The House on Carnaval Street

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0751555975
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 221

Book Description
I hadn't been planning on making Mexico my new home, but the little house on the sea was all that I had left . . . Intimate, honest and touching, this is the story of Deborah Rodriguez's often hilarious journey of self-discovery. Forced to flee her life in Afghanistan, she leaves behind her friends, her possessions and her two beloved businesses: a hair salon and a coffee shop. But life proves no easier 'back home'. After a year living in California where she teeters on the edge of sanity, Deborah makes a decision: she's going to get the old Deb back. So, at the age of forty-nine, she packs her life and her cat, Polly, into her Mini Cooper and heads south to a pretty seaside town in Mexico. Home is now an unassuming little house on Carnaval Street. If you liked Eat, Pray, Love you will love The House on Carnaval Street. Rodriguez's story speaks to every woman, mother, sister, wife - to anyone who has ever questioned their relationships, their place in the world and the choices that they've made.

Margarita Wednesdays

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476710694
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
In answer to the question of what happened following her New York Times bestseller Kabul Beauty School, Deborah Rodriquez is back with a new memoir: “a brave and often hilarious tale of reinvention, told with pioneer woman brio and wicked humor” (Wendy Lawless, bestselling author of Chanel Bonfire). Irreverent, insightful, and blatantly honest, Deborah takes us along on her inspiring journey of self-discovery and renewal after she is forced to flee Afghanistan in 2007. She first lands in California, where she feels like a misfit teetering on the brink of sanity. Where was that fearless redhead who stared danger in the face back in Kabul? After being advised to commune with glowworms and sit in contemplation for one year, Rodriguez finally packs her life and her cat into her Mini Cooper and moves to a seaside town in Mexico. Despite having no plan, no friends, and no Spanish speaking skills, a determined Rodriguez soon finds herself swept up in a world where the music never stops and a new life can begin. Her adventures and misadventures among the expats and locals help lead the way to new love, new family, and a new sense of herself. In the magic of Mexico, she finds the hairdresser within, and builds the life she never knew was possible—a life on her own terms.

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul (originally published as A Cup of Friendship)

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 034553400X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
“[Deborah] Rodriguez paints a vivid picture of Afghan culture. . . . As if Maeve Binchy had written The Kite Runner.”—Kirkus Reviews After hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home—in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. There, the thirty-eight-year-old serves up her American hospitality to the expats who patronize her coffee shop, including a British journalist, a “danger pay” consultant, and a wealthy and well-connected woman. True to her name, Sunny also bonds with people whose language and landscape are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but whose hearts and souls are very much like our own: the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son; and Yazmina, a young Afghan villager with a secret that could put everyone’s life in jeopardy. In this gorgeous first novel, New York Times bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez paints a stirring portrait of a faraway place where—even in the fog of political and social conflict—friendship, passion, and hope still exist. Originally published as A Cup of Friendship. Praise for The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul “A superb debut novel . . . [Deborah] Rodriguez captures place and people wholeheartedly, unveiling the faces of Afghanistan’s women through a wealth of memorable characters who light up the page.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] fast-paced winner of a novel . . . the work of a serious artist with great powers of description at her disposal.”—The Kansas City Star “Readers will appreciate the in-depth, sensory descriptions of this oft-mentioned and faraway place that most have never seen.”—Booklist “Charming . . . [a book] to warm your heart.”—Good Housekeeping

House on Carnaval Street, The

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 0857981110
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
Intimate, honest and touching, this is the story of Deborah Rodriguez's often hilarious journey of self-discovery. Forced to flee her life in Afghanistan after the publication of her first book, The Kabul Beauty School, she leaves behind her friends, her possessions and her two beloved businesses: a hair salon and a coffee shop. But life proves no easier 'back home'. After a year living in California where she feels like a misfit, teetering on the edge of sanity, Deborah makes a decision. One way or another she's going to get the old Deb back. So, at the age of forty-nine, she packs her life and her cat, Polly, into her Mini Cooper and heads south to a pretty seaside town in Mexico. Home is now an unassuming little house on Carnaval Street. There she struggles to learn Spanish, works out with strippers and spends her Saturday nights watching clowns. And maybe - just maybe - the magic of Mexico will finally give her what she's always dreamed of: a life on her own terms ...If you liked Eat, Pray, Love you will love The House on Carnaval Street.Rodriguez's story speaks to every woman, mother, sister, wife - to anyone who has ever questioned their relationships, their place in the world and the choices that they've made.

Kabul Beauty School

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588366073
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born. With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families’ breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup. Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family’s debts, the Taliban member’s wife who pursued her training despite her husband’s constant beatings. Through these and other stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style. With warmth and humor, Rodriguez details the lushness of a seemingly desolate region and reveals the magnificence behind the burqa. Kabul Beauty School is a remarkable tale of an extraordinary community of women who come together and learn the arts of perms, friendship, and freedom.

The House on Mango Street

Author: Sandra Cisneros
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0345807197
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A coming-of-age classic about a young girl growing up in Chicago • Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world—from the winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. “Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage...and seduces with precise, spare prose, creat[ing] unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer, but an absolutely essential one.” —The New York Times Book Review The House on Mango Street is one of the most cherished novels of the last fifty years. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she will become. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery and one of the greatest neighborhood novels of all time. Like Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street or Toni Morrison’s Sula, it makes a world through people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic and direct. This gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power of telling one’s story and of being proud of where you're from.

Furia

Author: Yamile Saied Méndez
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
ISBN: 1643751204
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK Recipient of the 2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Medal One of BuzzFeed's Must-Read YA Books of 2020 A Best Book of the Year: Cosmopolitan * Kirkus Reviews * SheReads * New York Public Library “An engrossing #OwnVoices novel.” —PopSugar “This book will set your dreams on fire . . . It’s fabulous.” — Reese Witherspoon A powerful contemporary YA for fans of The Poet X and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams. In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life. At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father. On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university. But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her. Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl’s journey to make her life her own.

Island on the Edge of the World

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0751574570
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Haiti. A poor country rich in courage, strength and love. As these four women are about to discover. Charlie, the rootless daughter of American missionaries, now working as a hairdresser in Northern California. But the repercussions of a traumatic childhood far from home have left her struggling for her way in life. Bea, Charlie's eccentric grandmother, who is convinced a reunion with her estranged mother will help Charlie heal. Lizbeth, a Texas widow who has never strayed too far from home. She is on a daunting journey into the unknown, searching for the grandchild she never knew existed. And Senzey, a young Haitian mother dealing with a lifetime of love and loss, who shows them the true meaning of bravery. Together they venture through the teeming, colorful streets of Port-au-Prince, into the worlds of do-gooders doing more harm than good, Vodou practitioners, artists, activists, and everyday Haitian men and women determined to survive against all odds. For Charlie, Bea, Lizbeth and Senzey, life will never be the same again . . .

Bisa's Carnaval

Author: Joana Pastro
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 9781338617627
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
In the city of Olinda, Brazil, Clara is looking forward to the Carnaval street parade, with the colorful, fantastic costumes that her great-grandmother makes for the family--but her Bisa is too old to follow the parade, so Clara decides to bring the parade to her.

The Zanzibar Wife

Author: Deborah Rodriguez
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0751561495
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
'A lovely novel of female friendship and support when East meets West, of magic and things we may not understand, of hope, of comfort, and in the background the enticing salty, fishy, spicy aromas of Zanzibar.' - Dinah Jeffries 'Heart-warming and poignant. A story of female courage and friendship sprinkled with magic - what's not to love?' - Rosanna Ley 'a compelling account of three very different women, each challenged by circumstances that reveal the inner conflict in their lives, and their refusal to conform. An endearing read.' - Vaseem Khan A beautiful, exotic, sweeping, emotional story, perfect for fans of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul An internationally best selling author **************** Oman. The ancient land of frankincense, wind-swept deserts, craggy mountaintops and turquoise seas. Into this magical nation come three remarkable women, each facing a crossroad in her life. Rachel, an American war photographer, who is struggling to shed the trauma of her career. Now she is headed to Oman to cover quite a different story - for a glossy travel magazine. Ariana Khan, a bubbly English woman who has rashly volunteered as Rachel's 'fixer', a job she's never heard of in a country she knows nothing about. And Miza, a young woman living far from her beloved homeland of Zanzibar. As the second wife of Tariq, she remains a secret from his terrifying 'other' wife, Maryam. Until the day that Tariq fails to come home... As the three women journey together across this extraordinary land, they quickly learn that, in Oman, things aren't always what they appear to be... The Zanzibar Wife is a bewitching story of clashing cultures and conflicting beliefs, of secrets and revelations, of mystery and magic, by the author of the beloved international bestseller The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. 'As if Maeve Binchy had written 'The Kite Runner' - Kirkus Reviews