The Golden Sun follows a rootless protagonist named Cezal as he leaves everything behind and journeys toward his mother’s hometown after her recent passing. Set in the early 20th century, Robert Shafer’s novel largely takes place on a train, and Cezal realizes many of the passengers are there for similar reasons. Some are attempting to run from the meaninglessness that continues to creep into their lives, or heading in the direction of a new life altogether. As late summer turns t...

For nine-year-old Mickey, the early fifties were not the Ozzie and Harriet fantasy of love and security. Instead, they were years of abandonment, unimaginable cruelty, and virtual slavery. This memoir reveals Mickey's devastating experiences of being handed off from one abusive person to another ... all in the name of survival.

The Golden Sun follows a rootless protagonist named Cezal as he leaves everything behind and journeys toward his mother's hometown after her recent passing. Set in the early 20th century, Robert Shafer's novel largely takes place on a train, and Cezal realizes many of the passengers are there for similar reasons. Some are attempting to run from the meaninglessness that continues to creep into their lives, or heading in the direction of a new life altogether. As late summer turns t...

A harrowing journey of survival and self-discovery in 1950s America.Mickey, shaped by abandonment and abuse, returns to his estranged mother at age 12, only to face new challenges in her unfamiliar world. Based on a true story, this novel plunges into Mickey's fight for survival amidst poverty and religious intolerance.From the Chicago slums to Mormon country in Ogden, Utah, and finally to the allure of California, Mickey's raw voice guides you through an e...

Should we allow performance-enhancing substances in competitive athletics? The first book of its kind, Well Played answers this question by urging us to a deeper appreciation for the purpose of sport. Giving special reference to performance-enhancing substances, Shafer challenges the incompleteness of the ethical arguments and contributes a Christian voice to the discussion. He initiates a theological conversation that is both scholarly and accessible, arguing that a distinctively Christia...

very unusual family saga written with unusual intelligence and compassion. Erica Witsell has a gift for depicting complex relationships. -Phyllis Rose, author of Parallel Lives, The Year of Reading Proust, and The Shelf.Every summer, Jessie and Emma leave their suburban home in the Central Valley and fly north to Baymont. Nestled among Mendocino's golden hills, with ponies to love and endless acres to explore, Baymont should be a child's ...

A raw, darkly funny, and inspiring memoir of living with terminal brain cancer.Suzanne Samples faces a glioblastoma with honesty, humor, and a whole lot of cuss words. This isn't just a cancer story; it's a story about identity, friendship, and finding meaning in the face of mortality.For readers who appreciate vulnerable storytelling and unflinching honesty, Frontal Matter offers:A unique per...

Based on a true story, The Forgotten Child is a heart-breaking memoir of an abandoned newborn baby left to die, his tempestuous upbringing, and how he came through the other side.It’s a freezing winter’s night in 1954. A baby boy, a few hours old, is left by his mother, wrapped in nothing but two sheets of newspaper and hidden amongst the undergrowth by a canal bank. An hour later, a late-shift postman is walking wearily home when he hears a faint cry. He finds the newspaper parcel...

The "powerful and moving" true story of a Long Island family torn apart by drugs, violence, and the unbridgeable divide between generations ( Kirkus Reviews).George Diener, World War II veteran and traveling salesman, and his wife, Carol, had old-fashioned values and ordinary aspirations: a home, a family, the pleasure of watching their two sons grow up. But in February 1972, an unthinkable tragedy occurred in the basement of their Nassau County residence, ...

**The True Story of the Prison Escape That Inspired the Documentary “How It Really Happened”In June 2015, two convicted murderers broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, in New York’s North Country—launching the most extensive manhunt in state history and dominating the news cycle with the sex scandal linking both inmates to the prison employee who aided them.**Double murderer Richard Matt and cop-killer David Sweat slipped out of their cells, followed ...

A mother and daughter reunion faces unexpected and painful challenges in this emotionally compelling novel from the author of What Makes a Family.It’s the moment Harper Broussard always dreamed of. Her daughter Georgina, snatched fourteen years ago during a Mardi Gras parade, is standing before her, making cappuccinos behind the counter of Harper’s favorite New Orleans coffee shop. Harper’s ex-husband, Remy, has patiently endured many “sightings” over the ...

The "uncommonly trenchant account of the only known FBI agent to confess to murder" ( Kirkus Reviews).When rookie FBI agent Mark Putnam received his first assignment in 1987, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream, if not the most desirable location. Pikeville, Kentucky, is high in Appalachian coal country, an outpost rife with lawlessness dating back to the Hatfields and McCoys. As a rising star in the bureau, however, Putnam soon was cultivating paid ...