The Cupcake Adventure by Strika Karmack, Navos Karmack, and Gus Karmack takes children on an exciting adventure with six cupcakes to a big old refrigerator. They cannot wait to reach there and find out what awaits them. Candy Cotton, Deep Dark Chocolate, Peter Pecan, Minty...

It’s not always the magnitude of the crisis that makes a novel great, but how it is handled and Paul Shadinger shows incredible skill in conflict development in this novel. The first book I read from this author was Code Name: Crescent and, seduced by...

The Side Job by Don Lubov is a short, interesting and realistic story that follows a young mother on a daring journey to save her sickly daughter. Maggie Gomez gets pregnant at seventeen and, abandoned by her boyfriend, she is left alone with the child....

In The Capsule by Olga Loukianova, Liza lives in her 20x20 flying capsule. Liza’s life takes place inside Net City, like everyone else’s, with their fake avatars and the fake world around them. They’re so used to their virtual reality that meeting someone for real...

The Reunions is the third installment of Tina Hogan Grant's Tammy Mellows series. Tammy Mellows continues to fish for crabs off the coast of Malibu alongside her boyfriend, Dwayne, while raising her son, Matt. As the years pass by, Tammy is constantly reminded of her...

In the Last Danann by Victoria Saccenti, we meet an eons-old Tuatha Dé Warrior, Kailen. We see short memories starting in Thebes, Southern Egypt, 1000BC, when he visits Khnurn, a wizard charged with keeping the universe's balance. Kailen cannot join his people as they leave...

The Ring Keeper by A. J. Park commences with a terrifying pursuit as Ana must escape the Shekkar demons. Accompanied by Dane and Zarek, she sets off for the safety of the warding surrounding Sarine. The journey is terrifying and tragic as Dane is killed....

The Greatest Treasure by Anne Lacourrege and Joshua Wichterich is a children’s action story. Lily lives in an apartment in a house owned by her grandmother. The house was old and Lily is intrigued by a door that is never opened. She’s disappointed when...

Rachel E. Croxton’s The Dark Prince of Lazera transports readers to the enchanting world of Zormonia, where Simina, a poor girl from the village of Lazera, finds solace in the pages of her beloved books. Simina’s favorite tales of fairy tales and romance offer her...

"When you do something, things are so that you would not have done them any other way." And more importantly, when you do something, it often cannot be undone. That's life; a series of choices. The Girl From Jersey City by Zan A. Austin is...

Pookie was different. She was a blue penguin and all of her friends were black penguins. Her mother tried to explain to her that she was a special penguin but Pookie just felt different. Some of the other penguins teased her. Pookie felt like she...

Eight year old Allie was swept away during a flash flood. The spunky little girl kept her head by remembering things her grandfather had told her. She thought through her situation and kept her head. "Clear headed action" was what he always said. Plan A...

After realizing a Bundlebob was in Chris’ closet, the Hellandback parents decided it was time to send their 4 children to Scotland for the summer; they would be staying with their 83 year old great-grandmother in a large building that used to be a hospital....

This book is definitely intended for little girls, with the use of colors like pink, purple, yellow, and light green looming out from the cover illustrations. The illustrator, Julie Ross, created a dreamy image of a little girl lost in imagination. Each image matches the...

'The Colors of Myself' by Dr. Karen Hutchins Pirnot is written in poetry prose form of illustrations of a four-year-old child in which his illustrations are painted to represent the thoughts in his mind. The words relate to the child's feelings during the time he...

When you think of a singing nun, visions come to mind of a habit-clad woman dancing in a field of wildflowers on a hill, spinning happily with palms up, belting out a healthy hymn. But the story of the singing nun is anything but that...

This is another book in 'Karen Pirnot's Ordinary Kids' series which is aimed at pre-teen kids. The main characters in these stories face hurdles. Crighton, an energetic, friendly, popular kid who lives for sports, is diagnosed with leukaemia. Suddenly his life becomes completely different. He...

Alexander Rigby tells the story about a man’s redemption from his own regrets in "The Second Chances of Priam Wood". Seventy year old Priam Wood had died, but the afterlife wasn't something he had expected at all. Chloe, his Golden Retriever that died several days...

“The Victorian House” by Dr. Karen Pirnot is a story that will tug at the heart strings of readers bringing both tears and smiles. Twelve year old Silky and Sly were visiting Sly’s grandparents for the summer when they decided to explore the old Victorian...

Inspired by true events and stories passed down from his father, D.A. Chadwick’s The Chimera Project is a most interesting read. Hunter Brodie gave new meaning to “down-on-your-luck”. He was dealing with it all: a college dropout, divorcee, child support, overdue car payments, rent and...