Camila’s parents had left Guatemala for the USA in hopes of providing a better future for their daughter. After arriving in the USA, a woman called Jennifer helped them with the paperwork and to find shelter. She becomes not just their caseworker but a close...

Youth Truth: Engaging In Conversations That Can Change Lives by Carlamay Sheremata is a nonfiction parenting book rooted in real encounters between adults and young people navigating complex emotional terrain. Drawing on her experiences as a school resource officer, Sheremata shares a series of true...

In Ari Magnusson's Knights Without Ceremony: Insurrection, Gorum is just coming out of war, and the kingdom’s peace is shaky and uncertain. The king allows boys from all classes to train as knights, which is a new decree. Ettan, a poor thirteen-year-old who looks after...

A Tale of Paris and Paris by Edmond Thornfield is set in fifteenth-century Cortona, where Lorenzo di Ranieri returns from Florence to a city under ecclesiastical scrutiny. Quiet warnings reach him that the Inquisition is preparing accusations meant to divide households and strip the town...

In The Basement Angel by LeeAnn McChristian, a sixty-three-year-old widower in North Texas robs a small town bank after financial strain and years of isolation following the deaths of his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Amanda Joy. Fleeing the police, he hides in the basement workshop...

Frayed Edges by Kahlani B. Steele is a poetry collection that traces emotional, environmental, and relational moments through observation and quiet reflection. Many poems center on small, telling moments, such as a visit to a grandparent’s home, a solitary walk, or the stillness after rain,...

Verse by Verse: A Daily Devotional Through the Whole Bible, Volume 1 by Benjamin McGreevy is a meticulously delivered verse-by-verse examination of the Bible, starting with the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. This is the first volume in what the author intends to...

The Other Shoes of Larry Martin by Pavane Ravel follows Larry Martin, a young reporter in Atlanta whose employment and housing collapse in quick succession after dismissal from his work with an extremist website. After eviction, he moves through the city and nearby towns,...

Boudicca’s Knife by Steven James Foreman is a fascinating fantasy. The narrative follows the “life” of a Celtic dagger for a thousand years, its blade variously a knife, a family heirloom, and a ceremonial sword, but always the harbinger of death. A great deal of...

Therein Lies the Pearl by Catherine Hughes is one of those historical novels that I devour with great pleasure. Set in Normandy and England in the eleventh century, in the years leading up to the Norman Conquest in 1066, it focuses not so much on...

Queen Bea by Scott Evan Davis is a comical and educational picture book for children. One day, a bee called Bea wakes up to find herself surrounded by hundreds of other bees. She’s confused as they all shout, “It’s the new queen!” She couldn’t believe...

Dragons of Janaidar and Elijah is book one in author Robert Dean Holland’s science fiction fantasy Stolen Man series. Set on planet Janaidar, Adept Alahna breaks sacred law after confirming a coastal, intergalactic slaving operation that the Huan Long Shui Sisteren governing council refuses to...

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 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...

Ballot by Dan Mulvagh is a powerful anti-war novel that follows the exploits of four Australian servicemen (Diggers) called up to serve in the Vietnam War. Mitch Masters' career in motorcycle speedway racing is derailed by a call-up in the 1969 Australian draft ballot. Three...

Rough Diamond Rough Justice by Avien Gray is an enthralling crime thriller. We are transported to England of the 1990s and meet two friends – Cain and Jerry. Jerry is a police officer with the Royal Protection Team. Cain is with MI5’s investigative surveillance team....

The Day It Matters by Troy Patoine follows Thomas Atherton, a retired runner, on a fateful morning when he finds himself in an unexpected rupture in time. As the miles accumulate in a sustained run, moments from Tom’s life surface through motion and dialogue, shaped...

In Thomas and the Magic Violin by Tuula Pere, a young boy is determined to get a difficult composition for his school’s concert just right. While his friends are outside, Thomas is practicing inside with the windows open, worried that his neighbors are tired of...

As Shakespeare once wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” and that’s exactly what the young children in The Leading Role by Tuula Pere are eager to do. It begins one day when a young girl, Emma, discovers...