Marta Cheng | Self-Publishing Review

Review: A Chicken in the Wind and How He Grew by Frank South

Life can be messy and complicated – throw ADHD into the mix and you’ve got A Chicken in the Wind and How He Grew: Stories from an ADHD Dad, a spirited memoir by Frank South.

During his lifetime, South has held many “former” titles: a former English teacher for adjudicated teens, a former Off-Broadway playwright, a former television writer and producer, and a former alcoholic. He writes about what he knows – life as an adult struggling and coping with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly referred to as ADHD.

Together with his loving (and somewhat long-suffering) wife Margaret, they […]

Marta Cheng2020-05-20T05:16:54+02:00January 29th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Lincoln’s Paramour by Devin K. Asante

A touching life-long love affair is at the heart of Devin K. Asante’s creative work of historical fiction, Lincoln’s Paramour.

Abraham “Abe” LaRue is the second son of James LaRue, a wealthy Kentucky land baron, and his second wife, Suzanne. He’s as different from his older brother, Aron, as chalk is to cheese, but has an idyllic childhood growing up on his large plantation where his best friend is Maisie, the daughter of his father’s older brother and his black slave mistress – until tragedy strikes and Abe’s father is killed by a bear.

His mother remarries a year […]

Marta Cheng2019-03-06T12:52:40+02:00January 23rd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Bell for Jimmy by Theo Wadsworth, Illustrated by Julia Naurzalijeva

A Bell for Jimmy is a heartwarming picture book for older children written by Theo Wadsworth and illustrated by Julia Naurzalijeva.

A traveler arrives in Eden, a remote, small mountain village, to the tolling of bells. He makes his way to the village store where five village ancients sit – all of them listening reverently to the tolling bells. Once the bells stop, one of the villagers begins to tell the traveler the sobering tale behind the bells. He’s informed that today is a special day as it was twelve years and three month since their remote mountain village became […]

Marta Cheng2019-02-04T11:50:43+02:00January 5th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews, Poetry Book Reviews|

Jai the Albino Cow by Gloria D. Gonsalves, Illustrated by Nikki Ng’ombe

Written by Gloria D. Gonsalves and illustrated by Nikki Ng’ombe, Jai the Albino Cow is a delightful picture book for young children that sparks imagination at every turn.

Anjait “Jai” is the youngest of three cow siblings living in Kole Hills. Jai is different from her older brothers in that she has a white coat, pink eyes, and fluffy hair and suffers from Albinism. Other cows outside her family believe she’s cursed. One day, Jai is chosen to participate in a special dance called the Dance of the Cattle Kings in which no female has ever participated before. Cows from […]

Marta Cheng2018-12-17T09:21:19+02:00December 16th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

A Child is a Piece of Paper by Lance Crossley

Raw… gritty…no single adjective can sufficiently describe the intensity of A Child is a Piece of Paper, Lance Crossley’s stark novel.

The year is 1960. Six-year-old Wanisin Blackwill and his older sister, Mitena, are forced to leave their Indian reserve outside of Fort Hope to attend a Catholic-run live-in school for Native American children. Once at the school, Wanisin and Mitena become Wally and Mabel, their former lives beaten out of them due to the relentless ministrations of their headmaster, Father Paxton. Childhood innocence is quickly replaced by humiliation, constant fear, and something much worse until the only recourse […]

Marta Cheng2018-11-02T10:09:18+02:00November 1st, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The King of Escape by Mark Christopher Mathis

A trifecta of dysfunctionality, addiction, and mental illness forms the backbone of Mark Christopher Mathis’ sobering young adult offering, The King of Escape.

Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Carrier is reluctantly about to embark on a cruise with his family. For most families, this would be an exciting adventure, but for Nicholas, it’s anything but. The past few years have been hell, and the thought of being confined on a cruise ship in close quarters with his annoying younger sister, Mad, while being tasked with looking after his twelve-year-old autistic brother, Jacob, is bad enough, but to be under the constant eagle […]

Marta Cheng2018-12-07T12:53:36+02:00October 26th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Summer Girl by Linda Watkins

Summer Girl by Linda Watkins is a poignant coming of age novel that asks whether it’s possible to forget one’s first love.

It’s the summer of sixty-five and sixteen-year-old islander Jake Chambers meets the ferry bringing the newest crop of summer people to Cutter Island. Fifteen-year-old Andrea (Andi) Martin is unlike the other summer girls and immediately captures Jake’s attention. Over the Fourth of July lobster bake, they become fast friends and soon their friendship blossoms into first love. It seems like they’re destined to be together – until one fateful night, a lapse in better judgment leads to tragic […]

Marta Cheng2019-01-22T04:35:51+02:00October 16th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Nightmare Detective: The Skeleton King by Monk Inyang

Terrifying nightmares and kid detectives hardly make for a likely duo but writer Monk Inyang, along with the artistic talents of illustrator, Elijah Isaiah Johnson, create a winning combination in Nightmare Detective: The Skeleton King, an imaginative and chilling middle grade adventure.

For two weeks now, twelve-year-old Uko Hill has been plagued by the same terrifying nightmare – that his house is being attacked by a bunch of skeletal hooded figures, led by an imposing reaper he calls The Skeleton King. In his nightmare, Uko tries to wake up his parents and his brother, Femi, but to no avail […]

Marta Cheng2018-11-06T09:55:59+02:00September 18th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews, Paranormal Book Reviews|