Dance Like Nobodys Watching

DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING is a riveting true story of courage that relates how the author transformed her experience with two deadly cancers-breast and ovarian-into an opportunity to slay all the cancer dragons. . . and survive. Her personal blueprint for survival includes believing in a mind-body connection, taking control of one's own healthcare, participating in a support group, and embracing many levels of love. By dancing close to death, she learns how to live, and in sharing that gift, she offers hope to anyone who must travel the lonely road of cancer.

The show must go on. It’s back to show business as usual at Duke’s Academy of Performing Arts. Things are finally working out for Nettie, with her voice restored, her gorgeous boyfriend, Fletch, by her side and the lead role in the college musical. That is, until Fletch is offered the opportunity of a lifetime miles away from London and a TV company invades Dukes, pitting Nettie against old enemy Jade Upton and pulling her friends apart. As she tries to juggle the impossible pressure to perform and following her heart, Nettie discovers secrets about her mother that make her question everything she ever knew. Will Fletch come back? Will the stage ever feel like home? And will she ever find out the truth about her mother? Nettie is determined to find out. Dance Like No One's Watching by Vanessa Jones will show that Nettie is not helpless, and we'd better listen.

A New York Times Bestseller For Lady Gaga, kindness is the driving force behind everything she says and does. The quiet power of kindness can change the way we view one another, our communities, and even ourselves. She embodies this mission, and through her work, brings more kindness into our world every single day. Lady Gaga has always believed in the importance of being yourself, being kind to yourself, and being kind to others, no matter who they are or where they come from. With that sentiment in mind, she and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, founded Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the world a kinder and braver place. Through the years, they've collected stories of kindness, bravery and resilience from young people all over the world, proving that kindness truly is the universal language. And now, we invite you to read these stories and follow along as each and every young author finds their voice just as Lady Gaga has found hers. Within these pages, you’ll meet young changemakers who found their inner strength, who prevailed in the face of bullies, who started their own social movements, who decided to break through the mental health stigma and share how they felt, who created safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, and who have embraced kindness with every fiber of their being by helping others without the expectation of anything in return. In one story, you’ll read about a young person with an autoimmune disease, who after being bullied at school, learned how to practice self-love and started an organization with the mission of educating others about the importance of self-love, too; and in another story, you’ll meet a young person who decided to start a movement to help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and encouraged others to talk about their feelings openly and honestly, a reminder that kindness and mental wellness go hand in hand. Not only were we moved by these individual acts of kindness, but we were also touched by the many stories of organizations, neighborhoods, and entire communities that fully dedicated themselves to helping those in need and found new, innovative ways to make our world a kinder and braver place. Individually and collectively, these stories prove that kindness not only saves lives but builds community. Kindness is inclusion, it is pride, it is empathy, it is compassion, it is self-respect and it is the guiding light to love. Kindness is always transformational, and its never-ending ripples result in even more kind acts that can change our lives, our communities, and our world.

Nettie Delany has just been accepted into a cutthroat performing arts school, but she hasn't been able to sing a single note since her mother died. Duke's Academy of Performing Arts isn't for the weak-willed or easily intimidated; the school has mentored plenty of big names, including Nettie's own mother—a ballerina superstar. With the shadow of grief haunting her every step, Nettie has her work cut out for her if she plans to stay enrolled in a highly coveted program. No room for error. Nettie must work through the pain of the past, horrible classmates, and vicious teachers to find her voice again and deliver a showstopper. If not, she faces expulsion. With the help of her friends and a new romance, can Nettie get it together in time? Everyone is watching. Former West End performer and author Vanessa Jones delivers a well-crafted journey of grief and healing in this contemporary young adult novel. An ideal read for fans of theater and Broadway musicals.

Courage is a word that is often reserved for soldiers or police officers or firefighters. Yet, nearly every day, in both our personal and professional lives we have the opportunity to face our fears and do something courageous. Whether it be standing up as the lone voice of dissent in a meeting or talking with your neighbor about the deposits his dog leaves on your lawn, the opportunity for courage is often there. "Cultivate Courage" is an inspirational look at how fear and courage impact us in our lives more often than we realize or care to admit. Often, we default to fear because it is the easy way out. Acknowledging our fear is the first step to leading a life of courage. Acknowledging our fear is the first step in reaching our goals and dreams. Acknowledging our fear is the first step to becoming courageous. Steps 2 and 3 to leading your life with more courage are also outlined in the book. Each step is simple and actionable immediately. This isn't a book about becoming fearless. Rather, it's a book about facing your fears head on. It's about you being in control of your fears rather than your fears being in control of you. If you're tired of being a spectator in the game of life then this book will help you to cultivate the courage you need to be your best self. Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said many years ago, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Are you ready to step out of your fear and into your courage?

"At age twenty-eight, Mira Ptacin discovered she was pregnant. Though it was unplanned, she soon embraced the pregnancy and became engaged to Andrew, the father. Five months later, an ultrasound revealed birth defects that would give the child no chance of survival outside the womb. Mira was given three options: terminate her pregnancy, induce early delivery, or wait and inevitably miscarry. Mira's story is woven together with the story of her mother, who emigrated from Poland, also at the age of twenty-eight, and adopted a son, Julian. Julian would die tragically, bringing her an unimaginable grief. A memoir about loss and self-preservation, grief and recovery, and mothers and daughters, [this book] is [an] ... examination of free will, love, and the fierce bonds of family"--

Sixteen-year-old Jeremy Duncan is a high school freshman and an aspiring musician. He daydreams about the day when his band, Goat Cheese Pizza, records their first monster hit single, and they all pile into his van for their cross-country, sold-out concert tour. Between naps, study hall and band practice, Jeremy still manages to find time to be the star of the hugely popular comic strip, Zits.

Life, as we all, you and old know, is not fair. So what do we do about it? Do we let it defeat us while we are in the most vulnerable state, suffering what seems to be immense pain that we cannot endure? Or do we take a personal journey through our own reality and face the ultimate knowledge? We are not alone; there is a loving God who cares for us. Dance is a book offering answers by a wise woman who has traveled not only continent to continent (and writes in her fourth language after Armenian, Turkish, and French) but from abject hopelessness to survival and success through her faith, her self-reliance, and her devotion to Christianity, her religion, but not one to which she limits her insights. She tells us how she survived through her own rough-honed spirituality, her never-ending search for confidence, and the path that provided her for achievement and success. -I. B. Wells, author of Women of Summer Alis Cerrahyan has written a humble yet powerful memoir. It beautifully portrays the true power of forgiveness and allows us to share in a journey of faith and determination unaltered by circumstances. The truth is a powerful healer. -Sheila Kilpatrick, author of Anastasia's Rain

“Deb Olin Unferth’s stories are so smart, fast, full of heart, and distinctive in voice—each an intense little thought-system going out earnestly in search of strange new truths. What an important and exciting talent.”—George Saunders For more than ten years, Deb Olin Unferth has been publishing startlingly askew, wickedly comic, cutting-edge fiction in magazines such as Granta, Harper’s Magazine, McSweeney’s, NOON, and The Paris Review. Her stories are revered by some of the best American writers of our day, but until now there has been no stand-alone collection of her short fiction. Wait Till You See Me Dance consists of several extraordinary longer stories as well as a selection of intoxicating very short stories. In the chilling “The First Full Thought of Her Life,” a shooter gets in position while a young girl climbs a sand dune. In “Voltaire Night,” students compete to tell a story about the worst thing that ever happened to them. In “Stay Where You Are,” two oblivious travelers in Central America are kidnapped by a gunman they assume to be an insurgent—but the gunman has his own problems. An Unferth story lures you in with a voice that seems amiable and lighthearted, but it swerves in sudden and surprising ways that reveal, in terrifying clarity, the rage, despair, and profound mournfulness that have taken up residence at the heart of the American dream. These stories often take place in an exaggerated or heightened reality, a quality that is reminiscent of the work of Donald Barthelme, Lorrie Moore, and George Saunders, but in Unferth’s unforgettable collection she carves out territory that is entirely her own.