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Paper girl : a memoir of home and family in a fractured America / by Macy, Beth,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.From one of our most acclaimed chroniclers of the forces eroding America's social fabric, her most personal and powerful work: a reckoning with the changes that have rocked her own beloved small Ohio hometown. Urbana, Ohio, was not a utopia when Beth Macy grew up there in the '70s and '80s--certainly not for her family. Her dad was known as the town drunk, which hurt, as did their poverty. But Urbana had a healthy economy and thriving schools, and Macy had middle-class schoolmates whose families became her role models. Though she left for college on a Pell Grant and then a faraway career in journalism, she still clung gratefully to the place that had helped raise her. But as Macy's mother's health declined in 2020, she couldn't shake the feeling that her town had dramatically hardened. Macy had grown up as the paper girl, delivering the local newspaper, which was the community's civic glue. Now she found scant local news and precious little civic glue. Yes, much of the work that once supported the middle class had gone away, but that didn't begin to cover the forces turning Urbana into a poorer and angrier place. Absenteeism soared in the schools and in the workplace as a mental health crisis gripped the small city. Some of her old friends now embraced conspiracies. In nearby Springfield, Macy watched as her ex-boyfriend--once the most liberal person she knew--became a lead voice of opposition against the Haitian immigrants, parroting false talking points throughout the 2024 presidential campaign. This was not an assignment Beth Macy had ever imagined taking on, but after her mother's death, she decided to figure out what happened to Urbana in the forty years since she'd left. The result is an astonishing book that, by taking us into the heart of one place, brings into focus our most urgent set of national issues. Paper Girl is a gift of courage, empathy, and insight. Beth Macy has turned to face the darkness in her family and community, people she loves wholeheartedly, even the ones she sometimes struggles to like. And in facing the truth--in person, with respect--she has found sparks of human dignity that she has used to light a signal fire of warning but also of hope.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Macy, Beth.; Families; Small cities; Women journalists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wicked Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West [electronic resource] : by Maguire, Gregory.aut; cloudLibrary;
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.  Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens. But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.  Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. 
Subjects: Electronic books.; Romantic; Literary; Contemporary; Media Tie-In; Epic; Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Horror;
© 2009., HarperCollins,
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Return to the river : reflections on life choices during a pandemic / by Pelzer, David J.,author.;
From #1 international bestselling author, speaker, and humanitarian Dave Pelzer comes the next chapter in his life--how, after spending decades saving others in the military, as a fire captain, and an internationally acclaimed advocate, he needs to confront a way to save himself. On the surface, Dave Pelzer's life seems like an action movie--he's walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he's flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now--on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system--he reflects on the battles he's fighting in his own heart. From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself? Banished to his basement at age five, Dave Pelzer had cried a river of tears before most children learned to tie their shoes. His now classic books, A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy, chronicled how he was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who nearly killed him multiple times. But despite the odds stacked against him, he rose to become a #1 New York Times bestselling author, inspirational speaker, and internationally recognized humanitarian. After fighting for years to vanquish his pain and to channel it into service for others, Pelzer sifts through the psychological rubble of a life that has seemingly crumbled around him. What he shares is deeply transformative and unflinchingly honest. In his struggle to simply survive, he never learned how to just be. Reeling from the loss of a love--and a broken spirit--Pelzer must reconcile his life choices and free himself of blame and shame to find peace and renewed purpose. Amidst the towering redwood trees and the serenity of his childhood utopia of the Russian River, Pelzer reflects on having the courage to move forward in your life, the peace to accept yourself, the vulnerability to strip yourself of facades, and to find the tenacity to carry on when life doesn't turn out the way you planned. For anyone who has been hurt, victimized, or feels alone, there is hope and there is always a way to rewrite your own story. Pelzer's soulful and inspiring story will remind you to keep your faith, live with gratitude, and find the well of resilience deep within you.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Pelzer, David J.; Adult child abuse victims; Choice (Psychology); COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; Resilience (Personality trait); Self-acceptance.; Self-esteem.; Self-realization.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Paper Girl A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America [electronic resource] : by Macy, Beth.aut; CloudLibrary;
An Instant National Bestseller! "There couldn’t be a timelier book . . . searingly poignant, essential . . . Macy follows closely in the footsteps of . . . Barbara Ehrenreich and Tracy Kidder, combining memoir with reportage, a raft of sobering statistics and, most uniquely in our era, a willingness to engage in uncomfortable conversations." —The Washington Post From one of our most acclaimed chroniclers of the forces eroding America’s social fabric, her most personal and powerful work: a reckoning with the changes that have rocked her own beloved small Ohio hometown Urbana, Ohio, was not a utopia when Beth Macy grew up there in the ’70s and ’80s—certainly not for her family. Her dad was known as the town drunk, which hurt, as did their poverty. But Urbana had a healthy economy and thriving schools, and Macy had middle-class schoolmates whose families became her role models. Though she left for college on a Pell Grant and then a faraway career in journalism, she still clung gratefully to the place that had helped raise her. But as Macy’s mother’s health declined in 2020, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her town had dramatically hardened. Macy had grown up as the paper girl, delivering the local newspaper, which was the community’s civic glue. Now she found scant local news and precious little civic glue. Yes, much of the work that once supported the middle class had gone away, but that didn’t begin to cover the forces turning Urbana into a poorer and angrier place. Absenteeism soared in the schools and in the workplace as a mental health crisis gripped the small city. Some of her old friends now embraced conspiracies. In nearby Springfield, Macy watched as her ex-boyfriend—once the most liberal person she knew—became a lead voice of opposition against the Haitian immigrants, parroting false talking points throughout the 2024 presidential campaign. This was not an assignment Beth Macy had ever imagined taking on, but after her mother’s death, she decided to figure out what happened to Urbana in the forty years since she’d left. The result is an astonishing book that, by taking us into the heart of one place, brings into focus our most urgent set of national issues. Paper Girl is a gift of courage, empathy, and insight. Beth Macy has turned to face the darkness in her family and community, people she loves wholeheartedly, even the ones she sometimes struggles to like. And in facing the truth—in person, with respect—she has found sparks of human dignity that she has used to light a signal fire of warning but also of hope.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Dysfunctional Families; Civics & Citizenship; Personal Memoirs;
© 2025., Penguin Publishing Group,
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We Might As Well Be Dead. by Sinelnikjova, Natalia,film director.; Iacob, Ioana,actor.; Schüttauf, Jörg,actor.; Jahn, Moritz,actor.; Geiger, Pola,actor.; Wuest, Susanne,actor.; Aspect Ratio Films (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Ioana Iacob, Jörg Schüttauf, Moritz Jahn, Pola Geiger, Susanne WuestOriginally produced by Aspect Ratio Films in 2022.A high-rise building near the forest is famous for its carefully curated community. When a dog disappears and her daughter refuses to leave the bathroom, security officer Anna faces an absurd battle against an irrational fear, that slowly spreads amongst the residents and rattles this utopia with a view.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Feature films.; Foreign films.; Motion pictures.; Drama.;
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