When this book was released in 2017 I delayed reading it due to its major theme of a teenager dealing with her father’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.
I usually avoid books or movies where this is a key element of the story due to my own experience. While I was a mature adult in my late forties and well past my teens when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I know too well the devastating impact of slowly losing a loved one to the disease. I’m glad I finally set aside my reservations and read this book.
Julia Lawrinson has drawn on her own and her daughter’s experience to produce a beautifully crafted and memorable story. It’s raw, honest, and heartbreaking yet never heavy. Before You Forget is also full of warmth, humour, and hope.
Year Twelve is not off to a good start for Amelia. Art is her world, but her art teacher hates everything she does; her best friend has stopped talking to her; her mother and father may as well be living in separate houses; and her father is slowly forgetting everything. Even Amelia.
Each day I rise knowing that I have the grit and determination to rise above life’s barriers, no matter what the cost. At times, that cost has been high. I have built an awesome life from the ashes of childhood tragedy and I try to absorb today’s lessons, for I never know what’s just around the corner. I love and live life to the fullest because after all, we are only given one shot at it. My recent memoir depicts my strengths, my weaknesses, my loves, and my disappointments. All have been valuable inspirational tools in my wonderful journey through life.
Born into poverty in Chairman Mao’s regime, Li’s peasant life was altered when he was chosen to be one of the special guards for Mao’s new China.
I found this small boy’s courage and his understanding, both forged by his longing for freedom, to be one of life’s most great motivators. I cried for him in his times of desperate loneliness and was proud of him in his moments of success, however small.
Li’s dream to become the world’s finest dancer becomes a reality when, after many years of heartache and desperation, eventually overcome by his determination and grit, he dances with some of the world’s leading ballet companies.
The extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation.
From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years…
As a 5-year-old boy, I was given a tin of watercolour paints by my Grandmother. I had no idea how to use them, and there was no one around to teach me. I had to find my own way. Around the same time I was taken on a day trip to London, where we visited the Tate Gallery. It was there that I was confronted for the first time by the magnificent paintings of J.M.W.Turner. My love for art was ignited. I became a serious student of art, and although I have had to make a living in the world like everyone else, art became my go-to therapy for relief and recreation.
On a day trip to Cambridge UK I was in an old book store. I could not believe my good fortune when I spotted an old-worn book entitled Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates. I realised immediately that Pyle was the art teacher of N.C.Wyeth, the styles of the 2 are interchangeable. This book contains numerous Pirate stories, which Pyle wrote himself. Obviously the text is now very antiquated, but there are numerous illustrations illustrating Pirate battles and adventure. Pyle wrote and taught art in the late 19th Century. Any student of the Wyeth’s should check him out.
Pirates, Buccaneers, Marooners, those cruel but picturesque sea wolves who once infested the Spanish Main, all live in present-day conceptions in great degree as drawn by the pen and pencil of Howard Pyle….It is improbable that anyone else will ever bring his combination of interest and talent to the depiction of these old-time Pirates, any more than there could be a second Remington to paint the now extinct Indians and gun-fighters of the Great West.
I have published over 50 books, including award-winning and bestselling titles. I am also a publishing executive and editor with 20+ years of professional experience. My latest The Twins of Auschwitz: The Inspiring True Story of Young Girl Surviving Mengele’s Hell, with Eva Kor, got a stellar review by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and is an international bestseller. As well as spearheading four publishing startups, I have run my own business, Editorial Services of L.A. I was Editorial/Publishing Director for Golden Books, Price Stern Sloan, Intervisual Books, Hooked on Phonics, and more. I am also the Publisher & Editor in Chief of NY Journal Of Books, the premier online-only book review site.
This is the Inspiring true story of a young girl surviving Mengele’s hell. This is an incisive, harrowing, and touching memoir of Eva Mozes Kor and her twin sister Miriam, who are sent to Auschwitz only to be torn from their parents and given to Josef Mengele, "The Angel of Death," for his evil and damaging experiments on human subjects.
In the voice of the ten-year-old Eva, we learn about what life was like in the death camps and how a child survives when food, water, comfort, and care are absent. At times heartbreaking and at other times a triumph of the will of a child to survive, this is a memoir that is not easily forgotten.
The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.
In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz.
Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.
While twins at Auschwitz were granted the 'privileges' of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele's sadistic medical experiments. They…
I love Aotearoa New Zealand books! Our writers are brave, feisty, original - and living in ‘the land of the long white cloud’ at the bottom of the globe gives us a unique take on the world that permeates through everything we write. But we struggle to get our voices heard internationally, so far from the rest of you! This is your chance to push out your boundaries and explore stories that derive from a culture very different from your own, while sharing the same human emotions that bring us all together. As one of these writers, I challenge you to check us out – you won’t be disappointed!
Perhaps our greatest writer for children and young adult fiction, two-time Carnegie Medal winner Margaret Mahy, this book won the 2005 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association. Essentially it’s a love story, but not as you’ve ever experienced it before. It’s brainy, surprising, endearing, and really, really worth a read!
Determined to satisfy her curiosity about her unknown father, eighteen-year-old Angela May embarks on an emotional journey that shapes and forever alters the way she looks at herself, her unconventional mother, and her devoted friend Tycho. Reprint.
Lauren James is the twice Carnegie-nominated British author of many Young Adult novels. She is also a Creative Writing lecturer, freelance editor, screenwriter, and the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League. She was born in 1992 and has a Master's degree from the University of Nottingham, UK, where she studied Chemistry and Physics. Lauren is a passionate advocate of STEM further education, and many of her books feature female scientists in prominent roles. Her writing has been described as ‘gripping romantic sci-fi’ by the Wall Street Journal and ‘a strange, witty, compulsively unpredictable read which blows most of its new YA-suspense brethren out of the water’ by Entertainment Weekly.
In a world where witches control the climate and are losing control as the weather grows more erratic, a once-in-a-generation witch with the magic of all seasons is the only one who can save earth from destruction. But as her power grows, it targets and kills those closest to her, and when she falls in love with her training partner, she's forced to choose between her power, her love, and saving the earth.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller In a world where witches control the climate and are losing control as the weather grows more erratic, a once-in-a-generation witch with the magic of all seasons is the only one who can save earth from destruction. But as her power grows, it targets and kills those closest to her, and when she falls in love with her training partner, she's forced to choose between her power, her love, and saving the earth. * Featuring an exclusive, flower-stamped case, only available on the first print run! For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, but…
My passion for the mystery genre began when I read Nancy Drew back in second grade. I chain read the series. I think it’s a natural impulse to want to understand mysteries and the one thing we can solve is a mystery on paper since so many things don’t lend themselves easily to explanations. The first incarnation of my writing career was as an M/M romance author and one of my romantic suspense novels, Acts of Passion, featured Dr. Michael DiSanto, a genius, quirky, and handsome profiler with a fascinating past. I grew to love that character so much that his backstory was born in The Boy on the Lawn.
I love mysteries with a sensitive protagonist who sees what no one else sees and cares enough to get at the truth when everyone else has dismissed it. Penelope Marin is dealing with grief by collecting trinkets. When she recognizes a trinket in a market stall that had belonged to a murdered young woman, she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth of what happened to her, even though it means putting herself into dangerous situations. Penelope (“Lo”) is brave and determined and doesn’t let anyone else’s disbelief stop her from caring about a murdered woman whom no one else cares about and has written off as unsolved. This is the kind of story that always has me riveted.
Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place - possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognises it as having been stolen from…
I have loved story since I was little, and I’ve curated a life where it has always taken center stage in some or another. I was a high school English teacher for ten years, and have been a college professor for eight. But what really inspires me to write the books I do is my PhD in mythological studies. As a mythologist, I’m lucky enough to be able to see why stories resonate with us for so long and use those same themes and metaphors to write my own.
Medema writes in-verse as well as uses emails, texts, and Google searches to tell the story of a teen who finds out that yes, she really is the odd one out in her family because her dad is not actually her father. She and the heart-wrenching Kodiak Jones take us through what it means to find the people you love, whether they are actual blood-relations or not. If you’re not sobbing at the end of this book…
"A heart-wrenching quest for identity every YA reader will relate to, and a deep dive into the meaning of family." -Ellen Hopkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Debut author Dante Medema explores the emotional fallout after a teenage girl discovers she is the product of an affair. Told through a series of poems, text messages, and emails, this contemporary YA is perfect for fans of Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin.
Seventeen-year-old Cordelia Koenig intended to breeze through her senior project. While her peers stressed, Cordelia planned to use the same trace-your-roots genealogy idea her older sister used years prior.…
My family lived in an American camp in Saudi Arabia when I was young, and we traveled extensively. I’ve always loved ancient cultures, from our first international trip to Greece when I was six. The two months I spent in Mexico and Central America as a young adult inspired my first novel for young people, The Well of Sacrifice. But Egypt has long held a special place in my heart. The mummies and pyramids grab a child’s attention. The fact that these people were so different from us – and yet so similar in other ways – keeps that fascination going. Stories about ancient Egypt never get old!
This photo-filled book was written by an Egyptian archaeologist who was the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The book discusses ancient and modern ideas of mummy curses. While Dr. Hawass sometimes feels the tug of ancient magic, he does a good job of refuting the idea of a curse. He shares many personal stories from his years as an archaeologist. His passion and enthusiasm for archaeology shine through.
The author also wrote Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, which has friendly, enthusiastic writing and nice photos in a large format.
"Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: National Geographic (May 1, 2004) ISBN: 079226665X Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.6 x 0.6 inches All Ages ""Why do [people] want to believe that the ancient Egyptians wish to reach out over thousands of years an"
This is by far my favourite "evil stepsister" retelling, and definitely
in the top three of my favourite Cinderella retellings.
The sass!
The romance! The magic and fae lore! There were just so many different parts
that I loved that it's almost impossible to narrow it down. So often, villain
retellings try to redeem the villain without having them acknowledge the harm
they caused, but Moke made Aralyn's redemption believable – I was rooting for
her from the beginning!
Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince meets Jennifer Donnelly's Stepsister in this fairytale reimagining about a kingdom on the brink of ruin, and one wicked stepsister’s journey to become the heroine of her own quest.
Aralyn has lost everything - the coveted glass slipper, the prince's hand in marriage, and her only chance to save her mother and sister from destitution. Now she spends her days sweeping the cinders and washing dresses as her stepsister Ellarose once did, plotting her revenge against the girl who robbed her of her future.
But when Ellarose, now the princess, comes to beg her help…
I’m the author of the humorous YA novels The Supervillain and Me andThe Good for Nothings. I’ve been telling stories since I could talk, including the night I recited an entire Mickey Mouse scratch and sniff book to my mother at bedtime (she’s so proud), and the numerous evenings I subjected my friends and family to another one of my home “movies” set in front of a poorly painted bedsheet backdrop in my basement. I owe my writing career to Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield’s version), who inspired my first book. I spent countless college classes thinking about him instead of paying attention, but it all worked out in the end.
The humor in this book is delightfully… cheesy. Pun intended.Tweet Cute is about Jack and Pepper, son and daughter of the owners of a mom-and-pop deli and a massive fast-food chain, respectively, who get into a Twitter war once it is revealed that one has stolen the other’s secret family grilled cheese recipe. This book has three things that I absolutely adore: It’s set in New York City, the characters engage almost constantly in witty banter, and it’s packed with puns about—you guessed it—grilled cheese. But humor aside, Tweet Cute is a terrific story about tight-knit families, teenagers dealing with the pressures surrounding high school graduation, and ultimately, following your own path.
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic over achiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming - mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger's massive Twitter account.
Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper's side. When he isn't trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin's shadow, he's busy working in his family's deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma's iconic grilled cheese recipe,…
