paranormal

A Spooky Story for Middle School Students

ByMichael Thal March 27, 2019March 27, 2019

Dear Pop, I’m a seventh grader at New Heights Preparatory School in Northridge. My English teacher recently assigned us a book report. I can choose any book I want, but the author must be a California resident. I also need to report a little bit about the writer. Please help me ASAP. The…

Pop’s 6 Favorite Books of 2018

ByMichael Thal February 6, 2019

In 2018 Pop read and reviewed 36 young adult novels. All of the books received 5 pops because they were thought provoking, imaginative, and the author’s writing style exemplary. Below you’ll find seven of his favorites plus his award-winning novel, Koolura and the Mayans. Title: Koolura and the Mayans Author: Michael Thal Awards: 2018 eLit…

The Quest of the Empty Tomb: A Supernatural Mystery

ByMichael Thal December 3, 2018

The Hunt for Xanadu recently received a 5 pops review from this blog. Elyse Salpeter’s second book in her Kelsey Porter Series, The Quest of the Empty Tomb, was also an exciting ride, but didn’t exactly live up to the high bar Salpeter’s first book established. In The Quest of the Empty Tomb, Salpeter brings back many…

The Hunt for Xanadu: A YA Thriller

ByMichael Thal October 29, 2018October 29, 2018

We’ve all heard of the mythical city of Xanadu appearing in literature and movies. It’s an exotic utopia first described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a nineteenth century English poet, in his 1816 poem, “Kubla Khan.” Author Elyse Salpeter has embraced the myth and expanded the concept of Xanadu to a higher plane in her first…

5 Halloween Events for Parents and Kids in Los Angeles

ByMichael Thal October 22, 2018

Since Halloween is Wednesday night, October 31, 2018, many parents are having trouble figuring out what to do with the kids? Afraid to let them go trick-or-treating for fear of the loonies out there? Here are a few ideas for parents spooked about Halloween. First of all, there’s nothing wrong with trick-or-treating. As my daughters…

YA Medieval Historical Fantasy

ByMichael Thal October 13, 2018

Set in England during the middle ages, author TF Gray begins Murdoch’s Tale: Book 1 of Corwin’s Chronicle.The novel introduces Corwin, a young child torn away from his family and home by war. Rescued by Tovan of the faer and dropped off to a human family for adoption, Corwin goes through life with the dream of…

The Koolura Series: YA Fantasy at It’s Best

ByMichael Thal September 12, 2018

Twenty-four years ago author Michael Thal began what would become The Koolura Series. His prime motivation at the time was to get his daughter Channie excited about reading. Then in the sixth grade, she promised to read the book upon its publication. Good for her word, even though she was twenty-eight years…

YA Horror: The Beautiful Monster Series

ByMichael Thal September 12, 2018

Beautiful Monster: The Exchange (Book 1) His vampire brother turned Lev Baronovsky a hundred years ago. Since then, he’s waged an internal battle to retain his humanity by refusing to neither kill a human nor turn one into a creature of the night. It’s a tough battle, for his brother, Alexei is his polar opposite….

Middle Grade Fantasy/Detective Story

ByMichael Thal September 1, 2018

Chef Nana, the head cook at the New Harmonia, an exclusive New York City hotel, is dead. Her son, Michael Lawson, is tapped to replace her, and Chef Lawson needs to move from Chicago to New York with his son Stephen. Stephen Lawson is a pre-teen boy raised by a single parent….

Magic 2.0: A YA Fantasy Series

ByMichael Thal August 9, 2018

A twenty-three-year-old computer hacker illegally enters the computer of a cell phone manufacturer and finds a curious file. It’s huge with five terabytes of plain ASC11 text characters with a boring name—repository1-c.txt. He gives it a look and finds something curious; many of the numbers change constantly. Then he searches the file for his name….