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The New York Times's best-selling author of Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher connects us with our greater family--the human family. Over the past decade, Mary Pipher has been a great source of wisdom, helping us to better understand our family members. Now she connects us with the newest members of the American family--refugees.
In cities all over the country, refugees arrive daily. Lost Boys from Sudan, survivors from Kosovo, families fleeing Afghanistan and Vietnam: they come with nothing but the hope and desire to experience the American dream. Their endurance in the face of tragedy and their ability to hold on to the virtues of family, love, and joy are a lesson for all Americans.
Their stories will make you laugh and weep, and give you a deeper understanding of the wider world in which we live.
The Middle of Everywhere moves beyond the headlines into the homes of refugees from around the world. Working as a cultural broker, teacher, and therapist, Mary Pipher has once again opened our eyes--and our hearts--to those with whom we share the future.
List of contents
Contents
Foreword
Prelude: Ellis Island
Part One: Hidden in Plain Sight
Chapter 1: Cultural Collisions on the Great Plains
Chapter 2: The Beautiful Laughing Sisters-An Arrival Story
Chapter 3: Into the Heart of the Heartland 4
Chapter 4: All that Glitters
Part two: Refugees across the Life Cycle
Chapter 5: Children of Hope, Children of Tears
Chapter 6: Teenagers-Mohammed Meets Madonna
Chapter 7: Young Adults-"Is There a Marriage Broker in Lincoln?"
Chapter 8: Family-"A Bundle of Sticks Cannot Be Broken"
Part three: The Alchemy of Healing-Turning Pain into Meaning
Chapter 9: African Stories
Chapter 10: Healing in all Times and Places
Chapter 11: Home-A Global Positioning System for Identity
Chapter 12: Building a Village of Kindness
Coda: We're All Here Now
Appendix
1. Working with People for Whom English Is a New Language
2. Becoming a Cultural Broker
3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Bibliography
Acknowledgments 3
Index
About the author
Mary Pipher, Ph.D., is the author of three bestselling books, including Reviving Ophelia, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 2 years. She speaks all over the country all year and has received a presidential citation from the American Psychological Association. She lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Summary
The New York Times's best-selling author of Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher connects us with our greater family––the human family.
Over the past decade, Mary Pipher has been a great source of wisdom, helping us to better understand our family members. Now she connects us with the newest members of the American family––refugees.
In cities all over the country, refugees arrive daily. Lost Boys from Sudan, survivors from Kosovo, families fleeing Afghanistan and Vietnam: they come with nothing but the hope and desire to experience the American dream. Their endurance in the face of tragedy and their ability to hold on to the virtues of family, love, and joy are a lesson for all Americans.
Their stories will make you laugh and weep, and give you a deeper understanding of the wider world in which we live. The Middle of Everywhere moves beyond the headlines into the homes of refugees from around the world. Working as a cultural broker, teacher, and therapist, Mary Pipher has once again opened our eyes––and our hearts––to those with whom we share the future.
Additional text
PRAISE FOR REVIVING OPHELIA
"An important book . . . Pipher shines high-beam headlights on the world of
teenage girls."--Los Angeles Times
"Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia has the combination just right. [She] offers commonsensical, unthreatening solutions. Readers find Ophelia both heartbreaking and exhilarating."--Time
PRAISE FOR THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER
"Mary Pipher is that rarity in these days of culture wars: She can talk about values without self-righteousness. She reclaims some common sense in the dialogue about family."--The Seattle Times
"A canny mix of optimism and practicality gives Pipher's fans a way to resist the
worst of the culture around them and substitute the best of themselves."--Newsweek
PRAISE FOR ANOTHER COUNTRY
"[The] combination of cultural and psychological factors is this excellent book's greatest strength. . . . She is especially acute at spotting pressure points where culture, both past and present, collides cruelly with individual emotional needs."--The Washington Post
"Packs an emotional wallop . . . [Pipher] writes about the very topics, the very
fears, that many readers have dodged their whole lives."--Houston Chronicle
