From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes the true, heartfelt, and extraordinary story of how one woman’s decision to help a boy on the street changed both of their lives forever. New York Times bestselling author Laura Schroff tells the remarkable story of her lifelong friendship with a boy named Maurice who she met on the street while he was asking for change in her book, An Invisible Thread. Now, in this sweet picture book, Laura retells the first Christmas that she and Maurice spent together. She shares how Maurice gave her a small white bear and, as she later learns, the only thing he had that he could truly call his own—to show her how grateful he was for their friendship. This heartwarming tale captures the true meaning of the holidays and will be one you’ll want to share with your family year after year as a reminder that a gift from the heart is always the best present under the tree.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes a heartwarming book about the huge impact that small acts of kindness from strangers can have on the world around us. One day in 1986, Laura Schroff, a busy ad sales executive, passed a small boy panhandling on the street. She stopped and offered to take him to McDonald's for lunch. Twenty years later, at Laura's fiftieth birthday party, Maurice Mayzik gave a toast, thanking Laura for that small act of kindness, which ended up changing the course of his life. In that toast, Maurice said that when Laura stopped on that busy street corner all those years ago, God had sent him an angel. Laura knows better than anyone that angels--divine and otherwise--are all around us. After An Invisible Thread was published and became an international bestseller, people began telling Laura their own stories about how chance encounters with strangers have changed their lives. From a woman who saved a life simply by buying someone a book, to a financier who gave a stranger the greatest gift of all, to a teacher who chose a hug over discipline and changed a lost boy's future, Angels on Earth is a touching and heartfelt collection of stories about how one seemingly small act of kindness can make a profound difference."--Google Books viewed Sept. 23, 2021.
A Parents’ Choice Recommended Award Winner A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From New York Times bestselling authors Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski comes the young readers edition of an unbelievable memoir about an unlikely friendship that forever changed the lives of a busy sales executive and a hungry eleven-year-old boy. On one rainy afternoon, on a crowded New York City street corner, eleven-year-old Maurice met Laura. Maurice asked Laura for spare change because he was hungry, and something made Laura stop and ask Maurice if she could take him to lunch. Maurice and Laura went to lunch together, and also bought ice cream cones and played video games. It was the beginning of an unlikely and magical friendship that changed both of their lives forever. An Invisible Thread is the true story of the bond between an eleven-year-old boy and a busy sales executive; a heartwarming journey of hope, kindness, adventure, and love—and the power of fate to help us find our way.
New York Times bestseller! A remarkable and inspirational memoir about one woman's near-death experience, who was dramatically changed by the nine minutes she spent in heaven. On December 10, 2009, McVea, a thirty-two-year-old mother of four, went to the hospital for a routine procedure. While undergoing treatment, her face suddenly turned a dark shade of blue, then black. Her mother screamed for help, and a nurse tried to revive her…to no avail. Today, Crystal does not remember what happened in that hospital room during the nine minutes she was unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. She has no memory of the panic and the rushing nurses and the loud cries of “Code Blue.” She only remembers drifting off…and waking up in heaven. This unexpected meeting of a self-described sinner and skeptic with her God changed everything. Raised Christian, she had left her faith behind after childhood abuse and the subsequent struggles and suffering of her troubled teens and early adulthood. She longed to believe but felt abandoned, broken, and undeserving. A moving autobiographical testament to the power of divine love and forgiveness, Waking Up in Heaven shares the message of hope, healing, and compassion McVea brought back from her brush with God. This brave, honest account of years lost to shame and guilt will inspire those who’ve stumbled along their own spiritual journey, with the uplifting reminder that no one is beyond the reach of grace and redemption, and that, in the words of the author, “God is real. Heaven is real. And God’s love for us is the realest thing of all.”
Everyone loves coming-home stories, especially when they include dogs and happy endings! From Steven Carino and Alex Tresniowski comes Oliver for Young Readers, a heartwarming and true story of a man searching for a beloved lost dog and finding more than he’d ever hoped for. When Steven Carino discovered his dog, Oliver, had been stolen from his car, he knew he would do anything to get Oliver back. The friendly Yorkie–Shih Tzu mix—with his bundle of black and brown hair, long floppy ears, and big round eyes—had been Steven's companion during even the loneliest days. But it took more than one man to bring Oliver home. It took a community of friends and strangers who believed that love is worth fighting for. Oliver for Young Readers offers a story of good triumphing over despair, a beautiful reminder that a little kindness can truly change the world. This middle grade book: Is for ages 8 to 12 Has a kid-friendly design and a four-page photo insert that features Oliver and Steven Includes Oliver’s “thoughts” during the journey and extra stories of Oliver and Steven’s adventures Is a great gift for dog lovers Has a companion book for adults: Oliver: The True Story of a Stolen Dog and the Humans He Brought Together Oliver for Young Readers is a story of good people—including hardworking immigrants, wealthy suburbanites, car mechanics, deli workers, old friends, close relatives, street cops, a dedicated TV news reporter, and one very gifted hairdresser—offering help without asking for anything in return. It's a story of near misses, false hopes, and fresh leads ending in a joy-filled reunion on the streets of a rundown New York neighborhood. It's a story of faith renewed and hope restored.
The story of a lifelong friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness.
From the author of the New York Times bestseller, Waking Up in Heaven, comes an extraordinary story about Crystal McVea’s personal transformation after visiting heaven and how readers can experience heaven themselves—and live a more meaningful life. On December 10, 2009, Crystal McVea was being treated in a hospital for pancreatitis. Her heart stopped pumping for nine minutes before doctors managed to revive her. In those nine minutes, she went to heaven, stood with God, and was forever changed. Ever since Crystal’s incredible experience, her life has been profoundly different. She has become a brand new person in every conceivable way—heart, mind, soul, and spirit. By dying, Crystal learned how to live. Crystal realized that heaven is real and our true home, but we are still meant to have meaningful lives full of passion and purpose right here on earth. She believes we have to chase heaven while we are still alive and allow God to turn our lukewarm love into a firestorm of faith. Chasing Heaven is the story of how God called to Crystal, what He told her, and how she found a way to get closer to Him again here on earth. Crystal assures us that we don’t have to die and go to heaven in order to ignite our faith. We also don’t have to abandon the lives we have in order to experience God and heaven. Chasing Heaven is about following the path to the Lord, and discovering your spiritual destiny. The journey that followed Crystal’s time in heaven has been difficult, complicated, and surprising—full of twists and turns, setbacks and triumphs, drama and comedy, and everything that makes life so messy and beautiful.
This is the inspiring and “page-turning” (Booklist) true story of a man who discovered that he had been kidnapped as a baby—and how his quest to find out who he really is upturned the genealogy industry, his own family, and set in motion the second longest cold case in US history. In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital. Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant’s mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again—but Paul was always unsure about his true identity. Then, four years ago—spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith—Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he’s been living—and to discover who abandoned him, and why. Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.
A remarkable true story of one child’s journey into the afterlife after surviving a super tornado. When Ari Hallmark was in kindergarten, her family was caught in a powerful tornado in their hometown of Arab, Alabama. On April 27, 2011, Ari and her parents, Shane and Jennifer Hallmark, were putting the finishing touches on their new home, which Shane had built from scratch. Shane’s last-second decision to drive to his parents’ house put the Hallmarks directly in the path of a devastating EF4 tornado. Moments after the Hallmarks arrived at the home, the mile-wide tornado ripped the house off its foundation and flung it in the air. When Ari regained consciousness, she began sharing the extraordinary story of what happened to her during the tornado: she met her guardian angel and followed her family to heaven. The full story of what Ari went through—the six months of reoccurring dreams that foretold the tragedy, and the unexpected challenges she faced from the legal system after the storm—delivers a powerful message to the world: you will see your late loved ones again. Ari Hallmark is now a high school senior determined to share her hopeful message with the world. The Girl Who Saw Heaven is a uniquely poignant addition to near-death experience and heavenly encounter classics. Ari’s story will leave with a different perspective of death and more hopeful of what lies beyond.
He Was Searching for a Lost Dog. He Found More Than He’d Ever Hoped For. On Valentine’s Day 2019, someone stole Steven Carino’s dog, Oliver, from his car. Having lost his mother at thirteen and grown up with an alcoholic father, he could always count on his dogs for comfort and company. But now, with his beloved Oliver missing, Steven felt utterly alone. Then, the miracle. In a series of near-impossible coincidences, people from different walks of life crossed paths with Oliver and with Steven. Hardworking immigrants, wealthy suburbanites, car mechanics, deli workers, old friends, close relatives, street cops, gang members, a TV news reporter, social media followers around the world, and one very gifted hairdresser all played a part in Steven’s desperate journey to find Oliver. In the middle of it all, Steven realized that no one is ever truly alone--and that the power of community can be life-changing. Oliver is not just a book about a stolen dog. At its core, it’s a story about kindness, friendship, and the power of faith. As Steven says, “This is more than just a dog story. This is an everybody story. This is a love story.”
Tiger Woods is the world's greatest golfer, and possibly its most recognized sportsman. In Tiger Virtues, author Alex Tresniowski defines the 18 elements—drawn from Buddhist principles—that constitute Woods' winning approach to golf, and reveals how his unprecedented mastery of the game is a metaphor for life. Preparation, positive thought, stillness, intuition, patience, and other strategies worth adopting on a larger scale are explored in Woods' attitude toward golf. His application of Buddhist principles has been well-documented, and he is known for his relentless commitment, fierce competitiveness, and uncanny ability to perform at his best under pressure. In fact, he has noted that “Golf has been good to me, but the lessons I've learned transcended the game.” The text is supported by original interviews with more than 40 current golf pros and analysts, and most importantly, by the cooperation of Tiger's strongest influence, his father and manager, Earl Woods. Tiger Virtues works as both a golf coach and a life coach. It outlines each virtue, from Sureness to Adaptability, that Woods embodies in his approach to golf, and seamlessly applies them to real life.
His son tells the life story of Melvin Purvis, once an iconic G-man and public hero, who was destroyed not by the famous villains of the 1930s but by the jealousy of his boss, J. Edgar Hoover.
By the end of 1934 Melvin Purvis was, besides President Roosevelt, the most famous man in America. Just thirty one years old, he presided over the neophyte FBI's remarkable sweep of the great Public Enemies of the American Depression - John Dillinger; Pretty Boy Floyd; Baby Face Nelson. America finally had its hero in the War on Crime, and the face of all the conquering G-Men belonged to Melvin Purvis. Yet these triumphs sowed the seeds of his eventual ruin. With each new capture, each new headline touting Purvis as the scourge of gangsters, one man's implacable resentment grew. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, was immensely jealous of the agent who had been his friend and protege, and vowed that Melvin Purvis would be brought down. A vendetta began that would not end even with Purvis's death. For more than three decades Hoover trampled Purvis's reputation, questioned his courage and competence, and tried to erase his name from all records of the FBI's greatest triumphs. Alston Purvis is Melvin's only surviving son. With the benefit of a unique family archive of documents, new testimony from colleagues and friends of Melvin Purvis and witnesses to the events of 1934, he has produced a grippingly authentic new telling of the gangster era, seen from the perspective of the pursuers. By finally setting the record straight about his father, he sheds new light on what some might call Hoover's original sin - a personal vendetta that is one of the earliest and clearest examples of Hoover's bitter, destructive paranoia.
When he was ten years old, Paul Fronczak was snooping around for Christmas presents in a crawl space in his family’s Chicago home. There, he found hundreds of old newspaper clippings about the kidnapping of a one-day-old infant in a hospital in 1964. He also learned that, two years later, the boy was found and returned to his family—and that the boy was him. Nearly fifty years later, Paul, acting on long-held suspicions, took a DNA test that proved he was not the kidnapped boy. In an instant, he found himself at the center of two half-century-old mysteries—who was he, and where was the real Paul? True Identity is about three separate major investigations—the hunt for the real Paul Fronczak; the search for the author’s missing twin sister Jill; and finally, the investigation into his true identity, his heart and soul and the demons inside him—inherited and created—that still need to be confronted.
In The Vendetta, author Alston Purvis recounts the story of his father, Melvin Purvis, the iconic G-man and public hero made famous by his remarkable sweep of the great Public Enemies of the American Depression—John Dillinger; Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson. Purvis’s successes led FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover to grow increasingly jealous, to the point where he vowed to bring down Purvis. Hoover smeared Purvis’s reputation, and tried to erase his name from all records of the FBI's greatest triumphs. This book sets the record straight, and provides a grippingly authentic new telling of the gangster era, seen from the perspective of the pursuers.
True Story of Courage and Compassion in a School Under Siege As 870 children waited in fear, their elementary school rushed into lockdown mode. As the nation faced yet another Sandy Hook story of tragedy, one woman rewrote the ending. Yet the story doesn't start with those first steps Michael Hill took into that Atlanta elementary school. It starts with Antoinette Tuff, a woman who faced her own pain, hurt, and rejection, yet held onto grace, faith, and hope. A hope that anchored her in the most high stakes of moments, a grace that allowed her to empathize with a hurting young man, and a faith that gave her the courage to love him back from the brink. This is more than just the amazing account of tragedy averted. It's the evidence of what we can do when we allow ourselves to be used by God. And it's a story of how God uses all of our life experiences--the good and the bad--to prepare us for our own moment of divine purpose.
By the end of 1934 Melvin Purvis was, besides President Roosevelt, the most famous man in America. Just thirty one years old, he presided over the neophyte FBI's remarkable sweep of the great Public Enemies of the American Depression - John Dillinger; Pretty Boy Floyd; Baby Face Nelson. America finally had its hero in the War on Crime, and the face of all the conquering G-Men belonged to Melvin Purvis. Yet these triumphs sowed the seeds of his eventual ruin. With each new capture, each new headline touting Purvis as the scourge of gangsters, one man's implacable resentment grew. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, was immensely jealous of the agent who had been his friend and protege, and vowed that Melvin Purvis would be brought down. A vendetta began that would not end even with Purvis's death. For more than three decades Hoover trampled Purvis's reputation, questioned his courage and competence, and tried to erase his name from all records of the FBI's greatest triumphs. Alston Purvis is Melvin's only surviving son. With the benefit of a unique family archive of documents, new testimony from colleagues and friends of Melvin Purvis and witnesses to the events of 1934, he has produced a grippingly authentic new telling of the gangster era, seen from the perspective of the pursuers. By finally setting the record straight about his father, he sheds new light on what some might call Hoover's original sin - a personal vendetta that is one of the earliest and clearest examples of Hoover's bitter, destructive paranoia.
His son tells the life story of Melvin Purvis, once an iconic G-man and public hero, who was destroyed not by the famous villains of the 1930s but by the jealousy of his boss, J. Edgar Hoover.
A Parents’ Choice Recommended Award Winner A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From New York Times bestselling authors Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski comes the young readers edition of an unbelievable memoir about an unlikely friendship that forever changed the lives of a busy sales executive and a hungry eleven-year-old boy. On one rainy afternoon, on a crowded New York City street corner, eleven-year-old Maurice met Laura. Maurice asked Laura for spare change because he was hungry, and something made Laura stop and ask Maurice if she could take him to lunch. Maurice and Laura went to lunch together, and also bought ice cream cones and played video games. It was the beginning of an unlikely and magical friendship that changed both of their lives forever. An Invisible Thread is the true story of the bond between an eleven-year-old boy and a busy sales executive; a heartwarming journey of hope, kindness, adventure, and love—and the power of fate to help us find our way.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes a heartwarming book about the huge impact that small acts of kindness from strangers can have on the world around us. One day in 1986, Laura Schroff, a busy ad sales executive, passed a small boy panhandling on the street. She stopped and offered to take him to McDonald's for lunch. Twenty years later, at Laura's fiftieth birthday party, Maurice Mayzik gave a toast, thanking Laura for that small act of kindness, which ended up changing the course of his life. In that toast, Maurice said that when Laura stopped on that busy street corner all those years ago, God had sent him an angel. Laura knows better than anyone that angels--divine and otherwise--are all around us. After An Invisible Thread was published and became an international bestseller, people began telling Laura their own stories about how chance encounters with strangers have changed their lives. From a woman who saved a life simply by buying someone a book, to a financier who gave a stranger the greatest gift of all, to a teacher who chose a hug over discipline and changed a lost boy's future, Angels on Earth is a touching and heartfelt collection of stories about how one seemingly small act of kindness can make a profound difference."--Google Books viewed Sept. 23, 2021.
From New York Times bestselling author Alex Tresniowski comes a page-turning, remarkable true-crime thriller recounting the 1910 murder of ten-year-old Marie Smith, the dawn of modern criminal detection and the launch of the NAACP. In the tranquil seaside town of Asbury Park, New Jersey, ten-year-old schoolgirl Marie Smith is brutally murdered. Small town officials, unable to find the culprit, call upon the young manager of a New York detective agency for help. It is the detective’s first murder case, and now, the specifics of the investigation and daring sting operation that caught the killer is captured in all its rich detail for the first time. Occurring exactly halfway between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the formal beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in 1954, the brutal murder and its highly-covered investigation sits at the historic intersection of sweeping national forces—religious extremism, class struggle, the infancy of criminal forensics, and America’s Jim Crow racial violence. History and true crime collide in this sensational murder mystery featuring characters as complex and colorful as those found in the best psychological thrillers—the unconventional truth-seeking detective Ray Schindler; the sinister pedophile Frank Heidemann; the ambitious Asbury Park Sheriff Clarence Hetrick; the mysterious “sting artist,” Carl Neumeister; the indomitable crusader Ida Wells; and the victim, Marie Smith, who represented all the innocent and vulnerable children living in turn-of-the-century America. Gripping and powerful, The Rope is an important piece of history that gives a voice to the voiceless and resurrects a long-forgotten true crime story that speaks to the very divisions tearing at the nation’s fabric today.
Recounts the story of a young mother who underwent an intense near-death experience after she became unresponsive during a medical emergency, as she discusses the hardships of her past and the impact of the experience on her life.
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