An award-winning broadcast journalist shares his poignant story about his family’s journey with autism. About one child out of 110 will be diagnosed with autism. When Dwayne Ballen’s son Julian was diagnosed at age four, Ballen started a blog to record his thoughts and share his family’s experiences. Julian has taught his parents much about life and the real meaning of success. He has led them to realize that a smile and a warm hug are two of the most rewarding gifts a parent can ever receive. The Ballens’ journey is inspirational and enlightening. Journey with Julian will strike a chord with parents who are just receiving the diagnosis of autism for their child, as well as those further down the path. Journey with Julian shows that in the end, it’s family and fierce determination that help us all to get the most out of life.

* Includes passages from Scripture and opportunities to reflect and pray * Ideal for use during Advent or Lent

An award-winning broadcast journalist shares his poignant story about his family's journey with autism. "Journey with Julian" shows that family and fierce determination help people get the most out of life.

"Dr. Gloria Durka gives us in one book an experi-ence of meditation, an insight into a righ can compli-cated social epoch, a quiet argument for women's rights, and a practical encounter with a thinker".... Dr. Anthony Padovano, Ramapo College of New Jer

In the spirit of a young Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, comes a candid and compelling memoir about race and poverty in America. In many ways, there was no reason Julian Castro would have been expected to be a success. Born to unmarried parents in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of a struggling city, his prospects of escaping his circumstance seemed bleak. But he and his twin brother Joaquin had something going for them: their mother. A former political activist, she provided the launch pad for what would become an astonishing ascent. Julian and Joaquin would go on to attend Stanford and Harvard before entering politics at the ripe age of 26. Soon after, Joaquin become a state representative and Julian was elected mayor of San Antonio, a city he helped revitalize and transform into one of the country's leading economies. His success in Texas propelled him onto the national stage, where he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 DNC--the same spot President Obama held three conventions prior--and then to Washington D.C. where he served as the Obama Administration's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. After being shortlisted as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton, he is now seen by many as a future presidential candidate. Julian Castro's story not only affirms the American dream, but also resonates with millions, who in an age of political cynicism and hardening hearts are searching for a new hero. No matter one's politics, this book is the transcendent story of a resilient family and the unlikely journey of an emerging national icon.

This study of an ordinary town in Northern England is “a thoughtful, sympathetic portrait of white working-class life…essential reading” (Guardian). What do the English think? Every country has a dominant set of beliefs and attitudes concerning everything from how to live a good life, how we should organize society, and the roles of the sexes. Yet despite many attempts to define England’s national character, what might be called the nation's philosophy has remained largely unexamined until now. Philosopher Julian Baggini pinpointed postcode S66 on the outskirts of Rotherham as England in microcosm—an area that reflected most accurately the full range of the nation's inhabitants, its most typical mix of urban and rural, old and young, married and single. He then spent six months living there, immersing himself in this typical English Everytown, in order to get to know the mind of a people. It sees the world as full of patterns and order, a view manifest in its enjoyment of gambling. It has a functional, puritanical streak, evident in its notoriously bad cuisine. In the English mind, men should be men and women should be women (but it's not sure what children should be). Sympathetic but critical, serious yet witty, Baggini's account of the English as represented by this particular spot on its map is both a portrait of its people and a personal story about being an alien in your own land. “Baggini turns out to be a sensitive observer who takes people and places on their own terms. He is also good at examining his own prejudices and fears.”—Independent “An insightful and often amusing investigation of what it means to be English.”—London Review of Books

In this book about Julian of Norwich, Sheila Upjohn explores the ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ alongside passages from Scripture. As part of the ‘Prayer Journey Through Lent’ series, ‘The Way of Julian of Norwich’ reveals how Julian’s fresh perspectives on sin and judgement, anger and forgiveness, the Incarnation and the crucifixion can challenge and enlighten us, six hundred years later, in a world so badly in need of the assurance of God’s unconditional love. This inspirational book by Sheila Upjohn serves as a guide to Julian of Norwich that will deepen the reader’s prayer life during Lent and throughout the year. Upjohn transports the reader back to the middle ages in this book about ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ and Julian of Norwich to give a deeper understanding of Julian who was so often perceived as an outsider. As a foundation member of ‘Friends of Julian of Norwich’ and having first read ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ almost fifty years ago, Sheila Upjohn has a long and intimate association with Julian of Norwich and so offers a captivating perspective of Julian within ‘The Way of Julian of Norwich’.