New Releases
When Your School Bus Goes to Mexico
Cuando Tu Camión Escolar Se Va a México
A Bilingual Book
By: M.S. Holm
| Hard Cover Price: | $17.94 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796199-5-3 | |
| Trim Size: | 8" x 10" | |||
| Pages: | 32 | |||
| Number of Illustrations: | 17 | |||
| Illustrated by Hermelinda Vargas | ||||
Sara and her brother Jett are the last kids on their school bus the afternoon it breaks down on the road. While they wait for another bus to take them home, Joe, their bus driver, offers to tell the children a story–a story about an old school bus.
So begins When Your School Bus Goes to Mexico, a book that will delight and surprise you with its unexpected twists. Told in both English and Spanish, Joe's story follows the journey of an old school bus as it travels south of the border.
Sara y su hermano Jett son los últimos niños en el camión de la escuela la tarde que éste se descompone en el camino. Mientras esperan a otro camión para que los lleve a casa, Joe, el chofer del camión, se ofrece a contarles una historia–una historia sobre un viejo camión escolar.
Así comienza Cuando Tu Camión Escolar Se Va a México, un libro que te deleitará y sorprenderá con sus inesperados cambios. Contada en ambos Inglés y Español, la historia de Joe sigue el viaje de un viejo camión escolar mientras va por el sur de la frontera.
Joe And The UFO
An American Folk Tale
By: Daniel Sanchez-Leonetti
| Paperback Price: | $9.50 | ISBN: | 978-1-4486432-9-5 | |
| Trim Size: | 6" x 9" | |||
| Pages: | 178 |
A flying saucer crashes in the meadow of Joe Lucky's ranch. When Joe hauls the UFO into his barn with his tractor, he sets in motion a series of wild and wacky events that threaten to launch World War III. Everyone wants the UFO - the Air Force, the Army, the CIA. And all of them come to the San Miguel Valley to claim it.
With San Miguel’s citizens clamoring for him to give up the UFO, Joe wants to believe there is something good inside the downed spacecraft. Only later, after the little Hispanic town is overrun with tourists, the media, and UFO enthusiasts, do the citizens of San Miguel realize what Joe is trying to do - prompting them to rise up and protect their new folk hero.
"There are important lessons to be learned in reading this novel. Joe and the UFO is unequivocally one of the best first novels, ranking right up there with Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat and John Nichol's The Milagro Beanfield War. The story is a masterful representation of right and wrong, the need to love and believe, and certainly, the ability to laugh at our own foibles and shortcomings."
The Chronicle News
"It's a tale of hope, love, greed, envy and power . . . and follows what happens when a flying saucer crashes at Joe Lucky's ranch and he hauls it into his barn with his tractor. The tangle of events set in motion by Joe’s decision to shelter the UFO results in 'a proverbial wild and wacky World War III.'"
The Pueblo Chieftain
Read an Excerpt
Award Winners
The Poor Gringo Guide to Mexican Cooking
By: M.S. Pickerel
Now Available in E-books!
| Hard Cover Price: | $16.95 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796199-2-2 | |
| Paperback Price: | $9.95 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796166-4-6 | |
| Trim Size: | 6" x 9" | |||
| Pages: | 271 | |||
| Number of Illustrations: | 50 | |||
| Illustrated by Susan Say-less | ||||
“Hilarious ... A Mexican Joy of Cooking run amuck...” – ¡Buen Provecho!
“...Disgraceful ... a desecration of Mexico and its cuisine ... this gringo should be shot and deported ...” – Former Mexican ambassador to Tuvalu
“A crazy gringo with a recipe for skullduggery ...” – The Chili Insider
“Sebastian Dangerfield meets Diana Kennedy ... A bean burrito will never taste the same ...” – Gourmand Magazine
Meet Miles Standish Pickerel: bamboozler, American ne'er-do-well, and poor gringo extraordinaire. Newly divorced, culinarily clueless, and living in Mexico with his faithful canine companion, Ladrón, he shamelessly prepares traditional Mexican cuisine from low-cost (or no-cost) ingredients. If Miles Pickerel can't raise it, trap it, steal it, borrow it, pick it, or run it over, he doesn't put it in his pot. Neighborhood strays and local farmers beware. His recipes redefine the meaning of eating cheap in Mexico. They include:
| Suicide Hen | Stingray Soup |
| Aztec Soup | Fired Tequila Goat |
| Cortez-on-Foot Burritos | Run-over Rooster |
| Shrimp Head Omelet | Unholy Mole |
| Soused Marlin | Cabbage Cakes |
| Hibiscus Cooler | Thin Beer Crêpes |
Click here to view the back cover.
View Sample Recipes
How Mohammed Saved Miss Liberty
By: M.S. Holm
Now Available in E-books!
| Paperback Price: | $14.95 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796199-0-8 | |
| Trim Size: | 6" x 9" | |||
| Pages: | 315 | |||
| Number of Illustrations: | 2 | |||
| Read Starred Reviews | ||||
After 9/11, life in small town Ohio changes for fourteen-year old Mohammed and his family. Their masjid is desecrated. The family business is boycotted. At middle school, he becomes the object of anti-Muslim taunts and threats. On top of this, his trip to New York City with the Young Engineers Club is cancelled. Seeing New York has been Mohammed's boyhood dream. He already knows more about Manhattan than any other kid in the club. He is also an expert on the Statue of Liberty. He knows Miss Liberty better than he knows prepositions, polygons, or his state capitols.
When the Young Engineer's trip is unexpectedly rescheduled, Mohammed finds himself in New York with a chance to see her at last. However, the statue is closed to the public. The club wants to see Ground Zero. Has he come this far to ignore a dream? Breaking all the rules, he makes it to Liberty Island where an extraordinary event unfolds—The Saving of Miss Liberty.
"... The soggy landfill of Liberty Island shook with the cataclysmic shudder of a tall building driving itself into the ground ..."
Read an Excerpt:
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Editor's Pick
The Arborist
By: M.S. Holm
Now Available in E-books!
| Hard Cover Price: | $16.95 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796199-1-5 | |
| Paperback Price: | $11.95 | ISBN: | 978-0-9796199-3-9 | |
| Trim Size: | 5.5" x 8.5" | |||
| Pages: | 104 | |||
| Number of Illustrations: | 11 | |||
| Illustrated by Susana Sayles | ||||
It was the ugliest Christmas tree ever...until...
When eleven-year old Charlie Roebecker befriends Chief Goodyear, a homeless evacuee from Hurricane Katrina, he is not expecting any miracles. As he says, "You can do only small things to fix a big problem."
Chief Goodyear is an arborist - a fixer of trees. Along with the stray dog he has brought from the flooded city, he leaves the overcrowded relief shelter where he has been placed, in search of work and "space to breath." He sets up camp in a vacant lot next to the local hardware store. His arrival starts Charlie on a mission to do what no one else in the town seems willing to do: help the homeless stranger get a new start.
As Christmas nears, Charlie's family makes their annual trip to the tree lot where they choose the perfect Christmas tree - "So full and triangular it could have stood in the White House." Charlie brings home a scrawny little pine with a crooked trunk and no top - The Puny - which he plans to decorate and give to the Chief. Charlie's sister calls it "a sick, midget tree puked from the forest." His best friend says it's "creepy looking." But Charlie knows better. He has the imagination to see what the little tree might become. And in the hands of an arborist - who knows what could happen!
Audio Titles
The Arborist
An Audio Book
By: M.S. Holm
| Price: | $19.95 |
Read by: Jamil Gaines
Unabridged
ISBN 978-0-9796199-6-0
2 CD Set
Recorded by Audiobrite
The Arborist tells the story of Charlie Roebecker, an eleven year old, small-town boy, who befriends a homeless evacuee from Hurricane Katrina. This Christmas novella elaborates on the theme of modern charity. How do we treat those in need? Why are we more charitable to the unnamed masses than to those desperate, shabby individuals we skulk past in the streets?
An inspiring holiday story mixing a modern flavor with the traditional miracle tale.