As we wish all mothers a happy Mother’s Day, we wanted to highlight these great Mother’s Day reads from Ingenium Books. Below is a snapshot of the books (and their authors) we’ve published that deal with motherhood — the challenges, heartaches, complexity, and sheer joys of being a mother. We hope you will check out one or more of these reads and refer them to a special mother in your life.
Mom on Wheels by Marjorie Aunos
by Marjorie Aunos
“Today is a pretty good day to die.”
Those were Marjorie Aunos’ thoughts as her car hit black ice and spun out of control toward an oncoming truck. As she waited for paramedics to extricate her from the mangled wreck, unable to feel anything below her neck, she pictured her sixteen-month-old son. And decided to live.
So began the most challenging chapter in the life of this overachieving psychologist and single parent, whose life’s work had been to advocate for parents with intellectual disabilities to help them keep custody of their children. Marjorie’s spinal cord injury thrust her into a life as a newly-disabled parent, experiencing first hand the barriers and discrimination she’d witnessed for others.
Learn more about Mom on Wheels
Buy Mom on Wheels Now
Buy the French translation, Maman en Fauteuil Roulant
Listen for Water by Marie Beswick Arthur
A fall off the Earth sends this at-odds mother-daughter duo on a physical and emotional quest for survival.
Listen for Water is a snappy, bittersweet, coming-of-age novel that tells the story of roles reversed: a daughter, Dakota, charged with keeping her mother, Ray, and their lives right-side up. It’s no easy task for a teen who wants to be anywhere but with Ray, who is hellbent on living as though she wasn’t somebody’s mother.
Their unhealthy parent-child relationship means Dakota has been burdened with age-inappropriate responsibility her whole life. She must scrounge for food as they face eviction from their low rent apartment, and she relies on whispered lessons from a mentor who is no longer in this world. What else do you do when mom has an addiction?
As Ray explores her talents, which are video gaming on an ancient Nintendo and penning lyrics to suspiciously familiar melodies, her impulsive behaviour sends them both on the ride of their lives, during which a tampering incident has deadly consequences. They fall off the Earth, lost to the forested mountains, and embark on an emotional and physical quest for survival.
For contemporary fiction fans of Bastard Out of Carolina, Lullabies for Little Criminals, and Regretting You
Learn more about Listen for Water
Buy Listen for Water Now
Leaving the Safe Harbor by Tanya Hackney
Discover how the allure of adventure propelled two high-school sweethearts from the confines of the ordinary into the vast expanse of the sea.
In this captivating memoir, Tanya Hackney invites you aboard s/v Take Two, where she and her family navigate the waters of life, homeschooling five children while embracing the challenges and rewards of living aboard a sailboat. From the exhilarating highs of island-hopping in the Caribbean to the humbling lessons learned during stormy nights at sea, every page brims with the raw beauty and unpredictable nature of the ocean.
As Hackney fearlessly steers her family through a decade of voyaging, readers are invited to witness the evolution of not just a family, but of individuals transformed by the sea’s relentless embrace. Through tales of teamwork, discipline, and unwavering perseverance, Leaving the Safe Harbor reminds us that the greatest adventures often lie just beyond the horizon.
Prepare to be inspired, entertained, and forever changed by this captivating tale of courage, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds forged at sea. Embark on your own journey of self-discovery with Leaving the Safe Harbor: The Risks and Rewards of Raising a Family on a Boat today.
Learn more about Leaving the Safe Harbor
Buy Leaving the Safe Harbor Now
The Picture Wall
For years, her son kept a secret. A big secret.
The bombshell, delivered shortly after he left for college, left author C.A. Gibbs questioning everything. What was real? Through fear, anxiety, faith, loss, and grief, Gibbs shares the bittersweet journey of discovering that her adult child isn’t—and maybe hasn’t ever been—the person she thought.
In The Picture Wall: One Woman’s Story of Being His Her Their Mother, Gibbs lifts the curtain on life as the parent of a child who lives outside societal norms and expectations.
From her earliest desire of wanting nothing more than to be a mother, to facing her own life and death medical diagnosis before it was safe to get pregnant, to the self-doubt and push-back from others when she expressed concern over her toddler’s development, Gibbs finally comes to terms with the fact that the picture-perfect life displayed in her scrapbooks and on her family picture wall wasn’t reality.
At least it wasn’t the full picture.
The Picture Wall takes us on an intimate and emotional journey as Gibbs comes to terms with what it really means to let go as a child grows up to live their own authentic life, on their own terms.
Learn more about Charlotte Gibbs and The Picture Wall
Buy The Picture Wall Now
Nova: The Courage to Rise by Tricia Jacobson
Aurora and Stella, two orphaned teenage girls, embark on an inner-city camping adventure to find resilience and the power of resilience within themselves.
Aurora, a grounded soul from the foster system, and Stella, a quirky spirit raised by her grandfather, find a torn piece of a discarded research paper, launching them into a quest for mothering messages in the stars.
Aurora and Stella learn profound lessons about self-love and self-worth. Their journey becomes a testament to the transformative power of community and the pursuit of a greater good.
Stripped of data on their phones, the girls forge unexpected connections—with themselves, each other, and the community around them. In the absence of constant digital distractions, they delve into the importance of empathy, kindness, authenticity, and trustworthiness.
Nova inspires a shift in perspective, encouraging positive self-talk, fostering a healthy body image, and challenging conventional notions of faith. The girls learn that rewriting their past narratives can pave the way for a meaningful and purposeful future.
During their quest, Aurora uncovers answers about her mother that may redefine her understanding of the past. Simultaneously, Stella finds herself on an unexpected path as a leadership resource for other young women seeking the path to a better life.
★★★★★ Nova is now available as an immersive audiobook! ★★★★★
Buy Nova: The Courage to Rise Now
Great Mother’s Day Reads
We hope you agree that these books — the stories they tell and the messages they send — represent what’s miraculous about the role of motherhood. On this Mother’s Day, and every day, help us celebrate mothers everywhere. Buy, read, and write a review for one (or all!) of these great books. And share them with the special mothers in your life.
