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The Phoenix Pencil Company A Novel [electronic resource] : by King, Allison.aut; CloudLibrary;
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic—of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life—holds the power to transform a young woman’s relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space. Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade. Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica’s discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun’s own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil’s words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people’s stories to survive. Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King’s stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy. 
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Contemporary; Coming of Age; Historical; Epistolary; Asian American; Family Life;
© 2025., HarperCollins,
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Grandpa Was an Emperor. by Marks, Constance,film director.; Freestyle Digital Media (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Originally produced by Freestyle Digital Media in 2021.The great-granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia embarks on a quest to discover what happened to her relatives during the 1974 coup. For the first time, the Royal Family examines the events that led to the end of a 3,000-year dynasty.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Political science.; Social sciences.; African studies.; Foreign study.; History, Modern.; Documentary films.; Current affairs.; History.;
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Unnatural history [sound recording] / by Kellerman, Jonathan,author.; Rubinstein, John,1946-narrator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by John Rubinstein."The most enduring detectives in American crime fiction are back in this electrifying thriller of art and brutality from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense. Los Angeles is a city of stark contrast, the palaces of the affluent coexisting uneasily with the hellholes of the mad and the needy. It is that shadow world and the violence it breeds that draw brilliant psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis into an unsettling case of altruism gone wrong. On a superficially lovely morning a woman shows up for work with her usual enthusiasm. She's the newly hired personal assistant to a handsome, wealthy photographer and is ready to greet her boss with coffee and good cheer. Instead, she finds him slumped in bed, shot to death. The victim had recently received rave media attention for his latest project: images of homeless people in their personal "dream" situations, elaborately costumed and enacting unfulfilled fantasies. There are some, however, who view the whole thing as nothing more than crass exploitation, citing token payments and the victim's avoidance of any long-term relationships with his subjects. Has disgruntlement blossomed into homicidal rage? Or do the roots of violence reach down to the victim's family-a clan, sired by an elusive billionaire, that is bizarre in its own right? Then new murders arise, and Alex and Milo begin peeling back layer after layer of intrigue and complexity, culminating in one of the deadliest threats they've ever faced"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Novels.; Psychological fiction.; Thrillers (Fiction); Delaware, Alex (Fictitious character); Sturgis, Milo (Fictitious character); Murder; Photographers; Police; Psychologists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Last days in Vietnam [videorecording] / by Bailey, Mark,screenwriter.; Kennedy, Rory,film director,film producer.; McAlester, Keven,screenwriter.; Moxie Firecracker Films, Inc.,production company.; Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.),film distributor.;
Edited by Don Kelszy ; music by Gary Lionelli ; cinematography by Joan Churchill.Originally produced as a documentary released in 2014; broadcast as an episode of the PBS television program American Experience on April 28, 2015.In the final weeks of the Vietnam War, American servicemen and others begin the difficult mission of evacuating as many friends, family members and South Vietnamese collaborators as possible before Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese.E.DVD, widescreen; 5.1 surround.
Subjects: Documentary television programs.; Historical television programs.; Vietnam War, 1961-1975;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Kuleana : a story of family, land, and legacy in old Hawai'i / by Goo, Sara Kehaulani,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From an early age, Sara Kehaulani Goo has always been enchanted by her family's land in Hawai'i. The vast area along the rugged shores of Maui's east side -- given by King Kamehameha III in 1848 -- extends from mountain to sea, encompassing sixty acres of lush, undeveloped rainforest jungle along the rocky coastline, and a massive 16th century temple with a mysterious past. When a property tax bill arrives with a 500% increase, Sara and her family members are forced to make a decision about the property: fight to keep the land or sell to the next Mainland millionaire. As she returns to Maui and reconnects with her great Uncle Take, she uncovers the story of how much land her family has already lost over generations, centuries-old artifacts from the temple, and the insidious displacement of Native Hawaiians by systemic forces. Part journalistic offering and part memoir, Kuleana interrogates deeper questions of identity, legacy, and what we owe to those who come before and after us. Sara's breathtaking story of unexpected homecomings, familial hardship, and fierce devotion to ancestry creates a refreshingly new narrative about Hawai'i, its native people, and their struggle to hold onto their land and culture today"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Goo, Sara Kehaulani.; Hawaiians; Hawaiians; Hawaiians; Hawaiians; Multiracial women; Reporters and reporting;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The nail that sticks out : reflections on the postwar Japanese Canadian community / by Hartmann, Suzanne Elki Yoko,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."When the North American dream meets traditional Japanese conformity, two cultures collide. Does the past define who we are, who we become? In April 1942, Suzanne's mother was an eight-month-old baby when her family was torn from their home in Victoria, B.C. Arriving at Vancouver's Hastings Park, her family bunked in horse stalls for months before being removed to an incarceration camp in the Slocan Valley. After the Second World War, forced resettlement scattered Japanese families across Canada leading to high intermarriage rates and an erosion of ethnicity. Loss of heritage language impeded the sharing of stories, contributing to strained generational relationships and a conflict between eastern and western values. This memoir and fourth-generation narrative of the Japanese Canadian experience bridges the individual and collective to celebrate family, places, and traditions. Steeped in history and cultural arts, it shows us how a community triumphed over adversity to rebuild their lives and make lasting contributions to the Toronto landscape."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Hartmann, Suzanne Elki Yoko; Hartmann, Suzanne Elki Yoko.; Japanese; Japanese Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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One second at a time : my story of pain and reclamation / by Morrisseau, Diane,author.; Bennett, Marlyn,1963-writer of foreword.; Brannigan, Elisabeth,author.;
"For almost two decades, Diane Morrisseau was chained to a brutal husband who abused not only her, but their children. By threatening Diane with their death and hers should she ever try to leave, he ensured that she continue to endure his cruelty. Despite this, Diane found the strength to walk away. This book is the story of how she did so, and how she rebuilt a life beyond her abuser. Through Al-Anon, Anishinabe traditional healing ceremonies, counselling, and care for others, Diane found a new path illuminated by compassion and purpose. Diane Morrisseau recounts her traumatic history with one aim: to help other victims of violence know they are not alone, and that escape is possible. The author's entire career, and this book, testify to her desire to extend to others the hope that eluded her in the depths of her desperate circumstances. Devastatingly frank about the abuse she suffered, the mothering her children missed because of it, and the systems that allowed it all to happen, Diane today has reconciled the past with a present where she continues to live out the values that matter to her most"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Morrisseau, Diane.; Abused wives; Family violence; Victims of family violence; Women; Women; Ojibway women; Ojibway women;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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1934 : the Chatham Coloured All-Stars' barrier-breaking year / by Jacobs, Heidi L. M.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The true story of the first Black team to win an Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship. The pride of Chatham's East End, the Coloured All-Stars featured a roster of players who drew fans to the field with their high energy, no holds-barred style of play while they confronted challenges both on and off the field. Drawing heavily on scrapbooks, newspaper accounts, and oral histories from members of the team and their families, 1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars' Barrier-Breaking Year tells the story of the first Black team to win an Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship. More than a baseball story, this is a book about a neighbourhood, its citizens, and their pride in an astonishing team. Until recently, this vital story of Canada's racial history and the team's indefatigable spirit was preserved only in family stories, scrapbooks, and ephemera. 1934 introduces readers to these players and to the people who have worked to preserve and celebrate their legacy."--
Subjects: Chatham Coloured All-Stars (Baseball team); Baseball players, Black; Baseball teams; Baseball;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In the Upper Country / by Thomas, Kai,author.;
"Young Lensinda Martin is a protegee of a crusading Black journalist and activist in mid-18th century southwestern Ontario, finding a home in a community founded by veterans of the War of 1812 and refugees from the slave-owning states of the American south--whose agents do not always stay on their side of the border. One night, a neighbouring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman, whose name is Cash, refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before Cash is condemned. But Cash doesn't want to confess--instead she proposes a barter: A story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of life stories that reveal the interwoven history of Canada and the United States; of Indigenous peoples from a wide swath of what is called North America and the Black men and women brought here into slavery and their free descendents on both sides of the border. As Cash's time runs out, Lensinda realizes she knows far less than she believed, not only about the complicated tapestry of her people's ancestry, but also of her own family history. And it seems that Cash may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny. Moving from Virginia to Kentucky, from Montreal to Indigenous communities on the shores of the Great Lakes and Black communties in southern Ontario and a fictionalized version of Owen Sound, these two women's life stories weave together love, tragedy, and survival, to map their own unexpected interconnections onto the history of North America in an entirely new and resonant way."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Slavery;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Unnatural history [text (large print)] / by Kellerman, Jonathan,author.;
"The most enduring detectives in American crime fiction are back in this electrifying thriller of art and brutality from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense. Los Angeles is a city of stark contrast, the palaces of the affluent coexisting uneasily with the hellholes of the mad and the needy. It is that shadow world and the violence it breeds that draw brilliant psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis into an unsettling case of altruism gone wrong. On a superficially lovely morning a woman shows up for work with her usual enthusiasm. She's the newly hired personal assistant to a handsome, wealthy photographer and is ready to greet her boss with coffee and good cheer. Instead, she finds him slumped in bed, shot to death. The victim had recently received rave media attention for his latest project: images of homeless people in their personal "dream" situations, elaborately costumed and enacting unfulfilled fantasies. There are some, however, who view the whole thing as nothing more than crass exploitation, citing token payments and the victim's avoidance of any long-term relationships with his subjects. Has disgruntlement blossomed into homicidal rage? Or do the roots of violence reach down to the victim's family-a clan, sired by an elusive billionaire, that is bizarre in its own right? Then new murders arise, and Alex and Milo begin peeling back layer after layer of intrigue and complexity, culminating in one of the deadliest threats they've ever faced"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Large print books.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Delaware, Alex (Fictitious character); Sturgis, Milo (Fictitious character); Murder; Photographers; Police; Psychologists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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