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Orange County Children’s Book Festival

ByMichael Thal

Remember the good old days when you could walk into Crown Books, Borders, or Barnes & Noble and browse the tombs for your favorite author or curl up in a corner to check out a fun read? With most bookstores closed, where can a mom purchase books for children and teens besides logging onto Amazon?…

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Book Cover Reveal: Season of Decay

ByMichael Thal

About the Book Title: The Season of Decay Author: Michael W. Garza Genre: YA horror Our world decayed and a new world arose from the ashes of the old. The Canaan tribe formed from the ruins of their oppressors, struggling to build a new world for themselves, challenged by the rise of a threat within…

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SCWBI Summer Reading List could boost kids’ reading ability

ByMichael Thal

School in Los Angeles begins August 16, 2016. It’s been a long hot summer, so slow the pace a bit, kick back, and read a book. It’s so important that the reading skills of children remain sharp. According to an article in Reading Rocks, “Summer Reading Loss,” thirteen academic studies covering 40,000 students discovered that…

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Modern Day Slavery

ByMichael Thal

Think the slave trade stopped with the Civil War? Petra knows better. Petra, a beautiful Hispanic girl, just finished a snack with her friend at the Pizza Parlour. When the companions separated, Petra headed home to finish her homework. When she was about to cross the street, powerful hands grabbed, shot her with a taser,…

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The Beautiful Monster Series

ByMichael Thal

Jeanne Bannon is the author of The Beautiful Monster Series. She says, “I’ve always loved to read about vampires, especially the Vampire Lestat books by Anne Rice. Another of my favorites is Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. My aim for Beautiful Monster was to remain true to the folklore and genre. I didn’t want to…

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A Brief History of YA Literature

ByMichael Thal

As a teacher fresh out of grad school and subbing for the Los Angeles Unified School District, I began reading YA fiction to uncover gems to motivate my students. I initially discovered Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly. Published in 1942 and considered the first book explicitly written for teens, Daly’s novel for girls had a…

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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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Scary Halloween Story

ByMichael Thal

John Galloway is a middle-aged cop still walking his beat in a small Northeastern town. He is a beaten cop carrying emotional luggage of a failed marriage and a daughter lost to violence. Now it’s Halloween, the WORST day of the year to walk his beat, especially at night. Killing time before reporting for duty,…