November Book Releases
Are you or your child in a reading slump? Do you need a riveting page-turner, educational read, or perhaps a spiritual guide to get back into it?
From children’s books about adoption to memoirs about pursuing a meaningful life, we have just the books to get you and your child into reading again. Check out our November releases below!
Children’s Books
An Ode to My Period
By Swana Thomas
Periods are no fun, and we all know it! Join Sonia as she experiences her first period and writes a letter to defeat and overcome her cycle of menstruation. Follow along as Sonia provides tips and tricks to help during your encounter with menstruation, too!
Around the World in Devi Days
By Alisha Sarkar
Ready to explore? Join Devi, a young Indian girl, on an adventure around the world!
Bruce the Spruce: A New York City Fairytale About the True Meaning of Christmas Trees
By A.A. Cristi
Bruce the Spruce has Christmas all wrong.
Thanks to his fancy decorations and adoring admirers, this artificial spruce tree doesn’t just wear a star at Christmas, he is the star. But when his longtime family gets a new tree, Bruce is sent on a whirlwind adventure through New York City. From a party in Brooklyn, to a run-in with rats, to a high-speed garbage truck ride down 5th Avenue, Bruce the Spruce takes an unforgettable holiday journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas trees.
If Puppies Had Pockets
By Lyn Willy
If puppies had pockets. . .what would they do? This cute board book is the perfect bedtime read for you and your little one.
Malik’s Magic African Alphabet Hat
By Malik and Oni Adunni
Malik travels to Africa from countries A to Z.
Travel to locations with him, and you, too, will see:
a lion’s mountain, animals not in a zoo,
a haunted house, a ghost town, and a mask festival, too.
He travels by a hat that is in his possession.
At the end you’ll find out
how he learns a great travel lesson.
Montana’s Memory Day: a nature-themed foster/adoption story
By Sue Lawrence
Montana is a thinker and a rememberer, and tomorrow is his Memory Day.
He used to be a foster kid, but now he lives with New Mom, who adopted him.
There’s a differentness about this mom—she’s like a steady stream that gurgles.
But Montana is still adjusting to his place in this family and life on a farm in the middle of winter.
Robbie Robin
By Theresa Perna
Robbie Robin is the true story of three children who find a baby bird fallen from its nest and their journey to save its life. As the children learn how to nurture and protect the young bird, they must also learn how to say goodbye as Robbie grows and leaves the home the children have made for him. Both an emotional tale and a chronicle of scientific discovery, Robbie Robin reminds us that happiness and grief are shared, universal experiences that bind us all together, and that the connections formed in adolescence are sometimes the ones we remember the most.
Rules of the Playground
By Gina & Glenn Noonan
Meet Charlie, an above-average adventurer. As a playground expert, he wants all kids to know the most important ways to have fun on the playground. Luckily for us, Charlie narrates these rules in A-B-C order! Join Charlie as he takes us through these playground rules from A to Z.
The Adventures of a Military Brat: My Military Life
By Johanna and Daniel Gomez
Join a brave boy as he takes readers on a journey that is familiar to military children located around the world.
Follow him as he reunites with his cousin, anticipates an upcoming move, adjusts to his father’s recent return, and shows pride demonstrating military traditions.
About The Adventures of a Military Brat series: Each book highlights unique challenges of growing up in a military family. Join our characters as they turn these challenges into opportunities and build resilience through positive messages.
The Baby Duck Summer
By Suzanne M. Malpass
Imagine an eight-year-old girl who has to babysit every day during the summer! Why? Well, because she fell in love with a tiny baby duck at the county fair and wanted it for her own!
The Sleepy Seal
By Eric Bowman
A playful daughter. A loving mother. A heartwarming story for your child’s bedtime routine.
This Is Clare
By Lindy Nelson
Come follow a lady and her hound.
New adventures with new friends will abound.
Learn some English and verse with Lindy and Clare.
We’re in China; we hope to see you there!
Nonfiction Books
Prepare Yourself to Be Lucky: Spirited Lessons to Cultivate Business Success
By Ed McDonnell
As Ed McDonnell grew up in poverty in South Boston, his Irish immigrant parents’ greatest hope for him was a career as a grocer. But McDonnell wanted more. After joining the army and using the GI Bill to pay for college, McDonnell landed a job at Raytheon. During a short post in London, he discovered a passion for international business.
McDonnell had learned a crucial lesson while working his way up: by preparing himself to be lucky, he would be ready to embrace any opportunity that came along. He put that principle into action when his offer to give the president of General Foods a ride home during a snowstorm eventually led to a life-changing opportunity to run one of General Foods’ largest international holdings in São Paulo, Brazil.
In 1981, McDonnell was hired by Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Sr. to build Seagram’s international operations. After leading a dramatic turnaround of Seagram’s global business, McDonnell became president and CEO of Seagram’s $5 billion Spirits and Wine Group.
In Prepare Yourself to Be Lucky, McDonnell shares ten lessons from his fifty-five-year career in international business. He also offers insights on the rise and fall of Seagram, which experienced one of the most disastrous collapses in corporate history after Bronfman passed the company’s leadership to his son.
Sex, Drugs, Etc., Etc., Sex, Drugs, Etc., Etc., Etc.: Unforgettable Lessons that will Change the Lives of Teenagers and Twenty-Somethings
By Rob Shindler J.D.
This is not a HOW TO book, it’s a how NOT TO book.
My dad up in heaven had a favorite saying: “Alittle bit of knowledge is dangerous.” Truth be told, sometimes a little knowledge is all we really need. As a lawyer for thirty-plus years, I’ve seen young people from different neighborhoods and different upbringings repeatedly make the same wrong choices and take the same wrong turns, literally devastating their futures. If someone had just given them a little bit of knowledge, they could’ve avoided ever seeing the inside of a lawyer’s office. I wrote this manual to provide a map to navigate teenagers and twenty-somethings through unexpectedly dangerous waters and guide them around the occasional iceberg. I am arming them with just a little knowledge to help make important and crucial choices, which can hopefully change the course of their lives. It takes a village, but in the famous words of Bob Marley, “Every little thing is going to be all right.”
Spirituality 104: Lessons of Love from The School of Life
By Ivan Figueroa-Otero, M.D.
If you could see all the knowledge obtained from the lessons of your school of life reflected in the magical mirror of your mind,
WOULD IT HELP? WOULD YOU WELCOME IT?
In Spirituality 104, Iván Figueroa-Otero, MD, offers us a selection of the wisest quotes from his School of Life trilogy, with loving messages about different aspects of our existence. If we practice them, they could help us find the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being we all aspire to. Each quote is explained and has exercises to integrate the message into our daily living. If you read the previous books, this will help you refine the concepts and practice their teachings. If you have not read them, here is a practical and concrete guide to receive the most important messages for your progress.
The Little Things: A Memoir of Paralysis, Motivation, and Pursuing a Meaningful Life
By Jack Trottier
What happens to a promising athlete when their life turns upside down and they land in a wheelchair? Who are you when your body no longer seems like your own? Jack Trottier’s The Little Things: A Memoir of Paralysis, Motivation, and Pursuing a Meaningful Life takes us on a journey from the catastrophic accident that shattered his C6 vertebrae through the physical, mental, and emotional challenges that followed as he fought to redefine his life on his own terms. Jack shares the motivation that sustained him and the lessons he learned along the way with writing that is honest, beautiful, and even humorous. The Little Things encourages us to look beyond the chair and see the person sitting there. Just like you, they have a story to tell.
Why We Are What We Eat: The Role of Diet and Symbiotic Microorganisms in Mental and Physical Health
By Inna Kruman, Ph.D.
The idea of a strong link between food and human identity is age-old. However, exactly how food affects the human body and mind remained unclear until recently, when researchers determined that our environment can turn gene expression off and on, thereby influencing the way we, as organisms, function. This discovery caused a breakthrough in our understanding of how our diet affects our wellbeing, as food is one of the most critical environmental factors.
In Why We Are What We Eat, Inna Kruman, PhD takes a close look at these recent research advances and explores the interplay between the digestive, immune, and nervous systems. In doing so, she focuses on the role of symbiotic microorganisms in these relationships, detailing the central role diet takes in shaping this symbiotic microbial community—making those tiny microbes the key to our physical and mental health. Join Dr. Kruman on a journey to discover why we are what we eat.