The Boy in the Balloon: The Tiger and the Pocket Watch by Katie York Eroe centers on Jesse, a nine-year-old boy living with his inventor parents in a flying hot-air balloon house. Jesse’s life is already unusual, shaped by constant travel and curiosity-driven learning, but...

Iysh by Greg Price begins with Leo Butlion, a medical student in 1940s Koblenz, when the German state turns its full attention to Jewish families. After a narrow escape from deportation, he survives by passing as a non-combatant inside the German military, using medical training...

In Forgotten Secrets of the Tuscarora Eye by D. L. Bush, Hannah's school assignment collides with questions about her family history, following her from Pinewood Elementary to her late great-aunt Buggy’s house in North Carolina. While staying there with Chan and Aimee, Hannah uncovers a...

Chats with a Charlatan by Chris Wilkensen follows Kevin Davis, a therapist in Chicago whose life, both at work and at home, is falling apart. Kevin uses unorthodox methods in his sessions, sometimes giving his patients alcohol and marijuana in an attempt to break down...

For musicians interested in performing on cruises, Notes that Float: The Ultimate Musician’s Guide To Getting Paid To Play On Cruise Ships by Nancy Soulé is a complete guide to preparing for the experience. As a musician, I view this book as an extremely practical...

The Everling and the Acid King is the first book in The Everling Series by J. Christie. As a baby, Chezzy was teleported by Winnifred Baker through dimension after dimension. Baker was desperately searching for a safe place for him. Chezzy was raised in a...

CeCe the CEO Starts a Lemonade Stand by Nathan and Heather Pease is an engaging children's picture book that follows CeCe, a determined young girl with a lovely business idea. CeCe loves all kinds of lemonade, especially lemony-lemon lemonade. One day, she decides to share her...

The Aspirants by J. Loretta takes a look at a near-future where politics and reality TV have merged with the concept of assisted dying. The story starts right in the middle of a livestream called “That’s EnterAttainment!”, where terminally ill people—dubbed "Aspirants"—turn their final moments...

Yellow Boot Gets Stuck in the Mud by J. Loretta follows a bright yellow boot that comes off Right Foot during a rainy run along a muddy path. Right Boot is left behind while a little girl, pulled along by her dog, keeps running home...

Biblical Evolution: Reconciling Science and the Bible by Bill Thormodson is a fascinating book that seeks to reconcile the Bible and science from the standpoint of a lay enthusiast. The author discusses the origins of the universe and Earth, comparing passages from Genesis with scientific...

The Kinetix and the Glowing Orb of Gorthon by Austin Basis, Dave Maulbeck, and Josh Taub is an entertaining and original graphic novel. Four middle school students never dreamed that they would one day become superheroes who would end up saving the school. And ultimately,...

In Linda Maria Frank and JoAnn Vergona Krapp’s The Monster Bones of St. Frederick Island, Douglas Crawford travels to coastal Maine with his parents, his sister Janet, and his friend Wesley for a summer vacation that changes course after Douglas learns about a large skeleton...

Bastard Soldier: Earnest Medic by Michael Plotkowski follows Joe, a regular young man who joins the U.S. Army after a minor run-in with the law leaves him with few good options. What begins as an attempt to dodge trouble turns into long years of training,...

The Purple Pill: How to Balance Success in a Divided World presents Kiani Mills’s account of realizing that her life was shaped by learned patterns absorbed long before she could evaluate them. She describes how early conditioning guided her toward functioning efficiently in social and...

One Fall by Joe Maldonado tells the story of Cabeza Loco, a famous luchador who dies during a big championship match, something everyone at first believes was just a tragic accident in the ring. Mercedes Perez, a wrestling journalist, witnesses the match and notices details...

The complexity and the different personalities of human beings show that not everybody takes the same route. Not everyone has the same level of ambition or zeal to change the world. Others are comfortable being the silent heroes. That is the image Kate Benson tries...

Santa Skips Christmas!?! is a children’s picture book written by Michelle Luise Walters with illustrations by Natalie Merheb. For many years, Santa has spread joy and cheer around the world. Every Christmas Eve, he waves goodbye to Mrs. Claus and flies his sleigh, giving gifts...

A Work in Attraction by K.A. Ross follows Nellie, a twenty-four-year-old widow who works as a temp manuscript reader at Writers World Publishing. She hopes to turn her temporary role into a junior agent position, but faces stiff competition from Tonya, whom she dubs “Villain.”...

Nothing could have prepared the Ollivaros siblings—Nachton, Amelie, Cecilie, and Ewan—for what awaited them at an Atlanta airport they were rushing to as they were late for their flight. Amid the chaos of a hasty check-in, the four siblings lose their parents and unknowingly enter...

Loner-Style Justice, a novella by Mike Marsbergen in the style of screwball comedy, hits all the right spots in delivering a great story. Joseph Tugger is an unusually big but gentle guy whose mission in life is to solve problems, especially the ones where he...