Books published by Agio Publishing House

TURTLE ON A FENCE POST is "the ideal gift of wisdom and inspiration for the high school graduate."The ultimate 'life after high school' reference book -- a guide to help our children and their friends navigate the complicated 'real world' they will face after graduation.Why 365 lessons? Because it is important to learn something new every day. Each lesson is short -- it can be read quickly over breakfast or during a study break.A theme for each day of the week. Monday's message is motivational; Tuesday's and Wednesday's are hints for advancing a career. Thursday's and Friday's are general life lessons. Saturday's focus is on social aspects, while Sunday's spiritual guidance comes from many religions, philosophers and teachers.High school and university textbooks provide the book smarts; TURTLE ON A FENCE POST will help with the 'life smarts.'About the authorsJIM PRATTAfter college (B.Comm.) at the University of Alberta, Jim played professional basketball in Europe. Returning to Canada, he obtained an MBA at the University of Western Ontario. Next he worked on Toronto's Bay Street as an investment banker, becoming vice president of a national investment dealer. In 1992, he invested in a food manufacturing company in BC -- Jim is now the CEO. It has been cited as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies. He and Jane have three high school age children. They live in a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.JANE PRATTA former Miss Teen Edmonton and first runner-up Miss Teen Canada, Jane married her high school sweetheart and was a fitness instructor, travel industry professional and model before becoming a stay-at-home mom to their children. She has served as president of her Beta Sigma Phi chapter (a philanthropic women's organization) and president of the local chapter of Canadian Parents for French. She has been voted 'World's Best Mom' on a number of occasions by each of her children."This great book provides just what is needed -- a unique dynamic of spiritual and social lessons -- the key that separates those who succeed from those who fail." -- Rich Van Huizen, pro beach volleyball player on FIVB tour

Surviving the Shadows is the true story of a young girl brought up in the strict and harsh life of a Catholic orphanage in the 1920s and 1930s, and of her struggle for emotional survival. Told by the nuns she was an orphan, Caroline "Carrie" Marshall set out to search for her roots.Caroline's monumental struggle against the Catholic authorities in her search for kith and kin lasted over sixty years. Gradually, with the help of genealogists, secrets were prised from the archives and the mysteries began to unravel one bizarre piece at a time. In 1990, Caroline finally received news that her parents, whom she had spent a lifetime searching for, had passed on.A further discovery sent shock waves through her: the birth certificate of an unknown elder brother. Born in 1919, he would be seventy-two years old. Was it possible that, by some miracle, he was still alive?'Most would prefer to put it at the back of one's mind, rather than acknowledge the stigma of being raised in an orphanage and being denied a birthright,' says the author, Caroline Whitehead. 'But, for social history, these stories must be told.''By the time I reached sixteen years of age, I had spent all but two years of my young life in the somewhat questionable care of the nuns at an orphanage in a small village in the County of Kent. From there, I was sent "out into the world" of which I knew little about, and had not been prepared for. My first place of employment was a reformatory school for unruly boys staffed by Christian Brothers, some of whom seemed intent on breaking their vows of chastity....'ABOUT THE AUTHORCaroline Whitehead (née Marshall) was born in London, England, in 1925. Abandoned in infancy, she was brought up as an orphan in a Catholic institution in a small village in the County of Kent. On reaching the age of sixteen she was sent out into a world she knew little of, as a domestic servant. With World War Two in progress she was soon conscripted into an aircraft factory in the County of Surrey, on 'munition work. She married in 1944. When hostilities ended, she enrolled in a commercial college to train as a secretary. After emigrating to Canada in 1967, a long emotional journey began as she regularly travelled between England and Canada over the years, in a desperate attempt to learn the truth about her parents, and find her missing family. Caroline has one child, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She lives in British Columbia, Canada.