Kirjahaku

Discover the inspirational coming-of-age memoir about modern poverty in Britain and the liberating power of education.'An astonishing tale, well structured and punchily told.’ - Sunday Times'Impossible not to read in one sitting.' - Stylist, Best Books for 2024'A memoir you read with the same breathlessness as you read the most gripping of novels' - i news*******When you have nothing, you cling to whatever gives you hope.Put yourself in Tracy King's shoes. Growing up in an ordinary council estate outside Birmingham; a house filled with creativity, curiosity and love, but marked by her father's alcoholism and her mother's agoraphobia.By the time she turns twelve her father has been killed, her sister taken into care and her mother ensnared by the promises of born-again Christianity.This isn't the stuff of cult documentaries; this is the story of an ordinary family trapped in a broken system. It's a story that could happen to anyone without the tools to transform their circumstances.And it's the story of how Tracy discovered the truth about her father’s death and how she found her way out.Shocking, inspiring and ultimately hopeful, Learning to Think. is a testament to the power of books and holds up a mirror to the everyday realities of poverty in Britain.*******Praise for Learning to Think.:‘A raw and unflinching account of growing up in poverty, which tackles the false narratives we tell ourselves to survive.’ – Caroline Criado Perez‘Tracy King’s memoir is heartbreaking and hopeful ... An incredible true story of survival and forgiveness.’ – Tim Minchin'What would you do if you began to suspect the events of your childhood didn't happen as you remembered them? In this evocative memoir, Tracy King confronts the stories we all tell ourselves in order to live.' – Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women‘[An] extraordinary book. It’s compelling and courageous, and it couldn’t be more timely. It’s written with such clarity and compassion, and I think it will leave every reader wiser and stronger.’ – Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grownup and Sisterhood‘A brilliant writer’ – Adam Kay‘You won’t often read a book so driven by raw emotion. A book of tragedy, hope and ultimately of triumph.’ – HH Wendy Joseph KC, author of Unlawful Killings

Tracy King was raised in a house of contradictions--her family was happy and creative, yet shadowed by debt, phobias, her father's alcoholism, and the illusory promises of a born-again Christian church. The uneasy balance of the King household was irrevocably upended on a rainy spring night in 1988, when her father was killed by teenagers just blocks from their public housing estate. Her mother's dysfunctional reliance on the church deepened following the tragedy, and King, suffering from undiagnosed anxiety, stopped attending school. The account of her father's death remained hazy, made worse by the fact that four of the accused teenagers--neighborhood boys she could not avoid--were never charged. What could have triggered such an act of aggression? Clinging to hearsay and what little information she had from the police, King allowed her imagination to fill in the rest. Over the years, in a bid to balm her grief and gaps in formal education, King journeyed through multiple belief systems: she distanced herself from fundamentalism, searching for clarity instead in the occult, paranormal beliefs, and conspiracy theories. Amid the chaos of her coming of age, she stumbled upon a copy of Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World on the shelves of a Birmingham bookshop --a discovery that proved transformative. Sagan's sage caveat, "But I could be wrong," became King's guiding light, empowering her to confront her demons. An eloquently written and often sharply funny account that is ever sensitive to the fallibility of memory and the nuances of truth, Learning to Think is a resounding battle cry for the value of education and the freedom to think critically, imaginatively, and for oneself.

Competitive Advantage helps leaders create a reliably profitable and sustainable learning portfolio that generates the sought-after impact. Based on a proprietary 25-driver Scoreboard created by Tracy King CAE, Competitive Advantage helps clients develop a profitable and sustainable business that makes a measurable impact on the industries they represent. Workforce disruptions, new technologies, and tight budgets place enormous pressure on professional association continuing education teams. Old learning formats and pricing models are failing. The risk of irrelevance is imminent as competitors step into the market, creating targeted learning programs faster and cheaper. Not to mention that learner expectations are changing: what they want, when they want it, and how much they are willing to pay for it. Competitive Advantage serves the professional association industry’s leadership. Tracy helps leadership determine what investments to make with a limited budget, learn the common mistakes associations make managing their learning portfolio, find key investments that differentiate a program from competitors, identify partnership opportunities that result in passive revenue streams, and so much more. Quick fixes feel good, but never produce lasting results. Competitive Advantage focuses on the things that do produce lasting results and the commitment required to develop a successful learning design.

‘A memoir you read with the same breathlessness as you read the most gripping of novels’ - iNews‘Astonishing … a story that brims with life and hard-won hope’ - Sunday Times‘Fantastic. Could have been me. Could have been you. Could have been anyone’ - Lee ChildWhen Tracy King was twelve she was exorcised.Unfortunately, the demons that beset Tracy could not be so easily displaced.While her life was filled with creativity, curiosity, and love, it was also constricted by poverty, by Tracy’s father’s alcoholism and her mother’s agoraphobia.By the time she turned twelve Tracy’s father had been killed, her sister taken into care and her mother ensnared by the promises of born-again Christianity.This is the story of an ordinary family trapped in a broken system. It is a story that could happen to anyone without the tools to transform their circumstances.But it is also a tale with a twist. And one full of humour and hope.Because with courage, perseverance and self-education, Tracy learnt to think for herself and found her way out......................................................................................................................................................................................'Tracy King's memoir is heartbreaking and hopeful...An incredible true story of survival and forgiveness.' TIM MINCHIN'Raw and unflinching.' CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ'A brilliant writer.' ADAM KAY'What would you do if you began to suspect the events of your childhood didn't happen as you remembered them? In this evocative memoir, Tracy King confronts the stories we all tell ourselves in order to live.' HELEN LEWIS