Books with author Julia Beck

Almost every day, one of Amy Julia’s children says something or asks something that prompts her to think more carefully: “What ‘lasting’ mean?” William wonders when he hears a song about God being an everlasting God. "If the children who died went to heaven, then why are we sad?” Penny asks, when she passes by a funeral for a victim of the Sandy Hook shootings. "I don't wanna' get 'tized!" says Marilee about baptism. These conversations deepen her relationships with her children, but they also deepen and refine her own understanding of what she believes, why she believes it, and what she hopes to pass along to the next generation. Small Talk is a narrative based upon these conversations. It is not a parenting guide. It does not offer prescriptive lessons about how to talk with children. Rather, it tells stories based upon the questions and statements Amy Julia’s children have made about the things that make life good (such as love, kindness, beauty, laughter, and friendship), the things that make life hard (such as death, failure, and tragedy), and what we believe (such as prayer, God, and miracles).Amy Julia moves in rough chronological order through the basic questions her kids asked when they were very young to the more intellectual and spiritual questions of later childhood. Small Talk invites other parents into these same conversations, with their children, with God, and with themselves. Moving from humorous exchanges to profound questions to heart-wrenching moments, Amy Julia encourages parents to ask themselves―and to talk with their children about―what matters most.

Weight has always been a big issue in Carmen's life. Not surprising when her mum is obsessed with the idea that thin equals beauty, thin equals success, thin equals the way to get what you want. And somehow her daughter is going to be thin.When her mother sweeps her off to live in the city, Carmen finds her old world disappearing. With everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose. Carmen starts to ask: if she was thin, very thin, could it all be different?A new cover edition of Julia Bell's critically acclaimed YA novel, Massive, published to coincide with the release of Julia's new book, The Dark Light 'Bell's debut novel is tough, grimy and truthful as it looks at three women in the same family with food problems' Guardian'. . . boldly yet sensitively explores complex interactions between emotional and nutritional needs . . . perceptive and disturbing' Bookseller '. . . told with sympathy and humour . . . manages to be enjoyable as well as thought-provoking' Big Issue

Hope has everything that money can buy ...except happiness. She may be spoilt but Hope's sure that as far as her preoccupied parents are concerned, she's hopeless. Oksana doesn't even have a mum. And her dad and brother are miles away, left behind in Russia. She thought Europe would offer a better life - instead, bought and sold into prostitution, she feels dirty and used. Then Oksana and Hope are thrown together in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable. Their only real chance of escape lies with each other, but how do two teenagers with so little in common find the way ...? A tense, shocking novel - with a hint of hope.

Almost every day, one of Amy Julia’s children says something or asks something that prompts her to think more carefully: “Why Mommy crying?” (Marilee, when the family learned a young boy had died of cancer); “Booful, Mommy” (“Beautiful, Mommy,” as Penny proclaimed just as Amy Julia was looking in the mirror and critiquing her post-pregnancy body in her head); “What lasting mean?” (William, when he heard a song in church about God being an everlasting God). These conversations deepen her relationships with her children, but they also deepen and refine her own understanding of what she believes, why she believes it, and what she hopes to pass along to the next generation.Small Talk is a narrative based upon these conversations. It is not a parenting guide. It does not offer prescriptive lessons about how to talk with children. Rather, it tells stories based upon the questions and statements Amy Julia’s children have made about the things that make life good (such as love, kindness, beauty, laughter, and friendship), the things that make life hard (such as death, failure, and tragedy), and what we believe (such as prayer, God, and miracles).Amy Julia explores three parts—body, mind, spirit—as she moves in rough chronological order through the basic questions her kids asked when they were very young to the intellectual and then spiritual questions of later childhood. It invites other parents into these same conversations, with their children, with God, and with themselves. Moving from humorous exchanges to profound questions to heart-wrenching moments, Amy Julia encourages parents to ask themselves—and to talk with their children about—what matters most.

'Ten minutes to midnight!' Jonathan shouts over the sound of the blazing fire. Sparks rise into the sky and mingle with the stars. 'Only ten minutes!' Bevins says, falling down on his knees. 'So it begins.' Rebekah has lived on the island her whole life, and it's only now that she's starting to wonder what she might experience outside her strict religious community. Alex has been sent to the island to escape her dark past, and through her eyes it's a dark and sinister place. Thrown together by chance, Rebekah and Alex strike up an unlikely friendship and it's together that they attempt to break free of their worlds and make a world of their own. But when a kiss between the girls is witnessed by an islander there is no escape they can make - the Rapture is coming for them all.

Hope Tasker, an upper-class girl from Britain, is sick of her petty friends and distracted parents. She just wants to be free, to have fun, to live a little. So when she meets a mysterious foreigner named Natasha, something tells her that this could be her way out of her mundane life. Except Natasha is really Oksana, an impoverished girl from Russia, who was tricked into being sold into sexual slavery as a way to support her family. Oksana, far from being Hope's way out, is instead a trap that lures Hope into an international prostitution ring. The two girls soon realize that if they are ever going to escape, they must learn to find enough common ground to work together―and to trust each other. Told in authentic alternating narratives, Dirty Work will immediately draw readers in to the shocking world of human trafficking, and proves that the issue is not only prevalent in today's world, but that it could be happening right under our very own noses.

"Ten minutes to midnight!" Jonathan shouts over the sound of the blazing fire. Sparks rise into the sky and mingle with the stars. "Only ten minutes!" Bevins says, falling down on his knees. "So it begins." Rebekah has lived on the island her whole life, and it's only now that she's starting to wonder what she might experience outside her strict religious community. Alex has been sent to the island to escape her dark past, and through her eyes it's a dark and sinister place. Thrown together by chance, Rebekah and Alex strike up an unlikely friendship and it's together that they attempt to break free of their worlds and make a world of their own. But when a kiss between the girls is witnessed by an islander there is no escape they can make—the Rapture is coming for them all.

Hope Tasker, an upper-class girl from Britain, is sick of her petty friends and distracted parents. She just wants to be free, to have fun, to live a little. So when she meets a mysterious foreigner named Natasha, something tells her that this could be her way out of her mundane life. Except Natasha is really Oksana, an impoverished girl from Russia, who was tricked into being sold into sexual slavery as a way to support her family. Oksana, far from being Hope’s way out, is instead a trap that lures Hope into an international prostitution ring. The two girls soon realize that if they are ever going to escape, they must learn to find enough common ground to work together—and to trust each other. Told in authentic alternating narratives, Dirty Work will immediately draw readers in to the shocking world of human trafficking, and proves that the issue is not only prevalent in today’s world, but that it could be happening right under our very own noses.

`Big, bold and brave` J-17`I`m fat,` I hear myself saying. I look in the mirror. My face has gone hot and red; I feel like i`m going to explode. `I`m fat.` It sizzles under my skin, puffing me up, pushing me out, making me massive.Weight has always been a big issue in Carmen`s life. Not surprising when her mum is obsessed with the idea that thin equals beauty, thin equals success, thin equals the way to get what you want. And somehow her daughter is going to be thin.When her mother sweeps her off to live in the city, Carmen finds her old world disappearing. With everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose. Carmen starts to ask: if she were thin, very thin, could it all be different?

Hope has everything that money can buy... except happiness. She may be spoilt but Hope’s sure that as far as her preoccupied parents are concerned, she’s hopeless.Oksana doesn’t even have a mum. And her dad and brother are miles away, left behind in Russia. She thought Europe would offer a better life – instead, bought and sold into prostitution, she feels dirty and used.Then Oksana and Hope are thrown together in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable. Their only real chance of escape lies with each other, but how do two teenagers with so little in common find the way... ?A tense, shocking novel – with a hint of hope.