Showing all 22 results
A Call to Mind: A Story of Undiagnosed Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury
by Claire Galloway $16.95
by Claire Galloway
A few seconds. That was all the time it took for two-year-old Luke Galloway to slip away from his parents and go running toward the swing set. And only a few seconds more before the hard plastic swing struck the side of his head with enough force to send him flying. But the effects of that playground accident would stay with him—in the form of an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury—and alter the course of his life.
In A Call to Mind, Luke’s mother, Claire Galloway, recounts how a seemingly routine childhood injury—readily dismissed by professionals for sixteen years—transformed a happy, healthy child into an anxious, agitated boy, who would be haunted by “noises” only he could hear.
As knowledge of brain injury in sports and the military is on the rise, Claire adds Luke’s voice to the choir. As she lays the groundwork for physicians, educators, psychologists, family and friends to better recognize symptoms of traumatic brain injury in a practical, everyday sense, she hopes to embolden parents to fight for their children on behalf of what only they might see, increasing the odds of successful post-injury outcomes.
Blossom, The Art of Sacred Dying
$9.99 – $24.95Price range: $9.99 through $24.95
Written by Regina Gerstman
Dr. Regina Gerstman holds a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and taught Human Development for nine years. She is also a licensed clinical social worker who has focused on people in midlife and late life for thirty years, after more than twenty years of working in outpatient mental health. Although Blossom was the first person she spent time with while dying, she more directly participated in the care-taking of first her husband and then her mother over the next ten years when they became ill and passed away. Blossom considered Dr. Gerstman to be a scholar and included her in her inner circle ten months before her death.
Broken Wings: What’s Wrong With Her?
by Stephanie Fortune $15.00
by Stephanie Fortune
Broken Wings: What’s Wrong With Her? is the inspirational story of Christina Fortune, who was born with and died from complications of cerebral palsy. In her brief twenty-four years, she lived as the gentle angel her devoted mother believed her to be. Bound to a wheelchair and with no ability to speak, Christina may have been fully dependent on the assistance of others, yet she lived as a brilliant example of goodness. Her lesson to us is in the gift of her ability to inspire compassion and her demonstrated courage against illness and pain. Broken Wings not only celebrates Christina’s journey, but provides tips, insight, and recipes for those who work with and care for cerebral palsy patients.
Brothers and Strangers: A German-Iraqi Memoir
$8.99 – $19.95Price range: $8.99 through $19.95
written by Junis Sultan
Born in Mosul, Iraq, to a wealthy intercultural family, Junis Sultan’s happy, privileged childhood is abruptly cut short by the start of the Gulf War in 1991. With their home destroyed, Junis’s family flees to Germany, settling in a small conservative town near Frankfurt. As his family struggles to adapt to their new circumstances, Junis finds himself increasingly torn between two worlds—fighting to carve out an identity for himself between his family’s expectations and a culture that demands his assimilation. After the 9/11 terror attacks, Junis begins to keep a diary, in which he reflects on questions of family, friendship, religion, and politics. These deep insights gradually expand beyond cultural borders, as Junis begins to explore the universal human needs for bonding and freedom.
Brothers and Strangers is a unique, heartfelt memoir of endurance, forgiveness, and self-actualization, offering a timely message about the importance of acting with openness and love in a global reality.
Dinosaurs in the Cornfield: Lessons Unearthed on My Grandfather’s Farm
by William B. Hardison, Jr. $19.95 – $28.95Price range: $19.95 through $28.95
written by William B. Hardison, Jr.
illustrated by Candice Smith
Grandpa says it best. He always does:
“Knowin’ where you came from makes you part of somethin’ larger’n yerself—and from yer beginnin’, you were meant t’ be larger’n yerself.”
For young Billy, summer means saying goodbye to city life and traveling seven hundred miles to visit his grandparents on their Tennessee farm. It means long, humid days of snapping beans, milking cows, hunting for fossils in rocky fields, and trips into town for ice-cream sodas and comic books at the five-and-dime. It means muggy nights spent on the front porch with family, the boys gathered around the big Philco radio, listening to The Lone Ranger over the low hum of crickets. But most of all, summer means time spent in the long shadow of Grandpa, a massive Welchman, keenly observant, frugal of words and actions, but rich in experience and country wisdom. On this remote patch of farmland, Grandpa’s word is law.
Now, William Hardison looks back on those summer days with nostalgic fondness and his own hard-earned wisdom. In doing so, he rediscovers deeper lessons hidden within the adventures he so often took for granted as an energetic child. And along the way, he invites you to ponder:
When you look back on your childhood, what long-forgotten treasures might you unearth?
Eyewitness: My Journey to the Hague
by Isak Gaši and Shaun Koos $5.99 – $29.95Price range: $5.99 through $29.95
written by Isak Gaši and Shaun Koos
Before April of 1992, Isak Gaši was a world-class athlete and community leader, content to live a quiet life with his wife and infant daughter in the Bosnian city of Brčko. He never could have dreamed that within just a few short years, he would come face to face with Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and others indicted for war crimes, as a lead prosecution witness at the International Criminal Trials for the Former Yugoslavia.
Eyewitness is an accessible history that joins the personal story of a man who was close to the action with the war’s broader historical and political contexts. In a world still challenged by ethnic violence and refugee response, this story of justice, forgiveness, and truth will resonate with readers for many years to come.
From Rebel Yell to Revolution: My Four Years at UVA 1966–1970
by Joel Gardner $35.95
written by Joel Gardner
In this entertaining and informative memoir, University of Virginia alum Joel Gardner delves into the four most turbulent and transformative years in the history of UVA. Arriving as a total outsider in 1966, Gardner, a born and bred New Yorker, soon found himself immersed in a sheltered world of customs and traditions that had existed virtually unchanged for decades. Yet within his tenure, this genteel Southern culture of coats, ties, and party weekends would be irrevocably disrupted, as the anti-Vietnam War and Civil Rights movements at last caught up with “The Old U.”
With a sharp eye for detail and a canny sense of historical relevance, Gardner recreates the turbulent world of UVA in the late 1960s, a microcosm of the tides of change that swept the world. In these four short years, blazers and bourbon gave way to denim and demonstrations, changing the face of Mr. Jefferson’s University and forever altering the spirit of an American institution.
Honor Held Dear
by Alan Eschbach $4.99 – $28.95Price range: $4.99 through $28.95
by Alan Eschbach
What motivates people to follow the lead of another person—to sometimes suppress their own fears, desires, and needs and to adopt a leader’s vision as their own? It’s a question that anyone in, or who aspires to, a leadership position should ask.
In this uplifting and often humorous account, Captain Alan Eschbach, USN (Ret) reflects on his life experiences and how he used them to create his own code of leadership, behavior, and ethics. Using snapshots of his early life in the tiny village of Rawlinsville, Pennsylvania and recollections from the navy, from SEAL training to captaincy of the guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke, Alan shares his insights into what can be gained by working without compensation, the pain and joy of leaving the comfort of home and community, and the value of repeatedly testing one’s physical and mental limits. Most importantly, this book is an account of how an unwavering commitment to personal honor and integrity, and an even greater devotion to serving others can lead to positive change.
Honor Held Dear: My View from the Bridge Wing is a portrait of leadership as a calling. Moreover, it’s a challenge to leaders everywhere to take stock of their leadership styles as a measure of their understanding of sacrifice and duty.
Last, it is Alan’s way of saying thank you—to the community and people who shaped and inspired him, and to everyone who granted him the great privilege and profound honor of leadership.
Lifeline 65: How Small Connections and Big Enthusiasm Can Change Education
by Ryan Stein and Jennifer Costa Berdux $4.99 – $28.95Price range: $4.99 through $28.95
by Ryan T. Stein and Jennifer Costa Berdux
After fifteen years as an award-winning educator, Ryan Stein knows this: when you make the school experience about fostering genuine human connection, students don’t just succeed—they thrive.
In this part-guidebook, part-memoir, Ryan shares the best ideas and stories from his groundbreaking educational philosophy with anyone seeking to make a positive difference in a student’s life. Lifeline 65 is as joyful as it is useful, packed full of wit, humor, and heart. Try even one strategy and you’ll find your students more engaged, confident, and eager to excel, from elementary school to college and beyond. All you have to do is begin.
My Dance with Grace: Reflections on Death and Life
by Weldon Bradshaw $8.99 – $15.00Price range: $8.99 through $15.00
by Weldon Bradshaw
Late in 2009, Weldon Bradshaw was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, an incurable, autoimmune liver condition. Over the next two and a half years, as the disease progressed slowly and his liver and health deteriorated, his prognosis grew bleak. By November of 2012, his doctor informed him that if he didn’t receive a transplant, he’d be dead within the week.
Through it all, Weldon remained steadfast to the promise he’d made his family at the outset of his illness: he would be there to dance at his granddaughter’s wedding.
A high school cross country coach and lifelong athlete, Weldon was accustomed to tests of endurance, spirit, and drive. But nothing could have prepared him for this—the race of his life. It would be a race against time and chance and hopelessness in the face of devastating odds. It would be a race for a miracle.
Neck Tales: Stories from Virginia’s Northern Neck
by Thea Marshall $16.00 – $26.95Price range: $16.00 through $26.95
by Thea Marshall
Join National Public Radio commentator Thea Marshall for an historic and contemporary journey through Virginia’s Northern Neck. First broadcast by Ms. Marshall on NPR, these stories paint a vivid portrait of this part of Virginia that’s a world apart—from the region’s wine, watermen and Chantey singers, to its poets, patriots, kings, and citizens.
Nine Lives: My Risky Road from Fifties Rebel to Feminist Critic
$7.99 – $33.95Price range: $7.99 through $33.95
Written by Claire Kahane
In this tell-all memoir, a woman in her eighties, born during the Great Depression to Jewish immigrants, unveils her intimate self-transformations in the course of nine decades. Determined at an early age to prove herself a free spirit in a male dominated world, as a young adult Kahane went on the road, hitchhiking her way into and out of risky adventures and romantic affairs, ceaselessly chasing new experiences. But what started out as a “road book” takes a different turn in midlife when, influenced by the insights of psychoanalysis and feminism, she became a feminist professor, mother, and wife. In later life, her story changed tracks again when a visit to Auschwitz compelled her to confront her own family history of loss and renewal. The memoir ends with a surprising new twist that opens to a hopeful future. In this long and hard-earned coming-of-age story, readers will find a piece of themselves.
Reclaiming Southside
$14.95
Written by M.J. Coll
M.J. Coll grew up imagining herself as like her father’s son, but 1950’s Richmond, Virginia, wasn’t a welcoming environment for her to come of age. Venturing to the Midwest for college, M. J. came into her own as a lesbian feminist in her twenties, exploring relationships with other women, participating in Vietnam War protests, and advocating for citizens in crisis. But when her mother got sick, M. J. found herself back in Richmond, the city that she both loved and struggled to understand. Caring for her mother and reconciling with her father left her with no choice but to reclaim Southside, the neighborhood she grew up in and had sought so desperately to flee in her teens and twenties.
This collection of vignettes and poems about coming of age in the South speak both to M. J.’s personal experience as a young lesbian and the movements of the latter half of the twentieth century that have shaped America today. A testament to both how far we have come since the fifties yet how far we still need to go in our search for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community, M. J.’s story is both personal and political.
Safe
by Elspeth Roake $7.99 – $16.95Price range: $7.99 through $16.95
by Elspeth Roake
Elspeth Roake lives in the competitive world of showing horses, aspiring to perfect technique in the ring against a backdrop of long hours, hard work, and frequent travel. On the surface, she is poised and goal-oriented. Only her boss, Leslie, is witness to her depression.
Leslie never shies away from Elspeth’s dark moods or tendency to self-harm, and eventually her strength and compassion inspire Elspeth to explore the shadows of childhood trauma which lurk at the back of her mind. But memories slip away even as she reaches for them, and behind closed doors Elspeth’s mental state continues to deteriorate. Over the course of two harrowing years, Elspeth sets increasingly radical goals for herself, determined not to let her illness get the better of her. Yet despite outward success, no ribbon or medal can help her outpace her depression. Finally, at a horse show far from home, Elspeth’s battle descends into a matter of life and death, and not even Leslie can help her. Finding herself trapped and sobbing into the sticky floor of a psychiatric ward, she realizes that something has to change.
Safe is a memoir of brutal and intense honesty, exploring the depths of despair, determination, and self-discovery, and the vital bonds—both human and animal—that make life possible.
Sister Cities: A Story of Friendship Between Virginia and Mali
by Ana Edwards and Robin Poulton $4.99 – $19.95Price range: $4.99 through $19.95
by Ana Edwards and Robin Poulton
Most early African Virginians came from the lands of the medieval Empire of Mali, founded by the original Lion King. Since the first Africans arrived in 1619, Virginia’s history has been linked to Africa and to Mali. Virginia's culture is filled with West African music, food, and other influences—including slavery and colonial domination. Both cities have a victims’ cemetery.
Slow Dying: The Bosnian War Prison Camp at Visoko Diary and Testimonies
by Milenko S. Milanovic $15.95
by Milenko S. Milanovic
Following the Bosnian War and his immigration to the U.S., Serbian refugee Milenko Milanovic would awaken from horrifying dreams—vestiges of his eight-month imprisonment in the Bosnian war camp at Visoko. For years, Milenko’s memories remained suppressed, but his experiences lived on in the loose-leaf diary he had kept hidden in the lining of his jacket. After his release, he compiled these notes into the book that would become Slow Dying, a harrowing volume that details his capture and subsequent internment—the starvation, beatings and death. This fourth edition presents his diary in English for the first time, accompanied by contributions from his fellow prisoners and Milenko’s own reflections on his imprisonment and life as a refugee. It offers a poignant and compelling story of personal survival during one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history.
The Covered Smile: A True Story
by Sonja Lauren $15.00
by Sonja Lauren
A smile is a terrible thing to hide. But a child whose teeth are missing or rotten will hesitate to show her ugly secret. She knows that her smile will elicit ridicule and astonishment, not a smile in return.
Sonja Lauren was one such child. She has written her story of neglect and emotional starvation, of losing all of her teeth by the vulnerable age of thirteen, and of eventually rising above her early tragedy. Through her own determination and the caring assistance of her dental surgeon and other health professionals and friends, Sonja is living life with a smile that she’s proud for the world to see.
Sonja’s story reminds us of the importance of proper oral hygiene for children and graphically presents the ugly ramifications of dental neglect. It gently chastens parents, health professionals, and other concerned adults to reach out to the neglected child.
The Life of “P”: A Memoir of a Mother and a Nurse
by Lee Rice $15.00
by Lee Rice
The Life of “P” is the memoir of a mother and a nurse—an unsung hero from a small town in Virginia’s historic Northern Neck whose personal struggles, courage and heroic sacrifice should be remembered. With a keen sense of literary and social history, author Lee Rice paints a vivid picture of her nearly nine decades of life that witnessed dramatic global events—from two world wars, the Great Depression, space exploration, to the Iraq war and 9/11.
This story also chronicles the romantic steamboat era, memorable local historic events, a river-based traveling theater, nurses who worked tirelessly for $1.35 per hour and includes vivid descriptions of the natural beauty of the Northern Neck.
Join Lee Rice for a journey through history and a memorable life.
Two Faces of the Moon: A Small Island Memoir
$7.99 – $16.95Price range: $7.99 through $16.95
by Carolyn McGrath
Each summer Carolyn McGrath leaves her home and husband to live alone in her log cabin on a small island in Canada. Her only companions are two dogs, abundant wildlife, and the ghost of her father, who died and left the island to her when she was seventeen. During the summer of 2001, she challenges her husband’s claim that her need for solitude renders her strange, recounting stories of many women who have immersed themselves in isolation in order to explore the natural world. McGrath senses that she’s one person while alone on her island, and quite another out in the world. Her island self remains separate from the one who visits her dying mother in a nursing home. While she had always adored her father, taking from him her love for the lake and for the people who’ve made their lives there, she struggles to reconcile those feelings with the way he entered into this wilderness to kill the wild creatures with whom she shares her island home. This leads her to a humbling discovery.
Uncle George and Me
by Bill Sizemore $4.99 – $26.95Price range: $4.99 through $26.95
by Bill Sizemore
In Uncle George and Me, author Bill Sizemore tells the story of his slave-owning Virginia ancestors, their slaves, and those slaves’ descendants—a story that lay buried by a century of denial and historical amnesia. Its threads run through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the struggle for civil rights, and the crippling legacy of slavery that still plagues the nation today. In microcosm, it is the story of Virginia and the South. In telling it, Sizemore hopes to advance an essential, if painful, national conversation about race.
Wisdom Builds Her House
$8.99 – $18.95Price range: $8.99 through $18.95
written by Carole Duff
Wisdom Builds Her House is the true story of a woman who comes face-to-face with her past when she reads the journal of her husband’s deceased daughter, a girl she never met. Curiosity leads to self-inquiry and haunting parallels between Carole and Gretchen: inexplicable disruptions from when they were five; mental illness episodes starting at sixteen; troubles in college; rejection in love—secrets hiding in their closets. While building a new house in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, Carole reads the journals, which lead her to uncover the never-spoken truth about the violent crime from her childhood, all resulting in a crisis of faith.
Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail
by David Coogan $16.95 – $30.95Price range: $16.95 through $30.95
by David Coogan
Detailing the formative and transformative memories of ten men, Writing Our Way Out is the creative culmination of a writing class that began in the Richmond City Jail in Virginia, and grew into a journey to re-entry. Compiled in a narrative by their teacher, Dr. David Coogan, these stories explore the conditions, traps, and turning points on the path to imprisonment in modern America, as well as the redemptive and rehabilitative power of memoir.