Melissa Hart – författare

Personal Finance is designed to empower students to make informed decisions that can shape their financial future. The book provides essential knowledge on managing money, from budgeting and saving to investing and retirement planning. It emphasizes practical strategies for navigating challenges such as unexpected financial setbacks, economic crises, and life changes. With a focus on real-world applications, the text equips readers with the tools they need to plan for long-term financial security and make decisions that can improve their quality of life. Through clear explanations and relevant examples, Personal Finance helps students gain the confidence to take control of their financial well-being.

Focus on Personal Finance is a brief, 14-chapter text covering the critical topics in Personal Finance courses. Focus is designed and written to appeal to a range of ages, life situations, and financial literacy levels. The active approach of Focus empowers students to successfully make and execute a plan for their financial future. The text encourages students to understand their current financial situation and goals by putting them in writing for ongoing guidance and refinement throughout their lifetimes. Each section is strategically designed around actionable items tailored to students. The depth of a student’s engagement with the assessments, exercises, and accompanying worksheets directly correlates with the extent to which they uncover insights into their existing financial habits and discern strategies for enhancing them, thereby fostering a pathway to greater financial freedom.

“In a society that often overlooks those with intellectual and developmental disabilities…this book will inspire readers to befriend and champion people with Down syndrome.” – JACQUELINE JODL, Special Olympics InternationalIn this illustrated biography collection, meet over twenty people with Down syndrome who have accomplished amazing things in their lives. Excelling in film, sports, business, photography, and more, these people are changing hearts and minds about their disability. Read about Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman Triathlon, and Isabella Springmuhl Tejada, the first designer with Down syndrome invited to showcase her work at London Fashion Week. Learn about the Special Olympics, Best Buddies, and other organizations who support the Down syndrome community. Each of these stories will educate and inspire young readers, both kids with Down syndrome and their family members, friends, classmates, and teammates!Included in this book:AC HeigelAlex BourneAlex LeeAllison FogartyChris NikicChristine LauGeoffrey MikolGrace KeyGrace StrobelIsabella Springmuhdi TejadaJamie BrewerJared KozakJohn CroninJohn TuckerKaren GaffneyKayla McKeonMadison TrevlinMeg OhsadaMichael HoltonNick DoyleRonnie BrownSofia SanchezTommy JessopYulissa ArescurenagaZack GottsagenSpecial OlympicsBest BuddiesNational Down Syndrome SocietyThe Buddy Walk

Torn between the high socioeconomic status of her father and the bohemian lifestyle of her mother, Melissa Hart tells a compelling story of contradiction in this coming-of-age memoir. Set in 1970s Southern California, Gringa is the story of a young girl conflicted by two extremes. On the one hand there's life with her mother, who leaves her father to begin a lesbian relationship, taking Hart and her two siblings along. Hart tells of her mom's new life in a Hispanic neighbourhood of Oxnard, California, and how these new surroundings begin to positively shape Hart herself. At the opposite extreme is her father's white-bread well-to-do security, which is predictable and stable and boring. Hart is made all the more fraught with frustration when a judge rules that being raised by two women is unnatural" and grants her father primary custody. Hart weaves a powerful story of fleeting moments with her mother, of her unfolding adoration of Oxnard's Latino culture, and of the ways in which she's moulded by the polarity of her parents' worldviews. Hart is faced with opposing ideals, caught between what she is supposed" to want and what she actually desires. Gringa offers a touching, reflective look at one girl's struggle with the dichotomies of class, culture, and sexuality.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Han Solo avenged the destruction of an innocent planet by helping Luke Skywalker blow up the Death Star. Han walked away with a gold medal and the love of his life. But when Solo Hahn—named in honor of the beloved action hero—tries to avenge the death of his gray-and-white kitten, he gets eight months of community service. Eight months of working at the local raptor center helping owls—his now sworn enemies.For the first time in his life, Solo is labeled a troubled kid, an at-risk youth. He’d always gotten good grades, had good friends, and gotten along with his parents. He used to volunteer to read Reader’s Digest to old people at the retirement home next door, and his favorite thing in the whole wide world was to surf. He wrote screenplays for fun. But when his parents uproot him and move the family from California to backwoods Oregon, Solo starts to lose track of the person he was. Everything is upside down, and he finds himself dealing with things way beyond his understanding. He’s the new kid in town, and he’s got a bad reputation. The question is: What will he do next?This is a story about staying true to yourself when things get tough. Solo has every reason to lash out, but he ultimately needs to find a way to cope. Avenging the Owl deals with the difficult issues of suicide and depression, but more than anything it captures the powerlessness of being a kid. It won’t be easy, but the wild beauty of Oregon, its cold, empty beaches and captivating wildlife, may be just what Solo and his family need to help them start over.