Pair of Normals chronicles the adventures of two brothers, Bernard and Wendal Normal, and their everyday dealings with monsters, strange occurrences and unusual happenings around their town of Creeping Hills.-a send up to classic B monster movies and comedies. Pair of Normals is filled with frights, laughter and gross out goodness for the reluctant middle grade reader.

Since his 7th birthday, Bernard has been deathly afraid of flowers and plants. When his father gave him a Venus Fly Trap as a present and it ate his pet hamster, Godzilla, he thought all plants were carnivorous and out to get him.

Our story takes place on a Wednesday in Creeping Hills, which has been taken over by strange looking and horrific smelling plants and flowers. Bernard and Wendal investigate the disturbing occurrences around town and discover that the plants are bent on destroying everyone and everything in their path. With the help of Nitzy Fitzzlehorn a young plant-loving scientist, they uncover the deadly plot of the town's founding father's children, Charlie and Ivy Creeping. And unfortunately for Bernard and Wendal, the Creepings are armed with a militia of twisted foliage willing to do whatever they want.

PON: The Creeping Hills Have Eyes follows the Normal brothers as they set out to battle the Creepings to save their family, friends, and town from becoming fertilizer. The story pushes along with more twists than a licorice assembly line, building to an intense action-packed page-turning conclusion - rivaling such classics as Night of the Living Dummy, Dracula, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

About the author:

Growing up on a healthy diet of comic books, science fiction magazines and monster movies, D.M. Cunningham's stories for children are love letters to many of his favorite writers and filmmakers that inspired him through the years.

He is a film and television writer who has worked with several of Hollywood's top production companies such as Disney, MTV, NBC, and Lions Gate. Throughout the years he has worked in every capacity of production from special makeup effects to directing feature films. Some of his credits include: Starship Troopers, Scream 2, Alien Resurrection, 3 Ninja's Kick Back, and Decampitated.

He's a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and published writer. His stories can be found in Stories for Children, Bumples, and Crow Toes Quarterly. When he is not in the lab creating literary monsters, he fulfils the role of blog warden at Literary Asylum (http://literaryasylum.blogspot.com ) which interviews many of the top children authors in the industry on the craft of writing books, comic books and graphic novels. For more info see: http://www.dmcunningham.com

A casual web search of the name "Nikola Tesla" brought back nearly 2 million results and a wide range of Web sites dedicated entirely to him. Although many nonfiction books have been written about Tesla, there has only been one obscure novel to date published 16 years ago dedicated to this handsome Serbian scientist. As the inventor of the entire electrical grid of the western world, Tesla died too poor to pay his own light bill and was cheated by the robber barons of his day: Thomas Edison, J. Pierpont Morgan, and George Westinghouse.

This story opens in Europe when Tesla is 18 and has his first significant vision, the likes of which mark his inventive genius for the rest of his long life as he conceives of the power of a rotating magnetic field. Bold colors and realistic portraiture mixed with the fabulous surreal vistas of Tesla's imagination give this story its signature look and tone. We then follow him as a young man as he immigrates to America, where he spent the rest of his life .

Tesla was subjected to constant harassment by Thomas Edison in the "War of the Currents" when Edison fought to make the world use his D.C. power (requiring a booster station for every mile of cable). Through Tesla's eyes, we witness his successful invention of our entire western world's electrical grid as we are also acquainted with the inner working of the mind of an eccentric genus. The fictional aspect of this story revolves around Tesla's love affair with a beautiful young "Muse" who follows him throughout his life and inspires his creativity. We watch Tesla design and build the world's first water electrical generating station at Niagara Falls, which illuminates the entire eastern seaboard and is awarded dozens of patents on his experimental work in all manner of electrical high-power research. Only his thoughts and dialogue are fiction-all of the action in this story is based on reality.

Tesla invents a working model of the system that would broadcast electrical power wirelessly to any point in the world, and because it would be free for the taking, we witness him being destroyed by JP Morgan, who withdraws funding and assaults his reputation. Yet, despite Tesla's greatness, the powers that be marginalize him and he grows old-alone in The New Yorker Hotel with his visions of his Muse.

Soon after his death, the Secret Service invades his room (as they did in fact) and cleans out all of his research papers. We leave with a tantalizing hint as to what has happened to his famous design for the wireless transmission of electrical power, and why it has not surfaced… Yet.

About the author:

Anthony Flacco is the author of six published books, all with major publishers-four nonfiction and two historical fiction. His first historical novel The Last Nightingale (Ballantine), was nominated for a 2008 International Thriller Award based on highly acclaimed reviews. His most recent historical nonfiction, The Road Out of Hell (Sterling Publishing) won the 2009 USA News Best True Crime Award.

Tiny Dancer (St. Martin's Press) was selected by Reader's Digest as their Editor's Choice for August, 2005-their 1,000th Commemorative Issue. The book has been an international bestseller in Italy and The Kansas City Star named Tiny Dancer "One of the 100 Most Noteworthy Books of 2005." He is the co-author of Publish Your Nonfiction Book: Strategies for Learning the Industry, Selling Your Book, and Building a Successful Career (Writer's Digest Books).

He holds an MFA in Screenwriting from the prestigious American Film Institute and is a former Disney Fellowship Winner. He has written for television, adapted his first true crime, A Checklist for Murder for NBC-TV and is a member of the Writer's Guild.

An experienced public speaker, Anthony frequently gives seminars on writing, and is a frequently invited guest to writer's conferences and clubs. He also serves as Editorial Consultant to Martin Literary Management, a literary management agency located in the Seattle area.

www.AnthonyFlacco.com

Clara Gaber excels at little beyond e-stalking her high school crush. She struggles to keep up with Manhattan's teenage intellectuals and awkwardly hides herself in the social backdrop of high school. But with her family, she's perfectly at home. Her parents' perpetually blossoming romance both comforts and humiliates her. Her edgy and modern Aunt Grace adds a healthy dose of snark to the mix. Everything's perfect until Clara's sixteenth birthday when she watches an intelligent and violent light erupt through her family's Manhattan home chasing Clara and her mother, in the end sparing Clara yet taking the other.

A year later, the demand to keep her mother's abduction a secret has deranged Clara's life. Depression has tightened its grasp on her and continues to pull her away from disintegrating relationships with friends. Even her father and aunt, the only family she has left, are distant and cold. No wonder she begins to find comfort in her dreams and forms a deeply emotional and passionate connection to the mysterious young man that appears to her there.

But when her family finds out about the boy that appears to her in her dreams, the life Clara always knew chaotically unravels as the light returns again taking the remaining members of Clara's family and leaving her utterly alone. The loss pushes her over depression's edge into determination. With vengeance, Clara seeks out the answers her family hid from her all along: she is half of the oldest soul and has returned to the physical world to end a clandestine battle being fought between the Gaurdians and Fallen Souls. A battle ignited by Rex Dimun, the first Fallen Soul whose thirst for power wreaks havoc on the balance of life. And when Rex kidnaps Clara, she learns the young man from her dreams is real. But reality becomes a nightmare. Devin is the other half of her soul stolen by Rex to use as a weapon against her. And the only way to end this transcendental battle and save those she loves is to kill Devin, or be killed by him.

About the author:

A Michigander turned urbanite by adaptation, Kate Grace has worked as a freelance writer and editor for various regional publications and Web-based zines for years. She received her BA from Columbia College in Chicago and her MS from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Apart from writing, she has stretched her creative legs by performing improv with groups based out of The Peoples Improv Theater in New York City and Go! Comedy Improv Theater in Ferndale, Michigan. She's now back in Michigan drinking as much Vernors as she can get her hands on.

Visit her Web site at www.abitofgrace.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kategraceb

All across America, unexplained phenomena occur every night. Hauntings. UFO reports. Elvis sightings…and the one person best suited to solve these mysteries is a highly intelligent teenager with a penchant for purple trench coats. If Scully from the X-Files made a baby with Tim Burton, you'd have the punk-goth paranormal investigating force that is Tara Normal. Guided by her mysterious spectral friend, the Shadowman, and encouraged by her adoptive father, magic storeowner Abe Normal, Tara's ultimate quest is for the truth.

The first book in an ongoing series of graphic novels, Tara Normal and the Case of Boyfriend Robbers from Outer Space, begins with the funeral of Tara Normal's mother, who was also her closest friend. The saddest week of Tara's 16 year-old life takes a turn for the better when she meets Christian-a handsome, motorcycle riding rebel at his brother's lame birthday party. Before the candles are blown out on the birthday cake, Tara witnesses a UFO abduction of her new boyfriend. Not one to take an alien cutting in on her date, Tara forms a team of paranormal investigators and leads them into battle to rescue her boyfriend from aliens and along the way, save the world.

About the author:

H.C. Noel is a professional illustrator, cartoonist and paranormal investigator. Noel's character Tara Normal investigates with the stars of TV's Ghost Hunters in a comic published in every issue of TAPS Paramagazine, the official publication of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). Tara Normal has also appeared online in her own award winning webcomic. Tara Normal won the 2009 WRCA Reader's Choice Best New Webcomic. Noel's artwork for the TAPS Beyond Reality Events has helped raise thousands of dollars for charity. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Tara Normal and H.C. Noel at: http://www.taranormal.com or http://www.hcnoel.com

In 1911, Claire and Dora Williamson, two wealthy British heiresses visited a sanitarium near Seattle to undergo the revolutionary fasting treatment of Linda Burfield Hazzard. The sisters saw this as a holiday of sorts-a way to cleanse their bodies of any ailments they might have been suffering. Within a month of arriving at Hazzard's sanitarium, nicknamed "Starvation Heights" by the locals of Olalla, WA., the two formerly lovely sisters were emaciated shadows of their former selves, groaning in pain, waiting for death.

Dora and Claire Williamson had fallen into the hands of Dr. Hazzard, a woman of extraordinary evil and greed who would stop at nothing to achieve her ambitions. She exorcised a type of tyrannical mind control over her victims.

In many ways, her crimes rival any of the greatest serial killers known to history - many of whom have been the subject of fascination by younger readers and aficionados of the graphic novel form. Indeed the good/bad doctor was ahead of her time, the 1930s saw her story told in a six-part comic strip, "The Skeletons of Olalla".

The story watches the sisters as they endure diets of boiled down vegetable broth, constant enemas, brutal beatings by Dr. Hazzard as part of her fasting cure, and utter isolation from those they loved. It culminates with the escape of the survivor and the imprisonment of the doctor. Touches of spiritualism (Dr. Hazzard was known to convene séances in her home) and bizarre health regimens (patients were wrapped in hot coils) add to the strange Victorian milieu that characterizes the tale of Starvation Heights.

This dark and sadistic tale follows the Williamson sisters' time at Starvation Heights, the grotesque and tragic death of Claire Williamson, the transformation of Dora from a walking skeleton to a healthier self, and the stunning trial that put the doctor behind bars.

This graphic novel is an adaptation of the chilling book Starvation Heights by New York Times Bestselling author Gregg Olsen. Random House's Three Rivers Press imprint published the book in 2005. More recently, Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts adapted the book for a film. Starvation Heights was honored by Washington's Secretary of State for the book's contribution to Washington state history and culture.

About the author:

Throughout his career, Gregg Olsen has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

A New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written eight nonfiction books, four novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.

The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen's Snapped, Court TV's Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E's Biography. www.GreggOlsen.com.

 

The Brotherhood and the Shield Trilogy is in the same category of such children's books as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Harry Potter, Tunnels, City Of Ember and the Eragon series. But unlike the rest, its first installment-The Three Thorns-is totally unique with an individual fingerprint that makes it distinctively its own. The Three Thorns introduces a brand new plot, new invented creatures with new worlds to explore and mixes fantasy and adventure with elements of horror and science fiction .What makes The Three Thorns different than any other children's fantasy is its dark aspect and undertone of horror and suspense as well as fantasy and adventure. It is also a book with subtle political undertones for the adult reader and would appeal to readers of any age. Unlike most other fantasy books.

All is not what it appears to be, and the basic standard rule of good versus evil does not apply with The Three Thorns. The characters have substantial realism and depth that influence the reader to relate and care for each one. The Three Thorns fills the reader with interest, emotion, dread and excitement when they are introduced to several disturbing villains-all different from each other and never before portrayed in a Children's Fantasy novel like this. The Three Thorns does not patronize the child reader but respects him/her with its very core message centred on the understanding of struggles and fears children have as well as bringing those fears to the reader; challenging the reader as well as relating to them. But most importantly, the story allows for the younger character's emotions of rage, frustration, anger and revenge to be embraced and understood rather than oppressed and ignored. The story itself touches on social class, political stance, and the subject of contrasting ideals of what is good and what is morality. For this reason, The Brotherhood And The Shield: The Three Thorns will have a much broader appeal to a wider market audience than most commercial books in its genre. It has a lot to offer children of all ages with its adventure and story and likewise a lot to offer the adult reader with its moral message. It offers the escapism that both young and old readers alike can share and will want to read time and time again.

About the author:

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1982, Michael Gibney is an artist whose interests in world politics, literature and the love of film encouraged him to do his studies at an early age of sixteen within the media and journalism field. Through his studies at college and the BBC, he developed an instant passion for creative writing that exceeded his love for media, art and music. His somewhat emotionally charged storytelling is mostly derived from his personal experiences and feelings about the world we live in today as well as a strong will to captivate all readers (both young and old) with fantasy, horror and pure escapism, using nothing less than originality.

With The Three Thorns comes his highly developed debut novel, the first story of the epic The Brotherhood and the Shield Trilogy, an elaborate dark fantasy, curved with a sense of realism and subtle political and societal undertones that challenge the reader as well as entertain. He spends most of his time in Ireland and the UK either writing, working, or painting. http://www.thebrotherhoodandtheshield.com

 

Hidden under the cover of fog, unseen by most mortal eyes, an island lies just east of the colonies. Here, Death wields his power and chooses the fate of his victims' afterlife.

Meriden Cook's troubles began a hundred years before, when her great grandfather stumbled into the mysterious world. A former naval officer, Cutup Cook was on the run for piracy. Death ensnared him in a deal that entailed the harvesting of human souls in exchange for unimaginable treasure. However, Cutup grew weary of his duties and tried to shirk his commitment. For this act, Death wrecked his ship The Plunderer, and placed a curse upon his family's bloodline--a curse that later caused the mysterious disappearance of Meriden's father.

Decades pass. The story of Cutup fades into legend until one day, Meriden unearths Cutup's map. She takes command of her father's ship, The Orion, and journeys across the sea to solve her family secret. Her good friends-the dashing Doctor George Hobson, the playful cook Matthew Kettlesworth, the wealthy and attractive Rupert Railing and the handsome and passionate stowaway, Gregory Wilson, accompany her.

Despite their efforts, the group finds trouble around every corner including a mutinous crew, treacherous storms, and sailors bewitched by greed. However, those issues pale in comparison to the cursed forests and hideous monsters they find once on Death's Island.

About the author:

Kelsey Ketch is a graduate student living in North Carolina, where she finds a wealth of resources for her writing. Much of her young life was influenced by her father's love of the sea and nature, inspiring her sense of adventure in both her hobbies and future careers. When he died of cancer, Death's Island was her way of escaping the world and coping with the loss. She spent years researching the lifestyles of the eighteen-century in England and the colonies, as well as maritime history to create this adventure.

Shoreline, a young adult urban fantasy novel, follows sixteen year-old Maya Georgiou as she moves with her family back to Bar Harbor, Maine where she expects to easily remedy the sickly marine life developing offshore. After all, she is an ocean nymph and this is her territory. But nothing goes as planned. The poor sea creatures continue to die, rain falls whenever she's upset while her cousins whisper cryptic comments behind her back.

After her family nearly drowns Nate, her boyfriend, Maya demands to know the truth. But when she hears their response, she wishes she never confronted them--because the truth is that Maya is also a Siren and must sacrifice Nate to appease the Goddess Persephone. Until she does, the marine life will continue to die, and ultimately Maya will too.

Maya has only days to make her decision. Does she spare Nate by succumbing to the sickness that is literally drowning her alive? Or does she convince him to plunge into the ocean abyss to fulfill her ancestral obligations?

About the author:

Nikki Katz lives in San Diego with her husband and three young children. Nikki has been reading and writing since she was four years old and spent many recess periods on the playground writing plays. Her obsession with books followed her into adulthood and she devours young adult novels at a rapid pace. She has been a freelance writer for the past ten years for companies including iVillage.com, About.com, and b5media. Nikki currently co-authors a teen website (www.modOration.com), writes a blog with four other authors called Oasis For YA (www.oasisforya.blogspot.com) and runs her own personal blog (www.nikkikatz.com). Shoreline is her debut novel.

Follow Nikki on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/katzni

Sirens. Their screams can stop a human heart and their songs can drive men to the brink of madness. But these cruel fates are nothing compared to what happens if a Siren falls in love. Fatal Beauties mixes the elements of mystery, romance, and mythology, bringing a fresh new twist to the paranormal young adult romance genre.

Toying mercilessly with humans and delivering them to their darkest hour was just a part of daily life for Amber Ballentine and her two sisters. But that normal life is turned upside down when Amber grows tired of the monotony and matriculating from town to town.

Eventually, Amber grows weak and lets her guard down and that's when she meets Kellan Westwick. Kellan is everything one would expect from the proverbial bad boy…brooding, rich, and devastatingly handsome. He's also off limits-for Sirens aren't allowed to fall for humans. The risk is just too great.

Though she fights against her feelings, Amber finds herself drawn to this hauntingly mysterious human. As they grow closer, Amber stumbles upon the buried past of Kellan's family…the Westwick's are Reapers, a group of humans with the strength and power to destroy all paranormal creatures including Sirens. When the truth is revealed, Amber must ask herself if Kellan is her hero or the one who will lead to her ultimate demise.

 

About the author:

Renae Mercado was born and raised in Kansas, growing up in the small town of Dodge City. She went on to graduate from Fort Hays State University with a degree in Elementary Education. She now resides in Manhattan Kansas, otherwise known as The Little Apple, with her husband and two young children. Ever the avid reader, Renae has a tremendous love for all things mythic and paranormal. Fatal Beauties is her debut novel which twists her favorite obsession into a world for all to enjoy.

 

The Raven in Bermuda Shorts is a high adventure novel perfectly tailored for all middle grade and young adult readers. This uniquely self-referential story follows the pen and writing pad of a 13-year-old adventure writer, Nash Roberts III, who along with his magical leather bag, is dropped from the talons of a Bermuda-Shorts-clad Raven into the action of each chapter that he is to write about.

After earning his "Adventure Learners Permit," Nash soon finds himself starring alongside an array of anthropomorphic characters as he pens chapters based on his fantastical experiences-including his experience as a 13-year-old Jack Sparrow-ish pirate named Captain Red Eye Nash Roberts on his ship in a bottle.

This all-magical overly confident raven in one paragraph can be the size of a garden-variety raven, and then in the next can be as big as a jumbo jet. Add to that the multiple pairs of ridiculous Bermuda shorts of which he is overly proud of, his World War I leather flying helmet and goggles coupled with the relentless persistence of an off-key karaoke singer, and the reader soon gets a good idea as to the type of hot-air bus that transports adventure-writer Nash Roberts III from chapter to chapter.

Assisting Nash and the raven is their efficient on-board warehouse manager, Hilda Von Redhairenshnoben. Hilda makes the adventures work from her desk located in the confines of the Raven's on-board warehouse with the help of the Raven's telescoping robotic arms and delivers everything that they need for the upcoming writing experiences. This humorous banter between Nash, Hilda and the raven, as they fly across the pages to their next adventure is every bit as fun and wholesome as the adventures themselves. http://www.theraveninbermudashorts.com

About the author:

Ron Rutler was raised in Wyandotte County in Kansas City, Kansas, an area that is affectionately referred to as The Dotte. Ron's most notable acting role was a small speaking part given to him by Robert Altman in the movie Kansas City. Additionally, he has been a lead singer and rhythm guitar player in several classic rock bands. He attended Donnelly College and Pittsburg State University. He has five kids, six grandkids and presently lives in Gardner, Kansas, with his wife, Heather, and son John.

 

One minute they were laughing and enjoying the warm crisp Texan night on the way back from the prom, and in the next flashing seconds the laughter stopped with nothing but clashing metal and shattering glass as two vehicles collided.

The Awoken, a YA graphic novel thriller, is the story of a Latino teenaged father who loses his wife, the love of his life. Raising his young son by himself is just the beginning of his troubles.

Something is brewing in the Sabine River in Texas. He's heard the haunting legend of La Llorna (the Weeping Woman) like everyone else, but he never took it seriously until he realizes La Llorna has her eye on his son-much to everyone's disbelief.

Written in the style of Anne Rice and R.L. Stine, The Awoken is a mainstream thriller whose lead character finds himself racing against the paranormal clock to help save his son and other children. The feel of the author's genuinely haunting; nail-biting writing is perfectly captured in the artwork by Gumbo Entertainment.

 

 

About the Author:

Born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, Genaro Zamora is a Mexican-American who has seen first-hand the effects of a suburban community plagued by gang activity. Rather than succumb to his environment, Zamora became a corrections officer and channeled his outraged and frustration into his writing. The Awoken is his debut graphic novel.

Like most Texans in his area, Zamora had heard the haunting legends of La Llorona since childhood. The story is especially significant to the Latino culture, where the eerie woods and swamps along the Sabine River surround them.

Zamora is very active in the online Latino community and will be using his online networking, along with those of social media marketing firm, Gumbo Entertainment, to assist in the marketing of The Awoken.

If Artemus Fowl took Harry Potter's magic into the battles of Chronicles of Narnia, you would have a pretty adventurous read. But when you add a few deceitful and deadly faeries battling a legion of demons on earth in 2010, and a not-so-pleasant Eragon whose hunger can only be satisfied by human consumption, then you have Randy Staples' debut young adult graphic novel, Freezing Fire.

Freezing Fire tells the story of Sabrina Hunter, a twelve-year-old girl no different than any of her peers, except for the fact that she's amidst a deadly war among faeries. When the warfare spills onto earth and causes the death of her mother, it takes all the heart, courage and strength Sabrina can muster to face the adventure of her life.

Written in a voice that any child, ages ten through high school years would understand, this adventure will help children identify and work through the loss of a parent and the importance of taking oneself from victim to victor. Randy Staples is working hand-in-hand with the team at Gumbo Entertainment to create full-color realistic art work with an element of the magic that reflects the artistic complexities young people expect in today's graphic novels.

 

 

About the author:

Randy Staples is a single father of six and currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He always dreamed of being a writer but when the economic downturn forced his family into homelessness, it looked like all hope was lost. Not one to ever let anything get him down, Randy kept plugging away. The experience inspired him to write his first graphic novel, Freezing Fire, which he wrote for his daughters. Randy Staples is also a public speaker who has strong relationships with schools in New England. He has worked as a coach, counselor and mentor to young people for over 24 years. Randy is also active in social media and is working with Gumbo Entertainment's online book marketing division which specializes in social media marketing for young people, in order to build an audience for Freezing Fire.

 

Planting Words: My Friend Oscar Micheaux is a chapter book of historical fiction for ages nine through twelve. The book introduces today's young readers to the real life character of Oscar Micheaux, whom the United States Postal Service will feature this summer on the 33rd stamp in their Black Heritage series. The U.S.P.S. describes Micheaux as an "ambitious, larger-than-life figure." He formed his own publishing company and produced, directed, and wrote more than forty feature-length films, earning him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Micheaux was also a homesteader in South Dakota and the author of seven novels, many of which described his homesteading and farming experiences, and it is this part of his life that Planting Words explores.

Told in the classic style of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, Planting Words follows the friendship between a fictional character, Thomas, and the historical Oscar. As we accompany Thomas through the thirteenth year of his life, we learn of the diversity of life and experiences on the Great Plains at the beginning of the twentieth century, from Thomas' step-father Joe's education at a Pennsylvania Indian boarding school to Oscar's work as a Pullman porter. Planting Words is written with careful attention to historical detail, from the description of the land lottery where Thomas's mother gets her homestead, to the way in which Thomas and his step-father build their sod home. Nearly all of Oscar's mannerisms, his experiences as a farmer, and his stories from his past as a porter and salesman are gleaned from his autobiographical novels.

While breaking sod, Thomas slowly breaks down barriers that had kept him from pursuing his own dreams. Oscar's attitude and example lead Thomas to question many of the assumptions he has made about his family, himself, and his future. Just how Thomas learns to plant words while planting crops is the story's final chapter.

About the author:

Lisa Rivero grew up on a farm and ranch on the same Rosebud Indian Reservation where Oscar Micheaux homesteaded. There she attended a two-room country school and was one of three students in her class. Like her protagonist, Thomas, she knew she wanted to be a writer from a young age, winning several state high school journalism awards before travelling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend Marquette University.

As an adult, Lisa has taught and mentored children and teens both individually and in writing groups. She teaches writing to college students at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and is an award-winning author of four books on education and learning: The Smart Teens' Guide to Living with Intensity (Great Potential Press, 2010), A Parent's Guide to Gifted Teens (Great Potential Press, 2010), The Homeschooling Option (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) and Creative Home Schooling (Great Potential Press, 2002). Lisa speaks regularly at both local and national conferences on giftedness, learning, and creativity.

http://lisarivero.com

Buddy With A Big Heart is the story of a sick young girl, Layla, and the pony that nursed her back to health.

In hopes of cheering up their sick young daughter, Layla's parents bought her a stuffed pony. Layla loved the pony and snuggled him every night. One night an unimaginable event occurred! The stuffed animal turned into Buddy, a real life pony. Each night, Buddy would wake Layla by pulling on her pigtails and off the two would ride!

But as she awoke each morning, her best friend Buddy was just the plush animal snuggled in her arms…and Layla was still sick. Eventually, she told her parents of her adventures with Buddy and how she never felt sick when she was off gallivanting with her best friend.

Soon, her dream became a reality when her parents brought home a real Buddy! A pony of Layla's very own.

Buddy With A Big Heart is a semi-autobiographical children's picture book about a pony with a heart big enough to heal a little girl based on Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli's daughter, Lola.

About the author:

Jennie Garth, author and actress ('Beverly Hills 90210,' 'What I Like About You' and a dozen or more television movies) in addition to acting and raising children, dedicates her time to several causes. They include the American Heart Association, where she serves as a Go Red For Women National Spokesperson, and a variety of organizations that promote literacy and the well being of children.

Jennie grew up on a farm in Illinois with six siblings. Her childhood was filled with animals and nature. Jennie loved her farm life childhood so much that after becoming an actress, living and working in Los Angeles, she moved her parents to California and re-created that life on a ranch near Santa Barbara, CA where the real life "Buddy" resides.
www.JennieGarth.com

As bath time begins, our main character starts to wash with suds from her nose to her toes and everywhere in between. But when the bubbles seep out of the bathtub onto the floor, out the door, down the hall and climb up the wall, a fun, rhyming adventure begins.

As the suds move throughout the house, they crawl over toys and bears, on lamps and chairs, down sinks and up the stairs. Suds even visit the cat-asleep upon the welcome mat-in this bath time picture book.

When Mom pulls the plug on the fun, the suds make their way back through the house to the bathtub-but they pick up everything in their path along the way! The end result is a bathtub stuffed with dishes, furniture, toys and the main character, who leaves everything squeaky clean.

Many young children detest bath time, but this rhyming picture book lends itself to humorous, colorful and animated illustrations that make a potentially unpleasant task fun and even entertaining. Imagine a framed picture of Gram and Gramps-Gram in a swept-up bubble hairdo and Gramps sporting a sudsy mustache. Picture the cat with a crown and cape made from bubbles. Envision a wave of bubbles carrying a plate of meat, peas and apple pie up the stairs. And, of course, there's our main character, holding her teddy bear and a soggy cat while sitting on a throne of chairs, dishes and toys in the bathtub-all sparkling clean-at the end of the story.

About the author:

JoAnna Haugen is a globe trotter, former Peace Corps volunteer and avid recycler who is usually planning her next great adventure. She resides in Las Vegas, where she works as an accomplished freelance writer and editor. JoAnna shares a home with her husband, two cats, two dogs and several foster kittens, who remind her why it's important to laugh, have fun and live like a kid every once in awhile. They served as her inspiration to write Suds, Suds Everywhere.

As an active travel writer, JoAnna has a large social media presence, runs a popular travel blog (Kaleidoscopic Wandering - www.kaleidoscopicwandering.com ), has been interviewed for several travel blogs and books, and is frequently asked to speak about her career as a writer. For more see: www.joannahaugen.com