The Birth Caul


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Caul Baby


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Now in paperback, New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins's fiction debut, an electrifying novel for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jacqueline Woodson, that brings to life one powerful and enigmatic family in a tale rife with secrets, betrayal, intrigue, and magic. Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This time has to be different, so she turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power. When a deal for Laila to acquire a piece of caul falls through, she is heartbroken, but when the child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn’t know is that a baby will soon be delivered in her family—by her niece, Amara, an ambitious college student—and delivered to the Melancons to raise as one of their own. Hallow is special: she’s born with a caul, and their matriarch, Maman, predicts the girl will restore the family’s prosperity. Growing up, Hallow feels that something in her life is not right. Did Josephine, the woman she calls mother, really bring her into the world? Why does her cousin Helena get to go to school and roam the streets of New York freely while she’s confined to the family’s decrepit brownstone? As the Melancons’ thirst to maintain their status grows, Amara, now a successful lawyer running for district attorney, looks for a way to avenge her longstanding grudge against the family. When mother and daughter cross paths, Hallow will be forced to decide where she truly belongs. Engrossing, unique, and page-turning, Caul Baby illuminates the search for familial connection, the enduring power of tradition, and the dark corners of the human heart.




The Secret of the Veil


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..................................A PARANORMAL SPIRITUAL SUSPENSE (Based on a real-life phenomenon).......................................................... After centuries shrouded in mystery and myth, the time of revelation has finally arrived for those rare persons born with the veil - also referred to as the birth caul; a translucent tissue covering the faces of infants at birth. But, exactly what is the veil? Is it just an innocent accident of birth, or is there some prophetic ... maybe even divine connection? Does it mark one as saintly or satanic. At last the world is poised to uncover the centuries old secrets of the veil; and finally discover its purpose and impact, not just on Caulbearers, but on the entire world. ..........................................It all begins for Alexis Ashley when she decides to relocate from Chicago to Boston. On the drive to Boston things go completely awry as she finds herself challenged by multiple frightening and life-threatening incidents; dangerous bridge washouts; a chase by a rabid dog; getting stuck in an unseasonable April blizzard; and a near collision with another car. Tempted to return to Chicago, she forges ahead and arrives safely at her Boston destination. Believing she has weathered the storm, she happily begins her new life................................................................................................................................... Then, more terrifying incidents begin: Satanists with mysterious designs on her life; demons hiding behind the lives of people they've possessed; & visions peopled with those long dead. Outwardly, Alexis' life appears almost boringly normal when in reality it is punctuated by unspeakable horrors that threaten her sanity, and her life. The belief that she can outrun these events by fleeing Boston & relocating to Atlanta ends when she is drawn to a new location ... in the Caribbean................ .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... At this point, Alexis acknowledges she is powerless against a mysterious force that whisks her back and forth in time; allows her to see the putrefied faces of demons; and endure conflicts with Satan worshipers. Although she draws closer to the Father and her bible, Alexis feels that time is running out and desperately seeks to unravel the puzzle of her life. She must discover how all of this relates to the veil that marked her birth designating her as a Caulbearer before it is too late............ ..............................................THE SPIRIT OF THE VEIL: PROPHECY OF THE 7 (Coming Jan/Feb 2019)...................................................




Ninth Ward (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Title)


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From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a heartbreaking and uplifting tale of survival in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm. From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys and Towers Falling, Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family--as only love can define it.




The Birth House


Book Description

In this breathtaking debut novel, Ami McKay has created an unforgettable portrait of the struggles that women have faced to control their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine. The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare—the first daughter in five generations of Rares. As apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, Dora learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and even unfulfilling sex lives. During the turbulent World War I era, uncertainty and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. Dora soon finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put into her care. A tale of tradition and science, matriarchy and paternalism, past and future, The Birth House is "a dazzling first novel." (Library Journal), and a story more timely than ever.




Alan Moore


Book Description

Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman contains comic strips, illustrations, essays, articles, anecdotes and other pieces contributed by top American, English, and international comics creators paying tribute to the master of comic book writing, Alan Moore (creator of Watchmen and From Hell), as he celebrates his 50th year. Over a hundred contributors include Neil Gaiman, Will Eisner, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Gibbons, Denis Kitchen, David Lloyd, Jim Valentino, Sergio Toppi, Bryan Talbot, Steve Parkhouse, Mark Millar, Howard Cruse, James Kochalka, José Villarrubia, Sam Kieth, Dave Sim, Oscar Zarate, DJ Paul Gambaccini, and novelist Darren Shan, to name just a few. The book jacket will feature a new photgraph by Piet Corr and other features will include interviews, biographies, and new and rare photographs.




Baby of the Family


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Lena, once a charmed little girl with psychic powers, becomes more haunted as she grows older. She has her family's love, but knows she has to make her own uncertain way.




A Disease of Language


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Following the huge success of From Hell, Knockabout presents a stunning volume comprising a new story by Alan Moore, Snakes and Ladders, based on a performance given on Red Lion Square in Holborn. The other story, originally a performance piece by Alan Moore and Tim Perkins, was adapted as a comic by Eddie Campbell. It is a shamanism of childhood, a journey from the present to the past, back into the womb and beyond. The last part of this volume is an extensive interview of Alan Moore he gave Eddie Campbell for his self-published magazine, Egomania.




Unflattening


Book Description

The primacy of words over images has deep roots in Western culture. But what if the two are inextricably linked, equal partners in meaning-making? Written and drawn entirely as comics, Unflattening is an experiment in visual thinking. Nick Sousanis defies conventional forms of scholarly discourse to offer readers both a stunning work of graphic art and a serious inquiry into the ways humans construct knowledge. Unflattening is an insurrection against the fixed viewpoint. Weaving together diverse ways of seeing drawn from science, philosophy, art, literature, and mythology, it uses the collage-like capacity of comics to show that perception is always an active process of incorporating and reevaluating different vantage points. While its vibrant, constantly morphing images occasionally serve as illustrations of text, they more often connect in nonlinear fashion to other visual references throughout the book. They become allusions, allegories, and motifs, pitting realism against abstraction and making us aware that more meets the eye than is presented on the page. In its graphic innovations and restless shape-shifting, Unflattening is meant to counteract the type of narrow, rigid thinking that Sousanis calls “flatness.” Just as the two-dimensional inhabitants of Edwin A. Abbott’s novella Flatland could not fathom the concept of “upwards,” Sousanis says, we are often unable to see past the boundaries of our current frame of mind. Fusing words and images to produce new forms of knowledge, Unflattening teaches us how to access modes of understanding beyond what we normally apprehend.




Snakes & Ladders


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