A riveting and beautiful memoir of tragedy and hope–by a womannamed to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people inthe world Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam wassold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelveyears old. For the next decade she was shuttled through thebrothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia.She suffered unspeakable acts of brutality and witnessed horrorsthat would haunt her for the rest of her life–until, in her earlytwenties, she managed to escape. Unable to forget the girls sheleft behind, Mam became a tenacious and brave leader in the fightagainst human trafficking, rescuing sex workers–some as young asfive and six–offering them shelter, rehabilitation, healing, andlove and leading them into new life. Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of LostInnocenceis a memoir that will leave you awestruck by the courageand strength of this extraordinary woman and will renew y

Each woman has a special spiritual destiny, as unique andinalienable as the rhythms that govern her life. Maria Harristeaches women how to dance to the music of their own souls anddiscover the spiritual steps that can transform their lives.

The novelist Beverly Lowry was mourning her son’s death in ahit-and-run accident when she came across a newspaper story aboutKarla Faye Tucker, the infamous Houston murderer who was then ondeath row. The article captured Tucker’s innocent beauty, thestunning brutality of her crimes — committed with a pickaxe — andthe stories of her spiritual awakening on death row. Struck bythese apparent contradictions, Lowry found herself inexplicablydrawn to Tucker, who some ten years later would become the firstwoman to be executed in Texas since 1863. Lowry eventually began to visit Tucker in prison, and over thecourse of several years she listened to the tragic story of herlife before the murders and, in turn, told Karla Faye about her ownlife and the life and death of her son Peter. Crossed Over is amemoir of this time, a moving account of an unlikely but profoundand genuine friendship created in the confines of a visiting roomon death row. Now with a new foreword that recounts Tucker’s lastdays

In 1960 the government of Trinidad invited V. S. Naipaul torevisit his native country and record his impressions. In thisclassic of modern travel writing he has created a deft andremarkably prescient portrait of Trinidad and four adjacentCaribbean societies–countries haunted by the legacies of slaveryand colonialism and so thoroughly defined by the norms of Empirethat they can scarcely believe that the Empire is ending. In The Middle Passage , Naipaul watches a Trinidadian movieaudience greeting Humphrey Bogart’s appearance with cries of “Thatis man!” He ventures into a Trinidad slum so insalubrious that thelocals call it the Gaza Strip. He follows a racially chargedelection campaign in British Guiana (now Guyana) and marvels at theGallic pretension of Martinique society, which maintains thefiction that its roads are extensions of France’s routesnationales. And throughout he relates the ghastly episodes ofthe region’s colonial past and shows how they continue to informits language, politics, a

YA. Despite impoverishing his family because of his alcoholism, McCourt's father passed on to his son a gift for superb storytelling. He told him about the great Irish heroes, the old days in Ireland, the people in their Limerick neighborhood, and the world beyond their shores. McCourt writes in the voice of the child?with no self-pity or review of events?and just retells the tales. He recounts his desperately poor early years, living on public assistance and losing three siblings, but manages to make the book funny and uplifting. Stories of trying on his parents' false teeth and his adventures as a post-office delivery boy will have readers laughing out loud. Young people will recognize the truth in these compelling tales; the emotions expressed; the de*ions of teachers, relatives, neighbors; and the casual cruelty adults show toward children. Readers will enjoy the humor and the music in the language. A vivid, wonderfully readable memoir.?Patricia Noonan, Prince William Public Library, VA Copyright 19

The island is nearly deserted, haunting, beautiful. Across aslip of ocean lies South Carolina. But for the handful of familieson Yamacraw island, America is a world away. For years the peoplehere lived proudly from the sea, but now its waters are not safe.Waste from industry threatens their very existence–unless, somehow,they can learn a new life. But they will learn nothing withoutsomeone to teach them, and their school has no teacher. Here is PAT CONROY’S extraordinary drama based on his ownexperience–the true story of a man who gave a year of his life toan island and the new life its people gave him.

An electrifying memoir from the acclaimed Nicaraguan writer(“A wonderfully free and original talent”—Harold Pinter) andcentral figure in the Sandinista Revolution. Until her early twenties, Gioconda Belli inhabited an upper-classcocoon: sheltered from the poverty in Managua in a world of countryclubs and debutante balls; educated abroad; early marriage andmotherhood. But in 1970, everything changed. Her growingdissatisfaction with domestic life, and a blossoming awareness ofthe social inequities in Nicaragua, led her to join theSandinistas, then a burgeoning but still hidden organization. Shewould be involved with them over the next twenty years at thehighest, and often most dangerous, levels. Her memoir is both a revelatory insider’s account of the Revolutionand a vivid, intensely felt story about coming of age underextraordinary circumstances. Belli writes with both strikinglyricism and candor about her personal and political lives: abouther family, her children, the men in her life; about her po

The Ride of Our Lives is the humorous yet deeply movingaccount of NBC journalist Mike Leonard's cross-country odyssey withhis eccentric parents, three grown children, and a daughter-in-law.Full of ups and downs, laughs and tears, the month-long journeybecomes a much larger tale of hope, persistence, and valuablelessons learned along the way. A celebration of the ties betweenparents and children, as well as the unforgettable community ofpeople one can meet across America, The Ride of Our Lives is aninspiring narrative of self-discovery and self-fulfillment-and howone unique family found blessings and simple pleasures on the roadcalled life.

Affair-Proof Your Marriage Think it couldn’t happen to you? Most women never make aconscious choice to have an affair, yet it happens to even the mostactive Christians. How? Why? This book takes a look at the seriesof seemingly harmless choices that can lead you straight down thatdangerous, dead-end path. Desperate House Lies exposes eight commonmyths, including: he’s just my friend so it’s harmless, and myhusband doesn’t understand me; I deserve someone better. Personalstories of women who have slipped in their own marriages and wantto help you avoid the same devastation, combined with practical,realistic guidance, will equip you to protect your God-ordainedunion now and for all time. Think you’re not the cheating kind? Convinced it could neverhappen to you? Most women never consciously decide to cheat, yet it can happento even the most dedicated wife. How? Why? A series of seemingly harmless choices will lead you straightdown that dangerous, dead-end path. Desperate

“There are lives lost in this book, and there are lives saved,too, if salvation means a young man or woman begins to feeldeserving of a place on the planet. . . . What could be moresoul-satisfying? These are the most influential professionals mostof us will ever meet. The effects of their work will lastforever.” –from the foreword by Anna Quindlen Now depicted in a bestselling book and a feature film, theFreedom Writers phenomenon came about in 1994 when Erin Gruwellstepped into Room 203 and began her first teaching job out ofcollege. Long Beach, California, was still reeling from the deadlyviolence that erupted during the Rodney King riots, and the kids inErin’s classroom reflected the anger, resentment, and hopelessnessof their community. Undaunted, Erin fostered an educationalphilosophy that valued and promoted diversity, tolerance, andcommunication, and in the process, she transformed her students’lives, as well as her own. Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writerswent on to establish t