Sliding Into Home


Book Description

KENDRA BARES ALL Fans of the E! smash hit series The Girls Next Door fell in love with sporty Playboy beauty Kendra Wilkinson’s care- free spirit, infectious laugh, and down-to-earth nature. Now that she’s moved out of the world’s most famous bachelor pad and into her own delightfully chaotic world on Kendra as wife to NFL star Hank Baskett and mother to their newborn son, we’ve watched her hilarious antics as she adjusts to domestic life. But how much do we really know about the fun-loving star? In this humorous and optimistic, sometimes heartbreaking, but always unfailingly honest memoir, Kendra reveals the highs and lows of her extraordinary journey. She wasn’t always the quintessential girl next door. Before she was a reality television superstar, Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend, or one of the most popular Playboy cover models ever, Kendra was an athletic tomboy whose father walked out on her family when she was a little girl. She grew into a rebellious teenager with a serious drug habit before she quit cold turkey and beat the odds to graduate from a high school that almost didn’t give her a second (or third, or fourth) chance. Following her rocky teenage years, an out-of-the- blue phone call from Hugh Hefner changed everything. Kendra dishes candidly about life in the Playboy Mansion: the sex, the parties, the show, and even her relationships with her Girls Next Door costars—Hef, Holly, and Bridget. She tells the true story about how she and Hank met and built a relationship in secret while she was still Hef’s girl- friend and a public face of Playboy. Finally, she reflects on the slew of unexpected changes in the short space of a year that have brought her sliding into home from Playboy party girl to wife and mother with a blooming Hollywood career. If you think you’ve seen all of Kendra, think again. She’s only warming up. . . .




When Johnny Came Sliding Home


Book Description

As the Civil War ended, the thoughts of many Northern soldiers turned to a game that some had learned about for the first time during the war--baseball. Their newfound interest in the sport, combined with the postwar economic boom and the resultant growth of many cities, took the game from one practiced by a few amateur clubs in New York City before the war to a professional sport covering almost the entire northeastern United States. Researched from primary sources, the game of the late 1860s is described season-by-season: the fields, the crowds, the strategy, the rules, the style of play, and the confusing struggles to crown a national champion, with all the chicanery and machinations of the contenders. Such landmark events as the Washington Nationals' pioneering 1867 tour and the Cincinnati Red Stockings' undefeated 1869 season are covered.




Sliding Home


Book Description

Now more than ever, parents and teachers need ideas, encouragement, humor, and solace. "Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing." So said the great Helen Keller. And so, Susan Cole Ross and her husband Jeff embarked on their greatest adventure as a family and their greatest challenge as educators: A year of homeschooling in the mountains of New Hampshire. Sliding Home chronicles Susan's thoughts as she and Jeff observe, coach, and teach their preteen sons - one with dyslexia who leapt four grade levels in reading that year. This is a mother's memoir, exquisitely caring and personal, but also academically astute. Jean Piaget understood student learning and motivation by watching his children, and so does Susan as her sons explore books, projects, nature, and national pastimes across America. With genuine prose, Susan offers rich insights into child development and education that will benefit teachers and parents supporting student-directed learning. Informed by research but accessible to the layperson, Sliding Home is a timely look at what our children need most to succeed. Susan Cole Ross is a national leader in providing professional development to learning specialists. She was president of the Northeast Association of Learning Specialists (NEALS), where, in 2019, members honored her with the Barbara A. Kenefick Award for Service. With forty years experience teaching students with learning disabilities and training novice teachers for the University Saint Joseph and the Capitol Region Education Council, she has improved countless schools' inclusivity, retention rates, and service to the greater good.




Being Kendra


Book Description

Kendra Wilkinson has revealed herself before—in the pages of Playboy and on her reality show, Kendra. Now she reveals her private side, sharing the ups and downs, the joys and challenges of motherhood, marriage, and life in the spotlight. In this intimate follow-up to her New York Times bestseller, Sliding into Home, Kendra confides her most candid thoughts and feelings on her experiences as a new mom, and she divulges her secrets on how to do it all and make it look easy, sexy, and fun—even when it’s not. Now with a husband and baby in her life, a booming brand to manage, and her own needs to think about too, Kendra is learning the art of balance, sometimes the hard way. Not wanting to pawn her child off to nannies like so many other stars, Kendra relishes the role of supermom—kissing boo-boos, making lunches, scheduling playdates—all while juggling appearances, workout videos, and even training for the ultra-competitive hit show Dancing with the Stars. While Being Kendra is full of humor and true stories that women can relate to, it’s also a heartrending look at Kendra’s very personal journey through some dark places, including a private struggle with postpartum depression and a very public tussle with post-baby weight loss. Kendra, who has always been known for her athletic (and enhanced) figure, opens up about her efforts to get her bikini body back and the difficulty of not looking sexy, which she believed was her most valuable quality. Her fight to lose weight at any cost, chronicled on the covers of countless magazines, has become yet another triumph for Kendra as she continues to succeed in the face of adversity. From dental assistant, to Playboy girlfriend and face of a franchise, to wife and new mother, Kendra has embraced what life has thrown at her with determination, fortitude, and a ready laugh. This daring and honest memoir captures Kendra and her family in their best and worst moments as she lives, loves, rebounds, and, ultimately, finds her place in her new world.




Playground


Book Description

In the vein of Running with Scissors, Playground is the glitzy, glamorous, and surreal true story of a young girl who grew up inside the Playboy Mansion and never learned where the party stopped and the real world began. You are six years old. Every day after school your father takes you to a sprawling castle filled with exotic animals, bowls of candy, and half-naked women catering to your every need. You have your own room. You have new friends. You have an uncle Hef who's always there for you. Welcome to the world of Playground, the true story Jennifer Saginor who grew up inside the Playboy Mansion. By the time she was fourteen, she'd done countless drugs, had a secret affair with Hef's girlfriend, and was already losing her grip on reality. Schoolwork, family, and "ordinary people" had no meaning behind the iron gates of the Mansion, where celebrities frolicked, pool parties abounded, and her own father—Hugh Hefner's personal physician and best friend, the man nicknamed "Dr. Feel Good"—typically held court. Every day was a party, every night was an adventure, and through it all was a young girl falling faster and faster down the rabbit hole—trying desperately hard not to get lost.




Living Fully


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An irresistible guide to living without holding back, from the vibrant lifestyle entrepreneur and host of the Living Fully podcast One of Katie Couric Media’s Best New Self Help Books to Read in the New Year • “If you’re ready to up-level your life and create long-lasting change, then this book is for you! Mallory’s resilient path will inspire you to step into your power.”—Gabby Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Universe Has Your Back Mallory Ervin is known for exuding energy, joy, and laughter. But despite her public accomplishments, Mallory is no stranger to battling unhealthy attachments to performance and success. Now, in her unforgettable debut book, Mallory invites readers to see how her surprising journey—from achievement and accolades to devastating, never-before-shared lows—guided her and led her to a deeply fulfilling life. In Living Fully, Mallory shares her personal story of overcoming the unhealthy and damaging patterns in her life and shows readers how to trade this for something completely new and more rewarding. What she discovered was there had always been a different life available to her, one that she had not yet seen. Now she encourages readers to resist a “just fine” existence and to step into a life they never dared to imagine before. Through inspiring stories and practical advice Mallory offers the motivation to: • stop returning to a “just getting by” mentality • shift perspective so blessings don’t become burdens • remember that life’s curveballs don’t have to knock you off your feet • identify your passions and get back to your truest self • slow down and enjoy the extraordinary in the everyday moments • quiet the voice of fear • get clear on the life you want “I wrote this to be your wake-up call, the thing that turns the lights on in your life and propels you to make real change, once and for all,” Mallory says. “I want you to wake up and stay awake.” For anyone hungry for a richer life, or tired of coasting through life in a “cruise control” mindset, Living Fully is the ultimate invitation to embrace abundance and joy—and not look back!




Falling Home


Book Description

A poignant story of two estranged sisters from the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels. At twenty Cassie Madison left her hometown of Walton, Georgia, for New York City, where she has reinvented herself—from losing herself in her career to squashing her accent. But one night a single phone call brings back everything she's tried to forget. She hasn't spoken to her sister since Harriet stole Cassie's fiancé and married him. But now Harriet's on the line with news that their father is dying. As she makes the trip back, the only thing that frightens Cassie more than losing her father is seeing Harriet and the family that should have been hers. But she can't help loving her nephews and nieces any more than she can help feeling at home again in Walton. As she fights a surprising reaction to a forgotten friend, and faces an unexpected threat to the family she'd once left behind, Cassie comes to realize that moving on doesn't always mean moving away from who you are.




Down the Rabbit Hole


Book Description

The real, untold, and unvarnished story of life inside the legendary Playboy Mansion—and the man who holds the key—from the woman who was Hef’s #1 girlfriend and star of The Girls Next Door. A spontaneous decision at age twenty-one transformed small-town Oregon girl Holly Sue Cullen into Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner’s #1 girlfriend. But like Alice in Wonderland after she plunged down the rabbit hole, what seemed like a fairytale life inside the Playboy Mansion—including A-list celebrity parties and her own #1-rated television show—quickly devolved into an oppressive routine of strict rules, manipulation, and battles with ambitious, backstabbing bunnies. Losing her identity, her sense of self-worth, and her hope for the future, Holly found herself sitting alone in a bathtub contemplating suicide. But instead of ending her life, Holly chose to take charge of it. In this shockingly candid and surprisingly moving memoir, this thoughtful and introspective woman opens up about life inside the Mansion, the drugs, the sex and the infamous parties, as well as what her relationships with her Girls Next Door co-stars, Bridget and Kendra were really like. Holly talks candidly about a subsequent abusive relationship, her own successful television series, and the hard work of healing, including her turn on Dancing with the Stars. A cautionary tale and a celebration of personal empowerment, Down the Rabbit Hole reminds us of the importance of fighting for our dreams—and finding the life we deserve.




Sliding on the Edge


Book Description

Scarred. Scared. Alone. Can sixteen-year-old Shawna Stone overcome her inner suffering and transcend the past? Shawna has spent the first sixteen years of her life in Las Vegas and learned to handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Damaged inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. When her mother abandons her, with only a bus ticket and the name and number of stranger to call, this troubled , desperate teen finds herself on a California horse ranch with Kay Stone, the steely, youngish grandmother she's never known. Kay overwhelms Shawna with rules and daily barn chores, and Shawna baffles Kay with her foul-mouthed anger and shrugging indifference to everything--except the maltreated horse on the ranch next door. But it's worse than even Kay suspects: Shawna's driven to cut herself by Monster, that strange voice inside her head. Kay struggles to keep the ranch going and fears that unless she helps this girl, she could lose her last living family member.As this unlikely pair struggles to co-exist, will they overcome their suffering and transcend the past? Blurbs from authors:"Sliding on the Edge is the compelling, courageous chronicle of one girl-destined to be a no one-who fights back against her secret grief and pain and finds her life." Judy Gregerson, author of Bad Girls Club"C. Lee McKenzie's extraordinarily moving novel accomplishes a rare feat: It manages to be a coming -of-age story for both its troubled teen protagonist and the grandmother who takes her in. But Sliding on the Edge's beating heart is Shawna Stone: a girl you can't help rooting for, even when she doesn't see much point in rooting for herself. Readers won't likely forget her."Dan Ehrenhaft, author of The Afterlife and Tell It to Naomi




Sliding Into the New Year


Book Description

Thrill-loving fifth grader Ellie (YaYa) Silver has been waiting all summer to visit the brand new water park in town. She is super excited when her best friend, Megan, invites her to go--that is until her twin brother, Joel (YoYo), points out that Megan is going on Rosh Hashanah. Sure, Rosh Hashanah is a big deal, but so is Splash World! What will Ellie do?