A delightful debut novel about a woman coming to terms with past disappointments and forging a bright new future-man and dog included. Noelle Ryan works as a veterinary technician at a New England animal shelter, helping pets find homes. If only it were as easy to find one for herself. After discovering she can't have children-and watching her marriage fall apart after a shocking revelation by her husband-she feels as sad and lost as the strays she rescues. She can't seem to get over her ex, Jay. Unfortunately, all Jay wants from her is a huge favor: serving as caretaker for his elderly mother, who blames Noelle for the breakup. While Jay heads off to Atlanta to live the life of a bachelor, Noelle is left only with her Great Dane, Zeke, to comfort her. But when a carefree musician named Jasper tugs at her heartstrings, giving her a second chance at life- and at love- Noelle comes to realize that home is truly where the heart is.

Free to a Good Home is about small farms and big dogs; farmers, their families and friends; bird feeders and feeders of birds; dust and rust; stone walls and other fences; New Hampshire’s First-In-The-Nation-Primary and other entertainment; a few laughs and a few tears. (excerpt) “...Janet, Maggie, and I lay between the rows of blueberries, listening to the slight rustling of the corn and the soft, endless chirp of peepers from the trees, enjoying the sweet, familiar smell of the ripe berries, mesmerized by the grandeur of the Perseid meteor shower. Fresh from chasing frogs in the swamp, Maggie fitted herself between us, her muddy feet and fur still dripping of swamp water, soiling and soaking our clothes ... (excerpt) Free to a Good Home. The cynic in me believes that nothing is free but I’m enough of a romantic to believe at times that everything is free. Maggie was named because of Margaret Thatcher. We already had a dog named Thatcher and Janet couldn’t resist naming the six-month-old, sixty-five pound ‘Free to a good home’ female puppy of indeterminate breeding, Margaret. We called her Maggie and sometimes Margaret S. Dog. She would respond to any of these names if she considered it to be in her best interest and respond to none of them if not.”

Take two reality pills and call me in the morning. Swine Flu. Financial meltdown. It's been a bad year for pigs and pigs in suits. The only thing for it is a good dose of Catherine Deveny, who each week in the Age puts everything into perspective with her trademark iconoclastic wit. Free to a Good Home includes her thoughts on gifted children and breakfast television, sexy billboards and the bill of rights. She reflects on her youngest child's first day at school, and on how to be happy in hard times. Fearlessly funny and always provocative, Deveny is the perfect antidote to the modern world's ills. Can anyone explain why I did this? I went to the chemist and bought this crap I put on my face to make me look younger. I put the jar on the counter. The chemist girl said, 'Is this stuff any good?' I said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'Really?' I said, 'I'm sixty.' Eyes like saucers, mouth agape, she gasped, 'OH MY GOD! Sixty! Toula! Fatima! Kelly! Come and check out this old lady. She's sixty!' So the other chemist girls scurried over and after a bit of oohing and aahing one said, 'Oh my God! Sixty? You look like you're forty-five!' I'm forty. Chemist girls, one. Smart-arse, zero.

Have you heard the words, I never dared to treat my parents the way kids do today? If you are a baby boomer or the parent of a tween, teen, or adult child, not only have you heard those words, you may have uttered them yourself. If, in this new age of childparent relations, youve ever felt like a helpless puppy or kitten inside a box marked Free to Good Home,if, in spite of all your love and the care with which you embraced parenting, your child has grown into an entitled and thoughtless power broker in your relationshipread on. Author Kay Taylor has studied sociology, parenting, blended families and personal growth for years; in this bold, groundbreaking book she explores the changes in our culture that she believes have given birth to what she describes as the E-generationa generation of teens and young adults that feel so empowered and entitled that they often clash with their parents, creating a palpable power struggle within the family. This often leaves good parents alone, depressed, and completely befuddled as to what they did wrong. Free Mother to Good Home comes from the heart and experiences of an everyday parent in the trenches. Taylor offers a mothers perspective, as well as a remedy for parental blues, helping parents know what they can do to get their houses and their lives back in order.

In this comical twist on sibling rivalry, a girl decides she needs a new family -- so she writes Free Kid on a box and waits in the street for some better parents to choose her.

An hilarious story about sibling rivalry and a child’s impulse to run away from home—(and come back again!) “When my squawking baby brother arrived, I realized I needed a new family. No one seemed to mind when I packed my bag. I took a box and used my best handwriting to write ‘FREE KID’, then waited for some new parents to take me home.” Waiting in a box like an abandoned pet and encountering the passersby changes the girl’s perspective. At the end of the day, when her parents pretend they need an older sister for their new baby, she is ready to leave her box and go happily back home. In this comical twist on sibling rivalry, a girl decides she needs a new family—so she writes Free Kid on a box and waits in the street for some better parents to choose her. Translated from the Japanese edition, this accessible story is perfect for children starting on independent reading and is illustrated in a graphic comic style that really captures childlike subversive humor. Ideal for fans of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. A useful book to teach young children about welcoming a new baby sibling to the family, or exploring playful sibling relationships, through funny and lighthearted storytelling. Hiroshi Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated from Waseda University with a degree in education. He began creating picture books while still a student and has since published many award-winning books. Praise for Free Kid to Good Home "Ito uses words and pictures with equal skill to craft this hilariously willful little visionary."—The New York Times "[A]n instant classic."—Children's Publishers Favorite Reads of 2022, Publishers Weekly “a light, engaging tale that will appeal to comic book fans and all young readers who have secretly (or not so secretly) resented the arrival of a potato-faced baby to the family.”—The School Reading List “young readers...will be rewarded by getting to know this can-do narrator.”—The Horn Book "More and more profound with every read.”—Just Imagine "This is a GEM of a book and I can see why it is a bestseller! Highly recommended."—NZ Poetry Shelf

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