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Pluck : a memoir of a Newfoundland childhood and the raucous, terrible, amazing journey to becoming a novelist / by Morrissey, Donna,1956-author.;
"A deeply personal account of love's restorative ability as it leads renowned novelist Donna Morrissey through mental illness, family death, and despair to becoming a writer--told with charm and inimitable humour. When Donna Morrissey left the only home she had ever known, an isolated Newfoundland settlement, at age 16, she was ready for adventure. She had grown up without television or telephones but had absorbed the tragic stories and comic yarns of her close-knit family and community. The death of her infant brother marked the family, and years later, Morrissey suffers devastating guilt about the accidental death of her teenage brother, whom she'd enticed to join her in the oilfields. Her misery was compounded by her own misdiagnosis of a terminal illness, all of which contributed to crippling anxiety and an actual diagnosis of PTSD. Many of those events and themes would eventually be transformed and recast as fictional gold in Morrissey's novels. In another writer's hands, Morrissey's account of her personal story could easily be a tragedy. Instead, she combines darkness and light, levity and sadness into her tale, as her indomitable spirit and humour sustain her. Morrissey's path takes her from the drudgery of being a grocery clerk (who occasionally enlivens her shift with recreational drugs) to western oilfields, to marriage and divorce and working in a fish-processing plant to support herself and her two young children. Throughout her struggles, she nourishes a love of learning and language. Morrissey layers her account of her life with stories of those who came before her, a breed rarely seen in the modern world. It centers around iron-willed women: mothers and daughters, wives, sisters, teachers and mentors who find the support, the wind for their wings, outside the bounds given to them by nature. And it is a mysterious older woman she meets in Halifax who eventually unleashes the writer that Morrissey is destined to become. An inspiring and insightful memoir, Pluck illustrates that even when you find yourself unravelling, you can find a way to spin the yarns that will save you--and delight readers everywhere."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Morrissey, Donna, 1956-; Anxiety disorders; Brothers; Novelists, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The wind at my back : resilience, grace, and other gifts from my mentor, Raven Wilkinson / by Copeland, Misty,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Misty Copeland made history as the first African-American principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre. Her talent, passion, and perseverance enabled her to make strides no one had accomplished before. But as she will tell you, achievement never happens in a void. Behind her, supporting her rise was her mentor, Raven Wilkinson, who had been virtually alone in her quest to breach the all-white ballet world when she fought to be taken seriously as a black ballerina in the 1950s and 60s. A trailblazer in the world of ballet decades before Misty's time, Raven faced overt and casual racism, hostile crowds, and death threats for having the audacity to dance ballet. The Wind at My Back tells the story of two unapologetically Black ballerinas, their friendship, and how they changed each other--and the dance world--forever. Misty Copeland shares her own struggles with racism and exclusion in her pursuit of this dream career and honors the women like Raven who paved the way for her but whose contributions have gone unheralded. She celebrates the connection she made with Raven, the only teacher who could truly understand the obstacles she faced, beyond the technical or artistic demands. A beautiful and wise memoir of intergenerational friendship and the impressive journeys of two remarkable women, The Wind at My Back captures the importance of mentorship, of shared history, and of respecting the past to ensure a stronger future"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Copeland, Misty.; Wilkinson, Raven.; African American ballerinas; African American ballerinas; Ballerinas; Ballet dancers; Ballet; Mentoring in the arts; Racism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Mr. Miracle : a Christmas novel / by Macomber, Debbie.;
"A heartwarming Christmas novel of romance, hope, and the comforts of home. Harry Mills is a guardian angel on a mission: help twenty-four-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track--and, if the right moment strikes, help her find love. Posing as a teacher at a local college in Tacoma, Washington, Harry is up to the task, but not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store. After trying to make it on her own, Addie has returned home to Tacoma for the holidays, but this time she plans to stay for good, enrolling in the local community college to earn her degree. What she doesn't plan to do is run into Erich Simmons. Addie and her next-door neighbor, Erich, are like night and day. Growing up, he was popular and outgoing while she was rebellious and headstrong, and he never missed an opportunity to tease her. Now she intends to avoid him entirely, yet when they're suddenly forced to spend Christmas together, Addie braces for trouble. Perhaps it's the spirit of the season or the magic of mistletoe, but Addie and Erich soon find they have more in common than they thought--and that two people who seem so wrong for each other may actually be just right. With a little prompting from a certain angelic teacher, the two are in for a holiday miracle they'll never forget"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Christmas stories.; Love stories.; Guardian angels; Man-woman relationships; Women college students;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 3
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The book of lost friends : a novel / by Wingate, Lisa,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a new novel inspired by little-known historical events: a dramatic story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its vital connection to her own students' lives. In her distinctive voice, Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual "Lost Friends" advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold off. Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane, her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie, Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end, the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope. Louisiana, 1987: For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt--until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, seems suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled live oaks and run-down plantation homes lies the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything"--
Subjects: HIstorical fiction.; Women; Poverty;
Available copies: 3 / Total copies: 4
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The Prime Minister's Secret Agent / by MacNeal, Susan Elia,author.;
"Maggie Hope has returned from her undercover mission in Berlin with scars not just on her body but on her soul. Instead of going on another Special Operations assignment in war-torn Europe, she returns to one of her old spy training camps in western Scotland, this time as a teacher. But instead of the tedium Maggie is expecting, she's drawn against her will into another web of danger, this time involving a terrifying biological weapon secretly developed and stockpiled by Churchill for the anticipated Nazi invasion. Maggie's failure to solve a series of deadly poisonings could endanger the lives of the entire British civilian population--but what will be the cost of success?"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Detective and mystery stories.; Mystery fiction.; Undercover operations; Women spies; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Gather me : a memoir in praise of the books that saved me / by Edim, Glory,1982-author.;
"An inspiring memoir of family, community, and resilience, and an ode to the power of books to help us understand ourselves, from the renowned founder of Well-Read Black Girl. 'She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.'-Toni Morrison. For Glory Edim, that 'friend of my mind' is books. Edim, who grew up in Virginia to Nigerian immigrant parents, started the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club at age thirty, but her love of books stretches far back: to public libraries alongside her little brothers after elementary school while her mother was working; to high school librairies where she discovered books she wasn't being taught in class; to dorm rooms and airplanes and subway rides-and, eventually, to a community of half a million other readers. When Edim's father moved back to Nigeria while she was still a child, she and her brothers were left with a single mother and little money, often finding a safe space at their local library. Books were where Edim found community, and as she grew older, she discovered the Black writers whose words would forever change her life: Nikki Giovanni through children's poetry cassettes; Maya Angelou through a critical high school English teacher; Toni Morrison while attending Morrison's alma mater, Howard University; Audre Lorde on a flight to Nigeria. In prose full of both joy and heartbreak, Edim recounts how these writers and so many others helped her to value herself: to find her own voice when her mother lost hers, to trust her feelings when her father remarried, to create bonds with other Black women and uplift their own stories. Gather Me is a glowing testament to the power of representation and the lasting impact of literature to gather our disparate parts and put them back together"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Edim, Glory, 1982-; Edim, Glory, 1982-; African American businesspeople; African American women authors; African American women; Authors, American; Books and reading; American literature; Literature;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Not our kind : a novel / by Zeldis, Kitty,author.;
One rainy morning, two years after the end of World War II, a minor traffic accident brings together Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy. Eleanor, a teacher and recent Vassar graduate, needs a job. Patricia's difficult thirteen-year-old daughter Margaux, recovering from polio, needs a private tutor at their Park Avenue home. Though she feels out of place in the Bellamys' rarefied and elegant Park Avenue milieu, Eleanor forms an instant bond with Margaux. Soon the idealistic young woman is filling the bright young girl's mind with Shakespeare and Latin. Though her mother, a hat maker with a little shop on Second Avenue, disapproves, Eleanor takes pride in her work, even if she must use the name "Moss" to enter the Bellamys' restricted doorman building each morning, and feels that Patricia's husband, Wynn, may have a problem with her being Jewish. Invited to keep Margaux company at the Bellamys' country home in a small town in Connecticut, Eleanor meets Patricia's unreliable, bohemian brother, Tom, recently returned from Europe. The spark between Eleanor and Tom is instant and intense. Flushed with new romance and increasingly attached to her young pupil, Eleanor begins to feel more comfortable with Patricia and much of the world she inhabits. As the summer wears on, the two women's friendship grows--until one hot summer evening, a line is crossed, and both Eleanor and Patricia will have to make important decisions--choices that will reverberate through their lives. Gripping and vividly told, Not Our Kind illuminates the lives of two women on the cusp of change--and asks how much our pasts can and should define our futures.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Historical fiction.; Jewish women; Tutors and tutoring; New York (N.Y.);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The book of lost friends [sound recording] : a novel / by Wingate, Lisa,author,narrator.; Amoss, Sophie,narrator.; Flanagan, Lisa,narrator.; Hoffman, Dominic,narrator.; Jones, Sullivan(Narrator),narrator.; Miles, Robin,narrator.; Turpin, Bahni,narrator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by Sophie Amoss and Bahni Turpin, with Lisa Flanagan, Dominic Hoffman, Sullivan Jones, Robin Miles, and Lisa Wingate."From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a new novel inspired by little-known historical events: a dramatic story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its vital connection to her own students' lives. In her distinctive voice, Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual "Lost Friends" advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold off. Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane, her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie, Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end, the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope. Louisiana, 1987: For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt--until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, seems suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled live oaks and run-down plantation homes lies the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Historical fiction.; Poverty; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Where hope prevails / by Oke, Janette,1935-author.; Logan, Laurel Oke,author.;
When Beth Thatcher returns to Coal Valley, she has much to be excited about. She anticipates Jarrick's proposal of marriage and perhaps a spring wedding. The mine is expanding, and there are more schoolchildren than ever. But the town's rapid growth brings many challenges. A second teacher is assigned, and Beth finds herself going head-to-head with a very different philosophy of education--one that dismisses religion and rejects God. Fearful for the children who sit under the influence of Robert Harris Hughes, Beth struggles to know how to respond. At the same time, Beth wonders if Jarrick is considering a position at her father's company simply for her sake. Should she admit her feelings on the matter? Or keep silent and allow Jarrick to make up his own mind?
Subjects: Religious fiction.; Romance fiction.; Women pioneers;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Madam / by Wynne, Phoebe,author.;
"A riveting, modern gothic debut with shades of The Secret History, The Stepford Wives, and a dash of Circe, set at a secretive all girls' boarding school perched on a craggy Scottish peninsula. For 150 years, high above rocky Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat untouched, a beacon of excellence in an old ancestral castle. A boarding school for girls, it promises that the young women lucky enough to be admitted will emerge 'resilient and ready to serve society.' Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie: a 26-year-old Classics teacher, Caldonbrae's new head of the department, and the first hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose is overwhelmed to be invited into this institution, whose prestige is unrivaled. But she quickly discovers that behind the school's elitist veneer lies an impenetrable, starkly traditional culture that she struggles to reconcile with her modernist beliefs-not to mention her commitment to educating 'girls for the future.' It also doesn't take long for Rose to suspect that there's more to the secret circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure of her predecessor-a woman whose ghost lingers everywhere-than anyone is willing to let on. In her search for this mysterious former teacher, Rose instead uncovers the darkness that beats at the heart of Caldonbrae, forcing her to confront the true extent of the school's nefarious purpose, and her own role in perpetuating it. A darkly feminist tale pitched against a haunting backdrop, and populated by an electrifying cast of heroines, Madam will keep readers engrossed until the breathtaking conclusion"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Boarding schools; Girls' schools;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 151 to 160 of 194 | « previous |