When it comes to issues like abuse and sex trafficking, we can choose to bury our heads in the sand and hope it will all go away, or we can decide to learn what we can about it. Unfortunately, while we might not be able...

Compelling, compassionate and contemporary are perfect descriptors of Paul Winder’s A Son is Given: A Mother’s Testament. Mark and Josh are co-captains of their college swim team. Josh is open with and aware of his sexual orientation. Mark is in denial until Josh makes an...

The Tribulations of August Barton is a new adult coming of age book written by Jennifer LeBlanc. Augie was a somewhat geeky and introverted creature of habit, who, at the lofty age of eighteen, was convinced that he would absolutely hate his college experience. As...

James Henderson’s alcoholic father was one of the pub regulars but, toward the end of his life, he would sit alone, drinking himself into oblivion. When readers first meet James, aka Chooka, in Miscarriages, he is sitting by his comatose father’s bedside, talking to him...

“Inside my head, I see his broken parts. Inside my head, I feel his pain.” Those words hooked me immediately. Healer by Susan Miura shares the story of a young girl named Shilo coming to terms with the gift of healing. She’s different. Why? Is...

Lucky Stars by Hazel Eggleton is a coming of age novel that tells the story of a young girl trying to come to terms with her turbulent life and trying to make sense of what she should and what she wants to do. While Sam...

The Adventures of the Four Little Monkeys: Who Brought Genuine Love and Unity to Maasai Mara Game Reserve by Saustin S.K. Mfune is a modern day fable aimed at young adults. Red-tailed monkeys Punkey, Shulley, and Lankey, and Vervet monkey Skankey live in Maasai Mara,...

The Write Way to Get a Girlfriend is a coming of age/concept novel for young adults written by Alfred R. Taylor. Juan Rivera was not at all impressed by his mother’s decision to hire a writing tutor for him. He did well in his math...

Highly atmospheric and elegantly written, The Brute: A Novel by Mike Klaassen is a young adult novel that is as mesmerizing as it is deeply affecting, exploring a young man’s journey to what really defines him when a tempest hits a campsite. On a prairie...

Torment: A Novella by H.D. Hunter pulls you in from the first page. The story starts when a boy is waiting to see his older sister for the first time in a while. From the first scene, it’s clear how much he admires and looks...