My Shadow Is My Skin

The Iranian revolution of 1979 launched a vast, global diaspora, with many Iranians establishing new lives in the United States. In the four decades since, the diaspora has expanded to include not only those who emigrated immediately after the revolution but also their American-born children, more recent immigrants, and people who married into Iranian families, all of whom carry their own stories of trauma, triumph, adversity, and belonging that reflect varied and nuanced perspectives on what it means to be Iranian or Iranian American. The essays in My Shadow Is My Skin are these stories. This collection brings together thirty-two authors, both established and emerging, whose writing captures the diversity of diasporic experiences. Reflecting on the Iranian American experience over the past forty years and shedding new light on themes of identity, duality, and alienation in twenty-first-century America, the authors present personal narratives of immigration, sexuality, marginalization, marriage, and religion that offer an antidote to the news media’s often superficial portrayals of Iran and the people who have a connection to it. My Shadow Is My Skin pulls back the curtain on a community that rarely gets to tell its own story.

The Iranian revolution of 1979 launched a vast, global diaspora, with many Iranians establishing new lives in the United States. In the four decades since, the diaspora has expanded to include not only those who emigrated immediately after the revolution but also their American-born children, more recent immigrants, and people who married into Iranian families, all of whom carry their own stories of trauma, triumph, adversity, and belonging that reflect varied and nuanced perspectives on what it means to be Iranian or Iranian American. The essays in My Shadow Is My Skin are these stories. This collection brings together thirty-two authors, both established and emerging, whose writing captures the diversity of Iranian diasporic experiences. Reflecting on the Iranian American experience over the past forty years and shedding new light on themes of identity, duality, and alienation in twenty-first-century America, the authors present personal narratives of immigration, sexuality, marginalization, marriage, and religion that offer an antidote to the news media’s often superficial portrayals of Iran and the people who have a connection to it. My Shadow Is My Skin illuminates a community that rarely gets to tell its own story.

My Dad has a shadow that's blue as a berry, and my Mum's is as pink as a blossoming cherry.There's only those choices, a 2 or a 1. But mine is quite different, it's both and it's none.A heartwarming and inspiring book about being true to yourself and moving beyond the gender binary, by best-selling children's book creator Scott Stuart.

In her autobiographic Graphic Novel "The World Beyond My Shadow" awarded artist and writer Daniela Schreiter describes her childhood and youth with Asperger syndrome. She tells her story about a life on "the wrong planet" in wonderful pictures and with a great sense of humor. This book helps to understand what it means to live with Asperger's and is an entertaining read at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, a person's entire existence can change forever. At eighteen, Samantha Michael learned this in the most challenging way imaginable, when she was in a severe car crash at the hands of an impaired driver. After being rescued from the accident, Samantha was comatose and barely alive. Later, as she emerged from her coma, she would come to discover that terrifying moment was not the end but the beginning-the beginning of a lifetime of challenges and changes, tribulations and triumphs. With wisdom, grace and humour, Samantha recounts the aftermath of her injury and her personal, medical and emotional struggles to win back the happiness which was taken from her. She describes the impact on her family and friends, the lasting physical trauma with which she had to struggle, the pain of deferred dreams and the joy of eventually reclaiming her life and self, piece by piece, day by day. The Beauty of My Shadow will pluck a range of emotional chords as the reader experiences the euphoria, hope, doubt, fear, love and other feelings Samantha herself lived through in the days since her life was forever altered. Written candidly and from the heart, Samantha's story gives hope to those who have suffered similar trauma, as well as those who are simply wrestling with the ordinary challenges of daily life. Her memoir serves as a powerful reminder of the strength and versatility of the human spirit-that while adversity derails our path in life, undefeatable perseverance often helps us discover another route to take. A percentage of author royalties from the sale of this book are donated to charity. See book for details. Donated royalties are net of commissions.

Addiction is real. The fate of broken lives as a result of addiction is real. Rock bottom is real. Death is real. Freedom is real. Faith and recovery are real. In this memoir, author Luke Tougas details his real struggle with addiction. Tougas, a five-year psychology major, finds himself caught in the vicious cycle of alcoholism. Ashamed and distraught, he attempts to heal himself without anyone knowing of his addiction. Meet My Shadow follows Tougas as he sees a psychiatrist where he puts on a mask and pays to lie. He tells of meeting his first love and breaking her heart. And he tells of failure after failure of self-help methods and finding himself at rock bottom. Tougas writes about laying defeated on the bathroom floor facing two choices: keeping his secret, dropping out of school, losing his job, and watching his life fade; or revealing his secret, admitting defeat, and seeking guidance from the only ones who can help himAlcoholics Anonymous. Meet My Shadow captures the in-depth effects and struggles of addiction. It follows Tougas on his journey from self-torture and despair to conquering his alcohol addiction with courage.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns with book one of the all-new, compelling Flesh and Fire series—set in the beloved Blood and Ash world. Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort. However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot. Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.

Journey One: The story begins on Christmas 1988. The protagonist Alonzo/Alonso is riding on a bus crossing the Andes into Argentina from Santiago, Chile. He is traveling to San Francisco (Córdoba) to visit his exchange-student host family for the first time in ten years. During this journey, he is confronted with memories of the past through a continuous series of flashbacks. These include growing up black in a racially divided Chicago; the lingering effects of a sexual assault at ten; living in Madrid, Spain for two years; and his first visit to Argentina as an American Field Service participant, arriving to the town of San Francisco on his host brother s birthday and a day before Argentina won its first World Cup soccer championship. The first part ends when his host brother Sergio is smitten with a beautiful young travel agent assisting them in rearranging Alonzo s return ticket to the States. Journey Two: Alonzo returns to Argentina after one year and three months to be his host brother s best man; Sergio is marrying the young lady who assisted them in the travel agency. Alonzo s week-long stay and, in particular, Sergio s wedding day, are highlighted. This section ends at the Córdoba International Airport with Alonzo giving his good-byes to his host parents. Journey Three: The final portion focuses on specific events from 1994 2009. It begins in July 1994 with the death of Alonzo s mother, followed eight months later by the death of a sister from cancer. Subsequent chapters highlight his relocation from Lafayette, Indiana, to Ann Arbor, Michigan (with a month-long stay in Toledo, Ohio, during the OJ Simpson trial proceedings) and finding employment at the University of Michigan; traveling to Argentina in 1997, and again in 1999 for the last time; and finally, corresponding with Sergio in December 2009 from Santiago, Chile, before returning to the States after visiting a friend in Viña del Mar.