A Bad Day’s Work, by Nora McFarland

Reviewed by Donna Meredith Lilly Hawkins notes that if the TV station where she works as a shooter takes the number one spot in the ratings, the boss will get the bonus and the rest of the staff will “share a pizza.” A painful reality, one we can all relate to. The humor of Lilly’s […]

The Eternal Ones, by Kirsten Miller

Review by Donna Meredith Romance, the supernatural, action, good versus evil, exotic locations, teenage outcasts—there’s so much in Kirsten Miller’s The Eternal Ones for young adult readers to like. Add those factors to readable prose and a page-turning plot, and some mothers are going to be borrowing this book from their teens. The narrator, seventeen-year-old […]

Meet Mary Jane Ryals, Author of Cookie and Me

Textbooks, poetry, novels—Mary Jane Ryals writes them all. Cookie and Me, her debut novel, will be released in September by Kitsune Books. Ryals was named the first Poet Laureate of the Big Bend in 2008 and released her first book of poetry, The Moving Waters, the same year. Ryals performs with a popular poetry troupe, […]

Cookie and Me, by Mary Jane Ryals

Thirteen-year-old Rayann Wood narrates the poignant tale of her dysfunctional family and the redeeming power of friendship in the novel Cookie and Me, by Mary Jane Ryals (Kitsune Books, Sept, 2010). Sassy yet poetic, southern yet universal, Rayann’s voice rings out as true and wise and unforgettable as Scout’s in To Kill a Mockingbird. Set […]