Dear Life


Book Description

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE© IN LITERATURE 2013 A New York Times Notable Book A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction A Best Book of the Year: The Atlantic, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue, AV Club In story after story in this brilliant new collection, Alice Munro pinpoints the moment a person is forever altered by a chance encounter, an action not taken, or a simple twist of fate. Her characters are flawed and fully human: a soldier returning from war and avoiding his fiancée, a wealthy woman deciding whether to confront a blackmailer, an adulterous mother and her neglected children, a guilt-ridden father, a young teacher jilted by her employer. Illumined by Munro’s unflinching insight, these lives draw us in with their quiet depth and surprise us with unexpected turns. And while most are set in her signature territory around Lake Huron, some strike even closer to home: an astonishing suite of four autobiographical tales offers an unprecedented glimpse into Munro’s own childhood. Exalted by her clarity of vision and her unparalleled gift for storytelling, Dear Life shows how strange, perilous, and extraordinary ordinary life can be.




Garry and Greta Grouse


Book Description

Gary and Greta Grouse are two birds with several adventures; they learn about each other and about life through these experiences. They have siblings, they have friends, and they even have a few enemies. Learn how they deal with and face life.




Where the Heart Takes You


Book Description

In this sweeping new historical series by Virginia Wise, a young woman finds a new life in America’s first Amish settlement—and discovers that love requires a special sort of courage . . . Pennsylvania, 1737. Greta Scholtz braved a perilous journey—and the loss of her beloved father—to find religious freedom in America. With two orphan children she's taken under her wing, she's trying hard to survive this rugged new world. So she won't let settlement elders pressure her into marrying reserved widower Jacob Miller. She and Jacob simply can’t agree on anything—even if the unexpected feeling between them is proving an irresistible force . . . After losing his wife and baby, grief-stricken Jacob keeps everyone at arm’s length. Duty is the only reason he began helping the headstrong Greta make a life for herself and her charges. Yet he’s grown to admire her, especially her strength in the face of obstacles—including him and his wounded ways. But wrenching misunderstandings and a jealous rival could separate them forever. To find harmony—and perhaps even a future together—Greta and Jacob must take a leap of faith and risk opening their hearts . . .




The Russlander


Book Description

Katherine (Katya) Vogt is now an old woman living in Winnipeg, but the story of how she and her family came to Canada begins in Russia in 1910, on a wealthy Mennonite estate. Here they lived in a world bounded by the prosperity of their landlords and by the poverty and disgruntlement of the Russian workers who toil on the estate. But in the wake of the First World War, the tensions engulfing the country begin to intrude on the community, leading to an unspeakable act of violence. In the aftermath of that violence, and in the difficult years that follow, Katya tries to come to terms with the terrible events that befell her and her family. In lucid, spellbinding prose, Birdsell vividly evokes time and place, and the unease that existed in a county on the brink of revolutionary change. The Russländer is a powerful and moving story of ordinary people who lived through extraordinary times.




Dear Greta


Book Description

This was meant to be Alice's year to shine, but things are already going wrong... At school, she's given young environmental activist Greta Thunberg as her pen pal for a fictional writing assignment. Why couldn't Alice get someone easy to write to, like a pop star? Then she's put in charge of taking the Harmony Day Food Fair online, which seems impossible, especially when she is teamed up with the most annoying boy in her school. As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Alice gets kicked out of her bedroom by her grandmother coming to stay. And no matter what Alice does, she'll never be able to live up to her infuriating big sister's achievements, right? Through her letters to Greta, Alice finds herself opening up about her life. And as Alice approaches the hard questions by wondering, 'What would Greta do?', she starts to believe that she can make a difference - a big one.




The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, and Other Stories


Book Description

**** Reprint of the 1934 original (which is cited in BCL3). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR







From Surviving to Thriving


Book Description

Become more effective in therapy when working with survivors of abuse! From Surviving to Thriving: A Therapist’s Guide to Stage II Recovery for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse is a comprehensive manual for treating survivors of childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Inspired by the author’s own private practice, it combines both theory and practice and supports the therapeutic partnership with a step-by-step outline of the healing process. This outline includes concrete and incremental strategies and exercises that help you move the survivor beyond Stage I trauma debriefing to life-changing Stage II recovery. In From Surviving to Thriving, you’ll find everything you need to know about obtaining and maintaining autonomy and speeding recovery in the age of managed care. The self-contained, focused, and incremental interventions presented in this book can be woven into your own therapeutic style, giving you and your clients more freedom, satisfaction, and, most importantly, swift treatment and recovery. You’ll also find step-by-step guidance for dealing with adult survivors, including rationale for diagnosis, process, and sequence. In addition to the description of theoretical orientations and illustrations, Surviving to Thriving contains: an overview and detailed outline of the incremental recovery process pitfalls and positive strategies for establishing the therapeutic relationship detailed instructions for building a foundation for effective therapy by reframing the client’s self-concept explanations of pathological symptoms in context of necessary and brilliant survival defenses workable, specific, and sequential interventions for each stage of healing designed to become autonomous and self-generating for the client techniques for trauma resolution using the survivor’s internal experience Because it’s written in accessible language and includes explanations of clinical concepts, you’ll feel comfortable putting From Surviving to Thriving in the hands of select clientsa unique feature that sets it apart from most clinical texts. This book provides exercises to help move clients into the healing recovery of Stage II. Enhanced with art and writing from recovering survivors, this book is a valuable asset as you and your clients begin the collaborative journey toward renewed emotional well-being.




The Impersonators


Book Description

The Impersonators portrays the breakdown of family relationships and the endurance of love in a materialistic age sensitively, perceptively and humorously. When Sylvia Foley returns to Australia after twenty years, she finds her father, Jack Cornock, ill. This and his obstinate silence provoke speculation about his will among the families of his two marriages. Sylvia becomes enmeshed in the webs of their alliances and disaffections. The Impersonators received the Miles Franklin Award in 1980, and the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Fiction in 1981.