"A comic, bittersweet tale of family evocative of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and Everything Is Illuminated Alexander 'Sasha' Karnokovitch and his family would like to mourn the passing of his mother, Rachela, with modesty and dignity. But Rachela, a famous Polish émigré mathematician and professor at the University of Wisconsin, is rumored to have solved the million-dollar, Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem. Rumor also has it that she spitefully...

"This book explores the death of a loved one through the parallel experiences of other species of animals, similar to Elin's treatment of nature in You Are Stardust and problem-solving in Wild Ideas. As with Elin's previous picture books, A Last Goodbye will combine simple, poetic text with a "big idea"--in this case, the idea that death is a natural part of our lives and that many species experience sadness and mourning when their loved ones are...

Discover how people remember the passing of their loved ones all around the world. Featuring the world's main religions as well as some little-known ceremonies and festivals, this book takes an intriguing and colorful look at how death is commemorated in many different places.

Aliki is one of the last of her kind, a lamenter who mourns and celebrates the passing of life. She is a part of an evolving Greece, a country moving steadily away from its rural traditions. To capture the fading folk art of lamenting, an American researcher asks Aliki to record her laments, but in response, Aliki sings her own story. It begins in a village in northeast Greece, where Aliki witnesses the occupying Nazi soldiers execute her father for...

The Queen begins with a familiar epigraph "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"--Henry IV, Part II. The action of the film takes place during the week following the death, on August 31, 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales. One of its accomplishments, courtesy of adroit use of newsreel and other contemporary footage, is to remind viewers of the deep sadness that surrounded that event. It is also about the divergent and potentially ruinous ways the...

Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses -- one as a preacher and one as a funeral director -- Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between...

When Aaron's father dies, he must organize the funeral and give the eulogy. Keeping things civil is a problem right from the start when the undertaker makes a horrifying mistake. Then his brother, Ryan wants to be in the spotlight and refuses to pay for anything. But this is nothing compared to information received from a mysterious dwarf at the funeral who exposes way too many family secrets.

"Writing an ethical will, a document that includes stories and reflections about your past, is an ancient tradition. It can include joy and regrets, and ultimately becomes both a way to remember a loved one who is gone and a primer on how to live a better, happier life. Beloved Rabbi Steve Leder has helped thousands of people to write their own ethical wills, and in this intimate book helps us write our own"--

Elizabeth Mountbatten never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her with a throne to fill and a global institution to govern. Crowned at twenty-five, she was already a wife and mother as she began her journey towards becoming a queen. As Britain lifted itself out of the shadow of war, the new monarch faced her own challenges. Her mother doubted her marriage; her uncle-in-exile derided her abilities; her husband resented the sacrifice...