This narrative documentary portrays the life of a thirteen-year-old girl who breaks out of an abusive environment by escaping the grasp of a tyrannical stepmother who had victimized her and seven of her siblings for many years. Except for the people who made her escape possible, she was essentially on her own as she worked her way through high school. After working for a year as a private secretary in a civil service position, she was encouraged to apply for a scholarship to the University of Illinois. A second scholarship and a secretarial position at the university made it possible for her to acquire a bachelors degree in speech pathology and to graduate debt free in four years. She continued her education during a busy career and earned a masters degree in speech and language pathology from Northwestern University. By rising above what she considered to be a lost childhood, she manages to have a successful career along with marriage and a family. It appears that this author never looked down after leaving a childhood of abuse, compounded by the problems of the Great Depression. Those who encouraged her along the way are acknowledged as the angels in her life. Through these special mentors she meets movie stars and Hollywood moguls in the west and through her marriage to a naval officer she meets military and foreign dignitaries in Washington, D.C. Throughout this story, success and happiness in this family are often eclipsed by poignant periods of sadness, but only to rise again as their upbeat spirits prevail. Although the author is the central figure in this memoir, her eight siblings contribute immensely to the central theme of this story the will to survive and succeed. They beat the odds against the oft-quoted premise that growing up in violence will perpetuate violence. This story was written to provide insight into the problem of child abuse. Along with this moving commentary and narration, helpful information is provided for everyone working with children and young adults laymen and professionals alike.

Author, journalist, and USS Midway Museum spokesman Scott McGaugh reveals the riveting stories of the men and women who save lives on the front lines in Battlefield Angels, the first book about battlefield medicine in the US military. Told from the point of view of the unsung heroes who slide into bomb craters and climb into blazing ships, this unique look at medicine in the trenches traces the history of the military medical corps and the contributions it has made to America's health, for example, how the military medical corps pioneered the ambulance concept, emergency medevac helicopters, hospital designs, and contagious disease prevention. McGough also details how the military medical corps has adopted medical science discoveries, field tested them in battle, adapted them, and proved their value.

How Hollywood cashed in on the latest tech boom-and changed the face of Silicon Valley. When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula-seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals-but with a twist: as the first person to top 1 million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups. A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Bartering credibility and connections in exchange for early (and often discounted) access to the world's most coveted investment opportunities, this diverse group changed the face of venture capital while amassing portfolios packed with companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Uber. But how did two once-dissonant universes-Silicon Valley and Hollywood-become intertwined? Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg told the first chapter of Kutcher's transformation for the magazine's cover story in 2016. Now he offers a lively, page-turning account of how this motley crew of talent managers, venture capitalists, and celebrities helped the creative class forge a brand-new blueprint for generational wealth. Through extensive reporting and exclusive interviews with more than 100 key players-including Shaq, Nas, Joe Montana, Sophia Bush, Steve Aoki, Tony Gonzalez, and dozens of behind-the-scenes power brokers-Greenburg sheds light on the unlikely group that fundamentally transformed the value of fame.

Why were these two beautiful baby girls abandoned? What happened to their mysterious mother and their biological father? What roadblocks did Bessie, a young African-American woman, run into when attempting to bring up these two marvelous white children as her own daughters, along with her own biological daughter? For a while, no one seemed to care one way or the other, that is, until time had passed and the girls matured into their preteen years. When one of them displayed surprising athletic prowess, others became concerned. Was it racial motivation or greed that suddenly brought the human roaches out of the woodwork in an attempt to snatch the girls away from Bessie? Mom and her daughters faced steep odds in a rather bizarre court setting, but they managed to beat those odds, and the family continued to grow and thrive. This adorable and creative family eventually became darlings of the entire community. In time, the girls were referred to as the angels from the valley. But in life, sometimes, before you can become an angel, you have to experience hell. Sometimes, even angels have to cry. How does a family (or, for that matter, an entire community) react when hell raises its ugly head? This is an easy read as you navigate through the many unexpected twists and turns, some of them enlightening and still others extremely unpleasant.

God’s angels, by His command, are with every soul throughout their journey in this life. Where the devil is constantly looking at ways to make us lose our way, the angels try to keep calling us to good. Then as we are about the leave this world, angels come down from the heavens with a shroud and call us back. This beautifully presented book provides 30 reflections on the unseen presence of angels in our lives, from birth till death, towards Allah.

Shelby feels like the Dysfunctional Family Poster Child. She's fourteen, and she's never known her father. Her eccentric mother refuses to even talk about him. Worse still, her mother is constantly packing them up and moving. Shelby just wants to stay put and have a normal teenage life. But Shelby's household has never been normal. Soon she finds herself heading for Red Valley, an isolated town in the Texas Panhandle that may hold the key to her puzzling past. Shelby is determined to uncover her mother's secrets. But in Red Valley she discovers that the truth can be dangerous, and that some questions may be better left unanswered.