Growing Up Me

A mother reflects on the all the milestones, from walking in a deep wood to holding someone else's hand, that her child will achieve during life.

These poems were culled from my writings of the past thirty years. Sorting through them, I noticed that many were about my childhood; I decided this would be the theme for a book. Getting Above Myself was my first title: it meant three things to me: a childhood notion of the greatest crime one could commit, an ironic take on that idea and finally, the perspective needed for me to see clearly the events I was writing about. This seemed too complicated to convey in just a title. Next I thought of Growing Up plain, straightforward, but also imprecise. I am neither social worker nor psychologist. What I have to share is my personal experience. So, Growing Up Me. The thirty-eight poems in this book cover a period from my birth through high school. They are arranged chronologically by subject and cover such topics as education, family dynamics, the church, and my growing awareness that I was gay.

Internationally recognized psychic and star of A&E’s hit show Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, Chip Coffey shares his personal story of discovering his gift at a young age and offers valuable advice for nurturing and embracing psychic ability. No one knows more about psychic kids than Chip Coffey, and no expert on psychic kids is better known throughout the world. These kids are widely misunderstood, misjudged, and misdiagnosed. In Growing Up Psychic, Chip Coffey offers indispensable information for anyone who interacts with these extraordinary youngsters—parents, educators, medical professionals, mental health clinicians, members of the clergy, paranormal investigators—and adults who faced the challenges of growing up psychic. In Growing Up Psychic, drawing on his firsthand experience and the true stories of kids he has worked with and helped, Chip Coffey shows you how to: • Determine if a child is really psychic—as opposed to simply imaginative or seeking attention • Identify the different kinds of psychic abilities kids (and adults) might have • Gain control over when and how psychic information is received • Safely connect with others in the psychic community • Deal with skeptics and disbelievers “Read Chip Coffey’s book to learn about an astonishing, inspiring, unexplained propensity of the human mind.” —from the foreword written by Dr. Raymond Moody, author of Life After Life

The popular teenage television actor uses excerpts from his fan mail as a jumping-off point to discuss troublesome aspects of adolescence, including family life, dating, and drugs, with examples drawn from his own experiences on and off the set of "The Cosby Show."

Author Sumbul Ali-Karamali offers her personal account, discussing the many and varied questions she fielded from curious friends and schoolmates while growing up in Southern California—from diet, to dress, to prayer and holidays and everything in between. She also provides an academically reliable introduction to Islam, addressing its inception, development and current demographics. Through this engaging work, readers will gain a better understanding of the everyday aspects of Muslim American life, to dispel many of the misconceptions that still remain and open a dialogue for tolerance and acceptance.

Young readers will discover what they can do to make greener choices as they grow up.