Showing all 15 results
A Love Letter: My Y Story, My Cancer Journey
by Michael Roberts $15.95
written by Michael Roberts
The frightening grip of cancer uncovers strengths and weaknesses within the human spirit. For Ethan Clarke, a very personal battle with the disease reveals hidden demons that had been stifling his sexual identity and his connections with others. These demons had kept him from enjoying health and happiness and from accepting the healing powers of change.
Ethan, however, had some formidable allies to face down these foes: Ethan’s close friend, Sophie, the camaraderie found at the local YMCA, the LIVESTRONG program, the idea of one day finding love, and the human will to survive. When Ethan is persuaded to mail a letter to a fellow survivor, a sporting hero from the past, and faces the possibility of meeting this hero, he realizes he must find the strength to fight the disease and the strength to embrace hope and self-confidence.
A Love Letter describes one man’s fight against cancer, the many levels of support and community found in the YMCA, and the power of friendship.
Charlie-Man
$7.99 – $34.95Price range: $7.99 through $34.95
By Thomas Cullen
It’s August 1994, and Charlie Stewart begins his final year at St. Mark’s Episcopal School, a prestigious all-boys school in Richmond, Virginia. Charlie, an undistinguished student by St. Mark’s standards, faces tough odds as he seeks to rekindle his relationship with Katy Hendricks, a beautiful tennis star, and gain admission to a highly selective state university. Through it all, Charlie relies on Beau Miller, his best friend and the top student athlete in their class. Despite Beau’s movie-star looks and infectious charm, he has a darker side, which becomes more apparent as the year progresses. Charlie endures his trials with wry determination and ultimately emerges with a renewed sense of purpose. This is a heartrending but hopeful story of one boy’s journey toward manhood in the American South.
Ever This Night
$17.95
Written by Molly Sions
SYLVIA AND DANIELLE worry a lot. They worry about Danielle’s hard-won career in the fickle world of interior design. They worry about harsh judgment toward Sylvia, a transgender woman who longs to be unremarkable. They worry about their Catholic faith—about what it means for their marriage; about what their marriage means to their faith.
Lately, they’ve been worried about fertility. They’re not sure they can have a baby together, but Sylvia’s trying to make it happen, messing with her own hormones like a science experiment, no matter the impact to her mental health.
When Danielle’s old friend, Preston Elridge IV, moves to town and asks Danielle to design his trendy new restaurant, it seems like much-needed good news: a financial windfall, flexible hours, and a crowning achievement for her portfolio. There’s just one small problem. Preston is in love with Danielle, and he hardly bothers to hide it. To him, Sylvia’s transition represents the opening he always hoped for, and he’s not going to let it pass.
As Sylvia’s mental health worsens, Danielle’s pregnancy fails to materialize, and Preston’s overtures grow more aggressive, each of them delves deeper into their fears and desires, risking more with each step forward.
Hammond’s Choice
by Bob Cohen $16.00
by Bob Cohen
In Hammond’s Choice, Ruth and Larry Hammond have been forced to relinquish custody of their son, Tommy, in order to obtain services for his serious emotional and behavioral problems. The Hammonds turn to Marty Fenton to discover what happened the night Tommy was accused of stabbing to death Kevin Landry, another resident at Possum Ridge School. As Fenton, a graduate student in psychology and part-time private investigator, delves into this case, he learns a lot about the child mental health system and becomes aware of its questionable policies and practices. He encounters skillful counselors as well as individuals whose problems rival those of the children they serve. Join sleuth Marty Fenton as he uncovers another dark secret buried in this strange place of healing and discovers unsettling truths about the mental health care system.
Love and Other Illusions
$16.00
by Mariah Robinson
Enter the world of Jillian Barrister and those who orbit around her-Clay, David, Norma and Dr. Allison-players in a riveting drama of love and loss, happiness and anguish, innocence and guilt. It is Dr. Allison's task to study and understand his patients through the process of analysis, and Jillian is no exception-or is she? The more deeply he probes, the closer he comes to unearthing the childhood tragedy that has isolated her from herself and others, and could topple the precarious defenses of her internal world-a fragile but guarded state of consciousness in which the past is always just beneath the surface.
Making Manna
by Eric Lotke $5.99 – $16.00Price range: $5.99 through $16.00
by Eric Lotke
Libby Thompson is just fourteen years old when she flees her abusive home with her newborn son, Angel. Now they must build a life for themselves on hard work and low wages, dealing with police who are sometimes helpful—but not always—and a drug dealer who is full of surprises. As Angel gets older, he begins asking questions about his family, and Libby’s tenuous peace threatens to crumble. Can a son without a father and a young woman without a past make something beautiful out of a lifetime of secrets? Making Manna explores the depths of betrayal, and the human capacity to love, forgive, and flourish in the face of heartbreaking odds.
Of Memories and Mirages
by Abu B. Rafique $7.99 – $30.95Price range: $7.99 through $30.95
written by Abu B. Rafique
Although both time and origin separate them, this story is of lives that fate and circumstance have tied to Pakistan. Aasiya slips away from watchful eyes to meet her lover at a teashop in the same city her grandparents, Suraiya and Iqbal, once moved to after meeting amid the bloodshed of the Partition. The owner of the teashop, Salim, also finds himself refuge from Afghanistan’s war in the heat of Karachi. Meanwhile, a family nearby deals with the consequences of their son eagerly leaving the city and bearing firsthand witness to the horrors of the seemingly holy war.
Once Upon a Fable
by Mariah Robinson $4.99 – $25.95Price range: $4.99 through $25.95
by Mariah Robinson
Once Upon a Fable is a lively collection of seven compelling and comforting tales with 20/20 vision. There’s a solid marriage verging on the rocks; an abandoned baby raven and a family of field mice; a precocious little boy, his strong-willed nanny, and his amazing best friend; an unyielding politician’s moments of reckoning; a bridge whiz millionaire who chooses his partner; a mantis of distinction and a beyond-the-coop hen who cross paths, and last, an exotic Hollywood-bound duck of color who gets her wish. Mariah Robinson has drawn a collection of fast-paced, age old dramas of memorable life events, enduring love, envy, animosity, infidelity with a twist, and a host of bittersweet tosses and turns--all set in fanciful plots. This unforgettable cast of characters is sure to capture your heart and set it spinning.
Pollyanna Gay
$12.99 – $23.95Price range: $12.99 through $23.95
written by Jer Long
August Applegate is sixteen years old, and he’s known he’s gay for eleven of them. But in 1963, life in a small Appalachian hamlet doesn’t offer many opportunities to learn what that truly means.
That is, not until August spends one magical—if tumultuous—summer at Buck’s County Theatre Camp. There, he steps behind the curtains that shield the gay world from view and enters a bewildering universe of heated flings, dramatic breakups, and unspoken rules that leave his head spinning. Or perhaps that’s just his bunkmates: Pete, beautiful, charismatic, and secretive; and Farley Fairfield, chaos incarnate, who seems to hate August no matter what he does.
Thus begins a journey of many years, as August leaves camp and returns home to his loving, dysfunctional family; completes high school; attends college; survives life (once again) as Farley’s roommate; and finally sets out to build a life on his own terms. Navigating the uproar of the 1970s and into the next decade, August witnesses the defiant joy of the gay rights movement and the creeping dread of the AIDS crisis. Yet even amid the waning of old friendships, the withering of old loves, and the unspoken traumas that hold his family in their codependent orbits, the one thing August can’t get rid of is his tender, trusting “Pollyanna” heart.
But August’s stubborn optimism is more than just a chic set of rose-colored glasses. In fact, it might be the only pillar to which his loved ones can cling amid the relentless tides of fate. . . .
Shroud of Ice
$7.99 – $18.95Price range: $7.99 through $18.95
Written by Sharon Krasny
Guided only by the stars and the memory of Mara’s eyes, Ankwar’s village pariah Gaspare forges paths over desolate mountains and raging rapids to find his way back to his village. If he loses his focus or abandons his nerve, he will never know the freedom and power of being Ankwar’s destined redeemer. Yet if he succeeds, Gaspare risks losing forever his chance at happiness with the one whose eyes haunt him and lead him home. Gaspare’s greatest fear becomes his looming reality as he claims his calling and risks losing Mara once again. Based on the real life of Ötzi the Iceman, murdered over 5,000 years ago, the historical fiction Shroud of Ice searches for answers to the haunting echoes of will we ever be enough. Gaspare in the role of Ötzi is a call to stand one last time against the darkness because not all who are dead are silent.
Sister Sorrow, Sister Joy
by Mariah Robinson $4.99 – $29.95Price range: $4.99 through $29.95
by Mariah Robinson
Ann Cabot, upscale art gallery owner, is struggling to find a pathway to lasting happiness while coping with the sorrows of relinquished love. There is George, her kind but stifling boyfriend, and Max, her intelligent but corrosive ex-husband.
Enter the Pied Piper—Maggie Lambert—Ann's newly commissioned and exquisitely gifted art conservator. Charismatic, enigmatic, and abrasively tough-minded, Maggie awakens something foreign and insistent in Ann that promises a new freedom.
Deeply wise and deftly written, Sister Sorrow, Sister Joy is about the risks of love—with all its joy, sorrow, and uncertainty.
The Bastard Year
by Richard Lee Zuras $9.99 – $15.00Price range: $9.99 through $15.00
by Richard Lee Zuras
“It was exactly one year ago today,” my father said, “that the hostages were taken.”
He looked at me as if he wanted me to say something. I figured he was probably wrong about it being a year to the day, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
“A year is a long time,” he said. “A lot can happen in a year.”
In the company of classic coming-of-age works, Richard Zuras’s debut novel tells the story of a boy’s final year of childhood and a family’s near disintegration. When Zain’s father is fired from the CIA in March of 1980, it creates a tremor that threatens to upend the family’s precarious balance. Zain’s awakening to a world riddled with cracks and his adolescent attempts to mend them are the stuff from which young men, and great stories, are made.
The Blue Dog and the White Horse: The Best of Friends
$15.95
Written by Haven Lindsey
What happens when Gracie, a small “blue” dog, befriends Max, a big white horse? Despite all outward differences, these two become inseparable! Young Gracie learns to be confident and unafraid, and aging Max learns that he still has purpose. In The Blue Dog and the White Horse: The Best of Friends, you’ll join this unlikely pair on real-life adventures as they build bonds of love and trust while navigating excitement, illness, danger, uncertainty, and even great loss together. In this heartwarming collection of true stories, you’ll find that Gracie, Max, and their community of friends face many of the same emotions and circumstances as people. Their experiences and lessons in courage, compassion, communication, and connection are sure to resonate with children, adults, and families everywhere! (Downloadable activity book included!)
The Honeymoon Corruption
by Richard Lee Zuras-1 $15.00
by Richard Lee Zuras
It’s the early 1960s, and while the Doo-wop era is ending, racial and class prejudice is alive and thriving in the American South. In this unforgiving environment, star-crossed young lovers Althea and Guy are determined to wed—despite the objections of Althea’s disapproving and powerful father.
Undeterred, the couple elopes to the seaside resort town of Wildwood, New Jersey, with two suitcases, a veil, and no plans. Fast running out of cash, they fall in with a local duo: the free-spirited Jeannie and the fast-talking Max Castaldi, who may be able to provide just the break the young couple needs. But as Max introduces Guy to a shadier world that seethes under the boardwalk lights, both Guy and Althea—so full of optimism at first—soon learn that getting on their feet in this town may demand more than they are prepared to give.
Set against a backdrop of the glitzy, glamorous resorts of the Mid-Atlantic coast in its heyday, The Honeymoon Corruption marries hope with fear, desperation with promise, and triumph with tragedy, revealing the seedy underbelly of the East in the Kennedy era—and the true cost of a fairy-tale ending that might not be such a fairy tale after all.
The Precariousness of Done
by Tony Houck $5.99 – $15.95Price range: $5.99 through $15.95
by Tony Houck
Meet Ethan, a bright yet painfully shy former exchange student to Spain. He has returned to Las Rozas during the town’s annual fiestas—complete with carnival, bullfights, street vendors, and pickpockets. Ethan’s “Spanish family” welcomes him into their home despite having their own problems, and he becomes inextricably involved in the personal affairs of two sisters, for better or for worse.
Next meet Thomas, another American living in Spain, whose obsessive-compulsive disorder wreaks havoc on his daily life and keeps him from connecting with his family, and even worse, being with the woman he adores.
Full of Spanish zest, layers of love, and the nuances of mental disorders, this smart and sexy book is sure to evoke joy and sorrow. Find out how these men’s lives mysteriously intertwine in this wonderful novel about culture, family, and the precariousness of “done.”