“Ruthlessly frank. . . . Recalls Holden Caulfield by way of John Hughes.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) In these stories, a teacher obsesses over a student who comes to class with scratch marks on his face; a Catholic girl graduating high school finds a warped kind of redemption in her school’s contrived class rituals; and a woman looking to rent a house is sucked into a strangely inappropriate correspondence with one of the landlords. These are just a few of the powerful plotlines in Suzanne Rivecca’s gorgeously wrought collection. From a college student who adopts a false hippie persona to find love, to a young memoirist who bumps up against a sexually obsessed fan, the characters in these fiercely original tales grapple with what it means to be honest with themselves and the world. These stories explode “with piercing insight . . . illuminating the dangerous dance between victims and saviors. [They] deliver us to the edge of grief, that precarious place where the moral compass spins—where codes of love and law and religion fail. Mercy here depends on a tiger’s sublime grace, our capacity to resist deeper harm, and the right of every broken being to remain silent” (Melanie Rae Thon).

On a fateful day in May of 1997, Mark Colburn, a Navy SEAL with the elite Leap Frog parachuting team, prepared to make the last jump of the day with his two team members. Mark jumped from a plane at 12,000 feet in the sky above Brown's field in Otay Mesa, California. After free-falling to three-thousand feet, Mark opened his chute. But the SEAL above him did not and continued free-falling at ninety miles an hour. The other jumper tore through Mark's chute, hitting him in the head and hand with his body. The impact sent Mark twirling unconscious through the air with few cells left on his chute, and he hit the ground, changing his life forever. Suffering from broken bones and a severe brain injury, Mark's amazing recovery became his biggest challenge. With incredible courage, humor, and enduring love of life and family, he continued to improve. His mother, author Liliane Colburn, tells his story of hope, despair, triumph, and the powerful bond between mother and son. But most of all, Liliane shares the strength and spirit that guides them both.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build. Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy. Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.

Do you wonder what happens to your consciousness after your body dies? Are you hoping for or believing in an afterlife, but just arent sure? Would you prefer more evidence that leads beyond religion, mediums, or blind faith? Inside youll discover research that suggests consciousness exists outside the human brain and body; insights out-of-body and near-death experiences can provide; how we continue to live after physical death and what to expect; the three types of deaths (or deactivations) and how they affect our awareness; how we spend the period between lives and the importance of a life mission; and ways to come to peace with leaving this life and letting family, friends, or partners go. Navigating this difficult phase in your life and being able to help your loved ones transition can be challenging. We all have to go through it and this book will assist you! If youre curious about exploring lifes most existential questions and what research is available in this field, perhaps because you had to face a serious illness, an accident, the passing of someone close to you, or harbor any fear of dying, this book is for you (Luis Minero, author of Demystifying the Out-of-Body Experience). Personally, I have walked out-of-body in the afterlife, traveling well beyond the horizon of our perceived physical reality during my own near-death experience. So I know that the concepts of OBE and NDE are valid. I welcome this new model and will use it in my work (Alan R. Hugenot, PhD, author of The Death Experience: What it is like when you die).

Youssef Aziz immigrated to the United States the year after the Gulf War to escape persecution from Saddam Hussein for helping the Americans. Youssef has an American education, but unknown to his family and close associates, he maintains close ties with one of the radical Islamic factions in Iraq. Youssef's plans to destroy America have lain dormant in him waiting until the right moment to attack.

A collection of stories features the tales of a potential home renter who is sucked into a strangely inappropriate correspondence with her landlord, and a teacher obsessed with a student who comes to school with scratches on his face.

Fourteen children offer facts and advice to give young readers a better understanding of death.