For Ijeoma, it's an ordinary afternoon. She's curled up in a comfy chair, reading a novel, and enjoying her time off from school. Then her mother storms into the room and asks a question that will change the teenage girl's life forever: "Are you a witch?" Dumbfounded by the ridiculous charge, Ijeoma further learns that her classmate, a beautiful young girl named Adaugo, is dead. But before she died, Adaugo confessed to being a witch, and claimed that Ijeoma was one, as well. Ijeoma vehemently denies this charge, but her mother does not believe her. Worse, neither does her beloved father. Their entire Nigerian village soon hears of the charge, and Ijeoma is judged accordingly. Helpless, vulnerable, naïve, and inexperienced, Ijeoma is abandoned by her loved ones and forced to face the indignities of those who want her punished. But in the midst of the ashes of her life, Ijeoma clings to her faith and determines to discover the truth behind the deceit. Intense and thought-provoking, A Cry of Innocence reveals the tragic consequences suffered by those falsely accused and serves as a stark reminder of society's responsibility to the truth.

April 1774 - Within the colonial capital of Virginia, Faith Clarke awakes in the middle of the night to discover a man savagely murdered in her tavern. Phineas Bullard was no stranger. Faith's late husband had borrowed heavily from the man and left Faith to struggle to pay the debt. With unrest growing in the American Colonies, the British are eager for a quick resolution at the end of a noose, regardless of guilt. Under suspicion for the crime, she must use every resource at her disposal to prove her innocence and protect those she loves. Her allies are Olivia and Titus, slaves left to her by her late husband's family, individuals she must find a way to free, even as she finds they also have motives for murder. Faith seeks to uncover the dead man's secrets even as they draw close to home. Determined to find the truth, she continues headlong into a web of secrets that hides Tories, Patriots, and killers, not stopping even though she fears no one will hear the cry of the innocent.

A book on contemplation, Tears of an Innocent God invites the reader to explore the ways of the One who would have us perceive, listen, and love as Christ did, and still does: not by imitation, but through a gradual inner transformation.

As The Giving Tree turns fifty, this timeless classic is available for the first time ever in ebook format. This digital edition allows young readers and lifelong fans to continue the legacy and love of a classic that will now reach an even wider audience. "Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy." So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein. This moving parable for all ages offers a touching interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave. This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein's incomparable career as a bestselling children's book author and illustrator began with Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. He is also the creator of picture books including A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and the perennial favorite The Giving Tree, and of classic poetry collections such as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Every Thing On It, Don't Bump the Glump!, and Runny Babbit. And don't miss the other Shel Silverstein ebooks, Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic!

“The most powerful spiritual healer, fixer, teacher on the planet.” —Oprah Winfrey What is the lesson in abuse, neglect, abandonment, rejection? What is the lesson when you lose someone you really love? Just what are the lessons of life's hard times? Bestselling author Iyanla Vanzant has had an amazing and difficult life—one of great challenges that unmasked her wonderful gifts and led to wisdom gained. In this simple book, she uses her own personal experiences to show how life's hardships can be re-languaged and revisioned to become lessons that teach us as we grow, heal, and learn to love. The pain of the past does not have to be today's reality. Iyanla Vanzant is an example of how yesterday's tears become the seeds of today's hope, renewal, and strength.

For about four thousand years people have recorded their attempts to understand human suffering. Some of their thoughts are found in the ancient story of Job and in its counterparts in Sumer, Babylon, and Egypt. This subject is always with us as can be seen in Harold S. Kushners,When Bad Things Happen to Good People and in Archibald MacLeishs, J.B. Since 11 September 2001, the problem of suffering has been thrust upon us once more. It is not just a question of why the innocent suffer or why the not-so-innocent prosper; it has to do with coming to terms with the lack of justice in our world (Job 19:7b, There is no justice.). The ancient story of Job is not helpful in our situation, but a later Job poem, which was covered up by the old story can give us creative help as we face an uncertain future. Our task is to uncover the later Job poem. This book has been reviewed by James Crenshaw in The Review of Biblical Liturature (RBL). It is a negative review, but since he puts me at a distance from him and in the camp of Archibald MacLeish, I considered it a great review.

In this heartfelt memoir, April goes into great detail about the physical, psychological, and sexual abuse she and her young siblings suffered at the hands of their father. At the age of three, April was tortured, beaten, belittled, and abused by her alcoholic, and drug addicted father: a father who beat, and played mind games-games that left her fearing for her life. She learned how to survive by silence and silence alone. April slept in a corner in her bedroom, her clothes raunchy with urine. April did everything she could to be a good girl so her father would love her, but all she got in return was a beating to reassure her father she would remain silent and not speak a word to anyone. No other family member knew of the abuse April was suffering nor did they care. April had no one to turn to; all she had was her prayers, prayers that her father would fi nd her a good child and love her. This memoir will walk you through each struggle as April fi ghts for love and happiness and survival. This memoir speaks the truth about child abuse-and the choices we are all faced in order to survive.

Readers of Sue Grafton's fiction know she never writes the same book twice, and "I" Is For Innocent is no exception. Her most intricately plotted novel to date, it is layered in enough complexity to baffle even the cleverest among us. Lonnie Kingman is in a bind. He's smack in the middle of assembling a civil suit, and the private investigator who was doing his pretrial legwork has just dropped dead of a heart attack. In a matter of weeks the court's statute of limitations will put paid to his case. Five years ago David Barney walked when a jury acquitted him of the murder of his rich wife, Isabelle. Now Kingman, acting as attorney for the dead woman's ex-husband and their child (and sure that the jury made a serious mistake), is trying to divest David Barney of the profits of that murder. But time is running out, and David Barney still swears he's innocent. Patterned along the lines of a legal case, "I" Is For Innocent is seamlessly divided into thirds: one-third of the novel is devoted to the prosecution, one-third to the defense, and a final third to cross-examination and rebuttal. The result is a trial novel without a trial and a crime novel that resists solution right to the end. When Kinsey Millhone agrees to take over Morley Shine's investigation, she thinks it is a simple matter of tying up the loose ends. Morley might have been careless about his health, but he was an old pro at the business. So it comes as a real shock when she finds his files in disarray, his key informant less than credible, and his witnesses denying ever having spoken with him. It comes as a bigger shock when she finds that every claim David Barney has made checks out. But if Barney didn't murder his wife, who did? It would seem the list of candidates is a long one. In life, Isabelle Barney had stepped on a lot of toes. In "I" Is For Innocent, Sue Grafton once again demonstrates her mastery of those telling details that reveal our most intimate and conflicted relationships. As Kinsey comments on the give-and-take by which we humans deal with each other, for better and sometimes for worse, the reader is struck yet again by how acute a social observer Ms. Grafton can be. Frequently funny and sometimes caustic, she is also surprisingly compassionate-- understanding how little in life is purely black and white. Except for murder. Somewhere out there, a killer waits to see just what Kinsey will find out. Somewhere out there, someone's been getting away with murder, and this time it just might turn out to be Kinsey's. "I" Is For Innocent is Sue Grafton in peak form. Fast-paced. Funny. And very, very devious. "A" Is for Alibi "B" Is for Burglar "C" Is for Corpse "D" Is for Deadbeat "E" Is for Evidence "F" Is for Fugitive "G" Is for Gumshoe "H" Is for Homicide "I" Is for Innocent "J" Is for Judgment "K" Is for Killer "L" is for Lawless "M" Is for Malice "N" Is for Noose "O" Is for Outlaw "P" Is for Peril "Q" Is for Quarry "R" Is for Ricochet "S" Is for Silence "T" Is for Trespass "U" Is for Undertow "V" Is for Vengeance "W" Is for Wasted "X"