“Hey, Bub!” was the familiar greeting Tom Prater used throughout his life. He was born with Down syndrome in 1949, and in spite of his disabilities, became a beloved and integral part of his family and community. While his speech was limited to phrases of just a few syllables, he found other ways to communicate and won the hearts of everyone who met him. Despite being beset by health concerns and institutional systems that were far from ideal, he found resilience and joy. This is the story of...

Regina’s Calcaterra memoir, Etched in Sand, is an inspiring and triumphant coming-of-age story of tenacity and hope.Regina Calcaterra is a successful lawyer, New York State official, and activist. Her painful early life, however, was quite different. Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness in the shadows of Manhattan and the Hamptons....

A Richard and Judy Book club selection.In the summer of 1990, Cathy's brother Matty was knocked down by a car on the way home from a night out. It was two weeks before his GCSE results, which turned out to be the best in his school. Sitting by his unconscious body in hospital, holding his hand and watching his heartbeat on the monitors, Cathy and her parents willed him to survive. They did not know then that there are many and various fates worse than death.

A "heartwarming, life-affirming" memoir of a relationship with an intellectually disabled sibling: "Read this book. It might just change your life" ( Boston Herald).Beth is a spirited woman with an intellectual disability who lives intensely and often joyfully, and spends most of her days riding the buses in Pennsylvania. The drivers, a lively group, are her mentors; her fellow passengers, her community—though some display less patience or kindness than ot...

Popular parenting expert Dr. Laura Markham, author of PEACEFUL PARENTS, HAPPY SIBLINGS, has garnered a large and loyal readership around the world, thanks to her simple, insightful approach that values the emotional bond between parent and child. As any parent of more than one child knows, though, it’s challenging for even the most engaged parent to maintain harmony and a strong connection when competition, tempers, and irritation run high.In this highly anticipate...

"Suspenseful . . . startling plot twists and incisive commentary on the social unrest of a coal-mining town during the Great Depression . . . a breathtaking ending." — Publishers WeeklyIn 1930, twenty-five-year-old Violet travels with her sixteen-year-old sister, Lily, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to the Good Shepherd Infant Asylum in Philadelphia, so Lily can deliver her illegitimate child in secret. In doing so, Violet jeopardizes her engagement to her sw...

As seen in the hit documentary Three Identical Strangers • “[A] poignant memoir of twin sisters who were split up as infants, became part of a secret scientific study, then found each other as adults.”—Reader’s Digest (Editors’ Choice)WINNER OF A BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE AWARDElyse Schein had always known she was adopted, but it wasn’t until her mid-thirties while living in Paris that she searched for her biological mother....

When T.J. Wray lost her 43-year-old brother, her grief was deep and enduring and, she soon discovered, not fully acknowledged. Despite the longevity of adult sibling relationships, surviving siblings are often made to feel as if their grief is somehow unwarranted. After all, when an adult sibling dies, he or she often leaves behind parents, a spouse, and even children—all of whom suffer a more socially recognized type of loss.Based on the author's own experiences, as well as those ...

IN A SEQUEL to his highly-acclaimed debut novel, Upcountry, R.M. Doyon returns his readers to Upstate New York and the tragic lives of the Schumacher family. It is a sultry Labor Day weekend in 2010 and the clan is gathering at a large lake in the shadows of the Adirondacks to celebrate a milestone in Hubie Schumacher’s life—and to bring some closure to the events of that fateful Thanksgiving nearly four years before.Upcountry readers will recogni...

Toronto, 1951 – Irishman Tom Corbert sits in his rented room and turns an unopened letter over in his hands. The envelope has stamps from all over the world on it, stamps that trace the journey he’s been on for the last decade. The letter has followed him all the way from his past, from Ireland. And it’s calling him home. But Tom is not the only one being summoned. Also in Toronto is Bob Ward, a soft hearted but hard fisted man with whom Tom is familiar mostly through barroom brawls. And s...

A vivid, often humorous slice of autobiography, We Went To England spans the Atlantic OceanRochester, New York to London, the Great Depression and the second World War. Children of an American mother and an English father, Elaine and her sisters have a privileged, sheltered lifemore akin to the world of Jane Austen than that of Angela's Ashes. Elaine, though, finds there is always a BUT. You have to learn to be a Lady. To obey a set of rigid ruleswhat's "done" and "not done". Too many of t...

My Sister, My Friend is an endearing tale of two sisters, one who has Williams syndrome and one who does not. It is meant to be used as a tool for parents/teachers to read with their children. It will take you on a journey through the youngest child’s questions about why her older sister is a little different from her. Throughout the book, Williams syn- drome is discussed with respect, as well as accurate information. The journey begins with questions, but it ends with acceptance, understa...