Riding the Roller Coaster


Book Description

Life can hold rich possibilities even for those with a mental illness. Learning to live with a mood disorder is something people do gradually, as life unfolds. Bit by bit they begin to recognise the symptoms. Gradually they begin to manage their illness. Marja Bergen is one of those people. Over the 30 years that she has had manic depression, she has gradually adopted a lifestyle that makes it possible not only to cope, but to live a full and productive life. In 'Riding the Roller Coaster', she shares some very practical tips, including escaping the blues before they grab you, what to do when you don't feel like doing anything, and keeping life stable. But there are obstacles. There is a social stigma attached to mental illness. Marja Bergen believes that this stigma can be overcome. It is a matter of accepting mental illness as an illness like any other. It is a matter of attitude. The attitude of individuals with a mental illness -- toward themselves, toward their illness and toward their potential makes a great deal of difference. To become really well, a person must work hard to improve their own life. Taking control and making things happen is far better than waiting for something to happen, and Marja Bergen writes with warmth and eloquence about how to do exactly that.




Surviving the Emotional Roller Coaster


Book Description

The teen years are an emotional roller coaster. So, how can you make it through? In this important guide, leading dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and teen expert Sheri Van Dijk offers four core skills to help you manage your emotional ups and downs, build great relationships, and thrive! As a teen, you're experiencing intense changes in your life—both physically and mentally. To top it off, you're probably unsure of how to handle your emotions in a positive, constructive way. Surviving the Emotional Roller Coaster offers evidence-based techniques to help you regulate your emotions and find balance in all areas of life— whether it's at home, at school, or with friends and peers. By learning to be more aware of your emotions, you'll be able to let difficult feelings pass without reacting to them in destructive ways. You will also learn the four basic DBT skills to help you manage your emotions: core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. You'll discover how to apply these skills to help deal with a number of negative emotions, such as low self-esteem, anger, anxiety, depression, and more. By changing the way you react to your emotions and to others, you'll be able to build better relationships and feel more confident as a result. If you’re ready to understand and better manage your feelings, stop acting on impulses, and calm yourself in moments of emotional stress, this book will show you how.




Fragile Line


Book Description

It can happen in a flash. One minute she's kissing her boyfriend, the next she's lost in the woods. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Cox is losing time. It started out small...forgetting a drive home or a conversation with a friend. But her blackouts are getting worse, more difficult to disguise as forgetfulness. When Ellie goes missing for three days, waking up in the apartment of a mysterious guy—a guy who is definitely not her boyfriend—her life starts to spiral out of control. Perched on the edge of insanity, with horrific memories of her childhood leaking in, Ellie struggles to put together the pieces of what she's lost—starting with the name haunting her, Gwen. Heartbreakingly beautiful and intimately drawn, this poignant story follows one girl's harrowing journey to finding out who she really is.




The Hive


Book Description

2021 Indie Best Contest Winner 2021 Finalist for American Book Fest’s for Best Book Award A 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner for Best Cover Design A 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist for Best Second Novel A story of survival, sisters, and secrets The Fehler sisters wanted to be more than bug girls but growing up in a fourth- generation family pest control business in rural Missouri, their path was fixed. The family talked about Fehler Family Exterminating at every meal, even when their mom said to separate the business from the family, an impossible task. They tried to escape work with trips to their trailer camp on the Mississippi River, but the sisters did more fighting than fishing. If only there was a son to lead rural Missouri insect control and guide the way through a crumbling patriarchy. After Robbie Fehler’s sudden death, the surprising details of succession in his will are revealed. He’s left the company to a distant cousin, assuming the women of the family aren’t capable. As the mother’s long-term affair surfaces and her apocalypse prepper training intensifies, she wants to trade responsibility for romance. Facing an economic recession amidst the backdrop of growing Midwestern fear and resentment, the Fehler sisters unite in their struggle to save the company’s finances and the family’s future. To survive, they must overcome a political chasm that threatens a new civil war as the values that once united them now divide the very foundation they’ve built. Through alternating point-of-views, grief and regret gracefully give way to the enduring strength of the hive.




Divorced Girl Smiling


Book Description

Smile! It's not just the end of your marriage, it's the beginning of your second chance!Missy Benson has a two and a half carat diamond engagement ring with color grade H, VS2 clarity and a value of $36,000. It's absolutely gorgeous, practically flawless, and let's be honest, really big!But what the successful Chicago realtor doesn't have anymore is a husband. After 12 years of marriage, her husband, Paul, a handsome, wealthy attorney has devastated her by breaking up their marriage for Priscilla Sommerfeld, a young, personal trainer, who according to Missy's sassy assistant, J.J., looks more like a Las Vegas stripper than a fitness expert.Not sure what to do with her ring, and with no financial issues to worry about, Missy decides to put it up for sale on Craigslist. The price: 99 cents! The catch: She gets to pick the buyer. In essence, she's looking for the perfect guy, but not for herself. Her hope is to regain faith that good men do exist, and that marriages can last forever.Now referring to herself as "the divorced girl," Missy interviews dozens of young men who are vying for the huge ring. It's a contest that includes outrageous characters, hilarious and sentimental stories, and two finalists, both of whom Missy adores and who she must choose between. Then there's Parker Missoni, the sexiest contestant by far, who drives her crazy with his brutal honesty, and at the same time stops her heart with his deep brown eyes.Divorced Girl Smiling is the story of a woman's journey to do whatever it takes to heal herself from divorce. It's about acceptance, reflection, taking accountability for mistakes, and appreciating all of life's wonderful gifts. In other words, if you have the guts to put the past behind, admit your mistakes, embrace your future, and give love another chance, you will surely be a divorced girl smiling.




The Single Mom and Her Rollercoaster Emotions


Book Description

Christian guidance for single parenting. Single moms face ups and downs, and this personal testimony offers advice on how to navigate the emotional roller coaster. After highlighting and defining nine specific negative emotions that often overwhelm single parents, Pam Kanaly explains how to transform these common characteristics into corresponding positive traits. Founded on love and biblical teaching, these words of wisdom and compassion will offer hope and consolation to struggling moms.




Full Tilt


Book Description

Full of roller-coaster twists and turns, Neal Shusterman's page-turner is an Orpheus-like adventure into one boy's psyche. Sixteen-year-old Blake and his younger brother, Quinn, are exact opposites. Blake is the responsible member of the family. He constantly has to keep an eye on the fearless Quinn, whose thrill-seeking sometimes goes too far. But the stakes get higher when Blake has to chase Quinn into a bizarre phantom carnival that traps its customers forever. In order to escape, Blake must survive seven deadly rides by dawn, each of which represents a deep, personal fear--from a carousel of stampeding animals to a hall of mirrors that changes people into their deformed reflections. Blake ultimately has to face up to a horrible secret from his own past to save himself and his brother--that is, if the carnival doesn't claim their souls first!




Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster


Book Description

If you have ever been told that you're 'too sensitive'; if you've ever felt overwhelmed by your emotions - as if they're controlling you and you can't seem to dial them back; if you've ever reacted in a way that you've later regretted, but you simply couldn't stop yourself at the time; or if you simply struggle to understand why you're feeling the way you are, then this is the book you've been waiting for. Drawing on her years of experience as a clinical psychologist, Dr Zurita Ona provides a clear and simple roadmap for every 'super-feeler' on how to avoid being hijacked by your emotions. Using the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as well as aspects of positive psychology, you will learn how to distinguish between emotion-based behaviour and values-based behaviour so that you can step back from an uncontrolled emotional response and instead choose a more appropriate one. The result is an effective way to combat the feelings of loneliness and fear of abandonment so many super-feelers experience, as you learn to build and maintain strong healthy relationships, and to look within to identify sources of pain and struggle rather than placing outward blame. Along the way, you will become adept at skills such as self-acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, mindfulness, and conflict resolution. In the end, super-feelers will discover the truth that they are more than their emotions, and that no matter how intense the situation, they can always choose to act in a way that is consistent with their personal values, in order to experience fulfilling, loving and caring relationships.




Felix Ever After


Book Description

A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time From Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time. Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle.... But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself. Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve. "Felix is attending an ultracompetitive arts summer program to have a better shot at a full scholarship to Brown when someone posts Felix’s dead name beside photos of him, pre-transition, in the school’s lobby. Felix’s plot to get revenge throws him onto the path of love and self-discovery." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")