Corrie and the Rose Accordion:
Dutch Girl, Hitler's War, Symbol of Hope
written by
Liesje Wagner with Corrie Wagner
Inspired by true events, Corrie and the Rose Accordion is a heart-rending story set in the middle of Hitler’s war in The Netherlands. After the Nazis seize their father as slave labor, a red accordion adorned with a mesmerizing pattern of roses on its bellows becomes an unlikely symbol of hope for little Corrie and her family, who passionately believe he will return alive so long as they keep it safe. But will he, when so many do not?
As the war drags on and worsens, their mother is close to dying, and the children bravely choose starvation and possible death rather than bartering their father’s prized accordion for food. Instead, defying a strict life-threatening curfew, the children secretly creep into the dead of night to scrounge for scraps of food, potato peels, and bits of coal, all the while hiding from the Nazi patrols.
Corrie and the Rose Accordion is an unforgettable testament to the remarkable will and courage these children showed during Hitler’s brutal and senseless war in one of the world’s worst-hit cities of World War II.
"A crafted, inspirational true-life story at the level ion Angela's Ashes that comes only once in a gen eration: an unyielding emotional and living reminder for us to appreciate all that we have, and how - in the end - what matters most is family and helping those in need. Corrie and the Rose Accordion is a literary beacon showing us how the pure heart of a little girl can conquer the staggering adversity of history's most evil event. This book is a keeper, a must-read for all - a biography that flows like a masterfully- depicted epic."
—Vic Schukov, long-standing author, journalist, biographer, and interviewer of thousands of everyday heroes.
Available in Paperback, eBook and Kindle
on Amazon and your local bookstore
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ITALIAN BONES OF CONTENTIONS
Mum's the Word about the Mob in an Italian Household
Part One of the
Italian Bones of Contentions
Pride Series
Anita's husband is missing and she blames the Mob. Unfortunately, her Italian best friend, Andy, is married to it. Who cares about the husband, he's trash anyways according to Andy, and she has far worse challenges to contend with in her own life. Whether it's her mother, father, brother-in-law, her 'special' child precocious Maria, the stove or her husband's hens and rooster.
Anita's got problems? Forget it. Andy's bones of contentions are mega-sized compared to a missing no-body. Or is that a missing body? Mum's the word about the Mob in an Italian home. But it's always there, hanging around...
Currently being republished. Available through publisher tinaassantibooks@gmail.com
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Italian Bones of Contentions
Screenplay
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Italian Bodies of Change
Maria's Secret is out and it's a Killer
Part Two of the
Italian Bones of Contentions Pride Series
Maria was born ‘special,’ but nobody really cared - especially Andy Giordani, her mother - until Maria’s stugats dropped during a fight with the daughter of the Irish West End Gang leader.
With her life in mortal danger, Maria’s family desperately tries to hide her intersex truth from the homophobic West End Gang, the nearby Montreal Sicilian Mafia, and their own ‘Ndrangheta. But her powerful father, Stefano Giordani, longing for the old Maria and unable to face her physical changes, flies in Venezuelan bodyguard Alessandro Pesseck. Instead, he leaves for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to expand the famiglia’s laundering business under the firm and dangerous guidance of famiglia head, Zio Leo Mangione.
Bodies keep falling as collateral damage, but as far as her family is concerned, Maria’s not friggin’ going’ anywhere.
Italian Bodies of Change, the second part of the Italian Bones of Contentions Pride Series, continues the Giordani saga as the family fulfills its destiny within the French Canadian ‘Ndrangeta - the Calabrian Mafia.
Available in Paperback, eBook and Kindle
on Amazon and your local bookstore
The Kingdom of God and Playboys
A serious book of a woman's journey through gender-based upheaval in a generation influenced by Church and the Sexual Revolution of the '60s and '70's.
Inspirational and insightful.
Specifically for Women's Studies:
- Living beyond sexual molestation, rape and domestic violence
- Surviving teenage attempted suicide
- A study of mental health and healing
- The importance of hope
- How faith in a higher power helps beyond measure
Available in Paperback, eBook and Kindle
Amazon and your local bookstore
***
Letters of a Woman Homesteader
(Illustrated and Annotated
with Terms of Reference)
AVAILABLE IN
eBook and Kindle
on Amazon
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Letters on an Elk Hunt
by a Woman Homesteader
(Annotated with Terms of Reference)
AVAILABLE IN
eBook and Kindle
on Amazon
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The Edith Cavell Nurse from Massachusetts
by Alice Fitzgerald
with illustrations
Foreword by Tina Assanti
AVAILABLE IN
eBook and Kindle
on Amazon
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The History of Josephine
by Jacob Abbott
Foreword by Tina Assanti
New Paragraph
Available in eBook and Paperback
Amazon and other online platforms
and through book retailers
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Bully Swan Gone!
by Liesje Wagner
Illustrated by Sana
A short little story of a Bully Swan
with a happy ending.
Suitable for children two to five years of age.
AVAILABLE IN
eBook and Paperback
on Amazon
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Argentine Riptide:
Military Coups,
Nazi Intrigues, Eva Peron
Inspired by True Events
by Liesje Wagner
Inspired by actual events: In the middle of the Depression, while American relations soured with politically tumultuous Argentina, young Torontonian Phyllis May met and married Stuart Redington, a young, handsome American working for Remington-Rand. Trade reopened between Argentina and the British Commonwealth, and Stuart was transferred from the company’s Upper Canada offices to Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, a few years prior and unbeknownst to Phyl, Stuart was recruited upon graduation from Princeton into the forerunner of today’s FBI: G-Man Program. With noble intentions, he secretly set out as a G-Man for the US Foreign Service. Working for a British Commonwealth office and married to a Canadian was a perfect cover.
In the meantime, it was innocent Phyl’s lifelong dream—fancy ships, tuxedos, exotic lands, and palm trees. But did she wonder why her bright husband would work as a humble salesman?
An initial two-year contract was to garner them enough to put a down payment on a home in North America while the world struggled to put food on the table. However, foreign culture and the constant threat of danger almost took their toll. Still, Phyl and Stu had no choice but to desperately tread water in a constant Argentine riptide that incessantly pulled them between North America and Argentina amid military coups, Nazi intrigues, World War II, and Eva Peron, a woman with whom Phyl felt intricately involved.
Be careful of what you wish for. Mata Hari with an iron will? Phyl was not. But only at first…
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Grab a seat
Something great is about to happen
by Liesje Wagner
Corrie and the Rose Accordion
Dutch Girl, Hitler's War,
Symbol of Hope
Audio Book
December 1, 2026
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By Tina Assanti
Italian Bones Scattered East
It's Mario's Turn to Deal With 'Em
Part 3 of the Italian Bones of Contentions Pride Series.
In Paperback, Kindle and eBook
March 1, 2027
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By Liesje Wagner
Tenant Woes, Tenants' Woes
When Pet Friendly Isn't
Friendly At All!
In Paperback, Kindle and eBook
August 1, 2027
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By Liesje Wagner
The Rising of Aphrodite
The 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus
March 2027