Sometimes, a superbly written and impeccably researched book is like a relationship: the more you invest, the more you get out of the experience. Instigators of the Apocalypse by Kevin Timothy O’Kane is a challenging, educational, and infinitely fascinating treatise that reads like the offspring...

Two young boys were playing on the wharf in Toronto Harbour just a few days before the end of Christmas break. It started out as a normal day, but all that quickly changed when they spotted something on the nearby beach. Their discovery was the...

Christopher Dragon Goes to the Beach is Book Three in Mary Kagan Draper's children's first fantasy series, The Tales of Christopher Dragon. It's illustrated by Patti Brassard Jefferson. Christopher is a dragon who once lived in a time and place when there were castles and...

A Well Gnome Fact by Mrs. April Grosse spins the tale of a young boy named Oliver and the mysterious bed inhabited by Gnomes that he inherits from his grandfather. Oliver is a kind and thoughtful 10-year-old, but cannot bear to part with anything. He...

Lucy and Madhouse Canteen by Heiki Vilep is a charming story for children. The stories that revolve around Lucy, Madeline and Tim take readers through interesting experiences, places and happenings. Each story has its own charm and whether it is the story of the 'Madhouse...

A Butterfly in Philadelphia is a contemporary fiction novel written by Bruce Hartman. Spencer Casey lives with his Aunt Lorraine, who's raised him since he was a child, and his cousin, Shawn, who's torn between being a rapper and a minister when he grows up....

What Makes It Worthy by David Paul Kuhn is a fictional story about political campaigns and the role played by the media. Two candidates, each worthy in their own right, race for the highest office in America. Both candidates have their strengths and skeletons and...

Your Healthiest Life Now by DeJarra Sims, as the author says, is not just another diet book; it is more about how to prevent becoming unhealthy in the first place. It discusses prevention of a large variety of problems including heart disease, looks at the...

Shalako Rides: The Journey Begins by Brian Chute is a story set in 2055 in the USA. With the collapse of the union, many groups of states have joined together to form local collaborations. With the complete disruption of air travel, and the only communication...

Ernest Dingle: The Mystery of the Princes in the Tower by David Tully is a wonderful tale about the adventures of Ernest Dingle. On the outside he appears to be your average eleven-year-old boy who loves adventure, but with one exception: he has been able...

Dog on Stilts by James Thorp is about Medium Dog, who is just ordinary and does not stand out in any way. He wants to be noticed in a world filled with wonderful dogs of every shape and color. One day he comes out on...

Part fantasy, part adventure, part mystery, Hideaway by Gregory Pshide is, quite simply, one of the finest, best written, most engaging and utterly beguiling tales for young readers to come along in many years. Five orphaned children, each with a special ability he or she...

Flexible Wings is a novel for preteens written by Veda Stamps. Eleven-year-old Summer Stevenson is not terribly happy with the upcoming move her family is making. This is simply the most recent one in a succession of moves necessitated by her mom and dad being...

Butterfly's Big Adventure by RyAnn Hall is a delightful storybook about Kayleigh who goes on a big adventure to see all the places her mother has told her about in her bedtime stories. Kayleigh flies away to the North where she sees the mountains. When...

Immune from Nothing I Can Think of by James F. Vickery is the poetic equivalent of the transformation that happens when a gifted architect applies his art to a grand old home with ‘good bones.’ Throughout this expertly crafted collection of 49 poems, mythological references,...

Lead with Mercy: The Business Case for Compassion by Robert Goodson is an excellent book based on the importance of compassionate leadership in the workplace. I found the book insightful, well substantiated and interesting to read. Goodson expands the word mercy as an acronym which...

There is an aching fragility - an heart-rending honesty - in the poetic voice of an adolescent that has never been equaled or even approximated in the history of the written word. Through the exacting lens of a tween-ager or teenager’s perspective, the world is...

The Bloody Shoe Affair: A Daring and Thrilling Adventure with the Jailer's Daughter is a young adult mystery written by Joy York. Christi and her family are on their way to Roselyn, Mississippi, to celebrate her grandparents' fiftieth anniversary. While the rest of the family...

Kinchi's Way by Wendy Taylor is the story of the Great Monkey King who was unhappy in spite of having everything. He asks everyone in the Palace if they are happy and he does everything they do to find happiness. But he is still unhappy....

The Cortlandt Boys by Laura Vanderkam is set in a small town in Pennsylvania. In 1994, the boys’ basketball team, the Cortlandt Cavaliers, wins the state championship thanks to a last-second three-point shot. The focus of the book is the effect of this win on...