Zeru Zeru Girl
Meet Alex, an African girl born with albinism, cruelly labeled a "zeru zeru" or ghost because of deeply ingrained superstitions among the population. Snatched from her mother's embrace as an infant, Alex finds refuge in the arms of adoptive parents in the United States. She grows up to become a formidable attorney and joins a human rights organization in the heart of New York City.
​
Seth, born in rural Ethiopia, leaves his home country at the age if ten as part of Operation Solomon—a secret airlift that rescued black Jews from Ethiopia, and later joins the ranks of the Israeli military, where as a member of an elite combat unit, he struggles with the values of peace and patience ingrained in him as a child.
​
Kaj, who lives in an impoverished village near Tanzania's Arusha, abandons his education and assumes an apprenticeship with his grandfather—a traditional healer and witch doctor until he realizes that his grandfather is mixed up with thugs.
​
These three characters are products of their early lives, guided by formative experiences that shape their futures. As time passes, their individual trajectories intersect, resulting in an outcome both astonishing and inexorable.
A novel by Barbara A. Kerr
Price: $14.99
​
Why care about emotional intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence skills and competencies are the fertile ground for creating a more compassionate world. Emotional Intelligence for a Compassionate World, by Barbara A. Kerr, Ph.D., is an engaging, self-paced workbook for individuals, teams, and organizations who want to increase their Emotional Intelligence. By enhancing these skills, individuals will enhance their ability to empathize with others and to act with compassion—and to be the change they wish to see in the world. Barbara is also the author and facilitator of an online course for enhancing Emotional Intelligence skills.
The workbook includes:
•An overview of Emotional Intelligence
•A 30-item assessment of Emotional Intelligence skills
•Scenarios to illustrate each of five dimensions of Emotional Intelligence
•Exercises and activities for experiential learning
•More than 50 practical, easy-to-implement techniques to enhance Emotional Intelligence skills
•Action Plan guide to chart a path toward greater well-being and connection with others
Emotional Intelligence for a Compassionate World is a step-by-step guide for enhancing and applying Emotional Intelligence skills—in individuals, in families, in the workplace, in communities, and in the interconnected societies of people throughout the world.
Amazon Reviews - Emotional Intelligence for a Compassionate World
"This an incredible workbook. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn in a fun and engaging way how to better interact with and manage relationships with colleagues and bosses in the workplace, who wants to build resilience and feel more in control of their emotions, and anyone who simply wants to become more self aware. The author made the workbook exercises engaging, interesting and fun and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about EI. Highly recommend."
​
​
"I love this workbook and have used it as a training tool in working with both large and small groups. The author, Barbara Kerr, makes the concept of emotional intelligence easy to grasp. Even more importantly, she offers numerous ideas on what to do to grow and enhance your emotional intelligence. Many workplace scenarios are provided, as well, making this an excellent book to use with workgroups of all kinds. I so greatly appreciate how systematically the concepts are laid out so you can see how one competency helps with the others."
You Can Choose Your Own Life
Middle-school kids find themselves facing new and difficult challenges when they are experimenting with independence from parents and teachers. In recent years, these challenges have increased with the growth of technology and social media. Kids often do not know where to turn when they "get in over their heads."
​
You Can Choose Your Own Life gives kids the opportunity to practice responsible decision making in an interactive and safe environment. By placing themselves in the shoes of other kids their age, readers make a series of decisions (each one with consequences and another decision point), eventually leading to short-term and long-term predictions based on their pattern of decisions.
​
​
Help middle-school kids make responsible decisions
Five engaging and realistic scenarios:
​
-
WHO'S IN CHARGE? (managing embarrassment and anger at school)
-
DRINKING AT THE SCHOOL DANCE (managing peer pressure and substance abuse)
-
ALL IN THE FAMILY (coping with domestic violence)
-
ARE WE READY FOR THIS? (responding to a crush)
-
CYBERBULLYING IS STILL BULLYING (dealing with cyberbullying)
"From the powerful title, through the captivating stories, You Can Choose Your Own Life conveys a critical message to young people: life is full of decisions, your choices have consequences, and you can indeed decide what is best for your life. As a parent of two teenagers, I deeply appreciate this book. The scenarios are relatable, and the options are presented in empathetic ways. I highly recommend this book to anyone living life and looking to recognize and reflect on the myriad decisions we confront every day, whether we realize it or not."
--Jeff Wetzler, PhD, Co-Director of Transcend Education
​
"Barbara Kerr, Ph.D., and Barry Sommer have written a wonderful book for middle schoolers, their teachers, and their counselors. You Can Choose Your Own Life, Stories for Decision Making contains easy-to-follow anecdotes of ethical dilemmas faced by middle-schoolers everywhere, and then it offers possible choices for them to consider. It is a brilliant way to help tweens and teens consider their choices and their abilities to define themselves and their values in a world filled with ambiguity. I applaud the authors for their creativity and care in offering this invaluable resource to middle schoolers and their mentors."---Wilson C. Hurley, LCSW, author of Compassion's COMPASS,Strategies for Developing Insight, Kindness, and Empathy