-
Remembering Grandpa by Creating Him
We stood in the basement of my grandma’s old house, the place I visited every Sunday afternoon as a child. I was now an adult. While I knew she had passed away years ago, as had the man with me, the moment felt so real. The security of his arms around me, the steady rise…
-
Review of The Beat on Ruby’s Street by Jenna Zark
Synopsis: The last thing eleven-year-old Ruby Tabeata expected to happen on her way to a Jack Kerouac reading was to be hauled to the police station. It’s 1958 and Ruby is the opposite of a 1950s stereotype: fierce, funny and strong willed, she is only just starting to chart her course in a family of…
-
Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow (Chapter 41)
While the first year without Edward was the most difficult, Hannah found strength she didn’t know she had. There were times when she thought everything was fine, and then something would trigger a memory of Edward – a song on the radio, a line from a book, a phrase someone said. Then Hannah was pulled…
-
Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow (Chapter 40)
After Tim pulled away, Erik, Lily, and Harry joined Hannah. She was sad that Irma wasn’t able to make it, but she understood that her sister had her hands full with caring for Ross. Lily and Erik embraced Hannah before saying they needed to return home. As Hannah watched her oldest brother go, Harry lingered…
-
Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow (Chapter 48)
“I just don’t get it,” Hannah said, eyeing the many stacks of newspapers in Harry’s basement. “You have way more stuff than I do, and Abbi is acting like I have a hoarding problem. She’d have a field day over here!” Harry shrugged. “I’ve thought about cleaning them out, but none of my kids will…
-
Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow
By Christmas, the First World War ended. The children had decorated the pine tree with a popcorn-strung garland, an assortment of handmade ornaments from school, and a few carefully placed candles. Both Christmas Eve and Day had separate dinners that were planned to the point of perfection. Other than Lucy’s mother, only the immediate family…
-
Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow (Opening Scenes)
To some looking back, the world seemed a simpler place a hundred years ago. People left their doors unlocked. Neighbors waved and said hellos and how-do-you-dos. Children could play outside all day, no matter the season, and return home safe for dinner at night. Several modest, nearly identical houses lined Madison Avenue, all constructed…
-
Review of Dante’s Garden: Mystery and Magic in Bomarzo by Teresa Culter-Broyles
Summary: Dante’s Garden is the story of what happens when Frank Farnese, a book collector from 2017, falls through Hell’s Mouth, a strange sculpture in Bomarzo, Italy. In 1570, Lucrezia Romano and famed antiquarian Pyrrho Ligorio welcome him when he awakens in a garden, from what he thinks is a dream but isn’t. Together they…
-
Review of Lorna versus Laura
My Book Views by Nicole 4/5 review by book blogger Nicole of my book, Lorna versus Laura