This mystery appeals to me on many levels. Annie embarks on summer vacation with her Aunt Jill to Fire Island, but her aunt is a detective secretly working on a case.
Annie hopes to find some people her age. She is excited to learn that Ty is visiting neighbors. He is close to her age and soon becomes a romantic interest. Soon Annie discovers they are both adventurers. They will team up to solve the mystery of a ghost reported to haunt the island.
At first glance, the reader might guess this is a book for a middle-grade or young adult audience, but this is not the case. I found myself engrossed in the story and every character. Frank has a background in forensics which allows her to describes the smallest detail. She paints a vivid picture of the setting. The dialogue between the characters is so authentic that readers can visualize themselves in every scene.
A bit of romance, an intriguing mystery, a touch of paranormal and fast-moving events combine to make the book an interesting and unique read for ages eight through eighty-eight.
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Publisher’s Synopsis: Author J.T. Michaels brings a fantasy tale of an ancient war, a modern-day murder mystery, mystical creatures, and memorable characters in his masterfully written young adult novel, Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone.
The Great War ended a century ago. Peace reigns across the eight countries. Epic tales of heroic men and women of those times are recounted in song and story. Yet, history seems to have forgotten a young battlefield healer, Tessa Marlise…
Sixteen-year-old Jimmy Chartron has just enrolled at the Navale Academy of Eagleon, his mind set on becoming an electrician. A chance magical encounter binds him to the trapped soul of Tessa Marlise. As Jimmy struggles to deal with this shocking development, murder and mystery unravel in the academy. Caught in the middle of everything, Jimmy realizes that a larger evil is afoot and that only two things can stop it: himself and the ghost in his head…
Author J.T. Michaels has always loved storytelling, no matter the medium. Being immersed in a different world, whether it’s through books or video games, has also been an obsession for him. Years after writing for his school magazine, he discovered he wanted to create his own worlds for readers, and his journey to fantasy writing began with Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone, the first volume in his epic fantasy series.
J.T. gets inspiration for his books from everything around him, incorporating his friends as character ideas to make his stories as relatable and realistic as possible. He hopes his young readers come away from his stories having escaped from the real world for a bit and with a spark of magic that lasts long after the book is closed.
When he isn’t writing enchanting fantasy novels for teens, J.T. enjoys running and spending time outside in the sunshine and hunkering down in a bookstore or library on rainy days. He lives in British Columbia, Canada, where he likes to indulge in a great cup of coffee. Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone is his debut novel, the first in a planned fantasy trilogy.
This young adult novel combines the most popular genres for this age group of readers. Fantasy, ghosts, a murder, coming-of-age struggles, and strong characters all rolled into a fast-moving adventure written with humor and great dialogue. The setting consists of a peaceful world left behind after a devastating war that wiped out civilization a century ago. Myths and stories tell the tales of former heroes. A battlefield healer named Tessie attaches her lost soul to Jimmy, the protagonist, who has just enrolled in school to become an electrician.
Jimmy struggles to deal with this dilemma but soon finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery at the school. Readers become immersed in his struggles, the murder mystery, and the lives of other colorful characters at the school. Michaels artfully reveals the successes and failures of the characters through skilled dialogue and humor.
This young adult novel is the first in a series and has much to offer to its targeted audience of readers thirteen and older but has widespread appeal for adults.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone prize pack!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
The Comfy Couch Reader Prize Pack
– Two Alice in Wonderland throw covers
– A side lamp with a unique horse stencil design
-A signed copy of Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
The Books and Beverage Lover Prize Pack
– A Jimmy Chartron mug
-A Magic Mug with 3 Reveal Characters
-A signed copy of Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone
Three (3) winners receive:
A signed paperback copy of Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone
A fast read with interesting characters and a nice blend of genres. Brad and his wife Julie are house flippers. Julie would love to earn enough money to quit her day job to join her husband, who is a full-time contractor.
What could go wrong when they purchase an old Victorian house named Bedlam in Cold Spring? Plenty. Turns out the original owners, Gerald and Tessa decide to put their ghostly talents to the test by torturing the new owners.
Why were Gerald and Tessa killed? Readers learn about the history and the mystery of the abandoned property as they follow the clues and become absorbed in the lives of its inhabitants, past and present.
Highly recommend this entertaining read for young adult and adult audiences.
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Mermaids and Mayhem: A Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Written by Erin Hayes
I would say this book is more of a novella than a novel. At a little more than 150 pages, it is a good choice for middle grade readers who enjoy romance and paranormal genres. The protagonist is an eighteen-year-old young lady taking a year off before going off to study marine biology in college. Tara gets a summer job working for aquariums across the country. While in Houston, she undergoes a mysterious transformation in the seas.
Tara is transformed into a mermaid and she meets Finn. A romance soon develops. Now, enter the problem. Will Tara remain a sea creature and pursue her romance or will she return to land and resume her human life. Tara has always wanted to be a mermaid, but?????
Recommended as a quick read for readers ages ten and older.
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Wendy and Black (Cat Detective 1): The Mystery House
Written by Amma Lee
First in a series of chapter books featuring a fifteen-year-old girl named Wendy and Black, her cat. Wendy has been endowed with a special gift. Once every hundred years a member of her family develops the ability to converse with cats. Wendy uses this gift to communicate with her cat. Together they have become a talented detective team. When a house down the street suddenly appears to be inhabited, Wendy and Black set out to investigate. Wendy’s mom, Mrs. Michaels, asks her to pick up a welcome package for the new neighbor.
Wendy and Black cannot contain their curiosity. They illegally break into the house drawn in by a mysterious purple light. When the floorboards cave in, and Black detects Mrs. Michaels’ presence in the house, their level of fear rises. Will the detective pair solve the mystery? Is Wendy’s mom safe?
This is a short chapter book that is most appropriate for beginning readers. There are a few editing issues. The book is targeted for nine to twelve-year-old readers but probably is not challenging enough for the older end of that age group. I would recommend it especially for reluctant readers and mystery fans.
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A bittersweet holiday novella that combines elements of paranormal, horror and romance within a holiday setting. Eighteen year old Annalise led a carefree life as a pretty, popular teen until she was diagnosed with leukemia. Unable to pay her mounting medical bills, she assumes the unusual post of teaching modern technology and cultural customs to a family of vampires. Dr. Hever, the head of the Hever clan becomes her physician. Her life is turned upside down once more when she is summoned by the King of the Vampires to teach his brother Arthur, who has just awakened from a 1000 year sleep. Annalise is terrified. She slowly falls in love with Arthur, but her illness proceeds rapidly to Stage IV cancer. When she is whisked away to the hospital, both she and Arthur are devastated.
The plot sounds far fetched, but the authors succeed in making it palatable, for the most part. Reader’s emotions rise and fall as the conflict tears the two families apart. Annalise thought she was in love with Tony Hever; her fleeting life has been turned upside down by her deep feelings for Arthur. The ending is a surprise. Wonder what will happen in the second book of the series.
Recommended for young adult and adult audiences looking for an unusual but entertaining short holiday read.
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The Witch With The Glitch: A Fairy Tale And Adventure (A Lost Book Adventure)
Written by Adam Maxwell
Cover by Dale Maloney
Charming adventure of Nina and her two friends Ivy and Oswald who frequently meet in her Aunt and Uncle’s bookshop. Doesn’t sound like the place for a real adventure? Well, it turns out there is a hidden room in the bookshop, and once Nina places the key in the lock the children are on their way to a journey into the unknown. This time the children find themselves in the parlor of a gingerbread house. To their chagrin the three friends find themselves transformed into a vampire, ghost, and a werewolf!
They will meet a witch who has a problem using and controlling her powers, a village of strange little people, two kidnapped children, and a magical cat named Izzy. The three friends will have to learn to control their new identities and transform themselves. If they are unable to find Izzy before midnight, Belinda the witch will be unable to undo their spells, and they will be trapped forever. Will they be able find their way back to the bookstore and their families?
The author combines fairy tales, adventure, paranormal and lots of humor to keep the plot interesting. Characters are well-developed and the dialogue crisp and clever. This book is perfect for readers in grades three to six. Chapters are short and vocabulary provides enough challenge while not being overwhelming for the early reader. A few illustrations would have enhanced the book’s appeal. This could be a fun story to share with a family or class around Halloween.
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I struggled to decide what rating to give this middle grade novella; I decided to go with four stars because the writing is appropriate for its intended audience. The dialogue is on point for thirteen year old Hudson and his friends. Lots of adjectives and onomatopoeia to keep the story interesting as well as those illustrations of the tree troll.
Hudson is a typical teen; he loves to play video games and test the limits with his parents’ rules. Hudson gets grounded when he comes home late because he took a short cut and trespassed on Mr. Gilbert’s property nearly falling off the bridge in the process. Of course that wasn’t the whole story, Mr. Gilbert had called his parents catching Hudson in a lie. Hudson doesn’t take long to decide to sneak out and join his friends for their camp out.
Orin, the neighborhood bully and his friends, come across Hudson with his friends in the woods. They dare them to trespass on Mr. Gilbert’s property to prove that they are not afraid of the legend that a Tree Troll exists. When they take the dare; the real adventure begins. Soon the Dark Demon appears. Is the legend real? All the teens including the bullies must struggle to survive. What will happen to the boys? Will their parents and Mr. Gilbert find out?
Lots of adventure, danger, paranormal and coming of age issues combine to make the novella appealing to the middle grade audience. Despite the fact that there is lots of passive voice and the writing style could be sharper, this is a tale well worth reading for the eight to twelve year old target audience. The author has developed a set of discussion questions for each chapter, which makes the book a good choice for a classroom read aloud and discussion.
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The History Major: A Novella
Written by Michael Phillip Cash
I received a copy of this book in return for an honest non-biased review.
Hung over college student Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm to an unsettling situation. She vaguely remembers a fight the night before with her boyfriend, Patrick, and partying with her two best girlfriends who don’t like him. But her room is at once familiar and strangely different; her roommate is someone she has never met. Finding her classroom schedule on the bed, Amanda is distressed to see a history class on it; Amanda hates history. She rushes to the Registrar building to drop the class, but the administrators tell her she must take the course. Amanda walks through the campus, which seems oddly different. Buildings appear and disappear, and she has the feeling of being stalked.
Resigned to her fate, Amanda is drawn to the history lecture, where she meets Nick and her professor who is dressed like Aristotle. His lecture is even stranger. He drolls on about Joan of Arc, Pope Alexander VI, Lucretia Borgia and other historical characters, but as he does so Amanda is drawn back into history interacting with and sometimes being attacked by them. Nick tells her, “They all hear what they have to hear.” Amanda’s thoughts drift back and forth between the past and her own reality. She has flashbacks of her grandmother, mother, and abusive stepbrother, Wayne. How can there be a connection? Amanda hears the words, “People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them.”
What is real, what is fantasy, and how will Amanda deal with integrating both within her present life?
Elements of a thriller, paranormal, history and a psychological study combine to make this novella a compelling read. The first couple of chapters confused me, and I definitely disliked Amanda. As I got into the plot, I could not stop reading. Lots of interesting dialogue and colorful language engage the reader. Plenty of twists and turns keep the reader on edge; the ending caught me off guard. Recommended for teen and adult audiences as a thought provoking afternoon read.
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About the Book
After a vicious fight with her boyfriend followed by a night of heavy partying, college freshman Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm room to find things are not the same as they were yesterday. She can’t quite put her finger on it. She’s sharing her room with a peculiar stranger. Amanda discovers she’s registered for classes she would never choose with people that are oddly familiar. An ominous shadow is stalking her. Uncomfortable memories are bubbling dangerously close to her fracturing world, propelling her to an inevitable collision between fantasy and reality. Is this the mother of all hangovers or is something bigger happening?
Praise
“Cash intermingles beauty and violence …It’s smartly ambiguous and open
to interpretation, and some may delight in a second (or third) read.” – Kirkus Reviews
xandra Fry, Private Eye: The Curse of the Lion’s Heart
Written by Angella Graff
This is Book One of the Alexandra Fry detective series. Angella is a pretty ordinary twelve year old, who is nervous about starting the first day of seventh grade in a new middle school. She shares time with both of her divorced parents. At the beginning of the tale, readers are introduced to Alexandra’s unique talent. She is able to see the ghosts of famous historical persons, who ask her help in solving mysteries. Alexandra has assisted Magellan in finding his lost compass and Abraham Lincoln in finding his stolen top hat. As if the first day in a new school isn’t difficult enough, Alexandra is contacted by Queen Elizabeth I of England, who insists that if the family locket is not located, a curse will be visited upon the current community. Her classmates and teachers think that she is talking to herself.
Fortunately for Elizabeth, her dad works in the City Museum. Her ability to gain easy access has helped her solve many cases in the past. In this mystery, she will be able to enlist the aid of a new friend, Penelope, and an eighth grader named Jack who at first appears to be more of a suspect than a friend. Alexandra must face the same issues most preteens face: bullying, fitting in with the crowd, negotiating their way with adults and asserting their independence. The author narrates a plot that has lots of twists and turns and combines elements of paranormal, history, mystery and adventure. Characters are believable and use authentic dialogue. The text is easy enough for preteens, but also is sophisticated enough for a young adult or adult reader. I was totally drawn into the mystery and felt empathy for the young characters.
Readers age eight and older who enjoy history, mystery, detective, paranormal and coming of age books will all find something here to their liking. Look forward to the rest of the series.
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November 27, 2022
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