The fascinating novella The Forbidden Customs of Africa by Mubanga Chipalo recounts the experiences of Andrew and Mary Hamazila and their son John, blinded by smallpox, during three decades of British colonial rule in Zambia. As Andrew and Mary come to terms with their son...

The Dinosaur's New Shoes (Teddy T-Rex) by James S. Martinez is a delightfully uplifting storybook for children. The hero in this story is Teddy T-Rex, a young dinosaur who is excited about going to school. He wants to show off his new shoes to his...

In The Torch Singer by J. William Penn, screenwriter Lawrence Ross is best known for “Torch,” a very violent police drama, but longs to be recognized for his more serious work, such as his PBS documentary about President Eisenhower’s early years. Then, a director taps...

Ninth grade means new beginnings but the mystery that surrounds Pemota Regional High School signifies something much deeper. Rey Naresh, the main character in The Avocadonine and Spring Stone by Patrick Barnes, hasn’t really fitted in, although he has a few friends. Instead of remaining...

Ray Porter is just your average guy. Hard worker, handsome military veteran, on his way home for a weekend break from his minimum salary job. Knowing that he probably made a poor decision to indulge in a few Friday night drinks before hitting the road,...

Jiggles is a very unusual little pig. This is quite a concern for his parents. While Mom, Dad and Jiggles' siblings all frolic in the mud to stay cool, Jiggles wants to run to the river to get clean. He refuses to play with everyone...

AJ Krafton and Ash Krafton's The Heartbeat Thief was not at all the book I expected. Now, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. In this case, it was a very good thing. It is a story of the greatest of loves,...

A baby owl is born and, like all newborns, this baby is very hungry. However, this baby owl, Ollie, never seems to outgrow his hunger and as he grows he eats more and more. His parents have a difficult time keeping up with the baby's...

I absolutely loved The Ant Who Can't - La Hormiga Que No Puede by A.M. Vela and Mary Esparza-Vela. The story is about an ant named Frita who is not very good at carrying food for her colony. One day when Frita’s colony is attacked...

The Path to Job Search Success by Tom Payne begins with an interesting observation that humans are psychologically wired to move in the wrong direction down the job-search path. Tom Payne therefore emphasizes the need to be well prepared with the correct approach at all...

The Bracelet by Todd W. Cheney has Michael Alex, an expert mechanic, receiving a package which contains a bracelet that can grant any wish. Not very convinced about its ability, and to check this, the first wish he makes is for a colleague to have...

The Awakening by Sameer Ram is about bringing about transformation within individuals. All the instructions to form the technique for effecting this, as the author mentions, were received the form of dreams. The technique is divided into three distinct phases – Cleansing, Internal Transformation, and...

The Treacherous Wheels: An Oliver DeVille Short Story by Vetle Sivertsen centers on Oliver DeVille, an expert in religious extremism. He and his colleagues are enjoying their relaxing team-building event in the Belgian countryside when a radical right-wing French politician is brutally murdered at the...

The Grand Adventures of Henry Little by Greg Evans is a clever children's science fiction story. Henry Little flies to a magical realm called Ytilaernu using a vacuum cleaner he finds in the closet. Apparently, traveling through space is done quite regularly as long as...

In The NEAR by L.A. Jones, Detective Kirt Edo is haunted by the long ago disappearance of his older brother. Fortunately the failure to solve his brother’s disappearance does not prevent him from being a good cop. When the discovery of a dead woman in...

The Smelly Pirate is a children’s adventure by Amanda Bannikov. Knight Kimothin and Tippy the Dragon live in the lovely Kingdom of Smesselleo, but wish they could go on an exciting adventure. Tippy wants to travel to the jungle and meet a monkey because he...

The Productive Academic Writer: An Easy-To-Read Guide To Low-Stress Prolific Writing is a useful guide which addresses academic writing, an important issue of academics who are affected by a range of factors. In this book, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan asserts that although productive writing is key to...

The Transition by RJ Tomlin is a young adult science fiction story that crosses the line into dystopia that will appeal to both sets of readers. Rume lives in a community where he must wait until his 18th birthday to meet his parents. When...

The Last Princess of Meigen by Rachel A. James is a historical romance. Princess Alena was not of royal birth, and her father-in-law believed she'd bewitched his son into marriage. She had married the prince for love alone, and after he had died, she was...

Although distressing, painful and despairing, Amita Trasi's writing portrays the resilient power of hope and the unbreakable bond of friendship in The Color of Our Sky: A Novel Set in India. Two young girls, with very different backgrounds and personalities, form an everlasting alliance. Mukta,...