Family Matters
All the complicated realities of family life are explored in these nonfiction titles.
Downsizing the blended home : when two households become one
Jameson, Marni, author
2019
"A book to help those who are merging their hearts, lives, and homes. When merging households, one plus one needs to equal...one. The path toward that fundamental fact, however, is not so easy. Since something's got to give--and you don't want it to be the relationship--Downsizing the Blended Home is here to help you meet the challenge of figuring out what to keep, what to let go of, and what to create together. With the same warm, narrative tone that made Downsizing the Family Home such a success--and using her own story of marriage and merger in midlife as a backdrop--Marni Jameson guides you through the turf wars and transitions, so you understand what matters and what doesn't, and can discover a style that suits you both. Along the way she interviews psychologists, designers, and couples who've made it through the process, passing along tips, tricks, and marriage-bolstering advice."--provided by publisher.
Feeding My Mother Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives with Memory Loss
Arden, Jann.
2017
-- Feeding My Mother is one heck of an affirmation that life just keeps on keeping on, and a wonderful example of how you have to roll with it.
Healing the heart : helping your child thrive after trauma
Fonseca, Christine, 1966- author
2020
"Trauma permeates America's families, and no one is immune to its impact. Natural disasters, community and institutional violence, adverse childhood experiences- these events impact the developing brains and bodies of our youth. This book for parents combines the research on adverse childhood experiences and other traumatic events, positive psychology, and resilience to provide parents with specific tools to healp their trauma-impacted children move from surviving to thriving."--Cover.
I want you to know we're still here : a post-holocaust memoir
Foer, Esther Safran, author
2020
"Esther Safran Foer grew up in a family where history was too terrible to speak of. The child of parents who were each the sole survivors of their respective families, for Esther the Holocaust was always felt but never discussed. So when Esther's mother casually mentions an astonishing revelation--that her father had a previous wife and daughter, both killed in the Holocaust--Esther resolves to find the truth. Armed with only a black-and-white photo and hand-drawn map, she travels to Ukraine, determined to find the shtetl where her father hid during the war. What she finds not only reshapes her identity but gives her the long-denied opportunity to mourn the all-but-forgotten dead"-- Provided by publisher.
Loving large : a mother's rare disease memoir
Hall, Patti M., 1966- author
2020
"If not me, then who will save my child? A mother must confront the unthinkable when her son is diagnosed with a rare medical condition. Patti M. Hall's life is pitched into an abyss of uncertainty when a golf-ball sized tumour is discovered in her teenage son's head and he is diagnosed with gigantism, a disease of both legend and stigma. After scrambling to access a handful of medical experts in the field, Patti learns that her son could grow uncontrollably, his mobility could be permanently limited, and his life could be cut short without timely and aggressive treatment. Patti's attention shifts fully away from her relationships and friendships as well as her own career and health. Her new normal sees her step into a dozen new roles, including nurse, researcher, caregiver, and advocate, while she struggles and fails to rebuild her life as a newly divorced woman. In Loving Large, Patti's voice exudes wit, wisdom, and humour as she discovers that resilience is learned and that the changes experienced in the aftermath of crisis can often create the greatest opportunities."-- Provided by publisher.
Raising Ryland : our story of parenting a transgender child with no strings attached
Whittington, Hillary, author
2015
Sins of the mother : a heartbreaking true story of a woman's struggle to escape her abusive past and the price her family paid
Kelly, Irene, author
2015
To the river : losing my brother
Gillmor, Don, author
2018
An eloquent and haunting exploration of suicide in which one of Canada's most gifted writers attempts to understand why his brother took his own life. Which leads him to another powerful question: Why are boomers killing themselves at a far greater rate than the Silent Generation before them or the generations that have followed? As his brother writes, "When people die of suicide, one of the things they leave behind is suicide itself. It becomes a country. At first I was a visitor, but eventually I became a citizen." In this tender, probing, surprising work, Don Gillmor brings back news from that country for all of us who wonder why people kill themselves. And why, for the first time, it's not the teenaged or the elderly who have the highest suicide rate, but the middle aged. Especially men.