Böcker utgivna av Page Publishing, Inc.

The Adventures of "Not Vital" the Happy-Face Squirrel tells the stories of a delightful and obedient squirrel who faces many life challenges daily. Not Vital gets up each morning with the sole desire to explore all of life='s adventures with excitement full of close calls and acrobatics. Because of his positive attitude and his ability to listen to his elders and learn from them, he manages to skillfully overcome the most difficult situations as he accesses various solutions and always chooses the correct one to achieve his goals. He has a genuine love for family and friends, which makes him a role model and an outstanding citizen of River Bend near the levee. As he goes about his day helping others, he sees the worth of his family and their traditions and culture, which contributes greatly to their society as a whole and the part that they contribute. Not Vital learns to appreciate the cultural differences that all the inhabitants of the community bring, which they must embrace for peace and love to reign. Everyone has a story, and everyone is important to the community for it to thrive and survive. As the adventures unfold, the entire community begins to recognize that Not Vital is a very vital force.

What happens when a mischievous, curious, and adventurous girl causes disruption and mayhem? This book, the first in a series, explores answers to this question.

Matthew's life was normal. He finally got a break from school and homework (which he never did anyway)."My name is Matthew Edwards."Suddenly his life is transformed when he meets a treelike boy who sends him on a mysterious quest."Well, my name is Ouron Jackson."However, the young boy has been trapped as a tree for as long as time. Matthew runs into wild creatures and adventures as he tries to obtain the five mystical items the boy had requested."Welcome, my old friend," Ouron said bitterly.Matthew is faced with tribulations along the way while meeting new friends and enemies. During his quest, he meets a girl who catches his eye. She wore a smile that filled his heart with joy, and her hair was brown with blonde running down the tips. Her eyes were purple. But she's a vampire."My mother stepped forward and bit me on my arm. Now I am here. If I look at someone and press my eyes shut, I can erase someone's mind."Sea dragons, magical swords, and dream-stating take over Matthew's new "normal" life.He screamed wildly as he charged. Their weapons clanged together. Blue sparks flew from both. Matthew quickly looked and saw that some of the tree warriors climbed up to the black pulsing square in the sky.Matthew even faces Death, literally. Betrayal, love, and sacrifice are intertwined in this story. Can Matthew save the world and everyone he loves?

"What did you do in the war, Grandpa?" asked my eleven-year-old great-granddaughter one evening. In the time it took her to ask that one innocent question, my thoughts slipped back more than seventy years to the summer and fall of 1943 and to the airfields of East Anglia and into the death-laden skies over Nazi-occupied Europe. The Eighth Air Force''s rule was simple: "Complete twenty-five bombing missions, and you can go home." The problem was, the odds of completing those twenty-five missions was almost nil.In our B-17 Flying Fortress, my friends and I had to fight off Germany''s finest fighter pilots in their Messerschmitt''s and Focke-Wulf''s and fly through flak barrages so thick it looked, felt, and sounded like we were caught in the middle of a Texas tornado. We risked asphyxiation in the thin air at altitudes of twenty-five thousand feet or higher and endured temperatures so low that without the forty pounds of protective clothing covering us from head to toe, including electrically heated bunny suits, we would have frozen to death in a matter of minutes.That one simple question convinced me that it was time that my family learned what I had done and the price my friends and I had paid during our war against fascism and tyranny, a topic that I had never really spoken about before.

Telling our stories is a sharing of community, teaching, and healing as we all walk the same road of life. This is my story from the halcyon days of youth, a near-death experience, and events of synchronicity that changed my life and search for meaning. It''s an abstract of life''s wisdom lived and learned, covering the spectrum of our humanity, its conflicts, its joys, and the value of love, faith, and family, challenging us to question and reflect on what core values guide our lives and relationships to a healing process in remembering our essence of who we are!