This story of social media with training wheels follows ten-year-old Angie’s Saturday deliveries of newspapers and baked goods. Each customer along Angie’s route receives her gifts and shares conversations, usually revealing vexing problems. Angie gathers problems at each stop, not as burdens but with an intention of finding solutions. Angie’s Down […]
Saint Magnus, the Last Viking, by Susan Peek
Susan Peek invites her readers to meet Saint Magnus, one of her friends in high places. Although he lived 950 years ago, he speaks, through his heroic example, to modern readers on the most fundamental of current problems. Standard definitions tell us that Vikings were pirates, plunderers, and raiders known […]
Two by Alan Bradley
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, by Alan Bradley I would not spill too many beans were I to say that in volume 007, Flaiva is older (12), wiser (IQ = 134) and exiled to the frozen tundra (Toronto.) Sad and virtually alone, Flavia, nevertheless, quickly returns to her […]
In the Midst of Wolves, by Karen Kelly Boyce
William Shakespeare fans will see “In the Midst of Wolves” a modern extension of his tragedies. After Karen Kelly Boyce leaves you raw with the cruel machinations of Queen Regina, she soothes her readers with her spiritual insights and wisdom. This FIVE STAR novel will grip both adults and young […]
The Catholic Fiction Critique Group
“I remember the trembling, nausea, and inability to focus that hit me when I first submitted a chapter to a critique group. That was many years ago. Those symptoms persisted for several years. Despite the agony, I continued to submit chapters and to give critiques on others’ work, because I […]
The Sisters of the Last Straw: The Case of the Haunted Chapel, by Karen Kelly Boyce
Rejection, unrealistic expectations and behavioral issues often brought frowns to the faces of children. The Sisters of the Last Straw addressed these issues, firmly and lovingly; inspiring and consoling their young readers with their examples. The Case of the Haunted Chapel, in stories and drawings assured that there […]
Sisters of the Last Straw: The Case of the Missing Novice, by Karen Kelly Boyce
A caricature can reveal more truth than a photograph. The Sisters of the Last Straw, reminiscent of the antics of Don Camillo in the stories by Giovannino Guareschi (1908-68), were in fact human. Thank God. Each had her own “fault,” be it a temper, an obsession or an addiction. […]
Flavia 006: The Dead in their Vaulted Arches, by Alan Bradley
Trains, planes and automobiles, along with Winston Churchill and a military escort greeted Hillary de Luce upon her return to her husband, her daughters and her ancestral estate: Buckshaw. Thus began episode 006 of the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series. Alan Bradley had left Flavia, his protagonist, the youngest of […]
The Flavor of Flavia
Why read a Flavia de Luce mystery? Besides the “who done it”- brain jogging action of a tightly crafted plot, when the eleven-year old sleuth isn’t creeping through the grave yard on a foggy night in search of clues, author Alan Bradley entertains with humor, family interactions, village idiocy […]
A Field Guide to the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series
Alan Bradley, born in Ontario had two older sisters. His father left the family during Alan’s early years. Alan withdrew into the world of books, often reading in a cemetery. His award-winning Flavia de Luce Mysteries, set not in Canada, but in rural England described an eleven year old girl […]