Fear of the Tide: The Untold Story of a Cuban Rebel by Analise M. Oliver is a riveting biography that follows the life of one of Cuba’s rebels, David Fuentes Martinez. When he bought a train ticket from his native, underdeveloped rural Las Matinas to...

The Accidental Ambassador: Or Plan B by D A Barr is a mesmerizing mixture of fantasy with science fiction. From dragons to advanced technology, The Accidental Ambassador made for an interesting novel to read. Our story began with Douglas, a young guy whose only worries...

Teggie Wants a Hippo for Christmas by Claudette Melanson is a delightful picture book for young children. It’s a charming story about Teggie the bunny who decides he wants a hippo for “Chrissamas” and does what he can to bring it to his mom’s attention....

I chose to read For No Reason by Kathleen Gauer because my daughter has had a similar problem to Jamie’s with a boy in her class. In the book Jamie is being bullied by the new kid. Jamie wants the bullying to stop, but she...

Cinderella-ish: Razzle My Dazzle, Book 1 is a contemporary romantic comedy written by Joslyn Westbrook. Daniella Belle had been designing clothing since she was a little girl living unloved and lonely in a foster home. As she grew older, her focus narrowed in on women’s...

The concise, articulate, and profoundly thoughtful articles included in the far-too-short collection titled Arising Here, Now by Nejoud Al-Yagout are reminiscent of those pamphleteering calls to justice prevalent in pre-revolutionary times. In turn, however, these particularly clear-thinking critiques and observations directed specifically to the author’s...

The Secret Witch by Jeff Severcool is a dark, Gothic tale about attaining freedom, even as you pass through the fires of hatred. Verity is a young woman who lives in Salem during the witch hunts. She and her adopted sister, Hope, decide to get...

If you’ve ever wondered what the adjectives “rip-snorting” or “humdinger” mean, pick up The Chaos of Change by J.T. Riggen and you’ll know. Talk about an intense, fast-paced, often complicated, yet understandable political thriller! But be prepared to come away with a sense of chaotic...

Mona Lisa's Ghost: Lucy Nightingale, Book 2 is a science fiction and fantasy novel for children and preteens written by Nancy Kunhardt Lodge. Who stole the Mona Lisa from its secure location in the Louvre, leaving no traces of the theft? Lucy Nightingale and her...

Gnorton’s Easter Adventure is a children’s picture book written by Meri-le Collum and illustrated by Penny Weber. Easter is one of Gnorton the Gnome’s favorite holidays and he wants to contribute to making eggs for the children. Unfortunately, none of his friends seems to know...

Sail Cowabunga! A Family's Ten Years at Sea is a nonfiction travel memoir written by Janis Couvreux. Couvreux had inherited a taste for adventure from her dad, who would regale the family with his tales about life as a student in Switzerland after serving in...

The Gift by L. Kay Adams is the story of Lucille Barby and her childhood rebellion. The account begins with her birth, which proves from the very start that Lucille was a tenacious child when she tried to come out feet first. Throughout her life,...

Water Monsters South of the Border by Denver Michaels dives into the fascinating field of Cryptozoology by examining the folklore and myths surrounding lake monsters in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Mexico. Various reported sightings, theories, and all the possibilities behind these supposed...

People Are Seeing Something: A Survey of Lake Monsters in the United States and Canada by Denver Michaels depicts reported sightings from the Oklahoma Octopus to the Ogopogo in Canada. Michaels details the history and mythology of the lake monsters that have haunted people for...

After a car wreck, a young college student wakes up inside a shabby clinic within a strange city in the fascinating urban fantasy, Caligation by Brhi Stokes. After wasting several years in college, Ripley decides to stop drifting and start living. Discarding everything in his...

Life for the early settlers in Nova Scotia wasn’t easy. But neither had it been easy in the homeland, in Ireland. Ira Stewart, a blacksmith by trade, brought his wife, Merry, and family to the New World in the hopes of a better life. When...

The little girl loves her pink rowboat. She rows herself out into the ocean, to the beach and along the shoreline. She loves to be out on the water, but she doesn’t like the idea of being in the water. She’s scared. She’s afraid of...

In the scintillating supernatural mystery, Eye of the Moon by Ivan Obolensky, two young men battle family discord and the forces of the occult. Percy's parents had no place for him in their busy lives and left him with their close friends, the Dodges. Percy...

Amy: The History Of A Coram Foundling is written by Angie Northey. Amy began life as an orphan in the Coram Foundling Hospital, where she received very little love, but was given a lot of rules and regulations to follow. Amy always tried her...

Restless Earth by John Dolan brings together four men who, it seems, have little or nothing in common, but somehow they are all inextricably linked. An embittered, sick old man, Jedediah Reichenbach is just looking for revenge against his nemesis, the amoral and evil businessman...