Books with author Dara Lovitz

It’s a fact: twins experience life differently than singleton children. They’re compared to each other in everything from athletics to academics. They encounter unique social issues (what happens when one child is invited to a social outing while her twin is not?). They can even have difficulty forming deep relationships outside of the twinship. Yet no book effectively helps parents navigate these unique emotional challenges—until now.In the first book written on the emotional needs of twins, Twinsight: How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Twins bypasses the usual discussions on how to pay for two tuitions (a conundrum, to be sure!) and instead tackles deeper questions: How do you help twins feel like individuals? Should they be expected to be each other’s caretaker? How can a parent avoid comparing? How can you encourage relationships outside the twinship? and more!Drawing on over eighty interviews with adult twins and their non-twin siblings, as well as expert insights from educators and psychologists and exhaustive research, author Dara Lovitz offers parents a definitive roadmap to raising emotionally healthy twins now and into the future.

It’s a fact: twins experience life differently than singleton children. They’re compared to each other in everything from athletics to academics. They encounter unique social issues (what happens when one child is invited to a social outing while her twin is not?). They can even have difficulty forming deep relationships outside of the twinship. Yet no book effectively helps parents navigate these unique emotional challenges—until now.In the first book written on the emotional needs of twins, Twinsight: How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Twins bypasses the usual discussions on how to pay for two tuitions (a conundrum, to be sure!) and instead tackles deeper questions: How do you help twins feel like individuals? Should they be expected to be each other’s caretaker? How can a parent avoid comparing? How can you encourage relationships outside the twinship? and more!Drawing on over eighty interviews with adult twins and their non-twin siblings, as well as expert insights from educators and psychologists and exhaustive research, author Dara Lovitz offers parents a definitive roadmap to raising emotionally healthy twins now and into the future.

Even at 17, Sadie didn't know that the final strokes of her latest painting would lead her on an incredible journey of self-discovery that would result in murder, her first kiss and put her in contact with the Supernatural. Two of those things an average girl would never deal with. She didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t an average girl.As she glanced up at the model sitting in the middle of the room and back at her painting she felt a little bit of a chill.It was late spring and she decided to wear sandals that day, even so the light breeze gave her a sense of uncertainty.“Well, well, Ms. Sadie”, said Mr. Jarvis, “that looks pretty good.”Sadie slyly smiled and leaned back in her chair.“Are you going to finish the hands?” he asked.Sadie just nodded and shrugged, as if to tell him to 'buzz off'...She hated hands because the detail made her have to actually think about what she was doing.Sadie always thought that art should flow from the soul... a very esoteric view for a 17 year to have, in her opinion.But that's all she knew... at that moment. In fact, Sadie had always been greatly complimented by her parents, teachers and classmates while she was growing up.The journey of "Suddenly Sadie" going to bring love, friendship and tests of life itself. Sadie is sometimes girl and sometimes young adult, but always about love... even if it is with a Ghost, who is the man of her dreams.

Even though Sadie woke up like any other day, she didn't know she’d be going to the County Jail, making out with a ghost in front of her best friend or conjuring up her dead Grandmother… but then again, this was Sadie and she wasn't an average girl.Sadie’s room was still riddled with boxes. She was packing for Art school and almost forgot about college after graduation from the crazy week she had already started. And she was just in the middle of it!She was in the midst of keeping her moving essentials out and packing for the long term. Her parents had helped her get an apartment in Valencia and she was looking forward to being on her own and with her man, James.The only thing unresolved was what would happen to Mr. Jarvis and James.Sadie worked with Kathy to setup Mr. Jarvis in sting… he’d been molesting boys and getting away with it, until Sadie and Kathy set him up for a well-deserved fall.Sadie’s day began as it usually did with the bottoms of her bare toes sticking out from underneath her comforter. Her blanket was covering her head and she was just waking up.“Sadie dear”, her mother called out as she lightly knocked on her bedroom door. “There is someone on the phone for you.”Sadie hardly ever got phone calls at home, so she figured it must have been important.“Hey, it’s me” Kathy said. “Sorry to call you at home. I hope its okay.” She said, pausing to get validation to make sure that Sadie recognized her voice.“Yeah, it’s fine, of course.” Sadie said, wondering what time it was. She looked up at the clock in the kitchen and it said 10:50.She’s slept in a long time today, or at least it felt like it. Sadie was still sleepy, but was excited to hear Kathy’s voice.“So, the Police still have Alan Jarvis in custody. I've been checking this morning. We should really meet up and talk about this in person. Can you have lunch in about an hour?”Kathy asked.“Sure. Where should we meet?”Sadie asked.“Let’s see… how about if we meet at the bar-b-que place on Russell St. just outside of downtown?” Kathy suggested.Sadie hated bar-b-que but she wanted to meet with Kathy and she certainly wanted to get this Mr. Jarvis thing settled once and for all.“Say, how did you get my number? I thought my parents had it unlisted?” Sadie asked out of curiosity.“Hey, I’m a reporter, remember? I've got resources”, Kathy said confidently. This made Sadie smile. Kathy was super smart and very attractive.They decided on a time and Sadie went off to get ready.As she was in the shower, it occurred to her that James wasn't there when she woke up. She loved spending the night with him, going to sleep in his arms and having his smiling face being the first thing she saw. Maybe it was because she was woken up by her mother telling her about Kathy being on the phone.Both James and she were still trying to figure out the rules of this rouge spirit thing.

Sadie awoke in her familiar way, with her head covered in the blanket and her bare feet hanging off the side of the bed. The only difference is that she woke up next to James.He wasn’t sleeping, but he was looking at her.As she opened his eyes he whispered “Good Morning, Sadie.”He extended his arm and began to stroke her hair, moving it slightly out of the way. Sadie smiled and felt like she was still in a dream.In the past, James had only shown up randomly. Both she and James assumed that this was because someone was thinking about James or someone had an unresolved issue.As it turns out this wasn’t the case.James had worked hard over the last week honing his ghost-powers and was able to control when and where he showed up.In fact, James had spent the last couple days with his real mother. He never knew her when she was alive and he found out he was adopted before his deplorable death.This was a real game-changer for him. James realized that it wasn’t just when people were in need of an unresolved issue, like in the case of the perverted Art Teacher Mr. Jarvis, or if people were in love with him, like it was with Sadie.Actually, James was able to control a lot more than he thought.And like hanging out with Kathy made Sadie feel empowered, this new-found energy made James feel confident and powerful. But what he really loved was Sadie. James adored everything about her.He loved Sadie almost since the day they met in Middle School. He was ashamed that he’d never reached out to her when he was alive, but James is also learning how to not dwell on the past and how to embrace and enjoy the present.James was killed in an accident. It was a violent and shameful accident that didn’t have to happen in the first place. In fact, that was one of the things that had bothered James so much over the last couple weeks: He didn’t have to die. It was preventable and it didn’t need to happen.Don’t think for a moment that he wasn’t ungrateful of his current circumstances. He was glad that he was with Sadie, even if he was dead. He could still touch her, he could kiss her and he could even smell her. The only difference was that everything for James was muted. So, he could only smell even the strongest of smells faintly and some of his exaggerated movements seemed to be light actions in the real world.Right now, he was next to Sadie and that was all that mattered. Her soft skin, her tiny lips... down to her petite toes and slender calves, James loved it all. He always found Sadie incredibly attractive, but knowing that she felt the same way gave him a comfort that was unmatched in his experience.Sadie glanced back up at James and she said “I love you”.James smiled back, puffed out his chest and she laid her head back down.What felt like an eternity passed until Sadie heard some rustling in the hallway.“Okay, I’ll see if she’s up”, she heard her Mom say.Sadie’s mother knocked on the door and immediately opened it.This always made Sadie feel uncomfortable and, in her mind, defeated the purpose of knocking in the first place.But Sadie was used to it. Sadie’s Mom had been doing this for years. “Sadie, dear, you have some visitors.” Her Mom said.Before Sadie could even respond, Megan and Jackie walked in her room. “We’ve got some sad news. Can you talk right now?” Megan said.Sadie looked oddly up at Megan. She rubbed her eyes as if to exaggerate that she just woke up. So much had happened to Sadie over the last couple weeks that it Megan and Jackie seemed like strangers.Megan looked awkwardly over her shoulder at Sadie’s mother and then back at Sadie.Sadie glared at her Mom and she slinked out of the door, closing it quietly as if Sadie was still sleeping. Sadie shook her head in fake-disgust and looked back at Megan.“So, we just heard today that something happened to Mr. Jarvis, you know, the art teacher? Have you heard?” s

Graduation day had finally arrived, but that was the least of 17 year old Sadie’s worries: She had no idea that she was about ready to take her relationship with ghost/boyfriend James to the next level, escape a creep at the park and help both the Police and Newspaper guys trap a child molester. Sadie was nervous, but not about graduation. She was more nervous about seeing James again. She could handle Graduation and her family on her own, but James was someone she wanted to see. Since his death last week, Sadie was visited by him three times.They confessed their love to each other and sealed it with a kiss… Sadie’s FIRST kiss. “Sadie, time to get up for your big day” her mother called to her. She awoke like any other morning, with her mother telling her to get up, her bare toes hanging out the side of the bed and the blanket covering up her head.Sadie looked around her room.It was about this time yesterday that James paid her a visit and revealed himself to her. As she glanced around her room she wanted to see if he would visit her again. But all she saw was two boys sleeping on the floor.She almost forgot that her cousins were in sleeping bags on the floor underneath her.They were there for her graduation party the night before and although she didn’t spend much time with them, Sadie knew that they were young and didn't know they were being dumb.Sadie jumped up and Mark, her cousin, was still snoring away.She raced to the shower and spiked the water all the way to the “hot” position.As she stood there underneath the hot water, her experience with the supernatural begin to sink in.She was there when James got shot, she got grilled by the police, she opened up to a reporter and then she kissed the man she’d secretly loved.This was almost like a dream… but it wasn't. It was reality for Sadie.