The Gift of an Ordinary Day

Author: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0446558095
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition, with boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, and an attempt to find a deeper sense of place—and a slower pace—in a small New England town. This is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers—holding on, letting go. Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all. The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

Author: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0446558095
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 209

No Ordinary Day

Author: Deborah Ellis
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd
ISBN: 155498176X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 107

Book Description
Shortlisted for the SYRCA 2013 Diamond Willow Award, selected as an American Library Association 2012 Notable Children's Book, a Booklist Editors' Choice, nominated for the OLA Golden Oak Tree Award, and a finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards: Young Adult/Middle Reader Award, the Governor General's Literary Awards: Children's Text and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award There's not much that upsets young Valli. Even though her days are spent picking coal and fighting with her cousins, life in the coal town of Jharia, India, is the only life she knows. The only sight that fills her with terror are the monsters who live on the other side of the train tracks -- the lepers. Valli and the other children throw stones at them. No matter how hard her life is, she tells herself, at least she will never be one of them. Then she discovers that she is not living with family after all, that her "aunt" was a stranger who was paid money to take Valli off her own family's hands. She decides to leave Jharia ... and so begins a series of adventures that takes her to Kolkata, the city of the gods. It's not so bad. Valli finds that she really doesn't need much to live. She can "borrow" the things she needs and then pass them on to people who need them more than she does. It helps that though her bare feet become raw wounds as she makes her way around the city, she somehow feels no pain. But when she happens to meet a doctor on the ghats by the river, Valli learns that she has leprosy. Despite being given a chance to receive medical care, she cannot bear the thought that she is one of those monsters she has always feared, and she flees, to an uncertain life on the street. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Just Another Ordinary Day

Author: Rod Clement
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780060276669
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Book Description
Amanda's ordinary day has her riding to school with a Tyrannosaurus rex, talking after lunch with an alien, sailing a pirate ship at the school library, and riding home on an elephant.

The Magic of Ordinary Days

Author: Ann Howard Creel
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101126965
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description
The inspiration for the beloved film that became a TikTok sensation An extraordinary tale of one woman’s journey of resilience, courage, and self-discovery amidst the turmoil of World War II. Olivia Dunne, a studious minister’s daughter who dreams of becoming an archaeologist, never thought that WWII would affect her quiet life in Denver. But when an exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, she finds herself in a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese-American sisters from a nearby internment camp. When Olivia unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a crime that tests her beliefs about trust and love, she must confront her own desires and reconcile them with the harsh realities of the world around her.

Any Ordinary Day

Author: Leigh Sales
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 0143789961
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories--and a terrifying brush with her own mortality--sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next? In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who've faced the unimaginable, from terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humor. Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she's learned about coping with life's unexpected blows. Warm, candid, and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don't know we have.

Just an Ordinary Day

Author: Shirley Jackson
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241257956
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 549

Book Description
A remarkable collection of dark, funny and haunting short stories from the inimitable author of 'The Lottery'. An anxious devil, an elderly writer of poison pen letters and a mid-century Jack the Ripper; a pursuit though a nightmarish city, a small boy's thrilling train ride with a female thief, and a town where the possibility of evil lurks behind perfect rose bushes. This is the world of Shirley Jackson, by turns frightening, funny, strange and unforgettably revealed in this brilliant collection of short stories. 'Jackson at her best: plumbing the extraordinary from the depths of mid-twentieth-century common. [Just an Ordinary Day] is a gift to a new generation' - San Francisco Chronicle 'For Jackson devotees, as well as first-time readers, this is a feast ... A virtuoso collection' - Publishers Weekly

Mitten Strings for God

Author: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 044693092X
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 155

Book Description
Through stories and suggestions, Katrina Kenison shares her insights into how to celebrate life's quiet moments, softly reminding busy mothers to pause and remember the deep sense of well-being comes from a listening ear, an open heart, and a quiet little space carved out of time. Mothers are pulled in a million different directions while trying to give their kids fulfilling, productive, joyful childhoods. They mistake activity for happiness, and fill their kids' heads with information when they ought to be feeding their souls instead. This is a book for mothers who yearn to find a balance in their own and their children's lives.

Magical Journey

Author: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 1455518042
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
From the author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day comes an intimate memoir of loss, self-discovery, and growth that will resonate deeply with any woman who has ever mourned the passage of time, questioned her own purpose, or wondered, "Do I have what it takes to create something new in my life?" "No longer indispensable, no longer assured of our old carefully crafted identities, no longer beautiful in the way we were at twenty or thirty or forty, we are hungry and searching nonetheless." With the candor and warmth that have endeared her to readers, Kenison reflects on the inevitable changes wrought by time: the death of a dear friend, children leaving home, recognition of her own physical vulnerability, and surprising shifts in her marriage. She finds solace in the notion that midlife is also a time of unprecedented opportunity for growth as old roles and responsibilities fall away, and unanticipated possibilities appear on the horizon. More a spiritual journey than a physical one, Kenison's beautifully crafted exploration begins and ends with a home, a life, a marriage. But this metamorphosis proves as demanding as any trek or pilgrimage to distant lands-it will guide and inspire every woman who finds herself asking: "What now?"

An Ordinary Day

Author: Elana K. Arnold
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
ISBN: 1481472623
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
An ordinary day in an ordinary neighborhood turns out to be quite extraordinary in this moving story about the circle of life. It’s an average day in the neighborhood—children play, roses are watered, and a crow watches over it all. But then two visitors arrive at two houses, one to help a family say hello to a new baby and one to help a family say goodbye to a beloved pet. This sensitive picture book takes a gentle look at life, death, the bonds of family, and the extraordinary moments that make ordinary days so special.