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2016 Benjamin Franklin IBPA Award Gold Medal Winner in Parenting and Family 2016 Foreward INDIE Awards Silver Medal Winner in Humor 2016 IndieFab Finalist in Humor Based on Norine Dworkin-McDaniel and Jessica Ziegler’s popular illustrated humor blog, Science of Parenthood: Thoroughly Unscientific Explanations for Utterly Baffling Parenting Situations takes the duo’s mix of high-brow science and low-brow humor to a whole new level. Using their trademark brand of quirky, witty humor, and bolstered by all kinds of slick graphs and spiffy flow charts, Dworkin-McDaniel and Ziegler dig deep into the core sciences—biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics—to help moms and dads everywhere solve for “y.” As in, “Y” is my child doing that . . . that . . . THING? And please, dear lord, is there a way to make them stop!? Anyone who’s ever wondered why the kid who plays Minecraft for hours can’t sit still for ten damn minutes to finish a math worksheet; who’s marveled at how their toddler always picks the most inopportune moment to poop; or who’s despaired of ever showering, sleeping, or finding a moment’s peace again will find this book a hilarious, enlightening, and relatable read. Author: Norine Dworkin-McDaniel and Jessica Ziegler Publication Date: November 17, 2015 -
2017 Independent Reader Discovery Awards: Winner - Health/Medicine 2016 Reader's Favorite Award: Gold Medal Winner (Non-Fiction - Health - Medical) 2016 The Beverly Hills Book Awards: Winner - Health Are you confused about vitamins? Unsure of which ones you need for optimal health, and what levels are safe? You’re not alone. Many people’s health issues could be improved with vitamins—if they only knew how to use them. In this award-winning book, The Vitamin Solution, Drs. Romy Block and Arielle Levitan provide a common-sense, medically sound approach to using vitamins to improve your diet, exercise plan, and overall health. In clear, accessible, language, they explain which vitamins and supplements can be helpful, which can be harmful, and which are altogether unnecessary; explore health topics including migraine, hair loss, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, hot flashes, and more; and address preventive care, providing insights on topics such as screening tests, weight loss, and preserving memory. Illuminating and accessible, The Vitamin Solution is an indispensable guide to safely incorporating vitamins and supplements into any lifestyle—one that will leave readers educated, informed, and armed with simple, everyday strategies for bettering their health. Author: Romy Block and Arielle Miller Levitan Publication Date: November 17, 2015 -
A collection of sixty-four black-and-white photographs and sixty-two poems, Unfolding in Light offers a vision of hands as images, symbols, and archetypes, allowing the numinous to shine through the mundane. Sisters Joan Scott and Claire Scott provides an intimate pause that gives the reader a quiet moment to reflect on the meaning of everyday hands: an ill child’s hands; a dying woman’s hands; hands of lovers, young and old; hands at work, at play, in pain, in prayer, and in love. Author: Joan and Claire Scott Publication Date: November 17, 2015 -
The aviation world is a man’s world—it always has been, and it continues to be so today. In fact, women make up a mere 5 to 6 percent of the total pilot population worldwide. But from the first time Erin Seidemann experienced what it was like to see the world from a small plane’s perspective, she was hooked—and she’s spent much of her time since then fighting her way into becoming one of that 5 to 6 percent. Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix tells of the struggles and adventures one encounters as a woman in the male-dominated space of aviation. With humor and equanimity, Seidemann recounts her varied experiences as a female pilot—from the chauvinistic flight instructor she makes the mistake of falling in love with to the many, many customs agents who insist she can’t possibly be her plane’s owner (“Where’s your boyfriend?”)—while at the same time giving insight about just what makes flying so incredible . . . and so very addictive. Frank, funny, and full of adventure, Postcards from the Sky is an entertaining foray into a world few women have dared enter. Author: Erin Seidemann Publication Date: November 10, 2015 -
Indie Reader Discovery Awards Winner for Parenting Bronze Medal Winner Inspirational Memoir-Female Living Now Book Awards-Books for Better Living When LeeAndra Chergey is told that her son, Ryan, is no longer considered “normal,” she and her family are forced into a new way of handling the outside world. Together, Chergey’s family and a team of carefully chosen therapists put in years of hard work, and eventually teach Ryan to speak and express emotions. Through it all, Chergey follows her heart—and in the process, she learns that being “normal” is not nearly as important as providing your child with a life full of joy, love, and acceptance. Tender and candid, Make A Wish For Me is a story of accepting and tackling a disability stigmatized and misunderstood by society. Author: LeeAndra Chergey Publication Date: November 10, 2015 -
As a young girl growing up in the Midwest, Sunny is taught to think differently. Her parents are the founders of a small Christian school that practiced Socratic Discourse and encouraged its students to question everything—a lesson Sunny embraces wholeheartedly. As Sunny grows older, she begins to build the life she’s always wanted: she marries, buys a house, enrolls in graduate school, and soon has a baby on the way. But when she experiences the psychological phenomena of orgasmic labor, it triggers a chain of bizarre events, and she gradually descends into a world of delusion and paranoia. As Sunny struggles to separate the real from the unreal, she relies upon friends and family to ground her in truth and love—and keep her from going over the edge into madness. Author: Sunny Mera Publication Date: November 10, 2015 -
Winner IPPY Silver in Mystery and IndieFab Finalist in Mystery and Multicultural Fiction “One of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. Kept me from doing ten important things I should have been doing because I just had to finish it! Kate Raphael writes great women characters and does a fantastic job of portraying the realities of Palestinian life as background to a gripping story.” —Starhawk, best-selling author of The Fifth Sacred Thing and The Spiral Dance “Both [Chloe] and Rania work, in their own ways, to protect the innocent from easy labels like terrorist―labels that Raphael dismantles and examines in this provocative novel.” —Publishers Weekly When Rania—the only female Palestinian police detective in the northern West Bank, as well as a young mother in a rural community where many believe women should not have such a dangerous career—discovers the body of a foreign woman on the edge of her village, no one seems to want her look too deeply into what’s happened. But she finds an ally in Chloe—a gay, Jewish-American peace worker with a camera and a big attitude—and together, with the help of an annoying Israeli policeman, they work to solve the murder. As they do, secrets about war crimes and Israel’s thriving sex trafficking trade begin to surface—and Rania finds everything she holds dear in jeopardy. Fast-paced and intricately plotted, Murder Under The Bridge offers mystery lovers an intimate view of one of the most fraught political conflicts on the planet. Author: Kate Raphael Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
2016 IndieFab Finalist in Women’s Studies and Finalist in Anthologies 2016 Next Gen Winner in Women’s Issues 2016 IPPY Bronze Medal Winner in Women’s Issues Hillary Clinton’s name is on everyone’s lips as we head into the 2016 presidential election. But as we know from the 2008 presidential campaign, and its outcome, Clinton evokes extreme and varied emotions among voters in a way no other candidate in recent memory has. But why? Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox delves into the nuances of our complicated feelings about one of the most powerful women ever in American politics. In this timely collection, editor Joanne Bamberger gathers a unique and diverse group of writers of all ages, walks of life, and political affiliations, while also providing the narrative framework through which to view the history that’s led us to this moment in time—the moment when voters must decide whether they can forgive Hillary Clinton for not being the perfect candidate or the perfect woman and finally elect our first woman president. Timely and fresh, Love Her, Love Her Not will provoke new conversations and push political and cultural dialogue in the US to a new level. Author: Joanne Bamberger Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
2016 IndieFab Finalist in Anthologies Approximately 1 in 7 women suffer from postpartum depression after having a baby. Many more may experience depression during pregnancy, postpartum anxiety, OCD, and other mood disorders. Postpartum depression is, in fact, the most common pregnancy-related complication—yet confusion and misinformation about this disorder are still widespread. And these aren’t harmless myths: the lack of clarity surrounding mothers’ mental health challenges can have devastating effects on their well-being and their identities as mothers, which too often leads to shame and inadequate treatment. In this one-of-a-kind anthology, thirty mothers break the silence to dispel myths about postpartum mental health issues and explore the diversity of women’s experiences. Powerful and inspiring, Mothering Through the Darkness will comfort every mother who’s ever felt alone, ashamed, and hopeless—and, hopefully, inspire her to speak out. Author: Stephanie Sprenger and Jessica Smock Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
2016 International Book Awards - Winner in Addiction & Recovery 2016 NIEA Awards - Winner in Addiction & Recovery 2016 Indie Excellence- Winner in Addiction and Recovery Randall Grange has been tricked into admitting herself into a treatment center and she doesn’t know why. She’s not a party hound like the others in her therapy group—but then again, she knows she can’t live without pills or booze. Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She’s awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she’s twenty-three years old, she’s a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have—and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible. Author: J.A. Wright Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
“Jill Dearman is the New Queen of Noir.” —Go Magazine “Brutal and magical and sexy as hell. Dearman’s noir voice shatters boundaries I never knew existed.” —Augusten Burroughs, author, Running With Scissors. “With the illusion of a good magic show and the captivating edge of the early 20th century, The Great Bravura spellbinds readers in its twisted tale.” —RT Reviews Since adolescence, Bravura and salt of the earth Susie have been partners in magic and best friends, as well as occasional bedmates. But when the two performers hire the mysterious and alluring Lena as a third banana to jazz up the act, Bravura falls madly in love. Lena believes in magic—and not just the rabbit-out-of-a hat kind. She encourages Bravura to believe in her own supernatural powers, and when Susie balks, conflict ensues. Things really go south during the classic “Disappearing Box” act, when Susie disappears for real. With her pal presumed dead, and Bravura the prime suspect, the magician must act quickly to find Susie—hopefully alive! To prove her innocence, Bravura must uncover the holes in her own story—even if it means incriminating herself, and her precious Lena, in the process. Author: Jill Dearman Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
2015 Saints and Sinners Emerging Writer Award Winner 2016 American Library Association’s Stonewall Awards Winner of the Barbara Gittings Honor Book Award 2016 IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Fiction Lum has always been on the outside. At eight, she was diagnosed with what we now call an intersex condition and is told she can’t expect to marry. Now, at thirty-three, she has no home of her own but is shuttled from one relative’s house to another—valued for her skills, but never treated like a true member of the family. Everything is turned upside down, however, when the Blue Ridge Parkway is slated to come through her family’s farmland. As people take sides in the fight, the community begins to tear apart—culminating in an act of violence and subsequent betrayal by opponents of the new road. But the Parkway also brings Lum an unexpected opportunity—one that ultimately gives her the courage to break away from her family’s expectations. Author: Libby Ware Publication Date: October 20, 2015 -
2017 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Memoir 2016 Indie Excellence Winner in Young Adult Non-Fiction 2017 Independent Press Awards Winner in Memoir After her mother and father divorce at age seven, Leslie quickly learns the hard lessons of being Dad’s favorite. The abuse begins at age nine and doesn’t end until she begins to fight back, finally, at age fourteen. Her father, a larger-than-life Norwegian, assumed full custody of Leslie and her two sisters and moved the family from their 63-acre rustic ranch in Northern California to a 45-foot sailboat in Southern California. The family spent two years living aboard their boat preparing for the trip of their father’s dreams: a trip around the world. On February 5, 1975, the family set sail for French Polynesia. Intense and inspiring, Fourteen is a coming-of-age adventure story about a young girl who comes into her own power, fights back against abuse, becomes an accomplished sailor, and falls in love with the ocean and the natural world. The outer voyage is a mirror of her inner journey, and her goal is to find the strength to endure in a dangerous world, and within a difficult family. Author: Leslie Johansen Nack Publication Date: October 20, 2015 -
AWARDS: Bookclub Favorite Winner of New Adult Fiction—Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner of the SILVER Medal for Best Fiction in Drama from Readers' Favorite Finalist USA Best Books Awards in Literary Fiction and in New Fiction “Under its skin, it is a lively, accessible meditation on redemption and the transformative value of good intention and deed.” ―Rebecca Coffey, author of Hysterical: Anna Freud's Story “An outstanding book that is not only deeply honest, heartbreaking, and hopeful, but also brilliant, poignant, and original. It captures what is at the heart of all of us and showcases that life is what we make it. Brilliant, just brilliant! 5 stars.” ―Emily Lewis, Mrs. Mommy Booknerd’s Book Reviews Inspired by a true story about mothers, daughters, and impossible choices—Jules Foster, a child psychologist, upon hearing news of her estranged, narcissistic mother’s terminal diagnosis, chooses to care for her mother over her own daughter, only to find out she has been betrayed all along. Things Unsaid asks us to consider what children owe their aging parents and siblings. Jules Foster is summoned to the local police station to retrieve her elderly parents, after her father has sideswiped a parked automobile. Her parents now rely heavily on her financial support, and Jules finds herself sacrificing her daughter Zoe's dreams for going to college in order to continue bankrolling them. Her husband, Mike, is forced to take sides. Joanne, her divorced younger sister, and Andrew, her brother, refuse to send their parents so much as a Christmas present. Now that their parents are incapable of caring for themselves, Jules, Andrew, and Joanne must decide where to draw the line between obligation and their own families. Throughout Things Unsaid, Jules, Zoe, and Andrew are forced repeatedly to evaluate their personal priorities and avoid repeated misfirings of the heart. As they make impossible choices, they pull back the curtain to reveal deeply buried family secrets. A powerful and courageous tale of family dysfunction and senior citizens, this bold and poignant debut novel presents deep insights into the messy and inevitably complicated world of family relationships, and shows how one woman is able to survive with her sanity and spirit intact. Author: Diana Y. Paul Publication Date: October 13, 2015 -
Winner of the 2016 Gold Medal for Best Regional Fiction, Independent Publisher Book Awards 2016 IndieFab Finalist in Historical Fiction Winner of the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Awards Silver Medal in Fiction: Historical, Event/Era In Boston at the turn of the century, two indigent adolescent boys, Aidan and Charles, are brought together by a common desire: earning enough money each day to feed themselves (and, in Aidan’s case, his mother and sister). Together, they achieve this goal by robbing drunken sailors in the brothel district of the city—until one night they accidently kill their victim. To avoid arrest, they leave the city, conning their way into an island school that only accepts boys with squeaky-clean pasts. But the pressure of keeping their stories straight soon fractures their friendship—and when the cracks begin to show, they find out that they are not as safe from the law as they had hoped. Author: Connie Hertzberg Mayo Publication Date: October 13, 2015 -
“A striking, sensitive record of voyages and acceptance.” —Kirkus Reviews A sweeping exploration of beginnings and endings, loss and letting go. All the Ghosts Dance Free takes readers on a journey through author Terry Cameron Baldwin’s life: from her childhood in a privileged but unstable enclave on the coast of Southern California, through her adolescence in Palm Springs and coming of age in San Francisco at the height of the sixties psychedelic revolution, and ultimately to her life as an ex-pat in Mexico. Struggling to deal with the death of her parents, as well as questions about her own mortality. Baldwin embarks upon a pilgrimage to a small town in Morocco—where, she finds, all of the ghosts dance free. Author: Terry Cameron Baldwin Publication Date: October 13, 2015 -
“A beautifully written, challenging, and thought-provoking book, one that truly leads us to insights and recognitions that make it possible to contemplate a world that works for all. I haven’t seen anything like it. Trenshaw’s book contributes to helping us see the world at the margins with clarity.” —Margaret J. Wheatley, author of So Far From Home, Perseverance, Turning to One Another, and Leadership and the New Science When Cynthia Trenshaw, recently widowed, moves to Berkeley, she thinks the reason she has transplanted herself is to earn her master’s degree in theology. But when, step by unexpected step, she is drawn into the cultural borderlands where society’s “invisible people” reside, she encounters dispossessed and demanding teachers not listed on any academic roster—and becomes immersed in a heady curriculum of helplessness and joy, wisdom and pain. A book that encourages readers to receive the generosity and reciprocity of the margins, Meeting in the Margins offers guidance for how we can all, as individuals, begin to repair the rift between the margins and the mainstream of society—simply by being profoundly present. Author: Cynthia Trenshaw Publication Date: October 6, 2015 -
2016 International Book Award Finalist in Best New Fiction “Spellbinding. Readers will feel they are watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie as they turn the pages of this vivid, fast-paced novel about how uncovering the past can lead to discovering oneself. You’ll never look at vintage clothes quite the same way again.” —Jennifer Coburn, author of We’ll Always Have Paris Twenty-eight-year-old struggling San Francisco artist Anne McFarland is determined to get a one-woman show, even though no one, including herself, believes she can do it. But when she buys a coat at a thrift shop with a key in its pocket, strange, even magical, occurrences begin to unfold, and she is inspired to create her best work ever. Fifty years before, the coat’s original owner, young heiress Sylvia Van Dam, is headed toward a disastrous marriage with a scoundrel. In a split-second reaction, she does the unimaginable, which propels her destiny out of alignment and forces her on a trip of self-discovery to nature-filled Northern Arizona. When Anne and Sylvia’s lives intersect, they are both forced to face their fears—and in the process, they realize their true potential. Author: Jill G. Hall Publication Date: October 6, 2015 -
“A master of figurative language, Lam deftly describes her life in a multicultural family and the pressures they face from both their Chinese and American societies. Readers will enjoy the transformation of each dynamic member of the family and find themselves rooting for the protagonist again and again. This book celebrates the power of resilience and a young girl’s determination to chase her dreams. Lam left me wanting more.” —Amanda Zieba, author of Breaking the Surface and the Orphan Train Rider Series In China, girls are bad luck and are often drowned. But Angela and her sisters are lucky. They are born in America and allowed to live two lives in one world: eating dim sum and praying the rosary; studying hard at school and playing make believe with their dolls. With a Chinese father who loves consumerism and an American mother determined to give her daughters the opportunities she was denied, Angela and her sisters grow up celebrating both their Chinese heritage and their American culture. But when their father suddenly becomes ill, Angela begins to question the limits of luck and the power of prayer—and to wonder whether she will ever find the courage to be herself. Author: Angela Lam Publication Date: October 6, 2016 -
ForeWord Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year “Editor’s Choice Award” Independent Publisher Awards Bronze “Best Regional Fiction South” Winner of International Book Awards in “Religious Fiction” Category Set in 1940s Germantown, Tennessee, South of Everything is a magical coming-of-age story about the daughter of a plantation-owning family, who, despite her privileged background, finds more in common with “the help” than her own family. Sara develops a special kinship with her parents’ servant Old Thomas, who introduces her to the mysterious Lolololo Tree—a magical, mystical tree with healing powers that she discovers is wiser than any teacher or parent or pries—and, in doing so, opens her eyes to the religious and racial prejudice of her surroundings. A universal coming-of-age tale about questioning the world around us and finding our own truth, South of Everything will appeal to anyone who’s ever dreamed of stepping beyond the safe boundaries of the world they know. Author: Audrey Taylor Gonzalez Publication Date: September 15, 2015 -
“[Changed by Chance] is a heartbreaking, inspirational story of perseverance through a maelstrom of tragic events that Barker manages to triumph over. The experiences in this book seem almost too harrowing to be true, yet the author’s intelligent, clear prose will keep readers grounded. It’s food for thought for every reader.” —Kirkus Reviews Elizabeth Barker spent years planning and working hard to achieve her version of the American dream – one that is supposed to culminate in parenthood and the role of supermom. But when her first child is born with Down syndrome and a fatal heart condition, her dream suddenly becomes a nightmare. And that’s only the beginning… Liz’s new reality is a detoured obstacle course of life altering encounters, medical mishaps, a breast cancer diagnosis, and cruel hardships. From the moment of her daughter’s birth, she is pummeled with life lessons that no schooling or formal education could have ever taught her. Can Liz keep her sanity and some semblance of her former self alive and well through all of this? Changed by Chance is a courageous story of soul searching introspection about how this champion acquired the necessary life skills to Triumph over Tragedy. Her inspiring journey offers a roadmap to others who may face their own bumps in the road. Author: Elizabeth Barker Publication Date: September 15, 2015 -
“With courage and heart, Susan Hadler embarks upon a difficult journey to find the lost and forgotten members of her fragmented family. Along the way, she uncovers the family’s decades-old pain and sometimes shame―all with the hope of healing and reconciliation. Her story shows how loss, denial, and stigma can drain us, and also how forgiveness and compassion can restore us. Her unique blend of talents―equal parts writer, psychologist, and bloodhound hot on the trail―make for highly engaging and relatable reading. No one who reads this book will ever look at his or her own family history the same way again.” —David A. Lande, National Geographic senior researcher and author of I Was with Patton Where are they now, the lost, the forgotten? With the love in her mother’s silence as her guide, Susan Johnson Hadler began a quest to find out who the missing people in her family were and what happened to them. The search led her to Germany, where her father was killed just before the end of WWII; then to a Buddhist monastery in France, where she learned new ways to relate to life and death; and ultimately to a state mental hospital in Ohio, where the family abandoned her mother’s older sister years earlier. She believed that her aunt had died—but Hadler, to her great surprise, found her still alive at age ninety-four. And the story didn’t end there. Captivating and often heart-wrenching, The Beauty of What Remains is a story of liberating a family from secrets, ghosts, and untold pain; of reuniting four generations shattered by shame and fear; and of finding the ineffable beauty in what remains. Author: Susan Johnson Hadler Publication Date: September 15, 2015 -
2015 Best Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir 2016 IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Autobiography/Memoir 2016 International Book Award Finalist in Autobiography/Memoirs Lene Fogelberg is dying—she is sure of it—but no doctor in Sweden, her home country, believes her. Love stories enfold her, with the man who will become her husband, with her enchanting surroundings, and later, with her two precious daughters. But despite her happiness, the question she has carried in her heart since childhood—Will I die young?—is closing in, threatening all she holds dear, even her sanity. When her young family moves to the US, an answer, a diagnosis, is finally found: she is in the last stages of a fatal congenital heart disease. But is it too late? Unflinchingly honest and often harrowing, Beautiful Affliction is an inspiring account of growing up and living on the verge of death—and of the beauty, harshness, loneliness, and, ultimately, unbending love that can be found there. Author: Lene Fogelberg Publication Date: September 15, 2015 -
2015 Best Book Awards Finalist in Women’s Fiction 2016 International Book Award Finalist in Fiction: General 2016 Indie Excellence Finalist in General Fiction When English major Nora Plowright finds herself staring at college graduation as if at the edge of a cliff, she decides to become a newspaper reporter—and right away, she manages to get a job at a local paper (which you could still do in 1978). Although fearful by nature, Nora pursues a tip from a stranger and soon is investigating corruption at the Maryland State Highway Authority regarding the controversial placement of a major highway. The developing scandal, with its shady “players,” tests both her budding reportorial skills and her appetite for danger. Also, her passion for storytelling makes it increasingly difficult for her to stick to the facts. Honest and humorous, Just the Facts is a coming-of-age novel about finding one’s way in the real world that will resonate with anyone who has struggled with figuring out what to do when she or he grows up. Publication Date: September 8, 2015
