Child Social Issues

“I am a recluse and I love books more than I love people.” – So begins Fiza Pathan, the self-proclaimed Reclusive Writer and Reader of Mumbai. In this charming collection of personal essays, Fiza recalls important phases of her life, along with the books she was reading at the time and where she read them. Revealed along the way are Fiza’s personal struggles, from the father who didn’t want a girl child to the years she believed she wanted to be a nun to the college friends who shamed her for gaining weight. Her greatest victories are found here as well, among them the publication...

Alyssa is not having a good day. She likes third grade. She likes her teacher. She likes reading and playing with her friends. But she doesn't like it when other kids tease her. She wishes for a perfect day when everyone is nice to each other. When her teacher tells the class there is going to be a school writing contest, she decides to enter and writes a story about friendship, learning important lessons about herself and others along the way. *An illustrated edition of this book is also available. See "A Perfect Day (Illustrated)" Melanie Wilber is the author of more than 30 books for ...

Sixty-eight stories that will inspire you to bless a child's life. Do you remember that one moment (or maybe there were several) that changed your life when you were a child - and shaped part of who you are today? Does it bring a smile to your face? Tears to your eyes? A wistful gaze back through time? We all have those stories and we can all, now, make those stories happen!

Hey, would you like to be my friend? Great. You just need to follow all MY rules, and we'll get along just fine. Kids who read this funny book will see a bad friendship firsthand through the over-the-top satirical interactions with the main character. There are follow-up questions at the end of the book to help prompt discussions.

Rufus the Doofus is a gentle, Christian themed story about a big eared boy who becomes the target of bullying classmates. Written in an easy to read Dr. Seussian style, it is a tale of facing trials and tribulations without Jesus, and then with Jesus. (What a difference faith makes!) The underlying message is that life is a beautiful thing, even in the midst of turmoil, if you have Jesus in your heart. Paul Rhodes is a first time author who was raised in a Quaker family, graduated from Earlham College with a degree in English literature, and came to Christ five years later. After several ...

“I’m a mud blossom, and the mud is my home. I was not born from my mother, but from the dustbin.” Book Synopsis: This story is about Nirmala the Mud Blossom, who had the misfortune of being born female in Mumbai. Rejected and thrown into the dustbin when she was just two days old, the child was rescued and returned to her family by the NGOs. Nirmala is ill-treated by her mother and subject to violence at her hands. She is allowed to continue her studies only because she can coach her younger brothers, as her parents are illiterate. On one occasion her mother brutally beats her when ...

Duane, an outsider from the Up World, lands in the dark and twisty mole tunnels of Naysay. As the little feathered intruder grows up in a place where birds do not belong, he is bullied and realizes he must escape or die. Even his best friend, Punk, cannot protect Duane from the gangster moles who threaten him. Duane tunnels up, seeking the legendary King of the Light, and is chosen for a special mission—rescue Daisy, a sweet canary being held captive by the moles. On his quest, he must confront Nasty and Miss Chinwag, his cruelest tormentors. Do they still hate him and want him dead? And ...

In The Mother and Child Project, Melinda Gates, Kay Warren, Tony Campolo, Christine Caine, and Senator William H. Frist, along with other inspirational leaders, cultural icons, political experts, academics, and service providers, provide a personal yet fact-based narrative exploring the plight of women and children living in extreme poverty in an effort to educate and inspire the church to speak up in support of maternal and child health issues in the developing world.

In 2017, five-year-old Julia traveled with her mother, Guadalupe, from Honduras to the United States. Her harrowing journey took her through Mexico in the cargo section of a tractor trailer. Then she was separated from her mother, who was held hostage by smugglers who exploited her physically and financially. At the United States border, Julia came through the processing center as an unaccompanied minor after being separated from her stepdad who was deported.

She was only four years old when she was sold into the sex trade. White picket fences and steepled churches all guarded secrets that were not ever supposed to be told. In kindergarten, she began praying every night that Jesus would let her die. In second grade, she sat in church on a Sunday morning swinging her feet from a wooden pew behind the man who had paid to rape her the night before. Her perpetrators were from all walks of life. Here is the true account of how she was brought out of captivity and into a life of freedom.

In a village somewhere in the Thar desert, in mid-nineteenth century India, the revered Thakur Ram Singh has just died. He will be laid to rest according to traditional Hindu rites. But will he be the only one who will be cremated on the funeral pyre that day? Meanwhile, a Church dignitary and a band of British soldiers from the nearby cantonment casually observe the proceedings as they unfold—until they are joined by a young, spirited seminarian. His name is Brother Jack and he has chosen to interfere. His spontaneous action will result in certain death, a revolt against the Crown, or a ...

INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER AUTHOR An Empire of Power. A Family Torn Apart. A Battle for Redemption. Theo Fester has risen from a childhood of poverty and bullying to build a global technological empire, becoming one of the world’s most powerful magnates. His name symbolizes success and resilience. However, beneath his professional triumphs lies a fractured personal life that threatens to unravel everything he has built. In “Prisoners of the Mind”, renowned psychiatrist Augusto Cury explores Theo's life, haunted by past demons and toxic family dynamics. As Theo’s empire grows, so does...

In Another Man's War, follow Sam Childer's remarkable transformation from violent thug to a man of faith, and his ongoing battle to save children in one of the world's most lawless areas.

Today's children and teens are growing up more anxious, depressed, and fearful than previous generations. But if we help this generation, often called "Gen Z", to discover true God-confidence, instead of chasing the illusive self-confidence, we can empower them to embrace their uniqueness and find their purpose, passion, and peace as they grow into humble, compassionate, and resilient young people. Cyndie Claypool de Neve, an associate marriage and family therapist, shares her personal journey from feeling anxious and suicidal to learning God-confidence.

In this timely and incisive book, John Bursch helps explain what the Catholic Church teaches about the human person and why modern culture's embrace of "gender ideology" is not only wrong but terribly dangerous for parents and families, female athletes, medical professionals—and especially those experiencing gender confusion. Drawing from Church documents and extensive scientific research, Bursch answers numerous questions that confront Catholics living in a culture that promotes gender fluidity. He covers a range of topics, including how to approach the use of pronouns in the workplace.

A progressive Christian parenting book with a social-justice orientation. How do we build a better world? One key way, says Cindy Wang Brandt, is by learning to raise our children with justice, mercy, and kindness. In Parenting Forward Brandt equips Christian parents to model a way of following Jesus that has an outward focus, putting priority on loving others, avoiding judgment, and helping those in need. She shows how parents must work on dismantling their own racial, cultural, gender, economic, and religious biases in order to avoid passing them on to their children.

Hope is our children's window for a better tomorrow. In terms of resilience and well-being, hope is a critically important predictor of success. This creative story from the best-selling author of My Mouth is a Volcano!, and Bubble Gum Brain, reminds children that dark clouds can be temporary and asking for help is always okay. We all have times when we need to borrow a little hope from someone else.

Being pro-life means that not only do we see abortion as a murder, but we also see our apathy against injustice toward outside of the womb as a coconspirator in the fight for life. It means that we fight for racial equality. It means that we love - the woman walking into the abortion clinic - passionately with the love of Christ, and it means we embrace life no matter what label may be attached to a person's identity.

Each member of the family always responded in the same way whenever Désiré’s name came up. Father and Grandfather would say nothing at all. Mother would say a few words and then falter, ‘It's all very sad.’ So, each in their own way, no one seemed to have anything much to say. The truth was that in 1983 my uncle Désiré ran away from our village, in the South of France. And when he returned home from Amsterdam, he was addicted to heroin. And then he died. That was the truth, but not the whole truth . . .

I Am N reminds us that we are each “n”, or ن ― the Arabic letter radical Muslims use to identify followers of Jesus the Nazarene. Wherever we live, we have fellowship with those persecuted for their Christian witness — just like the individuals found in this book. So come meet their families. Hear their stories. And deepen your faith in a God who calls us to follow Christ's example of enduring suffering in order to fulfill God's redemptive mission.