Young Adult and Children's Fiction

For those whose children (or grandchildren) have a Kindle (an excellent use for an older Kindle after you upgrade to the Kindle 2 or KindleDX) or whose children share a Kindle with them or whose children are read to from a Kindle, there are a number of interesting bargain books available. The most difficult part is deciding what age group some of the books will be most popular with (especially with Amazon lumping together all children's and young adult's books together into one category).

Double Life (The Adventures of Josiah Jones) is a first novel by Dawson Vosburg, who is just barely a young adult himself (14), in the Science Fiction category. There are some additional reviews on the Paperback edition, but the book is suprisingly well written, coming from a 13 year old author (at the time of writing). There are some misused words here and there and the writing level is definitely young adult, but it's well worth the 80 cent price tag. He's managed to gain quite a following for an independent author, not bad for one of any age, and the readers tend to be mostly adults.

Book Description
What if you could leap into your own overactive imagination? And what if you met your imaginary friends there? What if it was real? This all happens to an intelligent, imaginative boy named Josiah Jones, who finds a portal into his own world. Now, stuck inside, he has to fight the battle of his life inside his own head. This masterpiece of storytelling is fast, fresh, and fun, and keeps you engaged in this boy's strange double life between the imagined and the real.

The Lost Secret of Fairies: The Crystal Keeper Chronicles Book 1 ($3.19) by Tiffany Turner is aimed at the younger set (9-12). It's been out in Paperback ($12.99) for a couple of years (you can read reviews of it there, as the Kindle version isn't linked up to the reviews just yet).

Book Description
Wanda had always read about adventure. Now she was in the middle of one. The World of Fairies is real, and she is their new Crystal Keeper, human caretaker to the World of Fairies. But the Fairy World is in trouble. The fairies are falling ill from the pollution that ravages the world above. Wanda has to find the key to their cure, before it is too late.

But like in all adventures, there are a few unanswered questions to solve. What has happened to the old Keeper? What are Germites? And can Wanda get used to her cat giving her backtalk while trying not to get grounded for helping the fairies? Join Wanda on her adventure, while she finds out that sometimes the best solution to a problem is the one you find within yourself.

Last up, for the little ones who need a story read to them, consider Three Hidden Chicks - A Bedtime Story by Carol Hanrahan, author of the young adult novel Baling and two short stories on Kindle: Timberwolf - A Spooky Short Story and Early Morning Trail Ride . All of her titles are currently available for $0.80.

Book Description
In this delightful short story for young children, three cousins try to sneak little chicks upstairs into bed with them. Will they be successful or will they get caught?

So you Don't Want to go to Church Anymore (free ebook)

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore: An Unexpected Journey ($9.23 Kindle and Paperback), by Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman, is available as a free download from the author's website.

Book Description

Jake Colsen, an overworked and disillusioned pastor, happens into a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance (in manner) to the apostle John. A number of encounters with John as well as a family crisis lead Jake to a new understanding of what his life should be like: one filled with faith bolstered by a steady, close relationship with the God of the universe. Facing his own disappointment with Christianity, Jake must forsake the habits that have made his faith rote and rediscover the love that captured his heart when he first believed.

Compelling and intensely personal, SO YOU DON'T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH ANYMORE relates a man's rebirth from performance-based Christianity to a loving friendship with Christ that affects all he does, thinks, and says. As John tells Jake, "There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of his love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."

Download your free copy HERE. There are two PDF versions to choose from (I'd pick the first one, if you want Amazon to convert it for you Kindle) and a PDA version in LIT format, which is the best version if you want to do the conversion yourself (use Calibre and it's only a few clicks, plus it will send it to your Kindle with one more click).

Free Ebook: Bombardirovka

Originally released to help support Doctors Without Borders and written while on a creative writing Fulbright scholarship in Armenia, Bombardirovka, by Crystal Allene Cook, is now available as a free download at Smashwords.

Journalist Jada Perlmutter becomes the story she seeks as she travels from Soviet Moscow to the mountainous "South" where her lover Zadik plans to take up being a guerrilla fighter in a new breakaway state. Injured, Jada is transported back to Moscow. Years later, in NYC, the taste of ash in her mouth sends Jada back to the Caucasus to conclude the story she left unfinished.

Reminder: National Kindle & Koffee Day

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the "official" Kindle and Koffee Day, to be celebrated by taking your Kindle to a local Starbucks or other coffee shop and reading or trying to read your book while showing off your Kindle to those who happen by. See my earlier post for some suggestions of books that are suitable for the occasion (or just read the latest bargains you've picked up for free).

The people over on the Amazon Kindle forums, where the idea originated, have a list of confirmed locations (Kindle & Koffee Locations), but it is by no means an exhaustive list. I've seen messages all over the internet this week and people are meeting up at Starbucks, Pete's, Caribou, various bookstores with coffee shops (Barnes & Noble and Borders both use Starbucks Coffee) and local coffee shops. So head on down tomorrow morning and have a cup of coffee while you read. You might end up showing off your Kindle; if not, it's a relaxing hour to start off your weekend.

Free Romance: Uncovered Passion

Who couldn't use a little more romance in their weekend? Especially when it is free. Christopher and Melissa Golliday have released Uncovered Passion ($0.80), the prequel to Uncovered Thoughts ($4.79) as a free read on their website.

Sasha Verochka is an FSB agent assigned to her first mission. Her mission? Uncovering the motives for why a handsome, former Marine is in Moscow. Being telepathic, she never thought it would be so hard to reveal the truth about Garrick Caldwell. But then again, she'd never experienced desire like this.

Now time is running out as her superiors want answers she can't make herself find. For in doing so, she just might lose her one chance at passion.

Their story continues in Uncovered Thoughts:

Six years after her explosive introduction into passion, Sasha Verochka is still haunted by what could have been and will never be. But right now, she can’t linger on that, because her little sister, Nadia has fallen prey to sex slave traffickers masquerading as a modeling agency. Now Sasha must move Heaven and Earth to save her. Garrick Caldwell is a tall, sexy, shape shifting CIA agent, what’s wrong? He’s getting bored with it all. Suddenly, the mysterious beauty he once intimately explored is back in his life. A rash decision to help the telepathic Russian recover her sister throws them together in the most delicious of ways.Together again by coincidence, neither understands the fierce attraction they have for one another. But will they decide whether to risk it all to ever find true, lasting happiness?

Download your free copy of Uncovered passion in PRC (Kindle), DOC (Word) or PDF format HERE.