Under a Joe Biden presidency, they feared the country would be turning from its Christian roots and toward a dangerous multiculturalism, with mind control masquerading as wokeness. We talked in loud, angry voices about the issues that had turned my parents’ lukewarm support for Trump in 2016 into full-throttled adulation in 2020: how he was building the wall to keep out murderers and rapists and people who wanted to mooch off and bankrupt our system how he did lower taxes, create new jobs and lower unemployment how he had gotten us out of hampering partnerships like the Paris Climate Agreement and NAFTA how he had even forged the Abraham Accords and moved the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - a move other presidents had been too cowardly to make and a coup for conservative Christians like my parents who believe it a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. A little thematic tour of the conversation takes us past the unparalleled veneration the founders had for the individual (which is debatable) to the affront of churches being barred from putting nativities on their own lawns (they aren’t) to Ilhan Omar saying she hates America (she didn’t) to Bernie Sanders hating democracy (he doesn’t) to the idea that systemic racism doesn’t exist (it does). After which, predictably: Shit Hit the Fan. Soon, before my very eyes, an actual draft of the document materialized and my husband was shooing our two kids out of the room with the promise of Disney as the angsty teenager still lurking in me started to recite the preamble from memory. Did I care about its desecration, they queried. Had I read the Constitution, my parents wanted to know. Still, I was fairly sideswiped when, Friday night over pork chops, I began to be treated to a lecture on the true intent of the Constitution. We are not one of those families that maintains its equilibrium by simply avoiding delicate topics we all share the same genetic incapacity to keep our mouths shut and our thoughts to ourselves, especially when around one another, and we are far too Southern Gothic, as a collective, to not resort to some form of pearl-clutching drama if given the slightest chance. But I knew that it was only a matter of time before rancor erupted. We’d spent the election week mostly in a state of détente, watching our separate versions of reality unfurl and the electoral votes trickle in on the cable programming of TVs on different ends of the house, politely sidestepping each other’s orphaned socks and political persuasions. Here we were, like much of America, muddling along in some form of outward harmony while fearing the end of democracy was lurking in the casual thoughts of the people flipping through channels in the room next door. Here we were, sending money to two different campaigns as we divvied up the receipts for groceries. Here we were, a microcosm of the country’s polarization, passing each other bowls of mashed potatoes at dinner. And yet, here we were, thanks to such developments as (a) the realization that I believed in a woman’s right to choose and (b) a global pandemic that had driven my family from our New York apartment in search of the pandemic-proof childcare that only blood relations can be called upon to provide. If you’d told my teenage self that my grown-up self would be (a) a staunch Democrat and (b) living with my parents when the 46th president was elected, I might have laughed in your face. 'Silence of the Lambs': The Complete Buffalo Bill Story “Coville weaves traditional unicorn myths into this light, accessible fantasy and provides a neatly contrived ending that hints at the next adventure.”Ĭlick here to buy Into the Land of the Unicorns on brucecoville.Black Sabbath on the Making of 'Vol. “…the book should find a favored and well-deserved place on most shelves.”-School Library Journal Together the new friends set out on a quest-to reach the Unicorn Queen and prevent the destruction of all unicorns. In Luster, Cara meets the Dimblethum, the Squijum, and the most magnificent of all the inhabitants, Lightfoot, a rebellious young unicorn.
Gramma told her what she must do! With a deep breath, and only half believing she will be safe, Cara jumps off the church roof and into the adventure of her lifetime-into the Land of Luster, the world of the unicorns. Wasn’t it just a few minutes ago that she and Grandmother Morris were peacefully walking home form the library? When did that mysterious man start to follow them? What does he want? Where did he come from? Who is he? Twelve! The ringing bell brings Cara back to the moment. Cara can’t believe everything that has happened. Eleven! She must be on the roof when the next bell tolls. As each bell chime sounds, Cara pushes herself faster up the steep bell tower steps that lead to the roof.