Books with category Family Stories
Displaying 5 books

She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall

2000

by Misty Bernall

She Said Yes is a gripping account of the tragic events that unfolded on April 20, 1999, at a Colorado school. On this fateful day, two students, heavily armed, wreaked havoc in a perverse celebration of Hitler's birthday.


Confronted by these attackers, 17-year-old Cassie Bernall was asked a question that would define her legacy: Do you believe in God? Her courageous response, "Yes," was met with a laugh from the killer before he pulled the trigger.


While the world remembers Cassie as a modern martyr, her story is far more complex. Just three years earlier, Cassie had been on a troubling path, contemplating violence and suicide. She Said Yes delves into the dramatic transformation of Cassie's life, as recounted by her mother, Misty Bernall, leading up to her daughter's heroic stand.

Death Be Not Proud

1997

by John Gunther

Death Be Not Proud chronicles Johnny Gunther's gallant struggle against the malignant brain tumor that claimed his life at the age of seventeen. This poignant memoir opens with a vivid portrait of Johnny by his father, highlighting a young man of extraordinary intellectual promise. Johnny excelled in physics, math, and chess, yet remained an active, good-hearted, and fun-loving teenager.

The heart of this memoir is the description of the agonizing months during which Johnny's parents, Gunther and his former wife Frances, tried everything in their power to halt the spread of Johnny's cancer and to make him as happy and comfortable as possible. Despite the challenges, Johnny strove to complete his high school studies, and the scene of his graduation ceremony from Deerfield Academy is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking moments in the book.

Throughout his illness, Johnny maintained his courage, wit, and quiet friendliness, leaving a lasting impact on those around him. He passed away on June 30, 1947, less than a month after his graduation.

The Woman Warrior

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is a disturbing and fiercely beautiful account of growing up Chinese-American in California. The young Kingston lives in two worlds: the America to which her parents have immigrated and the China of her mother's "talk stories."

Her mother tells her traditional tales of strong, wily women warriors - tales that clash puzzlingly with the real oppression of women. Kingston learns to fill in the mystifying spaces in her mother's stories with stories of her own, engaging her family's past and her own present with anger, imagination, and dazzling passion.

As a girl, Kingston lives in two confounding worlds: the California to which her parents have immigrated and the China of her mother’s “talk stories.” The fierce and wily women warriors of her mother’s tales clash jarringly with the harsh reality of female oppression out of which they come. Kingston’s sense of self emerges in the mystifying gaps in these stories, which she learns to fill with stories of her own. A warrior of words, she forges fractured myths and memories into an incandescent whole, achieving a new understanding of her family’s past and her own present.

Moominpappa's Memoirs

1994

by Tove Jansson

Before he had a family, before he met Moominmamma, Moominpappa led a life of adventure and intrigue. But he's never told his story until now.

Now Moominpappa has a bad cold, and it's the perfect time to remember his youthful endeavors and to ponder the Experiences which have made him the remarkable Moomin he is today. As he reads each chapter aloud to Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Sniff, they, and we, learn of his triumphs and tribulations, and his momentous meetings with the Joxter, the Muddler, and a cast of other characters too incredible (especially Edward the Booble) to list here.

April Fool's Day

1993

by Bryce Courtenay

In the end, love is more important than everything and it will conquer and overcome anything. Or that’s how Damon saw it, anyway. Damon wanted a book that talked a lot about love.

Damon Courtenay died on the morning of April Fool’s Day. In this tribute to his son, Bryce Courtenay lays bare the suffering behind this young man’s life. Damon’s story is one of life-long struggle, his love for Celeste, the compassion of family, and a fight to the end for integrity.

A testimony to the power of love, April Fool’s Day is also about understanding: how when we confront our worst, we can become our best.

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