Review & GIVEAWAY: Aloha, Mozart by Waimea Williams

About the Book - About the Author - Prizes!!!

Welcome to Novel Publicity's latest publishing house blog tour. Join us as two new titles from Luminis Books--we're calling them the Luminis Duo--tour the blogosphere in a way that just can't be ignored. And, hey, we've got prizes!

Title: Aloha, Mozart

Author: Waimea Williams

Publisher: Luminis Books

Publication Date: November 12, 2012

Pages: 280

Genre: Literary Fiction

Source: Paperback from Publisher

Rating:

Summary (from the Publisher):  Would you risk your life--or your soul--for the sake of art? 

 Born into an impoverished Hawaiian family in the 1960s, Maile Manoa's quest for a life in music lures her to the high-stakes world of European opera. In Salzburg, Austria she attracts the attentions of powerful men and falls in love--with a troubled young musician, with the city, and the intrigue that surrounds her. When Werner von Wehlen, the famous conductor at the center of Salzburg's glamorous music festival, offers her a leading role, she is forced to confront the Nazi heart of the classical music scene and von Wehlen's treacherous past. With Soviet tanks threatening to invade the city on the evening of her much-anticipated premiere, Maile must choose between recognition on the world stage or leaving the city with her life--and her conscience--intact. This debut novel hits all the right notes--following in the spell-casting footsteps of Ann Patchett's Bel Canto. Pick up your copy of this Literary/ Historical through 

 

Originally from Hawaii, Waimea Williams spent a decade in Austria and Germany as an opera singer and has received fiction awards from Glimmer Train, The Lorian Hemingway Competition, and Salamander Review. She has enjoyed the honor of a writing residency at the Ragdale Foundation, and her short story “Vienna Quartet With Dog” received First Prize from the Charlton Review in 2012. She currently lives near Honolulu. 

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     What a GREAT book!! I am so excited that I got the opportunity to read this. As a lot of you know, I am a Music Education major. I am constantly surrounded be Classical, Baroque, and Romantic music. My primary is also vocal, so I also sing this music as well (Fun fact: this year I will be singing "L'amero, saro constante" by Mozart himself). I believe it is safe to say that I felt a special connection with this book, and probably understood it a little more than most. It makes me so happy when people speak my language! 

     This was a wonderful literary work that mixed history, art, culture, and education. This is a deeper story than a lot of people are used to, but I assure you that you will be taken on an adventure nonetheless. I loved the main character, Maile. I found myself connecting with her in so many ways. In the beginning of the book, she is first exposed to the work of Verdi, and while the rest of her class takes it at face value, in a way it speaks to her, and this sets the stage for the rest of her life.

     I took a break from music for about 3 years while I tried to figure out what to do with my life, but it always found its way to me even when I wasn't looking. I can now say, "nothing moves me more than music," and that's how I know that my soul is missing a huge part of itself without it. I've never been faced with life-threatening decisions like Maile was, but I can understand her love of music through it all. 

     Even if you aren't a music person, you can still enjoy Aloha, Mozart. If you are into literary/historical fiction, you will enjoy this. For the most part, it was written beautifully. However, the only thing I would complain about is that some parts didn't seem entirely organized very well. It just caused me to reread through some parts to make sure I understood what was happening. Other than that, I loved this book and will definitely read it again.

About the prizes:  Who doesn't love prizes? You could win either of two $25 Amazon gift cards, an autographed copy of Aloha, Mozart by Waimea Williams, or an autographed copy of its tour mate, Maybe I Will by Laurie Gray. Here's what you need to do...

Enter the Rafflecopter Contest
Leave a Comment on my Blog

That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win a $25 gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found here. The other $25 gift card and the 3 autographed books will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Luminis Duo tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck! Luminis Books was launched in January, 2010 by husband and wife team Tracy Richardson and Chris Katsaropoulos with a mission to publish thought-provoking literary fiction for children and adults. We publish what we love: Meaningful Books That Entertain. Our award-winning books engage and inform readers and explore a wide range of topics from love and relationships, teen sexual assault and homelessness to string theory, consciousness, and the Universal Energy Field. Luminis Books is a proudly independent publisher located in Carmel, IN. Learn more at www.luminisbooks.com.  

Learn more about Aloha, Mozart's tour mate HERE.

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Spotlight: The Forgotten Ones (The Danaan Trilogy #1) by Laura Howard

Title: The Forgotten Ones (The Danaan Trilogy #1)
Author: Laura Howard

Publication Date: April 28, 2013

Publisher: Amazon

Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult

Pages: 197

Source: ARC from Author

Synopsis (from Author): Allison O’Malley’s plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she’s been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison’s mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn’t trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother’s sanity.

 

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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Review: Remembering America: Looking Back at the Last Innocent Age by Craig Daliessio

Title: Remembering America: Looking Back At The Last Innocent Age
Author: Craig Daliessio

Publication Date: April 30, 2013

Publisher: The Morgan Group

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biographies/Memoirs

Pages: 242

Source: Paperback from Author

Rating:

Synopsis (from Amazon): "It's the place you'll always call home. The place you run to --if only in your memories-- when you've lost your way and your compass can't find True North" Where do you go when the wheels come off? When no place feels safe and you can't find a smiling face? When you've lost everything and you wonder if you'll ever get it back. Sometimes, you just need to go home. 

Do you remember when neighbors cared about each other because they really knew each other? Holding your baseball cap over your heart and singing the National Anthem on opening day of Little League because being American meant loving your country and showing respect? Do you remember Drive-in Movies, Spider Bikes with sissy bars and baseball cards in the spokes? Do you remember Tiger Beat magazine, Bobby Sherman and Davey Jones? Did Sunday Evening mean "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" and "The Wonderful World of Disney"? Do you remember a time and place in America when a kid could go outside on Saturday morning and stay out all day and nobody worried and nothing bad happened? When we walked to school, ran through the open yards where our moms were hanging out the clothes on a clothesline? Do you remember "The Carol Burnett Show" "Laugh-in" and "Happy Days"? When scary movies had legendary characters like Dracula or the Mummy or the Wolfman? 

Do you remember when our country was innocent...and so were we? "Remembering America: Looking Back at the Last Innocent Age" is a wonderful, sentimental, humorous, and emotional journey that takes one last look at the childhood of the last of the Baby-Boomers and their little brothers and sisters. If you grew up in the 60's and 70's, you'll fall in love with every story. The images are sweet and reminiscent of a different time...and what most would say was a better time. Author Craig Daliessio chronicled these wonderful stories during his own time of turmoil and homelessness after losing his career in the collapse in 2008. The memories, and images and words became his refuge during the most difficult and desperate time in his life. 

In his own words, Craig tells the "story of the story" "The only stories that didn't make me laugh with their silliness, were the ones that made me cry with their poignant sweetness. It was such a great time and a great period in America. My neighbors were my family and my friends and I walked together into adulthood with a bond that my own daughter will never know. I set out to simply chronicle the past in an effort to get a new grip on the future. What I wound up doing was revisiting the best time of my life and an America I miss more each day." It's an engaging, wistful, wonderful voyage to a sweet place in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to have grown up in "The Last Innocent Age"

 

     What a great memoir! Although I'm only on the verge of 26, I really enjoyed this thoughtful collaboration of stories from a simpler time America. I do recall living through the last leg of a few of the references Daliessio makes (Tiger Beat magazine, anyone?), whether it really was an innocent time, or I was too young and innocent to know better. Even so, I do find myself sitting here reading news stories, local and national, wondering, "has it always been this way?" Daliessio answers this question for me: No.

     In Remembering America, we are taken back in time where technology wasn't the dictator of our lives. You could go play with your friends all over the neighborhood for an entire day, without a cell phone, and still be safe. You knew your neighbors. You enjoyed the little things and didn't sweat the small stuff. 

     You can tell that Daliessio put his whole heart into this book. He dug deep into nostalgia and laid it on the table for the world to take and reminisce as well. Even though today's generation is less likely to experience this level of innocence, this book would be very insightful for them.

     If you're looking for some nostalgia and a little history, I would recommend this book for you.

Review & KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY: Memory's Door by James L. Rubart

Title: Memory's Door (Well Spring #2)
Author: James L. Rubart

Publication Date: August 13, 2013

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Genre: Christian Fiction

Pages: 400

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Goodreads): With a victory against the Evil One under their belts, the four of the Prophecy have managed to bring even greater adversity their way.
In Soul’s Gate, Reece, Dana, Brandon, and Marcus—the four of the Prophecy—were set free from some of their deepest wounds.
Now the four must stand against the Enemy’s continues assaults—and try to determine how to prevail against the dark manifestation of The Wolf mentioned in the Prophecy.
But the Enemy isn’t going to make that easy. Circumstances in each of their personal lives affect their unity and commitment to the group. Three enigmatic men appear and none of the four can get a true sense of whether these men are intimate allies . . . or diabolical enemies. And if that’s not enough, the Enemy has begun torturing them with visions of what their lives would be like if they could reverse their greatest regrets—if they’d made the right choices.
These four have seen amazing things in the spiritual realm. But faith can become even more difficult when it’s influenced by sight

 

     I am so excited that I got the opportunity to review this book! If you've been with us from the beginning, one of the first books I reviewed @ The Indigo Quill was James L. Rubart's book, Book of Days (which I currently have my husband reading). I did not read the first book in this series, but I wasn't too lost. I would have, but I honestly didn't even realize it WAS part of a series until I started reading.

     Well, this is definitely an adventure! Not only does Rubart  hand us a storyline sure to set in motion from the beginning, but he creates a world of characters that ask many of the same questions we do through life. It was difficult to put this book down! I don't think I have read a book within this caliber of Christian Fiction. I'm more of a Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis-type gal. Much different from the action-packed spiritual warfare in Memory's Door. It's awesome to see Rubart pushing new boundaries in this genre and I hope to see more of this happening.

      This is not just a story, though. Rubart includes lessons that reach the hearts of readers and allows us to connect with the characters. Ever gone through a set-back that seems to create a major stumbling block from what you thought you were meant to accomplish in life? You find yourself frustrated and asking "why??" This is only one of the humanizations added to Rubart's characters.

     You know what else I love about James L. Rubart? I can recommend his books to my husband!!

     I would definitely recommend reading the first book in this series first. I hate that I read them out of order (a little reader's OCD), but I'm definitely going to pick up the first one, and then probably re-read this one. I can't wait until the next installment! In the meantime, I'll probably pick up more of his books. He's definitely becoming one of my favorite authors.

James L. Rubart takes readers deeper into the world he began in Soul’s Gate (a 2013 Christy Award winner) with Memory’s Door (Thomas Nelson), the second book in the Well Spring series.

James is celebrating the Memory's Door release with a fantastic Kindle Fire HD giveaway.

  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HD
• Soul's Gate and Memory's Door by James L. Rubart

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on September 7th. All winners will be announced September 9th at Jim's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit Jim's blog on the 9th to see if you won! (Or better yet, subscribe to his blog (enter your email in the blog sidebar) and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)

Review: What Color Is Your Parachute? (2014 Edition) by Richard N. Bolles

Title: What Color Is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual For Job-Hunters & Career-Changers (2014 Edition)
Author: Richard N. Bolles

Publication Date: August 13, 2013

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Genre: Self-help, Career

Pages: 368

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Amazon): The world's most popular job-search book is updated for 2014 with up-to-the-minute information and tips for how-to look for work and change careers.
 
In today's challenging job-market, the long-trusted guidance of What Color Is Your Parachute? is needed more than ever. Published in 22 languages and 26 countries, and with over 10 million copies sold, What Color is Your Parachute? has helped millions discover their unique gifts, skills, and interests and land a job--even in hard times. 
 
This 2014 edition of “[one of] the 100 best and most influential [nonfiction books] written in English since 1923,” according to TIME.com, is refreshed with up-to-the-minute statistics, job-field analyses, and advice on social media and search tactics (including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype, Yelp, and YouTube). However, Parachute’s core message remains intact: WHAT, WHERE, and HOW. 
 
What do you most love to do? 
Where do you most love to do it? 
How do you find such a job and persuade those employers to hire you?
 
Career and business guru Richard (“Dick”) N. Bolles, who coined the terms “informational interview” and “transferable skills,” demystifies the entire job-search process, from resumes, interviewing, networking, salary negotiation, career coaches, how to start your own business, and more. 
 
Recent grads, workers laid-off mid-career, and people searching for an inspiring work-life change will all benefit from the support, encouragement, and nuts-and-bolts guidanceParachute has to offer. As Dave Kerpen, New York Times bestselling author and CEO of social media software platform Likable Local and chairman of Likeable Media, said on LinkedIn about pursuing his passions post-college:
 
“For several months I floundered -- as a life insurance salesman, a pizza delivery guy, and a tutor. Then I found a book which changed my life - What Color Is Your Parachute (incidentally, the best-selling career book of all time). The book essentially says: Figure out what you're passionate about, and then go find an industry, organization and job through which you can pursue your passions. I was passionate about marketing, and media, and children, and I loved the Disney brand. So I found Radio Disney, called them up and asked to meet with them, and even though there was no job posted, I got a job there. A year later I was the top salesperson in the country, and while I have changed jobs and careers several times, I've always pursued things I'm super passionate about. If you don't have a job yet, and take away just one thing from me today: Get the book.”
What other readers and reviewers are saying about What Color is Your Parachute? and Dick Bolles:
 
“This…edition is as relevant today as when it was first published. Dick Bolles insightfully stays on the cutting edge of job-searching, and the book is full of new and updated suggestions, along with the classic advice that continues to hold true today.”
—Alison Doyle, About.com Guide
 
“If you go into the bookstore and find the section on jobs, careers, or networking—the reason that section even exists is because of Dick Bolles.” —G. L. Hoffman, JobDig
 
“This book brought me back to life, caused me to rethink everything about myself and revived my passion for me to be my best self.” —Simi Kaila
 
Are you ready to dust off your motivation, land a job, and live your best life?

 

     What Color Is Your Parachute? is a book I always heard of, but never actually read. I can't say this book fully applies to me since I'm pretty set in more than one career at the moment (Cosmetology until I graduate college, then teaching music), but I thought I could look at it from a different perspective than one who is already feeling a little discouraged or stagnant in their search for their "calling" in life. I think this is a decent book for people needing to get motivated in their job-search...if they allow it. 

     We all go through that point in life where we ask ourselves, "What do I want to do with my life? What am I actually good at?" Obviously, you can examine your deepest desires in life as much as you want, but experience is also very important to figuring out what you want out of life, and a book can't do that part for you. The tasks within this book will definitely get you noticed and set you in the right direction, however, it is for people who WANT to help themselves. If you go into it cynical and comfortable in your lack of direction, then you probably won't get a whole lot out of it. The same is with pretty much any other SELF-Help book.

     I do like that there is a new edition of this book every year. The market is always changing, and it is wise for Bolles to keep current. If I picked up the 2007 edition and was looking to change my career in 2013, I probably would've pushed it away. The market is VERY different now than it was even then. Not to say there wouldn't be useful tips that I could apply, but it just wouldn't seem practical. He even mentions recent networking resources like LinkedIn in this edition.

     I think there are a lot of great tips in here for people figuring out what they want to accomplish in life, and might also be struggling with an identity crisis (I use that term loosely). If you're solid in where you're going and what you want to do, this book probably wouldn't apply to you as much. But keep in mind, experience is important, and no job is going to be absolutely perfect. 

Spotlight: The Photo Traveler by Arthur J Gonzalez





Title: The Photo Traveler
Author: Arthur J Gonzalez

Publisher: Fahrenheit Publishing

Publication Date: February 20, 2013

Pages: 420

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Summary (from the Author):  Seventeen-year-old Gavin Hillstone is resigned to being miserable for the rest of his life. Left alone in the world after his parents died in a fire when he was four, he was placed in foster care, which for him meant ending up in an abusive home with an alcoholic adoptive father. Gavin’s only escape is in taking and creating images. His camera is his refuge from the unending torture and isolation of daily life in his “family.” Until he learns by accident that he isn’t alone in the world after all. His father’s parents are still alive and living in Washington DC. 

When he takes the plunge and travels 3,000 miles to find his grandparents, he learns that they—and he—are part of something much bigger, and more dangerous, than he could ever have imagined. Something that has always put his family at risk and that will now threaten his own life, while forever changing it. He learns that he is one of the last descendants of a small group of Photo Travelers—people who can travel through time and space through images. 

But his initial excitement turns to fear, when he soon discovers that he and his grandparents are being pursued by the fierce remnants of a radical European Photo Traveler cult, the Peace Hunters. What Gavin has, they want! His adventure will take him to past eras, like The Great Depression and the Salem Witch Trials. 

Gavin will have to discover who he really is and must make choices that spell the difference between life and death for himself, for the relatives he now knows and loves, and for the girl he will come to love. For Gavin, life will never be the same.

  

CHAPTER ONE

The walk home is brutal. I was hoping that the sun would have begun its descent by now, but it’s still as blazing hot as ever. I remember them saying on the news that this was going to be one of the hottest summers ever. Though I feel like they’ve been saying that for the past five years. Global warming or something.

I know that nothing good is going to be waiting for me when I get to the house. For sure, Mel’s already gotten back and is showing Jet what I did to the car and batting her lashes and blaming it all on me. Equipped with her fake tears, she’s probably made up a lie about how I “blew up” on her and refused to go back with her even though she “begged” me to get in. It wouldn’t be the first time her lies have gotten me into trouble. And no doubt he’s now in a violent rage and shouting about how I’m going to “get my ass kicked” and how “useless” I am.

I trudge along trying to prepare myself for the tempest that’s going to hit me when I finally get back. I don’t even need to close my eyes to envision the fury in his bloodshot eyes and smell his liquor breath and see his large, flaring nostrils.

If only Leyla were still alive. God, I miss her. Because of her, Jet actually used to be a decent father. He always had a short fuse, but he wasn’t the angry, pathetic drunk he turned into after she died and he got serious about drinking. Looking at him today, with his beer belly lapping over his belt and the patches of thinning hair on his scalp, I find it hard to remember that he actually used to be a handsome, well-groomed guy. And not a bad foster father, either. I remember him getting home early from the construction site with a smile and he’d sometimes even have a toy for me. Things really do change, I guess. 

I was four when my real parents died in a house fire while I was at daycare. I ended up in foster care because I had no other relatives to claim me.

I’ve never quite known how Leyla and Jet took me on, but after a year of fostering they legally adopted me. And until I was about eight, I was a generally happy kid even though Mel and I never really got along. I think she always felt threatened by me, and my guess is that she was jealous because Leyla and Jet had brought this random kid into her home and she had to share their attention with me.

I guess it would’ve bothered me, too, if I’d been in her place. But it’s not like it was my fault. I wasn’t intentionally trying to steal them from her or something. I would never do that.

That day, Leyla took me and Mel to the convenience store two blocks from our place. I was whining nonstop because I wanted sour bear gummies, and I wasn’t going to let up until I had them. But while I was happily grabbing my bag of candy, two masked men with guns barged in and ordered the clerk to hand over all the cash in the register.

I had no idea what was happening, but I was so scared that I started crying. One of the guys pointed his gun at me and shouted, “Shut up, kid!” That made me cry even louder and harder.

“I said shut up!” he repeated, and took a step toward me.

  “Leave him alone!” Leyla shouted. She grabbed me and put me behind her, shielding me with her body. Mel was crouched in a corner near the Slurpee cooler with tears running down her cheeks.

“Hey!” the guy said. “Whaddya got in that purse?” He made a grab for it. She backed away from him, but he grabbed her and threw her to the filthy, sawdust-covered floor. His buddy ran over, held her down, grabbed her purse, and tore it open.

“You can’t take our money!” I yelled. I ran over and kicked him in the shin to try to get him away from her. He swung the gun around at me and Leyla sprang up from the floor and lunged in front of me as the gun went off.

It hit her in the neck, and seconds later she was gone.

  Before I could even process what had happened, the gunmen ran out of the store. I’ll never forget leaning over Leyla’s body and staring at the pool of blood spreading over the floor. Her jungle-green eyes—Mel’s exact eye color—were wide open, but I somehow knew that she couldn’t see me even though her tears never seemed to stop. 

“MOM!” I screamed. “Mom! Mom! Mom, I’m sorry!”

I kept calling her name over and over and over even though I knew she would never answer me again. Finally I knelt down in all the blood and laid my head on her stomach until Mariela, the Mexican clerk who’d been working at the store ever since I could remember, hurried over and peeled me away from Leyla’s body.

“Dios Mio! Mijito!” she sobbed, “Ven conmigo.” And as I started to hear the police sirens in the distance but getting louder every second, she led me into the stockroom so I wouldn’t see any more. Then she went back out to Mel, who was still huddled on the floor rocking back and forth in shock. She didn’t talk for almost a month. I’ve never eaten sour bears again.

Even worse, the next day Jet told us that Leyla was pregnant and that they’d been planning to surprise us with the news that night at dinner. So I’d been the cause of two deaths. A double loss. Go me.

Jet never stopped holding it against me. And Mel’s jealousy turned into outright hatred.

I’m not sure either of them hated me more than I hated myself.

  Jet turned to alcohol. He spent his days binge-drinking on the couch that he and Leyla had chosen together. He stopped taking construction jobs and finally took a temporary leave of absence that somehow turned into a permanent one. Two years later he married Dina, who not only puts up with his brutal attacks and constant verbal assaults, but for some unknown reason actually defends him.

She’s as pathetic as he is, and that bothers me because she’s actually a sweet woman. It’s like she’s under some kind of spell. What kind of woman puts up with a man who bruises her constantly and hurls hateful remarks? Last night he called her a “filthy pig”. And he’s always calling her a “fat ass”, which I don’t understand because she’s not even pudgy in the least! And trust me—I know chunky. I was a size Hefty for most of my childhood.

In all honesty, I think she feels she has no choice. She doesn’t have enough education to get a good-paying job, so Jet supports her—although I’ve always wondered how, since he hasn’t really worked for years now. I figure that Leyla had some sort of insurance policy.

On top of everything else, Dina was Leyla’s best friend. Maybe she feels guilty about marrying Leyla’s husband and inheriting her family. I don’t know. From my understanding, Jet and Dina became each other’s “support” after Leyla died, and eventually the feelings “just happened”.

I call BS on the whole thing. I think they just found it convenient and used all the other stuff as excuses.

In any case, all three of them hold me accountable. It’s been almost ten years and they’re still holding it against me. They never let it rest. Not a week goes by that Jet doesn’t snarl at me. Usually while he’s beating me. “Adopting you was my biggest mistake! If it wasn’t for you, she’d still be alive!” The hate in his words when he says it…I know he means it every time. 

The worst part is, I accept everything he says because I’m still pretty much blaming myself too. I know that if they hadn’t taken me in, Leyla probably would still be alive. And so would their second kid, the little brother or sister who never got a chance to be born.

That hurts to think about, because Leyla was a great mom. If more people had a mom like her, there’d probably be less crazies in the world. She read to me every morning. Sang to me every night. I can still hear her humming lullabies to me whenever I had nightmares about the fire. I remember drifting off to sleep with my fingers wrapped around a strand of her curly blonde hair. I loved her curls.

“Mom, they’re just like Slinkies!” I used to tell her. I would tug at them to straighten them out and then let them go to spring back into curls. Slinkies were my favorite childhood toy. Now I can’t stand the sight of them. Especially the neon-green ones, because they remind me of the one she brought me one day as a joke.

At night when I have trouble sleeping I can still hear her sweet voice reaching out to me and crooning, “Let the night take all your fear... Let my voice be all you hear...”

THE PHOTO TRAVELER is young adult author Arthur J. Gonzalez's first novel. Arthur was born and raised in Miami surrounded by his loud Cuban family. He graduated from the University of Florida, where he acquired his coffee obsession and his chocolate hoarding antics. He's the proud father of one baby girl, Sookie--his miniature schnoodle dog. Arthur is a self-professed goofball who spends 98% of his life laughing. He's now working on his second novel.

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