Every adoption experience is uniquely different but the yearning to have unconditional family love is universal. Indian sisters, Priya and Ari, experience what it's like to be adopted into a multi-cultural, interracial family. Walk alongside these two charming, dynamic girls as they journey through the adoption transition to a new country full of new experiences! Told from young Priya's perspective, she shares her fun times, challenges, difficult memories and cultural discoveries. Priya moves through her world with a cautious eye while little sister, Ari, jumps in head first. This makes for comical moments and demonstrates that children can experience the same journey quite differently. A glossary of cultural terms is included so that all can learn and enjoy what Ari and Priya cherish about their Indian roots. This book is meant to be a resource to those hoping to learn about one family's adoption experience and may even help a child process their own adoption story.

It has been a difficult week in many ways for me. Things just didn't go smoothly on different operational fronts. Still, compared to the students, our lives are a breeze. Last week, one of our students was in his wedding procession when a gunman opened fire and killed his cousin standing nearby.Upon his arrival in Baghdad, Wes Trueblood was faced with the unenviable task of finding a 'daily routine' in the heart of a war zone. As an English instructor for the Department of Defense, Trueblood was charged with teaching Iraqi pilots the English language so they could receive further peacekeeping training. In this unique position, Trueblood found himself intertwined with the lives of American servicemen, NATO allies, and Iraqi soldiers. Over a nine-month deployment in Iraq and a six-month deployment in Afghanistan, Trueblood gathered insights into the dedication and personal sacrifices of American military personal. He observed the lives and culture of the Islamic people, finding truths about how ordinary Muslims view the United States. He found reasons to laugh and reasons to cry; he recorded them and returned these messages of success, tribulation, and hope home, in the form of weekly correspondences to his wife, family, and friends.A Land Far, Far Awayis the story of Trueblood's time at the front, told through the letters he wrote home. From his time sleeping in tents, to his struggle to stay cool in the summer sun, to the ever-changing demands of a fluid mission at the front, Trueblood's story sheds light on the lives of people living in chaos.

Grayeson Manor has been a sign of enduring strength for many years. When Lord Grayeson is called back to his homeland, the large estate is left in the hands of his painfully debilitated wife, Myrnie. During the long years of his absence she lovingly oversees the manor and raises her twin sons, who are approaching manhood. When a horseback ride ends tragically for one of the young men on the estate, Myrnie must face the fact that her son, Charles Martin, is choosing an increasingly dangerous course, one that threatens the future of Grayeson Manor and its people. Charless disturbing behaviors, plus the arrival of a beautiful neighbor, Catherine Hampton, create a growing rift between him and his younger twin, John Paul. Myrnie must lean on her husbands invisible presence as she plans for the traditional Christmas Ball, an evening that becomes more and more pivotal to this allegorical tale, set in 1812.

A National Book Award Finalist An Edgar Award Finalist A California Book Award Gold Medal Winner A dark, contemporary fairy tale in the tradition of Neil Gaiman. Jeremy Johnson Johnson hears voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of The Brothers Grimm. Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next. But Jacob can't protect Jeremy from everything. When coltish, copper-haired Ginger Boultinghouse takes a bite of a cake so delicious it’s rumored to be bewitched, she falls in love with the first person she sees: Jeremy. In any other place, this would be a turn for the better for Jeremy, but not in Never Better, where the Finder of Occasions—whose identity and evil intentions nobody knows—is watching and waiting, waiting and watching. . . And as anyone familiar with the Brothers Grimm know, not all fairy tales have happy endings. Veteran writer Tom McNeal has crafted a young adult novel at once grim(m) and hopeful, full of twists, and perfect for fans of contemporary fairy tales like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and Holly Black's Doll Bones. The recipient of five starred reviews, Publishers Weekly called Far Far Away "inventive and deeply poignant."

An intrepid traveller and a true cosmopolitan, the legendary Bengali writer Syed Mujtaba Ali from Sylhet (in erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh) spent a year and a half teaching in Kabul from 1927 to 1929. Drawing on this experience, he later wrote Deshe Bideshe which was published in 1948. Ali's young mind was curious to explore the Afghan society of the time and, with his impressive language skills, he had access to a cross-section of Kabul's population, whose ideas and experiences he chronicles with a keen eye and a wicked sense of humour. His account provides a fascinating first-hand insight into events at a critical point in Afghanistan's history, when the reformist King Amanullah tried to steer his country towards modernity by encouraging education for girls and giving them the choice of removing the burqa. Branded a 'kafir', Amanullah was overthrown by the bandit leader Bacha-e-Saqao. Deshe Bideshe is the only published eyewitness account of that tumultuous period by a non-Afghan, brought to life by the contact that Ali enjoyed with a colourful cast of characters at all levels of society-from the garrulous Pathan Dost Muhammed and the gentle Russian giant Bolshov, to his servant, Abdur Rahman and his partner in tennis, the Crown Prince Enayatullah.

Love One Another!Joy's heart is full of love, butterflies and rainbows. She has big dreams to spread the power of friendship everywhere she goes. After an amazing adventure to a far away land where she meets a special friend, she realizes how important it is to encourage people to love one another. Join Joy on her beautiful journey of diversity and hope for all of the children across the world.