Half Past Monday by M. Erpenbeck revolves around Dr Dominic Rivera and his wife, Clarissa, and their little daughter, Savannah. Clarissa had worked as a part-time physician at a local health-care facility prior to becoming a mother. She ran the house with detailed precision and...

The Four Deadly Horsemen: Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, and Fear by Brandt Schubbe is a collection of poems that are, curiously, grouped thematically under different sentiments and moods. In these poems, the author explores different emotions of life, including terror, bewilderment, frustration, and fear. These emotions...

In the third book of the Hidden Earth series, Planet Water: Draugar of the Abyss by Janet Beasley, readers are taken along with Arrowanna who has been entrusted by the SUL to officially become The Carrier for the elemental piece, Planet Water. Her journey is...

Imagine, for a moment, an America that has turned inward, disrespected and disregarded the wishes and feelings of the rest of the world (not too hard to do in these times really). This is the premise of Pete Conrad’s novel Survival of the Sparrows. A...

The Free Spirit of Virtue: Sometimes College is a Fight for Survival by Carlos Aguila is a beautiful story that will most certainly resonate with readers who have been to college, an unconventional coming-of-age tale with compelling characters and interesting episodes, and well-written scenes. Meet...

In Undercover Princess by Lenora Worth, Ellie returns to her roots to save her father and her legacy, the Castle Department Store, from ruin. Her plan is met with a hiccup when shoe designer Nico Lamon chooses her to represent his new line of shoes....

Deseré: A Love Story of the American South is written by Maria McKenzie. When Deseré’s kindly owner, Jeremy, dies after a fall from his horse, Deseré’s dreams of marrying William, a slave from a neighboring plantation, are ended by her new owner, a Northerner and...

Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of the Missing Heiress is a sleuthing adventure novel for preteens and young adults written by Carrie Cross. The first day of a new school semester always made Skylar a bit nervous, but this one, the spring semester of her seventh...

Jory, the female protagonist of A Thousand Faces by Janci Patterson, is special: she has grown up in a shapeshifter family, which means that her parents, as well as Jory herself, have the ability to morph their body into someone else's. Her parents, like many...

City of Zeph: A Philosophical Journey is an urban fantasy novella written by Robert Harrison Woolston. Zephaniah felt as though he had been jolted by lightning when he first beheld the New York City skyline with all its skyscrapers reaching up to heaven, slender bridges...

Let’s Be Friends by S.K. Cromwell is an animal storybook for children. Hortense the Horse was walking along a trail when she noticed Natalie the Woodmouse had a limp and offered to take her home. The two quickly became friends. Carlyle the Cow was grazing...

Writing a children’s book is a lot more difficult than one would think. There are many different kinds of children’s books, from board books, picture books, early chapter books to Middle Grade novels. The writing is just one part of the equation. Should the author...

Baby Boy, Little King, written for young children, is a delightful rendition of the Christmas story. Written by Jim Hargrove and illustrated by Jamie Cosley, Baby Boy, Little King details the first Christmas in an enchanting way. By the author using rhyming text, young children...

One of the strongest points of The Starlight Club 9: Una Morte Facile (An Easy Death) by Joe Corso is the plot, which is so skillfully done that the reader can’t help but keep turning the pages and feeling for the characters, guessing what could...

America is a land of hope and of freedom, but also a land of contradictions and distrust. With so much to live for and so much to lose, what better way to understand than to put it into a poem? By looking at the good...

Time Flies is the second book in a spellbinding series, Ferdie and the Seven by Larry Buenafe, a beautiful mix of coming of age, young adult fantasy and sci-fi. We follow Ferdie and his friends, Marsh Dog, Ling, Rafael and Gabriella, on a perilous adventure...

Prancing Around With Sleeping Beauty: A Storybook Valley Sweet Romantic Comedy by Stacy Juba had me by the title. I’m a Disney princess fanatic (and I have the Halloween costumes to prove it, and not just as a little girl) so I was looking forward...

The Liberal Ethos by Lawrence Eubank is a book that features essays on the liberal conundrum, with the aim of understanding the core values of liberals, their “ethos” and belief system. In this book, the author attempts to unveil the unifying, coherent principle that guides...

Magdalena Gottschalk: The Slippery Slope is an action and adventure fantasy story for preteens written by M. Gail Grant. Magdalena was finally feeling healed after her extraordinary adventures that fall. Just sitting in the park watching as the Christmas season unfolded around her and wrapped...

Catch That Chinchilla is an educational tale from the Talking Tales series for children, and is both written and illustrated by Erica Graham. Fletch and his sister, Rachael, receive a new pet chinchilla from their father, but against his wishes, they unlock the cage...