Sharing the Stories

  “The first thing I want to say is that he, he….I can’t say his name. But, the shooter...He sat in his car before coming into the party, and he read the instructions on how to work the gun he bought the day before.” Bella has to run, she has to run because she is filled with grief and sorrow, her running is her crying and her praying and screaming. It’s her way of doing something when she doesn’t know what to do.   “I just keep running on those hot roads because I don’t know if my country will protect me and my rights, as a female, as a person who wants to be safe from violence.  It has not shown me that it will protect me, from males more powerful than me, from people who hate and intend to do harm. It has shown me that I am less than, that I am not worth being protected. It has shown recklessness with my well-being. So I run in the heat and I sweat and I push myself to persevere” Bella’s journey from Seattle to Washington D.C. is her way to deal with one evening t...

  When Natasha’s sister goes missing she turns her loss into anger but when no one offers any help she turns to the last resort option- magic.  Della’s family has lived in the Bend for generations creating spells for the locals desperate enough to use their magic.  When Natasha shows up for help, Della knows it won’t be as simple as creating a potion.  She starts to wonder if the beast responsible for Natasha’s sister’s disappearance is someone really close to her, someone, she has bowed to protect, but how do you protect a monster?  Falling for Natasha means deciding how far she’s willing to go. They become each other’s hope, with little to lose and more anger than the Bend can hold on to.  If you like Holly Black or series like Truly Devious this fast-paced book is for you with strong characters, an intriguing plot, symbolism, magic, and a killer cover. Ms. Galan

  Fernnbirn Island needs its queen to be strong, to show no mercy, and to kill its sisters if she wants to wear the royal crown.  Every sixteen years at the beginning of the Ascension Year the royal triplets will have to kill the weaker ones to show the islanders that they have what it takes to be their new queen. The Ascension Year is their opportunity to showcase years of training, to use their magic, to find a suitor, and become a queen.  This year three very different sisters will have to fight for their lives- Mirabella who can control the elements but can't erase the memories of her little sisters, Katharine growing weaker every day after years of poisonings, and Arsinoe a naturalist living a lie hoping to find her real power before it is too late.  Defiance, hidden agendas, love stories, shady characters, magic, power, and family all come together in the first book of this trilogy. Dark Crown will have you on the edge of your seat rooting for each sister....

  “Because for every way the world tries to kill us, it gives us a way to survive. You just gotta find it” (p. 24.)   Cash certainly knows about  “the world trying to kill you” or at least hurt you. His whole life has felt like one loss after another, one hurtful moment after another. But he has found a way to survive, a way to have hope, and even small moments of joy with the good in his life. His Papaw and Mamaw, who stepped in and are helping raise him, Delaney “Red” his only friend and local genius, their quiet little Tennessee town, the river, and the moments sharing stories on their front porch.   When life doesn’t give you many opportunities you must take the ones that are offered to you. Even if you don’t think you deserve them.  So when Delaney discovers a rare form of penicillium that gets them both full rides at an elite boarding school, Cash will have to decide to leave his safe place in order to become the person he’s supposed to be.  This...