In her plucky new memoir, award-winning journalist Susan Orlins embraces her hang ups and faces life's imperfections with wit and grit. While her friends smoke marijuana or drink to get high, Orlins becomes intoxicated by therapy visits. Eavesdrop on her confessions as she goes through psychiatrists the same way she goes through boyfriends. Orlins takes readers on a rocky but riotous journey from her starter marriage during college to her second marriage in 1979, after which she moves to Beijing. Her years in Beijing and her effort to adopt a baby there provide a fascinating portrait of an era in which "eating bitterness" was a way of life for Chinese people. She worries: Will I locate a child? Will I convince the Communist government to go along with a foreign adoption? In the chapter "'I May Have Ruined the Marriage, But You're Ruining the Divorce," Orlins explores her separation with wry, wrenching self-awareness. She rebounds with a divorce party and then vibrantly portrays a cast of Mr. Wrongs, like one who--whenever he feels blue--swallows a pinch of his father's ashes. During a solo bicycle trip in Paris, Orlins tracks down a boyfriend from 42 years earlier. No one could have anticipated the crisis that occurs an hour into their reunion. With her knack for stumbling into drama, it's no wonder she worries. As Orlins ages, she misses her younger self and pictures paying her a visit. This imaginary encounter changes Orlins forever. Readers of all ages will relate to this deeply personal story, told with comical sensibility by a quirky, startlingly honest mother, daughter, ex-wife, and dog lover, who--a la Nora Ephron--will feel like a dear friend. Confessions of a Worrywart: Husbands, Lovers, Mothers, and Others will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Reviews "A first-rate personal essayist, Susan Orlins delivers the goods time and again. Underneath her self-mocking voice, her abundant humor, her brio, there is the serious candor of a moralist who worries the problems that won't go away." -PHILLIP LOPATE, author and editor of The Art of the Personal Essay "Susan Orlins is America's funniest neurotic since Woody Allen. Just be careful you don't crack a rib reading Confessions of a Worrywart." -PATRICIA VOLK, author of Stuffed "Susan Orlins combines the practical with the comical. A multi-tasking mom, she knows how to show and hide her feelings simultaneously. When you have the time (the kids are out of the house and your mom is in a home), read this book! You will identify and laugh." -SYBIL SAGE, writer for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Growing Pains, Magnum P.I., Northern Exposure "Toxic chemicals. Tomatoes. Getting the bed by the window in her future nursing home. What's NOT to worry about? Just ask Susan Orlins, America's funniest worrywart-not because you want to wring your hands, but because you want to laugh out loud. Her offbeat take on all challenges, great and small, is a delight." - DIANE MACEACHERN, Author of Big Green Purse

Thirty years after Robin Morgan's groundbreaking anthology, Sisterhood Is Powerful -- named by The American Librarians' Association one of "The 100 Most Influential Books of the Twentieth Century" -- comes this landmark new collection for the twenty-first century. Sisterhood Is Forever -- with over 60 original essays Morgan commissioned from well-known feminist leaders plus energetic Gen X and Y activists -- is a composite mural of the female experience in America: where we've been, where we are, where we're going. The stunning scope of topics ranges from reproductive, health, and environmental issues to workplace inequities and the economics of women's unpaid labor; from globalization to the politics of aging; from cyberspace, violence against women, and electoral politics to spirituality, the law, the media, and academia. The deliberately audacious mix of contributors spans different generations, races, ethnicities, and sexual preferences: CEOs, housewives, rock stars, farmers, scientists, prostituted women, politicians, women in prison, firefighters, disability activists, artists, flight attendants, an army general, an astronaut, an anchorwoman, even a pair of teens who edit a girls' magazine. Each article celebrates the writer's personal voice -- her humor, passion, anger, and the integrity of her perspective -- while offering the latest data on women's status, political analysis, new "how-to" tools for activism, and visionary yet practical strategies for the future -- strategies needed now more than ever. Robin Morgan's own contributions are everything her readers expect: prophetic, powerfully argued, unsentimentally lyrical. From her introduction: "The book you hold in your hands is a tool for the future -- a future also in your hands." • Edna Acosta-Belén • Carol J. Adams • Margot Adler • Natalie Angier • Ellen Appel-Bronstein • Mary Baird • Brenda Berkman • Christine E. Bose • Kathy Boudin • Ellen Bravo • Vednita Carter • Wendy Chavkin • Kimberlé Crenshaw • Gail Dines • Paula DiPerna • Helen Drusine • Andrea Dworkin • Eve Ensler • Barbara Findlen • Mary Foley • Patricia Friend • Theresa Funiciello • Carol Gilligan • Sara K. Gould • Ana Grossman The Guerrilla Girls • Beverly Guy-Sheftall • Kathleen Hanna • Laura Hershey • Anita Hill • Florence Howe • Donna M. Hughes • Karla Jay • Mae C. Jemison • Carol Jenkins • Claudia J. Kennedy • Alice Kessler-Harris Clara Sue Kidwell • Frances Kissling • Sandy Lerner • Suzanne Braun Levine • Barbara Macdonald • Catharine A. MacKinnon Jane Roland Martin • Debra Michals • Robin Morgan Jessica Neuwirth • Judy Norsigian • Eleanor Holmes Norton • Grace Paley • Emma Peters-Axtell Cynthia Rich Amy Richards • Cecile Richards Carolyn Sachs • Marianne Schnall • Pat Schroeder • Patricia Silverthorn • Eleanor Smeal Roslyn D. Smith Gloria Steinem Mary Thom • Jasmine Victoria • Faye Wattleton • Marie Wilson • Helen Zia

Weekly studies to reinforce what junior highers are learning from their Wild Truth JournalThese Bible lessons send students straight to the words of Jesus to discover the truth, then dare them to live that truth today. Includes games, activities, sketches, handouts, and reproducible worksheets.

God wants you to know that there is nothing you have done that can separate you from His love. He has a plan for your life. Your job is to get to know Him, learn to trust Him, believe His Word, apply the Word to your life's circumstances, and follow His direction. God knew all the mistakes we would make and all the wrong turns we would take. He knew all the times we would be taken advantage of and hurt. He knew beforehand how He would take all that the devil meant for evil and how He would use it to work out for our good. God will let nothing that we go through be wasted. This book is filled with stories and lessons learned about my life, my relationship with God, and how He has shown me over and over His love for me in spite of myself. But not just for me--but His love for all of us. Even though we often turn away from God to go our own way, God will take great measure to draw us back to Him and not leave us out there in our own mess. God knew everything that would happen in your life before you were born--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Everything that we go through, God uses it to teach us that we can trust and depend on Him with everything in our life. Don't you see, if He knew you before you were born, all the things that happen in your life are all a part of God's plan.

Elizabeth George, author of the bestseller A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart (more than 300,000 copies sold), now shows teen women how to make prayer a part of their busy lives. From her own journey through the Bible and the lives of others, Elizabeth shares the difference prayer makes in everyday life. She provides step-by-step guidance and ideas for experiencing an exciting prayer life, highlighting how to— make prayer a reality establish a regular time for talking with God pray from the heart for daily needs improve relationships through prayer Teen girls will grow to know God in a very real way as they develop an active, personal, and meaningful prayer life! Great for Sunday school, youth group studies, and individual reading. Rerelease of A Young Woman’s Call to Prayer

"Splitopia challenges outdated, negative assumptions about divorce with sharp wit, searing honesty, rigorous research, and intimate interviews, and offers guidance for healthier, happier splits"--

A 100,000+ copies bestseller from Elizabeth George is made even better with a new cover and the addition of a study guide! The question every believer asks—whether new in Christ or a seasoned veteran—is, How can I be more effective in my prayer life? When it comes to talking to God about people and life-issues, there's always room for growth. Which is why The Heart of a Woman Who Prays is such a significant resource for Christian women at all stages of faith. With Scripture, ideas, and practical advice, Elizabeth provides the inspiration, motivation, and step-by-step guidance to help a woman utilize prayer to... stabilize her emotions and perspective when life is unstable apply God's promises to her problems talk to God about family and friends discover and carry out God's plan for her life count on God's provision through hard times Includes a study guide helpful for both individuals and groups.

Is your spiritual life more like a fast-food run than an intimate dinner for two?Whether it’s the busy mother’s wish to be Wonder Woman—minus the metal bra—or battles with an exploding hot water heater, or fighting the “Resolutionary War” of New Year’s Day, Mary Pierce understands the dilemmas of being a woman in today’s 24/7 world. From disorganized misery to extreme organizational mania (she used to refer to her children by their household chores: Cat Box Boy, Dishwasher Girl, and Garbage Can Baby), Pierce deals with our fumbling attempts to grow closer to God, encouraging us as she invites us to laugh, cry, love, embrace life, and pray!In her humorous, conversational style, Pierce laughs at her mistakes and her prayers that seem more like advertising jingles (Lord, I need a break today, and Can you hear me now, Lord?). In Confessions of a Prayer Wimp, you’ll come to understand that faith is less about what you are or do or say, and more about who God is—someone who loves you no matter what you do.

Confession One: Musical theatre and chess were my true loves. I was a mixture of nerd and drama queen. I liked to think of myself as raspberry ripple ice cream. The perfect combination of sauce to creamy goodness. Confession Two: I was an adaptable kind of girl. Until it came to my dreams. Four years of hard work and I finally got into the college I’d fantasized about since I was a little girl. But sometimes things didn’t work out how you wanted them to. One incident—and a Viking helmet—was all it took to have my aspirations snatched away at the end of my first year. And now I was here. In a state I hated. A second college I didn’t want to go to. But no other choices available. Confession Three: Alcohol was the enemy. All I wanted was to blow off some steam before I met my new fate. To let loose, and have a little fun. I was never meant to wake up in a hot guys bed and not remember how I got there. Confession Four: He was my new roommate. Running out of his house the morning after the night before was the last time I was meant to see him. I could forget it ever happened and start my sophomore year unscathed. Until I found out he was my new roommate...along with another thirty guys. I was the new frat girl in town, and life was about to get a whole lot of messy.