Give a Book for the Holidays

Books are the perfect gift for this Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanzaa season. Like a card, books convey a sentiment, but so much more. They can take the reader to different worlds, timelines, or show human emotions, frailties, and strengths to inspire and educate. Books are inexpensive so you have the opportunity to affect a person’s life with a novel showing an alternate reality, or the human condition in various historical times.

Below you’ll find six books by author Michael Thal whose novels will take you back in time, into deep space, or experience psychic super powers. Two of his novels are human interest stories providing the reader with a glimpse into the lives of two very different Deaf people. All his books have the potential of leading readers along a path of self-discovery and growth.

Goodbye, Tchaikovsky: A twelve-year-old violin virtuoso, David Rothman, is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to a new culture and language in order to survive.

David Rothman is an overnight success. He performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in New York’s Symphony Hall with rave reviews attracting the attention of the Queen of England. His future is laid out for him like a well-lit freeway. Then, on his twelfth birthday, David suffers from a sudden and irreparable hearing loss, plunging him into a silent world. 

The novel shows how an adolescent boy copes with deafness. How will he communicate with his friends? What can he do about school? Where does his future lie? 

“Told in first-person perspective, Goodbye, Tchaikovsky is a story of courage, adaptation, and the struggle to accept a new way of life. Highly recommended.” – Midwest Book Review

Publication Date: 2012; 2020

Age Range: 10-Adult

Cost: $12.00

Print Length: 136 pages

Only Available in Print

Purchase Link: Royal Firework Press  https://www.rfwp.com/series/books-on-deafness#book-goodbye-tchaikovsky

Awards: 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Young Adult Fiction Second Place

The Koolura Series:

The Legend of Koolura (Book 1): Like many preteens, Koolura has doubts about herself. She and her father have relocated so often that she has few community ties. Now, at her new school, she begins feeling “right at home” for the first time, ever. Soon she’ll find out she has KOOL psychic powers giving her the ability to dematerialize at will and reappear wherever she chooses. She can move objects with her mind and even defy gravity. Will these powers be of any use in stopping Neb, a stalker, intent on her destruction? Neb wants the KOOL and he won’t hesitate in hurting Koolura or her friends if they get in his way.

“Michael Thal takes young readers on an adventure that couples magic super powers with the everyday life of intermediate grade students. Through his main character, Koolura Akopyan, a young sixth grade girl, Thal explores the complexities of school kid friendships, the adjustments needed to manage in today’s multicultural classrooms, and the importance of good values.”- Midwest Book Review

Publication Date: 2012, 2021

Age Range: 9-Adult

Cost: Print-$9.95; Kindle- $3.99

Print Length: 151 pages

Purchase Link: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3GMUYzU

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback (Book 2): Koolura has the ability to teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback she wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers?

As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls have to deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback?

Koolura is cool. Part of this is because she has superpowers, although she keeps those hidden from most people. But mostly it is her personality and approach to life which is appealing to both the adults around her and her peers. She’d be cool, even without her powers.

This is a fun read for middle graders with some adventure and a few mysteries to be solved. Plus, what kid that age isn’t into super powers? But amid the mystery and adventure are some subtle life lessons for kids to learn without realizing they’re doing so including some schooling on trust, empathy, and the importance of accepting people for who they are, even those who are different from you. – Books and Pals

Publication Date: 2013, 2021

Age Range: 10-Adult

Cost: Print- $9.95; Kindle- $3.99

Print Length: 138 pages

Purchase Link: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3E2nN9K

Koolura and the Mayans (Book 3): Koolura is off to Mexico for her father’s wedding with pal Leila where the girls uncover a mysterious device at a Mayan archeological dig that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time? 

Gold medal winner – 2018 eLit Awards Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction; Second Place winning title in the 2016 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.

“Koolura and the Mayans is the third entry in author Michael Thal’s young adult series about a girl with mystical powers. Koolura and her friend Leila are on vacation in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Koolura’s father is getting re-married, when the girls unwittingly stumble upon a relic in an old Mayan tomb that whisks them thousands of years into the past. There’s just one problem: she doesn’t know how to get back! Now, stranded in history with her best friend, Koolura must hide her abilities from an alien race. The Aquari have subjugated the native population for nefarious reasons. This Mayan mishap could end up costing Koolura much more than a few extra days in Mexico!
A unique hybrid of science fiction, folklore, and pure fantasy, Koolura and the Mayans is a fun romp through time and space. Readers do not have to have read the first two books in the series in order to keep pace with the plot, but if you enjoy Thal’s tale here, take comfort in knowing there are two more books about Koolura to devour. She’s a charming and unpredictable protagonist; as a result, readers simply have no idea where the story will take them next–and that feeling is utterly magical.” —Red City Review

Publication Date: 2016, 2021

Age Range: 10-Adult

Cost: Print- $9.95; Kindle- $3.99

Print Length: 133 pages

Purchase Link: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3s47irg

The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: A high school track star is abducted by aliens, explores strange worlds, uncovers genocide on a planetary scale, and is thrust into extraterrestrial politics that decides the fate of an Earth on the brink of war or unification.The Abduction of Joshua Bloom tells the story of a teen and his alien abductors who justify their act in an attempt to save their people. Joshua finds himself in a world dominated by women, and men are subjugated to their whims. He travels to a dinosaur world, visits a water planet, and a world doomed by a star about to nova. Space exploration and time travel are just two elements science fiction junkies will love about this original space opera by award winning author, Michael Thal.

“Anyone, not just young adults, can be caught up in this fast-moving space adventure. The story opens when sixteen-year-old Joshua Bloom is captured by aliens from an unknown planet, one where females are in charge. In the near future the survival of the inhabitants will become impossible, which leaves them with the necessity of relocating. Joshua Bloom has been carefully selected to assist the girl of his dreams, the leader, Anita, in this tremendous task. The book presents many good ideas, one being the need of all to understand and work with people who are different from themselves.” – Amazon Reviewer, The Roving Reader

Publication Date: 2014, 2021

Age Range: 15-Adult

Cost: Print- $8.35; Kindle- $2.99

Print Length: 250 pages

Purchase Link: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3DZRsjB

The Lip Reader: “It’s not what you get in life, it’s what you give back that truly defines you.”

Set in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, and later in Los Angeles, California, Zhila Shirazi tells her story firsthand. She reveals the real-life struggle of being a deaf woman who refuses to allow adversity to stop her from reaching her dreams of living a normal and fulfilling life.

In 1985, disgusted with the treatment of Jews by the new Islamic government, Zhila immigrates to the United States in pursuit of better circumstances and a chance to receive a cochlear implant to improve her hearing. However, it isn’t until she is forty-nine, when she meets her soulmate, Mickey Daniels, that she begins to feel her life truly complete.

A decade later, after they have fallen deeply in love, Zhila learns that she is suffering from an aggressive form of cancer. In the months that follow, Mickey becomes Zhila’s primary caretaker, and the two grow ever closer as they fight the disease together.

Right up to the end, Zhila shows her caring nature, innate intelligence, and will power to overcome almost any challenge. Her courage and the beauty of her memory is certain to inspire all who venture to follow her on their quest for a truly meaningful life.

“A well-researched and well-written with a wonderful variety of characters, places, and events. Zhila’s bravery, dedication, and determination are beautifully captured. I especially enjoyed the smooth flow of the story and the constant pace throughout, following the lives of Zhila, her friends, and her family. Easy to read with vivid descriptions and scenes which make it easy for the reader to form a visual of the story. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable novel, highly recommended.” – Natalie Soine, Readers’ Favorite

Publication Date: 2021

Age Range: 16-Adult

Cost: Paperback- $12.99; Hardcover- $22.99; Kindle- $3.99

Print Length: 226 pages

Purchase Link: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3oYXq04