Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath by Annette Oppenlander

August 21, 2019 By 20 Comments


Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath by Annette Oppenlander
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Science Fiction/Fantasy (time travel), Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (292 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Poppy

When nerd and gamer, Max Anderson, is lured into trying an experimental computer game, he doesn’t realize he’s playing the ultimate history game, time-traveling into the past…anywhere…anytime. Survival is optional. To return home he must decipher the game’s rules and complete its missions–if he lives long enough. Tofail means staying in the past–forever.
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Now he’strapped in medieval Germany, unprepared and clueless. It is the year 1471 and he quickly learns that being an outcast may cost him his head. Especially after rescuing a beautiful peasant girl from a deadly infection and thus provoking sinister wannabe Duke Ott. Overnight he is dragged into a hornets’ nest of feuding lords who will stop at nothing to bring down the conjuring stranger in their midst.

Filled with realistic historical references and a lot of adventure to keep even the pickiest of readers happy, Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath was nearly un-put-downable. I read it in just two days.

I adored our hero, Max (“Max Nerds”). He actually took to going back in time with a pretty level head, which is good since if he’d panicked at any time, he’d likely have been killed or worse (and, yes, in that time there is definitely “worse” than death). The author is honest about the time: the food, the stench, the lack of understanding about germs or medicine and more. It’s clear the folks not born into priviledge (or earning it, like the squires/knights) had a horrendously hard life. Max gets to see both sides of the coin as he moves through the era with his new friend Bero and the family that takes him in. He sees poverty and hunger, pain and abuse. He saves Bero’s sister with some good ideas on how to treat a wound, even without modern medicine, and teaches his new family how to forage for edibles in the woods.

I enjoyed learning more about the time period–typically when I read historical fiction, it’s not from this time so it was interesting to go somewhere new! I don’t understand the cover, despite how eye-catching it is, since it seems to imply there’s a time machine involved, and there isn’t. Also, Max talks, thinks and acts like someone much older. In fact, at the beginning, I thought it was an adult looking back on an adventure he’d had. Max’s friend, Jimmy, acted more like that age group but Max was exceptionally mature.

Despite that very small blip, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wish it had been around when my own, history mad, daughter was younger. I would have given it to her with no reservations, and she would have loved it, too.

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Taking Wing by Clemency Crow

August 19, 2019 By 10 Comments

Taking Wing by Clemency Crow
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Length: Full Length (200 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rated: 3.5
Review by Rose

Twelve-year-old Freya enjoys karate and is the only one in her class who’s trusted with a part-time job. But everything changes when she meets a boy with yellow eyes. She learns about the guardians, and how an age-old fight has prevented them from fulfilling their purpose.

Some of the persons have the disease that is called viagra discounts erectile dysfunction or impotence. Most viagra cialis generico women wish their partners could give them what they want in bed by just reading their minds. Androgenic Alopecia (Male Baldness) Commonly known as male “impotence”, a condition of inabililty to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sex. viagra cialis india Impotence, or Erectile Dysfunction is a dilemma many face. try for more generic sildenafil india Freya finds new friends in the Crow tribe, but not everything in the castle is blissful. A destructive shadow lies within her and all she needs to do to release it is close her eyes.

But as the guardians’ war rages on, Freya realises that, although the shadow’s power can be useful, it can’t create peace. To do that, Freya and her friends must solve the mysterious crime that began the war. Can they bring the guardians together before they destroy each other?

Ms. Crow did a good job setting up the world in this first book of her Feather Down series. The world, in a different realm than humanity, is “peopled” by various bird clans who serve as Guardians over human beings. Unfortunately, they have found themselves involved in a generations-long war that takes up all their time and energy and keeps them from fulfilling their mission.

This is an ensemble piece that puts together Freya and her friends so they can work with the clans and help get them back together so they can fulfill their purpose. This group of young creatures also serve to show their elders the importance of judging everyone on their own merits, not just assuming you know what they will do or think based on the group they belong to.

There were a few cases of continuity issues and some word choices I found distracting, but this could very well be because I am an editor at my IRL job and things like that jump out at me. The average reader (especially ones on the middle-grade level which this book is aimed at) probably would not have an issue.

The action and the characters were well-done enough that these few issues did not take me out of the book much. The action–especially the further into the book I got–was non-stop and well-written with some amazing twists. I could see the action in my mind’s eye and think this would make a wonderful movie with the special effects available today.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

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Jamestowne by Tim Black

July 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Jamestowne by Tim Black
Tesla’s Time Travelers, #3
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (137 pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

With Nikola Tesla at the controls, teacher Nathan Greene and the time-traveling teens journey back to 17th century Virginia to witness the founding of Jamestowne. As the famed Serbian-American scientist brings the classroom portable in for a landing, two young Native Americans witness the portable’s descent from the sky. The boy and girl quickly return to their village and the girl tells her father, Chief Powhatan, that People of the Sky have landed. Called “playful one,” Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, is known to tell imaginative stories of her own creation. Still, as a precaution, Powhatan sends his brother and a group of warriors to investigate his daughter’s claims.

As Greene and his students trek across a grassland in the direction of the English settlers’ landing site, Chief Opechancanough and his warriors surround the time travelers and take them hostage, leading them to Powhatan’s village where Mr. Greene faces execution.
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So begins the third adventure of the students of Cassadaga Area High School, whose latest trip includes meeting the famed adventurer John Smith and witnessing the beginning of the first English colony in North America, all while being chased through time by the most dangerous Native of the 17 century.

There are some parts of history that can only be rediscovered by visiting the past for yourself.

The descriptions of Powhatan culture were fascinating. I appreciated the fact that Mr. Black went into so much detail about what life in this tribe was like for people of all ages. It made it easy for me to picture what an average day for them involved and why they were so confused and irritated by some of the decisions the European characters made.

This tale never really had a clear narrator. There were a few difference characters that kept popping up regularly, but the plot moved among them without ever making it clear to the audience which perspective or perspectives we should be giving the most attention to. My preference would have been for Pocahontas to take on this role, but any main character would have done nicely as long as it was clear who was in charge of keeping the storyline moving forward.

One of the things I appreciated the most about the plot was how careful the characters were to avoid changing the past. This is always a temptation with time travel, but it’s terribly risky. I liked the fact that the characters were aware of that risk and did everything they could to let history unfold the way it had in our timeline regardless of how much they wished they could change certain things.

This is part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone work.

Jamestowne should be read by adult and young adult history buffs alike.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Jumble Sale by Lily Rose

July 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Jumble Sale by Lily Rose
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (68 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Zadi is part zombie, part fairy with a little bit of robot, which makes her a misfit monster. She lives with other misfit monsters, with their quirky parts in their makeshift town. They survive by hunting at the nearby hunting grounds taking items discarded by humans and making them into something useful. Hunting is risky because they could be captured by humans. Zadi is an excellent hunter and maker, but now she’s finding it difficult.Something unusual has happened. There have been no new deliveries to the hunting grounds. This means there are no new items which can be used to recycle into something useful, and they are beginning to worry and fight with each other. Can Zadi come up with a plan which will help the misfit monsters and bring them together as a community? Enter the world of the misfit monsters, their quirky lives, and be part of their fun and adventures.

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One of the first things that attracted me to the blurb was the references to the characters having ancestry from a wide variety of different types of creatures. I truly enjoyed seeing what the author thought someone would be like if, for example, they were part zombie, fairy, and robot. There was so much creativity woven in these moments that they made me curious to see what Ms. Rose will come up with next. I’d definitely like to see more of her ideas in the future.

With that being said, the cast of characters for this story was so huge I had a lot of trouble remembering who everyone was. There were something like fifteen different individuals featured in the plot. At less than seventy pages, there simply wasn’t enough room for all of them to get a fair chance to shine in the storyline or for the audience to get to know who they were. This would have worked much better as either a full-length novel or a series of short stories that focused on a few characters at a time in my opinion.

The world building was well done. Zadi and the other misfit monsters lived in a society that relied on human trash to survive but that also wanted as little to do with humans as possible. These sometimes contradictory rules lead to all sorts of interesting developments in how they spent their time. I can’t go into a great deal of detail about this without giving away spoilers, but I did enjoy the vivid imagery of what her culture looked like.

I’d recommend The Jumble Sale to anyone who enjoys creative science fiction.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Dreamland: A Ghost Story by Nick Clausen

June 25, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Dreamland: A Ghost Story by Nick Clausen
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Middle Grade, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (162 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Some nightmares never end
In his sleep, Louie starts visiting a magical world where he meets his father, who died when Louie was still a baby. But nothing turns out to be what it seems, and great horrors loom very close by …

Welcome to Dreamland
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A magical ghost story about fear, loss and losing yourself in dreams, Dreamland was originally published in Danish to great reviews, and is now available in English.

For fans of Coraline, Un Lun Dun and Alice in Wonderland, this book will appeal to young and grown-up readers alike, as it takes you on a journey both magical, mysterious and emotional.

Not every dream is necessarily going to be a cheerful one.

The world building was well done. Dreamland, the magical place Louie visited while he slept, was particularly nicely written. There were layers to it that weren’t revealed until quite late in the timeline. I enjoyed exploring what this place was like and seeing how the main character responded to it when he realized that his first impression of it wasn’t necessarily right.

I would have liked to see some more attention paid to the ending. The narrator described everything so quickly that I wasn’t entirely sure I understood how everything worked and why things turned out the way they did. This was especially true when it came to the main conflict that Louie was trying to solve. While I was satisfied with how it was all wrapped up, a more detailed explanation would have lead to this book getting a five star review from me.

A few different genres were mixed together in this story. I liked seeing how the author gently combined everything, especially when it came to the scenes that lead me to mark this as horror. With only about a hundred and sixty pages to work with, Mr. Clausen had to be creative with how he wove everything together. This is something that would work best for fans who like getting a little bit of everything in a plot instead of concentrating on one specific type of storytelling.

I’d recommend Dreamland: A Ghost Story to anyone who enjoys paranormal tales.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 by Michael James

June 24, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 by Michael James
Publisher: Hollow Hills
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (85 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Summer is usually a time of fun and games for most children, but Hanna and Ben Littleton are not your average eleven and twelve-year-old. Their father is Percy Littleton, a famous paranormal investigator, and this summer they are traveling to different locations to investigate unexplained phenomena. Things are rather boring until they stop at Castleridge Hotel.

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Some ghosts simply aren’t ready to live this realm yet.

The explanation of why Room 909 had become haunted was thorough and wonderfully scary for its middle grade audience. I appreciated all of the time the author spent in building up the audience’s expectations of what might have happened there while also giving us small pieces of the puzzle in various scenes. It was nice to have so many details about the origins of this haunting.

It would have been nice to know what Ben, Hanna, and their dad looked like. The ghosts were described with a lot of detail, but the same thing wasn’t true for the living characters. Based on the book cover, I assumed they were Caucasian, but even something as simple as their race wasn’t mentioned in the plot itself. I sure would have liked to know if they were tall or short, wore glasses, were covered in freckles, had curly hair, or had any number of other physical characteristics that could help me picture what they looked like, too.

Hanna and Ben were such brave kids. Some of their paranormal experiences would have frightened people who were decades older than them, so I was impressed by how persistent they were during this case. They did a great job piecing the clues together and continuing to try to figure out what happened no matter how unpredictable their ghostly opponents were. The final scene made it sound like this is part of a series, so I’ll be curious to find out what might happen next to Ben and Hanna when they meet their next ghost.

I’d recommend Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 to anyone who enjoys a good haunting.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point by Jodi Auborn

May 20, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point by Jodi Auborn
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (197 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Ten-year-old Dylan is excited when his father inherits an old lighthouse and cottage in Maine. Dylan and his family get to live there all summer! He goes sailing on the bay, explores the small town down the road, and searches for a legendary pirate treasure that was said to be buried nearby. After mysterious things start happening at the cottage, Dylan meets Matthias, a gruff lighthouse keeper who had died in a storm one hundred years before. A ghost! Dylan is startled to find Matthias living in his bedroom, but he is glad when they become friends. It’s the best summer ever! Things change when they learn that the lighthouse is threatened by a greedy treasure hunter who also knows about the pirate legend. He will do whatever it takes to find the treasure…even kidnapping! As Dylan and Matthias team up to protect their home, they begin an adventure that changes Dylan’s life forever.

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One of the things I enjoyed the most about this story was how much attention it paid to Matthias’ personality. Just like the living, he didn’t react the same way to everyone he met. Some people got along with him well, while others saw a scarier side to his personality. There were reasons for these shifts that were explained in the plot, but I appreciated the fact that the resident ghost developed individual relationships with every person who crossed his path. It made me even more curious to see why he’d stuck around after death and what would happen to him in the end.

There was a small plot hole involving how much Dylan’s dad knew about the famous ghost in his hometown that I wish had been explained better. Some scenes made it seem as though the dad knew almost nothing about this piece of folklore despite spending his whole childhood in the tiny town of Salvation Point. Other scenes appeared to hint that he knew far more than Dylan realized. While this wasn’t something that I spent too much time worrying about, it would have been nice to know for sure what the dad knew, when he knew it, and why he stayed so quiet at first about the paranormal rumors about the cottage they were staying at.

Dylan was such a likable kid. He assumed the best in just about everyone he met, and he did a wonderful job of entertaining him in what was a pretty isolated, quiet place to stay for a family who had two active kids. While he definitely had his share of flaws, I appreciated the fact that they were balanced out with so many positive character traits. He’s definitely someone I’d want to explore a haunted house with.

Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point was a friendly paranormal tale that I’d recommend to kids and adults alike.

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Yearning Young by Deidre Huesman

May 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Yearning Young by Deidre Huesman
Burning Britely #2
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (160 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

Braeden’s never had to question anything before. He’s always been popular, always had everything handed to him, and always been straight.

Then he met Jeffrey Young. Quiet, studious, analytical … a guy.

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As his connection to Jeff deepens quicker than expected, Braeden has to face the question he’s been avoiding for weeks: what is he supposed to do with a guy?

Sometimes love is complicated.

Seeing how Braeden’s understanding of his sexual orientation evolved over time was one of my favorite parts of this tale. Bisexuality was something new to him, and he had many questions about what being bisexual meant to him and how he should respond to people who were prejudiced against him because of it. I appreciated the fact that the author tackled this subject so openly and honestly. She did an excellent job of showing what it feels like to come out of the closet in this way, and I’m saying that as someone who has personal experience with the subject. Ms. Huesman’s empathy for all of her characters, and especially this one, made it impossible for me to stop reading.

This is a minor criticism of something I really enjoyed overall, but I would have liked to see a bit more time spent on the dysfunctional family dynamics. There was a lot going on with the homophobic dad in particular that I wish would have been explored more. The conflicts those relationships brought to the plot were quite interesting.

One of the sections of my review of the first book of this series talked about how I wished there had been more time taken to develop Braeden and Jeff’s relationship. I was quite happy to see that this was exactly what happened in the second instalment! Both characters had plenty of time to figure out what they wanted from their relationship and how closely the things they wanted actually matched up with each other. This was exactly what they and the plot needed in order to move forward, so it was nice to see it occur.

As I just mentioned, this is a sequel. I would recommend reading Burning Britely first in order to best understand what’s going on with these characters’ lives now.

I’d recommend Yearning Young to anyone who has ever felt out of place.

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Spooky Twisties III, 13 Tales of Terror by Terri Bertha

April 17, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Spooky Twisties III, 13 Tales of Terror by Terri Bertha
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (130 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

House of Puzzles:Will Chris and Nick be able to solve the puzzles to save their lives?

The Best Book Ever: Can a school book report prove to uncover a little too much for one student?

Pretty Voodoo Doll: What will one of the girls resort to in order to make the cheerleading squad?

A Needed Friend: Why does the mysterious boy seem to be drawn to the girl who visits the graveyard?

Ghost Catcher: Lindsay meets a woman with some amazing abilities at the old-age home. Can you catch a ghost?

Saving Cardinals: Does Amy’s love of birds and animals prove to be a life-saver?

Two Bloke Boys:Will Nick and Chris find gold at the end of the rainbow?

Candle Sense: A thoughtful gift provides a haunting experience.
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Would You Believe?: The science fair and a revolution. Seriously, that’s why I didn’t turn in my homework.

Dronepocalypse: Buuuzzzz…did you hear that?

The Promenade: A trip to the historical museum and an old photo help solve the question of how to ask a girl to the spring dance.

Dire-Rama: WOW! That model looks so real!

Hello Me, It’s Me Again: Will an unexpected family reunion finally put things to rest?

The hidden references in these short ‘horror’ stories foreshadow future encounters and/or connect back to events of previous stories,and the twists in the story endings make reading the tales even more fun for ages 9 and above.

There’s not just one haunted house in this community. Many spots in this area have odd things happening in them.

This is the first time I can remember reviewing a collection of short stories that were about the same group of characters. It was quite interesting to me to read about the different adventures these kids went on with their various combinations of friends. Some of their experiences involved needing to do things like solve riddles or mysteries, so I liked seeing how well they were able to do this stuff depending on who they were spending time with at that particular moment.

It would have been helpful to have more details about the characters since the narrator didn’t describe what any of them looked like. While I did get a good sense of some of their personalities, it sure would have been helpful to be able to close my eyes and come up with full mental image of what each of the main characters looked, sounded, and acted like. They all sort of blended together in my imagination because of how few details there were about them in general.

The town where this book was set was quite the unusual place. Sometimes there were buildings that appeared and then disappeared again. Humorously enough, this was one of the least bizarre occurrences there . My favorite scenes were the ones that showed how the characters reacted to their familiar world being turned upside down at a moment’s notice. Without giving away spoilers, they reacted exactly how I’d expect them to. That alone made me want to keep reading.

This collection is the third in a series, but it can be read as a standalone work.

Spooky Twisties III should be read by anyone who is in the mood for something scary.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

How I Handled Research by Rachel Clark — Guest Blog and Giveaway

April 15, 2019 By 5 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Clark will be awarding 1 signed paperback of the Blackfish Prophecy, 1 bookmark for The Blackfish Prophecy, 1 Orca-themed or book-themed mug to one randomly drawn US winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

How I handled the research for the book.

Well, the more accurate question in this case is, how did the research handle me?

The Blackfish Prophecy has its origins in dreams, dolphins, whales, and a career writing about human impact on the planet that supports us all. I grew up identifying as a writer, but in college fell in love with the study of Life. I graduated with a Biology degree and loved it so much, I went on for a Master’s degree in Zoology. During those years, I had the opportunity to work with captive dolphins and Beluga whales at the National Aquarium, then, only a few short weeks later, the joyful and overwhelming experience of encountering wild killer whales off the shores of Washington State.

These were formative experiences that simmered for years as I went on to combine my writing and biology experience into a career as a science and environment writer. The idea for The Blackfish Prophecy came to me years ago as a newly fledged science writer (and very shortly after encountering the magnificence of wild orca), but it wasn’t until I had a dream in the summer of 2012 that things changed. That dream – in which a matriarchal orca slid up onto a pebbly beach to deliver an experience of unity and joy to me and my sons – lead to my reading David Kirby’s landmark Death at SeaWorld, which triggered a cascade of characters, plot, and mystical experience of receiving what I can only call, a “download.” This inevitably led to my writing the first draft of the book within the next few months.

So, yes, I did a lot of “research” for this book, and the ones to come, but that was more by “chance” or “coincidence” than an active quest by me to “do research.” Then again, if you read The Blackfish Prophecy, you know there are no coincidences.

Or… maybe you already know. 

The short answer though is this:

I was open to following my heart. That is where magic lies shining, and where the world changes for good.

Best friends Terra and Tiluk live alongside the wild orcas of Washington State. On the other side of the continent, Miles wallows in anger and self-pity fueled by his parents’ divorce. In a moment of harrowing fate, their lives converge when Miles witnesses a captive orca brutally kill his trainer at a marine amusement park.

When Miles contacts Terra and her family of whale biologists to better understand the “killer” whale, the three teens soon realize they are more linked to each other – and the whales – than they ever imagined. Driven by a primal urge to connect with the highly-evolved consciousness of the orca, the teens take extraordinary risks to challenge big business and renew lost traditions.

Their journey is set to restore an ancient mystical bond between humans and whales that ultimately reveals The Blackfish Prophecy…a revelation about Terra – and those like her – that’s about to change everything.

Read an Excerpt:

He wasn’t sure whether the fence was supposed to keep people out of the swamp, or keep the swamp away from the people. The snakes were seriously getting out of control. You couldn’t live in Florida and not know about the yellow anacondas, Burmese pythons and boa constrictors. They were a huge problem since they’d been accidentally introduced. The snakes loved it here, and they didn’t have anybody to eat them, so they were pretty much everywhere. He’d heard rumors at school about snakes that had even eaten little kids. Sometimes he’d just come here and stare over the fence, peering from the concrete stronghold of their subdivision into the dank, vegetation choked, black‐watered quagmire. The swamp creeped him out but, at the same time, it pulled at him, beckoning somehow.

The sidewalk was much smoother than the pavement, and he rocketed past all the backyards, blipping from fence to fence at high speed. He veered into the swamp on the fenced walkway that linked the back edge of his massive development to the business district on the other side of the swamp.

There was trash everywhere in here; soda bottles, needles, plastic bags, broken glass. This pathway smelled even worse than plain old swamp; like exhaust and beer mixed with the smell of a dead body rotting in mud. He raced past a couple of sleeping old homeless guys on benches, relieved it was getting lighter outside. He never came here in the dark.

Once he hit the business district, everything clicked. I’m going to OceanLand. He hadn’t realized it until that very moment. He slowed for a fraction of a second, Seriously Frost? Umm, Duh! YES! It was only a couple of miles from their house, which was one reason their mom took them so often—she’d bought a family membership after the divorce. Broken family membership, more like. He whipped through the back parking lots of the Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s and Exxon. When he got to Wal‐Mart, he knew he was close. Slowing, he narrowed his eyes and scanned the OceanLand perimeter. First was the gigantic parking area, which is what people saw when they pulled in. It was so big you could plunk down a freaking small town on that lot with room to spare. Behind that was the park itself, which was enclosed by a huge 12‐foot‐tall solid wood fence that snaked back into thick vegetation. Miles’ gaze fell against the trees back there, and instinctively he pushed his board toward them. But this time his foot came down carefully, gently. He’d gone on high alert. He was pretty sure that OceanLand wouldn’t want people sneaking around back there, especially after that Harvey Mott guy managed to get himself killed. Not to mention Dusky yesterday. The hair on the back of Miles’ neck went up as he realized what he was about to do. He pressed his mouth tight in resolve. I am doing this.

About the Author:

Rachel is a writer and biologist. As a kid she got hooked on all things animal, vegetable, and mineral. To complicate matters, she was hatching up stories before she could hold a crayon. Once she discovered biology it was all over. Ever since her first class in 7th grade when she refused to dissect a frog, a little voice in her head said: You gotta share this amazing stuff about how nature works, and ask if we really need to harm it. The little voice only got fiercer once she went to college and worked with captive dolphins and Beluga whales, then got to see wild killer whales only a few weeks later. From then on it was an all-out quest to convey the wonders of nature, while pointing out the serious problems of our very bad habit of dominating others and the Earth. She’s been a card-carrying science writer for twenty years. The Blackfish Prophecy is Rachel’s first book.

These days when Rachel is not writing, reading, dreaming, or speaking, you can find her sculpting an unruly assortment of moose-pruned orchard trees & berry bushes, gathering veggies & eggs in her micro-farmyard, foraging for mushrooms, and feasting on local food with friends.

She is a lifelong yogini, devoted pack mate to her free-spirited Canid, and mama bear who’s sustained by treks deep into the Pacific Northwest with her increasingly feral family. Rachel drives a 100% electric zero-emission car, and her family’s home is powered by renewable energy. Their little house is nestled on an urban lot they tend for kids’ play, territory Animalia, sequestering carbon, and a food forest to augment the bounty of local growers.

Her work is fiercely aligned with the science of Life, harmony & justice for all: the enduring dream of Earth.

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