to do the right thing no matter the cost, Fanone provides a nuanced look into everything from policing to race to politics in a way that is accessible across all party lines. Determined to make sure no one forgets what happened at the Capitol on January 6th, Fanone has written a timely call to action for anyone who wants to preserve our democracy for future generations. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
Hold the Oxo!: A Teenage Soldier Writes Home
by Marion Fargey BrookerShort-listed for the 2014 Forest of Reading - White Pine Award for Non-Fiction Canada was young during the First World War, and with as many as 20,000 underage soldiers leaving their homes to join the war effort, the country’s army was, too. Jim, at 17, was one of them, and he penned countless letters home. But these weren’t the writings of an ordinary boy. They were the letters of a lad who left a small farming community for the city on July 15, 1915, a boy who volunteered to serve with the 79th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. Jim’s letters home gloss over the horrors of war, focusing instead on issues of the home front: of harvesting, training the horses, and the price of hogs. Rarely do these letters, especially those to his mother and father, mention the mud and rats, the lice and stench of the trenches, or the night duty of cutting barbed wire in no man’s land. For 95 years his letters remained in a shoebox decorated by his mother. Jim was just 18 when he was wounded and died during the Battle of the Somme. Hold the Oxo! tells the story that lies between the lines of his letters, filling in the historical context and helping us to understand what it was like to be Jim.
Holding Court
by Chris GorringeWimbledon is a paradox. While outwardly appearing the quintessential English lawn tennis club, as much a part of being British as strawberries and cream or picnics in the park, it is in fact the largest annual outside broadcast operation in the world and a multi-million pound commercial enterprise. Remarkably, an enterprise that generates its profit in just two weeks of the year. It is also something we do rather well. Which other tennis tournament in the world can describe itself as simply, "The Championships"?Chris Gorringe is the man who, for twenty-six years, made it all happen. The former chief executive, fondly referred to as "Clockwork Gorringe," has dealt with everything from the 1973 players' boycott, the McEnroe tantrums, and Middle Sunday, to the demands for equal prize money and the Olympic bid. He has witnessed some of the greatest names in the sport producing some of their most dazzling performances - from Navratilova to the Williams sisters, from Borg to Federer - while assisting with the requirements of and demands on today's high-profile professional tennis players. During his tenure, revenue increased from £58,000 in his first year, to £27m in his last. In Holding Court, he charts the unique journey of one of the country's most venerable establishments, where decisions are still made through a committee system dating back to 1868, into the modern era. For anyone who has ever been captivated by McEnroe v Borg, soaked up the atmosphere in Aorangi Park, or been intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes at SW19, Holding Court is a must-read. Wimbledon is a national institution. When play starts on the first Monday, millions of followers tune in. This book is for them.
Holding Fast to Dreams
by Freeman A. Hrabowski IIIAn education leader relates how his experiences with the civil rights movement led him to develop programs promoting educational success in science and technology for African Americans and others. When Freeman Hrabowski was twelve years old, a civil rights leader visited his Birmingham, Alabama, church and spoke about a children's march for civil rights and opportunity. That leader was the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and that march changed Hrabowski's life. Until then, Freeman was a kid who loved school and solving math problems. Although his family had always stressed the importance of education, he never expected that the world might change and that black and white students would one day study together. But hearing King speak changed everything for Hrabowski, who convinced his parents that he needed to answer King's call to stand up for equality. While participating in the famed Children's Crusade, he spent five terrifying nights in jail--during which Freeman became a leader for the younger kids, as he learned about the risk and sacrifice that it would take to fight for justice. Hrabowski went on to fuse his passion for education and for equality, as he made his life's work inspiring high academic achievement among students of all races in science and engineering. It also brought him from Birmingham to Baltimore, where he has been president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for more than two decades. While at UMBC, he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which has been one of the most successful programs for educating African Americans who go on to earn doctorates in the STEM disciplines. In Holding Fast to Dreams, Hrabowski recounts his journey as an educator, a university president, and a pioneer in developing successful, holistic programs for high-achieving students of all races.From the Hardcover edition.
Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy
by Karen JamesA journey of adventure, tragedy, love, and loss on the summit of Mt. Hood.In December 2006, millions of people across the world prayed and waited in anguish to learn the fate of 3 climbers trapped on Mt. Hood. The worst storm in the last decade was pounding the mountain with hurricane-force winds that would not permit the army of rescue workers to do their work. No one below could forget the last phone call Kelly James placed to his wife, telling her that he was trapped in a snow cave just below the summit. What happened next would change the lives of everyone involved and deeply touch millions of people who desperately hoped to see a Christmas miracle.For more than a week, the search dominated the news as family members huddled below, praying for the climbers' safe return. But the story did not end when Kelly James's body was airlifted off the mountain and the cameras stopped rolling. For Karen, the year after Kelly's death was spent searching for answers to what really happened on the mountain. In this journey of adventure, tragedy, love and loss, she reveals never-released information about the fateful climb and behind-the-scenes details of how the family coped with the shocking news.
Holding Fire: A Reckoning with the American West
by Bryce AndrewsFrom the award-winning author of Down from the Mountain, a memoir of inheritance, history, and one gun’s role in the violence that shaped the American West—and an impassioned call to forge a new way forwardBryce Andrews was raised to do no harm. The son of a pacifist and conscientious objector, he moved from Seattle to Montana to tend livestock and the land as a cowboy. For a decade, he was happy. Yet, when Andrews inherited his grandfather’s Smith & Wesson revolver, he felt the weight of the violence braided into his chosen life. Other white men who’d come before him had turned firearms like this one against wildlife, wilderness, and the Indigenous peoples who had lived in these landscapes for millennia. This was how the West was “won.” Now, the losses were all around him and a weapon was in his hand.In precise, elegiac prose, Andrews chronicles his journey to forge a new path for himself, and to reshape one handgun into a tool for good work. As waves of gun violence swept the country and wildfires burned across his beloved valley, he began asking questions—of ranchers, his Native neighbors, his family, and a blacksmith who taught him to shape steel—in search of a new way to live with the land and with one another. In laying down his arms, he transformed an inherited weapon, his ranch, and the arc of his life.Holding Fire is a deeply felt memoir of one Western heart’s wild growth, and a personal testament to how things that seem permanent—inheritance, legacies of violence, forged steel—can change.
Holding God in My Hands: Personal Encounters with the Divine
by Paul WilkesThrough reflection and personal experience, Paul Wilkes examines the power of the Eucharist to impart healing grace, spiritual strength, and peace to both communicants and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Compelling stories from his hospital Eucharistic Ministry reflect the exceptional writing for which he is known. Wilkes takes the reader on a journey to begin to understand God's love for us as the personal stories bring the reader to a better understanding of God presence even in the face of suffering and sorrow. Admitting his own flaws and doubts, Wilkes connects to every reader who yearns to encounter the mystery of God's love for each of us.
Holding Heaven
by Jerry B. JenkinsFrom the book jacket: Only the expert storytelling of world-famous Left Behind author Jerry B. Jenkins could take history's best-known account and retell it in a way that rivets our attention and grips our hearts. From his pen, and the brush of artist Ron DiCianni, comes this touching two-part novella featuring dual cameos of Joseph and Jesus--early and late in the years they shared as father and son. Holding Heaven offers a fresh perspective on the mysteries of the Incarnation-what it must have been like for the Son of God to walk this earth as a man, and for Joseph to raise ,this son he knew belonged first to Heaven. As you turn these pages, you will relish Jenkins' fresh telling of this beloved relationship. And when you savor the poignancy of the love that linked this father and son, you will be filled with a renewed appreciation for what your heavenly Father has done to His one and only Son, Jesus.
Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes
by Traci N. ToddAn evocative picture book biography about the prolific life of Jackie Ormes, whose groundbreaking cartoons became some of the first empowering depictions of Black women in America! <p><P> Jackie Ormes made history. She was the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in the United States. She was also a journalist, fashionista, philanthropist, and activist, and she used her incredible talent and artistry to bring joy and hope to people everywhere. But in post-World War II America, Black people were still being denied their civil rights, and Jackie found herself in a dilemma: How could her art stay true to her signature "Jackie joy" while remaining honest about the inequalities Black people had been fighting? <P><P><i>Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.</i>
Holding On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore
by Linda LeavellThis “perceptive and elegant biography” of modernist poet Marianne Moore “captures well the strange and entrancing drama” of her life (The Wall Street Journal).Winner of the Plutarch Award for the Best Biography of 2013In the popular imagination, Marianne Moore is dignified, white-haired, and demure in her tricorne hat. She lives with her mother until the latter’s death. She maintains meaningful friendships with fellow poets but never marries or falls in love.Linda Leavell’s Holding On Upside Down—the first biography of Moore written with the support of her family’s estate—delves beneath the surface of this calcified image to reveal a passionate, canny woman caught between genuine devotion to her mother and an irrepressible desire for freedom. Her many poems about survival are revealed to be not just quirky nature studies but acts of survival themselves.As a young poet, Moore joined the Greenwich Village artists and writers who wanted to overthrow all her mother’s pieties. She also won their admiration for the radical originality and technical proficiency of her verse. After her mother’s death thirty years later, the aging recluse transformed herself into a charismatic performer and beloved celebrity. She won virtually every literary prize available to her and was widely hailed as America’s greatest living poet.Elegantly written, meticulously researched, critically acute, and psychologically nuanced, Holding On Upside Down provides at last the biography that this major poet and complex personality deserves.
Holding On and Holding Out: Jewish Diaries from Wartime France
by Anne FreadmanExamining the diary as a particular form of expression, Holding On and Holding Out provides unique insight into the experiences of Jews in France during the Second World War. Unlike memoirs and autobiographies that reconstruct particular life stories or events, diaries record daily events without the benefit of retrospect, describing events as they unfold. Holding On and Holding Out assesses how individuals used diaries to record their daily life under persecution, each waiting for some end with a mix of hope and despair. Some used the diary to bear witness not only to the terror of their own lives, but also to the lives and suffering of others. Others used their writing as a memorial to people who were killed. All used their writing to assert: "I live, I will have lived." Holding On and Holding Out follows the diaries of two specific individuals, Raymond-Raoul Lambert and Benjamin Schatzman, from their first entry to the last one they wrote before they disappeared into the Nazi extermination camps. The author concludes the book by considering how reflections on their experience are informed by the times in which they lived, before the advent of persecution.
Holding On and Letting Go: A Life in Motion
by Lindsay Swoboda&“... explores the ache of holding on—to dreams, identity, and relationships ... the moments of joy, unexpected community, rediscovered passion ... Her storytelling is lyrical, grounded, and profoundly human ...&”—Corie Weathers, LPC, author, clinician, military spouseWhen dancer Lindsay Swoboda marries a Marine, her dream of following her passion for performing collides with the realities of their military life: back-to-back overseas moves, navigating pregnancy during deployment, and creating new support systems again and again.As their growing family moves around the globe, Lindsay finds both tension and beauty in each new beginning. She creates a dance program in Korea. Becomes a mother in Hawaii. Morocco offers healing for her marriage after multiple deployments. In Ecuador, a fire, riots, and a high-risk pregnancy remind her there is uncertainty even in what appears to be a peace-filled chapter. Looking forward to being closer to family after nearly a decade away, the Swobodas nestle into Virginia just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking new ways to cope with constant change and challenge, Lindsay writes her way through loneliness, self-doubt, and anxiety, and shares the burden and brilliance of each season with a community of friends. In her memoir Holding On and Letting Go: A Life in Motion, Lindsay unfolds her military spouse journey with lyrical storytelling and sensory imagery, encouraging readers to champion both big and small victories, make space for grief and goodness, and find the courage to persevere. Cover art painting by military spouse Lindsay Wilkins.
Holding On to the Air: An Autobiography
by Suzanne FarrellSuzanne Farrell, world-renowned ballerina, was one of George Balanchine's most celebrated muses and remains a legendary figure in the ballet world. This memoir, first published in 1990 and reissued with a new preface by the author, recounts Farrell's transformation from a young girl in Ohio dreaming of greatness to the realization of that dream on stages all over the world. Central to this transformation was her relationship with George Balanchine, who invited her to join the New York City Ballet in the fall of 1961 and was in turn inspired by her unique combination of musical, physical, and dramatic gifts. He created masterpieces for her in which the limits of ballet technique were expanded to a degree not seen before. By the time she retired from the stage in 1989, Farrell had achieved a career that is without precedent in the history of ballet. One third of her repertory of more than 100 ballets were composed expressly for her by such notable choreographers as Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Maurice Bejart. Farrell recalls professional and personal attachments and their attendant controversies with a down-to-earth frankness and common sense that complements the glories and mysteries of her artistic achievement.
Holding Serve: Persevering On and Off the Court
by Mike Yorkey Michael ChangOften characterized as David facing Goliath on the tennis court, at 5'9" and 150 pounds Michael Chang is used to playing with the big hitters. What he lacks in stature, he makes up for in determination. A serious contender at any Grand Slam event, his bold statement of faith in God makes him a role model we can all look up to. "What's nice," Michael says, "is that, as long as my priorities are straight, I'm able to go out with the mentality to really leave the winning and losing up to the Lord." In Holding Serve readers get a unique glimpse at Team Chang, Michael's powerful family unit that he credits with much of his success. Michael also shares the story of how he became a Christian and the central role his faith has played in his achievements.
Holding Silvan: A Brief Life
by Erica Jong Monica WesolowskaIn the opening of Holding Silvan: A Brief Life, Monica Wesolowska gives birth to her first child, a healthy-seeming boy who is taken from her arms for "observation" when he won't stop crying. Within days, Monica and her husband have been given the grimmest of prognoses for Silvan, and they must make a choice about his life. The story that follows is not a story of typical maternal heroism. There is no medical miracle here. Instead, we find the strangest of hopes. Certain of her choice, Monica must still ask herself at every step if she is loving Silvan as well as a mother can. The result is a page-turning testimony to the power of love. By raising ethical questions about how a death can be good in the age of modern medicine, Holding Silvan becomes a joyous paean to what makes life itself good. Whether you have suffered profound loss or not, this book will change your life.
Holding The Center: Memoirs Of A Life In Higher Education
by Howard Wesley JohnsonHoward Wesley Johnson has been associated with MIT for more than forty years and been a major influence on the modernization and expansion of many of its programs. He will be most remembered as a management educator and as MIT's president during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. The title of his memoirs reflects his central, usually lonely position in those days, trying to hold together an institution often torn apart by the turmoil of the times. Johnson was more successful at navigating the minefields on campus than were many other college and university presidents, perhaps because he was always willing to listen to both sides and because his values were in the right place -- against the war in Vietnam, in favor of increased participation in the university by women and minorities, and concerned about environmental issues. As a professor and administrator at MIT, a corporate director, and an advisor to American government agencies and to museums and foundations, Johnson consistently sought both to understand and to apply the principles of good management.
Holding on to Normal: How I Survived Cancer and Made It to the Other Side, Happier, Healthier and Stronger
by Alana SomervilleA compelling memoir about trying to live meaningfully with illness and triumph beyond it, by breast cancer survivor Alana Somerville, a teacher and mother of two young children.I looked at all the sick people around me. Was I going to be like them? Was that already me? Did I suddenly have a time stamp on my life? Would I make it out of this alive? Alana Somerville—wife, teacher and mother of two small children—was thirty-three years old when she was diagnosed with stage-two, triple-negative breast cancer. The diagnosis changed her world and the relationships she had with everyone around her. Suddenly she was faced with endless medical appointments, multiple surgeries and procedures, the challenges of chemotherapy, and all the decisions involved in her treatment. She also had to deal with the trauma of realizing that her support network—sometimes even her closest friends—could struggle with how to help or even how to react to her anymore. Throughout the course of her illness, Alana learned to maneuver through the medical system, to advocate for herself, and to build a truly supportive network. She also discovered how to keep her positive spirit intact while undergoing a double mastectomy and ongoing treatment. She is now living cancer-free—a survivor and an advocate. Alana’s story is not unique. It’s a story that will resonate with anyone who has suffered illness and found themselves navigating a whole new world upon diagnosis. This is an “everywoman’s” journey through the experience of cancer, tracing the emotional, physical and psychological steps that are common to all. In the end, this memoir will offer hope that one can live a healthy, fulfilling and happy life beyond diagnosis. Holding on to Normal is for anyone who is suffering—or knows someone who is suffering from—a setback in life, and who is looking for inspiration on how to navigate their own journey.