Nancy takes us on a journey through her childhood years with an Italian/Polish upbringing, and continues through the triumphs and tribulations of her adulthood with sarcastic humor and grace. As we become immersed in Nancy's true-life story telling, it becomes obvious that she has a knack for humor in the most unexpected, yet highly relatable moments that we all share in life. Nancy takes us on a humorous and touching journey in which all stories have a common thread: Life's absurdities show us that we are not alone for this wild ride. Loving oneself for who you are and not what other's want you to become is imperative. To quote William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", "This above all: To thine own self, be true."

K.M.R Smythe grew up in Rhodesia Her family lived in the grounds of Ingutsheni Mental Hospital in Bulawayo from 1953-1971 where her father worked as a psychiatrist. As a child she grappled with many frightening situations and found strength and self-belief by becoming a successful tennis player. The Secret World of Shlomo Fine is an exploration of concealment and prejudice on many different levels. It is a story about an isolated and isolating experience inside one of the largest lunatic asylums built during British colonial rule in Africa. The book raises questions about the role that psychiatry holds in the Western imagination as accepted wisdom for healing human distress. What took place at Ingutsheni - first under British colonial rule, followed by UDI and the leadership of Ian Smith - needs to be more widely known. Similar institutions were built throughout the Empire, and many still exist throughout the world.

A little more than two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Virgil wrote his Georgics, a long poetic sequence about agriculture, suffused with profound reflections on the relationship between humanity, nature, and the divine--and reflecting the political turmoil of his times. California poet Karen An-hwei Lee, inspired by Virgil, has created her own dense, richly-layered collection of "Neo-Georgics," constituting an extended exploration of such motifs as happiness, olive groves, vineyards, soil chemistries, the seacoast, and the birth of trees. In Lee's contemporary rendering we confront an environment blighted by our carbon footprint; advancements in agricultural technology and genetic engineering; the digital age; fossil fuel transportation; and vanishing bees. Rose Is a Verb explores the ancient tradition of agrarian labor, including tilling the soil and interpreting weather signs and war omens. The poems flash with verbal ingenuity and mind-bending allusions--challenging the heart and mind but repaying slow, careful readings many times over. A meditation on the natural environment, this collection serves as a biomythography of procreation and a reflection on the meaning of happiness.

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. "Ivan Arguelles is a poet who does not mine the general American vein of didactic or 'therapeutic' poetry that is supposed to be of use in some way. What he creates is an expansive romantic/surrealist summoning of multiple, swarming worlds and histories. This makes him one of the most authentic poets working in English today, and one of the most beautiful in his use of language. His voice is unique, but each of his books has its own timbre, point of view; its own movement and thematic centers. In ORPHIC CANTOS, those centers revolve around the paradoxes of language and consciousness, which are understood to be at the very marrow of the human. The nature of his engagement over the past 40 years has been far more than a desire to write 'poetry'; rather, poetry is the embodiment of a complex psychic need, the air he needs to be in the life form and time he occupies. When you read Arguelles' work, you are immersed in the basic human experience. His work is a great treasure." John M. Bennett"

Presents the stories behind the origins of various everyday objects and consumer products, covering items ranging from clothing and tools to housing and games, complemented by informative timelines and sidebars.

Lists books by subject and title and recommends what book children and young adults should read next based on their previous likes and dislikes.