The Book of Names - D. Barkley Briggs

An excellent young-adult tale of mystery and fantasy, Briggs writes of brothers Haydn and Ewan Barlow, whose strange discovery of a rune-carved archway on their father's land leads to the entrance into a world of magic and wonder. Once found in the land, Karac Tor, the two are said to be destined for greatness, but only if they can survive the tragedies and battles that befall them while seeking their route back home. If they do live to tell their story, will the Brothers Barlow truly be the rumored 'champions' of the mysterious land?

Briggs has an excellent way of writing a detailed tale without too much being revealed. True friends and enemies are anyone's guess as the brothers lose, find, and lose each other on their journey through the land, but only an atom of a large and complicated truth is unveiled in the ending, flawlessly leading into another twisted and meandering tale of adventure and suspense.

The Eagle - Jack Whyte

The Eagle is the final book in Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, a true historical fiction take on the Arthurian tales. It is also the second book that completes the story of Clothar of Gaul, legendarily known as Sir Lancelot.

The story begins after Clothar and Arthur have become close friends and military compatriots. Arthur is king and soon decides to send Clothar back to Gaul to engage trade and agreements with like-minded kingdoms across the channel.

Clothar, between Gaul and Britain, is instrumental in fighting many of the enemies found on the island and in modern-day Europe, including the forces of Attila the Hun.

His friend and king, Arthur, begins to show his vulnerability and matters in Britain begin to deteriorate and Arthur asks Clothar for one last request, which Clothar has difficulty in performing.

The Eagle is a fitting end to Whyte's tale of Arthur's Britain. There are some chapter's of battle but a majority of the book is spent on continuing to develop Clothar's character. The author also explains his opinion of some of the more juicy tales of the supposed love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.

Nox Dormienda - Kelly Stanley

I'm sure this new-fangled genre of so-called 'roman noir' requires a certain audience to attract interest and keep it, but I was not a part of that audience.

The only way I could possibly tell you what the book is about is by reading the back cover, and even then, it isn't completely clear. The invention of a brand new genre of literature is great and all, but if you can't back it up with some good can't-put-it-down, balls-to-the-walls reading, it's not going to do much good.

So, here's what I got from my 94 pages of reading - this Agricola governor dude has gotten himself into a coliseum full of poop and is now being called to resign by this spy, whose married to a chick that Agricola's friend and doctor fancies. Okay, first off, I didn't know they had 'spies' back then, and two, it's already a bit too Bold and the Beautiful for me. But oh, wait! The spy ends up dead. Woo hoo! Gladiator brawls for all!

Not exactly. This lovelorn doctor guy suddenly becomes Sherlock Holmes Jr. and takes it upon himself to find out who murdered this spy. Sure, it may help clear the governor's name if he does that, but I thought 'governors' and emperors and all them were pretty powerful people on their own. Can't they just have their accusers buried in a pyramid or something?

I wasn't thoroughly impressed with what I read, but that is one person's opinion. If this sounds like your type of reading, hitch a chariot and go for it.

We Call you Saint.

The name ignited a light in Carl’s mind. Saint. He’d been covertly recruited for Black Ops and given his life to the most brutal kind of training any man or woman could endure. He was here because he belonged here. To the X Group. An assasin. The most effective killer in the world. And yet . . . Carl Strople struggles to retain fleeting memories that betray an even more ominous reality. He’s been told part of the truth--but what’s the rest? Invasive techniques have stripped him of his identity and made him someone new--for this he is grateful. But there are some things they can’t take from him. The love of a woman, unbroken loyalties to his past, the need for survival.

From the deep woods of Hungary to the streets of New York, Saint takes you on a journey of betrayal in a world of government cover-ups, political intrigue, and one man’s search for the truth. In the end, that truth will be his undoing.
- Publisher's Description

Well, wow. That's about I can say about this fast paced thriller. I couldn't put it down. The 2nd book in the Paradise collection continue the story of Project Showdown. It's like a psycholigical Bourne Identity, with a Christian tilt. You can't trust anyone, nothing seems true and everything is out of place for "Carl." Luckily a few people come into his life and help him see the truth. And the Truth will set Carl free.

A Civil General by David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill

'A Civil General' is a fictionalized account of the General George Henry Thomas story. Thomas earned his reputation as one of Civil War's toughest fighting generals in battles like Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Ringgold. His story is told through the first person point of view of a friend and subordinate - Colonel William Swain, a regimental commander.

Great pains were taken to make this book as historically accurate as possible. This accuracy extends all the way to language the characters use. The dialogue is well done and reads easily. The scenes from the section of the book dealing with the Battle of Chattanooga, the campaigning in Tennessee and its aftermath are very interesting and detailed. The illustrations that are used to depict them use enticing, historically accurate imagery.

The first person telling of the story develops and become more interesting as the pages turn. The second half of the story reads very quickly as the Col. Swain develops a love interest, Neala, and goes to visit her. The romance between them is tender and very well done. He communicates with her by letter and eventually marries her.

With all the sound and fury of the battles through Tennessee coming to a climax in the middle of the book, the death of General Thomas shortly thereafter unfortunately transforms his funeral into the climax of the story. The unfortunate way that several of the Washington elites and senior generals handled themselves before and during the funeral is jaw dropping and embittering. The epilogue notes that Mrs. Thomas never attended a military event. After reading this account of what happened, I can't say I blame her at all.

A Civil General by David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill (Sunstone Press, 2008).
ISBN: 978-0-86534-663-5
Price: $20.95, Softcover, 6x9, 160 pages.

Dear John by Norma Betz

Dear John
~Norma L Betz
978-1-4343-1071-2

This is a delightful first novel from an author who shows great promise.

A young woman is faced with the death of her last relative - the aunt she was named for and who helped her when her parents were tragically killed when she was nineteen. Through love, support and financial assistance, her aunt made sure she completed college and graduate school. As young adults do, Suzanna allowed the distance to grow between them as she established her life and career. Now, her only family was gone and she had to face the obligation to sort through the life that is gone. Any adult who has faced becoming an orphan can relate to the multitude of emotions that one suffers through.

With her companion, Quincy, a five-year-old Weimaraner, Susanna heads to the home she has inherited from her aunt. When she arrives, she meets the people who have shared her aunt's life and the haunting questions about her past. She inherits a treasure trove of history from their ancestor Abigail Adams, including some of the letters she wrote to John Adams in the beginning of the Revolution. Susanna becomes inspired by Abigail's letters. And, she becomes inspired by her aunt's life as she gets to know her aunt's friends, and finds that they are embracing her as a friend as well. It is the story of the strength of a family of women... the quiet strength that keeps them going through life. While Suzanna is admiring it in Abigail and her Aunt Suzanna, she comes to realize that it is something else she shares with them.

Unfortunately, the wealth of the treasures become a target for someone unscrupulous and causes grave danger to Susanna and Quincy and their new friends, as well as the beginnings of love.

Anyone who is interested in American history will enjoy a journey into some of the letters of Abigail Adams during the early years of the Revolution. The journey is memorable and a remarkable window on the world of 1775.

I really enjoyed this book!

The critical side of me has to complain loudly about the font used for the letters of Abigail Adams. It was nice to have a font change to distinguish the letters from the story, but the one used was difficult to read, which made it harder to enjoy the wealth of the letters and to enjoy the book.

If I were to give any advise to Norma Betz, I would say DO NOT HOLD BACK. I felt like she was always trying to neatly package and contain her characters, yet she had created these wonderfully deep characters who wanted to breathe. Let them breathe! Quincy, too!

I hope Norma Betz follows with a second book!

Her website is found here.

A Must Have for the Writers on the Elusive Agent Hunt!

Authoress, the anonymous champion of all aspiring writers, has done it again! Her latest endeavor is a no nonsense guide to starting that agent hunt and the tools to avoid pitfalls that so many of us fall into.
Many of you are familiar with her blog http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/ and her Hook the Agent contests. She also has many crit opportunities for her blog followers.
Over-all, she's just one of those really helpful people that try and make a difference by sharing her time, words of wisdom, and giving other's a chance to get a leg up in the elusive agent hunt. That being said, her new e-book release is now available:
This can be purchased for $9.99 on Authoress's blog (the link is above). It is an e-book, so talk about instant gratification!

The resources that she gives you are priceless. You could spend months and months researching these things on the web, read books on getting published (which are certainly not going to be cheaper), and would still be left wondering where to start.

Authoress has given you the tools, the lists (I so love lists), and the places to go so that you can too can find an agent, and then how to go about getting an agent that is right for you.

If you have written, are writing, or even thinking about writing something, this is a tool that you NEED. Go visit her blog, look around, and order her book. I promise you won't be sorry!

Oh yeah, and tell her Terri sent you...not that I get a kick-back, but I have a secret fantasy that maybe she's Nora Roberts, or JK Rowling, or Diana Gabaldon and I'd like to have brownie points!

Lady Flatterley - Linda Wagner

Who knew a caterpillar could be so self-conscious?

In this adorable, well-illustrated tale, Wagner's yellow jacket caterpillar Lady Flatterley longs for the wings that many a friend and passerby ride the winds on, but is a bit afraid of leaving the safety of her leafy nest and unaware of what to do to obtain her own wings. A knowledgeable butterfly informs her of the wonder of the cocoon, and soon, though not without trouble, Flatterley bears a pair of wings all her own.

The colorful, whimsical illustrations by Pearl Ollie add a child-like grace to the fluent rhymes, while photographer Jerry Hanzl's cloudy backdrops add an undeniably beautiful canvas for the story. Further, Ollie's additions of emotional expression to each present creature, whether fish or flyer, had relatable, human-like qualities to otherwise strange, placid nature-dwellers. 

An excellent read for the children of youth and the children of heart.

In A Time of War ~ Bill Murphy Jr

In A Time of War:
The Proud and Perilous Journey of
West Point's Class of 2002

By Bill Murphy Jr

When September 11, 2001 happened, the senior class at West Point was to become the first class to graduate during the War on Terror. At their graduation, they heard President Bush deliver the speech that became known as the 'Bush Doctrine' - America would take the fight to the enemy. They were destined to become the junior officers on the front lines of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bill Murphy's book follows a small group of the graduates of 2002 - friends who stay close through West Point, advanced training, deployments, marriages, children, wounds and death. From around the globe, their friendship bonded them together.

The book follows these young officers in many settings and experiences. As life unfolds, Mr. Murphy shares the all too human successes and disappointments, the wounds external and internal, the death of friends and the mourning of friends and family. They serve. They sacrifice. And, most of all, they stay friends.

Since this is a true story, nothing fits tidily in a box for the plot. But, the people are so memorable that you will never forget some of them....


Drew Sloan -
Drew was wounded in Afghanistan, after many surgeries to rebuild his face, requested deployment to Iraq. He is currently at Harvard in graduate school.








Todd Bryant
Todd lost his life in Iraq - October 31 2003 - leaving behind his new wife Jen.










Tim Moshier
Tim was an Apache helicopter pilot who lost his life in Iraq on April 1, 2006






Their stories should be on the front pages of newspapers in this nation. Unfortunately, they are not. But, Bill Murphy tells their stories in this remarkable book that everyone should read.


The author's web page is http://www.inatimeofwar.com/

The Ark, the Reed, & The Fire Cloud - Jenny L. Cote

Even a non-religious person like myself can appreciate the beauty of this wonderful read.

Max, a Scottish terrier, and Liz, a beautiful black cat, are called from their individual homes to lead an ever-growing group of animals to Noah's recently-finished Ark. Along the way are many obstacles that, with a little help from the Maker and his trail-blazing fire cloud, the slew of furry creatures successfully cross. But once they board the ark and settle in, a controversy starts to brew. Are the reclusive wolves causing all the chaos that is slowly severing the friendly ties between the animals and the humans? If not them, who could be responsible for such a task? It's up to the brave and intelligent pairing of Max and Liz to find out before it's too late. 

This book had me flipping through chapter after chapter, anxiously following the creatures from distant and nearby lands to the Ark. Each character, no matter how big a part, has their own personality that shines through, providing humorous relief or a jaw-dropping twist to the story. Cote flawlessly links the details of the trip with the recordings of the Bible. The closing of the adventure is beautiful and tear-inducing. An amazing literary work. 

Otis the Musical Owl ~ Joseph N Chappelle

Otis the Musical Owl

Joseph N Chappelle

This is the story of an owl who is injured, taken to a rehab facility and then escapes and begins a quest to find his family. This children's book is part fact, part fiction and lots of fantasy, but there are no illustrations to assist the gaps in the story line.

One must suspend all logic while reading this book. It flits from reality to fantasy and back again. I felt that many pages had fallen out - that the story was denied its destiny to flourish. There were too many sections where the story never finished and went off in a different direction. There is amazing creativity here, but the story should have been fuller and longer.

It is a shame, as it raises many philosophical questions that are good for children to ponder.

The Lance Thrower - Jack Whyte

The Lance Thrower is the next-to-last book in the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte, historical fiction writer. This book introduces Clothar the Frank, who mythically becomes known as Sir Lancelot.

This book begins with an aged Clothar, making one last visit to Brittania to make some things right by his old friend, Merlyn. He remembers his adventures...

...which start as a young boy in what today is France. The person he has always believed is his father, is Ban, king of Benwick. The story unfolds with Clothar learning of his true heritage and that he is to study under famed bishop Germanus, in Auxerre. Germanus has a school for boys, catering to the noble-born to learn high academics, leadership and warfare.

Once Clothar is finished with his school, he is on an errand back to his home when his world is turned upside down. His train is attacked and he finds himself alone in country. He eventually finds a mercenary that is willing to travel with him and guide him to Ban's army.

The middle portion of the book deals with the feuding that follows Ban's death. Ban's oldest son, Gunthar is an evil sociopath but Ban decreed that his second son, Samson is to be king. This causes what Clothar refers to as Gunthar's war, which ends abruptly and causes Clothar to reconsider his life, which has been war for many months.

Clothar decides that he is going back to see Germanus and serve his mentor. Germanus, who must soon leave for Italia to meet with the pope, sends messages to people in the far-off island of Brittania. One message is to be delivered to the bishop there, to have him orchestrate the crowning of a new high king. A young man named Arthur.

Clothar makes his way to Brittania, but his travels are not smooth and his initial months there frustrate him. He misses the coronation of Arthur and he has trouble finding Merlyn. But once he does, he delivers his messages and goes to find Arthur.

Most of this book is the building of Clothar's character. This is an excellent book with less narrative than some of the author's other books in the series. At times it is fast-paced but is also contemplative. As always, the historical background is full in Jack Whyte's books. This book leads into the final book in the series, The Eagle.

DNA - W. Craig Reed

In a race against time (and a crazy terrorist), George Anders and a few bad-luck bio-chemical scientists must stop the spread of a toxin that can go undetected in the human body and can kill in little more than twenty-four hours. It'd be a lot easier, though, if George and the terrorist, Fahkir, weren't reenacting the movie "Face/Off". 

In this pulse-pounding page-turner, W. Craig Reed takes Anders and a motley cast on a race to save the world from Satan's Sister, a chemical that could potentially kill off the planet's "simple humans" and make room for those enhanced by the fabled, but somehow concocted, "Elixir of Life". Strange concept, but Reed makes it work with unique characters (Anders' fellow SEALs are a humorous bunch) and unusual twists (who would've thought you could rob a top-security building of secret plans using a tube of lipstick?). 

Overall, I found it to be an exhilirating tale, along the lines of the Splinter Cell series. Pick it up if you need a little action near your bed (besides, well...you know).

A Psychic Perspective, 10 Steps to More Love, Wealth, and Personal Happiness by Phillis King

A Psychic Perspective, 10 Steps to More Love, Wealth, and Personal Happiness by Phyllis King is a practical, common sense sort of book about perspective and finding happiness. It doesn't require very much psychic intuition to discern the power of positive thought, the importance of taking action, and what patience and persistence really mean in daily life. It does take a skilled hand to integrate all of those affirmatives into something genuine and meaningful. The best parts of this book are exactly that.

How to make better choices and enjoy the outcomes of that fills this book. The book is roughly divided into four parts. By far the largest part, the first 99 of the books' 195 pages, is a biography of the author. The next fifty pages define the Perspective the author draws from her personal experiences. Then there are the 10 Steps to More Love, Wealth, and Personal Happiness the book is named for. There is also a 30 day plan "to jump start your life".

This book makes for a very quick read. The approach the author took is intuitive and pleasant. If you are looking for a cookbook for personal happiness with exact measures of ingredients, this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you are comfortable with measures like a pinch of this and a dash of that, this book reads as though the words are spoken by a friend.

Everything promised on the cover is here. There is more too. There are frank discussions of creating love, wealth and finding truth. To find it, you must practice enough patience and persistence to actually read the book. It's worth it.

Uther - Jack Whyte

Uther is generally acknowledged as the seventh book in the Camulod Chronicles series, although it is a separate account, deviating from the point of view progression of the third book. It can be read anytime after the third book, The Eagle's Brood.

In the Foreward, the author states that he hesitated to publish this book, as it is an alternate account of the life of Uther Pendragon, father of Arthur. The previous incarnation of Uther's life in this series is told from Merlyn's perspective. But, having read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, parallel books from Ender's and then Bean's point of view, he decided to publish Uther, as it gave him the confidence that it would be well received.

The story begins when Uther is a young boy. He begins to understand who he is. He easily understands that his father and grandfather are powerful in the Pendragon tribe, but also that his mother is different. Of course, his mother, Veronica is the daughter of Publius and Luceiia Varrus of Camulod, making Uther central in the rebirth of Britain.

As Uther takes leadership, he makes strange friends, the strangest being a Cambrian of another tribe. Nemo is a short, squat, ugly and silent female that becomes Uther's celebate military subordinate....and much more.

If you've read the previous books, you know how the book is going to end, but the author fills in many gaps in the story as previously told. One large previous mystery is who killed Merlyn's wife, Deidre? That question is answered in this book.

This nine-hundred page book was full of long narrative. There was much more narrative than the previous books, it seemed, and less dialogue. At times, it was difficult to make it through a section, but much of the narrative, also, was full of information and history. Again, for the reader, it could be a slow read due to the fact that it's a parallel novel. But, the author did an excellent job at developing Uther's character along with Nemo, Garreth Whistler and Owain of the Caves. All interesting characters.

Book Review: The Roswell Legacy by Jesse Marcel, Jr.

The Roswell Legacy
By Jesse Marcel, Jr., and Linda Marcel
With a foreword by Stanton T. Friedman

Publisher: New Page Books
174 Pages

Do extraterrestrials exist? Are the otherworldly visiting earth now? Do we have alien craft invading our airspace?

These questions have been around since the 1940’s. According to author Jesse Marcel, Jr. the answer is yes. In his book, The Roswell Legacy, he documents the events leading up to and after the alleged crash of a spacecraft found by a ranch hand in Roswell New Mexico in 1947. There has been an ocean of speculation of what actually crashed on the ranch back then, but one thing still remains constant: The U.S. Government to this day claims the recovered debris from the crash site are either from a weather balloon or a top-secrete device for detecting pressure waves from a nuclear blast in the Soviet Union. In either case according to Marcel, the debris from the wreckage do not match the materials from either a weather balloon or pressure detector would have been made of.

When he was eleven, Jesse’s life took a turn down the road to strangeness. One summer night his father Major Jesse Marcel, Sr., excited, brought in a box of debris, and scattered them on the kitchen-floor, claiming a flying saucer had crashed 75 miles northwest of Roswell. That night Jesse Jr. had the privilege of handling and inspecting the pieces of something that would forever change his life.

Major Marcel an officer in the Army Air Force, successfully trained in radar, worked as an S-2 Intelligence Officer assigned to the 509th Composite Bomb Group in Nevada. He briefed and supplied intelligence to the flight crews before the missions to drop the atom bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. To say the least Major Marcel had the credentials to identify whether or not the wreckage was a balloon or part of a secrete piece of equipment.

According to Jesse Jr. the superior officers of Major Marcel forced him to pose for pictures with a radar target, which had some resemblance to the actual wreckage but was not the actual debris.

The book is a great fast read and will keep the reader hooked from the first page to the end if they have an interest in UFO’s and government cover-ups. One thing for certain is Major Marcel knew what he saw and thought it came from somewhere else other than Earth.

I am convinced there is something that happened near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and the government did cover it up. Even if nothing happened there the City of Roswell has benefited from the story for over 60 years in the tourist industry. If you visit there today you can’t go anywhere without bumping into some sort of alien paraphernalia. I visited there last year and had a blast. If you are planning a trip there pick up this book for a great companion and who knows who or what you might find there.

Operation Blue Light by Philip Chabot

Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life Among Psychic Spies by Philip Chabot with Laurie Anne Blanchard is a coming of age story that takes an unexpected turn and just keeps going. It crosses into adventure and changes a young man's life forever.

"This is a true story" the first sentence of the Preface promises. That promise seems to be confirmed by the reactions of others to the things that Philip discovers while trying to master a gift as powerful and consuming as the one he describes. He learns to leave his own body and sense the situations of others. When he describes the experience to a girlfriend, she predictably shuns him. He publicly predicts the appearance of a rainbow, and then is ostracized as a freak. To the amazement of his employer, a newspaper publisher, he uses his predictive skill to be in the right spot to get the best pictures of car wrecks, visiting politicians, and current events.

With a subtitle like "my secret life among the psychic spies", I expected something more akin to a James Bond type of story, or even something involving the well known attempts at psychic remote viewing. Despite the tempting quotations from MKULTRA documents, that isn't what this story is about. The cloak and dagger stuff doesn't happen until the story is much more than half told.

This book flows like a stream of consciousness. It is personal, interesting and fast paced. Some of the details in the story are challenging. The rationale for Mr. Chabot's time in a psychiatric ward is troubling. He discusses becoming an agent for the communist block at the height of the Cold War. The biggest challenge for me by far was an arranged marriage with the granddaughter of Chairman Mao. Nothing specific about her is ever mentioned, not even her name.

I recommend this book because of its personal and gripping story of a young man coming of age with a powerful and impressive gift. Its magnitude overwhelms him. The best part of this story is how Philip reconnects with his father. Philip makes the choice to lay down this gift and just walk away. It is believable and understandable. That is compelling reading.

Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life Among Psychic Spies - Philip Chabot

Can you hear me now? Good.

Looks like Miss Cleo has some competition in Philip Chabot, a now-retired photographer who records some of his pivotal experiences with his psychic and telepathic abilities in "Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life Among Psychic Spies".

Based in the sixties, Chabot (which is a pen name) speaks of the mental out-of-body sensations he receives when his best friend Brian gets to second base with a girl (Chabot was in his bedroom, Brian in his own home) and his is-she-or-isn't-she girlfriend Ann sleeps with another guy (Chabot says he was "feeling and seeing things from Ann's perspective"). Oh, and let’s not forget Chabot’s prediction of a rainbow two months ahead of time (which apparently came true). And amidst all this, Chabot struggles to find a job as a photographer, eventually ending up as a specialty advertisement artist under his father’s rule. One things leads to another, and he’s eventually in a motel room have a telepathic conversation with the British, Russian and Chinese via a one-sided telephone call.

Sound strange? It is. Sound farfetched? Definitely.

But the way Chabot writes his story is too intriguing not to pay attention. It reads like a lost-boy-finding-himself sort of tale, but with an interesting and unique twists and turns. Some of the tale seems a bit too outlandish to be entirely truthful, but certain things, such as his smart-ass attitude with the FBI and CIA after the infamous international phone conversation, are just too funny and powerful to mark off as fictitious.

It’s an interesting book, definitely worth a look, but I’m not convinced it’s entirely true. That would really suck if he could read my mind right now…

Port of Entry: Agents and Lovers - John P. Lintz, Sr.

24, it ain't.

John P. Lintz, Sr. tries, he really does. But not much can be saved from this clustered mess of a story. All the happenings are so muddled together, the book loses most all its purpose less than twenty chapters in (and they are short chapters).

We've got JJ, a former pro soccer player, who becomes an agent paired with Mexican beauty Elena for a mission to...do something. Then, somewhere in the mix, a David Koresh wannabe (despite what he says) runs a sorry excuse for a religious movement just so he can smoke some dope and get laid. Oh, wait - then it switches to a fire fight between the rogue Zetas and some other people who have a deadly dislike for their commander. Bang, bang, four are dead, and instanteous new lovebirds JJ and Elena are assigned to take fingerprints and photographs of the corpses wile resisting any chance opportunity to have sex...okay, and we're back to the Koresh dude, who's been found out...

I just couldn't sort through the mess of tales to find the core purpose of the book. The stories have potential and Lintz had a great idea going, but he just couldn't their unfolding as well as I had hoped.

Sorry, JJ - you're no Jack Bauer. Head off with Elena and find something else to do for a while.

Johnny Big Ears - John Paul Padilla

Youngster feeling unhappy and down? Give him a haircut.

It sure helped Johnny Big Ears, the character in John Paul Padilla’s inspirational children’s tale of the same name, in which Johnny, as you can pretty much guess, has big ears. He’s starting his first day of kindergarten and, thanks to Mom, now has a spiffy, curly new ‘do to make a good first impression. However, some recess bullies find humor in Johnny’s augmented lobes, teasing him and calling him names. But does that get Johnny down? No, sir! In the midst of paying no attention to the bullies, he befriends other friends, like Charlie Freckles, who, like him, are unique in there own special ways. (I do love how their last names reflect their special qualities – really, what are the chances of that?)

A well-constructed tale with a beautiful message, Johnny Big Ears is a delightful story that all kids (and a few adults) should read or – and pardon the extremely obvious pun here – lend an ear to. Perhaps there should be a sequel called Sally Big Nose? Just teasing.