Cover Reveal: ISAN by Mary Ting

ISAN 

by Mary Ting

Publication date: May 1st 2018

YA Dystopian, Science Fiction

COMING. . .

MAY 1st, 2017!!!

The world has changed.
Scientists warned it would happen.
Meteors devastated the Earth. World Governments developed plans to help surviving citizens. The United States disbanded and salvageable land was divided into four quadrants—North, South, East, and West—governed by The Remnant Council.
Struggling to survive, seventeen-year-old Ava ends up in juvenile detention, until she is selected for a new life—with a catch. She must be injected with an experimental serum. The results will be life changing. The serum will make her better. To receive the serum Ava agrees to join a program controlled by ISAN, the International Sensory Assassin Network.
While on a training mission, she is abducted by a rebel group led by Rhett and told that not only does she have a history with him, but her entire past is a lie perpetuated by ISAN to ensure her compliance. Unsure of who to trust, Ava must decide if her strangely familiar and handsome captor is her enemy or her savior—and time is running out.

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And here she is. . .

 

International Bestselling Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

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Happy Book Birthday, Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B.C.R. Fegan!

HENRY AND THE HIDDEN TREASURE

by B.C.R. Fegan

Illustrated by Lenny Wen

TaleBlade

Picture Book

ages 4+

32 pages

Henry and the Hidden Treasure is an imaginative adventure a young child has in defending his pocket money against his little sister. Henry constructs elaborate defensive measures that he is sure will stand up to the clever ambitions of Lucy. Little does he know, Lucy has a few tricks of her own.

With a focus on introducing children to the use of ordinal numbers, Henry and the Hidden Treasure also draws out some important qualities of being a kid – such as creativity, the value of listening to parental advice, and of course, being nice to your sister. 

MY TIDBITS

This is a cute story packed full of adventure, creativity and the tricky problem of sibling relationships.

Henry has some money. Mom and Dad want him to put it in the bank, but he's got a better idea. He's going to hide it. It's his secret ninja sister, who will be the biggest problem. Off he goes to create the perfect hiding spot--mazes, booby traps and monster guards. But that little sister isn't easy to stop no matter how fantastic his hiding spot may be.

A super confusing maze, dangerous traps and a ferocious guard pig (got to love the pig!)--this book is a kid's super-duper hiding spot come true. The challenges Henry dreams up to protect his treasure are something kids will completely understand, and probably have 'built' something similar once on their own. If not, they're going to want to give it a try after diving into these pages.

Not only does creativity and imagination take flight, but this is a sweet story about siblings. Sometimes they're enemies, but not completely and not always. The relationship between Henry and Lucy puts a smile on the face and is very true to life. And to top it off, there are some warm, fuzzy feelings too.

The illustrations are colorful and fun to glance through. The characters are nicely depicted and bring the written situations to life. They are great for simply flipping through, when no one happens to be around to help read aloud, and have enough humor to draw giggles all on their own.

The writing is well done. It's kept short, and lets the adventure and fun remain front and center. The wording is simple enough for young listeners to understand and get lost in the tale. It's fun to guess what the next page might hold, since Henry has come up with a new idea on every spread. The lovely ending rounds off the story, promising one last, big smile. And then, kids will demand to have the book read to them again.


And here he is. . .

BCR Fegan is an award-winning author who has written a number of fairy tales and fantasies for children and young adults.

Raised on a small hobby farm only minutes from some of Australia’s greatest beaches, Fegan grew up inspired by the power of natures ambience. From the intensity of the frequent summer storms, to the overwhelming serenity of a lonely beach in the early hours of the morning. His ravenous appetite for both reading and writing soon saw him drawing on the transformational influence of the world around him to craft short stories, poems and picture books

As time wore on, Fegan also found inspiration in the magic and depth of authors and compositors like Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. He was mesmerised by the potency of small but beautiful phrases that were carefully carved from the minds of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Frost. He grew to appreciate the worlds meticulously created by David Eddings, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.

Eventually, he began to forge his own complete works. Weaving his own magic, piecing together his own phrases and crafting his own worlds. Agonising over plots that would inspire, characters that would be loved and circumstances that would delight. In time, his efforts saw a number of children’s books and young adult fiction produced. Through the efforts of TaleBlade Press, these works are now being published with that same careful dedication.

You can find out more about BCR Fegan at his website: http://www.bcrfegan.com/

or more at. . .

• Publisher website: http://www.taleblade.com/

Review: Coding for Parents by Frazer Wilson

CODING FOR PARENTS

Everything you need to know to confidently help with homework

by Frazer Wilson

Sterling

Non-Fiction

208 pages

Facing the daunting prospect of helping your children with their coding homework?Coding for Parents teaches you what you need to know . . . so you can teach your kids! 

Unlock the mysteries of coding with this easy-to-follow and well-illustrated guide--and help your kids ace their coding homework! Organized by age and grade, It takes you by the hand and leads you through the basics, building your knowledge of key concepts, terminology, and techniques, and giving you the language you'll need to explain it all to your child. Instructional diagrams and compelling illustrations appear throughout to enhance your understanding, and the book covers the most popular software, including Scratch, Python, and Java.

MY TIDBITS

This book takes the humble-jumble of HTML, CSS, Javascript, Functions, Strings and so much more and brings enough sense into it that parents come across half-way intelligent when discussing coding with their kids.

For parents who've never stepped foot into the world of computer coding, the mass of numbers, symbols and terminology comes across as foreign as alien garble, but many kids learn basic coding in school and might deal with it on a daily basis. With careful and upbeat explanations, the basics of coding are introduced, and through illustrations, diagrams and examples, parents will soon be able to code some basic programs themselves.

At first glance, this is a small, somewhat fat book packed with an overwhelming onslaught of computer codes and terminology--and quite a few bright, bouncy illustrations sprinkled in. At second glance, the initial fear of seeing the codes drifts away, and the more understandable breakdown settles in. This book is perfect for even the more technical shy parents; it starts out gently and eases in.

The chapters bring across the information in a smooth and well-organized order. After a several page explanation of what coding is and the importance of understanding it, the author goes into the basic concepts or building blocks of coding. These are presented in a short, clear and direct manner, never weighing down with too much technical information that might insure a huge headache. There are illustrations and diagrams, many with a dust of humor, which help to clarify the written explanations and bring across an easy atmosphere to the entire topic. First, after the basic ideas behind coding are clear, does the author step into the different types. Scratch, HTML, CSS and Javascript follow, broken down into chapters of their own. This makes it easy for readers to pick and choose which form of coding they want to learn and makes searching for information on the individual coding types easy even later on. At the end of the book is a nicely laid out glossary as well as an index for all quick check needs.

Luckily, this isn't a purely theoretical read but includes hands-on examples along the way. The idea of learning through doing has high priority in these pages, but the tasks aren't dry and boring--the spunky little wizard with the sparkly, star hat makes sure of that. Some exercises come across more as games like a fashion bot or super hero creator, while others lean toward more practical applications like setting up basic page or an image gallery. But every single example makes it clear that the reader is making progress and actually understanding something. The codes are spelled out step for step, code by code (so the reader doesn't have to leap into cold water or overthink with the gut twisting feeling that they have no idea how to fulfill the task) and can be adjusted and altered at will to practice--it's the great feeling of success.

Although this book is for parents to help step up their skills before making a fool out of themselves in front of their kids, it also encourages parents and kids to learn together through several of the exercises. It's also great for those adults without kids who simply want a basic handle on this entire world known as coding. In other words, although this book might induce a bit of fear at first, it's cute illustrations and simple glide into the codes make it easy to understand and actually learn some basics.


And here he is. . .

Frazer Wilson is a web designer and front-end developer who teachers coding in a local school as part of an organization called Code Club. CODING FOR PARENTS is his first book. He lives in London. Visit him on Twitter: @frazewilson

Sneak Peek: Swept Away by S. McPherson with Giveaway

Swept Away

by S. McPherson

The Water Rushes #3

Publication date: August 1st 2017

YA Fantasy

Elev nos senaremdos: Live on in memories
Milo is gone and Vladimir and the others plan to go after him before he gets himself killed…if it isn’t already too late. But they have no way of making the gethadrox and they are not all working as together as they think.
Secrets hushed and secrets kept are soon revealed when Dezaray gets a package that leads to her taking matters into her own hands and following a path that leads to the unimaginable.
Only Lexovia and a small band of misfits stay behind in an attempt to save the world and Lexovia soon finds herself in a position of power she never truly wanted.
Dive deeper into worlds & war in this thrilling third installment of an epic fantasy. Loved by fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas.

Goodreads / Amazon

SNEAK PEEK

It’s bloody freezing in the cell they throw me into and they seem in no hurry to bring me that extra blanket I’d asked for. It seems Tinfoil was right. Last night I was free, tonight I am caged. What’s worse, they’ve tossed me into the same cell as some kooky old lady who keeps eyeballing me from her corner.
‘Can I help you?’ I ask impatiently.
‘Come into the light,’ she croaks. That’s a laugh. There’s hardly any light in this place.
‘I’m quite comfortable here thanks.’
‘Come into the light,’ she croaks a little more loudly, causing her to cough. Not wanting her to suffer a heart attack on my account, I reluctantly stroll over to the bars of the cell to be nearer the flickering florescent lights in the corridor
‘Lexovia?’ she says. ‘You are the Elentrice, Lexovia.’
‘No.’ Poor old lady. ‘I am Dezaray Storm.’
She chuckles. ‘You were always such a kidder. You are going to be in a world of trouble once they find you missing from Coldivor. Best you get back to the portal.’
I am about to disagree with this senile old woman but the mention of the portal captures my attention.
‘I am honestly not Lexovino, or whoever you think I am,’ I state, braving a few steps towards her, ‘but perhaps you can tell me more about her, Coldivor and this,’ I shrug, ‘this portal?’

And here she is. . .

 

USA Today Bestselling Author & a citizen of the world; S. McPherson was born in England, moved to Saudi Arabia when she was five then on to Dubai at the age of seven. S. McPherson briefly lived in Scotland, she is originally from Jamaica and her mind is often far, far away in lands people have never heard of.
S. McPherson has always loved writing in all its forms and at the tender age of eight, she dreamt of being a member of the next big pop group where she could sing and write songs all day. When that inexplicably fell through (how could she not be the next Beyonce??), she moved on to poems, scripts and eventually novels.
Having met many different people - imaginary and real - along her travels, S. McPherson has a vast array of characters buzzing in her head bursting to be let loose on a page or two of fantasy.

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Happy Book Birthday, Summer on Earth by Peter Thompson!

SUMMER ON EARTH

by Peter Thompson

Persnickety Press

Middle Grade Science Fiction

296 pages

OUT TODAY!!!

The night that eleven-year-old Grady Johnson looked out his window and wished upon a shooting star, his life changed forever. Grady, his Ma, and younger sister Luanne are having a hard summer. Dad has died and the family isn't the same. Though Ma is trying her best, Grady knows they don't have enough money to get by. The shooting star he saw was a space craft plunging to Earth, and landing at the back of their farm. Extraterrestrial engineer Ralwil Turth has one goal, to fix his power drive and go back home. But things don't go as planned. Stuck in human form, he gets to know Grady and his family as he works on their farm. He starts to learn about what it means to be human, and the exotic charms of this planet like the taste of potatoes, and how amazing bugs are. As Ralwil grows to care for Grady and his family, he comes up with a plan to help them, sure it will solve all their problems. But when trouble comes, the family's survival and Ralwil's very life are on the line. Can Grady find the courage to help his family and save his friend?

MY TIDBITS

A dash of humor, a tad bit of adventure and a ton of heart-warming moments make this a lovely read.

Ralwil, soon to be known on Earth as 'Will', is underway to his home planet when his ship breaks down. Forced to land on Earth and hope he can complete the necessary repairs, he stumbles across a human family and does the unthinkable--he lets them see him. Luckily, he's in his human form. Eleven-year-old Grady discovers Will first, and thanks to some alien skills, makes mental contact. The two bond a friendship as does  the rest of the family. Will discovers that fixing his ship might be a problem, especially since he's letting himself get wrapped up in Grady's family's own troubles. In the end, it's Grady who must decide if he'll protect Will or save his family.

In some ways, this reminded me of E.T.. Ralwil is an intelligent character who's trying his best to adapt to the situation and find a way home. He develops feelings for the human family and does his best to help them, which lands him in trouble. The self-sacrifice in the name of friendship pulls at the heart-strings and leaves with a bitter-sweet, warm-fuzzy feeling. 

But this isn't E.T.. The story is told from two points of view: Ralwil and Grady. The story starts out with Ralwil, his ship troubles and the first hours on Earth. The author does a wonderful job of letting these experiences flow from Ralwil's viewpoint, and stays in an alien's mind: what they see...what is strange...how they interpret things. Young readers are taken to Earth with these different eyes, while learning to really get to know this alien and sympathize with him. Ralwil comes across, as a human, as if he's a bit slow. Although the townsfolk notice this, Grady's family accepts it with open arms and doesn't say a thing. It was simply sweet.

Grady is a pretty normal kid, who's caught in a bad situation. He has to deal not only with Ralwil and try to help him--although he isn't aware of Ralwil's true identity--but Grady is trying to slide into the new family circumstances, since his father passed away. The emotions and problems involved with this tragedy are very present in the family and come across realistic. When they hurt, it almost draws tears and creates an emotional read.

This isn't the quickest paced book and isn't packed full of alien action. Instead, it's a read that grabs, makes the reader feel and leaves some food for thought. The writing is simple enough for the lower middle grade audience but had a few more complicated words thrown in every now and then. In general, it's an easy read. There's always something new to consider, which causes the pages to glide by.

Summed up, this is a lovely tale of forming friendships, loyalty and going the extra mile when someone needs help. Although science fiction fans will feel at home, this is by no means a read only for them.

And here he is. . .

Peter Thompson grew up in Illinois, and lives near Chicago. He remembers how excited he was when the first astronaut stepped on to the moon. He has had an appreciation of space, and the possibility of aliens ever since. His love of children’s books developed while reading to his three sons. He has always been a reader, the writing came later. Though previously published, this is his first novel for young readers. In his free time he hikes, reads, writes, paints and is planning his next trip to an out of the way location.