In So Close, the internationally renowned writer Hélène Cixous recounts a return to her native Algeria after a more than thirty-year absence. Before she can decide to go, she must sift through large parts of her past in a land where she never felt at home and, from a young age, knew she must leave. Above all, she must confront the depths of her mother’s rejection of the country that had rejected her despite years of devotion to the poor women of Algiers. As she is struggling with this decision, she receives a message from Zohra Drif, with whom she has had no contact since their school days, which was just before Zohra joined the Algerian FLN and become a heroine in the uprising against French rule in her homeland. They meet in Paris for the first time in more than fifty years and soon afterward the narrator departs for Algiers. The latter part of the narrative brings a rush of sensations, impressions, memories, and new encounters as the narrator revisits sites from her past in Algiers and especially in Oran, the city of her birth, the city of the family’s happiness before her father’s death when she was a young girl. The quest to find his grave again in the overgrown Jewish cemetery of Algiers leads to a startlingly moving scene that closes the voyage and the book.

The book is about a girl. She is Arianna. She is also Anna, a loving daughter and a loyal friend in the human world. However, she is Aria too, a princess among fairies but was hidden for a while. A secret kept, then, forgotten. Arianna grew up not knowing her true lineage and family. After her sixteenth birthday, events start to unravel and a mysterious boy named Caspian helps to uncover who Arianna really is. The Princess takes up the challenge and responsibility to save her true family from a Dark Fairy who is set on taking control of the entire fairy realm.

Written by a mother and daughter for mothers and daughters, this uplifting devotional offers girls aged eight to twelve helpful advice on how to find and maintain mutually beneficial friendships that affirm their faith and build their self-esteem. Making and keeping good friends are lifelong skills that will help tween girls grow up to be emotionally and spiritually healthy and enable them to use their God-given gifts to bless the lives of others. Girls will learn how to recognize the differences between a good and a bad friend, what to do when others hurt them, staying true to themselves, and many other important aspects of friendship. Each devotion includes engaging insights on friendship from Blythe Daniel and her twelve-year-old daughter, Calyn, written directly to tweens, thoughtfully selected Scripture verses, words of encouragement, and questions for further reflection with ample space to write down answers. Fun and engaging, this book will help girls confidently say, “Let’s be friends.”