Dewey, as the townspeople named the kitten, grew into a strutting, affable library cat whose antics kept patrons in stitches, and whose sixth sense about those in need created hundreds of deep and loving friendships. Then, on the coldest morning of the year, Vicki found a tiny, bedraggled kitten almost frozen to death in the night drop box, and her life-and the town of Spencer-was never the same. But her biggest challenge as the new head librarian in Spencer, Iowa, was to raise the spirits of a small, out-of-the-way town mired deep in the farm crisis of the 1980s. Vicki Myron was a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm and an alcoholic husband. An Abandoned Kitten Transforms the Spirit of an American Town.ĭewey, an abandoned kitten from the heartland, transforms a sleepy library, inspires a classic American town, and captures the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.
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We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we'd had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn't sure I was strong enough to bear.Īt the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we'd worked so hard for. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. The vows we'd exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own. Gideon calls me his angel, but he's the miracle in my life. Her Crossfire series has been optioned for. The fourth book in the New York Times bestselling Crossfire series. She is a number one bestselling author in 23 countries, with tens of millions of copies of her books in print. So many of us heard the question: if everyone else were jumping off a bridge, would you? The obvious lesson is that we shouldn’t conform to the crowd…yet as we mature, we tend to fall into the trap of doing just that…. The opening of the book includes a reminder of when we were children. After college he volunteered with Mercy Ships and then visited all 193 countries in the world by his 35th birthday. He dropped out of high school…to go to college. His personal story is one that certainly exemplifies the art of non-conformity. Guillebeau is a blogger, podcaster, and speaker. Chris Guillebeau has written a number of other books ( The $100 Startup and Side Hustle to name two) but this one takes us back to his first work from 2010. One such book is The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World. These are the books that provide actionable concepts and examples of real people that have changed their lives. Yet, among all the inspirational memes and Instagram posts, there are a few resources out there that attempt to do more than simply inspire. Ideas for living that all too many have pursued without understanding or knowing how. If you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life. The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeauĭo what you love. "But it isn't all sweetness and light sabres." Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction and weathering the wild ride of manic depression. In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher told the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit.īorn to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away.' Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking No one is good or bad – but a hearty mix of both. ' Wishful Drinking is a touching and incisive account of bipolarity, addiction and motherhood.' Independent Or rather-it was so oversimplified that it did not prepare me for the beautiful and devastating journey I was about to embark on. The blurb that promised a story woven around myth and a girl dealing with trauma and pregnancy in rural Nunavut during the 1970s had me pulling out my wallet. A flip through at the combination of poetry, prose and illustrations made my interest keener. I was browsing a small bookstore in Whistler, British Columbia last winter when I spotted the cover faced out on the shelf: the forbidding white fox against the black background. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up Split Tooth by Inuk author Tanya Tagaq. Content Warning: Sexual abuse, rape, substance use Soon I shall be under the grass and it will be lost. Black Elk said to Neihardt, "What I know was given to me for men and it is true and it is beautiful. (Black Elk, 68 years old at the time, would die in 1950 at the age of 87 Neihardt, 43, would live to be 92.) Black Elk had not told many people about this vision as the story progresses, the reader learns that Black Elk has not told even his best friend, Standing Bear. He wanted to tell Neihardt his life story, especially the story of his vision, because he felt he would soon die. When the two men met, Black Elk recognized that Neihardt was a sympathetic listener, someone interested in the spiritual world and in Indian history. Neihardt had earlier become acquainted with Indian culture when he lived near the Omaha reservation at Bancroft, Nebraska, and he knew Black Elk's reputation as a holy man and the second cousin to the great Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. He had published the fourth section, The Song of the Indian Wars, and was looking for material for the final section, The Song of the Messiah. Neihardt was in the process of completing A Cycle of the West, an epic poem concerning the history of the American West. In August 1930, the Midwestern writer John Neihardt went with his son Sigurd to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to speak with Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux. But it’s also totally fascinating and I loved studying it. For the record, Political Science is a totally useless degree. While I was in the “away” part of that adventure, I was living in Chicago, Illinois, where I went to DePaul University and met my husband. I grew up in, moved away from, and finally came home to Indianapolis, Indiana. I had a string of jobs – some I liked, some I hated, but no There is more than one author with this name After college, I lived in Chicago for several more years with my husband. I graduated with about nine million extra credit hours because I was forever taking classes that seemed “interesting” instead of classes that I needed to fill requirements. There is more than one author with this name I grew up in, moved away from, and finally came home to Indianapolis, Indiana. The book is written in the present with flashbacks to events that took place before the fire. We slowly learn that there has been a massive fire after the commune is attacked by government agencies and something has happened which Moonbeam feels she is responsible for. We first meet Moonbeam when she is locked in a secure facility with some other kids from the commune. Moonbeam is left there with her mum, who she has quite a fractious relationship with and the rest of the commune. He moved Moon and her mum there and became one of the top leaders. Moonbeam has lived there for most of her life after her father saw the previous leader, Father Patrick, speak. The cult, or God’s Legion live in a commune and are led by the charismatic and scary Father John. Moonbeam has grown up living in a cult in the desert in America. Hold on to your hats kids, I love this book and so may be a bit gushy! Evanovich says, "I wouldn't go so far as to say Stephanie is an autobiographical character, but I will admit to knowing where she lives." The first book, One for the Money, was adapted as a 2012 film starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie.Įvanovich admits that Stephanie Plum's character is inspired by her own, in both history and "similar embarrassing experiences". "But truthfully," Evanovich says, "Stephanie has stayed the same more than she's changed." Īs of 2021, Stephanie has appeared in 28 full-length novels, four holiday novellas, and a short story in a compilation of various authors' works. Įvanovich claims the inspiration for Stephanie's character came after watching Midnight Run starring Charles Grodin and Robert De Niro, adding, "If Mickey Spillane wrote Archie and Veronica, Stephanie would be Betty." As the series has progressed, Stephanie has become more stable and responsible, and a better bounty hunter. She is described by the author as "incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary". She is a spunky combination of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, and-although a female bounty hunter-is the opposite of Domino Harvey. Stephanie Plum is a fictional character and the protagonist in a series of novels written by Janet Evanovich. This is the age when childhood and young adulthood so violently clash within you, even YOU aren’t sure how to find your voice. “One of the biggest challenges a middle-grade author faces is the middle-grade reader. Told in verse from the alternating perspectives of Hannah and Cal, this is a story of two cousins who are more alike than they realize and the family they both want to save. Humor and stories might be his defense mechanism, but if Cal doesn't let his walls down soon, he might push away the very people who are trying their best to love him. She knows that Cal went through a lot after his mom died and she is trying to be patient, but most days Hannah just wishes Cal never moved in.įor his part, Cal is trying his hardest to fit in, but not everyone is as appreciative of his unique sense of humor and storytelling gifts as he is. Cal tells half-truths and tall tales, pranks Hannah constantly, and seems to be the reason her parents are fighting more and more. But when her cousin Cal moves in with her family, everything changes. She has two supportive parents, she's popular at school, and she's been killing it at gymnastics. For the most part, Hannah's life is just how she wants it. |