"The antidote to cynicism." A humorous nonfiction book about the lessons, adventures, and lifelong friendships that come from talking to strangers. Through the author's experiences, the book makes the case that talking to strangers is good for you. Includes over 100 original pen-and-ink illustrations by the author.

Caroline Stockwell has a secret: she and her best friend Monica are "cam girls." Soliciting cash donations and gifts via Amazon.com wish lists from anonymous admirers, the young women have put up a web site featuring still photographs, video and blogs to help pay their way through art college. But when Caroline goes missing and her mother Ellen engages jazz bass-playing PI August Riordan to find her, Riordan discovers her secret and it appears to everyone that someone she met through the web site is responsible for her disappearance. Set against the real-world backdrop of Internet predators using social networking sites like Facebook to find and ensnare their victims, Candy from Strangers is the first novel to explore the phenomenon of teenagers and young adults displaying themselves online in exchange for material favors-often without their parents' knowledge-which some are calling the newest form of prostitution.

Too many salespeople are focused on the end result, the outcome―the close―and another notch on their gun! But, what if you approached "sales" from a heart-centered standpoint, with curiosity and playfulness, as though the world were your sandbox? What if you created relationships for no other reason than to help others and make new friends? I know what you are saying, "How can it not be about results when it comes to business?" The bottom line is important, but if you detach from this burden while you are creating relationships, you will find that the health of your bottom line will improve on its own!"In the 1950's life was much simpler. In today's culture of hustle and bustle, Stan's message in Giving Candy To Strangers is a welcome and thought-provoking way to grow your business and enhance your life while having fun at the same time. Please read it, practice it, and share it!"-Jerry Mathers, actor, Leave It To Beaver"Stan Holden models serving before deserving in every personal relationship and this has catapulted him to the highest echelons of business success. Fortunately, in his new book Giving Candy to Strangers, Stan shares his friendship formulas with the rest of us. I am glad he did. I felt like highlighting every sentence, for every page was filled with entertaining stories packed with wisdom jewels that when applied will produce better results both personally and professionally."-Orrin Woodward, Guinness World Record holder, NY Times Bestselling Author, and Inc. Magazine Top 20 Leader"Stan Holden's Giving Candy to Strangers is aimed at people in the 'business' world ...however, this book is really for people looking to simply improve the business of their lives. It's an easy fun read and every time you put it down you feel better about how to go about your life. Stan has given great simplistic clarity on how to run your life ... and your business while maintaining your soul."-Ted McGinley, actor, Married with Children, Happy Days, Love Boat

Explains how to deal with strangers in public places, on the telephone, and in cars, emphasizing situations in which the best thing to do is run away or talk to another adult.

Most children, especially children on the autism spectrum, accept adults' friendliness at face value. Sometimes it can have tragic consequences. Written by a Deputy Sheriff, this book is credited with foiling at least 22 stranger abductions. Characters Bobby and Mandee explain stranger danger in a way that is accessible, but not frightening, for children. Read it to your child and role-play different scenarios. Create a password only you and your child know, label backpacks on the inside (so strangers won't know your name). Strangers can be men or women, old or young. Adults should not touch, give gifts to, or ask for help from children. If they do, don't keep it a secret! Tell an adult! Arm your child with the knowledge that may save his or her life.

"A powerful, complex, and fascinating coming-of-age novel." -- Costa Book Award PanelA boy and a girl in the Philippine jungle must confront what coming of age will mean to their friendship made even more complicated when Americans invade their country. Samkad lives deep in the Philippine jungle, and has never encountered anyone from outside his own tribe before. He's about to become a man, and while he's desperate to grow up, he's worried that this will take him away from his best friend, Little Luki, who isn't ready for the traditions and ceremonies of being a girl in her tribe.But when a bad omen sends Samkad's life in another direction, he discovers the brother he never knew he had. A brother who tells him of a people called "Americans." A people who are bringing war and destruction right to their home...A coming-of-age story set at the end of the 19th century in a remote village in the Philippines, this is a story about growing up, discovering yourself, and the impact of colonialism on native peoples and their lives.

Lu won’t go with just anyone! Lu is waiting to be picked up after school. She stands on the sidewalk, all alone, and it starts to rain. Ms. Smith walks by, and offers to take her home. Ms. Smith lives in Lu’s neighborhood—but does Lu really know her? Lu asks herself, what’s her first name? Does she dye her hair red? What’s her dog’s name? And she says, “I don’t know you, so I won’t go with you! And besides, Mama said I should wait.” As other adults—all of whom Lu has met in some capacity before—offer to take her home, Lu continues to consider if she really knows them. One by one, she refuses to go with them. Until, finally, the person Mama said she should go home with shows up—though his appearance is a surprise to the reader! This sensitively narrated story illustrates how clear rules and arrangements can help protect and empower children during an especially vulnerable time of day. The ending includes a prompt for readers to create their own similar “safe” list, and a list of resources for parents.

Now in paperback, a hilarious, satirical look at a small town on the verge of extinction, from the comedic team behind Strangers with Candy. In his desperate search for a small town dying in America, intrepid journalist Russell Hokes stumbles upon a quarter-mile stretch of concrete and gravel dotted with strip clubs and used auto parts shops. Welcome to Wigfield. Population: vague. Upon his arrival, Russell Hokes wanders the streets searching for the salt of the earth. Instead he finds a town in crisis. Why State Representative Bill Farber wants to tear down the Bulkwaller Dam, thereby flooding the town. Will Russell Hokes save the town Is Wigfield merely posing as a town to collect federal disaster relief Won't you please buy this book?

Best-selling author Dr. Gregory L. Jantz offers hope and help for parents of teens. Adolescence is a frightening and complicated time – for teens and parents. Keeping the roller coaster of the teen years on track takes work and wisdom. Many parents simply don’t know where to start. With Dr. Jantz’s help they can stop worrying about the turbulence of adolescence and take action. With included resources, reflection questions, and guidance from a Christian perspective, parents learn how to become a port in the storm for their teenager, discovering the God-designed future and promise that awaits.

What does it mean to devote yourself wholly to helping others? In Strangers Drowning, Larissa MacFarquhar seeks out people living lives of extreme ethical commitment and tells their deeply intimate stories; their stubborn integrity and their compromises; their bravery and their recklessness; their joys and defeats and wrenching dilemmas. A couple adopts two children in distress. But then they think: If they can change two lives, why not four? Or ten? They adopt twenty. But how do they weigh the needs of unknown children in distress against the needs of the children they already have? Another couple founds a leprosy colony in the wilderness in India, living in huts with no walls, knowing that their two small children may contract leprosy or be eaten by panthers. The children survive. But what if they hadn't? How would their parents' risk have been judged? A woman believes that if she spends money on herself, rather than donate it to buy life-saving medicine, then she's responsible for the deaths that result. She lives on a fraction of her income, but wonders: when is compromise self-indulgence and when is it essential? We honor such generosity and high ideals; but when we call people do-gooders there is skepticism in it, even hostility. Why do moral people make us uneasy? Between her stories, MacFarquhar threads a lively history of the literature, philosophy, social science, and self-help that have contributed to a deep suspicion of do-gooders in Western culture. Through its sympathetic and beautifully vivid storytelling, Strangers Drowning confronts us with fundamental questions about what it means to be human. In a world of strangers drowning in need, how much should we help, and how much can we help? Is it right to care for strangers even at the expense of those we are closest to? Moving and provocative, Strangers Drowning challenges us to think about what we value most, and why.