“The goal is to become intoxicated with life. The tool is the heart. The medium is words.” Writing, as Dr. Patricia Daly-Lipe illustrates time and again in her book Myth, Magic, and Metaphor: A Journey into the Heart of Creativity, is a combination of intuition,...

Game-Day Youth: Learning Football’s Lingo by Suzy Beamer Bohnert, with the help of simple text, clear illustrations of the field and its markings, drawings of where the players play on the field, and pictures of the official’s signals, explains the questions of playing football, the...

Rafie the Rattlesnake, Come Home by Nan C. Cataldi is not only an interesting story about Rafie the rattlesnake, but is also educational and informative to young readers. Rafie loves adventure and one day he decides to go farther from home. Mrs. Rattlesnake reminds her...

Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead by Christian Picciolini chronicles the author’s experiences growing up in Blue Island, a working class neighborhood in Chicago during the 1980s-1990s. Christian’s life as the son of first generation Italian immigrants is difficult, and he often finds himself...

In Blackwood Crossing, the second volume of the British Agent Novels, the reader will find themselves on an absolute thrill ride of a mystery, a ride they won't want to get off! Author MK McClintock has done a fabulous job in writing a fantastic romance,...

The Crossings by Barry Kienzle is a delightful coming of age story that follows young George “Georgie” Martin as he hops on a freight train from his home near Cincinnati, Ohio, determined to experience the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. Georgie, once an innocent...

Lee Jordan has come up with an interesting story in One Creepy Street: The Spider on the Web to teach children about the dangers of child predators on the Internet. Jordan uses an adorable young teenage girl as the main character. Creating a humorously spooky...

The Kaleidoscope is a work of suspense and intrigue by author BK Nault. Mixing genres between speculative and science fiction, the plot centers on the kaleidoscope of the book’s title, a powerful device which is able to produce life-altering visions of the future when any...

In Jon Reisfeld’s The Reform Artists, Martin Silkwood has found himself in dire straits. His wife Katie has up and left their home in Maryland, taking with her the kids and even the family dog. Martin has no clue where his wife is or why...

Wow! I just finished reading Lori Crane’s excellent book, John Culpepper: The Merchant, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. The second book in the John Culpepper series, this book is a sweeping historical drama following the titular John Culpepper in a time when he fears...

Open Ticket by Rebecca Clements revolves around two friends, Eva McKinley and Roz. Eva has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and she also wants to break free from her unfaithful husband and go to Prague to learn more about her roots. Both the women...

Through A Daughter's Eyes: Forty-Nine Years as Her Child; Forty-Nine Days as Her Caregiver by Natalie Manns is a heartwarming story about the wisdom, tales and stories about the author's mother, Opal Jean Edmond. The book is a challenging read about a mother-daughter relationship which...

Bumpa and The Piggies: The Neighbors Next Door (Volume 1) by Mike DeWald is an enchanting storybook that has some wonderful characters and a good message for young readers. Bumpa is excited by the fact that he is going to meet his granddaughters today. He...

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store (Gracie's Mysteries--Super Spy Series Book 1) introduces readers to ten-year-old Graceanne Faith (Gracie). She is a ten-year-old girl who loves to solve mysteries, even going so far as to investigate around her apartment complex every Saturday. While she has...

Beneath Windom Castle: A Tale of Bopping Zombies is a preteen story by JoAnn Flammer. Princess Tai, Noah, Reggie, Willie and Ariel spend the day at an amusement park in Windom, but armed soldiers arrive in trucks and abduct most of the children at the...

Tattie Maggard writes an intriguing tale in The Sixpence. Addie is sixteen years old, a teenager longing for love and a hopeful future. On the way home from a study date, she has a car accident, barely making it out alive. As a result, Addie...

A graduation trip to New Orleans for Bailey and Zoe turns into a disaster for heroine Bailey in this novel. After a long night of partying, Bailey becomes suspicious about the staff at her hotel when no one answers the telephone for room service. Suffering...

Life can be hard, especially in impoverished areas, and that is exactly what Daniel Friend experienced as a child. Promises of Love by David Selby follows the sorrows and successes of Daniel from the death of his young mother from a botched abortion to his...

America’s Got Talent Winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr: From Washing Cars to Hollywood Star by Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. and Rick Robinson is a story about the 2011 AGT winner’s humble beginnings, success and his new life as a singer. I followed AGT almost devotedly...

Hard Days Hard Nights by Patrick J. DiCesare is the story of the birth of the rock ’n roll concert business in Pittsburgh. The book begins with Pat's rather humble beginnings, migrating from Italy in 1920, and dwells on his childhood, earning nickels by delivering...