The fifth daughter in a patriarchal society, and an indigenous Bedouin in Israel, Amal came into this world fighting for her voice to be heard in a community that did not prize girls. At birth it was only her father who looked at her and said "I see hope in her face. I want to call her Amal [hope] in the hope that Allah will give us boys after her." Five brothers were indeed to follow.Hope is a Woman's Name is a rare look at Bedouin life from the even rarer perspective of a Bedouin girl. Amal challenged authority from birth, slowly learning where her community's boundaries lay and how to navigate them.As a shepherd at the age of 6, Amal led her flock of sheep across the green mountains of Laqiya, her village in the Negev in southern Israel. Given such responsibility, though rarely recognition, Amal came to understand her community and forge her skills as a leader. Aged 13 and frustrated by the constraints put on her education as a girl, Amal set up literacy classes for the adult women in her village. She aimed to teach them not only how to read, but to value education itself: "I wanted them to taste an education so that they would never again deprive their daughters of one." This was the beginning of a lifelong career initiating projects that would help create change for the Bedouin – a minority within Israel's Palestinian minority – and for their women in particular. She established economic empowerment programmes for marginalized women, helped found an Arab-Jewish school, and created organizations to promote shared society. At every turn she had to face the challenges of tradition – as well as the prejudices of Israeli society – to create new possibilities that would allow women to empower themselves.Amal has learnt to embrace every aspect of her complicated identity – Bedouin, Arab, woman, Palestinian and Israeli citizen – to help create social change, build bridges with other communities and inspire hope. Hope is a Woman's Name is an intimate portrayal of a little-known culture and its strengths, values, morals and boundaries. It is a rare and moving story.

In the Ozarks in 1935 Claudia begins a new school with an optimistic name, New Hope. Still smarting from being jilted years before in front of her students, she has since dedicated her life to her students. She has a good year in her isolated one-room school on a river bluff. Falling for a first grade boy and his older sister, she becomes incensed when their father, Harve, won't let the girl attend school. Accosting him, she discovers his need of his daughter's help and his background of an alcoholic wife who ran away three years earlier. Very ill and drunk, the wife interrupts the school demanding her children. Claudia handles the crisis and that afternoon and the next day helps Harve care for her until she dies. Censored by the community for babysitting Harve's children in his house and being with Harve alone the two nights helping nurse his wife, she is hired back to teach the school next year. At the last day of school Harve stands up to remind everyone what a great teacher Claudia is and how at his and his dying wife's request, she stayed with him on her last hours. Understanding her actions, everyone comes to the church for their wedding and give them a shivaree. Though the school board offers Claudia the school. she doesn't want it now. Next Christmas she presents Harve with a baby girl. She named her Hope.

After tragedy, how do we find hope? A memoir about what it takes to get through the very worst of times from Rosie Batty - a woman who has experienced tragedy, who had lost all hope, yet now is intent on finding it again. On a warm summer's evening in February 2014, eleven-year-old Luke Batty was killed by his father at cricket practice. It was a horrific act of family violence that shocked Australia. The next morning, his mother Rosie bravely stood before the media. Her powerful and gut-wrenching words about family violence galvanised the nation and catapulted her into the spotlight. From that day on, Rosie Batty campaigned tirelessly to protect women and children, winning hearts and minds with her courage and compassion, singlehandedly changing the conversation around domestic violence in this country. Rosie's remarkable efforts were recognised when she became the 2015 Australian of the Year and a year later she was named one of the World's Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine. However, behind Rosie's steely public resolve and seemingly unbreakable spirit, she was a mum grieving the loss of her adored son. What happens when you become an accidental hero? What happens the day after the worst day of your life? What happens when you are forced to confront the emptiness and silence of a house that once buzzed with the energy of a young son? You go to dark places from which you're not sure you'll ever recover. Following on from her runaway best-seller A Mother's Story, which detailed the lead up to her son's murder, Hope shares what happened to Rosie the day after the worst day of her life and how she reclaimed hope when all hope was lost. She shares her struggles with anxiety, PTSD, self-doubt and self-loathing and how she finally confronted her grief. She shares the stories of those who have inspired her to keep going, and given her hope when she needed it most. In this heartfelt, and at times heartbreaking memoir, Rosie tells how she found the light on her darkest days and how she found the hope to carry on.

This books contains three stimulating stories of human struggles. Miriam struggle as she takes care of her young nephew, Johnny , whose father, Paul Simeon she suspects of being responsible for her sisters untimely death. Her sisters last letter indicated that there was enough information to have Paul and his gang arrested. She cringes while watching Johnny act nervous and edgy when he is around his father. What does that child know, she asks herself. Is her new friend, Mrs. Worth justified in believing that Paul and his co-hort, Stubby are planning to get rid of both of them? The second book, Dont Wake a Sleeping Lion has Esther struggling with trying to find a way to escape from her kidnappers. She and her co-worker were on the trail of a series of missing persons. How do they handle the death of one of their members as he is found beaten until he is almost not recognized? The third book is called Beth Young Beth struggles over her fathers anger at God for taking his wife. She weeps as she watches him raise his fist toward heaven. Its interesting to see how she tries to intervene in her fathers life. In the meantime, while praying for him, she finds that the boy next door, who is the towns trouble maker needs prayer Her aunt tries to convince the eager child to be patient. The second part of Beth has her grown up into a teen and she and the boy next door are praying for each other. God is good...all the time

A journal of graduate studies in the social sciences.