Pretty Things

“The night the trailer burned down, I think Daddy was the one who set it on fire. . . . “ For a long time, Edie thought she had escaped. It started in an Appalachian trailer park, where a young girl dreamed of becoming a doctor. But every day, Edie woke up to her reality: a poverty-stricken world where getting out seemed impossible. Where, at twelve years old, she taught herself to drive a truck so she could get her drunk daddy home from the bar. Where the grownups ate while the children went hungry. Where, when the family trailer burned down, she couldn’t be caught squawlin’ over losing her things—she just had to be grateful anyone had remembered to save her at all. And at the center of it all, there was her daddy. She never knew when he would show up; she learned the hard way that she couldn’t count on him to protect her. But it didn’t matter: All she wanted was to make him proud. Against all odds, Edie “made doctor,” achieving everything that had once seemed beyond her reach. But her past caught up with her—and it would take her whole life burning down once again for Edie to be finally able to face the truth about herself, her family, and her relationship with God. Readers of The Glass Castle will treasure this refreshing and raw redemption story, a memoir for anyone who has ever hungered for home, forgiveness, and the safe embrace of a father’s love..

Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner! OLD RIVALRIES NEVER DIE. BUT SOME RIVALS DO. Juliet Townsend is used to losing. Back in high school, she lost every track team race to her best friend, Madeleine Bell. Ten years later, she’s still running behind, stuck in a dead-end job cleaning rooms at the Mid-Night Inn, a one-star motel that attracts only the cheap or the desperate. But what life won’t provide, Juliet takes. Then one night, Maddy checks in. Well-dressed, flashing a huge diamond ring, and as beautiful as ever, Maddy has it all. By the next morning, though, Juliet is no longer jealous of Maddy—she’s the chief suspect in her murder. To protect herself, Juliet investigates the circumstances of her friend’s death. But what she learns about Maddy’s life might cost Juliet everything she didn’t realize she had. From the Trade Paperback edition..

"A skillfully plotted mystery, bursting with the glare and feverish energy of its summer amusement park setting. The atmosphere creeps up on you...[and] dark secrets await."--Holly Jackson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder For fans of Sadie and One of Us Is Lying comes a thriller about a boy who turns up dead under suspicious circumstances and the one girl who may be the key to solving the mystery of his untimely death. For Ivy, summer means roller-coaster season, spinning cotton candy at the Fabuland amusement park, and hanging out with her best friend, Morgan. But this summer is different. One morning, Morgan finds a dead body. It's their former classmate Ethan, who was alive and working at Fabuland only the day before. To make matters worse, Morgan is taken to a hospital psych ward only days later, and she's not saying much--not even to Ivy. The police claim that Ethan simply took a bad fall, but Ivy isn't convinced and realizes it's up to her to get answers. What she finds is unsettling--it's clear that some people aren't being honest about Ethan's last night at Fabuland. Including Morgan. And the more secrets Ivy uncovers, the closer she gets to unraveling dark truths that will change her life forever. "A dark and timely thriller."-Amelia Brunskill, author of The Window.

Presents a collection of film reviews and criticism by James Berardinelli. Offers access to current reviews and an archive of past reviews. Includes reviews of selected films on video. Contains commentaries and opinions, as well as a FAQ section and a site search engine. Lists the films of the current year that have been reviewed, arranged by rating. Notes the star rating, the date of the review, and the release status for each film. Also notes the cast, the running length, and the letter rating of each movie..

Containing reviews written from January 2002 to mid-June 2004, including the films "Seabiscuit, The Passion of the Christ," and "Finding Nemo," the best (and the worst) films of this period undergo Ebert's trademark scrutiny. It also contains the year's interviews and essays, as well as highlights from Ebert's film festival coverage from Cannes..

Stephen Frears has a career approaching over half-a-century, directing films of astonishing variety, beauty, and daring, and yet many often have trouble remembering his name. The Ironic Filmmaking of Stephen Frears celebrates this great filmmaker, beginning with a short biography of Frears, general observations on unifying themes and styles in his oeuvre, and the characterization of his manner of directing. By focusing on 10 key films, Lesley Brill finds coherence in Frears' characteristic irony and in his concentration on many kinds of love. In movies such as My Beautiful Laundrette, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Queen, Philomena, and many others, Frears portrays widely varied situations and characters with a combination of insight, skepticism, and sympathy. He has the passionate, unjudgmental focus of an artist who stands simultaneously at a distance from his subjects and within their worlds. Through Frears' work is widely admired, Brill argues that he has attracted little scholarly writing because of a combination of the diffidence of his self-presentation and the difficulty of explicating the complex ideas and characters of his films. The Ironic Filmmaking of Stephen Frears is meant to inspire others to further examine his films individually and his career as a whole..

Deprived of political rights yet caught up in the law's vested interest in portraying them as “other” to its citizens, individuals seeking asylum often experience a relationship of “inclusive exclusion” with their host nation. Concentrating on legislation, ethics, and political identity in Britain, Australasia, and the European Union, David Farrier engages in this book with asylum as an emerging postcolonial field through readings of postcolonial authors and filmmakers—including J. M. Coetzee, Leila Aboulela, and Stephen Frears—framed by the work of theorists, including Gayatri Spivak and Jacques Derrida. Postcolonial studies has typically understood displacement in terms of hybridity, and this accessible introduction represents a new direction for understanding belonging in a globalized world..

The Complete Regional Guide to Craft Beer With quality beer producers popping up all over the nation, you don’t have to travel very far to taste great beer; some of the best stuff is brewing right in your home state. Beer Lover’s New England features breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars geared toward brew enthusiasts looking to seek out the best beers New England has to offer, from bitter seasonal IPAs to rich, dark stouts. Written by a local beer expert, Beer Lover’s New England covers the entire beer experience for the proud, local enthusiast and the traveling visitor alike, including: Brewery and beer profiles with tasting notes and full-color photosMust-visit brewpubs and beer barsTop annual beer festivals, tastings, and eventsClone beer recipes for homebrewersn and hobbyistsFood recipes made with local craft beerBeer-centric city trip itineraries with pub-crawl maps.

The Slocum family of Northeastern Pennsylvania are the best of the white settlers, peace-loving Quakers who believe that the Indians hold the Light of God inside. It is from this good-hearted family that Frances is abducted during the Revolutionary war. As the child's terror subsides, she is slowly drawn into the sacred work and beliefs of her adoptive mother and of all the women of these Eastern tribes. Frances becomes Maconakwa, the Little Bear Woman of the Miami Indians. Then, long after the Indians are beaten and their last hope, Tecumseh, is killed, the Slocums hear word of their long-lost daughter and head out to Indiana to meet their beloved Frances. But for Maconakwa, it is a moment of truth, the test of whether her heart is truly a red one..

The One Who's Not with Us is a fictional novel that tells the love story of a teenage couple. It was 1965. The Vietnam War was in full swing. Enola and Shane dated for a couple of months before he received his orders for Vietnam. They were deeply in love. The couple spent Shane's last night in town together. They let their passion for one another get out of control. By the pond under the stars and a full moon, they came together for the first time. That one time connected them forever. The couple wrote to one another. When Enola found herself pregnant, she had nowhere to turn. Her parents followed a strict religion, and Enola knew they would not accept her pregnancy. In 1965, an unwed mother was looked upon with disdain by most of society. She thought about telling Shane but decided against it. He was in a war zone, and she felt that he was dealing with enough stress without her adding any more concerns to his life. After all, the couple made no commitments or promises to one another before Shane left. Enola's son was adopted to a good couple in a loving home. She closed her heart to love and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a fresh start in life. Enola severed all ties with her family and quit writing to Shane. She closed the door to her past and moved forward in life. Ten years later, Enola is serving her second enlistment as an army nurse. She thought she had carefully buried her past until she came face-to-face with Shane. Enola confessed the past to Shane. The story tells how the couple deals with the guilt, regret, emptiness, and loss. They learn to trust in God's plan for their lives and accept his many blessings as they are granted..

The Dragon Knight and His Lady Across an Ocean Series By: Jennifer Robbins When Tabbie runs—literally—into a stranger in South Korea, she never expects how quickly her life will change. A poor girl from a poor family, Tabbie is finishing up the last few weeks of her student teaching in South Korea. But when she meets a well-known Korean star, life as she knows it is about to change. Will she leave the country the same as she came or will her heart be changed forever?.

How much thinking have you done about gender? What does it feel like to be gay, trans or non-binary at school? How unbiased, safe and inclusive are our teachers, our schools and our systems, and what can we do about it? The time is ripe for a re-think, and the issues are pressing. Our pupils are grappling with challenges around gender and sexuality, and they need our well-informed support. Providing evidence, prompts and the space to explore the implications, restrictions and constructs of gender, this book is here to help every teacher reflect on issues around gender roles and expectations in their class. In this challenging and potent book, experts, academics and campaigners join forces to contribute important perspectives to complement Rycroft-Smith’s own accessible and often provocative explanations of many facets of gender and sexuality, including media, literature, toys, clothing, sexism, expectations, sexuality, gender roles, harassment and consent. Humour and anecdotes are thoughtfully intertwined with fascinating insights into biological and cultural perspectives and societal norms, highlighting why it’s so vital to teach pupils about gender issues, as well as modelling consent, good quality relationships and tolerance to children at all ages and stages of their school career. Providing clear, practical policy recommendations in an accessible and engaging way, The Equal Classroom is an essential read for any teacher or education professional who wants to ensure their school is a place where all pupils feel truly welcome and able to flourish, comfortable and safe in their emerging identities..

The River flowed through all the land, deep and unstoppable, a god in his own right. His head was in the mountains; his arms embraced the outlands; his body lay at the core of all the civilized realms; and his legs stretched on to the distant sea. Dark and sluggish, he rolled unchallenged, dreaming his own invincible might and glory into stark reality. Everywhere he touched, the River God held dominion. And in Nhol, the fabled city at the heart of the world, an emperor ruled as the living aspect of the god, presiding over the splendors and intrigues of a prosperous land and a glittering court. Hezhi was an imperial princess; her blood carried the seeds of the River's power. When her favorite cousin disappeared, Hezhi searched throughout the sumptuous palace with its ghosts and priests, giants and courtiers, and frightening creatures of wizardry. And the magic within her began to grow; soon it must attract dangerous attention. Hezhi's anxious quest ripened into a desperate fight for her own life--a battle she could not hope to win alone. Small wonder that the princess wished for a hero. And far away, a hero's journey began....

1977. New York City. Cool and crime-ridden, cheap and wild. Bruce Van Dusen shows up in town with a film degree and $150 to his name. He wants to make movies. The only ones anyone will pay him to make? Little ones. Thirty seconds long. Commercials. He has no idea what he’s doing and the money sucks. But he’s a director. He gets hired by a client on life support in the most depressing hospital in New York. Gets peed on by a lion. Explains peristalsis to a Tony winner. Makes a movie and goes to Sundance. Goes back to little movies when it bombs. Keeps hustling, shooting anything. Is an a**hole, pays the price, finally learns when and how to be an a**hole and becomes one of the industry’s stars. Years go by and it’s not what he expected. It’s harder, weirder, and funnier. But it worked out. It worked out great, actually..

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Inspired by three brave children whose mom is a real alcoholic. This is their story..