The Fileccias did not consider themselves special; just an ordinary family. Yet in 2003, God chose them to begin an extraordinary life journey. Trusting in their faith, Rusty and Nancy packed up their three children and traveled to China to adopt Xing Dan Nang (Candace), an eight-year-old blind girl. Little did they know this trip would lead them through the deepest valleys a family could ever experience. The challenge of teaching a blind child paled to insignificance when their precious daughter was diagnosed with Battens, a fatal disease, in 2006. The next three years became a roller coaster ride of deep despair, desperate hope, and searching for answers. Based on Nancy’s heartfelt journal entries of their journey, the story of Candace Kate unfolds, shining a light on God’s purpose to give this little girl a “forever family” and showing how she lived a full life in only thirteen years. Life is short; no one is guaranteed eighty years. But during our time on earth we can inspire, love, and show God’s undying love for us, before He calls us home.

Love is not always enough to prevent a failed adoption of Attachment Disorder children. More Than Love is a candid account of the many difficulties experienced by the adoptive parents of three Attachment Disorder adopted boys. It provides explicit accounts of the boys’ dangerous and deviant behaviors. It also describes the adoptive parents’ frustration at the system for not providing the help that was promised prior to the adoption. Author Sherril Stone spares no emotion or detail regarding the years of heartache and the endurance required in parenting the boys. Even a strong marriage and close family ties were stretched to the breaking point as they and other family members tried to undo the damage caused by the birth parents prior to the adoption. Even the strong love the adoptive parents felt for the boys and their determination to overcome the abusive background was not enough to save the family. Tragically, the adoptive parents finally had no choice but to let go of the boys in order to protect their family, friends, and society. More Than Love takes the reader through the depths and highs of emotion. The turmoil experienced by both of the adoptive parents as they searched for answers from therapists, psychologists, social workers, clergy, teachers, friends, and family is detailed. While outsiders only witnessed charming, sweet, and “good” boys, those close to them knew the extent of their manipulative behaviors. Unfortunately, Attachment Disorder children are experts at manipulation and often dupe others, even those professionals trained to detect such deceitfulness. The author closes with helpful information about Attachment Disorder, guidance on therapeutic services for Attachment Disorder children and their families, signs and symptoms of Attachment Disorder, and suggestions for handling numerous deviant and dangerous behaviors exhibited by children with attachment problems.

From the Inside Cover: When she was just 13 and helping her mother on the local hospital wards, Alex Bell encountered Billy, a young man with Down’s syndrome who changed the course of her life. Alex grew up vowing to dedicate herself to caring for Down’s syndrome babies—the children whom some parts of society might prefer to forget.

At 28, and unmarried, Alex battled with social services to adopt her first Down’s child, Matthew. She had succeeded in becoming one of the first single women in the UK to adopt. But Alex didn’t stop there. She then single-handedly took on eight more children who, despite serious disabilities, are flourishing under Alex’s fierce and devoted love.

Like happy-go-lucky Matthew, who fulfilled his dream of working for Manchester United. And Adrian, the amazing numbers wiz, born as if with a calculator inside his brain. Or the cute—but demanding—nine-year-old Emily, who coped with her traumatic cancer treatment by being downright bolshy and learning to be her own boss.

This is the story of an extraordinary mother and her unusual family—a story of courage, perseverance and, above all, love.

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About the Author: Bernard Clark began his career as an investigative TV journalist, newsreader and director for the BBC. He went on to direct several acclaimed documentaries and originated Watchdog, the BBC’s long-running investigative series, as well as the series Timewatch and Bookmark. He then set up Clark Television, one of the first major independent production companies in the UK, producing worldwide current affairs and documentary programmes. He continues to make television series, combining this with writing. He lives in London and North Carolina.

Alex Bell is currently the adoptive mother of seven children, the foster mother of an eighth child and the guardian of a ninth. Seven of the children have Down’s syndrome, one has a life-limiting condition and another is autistic, and she cares for all of them at her home in Salford, near Manchester. In 1984, at the age of 28, Alex Bell became one of the first women in the UK to adopt as a single mother. She has since created a flourishing, happy family of nine children with disabilities. Bernard Clark has spent several years with Alex and her family to turn her unique, groundbreaking story into a book.

The bond between mother and child begins before birth and extends beyond death. This connection, which has captured the imagination of scientists and poets for centuries, is physical, mental and emotional. In Cassandra Eason’s fascinating compendium, it turns out to be extra-sensory as well. A leading authority on spiritual experiences, she examines the sixth-sense connections between mothers and their children and documents them in a series of compelling stories of maternal telepathy and intuition. In the course of her research, she has collected psychic accounts from around the world—real-life experiences of ordinary women and their families. Eason has documented women whose psychic connection saved their child’s life, whose children are themselves telepathic, and some whose bond with their child exists even after one of them has died.

This book is about being a woman, trying to be a mother, having a family, trying to make a family work, failing and succeeding. Essays run from family estrangement to reconciliation, adoption struggles and recognizing the other mothers of adopted children, strengthening family ties by fighting the rats in the basement together, and realizing that, fundamentally, we all have it in us to be mothers if that is what we want for ourselves. The book is short, just 15 essays, each chosen because it represents an important event or point of view. The stories are not all happy ones. Raising children is a long tale that, if honestly told, has many regrettable chapters. Those chapters have great value if for no other reason than they make the happy times truly remarkable instead of common. About the Author: Janice Wilberg is a blogger and essayist. She writes from forty years’ experience as a mother of four including three adopted as children with special needs from Nicaragua. She remembers well the first days of knowing her children including walking across the courtyard of a Nicaraguan orphanage to meet her six-year-old daughter for the first time. Much of adoption literature is about the extraordinary joy new adoptive parents feel when they are matched with the child of their dreams. Wilberg goes beyond the honeymoon phase to reflect on the days when love is so desperately needed but the hardest to find. Her essays have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, Precipice Literary Anthology, and Salon.com. Her writing has been described as simple, honest, and compelling with no pretense and no protection. Since 2011, Janice has published a blog called Red’s Wrap at www.redswrap.wordpress.com. Janice works as a community planning consultant focusing on issues related to homelessness, mental health, and child welfare. She lives with her husband, Howard, in Milwaukee, WI.

From the Back Cover: Sound advice, useful information and a guide to the emotional ups and downs of adoption.

In this warm, humorous and enlightening new book, Darlene Ryan takes the reader with her on the adoption journey. Each stage is introduced with factual and anecdotal information, which the author has collected from parents who have adopted. Following are Darlene’s journal accounts of her own experience from the time of making the decision to adopt right through to the period when she finally became a mother. She provides insights on domestic versus international adoptions, laws and procedures here and abroad, and details about dealing with various agencies and bureaucracies. Just as importantly, she lists questions to consider, warns of potential hazards and outlines the dos and don’ts.

A must-read for anyone embarking on this journey.

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About the Author: Darlene Ryan is a radio journalist. She lives in New Brunswick with her husband and adopted child.

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By the Same Author: Saving Grace (2006, Orca Book Publishers).

From the Back Cover: This inspiring and insightful book shares personal stories, research, and interviews that will teach you how to seek out the Holy Ghost. Learn to keep the Spirit in your home so you can have help with whatever parenting problem comes your way.

• Harness the power of a mother’s prayer.

• Take refuge in the Comforter and stories of divine intervention.

• Strengthen your ability to hear the Holy Ghost.

• Heed the voice of warning when it comes.

• Rely on faith, trust, and patience when the heavens seem silent.

Whether your children are tiny, teenaged, or grown, this book will keep you connected to the best gift you could have as a mother and the best one you can pass on to your children—a legacy of listening to the Spirit’s still, small voice.

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About the Author: Heidi Poelman graduated in communications from Brigham Young University (BA) and Wake Forest University (MA). She loves writing about ways to strengthen families and introducing young readers to amazing people in history. Heidi’s books included A is for Abinadi, A is for Adam, I Can Love Like Jesus, A Mother’s Greatest Gift, The Two-Minute Secret to Staying in Love, the Little Heroes series, and Jesus Worked Miracles (fall 2018). She lives in Utah with her husband Scott and their four bright-eyed children.

This fast-paced, powerful memoir is a USA Book News Award winner for Christian Inspiration. Janet Alston Jackson had it all, living a life of luxury, traveling the country promoting A-List celebrities and TV shows for ABC Television Network. Married to Walter, her soul mate, they were happy raising their four-year-old son, and decided to expand their family by adopting a small boy. It wasn’t long before the couple discovered that something was mysteriously wrong with their new son who was turning the family’s world upside down. The relentless turmoil and frustration of trying to raise this troubled child, sent Janet on a beautiful journey to find inner peace, and hope to help her special-needs son.

This true story chronicles a series of events that by themselves seem relatively harmless. Six years after a horrific break up, the pieces fall into place. While trying to figure out why his family life went to hell, a father discovers an awful truth. He thought destroying the relationship with his daughter was the mother’s motive for years of harassment and courtroom drama. In truth she was covering up a failed plot to murder him.

From the Dust Jacket: On March 3, 1987, Tiffany Callo, a nineteen-year-old California woman with cerebral palsy, gave birth to a nondisabled baby boy she named David. The birth was significant in that both Tiffany and her husband were physically disabled and used wheelchairs.

Their family celebration turned to tragedy three weeks later, when county officials took David away from his parents and placed him in permanent foster care, while Tiffany wept in agony.

A Mother’s Touch tells the story of Tiffany’s determined efforts to recover David and to keep her second child, Jesse. Like forty-three million other Americans with disabilities, Tiffany discovered that discrimination is often more of a handicap than even the loss of sight, hearing, or mobility. At first largely alone, Tiffany fought hard against the bureaucracy that had decided she was unfit to be a mother. Gradually she attracted the support of a host of disabled attorneys, engineers, political activists, and a caring psychologist, Megan Kirshbaum—one of the few national experts on parents with disabilities—who understood that Tiffany’s battle embraced the rights of all disabled people.

A Mother’s Touch is both a compelling portrait of a complex individual and an incisive look at the larger social issues that concern all of us. Tiffany Callo has had to fight for the right to live life to its fullest. In her humanity, dignity, and perseverance, she has much to teach us about a mother’s love.

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About the Author: Jay Mathews is the author of Escalante: The Best Teacher in America. With his wife, Linda, he coauthored One Billion, an account of their experiences as journalists in China. Until recently the Los Angeles Bureau Chief of the Washington Post, he is now a correspondent for Newsweek in New York City.

From the Back Cover: THE ASTONISHING TRUE STORY OF A MOTHER CHARGED WITH THE DEATH OF HER DAUGHTER—BUT WAS SHE GUILTY? YOU DECIDE:

FACT—Priscilla and Steve Phillips adopt a Korean baby. Shortly afterward little Tia begins developing strange symptoms. In and out of the hospital for months, she finally succumbs. Cause of death: unknown.

FACT—The Phillipses adopt a second Korean infant named Mindy. Once again the same symptoms develop. Near death, the child is taken to intensive care, away from any interaction with her mother. The child recovers.

FACT—Mindy is removed from the Phillipses’ home. Months later she is adopted by a new couple. After a few weeks in her new home, she falls ill once again.

As far as anyone knew, Priscilla Phillips was the perfect mother. A pillar of her church, a social worker, a devoted wife, and a loving mother of two sons of her own, Priscilla lavished endless love and attention on little Tia ... and later on her sister, Mindy. To this day she claims total innocence of wrongdoing. Yet she was arrested and tried for murder. Was she a mother who literally loved her children to death? A woman so desperate to be needed that she’d take any risk, pay any price? Here is her incredible true story.

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About the Author: Nancy Wright, a native of New York, was graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and subsequently taught high-school English in Richmond, California for ten years. A Mother’s Trial is her first book. With her husband and two children, she recently moved to southern California where she is now working on a screenplay.

As the working mother of three children, ReShonda Tate Billingsley knows motherhood isn’t a perfect science. She openly shares stories with her thousands of followers on social media about her children: thirteen-year-old Mya, the diva whose Instagram post—and subsequent punishment—went viral; to ten-year-old Morgan, who has a serious case of middle-child syndrome and a knack for giving her teachers a few of her mother’s favorite things; and finally, Myles, a witty and precocious five-year-old who, as his grandmother says, “has been here before.” It was while chronicling her journey that she discovered she wasn’t the only mother who longed for the days when she could use the restroom in peace, who sometimes sat in the driveway because she didn’t want to go in the house, and who sometimes wondered, Is this what I signed up for? Hence, The Motherhood Diaries was born. Through humorous and enlightening dialogue and narrative, ReShonda chronicles her own journey, as well as reveals candid imperfections of a mother trying to balance it all. With humorous and heartwarming stories from other mothers also trying to “get it right,” The Motherhood Diaries shares candid and honest conversations about the good, the bad and the downright disastrous path of mothering in the New Millennium. Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, “Diary of the Adoptive Mom” by C. Mikki (pp. 117-124).

This book details one woman’s bumpy road to motherhood. But when she reaches this destination is when the real adventure begins. Enjoy this light-hearted, heart-felt, humorous tale about becoming a mother ... from adoption, to pregnancy, to raising children while juggling a career.

From the Back Cover: Recognizing the need to nurture and support women during their adjustment to motherhood, Mothering the New Mother draws from three years of research and the personal experience of the author. Each chapter is filled with the practical suggestions and hands-on solutions of doctors, caregivers, policymakers; and, most importantly, over one hundred new mothers. Checklists and planning sheets let you create your own individualized postpartum plan and chapter-by-chapter annotated listings of newsletters, books, hotlines, videocassettes, support groups, and services reveal where to go for help and information. Most importantly, the candid experiences of other new mothers—married and single, birth and adoptive, older and younger—will reassure you that you’re not alone. Mothering the New Mother is an indispensable companion for anyone embarking on the journey of motherhood.

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About the Author: Sally Placksin has written, produced, and narrated many national radio programs, including the documentary Mothering the New Mother for National Public Radio’s Horizons series. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council for the Arts. She is also the author of American Women in Jazz and winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. She lives with her husband and two children in New York City.

From the Dust Jacket: When Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth created Sisters in 1994, they took America by storm, captivating countless readers with their poignant exploration of sisterhood. In this beautiful new volume they turn their empathy and perception to a territory perhaps even more intimate—the intense connections shared by mothers and daughters.

The profoundly personal experiences of the women portrayed in these original essays and photographs illuminate a relationship that is awe-inspiring in its power and depth. Some of these women are well known. Cindy Crawford, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Margaret Atwood, and Jamie Lee Curtis all speak of their own relationships in these pages. There is also wisdom to be found in the words of a ninety-six-year-old great grandmother with her nine daughters, a mother and daughter who have fled the war in Bosnia for an uncertain future in New York, and a woman who received a kidney transplant as a last gift from her dying mother. Whether the speakers are famous or not, their stories and portraits express universal feelings of tenderness, pride, and a love so fierce that it is sometimes painful. Mothers and Daughters is a stunning and evocative tribute to this unbreakable bond.

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About the Author: Carol Saline is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker. Among her writing and community honors are two Clarion Awards from National Women in Communications, and the National Magazine Award. Her previous books include Straight Talk, Dr. Snow, and Sisters. A senior writer at Philadelphia Magazine and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Syracuse University, she lives in Philadelphia.

Sharon J. Wohlmuth is a prizewinning photojournalist and lecturer who for twenty years has covered national and international assignments for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her photographs have won many awards, and she shares the Inquirer Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Her work has appeared in Life, Newsweek, and People magazines. Sisters was her first book. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband Lawrence Teacher.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, “Ann Guisewite and her daughter, Cathy Guisewite” (“...[Cathy] paid her mother the ultimate compliment and adopted a daughter.”) (pp. 10-13); and “Dolly Earl and Barbara Nelson, and their daughter, Lea Jayne Ferrer” (Lea Ferrer, the biological child of Barbara Nelson, was adopted by Dolly Earl and her husband) (pp. 106-108).

From the Publisher: Scott Martin should have died in a hospital bed at age 35. Instead, he managed to fight off almost certain death and to survive “the flesh-eating disease.” After four amputations and intensive rehabilitation, he thought all he wanted was to get back to the life he’d had as a successful collegiate soccer coach. In this seemingly insurmountable quest to regain what he had lost, unexpected events would take Martin down a fateful road that would make his life infinitely more fulfilling than the one that was savagely taken from him. This is a truly captivating and uplifting story which reminds us about the positive aspects of being human by showing how in one man’s quest to be rebuilt, he became an inspiration for all those around him. Moving Forward In Reverse goes deeper than similar inspirational books such as Soul Surfer and Between a Rock and a Hard Place because it tells about the life that followed and the rebuilding process that moved Scott Martin forward.

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About the Author: Scott Martin lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Ellen, and their five children, Nadia, Danny, Andy, Lauren, and Kalista. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and went on to teach in West Bend, Wisconsin before coaching soccer at the collegiate level. Martin holds an advanced national coaching diploma, and has spent over 20 years coaching and directing various soccer programs at the select youth, high school, and college levels. He has worked with prominent national coaches both here and abroad. He captained four teams at UW-Oshkosh and played 15 seasons at the First Division level. Coryanne Hicks is a freelancer with a passion for creative writing. Her love of literature began during her childhood in Northern California where she indulged in books whenever she wasn’t riding horses or writing her own stories. An animal lover at heart with an adventurous spirit, Hicks has followed her dreams to over ten countries including South Africa where she spent three blissful weeks caring for lions, small and large. She resides in San Diego where she graduated from the University of California at San Diego.

From the Dust Jacket: Adopting a child from a foreign country can be a bewildering challenge, fraught with uncertainty and confounded by exotic cultures and practices. Barbara Birdsey knows this better than most, having been the founder of an international adoption agency, a parent of an adopted child from Central America, and a defender of victims’ rights. In this intimate account of her experiences, Birdsey takes us with her to Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the Philippines, and introduces us to the cast of characters who inhabit the labyrinthian world of international adoption: the proud but destitute mother who is giving up her daughter; the callous bureaucrat who seems to derive satisfaction from saying “No!”; the selfless, resourceful, and patient local facilitator; the anxious would-be parents, among many others ... good, honest people and selfish, uncaring types alike. Birdsey lets us learn from her experiences, including her mistakes, and thus gives us a truer understanding of this shadowy world than we could ever acquire from the typical “how-to” book.

Written in a jaunty style, laced with humor and poignant insights, Moving Heaven and Earth, for all its attention to the difficulties of international adoption, is basically a very hopeful book. It ends with specific suggestions for how to reduce the risk of disappointment and distress, and make the adoption of a child from another country a happy and successful venture.

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About the Author: Barbara U. Birdsey founded and is still actively involved in The Pegasus Foundation, an organization committed to animal protection and environmental preservation. She lives with her family on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

George Cadwalader is the author of Castaways, a book about the Penikese Island School for delinquent boys, which he founded in 1973.

Edward “Moose” Krause spent nearly sixty years as a student-athlete, coach, athletic director, and de facto ambassador to the Notre Dame’s legions of fans around the world. From an All-American career as a football and basketball player to a struggle with alcoholism in the wake of an accident that nearly killed his beloved wife, Mr. Notre Dame captures his remarkable story.

Those with MS and the people whose lives they touch will find this book helpful in understanding the wide ranging affects with a firsthand look at what it is like to live day after day, year after year with the disease. Written by a woman who is still walking after more than 40 years, the author paints a full and encouraging picture of how it is possible to have a satisfying life despite illness. Kathleen Scully Aquilino experienced the first symptom while in college but was not officially diagnosed until she was 44. Through the growing number of ailments and afflictions her mysterious disease brought, she kept going. Working, Marrying. Making a home. Adopting and raising a daughter. The delay in diagnosis actually did a great deal to help her stay positive and active. There are some lessons here in the power of expectations. Hers was the alternative path, relying only when necessary on physicians and pharmaceuticals, depending more on less traditional forms of treatment such as chiropractic, acupuncture, and breast milk. That’s right—milk from nursing mothers! She will share whatever knowledge she’s accumulated during four decades of struggle. The decisions she has made may inform others who are faced with crushing losses, pernicious diseases, and disagreeable doctors.

The fifth book from bestselling author and specialist foster carer Casey Watson. A recent census shows that there are at least 175,000 child carers in the UK, 13,000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week. Many remain invisible to a system that would otherwise help them. Abigail is one of those children. This is her story. Ten-year-old Abigail has never known her father. Her mother, Sarah, has multiple sclerosis, and Abigail has been her carer since she was a toddler—shopping, cooking, cleaning and attending to her personal needs. When Sarah is rushed to hospital, suddenly this comes to the attention of the social services, and Abigail has nowhere to go. Though she doesn’t fit the usual profile of a child that specialist foster carers Casey and Mike Watson would take on, they are happy to step in and look after Abigail. It’s an emergency, after all—and all that’s needed is a loving temporary home, while social services look into how to support the family so that they can be reunited. But it soon becomes clear that this isn’t going to happen. Sarah’s MS is now at a very advanced stage, and the doctors are certain that there will no longer be periods of remission. Abigail’s emotional state starts to spiral out of control as she struggles to let go of the burden of responsibilities she has carried for so long. Sarah and Abigail insist that they do not need help, but with no other family to contact, social services are left with no choice but to find long-term care for Abigail, against their wishes. But Casey never gives up on a child in need, and she knows there must be another solution...

Initially apprehensive about becoming a mother, Emma mapped out her life plans steered by fulfillment of a happy marriage and career. She thought she might one day feel ready and willing to add the role of mother to her life’s responsibilities, but she had not quite figured out when that would occur. When Emma’s biological clock smacked her upside the head and she suddenly craved motherhood over every other aspect of life, she was stunned to discover that she could not get pregnant. After a year of ovulation test kits and timed baby making under her belt, it was inevitable that other avenues needed exploration. After pursuing every option, including adoption, Emma learned that becoming a parent was not as simple a process as she had always envisioned.

This is a story of a couple’s journey from childlessness to the joy of parenthood. Spanning about fifteen years, the story covers their experience and the effect of their African culture on their lives, how they adopted their son and then had their biological children. It goes through heartbreak of infertility and the medical journey they went through before they opted to go down the adoption route. The account covers the couple’s struggle from the man’s perspective, with pressures of time, life and world affairs.

15 Oct 09—Yesterday David and Alex were both busted for sneaking thousands of dollars in play money to day care. We have no idea what’s going on, but we have alerted the imaginary police and expect swift action.
16 Oct 09—Well, everything was quiet this morning until Alex’s backpack said “Meow.” A quick look inside showed a small grey kitten and a walkie-talkie. If you add these things to all the money I found yesterday, its starting to look like a re-run of Law and Order....
When the Lord blessed us with our boys, we had no idea what we were in store for. Join me for a walk down memory lane, through the day to day blessings and chaos of my buddies...

From the Dust Jacket: The birth of a baby: a cherished, anticipated, joyful occasion. Yet sometimes the circumstances surrounding this natural event are not so natural. Such issues as infertility and unwed motherhood bring searing agony and anguished questioning as people deal with the pain of unfulfilled expectations and broken dreams.

My Child, Your Child is a sensitive, intimate account that weaves together the stories of an infertile couple and an unwed mother. This firsthand revelation of the struggles, the painful decisions, and the blessings of two families reaches directly into the reader’s heart.

On the one hand are Terry and Rob, whose longing for a child goes unremitted year after year. After running the gamut from folk remedies through expensive clinics, fending off people’s well-meaning questions, advice, and misperceptions, they gradually arrive at the decision to adopt. But this choice is filled with problems of its own, including rigorous testing and self-evaluation. Will they ever be a “normal” family?

On the other side is Terrilyn, a recent convert to the Church, whose former lifestyle catches her up in one last mistake—with devastating consequences. In the months that follow, Terrilyn agonizes over whether to rear her unborn child herself or give him up for adoption. What would be best for the child?

The blessings that are showered upon these two families as they learn to follow the inspiration of the Spirit are glorious evidence of our Heavenly Father’s love for all of his children. His support through their separate Gethsemanes bears moving testimony that all things ultimately work together for the good of those who serve the Lord. Thus, My Child, Your Child becomes the story of another kind of birth—the birth of faith.

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About the Author: Terry Treseder earned her bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and did graduate work at San Jose State University. She has served in the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A full-time homemaker and author, she and her husband, Robert, are the parents of two children.

Terrilyn Ainscough studied political science at the University of California-Fullerton and has continued her education at the University of Utah. She has served in the Relief Society and works closely with LDS Social Services by sharing her experiences with adoption. She and her husband, Mark, are the parents of two children.

MAMA’S CONFESSIONS: Below the beautiful mountains lies an anointing of beauty; diamonds waiting to be carved out and transformed. At first glance, you might miss this incredible beauty; it could be rough and dirty. It could appear to be broken or invaluable, but if you thought that, you would be wrong.
DAUGHTER’S CONFESSIONS: To be burned alive into the ashes of who you thought you were and to rise up against all odds is only possible through Christ. I’ve seen what evil looks like and I’ve experienced the darkest parts of this world all before the age of six. Yet in spite of the shadows, God has given me a light and a chance at a new beginning. I hope my story can help others that feel trapped in the shadows of life, unable to see God’s light, shining through.

From the Back Cover: Families are many different things. Some children live with divorced or lone parents, other are adopted, live in care or even become young carers.

In this book eight young people talk about their family situations. Fact panels provide further information on the issues. The book includes details of organisations that can be contacted by young people who are experiencing family problems themselves.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, “Care and adoption”: James was put into care aged four after very difficult early years and his feelings are shut down. He was adopted at the age of eight and, with his adoptive parents, has learned how to feel and care. (pp. 22-25).

My husband and I had been childless, with the medical profession’s verdict of no hope for children of our own, and still a loving, generous God had directed us to a place and time, and we had become the parents of five children. — Jane Mall

Eighteen years after adopting his daughter from China, a father publishes the personal journal he kept during the three week period he maneuvered through the Chinese adoption system. This is a record of how he felt the first time he saw and held his daughter and what he experienced with her and the other families adopting at the same time. Ultimately it is the story of a young man who becomes a father and who, upon reflection, believes he is one of the luckiest people alive because of this gift that has been given to him. This is my story.

The visionary choreographer and dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), not only revolutionized dance in the twentieth century but also blazed a path within the art for other pioneers. While many biographies have explored Duncan’s crucial role as one of the founders of modern dance, no other book has proved as critical—as both a historical record and a vivid evocation of a riveting life—as her autobiography. Now, in the fully restored edition, this “fascinating, even sensational” (New York Times) work, with its racy descriptions and idealistic sentiment, can be appreciated by a new generation. From Duncan’s early enchantment with classical music and poetry to her great successes abroad, from her sensational love affairs to headline-grabbing personal tragedies, My Life continues to stand alone as “a great document, revealing the truth of her life as she understood it, without reticence or apology or compromise” (New York Herald Tribune).