Frisky Friday

Smart Girls Think Twice

by: Cathie Linz

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425226484
ISBN-13: 978-0425226483
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches

About the book:

Where dangerously sexy men are concerned....SMART GIRLS THINK TWICE

With her job hanging in the balance, sociologist Emma Riley is back in her hometown of Rock Creek, Pennsylvania, for both her sisters' weddings. As if that isn't depressing enough, Emma also needs to stay focused on the research project that could save her job and launch her career. Her success hinges on sexy Rock Creek newcomer Jake Slayter.

Unfortunately, Jake wants nothing to do with Emma -- or her big project. He has his own motives for being in Rock Creek, and if there's one thing he can't afford, it's a distraction in the form of a brainy beauty like Emma. Too bad Emma has made it perfectly clear that she's way too smart to let him stand in her way. Too bad Jake has made it perfectly clear that he's way too smart to take no for an answer!

(click here)to read an excerpt!

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Talk Me Down

by: Victoria Dahl

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (January 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373773560
ISBN-13: 978-0373773565

About the book:

Molly Jenkins has one naughty little secret: her job as a bestselling erotic fiction author. Until her inspiration runs dry—thanks to a creepy ex—and it's time to skip town and move back to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado.

One look at former high school hunk chief of police Ben Lawson and Molly is back in business. The town gossip is buzzing at her door and, worse still, a stalker seems to be watching her every move. Thankfully, her very own lawman has taken to coming over, often. The only problem now is that Molly may have to let the cat out of the bag about her chosen profession, and straitlaced Ben will definitely not approve.…

(click here)to read an excerpt

Free Book - Like Glass by Matthew Cory

Needing a great book for the weekend - or anytime? Matthew Cory, author of Like Glass, is giving away his book completely free (ebook/download). This is a wonderful story that will quickly trap you within it's pages. If you missed my previous review for it, please (click here). Also, feel free to spread the word to family and friends! Here's a bit of info on Like Glass:

Product Description:

What would you do if the one person you hated most Died? If the person who stole The love of your life Would never see another day? How would you feel? Would you laugh? Would you cry? This is the issue that Rob Jackson faces. This is the dilemma that Like Glass begins with. A phone call from his brother's widow begins his turmoil. A phone call from a voice he tried to forget launches the avalanche. How would you feel? http://chocolatefordogs.com/

(click here) to get your free download!

Thriller Thursday

The Messenger

by: Jan Burke

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 30, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743273877
ISBN-13: 978-0743273879
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches

Product Description:

Who is Tyler Hawthorne?

Beneath the Caribbean Sea, a salvage diver hears an eerie voice calling to him from the wreckage of a nineteenth-century ship. In return for promised riches, the diver becomes the servant of Adrian deVille, Lord Varre, the creature who has called to him. It's a bargain the diver will come to regret. Varre enlists him in a hunt for a man named Tyler Hawthorne.

Ten years later, in a canyon in the foothills above Los Angeles, Amanda Clarke has become curious about her new neighbor, Tyler Hawthorne. He's not home much, but others tell her that her new neighbor is about her age -- twenty-four. He's also wealthy, handsome, and single.
Amanda soon suspects that another description can be added to the list of Tyler's attributes: con artist. When Tyler shows up at the hospice room of her friend Ron and tells the dying man he'll live, Amanda angrily resents Tyler for giving Ron false hope.

Until Ron begins to recover.

Although Tyler continues to puzzle her, Amanda finds herself drawn to him.
Tyler finds himself drawn to Amanda as well, but he has a secret he must keep from her: he's been twenty-four for almost two hundred years.

Two centuries ago, he bargained for his life. In exchange, he became a Messenger, one who hears the final thoughts of the dying and conveys those last messages to their loved ones. Since that time, his life has been nomadic and -- except for the companionship of a remarkable black dog -- solitary.

The dying also convey messages to Tyler and now they are hinting that his long service may be coming to an end. He begins to hope that he can return to a normal, mortal life and allows himself to grow closer to Amanda, unaware that he is being pursued by an old enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy him and that he can only leave his role as the Messenger behind at a dreadful cost.

(Click here) to visit the author's website for all the latest news, short stories and tons more!

Jan Burke has a long list of novels, none of which I have seen or read before. After coming across this title and learning more, I hope to change that very soon!

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Find Me

by: Debra Webb

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 30, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312532954
ISBN-13: 978-0312532956
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches

Product Description:

Investigative reporter Sarah Newton debunks supernatural myths, and forces the truth to light whether people want to hear it or not. Now, with a popular teenager found tortured and murdered—and another girl missing—Sarah’s out to prove it’s not the work of an ancient curse, but a cold blooded killer. She’ll expose one Maine village’s darkest secrets …while keeping the truth about her own past hidden from view.

As Youngstown’s newest councilman, Kale Conner’s unofficial job is to minimize the bad publicity from Sarah’s stories and, if possible, to keep her in line. But with time running out, and his own family at stake, Kale’s finding his neighbors’ terrible deeds might be too deadly to sweep under the rug…and he and Sarah are headed toward a heated endgame with only one shocking way out...

(click here) to visit the author's website and check out all of her awesome looking/sounding novels!

A question for fun

Just thought I would post a fun question to chat about. What are some things that you have to have in your house (office, car, etc) to eat and drink? Current "necessities" for food and drink?

Mine are:

cashews (has been for the past few months, lol)
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (LOVE Half Baked!)
Double Dark Hot Cocoa Mix

We also have to have Bagelfuls for my daughter and Go-gurt for my son.

For hubby it is Pepsi, beef sticks, chips and cheese dip.


I came across this graphic and thought that it is an excellent way to think!

Author Brant Randall (aka Bruce Cook) Guest Post

I want to deeply thank author Brant Randall (aka Bruce Cook) for taking the time to stop by Cafe of Dreams and posting a wonderful guest post. If you haven't checked out his book, Blood Harvest (click here for my review) please do so - you will be thrilled that you did!

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Does history exist?

Does an author owe anything to the historical record? Is history a verifiable, testable, provable thing?My recent novel, Blood Harvest, is an attempt to give a new perspective to a past in the United States that is still within living memory. When most people hear the background of my story they express either astonishment or disbelief. A few confirm it and add more details to what I have learned.

In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan had as many as six million members in 35 states. It controlled state legislatures. It controlled the Democratic National Convention in 1924, stalemating the nomination of Al Smith (a Catholic) for 103 ballots.

Its power base was NOT the south. It was the northeast and Midwest. It certainly was anti-black, but in the 1920s it was especially anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic. There was a rally of 20,000 Klansmen in Worcester Massachusetts in 1924 that ended in a riot, where the opposition was the Knights of Columbus. There are films of the KKK marching down Pennsylvania in front of the Capitol in 1925, fifteen thousand strong, in full Klan regalia.
My question to you is this: where was all this information when I was falling asleep in high school history class during the height of the civil rights movement?

This all started because of a story my grandmother told me. She lived to the age of ninety-six and died in 2002. She was a Scotch-Irish girl from rural New England, one of twelve children, though two died in infancy.

I knew she had married young, perhaps at sixteen, though she sometimes claimed she had been eighteen. She said that after her wedding day she never returned to her home town. I assumed that she eloped or otherwise angered her parents. At one point I asked if her parents disliked my grandfather, who I remembered as personable and charming.

She claimed that they liked him very much. He was a perfect example of the immigrant success story. Came to America from Greece at sixteen, without any English. Started working the next day. Within five years he owned his own restaurant, and in another five he added a chain of candy shops and drug stores.

"So why didn’t you ever return to your home town?"

"It was those dumb clucks." She used this expression only when quite angry. "My brother-in-law didn’t think it right for a white girl to marry a non-white European."

This was new territory to me, but when I read my grandfather’s immigration papers I found that southern Europeans—the Greeks, Spanish, Italians, and Turks—were classified thus until 1912. But it was her next revelation that stunned me.

It wasn’t dumb "clucks." It was dumb "klux." It was the KKK that had driven my grandparents from the town. This was not consistent with what I had learned in my history classes, and so I began to research.

I read a number of histories of the period, then histories of the KKK. I did research on the net and found photos and film of KKK rallies in front of the White House in the. I read contemporary accounts in newspapers of the day. (You can see the film on my YouTube book trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJM6Nbbq9Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJM6Nbbq9Q )

Best of all I interviewed friends and family whose memories extend back to the 1920s. Their reminiscences were wonderful and invaluable. I found that as they spoke of their childhood they often dropped into the jargon and slang of the times.

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take liberties with their material to tell a good story or make a point. But how much is too much? Have I told a "true" story in my novel?

Since three eyewitnesses to the same event come up with three different (sometimes contradictory) accounts, I don’t put too much value on "history" as written by historians. They always write with the filter of their own culture and education.

And anyway the word history contains the word "story" within it. As long as I’m not preaching I can shape the story—and history—as I wish.

Still, all this elision and revision of history is troubling. I currently teach cinema at a college where 50% of my students are attending on international visas. In one discussion I was asking what the name for World War II was in their home country. (Since not all countries fought in WWI, I expected there to be some variation.) Mexico calls it the Great War, a term used in the United Kingdom for World War I. Vietnam has no name for it. And a Japanese student told me it is the War Against American Imperialism.

As Nietzsche said, "There are no facts, only interpretations."

Noontime Book Chat/Review - Escape by Rye James

Today is our final day for our Noontime Book Chat for Escape by Rye James. Be sure to check out J.Kaye's final post and chat at J.Kaye's Book Blog today also!

Escape

by: Rye James

Paperback: 154 pages
Publisher: Maverick Spur Publishing (December 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0615175740
ISBN-13: 978-0615175744
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches

Imagine suddenly finding yourself trapped within your own life. Nothing is the same and you can't trust anyone. There's a contract out on your life and you are the main suspect in your girlfriend's murder. This is what Ray Spencer is up against. Can he prove his innocence before his life is brought to a brutal end? Time is running out, bodies are piling up and places to hide are becoming few.

Escape is an action packed and never ending ride of "what nexts". The pace is quick and the story, a fast read. The author, Mr. James shows talent with drawing his readers into the story and taking them on an adventure.

That being said, I found some of the editorial glitches a bit distracting and, if polished, would increase the level of reading enjoyment. Several strategically placed page breaks in each chapter, a bit of rewording, etc, would be a great help, in my opinion. The story is very good and the writing has great potential. I look forward to reading the author's other works.

*overall rating 3/5

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Product Description:

Ray Spencer is an honest man trying to do the right thing. After uncovering information that would lead to a scandal a contract is placed on his head. He is then framed for a murder he did not commit forcing him to go on the run. A hitman and the FBI both desperately want him. At every turn there could be someone waiting for him. There's only one thing he can do--escape.

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Be sure to check out the author's website - it has some great information, stories and fun! (click here)

Rye James - author guest post

A while back, author Rye James was kind enough to take some time to send me a wonderful guest post. I thank him, deeply, for that. I am humbled by Mr. James' charity work and find it extremely admirable. His kindness and generosity were what really stood out to me, when he first contacted me about his books. Please read and enjoy the following post!

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Thank you for having me on the Cafe of Dreams website to talk about my books and the charities they benefit. My first book was The Assassin, which is a Western. It benefits St. Jude Childrens Hospital. It's a mystery western about a hired gunfighter who comes into a town and the town wonders who he's there for and nobody knows who hired him either. They don't know that he's also hiding a secret of his own that would undoubtedly cause his own demise if it was discovered. The main character is a complex man who you want to root for even though he does bad things, though in his mind it's only to those who deserve it, you can kind of see where he's coming from. I wanted the characters to be more of a grey area instead of the good guy in the white hat type of thing. I've gotten a lot of good feedback from it and it spawned a best-selling short story, Day Of The Assassin which hit #2 on Amazon. At St. Jude, all patients are admitted for treatment without regard for the family's ability to pay. I've been involved with St. Jude for quite some time and I really can't say enough about what they do there. It's been nice working with them and supporting them in any way I can. Anybody interested in St. Jude can check out their website at http://www.stjude.org/

My second book is Escape, which is a suspense/thriller and is published by Maverick Spur Publishing. It benefits the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It's basically about an accountant who stumbles upon his company cooking the books, who then find out about what he's doing, and hire a hitman to kill him. He's then framed for murder, on the run from a hitman and the FBI. Though on the run he is befriended by a woman who believes in his innocence and by a stranger who alerts him to the danger. I chose this charity since cancer and breast cancer has affected so many people and I think everyone knows at least one person who has had it and it's something that we have to try and figure out a cure for. Those interested in learning more about them can visit them at www.bcrfcure.org

I have another book coming out in a few months, another western, called Bounty Hunter which is also being published by Maverick Spur Publishing. It will first be released on the Amazon Kindle in December before the paperback version comes out. The proceeds will benefit The Humane Society of the United States. I really believe in the humane treatment of animals and not treating them poorly. I have 3 dogs and knowing there are some animals out there, no matter what kind they are, that are beaten or abused or whatever the case may be really hits a nerve with me. I think there needs to be more enforcement, legislation and stricter punishments on those who treat animals badly. Their website is www.hsus.org

Anyone interested in any of my stories or just about me in general can visit my website at www.ryejamesonline.com or follow my blog at www.ryejames.blogspot.com

Rye James

Noontime Book Chat - Escape by Rye James

Product Description:

Ray Spencer is an honest man trying to do the right thing. After uncovering information that would lead to a scandal a contract is placed on his head. He is then framed for a murder he did not commit forcing him to go on the run. A hitman and the FBI both desperately want him. At every turn there could be someone waiting for him. There's only one thing he can do--escape.

Welcome to the second day of our Noontime Book Chat. J.Kaye and I are discussing Escape by Rye James. If you missed yesterday's chat, please (click here) to check it out at J.Kaye's Book Blog!

After yesterday's chat, I wanted to bring up a question. How much do you let the mechanics and editing of a story affect your enjoyment of the book/story? If there are errors in the story, will that make you dislike it or can you easily overlook them and go on to enjoy the story?

The reason I wanted to ask this is because J.Kaye and I found a few editing type errors, or places where a bit of polishing would really add to the story of Escape. I think the biggest thing for me are the places where page breaks would have been a substantial aid. I am the first to admit that when it comes to grammar, punctuation and the mechanics of writing, I have a lot to learn. It is because of this that I don't feel completely comfortable in making suggestions in this area. However, my main reasoning for doing book reviews (other than my love of reading and books) is to be able to help both the author and other readers, if at all possible.

I have a feeling that I am rambling, lol. In any case, I wanted to share that Mr. James, the author of Escape, was very kind and understanding of our discussion yesterday. He got the impression that I did not/am not enjoying Escape, which I wanted to be sure to state is untrue. Both J.Kaye and I saw a few things that would, perhaps, in our opinion make the book better. Mr. James did comment that his reasoning for shifting characters/settings so abruptly was because his focus at the beginning of the chapters was with the main character of Spencer, while the second half/end of the chapters he wanted to bring in the authorities and what they were doing and where they were at in the case. I think this is a great idea and it would work wonderfully - with page breaks, or some indication that a transition is occurring within the story.

I have to say that I am enjoying the story of Escape - there is nonstop action and no lagging. I think that with the length of the book (150 pages) it does not leave much room for character development, so the characters are a bit one dimensional to me, but I am finding myself wanting to turn from page to page to see what happens next.

I am near the end, so we shall see what that holds in store. I am also very curious to read J.Kaye's thoughts, now that she has read more.

Modern Lit Monday

Sing Them Home

by: Stephanie Kallos

Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0871139634
ISBN-13: 978-0871139634
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches

From the Jacket:

With her best-selling debut novel, Broken for You, Stephanie Kallos earned comparisons to John Irving, Anne Tyler, Margaret Atwood, and Carol Shields, establishing her as a writer of uncommon “wisdom and soulfulness” (Sue Monk Kidd).

Sing Them Home is a deeply moving portrait of three grown siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother’s mysterious disappearance when they were children. Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Hope Jones, the physician’s wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope’s three young children, the stability of life with their distant, preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother’s spitfire best friend, is no match for their mother’s absence. Larken, the eldest, is an art history professor who seeks in food an answer to a less tangible hunger; Gaelan, the only son, is a telegenic weatherman who devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable and whose profession, and all too much more, depend on his sculpted frame and ready smile; and Bonnie, the baby of the family is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs the roadsides for clues to her mother’s legacy, and permission to move on.

When, decades after their mother’s disappearance, they are summoned home after their father’s sudden death, they are forced to revisit the childhood tragedy at the center of their lives. With breathtaking lyricism, wisdom, and humor, Stephanie Kallos explores the consequences of protecting the ones we love.

Sing Them Home is a magnificent tapestry of lives connected and undone by tragedy, lives poised—unbeknownst to the characters themselves—for redemption.

(Click here) to read an excerpt to this fascinating sounding book!

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The Good Thief

by: Hannah Tinti

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: The Dial Press; 1 edition (August 26, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385337450
ISBN-13: 978-0385337458
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches

About the Book:

Richly imagined, gothically spooky, and replete with the ingenious storytelling ability of a born novelist, The Good Thief introduces one of the most appealing young heroes in contemporary fiction and ratifies Hannah Tinti as one of our most exciting new talents.

Twelve year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony’s Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world.

But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren’s long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he’s lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.

(Click here) to read the first chapter! This is another one going on my list!

Noontime Book Chat - Escape by James Rye

Today is the first day of the Noontime Book Chat with J.Kaye and I. We will be discussing Escape, by Rye Jame. Today's chat will be held at J.Kaye's Book Blog, so be sure to stop by! Then come on back tomorrow to check out the chat here at Cafe of Dreams!

Blood Harvest by Brant Randall

Blood Harvest

by: Brant Randall

Hardcover: 285 pages
Publisher: Capital Crime Press (May 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979996015
ISBN-13: 978-0979996016
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches

I found Blood Harvest to be a very unique reading experience and completely different than anything that I have previously read. The author, Mr. Randall, tells his story from the viewpoint of several different characters. Focusing on a lynching in 1929 Massachusetts, Blood Harvest tells the story of what happened, to one man, from the different aspects of different characters during the same time frame. This gives an excellent insight into the story and what happened, through the eyes of the people involved (including a dog and a crow).

The dialect used within Blood Harvest is amazing and seemingly true to life for that time period and setting. The reader is quickly and easily transformed into the story and all that is happening. Mr. Randall does an amazing job with his story of racism, prohibition and dealing with the KKK. Each and every character is brought to life in an excellent and engrossing way. The chapters are short and the story very quick - once the reader begins, they will not want to pull away until the final page is turned.

Though I found Blood Harvest to be a great read, I can see where it may offend those who are easily offended by racism, a medium amount of violence, and a bit of sexual overtures - just as a forewarning.

I anxiously look forward to reading more by this author in the future and recommend Blood Harvest for anyone looking for a highly engrossing read.

*overall rating 4/5

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About Blood Harvest:

What drives a small town in New England in the late 1920's to lynch a man? Immigrant Nic DeCosta's skill as a wine grower makes him a fortune as a moonshiner and puts him at odds with the 'shine sales of the MacKay clan, even though he's wed to their wild youngest daughter. But is this the real reason he is killed? And who is the second corpse in the woods?

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Excerpt:

Jackie Sue Palmer, age 13, testifies at an attempted murder trial-

The bailiff placed me in this little cubby next to the judge's tall desk. They call it the witness box. Every eye was on me, and I felt like I was a move star or something. Which sits just fine with my own future plans.

I caught sight of the woman I had met in the bathroom, taking notes on a pad of paper, laughing all the while. She was sitting in the front row, right behind Andrew and Angus MacKay. There was a man unkown to me sitting next to my cousins. He was maybe thirty or so, not bad looking for a man of his age. I guessed he was their lawyer.

The judge looked over the end of his nose and right down my blouse. He gave a little smile to himself and motioned to the bailiff.

A Bible was placed in front of me.

"Place your right hand on the Bible, raise your left hand, and repeat after me," said the bailiff.

"I'm left-handed," I said. "Does that make any difference?" I gave an innocent look, the kind Mary Pickford is so good at.

The spectators in the courtoom laughed out loud at that, causing Judge Halbersson to rap his gavel several times and demand order.

"Which hand you use is not germane, Miss Palmer," said the judge.

"Of course it's not germane," said I. "I'm an American, born right her in Potemkin County."

That drew another round of guffaws from the gallery. I saw this was going to be a good crowd.

The bailiff glared at the citizens who were laughing. I though the judge might break either the gavel or the top of his desk. I put my eyes down and looked demure. At least I think I did. I was trying to.

The bailiff placed my left hand on the Bible. "Do you solemnly sweart to tell..."

"I most certainly do now swear. My parents raised me to be ladylike."

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About the Author:

Bruce Cook, who also writes under the pen name Brant Randall, has earned credits as writer, producer, or director on eleven independent feature films as well as commercials. He has written more than twenty screenplays, including the films Husbands, Wives, Money & Murder; Line of Fire; and Nightwish.

Since 1973 he has taught at a number of film schools, including USC, UCLA, and Los Angeles City College. Among his thousands of former students are Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons), actor Laurence Fishburne, Paramount VP of Marketing Lucia Ludovico, numerous directors and producers, six Academy Award nominees and winners, and twelve Emmy nominees and winners.

In 1996 Dr. Cook was invited by ABS-CBN, the largest television network in the Philippines, to teach a series of seminars on improving the production techniques of the film and TV industry. While there, he addressed an assemblage of 2,000 Filipino film industry professionals.

He later returned to the Philippines to conduct a market study on Southeast Asian film production and helped design a motion picture soundstage. While on location, he researched the background for his novel Philippine Fever.

Dr. Cook holds degrees in Physics, Mathematics, Film Education, and Communications. He worked as a laser physicist on the Apollo Project. He and his wife live in Castaic, California.

After discovering that there were four other authors named Bruce Cook, he published his second novel, Blood Harvest, under the pseudonym Brant Randall. His third novel, Tommy Gun Tango, will be published in July 2009. Bruce and Brant will collaborate on that one.

For more information, please visit http://www.brucecookonline.com/

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Win Prizes!

BLOOD HARVEST VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on January 5 and end on January 30. You can visit Bruce's blog stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in January to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Super Sleuth Saturday

Death of a Cozy Writer: A St. Just Mystery

by: G.M. Malliet

Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (July 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0738712485
ISBN-13: 978-0738712482
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches

Product Description:

From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow – a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet... who was once suspected of murdering her husband.

Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset – least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk – an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead?

(click here) to read an excerpt!

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Murder on the Rocks (Gray Whale Inn Mysteries #1)

by: Karen MacInerney

Paperback: 282 pages
Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (May 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0738709085
ISBN-13: 978-0738709086
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches

Product Description:

Trading in Texas heat for Maine's tangy salt air, Natalie Barnes risked it all to buy the Gray Whale Inn, a quaint bed and breakfast on Cranberry Island. She adores whipping up buttery muffins and other rich breakfast treats for her guests until Bernard Katz checks in. The overbearing land developer plans to build a resort next door where an endangered colony of black-chinned terns is nesting. Worried about the birds, the inevitable transformation of the sleepy fishing community, and her livelihood, Natalie takes a public stand against the project. But the town board sides with Katz. Just when it seems like things can't get any worse, Natalie finds Katz dead. Now the police and much of the town think she's guilty. Can Natalie track down the true killer before she's hauled off to jail...or becomes the next victim?

(click here)to read an excerpt

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These both sound so great, to me, and I have added them both to my wish list, lol! My Amazon wish list will soon be overflowing - thanks to J.Kaye for mentioning the wish list on her blog so that I could find a whole new easier way to keep track of my future book reads, lol!

And the winners are.....

Ok, I used Random.org for the first time today to choose the winners of this wonderful book - I have to say that it was much easier than my previous method of writing the names down, cutting them out and putting them in a basket, lol. I think this will be my method of choosing winners in the future, also. (I know, I am a bit slow, many of used random.org for a long time, lol)

Anyway - on the winners of Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson......................

Amanda Sue

Sue A

Stephanie

Heidi

Linda

Congrats ladies, and please send me your mailing address (ajpohren@iowatelecom.net so that I may pass it along to Hatchette Books and they will get your book out to you very shortly!!

Thanks to everyone for entering. Remember, the LIFE The American Journey of Barack Obama is still going and I will have another giveaway coming up soon!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thriller Thursday

Bone by Bone

by: Carol O'Connell

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (December 30, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399155147
ISBN-13: 978-0399155147
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches

Product Description:

A stunning stand-alone novel from the national-bestselling author who “has raised the standard for psychological thrillers” (Chicago Tribune).

Carol O’Connell’s most recent Mallory novel, Find Me, was one of the most highly praised suspense novels of the year. “A terrific find: a tightly wrapped, expert combination of suspense, mystery and show-stopping character” (Janet Maslin of The New York Times); “yet another example of the spot-on talents of one of America’s finest writers of mysteries” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). In Bone by Bone, however, she may have written her most unforgettable novel yet.

In the northern California town of Coventry, two teenage brothers go into the woods one day, but only one comes back. No one knows what happened to the younger brother, Josh, until twenty years later, when the older brother, Oren, now an ex-investigator for the Army CID, returns to Coventry for the first time in many years. His first morning back, he hears a thump on the front porch. Lying in front of the door is a human jawbone, the teeth still intact. And it is not the first such object, his father tells him. Other remains have been left there as well. Josh is coming home . . . bone by bone.

Using all his investigative skills, Oren sets out to solve the mystery of his brother’s murder, but Coventry is a town full of secrets and secret-keepers: the housekeeper with the fugitive past, the deputy with the old grudge, the reclusive ex-cop from L.A., the woman with the title of town monster, and, not least of all, Oren himself. But the greatest secret of all belonged to his brother, and it is only by unraveling it that Oren can begin to discover the truth that has haunted them all for twenty years.

Written with the rich prose, resonant characters, and knife-edge suspense that have won the author so many fans, Bone by Bone is further proof that “O’Connell is one of the most poetic yet tough-minded writers of the genre” (San Francisco Chronicle).

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Never Tell A Lie

by: Hallie Ephron

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061567159
ISBN-13: 978-0061567155
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches

Product Description:

It all started with the yard sale. Ivy was eight months and one week pregnant when she insisted that she and her husband, David, clean out the junk they'd inherited with the old Victorian house they'd bought three years before. Call it nesting, call it nerves—she just wanted it all gone: the old electrical fixtures, the boxes of National Geographics from the 1960s, the four black wool greatcoats.

Neither she nor David recognized the woman at first. But it turned out that the customer asking about the lime-green glass swan dish—the woman who looks just about as pregnant as Ivy—was none other than Melinda White, a former high school classmate of David and Ivy's. When Melinda was a child she used to play in their new house, she explained. It looked like they'd been doing some work. Would it be all right if she took a look around? David took Melinda inside. And she never came out.

Now David's under police suspicion, and Ivy finds herself digging deep into the past to clear his name. But David's history, she begins to discover, is not necessarily the history she remembers, and before long Ivy has uncovered a twisted web of deceit, betrayal, and lies, both the ones we tell those we love and the ones we tell ourselves. . . .

Relentlessly fast-paced and disturbingly creepy, Never Tell a Lie is a page-turning thrill ride about how well we know the people we love, and how far we are willing to go to protect the secrets of our past.

Oh Happy Day...

Ok, just had to post this - a while back my daughter and I made some of those little sand creatures - you know the ones where you buy the kits with the little plastic container, muli colored sand bags, google eyes, etc. Well, we had tons of fun making them and they turned out rather cute. Last night, my daughter brought one out of her room (she is spose to be cleaning it, so things, for some reason, find new homes outside of her room) and set it on my computer table. Zach, my 2 year old was looking at it and checking out what it was. Well, this morning, as I was doing a bit on the computer, he was being rather quiet (SpongeBob is on in our room and he usually just watches that in there for a while, which is what I THOUGHT he was doing) So he comes out to the living room, takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom. I'm guessing that he didn't like our sand creatures as much as we did because somehow, he got the little cork out of the top (which I had pushed in with the thought there was NO WAY it was ever going to come out again) and preceded to cover our entire bed in pretty multicolored sand granules! Yay me! Now I have bedding to add to my laundry pile for the day. I do have to say, that with the second child, I am much much more calm about happy little incidents like this! lol (sorta ;) I guess he was just voicing his own creative opinion!

Whippersnapper Wednesday

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Loose Leashes

by: Amy Schmidt & Ron Schmidt

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (January 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375856412
ISBN-13: 978-0375856419
Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches

Product Description:

Sixteen kid-friendly rhymes accompany funny photographic portraits of dogs in this delightful picture book. A salty dog’s lament of traveling the world is perfectly captured in ballad form; a finicky Yorkie expresses her bathing preferences in common meter; while a Paul Bunyan-esque golden lab celebrates the outdoors in haiku form. This collection of canine poems and photos will enchant dog lovers of all ages.

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The True Meaning of Smekday

by: Adam Rex

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (October 2, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786849002
ISBN-13: 978-0786849000
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches

Product Description:

It all starts with a school essay. When twelve-year-old Gratuity ("Tip") Tucci is assigned to write five pages on "The True Meaning of Smekday" for the National Time Capsule contest, she's not sure where to begin. When her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens - called Boov - abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it "Smekland" (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod? In any case, Gratuity's story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo.; a futile journey south to find Gratuity's mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion. Fully illustrated with "photos," drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences, this is a hilarious, perceptive, genre-bending novel by a remarkable new talent.

Giveaway - LIFE: The American Journey of Barack Obama

Here is your chance to own a piece of history! I (along with Hachette Books) will be giving away 5 copies of this wonderful book: LIFE: The American Journey of Barack Obama. All you have to do is leave a comment below to be entered! Please leave an email addy where you can be reached, if you are one of the lucky winners. Contest will be open until Feb. 6th, with the winners being randomly drawn on Feb. 7th!

U.S. and Canada addresses only (and please, no PO Boxes)

Good luck everyone!

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Product Description:

For decades Americans have turned to LIFE to see, understand, and remember the most important events and people of our time. Just as LIFE once opened up the glittering Kennedy White House, LIFE now focuses its lens on Barack Obama. The American Journey of Barack Obama covers the candidate from his childhood and adolescence to his time as editor of The Harvard Law Review and his Chicago activist years, culminating with the excitement and fervor of the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention. The unfolding drama of Obama's life and political career is cinematic in scope, and never has it been presented so compellingly. In addition to a powerful array of photographs that were taken by many of the country's greatest photographers (and some that were snapped, in the quiet moments, by Obama family members themselves), this book also includes a Foreword by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, an incisive narrative biography and original essays by some of our finest writers, including Gay Talese, Charles Johnson, Melissa Fay Greene, Andrei Codrescu, Fay Weldon, Richard Norton Smith, Bob Greene and several others. Many readers will find a new understanding of Obama. All readers will feel that they are bearing witness to a singular, undeniably American story.

Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story by: Linda Thieman

Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story

by: Linda Thieman

Paperback: 114 pages
Publisher: Pale Silver Rainplop Press (July 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979439612
ISBN-13: 978-0979439612
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches

One of the greatest and fondest memories of my childhood is the excitement of finding a perfect book and getting lost within it's pages. Such books for me were The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler and the Trixie Belden series by Julie Cambell. I cannot tell you the countless afternoons spent re-inacting The Boxcar Children books outside in our garage and yard. To me, a book that not only allows a child to become engrossed within it, but also brings stories to life so strongly that they bring a child's imagination to life, outside of the pages, is utterly priceless. I found Katie & Kimble to be such a story. Ok, so I won't be running outside (or inside, for that matter) re-inacting the story or bringing other stories to life with the characters, but I had the same wonderous feeling come over me, as I read Katie & Kimble. It truly took me back to my childhood and, for just a bit, I felt that childhood/perfect book connection once again. It was, quite frankly, a magical feeling.

Not only did I adore reading Katie & Kimble, but the several parts that I read out loud to my 6 year old daughter, thrilled her. I will be going back and rereading the entire book with her and eagerly awaiting the second in the series.

Katie is a young girl of nine, who has moved into a new house, along with her Mom, Dad, and baby brother. Little does she know that, within the house, another young girl, of ten, also lives - though she is a ghost. Kimble died many years ago, at the young age of ten, from a terrible flu outbreak. She is lonely, sad, and desperately wants to find out what happened to her Mother.

From the very first giggle that Katie hears, the girls immediately become the best of friends, forming a deep friendship that transends all boundaries (alive vs. pasted on). Katie & Kimble is a true treasure with it's sweet simplicity and richly engrossing tale. Ms. Thieman has an excellent talent for bringing her characters to life and allowing the reader to be quickly absorbed within the settings and dialog. I can easily see this series becoming a childhood favorite to last through the years! I simply cannot wait to read the next in this series: Katie & Kimble, The Magic Wish!

*overall rating 5/5

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Product Description:

Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family LOOK like a normal family. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble, the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to Kimble's mother. -- Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story is a chapter book at RL3 (reading level 3), and is the first in a series. The Katie & Kimble books are funny, engaging and exciting, but are not fear-based. For ages 7-10

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Excerpt:

Katie could see the graveyard farther up. She kept on going. Twinkle ran after her.

When Katie got to the graveyard, she saw a big gate. The gate was closed.

"Do you think we can go in?" Katie said to Twinkle. Twinkle barked.

Katie got off her bike. She parked it next to the fence and hung her yellow helmet on it. Then she and Twinkle walked to the big gate. Katie looked at it. Then she tried to lift a piece of metal. The metal piece moved and the gate swung open.

Katie and Twinkle walked inside. Katie walked slowly. Twinkle walked slowly, too.

"This is a little spooky," Katie said.

Twinkle put his head to her hand.

A small road went down the middle of the cemetery. There were grave markers on each side.

"Well, let's start here. In the front," Katie said to Twinkle. "First, we'll do the left side. Then the right.

"Twinkle followed along as Katie walked from grave to grave. Katie read each marker carefully. But she did not see Kimble's name.

Katie kept moving from stone to stone. She was almost in a trance.

"Kimble," she whispered aloud. "I have to find Kimble."

Katie was so lost in her dream that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking. Then, just as Katie was about to start another row, boom! She fell over backwards into an open grave! Katie was six feet under!

"Oh, no!" she cried. Katie was not hurt. But Katie was lying at the bottom of the grave. After a moment, she sat up. There was black dirt under her. There was also black dirt on all four sides.

"This ground is hard," Katie said loudly. "I should be hurt. Very hurt."

Then she remembered. When she fell, she heard a loud woosh sound. And it felt like she landed on a pillow. A big, soft pillow of air.

"I wonder what that was," Katie thought.

Katie stood up. She looked up. Two feet above her head, she saw Twinkle. He was looking down at her. And he was barking wildly.

"I'm okay," she shouted up to Twinkle. "But how am I going to get out of here?" she said to herself.

Just then, Twinkle's bark changed. Twinkle ran from the grave. The barking sounded far away. Then he ran back to the grave. The barking got louder again.

Katie looked up. This time, she saw two faces. Twinkle's and an old man's.

"Hey, hey, Missy," the man laughed. "How did you get down there? I'd join you, but it's not my time!" At this, the old man laughed even harder.

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About the author:

Linda Thieman (pronounced TEE-mun) writes the Katie & Kimble chapter book series (RL3) and runs the Katie & Kimble Blog (http://www.katieandkimbleblog.com). She is a former English language teacher who has created a set of reading skills worksheets and classroom materials that teachers and homeschoolers can download from the Katie & Kimble Blog free of charge. The materials correspond to the first two books in the Katie & Kimble series and are guided by the standards set for third grade reading skills in Iowa school systems.

Linda lives in Sioux City, Iowa. She hopes to publish Katie & Kimble: The Golden Door (book 3) in 2009

.You can visit Linda's website at http://www.katieandkimbleblog.com/

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WIN PRIZES!

KATIE AND KIMBLE VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on January 1 and end on January 30. You can visit Linda's blog stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in January to find out more about this talented lady!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

The Five Lost Days by William Petrick

The Five Lost Days

by: William Petrick

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Pearhouse Press, Inc.; First edition (November 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0980235529
ISBN-13: 978-0980235524
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches

I found The Five Lost Days to be a very entertaining and engrossing read. In all honesty, my experience with this type of setting (a rather unknown country) is a bit on the slim side. With this in mind, I was not completely sure how I would enjoy this particular story. I am thrilled that I took the chance, because Mr. Petrick shows a wonderful talent with his characters and with bringing this particular setting to life. I was quickly taken in with Michael Burns and Kelly Montgomery. Michael has a strong desire to produce a memorable documentary, while Kelly is determined to protect her research set-up and bring discovery of plant medicines to light.

While the main characters of Michael and Kelly were excellent, the secondary characters were also highly engrossing. I especially found the practice of Pedro Meza, the curandero (or healer) fascinating. At the beginning of each chapter, the author has also included an illustration of a plant, it's name and medicinal value. This is also something that I found extremely interesting, and brought even more meaning to the sections in each chapter that referred to that particular plant.

The Five Lost Days is a very fast moving and quick paced story. I think that it's appeal will meet with several reader's approval - reaching a wide audience range. It is not often a person can learn such educational and interesting facts, while at the same time enjoying a highly entertaining story. The Five Lost Days accomplishes just that and so much more!

*overall rating 4/5

(click here)to read an excerpt

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Product Description:

Struggling documentary producer Michael Burns has traveled to the remote Maya Mountains of Belize to capture exclusive footage of the last surviving curandero. The traditional Mayan healer may hold the key to discovering new medicines among the vast, uncharted flora of the rain forest. But with a violent civil war spilling across the border from neighboring Guatemala - and Burns inexplicably drawn to the aging curandero's American apprentice - the filmmakers stumble into a more explosive story than they ever could have imagined. At once an adventure and an exploration into the nature of perception, THE FIVE LOST DAYS exposes the clash between modern culture and ancient beliefs.

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About the Author:

William Petrick's short fiction has appeared in a variety of literary journals, including Confrontation, Worcester Review, Palo Alto Review and The Distillery. Bill is a documentary producer/director who has created programs for National Geographic, Discovery, MTV, Court TV and many other cable and broadcast networks. He is currently a senior producer with Bill Moyers Journal on PBS. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

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Win Prizes!

THE FIVE LOST DAYS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on December 1 and end on January 30. You can visit William's blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in December and January to find out where he is appearing!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner(s) will be announced at the end of every month!

Teen/Tween Tuesday

The Perfect Shot

by: Elaine Marie Alphin

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 360 pages
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (July 31, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1575058626
ISBN-13: 978-1575058627
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches

Product Description:

Brian Hammett's girlfriend has been murdered.

Amanda, her little brother, and her mother were shot in their garage while Brian was shooting hoops in his driveway. Now her father has been arrested for the murder. Could a father really murder his family? Or was the shooter someone else? Brian thinks he remembered seeing a stranger the day Amanda was shot, but he was in the zone straining to make the perfect shot. Anyway, his father told him it probably wasn't anything important and he shouldn't get involved.

Heartbroken over Amanda's death, Brian has tried to lose himself in playing basketball. His school may only play Class 4 ball because their Indiana school is too small to compete with the bigger schools, but his team is the best with him calling the shots and his best friend, Julius, as the star scorer. As the season nears the championship, however, Amanda's father's trial nears its verdict.

And Brian's friend Julius finds himself in trouble when he gets lost in the unfamiliar city driving home, and is arrested for the crime of "driving while black" in a white neighborhood. Badly treated by the police, he calls Brian for help - but Brian's father still doesn't want to get involved, so Brian turns to his history partner's older brother, who's a lawyer, to get Julius out of jail.

Were the police right to arrest Julius? Is the prosecutor right to try Amanda's father? Is the justice system working, or is it broken? When Brian decides to speak out about the stranger, he finds that no one wants to hear him. The only person listening is the real murderer - who is determined to silence Brian by whatever means necessary.

I lived in Indiana for 20 years, and my husband works as a forensic expert witness in firearms related cases, often murder conviction appeals. I saw first hand how the justice system operaties - and how often it falls short. It only works if people are willing to get involved, and speak out, and even then they must be willing to put themselves under scrutiny by law enforcement officers and the courts if they are speaking out on the side of the defendant. Standing up for what is right is risky and can be dangerous, but I believe that is the only way to get justice out of the judicial system in our country.

(Click here) to read an excerpt

I know this is an older title, but I have not heard of the book nor the author and they both sound fantastic, I think! So, hopefully, this will be something new for some readers!

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Running on Dreams

by: Herb Heiman

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 293 pages
Publisher: Autism Asperger Publishing Company (January 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1931282285
ISBN-13: 978-1931282284
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches

Product Description:

This is the story of Justin, a 15-year-old boy with autism who is starting his first semester in a mainstream school and Brad, the school track star, all-around cool guy, and Justin s assigned buddy. In Running on Dreams, these two middle-school boys are tossed together in a story of teenage angst, confusion, and friendship. For adolescents with autism and their neurotypical peers alike, the book is written from both Justin s and Brad s perspectives as they struggle to understand each other and themselves. Join Brad and Justin as they embark upon several teen benchmarks: the first date, rejection by peers, family pressure to succeed, fitting in with the right crowd, experiencing teenage sexuality, and dealing with the outsider kid who is perceived as not cool. This book captures many bittersweet and humorous events that bring new insight to a familiar world the world of heartbreak for two boys whose relationship starts out quite turbulent but evolves into a friendship of loyalty and trust.

(click here) to read an excerpt