Everything is Teeth by Evie Wyld (2016, Pantheon; 128 pages) Evie Wyld has created a fantastic book, a book in which words and pictures are in perfect harmony. The illustrations are the work of Joe Sumner. Both Wyld and Sumner live in London, but Evie Wyld used to spend her summers in the heat of coastal Australia when she was a little girl. There she initiated her passion and captivation with sharks, by their innate ruthlessness and immeasurable power. Sharks have lived since then in her imagination, and that fact is the origin of this moving graphic memoir, a memoir, like many others, about family and love and loss, but also a memoir about “the irresistible forces that, like sharks, course through life unseen, ready to emerge at any moment.” The black and white illustrations and the story haunt the reader. Words one could use to describe the experience of reading Everything is Teeth are poetic, suspenseful, moving, honest, and eerily intimate. An extraordinary evocative beauty weaves the story with the help of pictures that mimic an old black-and-white film. A different reading for those looking for head-spinners. Find this title in our catalog: Everything is Teeth Recommended by: Maite
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Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters by Lizbeth Meredith (2016, She Writes Press; 312 pages) On a dark, cold winter afternoon in Anchorage in 1994, Lizbeth Meredith went to retrieve her four- and six-year-old daughters from daycare after their regular two-day visit with her abusive, violent ex-husband, only to find them missing. Her non-custodial ex had kidnapped them and taken them to Greece – his home country. What follows is one brave young woman’s nightmarish two-year struggle to get her daughters back, no matter the cost. And that cost was steep. Twenty-nine years old and just off food stamps, Lizbeth now faced a daunting task – how to navigate her way through the maze of international laws and lawyers, treaties, confusion, and doublespeak to regain her children. Somehow, through it all, Meredith manages to not only keep it together, but maintain a sense of humor, a remarkable feat given the way she was treated by many of the people whose job it was to assist her. Perhaps worst of all is the Anchorage police officer originally assigned to the case, who, it turns out, deliberately attempted to sabotage the author’s lawful effort to retrieve her daughters. But Lizbeth also encounters boundless generosity and kindness on her odyssey, from friends and strangers in Anchorage and Greece who helped her along the way. This is an unforgettable, un-put-downable tale told by a courageous and remarkable woman. Pieces of Me reads, at times, like a gripping, suspense-filled thriller, packed with international intrigue, high-powered diplomats and shady, Greek private eyes. You can’t wait to turn the page to see what happens next. But it’s also a haunting memoir of domestic violence, abuse, and ultimately, one mother’s powerful and rousing triumph in the face of incredible adversity. Well written and fast-paced, Pieces of Me is an important, honest, and heartrending story of how a naïve young girl became an incredibly strong, brave, and persistent woman who refused to give up, no matter how insurmountable the odds. An inspiring and gripping true story. Find this title in our catalog: Pieces of Me Recommended by: Greg |
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