Dating Big Bird

Dating Big Bird
Author: Laura Zigman
Publisher: Delta
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2012-11-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307828271

Ellen Franck isn't in love with Big Bird. After all, he's a big yellow Sesame Street character -- and she's an intelligent single woman with a fabulous job. On the other hand, Big Bird is looking like a better candidate for fatherhood every day: he's tall, affectionate, and steadily employed. And right now, for Ellen, thirty-five years old and dying to have a baby, almost any father will do. In her hilarious and heartbreaking new novel, Laura Zigman, bestselling author of Animal Husbandry, explores what happens when the life we've chosen isn't that life we expected it to be. And at this point Ellen Franck is rethinking all her choices. Mired in a relationship with a man who is better at brooding than breeding, sister to a woman who can't seem to stop having babies, and working under a boss who is about to have the baby shower of the decade, Ellen knows the path to motherhood is clear. All she has to do is leave her relationship, horrify her family, find an anonymous father, and become independently wealthy. Piece of cake.

Separation Anxiety

Separation Anxiety
Author: Gavin Bradley
Publisher: University of Alberta
Total Pages: 81
Release: 2022-08-16
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1772127086

This poignant debut by Gavin Bradley explores the emotional toll of different kinds of separation: from a partner, a previously held sense of self, or a home and the people left behind. The main narrative describes the deterioration of a long-term relationship, interweaving poems dealing with the loneliness of immigration and the anxiety of separation from Northern Ireland, the poet’s homeland. These personal poems enter their stories through a variety of characters and places, from dock builders to dogs, from shorelines to volcanoes, to “mouths soft and humming like beehives.” Other sections of the collection examine a post-Troubles’ experience in Northern Ireland (evoking the lived-experience of growing up with bombs and domineering Catholicism), tell grandfather stories, and show a lasting love for the people, the language, and the land. Separation Anxiety ultimately conveys a message of hope, reminding us that “we’ll be remembered for / ourselves, and not the spaces we / leave behind.”

How to Find a Bird

How to Find a Bird
Author: Jennifer Ward
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1481467069

A joyful and informative guide to birdwatching for budding young birders from an award-winning author-illustrator duo. How do you find a bird? There are so many ways! Begin by watching. And listening. And staying quiet, so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat. Soon you’ll see that there are birds everywhere—up in the sky, down on the ground, sometimes even right in front of you just waiting to be discovered! Young bird lovers will adore this lushly illustrated introduction to how to spot and observe our feathered friends. It features more than fifty different species, from the giant whooping crane to the tiny ruby-throated hummingbird, and so many in between, and a detailed author’s note provides even more information about birding for curious readers. This celebration of the wondrous variety, colors, and sounds of the avian world is sure to have children grabbing their binoculars and heading outside to explore.

Hawksong

Hawksong
Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2008-12-23
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0375891897

DANICA SHARDAE IS an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one. Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give. A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year A VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List selection

Get Over Yourself!

Get Over Yourself!
Author: Patti Novak
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2008-12-30
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0345512782

True love doesn’t just happen, notes professional matchmaker Patti Novak. You have to work for it–and want it. Forget eight-minute speed dates or online dating sites with twenty-page questionnaires that promise a scientifically calculated perfect match. The fact that you both like golf, stamp collecting, and pizza with anchovies is great, but it won’t mean a thing if you don’t feel that zing. But before there can be sparks, there have to be dates. And before the first date, you need to get over yourself! Taking a tough-love approach, and in her signature straight-shooting style, Patti will show you how to fix what needs to be fixed, reach your core, and identify who you are and what you want in a partner. She uses a three-part common-sense formula: • Getting Over What? Assess your dating weaknesses, recognize what’s not working, and adjust your expectations. Delve into your personal history and past relationships, and pinpoint the issues that have been holding you back. • Almost Over It Fine-tune your attitude, your look, and your behavior to maximize your dating chances. Novak lays out strategies to help you deal with the brutal dating monsters you find along the way. • Over It Learn the do’s and don’ts of the first date, the second date, and beyond. Remember, it’s not a job interview or therapy session. Pretend you’re meeting a new friend, not a prospective husband or wife. Finding your one and only isn’t about having the right shoes or a flat stomach. It’s about being true to yourself, being vulnerable, and being ready for love. Whether you’re new to the dating scene, divorced and looking, or just trying to reach that second date, Get Over Yourself! will help you get the love you’ve always wanted and deserve.

May Bird and the Ever After

May Bird and the Ever After
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2006-05-23
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 141690607X

Lonely and shy, ten-year-old May Ellen Bird has no idea what awaits her when she falls into the lake and enters The Ever After, home of ghosts and the Bogey Man.

Piece of Work

Piece of Work
Author: Laura Zigman
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2006-09-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0759568472

Perfect for book clubs, this rollicking novel follows a stay-at-home mother as she re-enters the workforce and juggles the demands of orchestrating a has-been celebrity's comeback. Julia Einstein knew that being a stay-at-home mom had a lot in common with her former job as a celebrity publicist - endless, irrational demands, little to no appreciation, and constant hustle. But it isn't until her husband is laid off from his job and she's forced to go back to work and resurrect screen legend Mary Ford's career that Julia realizes how very much she prefers an actual child to a formerly famous client. For example, her child doesn't steal ten-thousand-dollar leather coats from photo shoots. Nor does he require a constant, fresh supply of a soda that is no longer in production. He doesn't curse at Julia, pronounce her name "Einstein" with a thick layer of disdainful irony, or incessantly poke at her with his index finger while reciting odd variations on childlike rhymes like a psych patient on day pass. With a mortgage looming and three years out of the business, however, Julia knows she has no choice but to make Mary's comeback a success. Even if it kills her. Which, at this pace, is a possibility. But if there is one thing Julia has learned from her time off from the office, it's that sheer determination can solve almost everything. After all, if she can get through suburban living with its uncontrolled clutter and playground politics, how hard can it be to resuscitate the career of an aging, desperate has-been? And get over the fact that her husband is a better stay-at-home mom than Julia ever was?

This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story

This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
Author: Kacen Callender
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2018-10-30
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062820249

~Lambda Literary Award finalist for the best LGBT YA novel of 2018~ A fresh, charming rom-com perfect for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Boy Meets Boy about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town. Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life. Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel—but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend. After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

Eight Dates

Eight Dates
Author: John Gottman
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2019-02-05
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1523504463

Whether you’re newly together and eager to make it work or a longtime couple looking to strengthen and deepen your bond, Eight Dates offers a program of how, why, and when to have eight basic conversations with your partner that can result in a lifetime of love. “Happily ever after” is not by chance, it’s by choice– the choice each person in a relationship makes to remain open, remain curious, and, most of all, to keep talking to one another. From award-winning marriage researcher and bestselling author Dr. John Gottman and fellow researcher Julie Gottman, Eight Dates offers an ingenious and simple-to-implement approach to effective relationship communication. Here are the subjects that every serious couple should discuss: Trust. Family. Sex and intimacy. Dealing with conflict. Work and money. Dreams, and more. And here is how to talk about them—how to broach subjects that are difficult or embarrassing, how to be brave enough to say what you really feel. There are also suggestions for where and when to go on each date—book your favorite romantic restaurant for the Sex & Intimacy conversation (and maybe go to a yoga or dance class beforehand). There are questionnaires, innovative exercises, real-life case studies, and skills to master, including the Four Skills of Intimate Conversation and the Art of Listening. Because making love last is not about having a certain feeling—it’s about both of you being active and involved.

Animal Husbandry

Animal Husbandry
Author: Laura Zigman
Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc.
Total Pages: 319
Release: 1998
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385319037

When her boyfriend leaves her for no apparent reason and refuses to return her calls, Jane investigates the theories of Freud, Darwin, and her friends as she embarks on a journey to understand the male mind and uncover the secrets of the heart. Reprint. Tour.