Against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Oaxaca City, Kathryn Sloan analyzes rapto trials--cases of abduction and/or seduction of a minor--to gain insight beyond the actual crime and into the reality that testimonies by parents, their children, and witnesses reveal about courtship practices, generational conflict, the negotiation of honor, and the relationship between the state and its working-class citizens in post colonial Mexico. Unlike the colonial era where paternal rule was absolute, Sloan found that the state began to usurp parental authority in the home with the introduction of liberal reform laws. As these laws began to shape the terms of civil marriage, the courtroom played a more significant role in the resolution of familial power struggles and the restoration of family honor in rapto cases. Youths could now exert a measure of independence by asserting their rights to marry whom they wished. In examining these growing rifts between the liberal state and familial order within its lower order citizens, Sloan highlights the role that youths and the working class played in refashioning systems of marriage, honor, sexuality, parental authority, and filial obedience.

Sloan investigates how civil laws in post-colonial Mexico played a significant role in changing social norms for marriage, sexuality, and parental authority.

An “achingly beautiful” memoir about a mother’s mission to rescue her two teenage daughters from the streets and bring them back home (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). After a miserably failed marriage, Debra Gwartney moves with her four young daughters to Eugene, Oregon, for a new job and what she hopes will be a new life for herself and her family. But the two oldest, fourteen-year-old Amanda and thirteen-year-old Stephanie, blame their mother for what happened, and one day the two run off together—to the streets of their own city, then San Francisco, then nowhere to be found. The harrowing subculture of the American runaway, with its random violence, its dangerous street drugs, and its patchwork of hidden shelters, is captured with brilliant intensity in Live Through This as this panicked mother sets out to find her girls—examining her own mistakes and hoping against hope to bring them home and become a family again, united by forgiveness and love. “For all the raw power of this true story and the fearless honesty of the voice telling it, what sticks out for me is the literary craft that shapes every sentence. Debra Gwartney has seen clear to the bottom of her experience, purged it of self-righteousness, and emerged with a stunningly humane and humbled awareness of life’s troubles” —Phillip Lopate

From stowaway…After years of playing the local gin joint to pay off his father''s debts, talented musician Brock Ness has landed a radio gig in Chicago. Now he''s on the up-and-up, his next stop is securing the dame of his dreams, Ginger Nightingale… …to Chicago celebrity! If Brock is headed for fortune and fame, Ginger won''t be left behind! She may be the youngest of the Nightingale sisters, but she''s old enough to know what she wants. And Brock is right at the top of her wish list! Daughters of the Roaring Twenties Their hair is short and their skirts are even shorter!

When her husband deserted her in 1968, Pat Bennett was left with three kids to raise, no income and no future. But at age 23, she put herself through school and emerged a confident, strong-willed woman--determined to track down the man who had abandoned her despite legal prejudice that prolonged her search for 17 years.

The Origins of the "Daughters' Question" -- Religious Ardor: Michalina Araten and Her Embrace of Catholicism -- Romantic Love: Debora Lewkowicz and Her Flight from the Village -- Intellectual Passion: Anna Kluger and Her Struggle for Higher Education -- Rebellious Daughters and the Literary Imagination: From Jacob Wassermann to S. Y. Agnon -- Bringing the Daughters Back: A New Model of Female Orthodox Jewish Education.

Marie Louise, the brown mongoose, runs away after her mother spanks her for being naughty.