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 “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” — Tony Robbins —

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“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” -- William Ernest Henley --

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 “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.” — Mahatma Gandhi —

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“We are made of memories.” — Unknown  — 

Saint Joan of Arc - Quest for Peace

Title: Saint Joan of Arc - Quest for Peace

Authors/Illustrators: Brunor & Dominique Bar

Rating: ★★★★☆

Age Category: Middle Grade

    The year was 1429, and the Hundred Years' War was raging. The Dauphin, the rightful king of France, had been denied his throne, his hereditary lands torn from him. His enemies schemed to crown the English king as monarch of both England and France. Only a few French strongholds remained loyal. Hope was trickling away...

    But outside the besieged town of Orleans, a seventeen-year-old girl from Domremy, her white and gold banner flying, would lead the French army to an improbably victory over their English oppressors. "What God commands must be right," she declared.

    Who was this astonishing young woman? How did she accomplish the feats that military experts called impossible? And what would become of her - and of her heroic quest for peace?

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“Memories are not created from things you said you would do. They are built from things you have done.” — Unknown — 

Soleasi Nel Mio Cor by Petrarch

Soleasi Nel Mio Cor

by Petrarch

She ruled in beauty o'er this heart of mine,
A noble lady in a humble home,
And now her time for heavenly bliss has come,
'Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine.
The soul that all its blessings must resign,
And love whose light no more on earth finds room,
Might rend the rocks with pity for their doom,
Yet none their sorrows can in words enshrine;
They weep within my heart; and ears are deaf
Save mine alone, and I am crushed with care,
And naught remains to me save mournful breath.
Assuredly but dust and shade we are,
Assuredly desire is blind and brief,
Assuredly its hope but ends in death.

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“Some memories never fade, they just get stronger with time.” — Unknown — 

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“Every moment is a memory in the making.” — Unknown — 

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“You shouldn’t wait for other people to make special things happen. You have to create your own memories.” — Heidi Klum — 

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“We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” — A.A. Milne — 

A Bear Called Paddington

Title: A Bear Called Paddington

Author: Michael Bond

Illustrator: Peggy Fortnum

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    "A bear? On Paddington station?" Mrs. Brown looked at her husband in amazement. "Don't be silly, Henry. There can't be!"

    Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same... for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved. 

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“We do not remember days, we remember moments.” — Cesare Pavese — 

The Passionate Shepherd To His Love by Christopher Marlowe

The Passionate Shepherd To His Love

by Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove,

That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the Rocks,

Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow Rivers to whose falls

Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of Roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;

Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and Ivy buds,

With Coral clasps and Amber studs:

And if these pleasures may thee move,

Come live with me, and be my love.

The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May-morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me, and be my love.

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“Let your memory be your travel bag.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — 

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"To educate without a value system based on truth is to abandon young people to moral confusion, personal insecurity, and easy manipulation." -- Pope John Paul II --

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“The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton –

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"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring --

Blaze and the Mountain Lion

Title: Blaze and the Mountain Lion

Author and Illustrator: C. W. Anderson

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Children's Literature

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Billy and Blaze to the Rescue

    Billy and Blaze head west in another classic adventure from C. W. Anderson. This time, the loyal friends come face-to-face with a ferocious mountain lion. But fortunately, they are able to chase the wild cat into its den and save a frightened calf from near death. Billy and Blaze help capture the cat before it can emerge, and, heroes once again, ride the range in search of new adventures!

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"My mother used to tell me that when push comes to shove, you always know who to turn to. That being a family isn't a social construct but an instinct." — Jodi Picoult — 

Sonnet 12 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 12

by William Shakespeare

When I do count the clock that tells the time,

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;

When I behold the violet past prime,

And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white;

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves

Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,

And summer's green all girded up in sheaves

Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,

Then of thy beauty do I question make,

That thou among the wastes of time must go,

Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake

And die as fast as they see others grow;

And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence

Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

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"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter." - Henry David Thoreau -

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“Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.” – Wanda Hope Carter –

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 “Friends are the family you choose.”― Jess C. Scott ―

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“Stick to the basics, hold on to your family and friends – they will never go out of fashion.” – Niki Taylor – 

The Blue Castle

Title: The Blue Castle

Author: L. M. Montgomery

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Young Adult/Adult

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    "If it had not rained on a certain May morning, Valancy Stirling's whole life would have been entirely different."

    At twenty-nine, Valancy had never been in love and it seemed romance had completely passed her by. Her only consolation were the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle.

    All her life Valancy lived on a quiet little street, in an ugly little house, never daring to contradict her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt. Until the fateful day a letter came from Doctor Trent - and Valancy decided to throw caution to the wind once and for all...

    For the first time in her life, Valancy said and did exactly what she wanted. Soon she discovered a world full of fine surprises and real adventures that she never knew could exist outside of her secret Blue Castle.

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"The world, we'd discovered, doesn't love you like your family loves you." — Louis Zamperini — 

Sonnet 15 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 15

by William Shakespeare

When I consider every thing that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment,

That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

When I perceive that men as plants increase,

Cheered and cheque'd even by the self-same sky,

Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

And wear their brave state out of memory;

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay,

To change your day of youth to sullied night;

And all in war with Time for love of you,

As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

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 "I think togetherness is an important ingredient of family life.” — Barbara Bush — 

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“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”― Robin Hobb ―

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 "Sound loves to revel in a summer night." - Edgar Allan Poe -