Other books that might interest you

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  I Too Am America - On Loving and...

  Shawn Dove, Nick Chiles, Susan...

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  There is no cavalry coming! 
  We are the iconic leaders we have been waiting for, curators of the change we’re seeking to see. 
  I Too Am America examines the promise and peril of Black men and boys in America by exploring the lives of two talented young men, Jamare Winston in Detroit and Romero Wesson in Oakland, who at once embody all that we want our boys to be while also illuminating the many uncertainties they face. With the help of teachers and mentors, they have navigated their teen years in environments where nothing is guaranteed. Their stories mirror the trials facing Black men and boys across the nation. 
  Corporation for Black Male Achievement founder Shawn Dove had to navigate similarly treacherous waters decades ago as a Black boy in New York City. He was also a young man of many talents, trying to figure out what the world had to offer and his place in it. Part memoir, part exposé of the ways this country continues to forsake Black men and boys, part uplifting call to action, I Too Am America manages to elicit tears while also kindling hope. 
  I Too Am America: On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys, written by Shawn Dove and Nick Chiles, delivers timely insights and inspiration that humanizes the stories of Black men and boys while offering strategic recommendations on how together we can move from our current rumblings with a racial reckoning to loving, learning, and leading with and on behalf of Black men and boys.

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  Conflicted Scars - An Average...

  Justin Davis, Brian Kilrea

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  An indispensable guide to parents of hockey hopefuls
  		 
  At a time of great change in hockey, Justin Davis exposes the dark underbelly of the journey from the minors to the big leagues 
  		 
  Hockey culture: it’s a commonly used phrase inside the game, glorifying sacrifice, toughness, loyalty, and a sense of identity. Justin Davis viewed this culture as something he was lucky enough to experience. After all, he’d won a Memorial Cup after leading the tournament in scoring, and he’d been drafted by the Washington Capitals. “In my mind,” he says, “I was the normal one.” Unfortunately, after stepping outside the game, he began to recognize the racism, sexual abuse and bullying that was so deeply ingrained in the sport. And then, as his own children grew into teenagers, the curtain was pulled back, the memories came rushing forward, and he was horrified: “Why was I naked in a bus bathroom for four hours with seven teammates? What happened to my brain, and why can’t I remember the simplest things? How did I end up living in a basement where the strangers upstairs were clearly engaged in domestic abuse?”
  		 
  As it navigates the sport’s darkest corridors, Conflicted Scars shares the story of the common Canadian player and offers a guide for parents who need to know how and why a typical teenager with NHL dreams, from a small town, now lives anxiously, introvertedly, and battling emotional detachment.

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  Friendly Fire - A Fractured Memoir

  Paul Rousseau

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  “A powerful, gut-wrenching tale of pain, suffering, and recovery.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS“Unique and haunting…. A mesmerizing and unforgettable meditation on a stranger-than-fiction tragedy.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED REVIEWOne month before his college graduation, Paul Rousseau is accidentally shot in the head by his roommate and best friend.At some point in the course of Paul and Mark’s friendship, Mark acquired—legally and with required permits—five firearms. Those weapons lived with them in their college apartment. It was a non-issue for the two best friends. They were inseparable. They were twenty-two-year-old boys at the height of their college experience, unaware that everything was about to change forever.The bullet ripped through two walls before it struck Paul’s skull. Mark had accidentally pulled the trigger while in the other room and—frightened for his own future—delayed getting treatment for Paul, who miraculously remained conscious the entire time. In vivid detail, and balanced with refreshing moments of humor, Friendly Fire brings us into the world of both the shooting itself and its surgical counterpoint—the dark spaces of survival in the face of a traumatic brain injury and into the paranoid, isolating, dehumanizing maw of personal injury cases.Friendly Fire is the story of a friendship—both its formation and its destruction. Through phenomenal writing and gripping detail, Paul reveals a compelling and inspirational story that speaks to much of contemporary American life.

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  The Turpentine Tree

  Lynne Hjelmgaard

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  The Turpentine Tree is an enduring symbol of memory, fragile but enduring the passage of time and still persisting: in the title poem, Lynne Hjelmgaard describes it 'a coppery faux god / with wildly twisted branches'. It might slip into the void, but here it is for now 'flying into the eye of the storm.' Hjelmgaard employs strong, sensuous imagery to capture moments from across her remarkable life.
  These are portraits of family, friends and relationships – of Hjelmgaard's uprooted life, including a life at sea, the subsequent displacement, widowhood and search for connections. Often the remembrances in poems are sweet-bitter, recalling friends and lovers lost, including the writer's late partner Dannie Abse. These explorations of loss are extremely moving, but the poems also communicate the value of a rich bank of memories which range around from spectating on a girl being punished at camp ('Summer Camp'), a Florida roadtrip with friends ('1969'), or an 'Evening Flight from Copenhagen.' Very often the speakers are in transit, travelling through, and so the poems hold onto intense, lucid or epiphanic moments.
  There's an honesty, easiness and at times humour about the language. Vulnerability and strength walk side by side to give an extraordinary depth of experience for the reader. There's a visitation from her dead lover; her husband's spirit is safe in her wardrobe in a plastic bag; her father's ghost is on a WWII battleship in Norfolk Harbour and later waits for her in a crowd of strangers at Miami airport.
  These snapshots are sometimes based on real photographs, or at other times are imaginary photographs; Hjelmgaard questions 'Did we really exist? Yes – / the photograph answers' ('The Photograph Answers'). Threaded throughout all these memories is the gorgeous vividness of nature – the sea, animals, and creatures – which take speakers out of human concerns to a more connected relation with the world. The Turpentine Tree is about intangible presences which open up memory and move beyond it, towards a universal interconnectedness.
  How far back does grief go? What is lost, what can be found? Is memory transferred between us without words, years later, is the unsayable felt? 
  (from 'On the Atlantic Coast of Spain')
  'Lynne Hjelmgaard is truthful yet unrepentant. An American poet, determined to be alive.' - Robert Minhinnick, author of Diary of the Last Man
  'These poems keep a distinctive balance between distance and closeness – a  wide span across decades, between continents, hand in hand with crisp small moments that encapsulate a life. Closeness, too, in the intimacies at the heart of this collection, held with a lucid sensitivity that's never sentimental, staying true to individual relationships while melting into universal themes of love, loss, letting go and celebration.' -   Philip Gross, author of The Thirteenth Angel
  'Who is this person from so many places? Lynne Hjelmgaard grew up in Stuyvesant Town NYC, lived in Denmark, in Paris, in England, in the Caribbean -- did she really sail on a boat? What is she telling us? Everything she carries within, at any time. A unique, unusual life reflected on in poems of intimate address to the reader/companion. Delicate, beautiful, detailed from an amazing memory. Childhood, womanhood, children, aging, loves, mixed as everything is in the one body/mind. Tender and magical.' - Alice Notley, author of For the Ride

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  Sparrow in the Razor Wire -...

  Quan Huynh

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  In 1999, Quan Huynh shot and killed another man in a gang-related incident in Hollywood, California. He received a prison sentence of fifteen years to life in a state that, at the time, did not parole prisoners with life sentences. Behind bars, Quan continued his downward spiral.This could have been the end of the story for Quan, as it is for many prisoners. But somewhere along the way, he discovered a new path—one that prompted him to commit to self-reflection, truth, and personal responsibility.Sparrow in the Razor Wire is Quan’s story of transformation inside a place many see as the end of the road. In his book, he shares the journey of redemption and discovery that led to his ultimate freedom. He found that, no matter the prison, the key to unlocking the door is in each one of us.

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  Two Feet In - Lessons From an...

  Jeanne Collins

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  What do you do when you feel like the ground you are standing on is crumbling?  
  Jeanne Collins wasn’t always living with two feet in—but now she wants to share how she harnessed an abundance mindset to build the life she always wanted. 
  In this memoir, Jeanne proves her mission statement: success requires perseverance and vulnerability. From the trials of childhood to the rush of romance; from the crush of heartbreak to the nervous excitement of two major pivots in her career—readers will relate to Jeanne’s honest and heartfelt insights on growing up, motherhood, love, and, yes, interior design. 
  While she’s now found the balance and energy she long sought, it hasn’t always been easy. This is a story about overcoming an internal dialogue clouded by doubt and laying the foundation for a better future. A good life isn’t so different from a good home, after all—with skillful framing and mindful finishes, a holistic environment can be fostered inside and out.  
  With heartfelt insights and hard-won lessons, Jeanne’s story is infused with a sense of love, abundance and hope. Jeanne’s philosophy strives to be one with the universe while staying grounded in what we can all control: trusting ourselves and committing to our personal blueprints. Hence feet, two of them in particular, planted firmly as the inspired designers of our own lives. To find out more about her journey, grab this book today!

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