Review: Sharky Marky and the Scavenger Hunt by Lance Olsen ★★★★
Sharky Marky and the Scavenger Hunt (An Alphabetic Adventure) finds Sharky Marky in a car race as he races to find different items in a scavenger hunt, each corresponding to a letter in the alphabet. Written in rhyming verse, it’s a sweet, good-natured children’s book with colorful and detailed illustrations.
Like Sharky Marky and the Big Race, Scavenger Hunt begins with a stoplight countdown. Sharky Marky then races to the finish line to find each item in the alphabet. First, Sharky sees some algae (“Marky scoops up some Algae, his first on the list. As he speeds by Eddy […]
I Am Not Dumb and I Am Not a Stinky Butt! by Joyce Knock is a spirited children’s story about one boy who’s taken a bit too much from a particular bully. A boy is teased by the class bully, Freddy, when he answers a question wrong in class (Freddy calls him “stupid”) and then when he falls down on the playground (he’s called “crybaby”), and then he’s called the name in the title. Finally having enough, he confronts Freddy in class and all the other kids offer their support, silencing the bully. It’s a sweet and important story, in […]
Second Chances by Lincoln Cole is a novel about big issues: racial discrimination and injustice, alcoholism, spousal abuse, and struggling to survive when society is stacked against you. The novel begins with Lakeisha who is facing virulent racism at an elementary school. When Lakeisha goes missing, her daughter, Nichole, must start caring for her younger siblings and picking up the pieces of a shattered life. She works with Richard, an attorney who got into the job with good intentions but has steered away from helping the common good, and he’s facing a crisis of his own. Nichole’s problems force both […]
Art on the Human Heart by Paul C. Ho is the story of a cardiologist who has a heart attack, which makes him re-evaluate his life. It also makes him re-evaluate the medical profession, as he attempts to understand what affects the human heart well beyond medical science. Going through his life as a young immigrant, a failed relationship, a stint being a doctor in the Alaskan wilderness, his personal mysticism, and more, the doctor comes to a greater understanding of the human heart than he had before his illness.
The Ladders of Death, by Philippe Erhard, is a compelling story about the bravery of two individuals during World War II.
The Sixteen Burdens by David Khalaf is the incredible first novel in a series about a fantastical alternate Old Hollywood. The stars of yesteryear weren’t just talented, they possessed supernatural abilities, and now they’re being kidnapped. Gray Studebaker – a street urchin who sells map to the stars – discovers the stars’ secret, and aims to save them from a nefarious adversary who is trying to steal their talents in order to create an unstoppable army.
The Peril Protocol by Robert Thornton is a page-turning thriller about a renowned doctor who’s accused of being a serial killer. Dr. Hope Allerd is working under Dr. Erril, researching a miracle cure for meningitis. A reporter shows up on the scene and accuses him of the seemingly impossible: being the worst serial killer since Jack the Ripper. When women start showing up dead at the hospital, and the reporter is outed for being a serial plagiarizer, Dr. Allerd doesn’t know who to trust. But it gets worse. Allerd discovers that she’s slated to be the murderer’s next victim, and […]