A mother's nightmare! On February 6, 2010, Anthony Purcell went for a dive at Miami Beach and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Follow this mother's inspiring journey that speaks of family, life, charity, and faith and see spinal cord injury victims in a whole new light. Shocked by medical insurance's failure to help spinal cord injury victims' recovery costs, Micki began the non-profit Walking With Anthony to assist those without the support systems that Micki and her family were able to provide for Anthony. Through this difficult struggle fighting for not only her son's body, but also his spirit, Micki has become the lifeblood and inspiration of a movement that brings awareness and funding to the plight suffered by hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. alone. PRAISE As you read their story you will see Anthony's and Micki's passion and compassion to fight for better health care and rights for people with disabilities, and in particular for those who have suffered spinal cord injuries. It's a long battle but if anyone can get it accomplished we'd bet on Micki. -Karen West, Walking With Anthony Board Member -Jerry West, Legendary NBA Hall of Famer and Executive A true story of triumph over tragedy. At this time in history, it's one thing to rise to occasion for her family but another to recognize the needs of others. Micki is a prime example of acting in the best interest of community over self. A beautiful and inspiring story. -Janne Kouri, President and Founder Next Step Fitness Micki is a force of nature. When the unthinkable happened to her son Anthony she did what mothers do, she fought for him. Then she turned her energy, focus and resources to support a community that needed an advocate! You can hear Micki's voice, passion and love in this book; a love letter to Anthony and the families that support their person whose life has been impacted by a spinal cord injury. -Jane Rodgers, Former Executive Director The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation Paralysis is an affliction that displaces the life of its victim and decimates the family that surrounds them. Micki Purcell has lived through the atrocities faced by a parent when their child's life is changed forever. A seemly hopeless circumstance that she met head on with an unwillingness to submit to its consequences. In doing so she has not only impacted the life of her child but the lives of many who face the atrocities of the system that leaves them helpless. Through this book, she illustrates there is always a light in the world if we are willing to see it. -Mike Barwis, CEO of Barwis Corporations Director of Sports Science Detroit Red Wings Senior Advisor Sports Science New York Mets

Amazing Grace is Jonathan Kozol’s classic book on life and death in the South Bronx—the poorest urban neighborhood of the United States. He brings us into overcrowded schools, dysfunctional hospitals, and rat-infested homes where families have been ravaged by depression and anxiety, drug-related violence, and the spread of AIDS. But he also introduces us to devoted and unselfish teachers, dedicated ministers, and—at the heart and center of the book—courageous and delightful children. The children we come to meet through the friendships they have formed with Jonathan defy the stereotypes of urban youth too frequently presented by the media. Tender, generous, and often religiously devout, they speak with eloquence and honesty about the poverty and racial isolation that have wounded but not hardened them. Amidst all of the despair, it is the very young whose luminous capacity for love and transcendent sense of faith in human decency give reason for hope.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

In this autobiographical tale, I Danced with My Mother, you’ll witness joy and pain through the eyes of a young boy. The music would take them away. As he danced and cleaned with his mother and siblings, they were swept away to an ideal world. It was a world of laughter and smiles, a world of family and of love. But when the music ended . . . an evil lurking in the shadows threatened to break his spirit and destroy their world.

In her own singularly beautiful style, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion. Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

Updated and revised with seven new chapters, a new introduction, and a new resources section, this landmark book is invaluable for women facing a custody battle. It was the first to break the myth that mothers receive preferential treatment over fathers in custody disputes. Although mothers generally retain custody when fathers choose not to fight for it, fathers who seek custody often win—not because the mother is unfit or the father has been the primary caregiver but because, as Phyllis Chesler argues, women are held to a much higher standard of parenting. Incorporating findings from years of research, hundreds of interviews, and international surveys about child-custody arrangements, Chesler argues for new guidelines to resolve custody disputes and to prevent the continued oppression of mothers in custody situations. This book provides a philosophical and psychological perspective as well as practical advice from one of the country’s leading matrimonial lawyers. Both an indictment of a discriminatory system and a call to action over motherhood under siege, Mothers on Trial is essential reading for anyone concerned either personally or professionally with custody rights and the well-being of the children involved.