As a HUGE steampunk fan, I was thrilled when I got a chance to read The Lotus Effect, the first book in the Rise of the Ardent series by Bridget Ladd. Lily Emmerson is the daughter of two of the most important leaders of her...

In The Ghostly Grammar Boy by Sandra Thompson, Fiona has to deal with her sister and her sister’s new boyfriend’s problems. It’s a typical teenager’s life, except for the fact that her sister and her boyfriend are both dead. When Fiona’s twin sister, Ella, died...

The War on Science Goes Batshit is a young adult story written by Allen J. Woppert about Timothy Thompson, a 14-year-old who lives in a small town in Illinois with the improbable name of Batshit. Timothy tells us exactly how the town got its name...

The Age of Amy: The Thumper Amendment by Bruce Edwards is a sometimes tongue-in-cheek story about teenagers getting the right to vote and how that might impact on future elections. Teenager Amy started her political activism as a companion to Alan, a hippie individual who...

The Other Side of the Door by Jill Vance is a curious collection of seventeen diverse and absorbing short stories. Some of these shorts have a paranormal aspect, while others are more along the lines of urban fiction. Still others represent a number of distinct...

The Other Side of the Ridge by Larry Deibert is an intriguing historical fiction novel, introducing readers to scientific and educational concepts of time travel and historical facts. The idea of time travel, as well as information on the United States' history, are a few...

Katie Dude liked to talk to her grandma because she could understand Grandma better than she could understand her parents and other adults. Even though her grandma had trouble falling around, she still told fun and interesting stories to Katie. In her book Traveling with...

The Ballad of Llewellynn was written by Robert Rowen. The Prologue sets the scene for this amazing tale. Arthur was a child playing hide and seek with his father when a group of armed men broke through the door and murdered both his parents. They...

Has there ever been a time in your life when you could talk to God and feel His presence in the room and then on another occasion or for a long period of time, He seemed a million miles away? This is only one of...

The See-Through Leopard by Sibel Hodge is the story of Jazz who meets with an accident and loses her mother. The accident leaves some facial scars which make her conscious of her looks. She falls into a kind of depression. It is at that phase...