Today's Featured Books

Today, LitNuts is shining a spotlight on two inspiring children's books from author James DiNanno:

• The First Rock Star On Mars: The book that teaches kids to shoot for the stars. And follow their wildest dreams on Earth...or even Mars.
• President Camila: The book that teaches kids compassionate traits. And that one day they could be President of the United States.

"I loved Shel Silverstein growing up...and just started thinking, 'What would Shel Silverstein write today?'" ~James DiNanno

The First Rock Star On Mars

Genres: Literature & Fiction for Children, Children's Humorous Poetry, Children's Rock Music
4.9 stars, 70 ratings
Paperback: $8.99
Audiobook: $3.95
Ebook: $2.99 (Free via Kindle Unlimited) 

A modern day classic!

The book that teaches kids to shoot for the stars. And follow their wildest dreams on Earth...or even Mars.

"A delightful and inspirational story for anyone with big dreams and even bigger imaginations." ~Reedsy Discovery

"A very inspirational book for not only children but for anyone who wants to pursue their dreams." ~Goodreads Review

Bonus: The audiobook edition is narrated by Kellin Quinn, the lead singer of rock band Sleeping with Sirens. This audiobook features an exclusive surprise song at the end, "The First Rock Star On Mars," performed by the band The First Rock Band on Mars, which includes Kellin Quinn, Howi Spangler of Ballyhoo!, William Ryan Key of Yellowcard, and the author of this book, James DiNanno.

President Camila

Genres: Children's Poetry, Children's Jobs & Careers Books
5.0 stars, 4 ratings
Paperback: $7.99
Ebook: $2.99 (Free via Kindle Unlimited) 

The book that teaches kids compassionate traits. And that one day they could be President of the United States. 

A great book for encouraging your little stars to follow their dreams. The illustrations and rhymes make this story as fun for parents and grandparents as it is for the child. A perfect gift for new parents, baby showers, holidays, birthdays, or just because.

Free online: Cultivating Resilience and Joy in Art-Making. Hosted by the Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco, artists Tara Daly, Mary Finlayson, Rachel Kaye, and Sarah Thibault come together to talk about their experience working as artists and share their challenges in cultivating resilience and longevity, including parenting, day-jobbing, moving cities, and creating community. Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 - 8 PM PDT, (8:30 - 10 PM CDT).

“My painting is what I have to give back to the world for what the world gives to me." ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Finn Bran is a young journeyman bard who performs all the traditional songs of heroism and great deeds while dreaming that he could someday be part of such a story. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Valeria is plagued by a mysterious force that fosters thoughts of violence and intolerance in people's minds. Brought face-to-face with this terrifying evil, Finn escapes death and emerges with a strange new gift: he is able to hear the purity or impurity of people's thoughts in the form of music. He will use this skill to fight evil, but first, he must learn to master the music of his own mind. An eBookFairs "Best in Show" selection. From $0.99 SHOP NOW / 

Congratulations to Jim Zervanos and Vine Leaves Press on the release of Your Story Starts Here: A Year on the Brink with Generation Z, a memoir from a high school English teacher who sees that today's youth are thrust into a tumultuous world and simultaneously burdened with saving it.
 
★★★★★ “Packed with empathy as well as literary lessons, we have a front row seat to watch the world fall apart as these kids come of age. This book is insightful, heartfelt, and authentic." ~Kelly Simmons, author of Not My Boy

Your Story Starts Here

Jim Zervanos, a seasoned high-school English teacher and father of two, embarks on a mission at the cusp of a new school year. He realizes that today's youth are thrust into a tumultuous world and burdened with saving it. To chronicle this extraordinary period in America, he assigns himself a unique task: keeping a journal.
 
Within its pages, we witness “his kids” grappling with pressing issues like identity politics, gun violence, and political uncertainty. A sophomore prodigy wrestles his demons onto the pages of his fiction before entering a psychiatric hospital. An estranged junior posts ominous threats on Snapchat, while a principal sabotages a student walkout. Meanwhile, in his classroom, Jim prepares a hiding space for an active shooter event and, back home, finds solace in the eulogy of his young sons’ pet fish, sent on its final journey with a flush.
 
By year's end, Jim, unwavering in his determination to inspire hope in his students, discovers that it's the youth who inspire hope in him. Their creativity and ideals paint a vivid portrait of an evolving America, seen through the kaleidoscope of Generation Z. Your Story Starts Here: A Year on the Brink with Generation Z is an intimate exploration of the challenges, resilience, and unwavering hope of today's youth in a turbulent world.

Praise for Your Story Starts Here
★★★★★ “Watching Zervanos stay steady in unsteady waters, with good humor and strength, is the central pleasure of this moving, engaging book.” ~Debra Spark, author of Discipline

★★★★★ “This book is as rich in humor and compassion as it is in dismay at the reality of school shootings and children ushered, sometimes forcefully and prematurely, into adulthood.” ~Peter Turchi, author of Maps of the Imagination

★★★★★ “Masterfully paced and wonderfully rendered... a book that should be required reading for parents, for teachers, for artists…for anyone who’s wondered what it means to be human in a world that daily challenges our humanity.” ~Scott Gould, author of The Hammerhead Chronicles and Idiot Men

★★★★★ “The world needs more teachers, and more writers, like Jim Zervanos.” ~Kelly Simmons, author of Not My Boy

Free online: Galena LitFest Mystery & Mayhem Author Panel. Join award-winning and bestselling mystery authors Marcie Rendon, David Ellis, Tracy Clark, Laura Benedict, and Patricia Skalka for a panel discussion on why they love the genre, their writing processes, character development, and more. Tuesday, March 12, 6-7 PM CDT.

“Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.” ~Agatha Christie

In honor of the March 11 birthday of Douglas Adams (English author, humorist, and screenwriter best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), we are publishing a Science Fiction & Fantasy Special Edition today. Read on the learn about 23 great indie Sci-fi/Fantasy reads, including two freebies and six books for less than $1! 

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” ~Douglas Adams