Books with author Margot Parker

Bring the world to your sewing machine! A sumptuously illustrated survey of traditional clothing from across the globe--plus timesaving, innovative techniques for making and decorating garments--will absolutely enchant stitchers. Throughout, images, from richly colored photographs to vintage postcards, capture people in their authentic dress (many of which have now disappeared). Before beginning an actual project, examine the basics of construction that appear again and again in ethnic attire: unconstructed rectangles, pullover cloaks or tunics, sleeved shifts, pull-on pants, full skirts with aprons, yoked shirts, short vests, and a front-opening coat. Embellish them, using some of the exquisite techniques that make these garments so breathtaking, from weaving and braiding to beading, painting, and embroidering. The highlight: six popular folkwear outfits with instructions on pattern making, marking, cutting out pieces, and putting it all together--a Seminole skirt, Moroccan burnoose, Syrian dress, Polish vest, Tibetan coat and Japanese Kimono.

IT ALL BEGAN WITH A CHILDISH PRANK...For Randall and Justin summer on Sassaquin Pond is business as usual. Randall with his paper route and Justin kicking his battered old can. That is, until both encounter the old woman they believe to be a witch. Neither can confirm or deny their suspicions, but when all three lives are inextricably drawn together by a single event, everything changes. And not for the better! Who would've ever guessed a simple childish prank could have such dire consequences? WAY OF THE WITCH is an exploration into the minds and hearts of two lifelong friends, and the solitary shame that will bind them in dark and dangerous ways forever.

Stay away from Shaky Man. Every kid in the small town of Tonkaway, Texas, knows that. He eats little kids, murdered his wife, and mistreats his dogs, to boot. That's what they say, anyway. Top doesn't entirely know what to think about the rumors. He's too busy settling into his new home, playing baseball, and making friends-like Mickey, a black boy who soon becomes his best friend of all. Everything changes when a shocking murder turns the town, along with Top and Mickey's lives, upside down. Neighbors show their true colors. Shaky Man's secrets are revealed. Through it all, Top learns again and again just how confusing and unfair the world can be. A tale of childhood set in the 1960s, Shaky Man timelessly reaffirms the basic goodness of humanity and the importance of friendship and compassion in the face of prejudice.

People are supportive and caring in Bear Valley Springs, but when you are a kid and you lose someone close to you it can take a lot more for you to feel like you can control what happens to you and those you love. Sometimes real healing means building confidence in your ability to help and protect others when you know bad things happen. How to do that is the issue.The Survivors Guild wasn’t planned, but once it came together, the people in it grew to trust each other and themselves. Self-defense training and grueling trials on the mountain help them each find their own talents and strengths so that, when there is an organized prison break in the next valley, the Guild members are on the mountain and able to respond. But this trial will test them more than they ever could have imagined. One of their own is taken hostage and they know they are her best chance for survival. They will have to pool their strengths and beat overwhelming odds to do it, but they will have help from the mountain itself.