Bøger udgivet af GemmaMedia

Fifteen-year-old Aiko Cassidy, a bicultural girl with cerebral palsy, grew up in Michigan with her single mother. For as long as she could remember, it was just the two of them. When a new stepfather and a baby half sister enter her life, she finds herself on the margins. Having recently come into contact with her biological father, she is invited to spend the summer with his indigo-growing family in a small Japanese farming village. Aiko thinks she just might fit in better in Japan. If nothing else, she figures the trip will inspire her manga story, Gadget Girl.However, Aiko's stay in Japan is not quite the easygoing vacation that she expected. Her grandmother is openly hostile toward her, and she soon learns of painful family secrets that have been buried for years. Even so, she takes pleasure in meeting new friends. She is drawn to Taiga, the figure skater who shows her the power of persistence against self-doubt. Sora is a fellow manga enthusiast who introduces Aiko to a wide circle of like-minded artists. And then there is Kotaro, a refugee from the recent devastating earthquake in northeastern Japan.As she gets to know her biological father and the story of his break with her mother, Aiko begins to rethink the meaning of family and her own place in the world.

Nightmares of war flood the waking memories of Nea Chhim, a 19-year-old survivor of the Cambodian Killing Fields. In this sequel to the acclaimed Dragon Chica, Nea, a struggling college student, decides she must confront the past. Without telling Ma, she hops on a cross-country bus in Nebraska to seek out her biological father in Southern California. Nea comes face to face with a man wounded by survivor's guilt who refuses to acknowledge the family's secrets. It is up to Nea to find the truth. Tiger Girl weaves together Cambodian folklore and its painful past with contemporary American life to create an unforgettable novel about love, war, and acceptance.

An inside view of a rural Iowa town torn apart by greed, failed immigration policy and misguided view of diversity. Postville (population 2400) is an obscure meatpacking town in the northeast corner of Iowa. Here, in the most unlikely of places, in the middle of endless cornfields, unparalleled diversity drew the curiosity of international media and outside observers. In 2008, however, people who hoped Postville would succeed declared the town's experiment in multiculturalism dead. It was not native Iowans, or the newly-arrived Orthodox Jews, or the immigrant workers and refugees from around the world who made Postville fail. Postville's momentum towards a sustainable multicultural community was stopped in its tracks when the town was crushed by a massive raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on May 12th 2008. 20% of the town's population was arrested, forcing the closure of the town's largest employer, a kosher meatpacking plant. The raid exposed the disastrous enforcement of immigration policy, the exploitation of Postville by activists, and disturbing questions about the packing house's operators. Today, with managers sitting in jail, workers in federal prison on their way to deportation, and a huge influx of new immigrants to fill their spots, the town is attempting to survive a near terminal blow. Grey and Devlin - with more than 10 years experience in Postville, 20 years experience in meat-packing plants and a life time work with immigrant populations - join with Goldsmith - the only Jew ever to serve on the city council - describe the real events in Postville, which have been subject to misrepresentation in the media and by diversity professionals and detractors alike.

Anna and the French Kiss meets Stoner & Spaz in a contemporary young adult coming-of-age novel about a girl, her struggles, and her art. Aiko Cassidy is fifteen and lives with her sculptor mother in a small Midwestern town. For most of her young life Aiko, who has cerebral palsy, has been her mother's muse. But now, she no longer wants to pose for the figures that have made her mother famous. Aiko works hard on her own dream, becoming a sought-after manga artist with a secret identity. When Aiko's mother invites her to Paris for a major exhibition of her work, Aiko resists. She'd much rather go to Japan, Manga Capital of the World, where she might be able to finally meet her father, the indigo farmer. When she gets to France, however, a hot waiter with a passion for manga and an interest in Aiko makes her wonder if being invisible is such a great thing after all.

On a Saturday morning, Mike Nolan, a hard-driving, hard-living lawyer in his early fifties, was hit by a truck during a 40-mile bike ride on New Jersey's Route 35 and given up for dead. Instead, after months of recovery, Mike looked the same as he always had. The only difference? He had absolutely no memory. Guys Like Us, like a reverse memoir, is the attempt by his son, Sean, to tell Mike who he is through recollections of rare moments together and tales of the Nolan family on the Jersey shore. The Nolans, a clan planted in Ocean County by Mike's father, Joe, are people who suffer no fools and take no prisoners; you had better wear thick skin when they are around. Three strong characters?Joe, Mike and Sean?dominate Guys Like Us. Add an enormous Cadillac that Joe and Sean bomb around in, Sean behind the wheel at the ripe age of eight. Stir in the boardwalks and beaches of the Jersey shore and near-lethal family feuds, and the pot boils. Sean Nolan does not fall far from the tree. It doesn't take long for Sean to realize he has to tell Mike, among many other things, how impossible he could be. And that dark secrets, long held in a young boy's heart, are out of reach to him forever. Giving his father back his memory, one funny, painful moment at a time, Nolan paints a poignant, often hilarious, portrait of their shared past.

A memoir of crossing cultures, losing love and finding home by a New York Times Notable author in her prime. As steadily and quietly as her marriage falls apart, so Kyoko Mori?s understanding of knitting deepens. From the flawed school mittens made in her native Japan, where needlework is used as a way to prepare women for marriage and silence, to the beautiful unmatched patterns of cardigans, hats and shawls made in the American Midwest, Kyoko draws the connection between knitting and the new life she tried to establish in the U.S. From the suicide of her mother to the last empty days of her marriage, Kyoko finds a way to begin again on her own terms. Interspersed with fact and history about knitting throughout, the narrative touchingly contemplates the nature of love, loss and what holds a marriage together. In the tradition of M F K Fisher?s The Gastronomical Me, Joan Didion?s Where I Was From and Michael Pollan?s The Botany of Desire, Mori examines a specific subject to understand human nature - when to unravel, when to begin again, when to drop the stitch, and when to declare?it?s finished.

When the award-winning Irish Times' journalist Rosita Boland was a schoolgirl she had--in common with all Irish children--amap of Ireland. Iconic in its pinks, greens and yellows, the Educational Company map was a staple of the Irish schoolhouse. As the author matured and changed, so did the unique country she grew to know first-hand. With deep affection and curiosity, she followed her very own map from those by-gone schooldays to take the reader on a tour of Irelnad, a tour like no other

Oliver returns! The character we came to love in Oliver's Surprise finds himself on Cape Cod aboard Cap'n Eli's boat, the beloved "e;Surprise,"e; as a major hurricane threatens to make landfall. In 1954, Hurricane Carol's wrath was felt from the Carolinas to

A rare inside look at Roma culture, ritual and belief at its peak in the American Gypsy experience - A Disapora spread over five continents, Gypsies conjure the romance of a nomadic life, a nostalgia for a simpler time. We think of dancing Spanish Gypsies or French jazz guitarists or a Romanian king. Gypsies have yet to enter the American public consciousness, yet they have been arriving since the late sixteenth century. Columbus brought several, forcibly transported to the Colonies, and many Americans today may count, unknown, a Gypsy or two among their forebears. A legacy of misfortune and mistrust lives on in Gypsy blood, and glimpses into their lives are rare. A young anthropologist drawn in by a Gypsy matriarch had no idea her life?s work would be witness to this hidden culture and its dilution over decades of cultural adaptation. From 1966 to 2000 Carol Miller lived among the Machvaia during their Heyday. Here are her stories about creating a bounty of good luck made by good times: three-day weddings, opulent slavi (saint days), baptisms, holidays, parties, and fabulous offerings for the Dead Ones. ?The Heyday,? this particular heyday, is done, and we will not see its like again.

The final novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Are You Somebody? Like many a modern, well-travelled woman, Rosie has lived a fascinating life, full of adventure and the pleasure of many lovers in her younger years. Now, facing the challenges of middle-age, she finds that the things that defined her most?work, love, independence?begin to fail her. She comes home to Ireland to care for her elderly aunt Min, trapped by circumstances in sleepy Dublin. But when an opportunity arises to visit New York again, the story takes an unexpected turn... Published to rave reviews in France (Sabine Wespieser), Best Love, Rosie became an instant bestseller in Ireland, where it was published to mark the first anniversary of Nuala's death. Here is one last bittersweet look through those fierce eyes at aging, death, relationships and, as always, love.

Catalonia boasts an extraordinary cultural heritage. Its lively Mediterranean villages have inspired artists such as Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Pablo Picasso, George Braque, Salvador Dali, and many others. Forever linked to three major art movements - Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism - Catalonia has played a critical role in the development of modern art. This narrative guidebook will offer a unique, behind-the-scenes look at how Catalonia's landscape, culture and people influenced major 20th-century painters and writers. The Colors of Catalonia steps into this idyllic Mediterranean setting, visiting the same cafes, restaurants, hotels, and homes where the artists drank, ate and lived. The reader can witness the artistic development of now-legendary painters and writers during their travels throughout French and Spanish Catalonia.

Longing to feel closer to his favorite grandfather, Oliver skips school on a sparkling September afternoon and hides out on a tired schooner. When he wakes up on the ways of his grandfather's boatyard and realizes he's been transported back to 1938, he must decide what to do before the dangerous hurricane he'd been studying in school hits. While the main character is a 12 year old boy, Oliver's story, and the story of a powerful weather event that still reverberates along the east coast, is more than appropriate for an adult audience. Written by an Olympic medalist on the 2004 USA sailing team, this charming story includes 8 original illustrations, a glossary of nautical terms and a short history of the Great Hurricane of 1938 that devastated the eastern seaboard. September 2008 marks the 70th anniversary of the storm

On any given day, in any given city, countless people are arriving and departing...to visit grandma, to close a business deal, to hook up with a lover, toclimb a mountain. Intrepid traveler Luis is trapped in flight delay and has many hours to see and hear and sense his fellow passengers. As he grows more invisible, the kinetic world around him takes on a life of its own. Where can all these people be going? Where in the world do we belong?Part of the prestigious Open Door Series, originally designed for adult literacy in Ireland, these books confirm the truth that a story doesn't have to be big to change our world.Airport is part of the US launch of Open Door books written by North American authors.

A look at the impact of changing demographics on the American psyche from a seasoned, outside observer