This collection is Mary E. Coe's first release of original short stories. Even though the stories are fiction, they address situations that many families encounter: love, pain, death, struggle and, ultimately, forgiveness. These are tales of wonder, strength and survival, which speak to all walks of life.

CHILDREN'S - SHORT STORIES is a collection of tales written to entertain with narratives which enthral, amuse and absorb the curious minds of young book lovers. There is plenty to stimulate, excite and inspire the imaginations of the most discerning readers. The tales are immensely fascinating and engage a child's imagination with enthralling journeys of self-discovery, magical adventures and exciting mysteries.

Susan Warner, the daughter of two holocaust survivors, finds meaning in her work for Soviet Jews. While her professional life assisting Soviet Jews to emigrate is fulfilling, her personal life, her marriage, is falling apart. She begins a passionate affair at the same time as she is asked to go to the Soviet Union to help a noted Soviet Jewish Pianist who is not being permitted to emigrate. Conflicted at work and at home, wanting to do the right thing, Susan must make life choices, for herself and for her cause. Simple Truths has the vitality reminiscent of Erica Jong, and a powerful emotional base that sets it apart. Recommended for larger fiction collections. Marsha G. Fuchs Crown Publishing, NY What a pleasure that Sheila Levin is alive and writing in New York! Levin’s writing is often bitterly coarse, but only in reflection of the torment of Susan’s life. Perhaps not perfectly polished, this is nevertheless a fine debut, one with power and great feeling. Publisher’s Weekly This affecting book is very self-assured for a first novel. Its heroine, a New York woman in her mid-30s, is not. Susan Warner obsesses about her insecurities, the overwhelming weaknesses that afflict her as the daughter of concentration camp survivors, the hurt of being alone, the sense that the whole world, including herself is divorced. She could be a one-woman Holocaust. What saves Susan and prevents this novel from becoming just another diary of a maddening housewife is her involvement-post break-up with lover and suicide attempt-with an International Committee for Soviet Jews and her efforts on behalf of a dissident Jewish violinist. Los Angeles Herald Examiner Keywords – Holocaust, Suicide, Jewish, Soviet, Divorce, Survivors, New York, Camp

I was born illegitimate, with eye sight problems. I was adopted from a Catholic infant home. Because of the constant early separations that resulted from being bounced back and forth between the infant home, and my home, I developed emotional problems. My insecure, volatile, mother reacted badly to my problems. She often abused me, physically, and verbally. My father, a timid, man, who adored his wife, offered me very little support. By the time I was seven I embarked on a path that would take me from one institution to another, occasionally spending several months at home, which made me worse. The authorities didnt know what went on in the home, but they did know that a visually impaired, run away made them nervous. When I was twelve I was diagnosed as semi autistic. Because of this and my compulsion to run away, I wound up in a very controversial treatment center in Maine. Then at age seventeen my life began to improve. I was enrolled in the Perkins School for the blind in Massachusetts. I fell in love with the school, and wanted to spend a long time there. However, Perkins was seen as a finishing school for me. After two years I reluctantly graduated, and entered the world totally unprepared for what life had to offer. It wasnt until I was in my forties that I followed through on something I had always wondered about. My adoption records were opened, allowing me to learn many things about my birth mother, and family. Together with the few details my adopted father gave me, I was able to make contact with my family.