November 2026 Review Issue
Fantasy & Sci Fi
Literature
Mystery & Thrillers
The Base
Owen
Garratt
Runding
Pelham
978-1-0689438-6-7
$18.99
https://OwenGarratt.com
The Base is the fourth book in The Pulse post-apocalyptic series, beginning 23 days after the world-changing EMP that revised the world overnight. The first-person reflection on being a survivor in this much-changed world blends observation with a note of wry ironic humor that will captivate readers from the novel’s opening lines:
What I hate worst about the end of the world is having guns
pointed at me. Yes, I miss music, ice cubes, vehicles, and air conditioning, but the cold, dead-eyed audacity of a gun barrel bothers me most of all. Because if there’s one thing I know from a career as a health and safety consultant, it’s that accidents happen. Attention wanders. Nervous people get The Yips. And I’d just as soon when those inattentive yips happen, the gun barrel isn’t pointed my way.
Narrator Jack Broderick and his sidekick Frances Montrose (“Skinny”) have been captured by the military. There, they learn of a situation that not only stymies the air force base survivors, but impacts the rest of the world.
Owen Garratt injects a gritty tone of discovery and different survival challenges into this latest series title, which stands nicely alone so that newcomers will be attracted to the characters, setting, and unfolding new dilemmas without the need for prior familiarity.
Thriller elements kick in with high-octane action as the story unfolds confrontations with the Reverend, kidnapping, and hostages. Mentors and friends come under fire as the world teeters on the brink of war.
Jack’s a man of action, used to overcoming obstacles and achieving success. As he faces the dangerous intentions of a psychopath and finds that all his friends are at risk, he confronts impossible circumstances and forces with courage and conviction:
“I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you because you’re dangerous to everyone around you. You’re most certainly a sociopath, if not an outright psychopath, and I’m going to kill you because you’re a threat to people I care about.”
Owen Garratt’s reflective, absorbing story delves into torture and defiance, betrayal and interactions between church and military forces, and pivot points of hard realizations during which Jack must reassess his loyalties and friendships as much as his future.
These facets make The Base an outstanding thriller as well as a dystopian read, attracting audiences from both genres as Jack delves into the elements which change survivors and friendships and confronts weakness, grief, and gratitude impulses alike.
Libraries seeing popularity with Garratt’s previous Pulse novels, or who look for standalone action-packed stories about survival and transformation, will find The Base a reflective, engrossing work. It examines how people change, survive, and even embrace honor among thieves and desperate men against all odds.
The vivid story of confrontation and hope will intrigue and excite a wide audience with its special brand of post-apocalyptic social reinvention.
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Beta
Max: A
Profound Frolic in an
Unreasonable Multiverse
Mark A. Rayner
Monkeyjoy Press
978-1927590102
$25.00
Softcover/$9.95
eBook
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC8GP4S4
Other
ebooks: https://books2read.com/u/mdpg0d
Humorous science fiction is few and far between, but Beta Max: A Profound Frolic in an Unreasonable Multiverse adds to the mix with Book 2 of The Tundraverse series. It’s a lively contrast of different versions of Dr. Maximilian Tundra, who either destroys the world with a random, seeming innocuous thought or, in another universe, tackles the disappearance of humans.
Newcomers who anticipate that this wild ride might be puzzling without familiarity with the prior novel Alpha Max receive a handy recap of events. This perfectly sets the stage for a romp through combined consciousness, the Xaxta aliens which return for round two, and newfound realizations about the nature of life, death, entropy, the universe, and everything.
What sci-fi reader used to staid plots and predictable outcomes wouldn’t be immediately attracted to this book, either through its first chapter, entitled “From Hell’s Heart, Stabby, Stabby,” or its opening lines?:
Deep within the heat of the sun, motionless for years, sat a shimmering scrotum. Of course, a scrotum would be vaporized immediately, but this was a sack of another kind. It was a vessel created by another species to travel between universes. It held not gonads but, nonetheless, contained seeds … of destruction.
Hero and savior of humanity Maximilian Tundra has become a family man with Vee and is contentedly watching his young daughter Samantha navigate her first bike as the story opens. His satisfaction doesn’t last long, because aliens simmering in the backdrop soon emerge to lead him on another wild ride through time, space, alternate realities, and a newfound purpose: to save his family.
Even the conclusion of this introduction employs language and observations which are startlingly original and refreshingly fun:
His heart was still filled with the joy of watching Samantha ride a bike for the first time. Yet he had a strange gnosis that was a result of his previous adventures: it was all about to end. It was so wabi-sabi. So sweet-bitter. But he only had time to say: “Well, shit.”
Readers anticipating that the contrasts between different versions of Max will prove difficult to comprehend will find that how Mark A. Rayner navigates these scenarios makes it easy to move between multiverses.
The quandaries over Max’s struggles embrace issues with ideals, notions of revenge and the cost of heroism, and the multifaceted challenges of solving problems across universes. All these are presented through engaging characters and dialogue which prove whimsical, fun, and unexpected:
“You said you were not searching for the ones who destroyed your family—”
“And the whole Earth.”
“Yes. And the whole Earth. But you said you’re not doing so for revenge. Are you being honest with yourself? And if so, why look for them?”
“To prevent it from happening again.”
“But what if there are an infinite number of realities in which it’s happening? Isn’t that possible?”
Orry was silent for a second. Doc was right. What if that was what infinity meant? It was happening now – whatever now meant – in infinite universes as they spoke.
“Sonuvabitch … fuck!”
Doc grinned. “No further questions.”
Especially notable are many moments of revelation about why infinity “sucks” as Max encounters different versions of himself and his worlds and considers his mission with constantly-revised mindsets.
Hard-hitting ideals, ideas, social inspections, and personal and political quagmires evolve a delightfully satirical romp that will attract readers beyond the usual sci-fi reading circle.
Beta Max is a wonderful, powerful, unique creation that librarians and readers will want to place high on their acquisition lists for its rollicking, disarming spectacles of a human being poised to change the world(s).
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Escape
from Turtle
Island
C.S. Yaduvanshi
Y House Media
978-1-0678451-1-7
Paperback: $18.99 |
Hardcover: $29.99 |
Kindle: $6.99
Website: www.csyaduvanshi.com
Ordering link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1067845119
The setting of this dystopian novel is 2062 Toronto, where the world has been physically and politically transformed by rising seas and shifting political tides.
In this world resides complacent schoolteacher Abi, who doesn’t question anything about a system that maintains an augmented, shifting reality over his world – until new teacher Claire questions the Party’s policy of correcting history, introducing new revelations about truth, betrayal, love, and resistance.
Suddenly, Abi is in the maelstrom of a social change revolution he never saw coming. He finds himself spearheading it, grappling with new emotions about his world and his place in it.
C.S. Yaduvanshi provides a powerful social and political futuristic novel that opens with a protest against oppression before moving to the shaping of society that began in Abi’s childhood. As he navigates adulthood well-trained in obedience and motivated by a reward system that quashes rebellion, Abi is an Everyman example of a worker well trained to not rock any boats:
Abi, confused about the ever-evolving expectations of fulfilling civic duties, refrained from seeking clarification. Questioning authority or displaying a lack of comprehension regarding civic duty or the greater social good would undoubtedly add another strike against his public profile, affecting his citizen rating.
Issues of activism, justice, romantic entanglements with Wincy and Claire, and dangerous plans emerge as Claire and Abi’s paths coalesce over realizations that lead Abi to better understand the warnings of his elders:
Citizen reporting was just a fraction of the extensive mechanism at play. All the conspiracy theories and warnings from his grandfather and the undergrounders turned out to be true.
One reason why Yaduvanshi’s dystopian world proves so hard-hitting is because of its foundations in realistic events unfolding today. Issues of surveillance, control, manipulation, and citizen rights permeate the news now. In this story, these devices become systems and perceptions which repress the general population in an exhaustive, comprehensive manner.
Were it not for former believers like Abi receiving new understanding about their choices, responsibility, and ability to impact their world in many ways, such systems would dominate and become the norm.
This is just one of the frightening messages embedded in Escape from Turtle Island as humans relearn how to rebel and where their values and best interests truly lay.
Librarians and readers interested in politically supercharged dystopian stories that embrace the foundations of despair and ennui before venturing into territory of political empowerment will find Escape from Turtle Island a particularly powerful cementing of personal and political perspective and objectives.
Packed with discussion points that book clubs and political futurist groups will find engaging and thought-provoking, Escape from Turtle Island layers a vision of the future with an eye to exploring how dystopian scenarios begin, evolve, and can be quashed.
The opportunities for better understanding concepts of perfect and imperfect worlds and mindsets about control and shaping the future are outstanding.
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Home
Planet
Tiffany Nieslanik
Atmosphere Press
979-8901743850
$21.99 Paperback; $34.99
Hardcover;
$8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
Science fiction readers are in for a treat with Home Planet, which tells of the desperate struggles of astronaut Bryn, humanity’s last hope, to reconcile her unexpected pregnancy with her mission to investigate a distant planet that is the last hope for saving her species from an overcrowded Earth.
Her discovery shortly before takeoff would threaten the mission – and so she keeps it a secret from everyone, including her husband.
As space changes her body as much as the fetus within and a helpful AI assists her in unexpected ways, Bryn discovers, like the protagonist in the movie Alien, that those who have created her mission harbor dangerous secrets about its real purpose and potential, which threatens her life.
Readers won’t expect the odd encounters Bryn faces, from the prospect of transforming into a fish, which may or may not be a dream, to confronting her younger self and the ideals and motivations surrounding her choices:
“I think I’m an eternal optimist? And that was why I was willing to go? Somehow that feels very on brand for me still,” Bryn grumbled.
“That is a true part of it, yes. We are hopelessly optimistic.” Younger Bryn grinned almost maniacally. “And also, it was a good time in our life. You saw that, yes? This mission was something we had dreamed of since our time as a youngling. And perhaps most importantly, we had a stable, loving, supportive childhood and family. We knew coming back to Asphodel would be easier for us than for most because of the foundation of love she built around us. It keeps our memories strong and stable.”
“I was willing to give up my memories because I knew I wouldn’t be giving anything up at all,” Bryn whispered softly. “It was just a small pause on the life I have built, and I knew I could seamlessly reenter it when I returned. That my family and my friends would love me through my Remembering and whatever decisions I have to make now that I’m back.”
As Bryn evolves and changes, the story shifts from a search for home to an embrace of flexibility and possibility. This translates to new belief systems and opportunities to consider survival on not just physical, but spiritual and psychological levels.
Tiffany Nieslanik builds these realizations, impacts, and experiences into a story that is a step above most sci-fi stories of exploring other planets with an Earth exodus in mind. She allows readers to enter into the psyche and motivations of a mother-to-be who embarks on her journey not just for humanity, but for her child and a revised future.
Bryn discovers she isn’t exploring something completely different, but in actuality is coming full circle, and her readers will delight in how these dilemmas and realizations represent new opportunities for growth and evolution on many different levels.
Libraries choosing Home Planet for their collections will find it a powerful saga of transitions and hope which imparts an uncommon flavor of women’s strengths into an ultimately uplifting saga, driven by an especially appealing character:
She was the kind of person who could hold enough care in her heart for her daughter and an entire civilization.
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Lion’s
Den
Dhan SG
Jatayu Press
978-93-345-4144-1
https://yellowstudiosweb.wixsite.com/dhansg
Lion’s Den opens the Kingdoms of God and Men series with an interesting blend of observation, wry humor, and imagination:
“That’s a centaur,” Imogen said, tracing the stars with her finger. “Do you see it?”
Martin squinted up at the sky. “Looks like a donkey to me.” He nudged his horse closer and tilted his head to the right. “Looks like a pair of balls if you see it this way.”
This sets the stage for an epic fantasy about family, faith, and complicated relationships that plays out in a political and social arena. The Sejai Smarth, who is sworn to protect Imogen and her family; Martin, the bastard son of Lord Robert Bucas and Imogen’s oldest friend; elegant new Master of Trade Vardan; Lady Roxana, whose son is destined to be a conqueror and who herself wields and covets authority, and a wide cast of characters find their lives challenged in a shifting world where tradition and order are shifting.
Power plays, dreams, worshippers, and physical and mental scars coalesce in a dance between imprisonment and freedom as each character confronts external and internal forces in order to survive, transform, and assume revised roles in the kingdom.
As difficult truths and their impact come to light, Martin, Roxana, and others are forced to make difficult choices that defy their visions of the future and life’s meaning:
Why did he have to be reminded of this now? Was it not enough he dreamt of it nearly every night? Did he have to think of it during his waking hours as well? He had left that life and all those he had known behind. And yet they insisted on intruding in his life again and again.
Dhan SG touches upon family ties, women who sacrifice for promises of empowerment only to find themselves “dismissed like a common whore,” and the trials of a love that evolves under political siege and battle conditions.
The real fights are not just between borders, but between and within hearts. The plot evolves into a powerful clash of peoples who pay for their beliefs and connections with their lives.
As the strength and resolve of Imogen and her people are tested, readers walk alongside these characters through their newly confusing, changing world with all its cruelty and attractions.
Having many characters whose interests dovetail and collide may seem confusing initially, but they contribute to an epic work in which numerous perspectives coalesce during the course of a broader transformational process. Roxana’s toying with the “lions” of her world, for example, sets her at odds with the gods and men alike as her lord husband Patrick pales in comparison with Vardan, who seems “all that she desired in a man.”
Libraries and readers seeking complex, epic fantasy scenarios that take the time to probe matters of crown, family connection, and love and develop them fully and compellingly will find Lion’s Den a winner. It’s not just a fitting opener for an impactful, potent fantasy series, but a suitably thought-provoking consideration of who lives, who dies, and who fosters the progression of a new world order.
Long live whoever commands this realm! Leadership and survival issues clash over the “vile nature of the power we have long sought.” The story’s open ending leaves room for more adventures, cementing the moral and ethical quandaries which are further foundations of a thoroughly thought-provoking saga: How is she to rule wisely if the anger within her is not curbed?
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Five By
Five
Michael Tuberdyke
Five Senses Publishing
979-8256238858 $10.00
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Michael-Tuberdyke/dp/B0HF53M26K
Five By Five presents five short literary stories linked by vivid events that move from everyday activities and happenstance to choices that “cause damage over the years,” leading the characters to adapt to life in unusual ways.
The introductory “Another One Down,” for example, juxtaposes the vivid (not for the sensitive reader) image of a dead horse with the seeming innocuous activity of a man splitting wood in defiance of his terrible vision. While it is not clear that the woodcutter has any real connection to this horse, as in fact he’s never owned one, what he does confront is the reality of his wood-cutting achievement versus the bloody work of breaking down death.
Contrast this character and effort with the second story, “The Promise,” which tackles Mark’s confrontation with his health and mortality. He, too, seems to have dodged a bullet that challenges his life as a diagnosis emerges that negates a previous bargain he’d made with God.
Each story provides a thought-provoking vignette about life’s successes, failures, and the little nightmares, observations, and confrontations that shift possibilities.
Each offers readers moments of quiet realization about belief and illusion that tweak the edges of magic, possibility, and sanity.
Literary audiences and libraries seeking short story vignettes that offer quiet reflections about new possibilities and reasons for adapting old habits will find Five By Five packs the most punch in the least amount of words, providing digestible tales that are simple on their surfaces and thought-provoking in their roundups.
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Pageant
of the
Masters
Steven Belletto
Vine Leaves Press
978-3988322746
$19.99
Paperback/$6.99 eBook
Website: www.vineleavespress.com
Ordering:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/pageant-of-the-masters-steven-belletto/7f9e39b6731e877a
Pageant of the Masters provides literary short story readers with a survey of different worlds and dilemmas though a selection of disparate scenarios. These range from the introductory “Uncle Neal Rides Again,” a short story about exploitation and connection between the narrator, who is purportedly checking in on his off-grid-living survivalist elderly uncle; to “Carnage at Bonaroti’s,” a survey about estrangement, isolation, and a wedding anniversary party at Bonaroti’s restaurant that goes spectacularly awry.
Family ties, models for reinventing relationships, and scenarios which inject anxiety and transformation into set patterns of interaction and connection form the crux of literary and psychological inspections of excellence, journeying through different cultures and worlds in the process of cementing these connections in new ways.
Steven Belletto’s pageant embraces the extent of human emotion, perception, and presumption as the diverse scenarios, cultures, and situations create intersections between social and political and personal stress points.
Especially notable are the ways in which each story dovetails its character-building moments of revelation with situations which test sanity and decorum alike.
Belletto’s dance between these worlds and seemingly disparate individuals results in interconnected (in the sense of psychological revelation and excitement) situations that sizzle with revelation and interesting contrasts.
Dialogues and shifting places and concepts offer unexpected insights, as in the short story “Tactical Xanax”:
“I don’t know, the boys were playing pool or something. But I remember thinking what an interesting insight on your part, the futility of trying to take some moment in time and have it persist into the future. This is very Buddhist of you.”
“Sometimes you stumble into things.” “Sometimes you do.”
The result will interest a wide audience of literary readers interested in diverse works that offer cultural and social commentary and ironic inspections of life.
Libraries acquiring Pageant of the Masters for their collections will also want to highly recommend it to book clubs and reading groups considering the tactics of myriad characters who confront obsessions, revolts, rulers, and behavior patterns with equal attention to surviving their worlds and their shifting regulations.
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Paper
and Ink 2:
Stories
Mike Lubow
Birdwatcher Books
9798180685735
$11.99
Paperback/$8.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Ink-Stories-Mike-Lubow/dp/B0H6Y1N6ZC
Paper and Ink 2: Stories offers literary short story readers a new collection of nine edgily outstanding creations. Each capture life-changing lessons as characters careen out of their familiar paths of existence into situations which force them to reconsider or shift their lives and attitudes.
Take the introductory story “Fired,” for example. The first-person narrator contemplates an unimaginable scenario that shakes his vision of the future when a company shake-up places his ad job on the cutting block.
But, he walks out believing he will be fine. He feels great because he believes his skills will readily translate to easy entry into another ad job, and experiences the freedom that comes from shaking off the oppression of mundane routine to try something different.
Not your usual scenario of the result of being fired for no cause from a long-held position!
“The Spyglass,” in contrast, pairs the very different worlds of the “lean and bookish” college teacher Christian Hawke with student Josephine Marcus, who is destined to meet Wyatt Earp and become his common law wife.
Hawke and Marcus are trying out a new spyglass creation on loan from their college when they stop in a public house for food, only to confront men who introduce danger that might even challenge Hawke’s overriding passion for meat.
Hawke’s ongoing hunger becomes part of a bigger confrontation that provokes him to treat the coveted spyglass in an unexpected way as his relationship with Josie shifts from teacher and student to something more.
Each story builds a different setting, sense of place and shifting purpose, and emotional confrontations that create new connections. Each profiles offbeat situations, characters, and blends of nostalgia and the unexpected which will attract a literary audience interested in short stories that capture novel scenarios:
What a name, Funland. It was no fun. It was a lot of fun. A dumbed-down Disneyland on Chicago’s busy 95th Street where there was a head-on crash late that Sunday. Casualties lay in roadside weeds holding Tshirts to cut faces. Their shirts grew red, lit by the neon of the Ferris wheel, which Phil broke seconds before the crash.
Libraries and readers seeking literary collections that are surprising, unusual, and thought-provokingly perfect for book club discussion and personal contemplation alike will find Paper and Ink 2: Stories packed with the accelerant of pleasure and pain underlying seemingly ordinary life encounters and situations.
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Fables
of the
Deconstruction V. 1:
The Ghost in You
C.A. Kuhlmey
Atmosphere Press
979-8901744291
$18.99 Paperback; $32.99
Hardcover;
$8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
Fables of the Deconstruction V. 1: The Ghost in You is a memoir presented in the form of fables and essays which chronicle author C.A. Kuhlmey’s navigation of addiction, loss, and spirituality in his life.
It focuses on the experience of falling apart and then reconstructing life through a series of jigsaw puzzle-like moves that involve Kuhlmey and others in a search for different pathways.
Readers anticipating a psychological or spiritual-based survey should be advised that Kuhlmey employs mind-altering substances as tools for identifying and traveling these paths:
My essays were helped along by a powerful hallucinogenic substance called ayahuasca, meditation, metaphysical and psychological studies, dreams, and hypnosis; all were places that allowed my being to understand the universe outside of the normal constructs of the mind.
As such, his journey adopts more of a Carlos Castaneda-style approach as he probes the depths of inner being and experiences deconstruction not only in his own psyche, but throughout the world in which he travels.
Readers receive a powerful set of interconnected essays which build progressive insights into a variety of issues, relationships, and new reactions to life:
Unfailing honesty became evidence to be used against me later. Nothing had “polished” me. I suffered badly for my sins. I found peace in letting go, allowing people to be themselves, and interjecting only when the conversation suggested I should.
As he considers the open results of the “aperture of the ayahuasca lens” and where it leads, Kuhlmey presents realizations and questions which will prompt readers to consider not just their relationships and choices, but the process of coming apart to rebuild a new approach to life.
The engrossing details of this inspection will spark many a book club discussion, inviting individuals to consider the progression of their own mental and spiritual work:
I thought if I kept asking the same type of question in different ways, something would shake loose.
The result is a spiritual and emotional journey that considers the illusions lives can be built upon, details the connection between love and obsession, and makes pointed inquiries about God and life purpose. It gives readers a powerfully impactful, literary set of stories and experiences that are not just inspirational and revealing, but allegorical.
Libraries choosing Fables of the Deconstruction V. 1: The Ghost in You for their collections will find it can appeal to an unusually broad swath of readers interested in the foundations of spiritual and emotional growth.
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Beyond the Red
Horizon
James Bultema
P.D. Publishing
ASIN: B0HFGNM2Q4 $5.99
eBook
www.jamesbultema.com
Beyond the Red Horizon adds the sixth book to James Bultema’s Sea of Red military thriller series, delving into the mystery surrounding missing aircraft pilot Lieutenant Commander Jessie “Swagger” Hampton, whose plane vanished over North Korea, and the determination of his military wife/pilot Lieutenant Commander Sarah “Danger” Freeman to find him.
She continues her duties while uncovering clues about the circumstances of his engagements and disappearance – which turn out to be the same ones that CIA officer Dallas Steele is pursuing.
Brief transmissions, correlations of information, and connect-the-dots thinking reveal increasingly dangerous truths:
Hampton was not just missing. Someone was using him to recover something their systems couldn't retain on their own.
James Bultema shifts points of view between the missing Hampton and those pursing the truth in clearly-marked chapters, creating alternating perspectives that increase intrigue and tension.
The well-developed characters and situations need no prior introduction from previous novels in order to prove immediately captivating to newcomers, while Bultema creates a series of cat-and-mouse encounters that will delight readers seeking unexpected discoveries and twists of plot.
Military fiction readers will especially appreciate the moments of bigger-picture revelations which move from one pilot’s actions and disappearance to overall threats to America’s military approaches in North Korea.
Intrigue also builds from the interactions between Qiao, Hampton, and others:
He had decided early on that silence was not a strategy. Silence told Qiao that Hampton was afraid of the questions, which was its own kind of answer. Cooperation, carefully managed, gave him control over what Qiao saw and what he didn’t. Every session was an exchange. The trick was making sure he decided what got traded.
The result is a study packed with exquisite tension, political and military special interests, and battles conducted in the air, on the ground, and in the minds and hearts of participants.
This thriller will delight librarians seeking military fiction that sizzles with realistic actions and dilemmas, and readers interested in the interactions of individuals and systems tailored for war, endurance, and success against all odds.
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Debts
Owed
Glenn Dyer
TMR Press, LLC
979-8-9887961-4-5
$15.99 Paperback/$24.99
Large Print
Paperback/$4.99 EBook/$28.99 Hardback
www.GlennDyer.net
Thriller readers are in for a treat with Debts Owed, the fifth addition to the Conor Thorn OSS spy series which takes place during World War II.
Conor’s beloved, Emily, is in France, which has been locked down under Nazi rule. He would do anything to reunite with her and guide her home safely. So when an assignment pops up which he’d otherwise likely turn down, involving a spy operation conducted with no backup support and little details to help guide his mission, Conor jumps at it.
What he leaps into is a quagmire of possibilities surrounding a traitor, an impossible task smuggling trapped airmen past Nazi control, and recurring issues of trust and confusion which impact his mission and its underlying purpose to locate his wife.
Meanwhile, Emily’s own mission and mandates are in jeopardy as she tracks down Conor’s sister Maggie’s baby, only to find that her endgame goal has shifted into even more dangerous territory.
As truths emerge about Maggie’s baby’s adoption by Olivia and the now-missing Gaston Rothbard and her true heritage, Emily becomes immersed in a desperate cat-and-mouse game over a search for hidden truths and Nazi occupation forces.
From agents and interagency squabbles to questions about loyalty and whether agents are working for the cause or the enemy, this thriller takes many unexpected turns. It dovetails the lives of participants on both sides of the Nazi occupation as Conor and Emily separately address challenges to their lives, mindsets, and loyalties.
Glenn Dyer intersects a host of forces and special interests, creating a gripping story of double agents, family ties, and heroes and turncoats who operate under the cloak of World War II’s political and military struggles.
Replete with tense moments of discovery and thoroughly immersing confrontations between disparate characters and interests, Debts Owed is an immersive thriller that deserves top attention from libraries and readers interested in World War II backdrops, circumstances of spies, counterspies, and loyalty, and love.
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False
Convictions
Amy O. Lewis
Arrow Road Press
978-1-7372977-6-5
$17.95
Paperback/$8.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/False-Convictions-Colorado-Skies-Lewis/dp/B0HH24Q55P
“One of the first questions an investigator must ask him or herself at the scene of a suspicious accident or death is this: Has a crime actually been committed?”
Dr. Abraham Craft’s introductory lecture to a classroom of university students leads to an intriguing question about investigative operations and also lends an interesting observational stance to False Convictions. The story opens with student Kim’s absorption of premises, falsehoods, and problem-solving processes from the professor’s vast knowledge of crime scene investigation.
Kim’s pursuit of a criminology degree becomes all too personal when assistant professor Kent Dodge is murdered, forcing her to take his teachings and run with them to investigate a crime that was apparently sparked by his unpublished crime novel, which hit too close to community nerves.
Unlike most involved in the pursuit, Kim has read the professor’s book, and holds the historical knowledge and investigative background, however novice, to find his killer. Unfortunately, this also gives her a vulnerability that operates on different levels.
False Convictions joins others in the Colorado Skies mystery series, but requires no prior familiarity in order to attract newcomers interested in standalone crime stories.
It follows Kim through surprise meetings and associations, new realizations about connections between past and present, considerations of various possible perps and motivations for murder, and Gunnison, Colorado’s history and atmosphere.
Many of Kim’s revised relationships with other characters create moral and ethical dilemmas that challenge her beliefs and approaches to crime and problem-solving:
What she was doing was wrong. Not criminally. It was a proprietary matter. She was about to give away something that didn’t belong to her.
When it comes to justice, Kim finds her ideals shaken by the realization that “Investigators and the courts don’t always get it right.”
As she probes subterfuge and motivations for murder and cover-up, Kim finds herself tested outside the classroom in unexpected ways.
Amy O. Lewis crafts an especially intriguing story packed with twists and turns of plot that embraces the Gunnison community, the Colorado mountains, Kim’s blossoming ability to connect unusual information, and the ethical and psychological challenges of interpersonal relationships.
Powerful considerations of ordinary days transformed by death supplements everyday community encounters. This injects notes of realistic atmosphere into the Colorado community’s colorful characters.
Libraries interested in crime-busting stories steeped in realistic relationships, evolving surprises, and moral and ethical considerations will find False Convictions a winning saga.
Its ability to create and expand relationships against the backdrop of Colorado mountain history and murder makes for an attractive, compelling tale.
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The Ice
Diamond
C.B. Wilson
Independently Published
978-1-964056-11-1
$14.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H49R2ZL9
The Ice Diamond expands C.B. Wilson’s Gem Hunters mystery series, begun with The Fire Diamond and continued in The Water Diamond. Here, Taylor and her diamond-sniffing dachshund, Glimmer, along with her twin sister Hope Hunter-Allegra, investigate a diamond mystery set in the icy realm of the far north.
The story opens as corporate interests such as International Mining Explorations and Arctic Ice Minerals vie for treasure in 1992, at a time when the great diamond rush in Canada is dying. A hunter’s discovery of a hidden treasure in the ice sparks new interest, claims, and murder
A prologue sets the stage for these events, but the heart of the story opens in the first chapter, narrated in the first person by Taylor herself, who recaps the fact that a father who’d been absent all her life reappeared, took a bullet meant for her twin sister, then vanished again. Taylor has spent a futile six months trying to find him.
Family relationships permeate the story from its opening lines, creating characters that will attract and interest through emotional connections and components readers will find realistic:
Hope asked questions. I learned not to and got good at finding answers elsewhere.
As her new assignment brings her to Québec City and into the world of Arctic diamonds, Taylor absorbs wisdom from jewel thieves, her father’s legacy, and puzzles that surround her efforts, such as a theft from an ice hotel.
Taylor learns how to keep her enemies close and employs years of wisdom from prior diamond investigations and mysteries as she ferrets out elusive truths and answers:
"The thing about diamonds," I said, "is they have a way of "finding their way home. Not always to their rightful owners. Not always to the people who possess them. But eventually, the truth catches up."
As the lure of the fabled Ice Diamond runs into the subterfuge potential of high technology, Taylor draws on all her diamond knowledge, sleuthing skills, and ability to thwart dognappers and murderers alike. The rollicking good read traverses Canadian and Arctic territories as well as boundaries of the heart as facts emerge surrounding her father, the Silver Fox, and his willingness to cross international borders to intervene in diamond affairs.
Tension and intrigue run high in a story where the Ice Diamond proves to be only one piece of a bigger puzzle and the broader possibilities surrounding wealth and fortune.
Readers need have no prior interest or knowledge in diamonds or Taylor Hunter’s previous exploits in order to thoroughly appreciate the immersive environment crafted in The Ice Diamond.
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Packed with moments of discovery and international connections many readers won’t see coming, The Ice Diamond is a top recommendation for mystery readers looking for cozy (but cold) situations that simmer with hot scenarios and unexpected encounters.
Mancini
Blue: An
Art Studio Mystery
Maggie Toussaint
Muddle House Publishing
979-8-9923571-3-4
$15.99
Paperback/$5.99 eBook
Website: https://maggietoussaint.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HCHW5JGT
Mancini Blue: An Art Studio Mystery follows new widower Robert Calloway’s attempt to make a fresh start away from Savannah, where his wife committed suicide, to the small island of St. James, where he opens an art gallery to honor her memory.
The only obstacle to resolving his grief is that Bob is convinced that his famous artist wife Sophie was murdered. Solving her case involves returning to Savannah. But when he makes it back to his island refuge, a new murder near his shop makes him a suspect.
What follows is a chase after the truth as Bob makes the truth surrounding his wife’s death his priority even though he’s under the gun for another crime.
Relying on his Calloway intuition and his penchant for delving deeper until he uncovers the truth, Bob discovers that his findings endanger him further. They make him look worse in the eyes of the law while providing no real answers about his wife’s demise.
Feeling that he’s let Sophie down is bad enough, but when the threats come home to roost over his niece Gussie, who is now living with him, Bob must draw on all his intuition and abilities to uncover the truth before it’s too late.
Maggie Toussaint constructs a powerful plot based on relationships, family ties, and forces that buffet a successful businessman with matters beyond his ken or control.
Chapters embrace the concept of paranormal sleuthing and relying on one’s special abilities, but stay true to emotional currents and connections as Bob finds himself caring for others in a way that challenges his own survival.
Libraries seeking mysteries centered in small towns as well as big cities, that focus on art and murder alike, will find Mancini Blue will attract art world murder mystery fans with a fine balance of intrigue and discovery.
Packed with revelations about the killer’s special energy and intentions, readers will delight in a story that holds many satisfying twists and turns before an unexpected conclusion cements the art world with the special interests that circulate within it. This all makes for a riveting read.
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The
Secret of
Charley Grace
Colin Kersey
Atmosphere Press
979-8901743799 $8.99 eBook
www.atmospherepress.com
The Secret of Charley Grace tells of fourteen-year-old Charley, who was raised in Mexico by her aunt, is fluent in Mandarin and proficient in martial arts, and lives a life filled with secrets. When her aunt is murdered and she is forced to flee for her life, Charley embarks on a journey to uncover these secrets in order to survive. She discovers why she appears to be a target, and why her nickname is “Alpha Girl.”
Charley has been trained to keep secrets, herself, and to avoid relationships:
“How many times have I told you to be careful? Friends can be dangerous.”
Charley sighed. “You worry too much, Auntie.”
Now she must forego her training in order to survive alone, which involves delving into difficult truths about her past, nature, and future.
Colin Kersey creates a powerful thriller which will appeal to all ages, from teens into adult audiences. As Charley develops new relationships with Ray, Sister Sheri, and others, a dangerous cadre of searchers comes after her. This adds tension and intrigue into the mix as Charley grapples with her unique DNA and its consequences for any possibility of a peaceful future.
Confrontations involve the Chinese, cartels, and drug traffickers as these characters confront and run from powerful adversaries which are backed by government special interests.
Kersey’s ability to create a fast-paced thriller replete with a likeable character whose drive to be a normal human being is supplanted by her abnormal genetic markers makes for a saga hard to put down.
Librarians and readers seeking a revealing story of transformation and a teen’s search for family and connection will find Charley’s journey powerful, unpredictable, and compelling.
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The
Summit House
Murder
Davis MacDonald
Independently Published
979-8218843236
$14.00
Paperback/$12.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Summit-House-Murder-JUDGE/dp/B0FY1Q7RQP
Though The Summit House Murder is the 13th addition to The Judge series, newcomers will find its premise and evolution accessible and involving. The story opens with a graphic description of a bloody murder that indicates it is not for the faint of heart, depicting the outcome of a form of justice an intruder assailant feels is justice and revenge at its best:
The intruder’s only regret was that it couldn’t have been done in the big house on the hill where all could see, and of course, that it could have lasted a little longer.
Having done the job by capturing reader attention, the gripping prologue then moves to a chapter set seven years prior, which introduces Larry Matlock’s open relationship with Clare, her risky Caribbean dalliance with a dangerous predator, and her subsequent exit from his life, leaving him angry and bereft.
Their situation comes full circle to involve the Judge, a fifty-something ex-judge-turned-PI who is tapped to solve the case of a missing girlfriend. As Clare and Larry’s dance evolves, the three embark on a complicated, dangerous dive into murder, Southern California drug operations and cartels, and confrontations that propel Larry on the lam from the Feds.
The Judge’s efforts become complicated as he navigates murder and threats from different sides and finds himself in the middle of Clare, Larry, and child Anny’s involvement in dangerous games involving the Tijuana Cartel.
Davis MacDonald excels in crafting a cat-and-mouse series of plays in which the outcomes are anything but predetermined or predictable. This will delight murder mystery readers as interested in the complex relationships between, and choices of, participants as in the circumstances surrounding murder’s justification.
Chapters evolve a special brand of tension with intriguing probes into these choices as they navigate shifting ties between investigators and the hunted, move between discoveries and realizations to create unexpected ties and revelations, and delve into power plays that hold devastating ramifications for all involved.
Libraries seeking a murder mystery that sizzles with action and suspense, exploring underlying motivations and secrets that connect the characters in unexpected ways, will find The Summit House Murder a powerful exploration of the real nature of justice, vengeance, and legacies:
The thing is, when you let rot take root in a family, it spreads. It doesn’t care about legacy. Doesn’t care about money. Doesn’t care about what you built. It just waits. It waits, and it eats. And eventually, someone opens a door.
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Amerikanka
Kim Balaschak
DartFrog
978-1-972446-18-8
www.DartFrogBooks.com
Amerikanka follows American wife Fran Livingston as she faces a new culture and world when her husband’s job requires them to move to Moscow in the 1990s.
The novel opens with a garage sale and the dilemma Fran faces of having to decide whether to sell beloved items in her life or take them to Russia. Her husband Jake is already in Russia, leaving her alone to pack up the final pieces of their life in America.
Fran’s poignant observation of the impact of selling off her entire life cements the first chapter with a sense of how big a change this is:
Pieces of my single life and my life with Jake were strewn like a shattered porcelain vase. I felt fractured—soon to be scattered across continents, with no vision of being whole again.
As new routines and celebrations emerge, Fran and Jake find themselves changing not only their lives, but the activities and connections both at home and abroad. Fran’s language skills “explode,” allowing her to form new bonds while confronting the presence of business thugs and bullies in Russian men and circles. They present her with challenges she’d never have faced in America.
As she confronts ordinary and dangerous situations, Fran’s dilemmas and assimilation capture thought-provoking confrontations and moments during which she is forced to employ not only new language skills, but revised forms of interaction in order to survive:
“My dear Amerikanka, we need to find a common language. It’s that simple. But right now, we don’t understand each other. At all. And that’s your problem.”
I had to say something, so I pulled out the Svetlana tool. “I’m listening.”
“You need to speak our language. You’ve learned to speak Russian very well, impressively so. Certainly, you can figure out what we mean when we talk about a common language for our business together. Believe me, it will be worth it for you because all your problems will be solved.”
As cross-cultural ties and conflicts build, Kim Balaschak crafts a mesmerizing plot, contrasting Soviet-style business with capitalism, male and female approaches to life, and risky ventures that lead to new realizations on all sides.
As Fran tackles threatening situations in Russia in the years after the Soviet collapse, Amerikanka traverses many topics of personal and professional challenges that will provide vivid material for book club debates.
Libraries choosing Amerikanka for their collections will want to highly recommend it not just to general fiction fans, but to those who follow business fiction, Russian affairs, and stories about women who conquer new cultures in novel ways.
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Another
Chance
Stu Moss
Independently Published
979-8-9964181-3-8 $2.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Another-Chance-Stu-Moss-ebook/dp/B0HK1LKPJH
Another Chance blends a coming-of-age story probing a father and son relationship with baseball themes to create a sports novel packed with enthusiasm, time-travel ‘what if’ questions, and newfound opportunities.
As a teenager, Jesse Landon was offered the dream job of playing for the New York Yankees before fate took it away and his goal turned from sports fame to raising a family. Playing ball with his son is as close as he’ll likely get to baseball dreams, but an accident transports him to the past, where he’s given a second chance at his dream which costs his family and memories.
Jesse’s new opportunity is also mirrored, in an odd way, in Kentucky boy David’s upbringing in a family marked by hardship and abuse. His longing for baseball and a loving father underlie his life even though neither can be explained by his birth circumstances.
Stu Moss creates a warm story of not just new beginnings, but new realizations about family, connection, serendipity, and lasting bonds between a father and his son which defy time, space, and logic.
The fantasy time-travel component of the story melds well with the real-world baseball events and history embedded into the plot, with the descriptions creating a satisfying “you are here” perspective from protagonist Jesse’s eyes:
Stepping inside the clubhouse, Jesse found the room already buzzing with activity. Heavy equipment bags cluttered the carpet, crisp new uniforms hung inside lockers, and players drifted back and forth, renewing old friendships and prepping gear for their first workout. Jesse stopped just inside the doorway, taking a silent moment to absorb the scene. These weren’t grainy wire photos printed in sports pages or distant names coming over a radio speaker-these were the actual New York Yankees, standing just feet away.
Team leadership, play-by-play season experiences and events, and the politics of the game permeate chapters that explore destiny and new possibilities in realizing one’s dreams, however impossible, at all costs:
Maris was putting together one of the most heroic offensive seasons in baseball history, yet he was being denied the simple joy of playing the game. Every home run drew him closer to Ruth, but it also brought more cameras, more hostility, and more scrutiny. All he could do was pick up his bat and step back into the box.
Political, social, and family ties draw together as Jesse’s second chance unfolds, with black and white baseball photos throughout accenting the past with real people and sports events. This, too, lends to readers retaining interest in the fictional side of the story as games and players dovetail with shared dreams, Zach’s slow realization of his father’s revised past, and the unexpected new connections between father and son which emerge from sports and difficult decisions.
Stu Moss creates a powerful baseball saga that ultimately bonds father and son in new ways over decisions on values and family.
Libraries and readers seeking quasi-fantasy stories replete with baseball dreams and time-bending connections will find Another Chance a powerful saga of sports, missed opportunities, and what makes the mettle of champions on and off the field.
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The
Barrister Wore
Wrestling Tights
Peter J. Stavros
Foundations Books
978-1-64583-165-5
www.FoundationsBooks.net
The Barrister Wore Wrestling Tights presents an aging barrister who is paying the price for three years of frustrating work on the Glasscott case, which seems never-ending in its legal and emotional challenges and toll.
The case has consumed Jim’s life to the point that he has few outside interests, has gotten pudgy, and has pursued the position of partnership over everything else in his life. Time is running out to be successful, everything hinges on his performance in this one pivotal case, and Jim is convinced that the presiding judge doesn’t like him.
The day’s events prove him right. Just like that, he’s not only out of the running for partnership, but out of a job:
“Counselor,” he said exclusively to Jim, “I do not find that you are on the side of virtue and goodness in this matter. I therefore have no choice but to dismiss this case—all of the claims in this case, the entirety of this case, every last statement, recital, and averment— on the grounds that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, and the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
As the “slam dunk” turns into a potential lawsuit, Jim finds himself exhausted, frustrated, and sick of making others rich while he struggles. It’s time for a change. A big move in a new direction poses opportunity when he revives family ties with his mother and attorney father, dons wrestling tights, and enters into a milieu far from the courtroom and legal proceedings.
There, Jim proceeds to reinvent himself physically and mentally, bringing readers along for an intriguing ride into becoming a wrestling student and learning new moves in life.
As he deals with opponents, considers a “hick gym contract” at Shorty’s gym, and finds himself unexpectedly involved in legal processes affecting the wrestling world and friend Larry, his world shifts. Conversations with his father augment his efforts to help and reconsider the legal world from a new angle:
“I’m tired of getting people out of messes caused by their own stupid mistakes—and when they don’t even listen to me anyway.”
“But that’s what we do sometimes,” his dad said. “Sometimes people need lawyers to help them see their problems a little more clearly, to give them a better perspective, to just...sort it all out for them.”
Peter J. Stavros offers a different perspective on legal processes from a lawyer’s changing viewpoint. He follows Jim into family and courtroom debates, pinpoints struggles over business interests and poor choices made on all sides, brings the wrestling world to life as an outsider becomes an insider privy to its special interests and secrets, and creates a different kind of legal examination that considers legal and community interactions surrounding the law’s manipulation and applications.
The result is an engaging, revealing probe of how Jim becomes “The Barrister” and enters into a role that showcases more than his legal prowess. This move allows him to achieve fulfillment in life in ways he never could have imagined as a struggling wanna-be partner in a law firm.
Libraries and readers seeking a different ilk of legal fiction that delves into myriad topics, from corporations versus small business to an aging man’s unexpected foray into wrestling school, will find delightful, humorous, and thought-provoking the adventures Jim undertakes in The Barrister Wore Wrestling Tights.
Its consideration of middle-aged success, failure, and transformation is thoroughly engaging.
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Before
Helena: My
Fourteen Days of
Madness
Christopher W. Selna
Independently Published
979-8993607641 $2.99 eBook
Website: www.christopherwselna.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Before-Helena-Fourteen-Days-Madness-ebook/dp/B0HD6ZTV9J
Before Helena: My Fourteen Days of Madness explores a madness that stems from the life of Edward Baxter, a man who spends fourteen days awaiting the possible diagnosis of HIV infection that, if confirmed, will likely have infected his wife and their unborn child. It’s a time of insanity as he considers the impact of his choices, the specter of HIV becoming a central focus in their lives, and the doom diagnosis of AIDS in the 1990s.
Christopher W. Selna exposes these forays with many surprising twists - the first being that the story opens with teen son Anthony Baxter attending his father’s funeral five years after burying his mother.
Newly orphaned Anthony’s anguished reflection at his father’s grave is powerfully rendered, which might give pause for sensitive readers:
Returning to my father’s funeral day, seeing him lowered into the ground made me wonder when my time would come. Would I suffer as they did? Could I even suffer like them? Cancer, maybe. Outside of cancer, I didn’t think there was any possible way for me to match their suffering. Speaking of whether I’d suffer like them…
Have I not suffered enough? For Christ’s sake! Before I was even born, my parents were already doomed.
Goddamn tragedy! Goddamn woe! To grow to an age to understand what was insidiously hiding inside them, only to watch it turn active and kill them?
The story is more than about AIDS or loss. It traverses the insanity of living with an unrelenting disease with unremitting love, the impact of complex, chronic illness on family, and the fierce anger and emotions that lead these characters to knowingly destroy not only their own lives, but others around them:
That life wanted one thing only: to drink myself to death, since it would only take one or two shots. Having failed my objective to plant my disease inside Shin-Shin so that she could spread to others, I became fully aware of how dangerous my current health was. The fever roasted my insides as if a nuclear warhead exploded from the inside and all my body parts were scattered miles apart. Death was beside me. It had its hand out. It wanted me to grab its hand and follow it. But I wanted one last thing. I wanted one last experience in life.
Fiercely, passionately, and persuasively, the narrator details the circumstances surrounding his father’s lover Helena’s impact on his life:
Helena. She was the reason I continued to live, and the only person who could restore my life.
From his father’s shockingly sad choices at the end of his life to the concurrent impact on his son, who struggles with many of the same issues with the innocence of one who has inherited them, not instigated them, Before Helena: My Fourteen Days of Madness is powerful. It details a father’s journal and inheritance, a child’s struggles in his absence, and the results of an anger and madness that spreads like an AIDS ripple into life.
Punishment both mental and physical, staunching wounds and cultivating forgiveness, and confrontations that involve vengeance and misconstrued ideas of justice permeate an emotion-rocking story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The evolving story of a multigenerational fall from grace and the salvation that unexpectedly emerges from these fourteen days of madness is thoroughly engrossing.
Libraries selecting Before Helena: My Fourteen Days of Madness will find its audience in literary readers who are emotionally resilient enough to withstand the hard questions and impactful answers these characters grapple with, and book clubs interested in colorful, controversial sagas of strife that alternate viewpoints between father and son with a dexterity enhancing revelations and surprises.
Packed with eye-opening insights on all sides, Before Helena: My Fourteen Days of Madness is not for the nervous, but a pointed, poignant observation of monumental moments of madness ... and love.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Blood
Gilt
Jessica Housand
Little Studio Films
979-8995735342
$18.99
Paperback/$9.99
eBook
Website:
https://www.jessicahousand.com/blood-gilt
Ordering: https://mybook.to/bloodgilt
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Gilt-Jessica-Housand/dp/B0H6RJVLS8
Blood Gilt is a novel of war in El Salvador and follows protagonist Alejandro Whitmore Santiago, who moves between two different worlds in Latin America and the U.S. as he dodges the violence and crime which has plagued his life.
His family was lost during the Salvadoran civil war – or so he thought. Raised in the wealth and prestige of his American father's brutal smuggling empire, he is drawn back to El Salvador when an assignment requires him to exert influence over family members he discovers are still alive. There, Alejandro encounters new family ties, secrets, intense romance, and danger as he confronts the forces that drove him away so long ago.
Jessica Housand’s focus on the lasting impact of war through generations and lives considers the political power struggles and social choices that conflict spreads to all levels of society.
As an adult, Alejandro still has vivid dreams of his grandmother’s hamlet in El Salvador’s Chalatenango. He bears lasting psychological wounds from his past which influence his moral and ethical choices in the present, while the important connections he maintains draw him back into a legacy of guerrilla and violent military conflict entwined with postwar struggles.
The conflict between personal loyalty and political conviction emerges most sharply through Alejandro's mother, whose involvement with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) during the civil war came at the cost of her relationship with her children. Recounting the story of the heroine Antu Silan Ulap, she offers a revealing justification for the sacrifices she believes revolution demands:
“There are two things I believe you should learn from this story. One is that unity is the best way to stand against oppression. Like in the creation story, it’s only by working together that we can solve real problems. The second point to learn here is that the rebellion failed because Antu Silan Ulap chose to be with her child instead of returning to command the forces like she was destined to do.”
As he reunites with his adopted sister, mother, and long-lost siblings, their conflicting worldviews force him to reconsider what really happened to the family. Yet his own efforts to depose rival leaders and reshape the political landscape increasingly challenges his moral and ethical foundations, as well. Drawn into a larger conspiracy, entangled in his father's ruthless dynastic ambitions, and locked in a rivalry with his half-brother, Alejandro is propelled headlong into questions about what actually fractured his family, what freedom will really cost – and if it truly exists.
Jessica Housand's blend of political intrigue, psychological complexity, crime fiction, and family ties shaken by the winds of change combine into a powerful story that juxtaposes personal with political motivations and forces.
Housand tackles violence, marriage, and life pivot points with equal attention to building an engaging story of earth-shattering events. The choices and decisions involved translate to characters becoming pawns in a larger game they try but can never quite control.
The result is a satisfying blend of psychological introspection, social commentary, Latin American cultural and historical influences, and a complex literary thriller that will engage a wider audience than the usual thriller or crime genre read.
This is why libraries and readers should consider Blood Gilt a powerful story beyond its high-octane action, highly recommended for reading groups interested in El Salvador-based stories of struggle, redemption, and bids for freedom.
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Desert
Beloved
Gin Coleman
Black Rose Writing
978-1685138431
$21.95
Paperback/$6.99 eBook
Website: https://gincoleman.com/
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Beloved-Born-Book-ebook/dp/B0HLPRWHGZ
Desert Beloved is the third book in the Desert Born series and follows the conviction of desert princess Adara al-Za'im, who believes she is destined to be the next sheikh of her kingdom. This idea is against all odds, since princesses are usually not slated to be rulers, but wives supporting their ruling husbands.
Adara is determined not to marry, and seeks to pursue her leadership goals. When she encounters Captain Casey Bender, an American bomber pilot and horse rancher whose influence again changes her perspective and world, she faces new challenges not from within her tribe, but from outside special interests who would take control of her kingdom’s rich oil resources.
Traditions are broken, new realizations about leadership and love come to light, and Adara learns big and small lessons along the way about life, politics, and handling those around her:
Adara felt momentary shame. Maybe there’s more to being sheikha than just issuing commands.
Adara’s character is emotional and fiery. This translates to a vivid story as she confronts her childhood intended betrothed and rejects his contention that they are perfect for one another. Adara moves through a world partially defined by the desert and replete with beautiful Arabian horses and riches that stem from natural as well as human endeavors, struggling to craft a world she can live in and with.
Gin Coleman excels in portraying this young woman as a powerful, proactive force despite her upbringing, heritage, and seeming destiny. The dovetailing of foreign influences into her life and that of her people adds an extra dimension of realization and contrast to make the story attractive, unpredictable, and compelling.
Librarians either seeing popularity with the prior Desert Born titles or looking for standalone adventures about powerful women who rock their worlds and cultures will find it easy to highly recommend Desert Beloved to book clubs, women’s reading groups, and patrons interested in vividly portrayed stories of love, life, and achievement:
She didn’t know what tomorrow held, but something told her life was just beginning for her and that everything before had led to this moment.
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Good
Intentions
Frederick Groya
Atmosphere Press
979-8-90174-423-9 $8.99
eBook
www.atmospherepress.com
Good Intentions is a literary novel that questions what it means to live a good life. It follows Tom Rudnik through 1980s as he pursues a legal career, marriage, and family, only to find that his life’s journey has not only taken a detour, but threatens to crumble, leaving him alone and a failure.
How he moves from success to utter despair and back again comprises a journey that many will find understandable and attractive. Good Intentions evolves new pathways for living a better, more mindful life in the aftermath of complete disaster.
As Tom’s secrets (there are only three) move out of hiding to buffet his reality, readers receive insights into the impact of self-denial, questions of sexual identity, and families that move from foundations of love to routines of co-existing for the kids:
He looked in the mirror again at his little boy staring listlessly out the window and wondered if they were a family in name only. Were he and Amelia simply Nicky’s parents who took turns looking after him?
The hidden costs of staying in hiding confront the accompanying demands of being honest even when honesty destroys all good intentions and everything that’s been built on a lie.
Frederick Groya offers this life inspection with an added dose of possibilities for new relationships that evolve from the ashes of the old.
Readers will find Tom’s development of a new relationships and shifting values that accompany them to be absorbing, thought-provoking. The story holds important messages for a revised definition of good intentions, good and poor choices, and outcomes that support honesty and integrity.
Librarians and readers seeking a different form of homosexual exploration and revelation will find in Tom a believable, moving character whose quandaries over family life and ideals clash with his true nature. These dilemmas lend to book club and reader group discussions as Tom considers the pros and cons of stepping into his real identity and shedding the secrets which have previously dictated his life course and actions.
Packed with moments of connection and realization, Good Intentions offers hope and insights to those also considering embarking on a journey towards authenticity and hard truths.
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Hector
M. MacKinnon
DartFrog Books
978-1-972446-25-6
$13.99
Paperback/$3.99 eBook
www.DartFrogBooks.com
Hector is the fifth book in M. MacKinnon’s Echoes in Time series, blending elements of time travel with a Scottish history that traverses continents and eras to provide readers with a heady mix of romance and history.
Set in the 1700s, the story moves between Nova Scotia and Scotland as Liam and Iseabail explore their love, only to realize that its roots lie in the distant past, in events that evolved on the good ship Hector.
A first-person prologue opens the story with a reflection on loss, a dangerous voyage to the New World, a plague that breaks out on the ship and takes many of the children’s lives, and the reasons for continuing to pursue life against all odds.
This moving testimony sets the stage for the first chapter, which opens with thirty-six-year-old author Iseabail’s modern life in Ohio. Steeped in her Scottish heritage and history, Iseabail provides a cooking and history lesson while contemplating her forthcoming journey to Nova Scotia. This endeavor changes her life as she confronts her heritage, an instant and puzzling attraction to Liam, and a mystery from the past that draws them together.
They aren’t the only two whose life trajectories were forever changed by events on the Hector. Other characters such as physician Grant, who has turned greedy and dark, enter the picture to provide contrasting personalities and perspectives about their choices, the journey, and its impact:
It was the advertisement for the Hector that had changed everything. None of this was his fault—why should he be the one to die? He had a choice now, a chance to make a new life where no one knew his shame. The voice changed its tone…where it had once castigated him it now rose to a roar that drowned out the grief. Go! It urged him. Be the man you were meant to be!
The characters come to know these connections between heritage and present-day interests, but as they begin to realize, “sometimes love isn’t enough.” Not when an ancient evil emerges to change everything.
Prior fans of the Echoes in Time series will find Hector expands the concepts and events in past novels while crafting new adventures and connections.
Libraries can heartily recommend Hector to both prior fans and newcomers because of its different characters and standalone story, which both links to MacKinnon’s other paranormal romances and embarks on a new journey, albeit sharing the Scottish historical focus of past settings.
Replete with new realizations, relationships, and intrigue, history fans seeking romance and recipes for excitement will find many threads of compelling connection in this intriguing, genre-busting mystery/historical drama/romance story.
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The
Jingle
Rebellion
Bonnie Solomon
Bonsol Press
979-8-9961866-0-0 $3.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Jingle-Rebellion-Fantasy-Holidays-Pearly-ebook/dp/B0HB7JW7DC
Prior fans of Bonnie Solomon’s Pearly Gates series, as well as newcomers to the fun, will appreciate her special take on the Christmas season, where Pearly and her soul mate/romantic partner Thunder again attempt a rescue – this time, of Christmas itself when a small town’s grieving high school principal decides to cancel a beloved holiday tradition.
Pearly must tap her past life as a drag queen entertainer to rally the kids in a rebellion against the holiday play’s cancellation, cooking up an alternate play in which determined young elves stage their own musical about an effort to cancel Christmas.
Pearly has her hands full trying to not only organize an unauthorized holiday musical, but open the closed hearts of everyone around her – including those she loves.
Fantasy blends with humor and fun as Pearly assumes her greatest role yet, encouraged by her mandate to rescue the season and heal the hearts of those around her.
Dialogues are pointed and engaging:
Pearly rises before anyone can say something they’ll regret. “Okay. Holiday time-out.”
Genesis glares. “We don’t have time for a break.”
“Yes, you do,” says Pearly. “Because right now this is not collaboration. This is four people trying to defuse a bomb with cocoa.”
Circumstances of a queer “found family,” roller-skating elves, disco angels, and impossible odds make this marriage of fantasy and community an appealing read for a wide audience open to Christmas scenarios which don’t embrace typical holiday trappings.
Libraries and readers seeking books steeped in small-town appeal, holiday magic and romance, unexpected scenarios with out-of-the-box thinking and characters, and many funny surprises will find The Jingle Rebellion a study in holiday spirit, contrasts, and achievement. It is uplifting, fun, thought-provoking, and community-supporting, all in one.
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Last
Alive
David B. Seaburn
Koehler Books
979-8-89747-364-9
$18.95 (soft cover); $28.95
(hard
cover)
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Alive-David-B-Seaburn/dp
Last Alive explores the impact of a sudden death, the resulting creation of a roadside memorial, and the lasting effect of this loss on six characters.
The Miltenson couple, married over fifty years, have retired and settled into a comfortable routine – but nothing is routine about the day of Emma’s death. This moment in time transforms not just the family, but those beyond its borders.
The buildup to the event and in its aftermath is nicely done, drawing readers with tantalizing tidbits as it presents the world of Leon and Emma. Supporting characters such as Andy Fulmer and his adopted son Kendall, Leon’s best friend Griffin, become involved in questions about Emma’s death and the agonies endured by the few who know the underlying truth about her demise:
“I need to go down there and tell him what happened. I need to tell him the honest truth. I need to tell him the honest truth and see what he says, what he does. I don’t know if he’ll yell and scream or if he’ll try to whip me or if he’ll call the police. It doesn’t matter. I just can’t carry this around inside any longer. I’ll explode. I will.”
As a father/son relationship, friends, and associates are drawn into a story with many surprises. Readers are treated to a vivid series of events and realizations, that transform the lives of its characters, and draws the reader into a variety of moral and ethical dilemmas:
“I have been angry at you for as long as I can remember. I am still angry at you. But I don’t hate you. I don’t have it in me to hate you. It would eat me up to think I hated anyone. No, I don’t hate you. But I think maybe you hate yourself.”
He lifted his head and looked at her squarely.
“Yes, yes I do.”
“What kind of life is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you go on?”
David B. Seaburn immerses the reader into the struggle over good and bad choices, their impact and consequences, and the delicate process of hanging on when everything falls apart.
As chapters reveal secrets, hidden habits, and the process of grief and unfolding hard truths, lives that seem set in their ways instead prove to be complex and riveting.
Libraries considering Last Alive for its sharp inspection of good people gone awry will want to highly recommend it to book clubs seeking stories that move beyond traditional grief process into arenas of guilt, survival, and transformative events that revise worldviews.
Packed with moments of discovery and recovery as it unfolds relationship quandaries, Last Alive’s focus on facing endings and new beginnings resulting from loss makes for a satisfying blend of psychological examination and intrigue that makes the narrative hard to put down.
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The
Lockup Period
Vince Thompson
Dubious Ventures Press
979-8-9953201-0-4
$32.99 Hardcover/$17.99
Paperback/$9.99
eBook/$14.99 Audible
Website: www.vincethompsonauthor.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Lockup-Period-Vince-Thompson/dp/B0GYTW2V7F
The Lockup Period is a novel that romps through the rising stars of California’s Silicon Valley with an eye to exposing technology and success worth killing for – literally.
The story opens in 2014 in Palo Alto, where Ravi Singh wryly observes, “There are many, perfectly fine, places to be dead. This isn’t one of them.” He’s talking about the fact that “every deal comes with a price,” admitting that even murder may not be too high a price to pay for the goals of belonging and obtaining one’s desires.
Vince Thompson shifts the novel’s timeline between past and present as events unfold, building a delightful contrast in characters, objectives, and aspirations of success. These lend a greater understanding about the progression of events and mindsets, juxtaposing a carousel of images about different ventures, their outcomes, and their underlying influences.
Financial arrangements and insights range from buying stocks and getting rich quickly (albeit with requirements influencing these actions) to the actions of entrepreneurs and investors who become involved in IPOs, killer opportunities, and dubious efforts to produce or perish.
Underlying the dance between these interests is a thread of interest and influence around a ninety-day lockup period, during which fortunes and lives will be made or broken.
Librarians and readers interested in a blend of California culture, business-centric special interests, and influences that lead good men and women astray in the pursuit of dollars and sense will find The Lockup Period a surprisingly hilarious, astute examination of start-ups, morals and ethics, values, and ruthless romances. It steps into a sizzling world of opportunities and redefines their effect on different lives.
Packed with the emotional, manic ride of greed and get-rich-quick opportunities, tempered by the specter of what it would take to murder for the sake of success, and injected with unexpected ironic humor throughout, The Lockup Period represents a wild ride through Silicon Valley people, politics, and purposes that is hard to either predict or put down.
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The
Muezzin
Nicholas L. Hart
Izzard Ink Publishing
978-1-64228-138-5
$29.95 Hardcover/$24.95
Paperback/$9.99
eBook
www.izzardink.com
Why are peace, freedom, and beauty so elusive to so many? This is a question Louna ponders as she protects her secret identity in a utopian setting where strangers practice kindness and her own past is overshadowed with danger and threat.
The dichotomy between her memories of childhood life as young Jamila and everyday modern life in Marseille, her adopted city, is striking, yet her overnight fame does not afford her the kind of protection she needs in order to feel completely sheltered. The past is not far behind – and neither is the future, where new decisions again shake her foundations and threaten her survival.
From its opening chapter, The Muezzin unfolds reflections on social atmosphere that will give modern readers food for thought as immigrant issues arise in many nations in the world:
The people of Marseille changed how she saw the world. Here, cultures did not have to compete to survive. They could blend and evolve while preserving their identities. Its richness was everywhere—in the food, the art, the languages drifting through the streets of the historic port city. For generations, Marseille had lived in Paris’s shadow, often dismissed as rougher, poorer, and less refined. But its people carried a fierce pride in everything that made their city unique.
The wellsprings of hope and inspiration for this breakout star soon shift as Louna considers how she places her new life in jeopardy and has possibly endangered those she left behind.
After outlining Louna’s present-day successes and dilemmas, Nicholas L. Hart shifts the novel’s timeline to ten years earlier, when a young Jamila dared climb the minaret of her town’s mosque and gave voice to the dawn prayer.
The role of the traditional muezzin, the significance of reciting the Fajr adhan dawn prayer, and the penalty to pay when tradition is defied even by a child makes for absorbing, educational reading. This gives readers perspective not only on Muslim faith and rituals, but precedents set by uprisings where “No one seemed to know the truth, but everyone had an opinion.”
As Jamila returns to her original identity and faces forces of oppression and issues of trust, readers become immersed in this culture and world - and even more interested in the contrast between life experiences as compared to France.
Hart creates an immersive story of faith, acceptance, family ties, new identities, and lures from the past. His deep dive into Muslim faith and rituals spices the story with real world issues surrounding causes and perceptions that clash.
These historical and cultural revelations evolve against the backdrop of a woman who finds she must return to everything she’d fled in order to feel whole again.
Libraries and readers interested in stories of exile, repression, defiance, and risk-taking will find in Jamila’s story a powerful survey that also embraces the joy of being true to one’s roots and past.
Packed with enlightening and involving scenarios, The Muezzin confronts stereotypes with insights into shared humanity and concerns, rejecting the notion that human endeavors can be whittled to nothing under the yoke of violence and repression. In so doing, it exposes new pathways to joy, possibility, and identity.
These facets shine through experiences of Jamila and her family as ordinary people step up to preserve their connections and humanity under impossible odds.
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The
Neighborhood
Dames
Laura Stanfill
Ooligan Press
9781947845671
$18.99
Paperback/$8.99
eBook
www.ooliganpress.com
The Neighborhood Dames is set in Prohibition times and follows bootlegger’s daughter Violet Radford, an introverted songwriter forced to step up when her father dies in a distillery accident, leaving her an heiress and alone.
Readers may not expect a mystery to evolve from Violet’s revised circumstances, but such appears when investigator Sally seeks more information about the explosion that killed Violet’s father. Their blossoming friendship takes Violet by the hand, leading her into questions she’d never confronted before, alongside and situations that challenge her own survival.
Laura Stanfill builds a powerful story about the origins and evolution of The Neighborhood Dames alongside intrigue and mystery:
The Dames taught what they termed female first. Cook a casserole? You get the crusty edge or the gooey middle piece, whichever you like best, before you bring the dish to a new mother. Bake a loaf of bread? Cut the best slice and eat it before the husband gets home from work. The Dames believed you can’t take care of others without taking care of yourself, and they put that into practice. It’s what set them apart from the righteous suffragettes and the temperance women. That and inviting women from all families—not just white wealthy ones.
Music, in the form of evolving song lyrics and performances, also permeate these descriptions and times, giving The Neighborhood Dames a full-bodied sense of Tin Pan Alley’s atmosphere and culture. This adds value to Violet’s world in ways readers also will not anticipate, enriching the saga of women who develop uncommon friendships, stretch beyond their social boundaries to test their limits and roles, and explore queer possibilities even given these times.
As Violet writes tunes, teaches them to exciting friend Minnow, who became famous while Violet shrank into the background, and handles life with new support systems and possibilities, readers lean into her Roaring 20s world to share Violet’s grief, revised connections, and shifting perceptions of what her life can be.
The Neighborhood Dames is the perfect item of choice for women’s reading groups considering the evolution of women’s strengths and powers:
Jean wants, so much, to connect. In joining the Dames, she was fighting for her daughter’s future. A better, safer world for women.
Packed with moments of discovery, growth, and social and personal evolution and inspection, The Neighborhood Dames considers the foundations of women’s strengths and connections in a manner that will prove alluring to libraries and readers interested in stories about changing times and unexpected friendships.
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No
Perfect Choice
Lilliana Méndez-Soto
Atmosphere Press
979-8901744581
$18.99 Paperback;
$29.99 Hardcover; $11.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
No Perfect Choice details the dilemma faced by Alina Rodriguez when a heart attack reveals an unviable, life-threatening pregnancy.
Alina’s story opens with a yoga teacher who saves her life by correctly identifying her symptoms of a heart attack, then moves into the uncommon matter of her rare pregnancy at age fifty-seven.
It’s September 2022, and Roe has just been overturned by the Supreme Court. This event, and the difficult decisions and realizations that follow, give readers a foundation for understanding how Alina finds herself confronting close-held secrets and family ties as she reflects on some of the most challenging choices of her life.
Lilliana Méndez-Soto creates a compelling novel of not just family and choice, but the hidden histories of women within one family, whose silence and resilience have contributed to Alina’s personality and determination to face modern times and dilemmas.
More than a story of life challenges and pregnancy, No Perfect Choice explores what happens when political and institutional systems try to assume control over womens’ bodies and choices.
Readers interested in abortion issues, poverty’s role in social and political dilemmas surrounding pregnancy, and struggles to reconcile personal values with political mandates will find No Perfect Choice a powerful reflection on freedom.
More so than most stories about pregnancy, abortion, women’s rights and considerations of family ties, No Perfect Choice provides the perfect intersection between personal and social dilemmas. This makes it a fine choice for book clubs looking to debate the pivot points and intersections of women’s lives.
Librarians that choose No Perfect Choice will want to highly recommend it to women’s reading groups for its heartfelt, emotional tone which allows readers to walk for miles in Alina’s shoes as she confronts her own values and a system that often dictates otherwise.
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Rain on
the Roof,
Wind in the Spruce
Tanyo Ravicz
Denali Press
978-0-9963335-0-4
$19.95
paper; $7.99
ebook
Website: www.alaskawriting.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Roof-Spruce-Tanyo-Ravicz-ebook/dp/B0HHFR1RJJ
Rain on the Roof, Wind in the Spruce is a novel set on Alaska’s Kodiak Island that follows Jason and Brenda Everblue as they move to a new world to live off the land in isolation despite their shaky marriage. Their rationale for this radical move into the unknown is poignantly portrayed in the novel’s opening:
You know the reasons people go. You know the reasons they give: the deadening routines, the cruelties and compromises, day after day, until you begrudge the day its morning. The crushing burdens of the Coach purse and the Rolex watch, the social profiles and passwords to nothing. Too many cemeteries. Too many rules. From the dream-defying deaths of the city, we chose exile: deprived ourselves of what we had known, to transcend what we had become. Being young, we carried the future in our hearts and were happy to fly together and not to stay and make war on the world.
At first, the move seems to be a lifesaver. Whatever their original ideals for leaving civilization behind, Jason and Brenda discover newfound pleasures in life, nature, and the very different world around them, and forge new pathways to making it their home.
Soon enough, idealism turns into facing repeated dangers from wildlife and then human encroachment, and Brenda and Jason come to realize that survival isn’t just about handling new environments, but coming to terms with their own abilities, responses, and choices in life.
Tanyo Ravicz crafts a different form of survival story than most. Appreciative depictions of nature and newfound freedom are vividly rendered and give readers an uplifting feel of possibility and realization before the tale turns dark:
In the heart of Alaska we found a crevice in reality that opened straight up into heaven. We passed those years hearing the pure tones of snow and earth and wind and sun, but we remained man and woman. We heard the pure tones of new life, the laughter and cries of a child, and of a second child, but we remained man and woman. And we never knew how the dream ended, if it ended, or if we only exchanged one dream for another.
From eagles and whales to a growing sense of being caught and trapped by one’s own choices, Rain on the Roof, Wind in the Spruce is both a celebration of nature and the human spirit, and a confrontation with the darker elements of both. As Brenda says of her new life in the wilderness, “The highs are so high, they’re unearthly. The lows are just low.”
Why would the family trade paradise for a return berth to the mainland? Why can’t this life go on forever? As events unfold, the Everblues face survival challenges that bring with them moral and ethical conundrums as they confront the wilderness, their fellow man, and themselves.
Throughout it all runs a stream of metaphorical and philosophical reflection that adds a lovely literary, thought-provoking atmosphere to the growing sense of danger and redefinition of what survival actually means and costs:
I saw one thing. I knew one thing. I didn’t want to die. I wanted not to die. Everything else falls away. Love fights. Brave love. The be-all, the end-all of the world. The spirit of the periodic table. Nothing else matters. Nobody’s grand illusions of how it is, certainly not my own, not the million things I carped about or burdened my soul with.
The result is a glorious foray into the Alaskan wilderness and the equally wild ride of human hearts and emotions that will pull readers to enter this world following the footsteps of Brenda, Jason, and their family.
Replete with engrossing scenes of challenge and confrontation, Rain on the Roof, Wind in the Spruce is very highly recommended reading for anyone interested in stories of survival, family ties, and the wilderness interactions that lead to revelations about life, love, and the nature of being human.
Librarians will want to highly recommend Rain on the Roof, Wind in the Spruce to book clubs and reading groups.
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Resonance
Carol LaHines
Regal House Publishing, LLC
9781646038701 $19.95
Website:
https://regalhousepublishing.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Resonance-Carol-LaHines/dp/1646038703
Resonance explores themes of mental illness, suicide, and depression, and is recommended for those not faint of heart who would consider the ongoing experiences and challenges of fielding mental conditions.
The story opens with a social worker’s notes about releasing Victor from suicide watch:
The psychiatrist said he felt comfortable releasing Victor since two weeks had elapsed without explicit suicidal ideation. Why is that important? asked the wife/planning resource. It’s important, Dr. Fein explained, because those who are contemplating suicide frequently drop clues, sprinkle everyday conversation with references to wanting to be dead, with soliloquies about gun calibers and the right point of entry, up into the hard palate, to the pons, to the primitive brain, ensuring cessation of heartbeat and guarding against the prolonged possibility of a vegetative state. It’s important because it’s rare for someone to commit suicide without first leaving a clue, something as simple as a morbid obsession with the news, an affinity for mass disasters, planes that disappear from radar, vaporizing somewhere over the ocean.
This opening statement sets the foundation for a story where watching, waiting, and understanding become the boundaries of Victor’s life, which teeters between health and illness at the drop of a hat.
As Victor’s (admittedly half-hearted) suicide attempts sparks new attention to his condition, his wife Mary and his family face uncertainty, fear, and a heritage which began with the decision of Victor Sr. to die, which transmitted anguish and illness into a new generation.
Like father, like son. Young Victor, traumatized by this event, becomes blasé not only about death, but life itself. This translates to an ongoing depression unshaken by family ties, service in the army, college, or any life ambitions.
Carol LaHines creates an astute, reflective, powerful connection between Victor and those who circle his world. Descriptions of these encounters are vividly rendered – sensitive readers might find them overwhelmingly evocative, but they are realistic portraits that sometimes hit too close to home:
Daddy, are you okay? He heard the sound waves through the water. Water is a heavier medium than air, will slow down the words, can you hear me? He had the muffled sense that she was speaking to him on the other side of the door, that she was pleading with him to open it, jiggering the handle. What summoned her to the threshold, there, where he was carving misery into the bone?
Passages supplement Victor’s daily life and perceptions with ongoing medical observations and notes that transmit realistic assessments and jargon to offset the family’s personal reflections:
The suicidal impulse is not heritable per se. One generation does not transmit to the next an impulse to auto-destruct. However, what one observes, when one studies families from a sociological or a psychosocial perspective, is the generational transmission of certain personality traits which may be said to predispose the subject to suicidal ideation, to unaccountable melancholia, a tendency to see the world in muted tones.
This technique of juxtaposing personal perception with clinical interpretation creates a satisfying bond between professional health approaches and an intimate experience of mental illness.
The result is a hard-hitting novel about intergenerational mental illness, the lasting impact of suicide on future generations and the world, and the gritty art of surviving daily life.
Libraries and readers seeking evocative stories of choices, consequences, post-suicide intervention processes, and the reverberation of despair over daily life for all involved will find Resonance worthy of not just individual pursuit, but reading group discussions about suicide, whether they stem from general-interest book clubs or psychological circles.
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Rikki Blue Eyes
Paul H. Hughes
Independently Published
979-8234185686
$24.99
Paperback/$1.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Rikki-Blue-Eyes-Paul-Hughes-ebook/dp/B0HFXM89H9
Rikki Blue Eyes is the story of a boy who was born and grew up in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is part of a postwar generation that uniquely wanted for little, a generation that experienced some of the largest economic benefits of modern times.
Through him, we see two children grow up in this privileged era. The two observe its promise, its eventual collapse, and the incarnation of social and political movements in the adult world about them. All this comes to life on the playground, in classrooms, and in the lives of the children who struggle to comprehend the meaning and impact of the events of that time:
“The newspaper followed up the story they did on the ‘race riot’ at my school with other articles describing in more detail the violence that occurred. But none of what was in the paper was true. Only a few of the kids were acting out of the racial hatred they inherited from their parents. The rest of the kids were just caught up in the moment.”
From experiences with class bullies and the unexpected interventions of protectors, such as a tall girl, Gazelle, to realizations about hidden child abuse behind closed doors, “incidents” with Black families, and encounters with those who are mentally different, Rikki Blue Eyes fictionalizes but powerfully represents the experiences of “Eisenhower’s children” in this strange past world. Memories become anchored to events that trickle into children’s lives, capturing many nuances of coming of age during these times which readers of a certain age will find powerfully realistic.
Rikki Blue Eyes holds the uncommon ability to juxtapose the wisdom of hindsight with the actual experiences and feel of the times through the lens of the protagonist’s “you are here” photographic memory. This approach enriches the story of this uncommon girl with increasingly poignant observations of her life from the young boy who wants to be a hero, but who can’t even save his own best friend.
Paul H. Hughes paints his heartrending story with dialogues and encounters which highlight the promise and pain of this era:
“We were on our way. ….We were racing to the moon,” she said, “Everything was new and better than the day before. ….We had everything. ….Everything.”
The result is a saga highly recommended for all ages – especially for book club discussions about the past mid-century cultural eras, children’s perceptions, and the very adult realities that trickle into their lives to impact their course, self image, and ability to stand up and make a difference in the world.
Libraries will find Rikki Blue Eyes an exceptionally powerful story of difficult truths and powerful connections that coalesce in an explosion of realization reminiscent of Harper Lee’s child’s-eye view of adult situations in To Kill a Mockingbird.
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The
Sea-Glass Shore
Julie Salmon Kelleher
Forest Avenue Press
9780988265790
$17.99
Paperback/$9.99
eBook
www.forestavenuepress.com
The Sea-Glass Shore tells of a selkie sea woman who bonds with human Jack and goes to live with him as his wife. Unlike most stories about selkies, however, this novel takes a different approach as it considers seal-woman Rona’s struggles to live a land life and build a family sans the connections of her sea origins.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, Julie Salmon Kelleher gives added value to her magical realism story by including Indigenous legends, issues of fish conservation and habitat preservation, and the tradition of say-nilh-xay stories which have been told in a number of Coast Salish communities.
Warned not to fall in love, the woman who centers this saga nonetheless does so against all odds and advice, building a shore life which is also the stuff of legend – and highly verboten.
Lyrical language marks the novel’s allure from its opening paragraphs:
Don’t fall in love, Rona. But she is falling in love: with the grip of her fingers, with the air so cool against the thin, thin skin of a face exposed to sky, to mist, to a kiss of cloud above the sea. She is falling in love with the simple gravity of flesh on stone.
Of special note is how Jack and Rona adjust to their conjoined lives and disparate origins. Both must revise their perceptions of one another, as well as their habits and assumptions:
He’d grown unused to Rona meeting people he hadn’t met. Which was ridiculous. She’d done it often. She must meet any number of people at the children’s school, the store. He’d never thought about that. He shouldn’t think about it. Normal. That’s what it was.
This process of vast adjustments of expectations and habits on both their parts marks a powerful exploration of shifting lives, relationships, and struggles to reconcile heritage with love and daily life.
Kelleher injects philosophical and psychological points into the story, providing readers with a sweeping blend of magical realism and relationship connections and challenges:
“A person can’t just go forgetting everything,” she said to Jack. “You have to choose what’s yours, if you want to get by. You have to know who you are.”
These will give book clubs and reader groups ample fodder for discussion about all kinds of topics. This uncommon selkie novel offers a powerful examination of relationship-building, origin influences, and juggling historical legends that set precedence for traditional expectations of outcomes over new pathways and choices forged by love.
The intersection of legend, family, revised values, and reasons for staying versus following one’s heritage heart makes for a compelling novel powered throughout by warnings given to Rona to not fall in love.
The result is a powerful blend of folklore and family ties that librarians and readers will find thoroughly absorbing, uncommon, and hard to put down.
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The
Trackers Part
One
Diana Dissette
Montana Cat Tales for
Life-Long
Learners, LLC
9798985435047
$19.99
Paperback/$4.99
eBook
diana@dianadissetteauthor.com
The Trackers Part One opens the Nuremberg: Lament for the Dead Series with a historical novel about World War II, Nuremberg, and criminal investigations. Of necessity, this involves trauma. Graphic images of war, mass shootings, and Nazi atrocities may prove difficult for sensitive readers – but then, such readers won’t likely be pursuing historical fiction about Nazi times.
In the aftermath of World War II, ex-soldiers, civilians, and all manner of world humanity recovers in different ways from war’s devastating events, still buffeted both by new realizations which unfold from the ashes and impulses to seek justice and redemption.
As the efforts of Hoot Broussard, a Nazi tracker from Louisiana, and others coalesce after the war, battles are still being fought on different ethical, moral, and political and military fronts. Diana Dissette injects contrasts between past and present, Europe and America, and different objectives and approaches to recovery. These offer both food for thought and atmospheric interludes of peace, as when Hoot reflects on his changed world and what was:
Dijon reminded him of home. The nets, the fishing boats, the smell of the docks, and the water. He enjoyed the camaraderie he found among the fishermen. He missed crawfish boils, jambalaya, soft-shell crabs, shrimp remoulade, and hot cornbread dripping with melted butter. He missed his garden, his dog, and most of all his wife having a conniption fit when he ate all the fresh peas off the bush.
A host of characters (Stace, Dodge, Scott, Hoot, Stan, Ginny, Grace, and Hargrove) enter the picture to intersect their own experiences, encounters, and perspectives into the greater mix of post-World-War-II recovery.
As violence continues to erupt from gun battles in ordinary places, a sense of the ongoing civil and social war which boils under the surface of the major war’s apparent conclusion makes for engrossing confrontations readers will find especially realistic.
Teachers, trackers, grief, and all who recover from the heartache of changed times add to this moving story of broken dreams, new visions, and vanished peoples and times.
Librarians and readers seeking an exceptionally hard-hitting saga of World War II’s aftermath and how a wide range of people from different walks of life rebuilt shattered dreams or honed new objectives from them will find The Trackers Part One a powerful testimony to perseverance, survival, and a long-term effort to track down Nazi war criminals and the smuggling networks they built.
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Trading
Faces: The
Billionaire
Switch
M. Carroll
Anamcara Press LLC
978-1960462664
$23.99
Paperback/$9.99 eBook
https://anamcara-press.com
The premise of Trading Faces: The Billionaire Switch is simple: switch bodies with billionaires, then use their fortunes to save the world. The team charged with inhabiting four billionaire bodies seems well-equipped to navigate the lives of the rich and famous for the greater good.
Each member holds strengths and weaknesses which both contribute to their special ability and detract from its effectiveness, making these disparate personalities a showcase of flawed good intentions and compromised missions.
The power of M. Carroll’s premise lies in its contrast between these misfits and how each tackles the unexpected challenges that hit them in their most vulnerable places.
From volatile foster kid Megan O’Neill, whose ability to survive impossible systems leads her to challenge the lifestyle of automobile heiress Grace Browne when she switches places with her, to second-in-command Jeff Wilson, who trades places with a tech wizard only to find the allure of his knowledge struggles with some of the methods of his mission, Carroll creates an engaging story. Events are delivered with succinct, engrossing philosophical and psychological inspections about the process of assuming another identity and living its life:
The scruffy little dog—that was actually a mouse—was always hungry. The mouse, that had been a dog, had escaped. Jeff worried it would be eaten by a cat. Strange fate to be a dog who normally chases cats, and then to find yourself in the body of a mouse and the cat is chasing you!
Each transfer leads its participant into new territory containing revelations about the life of the rich and famous. It involves revised decisions and difficult choices that somehow come to rest on the shoulders of what each personality finds to be the most challenging facet about their approaches to life.
Librarians seeking a powerhouse introduction to the first book in the Identity Transfer series will find Trading Faces: The Billionaire Switch especially highly recommendable thanks to its deeper attention to not just the transfer process, but the dilemmas which arise from living a very different life.
Between its moral and ethical examinations and its vivid action-packed confrontations with self and others, Trading Faces: The Billionaire Switch is an engrossing story that’s highly recommendable to book clubs interested in thought-provoking tales of not just envisioning very different lives, but revising them.
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Wedding
Plans
Deborah Smith Cook
Atheseus Press
978-1963838039 $17.99
www.deborahsmithcook.com
Wedding Plans opens with the sighting of a former college beau/ex-fiancé in a Rehoboth Beach bookstore. This sends proprietor Beth, now silver-haired and seemingly past romantic deep dives, into a tailspin.
Beth was actually the one who stood him up at the altar. Now over sixty years old, the last thing on her mind is re-involvement, romance, or making amends. Despite this determination, she’s also been stalking him over the years.
As the duo dance through the past, present attraction, and future possibilities, a “silver romance” emerges. This will interest readers whose tastes for love run beyond the usual focus on younger characters and youthful ideals.
Deborah Smith Cook injects romantic discovery into the lives and approaches of these aging lovers, adding the trappings of small town atmosphere and holiday season celebrations into the mix:
She cast a glance behind her, identifying the source of the softly playing organ music. She wrapped her fingers more tightly around Andy’s, and peace filled her. He gently rubbed his thumb over hers. Silent and still, they let the spirit of Christmas envelop them.
But, can wedding plans portend endings rather than new beginnings? Darker possibilities hang over the couple as a revised wedding date approaches.
Cook’s ability to weave the concerns and mature personas of older lovers into an overall cozy story of connection makes Wedding Plans an exceptional approach and addition to the romance genre that will please readers seeking something different in tone and perspective.
As Daniel enters into this picture of new possibilities and new dilemmas arise to puncture the mystique of “head-over-heels” love, readers will also appreciate the complexity introduced in Beth’s relationships and choices.
The result is a fine survey of shifting priorities, old foundations that lead to new connections, and growth opportunities which make the actual wedding even more meaningful for older participants.
Readers interested in warm romances that capture mature outlooks and backgrounds in their characters will welcome how Andy and Beth move into a new future together.
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The
White Nagual
Bruce
Hartman
Swallow Tail Press
978-0-9997564-9-2
$13.95
Paperback/$2.99 eBook
www.amazon.com
The White Nagual is a novel that opens with a quasi-resurrection as a man emerges from a desert cave at night, assumes the countenance of a demon owl known to the Apaches as a nagual, murders a boy watering his horse, and leaves the body for the wolves.
In 1870s Arizona, white army scout John Pierce is summoned to Fort Holden by a captain he despises to track down his former commanding officer Brodie, who is killing Apache children – the latest being the fifth or sixth in a string of murders – in revenge for an attack on his family.
Pierce has resigned from scouting for the army and only wants to marry his love and flee the territory, but these murders pull him back into a job and milieu that he finds hard to turn his back on. He agrees that Pierce’s killings must be stopped, but he knows that the captain’s prejudices against the Apaches and his desire for their elimination are part of the reason for sending him on this mission, elevating the tensions between whites and Natives in this young land.
Further complicating matters is the fact of Pierce’s former personal relationship with Brodie, who was once his mentor and friend.
As the story unfolds, Pierce is forced to confront the darkness in his own soul and acknowledge not just its presence, but its impact:
A man who fights a nagual may turn into a nagual himself. He already knew that was true. He had felt the tug of the nagual—to fight it he had to take a piece of it into himself. He had come to believe in the nagual as he believed in his own soul.
As a search for Brodie turns into an unexpected confrontation with the forces that created this killer, Pierce comes to question his own connections, motivations, choices, and ultimate impact on this desert world in a riveting blend of spiritual, psychological, and cultural clashes.
Bruce Hartman is masterful at entwining mystery and quests with bigger-picture thinking about justice, revenge, and beliefs. The story unfolds on different levels to reveal insights about the nagual soul (a man destroyed by hatred and invaded by the soul of a predator) and the essence of a man who has died and been reborn into something barely human.
Especially notable are the juxtapositions of Pierce and Brodie’s values and connections as the hunt continues and confrontations reveal far more in common between the two than Pierce would care to admit.
Librarians that choose The White Nagual for its appeal to mystery, thriller, and novel readers will want to recommend it to readers intrigued by Westerns that feature fast-paced action, high drama, exciting confrontations, and unexpected outcomes.
Replete with a special blend of action and contemplative events, The White Nagual is a cat-and-mouse game of confrontation and realization which tempers a manhunt with deeper questions of spiritual and psychological recovery.
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Beneath the Canopy
Lynda Riggers
Vanguard Press
978-1-83794-781-2 $17.99
www.pegasuspublishers.com
Beneath the Canopy is inspired by real events and memories from World War II. It tells of young Netherlands girl Johanna, who flees the dropping Nazi bombs with her pregnant mother, only to find her baby sister missing when the smoke clears.
Rein is also affected by the war, which has made him an orphan and led his brother to join the Resistance.
Chapters and perspectives shift between these two very different children as the story unfolds in 1944, following the transformation of two young lives and the values and truths each tries to hold on to as war ravages their families, happiness, and world.
Lynda Riggers’ focus on children adds a different dimension of observation and understanding to the usual World War II experience. She dovetails these very disparate lives to illustrate how each confronts and survives Nazi rule, using their discoveries and growth to create different perspectives about Germans and Nazis of these times:
Rein was numb. It never occurred to him that someone could be bullied into joining the Nazis. He had always assumed they had all started as bad, an entire country of awful people doing what one small man dictated. He realized what a childish thought that was. Of course, not all Germans were bad.
Physical as well as mental challenges beset the kids in their dissimilar journeys through a much-changed land:
As she hobbled, the wind picked up, and the drizzle turned to sleet, stinging Johanna’s exposed legs, its effect the same as fire ant bites. She added it to her evergrowing list of daily miseries: wet socks, splinters, frozen toes, scratchy blanket, and no food. She didn’t dare list “terror” just yet. That belonged on a different list.
A chance meeting between them sparks an uncommon friendship which just might be the ticket to survival in a story that examines the roots of family, home, and understanding one’s friends and enemies.
Libraries likely already have many World War II-based novels for all ages, but what sets Beneath the Canopy apart from most is its focus on the foundations of defiance and understanding which not only bring two children together, but contrasts their evolving insights into good, evil, and their own natures.
Packed with unexpectedly warm encounters with friendship in the midst of chaos, Beneath the Canopy provides powerful insights into acts of kindness and courage, survival choices and costs, and how families survive atrocities and hard times.
These features are as worthy for book club and reading group discussions as they are poignant points for individual contemplation.
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Blue Moon
Connie Senior
Bitingduck Press, LLC
978-1-68553-027-3
$16.99
Paperback/$2.99 eBook
Website: www.conniesenior.com
Ordering: www.amazon.com
Blue Moon takes the classic werewolf story a step further from the traditional howling-at-the-moon scenario by depicting the life of new adult werewolf Caleb O’Connor, who just wants to raise his adopted werewolf children while helping his human girlfriend run a bed and breakfast in Maine.
It all sounds warm and cozy – until his life in Bar Harbor is changed by his participation in a search for a renegade werewolf park which is targeting teen girls when the moon is full.
The assignment seems ideal for a werewolf whose background includes a stint at vampire hunting in Romania for six years, but is a less than desirable occupation for a family man/wolf.
Suddenly Caleb is drawn into a murder mystery that holds deadly ramifications not only for his family, but the survival of his species.
Connie Senior’s howling good story opens with teenage Amy, whose encounter with the renegade pack changes her forever. This introduces a series of events that leads to chapters marked by various stages of the moon, starting with a waning gibbous in which not-so-human Caleb noses out violence alongside human investigators.
As an Adjunct Professor of Ethnobiology at the University of Maine who is in his late twenties, Caleb’s specialty is the myths and legends of shapeshifters. His expertise comes in especially handy, given his psyche and special knowledge of the world. What challenges him is his personal knowledge of a special form of wolf pack that defies his perception that werewolves must stick together at all costs.
Senior is especially adept at presenting the psychological conundrums of a human/wolf personality that fights not only outwardly in the world, but inwardly, in a schizophrenic fashion:
A tight ball of anger rose in Caleb’s gut, pushed past his windpipe, and exploded into a snarl. Why was he going to this hearing? If he played by the rules, he’d be trapped in yet another cage. Mr. Logical fled to the far reaches of his brain and cowered, while the Wolf howled.
Such descriptions involve readers in Caleb’s dilemmas in more than the distant outsider approach, immersing them in his personal and family dilemmas which dovetail with outside events, making his questions, routines, persona, and choices more than human and easily understandable.
As Caleb, son Bela, Billy, fellow wolf pack member Lila, and others unite in their efforts and interests, the story features edgy, unexpected moments of revelation as a new normal emerges for not only the werewolves residing alongside humans, but those humans who gain new knowledge of their presence.
Magic, myths, second chances, new beginnings, and reflections on temporary monsters also add philosophical reflections into the story, which will lend especially well to book club discussions:
“You’re only a monster once a month,” Hulstad said with irritation, as if Caleb had forgotten the obvious. “Worse things have happened without the moon to blame. I’ve seen too many men lost in permanent savagery with no awareness of how they got there or how to get out.”
The result is a vivid werewolf mystery which goes the extra mile to add elements of werewolf possibilities few other genre readers present. This will delight libraries and readers looking for books that break the boundaries of traditional myth and expectation to create a tale refreshingly original and hard to put down.
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Deep
Story
Bob Rogers
Peter E. Randall Publisher
978-1-963714-15-9
$34.95
Hardcover/$24.95 Paperback
www.perpublisher.com
Deep Story: A Complete Guide to Creating Transformational Visitor Attractions offers lessons in cultivating transformational exhibit experiences that take the next step beyond just representing history to develop immersive flavors. These exhibits do more than educate or entertain – they provoke reflections, connections, follow-up actions, and reactions from visitors, whether they take the form of a walking tour, a museum, or an emphasis on connections that make the viewer part of “the heart of a hero” (for one example).
Examples range from real-world exhibits to archetypes from film and stories that can connect threads of understanding to promote viewer vested interest in a team, a product, a display, academic subject, or a value:
BRC’s The Legend of Luna for Great Wolf Resorts used the Special One structure in a very different way, to connect the heart of the audience to the heart of the brand. The Legend of Luna tells the story of a little wolf who was different from the others in her pack. She felt she did not fit in with others. At one time or another many children and even adults have those feelings. During the show, the lobby of the hotel magically transforms into a dazzling, full-immersion special effects theater as it tells the heartfelt, reassuring bedtime story of Luna and how she found her place, discovering that everyone has something to contribute and our differences make our group stronger.
How audiences absorb taboo subjects, react to messages embedded in an exhibit, and move from ennui to excitement is highlighted in examples that are uplifting, lively, and important for engaging generations of all ages:
Another variation of this story is the historian who is enthusiastically dragging his kids to yet another history experience, hoping his own love for history will finally rub off on his kids, who are instead social networking with their friends, and wishing they were just about anywhere other than caught in another of dad’s history things. So, which of these very different interest levels do you write for? The aficionado or the disinterested? Target the disinterested! Use all your showmanship, stagecraft, magic, and charm to wow the ones that didn’t want to come.
Examples of BRC Imagination Arts projects which achieved just this level of engagement pepper the exploration with an eye to not only revealing underlying motivations for building immersive displays and opportunities, but creating the kinds of insights that come from active participation rather than passive observation.
Author Bob Rogers has decades of success at BRC Imagination Arts under his belt. He’s thus in the perfect position to translate these insights to the wider world, which can include business and entrepreneurial interests to project managers, youth group leaders, arts display coordinators, and virtually anyone interested in developing interactive displays filled with magic.
While Deep Story’s primary audience is those already involved in the themed entertainment and attractions industry, its ability to boldly delve into the world of honing more effective content and messaging for modern viewers makes it of prime value to a much broader audience than Rogers might have originally envisioned.
This is why libraries and readers with all kinds of patrons and purposes in mind will want to include Deep Story in their collections and on their reading lists, making it a top recommendation to book clubs and reading groups.
Seldom is the finer art of magic and imaginative deliveries given such life and specifics that will attract such a diverse audience as in Deep Story’s multifaceted wonders, packed with equally vivid color illustrations throughout:
Whether they are the ball gowns of the first ladies, the gowns of the Red Carpet on Oscar night, or the stylish outfits of Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, or Princess Diana, gowns and fashions connect with guests—especially women—because they tap into a widely shared dream in which all of us wonder what it would be like to be part of the glamour and romance of living in the White House or attending the Academy Awards or being a part of royalty. The myth goes well beyond Cinderella. The myth embraces glamour, power, sex, excitement, celebrity, danger, social status, wealth, fame, family—the great soap opera themes of the rich and famous. Such elements make the great historic novels and the lives of celebrities popular. By comparison, the suits of the presidents are boring, whereas the ball gowns tap into dreams. We used ball gowns at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in just that way.
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Embracing
Your
ADHD Rollercoaster
Heidi Dellafera Eagleton,
AA, BA, JD,
MArch
AquaZebra Book Publishing
978-1-954604-22-3 $21.99
Website: https://www.heidieagleton.com
Ordering: www.amazon.com
Embracing Your ADHD Rollercoaster—Navigating ADHD Across a Lifetime: Challenges and Triumphs is the memoir of a woman who spent a lifetime navigating her ADHD before receiving its diagnosis. Heidi Dellafera Eagleton explores the unexpected strengths that come with ADHD, its special challenges, and its biggest surprises, offering these insights in contexts which follow her life, exploring how ADHD affected all of Eagleton’s efforts, from finding a job to family life.
Footnotes document the research Eagleton conducted on ADHD and the studies which cement her experience with facts. The inclusion of years of adaptations, social changes and a broader knowledge of ADHD, and achievements which were possible because of the expansion of social consciousness make for particularly intriguing comments on the changing treatment and understanding of individuals with ADHD:
NCARB and the Missouri Board of Architects approved my accommodation’s request in November of that same year. I was sixty-one years old. For the first time in my life, I would take an exam mostly made up of multiple-choice questions with accommodations to ensure that my skills were being measured rather than the impact of my ADHD and anxiety.
The concurrent focus on ADHD and aging, particularly the lessons of wisdom learned in the course of living a life with a largely undiagnosed condition, creates an exceptional memoir that stands out from the crowd:
Having looked back over my life as I now move forward, I’m using my “essence of wisdom,” as Brooks suggests, to redesign it with a renewed sense of purpose as “the older woman” living with ADHD closer to the end of her life than to its beginnings. It’s no longer about what I’ve done, but it’s about the knowledge I’ve gained from what I have done, and how I’m using that knowledge today in some meaningful way.
The result is a memoir that grapples with the aging process, adaptations to expectations of achievement and definitions of success, and insights into navigating life in revised ways. Embracing Your ADHD Rollercoaster will appeal not just to ADHD readers and those supporting them, but readers interested in how life challenges are faced differently with and without knowledge about limitations and possibilities.
Libraries interested in memoirs about aging with ADHD which delve into important moments of realization about embracing one’s force of nature will find Embracing Your ADHD Rollercoaster suitable for wide recommendation to a large audience, including book clubs interested in exploring ADHD’s strengths, challenges, and shifting definitions and perceptions over the decades.
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Estate:
Golden
Rules
J. Andrew Shelley
Tenzi
978-1735497488 $7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Estate-Golden-J-Andrew-Shelley-ebook/dp/B0HB67XCVW
Estate: Golden Rules surveys estate planning with a step-by-step eye to streamlining the planning process. This encourages all readers to understand the fundamentals of probate and the potentials of wills to cause chaos rather than solve problems.
You read that last part right - J. Andrew Shelley points out that wills can actually cause major problems rather than clarifying wishes, and his book considers these and overall estate planning basics.
Shelley identifies the many challenges involved in such planning:
Mortgages and leases can be awkward to manage. Mobile homes can drag us into a place of madness. At successive moments a mobile home can be considered a vehicle registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, personal property, rented property, or real property managed by a deed and mortgaged to a bank.
Many surprising insights are presented as chapters probe the ideas and ideals of estate planning:
Once you’ve made certain every asset will pass to the next generation without probate and without a trust, a thoughtful estate attorney will ask the gotcha question: “Who pays the final phone bills, the funeral expenses, and taxes? Don’t you think Bobby and Billy are going to fight over that?”
It’s a legit question, and it is logical coming from the legal expert who manages estates through wills and trusts. The reality they may not be thinking about is that a significant percentage of estates never go through probate even when they have no trust.
From Durable Power of Attorney choices and various healthcare mandates to documenting debts, transferring vehicle ownership, identifying assets and possible contestants to the will or trust, and applying some Golden Rules to mitigate impacts, Shelley tackles many issues planners need to consider. These insights makes the entire process not only simpler and more fail-safe, but easier on family psyches.
This is where Estate: Golden Rules digresses from the many estate planning guides already on the market. The attention to considering not just legal, but emotional entanglements and complexities, addressing issues by applying Golden Rules of conduct and ethical behavior, cultivates a unique approach.
Estate planning guides often address technical complexities without considering the emotional components buffeting families over relationships, last wishes, and perceived wishes.
Estate: Golden Rules marries all these topics in a discussion especially highly recommended for families and book club reading groups interested in estate management and concerns. It will prove a powerful recommendation in libraries where patrons want to go a step beyond the usual nuts-and-bolts consideration of asset management.
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Hype
Immunity: Timeless
Lessons for Navigating the AI Revolution
Dr. Mike Horton
GFB
979-8950546013 $12.99 eBook
www.girlfridayproductions.com
Hype Immunity: Timeless Lessons for Navigating the AI Revolution comes from an AI executive who analyzes the difference between AI hype and actual implementation. It will prove essential for readers seeking clarification about AI’s processes, potential, and power.
Dr. Mike Horton considers both scientific and business processes in addressing common points of misunderstanding and mis-applications of AI’s potential. He addresses the problem of “competency blindness” that creates misguided confidence in outdated approaches to technological integration in business, among other fallacies.
More importantly, Hype Immunity provides the background histories of other revolutionary technological advancements over the years which also suffered from hype and flawed expectations. This approach considers AI’s potential for change in circles which have already been affected by other technological promises.
Dr. Horton creates allegories that place AI issues in perspective in a way all readers can readily absorb:
Your AI program’s survival depends on the standard. Think about it. If you build a house from scratch on-site, cutting every board by hand in the rain, it is slow, expensive, and subject to infinite variability. It relies on the individual skill of the carpenter on that specific day. If the carpenter is tired, your walls are crooked. Modern construction often uses prefabricated components built in a controlled factory environment. The walls, trusses, and wiring harnesses are built to a standard “gauge” off-site. When they arrive on-site, they fit. In AI and data, this means building a library of prevalidated model catalogs and feature stores that teams can use to assemble new solutions. You can’t have a scalable system if the definition of quality varies from person to person and model to model. You must build and enforce the gauge.
Specific models for applications, advancement, and achievement consider AI’s operations and potential within the context of a business’s pursuits and potential for change.
From the leadership burden involved in becoming a steward of such new technology to growth mindsets that prove essential for the pivot towards AI, Dr. Horton places technological possibility in line with human goals and perspectives. This helps readers better understand the process and challenges of AI integration and how technological tools can too often dictate business strategy instead of augmenting human creativity and problem-solving skills.
From separating truth from fiction to applying AI models that may be technologically impressive but operationally fragile, Dr. Horton considers the nuts and bolts of AI promises and threats in a light that business readers will consider essential.
Book clubs as well as student and business groups can use Hype Immunity: Timeless Lessons for Navigating the AI Revolution for debate and group discussions, making it a “must” for business, science, and social issues libraries and readers interested in not just AI’s possibilities, but its integrative challenges.
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The
Jacklighter
Carla Conti
Crimemoir Press
979-8-9994601-8-9 $19.99
Website: https://carlajeanconti.com/
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Jacklighter-Betrayal-Justice-Pennsylvanias-Mountains/dp/B0HJJXFJP4/
Readers of Carla Conti’s previous crime memoir saga Chained Birds will appreciate the dovetailing of character, history, and intrigue represented in its prequel/sequel The Jacklighter: Murder, Betrayal, and Justice in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains.
Herein lies a twist on traditional genre explorations that crosses boundaries between mystery, thriller, history, and memoir to present a vivid story of murder, a decades-long struggle to bring the killer of attorney Martin Dillion to justice, and an underlying betrayal that divided a family in the process.
Hunters will readily recognize the term ‘jacklighting’ as an illegal (in most states) method of using artificial light to freeze prey at night to make them easier to kill. In this case, the term refers to a series of paralyzing events that draw in and capture a host of characters whose lives dovetail, entwine, and become involved in a dangerous game and an amoral manhunt.
The saga opens in 1976 in the picture-perfect cozy town of Montrose, Pennsylvania, which holds much history and the just-30 trusted law partner Marty, who is a shoe-in for the next D.A election.
The Jacklighter employs colorful visuals to introduce each chapter, from photos to postcards, which adds interest in the evolving story. The unusual approach reinforces the atmospheric text as a hunting accident occurs, paving the way for more questions as various Pennsylvania townships and characters emerge from an accident which ripples dangerous ramifications into various communities’ close-held secrets.
As truths emerge about Marty’s wife Patricia Dillon and her lover Steve Scher, investigator Jock Collier faces political and personal pressures as he delves into a series of revelations that pit family and town members against one another.
The investigation and open-secret affair read with the drama of fiction and the reinforcement of true crime as black and white photos of individuals and settings pepper the story, bringing these circumstances to life.
Especially intriguing are the ways in which the town begins to fracture and divide as alliances are formed and premises explored:
Townsfolk were already dividing into two camps. On one side were the passionate friends and extended family of the Dillons, who believed Steve Scher wanted Marty’s wife for himself and had killed to get her. On the other side were people who liked Dr. Scher—patients, colleagues, acquaintances—who said he could never be a murderer.
Equally engaging are insights about how Carla Conti came to be involved, and the challenges that emerged in gathering information for and writing this book:
By fall, there had still been no announcement of someone landing a book contract about the case or getting the Dillons’ exclusive cooperation for a story in any format. And the list of ambitious authors kept growing. Chip said he heard a retired L.A. lawyer wanted to write a book. I said I heard the Dillons’ attorney had turned away a mystery writer whose lawyer sent them a book proposal, and that our favorite legal sidekick Peter O’Malley was rumored to be writing a memoir about the case.
Readers won’t anticipate many of the twists and turns that emerge as Conti’s exploration evolves, but prior fans will delight in how she reappears as another investigator under a new light (jacklight?) in this story.
The result will appeal not just to true crime readers, but fiction readers who will delight in the overlays of drama, the “you are here” presentation, and the intrigue and mystery that unfold as the plot thickens.
Libraries either seeing popularity with Chained Birds: A Crimemoir or coming in fresh to The Jacklighter will find it a powerful review of small-town politics, writers’ challenges, true crime, and community involvements. It’s a compelling story that grabs attention from the start and needs no prior introduction to Pennsylvania’s social enclaves to prove thoroughly engrossing.
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Sun
Cheese:
Lessons From
Regenerative Farming That Can Help You Rewrite Your Future
Siobhan M. Griffin
Restoracene
979-8996101047 $24.99
www.restoracene.com/book
Sun Cheese: Lessons From Regenerative Farming That Can Help You Rewrite Your Future tackles the big subject of regenerative farming with an eye to exposing the possibilities in a different approach to farming and survival that embraces purposely reshaping our foodsheds and fisheries in a very different way.
Introductory chapters set the stage with discussions about biodiversity loss, planetary decline, and the initial concept of “the Restoracene” before moving to practical solutions to these seemingly unfixable issues. These involve adapting and moving into different visions of planetary health and human support systems inspired by nature's productive templates. We cannot restore or rewild ecosystems without knowing what they are supposed to look like and how they worked.
Pristine ecosystems helped create the atmosphere and had cooling effects that made human existence not just possible, but abundant. Chapters consider such systems, from water vapor and savannahs to methane-producing megafauna, before delving into human-caused extinctions, changes to worldwide ecosystems, and human decisions that impacted the planet starting tens of thousands of years ago.
Much of the book is history of these early times and reviews of why Earth’s ecosystems were so full of life before mankind. This is important for understanding the later chapters that examine the farming and lifestyle choices which have led humanity to where it stands today - in a maelstrom of environmental challenges.
Siobhan M. Griffin is careful to point out that more frequent wildfire isn’t caused by climate change, but can be directly traced to human initiated extinctions and land management practices that have impacted the world:
While climate volatility can certainly heighten the risk of wildfires, decades of poor land management has already made uncontrollable wildfires inevitable in so many places. Holistic land management to revegetate scarred land and restore the water cycle could save economies billions of dollars in wildfire losses and suppression costs.
An unusually wide audience will be receptive to these messages, from farmers and students of ecology to, surprisingly, businesspeople and entities primarily interested in strategies that produce profitable returns.
The latter will find abundant the suggestions for making changes which not only lead to planetary health, but financial health, as well.
Readers will also be surprised at the wide-ranging examinations this book takes beyond farming practices. It delves into national park management, technological reliance and absorption, and the kinds of teachings passed to children that too often reinforce the notion that nature is not something to be preserved or even considered:
Many children growing up today spend most of their days surrounded by concrete, digital screens, and synthetic materials, and are largely living separately from nature. Sadly, they are often deprived of the valuable immersion in nature that I had. They don’t get the chance to develop an intuitive understanding of how natural landscapes function. This instills an artificial, human-centric view of the world. When marketers, policymakers, and consumers don’t respect or even recognize landscapes and agroecosystems for what they are—our planetary life support system—our future is not safe. This disconnect allows people to collectively justify self-destructive decisions by pretending we can live without nature.
This is why librarians and readers will find Sun Cheese: Lessons From Regenerative Farming That Can Help You Rewrite Your Future a unique, powerful blend of life lessons, nature observation, land management analysis - and a worthy title for discussion and contemplation.
Replete with history and analysis that solidifies the possibilities and lessons of the regenerative farming community, Sun Cheese takes a much broader approach than might be anticipated, becoming a lesson in re-envisioning the future in new, hopeful ways by being more mindful of human impact and attitudes towards the planet as a whole.
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Vigilante’s
Handbook
Doc Richter
Atmosphere Press
979-8901743874
$18.99 Paperback $31.99
Hardcover $8.99
ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
Vigilante’s Handbook captures the dilemma of a tech executive turned vigilante when his beloved goddaughter is savagely beaten and left crippled. Frustrated by the specter of the assailant walking away from his crime due to a lack of evidence, Bill Starr returns from retirement to craft an AI tool that successfully gathers the information that leads to the athlete’s conviction.
He’s so successful that Starr is motivated to expand his tool to give the FBI tips about child pornographers. Then he takes the next step, expanding his justice-seeking to other criminal circles and assuming the role of a vigilante engaged in a personal quest for justice.
His new retirement hobby doesn’t come without moral, ethical, and personal quandaries. Enter Lori, who joins Bill as he goes after human traffickers. Together, the two become immersed in justice and vigilante work which leads them into risky situations and acid-spraying inventions.
Doc Richter embeds his thriller with the perceptions and challenges of ordinary individuals who are motivated to step up and beyond their lives to pursue answers and deliver punishment. The injection of moral dilemmas and motivations for assuming the role of a vigilante justice-deliverer offers readers intriguing moments of justification and reasoning that will prove suitable for book club discussion:
“It makes me want to weep when I think about all the women lost because of Silva, but we’re going to make it right.”
“If not us, who?”
Lori smiled. “If not us, who?”
Equally captivating are the moments of realization about how to expand the success rate of this citizen program to others, and the requirements and costs of so doing:
“...there have to be others out there who’d take the risk if they had the tools and direction. Your worry about runaway vigilantism is right, but what if you could, you know, set the rules and lead them? Write a handbook for people to follow.”
Bill was speechless.
What if I could, indeed?
The result is a powerful novel about justice, high technology, punishment, and dangerous moves. It will immerse readers in Bill and Lori’s dilemmas as they unfold, fine-tune, and reconsider vigilante efforts as part of achieving true justice in America.
Packed with surprises, swift action, and engrossingly thought-provoking reflections on vigilantes and the pros and cons of self-conducted justice, Vigilante’s Handbook represents action-packed reading and moral considerations at their best, and is also highly recommended for book club discussion.
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Word War
Won
David Keay
Independently Published
979-8-31784-600-8
$20.00
Paperback/$9.99 eBook
https://store.bookbaby.com/book/word-war-won
Word War Won opens with author David Kray in the hospital recovering from Afib after what was supposed to be routine cataract surgery. From there, he is summoned by Count Dracula to the White Castle to participate in a quiz show/political exposé based on his novel, Word War Won.
The saga opens with a conversation between Stiles and Tarmac, which sets the stage for these events:
STILES: Kray observes how politics works via the Frankenstein Monster, depicts it in a new book, with the Count counting on it finding fame in future, setting the record straight for all time.
TARMAC: Despite Kray’s pitiful sales figures thus far.
Kray’s unceremonious entry into European affairs and circles evolves into a satirical romp through social and political observation as contest participants like The Schoolyard Bully and The Frankenstein Monster (embodying all politicians) vie to control exposés, truths, and USA-style diplomacy tactics. These scenarios are wound into a game show’s patter and ironic approaches to life.
David Keay’s literary, political, and social survey may challenge those who anticipate the usual linear plot and progression of a novel. That’s because he tackles common problems in uncommon ways, creating characters whose personal ambitions, lives, and perceptions entwine in linguistic and social situations far from the usual approach:
TARMAC: Can you speak in the guise of The Holy One?
STILES: With little effort, for I am Him: “Go now, my son! You are substantiated and free to invite reinforcements. Inform them better foods shall be tackled and shipped. Inform them of all exchanges to the market. These credits must come to an end. Remain here at this Long Table for our final supper together and wait for Leonardo, the artist. Meanwhile, I will rest here, among fearful soldiers. Much delight is promised your way, with dancers till Dawn. You must be mud-minded following hideous battle. Your outstretched armies greet the Sun like gold, glazing the Pyramid Schemes, up upon the Alps!”
The conversations which drive Word War Won take the form of thought-provoking (but equally hilarious) observations from game-players who consider bigger-picture thinking with the pointed jabs of critically analyzing social conditions. They reflect on the ways and means of politicians and influencers who create “Mountains out of molehills, absurd scenarios intended to frighten the public.”
High culture is also embedded into these reflections and experiences:
There are “Robin Hood parties” he and his friends have in the woods, where they attempt to talk in olde English all night. Andy and friends also introduce “Greaser Day,” where you show up at school looking like you stepped out of Scorpio Rising. Apparently without Andy’s permission, Rick sells Kray his scratched-up copies of The Dead’s Live/Dead and Anthem of the Sun, as well as Quicksilver’s Happy Trails. (Since replaced.)
At first, these seemingly disparate experiences seem a hodgepodge of topics and insights. But as Word War Won evolves, pointed insights emerge about intellectual discourse and observational styles, belief systems and the interconnectedness of seemingly disparate systems, and documentation of good times, high times, and reasons for laughter and reflection. This provides heady food for thought for readers interested in satirical devices and fiction that employs them with a heavy hand.
Libraries choosing Word War Won for their collections will find it recommendable to two major audiences: literary readers looking for political, cultural, and social inquiries replete with satire and observation, and readers of fiction that excels in exploring how trends take off, life participants grow from each others’ influences, and words change the world.
Replete with irony and fun allusions, Word War Won is a force to be reckoned with. It will prove a delight to those who look for uncommon associations, connections, and confrontations in their fiction choices.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Younger
Than Last
Year: The Seven
Foundations of the Art of Life
Robert W. Troch III
Kaiju Kastle Media
979-8-9963505-0-6
https://www.youngerthanlastyear.net/
Younger Than Last Year: The Seven Foundations of the Art of Life comes from the cofounder of the Younger Than Last Year (YTLY) Brooklyn fitness studio, which works with all kinds of people interested in maintaining their vigor and youth over advancing years.
As a “...quiet champion of the contrarian; the person who bought a gym membership and never used it,” Robert W. Troch III here translates his gym principles and approaches to exercise into an approach that will reach an even broader audience interested in life philosophy, better living, health, and attitude adjustments. These involve making fitness an optimal, integrated part of life.
Many of his contentions address common fallacies of health and better living:
Your body is always trying to heal you. You just have to give it the conditions to do its job. Rest is not laziness. Recovery is not indulgence. Sleep is not optional. They are your biological inheritance: the nightly system that keeps you younger than last year, the daily rhythm that rebuilds the parts of you that life wears down.
The book consists of “Foundations” of different levels of goal-setting, achievement, and restoring vitality through daily practices that any reader can easily follow. These foundations often draw startling connections between exercise goals and mental approaches to life:
Awareness, breathing, rest, fuel, mobility, passion—they all influence whether strength training builds you up or breaks you down.
Where other books often treat topics such as nutrition as independent modules in health regimens, Troch connects the dots between mental and physical systems and the overall effort to achieve health and stay healthy by addressing overlapping mental and physical systems:
1. Fuel is not “dieting”—it is daily chemistry.
Everything you eat affects blood sugar, hormones, inflammation, recovery, and energy.
2. Awareness changes nutrition more than rules do. You cannot discipline your way out of unconscious eating patterns.
His approach encourages not rigidity, but flexibility and adaptation - which makes it more achievable than many books that present fitness as a fixed regimen.
Libraries and readers looking for an uplifting, achievable, wider-ranging approach to fitness and health than most will find Younger Than Last Year: The Seven Foundations of the Art of Life packed with important revelations that can also encourage discussions about beliefs, attitudes, passion, and awareness.
These may not be the usual subjects in a book about fitness and health – but they are powerful influences on the overall success or failure of health, presenting readers with new ideas for optimal conditioning.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Your
Stories Are
Powerful
Lisa Ebel
Shamrock Stories Press
979-8-9995253-0-7
$17.95 paperback; $7.99 ebook
Website: www.shamrockstoriespress.com
Ordering: www.amazon.com
Your Stories Are Powerful: A Shamrock Stories Guide to Writing Empowered Stories is an inspirational guide that opens with a compelling true story. A storytelling show sparked Lisa Ebel's desire to capture the raw emotion of her own life experiences. Her book embraces storytelling empowerment for anyone who wants to reconsider and rewrite their life stories.
It’s fortunate that Lisa embarked on a journey to embrace her skills and writer’s eye. Your Stories Are Powerful will prove an exciting impetus for growth and creative achievement for her readers:
I
remembered my
stories, wrote them,
told them, rewrote them, and retold them until they honored who I was
then and who I am now. Once a story felt in alignment with my past
and present self, once the story had helped me heal old emotional
wounds, I considered it a Shamrock Story—a name I gave to the kind
of stories that help me feel good about myself and my life.
Life
observations, tips, and a
seven-step process to remembering, reaffirming, and reframing life
stories are accompanied by writing prompts and exercises
designed to help readers use their lives
and memories
for inspiration and healing.
Lisa uses
examples
from her own
life to illustrate her approach to identifying and
tapping
this wellspring of creativity. This helps
readers reflect
on their own life-altering events and how best to reconsider
and
incorporate them into writing that empowers them.
Readers may not
anticipate the
level of psychological self-examination
required. This
unique process isn’t covered in other writer’s guides
or self-help books. At each
step, Lisa includes reflections
on the story writing process which explore and
enhance emotional
connections.
Readers are asked to undertake exercises that probe emotional pain and revelation. “Questions to Ponder” include:
· Write a list of your defining traits during each decade of your life.
· Which ones are consistent?
· Which traits have disappeared or emerged?
The result is a powerful blend of storytelling and writing advice that proves to be a creative psychological force. Your Stories Are Powerful is a valuable guide for book clubs, self-help readers, and anyone prepared to tackle the roots of their own life challenges.
Librarians seeking a powerfully uncommon approach to personal growth will find Your Stories Are Powerful a winner and a standout for their self-help collection.
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The Arrow
Terri DeMitchell
Salt Marsh Books
978-1-7374378-6-4
$9.99
Paperback $3.99 Kindle
www.amazon.com
Middle grade readers interested in mysteries will find The Arrow, the fourth book in the Olde Locke Beach Mystery Series, compelling whether they are newcomers to the series or prior fans.
Rachel Clark and her best friend and young business partner Will Reynolds are thirteen-year-old investigators of the missing treasure indicated in the dying words of the original inn’s old owner. Only one clue (a reference to “the arrow”) could point them in the right direction, but White Pines Inn holds guests who seem suspicious and somehow involved in the hunt, which proves an obstacle to their efforts to help the inn’s heir. A suspicious conversation overheard from a great-nephew of inn owner Mrs. Finch and the realization that she will be forced to sell the inn unless finances take a turn for the better provides all the motivation the duo needs to uncover a creative financial solution that works.
As unpleasant surprises unfold, Rachel comes to wonder why she seems to be the last to know about world-changing plans happening out of her control, all around her – even with her best friend.
It seems like the adults around them are making these decisions, but Will and Rachel’s efforts empower them to find solutions to seeming insolvable problems in the adult world that are buffeting their own. In the process, each learns important lessons about standing up for themselves, even to adults, and taking proactive steps to assure that their friendship and lives stay intact.
The two soon discover that history still influences the present as they visit museums, delve into facts about the indigenous people in the area and the mast trade, and learn surprising reasons why some of the people around them are acting oddly. Historical precedent influences their choices and attitudes, giving The Arrow added value by linking mystery, history, and shifting perspectives and purposes. The young people absorb these influences as they edge ever closer to a surprising new truth even the adults around them have not figured out.
The plot thickens as they share with Mrs. Fitch some of these revelations:
“We found out a lot about the Abenaki tribe, but from what we found out, all the indigenous people had already left the area by the time George Finch was attacked.”
Terri DeMitchell takes the time to create a story that operates on different levels, tackling changes in adult lives and their impact on kids, pivot points in friendships when life and proximity changes, and mystery as a bow-and-arrow-wielding force introduces close calls to their explorations.
Some would go beyond scaring kids to get their hands on a treasure. As Will and Rachel confront the forces affecting their lives and future, they move full circle to realize their own strengths, the value of perseverance and problem-solving thinking, and the importance of historical precedent to modern times.
DeMitchell builds her mystery on fiction events at Olde Locke Beach and its residents, but the history surrounding the Abenaki tribe and the Mast Trade is based on actual facts and events that occurred in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
This added value makes The Arrow a special attraction not just for its intrigue, but its relationship-building and history components. Replete with action, discovery, new realizations, and historical enlightenment, The Arrow is a middle-grade mystery that’s hard to put down.
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Brave
New Game
S.K. Michalowski
Atmosphere Press
979-8901742976
$18.99 Paperback; $31.99
Hardcover;
$8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
Middle grade to young adult readers who choose Brave New Game for leisure pursuit will find it replete with basketball dreams and nightmares as young teen Charlie, the orphaned son of a basketball legend, tries to make a name for himself on and off the court.
What is a math prodigy doing in basketball, anyway ... and what do numbers have to do with sports? Plenty, as Charlie learns when a savvy local college coach prospecting for new talent observes that Charlie’s applied statistics can transform struggling teams into winners.
S.K. Michalowski’s exploration of sports and math challenges and talents dovetails with intriguing examples of how numbers can affect decisions. This leads young readers to better understand how math can affect all kinds of objectives and decision-making strategies throughout life.
Heartfelt passages about life goals and challenges accompany sports descriptions to further broaden a topic which might have initially attracted young basketball fans, adding dimensions of moral and ethical behavior. Charlie tackles a cheater and how he crossed the line in offering his talents too readily, harbors an emotionally charged secret that affects the team, and explores new possibilities in applied statistics and building fantasy teams.
From fundraising efforts to confronting his own decisions and making revised ones, Charlie’s dilemmas will reach out and grab young readers who may have placed themselves in their own questionable positions:
Charlie cycles through feelings of worry, relief, and pride. With more time, Blake could certainly complete the test and pass on his own. However, with four difficult problems left, and only fifteen minutes to finish, both of them know there’s no way that will happen. And Blake must finish. He needs at least an eighty-five percent on this exam, or he won’t stand a chance of passing the class.
The result may appear to be a story about sports - but it’s about so much more. Elementary-level libraries and adults who select Brave New Game for young readers, hoping to attract them to reading or math through an involving leisure read, will find the story opens doors of inspection and possible discussion among young readers about ethical behavior, applied math skills, and opportunities that grow from the basketball court into friendship and competitive circles.
Replete with realistic dilemmas and discussions of good and bad choices, Brave New Game is thoroughly involving, and unexpectedly thought-provoking, and highly recommended for its considerations of fairness, end games, winning and losing, and applying one’s special skills to solve life problems.
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The
Cats’ Museum
Viviana Falleti
Little Feather Press
9798988469209 $24.95
www.LittleFeatherPress.com
The Cats’ Museum is a lovely picture book illustrated by Victoria Fomina which bridges the gaps between art, history and children’s literature.
The tale opens in 1729, when Catherine the Great moves from Germany to Russia, collects art and builds the Hermitage Museum. She faces a crisis when she uncovers a large rat population that threatens its holdings.
What to do?
Three “interesting-looking” cats who just so happen to be walking by, by Catherine. She is delighted to find them busying themselves right away chasing out the rodents.
Viviana Falleti builds her engaging story with a closer look at how the cats prepare for their yearly dance recital, and how the magnificent museum serves as a backdrop for a jubilant festival for cats.
Gorgeous color illustrations adorn this gentle fantasy that is engaging, lively, and hard to put down. The Cats’ Museum is worthy of long-time, repeat enjoyment.
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The
Circus of Cats
in Venice
Viviana Falleti
Little Feather Press
9798988469261 $24.95
www.LittleFeatherPress.com
The Circus of Cats in Venice receives lovely artistic embellishment by Victoria Fomina. She brings a plethora of cats to colorful life. It is the magical story of Antonio, a street cat raised in a rough Venetian neighborhood who meets a clown, who trains cats for his amazing Circus of Cats!
Antonio’s move from a life that began as a stowaway on an abandoned gondola, to growing up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood, to ultimately becoming the star of a very unique circus, is ever so engaging. The story inspires children to overcome odds, when they embark on something new and learn how to turn adversity into advantage.
The Circus Cats in Venice showcases circus acts in a delightfully entertaining way. It is an engaging, whimsical read that teaches perseverance, teamwork, and a try and try again spirit.
Circus of Cats in Venice is suitable for library lending and has a keepsake read-again quality. This book is perfect to read aloud to young listeners and helps them consider the fine art of achievement and what it takes to transform mistakes into success.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
The
Happiest
Christmas Tree Ever
Viviana Falleti
Little Feather Press
9798988469247 $24.95
www.LittleFeatherPress.com
The Happiest Christmas Tree Ever is a celebratory holiday picture book that shines with the gorgeous, colorful, masterful, illustrations (some of them portrait quality) of Juliana Kolesova, as it explores a tree on a mountain who wants, so much, to be chosen as a Christmas tree. When his wish is granted and he’s placed in a Catholic Church, he experiences the full meaning and traditions of Christmas.
The
special Christmas tree
learns the
meaning of Advent, St. Nicholas Day, the Nativity Creche, and the
origins of the Christmas tree, as well as customs from other places,
such as Germany, with its Christmas Pyramid. The book explores how
these special customs affect families, congregations, and
communities, as they celebrate the meaning of this holy time.
Ultimately, the Christmas tree experiences the true miracle of
Christmas, which is the birth of the Christ Child.
Libraries that choose The
Happiest
Christmas Tree Ever for their holiday
picture book
collections will find it especially attractive for its positive,
uplifting insights on how traditions develop and are embraced, and
the sublime holiness of the festive Christmas season.
Return to Index
Hello,
My Name is
Lev
Viviana Falleti
Little Feather press
9798988469285 $24.95
Hello,
My Name is
Lev is
a picture book celebration based on a true story. It’s set in
Siberia and tells of a bear, Lev, who helps change a human family
with his exuberant attitude towards life. Other members of this very
unique family include five lively children, Kazimir, an intense cat,
and Malachi, an old and grumpy eagle!
Victoria Fomina provides
vivid,
colorful illustrations to accompany this tale of how a middle-aged
man rescues a bear cub in the forest and brings him home to his
family. The man, the father of this very unique family, had lost his
job at the coal mine when it closed, and he was forced to undertake a
new venture to support his family—entertaining at the marketplace.
Lev learns how to ride a tricycle, which is quite remarkable for a
little bear, and gathers much enthusiasm from bystanders, and tips!
The delights and changing
of the
seasons accompany Lev’s growth. At some point, the family believes
that Lev might be happier living in the forest. Lev is not sure but
decides to try it. As the days go by, Lev misses his family so very
much, and when the papa of the family comes to check on him, Lev is
exuberantly happy! He is taken back home, and a jubilant reunion
occurs. "Kazimir, the intense cat, might have even purred,
for the very first time!” As it is Christmas time as well,
the
celebration continues with great gladness!
Libraries can eagerly recommend Hello, My Name is Lev for its vibrant celebration of life, its emphasis on gratitude for those around us, and its highlighting the joy of contributing to a family’s wellbeing.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
I Love
All Seasons
Marin Darmankow
Fontreal
9781989661611
$2.99
Ebook/$12.99
Paperback
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL1TXPPW
I Love All Seasons is a picture book for ages 5-8 that celebrates a year of magic through seasonal changes. Other picture books harbor the same goal, but the approach in Marin’s book differs, pairing “read-and-imagine” verses sans punctuation with evocative observations. These will prove vivid and uncommon for young audiences, as in the introductory survey of spring that heralds a backdrop of vivid blue skies with the observation that spring is “A season in which nature exhibits a new painting with every blink of an eye...”
As the year evolves monthly from March to May and beyond, word painting conversations invite kids to view the passing world and changing environment in delightful new ways. This approach is fostered by the pairing of vivid, colorful backdrops on every page accompanying these word feasts.
Marin’s paintings, abstract and nature-based, invite kids to view natural environments and creatures from new perspectives. This will especially attract and delight adults seeking to introduce artistic concepts and pictures to kids at an earlier age than many usually receive.
The result is a beautiful marriage between traditional seasonal notes of change and art, which will appeal to picture book readers and adults who read aloud to them on many different levels.
Libraries will find I Love All Seasons the perfect bridge between word and visual art for picture book readers.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Little
Red Riding
Horse
Marin Darmonkow
Fontreal
9781989661680
$2.99
Ebook/$12.99
Paperback
www.amazon.com
Little Red Riding Horse presents a blend of art with the retelling of classic fairy tale characters that adds seven dwarfs, an enchanted pond, and daycare center janitor “Mother Hubbard” into a new mix of fun.
When Puss in Boots surprises Mother Hubbard with a book and a magical invitation, strange things happen as book characters are freed from their pages after-hours.
The adventure that ensues will especially delight read-aloud adults who have gone through all kinds of traditional fables. Here, the characters are exquisitely blended into a new exploration where a range of fairy tale participants come to life in a completely different scenario and endeavor that draws all their skills together.
The separate books and characters that join in this shared endeavor will delight a wide age range as the creative, unexpected action evolves.
Libraries interested in new fairy tales that sizzles with action, personality, and adventure will find Little Red Riding Horse a thoroughly original, delightful exploration of magic, cooperative problem-solving, and a rocking horse’s dilemma that brings a community together.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
The
Magical Beach
Tree
Donna K.
Goosefare Publishing
979-8-9940062-2-1
Hardcover $22.99, Paperback
$12.99,
eBook $4.99
Website: https://themagicalbeachtree.com
Ordering
link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6KSZCQQ
The Magical Beach Tree will reach children ages 4 and older with a picture book story set in Maine that tells of a special holiday tradition for one girl, her family, and the community.
Weeks before Christmas, Hildi and her dog Finn are watching the beach’s waves from their home when they realize that someone has brought and left a tree on the shore.
As Hildi and her brother rescue the tree and set it up on the beach, they find hidden treasures for its decoration, from old lobster trap rope that can become a garland to seashells. The entire family participates in the tree’s daily decoration.
Soon others begin to participate, following the unspoken message that tree decorations need to be found from surrounding nature.
What starts as a single girl’s rescue evolves to embrace a community as word spreads about this unusual tree, bringing people together in a conjoined effort to celebrate its presence and add color to life.
One stormy night, nature has its own plans. It’s then that a real miracle is revealed.
Some panels are wordless and others hold words as the inviting story of hope, perseverance, and buried treasure from nature evolves.
Lovely illustrations by Olha Tkachenko are a powerful complement to Donna K.’s vision and enhance the story with bright, full-page color.
The result is a different, nature-centric focus on unique decorations and togetherness that will appeal to a wide audience seeking a different kind of holiday celebration.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Muppit
Boy and the
Wheel of Power
Michael J. Bowler
Independently Published
979-8993648644
$21.99 Hardcover/$13.99
Paperback/$4.99
eBook
https://books2read.com/MuppitBoy2
The second book in the Adventures of Muppit series, Muppit Boy and the Wheel of Power, follows the world’s first young superhero Elmo “Mo” Fitzroy, who is still mastering his new nano-enhanced abilities and the finer art of disguising his identity as his alter ego, Condor Kid.
Superman faced all kinds of challenges, but young investigator (and Mo’s best friend) Kashvi would give Lois Lane a run for her money, as Kash’s nose for truth and trouble present Mo with ongoing challenges.
His dramatic rescue at a carnival only piques her interest and determination further. As he tackles the larger problem of ADHD kids vanishing and an assignment to act as a spy to determine the source of the problem, new problems emerge.
Equally challenging are bullies. How can one’s meek, mild personality tolerate harassment knowing full well that one’s superpowers could quash such trouble in a second - even if it would mean exposing one’s superpowers to the public eye?
Dilemmas rise in all kinds of ways as Mo/Muppit Boy/Condor Kid struggles with various facets of his identity and reactions to ordinary and extraordinary situations:
As Condor Kid, I could face him just fine, but as myself, I picture all the times he mocked me or bullied me, and I want to seriously throw him through a fence.
From metabolism changes from the nanites infusing his system with new powers to government involvements and assignments, Michael J. Bowler creates another intriguing adventure that places a once-ordinary boy in a maelstrom of forces and power moves that pull him in different directions.
The notion of wheels of power plays out in all kinds of situations middle-grade readers will find intriguing:
“I believe we’re all tied at a biological level to the area where we’re born. My ultimate goal is to tap into more geothermal vents along those lines, acquire more lost boys, build more wheels of power, and provide the entire country with the clean, reliable energy we’ve been searching for.”
The result is an adventure, a lesson in power, control, and discovery, and a survey of one young hero’s evolving world and foray into adult power circles. Muppit Boy and the Wheel of Power is an intriguing, unpredictable adventure that libraries and individual readers will find compelling and offbeat.
Mo/Condor Kid’s first-person observations of his world and his choices in interacting with it are realistic, involving, and make the whole notion of a superhero’s flaws and abilities especially inviting.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Rabbit’s
Roast Beef
Chef Seff
Sarah Seff Publishing
9781969206177
$19.99 Hardcover/$9.99
Paperback/$3.99
eBook
Website: www.chefseff.com
Ordering:
https://www.amazon.com/Rabbits-Roast-Beef-Hundred-Acre/dp/1969206187
Rabbit’s Roast Beef joins the Hundred Acre Food series to give young picture book readers a thoroughly engaging story of young Winnie-the-Pooh, who discovers one morning that he’s consumed all of his beloved honey.
He decides to go on a walk in the woods to help quench his appetite and perhaps find some honey. This leads him to Rabbit’s house. Rabbit is in the middle of preparing a roast beef lunch for Hundred Acre Woods residents, and Pooh hungrily pitches in. But the roast takes four hours to cook – far longer than it would take Pooh to tackle a jar of honey. How can such food be worth the time spent preparing and cooking it? More importantly, how can Pooh wait that long for his reward?
Themes of patience, adaptation, perseverance, and inviting too many people over for a friend’s dinner (when Rabbit sends Pooh on a mushroom-hunting expedition) teach young readers many lessons about waiting – and inviting guests to another’s dinner.
Chef Seff does an outstanding job of representing the classic Pooh characters, from a morose Eyore who supposes that roast beef “Might be all right. Probably won’t be enough for everyone, but I’ll come anyway” to Tigger’s request for a definition of roast beef, which Pooh identifies as “The one for the whole Hundred Acre Wood that takes forever to cook.”
Though an unsuspecting Rabbit opens the door to a host of unanticipated visitors, they come bearing food ... and so the day is saved by generosity, company, and thoughtfulness.
Kids will relish the fun story of a cooking effort that expands to embrace a community, and will learn lessons about friendship, sharing, feasts, and patience.
The warm, food-centered story encourages bigger-picture thinking as Pooh and his friends join in on a feast that evolves as much through adaptation and flexibility as it rests upon good cooking that encourages sharing and fun.
Libraries and individuals with an affinity for Pooh’s world will find Rabbit’s Roast Beef an outstanding exploration for ages 3-8.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Race
Against Time
Rose Horn
Independently Published
ASIN: B0HHT6FSXZ $2.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0HHT6FSXZ
Race Against Time provides young adults with another riveting sci-fi adventure revolving around Tori, Kaylah, and other classmates who are involved in StarNet training as cadets and adult concerns such as sabotage and subterfuge.
Rose Horn juxtaposes the viewpoints of two major characters: Tori, who is pursuing her career at StarNet on planet Anodell, and her distant nemesis Kaylah, who is at home after having been quashed in her dreams of political leadership by Tori and her own poor decisions of the past – including an attempt to start a war.
Kaylah envies her former classmates Tori and Anna for coming out on top as heroes while she’s considered a villain in the matter, and harbors deep resentments over her house arrest – but that doesn’t keep her from falling into new troubles when she finds her mind connected with Tori’s thanks to a mysterious Efrasian alien device her father won in a bet.
Through it, she keeps connected to Tori and her friends, living life through their eyes. It also affords her the ability to recognize trouble when it emerges, which prompts her to move from a place of resentment and simmering anger to helping Tori race against time to thwart a dangerous plot the adults around them can’t see or acknowledge.
Once again, Rose Horn builds a thoroughly engrossing story replete with strong, proactive teen characters, adult situations which pit them in conflict with many elements of their training and adult teachers, and their own ambitions to become StarNet achievers.
Realistic scenarios evolve when Tori begins hearing a mysterious voice in her head and grows to accept Kaylah’s interventions and advice, but still finds herself struggling against all odds against a mercurial adversary. Horn is especially adept at contrasting the duality of two very different strong personalities who often harbor their own ideas of what to do and how to do things.
This adds fine tension and interest to the story in a manner young adults will relish, while settings and scenarios are presented clearly so that newcomers can find easy access to Race Against Time’s prior characters and relationships.
The result is a gripping series of encounters, revised relationship progressions, and interactions between teens, adults, and systems that keeps the action swift, the personalities shifting, and the story thoroughly engrossing.
Libraries seeking a “written by teen for teens” story will find the literacy, progression, and characters of this latest space adventure worthy of acquisition. Horn challenges many an adult writers with her astute and compelling stories.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
The Rice
Field
Adventure
Mati Nilkote
Precocity Press
978-1972561140 $19.95
Paperback/$12.99
eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Rice-Field-Adventure-Mati-Nilkote/dp/1972561146/
The Rice Field Adventure explores the nature of adventures that can be undertaken between children and pets as it presents Aree and her dog Pui, who are on their way to a rice field to pick some basil for her grandmother’s soup.
A rollicking rhyme captures the sights, sounds, and countryside as a happy Pui encounters a mother hen and her chickens, a crab with “snappy claws,” and a host of creatures who don’t necessarily want to play.
Vivid descriptions of natural surroundings hold Aree and Pui and their readers in a warm embrace of discovery and observation, creating a picture book as warm in natural history as it is in exploring the joyful play of a girl and her dog.
Iole Rosa’s large-size illustrations are especially bright and colorful, bringing this world to life as young readers receive gentle lessons about friendship, bravery, sharing, and facing life with courage, determination, and a playful expectation of fun.
Elementary-level libraries that choose The Rice Field Adventure for their picture book collections will find it an uplifting, enjoyable read that celebrates pets, friendships, nature, and different approaches to life.
Bakersfield Boys ClubReturn to Index
Santa’s
Magical
Bag: Christmas
Stories and Coloring Book
Mark N. SNow
Vanity Pressing Books
& Music
9798515710446 $12.95
https://www.amazon.com/Santas-Magical-Bag-Christmas-Activities/dp/B0HC7XK6BJ
Santa’s Magical Bag: Christmas Stories and Coloring Book is written by Santa’s Elf, Mark N. SNow (spelling intentional), and provides young readers some 50 pages of holiday coloring opportunities, games such as word finds and mazes, and a magical grab bag of heartwarming stories suitable for read-aloud and family discussion.
From a multicultural exploration of holiday tradition in “Tamales for Santa?” to a child’s challenge of producing her best letter to Santa yet during a hectic, busy time, Mark SNow creates a vivid collection that captures the sentiments of the holiday, encouraging family interaction and a child’s deeper inspections of the traditions and underlying meaning of the season.
This short paperback, with its pages packed with black and white coloring opportunities, relies on an eye-catching cover to invite kids and their families to explore, but will prove captivating and thought-provoking to young celebrants who look for interactive holiday experiences that challenge their imagination with new Christmas concepts.
All these facets make Santa’s Magical Bag: Christmas Stories and Coloring Book the perfect stocking stuffer for ages 5-12, encouraging non-computer opportunities for family interactions.
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The
Sassy Snapper
Adam Moryto
Indie Fins Press
978-976-98056-1-3
$24.99 Hardcover/$16.99
Paperback/$9.99
ebook
www.sassysnapper.com
The Sassy Snapper is a study in courage and daring. It follows a little undersea fish that “solves underwater mysteries with courage and love.”
Meritxell Andreu’s lovely illustrations bring the picture book story to life with snappy color and personality as The Snappy Snapper’s curiosity leads her to examine fishy puzzles, underwater oddities, and curiosities. These impart a sense of discovery to young listeners and readers of her story.
Sassy “swims with charm” while searching for truth, clues, and wonders with a sense of adventure that belays any vulnerabilities or fear. When Curious Clam calls for help when his beloved pearl goes missing, Sassy’s on the job, meeting friends along the way and tapping them for help.
The new characters she must confront in her journey, from Confident Crab to Obnoxious Octopus, demands she deal with troublemakers and bullies in different ways, but Sassy discovers how to placate and understand them as she continues her mission through the reefs and underworlds of the sea.
Adults who read to kids, as well as elementary-level librarians, will find The Sassy Snapper vivid, attractive, and packed with important lessons on life, friendships, and different approaches to adversity which can be used to open dialogues with the very young.
Filled with action and insight, The Sassy Snapper is a lovely picture book exploration of how individuals can become stuck in destructive ways of thinking, and how others can adopt new approaches to adaptation, change, and encouraging those around them.
It’s just the panacea for modern angst, encouraging a sense of positivity and relationship-building.
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The Tale
of the
Boy Who Could Stop
Time
Lance Lee
LWL Books
9798234154477
$29.99
Hardcover/$14.74
Paperback
www.lanceleeauthor.com
The Tale of the Boy Who Could Stop Time is a middle-grade fable the entire family can enjoy. It tells of a ten-year-old boy who faces bullying at school with the help of retired magician Merlin.
Peter has many talents and is tasked with handling many adult situations, such as his parents’ divorce, along with his special abilities, which are producing emotional, meaningful writings.
What he isn’t familiar with is the possibilities of magical intervention and abilities - which, as it turns out, are not necessarily essential for handling his bullying problems.
Even Merlin’s gift of a magical amulet doesn’t solve everything, requiring that Peter employ his own creative problem-solving skills and special strengths.
The amulet does prompt the beginnings of his realization about his other powers, however. This, in turn, affects his life and choices as he both makes himself vulnerable to his enemies and chooses new reactions to life that help protect his fragile emotional empathy.
Young readers struggling with their own abilities, differences, friendships, and bullies in their lives will find many powerful tools for understanding, adapting, and change embedded in this delightful fable.
Adults who join kids in discussing Peter’s pivot points and new realizations will discover that The Tale of the Boy Who Could Stop Time is packed with many thought-provoking encounters and reflections that lend perfectly to reading group, family, or classroom discussions.
It's rare to find a children’s fable that can appeal to such a wide audience. The Tale of the Boy Who Could Stop Time provides the kind of bygone wisdom that Aesop cultivated once upon a time, and is the perfect choice for adults that would inject a bit of magic into their lives and their interactions with kids, and for kids just beginning to step into the concept of their own empowerment and special abilities.
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Talk Me
a Story
about Moon Rabbit
Michelle Myers
Atmosphere Press
979-8901744499
$19.99 Paperback; $31.99
Hardcover;
$8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com
Talk Me a Story about Moon Rabbit gives middle grade fantasy readers an uplifting, feel-good story about Korean girl Shelly, who absorbs her mother’s stories about Moon Rabbit, who exhibits kindness and never gives up and who makes magical rice cakes.
Shelly never expected to find Moon Rabbit in her own kitchen making these cakes, but when she confronts him, she finds herself transported to the Moon, where she confronts some of her biggest fears and a host of dangers, including a hungry tiger and the Moon Gobbler.
Michelle Myers takes the time to thoroughly explore the roots of this narrator’s many fears, presenting them in a way early middle grades can easily understand:
Sometimes I get so angry at myself for being such a baby. Momma and Dad tried everything to help me not feel so scared of the dark. When I was little, they bought me a night light shaped as a Moon and another one that shined stars onto my ceiling and played soft music. But really, all these night lights did was make the darkness even more dark. I always thought I saw scary things lurking in the shadows just beyond the edge of the light.
Action centers not just on fear and confronting it, but a host of characters that each face various issues, including adult scenarios of betrayal and abandonment.
The adventures embrace Korean folklore, issues of self-acceptance and love, courage, and friendship and support from unexpected places as Shelly confronts forces that would end the Moon and her own world.
Philosophical wisdom and reflection permeates many of these interactions to inject notes of hope and discovery in a manner that adults will want to discuss with young readers:
But above all, Shelly, remember this: Some stories take shape in words which we talk out and share. Some stories stay quiet and become secrets. But some stories yearn to be reborn, finding new life in a new time for new ears. It is our sacred duty to be ready to hear and understand the lessons of such an awakened tale.
The result is more than a fantasy adventure, but a book packed with uplifting, important messages that will widely appeal to all kinds of readers.
Filled with exciting moments of courage, confrontation, and realization, Talk Me a Story about Moon Rabbit is more than a cut above the usual middle grade fantasy. It incorporates many elements of revelation that will lend to interest from book clubs and reading groups, as well as elementary-level librarians and parents who like to choose books that the entire family can enjoy and discuss.
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The Tree
Seed
Marin Darmonkow
Fontreal
9781989661321 $2.99
ebook/$12.99
Paperback
www.amazon.com
The Tree Seed gives ages 5-8 a lovely picture book story about a tree seedling who reflects on his youth, growth, and what happens when a little boy decides to plant him and give him roots.
As the seed and his fellow seedlings expand to cover a field, the little boy, too, grows up and expands his world. The seedlings become trees, and “we turned the field into a forest.”
Departures, transitions, and change mark the concurrent lives of trees and boy as they step into new purposes and their lives move in unexpected directions.
More so than most books about seeds and trees, The Tree Seed imparts important details about evolution and transition that read-aloud adults can use to help kids understand the changing nature of their own lives.
Libraries will find its fine connections between nature and human beings to be an appealing introduction to transition points in life that come full circle to create new beginnings.
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The
Wizard of
Mind’s Island
Addison Abbott
Independently Published
979-8-9078-1942-9
$32.00
The
Wizard of Mind's Island
The Wizard of Mind’s Island is a magical survey of wizardry and empowerment which identifies the “wizard” of topic as the young reader of this book. Chapters then outline a quest assigned to said reader, which involves finding Mind’s Island to complete the bond between magic, imagination, and achievement.
Advanced elementary to early middle grader readers receive a spirited adventure powered by colorful, large-sized illustrations that support the quest:
Every boy and girl has a home in which they live: In crystal caves, in mansions, in trailer parks, and tree forts. On prairie lands, in foster homes, in villages, and seaports. Teepees, too. Tiki Huts. Bungalows and shanties. In the jungles of the Amazon...
Wherever the young reader resides, the admonishment is: “Don’t keep your thoughts behind closed doors, under lock and key. Imagination needs to roam. It’s best to set it free!”
Life becomes a “treasure chest” of opportunities ready to be unfolded. As Temperton (“Born from the “Ouch!” of your stubbed toe.”) and other characters blend into the reader’s adventure story, examples of different personalities, approaches to life and magic, and individuals either vile or supportive (such as Bumpster) come to life.
Fill-in-the-blank pages towards the end may not lend well to library lending, but are perfect for at-home pursuit, homeschooling, and individual collections where drawing and writing in books is part of the exploration process.
Addison Abbott admonishes the young to “give yourself a wizard’s name, and list all the magic you can do. Writing it and thinking it will help all your dreams come true!”
The result is a magical survey of opportunities, imagination, new possibilities, and different approaches to life which will lend especially well to discussion among all ages (and between adults and kids) about the nature of self-exploration, positivity, and early uplifting attitudes about life and the ultimate quest to “do all I can and be all that I can be!”
There is no better message to send young readers on the road to life success, armed with the magic of vision and self-belief.
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