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The Call to Shakabaz with Amy Wachspress

An imaginative fantasy adventure, The Call to Shakabaz sidesteps many of the usual conventions of the genre and offers instead unusual and original resolutions to a variety of sticky situations. When the recently orphaned Goodacre children are transported to the land of Faracadar, they must discover and develop their special gifts and talents, which require that they exercise ingenuity, creativity, and compassion.Fourteen-year-old Doshmisi and her younger siblings Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay are given the task of retrieving the powerful Staff of Shakabaz from the evil enchanter Sissrath. They travel through a colorful landscape with their Faracadaran guide, fifteen-year-old Jasper, and their Aunt Alice s clever, pesky, and often hilarious parrot, Bayard Rustin. The adventurers must contend with many obstacles and foes, including a giant sea serpent spewing green goo, skeeter birds with uncanny eyesight, the smelliest man in the land (named Compost), the deadly mountain geebachings (who cause their victims to laugh themselves to death), as well as Sissrath himself and his minions (who shoot deadly poison darts at their enemies).

Assistance is provided to them along the way by the High Chief and his clever daughter, talking whales, ancient trees, drummers, inventors, butterflies, wolves, tigers, and the peculiar sprites who live underground in the hills. Author Amy Wachspress has set the story in an African American cultural context, with all brown characters, for a refreshingly different perspective on adventuring in make-believe lands (there are almost no books in this genre with any African American characters in them).

“The Call to Shakabaz” explores a host of difficult and complex issues that today s young people face and challenges readers to reconsider the nature of violence and our relation to it. In the final climactic sequence, young readers learn the fundamental principles of nonviolence as practiced by Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi. When the last page turns and the dust clears, this book will inspire readers to think and think again.

 Listen to live interview on Inside Scoop Live

The Dream Catcher Tour with Paula Buermele

“The Dream Catcher Tour” is an intriguing and sensitive tapestry of tales woven into a delightful novel that reflects the beauty and spirit of women.While touring interesting places and enjoying new experiences in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, forty-seven women also travel through the prism of time to re-visit favorite memories and share recollections.

The women on the fictional bus are women we all know. They are our mothers, sisters, wives, best friends, neighbors, co-workers. They are related to us by birth, marriage, or shared experience. They are the people we depend on to be there with us as we live our way through the days and seasons and events of our lives. This novel respects the contributions these women make to our lives.

Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

Beyond Adam and Eve: 50 Things You Need to Know Before You Get to Heaven with Marion Williams

Have you ever wanted to learn about the Bible but were not sure where to start? Does the vast size of the Bible overwhelm you? “Beyond Adam & Eve” provides the guidance you need to get started.By focusing on fifty simple questions that all Christians should be able to answer but often cannot, you and your family will be on your way to learning about many important Biblical characters and several church traditions. “Beyond Adam & Eve” has a question and answer format which makes it great for Family Game nights, car trips, and as a Sunday School class. (A Curriculum Guide is available for an eight-week course.)

Scripture passages are also included to acquaint you with different books of the Bible. You’ll find yourself returning often to “Beyond Adam & Eve” for inspiration and guidance. Make room on your nightstand for this engaging book

 Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live.

Landmark Status with Alan Rolnick

What will become of Miami s legendary Century Club? In its heyday, the Club and its famous Everglades Room were the place for everyone who was anyone from Zane Grey to Izzy Fine. Long forgotten, the Club has slumbered for decades in subtropical decay, only to be awakened by a nearby convention center project.

Now everybody’s scrambling for a piece of the action, and this tangle of fast-paced South Florida intrigue is brought to riotous life in Landmark Status by Alan Rolnick. Lawyer Benjy Bluestone wants no part of this project, except one of his clients owns the Club and seeks his help.

That’s when things get complicated: Benjy becomes smitten with beautiful, whip-smart realtor Delia Torres, who represents a developer who s furious to discover that the Club has been optioned to a rival. A mix of spirits, spells, cemeteries, skateboards, kung fu, car wrecks, football, phobias, fetishes, wooden flutes, pet rabbits, vintage aircraft and legal action ensue, as Benjy and Delia discover that her client will stop at nothing to turn that option into “something so ugly the tide won t take it out.”

Racing to solve the puzzle before they run out of time, Benjy and Delia join forces, and all roads eventually lead to Opa-locka Airport, where a violent confrontation blows up the deal for everyone. Or does it?

Listen to interview with Alan Rolnick on Inside Scoop Live 

Frank and Kim Goldman clear up the controversy and confusion surrounding their involvement with O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical tell-all book during a revealing interview on Inside Scoop Live.

Fred and Kim Goldman, father and sister of murder victim Ron Goldman, explain why they published “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer,” O.J. Simpson’s gruesome, hypothetical account of murdering Goldman and Nicole Brown in an exclusive online interview with Inside Scoop Live.  

Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger with Lee Edward Fodi

Everyone knows that the creatures of the outside world are forbidden by magic to enter the land of Een. That’s why young Kendra Kandlestar is so surprised when a giant Unger arrives in the middle of the night to deliver a cryptic message: If she can find the fabled Door to Unger, she will be able to unlock the truth about her long-lost family.Soon, Kendra finds herself on an epic adventure in which she must tangle with dwarves, monsters, and one strange, magic-peddling faun. Can Kendra trust this peculiar cast of characters? Will she be able to discover the secret about her family?

There’s only one way to find out: Open the Door to Unger and enter a world of magic, monsters, and mystery…

 Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live with author!