Author: Mara Kardas-Nelson
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1250817250
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 351
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Book Description
A deeply reported work of journalism that explores the promises and perils of microfinance, told through the eyes of international lenders and women borrowers in West Africa In the mid-1970s, Muhammad Yunus, an American trained Bangladeshi economist, met a poor female stool maker who needed money to expand her business. In an act widely known as the beginning of microfinance, Yunus lent $27 to forty-two women, hoping small credit would help the women pull themselves out of poverty. Soon, Yunus’s Grameen Bank was born, and the idea of giving very small, high-interest loans to poor people took off. In 2006, Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize for “efforts to create economic and social development from below.” But there’s a problem with this story. There are mounting concerns that these small loans are as likely to bury poor people in debt as they are to pull them from poverty, with borrowers from India to Kenya facing consequences such as jail time and forced land sales. Reportedly hundreds have even committed suicide. What happened? Did microfinance take a wrong turn, or was it flawed from the beginning? Mara Kardas-Nelson’s We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky is about unintended consequences, blind optimism, and the decades-long ramifications of seemingly small policy choices. The book is rooted in the stories of women borrowers in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Their narratives, woven through a deep history of modern international development, are set against the rise of Yunus’s vision that tiny loans would “put poverty in museums.” Kardas-Nelson asks: What is missed with a single, financially focused solution to global inequity that ignores the real drivers of poverty? Who stands to benefit and, more important, who gets left behind?
Author: Sky Nelson-Isaacs
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1623173116
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
Harness the principles of synchronicity and flow to live better, work smarter, and find purpose in your life When we align with circumstance, circumstance aligns with us. Using a cutting-edge scientific theory of synchronicity, Sky Nelson-Isaacs presents a model for living "in the flow"--a state of optimal functioning, creative thinking, and seemingly effortless productivity. Nelson-Isaacs explains how our choices create meaning, translating current and original ideas from theoretical physics and quantum mechanics into accessible, actionable steps that we can all take to live lives in better alignment with who we are and who we want to be. By turns encouraging and empowering, Living in Flow helps us develop an informed relationship to meaning-making and purposefulness in our lives. From this we can align ourselves more effectively within our personal, professional, and community relationships to live more in flow.
Author: Melanie Crowder
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0147512506
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
Modern history unearthed as a boy becomes an innocent victim of corruption in Bolivia's crime world, where the power of family is both a prison and a means of survival. It's 1999 in Bolivia and Francisco's life consists of school, soccer, and trying to find space for himself in his family's cramped yet boisterous home. But when his father is arrested on false charges and sent to prison by a corrupt system that targets the uneducated, the poor, and the indigenous majority, Francisco and his sister are left with no choice: They must move into prison with their father. There, they find a world unlike anything they've ever known, where everything—a door, a mattress, protection from other inmates—has its price. Prison life is dirty, dire, and dehumanizing. With their lives upended, Francisco faces an impossible decision: Break up the family and take his sister to their grandparents in the Andean highlands, fleeing the city and the future within his grasp, or remain together in the increasingly dangerous prison. Pulled between two undesirable options, Francisco must confront everything he once believed about the world and his place within it. In this heart-wrenching novel, Melanie Crowder sheds light on a little-known era of modern South American history—where injustice still looms large—and proves that hope can be found, even in the most desperate places. Perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys, Matt de la Pena, and Jacqueline Woodson. Praise for An Uninterrupted View of the Sky: ★ "Crowder delivers a disturbing portrait of innocent families trapped in corrupt systems, as well as a testament to the strength of enduring cultural traditions and the possibility of finding family in the unlikeliest places."—Publishers Weekly, starred review ★ "Readers will feel utterly invested in Francisco's various challenges...A riveting, Dickensian tale."—Kirkus, starred review ★ "Themes of poverty, social injustice...violence toward women, coming-of-age, romantic love, and a sliver of precarious hope are woven into the plot...[An] important addition to libraries."—School Library Journal, starred review "[A] trenchant novel...This hard-hitting, ultimately hopeful story will open readers’ eyes to a lesser-known historical moment and the far-reaching implications of U.S. policy."—Booklist "[This novel] is raw, gripping, poetic and bold....Crowder takes you on an emotional pilgrimage that you won’t want to end."—RT Book Reviews, five-starred review Praise for Audacity: 2015 National Jewish Book Award finalist Washington Post Best Children’s Poetry Book New York Public Library Best Book for Teens ILA Notable Book for a Global Society ALA Top 10 Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick ALSC Notable Children's Book nominee ★ "Crowder breathes life into a world long past...Compelling, powerful and unforgettable."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★ "[An] impactful addition to any historical fiction collection."—School Library Journal, starred review ★ "With a thorough historical note, glossary of terms, and bibliography, this will make an excellent complement to units on women’s rights and the labor movement, but it will also satisfy readers in search of a well-told tale of a fierce heroine."—BCCB, starred review ★ "This is an excellent title that can open discussions in U.S. history and economics courses about women’s rights, labor unions, and the immigrant experience."—School Library Connection, starred review
Author: Emma Hooper
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 073523275X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 378
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Book Description
*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION* An epic, boundary-pushing tale of five young women rebelling against an era that relies on their submission, from the acclaimed author of Etta and Otto and Russell and James. During the golden age of the Roman Empire, five girls enjoy a modest childhood in their small Portuguese village. They race each other through lemon orchards and pick fresh fruit for the commander who overlooks his people from a large house on the hill. Though the girls are all raised by different families, there is one thing they know without a doubt: they are sisters. What they don’t know is that their simple existence is about to be irrevocably changed. When soldiers abduct them from their village and bring them to the commander, the sisters are suddenly forced to confront long-buried secrets that reveal their lives to be anything but ordinary. Burgeoning on womanhood just as the Empire begins to show signs of crumbling around them, they soon find themselves at the centre of a deadly standoff and must part ways to fight their own battles in order to survive. One of Emma Hooper’s most compelling novels yet, We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky is bursting at the seams with abstract miracles, devastating tenderness, hope, desire, and treachery—with life and death in all their glory. Demonstrating both the force and fragility of human nature, Hooper urges us to consider how we’ll each face our own final hour, to examine what the end really means: is it something to fear, or is it a daring leap into the blaze of a new beginning?
Author: Lilliam Rivera
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1547603771
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 243
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Book Description
Should you save a world that doesn't want to save you? Award-winning author Lilliam Rivera explores the haunting story of an alien invasion from the perspective of three Latinx teens. Pedro, Luna, and Rafa may attend Fairfax High School together in Los Angeles, but they run in separate spheres. Pedro is often told that he's “too much” and seeks refuge from his home life in a local drag bar. Luna is pretending to go along with the popular crowd but is still grieving the unexpected passing of her beloved cousin Tasha. Then there's Rafa, the quiet new kid who is hiding the fact that his family is homeless. But Pedro, Luna, and Rafa find themselves thrown together when an extraterrestrial visitor lands in their city and takes the form of Luna's cousin Tasha. As the Visitor causes destruction wherever it goes, the three teens struggle to survive and warn others of what's coming--because this Visitor is only the first of many. But who is their true enemy--this alien, or their fellow humans? Pura Belpré Honor-winning author Lilliam Rivera examines the days before a War of the Worlds-inspired alien invasion in this captivating and chilling new novel.
Author: Nicholas D. Kristof
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307387097
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation—the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. From the bestselling authors of Tightrope, two of our most fiercely moral voices With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope. They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS. Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty. Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.
Author: Stephen Brooke
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1937745503
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
A long journey it had been for Rahiniti. Born a Kohari peasant, trained from childhood as a dancer in the great Temple of Mihasa, she had followed the Mora warrior Hito over the mountains to a new life, a life as a noblewoman, adopted by the powerful Lord Temani'itu. A life that turns to a new journey when her friend Demba passes, leaving a grieving husband and a young daughter with hidden powers. There are those who mean harm to Lord Gordie, who hope to manipulate him to further their own ambitions. How can one small 'woman of the sky' oppose them? The journey that began in 'God of Rain' and continued through 'Arrows of Heaven' comes at last to a conclusion here, as Rahiniti finds her true place in the realm of the Mora, in the third and final novel of the Mora Trilogy, 'Woman of the Sky, ' by Stephen Brooke.
Author: Holly Fretwell
Publisher: WND Books
ISBN: 0976726947
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 74
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Book Description
Offers information that counters generally accepted beliefs concerning global warming and shows how we can adapt to a changing world in ways that help animals and the environment while still keeping jobs for people and growth for countries.
Author: Bernard Assiniwi
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466839007
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
This astounding novel fully deserves to be called a saga. It begins a thousand years ago in the time of the Vikings in Newfoundland. It is crammed with incidents of war and peace, with fights to the death and long nights of lovemaking, and with accounts of the rise of local clan chiefs and the silent fall of great distant empires. Out of the mists of the past it sweeps forward eight hundred years, to the lonely death of the last of the Beothuk. The Beothuk, of course, were the original native people of Newfoundland, and thus the first North American natives encountered by European sailors. Noticing the red ochre they used as protection against mosquitoes, the sailors called them "Red-skins," a name that was to affect an entire continent. As a people, they were never understood. Until now. By adding his novelist's imagination to his knowledge as an anthropologist and a historian, Bernard Assiniwi has written a convincing account of the Beothuk people through the ages. To do so he has given us a mirror image of the history rendered by Europeans. For example, we know from the Norse Sagas that four slaves escaped from the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. What happened to them? Bernard Assiniwi supplies a plausible answer, just as he perhaps solves the mystery of the Portuguese ships that sailed west in 1501 to catch more Beothuk, and disappeared from the paper records forever. The story of the Beothuk people is told in three parts. "The Initiate" tells of Anin, who made a voyage by canoe around the entire island a thousand years ago, encountering the strange Vikings with their "cutting sticks" and their hair "the colour of dried grass." His encounters with whales, bears, raiding Inuit and other dangers, and his survival skills on this epic journey make for fascinating reading, as does his eventual return to his home where, with the help of his strong and active wives, he becomes a legendary chief, the father of his people.
Author: Matt Tracy
Publisher: Chiloe Press
ISBN: 1736645986
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 219
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Book Description
“What a satisfying read. A tale of loss and rebuilding, regrets and redemption, missteps and new chances.” When a small plane crashes in the hills above Van Weathers’ ranch, it brings new clues to an old treasure map. His son Josh wants to go on a horse camping trip into the mountains to look for gold. Van isn’t convinced there’s treasure but thinks it might be an opportunity to repair their fraught relationship. In the wilderness of Big Sur, they find the plane crash wasn’t an accident, and they aren’t the only ones out there searching for treasure. “Darker Than the Sky takes us from a cabin in the redwoods to the forests of Northern California to the Rocky Mountains to a cornfield in Iowa, then back to the dry golden hills and oak trees of Big Sur. Van’s story gains new depth and meaning in each location. So well done.” “The stories around the campfire were my favorite part. Men being manly, but also talking about real worries and regrets and aspirations.”
