One would think teaching would be a quiet profession. But not in Chicago, thinks high school teacher Tom Mason when he hears that one of his students has been accused of killing his girlfriend. As a friend of the boy's family, Tom is asked to help clear him, and the more he probes, the more it seems that something sinister is going on in the usually quiet suburbs of Chicago. With the aid of his lover Scoot Carpenter, a professional baseball player, the two set out to discover what really happened that night. Views: 52
James Doyle was just another Irish boy in the slums of New York until the law forced him to go west. In the wide open plains he joins the U.S> calvary, determined to straighten out his life. But he soon discovers an enemy more brutal than those back home-the Cheyenne. Views: 52
"Frozen Teardrop" is the autobiographical account of one of the most beloved and controversial personalities in the history of figure skating. In this straight-forward memoir, Lucinda Ruh takes her readers through the harsh and painful realities of the figure-skating world while exposing the never-before-released details of her own private pain and suffering which would ultimately turn this Guinness-listed international icon into a bed-ridden, suicidal, starved, agoraphobic and terrified young woman. "Frozen Teardrop" is a true-life tale of beauty, refinement, genius, and skill contrasted against the cut-throat starkness of world figure-skating competition in its bleakest, most tortuous, most mind-warping moments—as seen through the eyes of a developing young prodigy whose personal life would harbor its own menagerie of horrors, secrets, and personal violations. Views: 52
Many of these children were separated from their parents, or they saw their families destroyed by the Japanese. Most witnessed almost daily episodes of bestial violence that no child ever should see, and the entire cumulative experience has had a deep and lasting effect into their adult lives. They are among the last victims of Japanese aggression, and even over 60 years later many carry the mental and physical scars of that atrocious episode. Views: 52
When CIA analyst Julie Severin's father was killed in Moscow as a spy, she vowed never, ever, to trust a Russian. But she finds that promise difficult to keep when she lands an unlikely mission posing as a reporter onboard a Russian submarine -- commanded by Captain Nikolai Romanov, the very same devilishly handsome stranger she had a sizzling encounter with the night before. Under Arctic ice their passion quickly heats, along with Nikolai's suspicions about Julie's true reason for being on the international scientific expedition. Keeping her under close surveillance leads to stolen pleasures. But neither Nikolai nor Julie suspects there is another enemy spy in their midst...until the situation explodes into their worst nightmare, and the lovers' hard-earned trust -- and loyalty to opposing countries -- is put to the ultimate test...along with their growing forbidden love. Views: 52
It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.Amazon.com ReviewIt is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.Exclusive Essay from Rachel Simon When The Story of Beautiful Girl came out, I kept getting asked two questions. Why was I drawn to writing disability-themed literature? And was it hard to write from the point of view of characters with disabilities?My answer to the first question begins with this basic fact: for one month every year, I am a twin.My sister Beth, who has an intellectual disability, was born eleven months after me. So every year when I visit her for her birthday, the first thing we both say is, "Now we’re twins!" And for the next thirty days, as she gleefully moves through her days wearing the Tweety Bird shirts and using the Scooby Doo stickers I bought for her big celebration, we are indeed twins. Then my birthday rolls around, and when I visit her for that admittedly more secondary occasion, and she thrusts dozens of handmade cards at me, all of which express her happiness at my coming to see her, the first thing we both say is, "Now we’re not twins."As with any siblings who are so close in age, we’ve shared a lot: parents, a brother and sister, a challenging family history, bedrooms, opinions, dreams, tears, jokes, anxieties, secrets, unspoken understandings, and sideways glances. So I have a reasonably good sense of how my sister feels, what she thinks, who she cares about, and why she does what she does.Of course, there are additional layers to our relationship because of her disability. I feel a sense of responsibility toward her and she feels a level of trust in me. We’ve both always known that, whenever necessary, I will act as a go-between: I will explain to her the things she doesn’t understand about the world, and I will explain to the world the things it doesn’t understand about her.At the same time, since she is a person with a disability, I’ve spent my life noticing--and being annoyed at--how so much of the world has got it all wrong when it comes to my sister and others like her. How she gets ignored by waitresses, snickered at by teenagers, patronized by people who assume she’s helpless, underestimated by people who assume she’s angelic. In addition, I’ve pondered many of the deepest issues about the mind. What is universal about intelligence? About sorrow and longing? About pleasure and love? On top of all this, I’ve long wondered: Why does so much of the public just not get it? And how, given that some people like my sister never get seen or acknowledged or heard by the world, might that ever change?In 2002, I tried to do what I could to answer those thoughts. I wrote a memoir about my relationship with Beth, Riding The Bus With My Sister, which is about both her present-day passion of riding city buses and our lives as siblings from birth to middle age. The book, which was also adapted for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie by the same name, led to my getting asked to give talks around the country. At every talk, I met more and more people with disabilities, their family members, and the professionals who work with them. They told me their stories, and I started to feel a new urge. I wanted to do whatever I could to give voice to those who had never been heard.I realized I was in an unusual position to take on that responsibility. As a family member, I wouldn’t get bogged down by cliches and stereotypes. As someone who’d already published two books of fiction before Riding The Bus With My Sister, I wouldn’t have to stick with nonfiction, nor was I daunted by the idea of a novel. As a sister who’d stood up for Beth since the day I was conscious of my own existence, I felt a sense of mission. And as a once-a-year twin, I had developed the skill of being a go-between.This gets me to the second question. Was it hard to write The Story of Beautiful Girl through the eyes of characters with disabilities?I wish I could say it took a huge amount of effort. But there’s another word that’s synonymous with being a go-between: being a translator. I’ve spent my life translating the world into terms my sister could comprehend--and translating my sister into terms the world could comprehend.So when I sat down to write the characters of Beautiful Girl and Number Forty-Two, I just did what I’ve always done. I wrote about the world’s rules and injustices and rewards and irrationalities as those characters would perceive them. And I wrote about their wonderings and yearnings and motivations and joys in ways that readers would understand.Neither character is like my sister. And both go through adversity and anguish the likes of which my sister has never seen. But I wouldn’t say that writing their experiences was hard for me.I would say, instead, that it was heart-opening and soul-deepening.I would say, instead, that it was fun.From Publishers WeeklyIn this enthralling love story, Lynnie, a young white developmentally disabled woman with limited speech, and Homan, a deaf African-American man, meet at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded in the late 1960s. Despite strict rules, poor conditions, an abusive staff, and the couple's lack of language, Lynnie and Homan share tender moments. After their escape, a few days of freedom not only enables the secretly pregnant Lynnie to give birth outside the walls of the corrupt institution, it also secures the couple's admiration for one another. Fears of discovery force them to leave the baby in the hands of a nurturing widow, Martha Zimmer. Soon after, the school's staff apprehend Lynnie, while Homan flees. Although their stories diverge and unfold independently of one another, memories of their short time together sustain them for more than 40 years as they develop the confidence to eventually parent, learn to sign and speak, and finally, reunite. Simon (Riding the Bus with My Sister) who grew up with a developmentally disabled sister, has written an enormously affecting read, and provided sensitive insight into a complex world often dismissed by the "abled." (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Views: 52
Twelve-year-old Robin will never get over her mother's death. Nor will she forgive her father for moving the family to a small town to live with a weird grandmother. At her new school Robin is laughingly called "Green Girl" and is taunted relentlessly because of an award she received. She decides not to care about anyone or anything. But when her pregnant dog plunges into the frozen lake, she saves the dog and hence the puppies.Robin finds she can't stop herself from caring. She begins rescuing wild animals and rehabilitates them in the barn. Robin's father forbids her to take in more, but she rescues some skunks, anyway, and hides them. Other animals arrive, and soon she's running an illegal animal shelter. When she's found out, Robin mounts a campaign to save her shelter. Will she have the courage to stand against the whole town? Views: 52
"Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child..." Scotland, 1436: King James I has been assassinated, his heir is a six-year-old child, and the country could be destroyed by civil war. The queen is determined to retain control of her son. The chancellor is determined to gain power by seizing him. The powerful Douglas clan has plots of its own. Into this quagmire steps Sir Patrick Gray: young, untried, and caught between irreconcilable loyalties. As Master of the King's Guard, Sir Patrick's duty is to protect the king, but in such a chaotic time, it is impossible to tell ally from enemy. Whom can he trust and at what cost? Views: 52
