This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
John McCormack is an educator who has helped shape young minds for over thirty-five years. A graduate of Iona College and The Ohio State University, he spent most of his career teaching in both junior and senior high schools in locations from Chicago, Illinois to Rockland County, New York. He is a winner of the Golden Apple Award from Channel 13 in New York City for his outstanding contributions to Learning Link.
McCormack was inspired to write his young adult novel Jamaal’s Journey by the closeness and enthusiasm he enjoyed with his students, particularly toward the end of his career.
Aside from writing, John is passionately engaged in playing the piano and guitar in sunny Los Angeles where he lives with his wife.
Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite
Jamaal's Journey by John McCormack has a story line that must be vaguely familiar to anyone who has gone through the joys and pains of high school life. An African American student and a likable senior student, Jamaal is in his final two months at Spring Valley High School when Taneeka, the new girl in class, captures his heart. What follows is a roller coaster ride of friendship, hope, intimacy, love, rejection, frustration and revelation together with Jamaal, his school friends and their speech teacher, whose influence on his students will stay with them for the rest of their lives. What makes Jamaal’s Journey highly entertaining is the collection of interesting characters interacting with each other in one of the most difficult and exciting times of their lives - adolescence.
Winner of the Finalist Award for African-American Fiction in the 2015 Beverly Hills International Book Awards, Jamaal’s Journey certainly does not disappoint readers. There are many coming of age novels dealing with adolescence and high school life, but few are as insightful and entertaining as this one. Reading the book is like listening to Jamaal himself intimately talking to you about his innermost thoughts and feelings. Fast paced and moving from one scene to the next in quick succession, it draws the reader into the lives of the other kids in Jamaal’s social circle. And, as if without meaning to do so, the story exposes a number of social issues that sadly plague our society today and affect the lives of most young people. Jamaal’s Journey ends on an optimistic and realistic note, and this is just one of the reasons why this story will certainly capture your heart!
