Kiowa County Public Library District

"Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder. Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church-the only available shelter from the rain-and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins...

"When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition ... Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is [their center of gravity] Jude, ... by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body...

A man who suffered horrific abuse as a child speaks of his adult life and how he learned to love, trust, and pursue his dreams.

In this report, we utilize data from the Adverse Childhood Experiences module of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and from a linked state-initiated Child Health Survey to evaluate the impacts of parental history of adversity not only on their own adult health, but on the current health and well-being of their children. These data provide a window on the intergenerational transmission of adversity, and a clear call to action. Cross-sector...

Garnering media attention when she tries to incinerate her dead father, reclusive Sally Diamond, beginning to discover the horrors of her early childhood, steps into the world for the first time and soon finds her trust issues severely challenged by a sinister voice from her past she does not remember.

A letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born- a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam- and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is...

Hilary Thomas, a screenwriter scarred by abuse suffered in childhood, and Tony Clemenza, an ace cop and would-be artist, plunge into a love affair while pursuing the psychopath who brutally assaulted Hilary.

"Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his siblings idolized their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee regaled his family with stories of his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies--even murder." -- Amazon.com

"Abused by his mother as a child, Dave hastaken everything that has happened to him and turned it into something positive so that he can help others. Dave explains how we can move beyond a painful history, harmful negative thoughts, and innumerable setbacks by taking control and beeing accountable for our lives. Filled with his own history as well as the personal struggls of those who have followed his three-step plan for turning adversity into triumph."...

Nora Brown teaches high school English and lives a quiet life in Seattle with her husband and six-year-old daughter. But one November day, moments after dismissing her class, a girl's face appears above the students' desks -- ''a wild numinous face with startling blue eyes, a face floating on top of shapeless drapes of purples and blues where arms and legs should have been. Terror rushes through Nora's body -- the kind of raw terror you feel when...