Hey Nana! Connor’s Story of Love

Written by Toni Nunemaker

This book is a testament to the young life of Connor, a boy who was murdered by another in a playground not far from his home in a trailer park nearby. The memoir is penned by his grandmother, who herself undergoes a transformation because of the crime.

Readers need to be prepared for an emotional roller-coaster as Nana proceeds through a gamut of emotions proceeding from the moment of the crime, the funeral, the criminal investigation, the trial, and the family’s readjustment to a life without the nine-year-old child, who brought so much love into the world.

Nana even learns to understand and accept the grief that Jamarion, the young murderer, and his family experience and the abuse that led up to it. I think the author does an exceptional job of portraying her conflicting emotions as well as the character of the gentle and loving victim, her grandchild, and the special relationship they both shared.

The book is a powerful commentary on abuse, addiction, love, and the way various members of society cope or fail to cope with them. This book is one that will force readers to consider these issues, whether they agree with the author’s ultimate decision in her acceptance and forgiveness. Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

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The Borderlands Book One: Journey

Written by Aderyn Wood

The Borderlands is the first book in a mystery/fantasy sci-fi series. It is a pleasant mixture of fantasy and magic combined with a coming of age story. The plot contains many twists and turns ending with what the reader would least expect.

Dale is a high school student who experiences many of the problems today’s teens face. She is a bit of a geek, bullied by the “in-crowd” at her private school whom she calls “the plastics.” Her single mother, Victoria, is always trying to impress her friends by making Dale into her own image. Dale is sensitive, and a talented artist who paints fairies, spirits, other-wordly creatures. She has also begun to experience auras. One day she meets a new boy named Rhys who has a magnetic affect on her which she is powerless to explain. Dale’s only friend is an elderly, homeless man named Gareth with whom she plans to spend the summer sailing.

Dale steals away in the sailboat; she endures one struggle after another in an effort to survive discovery and capture. A sorceress and friend of Gareth’s named Ness as well as a sprite named Esme and Gareth’s Cat will all be instrumental in her process of self-discovery and a journey to The Borderlands, which are worlds adjacent to Earth. A hierarchy of good and evil powers exists between and within these lands each alternately seeking wars or to maintain balance.

Will Dale succeed in her new role? Where and how will she find her happiness? I recommend this book series for fans of fantasy, sci-fi and mystery. Teen and young adult audiences will readily identify with the characters and their struggles.

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Three Squared (Metaphysical Murder Mysteries)

Written by Koko Nervelli

This is the first book in a series featuring Madame Melancholy Marie, a psychic reader. She has recently relocated to the North Carolina coast after living through the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the disappearance of her fiancee, Marcel, in her home town of New Orleans. The protagonist known as Mel to her friends, is struggling to adjust to life in a rural community suspicious of her because she is different. Together with her mystic cat named Sammy, she meets a client named Sarah Miller, who comes to her to solve the mysterious death of her husband in a strange motorcycle accident and her son’s unexplained death in Afghanistan. Weird things begin to happen including a mysterious dark fog, nightly dreams, and the numbers 4,3,2 popping up together.

Mel calls on two of her psychic friends for assistance. Linda has remained in New Orleans, while Isabella has moved on to an exciting life in New York City. Linda begins by making an astrology time-line chart. Isabella comes down to visit Mel and study the dark energy that has been surrounding her. Mel uses her mathematical skills to figure out all this information as Isabella takes over the interviewing with Sarah. Meanwhile Linda has been investigating by using her psychic contacts in New Orleans. She has discovered that Sarah’s daughter-in-law might be involved with the High Priest Zuu-Zuu who is known on the island of Jamaica and world-wide as a voo-doo priest obsessed with money. Soon after, Mel disappears. Isabella and Linda continue to piece together the puzzle in a desperate attempt to track down their friend and unravel the mystery. Their adventures will lead them on a wild journey filled with terror, dark spirits, magic and fantasy. Will they be successful in rescuing Mel, solving the crimes and eliminating the other-worldly dangers?

This is not the type of book I normally read. It combines murder, mystery, paranormal, magic and fantasy. Nervelli does a superb job of delineating full-bodied rich characters that will draw the reader into the struggle. There are lots of twists and turns. At times I did feel there was a bit too much detail and a slowing down in the story line pushing the limits of what the reader might believe acceptable even in a fantasy story. But this element as well as the strong characters are exactly what many young adult readers will enjoy. So if mystery and paranormal are two of your favorite genres, this book is your cup of tea. Characters will be further developed and enhanced in the rest of the series.

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“The Brook”

Written by Anne Marie Stoddard

This short kindle selection can easily be read in one sitting. Stoddard has switched from murder mystery to horror and vampires in this short story. At the outset we meet a young girl named Violet Carson, who goes against her instincts to follow the sounds of a babbling brook along the trail of Honeysuckle Path. She decides to take a midnight swim. As she dives into the icy pool, she experiences a radical drop in temperature and a tingling sensation all over her body. Before she can react, the surface underneath her disappears and the water around her turns scarlet red. Only her skin, bone and hair remained.

Violet had been employed as a babysitter for ten year old Michael Wilson. Michael believes in vampires and is convinced that this is how Violet met her demise. He searches for evidence that vampires might have appeared in the mist near the brook, but his older brother Tom, as well as everyone else in the small Mississippi town of Sampson refuse to believe in his theory. There are those adults in town who blame Violet’s former boyfriend, Jake, whom she just caught cheating the night before she died, but there is no plausible evidence to validate that. Michael’s father Dale threatens to send his son to therapy, if he continues to talk about monsters.

Michael does love scary stories about supernatural powers, but he sincerely believes that the town is in danger. So one night when he is home alone with Tom, Michael succeeds in sneaking out with a supernatural emergency kit, containing a canister of garlic and a wooden cross made from a chair leg. Michael is determined to prove that he is right, solve the mystery, and slay the monster.

Are the ten year old’s fears substantiated? Will he encounter a supernatural force? What part did Jake play in the murder? The reader already has lots of questions he wants answered. There are quite a few twists and turns in this short story.

I would recommend this book for adults and young adults over the age of twelve. There are one or two curse words, and some mention of nudity, but the book does not present overt sex or gruesome horror scenes. The book is a fast paced, exciting read.

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