Jennifer L. Allen

Ally Monroe can't remember her name, let alone the eighteen years of her life before a car accident put her in a year-long coma. She wakes up to the reality that her parents are dead and she has amnesia. Released from her long-term care facility to live with her twin brother, Alex, and older brother, Trevor, Ally tries to piece together what she can while attempting to live her life again. Enter Chase Baker, guitarist for her brothers' rock band, JACT. There is something about him that Ally just can't resist, but the mysteries of her past are looming in the back of her mind, threatening to destroy anything she tries to build with him. Do Ally and Chase have a chance? Or is there a secret in Ally's past that may get in the way?

Our Moon

Nothing has been the same since Noah's Daddy got cancer -except Cinnamon Roll Sunday. Every week, Noah and Daddy walk to the corner market and bring home fresh cinnamon rolls and the paper. They cuddle up on the couch and read the Sunday comics together while savoring each sweet bite. When Daddy's hair falls out, he and Mamma explain what is happening, answering the many questions popping up in Noah's mind. Noah worries Daddy will die. He imagines shredding the cancer to pieces. Noah stomps on his cinnamon roll in protest. Things aren't going the way they are supposed to! At school, Noah's counselor encourages him to draw each of his mixed-up feelings. Noah shares with his best friend, Ben, that Daddy is too sick to coach their team. Grandma walks to the market with Noah that week. Things are changing fast. Cinnamon Roll Sunday tells the story of seven-year-old Noah as he copes and adapting to the many changes implicit to a loved-one's serous illness. The story spans from just after Daddy's cancer diagnosis until after his death, and is told with tenderness, playfulness, and in a voice of resiliency. What do you do when someone is very sick and might die? Anticipatory grief is a difficult issue to address as it counters the cultural taboo of talking about death with kids, especially if it might not happen or hasn't yet happened. Cinnamon Roll Sunday answers that question for children, and in doing so, breaks the taboo, and bridge this gap in the field of grief. Cinnamon Roll Sunday demonstrates through story how to cope with the uncertainty of illness in a family and how to have healthy, age-appropriate conversations about difficult subjects. Cinnamon Roll Sunday is intended to be read aloud by a parent, teacher, helper, or therapist to school-age children who have (had) a loved-one who is seriously ill. It acts as a springboard for healthy communication and a normalizes the many mixed up thoughts and feelings indicative of anticipatory grief.

A Child's Story of Anticipatory Grief

Cinnamon Roll Sunday

Casey Evans and Decker Abrams had been best friends since they became neighbors at the age of six. After high school, Casey abruptly leaves their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina for the west coast, leaving Decker wondering where she went and why she left. Three years later the two are reunited, both harboring some old resentment towards the other. Not to mention, Casey has been hiding a pretty big secret from Decker all those years. Not willing to risk losing Casey again, Decker follows her back to California in an attempt to save their friendship. Will Casey and Decker work out their issues and be best friends again? Or will they finally become something more?

Change of Heart

Jennifer Allen details a German utopian movement that arose against capitalist triumphalism at the end of the Cold War. Describing public art and history projects, alongside novel community-centered political institutions, Allen shows how activists invited ordinary people to build a radically new society free from alienation and disenfranchisement.

The Art and Politics of Hope in Germany

Sustainable Utopias

Melanie: I can't even believe I didn't make eye contact with the guy on the elevator. I'd seen him before in my office building and he was totally awesome to look at. From what I could tell by the way his suit clung to him, he had a hot bod, too. Another missed opportunity! I'm so lame. Next time, I'll see if he wants to do lunch. I wonder if he listens to 80s music when he works out, because he has got to work out.Tyler: Dude, that chick in the elevator was mad fine. My sister may think I'm not capable of keeping a relationship, but she's bugg'n. I'm gonna show the girl with the big green eyes that I'm all that and a bag of chips. Next time I see her, I'm gonna hit her up for sure. I wonder how she feels about watching 90s TV reruns on Friday nights? TGIF!Melanie and Tyler may be decades apart, but working for the same publishing company brings the irresistible pair together. The ambitious duo is filled with dreams that don't include being executive assistants for the rest of their lives. Somewhere between the laughter and arguing over which decade brought the better entertainment and fads, they fall in love.Tension mounts as the pressure and excitement of new opportunities increases and their dreams get closer to becoming a reality...but what happens when one of their dreams doesn't come true?

A Totally Sweet Love Story

Simply Irresistible

Cecilia A. Essau

David J. Hawes

An overview of the core competencies for the delivery of evidence-based family interventions for child and adolescent mental health issues.

Jennifer L. Allen

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