{"title":"Michelle Theall","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"teaching-the-cat-to-sit-book-michelle-theall-9781451697292","title":"Teaching the Cat to Sit","description":"A compelling memoir of a gay Catholic woman struggling to find balance between being a daughter and a mother raising her son with a loving partner in the face of discrimination. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the time she was born, Michelle Theall knew she was different. Coming of age in the Texas Bible Belt, a place where it was unacceptable to be gay, Theall found herself at odds with her strict Roman Catholic parents, bullied by her classmates, abandoned by her evangelical best friend whose mother spoke in tongues, and kicked out of Christian organizations that claimed to embrace her--all before she'd ever held a girl's hand. Shame and her longing for her mother's acceptance led her to deny her feelings and eventually run away to a remote stretch of mountains in Colorado. There, she made her home on an elk migration path facing the Continental Divide, speaking to God every day, but rarely seeing another human being. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt forty-three years of age and seemingly settled in her decision to live life openly as a gay woman, Theall and her partner attempt to have their son baptized into the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in the liberal town of Boulder, Colorado. Her quest to have her son accepted into the Church leads to a battle with Sacred Heart and with her mother that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the bonds of family and faith. And she realizes that in order to be a good mother, she may have to be a bad daughter. \u003ci\u003eTeaching the Cat to Sit\u003c\/i\u003e examines the modern roles of motherhood and religion and demonstrates that our infinite capacity to love has the power to shape us all.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49791137317137,"sku":"CIN1451697295G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50764032409873,"sku":"CIN1451697295VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1451697295.jpg?v=1751052871"},{"product_id":"teaching-the-cat-to-sit-book-michelle-theall-9781451697308","title":"Teaching the Cat to Sit","description":"A compelling memoir of a gay Catholic woman struggling to find balance between being a daughter and a mother raising her son with a loving partner in the face of discrimination. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the time she was born, Michelle Theall knew she was different. Coming of age in the Texas Bible Belt, a place where it was unacceptable to be gay, Theall found herself at odds with her strict Roman Catholic parents, bullied by her classmates, abandoned by her evangelical best friend whose mother spoke in tongues, and kicked out of Christian organizations that claimed to embrace her--all before she'd ever held a girl's hand. Shame and her longing for her mother's acceptance led her to deny her feelings and eventually run away to a remote stretch of mountains in Colorado. There, she made her home on an elk migration path facing the Continental Divide, speaking to God every day, but rarely seeing another human being. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt forty-three years of age and seemingly settled in her decision to live life openly as a gay woman, Theall and her partner attempt to have their son baptized into the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in the liberal town of Boulder, Colorado. Her quest to have her son accepted into the Church leads to a battle with Sacred Heart and with her mother that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the bonds of family and faith. And she realizes that in order to be a good mother, she may have to be a bad daughter. \u003ci\u003eTeaching the Cat to Sit\u003c\/i\u003e examines the modern roles of motherhood and religion and demonstrates that our infinite capacity to love has the power to shape us all.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50383956508945,"sku":"CIN1451697309G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51027143196945,"sku":"NIN9781451697308","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1451697309.jpg?v=1751148154"},{"product_id":"wind-will-catch-you-book-michelle-theall-9781639104659","title":"The Wind Will Catch You","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn the tradition of Barbara Kingsolver and perfect for fans of \u003ci\u003eMostly Dead Things,\u003c\/i\u003e in this powerful debut novel, a young woman searches for the truth about her childhood, and what she finds forever alters her beliefs about home, identity, and family.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Sky Fielder is a typical college student, except that she is a product of the foster care system, lives in a halfway house, and meets with her caseworker on a weekly basis. While failing to balance her grades and erratic social life, she receives a call from a hospital, asking her to make medical decisions for her brother Ben-who died more than a decade before.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The call must be a scam, and besides, Sky has a new life now. None of her classmates know about her desperate and feral childhood in West Texas, where her brother kept her mind off hunger with adventures along the riverbeds and cliffs surrounding their trailer-or about the rash decision that cost him his life and almost ended hers.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In fact, only one person truly knows Sky, because it's her job. But Sky's assigned caseworker, Laura, is an employee of social services, which surely means she can't be trusted. As Laura helps Sky unravel the mysteries surrounding the man in the hospital, Sky remembers the risks it takes to love and be loved. When the past and the present collide and long-kept secrets are revealed, Sky must decide how far she's willing to go to have a home and family again.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Wind Will Catch You\u003c\/i\u003e is an eye-opening, gritty, and hopeful novel by GLAAD media award nominee Michelle Theall about upheaval and resilience, forgiveness and family, love and unexpected allies, all set in motion by issues of social justice and a broken American foster care system.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50386848678161,"sku":"CIN1639104658G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52522995712273,"sku":"CIN1639104658VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1639104658.jpg?v=1751182761"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-michelle-theall.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}