My name is Joy, Joy Chappell. Over the top, I know, but my Mom wanted me to sound all innocent and shit. And maybe I was, in my own way.
Can a car stealing, pot smoking, LSD tripping chick be innocent? I thought so.
Even though it was always on my mind. It, the thing we never talked about. It that Mom hid with Cover Girl and I lied to my friends about. It, making me dream that someday the light of hippie sun would shine down as we danced barefoot in meadows.
Naïve, I know. But when you’re a kid you see the world through your own eyes. And when you’re high to boot, everything is tinged with a soft mist, like an out of focus camera, and you trust people, thinking they just want to give you a ride.
Even with It, I never knew people were truly ugly until that night. I really thought the face inside was just a mask, one I could melt away with my Kodachrome soul. But I was wrong. And by the time I figured it out, it was too late.
I was seventeen, and I was about to die.
The Artania Chronicles
Can a kid who’s forced to bathe six times a day save a magical world? It’s not his fault his father drowned in a mud puddle just before he was born, turning Mother into a cleaning fanatic. Now eleven-year-old Bartholomew Borax III can’t go to school, play outside, or, worst of all, make art. But he has to. So he sketches in secret.
Then he meets skateboarding painter, Alexander Devinci, and a painted rainbow yanks them into another realm. Bartholomew’s living in an antiseptic mansion is nothing in comparison to how weird Artania is with living paintings and sculptures. But, it’s on the verge of destruction and his art is the only thing that can save it.
Bartholomew blunders again and again. Amidst dead and wounded comrades, his guilt grows. As his confidence begins to erode, he prays the power of creation will finally defeat Sickhert’s army and bring art back to the world.
The Prophecy
On the eleventh year of their lives
They will join together like single forged knives.
Their battle will be long with 7 evils to undo.
Scattered around will be 7 clues.
And many will perish before they are through,
But our world will be saved if their art is true.
Forest Secrets
The half-tree, half-human beings live a secret existence deep in the old growth forest.
Until now.
When 11-year old Daisy Castillo discovers a plot to destroy the forest, she tries to halt the approaching evil while keeping these magical creatures from being discovered.
But danger waits in every shadow. For if these corrupt men succeed, the Forest People will die. A few surprises are in store, as some unknown and undiscovered friendships hold the key to her success. Fate hangs in the balance as Daisy faces her deepest fears, including heartbreak from the past, to rise up against all odds.
Suspenseful, mysterious, and full of danger, Forest Secrets captures the enchantment of nature and the power of friendship in this classic tale of good vs. evil.
DEAN AND JOJO: THE DOLPHIN LEGACY
When Dean Bernal was a young dive instructor in the Turks and Caicos Islands he met a wild bottlenose dolphin, named JoJo, and they soon become close companions. This was the beginning of a deep friendship of diving, playing, and swimming in the crystal blue waters that has spanned decades.
In the safety of isolated bays, they explored the coral reefs and caves, and out at sea they body surfed hurricane waves, or got lost in lightning storms. Dean kept JoJo safe when he was small and the dolphin defended Dean from predators as he grew. But when the encroachment of man and his machines severely injured JoJo time and again, Dean was called to action.
He began a campaign to protect JoJo and safeguard his habitat. It was a long and dangerous fight. However, after many years of international media exposure in magazines, newspapers, and films, which put pressure upon corrupt government officials and crooked businesses, JoJo was declared a national treasure and Dean was appointed his official warden.
But the battle was just beginning. There were growing controversies with unscrupulous government officials, exploitative executives, and suspicious strikes from ski boats. Later JoJo’s entrapment in a strategically placed turtle net almost killed him. Still, Dean’s love for this dolphin kept him fighting. And as JoJo touched more and more people, Dean learned about our human ability to heal ourselves through nature and how compassion shown to animals brings us openness, sensitivity, and peace.
This inspirational true story has been featured in countless books, news and television specials, and movies including the Academy Award nominated Imax film, Dolphins, narrated by Pierce Brosnan, PBS’s In the Wild with Robin Williams, and Dolphins: Close Encounters with George Page.
You will marvel at this beautiful friendship.
Reviews
Forest Secrets
Laurie Woodward 