Book Title: Illusions of More: A Story out of Shadow
Year Published: 2022
Illusions of More: A Story out of Shadow
Illusions of More: A Story out of Shadow is a novel revealing how legislation unleashes the archetypal La Llorona upon public school students and teachers. In this depth-oriented, psychological novel, American public-school teachers are overwhelmed and under-resourced. In the small town of Purewater, ELL teacher, Sienna O’Mara, is the only person available to give nine-year-old Pilar the attention and the compassion an orphaned refugee needs. In Sienna’s class, dubbed the Writers’ Lair, Pilar is haunted by traumatic loss. A mispronunciation sends Sienna to a local Saturday swap meet. Marigolds, sugar skulls, and a gift from an enigmatic art dealer on El Dia de Los Muertos induct her into a sacred mystery. As mandated textbooks, standardization, and shadowy objectives stalk the teachers and children at Moore Elementary School, a voice no one expected to arise in the United States emerges. Revealing what is erased before it can be written, this shattering, heartwarming, and redemptive novel lets readers peek behind the illusions of more to remember how much lives and dies in a child’s and a teacher’s story.
About Janiece Anjali
Pacifica Program Graduate: 2019 Counseling Psychology
“I am licensed by the Washington Department of Health as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. My license number is LH61107488.
“I earned a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, Individual Clinical Counseling, and Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
“I hold a Master’s in Education with an emphasis on Instruction and Curriculum and a focus on facilitating conceptual change and parent-teacher collaboration from the University of Washington.
As a credentialed elementary school teacher with over twenty-two years in education, I specialized in cross-cultural cognitive and language development and designing academic interventions for struggling students. I have additional education and experience in Early Child Development, have taught preschool through eighth grade, and worked as an educational consultant.
For over a decade, I have facilitated women’s personal growth in women’s circles and led writers’ workshops for adults and children. I belong to the American Counseling Association, the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study, and the Jungian Psychotherapist Association.”
