The End of Molasses Classes - Getting Our Kids Unstuck--101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers

On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter's life is to give her away. It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.

Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discovery that she will never have one of her own. When she and her husband, Krishnan, see a photo of the baby with the gold-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are overwhelmed with emotion. Somer knows life will change with the adoption but is convinced that the love they already feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer, and the child that binds both of their destinies, Secret Daughter poignantly explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love, as witnessed through the lives of two families—one Indian, one American—and the child that indelibly connects them.

This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work by Jacob Grimm, which is now, at last, again available to you.

Get the PDF and EPUB NOW as well. Included in your purchase you have Grimm's Fairy Tales in EPUB AND PDF format to read on any tablet, eReader, desktop, laptop or smartphone simultaneous - Get it NOW.

Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside Grimm's Fairy Tales:

Look inside the book:

In the morning came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his journey, and said, 'Go straight forward, till you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep and snoring: take no notice of them, but go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you will repent it.' ...Poor Sultan, who was lying close by them, heard all that the shepherd and his wife said to one another, and was very much frightened to think tomorrow would be his last day; so in the evening he went to his good friend the wolf, who lived in the wood, and told him all his sorrows, and how his master meant to kill him in the morning.

About Jacob Grimm, the Author:

The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells, who called the novel "an exercise in youthful blasphemy." The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. At the time of novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe regarding degeneration and animal vivisection. Two years later several interest groups were formed to address the issue such as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

The Island of Doctor Moreau is the account of one Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked Englishman with a scientific education. A passing ship takes him aboard and a man named Montgomery revives him. The ship is bound for Noble's Isle. Prendick also meets a grotesque bestial native named M'ling who appears to be Montgomery's manservant. In addition, the ship is transporting a number of animals which belong to Montgomery. As the ship approaches the island, the captain demands Prendick leave the ship with Montgomery. However, Montgomery explains that he will not be able to host Prendick either. Despite this, the captain leaves Prendick in a dinghy, after unloading Montgomery and his animals and sails away. Seeing that the captain has abandoned Prendick, Montgomery takes pity and rescues him. It is explained that ships rarely pass the island so Prendick will be housed in an outer room of an enclosed compound. The island belongs to a Dr Moreau. Prendick remembers that he has heard of Dr Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in London whose gruesome experiments in vivisection had been publicly exposed. The next day, Dr Moreau begins working on a puma. Prendick gathers that Dr Moreau is performing a painful experiment on the animal, and its anguished cries drive Prendick out into the jungle. While he wanders, he comes upon a group of people who seem human but have an unmistakable resemblance to hogs. As he walks back to the enclosure, he suddenly realizes he is being followed by a figure in the jungle. He panics and flees and the figure chases. As his pursuer bears down on him, Prendick manages to stun him with a stone and observes the pursuer is a monstrous hybrid of animal and man. When he returns to the enclosure and questions Montgomery, Montgomery refuses to be open with him. After failing to get an explanation, Prendick finally gives in and takes a sleeping draught. Prendick awakes the next morning with the previous night's activities fresh in his mind. Seeing that the door to Moreau's operating room has been left unlocked, he walks in to find a humanoid form lying in bandages on the table before he is ejected by a shocked and angry Dr. Moreau. He believes that Dr. Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he is the next test subject. He flees into the jungle where he meets an Ape-Man who takes him to a colony of similarly half-human/half-animal creatures. Their leader is a large gray thing named the Sayer of the Law who has him recite a strange litany called the Law that involves prohibitions against bestial behavior and praise for Moreau. Suddenly, Dr. Moreau bursts into the colony looking for Prendick, but Prendick escapes to the jungle. He makes for the ocean where he plans to drown himself rather than allow Dr. Moreau to experiment on him. But Dr. Moreau explains that the creatures called the Beast Folk were not formerly men, but rather animals. Prendick returns to the enclosure where Dr. Moreau explains to him that he has been on the island for eleven years and has been striving to make a complete transformation from animal to human. He explains that while he is getting closer to perfection, his experiments have a habit of reverting to their animal form. Dr. Moreau regards the pain he inflicts as insignificant, and an unavoidable side effect in the name of his scientific experiments. One day, Prendick and Montgomery encounter a half-eaten rabbit. Since eating flesh and tasting blood are strong prohibitions, Dr. Moreau calls an assembly of the Beast Folk and identifies the Leopard-Man (the same one that chased Prendick the first time he wandered into the jungle) as the transgressor. Knowing that he will be sent back to Dr. Moreau's compound for more painful sessions of vivisection, the Leopard-Man flees. Eventually the group corners him in some undergrowth, but Prendick takes pity and shoots him in order to spare him from the vivisection. Prendick also believes that although the Leopard-Man was seen breaking several laws such as drinking water bent down like an animal, chasing men (Prendick), and running on all fours, the Leopard-Man was not solely responsible for the deaths of the rabbits. It was also the Hyena-Swine, the next most dangerous Beast Man on the island. Dr. Moreau is furious that Prendick killed the Leopard-Man. but can do nothing about the situation. As time passes, Prendick becomes inured to the grotesqueness of the Beast Folk. But one day, the puma rips free of its restraints and escapes from the lab. Dr. Moreau pursues it, but the two end up killing each other. Montgomery breaks down and decides to share his alcohol with the Beast Folk. Prendick resolves to leave the island, but later hears a commotion outside in which Montgomery dies after a scuffle with the Beast Folk. At the same time, the compound burns down because Prendick has knocked over a lamp. With no chance of saving any of the provisions stored in the enclosure, Prendick realizes that during the night Montgomery has also destroyed the only boats on the island. Prendick lives with the Beast Folk on the island for months after the deaths of Moreau and Montgomery. As the time goes by, the Beast Folk increasingly revert to their original animal instincts, beginning to hunt the island's rabbits, returning to walking on all fours, and leaving their shared living areas for the wild. They cease to follow Prendick's instructions and eventually kill his faithful companion, a Dog-Man created from a St. Bernard. Luckily for him since his efforts to build a raft have been unsuccessful, a boat that carries two corpses drifts onto the beach (perhaps the captain of the ship that picked Prendick up and a sailor). Prendick uses the boat to leave the island and is picked up three days later. But when he tells his story he is thought to be mad, so he feigns amnesia. Back to England, Prendick is no longer comfortable in the presence of humans who seem to him to be about to revert to the animal state. He leaves London and lives in near-solitude in the countryside devoting himself to chemistry as well as astronomy in the study of which he finds some peace.

Main characters:

Edward Prendick - The narrator and protagonist. Doctor Moreau - A vivisectionist who has fled scandal to live on a remote island in the Pacific to pursue his research of perfecting his Beast Folk. Montgomery - Dr. Moreau's assistant and Prendick's rescuer. A biologist who enjoys a measure of happiness in England. An alcoholic who feels some sympathy for the Beast Folk. Beast Folk - Animals upon which Moreau has experimented upon, giving them human traits via vivisection. They include: M'ling - Montgomery's bear-based servant. Moreau used the DNA of a bear, a dog, and a horse to create him. Sayer of the Law - A large gray unspecified animal that recites Dr. Moreau's teachings about being men to the other Beast Folk. Leopard-Man - A leopard-based rebel who breaks the Law by killing and eating a rabbit. Hyena-Swine - A carnivorous hybrid of hyena and pig who becomes Prendick's enemy in the wake of Dr. Moreau's death. Satyr-Man - A goat creature. He is described as unsettling and "Satanic" in form by Prendick. Fox-Bear Witch - A female hybrid of fox and bear who passionately supports the Law. Prendick quickly takes a dislike to her. Sloth Creature - A small, pink sloth-based creation. Described by Prendick as resembling a flayed child. Dog-Man - A Beast Man created from a St. Bernard who near the end of the book is Prendick's faithful companion. He is killed when the Beast Folk start regressing back to their primitive states. Ape-Man - A monkey or ape creature that considers himself equal to Prendick and refers to himself and Prendick as "Five Men" because they both have five fingers on each hand which is uncommon among the Beast Folk. He is the first Beast Man other than M'ling that Prendick speaks to. He has what he refers to as "Big Thinks" which on his return to England, Prendick likens to a priest's sermon at the pulpit.

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.