Critical Alliance

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  How Far To The Promised Land

  $28.42

  From the New York Times contributing opinion writer and award-winning author of Reading While Black, Esau McCaulley shares a riveting intergenerational account of his family’s search for home and hope.

  For much of his life, Esau McCaulley was taught to see himself as an exception: someone who, through hard work, faith, and determination, overcame childhood poverty, anti-Black racism, and an absent father to earn a job as a university professor and a life in the middle class.

  But that narrative was called into question one night, when McCaulley answered the phone and learned that his father-whose absence defined his upbringing-died in a car crash. McCaulley was being asked to deliver his father’s eulogy, to make sense of his complicated legacy in a country that only accepts Black men on the condition that they are exceptional, hardworking, perfect.

  The resulting effort sent McCaulley back through his family history, seeking to understand the community that shaped him. In these pages, we meet his great-grandmother Sophia, a tenant farmer born with the gift of prophecy who scraped together a life in Jim Crow Alabama; his mother, Laurie, who raised four kids alone in an era when single Black mothers were demonized as “welfare queens”; and a cast of family, friends, and neighbors who won small victories in a world built to swallow Black lives. With profound honesty and compassion, he raises questions that implicate us all: What does each person’s struggle to build a life teach us about what we owe each other? About what it means to be human?

  How Far to the Promised Land is a thrilling and tender epic about being Black in America. It’s a book that questions our too-simple narratives about poverty and upward mobility; a book in which the people normally written out of the American Dream are given voice.

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• 

  Message In The Moon

  $15.99

  This gorgeous picture book illustrates the unique relationship between children and their parents and how this special love connects them always, from near or far–from Emmy-nominated actress, producer, and New York Times bestselling author Roma Downey.

  Oh Moon, moon, moon that shines so bright.
  Please send this message far . . .
  So all will know that they are loved,
  No matter where they are.

  A Message in the Moon was inspired by Downey’s own story of losing her mother when she was just ten years old and the comfort her father brought her. Years later, when Downey left home for college, her father pointed to the full moon and told her, “Whenever you feel alone, always look into the night sky, and you’ll be reminded of how much I love you. I’ll leave a message for you in the moon.” That simple comfort remains with Downey today, and now she is passing it on to parents and children alike.

  Beautifully illustrated by New York Times bestselling artist Holly Hatam, A Message in the Moon features charming vignettes that show characters finding reassurance in the moon’s message. “Whether your child is going to their first sleepover, their first day of school, or their favorite stuffed animal is inexplicably gone, whether they are experiencing the loss of a goldfish, or a sibling has left for college, A Message in the Moon helps parents to explain the feeling of longing to their little ones,” Downey writes.

  With whimsical artwork and uplifting rhymes, A Message in the Moon is a perfect reminder for parents and children alike that they are never alone. They just need to look to the moon and remember that they are loved.

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• 

  American Immigrant : A Novel

  $17.00

  A Colombian American journalist tries to save her career by taking an assignment somewhere she never thought she’d go–Colombia–in this heartwarming debut novel about rediscovering our family stories.

  Twenty-five-year-old Melanie Carvajal, a hardworking but struggling journalist for a Miami newspaper, loves her Colombian mother but regularly ignores her phone calls, frustrated that she never quite takes the time to understand Melanie’s life. When the opportunity arises for a big assignment that might save her flagging career, Melanie follows the story to the land of her mother’s birth. She soon realizes Colombia has the potential to connect her, after all these years, to something she’s long ignored: her heritage, the love of her mother, her family, and the richest parts of herself.

  Colombia offers more than a chance to make a name for herself as a writer. It is a place of untold stories.

  Inspired by real-life events, An American Immigrant is a story of culture and community, of abiding commitment to family, and of embracing our culture and the generations that have come before.

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• 

  Embrace Your Almost

  $18.94

  Not quite where you expected to be? You’re in good company. Now the bestselling author of Own Your Everyday helps you navigate unmet expectations, waiting, and uncertainty with confidence and clarity.

  Jordan Lee Dooley knows firsthand how frustrating it can be when you almost achieve a goal, almost reach a dream, and almost get to where you want to be, only to land just short of the finish line or watch it all fall apart at the last minute.

  Unmet expectations have a way of making us rethink everything. But perhaps rethinking dreams is not always the worst thing. Why? Because it’s in those moments, when you’re not where you expected to be, that you have a chance to pause and consider what matters most to you as well as redefine what success looks like for you in a world that’s constantly telling you what you should want or should do.

  Believe it or not, it is possible to cultivate a life you really like–and one where you can succeed–in the tension of the middle, between where you started and where you hoped to be. Discover:

  – practical steps to move forward when your plans don’t go according to plan
  – how to clarify which goals are right for you to pursue
  – what to do when dreams seem to come true for everyone but you
  – the unexpected gains that can arise from unwanted pain
  – how to know when it’s time to let go of a dream–and what to do with the space left behind

  Life is filled with unmet expectations, disrupted dreams, uncertainty, and in-between seasons. As hard as those experiences may be, they also offer a unique invitation to align your dreams and goals with what matters most. Learn how you can gain greater clarity about what you truly want, why you want it, and how to begin pursuing it.

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