Heartbreak to Hope, a Lifelong Journey
350771
The Little Boy in the Tree is the story of a father's deep and abiding love for his son, his devastating anguish and grief over the untimely death of his son in Iraq, and his journey through loss and despair to a new place of hope.  Part memoir and part travelogue through Asia and West Africa, the reader journeys, too, experiencing the author's day-to-day gut-wrenching sorrow and his unexpected, life-affirming encounters.  Be prepared to cry, to laugh, to mourn, and to discover ways to find renewal in the midst of great loss.  Kudos to Roland Russoli for the gifts of his son, his example, and this remarkable book to all who seek to make sense of the senseless heartbreak that all too often comes knocking on our doors.
4819677
Healing from a childhood of abuse is a life-long process, and is not always a successful one---Katherine Mayfield has shared her heart-wrenching story of how she began that process, and with years of learning how to comfort her inner child, has become a woman of great strength, heart and compassion. This book will touch the spirit of anyone who spent their childhood feeling like they were invisible or worthless, or somehow expected to be the one to keep the family happy....this memoir will fill your heart with inspiration and hope.
795444
Love To Give is a heartbreaking, yet uplifting story.  The author exposes her deepest feelings and raw emotions in writing about their journey, but gently takes the reader along, in describing the events of their lives, revealing the love and support of their family, and  sharing their deep and sustaining faith.
2291836
A very inspirational book that demonstrates hope through devastating loss. The tone is one of emotional honesty and clarity. This book is a treasure that should be shared!
680064
An engaging personal account that follows a powerful life event. The author courageously shares her journey of love and heartache and learning to love again. It sheds light on the dramas/traumas of PTSD and the need for better care for our returning veterans. It's ultimately a healing story of people affected by a desperate act for recognition who desire greater understanding of a "criminal mind." I feel uplifted by the tender expressions of love letters she included . It sheds an intimate light on a story of forgiveness within a multi-dimensional spiritual context. It's a beacon of hope.
2463526
Diamantes Lavendars book, Poetry & Ponderings, offers hope and healing in a transformational and beautiful work of non-fictional poetry and prose. Dedicated to her daughter, and also to those who have been wounded by abuse, this book comes highly recommended for those that desire to understand themselves, their circumstances and has been developed to lead one into a practice of faith in God, giving peace and hope for the future. Forgiveness and acceptance are also a teaching that is weaved into her poems.

For those that appreciate the art of language through poems, expressions and acronyms, and those who also relate to a Christian perspective, this book offers hope in finding new life in God that will instill a deep appreciation for those who choose triumph over tragedy. Hope and encouragement is a common thread throughout as the healing journey is depicted. The authors deep faith in God displays how God carried her through to the other side of healing, letting others know that He is our help.

The author displays great compassion and a deep love for her beloved child, and for others, that have suffered through years of abuse. Her hopes are to help them find healing through a journey of healing to find God as her ponderings and poems present to readers the temporal state of all who dwell on Earth. Further, advocating a process of healing (one step at a time), the author gives encouragement to sufferers of abuse that the pain can heal. The author sheds light into the hope available through letting go, forgiveness and focusing on the Lords providence, plans, dreams and Gods Word.

Prophetic, insightful and uplifting, the book is framed from a series of Affirmations that shed light into the healing process. (Isaiah 61 comes to mind). Within her book are beautifully inspired acronyms for words such as I Love You and Faith that go straight to the heart. Her book flows, like the ebbing of ocean waves, that speak of life-lessons learned from laying all aside, only to accept what is lovely, pure, holy and true.

Biblical in nature, the author leads readers on a journey to healing and to having a positive outlook on life. The poems help one to live a God-breathed life to the fullest and to live in a state of forgiveness. This book addresses such issues as: anger, self-esteem, sexual abuse, forgiveness, grief, despair and turns those ashes into beauty.

Poetry & Ponderings: A Journey of Abuse and Healing Through Poetry comes highly recommended to those who have been sexually abused, as a way to calm, express and bring clarity, giving hope and affirmation in God that bring healing (and a smile) to a wounded soul.
4742807
This book is a wonderfully written personal and family account of one's journey
to be free from hate and fear and its aftermath to the soul of the generations who come after.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read what a journey to overcome prejudice,
hate, and fear looks like - and for the hope you will receive in reading it.  It made me cry and
filled my heart with faith, hope, and love.
Shay  Hays, KS
1151030
When Nathan McCann finds a newborn abandoned, and near death, in the woods, he begins a lifelong journey to teach the boy what it means to never give up on someone, even when that lesson is difficult and costly. This is a book layered with meaning and emotion. It was heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time. I would recommend it to anyone.
282015
Poignant and authentic journey from despair to recovery. An inspirational read
1866642
When I first received the book, Forever With You, by author Ivzi Cipuri, I was struck silent by the faded photograph on its cover.  I have been haunted by that lovely face; the way her eyes shy away from the camera's lens, as if hiding the soul within, forever denying the reader's gaze and foreshadowing the author's torment.  Lovingly dedicated, "To my unforgettable beloved wife Aije . . ." this volume of poetry is an autobiographical journey of love, life, and loss.  Through it, the author seeks to immortalize his beloved wife and to share their story with the reader. The book is divided into three sections or moods of poetry. In the beginning, Ivzi offers the reader beauty and hope as he and his bride enter into a new life through marriage. His poetry describes glimpses of life well lived, of health and happiness. Then, the poems take a turn down darker paths, into clouds of fear, illness, battles waged, and ultimately death. The author completes his offerings by opening his chest, and in words, he gifts the reader with grasping, choking, ugly, angry anguish, and grief.

"You beauty, you ugly, I hate you all!
You give me pain, I cry, I toll;
You pinch my soul, you break my heart,
I want to throw, to crash you apart . . ."

I cannot tell whether it is the story of a woman's courage, and love's fight for life . . . or instead, if it is the story of a man's love and anguish revealed in the poetry that I find more compelling.
This book is haunting in its humanity. The verse is rough, but true to the voice of the author and in its aching realism, more potently alive than prettier words or a more skillful pen could convey.  Forever With You effectively sings a song of life and courage; its melody revealing depths of love and painful loss more poignantly because it is roughly sung.
I recommend this book for readers who have suffered loss due to illness or for those and their families who are fighting to recover health.  An excellent example of the healing power and transformative impact words and art can have on the grieving process and a ringing testament to a love and fidelity that knows no barriers, not even death.

Reviewer Byline:  Vonnie Faroqui for Writers in the Sky WITS

This book is available through Amazon.com&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Forever-With-You-In-memory-and-dedication-to-my-beloved-wife-deceased-6-years-ago/dp/1432742574/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Forever With You: In memory and dedication to my beloved wife, deceased 6 years ago.</a>
4470617
Managing the slippery slop of adolescence and also coming out as being gay is challenging enough, yet to lose your best friend and need to traverse through the journey of grief is more than most can bear. The experiences and memories of Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe are then skillfully explores dealing with loss again twenty years in the future as she helps her aunt manage her last days after a cancer diagnosis.

All heavy topics, yet underneath it all is the underlying message of hope and love.

A wonderful book for anyone that enjoys memoirs, is dealing with grief, or for those in the LGBT community.
2850437
Joyce Schneider takes you on a journey of her most personal struggles with life and her most profound finding of her spirit.  She shares her pain and then rebuilds her life with the acceptance of God and His miracles of truth, love, and the powers to heal.  Her honest approach to her life's struggles sparks hope and lights a path to all of us who have experienced life's turmoil. It is a wonderful testimony of finding peace in a world plagued with pain and suffering.
38827
Hatching Charlie is the story of evolution. It describes the evolution of a boy to a man, a child to a parent, a wild teenager into a responsible adult. It is also a story of the evolving awareness that psychic pain can be healed. And, while most people look to another for that healing, this autobiography reminds the reader that relationships with others are only part of the story. In fact, true growth and healing comes from knowing how to forgive and then accept the self, and Charles McCormacks journey helps the reader learn this in a gentle but powerful way.
  Hatching Charlie is a brave book. For a therapist, still seeing patients, to reveal so much of his own pain and suffering takes guts. Opening oneself to this much vulnerability means that the author has found a way to look at himself without shame. This book, therefore, becomes a roadmap for others who suffer, providing hope and insight that someone else might work through their traumas too. So, while the book serves as a memoir and as a source of healing to Charles McCormack, it is also a way for him to continuing counseling others. It becomes clear that his search for happiness is universal, and that his journey is in fact our journey too. He teaches us valuable lessons; that we cannot rely solely on someone else to meet our needs, that happiness isn't necessarily a constant, and that it is possible to look back on our lives with fondness, even if there was pain there too.  I think this is a must read for anyone whose childhood was less than perfect, with imperfect parents and difficult circumstances. And, since most of us had at least some obstacles to face during our lives, this book is meant for everyone.
4212602
The author, Uma Girish, opens her heart to share with you her journey through grief due to the loss of her mother.  She does a wonderful job of bringing the reader in as her friend and confidant as she shares her rollercoaster of emotions.  I could relate so deeply at times, tears came to my own eyes.  Yes, this is her personal story but it is more than that.  It is a story of life and the difficult issues we all must face at some point.  Lessons learned: Follow your calling,  never lose hope,  value family,  and know that our loved ones live on.
1614903
Among the most devastating events anyone may be forced to endure, the untimely death of our children must rank near the worst!  Will Our Tears Forever Flow takes you on a journey through the author's own struggle through despair, to hope, and eventually to peace of heart and mind.  I highly recommend this book to anyone fighting their way through grief, and the depression grief always brings with it.
2149991
I picked the book up and couldn't put it down until I was done. This very emotional and personal account takes you through a journey of loss at young age, the awkwardness of finding your way in adolescence and all the heartbreak, hard lessons, joy and tragedy adulthood can bring. Despite all the obstacles life had for Shannon, she somehow managed to hold on to her faith, although sometimes by her fingertips ...she never let go. I loved the book for the strong message of perseverance. I cried as I read because the themes in the book resonated with me on a personal level. This book is a true testament to the human spirit and proves the old adage that what does not kill us will make us stronger.
504671
Compelling reading of a mother who broke her heart to send her children to a hopefully better life, and a broken hearted mother who opened her arms and heart to let them in.  But it's also a book about self-esteem and psychological damage and the tenacious hold we have on our life and our fate. It harshly describes the story of many people living an impoverished life of hopelessness and despair.  Life keeps taking another bite from their self-worth, as they try to get another bite to subsist upon. Ms. Lampos declares that some children are like quilts. Scrappy pieces of their life broken and torn are pieced together to design the life of the potential that lies within each of us. Although coming up from hard beginnings and a rough life and the prejudices of society as to class, race and cultures, the kindness, and compassion of people met along the way blend those pieces into each personal pattern. We need each other, and all the diverse people we meet on our personal journeys. Although a gripping book of brutul reality, more importantly it is a story of love and hope and the pattern of God's infinite design.  G.Sprissler,PhD,CMT