Stone Compass Press - Blog

COMING SOON! The Hope: A Family's Journey to Renewal by Barbara Cohen

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:35:14 GMT

As November 1 approaches, readers have something profound to anticipate: The Hope: A Family’s Journey to Renewal. With this work, Barbara Cohen offers more than just a memoir: she invites us into the intimate folds of a family’s endurance, transformation, and ultimate renewal. In an era where so many are grappling with fractured relationships, widespread change, and the longing for something steadfast, this book arrives at a crucial moment.

What makes this journey so compelling is its dual nature—rooted in past pain yet brimming with future possibility. Cohen does not shy away from the hard truths: the wounds, the silences, the legacy of struggle. And yet, she shifts the lens to hope—not as a naive optimism, but as something earned, shaped by love, resilience, and choice. Within the pages one finds the story of how a family learns to lean into their imperfections, reckon with their history, and move toward renewal together.

For anyone who has felt the weight of waiting—for healing, for connection, for a new chapter—this book stands as a companion. Cohen’s narrative offers practical insight and emotional honesty: how to face what’s broken, how to hold space for change, and how to rise—not in spite of the past, but because of what’s been survived. The Hope: A Family’s Journey to Renewal is not just a story about one family; it is a mirror for our collective desire to rebuild, reconnect, and believe in what’s yet to be.

As you mark your calendar for November 1, consider this book for your next read, book-club pick, or gift to someone at a crossroads. It promises to engage the heart, challenge the mind, and leave you with more than simply a story—but with an invitation to hope.

The Hope: A Family's Journey to Renewal

$16.99

BARBARA COHEN

In the shadow of rising darkness, one family's love becomes their greatest strength. The Hope is a breathtaking multi-generational memoir novel that follows the Cohen family through the golden years of pre-World War I Germany to the terrifying ascent of Nazi power. Through the intimate, alternating voices of Johann, Rootie, Lilly, and their devoted father Adolf, Barbara Cohen weaves a tapestry of extraordinary ordinary moments—from the warmth of their tile-stove business in Barsinghausen to evenings filled with music, poetry, and deep Jewish faith. This is the story of a family whose bonds transcend geography and time, whose traditions anchor them even as their world begins to fracture.

As brilliant Johann pursues his medical studies across Europe, dependable Rootie seeks adventure abroad, and spirited Lilly captures the wonder of childhood with poetic grace, each sibling must navigate the growing tensions that will forever alter their destiny. When Adolf's health fails and Hitler's shadow lengthens across Germany, the family faces an impossible choice between the life they've built and the survival they must secure. Johann, studying in Italy, recognizes the full scope of the threat and resolves to emigrate, while his sisters remain behind to confront the encroaching nightmare of Nazi oppression.

The Hope is a luminous testament to the sustaining power of family love and the resilience of the human spirit. Cohen's evocative prose transforms personal history into universal truth, creating an unforgettable portrait of a family determined to preserve their humanity in the face of unimaginable evil. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, this remarkable novel reminds us that even in our darkest hours, love and memory can light the way forward.

RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2025

GENRE: Memoir

FORMAT: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9798998663420

TRIM: 5.5" x 8.5"

PAGE COUNT: 217

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Stone Compass Press Quarterly Newsletter – Q3 2025

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:30:26 GMT

Inspiring Authors. Celebrating Stories. Sharing Aloha.

As the sun sets on another vibrant quarter here in Hawaiʻi, we’re thrilled to share some exciting updates from the world of Stone Compass Press — your local publishing ʻohana dedicated to bringing Hawaiian voices, stories, and spirit to the world.

📚 New & Upcoming Releases

We’ve had a productive year so far, and the journey continues with new titles that capture the heart and history of these islands:

• Hawaiʻi: The Polynesians Before Captain Cook – Book One: The Tattooed Woman by Richard Shouse
Releasing August 1, 2025, this powerful first installment in a ten-part series explores pre-Captain Cook Polynesian culture with deep historical insight and vivid storytelling. A must-read for lovers of Hawaiian history and anthropology.

• Hanau Hou: Rebirth by B. Malulani Konanui
A poetic and cultural masterpiece that celebrates Hawaiian tradition and resilience through the lens of rebirth. Already gaining praise across the islands, this book embodies the mana of new beginnings.

Hānau Hou: Rebirth

$20.00

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COMING SOON:

A Perfect Wave by Brent Humble
Together All Things Are Possible by Noel Holdsworth
The Hope: A Family's Journey to Renewal by Barbara Cohen
Storyland: Nature and the Supernatural on a Journey from War to Peace by Dr. Richard Stevens

🎉 Event Recap: Big Island Book Festival

Mahalo nui loa to everyone who joined us for the Big Island Book Festival at Keauhou Shopping Center in September!

With dozens of local authors, a fantastic turnout, engaging panel discussions, and live readings, the day was a resounding success. From historical fiction to children’s books and poetry, the community came together to celebrate the literary heartbeat of Hawaiʻi.

We’re already planning an even bigger event for 2026, with new workshops, music, and local food vendors — stay tuned for details!

🍷 Upcoming Event: Words & Wine – March 2026

Mark your calendars for March 2026 when three Stone Compass Press authors will be featured at Words & Wine at Kona Stories Bookstore!

This special evening will celebrate our growing ʻohana of writers, with readings, book signings, and a toast to creativity. It’s a great opportunity to meet your favorite authors, share stories, and enjoy a glass of wine among friends.

✍️ Writing Tip of the Quarter

“Write first, edit later.”

Perfectionism can paralyze creativity. Let your first draft be raw and real — the goal is momentum, not mastery. Remember, books aren’t written; they’re rewritten. Your voice matters most when it’s allowed to flow freely.

Bonus Tip: Try writing outside! There’s nothing like the sound of ocean waves or rustling palms to quiet the inner critic and awaken inspiration.

🧭 Stone Compass Press Updates

We’re expanding our publishing reach through IngramSpark, giving our authors global distribution to bookstores and libraries around the world. Combined with ongoing marketing, social media outreach, and bookseller partnerships, our authors are seeing greater visibility than ever before.

If you’re an aspiring author, now’s the time to submit your manuscript! Whether you write fiction, memoir, poetry, or local history, we’d love to help you share your story with the world.

📧 Submit to: stonecompasspress@gmail.com
🌐 Visit: https://www.stonecompasspress.com/submissions.html

🌺 Mahalo from the Stone Compass ʻOhana

As we head into the final quarter of the year, we want to thank our authors, readers, and supporters for helping us grow and keep storytelling alive in Hawaiʻi. Together, we’re charting a course for creativity, connection, and cultural preservation — one book at a time.

With aloha,
Zach Parker
Stone Compass Press
Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi

Words & Wine Author Event - Tuesday February 7th, 2023

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 20:56:42 GMT

Each month Kona Stories Book Store hosts an event with local and traveling authors. This event is free to the public and happens the first Tuesday evening of the month starting at 6 PM. Authors are available to talk story while you are getting your plate of appetizers and glass of complimentary wine. Authors then give a 15-minute talk about their book and themselves, the writing and publishing process or a short reading from the book. After all the authors presentations there is a time for individual questions and book signings.

February Words & Wine will feature an author from Stone Compass Press!

$16.95

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Gisela Heydenreich:
My Search for Home: One Body, Two Souls, Three Countries

This book tells the astonishing life story of truth-seeking teacher & spiritual healer Gisela Maxima Heydenreich who was born in East Germany at the unforgettable height of World War II.

Throughout her life, Gisela has had many incredible adventures and made many unforgettable memories. The first seventeen years of her life she spent in East Germany during a period of socialist control which she escaped to West Germany with her parents, starting over with practically nothing. She studied to become a chemical engineer and later went on to be a high school physics & chemistry teacher with a great quest for scientific discoveries.

She experienced a soul exchange in her body after having brain surgery, which has led her to change her perspective on life and pursue a life of healing & spiritual studies. She has finally found her home in the beautiful state of Hawaii where she was led to be a part of a spiritual retreat center, many years ago, with Dr. Ralph Jordan, the founder of the Ecumenical Church of Light.

Other featured authors include Angela Leslee with her book Lucky to Live Hawaii and John Redden, author of Atomic Baby Bible: A Memoir Celebrating the Universality and Uniqueness of the Human Experience.

See full event details here.