Category: Biographies & Memoirs

NORVEL: An American Hero

FINALIST: 2021 Next Generation Book Awards Norvel Lee won gold in the Olympics, but he was so much more than just an Olympian! On a September morning in 1948, a member of the U.S. Olympic team and a Howard University student was arrested for taking a seat in the white section of a segregated train in rural Virginia. The resulting court case eventually made its way to the Virginia State Supreme Court resulting in a landmark civil rights decision. Norvel Lee spent his childhood in a rustic, segre... [Read More...]

Charlie’s Kid

Charlie’s Kid is riveting, horrifying, mesmerizing, and unforgettable. It haunts, and it inspires. It is a story you cannot escape whose imagery stays with you. This is a story of monstrous child abuse, years spent alone on the mean streets of Chicago, a hardscrabble adult life—and, ultimately, redemption. Charlie’s Kid is a tale of survival at a deepest level against excruciatingly insurmountable odds. From sea to sea and even to fighting war in Iraq; this book will keep your att... [Read More...]

Ditching Success?: A Career Ventured – A Life Regained

At fifty, entrepreneur and seasoned workaholic Batoul Ajlouni reached the very height of her career, her middle age, and the lowest point of her life. The endless passion and zeal she once had for work and life have all but disappeared. Confused and anxious about her never-before situation, she is faced with a life-changing decision to make: Does she listen to the business-executive in her head, tough it all out and continue with the successful career she had spent half her life building? Or do... [Read More...]

Free: Being Authentic: A Memoir

Desire to find your Authentic Voice? Learn the process to participate more authentically in the project we call humanity••• Rare are the spaces in which we can look inwardly at who we are. There is no horizon to do so more intimately than reading one’s biography. Reflect on what and who you are. What constitutes your core self? What should that be? While there is no such thing as an “Authenticity Expert,” you now have a viable alternative. Morhaf Al Achkar obtained his Ph.D in educa... [Read More...]

Collateral Intentions

“Collateral Intentions is a veritable gift of living poiesis for the soul…a divinely inspired offering of transparent truth and personal revelation born from a life-transforming encounter with all too often denied, and at times necessarily despised parts of oneself.” “Without fail, the compelling images, thoughts, and feelings, expressed through the self explorations of a young person straddling the thresholds of adolescence to adulthood have provided potent learnings in... [Read More...]

Wide Open

Wide Open is D. M. Ditson’s dizzying account of unravelling in the wake of a series of sexual assaults that left her with post-traumatic stress disorder. When her past threatens to derail a promising new relationship, Ditson flings herself into her recovery and documents her healing in near real-time. Written in the depths of her illness, Ditson shows what PTSD looks like from the inside as she loses herself in time – mistaking the past for the present, the innocuous for danger, and her... [Read More...]

Refined Suga: Memoir of a Storyteller

An unwanted child, nicknamed ‘Suga’ is abandoned in New Orleans. Her story offers a glimpse into the life of an overprotected child who is reminded regularly by her benefactor that she must be grateful because nobody wanted her. She struggles to overcome the stigma and evolves into an accomplished and beloved mother of six children. Through years of challenges, including a horrendous accident, a nomad lifestyle, and a husband with a wandering eye, she dusts off an old skill, learns ... [Read More...]

Present for a Purpose: Surviving the Genocide of Cambodia to Thriving in America

Escaping the genocide of 1970s Cambodia was the beginning of a journey that took Sok-Khieng (So-Can) Lim Hardy through triumphs and tragedies which have impacted her in ways she still is discovering. From nearly dying as her family fled Cambodia for Thailand to working tirelessly helping others deal with personal injury, Sok-Khieng’s story reminds us that our pasts may be different, but we all experience ups and downs in life, learning and growing from each experience. Learn how her persevera... [Read More...]

Free: Two Jersey Brothers: Stories from Our Haledon Boyhood 1939-1953

This book recounts the boyhoods of brothers Nick and Bob Finamore in the small suburban town of Haledon, New Jersey. Their grandparents emigrated from Italy and their family worked in the neighboring town of Paterson silk mills. The recall the colorful customers they served in their family’s vintage Belmont Diner. ... [Read More...]