The One That Got Away and other short stories

Written by Margaret Lynette Sharp

Three short and charming stories set in Australia. In the first containing the book’s title, Amanda writes to her sister Sonya from overseas about the love of her life, Thomas, a fisherman who has literally just “got away.” This story is poignant, yet contains humor and an optimistic bent. In the second story, a grandmother struggles with a change of fortunes and the realization that she will have to sell the piano that has given her granddaughter such pleasure. Grandma’s daughter, Angela seems cold and indifferent to her dilemma. The last story brings Caroline back to the beach where she met her true love twenty five years ago. She meets Barry, a young artist, and strikes up a conversation. He reminds her of the man she left behind long ago. A surprise ending brings the story full circle.

The author does a good job of developing her characters and creating the mood for each of these short stories. They are a quick and delightful read. Recommended for anyone age ten and older who enjoys clean well-written short stories.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

War on a Sunday Morning (Home-Front Heroes)

Written by Teresa R. Funke

I really enjoyed this narrative told from the point of view of a thirteen-year-old girl whose life changed forever on the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack. Rose is part of a military family recently transferred to Oahu from San Diego, California. She is missing her friends and still adjusting to life in Hawaii. Her father is assigned to the USS Oklahoma. Rose has an older brother, Lee, who constantly harasses her. She is spending the morning sketching the boats in the harbor. After a morning spent with her new neighbor, Leinana, a meeting up with a Japanese classmate, and an evening of music competitions, the stillness of the following Sunday morning, is broken by an aerial attack.

Suddenly, life on the island is shattered. Rose, her family, and neighbors are placed in terror mode. Families wait to hear about their loved ones, the Japanese are rounded up. No one knows whom to trust and communication lines are broken. The author does a wonderful job of portraying the fear, uncertainty, and human suffering, as well as developing the humanity of the individuals that are affected by the tragedy.

I would certainly recommend the book to young adult and adult audiences. The author targets the book for audiences age nine and older. This book would be an excellent choice for homeschooling parents or teachers of World War II history.

If you enjoyed reading this book, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Hands (a short story)

Written by Joe Bunting

This is an interesting short story. Bunting manages to do a fairly good job of developing the plot and characters in just fifteen pages. As the story opens, Jim is an aging musician who plays for senior citizens in a nursing home. The somber mood is set. Jim has lost his true love, several years ago. His son is grown and living away from home. Jim’s memories and music are the only connections that keep him alive.

The setting switches to a restaurant where Jim has dinner with his best friend, his son, and fiancee. There is a brief discussion about politics that in some ways disrupts the main plot. Nevertheless, the author succeeds in writing a deep, thought-provoking piece filled with metaphors and interesting life scenarios.

Recommended for young adult and adult audiences.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Hey Kids, Let’s Visit New York City

Written by Teresa Mills

Mills has written a travel guide that performs a dual purpose. Families who are planning a vacation or move to The Big Apple are provided a comprehensive introduction to the history, culture, and entertainment highlights that will appeal to young visitors and this just under one hundred page book can also serve as a reference for a classroom report on New York City.

Iconic architecture like the Empire State building, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Flatiron Building are featured. Historical landmarks like The Statue of Liberty and Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum are explored and explained. The book features recent additions to the NYC landscape like the 911 Memorial and Museum. Who can forget the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller City? Mills talks about Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock. She takes us on a walk through Central Park and Times Square and reminisces about the history of Broadway and some of its famous productions. The City is a big place and after a day of shopping along Canal Street, one will eventually need to jump on the New York subway and visit Grand Central Station. Visitors to New York City will want to take a tour or eat in one of the many ethnic neighborhoods like Little Italy or Chinatown. Perhaps a trip over the Brooklyn Bridge might entice visitors to try one of the famous Coney Island hot dogs.

Mills has it all covered, the culture, the entertainment, and the history wrapped up in an easy to read guide for middle-grade, young adult and adult members of the family. Highly recommended for any prospective visitor to the Big Apple.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of his page.

To find out more about The State of Liberty and Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum, check out my Little Miss HISTORY book series at http://www.LittleMissHISTORY.com

The Worst Book Ever

Written by Beth Bacon

Illustrated by Jason Grube and Coriander Hale

This book desperately wants to be a bad boy. His goal is to become a banned book in the library. He tries everything to win the librarian’s disapproval. Some of his tactics include using gross words, misspelled words, and made-up words. The book enlists readers to assist him by being loud and doing everything possible to annoy the librarian like flapping arms, wiggling and jumping up and down in their seats. To his dismay, the book makes its way into storytime.

This book is filled with much humor, graphics, and simple illustrations. There are vivid colors, lots of variation in print size, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Bacon playfully encourages her readers to become accomplices in the book’s quest for notoriety.

Bacon targets the book for a kindergarten through grade five audience. Beginning, intermediate and reluctant readers can join in the fun.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Zombie Books for kids: Princess of the Dead (from Cinderella)

Written by Dina T. Seth

Do you like classic fairy tales? Maybe you can’t turn down a good horror story? Not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name of Cinderella. This book is a macabre twist on the fairy tale.

The first scene opens with Cinderella working feverishly tending the home at the edge of the forest. Familiar characters include the wicked stepmother, two ugly stepsisters, fairy godmother and the prince. But in this version the fairy godmother is not the kind-hearted hero, the prince no heroine, and the major players become zombies who are victims of a disease that Cinderella actually initiates. Will Cinderella and the Prince live happily ever after?

This book is cleverly written, though the amount of violence, gore and detail are too probably way too much for elementary school readers. Recommended for middle-school, young adult and adult readers who enjoy fantasy and horror stories.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Readers

Written by Rob Bignell

The author describes his own writing journey and uses his experience to motivate and inspire aspirational writers. As a child, Bignell was plagued by an illness that kept him inside at recess time. Consequently, the books in the library became his good friends. Bignell used the knowledge he found in them as an inspiration to act out and create new scenarios. By the time he reached fifth grade, Bignell had written a freelance article leading to positions on his high school and college newspapers. Soon he was teaching writing in college and setting up his own editing service. Struck by the number of excuses for failure and the lack of confidence he noticed in his writing students and editorial clients.

Bignell set out to find a simple and manageable system to remedy these problems. As a result, he published this book to encourage success as a writer. He offers one affirmation per week and urges the reader to follow through with it before moving on to the next task the following week. At the beginning of this program, affirmations are broad in scope. Week 1 says, “I am a writer.” Week 2 follows with, “ I am always ready to write.” As readers move deeper into the program, the affirmations get into the craft of writing. They involve character writing, drafting, outlining, and the amount of energy placed in one’s writing. The last week’s affirmation brings the reader full circle, “ To write is to realize one’s destiny.”

This book provides an interesting and effective motivational tool for budding writers that will maximize results without exerting unreasonable demands on the reader. Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper-right hand corner of this page.

3-in-1 Jokes, Riddles & Tongue-Twisters for Kids

Written by Rob Hilario

This book contains roughly one hundred pages filled with one line jokes, riddles, and fun tongue twisters. It is written mainly for an elementary school age audience, but it would be enjoyed by kids of all ages. The book is divided into categories such as animals and pets, school and science, holidays, ghosts and monsters.

The book would provide lots of entertainment for children’s parties or fun for siblings and friends to quiz each other. Any child who loves jokes or practicing tongue twisters would enjoy this book as a gift. Recommended especially for ages six through twelve.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Monsterland Reanimated

Written by Michael Okon

This book follows Monsterland, which was written by Okon under the pen name, Philip Cash. The story begins on the first night after the Monsterland catastrophe. Death and destruction had reigned over the theme park. There were few survivors. Wyatt and his family struggle to find food supplies and clean water. World leaders had been murdered; governments had collapsed. Wyatt will need to move beyond his hometown to contact the outside world and warn them about a traitor.

Meanwhile, inside Monsterland an army of mummies and a strange, gelatin-like ooze, nicknamed the Glob has arisen. Can anyone survive the terrors which haunt the community?

The characters are well-developed. I could not put the book down. Be prepared to be frightened. Looking forward to reading more thrillers from this author. Recommended for young adults and adult audiences.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this post.

A Guide to Investing for Kids: Teaching Them About Money While They Are Young

Written by Stephanie R. Baker

This book is based on the author’s theory that children who learn how to be financially independent and conscious of tracking their own expenses grow up not only to be self-aware but good global citizens. Baker gives reasons for children to learn fiscal responsibility like how to invest and be responsible for handling their own money by choosing their own purchases wisely. They learn financial independence from their parents and awareness of community needs around them. These children acquire goals and dreams of future financial success.

Children may learn how to invest by talking with their parents and picking up knowledge from schools and community programs. There are many different platforms offered for children’s investment, and Baker lists several of them with links to finding them on the internet. Alternatives to stock investment include lotteries and investing in independent funds that parents set up for them. Certainly, if many children would choose investment and financial independence the entire world community would benefit both in the short and long term.

I think this book is a worthwhile investment for parents and grandparents to consider in creating strong, resilient, independent, successful citizens of the future. Recommended for children age eight years and older to read and discuss with parents and teachers.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS FEED button in the upper right-hand corner of this page.