Birth Road

A bold and evocative work of historical fiction by a debut author that travels from rural Nova Scotia to Boston and back again, told in startling vignettes. My mother was not one to dwell on the past. "Digging up old memories is like eating cherries," she said. "Some people choose the sweet ones every time, and then there are the others, those who always choose the sour." I don't agree with my mother. I have always liked the sweet and the sour. You really can't appreciate one without the other. Memories are like that, too. Told in startling vignettes and with bold, impeccable prose, Birth Road is a story of love, lost innocence, and the secrets that so often haunt small places. Set in early twentieth-century Nova Scotia, our story follows the naive but curious Helen, as she recalls the relationships and significant moments that have led to the birth of her child. Born in the grip of poverty to a cruel mother and a gentle but absent father, Helen's life follows a surprising path as she is moved from one place to another, constantly leaving the people she cares about behind. The love she has for her best friend Madge and her husband Edgar are tested as her journey is overshadowed by rumours and secrecy. Her loving Aunt Gertie, whose voice is like the summer rain, guides her with humour and wisdom as she grows into a woman. Throughout it all, Helen takes in the world around her, but with an innocence that lets it break her heart over and over again. Why is Madge's family so sad? Why does her brother hate their mother? Why have the details of her parents' marriage been kept a secret? As Helen grows, she slowly unravels family secrets, and finds the life she's been building is one she never expected. Moving from the woodlands of rural Nova Scotia to the city streets of Boston and back again, Birth Road is the powerful story of a woman desperate to live life on her own terms.

The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives. Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive, this "tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and, ultimately, beautiful" (San Francisco Chronicle). • From the bestselling author of The Passenger A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other. The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation. Look for Cormac McCarthy's latest bestselling novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris.

Publisher Description

In the #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s first book, the troublemaking team of Bruno and Boots wages war—and school will never be the same. The basis for the movie now streaming on TubiTV Bruno and Boots are always in trouble. So the Headmaster, aka “The Fish” decides it would be best to separate them. Bruno must now room with ghoulish Elmer Dimsdale, plus his plants, goldfish, and ants. And Boots is stuck with nerdy, preppy, paranoid George Wexford-Smyth III. Of course, this means war. Because Bruno and Boots are determined to get their old room back, no matter what it takes. Praise for the Bruno & Boots series “Korman has a unique talent for creating genuinely funny, roll-on-the-floor, laugh-out-loud books. All of his many books are bestsellers, a testament to his popularity with kids.” —Quill & Quire “A hilarious series.” —Booklist “Korman’s vibrant dialogue and breakneck action are the highlights of this merry romp . . . Laughs are as plentiful as [Bruno and Boots’s] misadventures.” —Publishers Weekly

Antigua: a tiny island in the Caribbean. Like so many others, it was host to slavery. This is the true story of the Africans enslaved on Antigua, on the plantations in and around the village of Liberta before it was formed. Dehumanized, unchurched, and worked like animals, they suffered like all other slaves in the New World.There came to the island a group of Moravian missionaries, who worked with the slaves of the plantations in the years of their oppression. While teaching Christianity, these missionaries strived to create better conditions for the blacks. Then, in 1834, came emancipation, and the village of Liberta was born. This is the story of black Antiguans' progress from slavery to freedom, and the transformation of a slave culture into a free society--a culturally, socially, and economically thriving community. With details on many of the historical sites, this is a story of survival, hope, and liberation.ABOUT THE AUTHORHewlester A. Samuel was born in Liberta Village, Antigua. He has always had an avid interest in history, in particular the history of his home island. He has scoured many history books and researched artifacts that date back to the beginning of slavery.Samuel attended Libertan public schools, then attended the West Indies School of Theology in Trinidad. He currently resides in Miami, Florida with his wife Anita and their three children. A retired real estate broker, he also served as a pastor for over fifty years.

This book offers readers fresh insights on applying Extended Reality to Digital Anatomy, a novel emerging discipline. Indeed, the way professors teach anatomy in classrooms is changing rapidly as novel technology-based approaches become ever more accessible. Recent studies show that Virtual (VR), Augmented (AR), and Mixed-Reality (MR) can improve both retention and learning outcomes. Readers will find relevant tutorials about three-dimensional reconstruction techniques to perform virtual dissections. Several chapters serve as practical manuals for students and trainers in anatomy to refresh or develop their Digital Anatomy skills. We developed this book as a support tool for collaborative efforts around Digital Anatomy, especially in distance learning, international and interdisciplinary contexts. We aim to leverage source material in this book to support new Digital Anatomy courses and syllabi in interdepartmental, interdisciplinary collaborations. Digital Anatomy – Applications of Virtual, Mixed and Augmented Reality provides a valuable tool to foster cross-disciplinary dialogues between anatomists, surgeons, radiologists, clinicians, computer scientists, course designers, and industry practitioners. It is the result of a multidisciplinary exercise and will undoubtedly catalyze new specialties and collaborative Master and Doctoral level courses world-wide. In this perspective, the UNESCO Chair in digital anatomy was created at the Paris Descartes University in 2015 (www.anatomieunesco.org). It aims to federate the education of anatomy around university partners from all over the world, wishing to use these new 3D modeling techniques of the human body.

In 1980, two men sit down to record a conversation. They have much in common: both are passionate, articulate thinkers. But their differences are just as striking: Giovanni Testori is a well-known writer-and an openly gay man. Luigi Giussani is a Catholic priest who has attracted so many students with his striking way of re-proposing the Christian message that he's unwittingly started a movement (which came to be known as Communion and Liberation). Testori, who has recently returned to the Catholic faith, begins with a provocative suggestion: modern people have lost contact with the existential and religious experience of birth, of an origin in love-the love of one's parents and the love of God. From here, the dialogue ranges widely, taking on the root causes of modern despair and alienation, the link between suffering and hope, the significance of memory, and what it means to encounter the presence of God in one another. Profound but accessible, The Meaning of Birth is a resonant and bracing exploration of life's most fundamental questions.