What happens when a daughter’s dream and a mother’s sordid past collide? 1910 New York. Seventeen-year-old Sylvie and her French-immigrant mother Justine eke out a living doing piecework in a tenement on the Lower East Side, while Sylvie attends school so that she can escape their life of poverty by becoming a teacher. At least, that’s what her mother wants. But Sylvie has other plans, keeping the secret of her ambitions to act in the new silent movies. But Justine has secrets of her own. When her past catches up with her in a single act of brutality, Sylvie witnesses what she thinks is her mother’s betrayal and runs away during a freak blizzard, putting them both in grave danger. Ambition, survival, and unexpected alliances combine in this mother-daughter story that proves love can conquer all—at a price.
A collection of fifteen short stories and two novellas. This book is a cross-section of Widing's work, covering a wide range of genres, styles, tones, and time periods. Some of these stories are frivolous comedy vignettes, others are more emotional and substantive, and some are hopefully a mix of all these elements. Narratives range from a little girl dealing with a new addition to the family, to a guy having a very hard time killing his coworker. One story is set at the height of the Persian Empire, another in the trenches of World War I, and yet another on a different planet, breaking into Speculative and Science Fiction. These are just a few examples of the varied tales and story-telling techniques you'll find inside this volume.
In this far-reaching study, Bill Portela invites readers to consider the role of evolution in their personal, spiritual framework. This stirring journal takes us back five billion years as Earth transformed from star particles into the incubator for all known life in our universe. The leading chapters sketch panoramas of ancient continents gliding across molten, primeval oceans. Seething near undersea volcanic rifts, could fledgling proteins begat exquisite, spiral DNA molecules? Three billion years later, an extraordinary fusion between biological kingdoms catapulted life onto land. Darwin's harsh laws of survival seem balanced by symbiotic theories proving that organic cooperation is a universal constant to our being. We contrast "feminine instincts" with male behavior patterns. We probe how women developed essential coping strategies as men channeled aggression and why patriarchies persist today.
Gunnel Larsdotter's lyrical translation of Vintegaten, a poem written by Zacharias Topelius, a gem in the history of Nordic literature, brings new life to the epic story of two lovers who build a bridge of stars.
A funny, rollicking take on a natural-history picture book, designed to entertain kids and the adults who read to them. David Antenborough narrates this picture-book send-up of a nature documentary, sounding just like the real-life David but with more gesticulations – after all, he has six limbs at his disposal. Director Stephen Spielbug tries to keep the cast of characters on task, but it’s worse than herding cats: The orb-weaving spider would like to eat one or two other actors, the grasshopper is a diva, the worm keeps missing his cue, and the slug is embarrassed by his slime. As the wrap-up nears, a wuffling noise intrudes on the set, and the panicked actors flee. But the intrepid Antenborough continues narrating, Spielbug keeps directing, and they bring the film to a dramatic conclusion.
Protecting the environment is easy when everyone in your community supports your plan. But what happens when your neighbors are determined to stop you? Bear and Olivia are about to find out as they rush to save Oxbow Island's frogs and salamanders during their spring migration. Kirkus Reviews calls this tale, "A tightly woven mystery that will leave readers excited to make changes in their communities."
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