Books about Orphaned from Amazon.com

Losing our parents when we ourselves are adults is in the natural order of things, a rite of passage into true adulthood But whether we lose them suddenly or after a prolonged illness, and whether we were close to or estranged from them, this passage proves inevitably more difficult than we thought it would be. A much-needed and knowledgeable discussion of this adult phenomenon, The Orphaned Adult validates the wide array of disorienting emotions that can accompany the death of our parents by sharing both the author's heart-felt experience of loss and the moving stories of countless adults who have shared their losses with him. From the recognition of our own mortality and sudden child-like sorrow to a sometimes-subtle change in identity or shift of roles in the surviving family, The Orphaned Adult guides readers through the storm of change this passage brings and anchors them with its compassionate and reassuring wisdom.

Squirrel and her brother Bone begin their lives in a toolshed behind someone's summer house. Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is taken from them suddenly and too soon, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process, makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.

A gripping novel about the effects of violence on the journalists and artists who have dedicated themselves to representing it

In the aftermath of September 11, reeling from the effects of reporting from New York City, two British journalists, a writer, Stephen Sharkey, and a photographer, Ben Frobisher, part ways. Stephen, facing the almost simultaneous discovery that his wife is having an affair, returns to England shattered; he divorces and quits his job. Ben returns to his vocation. He follows the war on terror to Afghanistan and is killed.

Stephen retreats to a cottage in the country to write a book about violence, and what he sees as the reporting journalist's or photographer's complicity in it; it is a book that will build in large part on Ben's writing and photography. Ben's widow, Kate, a sculptor, lives nearby, and as she and Stephen learn about each other their world speedily shrinks, in pleasing but also disturbing ways; Stephen's maid, with whom he has begun an affair, was once lovers with Kate's new studio assistant, an odd local man named Peter. As these connections become clear, Peter's strange behavior around Stephen and Kate begins to take on threatening implications. The sinister events that take place in this small town, so far from the theaters of war Stephen has retreated from, will force him to act instinctively, violently, and to face his most painful revelations about himself.

In this emotional story of hope and inspiration, an African boy, orphaned by AIDS becomes a catalyst for AIDS orphans worldwide. Living in a shantytown in Kenya, Kevin Sumba's life was one of loneliness and hardship. Yet he was determined to get an education. Miles Roston, a documentary filmmaker, first met Kevin while making a film on AIDS orphans. He found that this particular boy touched his heart in a way he hadn't anticipated. Together, they set out to answer "Kevin's Questions" about the AIDS epidemic and more specifically, Kevin's situation. Taking Away the Distance takes us on a singular journey, as powerful policymakers and those working at a grassroots level deal with the direct, and at times confronting, questions of one boy. Along the way, we also meet people directly impacted by the epidemic and face their lives heroically: from children surviving homelessness on Nairobi's streets to a mother on her deathbed whose only thought is how to care for the children she will leave behind. As Kevin and Roston form a bond of love and respect, each learning from the other, we discover just how much our own lives can change if we dare to help.