Old sayings, idioms and synonyms are as Americana as apple pie. They are a part of our history and culture. "My Grandma's Old Sayings from A to Z and More" is a collection of over 800 old sayings and their meanings, that took the author five years to collect. Growing up in a small southern town in the 1950s and 60s, old sayings were a way of communicating. Although, times were hard, people didn't complain. It was a time when people said what they meant and meant what they said. They loved their neighbors. When a neighboring family hurt, all families hurt. When ask how things were going, the answer was always "fair to middling". When they parted ways at the end of the day, it was always "I'll see you tomorrow if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise". The author's grandma was a God-fearing woman who was full of joy. She loved to talk and old sayings were part of her everyday conversations. She had a saying for every situation, for good times and bad times. The "And More" at the end of the book is food for thought. There are fun words and phrases, do's and don'ts, sayings for good luck, sayings for bad luck, superstitions and little words with big meanings. Also, learn how people loved old sayings using body parts. Now, you can join the conversation and have fun! Remember the old saying, "to make an omelet, you'll have to crack some eggs."

All of us are social creatures; we need and want others in our lives. However, too often we feel we dont fit or belong anywhere. When people dont feel they belong or fit in, they misbehave. We have learned how not to behave, and we are very good at it. We need common sense approaches to improving relationships among all age groups and cultures. Common sense approaches, ideas and tried-and-true methods abound in the book. There are stories to tell about real people. Some will make us laugh, and some will make us want to think more deeply about the way we are living our lives and developing long-term relationships. Learning more about ourselves is essential to becoming a happier, better-behaved person. Learning about others through stories, the Four Goals of Misbehavior and family dynamics can lighten the load.

This evocative narrative draws us into the inner life of a young Chinese peasant girl, May-ping, and her first glimmerings of youthful love and idealism under the Maoist regime in China. As she grows into a mature woman, she becomes increasingly aware of the strife around her. An intelligent girl born into a Poor-Class family in a small village in rural China, she is, because of the Maoist policy towards such families, able to pursue her dream of going to university. To her surprise, urban snobbery and “student thought-spying” at university make it essential for her to hide her real thoughts. Such self-protection becomes especially necessary once her idealistic boyfriend Dan — a secret boyfriend because young people were forbidden to be romantically involved — is sent to a labour camp for his outspoken ways. In her village, she learns that everything has value except the lives of girls and women. One of her childhood friends, a landowner’s daughter who because of her family’s Landlord Class, is not allowed to go to university drowns herself when forced to face an arranged marriage. Hua-Hua, a shy and gentle neighbour, hangs herself after her husband beats her brutally for not bearing him a son. May-ping manages to survive the Cultural Revolution as a member of the Communist party who feels outside the system and keeps her inner self intact. Her story reveals how political change during the Maoist regime left its mark on ordinary people. Employing stories within stories, the narrator carries the reader to a mythological realm to images of the resilient water lilies and the nurturing lily pond.

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.