Mom Walks Catching Up

Can a mom preserve her tween’s authenticity under the pressure of middle school? Maybe, but first she has to prove she can stay true to herself. Parenting through the middle school years can test any mom. And Dawn’s wealthy community and its pressure-cooker atmosphere don’t make it easier. She cringes watching her sixth-grade daughter, Kayli, cave to superficial trends and disregard what’s important to her just to fit in. Overwhelmed and underinformed in navigating this minefield, Dawn jumps at the chance to volunteer with some parenting insiders. But the role quickly consumes Dawn and inserts her into the very mom drama she detests. Worse yet, Dawn’s still failing to prevent Kayli from succumbing to her peer influencers. In fact, Dawn starts doing the same. With her work-life balance and her daughter’s character at stake, Dawn must learn to stand up for what she believes in before it’s too late to show her daughter how it’s done.

Every mom worries about their tween’s phone use, right? Probably, but what’s the worst thing that could happen? Tweens, phones, and social media can put any mom on edge. And some trouble Dawn got into when she was younger only ratchets up her anxiety as she parents her sixth-grade daughter, Kayli, through it. Dawn holds out as long as she can before letting Kayli get a phone. Then, when she finally allows it, she ensures all the “right” rules are in place. But it hardly matters. Dawn can’t prevent Kayli from messing up. And with each additional mistake, Dawn grows increasingly frustrated, which only makes Kayli want to hide her errors more. As their mother-daughter relationship gets put to the test, Dawn must figure out what’s really important before the consequences become permanent.

Parenting kids through fifth-grade crushes should be pretty simple, right? A mom and her two best friends are about to find out. Dawn feels very lucky. Her daughter Kayli is a solid student, has good friends, and is a leader on the basketball court. So when a supposedly innocent crush starts chipping away at Kayli’s self-esteem, Dawn struggles with what to do. Although her mom friends encourage her to intervene, Dawn hesitates. She’s inserted herself into Kayli’s social dynamics in the past, and it’s jeopardized their close mother-daughter relationship. But when she tries letting Kayli handle the precarious relationship on her own, the problems worsen and Kayli’s confidence plummets. As Dawn’s heart breaks watching her daughter shrink into a meeker version of her former self, a memory from her own past resurfaces. Dawn finally realizes she must reclaim her own voice in order to prevent Kayli from losing hers.

Gabriella “Gabi” Heralie, a seventeen year-old secretive girl is faced with numerous repeated visions, episodes and past memories in her head. The day it started, happened to be her best friend’s birthday named Meradith “Mare” James, making her question the mystery and yet wasn’t able to tell anyone. She bumped into her childhood friend and later developed into a love interest, Sebastian “Ash” Arpher. She opened up about her situation and investigated the mystery together. Just when the love was about to blossom, her household situation turned into chaos. Not knowing what to do, her visions developed by her seeing the person she was meant to be with in the future, somehow. Piece after pieces, she tried to connect the dots just to lose a big picture of the situation. Finding love, near death experience, divorces of her parents and the family around her. Also illegal scandals between her friend Ana and her best friend's father took place within 10 days since the vision started. Gabi believed it was all caused by her cursed visions and was about to give up with her life. It all changed when she met Nicholas, a fitness coach and student, who coincidentally was the person she kept having visions about aka the person she was meant to be with according to her visions. To her surprise, he had also been dreaming of her since last year. Striked by the euphoria of their compatibility, love spiraled in the air between the two, Gabi found herself lost between her great lovers. Gabi and Ash tried to find the deeper meaning of why the vision started, on the other hand Gabi and Nicholas sucked into their darker side and chose to keep the mystery as it was. Mathew her brother constantly reminded her of the outcome of her choices and Mare ended up discovering her father’s scandal that Gabriela knew all along. Her life and everything around her collided with one another. She surrendered her fate and destiny to the universe and let the faith move her decision after decision.

CONFLUENCE is the story of an international trader who had a rage to succeed. After having a major concussion his spirit guide contacts him while in coma and starts the process of his spiritual search and empowerment. During the many issues that he encounters his wife develops her own sense of self empowerment which presents a conflict to their union. These many challenges force an in-depth look at the three knots of the heart.

Four years later, Han An Xin, who returned with Geng Bao, unexpectedly met the baby's biological father. "Hey, you're very handsome. You're my dad." Han Xin said, "Little An, he's not your father!" Qin Xuan said arrogantly, "Han Xin." Four years ago, he thought Han Xin had climbed into his bed for money. Four years later, he thought that Han Xin Xin had a child with someone else. But after the paternity test ... As Han Xiaoshan ate the ice cream, he said, "Dad, Mommy's angry. Hurry and chase Mommy back."

From the author of A Place at the Table and A Soft Place to Land, an “intense, complex, and wholly immersive” (Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author) multigenerational novel that explores the complex relationship between two very different women and the secrets they bequeath to their daughters. Eve Whalen, privileged child of an old-money Atlanta family, meets Daniella Gold in the fall of 1962, on their first day at Belmont College. Paired as roommates, the two become fast friends. Daniella, raised in Georgetown by a Jewish father and a Methodist mother, has always felt caught between two worlds. But at Belmont, her bond with Eve allows her to finally experience a sense of belonging. That is, until the girls’ expanding awareness of the South’s systematic injustice forces them to question everything they thought they knew about the world and their places in it. Eve veers toward radicalism—a choice pragmatic Daniella cannot fathom. After a tragedy, Eve returns to Daniella for help in beginning anew, hoping to shed her past. But the past isn’t so easily buried, as Daniella and Eve discover when their daughters are endangered by secrets meant to stay hidden. Spanning more than thirty years of American history, from the twilight of Kennedy’s Camelot to the beginning of Bill Clinton’s presidency, We Are All Good People Here is “a captivating…meaningful, resonant story” (Emily Giffin, author of All We Ever Wanted) about two flawed but well-meaning women clinging to a lifelong friendship that is tested by the rushing waters of history and their own good intentions.

Indistinct Appearance is the true story of Robert Uhl. As a youth he had to overcome many obstacles such as the death of his mother at age 13 and living with a father who was verbally and sometimes physically abusive. He served in the military for a total of 10 years (2 years active army and 8 years guard time) and has traveled to many different countries. After the military he attended Iowa Central Community College and the University of Northern Iowa. His education also included four years of a national electricians course, which he says is his second job but pay the best at this time. Robert has always been a resident of Iowa and also writes poetry and short stories, which has become a big part of his life. The book is indeed an autobiography but also tells a story that some may recognize and others should study; hence the title. His life held a secret that plagued him since early childhood but went undiscovered until age 42. He originally wrote the book for his children, which still holds true but also felt that its contents could help many people in the professional and non-professional fields. He writes of his life beginning around age 5 and continuing to around age 50. Due to the short life span of his family he wanted to complete the book for his children and others. He also says he expects to live a long time but there is always that 1% that bothers him. Others should know my story, as it could reroute a child or an adult' s path through life and make life much clearer then it seems to be at present.