Booktrib's Bites: From Video Game Development to World War II

(NewsUSA) - I Got It from Here by Francesca Miracola

Raw and illuminating, this is one woman’s story of saving herself and her children from the grips of a sociopath posing as a family man—and from the inherited trauma passed down by her own family of birth—while learning to trust in the inner voice that’s been trying to guide her all along.

Growing up in an Italian American family in Queens, NY, in the ’70s, the author was trained to keep up appearances—but her parents’ toxic marriage served as a blueprint for dysfunction. So when she meets Jason, she ignores all the red flags and dives right in, normalizing his emotional and physical abuse. She even marries and has two children, but something clicks one night, and she decides she is done. Except Jason won’t let her go. Purchase at https://amzn.to/3WUWGbC.

The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons by Paul Tozour

A unique leadership book written as a “leadership fable” in the style of Patrick Lencioni’s classic The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The Four Swords was written to shine a light on the critical link between culture, values, and outcomes, and to illustrate how the values of an organization create that organization’s culture -- and how that culture drives its outcomes.

It offers a gritty, in-the-trenches view of the harsh realities of modern video game development, as four hard-working game developers struggle with team dysfunction, obstinate leadership, broken tools and processes, difficult conversations, and personality conflicts. This is a book full of surprises, including countless plot twists and real-world violence. It works on its own as entertaining fiction. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3Q4U49H.

The Adventures of Strawberryhead and Gingerbread by KF Wheatie and KM Wheatie

The book, written by two children, is a story about a brother and sister, Strawberryhead and Gingerbread, along with their black lab Solomon, who take a fun-filled adventure to the lake, where they go fishing, swim, make friends, and show off their special powers.

But the book is more than just an adventure tale. It is designed to teach children about friendship and inclusivity, and that all challenges children face are stepping stones to joy and harmony. Differences in children are to be celebrated – an important lesson for children to grasp, and while many children easily embrace this message, others are not so welcoming, especially at an early age. This book is perfect for kids of all ages looking to experience the sweet treat of reading and enjoy a fun-filled day of adventure. Purchase at https://bit.ly/44O3ef0.

Summons to Berlin by Joanne Intrator 

On his deathbed, Dr. Joanne Intrator’s father poses two unsettling questions: “Are you tough enough? Do they know who you are?”

Joanne soon realizes that these haunting questions relate to a center-city Berlin building that the Nazis ripped away from her family in 1938. But a decade is to pass before she will fully come to grasp why her father threw down the gauntlet as he did.

Repeatedly, Joanne’s restitution quest brings her into confrontation with yet another of her profound fears surrounding Germany and the Holocaust. Having to call on reserves of strength she’s unsure she possesses, the author leans into her professional command of psychiatry, often overcoming flabbergasting obstacles perniciously dumped in her path. In the end, Joanne proves tough enough to satisfy her father’s unnerving final demands. Purchase at https://bit.ly/43PzBd1.