The hero’s journey is a staple of adventure storytelling and for good reason. Nothing is more satisfying than following the trials and tribulations of an imperfect but likable hero or heroine as he or she gains maturity and knowledge of the world. In this opening...

Jewels of Kidron by Susan Miner is a poignant young adult fantasy dealing with abuse. It follows two young girls searching for a place to belong and feel safe and loved. Katie is in a group home for abused children. She is haunted by the...

Jesnia is a sci-fi romance by Marie Godley. Cassandra, known as Cassie, is an introvert who is painfully shy. When her English class welcomes new student Sheridan, Cassie is horrified to find that he is seated in the chair closest to her. After befriending Sheridan,...

Just City is a coming-of-age story by Olga Tymofiyeva. Twenty-one-year-old Nathan is excited to join the New Entrepreneur Incubator, with his friend Jack, to complete his vision of a start-up company. However, to be a founder, he needs $10000 as pre-seed money to enter the...

Journey To The Heartland is a work of fiction in the slice of life and LGBTQ+ subgenres. It is best suited to the general adult reading audience and was penned by author Xiaolong Huang. Based on real events, the novel takes us on the varied...

Jewbilly is a hilarious, well-paced tale about how young Yosef Bamberger finally enters manhood. Twelve-year-old Yosef and his orthodox Jewish family live happily in 1970s New York. But a year before Yosef is due to have his much-anticipated Bar Mitzvah, Yosef’s father, Murray, moves the...

Jackson by Lynn McLaughlin was my first experience listening to an audiobook. How impressed was I? The professional quality of the audiobook was superb, but it was the story itself that convinced me I also needed a printed copy. I ended up purchasing the Kindle...

Em did not expect her life to change just because of one small, after-school detention. It was supposed to be just another day; her mum would be mad that she got in trouble, sure, but she was always mad these days, especially since she was...

Lynn McLaughlin’s Jackson is about the struggle of living with mental illness. This story centers on Jackson and his mother, June. Jackson’s dialogue narrates the struggles of coping with severe anxiety, and his mother’s dialogue expresses her struggles while caring for someone with mental health...

Marshall Morris isn’t your ordinary young man and it’s not because he has extraordinary skills but because he lurches from one disaster to another. A senior at Justice High in south Texas, Marshall is in the football squad, but he knows that Coach Warren Wilson...