Helle Amin seemed to have the perfect life on the tropical island of Bali with her husband and four children. But one day in 2002 this idyllic existence was shattered when she returned home from a shopping trip to find her children gone. It didn't take long to discover that her Saudi Arabian husband had taken them to live in his home country.With her children thousands of miles away in the totally unfamiliar surroundings of an Islamic state, Helle drew upon her remarkable courage. Enlisting the help of her friends, she set off for the desert in a desperate attempt to find her beloved boys. Her journey was filled with drama, danger, excitement and sorrow. In the astonishing struggle that followed, Helle was reduced to catching occasional glimpses of her boys as they went to and from school in Jeddah. Some women might have given up, but not Helle. In a male-dominated society, she prepared her case and demanded justice in the Saudi courts.After a long battle, Helle and her boys were reunited forever, and as a testament to her bravery she was a recent Tesco Mum of the Year winner. This gripping story cannot fail to touch any reader's heart and is packed with adventure, heartache and joy.

Avatars of ConsciousnessTM Awaken to Your Divine Destiny ~ Discover the Truth of Your Magnificent Beingness We Are Not Here To Evolve But To Remember Evolving means we have to become; Awakening means we need only remember what we already are. Who Am I? What Am I, Really? What Is the Ultimate Purpose of Life? Does Consciousness Continue After Death? In this groundbreaking book, Carol Romine reveals the ultimate truth of who we are and why we are experiencing life. It is a phenomenal truth that shifts our consciousness, bridges spirituality and science, unifies classical and quantum physics, and heralds the new paradigm shift in collective human consciousness. Our classical (seen) and quantum (unseen) worlds do not contradict each other, but validate the undeniable truth of All-at-Once ConsciousnessTM the true nature of us, divinity, and our universe. Carol Romines journey of awakening began at age nine when a transcendent, life-altering experience with divinity awakened her consciousness and unfolded a remarkable life of conscious interaction with divine energy. This engaging, paradigm-shattering book reveals The Extraordinary Truth About Consciousness, Creation & Us that Carol discovered while seeking answers from divine consciousness to our most profound universal questionsanswers that enlighten us to our own innate beingness. It is the inspirational, true story of Carols journey of awakeningexperienced as a human being, a mystic, and a soul. This deeply insightful book enlightens our minds, brings peace to our hearts, captivates our spirits, and imbues us with knowing that we are not alone, we do matter, and we can engage with our own higher (divine) consciousness to transform, enrich, and more joyfully live our truest lives. No matter your spiritual beliefs or cultural background, this is truly a book for all humanity, as it reveals the itinerary of this extraordinary journey of conscious awakening that all of us share. Website: www. carolromine.com Cover artwork Aurenas. Copyright 2011 by Carol Romine

Inspired by the work of Souvankham Thammavongsa, Catherine Hernandez and Wayson Choy, this unforgettable novel follows the reunification of Filipino caregiver families over one Canadian winter—and the mysterious progress of Monolith, who appears and disappears in their lives. When five-year-old Monolith is taken from the Philippines to live with his mother in Canada, he immediately lashes out. Unable or unwilling to speak, he attacks her and destroys his new home. Everyone wants to know why—and everyone has a theory. But unlike the solid certainty his name suggests, the answer isn’t so simple. From a cliffside town in the Tagaytay highlands of the Philippines, to the Filipino communities in the desert of Osoyoos, the Arctic world of Iqaluit, the suburbs of southern Ontario, Sarnia's Chemical Valley, Montréal’s Côte-des-Neiges, and Toronto’s Little Manila, Austria-Bonifacio takes readers into the kaleidoscope of the Filipino diaspora, uncovering the displacement, estrangement, resilience and healing that happen behind closed doors. As each chapter unfolds, truths are revealed in humorous, joyful, devastating and surprising ways: through an incisive caregiver's instruction manual, a custody battle over texts and e-mails, a disarmingly direct self-help guide, a series of desperate résumés, a kundiman songbook, and more. Monolith appears again and again, as a misbehaving boy in a store, the subject of town gossip, a face in a fundraising campaign, a client in questionable care, a dying man’s beacon of hope—and an unlikely new friend. Compellingly readable, incisive and resonant, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio’s stunning debut opens a window into the homes and hearts of the Filipino-Canadian community.

The Sahara is the quintessence of isolation, epitomizing both remoteness and severity of environment unlike any other place on the face of the earth. Replete with myths and fictions, it is a wild land, dotted with oases and camel trains trudging through sand dunes that roll like the waves on a sea, as far as the distant horizon. But this is just part of the picture. The largest desert in the world, the Sahara ranges from the river Nile running through Egypt and Sudan in the east, to the Atlantic coast from Morocco to Mauritania in the west; stretching from the Atlas Mountains and the shores of the Mediterranean in the north, to the fluid Sahelian fringe that delineates the desert in the south. Invaders and traders have come and gone for millennia, but the Sahara is also the place that some people call home. While larger than the United States, this vast area contains only three million people. Africans and Arabs, Berber and Bedu, Tuareg and Tebu. Eamonn Gearon explores the history, culture and terrain of a place whose name is familiar to all, but known to few.

A comprehensive survey of the development of civilizations. Its vision is global - in scope, it ranges from the classical societies of Egypt, Greece, and Rome to the cultures of Asia and Africa, from the civilizations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, to Native North Americans and the unique societies of Australia and the Pacific. Together, these diverse civilizations shaped the modern world. They were the birthplace of writing and architecture, legal codes, mathematics, metallurgy and engineering, and complex political social, and cultural traditions.