Download or read book The Things We Don t Talk About written by Stacy J. Bernal and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-31 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Failure to Finisher, from Once-a-Bartender to Now-a-Board-Member, Stacy's story of triumph and transformation is one that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like they were at Rock Bottom. In 2009, Stacy was a three-time divorced, three-time college dropout, single mom to a son with autism and a daughter living out-of-state with her dad. On government assistance and barely able to pay bills, Stacy's world was falling apart around her. That same year, she ran her first marathon and the trajectory of her entire life changed the instant she crossed the finish line. Determined to turn her life around, Stacy enrolled in college for a fourth time. The more she learned about the world around her, the more she turned inward to reflect on the life she had lived. For the first time in decades, she unearthed the memories she had long ago buried- of the abuse by her father, the loss of her religion, the baby she had placed for adoption- and the enormous weight of shame she had carried through the years. Slowly, Stacy started opening up about her past. What she expected to find was judgment and isolation; what she actually found was acceptance and connection. Fueled by a newfound confidence, Stacy began speaking about her hardships at events around the country and soon discovered no matter where she went, there was always ALWAYS someone who told her, "Me, too." Her company, See Stacy Speak LLC, was born. Her platform was based on teaching people that the very things that are holding them back- fear, shame, insecurity- are the very things that can be used to fuel them. A self-proclaimed Ambassador of Badassery, Stacy's motto is, "I see the Badass in YOU, and I help you see it, too." "The Things We Don't Talk About" is a humorous and heartfelt story of hardships, healing, and hope. Sassy, sweet, and a little sarcastic, Stacy courageously shares her own shortcomings as proof that through pain there is purpose and through our weaknesses we can become warriors. This book will make you laugh and make you cry, and leave you inspired to share your own story, too.

Download or read book The Things We Don t Talk About A Memoir of Hardships Healing and Hope written by Stacy Joy Bernal and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Failure to Finisher, from Once-a-Bartender to Now-a-Board-Member, Stacy's story of triumph and transformation is one that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like they were at Rock Bottom. In 2009, Stacy was a three-time divorced, three-time college dropout, single mom to a son with autism and a daughter living out-of-state with her dad. On government assistance and barely able to pay bills, Stacy's world was falling apart around her. That same year, she ran her first marathon and the trajectory of her entire life changed the instant she crossed the finish line. Determined to turn her life around, Stacy enrolled in college for a fourth time. The more she learned about the world around her, the more she turned inward to reflect on the life she had lived. For the first time in decades, she unearthed the memories she had long ago buried- of the abuse by her father, the loss of her religion, the baby she had placed for adoption- and the enormous weight of shame she had carried through the years. Slowly, Stacy started opening up about her past. What she expected to find was judgment and isolation; what she actually found was acceptance and connection. Fueled by a newfound confidence, Stacy began speaking about her hardships at events around the country and soon discovered no matter where she went, there was always ALWAYS someone who told her, "Me, too." Her company, See Stacy Speak LLC, was born. Her platform was based on teaching people that the very things that hold them back- fear, shame, insecurity- are the very things that can be used to fuel them. A self-proclaimed Ambassador of Badassery, Stacy's motto is, "I see the Badass in YOU, and I help you see it, too." "The Things We Don't Talk About" is a humorous and heartfelt story of hardships, healing, and hope. Sassy, sweet, and a little sarcastic, Stacy courageously shares her own shortcomings as proof that through pain there is purpose and through our weaknesses we can become warriors. This book will make you laugh and make you cry, and leave you inspired to share your own story, too.

Download or read book Speak Okinawa written by Elizabeth Miki Brina and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity” (NPR) and a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated parents—her mother an Okinawan war bride, her father a Vietnam veteran—and her own, fraught cultural heritage. Elizabeth's mother was working as a nightclub hostess on U.S.-occupied Okinawa when she met the American soldier who would become her husband. The language barrier and power imbalance that defined their early relationship followed them to the predominantly white, upstate New York suburb where they moved to raise their only daughter. There, Elizabeth grew up with the trappings of a typical American childhood and adolescence. Yet even though she felt almost no connection to her mother's distant home, she also felt out of place among her peers. Decades later, Elizabeth comes to recognize the shame and self-loathing that haunt both her and her mother, and attempts a form of reconciliation, not only to come to terms with the embattled dynamics of her family but also to reckon with the injustices that reverberate throughout the history of Okinawa and its people. Clear-eyed and profoundly humane, Speak, Okinawa is a startling accomplishment—a heartfelt exploration of identity, inheritance, forgiveness, and what it means to be an American.

Download or read book Where There s Hope written by Elizabeth Smart and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her fearless memoir, My Story, Elizabeth Smart related, for the first time, the horrific experiences she went through as a fourteen-year-old girl, when she was abducted from her home and held captive for nine months. Since then, she's travelled the world as the president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, sharing her story in the hopes of helping others along the way.Over and over, Elizabeth hears the same question from women who've gone through horrible experiences: How do you find the hope to go on? In this powerful book, she seeks out others who have overcome adversity to help find the answers. Through conversations with victims of violence, disease, war, and the loss of loved ones, Elizabeth explores the meaning and power of hope to heal our lives.Through discussions with well-known figures like Anne Romney and Diane Von Furstenburg, spiritual leaders like Archbishop John C. Wester and Elder Richard Hinckley, and her own parents, Ed and Lois Smart, Elizabeth gives readers the tools they need to take control and embrace life.

Download or read book Educated written by Tara Westover and published by Random House. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University “Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—Vogue NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • Book Riot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library

Download or read book Hope Heals written by Katherine Wolf and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When all seems lost, where can you find hope? Katherine and Jay Wolf married right after college and sought adventure far from home in Los Angeles, CA. As they pursued their dreams--she as a model and he as a lawyer--they planted their lives in the city and their church community. Their son, James, came along unexpectedly in the fall of 2007, and just six months later, everything changed in a moment for this young family. On April 21, 2008, as James slept in the other room, Katherine collapsed, suffering a massive brain stem stroke without warning. Miraculously, Jay came home in time and called for help. Katherine was immediately rushed into brain surgery, though her chance of survival was slim. As the sun rose the next morning, the surgeon proclaimed that Katherine had survived the removal of part of her brain, though her future recovery was uncertain. Yet in that moment, there was a spark of hope. Through forty days on life support in the ICU and nearly two years in full-time brain rehab, that small spark of hope was fanned into flame. Hope Heals documents Katherine and Jay's journey as they struggled to regain Katherine's quality of life and as she relearned to talk, eat, and walk. As Katherine returned home with a severely disabled body but a completely renewed purpose, she and Jay committed to celebrating this gift of a second chance by embracing life fully, even though that life looked very different than they could have ever imagined. As you uncover Katherine and Jay's remarkable story, you'll be encouraged to: Find lasting hope in the midst of struggle Embrace the unexpected Welcome God's miracles into your everyday life In the midst of continuing hardships, both in body and mind, Katherine and Jay found what we all long to find: a hope that heals the most broken place--our souls. Let Hope Heals be your guide along the way. Praise for Hope Heals: "As I read this book, tears streamed from my eyes even as joy flooded my heart. Jay and Katherine are a raw yet refreshing testimony to the unshakable trustworthiness of God amidst the unimaginable trials of life. This book reminds all of us where hope can be found in a world where none of us know what the next day holds." --David Platt, author of the New York Times bestseller Radical and president of the International Mission Board "Hope Heals is a beautiful, true story that illustrates the love and protection God has for us even in the darkest times of our lives. Katherine and Jay's dedication to each other and the Lord through their most devastating season is inspiring. This book will help your heart believe that He sees, He knows, He cares, and He is still working miracles today!" --Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

Download or read book Ordinary Hazards written by Nikki Grimes and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael L. Printz Honor Book Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book Boston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens Six Starred Reviews—★Booklist ★BCCB ★The Horn Book ★Publishers Weekly ★School Library Connection ★Shelf Awareness A Booklist Best Book for Youth * A BCCB Blue Ribbon * A Horn Book Fanfare Book * A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book * Recommended on NPR's "Morning Edition" by Kwame Alexander "This powerful story, told with the music of poetry and the blade of truth, will help your heart grow."–Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak and Shout "[A] testimony and a triumph."–Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse. Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.

Download or read book Where There s Hope written by Elizabeth A. Smart and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elizabeth Smart follows up her #1 New York Times bestseller (October 2013), My Story—about being held in captivity as a teenager, and how she managed to survive—with a powerful and inspiring book about what it takes to overcome trauma, find the strength to move on, and reclaim one’s life. Author. Activist. Victim—no more. In her fearless memoir, My Story—the basis of the Lifetime Original movie I Am Elizabeth Smart—Elizabeth detailed, for the first time, the horror behind the headlines of her abduction by religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. Since then, she’s married, become a mother, and travelled the world as the president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, sharing her story with the intent of helping others along the way. Over and over, Elizabeth is asked the same question: How do you find the hope to go on? In this book, Elizabeth returns to the horrific experiences she endured, and the hard-won lessons she learned, to provide answers. She also calls upon others who have dealt with adversity—victims of violence, disease, war, and loss—to explore the pathways toward hope. Through conversations with such well-known voices as Anne Romney, Diane von Furstenburg, and Mandy Patinkin to spiritual leaders Archbishop John C. Wester and Elder Richard Hinckley to her own parents, Elizabeth uncovers an even greater sense of solace and understanding. Where There’s Hope is the result of Elizabeth’s mission: It is both an up-close-and-personal glimpse into her healing process and a heartfelt how-to guide for readers to make peace with the past and embrace the future. From the book: “I was not willing to accept that my fate was to live unhappily ever after. Everything—my family, my home, my chance to go to school—had been given back to me, and I didn’t want to miss a second chance of living my own life.” —Elizabeth Smart “There are two types of survivors: the ones who did not die, and the ones who live. There will be those who will always remember and be the victim, and ones who just won’t. You have to go on, you have to learn, and you have to heal.” —Diane von Furstenberg

Download or read book The Other Side of Impossible written by Susannah Meadows and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "True stories about people who triumphed over seemingly impossible medical diagnoses using untraditional, inventive therapies and perseverance--and about what scientists are discovering on the psychology of healing and the mind-body connection--from the author of the New York Times Magazine article about her own son, 'The Boy with the Thorn in his Joints,' which led to this book about other families"

Download or read book Fallen Angel Rising written by Bridgette C. Kent and published by BalboaPress. This book was released on 2013-07-12 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was written to inspire hope and to begin healing for those experiencing adversity or who have wounds to heal. I hope that my words help you gain perspective on the past and avoid the mistakes I’ve made as you go forward on your journey. I now view every single experience as positive because adversity brought me here—to this place where I can help you heal your life. This book is dedicated to: • Rape victims—When they tell you it wasn’t your fault, it is true! No matter what choices you made, the instant the word “no” crossed your lips, all should have stopped. Whatever happened after that was not your fault. • Those suffering from depression and/or PTSD—As a society, we need to do more to remove the stigma of psychological illness so that more people will seek the help they need, before the situation becomes desperate. • All fibromyalgia patients—We must continue to advocate for a cure and not settle for lifelong symptom management. When we put our voices together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. • Those who want a change in their life—Whether it’s a divorce, an illness, or any other issue that has you feeling “less than,” you can change your circumstances. • Anyone who has had, or is having, thoughts of suicide—Know that suicide not the answer. I am an example of that. If I’d not seen that “dark place” and lived to talk about it, I wouldn’t be writing this for you today. I would never have known life could be this incredible.

Download or read book Long Division written by Kiese Laymon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Fiction From Kiese Laymon, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Heavy, comes a “funny, astute, searching” (The Wall Street Journal) debut novel about Black teenagers that is a satirical exploration of celebrity, authorship, violence, religion, and coming of age in post-Katrina Mississippi. Written in a voice that’s alternately humorous, lacerating, and wise, Long Division features two interwoven stories. In the first, it’s 2013: after an on-stage meltdown during a nationally televised quiz contest, fourteen-year-old Citoyen “City” Coldson becomes an overnight YouTube celebrity. The next day, he’s sent to stay with his grandmother in the small coastal community of Melahatchie, where a young girl named Baize Shephard has recently disappeared. Before leaving, City is given a strange book without an author called Long Division. He learns that one of the book’s main characters is also named City Coldson—but Long Division is set in 1985. This 1985-version of City, along with his friend and love interest, Shalaya Crump, discovers a way to travel into the future, and steals a laptop and cellphone from an orphaned teenage rapper called...Baize Shephard. They ultimately take these items with them all the way back to 1964, to help another time-traveler they meet to protect his family from the Ku Klux Klan. City’s two stories ultimately converge in the work shed behind his grandmother’s house, where he discovers the key to Baize’s disappearance. Brilliantly “skewering the disingenuous masquerade of institutional racism” (Publishers Weekly), this dreamlike “smart, funny, and sharp” (Jesmyn Ward), novel shows the work that young Black Americans must do, while living under the shadow of a history “that they only gropingly understand and must try to fill in for themselves” (The Wall Street Journal).

Download or read book The Distance Between Us written by Reyna Grande and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the author's experiences as an illegal child immigrant, describing her father's violent alcoholism, her efforts to obtain a higher education, and the inspiration of Latina authors.

Download or read book Where the River Flows written by Rachel Havekost and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where the River Flows is an honest, poetic, heartbreaking account of how my divorce catapulted me down a yearlong obsession to find the answer to the burning question I had every single day after my husband asked me for a divorce:"Why?"Was it my inability to show him love like he'd told me? Was it an old attachment wound, still unhealed and bubbling at the surface? Was it the sexual trauma I'd never resolved and carried into our marriage? Was it my very real and frequent urge to end my life? Or was it him? Was it his lack of understanding for my mental illness? His lost patience for me as I tirelessly worked through old wounds in therapy? Stress from the yearlong motorcycle trip of his dreams that I vowed to go on, and did just after our wedding day?As I spiraled myself around this question and fell deeper and deeper into a depression, as the binges became more intense and the purges returned for the first time in years, as the urges to die grew stronger and when I curled myself in a ball on the shower floor, banging my fists against my belly like I'd first done seventeen years before, I started to believe that what my husband said to me in our last few days together might be true: "It's like there are three people in our marriage. You, me, and your Eating Disorder. And sometimes I think you love her more than me."If you or someone you know has struggled with an Eating Disorder, sexual or developmental trauma, depression, anxiety, suicidal thinking, divorce, grief, then it is my hope you will find yourself and your loved ones in the pages of this memoir.You are not alone.

Download or read book The Audacity to Finish written by Laura Eustache Zamor and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the peak of her academic career on the Binghamton University campus, Laura Eustache was a second-year resident assistant, university newspaper writer, student association leader, and 3.9 GPA rising senior. But her world would soon come to a screeching halt when she returned to finish in the fall of 2007. Suffering from intense dizzy spells, disorientation, and feelings of suicide ideation, Laura would be forced to withdraw and spend the next four years of her life recovering. The Audacity to Finish is the recanting of one millennial womans journey from the depth of a spiritual attack and depression to the height of returning to finish her degree, discovering her purpose, and starting a family.

Download or read book All the Things We Never Knew written by Liara Tamani and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Tamani masterfully bounces and slams two hearts up and down a shrouded court of first love and revelations.”—Rita Williams-Garcia, National Book Award Finalist and New York Times-bestselling author “A superb, complex romance full of heart, humor, and unforgettable characters.”—Kirkus (starred review) A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn't come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools' respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families. Liara Tamani, the author of the acclaimed Calling My Name, follows two teenagers as they discover how first love, heartbreak, betrayal, and family can shape you—for better or for worse. A novel full of pain, joy, healing, and hope for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jenny Han. “A beautifully poignant love letter: to a first love, to basketball, and to that enigmatic bunch we think we know best, only to discover we don't know at all—family. Tamani's latest is a bright shining star.”—David Arnold, New York Times-bestselling author of Mosquitoland

Download or read book What My Bones Know written by Stephanie Foo and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life “Achingly exquisite . . . providing real hope for those who long to heal.”—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, NPR, Mashable, She Reads, Publishers Weekly By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years. Both of Foo’s parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. She thought she’d moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated the way her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limited resources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto the scarce literature about C-PTSD. In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don’t move on from trauma—but you can learn to move with it. Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body—and examines one woman’s ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.

Download or read book We Don t Talk Anymore written by Kathy McCoy and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Break the silence and heal the rift Estrangement or partial estrangement from an adult son or daughter is one of a parent's worst nightmares. It can mean angry silences and anguished days and nights wondering what went wrong. Becoming estranged from a parent can be equally painful for an adult child, who may miss the relationship they once shared. Written by Kathy McCoy, one of the nation's more revered experts on family relationships, We Don't Talk Anymore is a tender and practical new exploration of estrangement for both parents and adult children. Each chapter also provides compassionate, practical insights focused on what both parents and adult children can do, including: • Finding courage to reach out to your loved one • Understanding the conflict and discovering a new and fulfilling connection • Letting go and rebuilding your life Families deserve clarity and understanding. We Don't Talk Anymore will show you those first steps toward healing.