My Life With Cranes

Collected stories by George Archibald, Co-Founder of the International Crane Foundation.

A memoir in essays that expands on the viral sensation “The Crane Wife” with a frank and funny look at love, intimacy, and self in the twenty-first century. From friends and lovers to blood family and chosen family, this “elegant masterpiece” (Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger) asks what more expansive definitions of love might offer ​us all. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE GUARDIAN, GARDEN & GUN "Hauser builds their life's inventory out of deconstructed personal narratives, resulting in a reading experience that's rich like a complicated dessert—not for wolfing down but for savoring in small bites." —The New York Times “Clever, heartfelt, and wrenching.” —Time “Brilliant.” —Oprah Daily Ten days after calling off their wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, they realized they'd almost signed up to live someone else's life. What if you released yourself from traditional narratives of happiness? What if you looked for ways to leave room for the unexpected? In Hauser’s case, this meant dissecting pop culture touchstone, from The Philadelphia Story to The X Files, to learn how not to lose yourself in a relationship. They attended a robot convention, contemplated grief at John Belushi’s gravesite, and officiated a wedding. Most importantly, they mapped the difference between the stories we’re asked to hold versus those we choose to carry. Told with the late-night barstool directness of your wisest, most bighearted friend, The Crane Wife is a book for everyone whose path doesn't look the way they thought it would; for everyone learning to find joy in the not-knowing and to build a new sort of life story, a new sort of family, a new sort of home to live in.

From the prolific author of The Moon Within comes the heart-wrenchingly beautiful story in verse of a young Latinx girl who learns to hold on to hope and love even in the darkest of places: a family detention center for migrants and refugees. Nine-year-old Betita knows she is a crane. Papi has told her the story, even before her family fled to Los Angeles to seek refuge from cartel wars in Mexico. The Aztecs came from a place called Aztlan, what is now the Southwest US, called the land of the cranes. They left Aztlan to establish their great city in the center of the universe-Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City. It was prophesized that their people would one day return to live among the cranes in their promised land. Papi tells Betita that they are cranes that have come home.Then one day, Betita's beloved father is arrested by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported to Mexico. Betita and her pregnant mother are left behind on their own, but soon they too are detained and must learn to survive in a family detention camp outside of Los Angeles. Even in cruel and inhumane conditions, Betita finds heart in her own poetry and in the community she and her mother find in the camp. The voices of her fellow asylum seekers fly above the hatred keeping them caged, but each day threatens to tear them down lower than they ever thought they could be. Will Betita and her family ever be whole again?

A lyrical fantasy blending fairy tale elements with contemporary issues Thirteen-year-old Suyin is a poor orphan who has a strange gift with languages and a mysterious connection to the cranes in her small Chinese village. When a shady human trafficker arrives promising luxury and riches beyond belief in America, the villagers elect Suyin - whom they consider lucky - to go as their benefactress. But instead of luxury, Suyin is forced to work in a sweatshop in New York City's Chinatown. Suyin's future seems hopeless, until her beloved cranes arrive and reveal that she is no ordinary girl - instead, she is the daughter of the Crane Queen. Now her mother's life is in danger, and Suyin must prove herself worthy of her position as the Crane Princess, in order to save her mother and the entire clan of cranes. For fans of Grace Lin and Laurence Yep, this is a beautiful story of the meaning of family and finding one's true path in life.

A truly cross-disciplinary study of psychology, theology, economics, and environmental science, How Should I Live My Life presents an overview of human beliefs and institutions that have led to the emerging global ecological threats. By viewing societal institutions and the psychology that spawns them, George S. Howard gets to the root causes of global ecological crises and provides an effective roadmap for changing the disastrous course that humans face. With detailed descriptions of economic and psycological methods that lead to the choices that society has made, Howard puts forth his vision for society's path in a well-rounded argument for changing the course of economic and environmental policies practiced by the governments of the world today.

We all have a story to tell! They are all unique. No two are the same. Each is special; they are full of memories, of learning experiences, of things encountered along the way""some tragic and difficult, some fascinating and exciting. Certainly each story is valuable to someone. Life stories are full of mentors, both good and bad, people with tremendous influence who perhaps changed the pathway of one's life. I have had many mentors over the years. You will read about them! My Life, Does It Really Matter is my story. I loved writing it. As the distant memories came together in my mind, the details took shape, and often I was taken back to "the moment," and the emotions took over. As I wrote my story, I realized that there was a thread that wound through the years that held me together and brought me along the way. You can have the same thread! It will change your life! Insight One day at Starbucks, Dick Craig told his "career story" to some of us friends. An underlying theme in his life story stood out. God was working in Dick Craig's life from way back then and clearly all the way through. The truth shouts out. So now Dick had captured the story on paper; hence, family, friends, and everyone else can grasp that careful involvement. Dick's story reveals many lessons. From a distance, we also get an insight. "Many things happen for a reason and a purpose," even when we don't see it at the time. Our heavenly Parent is nurturing us for eternity. Many readers will have felt God's involvement in their life. If not, this book may now awaken their awareness. - Dennis O'Neill, Business Growth Coach, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, Canada

For Cooley the cranes are something beyond curiosity, perhaps familiar, yet inexplicable. To learn about the cranes, she went to the International Crane Fdn. in Wisconsin (the only place where all 15 species exist). There she walked among them and interacted with them. For 60 million years, cranes have flown over practically every continent. They can fly at altitudes of up to 30,000 ft. and can migrate over 5,000 miles. This book shares the magnificence of these creatures and helps their survival. For each species of crane, Cooley offers a page of poetic description accompanied by a watercolor illustration. A beautiful work of art with a gorgeous slipcase.

Describes efforts by scientists to reestablish a whooping crane flock that would spend summers in Wisconsin and winters in Florida.