Letters My Grandfather Wrote Me


Book Description

The Douglases are traced from 100 A.D. with ancestral background in Ireland around 300 B.C. There is an American branch from the 18th century with connections to the U.S. war of independence and the anti-slave movement. The Crawfords are shown in their early history around the 12th century, then since the early 19th Century in Scotland, Ireland and New Zealand. The Clarks are shown since the mid 19thcentury but with strong Huguenot roots in the 17th century. The Gagens are traced from Germany to Norfolk in the U.K. in the 17th century; and to Canada and America in the 19th, where Dan Gagen married into the Chippewa tribe. The book is about Cyril Gagen who settled in New Zealand with his mid-wife mother in the early 20th century, and is written by his grandson. The last chapter is autobiographical with an in-depth discussion on Social Control and the ethics of its use in modern Britain and New Zealand. The Clarion review states that the book is anti-monarchist which is totally incorrect.




Letters for Emily


Book Description

Afflicted with Alzheimer', Harry Whitney compiles a book of his own poems as a final gift to Emily, his favorite granddaughter. His secret hope is that somehow his words will heal tenuous relationships in a family that is falling apart.




Letters to My Grandparent


Book Description

Write Now. Read Later. Treasure Forever. Letters to my Grandparent will inspire you to share memories, drawings, and well wishes for a grandparent to warm their heart. Each letter begins with a unique prompt like: Here are three special memories I have of us... A special place we share is... You are wonderful because... Included are 12 letters that will inspire grandchildren to stay connected to their grandparents. Each letter has a space to write when it was sealed and when it should be opened (will it be tomorrow or in 20 years?). Seal letters with the included stickers before giving this time capsule to a grandparent!




Paper Love


Book Description

One woman’s journey to find the lost love her grandfather left behind when he fled pre-World War II Europe, and an exploration into family identity, myth, and memory. Years after her grandfather’s death, journalist Sarah Wildman stumbled upon a cache of his letters in a file labeled “Correspondence: Patients A–G.” What she found inside weren’t dry medical histories; instead what was written opened a path into the destroyed world that was her family’s prewar Vienna. One woman’s letters stood out: those from Valy—Valerie Scheftel. Her grandfather’s lover who had remained behind when he fled Europe six months after the Nazis annexed Austria. Valy’s name wasn’t unknown to her—Wildman had once asked her grandmother about a dark-haired young woman whose images she found in an old photo album. “She was your grandfather’s true love,” her grandmother said at the time, and refused any other questions. But now, with the help of the letters, Wildman started to piece together Valy’s story. They revealed a woman desperate to escape and clinging to the memory of a love that defined her years of freedom. Obsessed with Valy’s story, Wildman began a quest that lasted years and spanned continents. She discovered, to her shock, an entire world of other people searching for the same woman. On in the course of discovering Valy’s ultimate fate, she was forced to reexamine the story of her grandfather’s triumphant escape and how this history fit within her own life and in the process, she rescues a life seemingly lost to history.




Letters from Cuba


Book Description

Pura Belpré Award Winner Ruth Behar's inspiring story of a Jewish girl who escapes Poland to make a new life in Cuba, where she works to rescue the rest of her family The situation is getting dire for Jews in Poland on the eve of World War II. Esther's father has fled to Cuba, and she is the first one to join him. It's heartbreaking to be separated from her beloved sister, so Esther promises to write down everything that happens until they're reunited. And she does, recording both the good--the kindness of the Cuban people and her discovery of a valuable hidden talent--and the bad: the fact that Nazism has found a foothold even in Cuba. Esther's evocative letters are full of her appreciation for life and reveal a resourceful, determined girl with a rare ability to bring people together, all the while striving to get the rest of their family out of Poland before it's too late. Based on Ruth Behar's family history, this compelling story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the most challenging times.




This Is Not a Love Song


Book Description

A debut collection of moving and darkly witty stories from an "admirably fearless" (New York Times Book Review) writer whom critics have compared to Michael Chabon, E.L. Doctorow, and Dennis Lehane A Massachusetts Book Award "Must Read" Selection When marriages, friendships, and families come undone, to what lengths do we go to keep it all together? That question lies at the heart of Brendan Mathews's buoyant and unforgettable debut story collection. A young mother watches as her desperate husband, convinced a hidden poison lurks inside their walls, tears their home apart. Two journalists bruised by romance and revolution, one a survivor of the Bosnian war, trade tales of lost lovers. A father and his sons haggle over the family business during a high-stakes round of golf. And a lovesick circus clown tries to explain the accidents that bound him to a trapeze artist and a witless lion tamer. If Mathews's novel The World of Tomorrow was an "outsized" entertainment, a "big, expressive debut" (Wall Street Journal), then This Is Not a Love Song, two stories from which have been included in The Best American Short Stories, is glorious proof that he excels equally as a miniaturist. From rock-star flameouts to church burnings to ordinary people trying not to fall out of love, these stories are packed with vivid detail, emotional precision, and deft, redemptive humor.




Firefly Lane


Book Description

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . now a #1 Netflix series! In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable. So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . . For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test. Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.




My Grandfather and Me


Book Description

Kids and grandfathers can collect and record their memories while getting to know each other. This book features playful illustrations and space to paste photos, write and draw. There's even a pocket at the back to keep letters, secrets and souvenirs plus a punch-out space on the front cover for a special photo of a grandparent and child. Full-color illustrations.




Letters to Ethan


Book Description

Fortunately, you're blessed with a family that loves you. Your grandfather, Tom McQueen, wrote you this book. No one has all the answers, but he's already faced many of the challenges you'll encounter. Even those of us who've been around awhile can learn a thing or twelve from your grandpa. He's helped a lot of folks as a therapist; he's inspired audiences with his seminars; and he's shared his thoughts in several other books.




Letters from My Grandpa


Book Description

My grandfather just finished writing his book, A Frantic Saga in his last days. The book is about his life while serving in WWII when he was in Russia and Ukraine. Once the book was printed, he handed me a copy as he did to all of his grandchildren and children. On the inside cover he wrote an important message to me that read: Try to do something better than me. Grandpa was in World War II, I thought to myself. How could I do something better than a World War II hero? That's something that really cannot be outdone, I felt. Those who were in World War II were thought to be of the "greatest generation". It seemed too much to live up to. I thought about becoming a great artist or a politician, but those professions didn't seem to be enough. It just didn't seem like anything equated to a war hero. Any other profession I thought of didn't seem to be as heroic in my mind either. Those words he wrote still stick with me today. They are a constant reminder to be the best I can be and to continue to learn and prosper.