Finding My Place

DOES FITTING IN HAVE TO MEAN SELLING OUT? In October 1975, while most teens are worried about their Happy Days Halloween costumes, Tiphanie Jayne Baker has bigger problems. Her parents have just decided to uproot the family to the ritzy suburb of Brent Hills, Colorado, and now she's the only Black girl at a high school full of Barbies. But the longer Tiphanie stays in her new neighborhood, the more her ties to her old community start to fray. Now that nowhere feels like home, exactly where does she belong?

She’s been described by many as a rising star in the Conservative movement, but how did she get here? And more importantly, did she ever plan to? In Finding My Place, Elizabeth takes us back to the beginning. As the daughter of immigrants and a proud religious Jew, Elizabeth dives into the core of what drives her: the sacrifices of her parents and grandparents and all that they had to endure to make sure that she had the opportunity to live the American dream. With an emphasis on her faith and her upbringing, where she pinpoints the lessons and moments that she knew would dictate her future, Elizabeth takes us on a journey that started long before she was even born. From heartbreak and injury, to triumph and recognition, to her start as a figure skater, a writer, a model, and eventually a political activist, Elizabeth takes us along on her journey of finding her place in the world of sports, fashion, Judaism, politics, and so much more. Finding My Place is the behind-the-scenes look at everything she has yet to tell the world.

From Cairo to Canberra -- the irresistible story of an irrepressible woman 'Anne Aly's ... influence will be felt for years to come ... It sinks in how significant she may be to public life.' -- The Good Weekend In 2016, Anne Aly was the first Australian Muslim woman, the first Egyptian-born woman and the first counter-terrorism expert to be elected to federal parliament. She was also most probably the first parliamentarian to have seen Zoolander 23 times. 'What am I doing here?' she asked herself as she was sworn in with her hand on her English translation of the Quran. It's a question the former professor has raised more than once since she arrived in Australia aged two bearing the name Azza Mahmoud Fawzi Hosseini Ali el Serougi. The answer is a fascinating and moving story of a Muslim girl growing up in suburban Australia in the seventies, a girl who danced the divide between the expectations and values of their parents' culture and that of their adopted land, and whose yardstick for 'a normal' Australian family was The Brady Bunch. Told with warmth, humour and insight, Finding My Place is an irresistible story by an irrepressible Australian woman who has truly found where she belongs, and who continues to make her mark internationally and in public life.

“Makes you want to spend a week—immediately—in New Orleans.” —Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal A cocktail is more than a segue to dinner when it’s a Sazerac, an anise-laced drink of rye whiskey and bitters indigenous to New Orleans. For Wisconsin native Sara Roahen, a Sazerac is also a fine accompaniment to raw oysters, a looking glass into the cocktail culture of her own family—and one more way to gain a foothold in her beloved adopted city. Roahen’s stories of personal discovery introduce readers to New Orleans’ well-known signatures—gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice—and its lesser-known gems: the pho of its Vietnamese immigrants, the braciolone of its Sicilians, and the ya-ka-mein of its street culture. By eating and cooking her way through a place as unique and unexpected as its infamous turducken, Roahen finds a home. And then Katrina. With humor, poignancy, and hope, she conjures up a city that reveled in its food traditions before the storm—and in many ways has been saved by them since.

"Thirteen-year-old Anna Green suffers through 47 days in May, June, and July 1863, as the Union army bombs Vicksburg day and night. She yearns for the days before her family moved to a dark, damp cave to protect themselves from falling shells. During one terrible bombing, a tragedy strikes Anna and her siblings and changes their lives forever"--Provided by publisher.

Every person has been designed by God for one-of-a-kind Masterpiece Mission, what most people refer to as personal calling or personal purpose. Everyone needs to be able to name what God has put them on the earth to do. Most people never do. That is a tragedy of epic proportions. We need a simple way to discover that calling, and Find Your Place is that way. GPS technology is widely known as a way to know where you are on the earth, as well as a way to guide you to get where you want to go. The Find Your Place book will help followers of Jesus locate three signals that will help people discern their personal calling: their Gifts, their Passions, and their Story, and help them take meaningful next steps to engage that calling. Furthermore, the American Church has a Co-Dependency Disorder. Church members have become dependent upon church leaders, and church leaders need their members to remain that way. This co-dependence is doing more than throttling the vitality of the church...it is strangling it. In order for the people of God to truly thrive and be salt and light in the world, church leaders must move from simply "gathering and teaching" their members to "empowering and releasing them." This book, the accompanying online assessment, and the disciple-making tools that both will be integrated into, will all be a part of a turn-key solution for church leaders to accomplish that goal.

If you are struggling to find your place in any leadership capacity. And if you have questions concerning your ability or lack thereof within the "The Body of Christ" (The Church). The leader who rises above all those who learn to serve others! If you have a desire for greater understanding of the role of leadership, this is a must read. Dr. Baldock uncovers how to discover your gifting and passion. He also reveals biblical qualifications for those in a leadership role. The leadership in any capacity, is from leading to serving and serving to leading.

An unflinching and endearing memoir from LGBTQ+ advocate Jackson Bird about how, through a childhood of gender mishaps and an awkward adolescence, he finally sorted things out and came out as a transgender man in his mid-twenties. When Jackson Bird was twenty-five, he came out as a transgender to his friends, family, and anyone in the world with an internet connection. Assigned female at birth and raised as a girl, he often wondered if he should have been born a boy. Jackson didn’t share this thought with anyone because he didn’t think he could share it with anyone. Growing up in Texas in the 1990s, he had no transgender role models. He barely remembers meeting anyone who was openly gay, let alone being taught that transgender people existed outside of punchlines. In this “soulful and heartfelt coming-of-age story” (Jamia Wilson, director and publisher of the Feminist Press), Jackson chronicles the ups and downs of growing up gender confused. Illuminated by journal entries spanning childhood to adolescence to today, he candidly recalls the challenges and loneliness he endured as he came to terms with both his gender and his bisexual identity. With warmth and wit, Jackson also recounts how he navigated the many obstacles and quirks of his transition––like figuring out how to have a chest binder delivered to his NYU dorm room and having an emotional breakdown at a Harry Potter fan convention. From his first shot of testosterone to his eventual top surgery, Jackson lets you in on every part of his journey—taking the time to explain trans terminology and little-known facts about gender and identity along the way. “A compassionate, tender-hearted, and accessible book for anyone who might need a hand to hold as they walk through their own transition or the transition of a loved one” (Austin Chant, author of Peter Darling), Sorted demonstrates the power and beauty in being yourself, even when you’re not sure who “yourself” is.