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THE TRUTH … how do we carry the truth from girlhood to adulthood?

That priceless ‘truth’ that we all recognize as kids? How do we walk over that bridge into growing up, carrying the Truth? How do we not hide it? How do we not forget what it is? How do we recognize THE TRUTH in our children and help them carry their most precious selves into adulthood?

The Truth: I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything is a delightful, humorous secret diary, written by a girl who is 10-11 years of age. She is wise and yet so innocent. She makes us cry and laugh and remember ourselves.

Behind this very easy read is the psychological message to the women reading THE TRUTH that they can and must recapture the fire and passion of Continue reading »

Move over all you comedic writers, because a new force has entered the genre. Amber Kizer, a Washington state author, has blasted into the realms of excellence with her hilarious first novel, Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Time.

Kizer’s book follows Gert Garibaldi (a hated name, given to her by her ancient parents) through a portion of her sophomore year in high school. Her experiences run the gamut (as do ALL sophomore girls) from the bliss of first love to the horror of getting your period at the same instant you have to stand in front of the class and give a presentation.

I found Gert’s interaction with her (slightly daft) parents dead-on; after all what do these oldsters know about the angst of teen life? Later, a visit to Victoria’s Secret changes part of that concept! I also loved the dynamics (and honesty) of Gert’s friendship with Adam, her gay best friend. Pals since forever, Gert and Adam share their fears and hopes about first dates and first kisses, while following the challenges to their friendship when a third party comes onto the scene.

From beginning to end, Kizer paints a picture a high school we can all imagine, including a sexy sex-ed teacher, a driver’s ed instructor who has to bring a portable oxygen tank along on the rides, and a princi-PAL! who wants to grade students on how much they weigh! I loved, too, Kizer’s side-splitting humor; if anyone can capture a teenage girl’s inner thoughts, this author can! There were several spots in the book that had me in stitches, including the title of Gert’s English paper that compares and contrasts Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway: The Crackhead and the Suicidal Alkie.
Was high school ever like this? Absolutely!

Kudos to Amber Kizer’s first novel–and the first in a Gert Garibaldi series. Keep ‘em coming!

Read an in-depth interview with Amber Kizer.

The series at a glance
Gert Garibaldi is a normal 15-year-old American girl. She is not gorgeous, she is not loaded and she is not dating the hottest guy in school. She is honest, frank, funny, and real. The books cover a semester of time during her high school experience.

The first book in the series covers the beginning of her sophomore year. She learns to drive, gets her first kiss, survives homecoming rituals, and turns 16. All with a quirky and often hilarious take on the world and her experiences.

An interview with author Amber Kizer about her upcoming October 2007 release of Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Time .

Okay, what’s with the title? Is ONE BUTT CHEEK AT A TIME just a gimmick title for shock value?
I have to admit I’ve gotten a scandalized looks and raised eyebrows when I’m asked about the title of this book. Personally, I love the title because it completely characterizes the star’s philosophy of life.

Gert Garibaldi thinks putting one foot in front of the other is discriminatory against people without feet—but everyone has a butt. So, she puts her jeans on one butt cheek at a time. It’s a testament to taking life as it comes and breaking it down into the parts. She’s quirky and opinionated and I think that comes through in the title. But if the word “butt” offends you—you won’t like the content in the book so don’t read it. [Amber’s photo by Sarah La Mar]

Is this tale autobiographical?
I laugh every time I’m asked this question. No, I didn’t just change my name to Gert and publish my journal from high school. Among other things, I’m not nearly as interesting or funny as Gert.

My high school experiences play a part of me as the writer and there are themes I feel deeply like—I hated three of the four years—in fact, hate might not even be a strong enough word—torture, insecurity, flailing—I did a lot of flailing about. But this isn’t a book that will one day show up in the memoir section of your local bookstore.

Why did you write ONE BUTT CHEEK?
I started out writing romances—adult romances, but began to get editorial comments from another voice/character while I was working on them. This teen sarcasm became a constant distraction and made it nearly impossible to focus. So I started to give time to clear that character out of my head—I gave her pages of her own. I figured I’d write ten or twenty pages and she’d shut up. She’s still talking and now she has her own series. Go figure. Continue reading »

Behind the Eyes
by Francisco X. Stork

This is Francisco X. Stork’s second novel, and like his debut effort, The Way Of The Jaguar, it is aimed at the young adult market. He writes in a clear and straightforward style that is ideal for this genre. This is a style that many other authors should consider using. Why use complex words and grammar structures when simple ones will work?

Behind The Eyes chronicles the life of a 16-year-old Chicano boy growing up in the projects of El Paso, Texas. This is not the greatest start to anyone’s life. Hector must come to terms with the turbulent world of poverty, crime, and the ever-present gangs in the area.

He is an intelligent young man who finds solace in school, and works very hard to maintain a ‘cloak of invisibility’ - that way the gangs will just ignore him

Unfortunately, Hector’s older brother Fili does not share the ‘cloak of invisibility’ theory and brings danger to the whole family. He antagonizes one of the gang leaders by stealing his girlfriend. Needless to say, this results in a very bad situation. Hector’s brother dies in a game of chicken with the gang leader, and Hector finds himself in a reform school for trying to avenge his brother’s death. Continue reading »

By Kathleen A. Ernst

With her father gone to join the Yankee troops and her best friend, Ben, sympathizing with the Confederates, fifteen year-old Hannah finds her world torn apart by the Civil War. Then her mother suddenly dies. Now responsible for holding the young family together, Hannah makes the difficult decision to leave her beloved Cumberland Mountain with her brother and sisters and set out on the long and dangerous journey to Nashville, in search of their only living relative. Their quest to reclaim their family leads them into the very heart of the Civil War, and could cost them their lives.
Continue reading »

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Behind the Eyes
by Francisco X. Stork  

Francisco X. Stork follows The Way of the Jaguar with Behind the Eyes, the story of sixteen-year-old Hector Robles, an intelligent Chicano kid who tries very hard, but ultimately to no avail, to stay clear of the violence that surrounds him.

Claire Rosser, of KLIATT Reviews, writes “Stork was born in Mexico, grew up in the projects of El Paso, and now is an attorney living in Massachusetts. He wanted to write about the Chicano youths he remembers; to create a suspenseful story his own teenage children would enjoy reading. He has accomplished that goal.

His narrator is Hector, an intelligent boy who dreams of escaping his family’s life of poverty and violence. Hector’s father is dead. Now, his brother is dead. When the story opens, we know Hector is in trouble with the law, that he has committed a violent act, and that he has been given the option of doing a year in a special school for troubled boys near San Antonio.

Throughout the novel, as Hector adjusts to the school, the background story of what caused him to commit the assault is slowly revealed, exposing an adolescent world of honor, revenge, and inescapable violence. Getting away from his neighborhood, into college, will be Hector’s only hope of survival. Even in the special school he isn’t safe, because someone has been sent to exact vengeance for the act Hector committed—a circle of violence. Continue reading »