Sue’s Sky is a children’s book by Lulu Black that teaches children how there are different ways to look at the same thing. When Sue looks up at the sky one day, she sees a beautiful blue sky. However, when she tries to share this...

What the Tiger Said is a gem of literary fiction written by Roger Ladd Memmott. Stress is heavily on the word ‘literary’ in this precise description. Not for any false pretensions of affected literariness, but because this short novel, told with the impetus and in-the-moment...

Tip & Lulu: A Tale of Two Friends is a delightful children’s picture book written and illustrated by Lauren Isabelle Pierre. When Lulu, a baby leopard, tries to make friends with the other baby animals on the savannah plains, she does not understand why they...

Waking Up at the Gates by Thom Kudla is a reflective and poetic exploration of life’s nuances. The book examines the complexities of existence, relationships, and self-discovery through essays and meditations. It is organized into thematic sections, including “Working,” “Living,” “Loving,” “Writing,” “Thinking,” “Being,” and...

Beneath the Swamp’s Shadow is a moving historical novel by Lumbee author Kelvin Ray Oxendine. It is an evocative revisiting of the thrilling events that led up to the Battle of Hayes Pond in 1958, between the Lumbee/ Tuscarora Native American communities and the Ku...

High Feathers by Chancie B. Davis is a delightful children’s book that radiates joy and laughter, capturing the adventures of Lulu Duck, a character whose infectious enthusiasm and unique greetings make her unforgettable. Lulu’s trademark “High Feathers!” greeting not only spreads cheer but also celebrates...

Jodie Broom: The Book of the Rose is book two in Julie Hodgson’s children’s and preteen fantasy/science fiction series, with illustrations by Alexandre Vieira. Jodie keeps on revisiting the past, trying to see if she can somehow manipulate time to avert the crash that put...

The Long Way Home is the third installment in the True Tales of a Traveller series by Alix Lee. Described as a non-fictional work on the author’s travels in the early 1980s in Europe, its focus on relationships and romance reads like a memoir. Alix...

Extracts From Noah's Diary by Martin Bodek is a different take on the story of the Flood and Noah's famed involvement. And it also tells a fair bit about what happened after the Flood. The difference to other Noah stories is that this one is...

Kovu: PT. 1 by Kenneth Fultz Jr. is a young adult fantasy that is an anime style novel and comes with over 10 manga style illustrations. Kovu, a prince of 18, wants to make himself king by overthrowing his father, a cruel man who...

When Daisies and Thunderstorms Collide by Isabel Scheck is a book of poetic fiction that tells the story of a daisy being swept up into a thunderstorm. Told in a chronological compilation of free-form versed poetry, the plot offers an analogy of a fragile young...

My Dreamland by Isabel Scheck takes you into the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl. It shows you her dreams, her wants, her idea of a perfect boyfriend, and it is all told through poetry and the four seasons that circle around in our...

When I read poetry, there’s always something that stands out above all else. Even poetry about romance and love has some element of surprise that captures my soul and my imagination. I am always fascinated with how poets use or describe eyes. The eyes are...

David Sanders is a force to be reckoned with. Though the society he works in sees him as just another piece of the machine, the people he lives among see him for what he is, a hero. They, more than anyone else, understand what David...

Immaculate Conceptions by S.E. Sward is a story of hope and heartbreak. Teddy, Maggie, Kelly, and Liv are all women who are desperate to have children but for whom time is ticking away. They meet on a website for wannabe mums to talk about infertility...

Voices is an intriguing novel written by Roger Ladd Memmott. Kala Westergaard was orphaned as a young child and raised by her grandmother and aunt. The novel starts with Kala and her boyfriend, Tommy, out driving late at night. They encounter a deer on the...

First friends, first loves, childhood secrets, love, passion, loss of innocence, guilt, betrayal. Angels and demons. Choices and agency. Loss and grief. These themes are all woven intricately into the plot of Heaven’s Way by Roger Ladd Memmott. The narrator is Danny, and we see...

What My Brain Told Me by Thom Kudla is an introspective and emotionally rich collection of autobiographical essays, poetic reflections, and short stories chronicling the author's coming-of-age journey through family, friendship, love, loss, and self-discovery. With both tenderness and biting wit, Kudla explores the depths...

Thomas Kudla’s poetry is fresh, inventive, playful, wise, insightful, musical, revealing (in the particular way that only simple questions, simply asked, can be), and always engaging. In Commencement, Kudla leads his reader through an abecedary of poetic observations, followed by similar riffs based on numbers,...

“I wish they had told me / when I was a kid / that my allowance wouldn't buy me / a sustainable smile.” (p.16) If there is one poetry book you should read in your whole lifetime, it is How I Am Different by Thom Kudla,...