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Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
by Todd S. PurdumA revelatory portrait of the creative partnership that transformed musical theater and provided the soundtrack to the American CenturyThey stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play. Their songs and dance numbers served to advance the drama and reveal character, a sharp break from the past and the template on which all future musicals would be built.Though different in personality and often emotionally distant from each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein presented an unbroken front to the world and forged much more than a songwriting team; their partnership was also one of the most profitable and powerful entertainment businesses of their era. They were cultural powerhouses whose work came to define postwar America on stage, screen, television, and radio. But they also had their failures and flops, and more than once they feared they had lost their touch.Todd S. Purdum’s portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations will captivate lovers of musical theater, lovers of the classic American songbook, and young lovers wherever they are. He shows that what Rodgers and Hammerstein wrought was truly something wonderful.
Something for the Pain: Compassion and Burnout in the ER
by Paul Austin"What makes this inspiring medical memoir stand out is the courageous measure of Austin's humanity."--Publishers Weekly In this eye-opening account of life in the ER, Paul Austin recalls how the daily grind of long, erratic shifts and endless hordes of patients with sad stories sent him down a path of bitterness and cynicism. Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Something for the Pain is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today's hospitals.
Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula
by David J. SkalA groundbreaking biography reveals the haunted origins of the man who created Dracula and traces the psychosexual contours of late Victorian society. First published in 1897, Dracula has had a long and multifaceted afterlife--one rivaling even its immortal creation; yet Bram Stoker has remained a hovering specter in this pervasive mythology. In Something in the Blood, David J. Skal exhumes the inner world and strange genius of the writer who birthed an undying cultural icon, painting an astonishing portrait of the age in which Stoker was born--a time when death was no metaphor but a constant threat easily imagined as a character existing in flesh and blood. Just as in his celebrated histories The Monster Show and Hollywood Gothic, Skal draws on a wealth of newly discovered documents with "the skills of a fine detective" (New York Times Book Review) to challenge much of our accepted wisdom about Dracula, Stoker, and the late Victorian age. Staging Stoker's life against a grisly tableau of the myriad anxieties plaguing the Victorian fin de siecle, Skal investigates Stoker's "transgendered imagination," unearthing Stoker's unpublished, sexually ambiguous poetry and his passionate youthful correspondence with Walt Whitman--printed in full here for the very first time. Born into a middle-class Protestant family in Dublin in "Black 47"--the year the potato famine swept the country--Stoker was inexplicably paralyzed as a boy, and his early years unfold alongside a parade of Victorian medical mysteries and horrors: cholera and typhus, frantic bloodletting, mesmeric quack cures, and the gnawing obsession with "bad blood" that colors Dracula. While destined to become best known for his legendary undead count, Bram Stoker would become a prolific writer, critic, and theater producer, rubbing shoulders with Henry Irving, Hall Caine, and Lady Jane Wilde and her salon set--including her fated-to-be-infamous son Oscar. In this probing psychological and cultural portrait of the man who brought us one of the most memorable monsters in history, Skal reveals a lifetime spent wrestling with the greatest questions of an era--a time riddled by disease, competing attitudes toward sex and gender, and unprecedented scientific innovation accompanied by rising paranoia and crises of faith. Stoker's battle resulted in a resilient modern folktale that continues to shock and enthrall; perhaps the most frightening thing about Dracula, Skal writes, "is the strong probability that it meant far less to Bram Stoker than it has come to mean to us."
Something in the Woods Loves You
by Jarod K. AndersonAn inspiring blend of nature writing and memoir that explores nature&’s crucial role in our emotional and mental health Bats can hear shapes, plants can eat light, and bees can dance maps. When his life took him to a painfully dark place, the poet behind The CryptoNaturalist, Jarod K. Anderson, found comfort and redemption in these facts and the shift in perspective that comes from paying a new kind of attention to nature. Something in the Woods Loves You tells the story of the darkest stretch of a young person&’s life, and how deliberate and meditative encounters with plants and animals helped him see the light at every turn. Ranging from optimistic contemplations of mortality to appreciations of a single mushroom, Anderson has written a lyrical love letter to the natural world and given us the tools to see it all anew. Cover image copyright the Artist (Tuesday Riddell), reproduced with grateful thanks to MESSUMS ORG. Photo: Steve Russell.
Something is Better Than Nothing
by Alicia Delory Benjamin B. White"I dare you to open Alicia Delory's 'Something is Better than Nothing' and then try to put it down. This is a page-turning narrative that exposes physical and emotional shrapnel, relayed with un!inching and poetic honesty. Through her woven re!ection on loving a veteran and mourning the loss of her father, Delory attains a rare and sharp beauty, laced with humor and hard-won wisdom." - SONYA HUBER, AUTHOR OF PAIN WOMAN TAKES YOUR KEYS"This stunning memoir relates a rarely heard account of a wife surviving her army husband's return from Afghanistan with severe PTSD. Their story ofperseverance, anger, violence, and a yearning for understanding, are interspersed with gripping scenes from Delory's difficult childhood. Told with searing frankness, dark humor, and penetrating insight, here is a riveting true story of how #erce honesty and enduring love can heal immeasurable challenges. " - EUGENIA KIM, AUTHOR OF THE KINSHIP OF SECRETS"Alicia Delory bleeds through the page in this stunning, emotional memoir. She does so effortlessly, without seeking pity or needing to apologize. What she creates is a blunt, honest, and at times heart-wrenching look at millennial marriage." -- REUBEN "TIHI" HAYSLETT, AUTHOR OF DARK CORNERS, BEST OF 2019 ======
Something to Declare: Essays
by Julia Alvarez“Julia Alvarez has suitcases full of history (public and private), trunks full of insights into what it means to be a Latina in the United States, bags full of literary wisdom.” —Los Angeles Times From the internationally acclaimed author of the bestselling novels In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents comes a rich and revealing work of nonfiction capturing the life and mind of an artist as she knits together the dual themes of coming to America and becoming a writer. The twenty-four confessional, evocative essays that make up Something to Declare are divided into two parts. “Customs” includes Alvarez’s memories of her family’s life in the Dominican Republic, fleeing from Trujillo’s dictatorship, and arriving in America when she was ten years old. She examines the effects of exile--surviving the shock of New York City life; yearning to fit in; training her tongue (and her mind) to speak English; and watching the Miss America pageant for clues about American-style beauty. The second half, “Declarations,” celebrates her passion for words and the writing life. She lets us watch as she struggles with her art--searching for a subject for her next novel, confronting her characters, facing her family’s anger when she invades their privacy, reflecting on the writers who influenced her, and continually honing her craft. The winner of the National Medal of Arts for her extraordinary storytelling, Julia Alvarez here offers essays that are an inspiring gift to readers and writers everywhere.“This beautiful collection of essays . . . traces a process of personal reconciliation with insight, humor, and quiet power.” —San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle “Reading Julia Alvarez’s new collection of essays is like curling up with a glass of wine in one hand and the phone in the other, listening to a bighearted, wisecracking friend share the hard-earned wisdom about family, identity, and the art of writing.” —People
Something within Me: A Personal and Political Memoir
by Michael WilsonThe late Honourable Michael Wilson was a Canadian politician and business professional. As Minister of Finance under Brian Mulroney, Wilson was one of the key negotiators of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement – one of Canada’s most important economic agreements in the last 50 years, later superseded by NAFTA. In addition, Wilson was responsible for implementing the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), which remains key to the federal government today. After his life in Parliament, Wilson served as Ambassador to the United States and Chancellor of the University of Toronto. Outside of politics, Wilson was active in raising awareness of mental health issues following the traumatic loss of his son, Cameron, to suicide. Devoting considerable time to advocacy, he established the Cameron Parker Holcombe Wilson Chair in Depression Studies at the University of Toronto and served as Board Chair for the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Something within Me highlights how Wilson’s personal life blended with his political life and accomplishments, detailing his advocacy for mental health awareness as well his involvement in important pieces of legislation that made significant impacts in Canadian political and economic history. These deeply personal stories, particularly those of a father grappling with his son’s illness and death, remind us of the lives behind the political personas that shape our world.
Something's Happening Here: A Sixties Odyssey from Brooklyn to Woodstock (Excelsior Editions)
by Mark BergerThe meadow outside Bethel, New York, is eerily empty and silent. Yesterday it held half a million cheering people, and only a few hours ago, the closer, Jimi Hendrix, recast the "Star Spangled Banner" as a firefight in the Mekong Delta. Mark Berger's been here the whole time. Arriving four days early, he helped set up kitchens and paths. During the festival, he worked to calm kids tripping out on bad acid, maneuvered a water truck through a sea of spectators, and fell in love, twice. Woodstock was the sixties condensed into seventy-two hours, and proof that peace and love could turn a potential disaster into a mythic celebration of life. Now, it's decision time: Does he drop out and move to a commune in New Mexico or return to Brooklyn and become a teacher?Something's Happening Here begins in Brooklyn eight years earlier, in 1961, where Berger, determined to be true to himself, pledges to live his life boldly. With buddies like Zooby, Bird, and Spider, he experiences the thrilling fear of joy rides and the roller coaster of mind-altering drugs. He's swept up in the energy of revolutionary writers and musicians and connects with the counterculture's spirit. Scenes abound, from catching the Coasters at a Brooklyn R&B club to digging Allen Ginsberg reading his poetry in a Tennessee steak house to having only a second to talk his way out of being sent to Vietnam.At Woodstock it all comes together—who he is, what he believes, and which path he has to take. Berger's vivid storytelling brings the moments to life with an immediacy that show you why something's happening here.
Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal
by Silas House Jason HowardLike an old-fashioned hymn sung in rounds, Something's Rising gives a stirring voice to the lives, culture, and determination of the people fighting the destructive practice of mountaintop removal in the coalfields of central Appalachia. Each person's story, unique and unfiltered, articulates the hardship of living in these majestic mountains amid the daily desecration of the land by the coal industry because of America's insistence on cheap energy. Developed as an alternative to strip mining, mountaintop removal mining consists of blasting away the tops of mountains, dumping waste into the valleys, and retrieving the exposed coal. This process buries streams, pollutes wells and waterways, and alters fragile ecologies in the region. The people who live, work, and raise families in central Appalachia face not only the physical destruction of their land but also the loss of their culture and health in a society dominated by the consequences of mountaintop removal. Included here are oral histories from Jean Ritchie, "the mother of folk," who doesn't let her eighty-six years slow down her fighting spirit; Judy Bonds, a tough-talking coal-miner's daughter; Kathy Mattea, the beloved country singer who believes cooperation is the key to winning the battle; Jack Spadaro, the heroic whistle-blower who has risked everything to share his insider knowledge of federal mining agencies; Larry Bush, who doesn't back down even when speeding coal trucks are used to intimidate him; Denise Giardina, a celebrated writer who ran for governor to bring attention to the issue; and many more. The book features both well-known activists and people rarely in the media. Each oral history is prefaced with a biographical essay that vividly establishes the interview settings and the subjects' connections to their region. Written and edited by native sons of the mountains, this compelling book captures a fever-pitch moment in the movement against mountaintop removal. Silas House and Jason Howard are experts on the history of resistance in Appalachia, the legacy of exploitation of the region's natural resources, and area's unique culture and landscape. This lyrical and informative text provides a critical perspective on a powerful industry. The cumulative effect of these stories is stunning and powerful. Something's Rising will long stand as a testament to the social and ecological consequences of energy at any cost and will be especially welcomed by readers of Appalachian studies, environmental science, and by all who value the mountain's majesty-- our national heritage.
Sometimes Amazing Things Happen: Heartbreak and Hope on the Bellevue Hospital Psychiatric Prison Ward
by Elizabeth FordFrom the Executive Director of Mental Health for Correctional Services in New York City, comes a revelatory and deeply compassionate memoir that takes readers inside Bellevue, and brings to life the world—the system, the staff, and the haunting cases—that shaped one young psychiatrist as she learned how to doctor and how to love. Elizabeth Ford went through medical school unsure of where she belonged. It wasn’t until she did her psychiatry rotation that she found her calling—to care for one of the most vulnerable populations of mentally ill people, the inmates of New York's jails, including Rikers Island, who are so sick that they are sent to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward for care. These men were broken, unloved, without resources or support, and very ill. They could be violent, unpredictable, but they could also be funny and tender and needy. Mostly, they were human and they awakened in Ford a boundless compassion. Her patients made her a great doctor and a better person and, as she treated these men, she learned about doctoring, about nurturing, about parenting, and about love. While Ford was a psychiatrist at Bellevue she becomes a wife and a mother. In her book she shares her struggles to balance her life and her work, to care for her children and her patients, and to maintain the empathy that is essential to her practice—all in the face of a jaded institution, an exhausting workload, and the deeply emotionally taxing nature of her work. Ford brings humor, grace, and humanity to the lives of the patients in her care and in beautifully rendered prose illuminates the inner workings (and failings) of our mental health system, our justice system, and the prison system.
Sometimes Brilliant: The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History
by Larry BrilliantWhen a powerful mystic steps on the hand of a radical young hippie doctor from Detroit, it changes lives and the world. Sometimes Brilliant is the adventures of a philosopher, mystic, hippie, doctor, groundbreaking tech innovator, and key player in the eradication of one of the worst pandemics in human history. His story, of what happens when love, compassion and determination meet the right circumstances to effect positive change, is the kind that keeps hope and the sense of possibility alive.After sitting at the feet of Martin Luther King at the University of Michigan in 1963, Larry Brilliant was swept up into the civil rights movement, marching and protesting across America and Europe. As a radical young doctor he followed the hippie trail from London over the Khyber Pass with his wife Girija, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm commune to India. There, he found himself in a Himalayan ashram wondering whether he had stumbled into a cult. Instead, one of India's greatest spiritual teachers, Neem Karoli Baba, opened Larry's heart and told him his destiny was to work for the World Health Organization to help eradicate killer smallpox. He would never have believed he would become a key player in eliminating a 10,000-year-old disease that killed more than half a billion people in the 20th century alone.Brilliant's unlikely trajectory, chronicled in Sometimes Brilliant, has brought him into close proximity with political leaders, spiritual masters, cultural heroes, and titans of technology around the world--from the Grateful Dead to Mikhail Gorbachev, from Ram Dass, the Dalai Lama, Lama Govinda, and Karmapa to Steve Jobs and the founders of Google, Salesforce, Facebook, Microsoft and eBay and Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama. Anchored by the engrossing account of the heroic efforts of the extraordinary people involved in smallpox eradication in India, this is a riveting and fascinating epidemiological adventure, an honest reckoning of an entire generation, and a deeply moving spiritual memoir. It is a testament to faith, love, service, and what it means to engage with life's most important questions in pursuit of a better, more brilliant existence.
Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut: Essays and Observations From An Odd Mom Out
by Jill KargmanThe star of Bravo’s new comedy Odd Mom Out and author of The Ex Mrs. Hedgefund and Wolves in Chic Clothing firmly believes in Woody Allen’s magical math equation: Comedy = Tragedy + Time. Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut is a delightful collection of essays and observations based on Jill Kargman’s family, her phobias (vans, mimes, clowns), and her ability to use humor as a tool to get past life’s obstacles, making the fun times funnier and the tough times bearable. Fans of David Sedaris, Sloane Crosley, and Nora Ephron will rejoice, howl, and sympathize.
Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be
by Nichole Perkins&“Hear the dark liquor of her laughter rippling behind her sentences&” in this magnetic memoir as it explores a journalist&’s obsession with pop culture and the difficulty of navigating relationships as a Black woman through fanfiction, feminism, and Southern mores (Saeed Jones). Pop culture is the Pandora&’s Box of our lives. Racism, wealth, poverty, beauty, inclusion, exclusion, and hope -- all of these intractable and unavoidable features course through the media we consume. Examining pop culture&’s impact on her life, Nichole Perkins takes readers on a rollicking trip through the last twenty years of music, media and the internet from the perspective of one southern Black woman. She explores her experience with mental illness and how the TV series Frasier served as a crutch, how her role as mistress led her to certain internet message boards that prepared her for current day social media, and what it means to figure out desire and sexuality and Prince in a world where marriage is the only acceptable goal for women. Combining her sharp wit, stellar pop culture sensibility, and trademark spirited storytelling, Nichole boldly tackles the damage done to women, especially Black women, by society&’s failure to confront the myths and misogyny at its heart, and her efforts to stop the various cycles that limit confidence within herself. By using her own life and loves as a unique vantage point, Nichole humorously and powerfully illuminates how to take the best pop culture has to offer and discard the harmful bits, offering a mirror into our own lives.
Sometimes Life is More Than I Can Stomach: How I Conquered My Eating Disorder
by Nina FederleinSometimes Life is More Than I Can Stomach: How I Conquered My Eating Disorder Psychosomatic illnesses are unfortunately very prevalent in this day and age. Many sufferers and their relatives often feel completely helpless in the face of these conditions and their progression. In this book, the author recounts her own tale of suffering. Using diary entries and narratives, she gives the reader a ruthlessly honest insight into her thoughts and the daily ordeals she went through during her more than seven-year struggle with an eating disorder. But she also offers hope for a fulfilling life because, despite her anorexia, – which later turned into bulimia, depression, and borderline disorder – she managed to free herself from the vicious cycle and now leads a content and symptom-free life with her husband and two children. Nina Federlein: “Every eating disorder sufferer has their own story. This is mine.”
Sometimes There Is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider
by Zakes MdaA New York Times Notable Book of the Year South African novelist and playwright Zakes Mda's remarkable life story of growing up in South Africa, Lesotho, and America, told with style and gusto.Zakes Mda is the most acclaimed South African writer of the independence era. His novels tell stories that venture far beyond the conventional narratives of a people's struggle against apartheid. In this memoir, he tells the story of a life that intersects with the political life of his country but that at its heart is the classic adventure story of an artist, lover, father, teacher, and bon vivant. Zanemvula Mda was born in 1948 into a family of lawyers and grew up in Soweto's ambitious educated black class. At age fifteen he crossed the Telle River from South Africa into Basutoland (Lesotho), exiled like his father, a "founding spirit" of the Pan Africanist Congress. Exile was hard, but it was just another chapter in Mda's coming-of-age. He served as an altar boy (and was preyed on by priests), flirted with shebeen girls, feared the racist Boers, read comic books alongside the literature of the PAC, fell for the music of Dvorák and Coltrane, wrote his first stories—and felt the void at the heart of things that makes him an outsider wherever he goes. The Soweto uprisings called him to politics; playwriting brought him back to South Africa, where he became writer in residence at the famed Market Theatre; three marriages led him hither and yon; acclaim brought him to America, where he began writing the novels that are so thick with the life of his country. In all this, Mda struggled to remain his own man, and with Sometimes There Is a Void he shows that independence opened the way for the stories of individual South Africans in all their variety.
Sometimes You Have to Bite the Dog: One Father's Journey. One Year with my Daughter.
by Sam ColemanA collection of thoughts and advice from the perspective of a new father. From the birth to the first birthday these insights are a reflection of the changing role of the father in modern society and all that comes with it. This book is for the parent who feels lost in their new role.
Sometimes You Have to Cross When It Says Don't Walk: A Memoir of Breaking Barriers
by Lesley VisserLesley Visser is living proof that, no matter where you start, if you are motivated and passionate, your dreams can come true. When Lesley was 11, she told her mother that she wanted to be a sportswriter. The job didn't exist for women in 1964, but her mother—instead of suggesting she become a teacher or a nurse—replied, "Great! Sometimes you have to cross when it says, 'Don't walk.'" That answer changed Lesley's life. Even though no one had done it before, it gave her the strength and self-confidence to try—permission to cross against the light. When Lesley began, the credentials said, "No Women or Children in the Press Box," but she didn't let that stop her. Lesley covered sports for more than 40 years, pioneering women's journalistic presence in men's professional sports, from inside the locker room to out on the field. She's the first and only woman to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and to ever present the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl. And she's the only sportscaster in history to have worked on the network broadcasts of the Final Four, Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Triple Crown, Olympics, U.S. Open, and the World Figure Skating Championship. Lesley currently appears on CBS's "We Need to Talk," the first-ever nationally televised all-female weekly hour-long sports show. Lesley's had her share of hurdles and stumbles. But with passion, perseverance, and dedication, she found a way to achieve her dream, learning valuable lessons along the way. (Hint: Humor goes further than anger, and no, we can't all look like Beyoncé.) In Sometimes You Have to Cross When It Says 'Don't Walk,' Lesley Visser shares her historic journey through the world of sports broadcasting with innate wisdom and good humor. For sports fans who grew up with Lesley, her memoir reads like a walk down memory lane, full of behind-the-camera, VIP-access stories involving John Madden, Jerry Jones, Bill Belichick, Joe Torre, and many more famous sports figures. But even those hearing her story for the first time, no matter what their background, will be inspired to chase their dreams, blaze new trails, and pursue the life they want.
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy
by Leslie BrodyIn this inspiring biography, discover the true story of Harriet the Spy author Louise Fitzhugh -- and learn about the woman behind one of literature's most beloved heroines.Harriet the Spy, first published in 1964, has mesmerized generations of readers and launched a million diarists. Its beloved antiheroine, Harriet, is erratic, unsentimental, and endearing-very much like the woman who created her, Louise Fitzhugh.Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in segregated Memphis, but she soon escaped her cloistered world and headed for New York, where her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the art world of postwar Europe, and her circle of friends included members of the avant-garde like Maurice Sendak and Lorraine Hansberry. Fitzhugh's novels, written in an era of political defiance, are full of resistance: to authority, to conformity, and even -- radically, for a children's author -- to make-believe.As a children's author and a lesbian, Fitzhugh was often pressured to disguise her true nature. Sometimes You Have to Lie tells the story of her hidden life and of the creation of her masterpiece, which remains long after her death as a testament to the complicated relationship between truth, secrecy, and individualism.
Sometimes the Magic Works
by Terry BrooksIn "Sometimes the Magic Works," "New York Times" bestselling author Terry Brooks shares his secrets for creating unusual, memorable fiction. Spanning topics from the importance of daydreaming to the necessity of writing an outline, from the fine art of "showing" instead of merely "telling" to creating believable characters who make readers care what happens to them, Brooks draws upon his own experiences, hard lessons learned, and delightful discoveries made in creating the beloved Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, The Word and The Void trilogy, and the bestselling "Star Wars" novel "The Phantom Menace," In addition to being a writing guide, "Sometimes the Magic Works" is Terry Brooks's self-portrait of the artist. "If you don't think there is magic in writing, you probably won't write anything magical," says Brooks. This book offers a rare opportunity to peer into the mind of (and learn a trick or two from) one of fantasy fiction's preeminent magicians.
Somewhere In Between: A TRU Journey Through Sex, Drugs, Alcohol & Everything In Between
by Julia GarciaA courageous and honest journal of a young woman&’s life—as she examines the person she was, and the person she aspires to be. Somewhere In Between takes you into the author&’s journey as she travels through the world of sex, drugs, alcohol, and everything in between. It&’s a unique collection of personal stories, journal entries, and powerful, self-expressive photography, which were all created to help her cope with the loss of loved ones, her parents&’ divorce, family addictions, and her own battles with addiction and depression. From the founder of the TRU nonprofit organization and a popular speaker, Somewhere In Between is an inspiring account of the challenging and rewarding search for one&’s own truth, and the quest for healing.
Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home
by Laura Ling Lisa Ling“A page-turning account of not only international geopolitics, sisterhood, and familial triumph, but also a portrait of humanity at its best.” —Deepak ChopraOn March 17, 2009, while filming a documentary on the Chinese-North Korean border, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were violently apprehended by North Korean soldiers, charged with trespassing and “hostile acts,” and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il’s notoriously secretive Communist state. Kept totally apart, they endured months of interrogations and a trial before North Korea’s highest court that led to a sentence of twelve years of hard labor in a North Korean prison camp.When news of the arrest reached Laura’s sister, journalist Lisa Ling, she immediately began a campaign to get Laura released. Her efforts led her from the State Department to the higher echelons of the media world and eventually to the White House. Lisa takes us deep into the drama between people in the highest levels of government, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, and eventually former President Bill Clinton, who arrived in North Korea in mid-August for a suspenseful rescue.Somewhere Inside is a timely, inspiring, and page-turning tale of survival set against the canvas of international politics. Writing with their strong, poignant voices, both sisters go beyond the headlines to reveal the unique bond that has sustained them throughout the most horrifying ordeal of their lives.“A riveting story of captivity and the enduring faith, determination, and love of two sisters.” —Booklist (starred review)“A gripping tale of family bonds and love, national pride, and precarious politics.” —Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Somewhere More Holy: Stories from a Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman, and Prodigal Son
by Tony WoodliefAcclaimed columnist Tony Woodlief pens the poignant and powerful story of his search for meaning in the midst of tragedy. When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places. Woodlief takes readers through his house, room by room, showing that home is:•Where we cry out to God as we seek him in the small things•Where the sacred and the mundane meet•The place that makes us better than we could ever be on our own•More than the place where we eat and sleep…it is where we learn graceWoodlief’s heart-touching stories leavened with humor will appeal to a wide audience, especially those trying to reconcile the idea of a loving God in a broken world.
Somewhere North of Where I Was
by Nicole SpenceA memoir of a young Nova Scotia girl&’s troubled childhood, her loss of innocence, and her struggle to survive and persevere. Somewhere North of Where I Was is the heartrending story of a young girl whose childhood innocence was stolen. Retold with the reflective voice of a woman who has survived and transcended the trauma of childhood poverty, neglect, and abuse, Spence&’s wisdom and poignant storytelling abilities suck you into the world of a little girl whose tragic circumstances are tempered with fond family memories. One may be left to wonder how it is a child can survive and move beyond such experiences. With brazen honesty and a driving spirit of hope, perseverance and sometimes sheer stubborn will, Spence brings the reader into her world as she lived it, moving us along, pulling us apart, compelling us to continue reading. In the years of being shuffled from one alcoholic parent to another and finally into foster care, Spence becomes a little girl we cry for, love and cheer for. Spence is everybody's child.
Somewhere Over the Sea: A Father's Letter to His Autistic Son
by Halfdan FreihowIn this deeply moving and elegantly written book, Halfdan W. Freihow takes Gabriel, his young autistic son, on a journey through the full spectrum of human experience. With great love, profound tenderness, and gentle wit, Freihow captures Gabriel's triumphs and disappointments, his joy and frustration, while struggling to help him make sense of a world that he himself does not, and cannot, fully comprehend. A powerful, honest, and achingly beautiful narrative, Somewhere Over the Sea describes a complex, loving relationship that is sometimes fraught with misunderstanding, but always bolstered by unconditional love. A must-read for all parents.
Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family
by Erika HayasakiAn NPR Best Book of 2022 An incredible, deeply reported story of identical twins Isabella and Hà, born in Viêt Nam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the other&’s existence until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds. &“Stirring and unforgettable—a breathtaking adoption saga like no other.&” —Robert Kolker It was 1998 in Nha Trang, Việt Nam, and Liên struggled to care for her newborn twin girls. Hà was taken in by Liên&’s sister, and she grew up in a rural village with her aunt, going to school and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Hà&’s twin sister, Loan, was adopted by a wealthy, white American family who renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Việt Nam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college. But when Isabella&’s adoptive mother learned of her biological twin back in Việt Nam, all of their lives changed forever. Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members. She brings the girls&’ experiences to life on the page, told from their own perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life. Hayasaki contextualizes the sisters&’ experiences with the fascinating and often sinister history of twin studies, intercountry and transracial adoption, and the nature-versus-nurture debate, as well as the latest scholarship and conversation surrounding adoption today, especially among adoptees. For readers of All You Can Ever Know and American Baby, Somewhere Sisters is a richly textured, moving story of sisterhood and coming of age, told through the remarkable lives of young women who have redefined the meaning of family for themselves.