Toundi Ondoua, the rural African protagonist of Houseboy, encounters a world of prisms that cast beautiful but unobtainable glimmers, especially for a black youth in colonial Cameroon. Houseboy, written in the form of Toundis captivating diary and translated from the original French, discloses his awe of the white world and a web of unpredictable experiences. Early on, he escapes his fathers angry blows by seeking asylum with his benefactor, the local European priest who meets an untimely death. Toundi then becomes the Chief Europeans boythe dog of the King. Toundis attempt to fulfill a dream of advancement and improvement opens his eyes to troubling realities. Gradually, preconceptions of the Europeans come crashing down on him as he struggles with his identity, his place in society, and the changing culture.

The experiences of an orphan in India, son of an exiled Chinese father and a Tibetan mother.

This is a book about the early life of a child who was delivered into the care of nuns and stayed with them up to the age of sixteen. It is a true story that attempts to highlight the kind of issues that caused that time with the nuns to perhaps be more uncomfortable than it should have been. It explains, in the writers own words, the conditions and the abuse that made life inside in that institution less harmonious than it should otherwise have been. It is not presented in any way as a hate mag nor does it attempt to knowingly disparage the work of the nuns in that place or the intentions of their mission in life as a whole. It is certainly designed to present an unvarnished statement of conditions at the time that the writer lived there and it may be a reminder to all previous residents who were forced to live and suffer under the same conditions.

Like a flower-or maybe a tenacious weed-Frank Forsberg managed to thrive in the arid soil of the Great Depression. Not that it was easy. Surely, traveling in a boxcar with hobos couldn't have given sixteen-year-old Forsberg reason to expect much of the future. But not only would he retire a Navy captain, he'd find love, friendship, and adventure along the way. After a slight detour through the school system, Forsberg found his way to the Navy-where he received an unexpected, lifelong education. His Navy career spanned three wars and saw America go through profound changes, from the unanimous support of World War II to the divisiveness of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. As a pilot, Forsberg faced challenges that would test his skills and resolve which ultimately strengthened his character. He also accepted what may be the even more harrowing mission of starting a family, something no amount of training could haveprepared him for. The kid that set out across the country with just over a dollar couldn't have known it at the time, but he was embarking on the American dream. Beyond Expectations is an exciting chronicle of that adventure ... a saga of facing seemingly impossible situations and living to laugh about it. It's been a wild ride so far. And that's just the first 90 years ...