Megan's Year


Book Description

Through the voice of a young girl, the life of the people known as Irish Travelers is explored. Megan spends her summers traveling around the Irish countryside with her family. They move from place to place, hauling their camper behind their old car. But they aren't on vacation. This is their way of life. Megan and her family are Travelers. As part of their summer life, Megan's father works odd jobs, from fieldwork to roofing houses. Despite the rough living, Megan loves her life and the freedom that comes from traveling the open road. But at summer's end, when there's no more work to be had, the family moves to the city of Dublin. The camper is parked and they move into a cramped house. Megan and her siblings attend the local school as their parents struggle to make ends meet. And as the seasons pass, Megan counts down the days until she can return to her summer life. Gloria Whelan's other books in the Tales of the World series are Waiting for the Owl's Call, Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers (2008 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal winner), and Yatandou (a Junior Library Guild selection). Ms. Whelan lives in Michigan. Beth Peck earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and has illustrated many books for children, including A Christmas Memory, Just Like Josh Gibson, and Music for the End of Time. Ms. Peck lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin.




Painful Beauty


Book Description

For over 150 years, Tlingit women artists have beaded colorful, intricately beautiful designs on moccasins, dolls, octopus bags, tunics, and other garments. Painful Beauty suggests that at a time when Indigenous cultural practices were actively being repressed, beading supported cultural continuity, demonstrating Tlingit women’s resilience, strength, and power. Beadwork served many uses, from the ceremonial to the economic, as women created beaded pieces for community use and to sell to tourists. Like other Tlingit art, beadwork reflects rich artistic visions with deep connections to the environment, clan histories, and Tlingit worldviews. Contemporary Tlingit artists Alison Bremner, Chloe French, Shgen Doo Tan George, Lily Hudson Hope, Tanis S’eiltin, and Larry McNeil foreground the significance of historical beading practices in their diverse, boundary-pushing artworks. Working with museum collection materials, photographs, archives, and interviews with artists and elders, Megan Smetzer reframes this often overlooked artform as a site of historical negotiations and contemporary inspirations. She shows how beading gave Tlingit women the freedom to innovate aesthetically, assert their clan crests and identities, support tribal sovereignty, and pass on cultural knowledge. Painful Beauty is the first dedicated study of Tlingit beadwork and contributes to the expanding literature addressing women’s artistic expressions on the Northwest Coast.




The Peabody Sisters


Book Description

Pulitzer Prize Finalist: “A stunning work of biography” about three little-known New England women who made intellectual history (The New York Times). Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody were in many ways the American Brontës. The story of these remarkable sisters—and their central role in shaping the thinking of their day—has never before been fully told. Twenty years in the making, Megan Marshall’s monumental biography brings the era of creative ferment known as American Romanticism to new life. Elizabeth Peabody, the oldest sister, was a mind-on-fire influence on the great writers of the era—Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau among them—who also published some of their earliest works; it was she who prodded these newly minted Transcendentalists away from Emerson’s individualism and toward a greater connection to others. Middle sister Mary Peabody was a passionate reformer who finally found her soul mate in the great educator Horace Mann. And the frail Sophia, an admired painter among the preeminent society artists of the day, married Nathaniel Hawthorne—but not before Hawthorne threw the delicate dynamics among the sisters into disarray. Casting new light on a legendary American era, and on three sisters who made an indelible mark on history, Marshall’s unprecedented research uncovers thousands of never-before-seen letters as well as other previously unmined original sources. “A massive enterprise,” The Peabody Sisters is an event in American biography (The New York Times Book Review). “Marshall’s book is a grand story . . . where male and female minds and sensibilities were in free, fruitful communion, even if men could exploit this cultural richness far more easily than women.” —The Washington Post “Marshall has greatly increased our understanding of these women and their times in one of the best literary biographies to come along in years.” —New England Quarterly




Gentelligence


Book Description

"Vital for any organization with multigenerational staffs, and for marketers, public relations professionals, HRD managers, or executives." Library Journal, Starred Review Gentelligence: The Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce presents a transformative way to end the generational wars once and for all. This book first introduces Gentelligence as a powerful business strategy and shows why it is critical for the future of work. It then presents a practical guide and a call to action for leaders of all ages to unlock the potential strengths of each generation. Readers will learn how an intergenerational workforce can be reframed as a profound business opportunity and discover how Gentelligence can help them win the talent war, create strong, diverse teams, and build adaptable cultures that will flourish in an era of rapid change. Gentelligence shares groundbreaking evidence that will have readers thinking about their generationally diverse workforce in an entirely different way. Readers will discover: Where generational conflict originates, and how it results in both dangerous ageism and reverse ageism in today’s workplaces. Why the generation gap stems from a misunderstanding of shared core values across all generations. How to find essential common ground with colleagues, both older and younger, and recognize the unique needs that come with different generational identities. How generational shaming leads us to view those from other generations as competitors rather than collaborators, further damaging employee engagement, team dynamics, innovation, and organizational culture. How leveraging the unique strengths of each generation at work can lead to a win-win outcome for all. How traditional views on leadership have been turned upside down as a result of new generational dynamics, with many employees currently being led by managers that are younger than themselves, and older leaders struggling to make sense of changing norms around authority and power. Gentelligence reveals the opportunities within an intergenerational workforce and provides actionable tools to help leaders build Gentelligent organizations. Unlike other books on generational leadership, this book rejects common stereotypes assigned to different generations, replacing them with a deep understanding of why those who grew up in different times may behave in unique and valuable, ways. We challenge leaders to go beyond simply accepting generational differences to leverage them proactively to increase engagement, innovation, and organizational success.




The Meaning of Maggie (Sneak Preview)


Book Description

A free sneak preview of The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern. Download now and enjoy this extended excerpt before the book goes on sale on May 6, 2014. As befits a future President of the United States of America, Maggie Mayfield has decided to write a memoir of the past year of her life. And what a banner year it's been! During this period she's Student of the Month on a regular basis, an official shareholder of Coca-Cola stock, and defending Science Fair champion. Most importantly, though, this is the year Maggie has to pull up her bootstraps (the family motto) and finally learn why her cool-dude dad is in a wheelchair, no matter how scary that is. Author Megan Jean Sovern, herself the daughter of a dad with multiple sclerosis, writes with the funny grace and assured prose of a new literary star. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.




Speak Up


Book Description

“A powerful book on an important topic. Speak Up helps us understand the subtle elements that contribute to our holding back valuable ideas and observations. Their TRUTH framework – which is as practical as it is rigorous – identifies essential elements to help individuals find their voice. “ Amy Edmondson, Professor, Harvard Business School, Author, The Fearless Organization (Wiley, 2019) What you say or don’t say in a conversation can have life-defining consequences on ourselves and those around us. Speak Up helps you to navigate power differences so you can speak up with confidence and enable others to find their voice in a way that will be heard. Our day-to-day conversations define how we see ourselves and how we’re seen. The choices we make about what to say and who to say it to are decisive factors in whether we get promoted, or side-lined. Whether we steer clear of trouble, or find ourselves in it up to our necks. With daily scandals hitting the headlines and the continuous need to innovate to survive, creating a more honest, open, fulfilling and productive workplace has never been more pressing. Our conversational choices harness the ideas and intelligence of the people we work with, or result in that revolutionary concept never seeing the light of day. They make us feel proud or ashamed of ourselves for what we have or have not said. They cause us to flourish and feel motivated, or result in us feeling dissatisfied and resentful. Speak Up helps you to navigate power differences and speak up with confidence in a way that you will be heard. But it’s no good speaking up if there isn’t anyone listening so we also help you to understand how your power enables others to speak up and how it might silence them.




Hey, America, Your Roots are Showing


Book Description

A noted genealogist reveals what it is like to be a history detective using twenty-first-century techniques and technology, and discusses some of the cases she has solved, including the families of celebrities and work for the Army and the FBI.




Behind the 8-Ball


Book Description

Is someone you care about gambling your life away? You don't have to be a gambler yourself to suffer from the often disastrous effects of excessive gambling. Behind the 8-Ball is the must-have guide to reclaiming your financial, legal, and emotional freedom. Spouses, parents, siblings, children, friends, and coworkers of the gambler will learn how to: Understand why some people lose control of their gambling Recognize the compulsive gambler and realistically assess the financial and emotional damage he or she is causing you and others Accept that you can't control someone else's gambling Encourage the gambler to seek help Recover from being involved with a gambler For anyone who is or has ever been involved with someone who gambles too much, this supportive, informative volume delivers all the tools and motivation you need to rebuild your life. "This book is essential for gamblers, families, friends, and professionals who need to know more about the personalities of gamblers ... It is a precise, updated, and accurate look at how gambling affects families." - Timothy W. Fong, MD, co-director, UCLA Gambling Studies Program "This book remains as important today as ever and has remained the standard reference for family members of gamblers." - Keith Whyte, executive director, National Council on Problem Gambling




Transition


Book Description

The Chimera are a race so old, the humans relegated them as a myth. The Gods feared the Chimeras' powers, believing they were a deadly race with physical abilities beyond belief. So they split their race in half, condemning them to wander the earth searching for their other half to be complete. Without their sodalis, each is destined to live life without dreams, without love, without hope. The future rests on fi nding their one true mate for life. SHELBY O'NEIL has led a solitary life with her parents. So when she goes to college, she believes her life has just begun. Now in her second year, the dreams begin. She dreams with the same man, night after night for months. When her dream world becomes her reality, and her life becomes a danger zone, she quickly learns to trust the one man who has thrown her into this new and dangerous world. DEVELON COLE is Chimera and his race has been on earth as long as humans. His people are desperate to fi nd their one true mate for life, and Develon has just found his, in the small college town of Pullman, Washington. His duty is to protect her against the Chimera hunters and guide her to who she was always meant to be, his sodalis, his mate.




The Modulor


Book Description