Readers aged 11 and above will enjoy this story about a greyhound's journey to becoming the devoted pet of a loving family. Fly, the greyhound racer, is a helpful, honest and fun-loving racer who enjoys life.

The story of my life is about dog racing and a good deal more. It is about cruelty, the human capacity for cruelty towards human animals and animals of other species. Dog racing, commonly known as Greyhound racing, is not a sport because no legitimate sport uses enslaved/involuntary participants and murders many of them once they start losing and no longer are competitive and profitable. Dog racing is, in fact, a deadly form of entertainment, as are horse racing, dog fighting, cock fighting, hunting and circuses that use enslaved other-specied animals. Incidentally, I remember Greta talking about a form of entertainment that was popular in Ancient Rome and which took place in public arenas. There enslaved humans known as gladiators were forced to engage in deadly combat against each other to the delight of cheering crowds. Often the losing gladiator was killed outright, and sometimes he lived depending upon the mood of the spectators. Unlike some spectator sports whose fans identify with and form emotional attachments to the athletes, dog racing fans care little or nothing about the Greyhounds. This detachment can be attributed to the racers' short racing careers; some race for just one season or part of a season at a specific track, and then are shipped elsewhere. But let's return to my story. Please know that I am real, as are other characters. On the other hand, some characters are not real. They are fictional. And although some of the events discussed in Part One are based on real happenings, some are not, and Part One is a work of fiction. In conclusion, I hope with all my heart that this book touches the hearts and minds of its readers. - Shayna Lanesboro, MA (1998)

As a preteen Black male growing up in Mount Vernon, New York, there were a series of moments, incidents and wounds that caused me to retreat inward in despair and escape into a world of imagination. For five years I protected my family secrets from authority figures, affluent Whites and middle class Blacks while attending an unforgiving gifted-track magnet school program that itself was embroiled in suburban drama. It was my imagination that shielded me from the slights of others, that enabled my survival and academic success. It took everything I had to get myself into college and out to Pittsburgh, but more was in store before I could finally begin to break from my past. "Boy @ The Window" is a coming-of-age story about the universal search for understanding on how any one of us becomes the person they are despite-or because of-the odds. It's a memoir intertwined with my own search for redemption, trust, love, success-for a life worth living. "Boy @ The Window" is about one of the most important lessons of all: what it takes to overcome inhumanity in order to become whole and human again.

Thanks to her mother’s steadfastness in letter writing, Kathy Vikre received news from home once a week for nearly forty years. Within handwritten letters that began with “Dear Kath” and ended with “Love, Mom,” Kathy’s mother shined a light on her Catholic beliefs, compassion, and boundless energy. But what her daughter did not know is that one day the letters, which numbered over one thousand by the end of her mother’s life, would provide both a lifeline and a happy ending to her story. Within a touching presentation that intertwines excerpts of her mother’s letters with details of her own journey through life, Kathy shares a personal look at motherhood and survival that reveals a glimpse into the joys, struggles, and relationships between parents and their children in the years after the Second World War. Decades later after her mother died and Kathy slipped into the darkness of an old depression, she discloses how the process of re-reading her mother’s letters helped guide her inward to eventually rediscover her faith and a renewed happiness in living. Love, Mom shares a poignant snapshot into the lives of a mother and daughter through personal stories and letters as they experienced delights, challenges, death, and a rebirth.

Fate has a wicked sense of humor. For June Nash, Las Vegas is the break she needs from her brother’s book tour. Slots, crab legs, and two days out from under her mother’s disappointed gaze. Then she accidentally volunteers to solve a murder. Now, she’s saddled with a stray dog named Enzo, under attack from the glitter happy Unicorn Protector League, and in the crosshairs of two blasts from the past. When is she going to learn? Keep your head down, your mouth shut, and never, ever, say yes to anything after you trip over a dead body.

This book is a true story, my life story, and my first book. A very young girl gave birth, and with no experience in being a mother with no support from her family, she had to make a very important decision about what to do with a baby that she did not want or love. She could have chosen to abandon the child in a garbage can or leave her at the door of some hospital. No one wanted me, not even an orphanage home she visited. God had a purpose for this baby girl and gave her a second chance at life.

Life is not always easy. Many of us will experience obstacles and hardships, with some of us facing abuse and trauma from those closest to us. But to all the virtuous women of today: prepare yourselves! The best is on the way, and we all deserve to be happyand with prayer, God will change things for the better. In Eyes of Abuse, author Sarah Finley shares her own heartfelt and emotional story of hope amid abuse, and she offers a window into her life growing up in the South in the middle of the twentieth century. Between memories of rural life and struggling with poverty, Sarah explores some heart-wrenching experiences with abusive family members. Yet she shows us how even in the darkest of valleys, God is there to provide us with blessings and hope as we learn the power of forgiveness. Help is on the way! Freedom is just around the corner, and all is well with us when we allow Gods blessings to take over our lives. With this renewed strength and faith in God, we can begin to heal and go on to do things that we never thought possible.