Rescuing Julia Twice

“Traster’s memoir is simultaneously unnerving and inspirational. The adoption world—and everyone surrounding it (meaning everyone)—needs to better understand the realities that affect so many children being adopted from orphanages today.” —Adam Pertman, president, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and author of Adoption Nation In this starkly honest memoir, award-winning journalist Tina Traster tells her moving Russian-adoption story, from dealing with the bleak landscape and inscrutable adoption handlers in Siberia, to her feelings of ambivalence at being a new mother in her forties, to her growing realization over months then years that something was “not quite right” with her daughter, Julia. Traster describes her despair as she blamed her mothering skills for her daughter’s troublesome behavioral issues, until she came to understand that Julia suffered from reactive attachment disorder, a condition associated with infants and young children who have been neglected, abused, or orphaned. She describes how with commitment and acceptance, she and her husband have closed the gulf between them and their daughter to form a loving bond, and provides practical advice for parents struggling with attachment issues. Tina Traster has contributed to numerous publications including the New York Times, the New York Post, Huffington Post, Family Circle, and many more. She lives in Valley Cottage, New York. Melissa Fay Greene is the author of five books, including There Is No Me Without You and No Biking in the House Without a Helmet. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

2015 IPPY Award Silver Medalist in the Parenting Category In moving and refreshingly candid prose, Rescuing Julia Twice tells Traster's foreign-ado!--?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /--ption story, from dealing with the bleak landscape and inscrutable adoption handlers in Siberia, to her feelings of inexperience and ambivalence at being a new mother in her early forties, to her grow­ing realization over months then years that something was "not quite right" with her daughter, Julia, who remained cold and emo­tionally detached. Why wouldn't she look her parents in the eye or accept their embraces? Why didn't she cry when she got hurt? Why didn't she make friends at school? Traster de­scribes how uncertainty turned to despair as she blamed herself and her mothering skills for her daughter's troublesome behavioral is­sues, until she came to understand that Julia suffered from reactive attachment disorder, a serious condition associated with infants and young children who have been neglect­ed, abused, or orphaned in infancy. !--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /-- Hoping to help lift the veil of secrecy and shame that too often surrounds parents struggling with attachment issues, Traster describes how with work, commitment, and acceptance, she and her husband have been able to close the gulf between them and their daughter to form a loving bond, and concludes by providing practical advice, strategies, and resources for parents and caregivers.

Is Rexie cut out to be Best in Show? Probably not. Does Julia enter him in the Happy Tails Best of Breed Dog Show anyway? She sure does. This companion to How to Behave at a Tea Party offers readers more laugh-out-loud silly fun with sister-brother duo Julia and Charles and their lovably mischievous dog, Rexie. With subtle themes of losing gracefully and celebrating the things that make each of us winners in our own ways, this book is perfect for preschool and early elementary children, for readers who enjoyed the How to Babysit a Grandpa series, and for anyone who has ever loved a less-than-perfect pet. Julia and Charles end up hosting a pet show of their own—don't be surprised if young readers are inspired to do the same!

From the legendary editor who helped shape modern cookbook publishing-one of the food world's most admired figures-comes this evocative and inspiring memoir. Living in Paris after World War II, Jones broke free of bland American food and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States she published Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The rest is publishing and gastronomic history. A new world now opened up to Jones as she discovered, with her husband Evan, the delights of American food, publishing some of the premier culinary luminaries of the twentieth century: from Julia Child, James Beard, and M.F.K. Fisher to Claudia Roden, Edna Lewis, and Lidia Bastianich. Here also are fifty of Jones's favorite recipes collected over a lifetime of cooking-each with its own story and special tips. The Tenth Muse is an absolutely charming memoir by a woman who was present at the creation of the American food revolution and played a pivotal role in shaping it.

The only survivors of a devastating boating accident off the coast of Maine, Julia, Noah, and Kim struggle with their brush with death, their feelings of guilt, and their changed perspectives on their lives.

In Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue , the war against the FunTime Menace--aka test prep--wages on at McQuarrie Middle School. Our heroes have already won one battle, with the help of surprising ally Jabba the Puppett. But to defeat the Dark Standardized Testing Forces they're going to need an even bigger, even more surprising ally: Principal Rabbski. With pressure from great forces--the school board--will this former enemy join the Rebellion, or will her transformation into Empress Rabbski, Dark Lord of the Sith, be complete? With this topical episode, Tom Angleberger demonstrates once again that his "grasp of middle-school emotions, humor and behavior is spot-on" (Scripps Howard News Service). Praise for Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue "Fans will devour this satisfying and nicely realistic conclusion to the story set up in the previous volume. Characters grow, and non-Star Wars pop-culture references seep in. Readers new to the series are advised to go back to the beginning; they won't regret it." --Kirkus Reviews "These books are more popular than a working droid on Tatooine. Expect the usual army of young Jedis to come out swinging for a copy." --Booklist

From the bestselling creators of Room on the Broom, a tale of dragons, princesses, and defying expectations! What do dragons learn at Madam Dragon's school? How to fly. . . How to roar. . . How to breathe fire! Zog is the most eager student in the class, but he's also the most accident-prone. With each test (and each bump, bruise, or scrape), his dream of earning a gold star seems farther away than ever. But a mysterious girl keeps coming to his rescue. And when Zog faces his toughest test yet, she may be just the person to help Zog win classroom glory! The beloved creators of Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo, and The Snail and the Whale are back with this tale of an unexpected hero who's good as gold.

ME, THE BOY, AND THE Monster is a personal, thoughtful, and touching tribute to a family's journey through the world of adoption and trauma. McGill has a background in developmental psychology and uses this to great effect; the theory sections of MTBTM are relevant, researched, and related to real-life examples from McGill's own experience with her adopted son. This book goes beyond the tired cliché of 'attachment' however, pulling together relevant strands of many different psychological theories and disciplines, all of which is juxtaposed against heart-wrenching and emotional accounts taken from McGill's own blog, giving the reader a unique and personal insight in to the day to day struggles of her family.