Kindle books

The 2018 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and SCWBI

ByMichael Thal March 17, 2018

Looking for an interesting book to read? On April 21-22 the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be presenting its 23rd annual event on the University of Southern California campus. Five hundred authors, celebrities, musicians, artists, and even chefs will be featured. Admission to the festival is free. There will be over 230 booths…

Are YA Relationships Worth the Effort?

ByMichael Thal March 9, 2018March 10, 2018

Ella Jones has rejected the values of her wealthy parents. She insists on attending public high school and holds down a waitressing job that starts at 4:00 AM. One morning, while opening up the Read Between the Beans coffee house, she meets a seventeen-year old homeless boy sleeping near the restaurant’s dumpster. The morning Ella…

The Frog Prince- A Classic Folktale Re-Told

ByMichael Thal February 27, 2018

Like most fairy tales before it, The Frog Prince, as told by Mike Klaassen, has simple two dimensional characters, an appealing setting, an element of magic, and a villain who challenges the protagonist, seventeen-year old Prince Gerit, son of King Egon of Krickenheim. Gerit is hunting for frogs to avoid weapons practice with his father’s…

My Freshman Year of Fabulous: Cover Reveal

ByMichael Thal February 24, 2018

Series: School Dayz Genre: YA Format: eBook When Avery Thornton needs to escape a first day of school disaster, she ducks into an equipment room to hide and meets someone else who’s also having a really bad day. Eli Fields just got demoted to third string on the football team, a sport he doesn’t even…

The Cat and the Spy

ByMichael Thal February 16, 2018

K.M. Shea re-tells the timeless fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast in a unique way. A witch curses a member of the royal household, Prince Severin, who has become a black-furred beast with the head of a cat. His teeth are too big for his mouth, his fingernails are claws, and he has the hind…

Chapter Book for Young Readers

ByMichael Thal January 31, 2018

Rosetta Douglass was nine years old when her famous father enrolled her in a private school, Miss Tracy’s Female Seminary in Rochester, New York for the 1848-49 school year. The child had never attended a public school because the Rochester schools wouldn’t permit African Americans on their campuses. However two Quaker women from Albany had…

A Cinderella Story Like No Other

ByMichael Thal January 2, 2018

Ella the Slayer isn’t your everyday fairytale adaptation of the Cinderella fantasy. Eleanor Cowie’s father is a knight and her deceased mother, who died when Ella turned ten, was a humble maid. Prior to fighting in the Great War (WWI), Eleanor’s father, Sir Jeffrey, married Elizabeth, the mother of two daughters, Louise and Charlotte. When…

Give the Gift of Learning this Holiday Season

ByMichael Thal November 9, 2017

Holiday shopping is right around the corner. Are you really looking forward to spending hours fighting for a parking spot or waiting in long checkout lines at Macy’s, Sears, or Best Buy? If you want to avoid the hassles, think about buying your favorite child a book this year. You will want your book choice…

Psychic Girl Communicates with Animals

ByMichael Thal August 31, 2017

Lost and Found by Sharon Ledwith is an excellent read for YA readers on several levels. It teaches kids about leadership and responsibility, and it sets a fine example for us humans to care better for the animals around us Whiskey, a fifteen-year-old calico cat, is the only link of communication between the cat floor…

5 YA Books Critics Have Enjoyed

ByMichael Thal July 10, 2017

During these long summer days, it’s always nice to get out of the heat, sit down by the AC, sip ice-cold lemonade, and read a book. Below are five books by award-winning writer, Michael Thal. Goodbye Tchaikovsky Paperback: $9.99 IBook: $9.99 A violin virtuoso is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to…