One Relationship Can Change Your Life Forever Do you keep searching for what's missing in your life, but don't know where to find it? Do thoughts of your past invade your mind making your stomach tie up in knots and your chest ache? Do you struggle and ask, "God, why did this happen to me?" If you've experienced your share of pain and feel frustrated, unable to fix the problem, know: God sees you, includes you, and offers freedom from past trauma or negative choices you've made. Journey with Darla and her dear friends through their past struggles involving child abuse, addictions, cult religion, prison and other painful situations. Find hope knowing you're not alone. God has a plan to transform your life.

Carmelita loves to greet everyone in her colorful neighborhood. There are people from so many different cultures! They all like to say hello too, so now Carmelita can say hello in Spanish, English, French, Japanese, and many other languages. And her dog, Manny? Well, he seems to understand everyone, and gives a happy "Woof!" wherever he goes. Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora's eyecatching collages are full of kid-friendly details like colorful storefronts, pigeons and an ice cream truck, making Carmelita's neighborhood fun to explore. Emphasizing the rich diversity of America's neighborhoods, this simple portrait of a child's day provides a great introduction to the joy of language.

A forthright, honest and rousingly triumphant memoir from a woman who has to live with a highly visible different appearancedue to a rare skin condition. Say hello to Carly. 'In fairytales,the characters who look different are often castas the villain or monsters. It's only when they shed their unconventional skinthat they are seen as "good" or less frightening. There are very fewstories where the character that looks different is the hero of the story ... I've been the hero of mystory - telling it on my own terms, proud about my facial difference anddisability, not wanting a cure for my rare, severe and sometimes confrontingskin condition, and knowing that I am beautiful even though I don't have beautyprivilege.' This honest, outspoken and thought-provoking memoir by award-winning writer and appearance activist Carly Findlay will challenge all your assumptions and beliefs about what it is like to have a visibly different appearance. Carly lives with a rare skin condition, Ichthyosis, and what she faces every day, and what she has to live with, will have you cheering for her and her courage and irrepressible spirit. This is both a moving memoir and a proud manifesto on disability and appearance diversity issues. 'Believe the hype - by turns frank, funny, and fearsome, Findlay's extraordinary memoir is an early contender for 2019's best Australian non-fiction ... a powerful and moving invitation to examine the structures of privilege and dehumanisation that we so desperately need address in this country.' Better Read Than Dead 'A proud celebration of appearance difference ... a valuable read.' Herald Sun 'Defiant, unsettling and thought-provoking' The Age

A loyal partisan and highly principled public official whose career overlapped with those of many legends of Illinois politics-including Mayor Richard J. Daley, Governor James Thompson, and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan-Democrat Philip J. Rock served twenty-two years in the Illinois Senate. Fourteen of those years were spent as senate president, the longest tenure anyone has served in that position. This nuanced political biography, which draws on dozens of interviews conducted by Ed Wojcicki to present the longtime senate president's story in his own words, is also a rare insider's perspective on Illinois politics in the last three decades of the twentieth century. A native of Chicago's West Side, Rock became one of the most influential politicians in Illinois during the 1970s and 1980s. As a senator in the 1970s and senate president from 1979 to 1993, he sponsored historic legislation to assist abused and neglected children and victims of domestic violence, ushered the state through difficult income tax increases and economic development decisions, shepherded an unruly and fragmented Democratic senate caucus, and always was fair to his Republican counterparts. Covering in great detail a critical period in Illinois political history for the first time, Rock explains how making life better for others drove his decisions in office, while also espousing the seven principles he advocates for effective leadership and providing context for how he applied those principles to the legislative battles of the era. Unlike many Illinois politicians, Rock, a former seminarian, was known for having a greater interest in issues than in partisan politics. Considered a true statesman, he also was known as a skilled orator who could silence a busy floor of legislators with his commentary on important issues and as a devoted public servant who handled tens of thousands of bills and sponsored nearly five hundred of them himself. Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello, which takes its title from the volume of calls and visits to elected officials from constituents in need of help, perfectly captures Rock's profound reverence for the institutions of government, his respect for other government offices, and his reputation as a problem solver who, despite his ardent Democratic beliefs, disavowed political self-preservation to cross party lines and make government work for the people. Taking readers through his legislative successes, bipartisan efforts, and political defeats-including a heartbreaking loss in the U.S. Senate primary to Paul Simon in 1984-Rock passionately articulates his belief that government's primary role is to help people, offering an antidote to the current political climate with the simple legislative advice, "Just try to be fair, give everyone a chance, and everything else comes after that."

"A beautiful pairing of son’s sparse rhyming text with father’s simple drawings . . . A poignant debut about including others and making friends." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A lone dog comes upon a group of kids playing ball and with leaping ease, joins the game. They’re all having so much fun, they don’t see a sad little boy standing off by himself. Who will spy the boy and invite him to play? With arresting images by a master illustrator and a simple, touching text by his son, Say Hello evokes the joy and relief of finding a new friend just when you need one the most.

On February 20, 2014, media queen Oprah Winfrey launched a campaign on CNN against loneliness; she named her initiative, “Just Say Hello!” She also named as her campaign partners her long-time best friend, “CBS This Morning” co-Anchor Gayle King, and CNN’s chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta to "help fight loneliness, lift spirits, and brighten days to save lives". Researchers have said loneliness can cut off a lifespan by ten years. Oprah’s initiative, if successful, could add ten years of existence to lonely lives, but Oprah is not the first celebrity to launch such altruistic enterprise: Stevie Wonder went that route in 1984 with "I Just Called to Say I Love You", and in 1985, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones and a host of superstars with "We Are the World". Had those earlier initiatives succeeded, Oprah’s campaign might not be necessary. But, there are also available often overlooked very precious time-tested scientifically backed biblical formulas for combating loneliness some of which are cited in this book in the hope that, perhaps, Oprah and her team may consider using their celebrity positions to help America focus on the things of GOD. For, “no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1Cor. 2:9). Hz