Daily Archives: May 5, 2019

Interest (Final State Book 1) by Kevin Gaughen

It’s all the news channels can talk about: the White House has been bombed, there’s chaos in the streets, and the United States has found itself in the throes of a violent revolution.

Surrounded by panicked people, washed-up journalist Len Savitz takes the crisis in stride. It’s nothing that a stiff drink won’t cure. After all, bad news only hurts optimists.

But when the mysterious leader of the rebels cherry-picks him to acquire certain information for her, Len is forced to go on an investigative mission where he uncovers millennia-old secrets and unwittingly triggers a chain of disturbing events that will determine the future of humankind.

Author Kevin Gaughen’s dynamic debut novel, Interest, creates a seamless alternate reality behind real-world political tensions while keeping pace with its page-turning plot. Interest is as riveting as it is thought-provoking.

Who really runs the world we live in? The further Len digs, the darker the answers appear to be…

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough

“Drop the flashcards—grit, character, and curiosity matter even more than cognitive skills. A persuasive wake-up call.”—People

Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.

“Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it’s a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall.”—New York Times

“I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids.”—Slate

Wye: A Zombie Novel by Jack Croxall

In an England full of zombies something much worse rises from the death and decay. And it’s hunting a teenage girl.

Through the remembered lessons of her favourite writers, sixteen-year-old Wye has been trying to make sense of a cruel new world. But it’s not working. Wherever she turns there are monsters and memories, both of them poised to devour her if she can’t find a way to live with herself. What follows is Wye’s last chance at salvation, what follows is her journal.

Wye is a standalone zombie novel from Jack Croxall, author of Anchor Leg.

Praise For Wye

In Wye, Jack Croxall takes the traditional zombie tale and turns it on its head.
– Sharon Sant, author of The Memory Game

Wye is a delicious mix of just about all the things I love most in the world: post-apocalyptic UK YA with a hefty side of bookishness and a twist to die for.
– Zoë Markham, author of Under My Skin

Includes many beautiful observations of the natural world, how basic our survival instinct is, and how that instinct conflicts with our educated minds.
– Steven M. Caddy, author of In Exchange

Living in the Middleby A. Robert Allen

Rejected by his race. Hunted by the Klan. Yet, standing up to hatred is still the only choice.

New York, Early 1900s: Jimmy Montgomery comes from old New York money and grows up among the Manhattan elite. At the age of eighteen, Jimmy discovers he’s been living a lie. He follows his roots back to Tulsa, Oklahoma to answer the burning questions in his life. Who is he? What is he? Where does he belong? He finds love and friendship along the way, but full acceptance from either the White or the Black world eludes him. When trouble pits the White population of Tulsa against the Black community of Greenwood, Jimmy must finally make a choice—he can no longer live in the middle. His decision will alter the course of his life and those he’d come to love. What will he decide? Pick up a copy to find out.

LIVING IN THE MIDDLE is a powerful African American historical novel based on the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. If you like passionate heroes, no-holds-barred history, high-stakes emotional tension, then you’ll love A. Robert Allen’s eye-opening story.

LIVING IN THE MIDDLE is a stand-alone story connected by theme to the other volumes in A. Robert Allen’s Slavery and Beyond series.