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Goodbye Tchaikovsky Wins Second Prize in Coveted Royal Dragonfly Book Award

ByMichael Thal

Cristy Bertini, Editor-in-Chief of Story Monsters Ink magazine recently announced the winners of the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards/Ebook Awards. In the Young Adult category Goodbye Tchaikovsky won Second Prize. Linda F. Radke, president of Five Star Publications, the sponsor of the Dragonfly Book Awards says, “Winning any place in the Royal Dragonfly Contest is…

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Frozen Heart Summer Thaw

ByMichael Thal

Blaire Thompson is a junior at Dysart High School in Phoenix, Arizona. She has dreams of becoming an Olympic skater. Her dad is a Chief Master Sergeant (CMS) in the Air Force, so like most military brats she’s moved around a lot—Spain, Germany, South Carolina, and now Phoenix. Unfortunately, the summer prior to senior year CMS Thompson…

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Another Girl Calls My Dad Daddy

ByMichael Thal

Portia Maddox has just discovered she has a sister. Her dad had a previous brief marriage that led to the birth of a child he didn’t know about. Now, to the surprise of Portia’s parents, they had a 16-year-old daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine’s mother, Vivian, is involved in a new relationship. She could use some alone…

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4 Best Selling YA Novels of All Time

ByMichael Thal

In 2011 the Association of American Publishers ranked YA books as the fastest growing publishing category. In 2015 YA fiction continued in its popularity. It’s obvious that more than teens are reading YA. According to freelance writer, Hope Schreiber in her February 11, 2013 Web article, “The 25 Best Young Adult Fiction Novels of All…

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Resurrection: A Col Sec Novel

ByMichael Thal

In the world of Col Sec, the security arm of the Confederation, there is discord within their rival camp, the Elysium Alliance. The military, led by General Solon has plans that could throw the two galactic adversaries into another war, a war the Alliance is unprepared for. Senator Mikal Tovaric is well aware of this…

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Mystery at Baird’s Den

ByMichael Thal

Emily Sanders, age 14, spends her summer vacation working at a bed and breakfast along the Appalachian Trail in Winton, North Carolina. Gigi Baird, an elderly woman dependent on her guests for sustenance, runs Baird’s Den. Emily was referred to the job by her best friend, Mary Carnell, Ms. Gigi’s granddaughter. From day one, Emily…

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Grab your Louisville Slugger

ByMichael Thal

We’ve all been home alone at night and perhaps frightened when the wind blows and windows rattle. I remember descending into the dark abyss of my childhood home with twin brother Elliott behind me, wielding his trusty Louisville Slugger to fight off boogiemen. Lisa, a college student, decides to surprise her parents and getaway from…

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Why read a YA novel?

ByMichael Thal

Time columnist, Joel Stein had this to say in a New York Times opinion piece about adults reading YA books: “The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his computer is seeing a guy on the plane reading The Hunger Games. Or a Twilight book. Or Harry…