The books on this page are well researched, based on facts, and are sometimes inspired by actual events, but they are fiction. Any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental.
Now that we have that out of the way, these stories are meant to entertain you and inform you in a way that is different than the books we have offered prior to this. They are available as printed books or as e-books and cover a few different topics. The one thing these topics have in common is that I felt there was a need for someone to write about them.
Three are children's/young adult books that attempt to introduce topics that may not be specifically covered in school readings, but need a voice in the world our children will inherit.
The others are adult books that also deal with topics not commonly covered by publishers (besides the firefighting aspect). I hope they can inform as well as entertain.
The youth offerings are:
Dennis Carney is a fourteen
year old high school freshman who loves baseball. When his mother mentions a
vacation that could interfere with his summer baseball camp he responds
un-enthusiastically. He needs the camp to ensure his place on the junior varsity
team next year. He wonders if she’ll ask his ten year old sister Millie her
view. Why would Millie even care? Her thing was basketball which was played in
the winter. Besides, it’s not like she won’t make the school team. There was no
school team, just a parish team. He was the only one who would risk anything.
During the discussion, a
glass slides out of his mother’s hand, crashing to the floor. To Dennis and
Millie it looked as if their mother had purposely just let it go. Mom says it’s
just a broken glass and asks that they not mention it to their father who is at
work in the firehouse. Den feels it’s more than that, so he secretly texts his
dad about what happened. This begins the family’s roller coaster ride that
comes after a diagnosis of MS.
Seen through the eyes of a
fourteen year old boy, A Broken Glass is the story of an
ordinary family’s adjustment to the extraordinary challenges of newly diagnosed
MS. (YA)
Available in: Paperback at Lulu.com ($11.04) or
Kobo ($2.99)
Balancing Act
The thought of mixing her two
cousins makes Vicki Phaff nervous. Joey
is a Helms and Su-hui is a Wei. They
each came from a different part of her dual heritage. She’s always been able to keep these two
worlds apart. When she is in Taiwan, she
acts Chinese. In America, she’s the
all-American girl. With Su-hui coming
for the vacation they had talked so much about and Joey coming to make sure
they speak English, Vicki finds herself balancing between two cultures. The only solace she has is her best friend
Anna, whose parents emigrated from Italy.
Anna understands Vicki’s balancing act because she does it herself. Can Vicki balance for two weeks or will her
dream vacation come crashing down? (Middle Grade)
Available in: Paperback at Lulu.com ($8.49) or
Amazon.com ($9.99)
Kobo ($2.99)
A Hundred Battles
Seventeen year old Huang Fu-Wen has been sent to America to
avoid possible arrest in China, bringing with him a secret he must keep to
himself or face permanent exile or execution. He takes a train from San
Francisco to New Jersey with 51 hostile Chinese men. The Chinese workers do not
trust Fu-Wen because he is not from their native province. One of them verbally
assaults him. The group’s foreman,
Charlie Ming, breaks up the argument and questions Fu-Wen about his English
speaking ability. Charlie then advises Fu-Wen to go by the name A-Wen and
assures him his English abilities will get him a more responsible position at
the steam laundry where they will work. Doubts about the wisdom of his father
sending him away fill A-wen’s mind. Isolated, frustrated, and confused by the
situation, A-Wen fights to win the cooperation an Irish boy he works with and
the respect of his countrymen without revealing his secret. He must succeed if
his is ever to return home safely. (YA)
Available in: Paperback at Lulu.com ($9.34) or
Amazon.com ($10.99)
Ebook at Lulu Bookstore, Apple iBookstore,
Adult Books:
The Firebox Stalker
Available in: Paperback at Lulu.com ($18.28) or
The Hand Life Dealt You
It’s the mid-80’s and America’s inner cities are still burning. Firefighter Bob Brendler is helping the city of Newark, NJ deal with the problem. He is young, healthy, and loves his job. The only thing missing is female companionship and he has a plan to rectify that. His sights have been set on Kathy Stanley, an author who is compiling an oral history of the NFD. The frustrating part is she seems to be avoiding him.
Kathy Stanley has been avoiding the young firefighter for months. He is too cute to interview. Part of her psyche is drawn to strong men of action and Bob is just that. The other part of her looks for an agile but poetic mind. After Bob produces a poem at her request, she is smitten. Her feelings are only heightened when he receives a diagnosis of MS and threatens to pull away. She must use all of her emotional and intellectual abilities to convince him they were meant to be together.
Available in: Paperback at Lulu.com ($22.09) or
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