Just Jen

Jen Powley was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at fifteen. By thirty-five, she had lost the use of her arms and legs. Just Jen is a powerful memoir that tells the story of Powley’s life at the time of her diagnosis, and the infinite, irrevocable ways it has changed since. Powley’s writing pulls no punches. She is lively, bold and unapologetic, answering questions people are often afraid to ask about living with a progressive disease. And yet, these snapshots from Powley’s life are not tinged with anger or despair. Just Jen is a powerful, uplifting and unforgettable work by an author who has laid her life — and her body — bare in order to survive. Just Jen: Thriving Through Multiple Sclerosis - Book Trailer 1 from Fernwood Publishing on Vimeo.

"Jen Powley's intimate and provocative writing will wake you up. Jen brings insight, compassion, and humour to these memorable stories of living 'waist high' among family, friends, and lovers. Trust this writer: she's the real thing."

In this funny, heartwarming celebration of kindness and inclusion, spunky grade school narrator Jenna, or Jen (as she prefers), shares all about living with invisible differences. Jen skips through life, introducing readers to methods of coping with congenital anomalies, including hearing loss, palate and heart defects, and scoliosis caused by 22q11.2 DS. Hilarious illustrations and the story reference differences such as autism, peanut allergy, diabetes, NG tubes, sensory preferences, CHD, asthma, Lyme disease, lupus, contrasting opinions on tuna, and more. Kid-friendly glossary explains concepts and medical lingo to readers of all ages. A colorable perfect primer on empathy for school aged children, Just Jen teaches readers to be kind, be yourself, and accept others as they are.

From tween advocate for limb difference and founder of Project Unicorn Jordan Reeves and her mom, Jen, comes an inspiring memoir about how every kid is perfect just the way they are. When Jordan Reeves was born without the bottom half of her left arm, the doctors reassured her parents that she was “born just right.” And she has been proving that doctor right ever since! With candor, humor, and heart, Jordan’s mother, Jen Lee Reeves, helps Jordan tell her story about growing up in an able-bodied world and family, where she was treated like all of her siblings and classmates—and where she never felt limited. Whether it was changing people’s minds about her capabilities, trying all kinds of sports, or mentoring other kids, Jordan has channeled any negativity into a positive, and is determined to create more innovations for people just like her. Her most famous invention, aptly called Project Unicorn, is a special prosthetic (that shoots glitter!) made with the help of a 3-D printer. A real-life superhero, Jordan is changing the world with her foundation, Born Just Right, which advocates and celebrates kids with differences, and helps them live their best possible life—just like Jordan is today!

Hospitality is one of the best ways to live out the two greatest commandments: loving God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. But often we get caught up in perfecting our homes and conversations before we open our doors. Over 7 sessions, look to Jesus as your model for hospitality. Discover how He lived a life full of interruptions, yet always welcomed people and invited them to follow Him. Learn to replace cultural expectations with biblical hospitality to create a legacy of invitation and reflect Jesus through simple acts of service. Features: Leader helps to guide questions and discussions within small groups Personal study segments with homework to complete between 7 weeks of group sessions Interactive teaching videos, approximately 25-30 minutes per session, available on DVD and via digital download The Bible study book Thirty-three free study resources, including the books the author used in preparation for this study Promotional tools, including a sample chapter, poster, bulletin insert, PowerPoint slide, and more Benefits: Replace cultural expectations with biblical hospitality to create a legacy of invitation. Discover daily rhythms of kindness, generosity, and presence at home and on the go. Learn to view welcome as worship, and reflect Jesus through simple acts of service. Become a woman of influence through hidden hospitality. Create spaces of welcome in your heart, home, and beyond.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster has lived a life based on re-invention and self-improvement. From Bitter Is the New Black to The Tao of Martha, she’s managed to document her (and her generation’s) attempts to shape up, grow up, and have it all—sometimes with disastrous results… Sure Jen has made mistakes. She spent all her money from a high-paying job on shoes, clothes, and spa treatments. She then carried a Prada bag to the unemployment office. She wrote a whole memoir about dieting…but didn’t lose weight. She embarked on a quest for cultural enlightenment that only cemented her love for John Hughes movies and Kraft American Singles. She tried to embrace everything Martha Stewart, while living with a menagerie of rescue cats and dogs. (Glitter…everywhere.) Mistakes are one thing; regrets are another. After a girls’ weekend in Savannah makes her realize that she is—yikes!—middle-aged (binge watching is so the new binge drinking), Jen decides to make a bucket list and seize the day, even if that means having her tattoo removed at one hundred times the cost of putting it on. From attempting a juice cleanse to studying Italian, from learning to ride a bike to starting a new business, and from sampling pasta in Rome to training for a 5K, Jen is turning a mid-life crisis into a mid-life opportunity, sharing her sometimes bumpy—but always hilarious—attempts to better her life…again.

A young couple's toxic Instagram crush spins out of control and unleashes a sinister creature in this twisted, viciously funny, "bananas good" story (Carmen Maria Machado). "Um, holy shit...This novel will be the most fun you'll have this summer." —Emily Temple, Literary Hub Remy and Alicia, a couple of insecure service workers, are not particularly happy together. But they are bound by a shared obsession with Jen, a beautiful former co-worker of Remy’s who now seems to be following her bliss as a globe-trotting jewelry designer. In and outside the bedroom, Remy and Alicia's entire relationship revolves around fantasies of Jen, whose every Instagram caption, outfit, and new age mantra they know by heart. Imagine their confused excitement when they run into Jen, in the flesh, and she invites them on a surfing trip to the Hamptons with her wealthy boyfriend and their group. Once there, Remy and Alicia try (a little too hard) to fit into Jen’s exalted social circle, but violent desire and class resentment bubble beneath the surface of this beachside paradise, threatening to erupt. As small disturbances escalate into outright horror, we find ourselves tumbling with Remy and Alicia into an uncanny alternate reality, one shaped by their most unspeakable, deviant, and intoxicating fantasies. Is this what “self-actualization” looks like? Part millennial social comedy, part psychedelic horror, and all wildly entertaining, A Touch of Jen is a sly, unflinching examination of the hidden drives that lurk just outside the frame of our carefully curated selves.

If Jen Winston knows one thing, it's that she's bisexual. Wait-maybe she isn't? Actually, she definitely is. Unless ... she's not? Winston's hilarious, whip-smart debut takes us inside her relatable journey of self-discovery, navigating questions like: What does it mean to be "queer enough"? Is it possible to masturbate wrong? How do you overcome bi stereotypes when you're the poster child for all of them: indecisive, slutty, and constantly confused? With shrewd wit and refreshing candor, Greedy offers an intimate look at gender, sexuality, memes, DMs, threesomes, ghosting, and other realities of modern love. Winston makes mistakes so we don't have to, reminding us that queerness is about so much more than who you sleep with -it's about truth, community, and defining yourself on your own terms. Greedy is your laugh-out-loud, provocative companion for imagining the world as it could be-the perfect book for anyone who wants, and deserves, to be seen. Book jacket.