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The girl in the painted caravan: memories of a Romany childhood
By Eva Petulengro. 2011
Born into a Romany gypsy family in 1939, Eva Petulengro's childhood seemed to her to be idyllic in every way.…
She would travel the country with her family in their painted caravan and spend evenings by the fire as they sang and told stories of their past. She didn't go to school or visit a doctor when she was unwell. Instead her family would gather wild herbs to make traditional remedies, hunt game and rabbits, and while the men tended horses to make a living, the young girls would join the women in reading palms. But Eva's perfect world would be turned upside down as the countryside became increasingly hostile to all travellers. 2011.The girl in the green sweater: a life in Holocaust's shadow
By Daniel Paisner, Krystyna Chiger. 2008
In 1943, with Lvov's 150,000 Jews having been exiled, killed, or forced into ghettos and facing extermination, a group of…
Polish Jews sought refuge in the city's sewer system. The last surviving member this group, Krystyna Chiger, provides a first-person account of those fourteen months with her family. Also describes Leopold Socha, a Polish Catholic and former thief, who risked his life to help Chiger's underground family survive, bringing them food and supplies. 2009, c2008.The gift of a home: with decorations
By Beverley Nichols. 1972
Cahill continues his study of civilizations, begun in "How the Irish Saved Civilization" (DC15036), with an extended look at the…
Torah. He shows how events therein, especially the Jews' belief in one God and their ability to look at reality in a whole new way, influenced civilization. Some strong language. Bestseller. 1998.The first man in my life: daughters write about their fathers
By Sandra Martin, Ed Martin Sandra. 2007
In twenty-two original narratives, some of Canada's most acclaimed writers share stories, memories, insights, and revelations - from the comic…
to the tragic - about the first man in their lives. These complex stories will open a fresh and intense conversation with daughters everywhere about the men they've observed since childhood: their fathers. Some descriptions of sex and violence and some strong language. 2007.The fence: a police cover-up along Boston's racial divide
By Dick Lehr. 2009
The Fence documents the true story of a Boston police incident during which an undercover officer was brutally beaten by…
fellow officers who mistook him for a murder suspect. Some strong language and some descriptions of violence. c2009.The enemy that never was: a history of the Japanese Canadians
By Ken Adachi. 1976
Adachi presents a comprehensive history of the Japanese experience in Canada from 1877 to 1975, focusing on the internment of…
Japanese Canadians in camps in the interior of British Columbia. He examines the course of Japanese immigration, transplanted traditions and beliefs, the growth of social, economic, and political organizations, and struggle against discrimination.The errand runner: reflections of a rabbi's daughter
By Leah Rosenberg. 1981
The color of water: a Black man's tribute to his white mother
By James McBride. 1996
One of twelve siblings in Brooklyn, the author was confused about his mother's race. She called herself light-skinned and refused…
to discuss her past. Years later she admitted to being an Orthodox rabbi's daughter whose family shunned her after her marriage to the first of her two black husbands. Some strong language. 1996.The draw: a memoir
By Lee Siegel. 2017
Hoping to make a killing in New Jersey real estate, the author's father, Monroe Siegel, takes a draw from his…
employer against unearned commission. When the recession hits in the 1970s, Monroe finds himself owing a small fortune to his firm. He sinks toward divorce and bankruptcy, while Lola, Lee's mother, suffers a nervous breakdown that turns her into a different person. Shamed and enraged by his father's fate, Lee grows up wondering what society owes a person who has failed materially but preserved his humanity. Touches on fundamental questions: How do we balance our obligations to ourselves with our obligations to others? What do we owe society when its rules have a legal basis but not a moral one? 2017.The elephant and my Jewish problem: selected stories and journals, 1957-1987
By Hugh Nissenson. 1988
Short stories and journal entries which describe the Jewish experience from the turn of the century to the aftermath of…
the Holocaust and the beginning of the state of Israel. 1988.The handkerchief drawer: an autobiography in three parts
By Thelma Ruck Keene. 2002
The author relives an extraordinary life, often at odds with the fog of convention surrounding religion, class distinctions, sex and…
war. During WWII she freelances her secretarial skill from the Balkans to the Middle East and Sicily. In 1966, she and her young son emigrate to Canada. Book reflects Thelma's curiosity, wit, and independent streak. 2002.The history of the Bronte family: from Ireland to Wuthering heights
By John Cannon. 2000
This account of the Bronte family traces their Irish ancestry from its murky origins around 1710 to 1820 when the…
Bronte family arrived at Haworth Parsonage, Yorkshire. Patrick Brunty was the eldest of a family of ten from Ballynaskeagh near Newry in County Down. His parents were uneducated and impoverished, but his father, Hugh, was known locally as a storyteller whose repertoire included the strange tale of Welsh Brunty, almost certainly a prototype for Heathcliff. Patrick won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, was ordained a Church of England priest, and held various ministries until finally he arrived in Haworth with his wife suffering from cancer and six young children. He cherished literary ambitions which he passed on to Charlotte, Emily and Anne; and this book points out certain themes and stories in their novels which could only have come from a profound knowledge of their Irish roots as told to them by their father. 2000.The heirs of the prophet Muhammad: Islam's first century and the origins of the Sunni-Shia schism
By Barnaby Rogerson. 2006
Within a generation of Muhammad's death, his followers exploded out of Arabia to confront the two great superpowers of the…
seventh-century and establish Islam and a new civilization. Coming from small oasis communities of central Arabia, their achievements were immense. Rogerson also identifies the seeds of discord that destroyed the unity of Islam, and traces the roots of the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Some descriptions of violence. 2006. Uniform title: Heirs of the prophet Muhammad1734. Marie-Joseph Angélique is a slave woman convicted of starting a fire that destroyed a large part of Montréal. On…
appeal, her punishment of death was modified to torture, to encourage her to name an accomplice, a white man, Angélique's sometime lover. A narrative of a rebellious Portuguese-born Black woman who refused to accept her indentured lot. Explicit descriptions of violence. c2006The glass castle: A Memoir
By Jeannette Walls. 2006
Reporter for MSNBC.com looks back on her unsettled life. Describes growing up in a dysfunctional family, which was always on…
the move. She recalls her father's dream of building a "glass castle," and relates how she and her siblings escaped to make lives of their own. Bestseller. 2006.The Guggenheims: an American epic
By John H Davis. 1978
The greatest: Muhammad Ali
By Walter Dean Myers. 2001
Account of Muhammad Ali's life and career, focusing on his professional accomplishments, principles, and fight against racial injustice. Describes his…
Olympic triumph, his transformation from the young Cassius Clay into Muhammad Ali, and his rise to fame as world heavyweight champion. Examines boxing's damaging effects. Grades 5-8 and older readers. Some descriptions of violence. 2001.The Duke of deception: memories of my father
By Geoffrey Wolff. 1979
The author recaptures the paradox of his brilliant father's turbulent life. Although he found it "fun to be Duke Wolff’s…
son," it was also harrowing to see his father's lies, debts, drinking, and irresponsibility. Some strong language. 1979.The dirt on clean: an unsanitized history
By Katherine Ashenburg. 2007
The apparently routine task of taking up soap and water (or not) is the starting point for an exploration of…
Western culture, which yields insights into our notions of privacy, health, individuality, religion and sexuality. Charts the history of human hygiene, describing those who either didn't wash at all (medieval Europeans) or who did with almost ritualistic fervour (ancient Romans and Greeks). 2008, c2007.