Download or read book Faking Normal written by Courtney C. Stevens and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An edgy, realistic debut novel praised by the New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys, as “a beautiful reminder that amid our broken pieces we can truly find ourselves.” Alexi Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer by her backyard pool. Instead, she hides in her closet, counts the slats in the air vent, and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does—and deal with the trauma. When Bodee Lennox—“the Kool-Aid Kid”—moves in with the Littrells after a family tragedy, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in this quiet, awkward boy who has secrets of his own. As their friendship grows, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her summon the courage to find her voice and speak up about the rape that has changed the course of her life.

Download or read book 55 Underemployed and Faking Normal written by Elizabeth White and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical plan for the millions of people in their fifties and sixties who find themselves out of work, unable to find a job, and financially incapable of retiring, Elizabeth White shows how to get past any blame or shame, overcome denial, and find a path to a new normal. Elizabeth White has an impressive resume, which includes advanced degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins and a distinguished employment history. She started a business that failed and then tried to reenter the work force in her mid-fifties, only to learn that there is little demand for workers her age. For a while Elizabeth lived in denial, but then had to adjust to her new reality, shedding the gym membership, getting a roommate, forgoing restaurant meals, and so on. She soon learned she wasn’t alone: there are millions of Americans in her predicament and worse, exhausted from trying to survive and overcome every day. In 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal, Elizabeth invites you to look beyond your immediate circumstances to what is possible in the new normal of financial insecurity. You’re in your fifties and sixties, and may have saved nothing or not nearly enough to retire. It’s too late for blame or shame—and it wouldn’t help anyway. What you want to know is what you can do now to have a shot at a decent retirement. “This relevant and well-researched book will appeal not only to those 55 plus, but to the generation coming right behind them who may face similar issues” (Booklist, starred review). 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal is a must-have for anyone whose income has suddenly diminished or even disappeared. “Providing practical solutions with a focus on retirement and maximizing savings, White maintains authority with a realistic, empathetic tone throughout. This deeply useful work will resonate with aging readers of all income levels and situations” (Publishers Weekly). If you’re ready to get serious about feeling good again, this book is for you.

Download or read book Fifty Five Unemployed and Faking Normal written by Elizabeth White and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The word "retirement" is crossed out on the title page and cover.

Download or read book The Lies About Truth written by Courtney Stevens and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the same vein as Jandy Nelson and Gayle Forman comes a novel from the gifted author of Faking Normal, Courtney C. Stevens, about hope and courage and the struggle to overcome the pain of loss. Sadie Kingston is living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can't move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent's brother, Max. As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she's unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him. But Max looks at her scars and doesn't shy away. And Max knows about the list she writes in the sand at the beach every night, the list of things that Sadie knows she must accomplish before she can move on from the accident. And while he can help her with number six (kiss someone without flinching), she knows she's on her own with number three (forgive Gina and Gray) and the rest of the seemingly impossible tasks that must be made possible before she can live in the now again.

Download or read book No More Faking Fine written by Esther Fleece Allen and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scripture reveals a God who meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. No More Faking Fine is your invitation to get honest with God through the life-giving language of lament. If you've ever been given empty clichés during challenging times, you know how painful it is to be misunderstood by well-meaning people. When life hurts, we often feel pressure--from others and ourselves--to keep it together, suck it up, or pray it away. But Scripture reveals a God who lovingly invites us to give honest voice to our emotions when life hits hard. For most of her life, Esther Fleece Allen believed she could bypass the painful emotions of her broken past by shutting them down altogether. She was known as an achiever and an overcomer on the fast track to success. But in silencing her pain, she robbed herself of the opportunity to be healed. Maybe you've done the same. Esther's journey into healing began when she discovered that God has given us a real-world way to deal with raw emotions and an alternative to the coping mechanisms that end up causing more pain. It's called lament--the gut-level, honest prayer that God never ignores, never silences, and never wastes. No More Faking Fine is your permission to lament, taking you on a journey down the unexpected pathway to true intimacy with God. Drawing from careful biblical study and hard-won insight, Esther reveals how to use God's own language to come closer to him as he leads us through our pain to the light on the other side, teaching you that: We are robbing ourselves of a divine mystery and a divine intimacy when we pretend to have it all together God does not expect us to be perfect; instead, he meets us where we are There is hope beyond your heartache, disappointment, and grief Like Esther, you'll soon find that when one person stops faking fine, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.

Download or read book We Are Totally Normal written by Naomi Kanakia and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this queer contemporary YA, perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story, Nandan’s perfect plan for junior year goes awry after he hooks up with a guy for the first time. Nandan’s got a plan to make his junior year perfect, but hooking up with his friend Dave isn’t part of it—especially because Nandan has never been into guys. Still, Nandan’s willing to give a relationship with him a shot. But the more his anxiety grows about what his sexuality means for himself, his friends, and his social life, the more he wonders whether he can just take it all back. Is breaking up with Dave—the only person who’s ever really gotten him—worth feeling “normal” again?

Download or read book The Blue Haired Boy written by Courtney C. Stevens and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set before the events of Courtney C. Stevens's debut novel, Faking Normal, this digital short story focuses on Bodee Lennox, otherwise known as the Kool-Aid Kid. Bodee Lennox has secrets. About where he got the four-inch scar on his leg. About the bruises on his back. About what it's really like to live in the Lennox household. These are things he doesn't share with anyone . . . until he meets Gerry, a girl with bright-green hair and a smile the size of Alaska. When Gerry falls out of a bus in Rickman, Tennessee, and lands at Bodee's feet, she gives Bodee two things he desperately needs: a friend and a chance to leave Rickman behind, even if it's just for a few hours. He joins Gerry on her epic bus trip for as far as his money will take him. And by the end of the day, more of Bodee has changed than just the color of his hair. Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.

Download or read book Zen and the Art of Faking It written by Jordan Sonnenblick and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From masterfully funny and poignant Jordan Sonnenblick, a story that will have everyone searching for their inner Zen. Meet San Lee, a (sort of) innocent teenager, who moves against his will to a new town. Things get interesting when he (sort of) invents a new past for himself, which makes him incredibly popular. In fact, his whole school starts to (sort of) worship him, just because he (sort of) accidentally gave the impression that he's a reincarnated mystic.When things start to unravel, San needs to find some real wisdom in a hurry. Can he patch things up with his family, save himself from bodily harm, stop being an outcast, and maybe even get the girl?

Download or read book Verity written by Colleen Hoover and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us. #1 New York Times Bestseller · USA Today Bestseller · Globe and Mail Bestseller · Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.

Download or read book Dress Codes for Small Towns written by Courtney Stevens and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-08-22 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Golden Kite Honor Book of 2018 * A Kirkus Best Book of 2017 “A poetic love letter to the complexities of teenage identity, and the frustrations of growing up in a place where everything fits in a box—except you.”—David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Kids of Appetite "Courtney Stevens firmly reasserts herself as a master storyteller of young adult fiction; crafting stories bursting with humor, heart, and the deepest sort of empathy."—Jeff Zentner, 2017 Morris Award Winner for The Serpent King "Courtney Stevens carries us into the best kind of mess: deep friendships, small town Southern gossip, unexpected garage art, and unfolding romantic identity."—Jaye Robin Brown, author of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit As the tomboy daughter of the town’s preacher, Billie McCaffrey has always struggled with fitting the mold of what everyone says she should be. She’d rather wear sweats, build furniture, and get into trouble with her solid group of friends: Woods, Mash, Davey, Fifty, and Janie Lee. But when Janie Lee confesses to Billie that she’s in love with Woods, Billie’s filled with a nagging sadness as she realizes that she is also in love with Woods…and maybe with Janie Lee, too. Always considered “one of the guys,” Billie doesn’t want anyone slapping a label on her sexuality before she can understand it herself. So she keeps her conflicting feelings to herself, for fear of ruining the group dynamic. Except it’s not just about keeping the peace, it’s about understanding love on her terms—this thing that has always been defined as a boy and a girl falling in love and living happily ever after. For Billie—a box-defying dynamo—it’s not that simple. Readers will be drawn to Billie as she comes to terms with the gray areas of love, gender, and friendship, in this John Hughes-esque exploration of sexual fluidity.

Download or read book Shut Up You re Pretty written by Téa Mutonji and published by arsenal pulp press. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, Trillium Book Award In Téa Mutonji’s disarming debut story collection, a woman contemplates her Congolese traditions during a family wedding, a teenage girl looks for happiness inside a pack of cigarettes, a mother reconnects with her daughter through their shared interest in fish, and a young woman decides on shaving her head in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. These punchy, sharply observed stories blur the lines between longing and choosing, exploring the narrator’s experience as an involuntary one. Tinged with pathos and humor, they interrogate the moments in which femininity, womanness, and identity are not only questioned but also imposed. Shut Up You’re Pretty is the first book to be published under VS. Books, a series of books curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of color. This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A Simple book with few images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.

Download or read book Faking Grace written by Tamara Leigh and published by Multnomah Fiction. This book was released on 2008 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grace Stewart must make a decision to deliver the dirt on Steeple Side Christian Resources and secure her future as an investigative reporter, or move her life in a new direction. Original.

Download or read book Faking Liberties written by Jolyon Baraka Thomas and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-03-25 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious freedom is a founding tenet of the United States, and it has frequently been used to justify policies towards other nations. Such was the case in 1945 when Americans occupied Japan following World War II. Though the Japanese constitution had guaranteed freedom of religion since 1889, the United States declared that protection faulty, and when the occupation ended in 1952, they claimed to have successfully replaced it with “real” religious freedom. Through a fresh analysis of pre-war Japanese law, Jolyon Baraka Thomas demonstrates that the occupiers’ triumphant narrative obscured salient Japanese political debates about religious freedom. Indeed, Thomas reveals that American occupiers also vehemently disagreed about the topic. By reconstructing these vibrant debates, Faking Liberties unsettles any notion of American authorship and imposition of religious freedom. Instead, Thomas shows that, during the Occupation, a dialogue about freedom of religion ensued that constructed a new global set of political norms that continue to form policies today.

Download or read book Faking Reality written by Sara Fujimura and published by Tor Teen. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can a reality star princess transform the boy-next-door into her Cinnamon Roll Prince? Dakota McDonald swore after “The Great Homecoming Disaster” that she’d never allow her romantic life to be a plot line in her parents’ HGTV show again. But when the restaurant run by the family of her best friend (and secret crush), Leo, is on the line, Dakota might end up eating her own words. Leo Matsuda dreams of escaping the suffocating demands of working in his family’s restaurant, but the closer he gets to his goal—thanks to the help of his best friend (and secret crush) Dakota—the more reasons there are for him to stay. Sara Fujimura's Faking Reality is another charming multicultural romance by the award-winning author of Every Reason We Shouldn’t, a National Public Radio Best YA Book of the Year. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Playing Dead written by Elizabeth Greenwood and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A darkly comic foray into the world of men and women who fake their own deaths, the consultants who help them disappear, and the private investigators who’ll stop at nothing to bring them back to life. “A delightful read for anyone tantalized by the prospect of disappearing without a trace.” —Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake “Delivers all the lo-fi spy shenanigans and caught-red-handed schadenfreude you’re hoping for.” —NPR “A lively romp.” —The Boston Globe “Grim fun.” —The New York Times “Brilliant topic, absorbing book.” —The Seattle Times “The most literally escapist summer read you could hope for.” —The Paris Review Is it still possible to fake your own death in the twenty-first century? With six figures of student loan debt, Elizabeth Greenwood was tempted to find out. So off she sets on a darkly comic foray into the world of death fraud, where for $30,000 a consultant can make you disappear—but your suspicious insurance company might hire a private detective to dig up your coffin...only to find it filled with rocks. Greenwood tracks down a British man who staged a kayaking accident and then returned to live in his own house while all his neighbors thought he was dead. She takes a call from Michael Jackson (no, he’s not dead—or so her new acquaintances would have her believe), stalks message boards for people contemplating pseudocide, and gathers intel on black market morgues in the Philippines, where she may or may not obtain some fraudulent goodies of her own. Along the way, she learns that love is a much less common motive than money, and that making your death look like a drowning virtually guarantees that you’ll be caught. (Disappearing while hiking, however, is a way great to go.) Playing Dead is a charmingly bizarre investigation in the vein of Jon Ronson and Mary Roach into our all-too-human desire to escape from the lives we lead, and the men and women desperate enough to give up their lives—and their families—to start again.

Download or read book Ageism Unmasked written by Tracey Gendron and published by Steerforth. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do we still tolerate stereotypes and discrimination based on age? This bold account of the history and present-day realities of ageism by a nationally recognized gerontologist and speaker uncovers ageism's roots, impact, and how each of us can create a new reality of elderhood. Ageism Unmasked shifts the lens, enabling us to see that we tolerate, and sometimes actively promote, attitudes and behaviors toward differently aged people that we would reject and condemn if applied to any other group. It peels back the layers to expose how cultural norms and unconscious prejudices have seeped into our lives, silently shaping our treatment of others based on their age and our own misconceptions about aging—and about ourselves. Offering an all-inclusive approach, Dr. Tracey Gendron reveals the biases behind our false understanding of aging, sharing powerful opportunities for personal growth along with strategies to help create an anti-ageist society. Ageism Unmasked will help readers let go of our desperate need to stay young… exposing how we personally, systematically, structurally, and institutionally stigmatize being old. Ageism Unmasked will help readers appreciate both the challenges and opportunities of how we all age… showing how ageism is prejudice towards both younger and older people. Ageism Unmasked will help readers reset our expectations for getting old… providing the tools to anticipate and experience elderhood as a time of renewed meaning and purpose, empowering each of us to create our own definition of successful aging. Ageism Unmasked continues Dr. Gendron's transformative work inspiring people of all ages to embrace aging as our universal and lifelong process of developing over time — biologically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually.

Download or read book The Edge of Falling written by Rebecca Serle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-03-13 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie's life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she's famous for something she didn't do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she's ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie's as well.