Through the eyes of a precocious young girl, Judy Pascoe brings us a magical tale of love and loss that is infused with lyrical beauty and spiritual depth. For ten-year-old Simone O’Neill, the death of her father is shattering: she blames him for running away, and has nightmares about him lying awake in his grave. It’s been three months, but still her mother Dawn cries herself to sleep at night and cuts herself off from her children, unable to cope with the curve life has thrown her. Simone’s brothers have also retreated into their own worlds, and as tension overtakes the home, leaving each of the family isolated in his or her grief, Simone’s sorrow begins to turn to hate. Then one day, soon after a visit to her father’s grave that left her scared of the ants that worked the soil, something magical happens as Simone stands in her family’s backyard. “Don’t worry about the ants,” she hears, and it seems to be coming from a massive tree. “They’re everywhere. Why are there so many?” she asks the air. “They’re busy,” is the reply, and “Yes, it’s me.” It is then that Simone realizes that her father is not trapped in his grave or up in heaven, but has gone to live in the large tree behind the house. At first she’s terrified, spends weeks sprinting through the yard avoiding the tree’s calls, but then one day she decides to face the truth, and climbs. And when her father begins to speak, she embraces his presence: “I didn’t hate him so much now for dying, because for the first time since he died I could remember what he was like when he was alive.” With this discovery begins Our Father Who Art in a Tree, an enchanting and enchanted novel about life and death and all of the layers of love, loss, family, belief and community that lie in between -- or in the way. In an effort to console her mother, Simone shares her secret and brings her into the fold, so Dawn can at last unburden herself of some of the grief that has consumed her and try to move on. In the tree, Simone’s mother is able to share her pain with her husband, and also recapture some of the joy of their marriage. But when a new man enters her life, Dawn is faced with the hardest decision of all: whether to hang on or let go. In the unbearable heat and drought of a single Australian summer, Dawn’s inability to choose torments both her and her children, and the tree begins to take over their home as well as their thoughts. The branches scratch a nightly warning on the sides of the house. Roots begin to fill the drains and attack the foundations. An errant limb crashes through the window and sprawls onto Dawn’ s bed, coming to rest on the husband’s side. Gradually an entire community is pulled in by its force: extended family members arrive and try to help Dawn cope; neighbours intercede, withdraw. But it is not all anguish, here. The ladies of the Neighbourhood Watch, concerned for their suburban calm, face off against Simone’s elderly aunts, who totter around on high heels and understand that Mr. O’Neill is just not ready to go, in an Us versus Them bridge tournament that puts the life of the tree at stake. Yet it is only when the weather finally breaks and a storm of cyclone strength and fury hits the neighbourhood that Simone’s family -- and their faith in the future -- is put to the ultimate test.
Mr O'Neill dies and his family is in mourning - Then from the tree in the back garden, his spirit calls each of them to talk to him - But as they learn to accept his passing, the tree begins to take on a life of its own ...
Through the eyes of a precocious young girl, Judy Pascoe brings us a magical tale of love and loss that is infused with lyrical beauty and spiritual depth. For ten-year-old Simone O’Neill, the death of her father is shattering: she blames him for running away, and has nightmares about him lying awake in his grave. It’s been three months, but still her mother Dawn cries herself to sleep at night and cuts herself off from her children, unable to cope with the curve life has thrown her. Simone’s brothers have also retreated into their own worlds, and as tension overtakes the home, leaving each of the family isolated in his or her grief, Simone’s sorrow begins to turn to hate. Then one day, soon after a visit to her father’s grave that left her scared of the ants that worked the soil, something magical happens as Simone stands in her family’s backyard. “Don’t worry about the ants,” she hears, and it seems to be coming from a massive tree. “They’re everywhere. Why are there so many?” she asks the air. “They’re busy,” is the reply, and “Yes, it’s me.” It is then that Simone realizes that her father is not trapped in his grave or up in heaven, but has gone to live in the large tree behind the house. At first she’s terrified, spends weeks sprinting through the yard avoiding the tree’s calls, but then one day she decides to face the truth, and climbs. And when her father begins to speak, she embraces his presence: “I didn’t hate him so much now for dying, because for the first time since he died I could remember what he was like when he was alive.” With this discovery begins Our Father Who Art in a Tree, an enchanting and enchanted novel about life and death and all of the layers of love, loss, family, belief and community that lie in between -- or in the way. In an effort to console her mother, Simone shares her secret and brings her into the fold, so Dawn can at last unburden herself of some of the grief that has consumed her and try to move on. In the tree, Simone’s mother is able to share her pain with her husband, and also recapture some of the joy of their marriage. But when a new man enters her life, Dawn is faced with the hardest decision of all: whether to hang on or let go. In the unbearable heat and drought of a single Australian summer, Dawn’s inability to choose torments both her and her children, and the tree begins to take over their home as well as their thoughts. The branches scratch a nightly warning on the sides of the house. Roots begin to fill the drains and attack the foundations. An errant limb crashes through the window and sprawls onto Dawn’ s bed, coming to rest on the husband’s side. Gradually an entire community is pulled in by its force: extended family members arrive and try to help Dawn cope; neighbours intercede, withdraw. But it is not all anguish, here. The ladies of the Neighbourhood Watch, concerned for their suburban calm, face off against Simone’s elderly aunts, who totter around on high heels and understand that Mr. O’Neill is just not ready to go, in an Us versus Them bridge tournament that puts the life of the tree at stake. Yet it is only when the weather finally breaks and a storm of cyclone strength and fury hits the neighbourhood that Simone’s family -- and their faith in the future -- is put to the ultimate test.
The crippling custom of footbinding is the thematic touchstone for Judy Yung's engrossing study of Chinese American women during the first half of the twentieth century. Using this symbol of subjugation to examine social change in the lives of these women, she shows the stages of "unbinding" that occurred in the decades between the turn of the century and the end of World War II. The setting for this captivating history is San Francisco, which had the largest Chinese population in the United States. Yung, a second-generation Chinese American born and raised in San Francisco, uses an impressive range of sources to tell her story. Oral history interviews, previously unknown autobiographies, both English- and Chinese-language newspapers, government census records, and exceptional photographs from public archives and private collections combine to make this a richly human document as well as an illuminating treatise on race, gender, and class dynamics. While presenting larger social trends Yung highlights the many individual experiences of Chinese American women, and her skill as an oral history interviewer gives this work an immediacy that is poignant and effective. Her analysis of intraethnic class rifts—a major gap in ethnic history—sheds important light on the difficulties that Chinese American women faced in their own communities. Yung provides a more accurate view of their lives than has existed before, revealing the many ways that these women—rather than being passive victims of oppression—were active agents in the making of their own history.
Unbound Voices brings together the voices of Chinese American women in a fascinating, intimate collection of documents—letters, essays, poems, autobiographies, speeches, testimonials, and oral histories—detailing half a century of their lives in America. Together, these sources provide a captivating mosaic of Chinese women's experiences in their own words, as they tell of making a home for themselves and their families in San Francisco from the Gold Rush years through World War II. The personal nature of these documents makes for compelling reading. We hear the voices of prostitutes and domestic slavegirls, immigrant wives of merchants, Christians and pagans, homemakers, and social activists alike. We read the stories of daughters who confronted cultural conflicts and racial discrimination; the myriad ways women coped with the Great Depression; and personal contributions to the causes of women's emancipation, Chinese nationalism, workers' rights, and World War II. The symphony of voices presented here lends immediacy and authenticity to our understanding of the Chinese American women's lives. This rich collection of women's stories also serves to demonstrate collective change over time as well as to highlight individual struggles for survival and advancement in both private and public spheres. An educational tool on researching and reclaiming women's history, Unbound Voices offers us a valuable lesson on how one group of women overcame the legacy of bound feet and bound lives in America. The selections are accompanied by photographs, with extensive introductions and annotation by Judy Yung, a noted authority on primary resources relating to the history of Chinese American women.
While school leaders have long sought a definitive tool for assessing teacher affect and dispositions, a practical method for measurement has proven elusive-until now. Assessing Teacher Dispositions presents a conceptual framework that helps educators understand what "appropriate dispositions" are, why it is important to measure them, and how to implement an assessment process in their schools and districts. This indispensable companion to Assessing Teacher Competency introduces the authors' research-based five-step DAATS model, combining user-friendly definitions and guiding questions with an examination of assessment design, planning, instrument development, decision making, and data management. Linked to national standards for best practice set by NCATE, INTASC, and NBPTS, the DAATS approach offers: A step-by-step implementation sequence with worksheets and training activities, Examples from preservice and inservice settings, A comprehensive assessment system when used with the CAATS model for assessing teacher competency (knowledge and skills). This groundbreaking text offers a field-tested, valid, and reliable process for dispositions assessment that is ideal for schools of education, teacher induction programs, and preservice and inservice training. Book jacket.
A brand-new series perfect for Richard Osman readers and all fans of a page-turning whodunnit. It was meant to be the start of quiet season in the sleepy Cornish village of Seal Bay, but not for sexagenarian librarian and wild swimming enthusiast Morwenna Mutton. Because when a local businessman is found on the beach with a bread knife is his back, bungling police officer DI Rick Tremayne is soon out of his depth. Morwenna knows it’s going to be down to her to crack the case. The list of people the victim upset is long, the evidence is slight, and an arrest illusive. Morwenna has plenty to occupy her time what with ghostly goings-on at the library and skullduggery at her granddaughter’s school, but she could never resist a challenge. And even the most ruthless of murderers should quake at the sight of this amateur sleuth getting on her bike to track them down. If you love Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, then you'll love The Morwenna Mutton mysteries. Readers love Judy Leigh: ‘Loved this from cover to cover, pity I can only give this 5 stars as it deserves far more.’ ‘I loved reading this book, great characters and this author certainly knows how to put a good story together. I'm really looking forward to reading more books by her.’ ‘This author never disappoints, always a joy to find one of her books which I haven’t read.’ ‘This book is yet another triumph from an author who never disappoints me, and very much recommended.’
There is excitement in the air as the travelling theatre arrives in Seal Bay. When The Spriggan Travelling Theatre Company arrives in Seal Bay to perform a Cornish version of King Arthur the locals flock to be entertained. But for Morwenna Mutton, sexagenarian librarian, wild swimming enthusiast and amateur sleuth, the theatre brings intrigue too. Actor and director Daniel Kitto is not the most popular member of the cast and unbeknownst to him, his role of Uther Pendragon on the opening night is to be his swansong. In front of a horrified audience, he collapses during the dying moments of the performance in a pool of fake blood, and although the police are content that the causes of his death are natural, Morwenna isn’t so sure. And once it becomes clear that there are a number of people who stand to gain from Daniel’s death, Morwenna’s investigation takes a dangerous turn. If you love Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, then you'll love The Morwenna Mutton mysteries. Readers love Judy Leigh and Morwenna Mutton: ‘This was an absolute joy to read. I absolutely loved this family and all the surrounding characters in this book... I shall really look forward to the next instalment and finding out what Morwenna's next mystery will be.’ ‘Morwenna is a new kid on the cozy crime block, and looks likely to become established as a shrewder, tougher and more compassionate contender in the literary world of amateur detectives.’ ‘This was a lovely read! I got into the story right away, Seal Bay is a fascinating community full of interesting people and what’s not to love about Morwenna? She’s brilliant! I enjoyed trying to solve the crime with her and I adore her eccentric fashion sense and always read what she was wearing with a smile on my face... a wonderful book, a great read and I am looking forward to reading more of Morwenna’s adventures in the future.’ ‘Judy Leigh has created amateur sleuthing at its finest. I think the novel would make a fabulous television cosy crime drama. It was highly entertaining, most enjoyable, fun and light-hearted. I cannot wait for more of this fabulous series.’
I have not seen anything quite as systematic as this material in guiding the reader through a process for developing a valid and reliable assessment plan. Covers all the areas one would want in designing a system for accreditation or for other purposes." —Martha Gage, Director, Teacher Education & Licensure Kansas State Department of Education "Realistically reveals the extent of the task of teacher certification and provides us with a structured learning experience that should improve our abilities with this task." —Pearl Solomon, Associate Professor St. Thomas Aquinas College A complete, step-by-step guide to teacher assessments that meet national accreditation and accountability standards. Written in a reader-friendly style for busy faculty members and school administrators with little or no prior knowledge of statistics, this comprehensive model is designed to create fair, valid, and reliable assessments of teacher knowledge and skills. Evaluation experts Judy Wilkerson and Steve Lang provide detailed guidance for the complete five-step assessment process, making this an ideal resource both for preservice and inservice settings, including accreditation reviews and teacher induction programs. Offering worksheets and activities to illustrate every step of the process, this all-inclusive handbook covers: Definitions, contextual factors, and sampling Aligning performance tasks with standards defined by NCLB, NCATE, INTASC, and other groups Designing and implementing data tracking and management systems Ensuring psychometric integrity Valid and reliable decisions about teacher competency are based on fair, valid, and reliable assessment systems. Assessing Teacher Competency is the book all teacher educators, supervisors, and mentors have been waiting for.
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