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The Yellow Star House: The Remarkable Story of One Boy's Survival In a Protected House In Hungary
by Paul V. RegelbruggeBetween May 15 and July 9, 1944, over 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported and, most were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The sole exception was the Jews in Budapest. In October 1944, Nazi Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann, with the eager assistance of the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party, initiated plans to finish off the Jews of Budapest even as the Soviet Red Army was rapidly advancing, and ultimately laid siege on Budapest in December 1944. This is the story of how one Jewish boy and 400 others were protected in a ""yellow star house."" The house was converted into a hospital run by Jewish doctors designed to treat everyone -- even their wounded enemies, free of charge. The Jewish residents were ultimately saved in this way by a man who posed as an Arrow Cross officer and risked his own life countless times while over 70,000 Jews were being murdered at the Danube or dying in ghettos. The Yellow Star House is a story of courage, family, hope, rescue and luck. It is unforgettable.
Gracefully Gone
by Alicia Coppola Matthew CoppolaGracefully Gone is the fusion of two journals: my father, Matthew L Coppola Sr.’s and mine. My father’s journal was written in 1982, two years after his diagnosis and remission with brain cancer. Mine was written in 1990-1991, roughly eight years later, as he began to die. In Gracefully Gone I chronicle my twenty-one year old pursuit of life and all the bitter and amusingly confusing angst that accompanies being twenty-one during the last six months of my father’s struggle towards death. <p><p> What I am hoping, what I am counting on, is that my life, my father’s life and our story, might be meaningful to strangers; or perhaps, if not meaningful, then at the very least, identifiable, relatable and at times, humorously understandable. Gracefully Gone is not about death, it is about the journey of a family, specifically, the journey of a young girl trying to find her way in the wake of growing up in the looming shadow of cancer. <p> Gracefully Gone is written as a prayer for all the families, all the children too young to understand and for all the victims of this all too often insurmountable war to know they are not alone. After all, the sad fact is in the world we live in today there are no strangers to cancer and there are certainly no strangers to struggle and loss. <p> Even though my mother and brother went through the same experience as I, we experienced it very differently. It was as if my father was the LOVEBOAT and we three were on our own separate lifeboats surrounding him, each of us handling our grief privately. Perhaps, if we’re really lucky, Gracefully Gone might allow someone a little peace and some comfort knowing that even though they are on their own lifeboats they are in an ocean full of them.
Digital Audio Editing Fundamentals
by Wallace JacksonThis concise book builds upon the foundational concepts of MIDI, synthesis, and sampled waveforms. It also covers key factors regarding the data footprint optimization work process, streaming versus captive digital audio new media assets, digital audio programming and publishing platforms, and why data footprint optimization is important for modern day new media content development and distribution. Digital Audio Editing Fundamentals is a new media mini-book covering concepts central to digital audio editing using the Audacity open source software package which also apply to all of the professional audio editing packages. The book gets more advanced as chapters progress, and covers key concepts for new media producers such as how to maximize audio quality and which digital audio new media formats are best for use with Kindle, Android Studio, Java, JavaFX, iOS, Blackberry, Tizen, Firefox OS, Chrome OS, Opera OS, Ubuntu Touch and HTML5. What you'll learn Industry terminology involved in digital audio editing, synthesis, sampling, analysis and processing The work process which comprises a fundamental digital audio editing, analysis, and effects pipeline The foundational audio waveform sampling concepts that are behind modern digital audio publishing How to install, and utilize, the professional, open source Audacity digital audio editing software Concepts behind digital audio sample resolution and sampling frequency and how to select settings How to select the best digital audio data codec and format for your digital audio content application How to go about data footprint optimization, to ascertain which audio formats give the best results Using digital audio assets in computer programming languages and content publishing platforms Who this book is for Primary Audience: Podcasters, Bloggers, Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Digital Signage Content Producers, e-Learning Content Creators. Secondary Audience: Website Developers, Android Developers, iOS Developers, Multimedia Producers, Rich Internet Application (RIA) Programmers, Game Designers, User Interface Designers, User Experience Designers, Teachers, Broadcasters, Digital Content Publishers. Table of Contents Chapter 1 The Foundation of Digital Audio: The Sound Wave Chapter 2 The History of Digital Audio: MIDI and Synthesis Chapter 3 The Reproduction of Digital Audio: Data Sampling Chapter 4 The Transmission of Digital Audio: Data Formats Chapter 5 The Cleanup of Digital Audio: Noise Removal Chapter 6 The Isolation of Digital Audio: Trimming Tools Chapter 7 The Manual Labor of Digital Audio: Sample Editing Chapter 8 The Algorithms of Digital Audio: Audio Processing Chapter 9 A Visualization of Digital Audio: Spectral Analysis Chapter 10 The Compositing of Digital Audio: Using Tracks Chapter 11 The Creation of Digital Audio: Tone Generation Chapter 12 The Data Footprint of Digital Audio: Compression Chapter 13 The Automation of Digital Audio: Programming Chapter 14 Publishing Digital Audio: Delivery Platforms
Stories of Women in the 1960s: Fighting For Freedom (Women's Stories From History Ser.)
by Cath SenkerIn the 1960s, a woman’s place was seen as being in the home. She even found it hard to make a big purchase if a man wasn’t with her. African-American women faced racism daily and were given low-paid, exhausting jobs. It was time for women to stand up for equal rights and equal pay. These are the stories of four trailblazers who achieved amazing things in difficult circumstances: Betty Freidan protested at the Miss America pageant against judging women on appearance. Ella Baker helped organize Freedom Schools, where black history was taught for the first time. Barbara Castle was one of the few women members of Parliament and fought for equal pay. Mary Quant showed women they could dress for themselves and not men. Many of the rights women have today are down to their actions. They helped change society's image of women forever.
Mount Rushmore (Patriotic Symbols Ser.)
by Nancy HarrisProvides a general overview of what Mount Rushmore means as a symbol.
Mary Blair's Unique Flair: The Girl Who Became One of the Disney Legends
by Amy Novesky40-page storybook based on the colorful and inspiring life of Mary Blair, the creative mind behind It's a "Small World", and concept artist for "Cinderella", "Peter Pan", "Alice in Wonderland"
Natural Disaster: I Cover them. I am one.
by Ginger ZeeGinger grew up in small-town Michigan where she developed an obsession with weather as a young girl. Ginger opens up about her lifelong battle with crippling depression, her romances that range from misguided to dangerous, and her tumultuous professional path.
Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances): A Memoir
by Denise DonlonIn this smart, funny, and inspiring memoir, Denise Donlon recounts her journey as a corporate leader at the forefront of the massive changes in the Canadian music and media industries.One of Canada’s most celebrated and dynamic corporate leaders and broadcasters, Denise Donlon has long been recognized as a trailblazer in the Canadian cultural industries. In Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances), Donlon chronicles her impressive and storied career at MuchMusic, Sony Music Canada, and CBC English Radio, which put her at the forefront of the massive changes in the music industry and media. Throughout her incredible journey, she shares colourful and entertaining stories of growing up tall, flat, and bullied in east Scarborough; interviewing musical icons such as Keith Richards, Run-DMC, Ice-T, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Annie Lennox, and Sting; and detailing her life-changing experiences with War Child Canada, Live8, and the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership.Told with humour and honesty, Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances) is a candid memoir of one woman’s journey, navigating corporate culture with integrity, responsibility, and an irrepressible passion to be a force for good.
History's People: Personalities and the Past (The CBC Massey Lectures)
by Margaret MacMillanPart of the CBC Massey Lectures Series In History’s People internationally acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan gives her own personal selection of figures of the past, women and men, some famous and some little-known, who stand out for her. Some have changed the course of history and even directed the currents of their times. Others are memorable for being risk-takers, adventurers, or observers. She looks at the concept of leadership through Bismarck and the unification of Germany; William Lyon MacKenzie King and the preservation of the Canadian Federation; Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the bringing of a unified United States into the Second World War. She also notes how leaders can make huge and often destructive mistakes, as in the cases of Hitler, Stalin, and Thatcher. Richard Nixon and Samuel de Champlain are examples of daring risk-takers who stubbornly went their own ways, often in defiance of their own societies. Then there are the dreamers, explorers, and adventurers, individuals like Fanny Parkes and Elizabeth Simcoe who manage to defy or ignore the constraints of their own societies. Finally, there are the observers, such as Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India, and Victor Klemperer, a Holocaust survivor, who kept the notes and diaries that bring the past to life. History’s People is about the important and complex relationship between biography and history, individuals and their times.
What Remains: Object Lessons in Love and Loss
by Karen Von HahnA funny, poignant, and at times heartbreaking memoir about one mother and her love of beautiful objets — and how it ultimately proved destructive.Being left with a strand of even the highest quality milky-white pearls isn’t quite the same thing as pearls of wisdom to live by, as Karen von Hahn reveals in her memoir about her stylish and captivating mother, Susan — a mercurial, grandiose, Guerlain-and-vodka-soaked narcissist whose search for glamour and fulfillment through the acquisition and collection of beautiful things ultimately proved hollow.A tale of growing up in 1970s and 1980s Toronto in the fabulousness of a bourgeois Jew-ish family that valued panache over pragmatism and making a design statement over substance, von Hahn’s recollections of her dramatic and domineering mother are exemplified by the objects she held most dear: from a strand of prized pearls, to a Venetian mirror worthy of the palace of Versailles, to the silver satin sofas that were the epitome of her signature style. She also describes the misunderstandings and sometimes hurt and pain that come with being raised by her stunning, larger-than-life mother who in many ways embodied the flash-and-glam, high-flying, wealth-accumulating generation that gave birth to our modern-day material culture.Alternating between satire and sadness, von Hahn reconstructs the past through a series of exquisitely impressionistic memories, ultimately questioning the value of the things we hold dear and — after her complicated, yet impossible-to-forget mother is gone — what exactly remains.
In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living with Cancer
by Teva Harrison2016 Governor General's Literary Award Finalist2017 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Winner2017 Joe Shuster Award NomineeTeva Harrison was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at the age of 37. In this brilliant and inspiring graphic memoir, she documents through comic illustration and short personal essays what it means to live with the disease. She confronts with heartbreaking honesty the crises of identity that cancer brings: a lifelong vegetarian, Teva agrees to use experimental drugs that have been tested on animals. She struggles to reconcile her long-term goals with an uncertain future, balancing the innate sadness of cancer with everyday acts of hope and wonder. She also examines those quiet moments of helplessness and loving with her husband, her family, and her friends, while they all adjust to the new normal.Ultimately, In-Between Days is redemptive and uplifting, reminding each one of us of how beautiful life is, and what a gift.
The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy
by Paul MyersThe definitive, authorized story of legendary sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall —who will soon be returning for a new original series on Amazon Prime Video. Meticulously researched and written with the full cooperation and participation of the troupe, The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy features exclusive interviews with Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, as well as key players from their inner circle, including producer Lorne Michaels, the “man in the towel” Paul Bellini, and head writer Norm Hiscock. Marvel as the Kids share their intimate memories and behind-the-scenes stories of how they created their greatest sketches and most beloved characters, from the Chicken Lady and Buddy Cole to Cabbage Head and Sir Simon &Hecubus.The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy spans the entirety of the Kids’ storied career, from their early club shows in Toronto and New York to their recent live reunion tours across North America. Along for the ride are a plethora of fans, peers, and luminaries to celebrate the career and legacy of Canada’s most subversively hilarious comedy troupe. You’ll read tributes from Seth Meyers, Judd Apatow, Garry Shandling, Paul Feig, Mike Myers, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Brent Butt, Jonah Ray, Dana Gould, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Richter, and Canada’s newest comedy sensation, Baroness Von Sketch. As an added bonus, the book includes never-before-seen photographs and poster art from the personal archives of the Kids themselves.Perfect for diehard fans and new initiates alike, The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy will make you laugh and make you cry … and it may even crush your head.
In Search of A Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey (The CBC Massey Lectures)
by Payam AkhavanA work of memoir, history, and a call to action, the CBC Massey Lectures by internationally renowned UN prosecutor and scholar Payam Akhavan is a powerful and essential work on the major human rights struggles of our times.Renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan has encountered the grim realities of contemporary genocide throughout his life and career. He argues that deceptive utopias, political cynicism, and public apathy have given rise to major human rights abuses: from the religious persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís that shaped his personal life, to the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the rise of contemporary phenomena such as the Islamic State. But he also reflects on the inspiring resilience of the human spirit and the reality of our inextricable interdependence to liberate us, whether from hateful ideologies that deny the humanity of others or an empty consumerist culture that worships greed and self-indulgence.A timely, essential, and passionate work of memoir and history, In Search of a Better World is a tour de force by an internationally renowned human rights lawyer.
A Florence Diary
by Diana AthillA recently discovered gem from the bestselling author of Somewhere Towards the End, A Florence Diary is the charming and vivacious account of Athill’s travels to post-war Florence.In August 1947, Diana Athill travelled to Florence by the Golden Arrow train for a two-week holiday with her cousin Pen. In this playful diary of that trip, delightfully illustrated with photographs of the period, Athill recorded her observations and adventures — eating with (and paid for by) the hopeful men they meet on their travels, admiring architectural sights, sampling delicious pastries, eking out their budget, and getting into scrapes.Written with an arresting immediacy and infused with an exhilarating joie de vivre, A Florence Diary is a bright, colourful evocation of a time long lost and a vibrant portrait of a city that will be deliciously familiar to any contemporary traveller.
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City
by Tanya TalagaThe groundbreaking and multiple award-winning national bestseller work about systemic racism, education, the failure of the policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights by Tanya Talaga.Over the span of eleven years, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They were hundreds of kilometres away from their families, forced to leave home because there was no adequate high school on their reserves. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning author Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.
Mermaids and Ikons: A Greek Summer
by Gwendolyn MacEwenAward-winning poet and novelist Gwendolyn MacEwen explores her strongly personal responses to the landscape, culture, and people of Greece in this exquisitely written travel diary, which was originally published in 1978.Originally published in 1978, beloved poet and novelist Gwendolyn MacEwen’s first work of nonfiction explores her strongly personal responses to a complex civilization. Partly written during a trip to Greece in 1971, MacEwen moves from the urban tumult of Athens to the radiant simplicity of an island in the Aegean. In this intimate and exquisitely written travel diary, she evokes the very spirit of Greece — the exuberance of the people, the sun-drenched landscape, and the shaping power of ancient traditions and myths in modern Mediterranean life.
Glorious & Free: The Canadians
by Rita Field-Marsham Kim Bozak33 personal stories that redefine how Canadians see themselves.We are more than just landscapes, polar bears, Mounties, and canoes. More than just “thank yous,” “sorrys,” hot prime ministers, and doughnut shops. We are also tattoo artists who have discovered the secret to cheating death. Designers hell-bent on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Super soldiers who take “live vests” off suicide bombers. Freethinkers who refuse to be tamed. We are global-village visionaries, world record setters, ambassadors of the imagination, and conquerors of the Rockies. We are Canadian. We are whoever we dream ourselves to be. Meet the glorious and free.$2 from each book sale will be donated to PEN Canada in support of its efforts to defend freedom of expression. Why? Because living glorious and free involves challenging, exploring, and imagining a better world — and being whoever we dream ourselves to be. And freedom of expression protects our right to do all of that.
Heroes in My Head: A Memoir
by Judy RebickA courageous, moving, and powerful memoir from a renowned feminist activist, Heroes in My Head is the incredible untold story of Judy Rebick’s struggle with depression and Dissociative Identity Disorder.In this riveting memoir, renowned feminist Judy Rebick tells the story of the eleven personalities she developed in order to help her cope with, and survive, childhood sexual abuse. In Heroes in My Head, Rebick chronicles her struggle with depression in the 1980s, when she became a high-profile spokesperson for the pro-choice movement during the fight to legalize abortion. It was in the 1990s, when she took on her biggest challenge as a public figure by becoming president of a major women’s rights association, that her memories began to surface and became too persistent to ignore.Rebick reveals her moment of discovery: meeting the eleven personalities; uncovering her repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse; and then communicating with each personality in therapy and on the page in a journal — all of this while she is leading high-profile national struggles.Heroes in My Head is a fascinating, heartbreaking, but ultimately empowering story. With courage and honesty, Rebick lays bare the public and private battles that have shaped her life.
Liminal
by Jordan TannahillFrom award-winning playwright and filmmaker Jordan Tannahill comes a masterful and moving novel in the tradition of Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station and Sheila Heti’s How Should a Person Be.At 11:04 a.m. on January 21st, 2017, Jordan opens the door to his mother’s bedroom. As his eyes adjust to the half-light, he finds her lying in bed, eyes closed and mouth agape. In that instant he cannot tell whether she is asleep or dead. The sight of his mother's body, caught between these two possibilities, causes Jordan to plunge headlong into the uncertain depths of consciousness itself.From androids to cannibals to sex clubs, an unforgettable personal odyssey emerges, populated by a cast of sublime outsiders in search for the ever-elusive nature of self. Part ontological thriller, part millennial saga, Liminal is a riotous and moving portrait of a young man in volatile times, a generation caught in suspended animation, and a son’s enduring love for his mother.
Clifford: A Memoir, A Fiction, A Fantasy, A Thought Experiment
by Harold R. JohnsonFrom the bestselling author of Firewater comes a moving tribute to an older brother that traverses the thresholds of memoir, fiction, and fantasy and reimagines what could have been.When Harold Johnson returns to his childhood home in a northern Indigenous community for his brother Clifford’s funeral, the first thing his eyes fall on is a chair. It stands on three legs, the fourth broken off and missing. So begins a journey through the past, a retrieval of recollections of his silent, powerful Swedish father; his formidable Cree mother; and his brother Clifford, a precocious young boy who is drawn to the mysterious workings of the universe. As the night unfolds, memories of Clifford surface in Harold’s mind’s eye. Memory, fiction, and fantasy collide, and Clifford comes to life as the scientist he was meant to be, culminating in his discovery of the Grand Unified Theory.Exquisitely crafted, funny, visionary, and wholly moving, Clifford is an extraordinary work that embraces myriad forms of storytelling. To read it is to be immersed in a home, a family, a community, the wider world, the entire cosmos.
Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary
by Luna M. FergusonFrom renowned trans activist, Luna M. Ferguson, comes a work of memoir and critical analysis that embraces an inclusive understanding of sex and gender.Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary chronicles Luna M. Ferguson’s extraordinary story of transformation to become a celebrated non-binary filmmaker, writer, and advocate for trans rights. Beginning with their birth and early childhood of gender creativity, Ferguson recounts the complex and often challenging evolution of their identity, including traumatizing experiences with gender conversion therapy, bullying, depression, sexual assault, and violence. Above all, Ferguson’s story is about survival, empathy, and self-acceptance. By combining personal reflections on what it feels like to never truly fit into prescribed roles of male and female, and using an informed analysis of the ongoing shifts in contemporary attitudes towards sex and gender, Ferguson calls for an inclusive understanding of diverse human identity and respect for trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people. Through their honest and impassioned storytelling, we learn what it means to reclaim one’s identity and to live beyond the binary.
Channel of Peace: Stranded in Gander on 9/11
by Kevin TuerffOne of the inspirations for the smash hit Broadway musical Come From Away, Channel of Peace is an unforgettable memoir of the extraordinary kindness afforded to passengers whose flights were re-routed to Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001.When Kevin Tuerff and his partner boarded their flight from France to New York City on September 11, 2001, they had no idea that a few hours later the world — and their lives — would change forever. After U.S. airspace closed following the terrorist attacks, Kevin, who had been experiencing doubts about organized religion, found himself in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, with thousands of other refugees or “come from aways.”Channel of Peace is a beautiful account of how the people of Gander rallied with boundless acts of generosity and compassion for the “plane people,” renewing Kevin’s spirituality and inspiring him to organize an annual and growing “giving back” day. His unforgettable and uplifting story, along with others, has reached thousands of people when it was incorporated into the Broadway musical Come From Away.
The Age of Creativity: Art, Memory, My Father, and Me
by Emily UrquhartA moving portrait of a father and daughter relationship and a case for late-stage creativity from Emily Urquhart, the bestselling author of Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family, and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes. “The fundamental misunderstanding of our time is that we belong to one age group or another. We all grow old. There is no us and them. There was only ever an us.” — from The Age of CreativityIt has long been thought that artistic output declines in old age. When Emily Urquhart and her family celebrated the eightieth birthday of her father, the illustrious painter Tony Urquhart, she found it remarkable that, although his pace had slowed, he was continuing his daily art practice of drawing, painting, and constructing large-scale sculptures, and was even innovating his style. Was he defying the odds, or is it possible that some assumptions about the elderly are flat-out wrong? After all, many well-known visual artists completed their best work in the last decade of their lives, Turner, Monet, and Cézanne among them. With the eye of a memoirist and the curiosity of a journalist, Urquhart began an investigation into late-stage creativity, asking: Is it possible that our best work is ahead of us? Is there an expiry date on creativity? Do we ever really know when we’ve done anything for the last time?The Age of Creativity is a graceful, intimate blend of research on ageing and creativity, including on progressive senior-led organizations, such as a home for elderly theatre performers and a gallery in New York City that only represents artists over sixty, and her experiences living and travelling with her father. Emily Urquhart reveals how creative work, both amateur and professional, sustains people in the third act of their lives, and tells a new story about the possibilities of elder-hood.
Tessa and Scott: Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold
by Tessa Virtue Scott MoirTessa and Scott share their incredible and inspiring story — now updated and expanded with a new introduction, over 100 dazzling new photographs, and three all-new chapters covering the pair’s stunning performances at the Sochi and PyeongChang Olympic Games and beyond.Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the most decorated figure skaters in the history of the sport, and are widely celebrated by peers and fans alike for their superior athleticism, one-of-a-kind partnership, and generosity of spirit. In these pages, they share their incredible story with the world. Tessa and Scott: Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold offers an intimate and revealing behind-the-scenes look at the iconic duo. Veteran sports columnist Steve Milton draws from hours of conversations with Tessa and Scott as they take us from their first meeting in 1995 to their impressive debut and rapid rise on the international scene; from the highs and lows of competitive skating to the profound impact of Tessa’s injury and subsequent recovery; and from their unprecedented Olympic achievements in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, through to their exhilarating triumph in Pyeongchang in 2018, when their performance capture hearts the world over and catapulted them into unparalleled international acclaim. Lavishly illustrated with over 100 new photos, this updated and expanded edition is filled with personal stories and recollections from Tessa, Scott, and those close to them — including family members, friends, and coaches past and present. Tessa and Scott is as much a spectacular visual history as it is a celebration of two of the world’s premier athletes.
Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation
by Annahid DashtgardIn Breaking the Ocean, diversity and inclusion specialist Annahid Dashtgard addresses the long-term impacts of exile, immigration, and racism by offering a vulnerable, deeply personal account of her life and work.Annahid Dashtgard was born into a supportive mixed-race family in 1970s Iran. Then came the 1979 Revolution, which ushered in a powerful and orthodox religious regime. Her family was forced to flee their homeland, immigrating to a small town in Alberta, Canada. As a young girl, Dashtgard was bullied, shunned, and ostracized both by her peers at school and adults in the community. Home offered little respite, with her parents embroiled in their own struggles, exposing the sharp contrasts between her British mother and Persian father.Determined to break free from her past, Dashtgard created a new identity for herself as a driven young woman who found strength through political activism, eventually becoming a leader in the anti–corporate globalization movement of the late 1990s. But her unhealed trauma was re-activated following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Suffering burnout, Dashtgard checked out of her life and took the first steps towards personal healing, a journey that continues to this day.Breaking the Ocean introduces a unique perspective on how racism and systemic discrimination result in emotional scarring and ongoing PTSD. It is a wake-up call to acknowledge our differences, addressing the universal questions of what it means to belong and ultimately what is required to create change in ourselves and in society.