An incredible journey of one's woman plight to lose weight through a relatively unknown and unapproved procedure in the USA, called the Lap Band Surgery. A true story, as the author travelled to a foreign country alone, to Sweden, to have this procedure performed. Fifteen years later, she maintains an emotional healthy weight, attitude and spiritual outlook on life. She is one of the early pioneering patients to have the Lap Band procedure conducted. This is a great emotional read, uplifting and inspiring book.

Sip&nibble: How I Lost 120 Pounds

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Welliver, Jenniffer Ann

Diets & Weight Loss

Pacific Raven Press

The book you hold in your hands draws inspiration from the magic of turtles-magnificent creatures who have a cherished place in the imaginations of peoples throughout the world. Meet Sugar Daisy , her family and friends and travel with her as she journeys from one powerful adventure to the next from Alabama to the East Coast, France, West Africa.  and Hawai`i. Ethnicity, culture, and travel reveal the similarities in people and the diversity in places that educate the readers both young and old.  Experience the life lessons of Sugar Daisy and Timmy Turtle. For some cultures, the turtle's back symbolizes heaven, its body the earth, and its belly the underworld; for others, the shell represents the dome of heaven and heavenly virtue; still others see in turtle magic the possibility of uniting heaven and earth, with the turtle a symbol of creation. Turtles are omnivores and among the oldest land animals. Sea turtles have existed longer than any other vertebrate animal. They were here with the dinosaurs, surviving the Ice Age. Flourishing in the oceans and on all five continents, turtles have the ability to adapt [and flourish] to any environment. Although many traditional tales in Far Eastern and North American Indian cultures emphasize the figure of the land-dwelling tortoise, and there are many names for these delightful reptiles, for simplicity, in my story, Timmy Turtle Teaches, I use the word turtle.  There are three major types of what people generally call turtles: those living on earth are called tortoises; those living in the water are called turtles; and those living both in water and on land they are called terrapins. Because of the hard-shell shelters that they carry with them, turtles can withdraw and hide when in the midst of turmoil. Thus, they teach lessons of self-protection and self-containment, and the importance of focusing inward. They can give of themselves, yet can withdraw when necessary. The shell is like a psychic shield, a suit of armor, to protect against the negative thoughts and actions of others. By going within, turtles have the power to help people stay grounded, relaxing and allowing [one's] ideas to germinate in the silence of the inner self. Turtles remind people to slow down, heighten their sensitivities and sensibilities, see the interconnectedness of all things, and ponder the wonder of it all. Because turtles cannot separate themselves from their shell, a lesson of the turtle symbol is that humans should not separate themselves from what they do and how they act toward Mother Earth.

Timmy Turtle Teaches

Children's Books

Takara, Kathryn Waddell

Growing Up & Facts of Life

<p>Tales from the Bench by Sandra Simms is a pioneer memoir about a neglected slice of Hawai`i judicial history. In this unique, insightful, and compelling book, written by the first African American woman judge in the Hawaiian Islands, Simms candidly reveals the cultural and political events and forces on the Mainland, and the diversity, crime, and social problems in the Islands that shaped her courage and commitment to justice, in spite of and because of her history: growing up black in Chicago. She credits her family, community, social networks, church, the dynamic forces of post WWII African American migrations to Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement for her choice and dedication to a career in law. Simms uses words and storytelling to skillfully integrate her personal background with her subsequent 30 plus years in Hawai`i where she successfully served as an attorney, a politically appointed judge, and a witness (observer) of many fascinating experiences. In this book, Simms sensitively recounts memorable criminal cases involving women, drugs, island families and their support for their loved ones, simultaneously revealing the heart and responsibility of a judge to remain objective and fair in face of complex situations and island politics.</p>

Tales from the Bench

Biographies & Memoirs

Simms, Sandra A.

Professionals & Academics

Growing up in Hawaii, ten-year old Hana knows sharing food is about sharing love. But when Hana turns eleven she learns that the foods her family shares so lovingly are actually 'toxic time bombs' for disease. That's the year Hana is diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Mom helps her learn to live with the disease. Fortunately Auntie Mili arrives for the summer from the Big Island and shows Hana how to get healthy again. Hana's story of reversing diabetes through eating plant-based, whole foods delivers a powerful message of hope and healing to the fastest growing age-group in the current epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes: children. In this warmly told story, Hana reminds us: sharing gifts that "carry love and healing in every luscious bite" is what real love is all about! This 'read aloud book for family sharing and learning' includes resources that will not only help others follow in Hana's footsteps, but can help people of all ages reverse and heal from diabetes and other chronic diseases.

The Doctors in Mili's Suitcase: How I Cured My Diabetes with Food

Orr, Katherine S

Connecting to a poet s work for the first time is always a magical voyage into an unknown world of fantasy and emotions. One s expectations (at least mine) are high, and you secretly ask yourself:  What am I going to discover? I can assure you that my expectations were met.  Kathryn Waddell Takara kept her work hidden in a safe shelter for many years until she decided to open her box of treasures and invite the reader to enter into her world of beauty.  From the Title Page: Pacific Raven where the author is the majestic black flight which soars high in her future of change, challenge, healing strength, and compassion, to the last poem: Love Endureth where she opens our hearts, when the reader closes the book, he or she is left with an eager desire to read more of Kathryn s work.  I was touched, moved, swept off my feet, gasping for breath as I was taken away by a tsunami of words, metaphors hitting me with an extraordinary power of imagination and expertise in which this gifted poet shares her work. Hers is a poetical voice that sings with abundance.  In I Am A Poem she writes, `I transform/like a phoenix/into sunrays and moonbeams/dropped from life s flames/poetic words radiate like new leaves/in a forest of clouds!  So eloquently, so masterfully she weaves and spins her poems with the sharpness of a raven s spirit. Kathryn is, without the shadow of a doubt, a poet who drinks from many sources. You can feel how she has submerged into and emerged from the depths and spiritual richness of many cultures, creating her own brave new world of dreams, beauty, and reflections on life.  The way she captures the wild enchantment of her Pacific Islands habitat absorbs you into the landscapes, the mountains, the pristine waterfalls, and the scent of flowers. She also invites you to smell and taste Nature, to move into the love space in which she creates so sacredly and spiritually the unseen mysteries, the magical Goddesses. She writes in Morning Figs `Solitary seeker/I sit on a warm rock/sun in memories/ hear the mystic melody of the poetry muse/travel on love s wings/ride the invisible wind !  Kathryn s rhythmic and lyrical poetry tangles a variety of themes: solitude, politics, travel, history and love. She walks good stands tall. She is bold enough not to shy away from the darker sides of life, like aging and death. In Fleeting Vision she writes, Darkness wants to climb in the lap of my day ; and in Sunless Memory she muses, `My own voice has drifted out too far/from the shores of my childhood.  Throughout the book, one must pause to reflect upon visual and sensual images, easing the mind and soul, and then come to terms with the strength of each poem before moving on.  It is difficult to put this volume of poetry aside before the very last poem is read. Her poems are so intriguing they simply do not let you. They have that rare quality of seducing you into the very heart of each and every one of these jewels, evoking tender moments of insights and the love and spirituality of the author. Finally, the work leaves you in total bewilderment and surprise at its power.    A perfect example of Kathryn s power of impression is experienced in the poem Samantha where she writes, `Samantha with topaz eyes/sees the bird of Solomon/ through her carnal soul and further on: `she smiles her toothless hello in a magic flirt/ and reads the Tarot like novels of intrigue!  Dr. Kathryn Waddell Takara is a brilliant, new, powerful voice that deserves to be read and heard, to be admired and respected.   A refreshingly bold, beautiful, and strong new branch on the magical tree of poetry! Ayin Adams, PhD, author of The Woods Deep Inside Me

Pacific Raven: Hawai`i Poems

Literature & Fiction

Kathryn Waddell Takara

Poetry

Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal is a collection of poems with a focus on Black history and African Americans, named and unnamed. Black lives are represented as various, colorful gemstones and themes corresponding to the colorful tourmaline gemstones with a variety of characteristics and healing properties. Because every tourmaline is different, one can use the stones as metaphors for the diversity of African Americans who are mixed with people of various origins: African, Native American, European and Euro American, Caribbean, South American, and Asian. This cultural melange produces in Tourmalines a rich, colorful collection of poetic gemstones.

Tourmalines Beyond the Ebony Portal

African American Attorneys in Hawaii

Barbee-Wooten, Daphne

<p>This is a valuable story that shows young children how to respect their grandmothers. Rather than casting grandmothers in a service role to fulfill the wishes and whims of the grandchildren, this story teaches appropriate expectations of young children and activities to look forward to and share with their grandmothers.</p>

That's NOT What Grandmas Are For

Animals

That's NOT What Grandpas Are For

Sip & Nibble: How I Lost 120 Pounds

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