Are your children moping around the house with nothing to do? Here’s a suggestion to stimulate their minds: Have them enter a writing contest. Children master concepts at their grade level, and unfortunately, those skills tend to fade during the long summer months. To sharpen a child’s writing skills, motivate your sons and daughters…
Josh, a 17-year-old alcoholic, drives home after an evening of binge drinking. Two high school girls standing at a crosswalk are unseen until it’s too late. Josh is thrown through the windshield and dies immediately and Grace becomes a statistic. Josh finds himself in Death Valley talking to Lucifer, who offers him a deal he…
Silvia Kryz, an eighty-four year old Australian woman, witnesses the mass slaughter of a crossing guard and “six lovely little children, none over seven.” Steps away from being killed by the murderous vehicle, she survives, a huge plus for the killer. Charles Debnall, angry at life and everyone living, is responsible for the carnage. Raised…
As a reading specialist working for the Glendale Unified School District, I noticed a serious decline in reading skills of many of my students after a long hot summer break. According to researchers at the National Education Association (NEA), “Children can lose up to three months of reading progress over the summer months, and that loss…
Uyi Osifo, a native of Benin, Nigeria and immigrant to the United States in 2006, writes a memoir about growing up in Nigeria. He shares his nation’s religious beliefs, including his acceptance of Christianity, family difficulties and joys, and an inside view of Nigerian culture through short stories he recalled from his youth. Chicken Hero:…
Deafness is an invisible disability leaving its victims isolated within a hearing environment where oral language dominates the social, political, and entertainment worlds. Compared with the general population, there are few people touched by deafness, so the majority has no idea of its emotional impact and social effect on its victims. Myron Uhlberg knows better….
Due Date Shelby McDougall is a surrogate mother. Diane and Jackson Entwistle are paying her big bucks for her twins. When brother Dexter’s wife, Jessica, asks Shelby to leave their home because Jessica feels Shelby’s pregnancy will adversely affect her 3-year-old, Ashley, Shelby has no choice but to accept Diane’s offer to live in…
“Grandpa, why are you wearing that red plastic flower on your shirt?” Mikey pointed to a poppy on his grandfather’s breast pocket. “It’s Memorial Day,” Grandpa said. Mikey flopped on the floor in front of Grandpa’s chair. “I know. No school today.” “Memorial Day is more than that. I wear this flower in honor of…
If you’re sitting around a campfire on a spooky night glowing with a full moon and someone asks, “Tell us a scary story,” be smart and don’t tell them the one about the girl who has the power to kill ghosts. Why frighten those kids with nightmares filled with spooks and demons? But if a…
The Best Seller Maya Smock, an aspiring author, grew up in an orphanage and foster homes. Used and abused, she entered adulthood early taking a job at a Las Vegas bookstore by day and writing her novel, “The Master Race,” at night. When Maya’s book was finished she met a literary agent at a Las…