This bold new inspiring book is so full of twists and turns, it will certainly over whelm you with each chapter. It is a compelling and touching novel, based on fact, taking you on a journey through the life of a very young girl as a working foster child in the 1950's and beyond, beginning with a postpartum mother, an abrasive alcoholic father and bewildered siblings, that are in her constant care as she struggles for normality. Travel through the uncertainties of her early childhood dealing with moving from home to home, abandonment and on going medical issues. Her misfortune will take hold of your heart strings and you'll want to protect and comfort this intelligent determined little girl named Rose. She grows into Margaret as she is controlled and then, read along as she matures into Marty, a cool sure footed confident teen with strong survival instincts and skills long forgotten in today's society. Her only companion is her own strength.

"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--

“I was told to come alone. I was not to carry any identification, and would have to leave my cell phone, audio recorder, watch, and purse at my hotel. . . .” For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for The Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing – Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other. In this compelling and evocative memoir, we accompany Mekhennet as she journeys behind the lines of jihad, starting in the German neighborhoods where the 9/11 plotters were radicalized and the Iraqi neighborhoods where Sunnis and Shia turned against one another, and culminating on the Turkish/Syrian border region where ISIS is a daily presence. In her travels across the Middle East and North Africa, she documents her chilling run-ins with various intelligence services and shows why the Arab Spring never lived up to its promise. She then returns to Europe, first in London, where she uncovers the identity of the notorious ISIS executioner “Jihadi John,” and then in France, Belgium, and her native Germany, where terror has come to the heart of Western civilization. Mekhennet’s background has given her unique access to some of the world’s most wanted men, who generally refuse to speak to Western journalists. She is not afraid to face personal danger to reach out to individuals in the inner circles of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS, and their affiliates; when she is told to come alone to an interview, she never knows what awaits at her destination. Souad Mekhennet is an ideal guide to introduce us to the human beings behind the ominous headlines, as she shares her transformative journey with us. Hers is a story you will not soon forget.

Michael E. Webster's story begins in the Navy, where he becomes an aggressive alcoholic, managing to survive a series of episodes that should have been deadly. Still, he manages to graduate from two top Navy schools.After being discharged, Webster returns to his hometown, but he has no plans for the future. Through the help of family members, friends and others, he returns to school and meets future wife Peggy, who supports him through his many relapses into the dark throes of alcoholism.Webster finally realizes he's hit rock bottom, but not until others almost lose their lives. At the age of 33-overweight and out of shape-he joins a Tae Kwon Do school and begins a physically painful journey as he learns how to beat his addiction.For 30 years, Webster has continued his journey, and in the process, he's helped others to change their lives. He teaches martial arts at no cost to those needing discipline in their lives.Join Webster as he battles demons of his own making and journeys down a road to self-improvement in Surviving Life as a Dumbass.