When God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, Abraham was childless. Yet through many obstacles, temptations, and even failures, Abraham became an example of faith as he learned to trust God's promises regardless of circumstances. In this faith-filled book, Michael Youssef takes you through Abraham's incredible journey of faith, encouraging you to trust God's timing and plan when the road gets difficult. He also shares his own experiences of trusting God in a foreign land and includes reflection questions for you and your small group to pinpoint the ways in which you're trusting--or need to trust--God to keep his promises, even when the way forward seems impossible--even when you can't see the stars.

We are surrounded by the temptation to glorify ourselves. We post carefully curated selfies on Instagram, chase money and pleasure, and live the "image is everything" lifestyle. We've created a culture of envy, emptiness, and depression. Even the church has bought into worldly values of wealth and status. God put us on this earth not to seek our own glory but to shine the light of his glory on a dying world. Through the life of Moses, pastor and author Michael Youssef shows us how to store up treasure that lasts by living for God's glory. Moses turned his back on privilege, pleasure, and power to invest in treasure that lasts--the treasure of God's glory. His goal must be our goal as well. Experience the rich life God intended for you. If you're not sure you've truly surrendered your whole life to God, let Treasure That Lasts be the flame that lights the way to reliance on him. This book includes a chapter-by-chapter guide for group discussion or individual study.

These beautifully-written stories grow out of David Almond's childhood in the streets and fields of Tyneside. They're funny and sad, realistic and strange, and are suffused with a profound sense of mystery and wonder. They show that the ordinary world is filled with extraordinary possibilities, that the local really does contain the universal. In Counting Stars David Almond tackles the themes common to his work - joy, darkness, love, death and identity - with exquisite sensitivity and tenderness. A must-read for Almond fans everywhere. From the author of the modern children's classic Skellig - winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. David Almond won the 2015 Guardian Children's Book Prize with A Song for Ella Grey.

One of the great lessons any young person learns at university is that life is never as simple as it may seem on the surface. For Miyuki, a carefree young lady, and her creative friend Matsuda Jun, life has a few more lessons in store. When Miyuki was orphaned at a young age, Matsudas family took her in. As they grow into adults, their special bond has intensified. Now that love is in the air, he has made a promise to keep her safe at his side for the rest of his life. But that pledge is tested with the arrival of Sunohara Sho, who believes Miyuki to be the woman of his dreams. The two men share a complicated history, and the violent pull of vengeance and honor they both feel endangers everything and everyone they love, including Miyuki. Sunohara has seen his future with her, and he has already dueled with his former friend and mentor, Akiyama Masaki, in a bold attempt to win her love. When Sunohara learns that Akiyama has been terrorizing Miyuki in her dreams, he pledges to make things right any way he can. Will Miyuki ever be free from Akiyamas nightmares? Will Matsuda find his courage and win her heart? Can Sunohara manage to keep Akiyama away from Miyukis dreams? Who will Miyuki ultimately choose? Bound: HIStory is a story of a love and redemption for even the darkest of hearts.

David Almond’s extraordinary novels have established him as an author of unique insight and skill. These stories encapsulate his endless sense of mystery and wonderment, as they weave a tangible tapestry of growing up in a large, loving family. Here are the kernels of his novels—joy and fear, darkness and light, the healing power of love and imagination in overcoming the wounds of ignorance and prejudice. These stories merge memory and dream, the real and the imagined, in a collection of exquisite tenderness.

Watanabe Yuichi, a young guard with a passion for reading, is ordered to investigate. The victim, Sugiyama, also a guard, was feared and despised throughout the prison and inquiries have barely begun when a powerful inmate confesses. But Watanbe is unconvinced; and as he interrogates both the suspect and Yun Dong-ju, a talented Korean poet, he starts to realize that the fearsome guard was not all he appeared to be...As Watanbe unravels Sugiyama's final months, he begins to discover what is really going on inside this dark and violent institution, which few inmates survive: a man who will stop at nothing to dig his way to freedom; a governor whose greed knows no bounds; a little girl whose kite finds an unlikely friend. And Yun Dong-ju—the poet whose works hold such beauty the can break the hardest of hearts. As the war moves towards its devastating close and bombs rain down upon the prison, Watanbe realizes that he must find a way to protect Yun Dong-ju, no matter what it takes. As he digs further and further in to his investigation, the young guard discovers a devastating truth.At once a captivating mystery and an epic lament for lost freedom and humanity, The Investigation, inspired by a true story, is a sweeping and gripping tale by an international literary star.

This book explores applied theatre practice for children in environments of illness and cure and how it can powerfully normalise children’s hospitalisation experience. It is an essential tool for making meaning of children’s illness, putting it into a fictional context and developing better control of their clinical experiences. It can be central to raising the standards of care and quality of life during illness. Taken from the author’s research and participatory bedside theatre practice in hospitals before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this book demonstrates new learning about aesthetics, ethics, emotions, stories, puppetry, digital arts and research methodologies about children’s health and wellbeing. It provides a selection of ten unique stories told by children inspired by applied theatre practice in paediatrics, cardiac, oncology, neurosurgery, burns units and complex and intensive care wards. Stories aid in understanding the language of children’s pain for a better assessment and management of pain by healthcare professionals through the arts. It analyses synergistic theatre performance in 'stitched lands' between challenging realities and safe fictionalities. This book enables artists to develop new ways of thinking and contributes to further improvements in the provision of education and reflective learning in the field. It also addresses the emotional labour of the artist in healthcare and makes recommendations for balanced training to prevent emotional exhaustion. Designed for artists, healthcare professionals, therapists, play specialists and teachers who work with children in healthcare, this text aims to help many people find creative ways of making a positive difference in sick children’s lives. It is a book for those who love and care for children.