| | | | | | | | | | |

A Time Travel Tale about the Salem Witch Trials

ByMichael Thal

Netti hung from the hanging tree, her body limp and swinging. It’s 1692 Salem, Massachusets with the infamous witch trials under way. Netti was a sweet and innocent young woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Her crime: She knew how to turn herbs into oils. Neighbor Jonas Hale believed the girl was actually brewing potions…

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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…

| | | | | | | | | | | |

Koolura Series character Leila Marvi speaks out

ByMichael Thal

Leila Marvi is deaf. She’s also the main character in Koolura and the Mayans, and a secondary character in Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback.  She has a few things to say about herself, BFF Koolura Akopyan, and the two novels she appears in.   Can you tell us a little about yourself? My name is Leila Marvi….

| | | | | | | | | | | |

Alien Invasion

ByMichael Thal

Tyler Dunsmore, a thirteen-year old boy from Providence, Rhode Island is best friends with Dirk, a powerful wizard from a distant star. Tyler first met Dirk in Brian Wu and Scott Spotson’s first My Wizard Buddy novel. In Target: Earth, number three in the My Wizard Buddy Series, Tyler is kidnapped by the Genzi, evil…

| | | | | | | | | | |

12 YA Beach Reads to Tan by This Summer

ByMichael Thal

Summer 2016 is right around the corner. What better way to enjoy a day at the beach than to bring a good book to soak up the sun? Here are 12 YA books on the SCBWI “Summer Reading List” by California writers. With each book you’ll find its category, author, brief description, and link to…

| | | | | | | | | | | |

A Thousand Years of Evil

ByMichael Thal

Jimmy Hankins and Mickey O’Hara, boys in their early teens, are abducted from the streets with many other children in their city, by a band of evil men planning on selling the children as sex slaves through the seedy channels of human trafficking. Then, like magic, Theresa Bordils and Melchior, Fairy King of Avalon, rescues…