A literally Grimm dark tale featuring our favorite bedtime stories! 

Never trust a witch. 

In a world where witches and corruption rule, Winnie stands up against foes with more power than she could imagine. But while Winnie's courage and heart cause her to remain defiant, her mother has chosen to make a deal. In exchange for healing for her husband, she gave the witches her most valued possession -- her heart. Under their orders, she then betroths herself to a king in another realm. 

Although her mother tries to keep the deal a secret, Winnie suspects her treachery -- and she's not the only one. Frost, the daughter of the engaged king, has her own suspicions as it concerns her soon-to-be stepmother. When the evil new queen attempts to kill her husband on her wedding night, the two daughters form an unlikely alliance to stop the evil now released upon the land. 

April Grace manages to combine several fairytales into one. This book is full of deceit, betrayal, love, sacrifice, grief, and heart. With Grace leading the way, we enter into vivid, beautiful realms filled with unique people and situations. All along the way, we are given protagonists worthy of rooting for. Not to mention the inside of the book and the cover is absolutely stunning. 

​I received this book in exchange for a review. I gave this book a 4/5 stars. The deducted star may have been my own bias. This is a YA book, so I am not the target audience. I found our protagonists a hair on the immature side as it concerns morality. Not much gray was accepted as it concerned morality. If you've read my books, gray morals is a personal pet project of mine, so again, the bias is likely my own. It was a fun book with stakes high enough to engage but also not too evil to turn away younger readers. 

When I left a review for Sitting On Top Of The World, the first book in this series, I mentioned how well this talented author brought to life a major historical event in a relatable way for kids to understand and love. Well, Cheryl King does it again with this excellent sequel -- but we get more than just a story about The Great Depression. This story also handles the complicated emotions of grief in a way that kids can understand. 

Last book left a massive hole in the heart of our protagonist. It only expands in Book 2. There's only one way ahead that young June sees to fill that hole -- revenge. After procuring a gun, June travels off to confront the man who killed her brother. After all, nearly every following tragedy can be traced back to that calloused action. 

But does June have what it takes to bring about this vengeance? Does she even have the right to take such a claim into her own hands? 

This book has a little bit over everything: sorrow, hope, love, even a little romance. King creates a good balance in all of these emotions, showing us the darkness of June's situation as well as the light. She shows how life keeps going on even after great tragedy and how to find ones place in the through the worst of it. 

As a homeschool mom, I've really appreciated this book series. These are Charlotte Mason Type Living Books. I recommend them all to homeschool moms looking to show a new slant on the Great Depression from a personal view. 

Here is where you can claim your copy of Under the Pawpaw Trees!

https://www.amazon.com/Under-Pawpaw-Trees-Sitting-World/dp/1737785838/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=under+the+pawpaw+trees&sr=8-1

In December 2022, I published a book called SURVIVING MIDAS, a fictional story about enslaved children growing drugs on an illegal marijuana farm. The story is fraught with stories of abuse, adults turning blind eyes, and straight-up disregard and cruelty to minors. 

This is a real-life SURVIVING MIDAS. 

I did not read this book before writing my novel. I stumbled on this story after watching a Call the Midwife Episode where this migration program was mentioned. I picked up the book, expecting to hear some stories about bad experiences, some neglect, that sort of thing. I did not expect to read about a system that enslaved thousands of children on a farm by the ‘good people of society.’ I did not expect to read tales of rotted food and nutritionless rations. Of sexual and physical abuse openly inflicted on children as young as six. And I did not expect to read about repeated investigations about such things that led to nowhere. 

Told in a straightforward, evidence-based manner, the book documents the horrors faced by the children of the Britain to Australia Migration Program that operated over fifty years. The author personally lived at the Fairbridge Farm School, so the account is written from first-hand experience. He also shares the stories of his fellow residents, many of whom are still living and still recovering from the evils they faced. 

Everyone should read this story. 

Everyone should see how something intended to be ‘good,’ became evil from the moment of its inception. How blind-eyes and excuses can lead to such atrocities. This book made my blood boil, and I’m sure it will make yours too.

​

I've been waiting a long time for this book to be up on amazon and waiting for reviews! This book is GORGEOUS! From the very first page, I was captivated by the stunning imagery. The artist is in a class of her own. I was blessed enough to meet the artist at a book signing event in Chattanooga, and we've since come to be friends. She has other Mangas out as well that I would highly recommend. 

Now on to the story element: This book is just part one. I think there is going to be 5 parts in total. The story follows a young man who has just come to learn of his family's curse. Horrifying creatures from a world unseen are attempting to destroy his family. Two beings have now come to protect them, but they are the last ones of their kind available to defend this family. Will they survive? 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the releases. A lot of this story is based on Irish folklore -- things I'm not overly familiar with but am looking forward to discovering! 

If you're interested in purchasing this graphic novel/manga, go HERE

This is a book I get to talk about as a Mom!

Elina Ballerina is a tale about a little elephant girl who just does not seem to fit in with her class. While the other girls are so elegant and poised, she is all trunks and stumps. But there's something Ms. Elina does not quite know about dancing -- or about herself for that matter. Something that changes everything from the way she views herself to dancing as a whole.

I love this book, and little Joey enjoyed listening to it too! The pictures are cute and well done. I'm looking forward to more from this author!

That was short. But it's a kid's book. :D 

Find it HERE

​Richard’s life is . . . disappointing. 

His career is one word away from extinction, his love-life nonexistent, his hopes for improvement, nil. 

But his imagination? Now that’s a place to be. 

For years he has studied and imagined the life of his hero, the much-debated Napoleon Bonaparte, former Emperor of France. 

Oh to live in the time of Napoleon! To see the victories. To smell the gunpowder. To be present at Waterloo to warn him of looming disaster! So, when a run-in with an eccentric bookstore owner provides him with that opportunity, Richard takes it readily. He quits his job, his life really, in order to pursue this dream, and soon, he’s present on the famous battlefield of Waterloo, right in the middle of the action! 

A little too close to the action really, as he’s quickly escorted off the field by a concerned soldier. But this is just the beginning of an adventure! More is to come, good, bad, and ugly as he journeys to meet his idol – and to find a better life. 


As someone who enjoys history but had a less than stellar school curriculum, I learned a lot from this story. Other than the names Waterloo and Napoleon, I know very little about that time period. Williams, though, had it all figured out. Through vivid descriptions, Williams has created an immersive journey through the time of muskets and diplomacy, of success on the battlefield as well as failure. And, as it concerns the story itself, Williams does not always go the way one would think. There were several points when I expected the author to zig only for him to zag instead. 

In other words, it was quite a bit of fun, and I enjoyed reading it. As a mom intending to homeschool, I kept thinking about the concept of ‘living books’ as described by Charlotte Mason. While I would not recommend it for a child (there are a few scenes), I could see a historically inclined teenager adding this novel to their curriculum. This is not how this book is being marketed, but it’s a potential angle that I saw. If you're looking for a deep dive into a time period, this book is for you!


*I received this book copy free in exchange for a review. 

Paul used to be normal. He used to play baseball, ride bicycles, and run like all the other kids his age, until a genetic heart condition ruined all that. At the age of twelve, he experienced his first heart episode--an episode of tachycardia that caused him to collapse. Ever since then, while the other kids continue with their normal lives, running, playing sports, planning for college, Paul just hopes he'll get to see tomorrow. 

Now seventeen, Paul tries to make the most of it. Sure, he can't handle more than a simple walk around the neighborhood with the girl next door and his school has painted a parking space for an ambulance on his behalf they've come so frequent, but Paul continues life doing the things he's able to do. He studies a lot, watches movies, hangs out with his two friends--the only people in school who haven't written him off and moved on that is. 

But when a stranger in the park asks Paul what he wants more than anything, he tells the truth: He'd like a do-over. 

And so the stranger shoots him. 

Really. 

Paul wakes up in the hospital the next day, disoriented, but complaining about the random person who shot him in the chest. The doctors are baffled. There's no entry or exit wound, but radiological imagery shows a bullet lodged next to his heart. The thing is, though, the bullet is moving. Around and around it goes, circling his heart. And if that wasn't baffling enough, some of the images report it as being there then not, as if it's intangible. 

Well, since Paul would never survive an operation due to his weakened heart, there's not much they can do about it. They'll just have to wait until Paul is dead to remove the thing. But that does not stop the CIA from circling like vultures. Sure, they do their part protecting Paul while they're there, which is especially lucky since a group of creepy, smelly aliens show up demanding whatever Paul has inside of him. 

The chase is on as Paul, his girlfriend, and his CIA handlers race from one safe house to the next while the advanced alien race pursues them. With each encounter, they lose more and more of their numbers--including Paul's small circle of family and friends. Between the pursuing aliens, his weak heart, and the CIA's continued talk of basically 'disappearing' Paul, the teen is hard pressed, and it just might be time to take matters into his own hands.  

I received this book for free as part of a review exchange. I had read Frankel's work before, but while I like the other book, I really like this one. Frankel's tone for Paul's voice was spot on, and I found myself caring and liking the protagonist pretty quick. I felt each loss, each pain. I felt the fear, the mystery, and the desire to just stay alive, even if by all logic, that's just not going to be possible. 

The story was sci-fi, which is a genre I sometimes struggle with, but Frankel did a good job of holding his reader's hand throughout the story and taking them on this wild journey! It was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it for other readers.