Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is a nonfiction anthology edited by Belo Miguel Ciperiani. Ciperiani lost his vision when he was 27. He grew up looking forward to his weekly trip to the library where he would pick up a new selection of audio books. Popping the first one in his Discman for the bus ride back home, he’d forget his surroundings and get lost in the newest story. One thing in particular bothered him; that was the depiction of disabled characters in those stories. It seemed as though the failings of those characters were intricately linked to their disabilities. The nonfiction memoirs he read were equally unsatisfying as they were generally written by people who had beaten the odds and regained their sight, hearing or the use of their limbs. Ciperiani gravitated to writing in part in reaction to his efforts to find writers who could share the experiences of the disabled. This book is the result of his call for disabled authors to share their coming of age experiences. Out of the hundreds of submissions he received, he selected the eleven stories that are found here.

Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is one of those rare books you want to never end. I lost myself in each of the stories found within this collection. Heidi Johnson-Wright’s short story, Life with Lexie, is the perfect opening tale; one that anyone, able-bodied or not, would have a hard time not relating to. Heidi’s life went pear-shaped when she was nine years old and rheumatoid arthritis left her totally dependent upon a mercurial and ill-tempered mother, until that day when she went off to college. Once I had begun reading Johnson-Wright’s story, I was hooked into reading each of these marvelous and inspirational stories. I met amazing people; some were autistic, others blind, still others suffered from debilitating PTSD. In The Hearing Child, Kevin Souhrada shares his world as a second-generation deaf man. His story reveals the community and support systems that were so much a part of his upbringing, his culture. In Sleeveless at Least, Teresa M. Elquezabal defies the medical establishment’s grim prognosis on her chances of ever walking again after an accident because her love of tango will not let her surrender.

In each rite of passage, there’s a hero. His or her voice speaks persuasively and with such strength. They share their frustrations, their moments of self-doubt and insecurity, but overall there’s the shared exhilaration of reaching for that first and getting it. Each story captures the human experience so eloquently and with such power. I’d love to see more of the submissions that editor Belo Miguel Ciperiani received for this collection and hope he’ll consider publishing a second one. Yes, these stories are that good. Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is most highly recommended.

Reviewed By Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

The admittedly concise collection of short articles compiled by Janine Myung Ja in the booklet Adoptees: We Are Not Who They Think We Are, while meant to introduce readers to the often-volatile subject of Adoptee Rights, actually delivers a huge and revealing punch way beyond its modestly stated agenda of presenting the alternative point-of-view to the more commonly accepted wisdom stated by professional adoptive institutions. The author is an active, compassionate voice for adoptees in general, asserting their basic and essential human rights – especially the right to be heard. One such revealing counterpoint of view: “Wisdom gained from experiences like hers provide evidence that "poverty-stricken" children do not have to be taken out of their "dire" situation, or nation of birth, to be happy.”

Including personal background information as well as story excerpts from other interested parties, Janine Myung Ja does not resort to angry diatribe in Adoptees. Rather, she presents a compelling, rational, highly-researched foundation for advocating an evolutionary appraisal of the adoption world, followed by an equal inclusion of adoptee voices in creating positive change in the system. What makes her collection so compelling is the deeply personal revelations of the writers regarding their unique experiences, the profoundly troubling reports (much understated) of mental and physical abuse, as well as the startling recognition of how severely adoption procedures and practices are weighted in favor of existing, profit-motivated institutions as opposed to adoptee rights and consideration. Prepare to have your comfortable preconceptions challenged. Plan to be grateful for these highly illustrative writings of Janine Myung Ja.

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

My Job: More People at Work Around the World is the second book in a series by Suzanne Skees that explores the human aspect of what we do. In this book, the author asks a very important question and allows workers from all walks of life and around the globe to share their experiences, underlining how what we do affects us and how our job can become an extension of our personality or how it allows us to redefine who we are. The book also shows how work can become an expression of our humanity, allowing us to connect deeply with others and with ourselves.

As you read this book, you begin to see clearly the relationship between “doing” and “being” and how work shapes us and instills in us a sense of meaning and purpose, a direction in life. Suzanne Skees remarks: “Even if your work is grossly underpaid or underappreciated, cobbled together with a combination of gigs, or completely overlooked by society (e.g. caring for family members), your job may be what compels you to get out of bed every morning. For better and for worse, your job may provide you with purpose and connection.”

While the book features stories from different workers and professionals, from tourism to health workers to diplomats, it also explores the fact that our deepest satisfaction in what we do might not result from the financial benefits we get but rather from the perspective it brings to our life. My Job: More People at Work Around the World is filled with interesting stories that are eye-opening: it is well researched, gripping, and entertaining.

Reviewed By Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

Reaper's Lament: Aviation Stories by Pilots Who Should Be Dead by Steven Lane Smith is a collection of short, real-life stories that capture the exhilarating, awe-struck moments and experiences of near-death encountered by pilots. There are stories from private pilots, fighter pilots, airline pilots, bush pilots, combat crews, and traffic controllers, experiences that describe the moment they thought it was all over. Readers quickly understand that while flying can be a fun job, it also has its perils. In this book, different pilots share their stories, and it is not so much what happened as how they tell it that will have the reader turning eagerly from one story to the next. The book features experiences from a wide selection of pilots, including Roger Champagne, Robert “Bob” Shumaker, G. H. “Spud” Spaulding, Melvyn Paisley, Tom Lee, Richard “Dick” Schafer, and many others.

The opening lines of the book already give readers insights into the experiences with the Grim Reaper: “Although the cockpit was as cold as an igloo, I had good reason to perspire as if I were in a sauna. In the middle of a night darker than a grizzly bear’s armpit, I was alone in a Cessna 404 cruising at 160 knots through fog, drizzle, and heavy clouds in forecast icing conditions.” The narrative is lyrical, evocative of the thrill of flying, and even the fighter pilots have learned to bless themselves: “God bless the fighter pilots who roar into the blue, taunting the Grim Reaper ‘till he comes to get his due…” The descriptions are powerful and vivid, presenting scenes of confusion, suffocation, drowning, and trauma. There is a poetic element to these stories that makes them enjoyable. Steven Lane Smith offers entertainment to readers, deftly exploring the themes of life and death. Reaper's Lament: Aviation Stories by Pilots Who Should Be Dead is exciting and told in a voice that puts every emotion into the stories.

Reviewed By Dan M. Kalin for Readers' Favorite

How the Camp Fire Girls Won World War II . . . and Other Memories is a mostly time-linear series of short stories spanning the author's life. Rebecca G. Morris intentionally obscures which stories are fiction and which are not, but the feel is that of a complete piece. The titular Camp Fire Girls segment is something easily envisioned; many of us can remember stories where the height of patriotism was to scavenge any metal for the war effort. Along the way, stories include vignettes about growing up during the Depression, movie house afternoons, a rescued player piano, life in Catholic boarding schools during the war, first stirrings of the call-to-write inspired by a manual typewriter in her high school years, and a move to attend Columbia University in New York where as a newlywed graduate student she contracts tuberculosis. The disease necessitates a lengthy quarantine stay in Bellevue and seems to have precipitated a divorce. The balance of the book contends with the emotional aftermath and how she won through subsequent hardships.

I very much enjoyed How the Camp Fire Girls Won World War II. The scenes growing up in Ohio feel real and fully inhabited. I find Rebecca G. Morris's writing to be superb and vivid. The segment where she waits for her Reno divorce to be final, in the full heat of summer, is both heartbreaking and real. In such situations, a routine of daily swims, ice cream, and gin-before-bedtime is something we can all understand. Even afterward, the routine supports the beginnings of a new life. Morris takes the reader's hand and safely leads them through various points of view for each tragedy while not losing sight of where they are in the larger narrative. Any book which can engender such deep emotions in a reader is one which should be taken seriously.

Reviewed By Trudi LoPreto for Readers' Favorite

I Punched Myself in the Eye is a look at a lifetime collection of very short essays highlighting the life of Pamela Capone and her family. Each essay was unique and had a special thought, emotion, idea or event to pass along. Pamela shares her stories beautifully, both the good and the bad, with readers - starting with her message; followed up by her favorite chocolates; going to Grandma’s house; God encounters; her childhood, her husband and her children; making bread; traveling to foreign countries and to New York City; a middle of the night intruder; a scary train, and mermaids. There are just too many to tell you about and it is impossible to include more of the details without spoilers, but each one was special in itself.

I Punched Myself in the Eye is easy to read and many times I found myself shaking my head in agreement and laughing or crying at a remembered moment in my own life. Pamela Capone has written her essays with love and an invitation to become part of her family and share in their life. This non-fiction story of real life happenings is indeed worth reading and, as the description claims, it is filled with imperfection and perfect grace. I found it impossible not to like Pamela, and felt as though she was sitting in my family room and we were sharing the stories of our lives. If you are a mother, wife, woman, and a believer in God, this is a must-read.

Reviewed By Claudia Coffey for Readers' Favorite

Jackie Chase is a driven woman. Where others enjoy the comforts of home, Chase gets out there and lives life. In 100 People to Meet Before You Die: Travel to Exotic Cultures, Chase shares her adventures with the aim of visiting people who live their lives, for the most part, innocent of modern ways. No four-star hotels for this wife and mother of four, Chase visits the people who share the same joys and sorrows of life as we do – the joy of children at play and the life events of children entering adulthood, getting married and the sorrows of funerals. Not for the faint of heart, Chase’s travels take her to places uncomfortable at best and downright dangerous at worst. In one memorable passage, we read about the Mursi tribesmen of Ethiopia, who have traded their spears for Russian AK-47 semi-automatic rifles, using them to demand money and food before allowing visitors to travel through their tribal territory.

Jackie Chase introduces her readers to the little known people of Borneo, a land of floating villages, tattoos and blackened teeth. We are called to prayer at a Muslim mosque, spend 24 hours on a boat, take a shower using river water, and experience the generosity of strangers, they to Chase and Chase to them. We join in a Kayan tribal wedding and we learn how the Islamic and Viking cultures influenced the Kayan people of Borneo. Next we visit the El Moro tribe of Kenya where women walk 20 miles to get water. We visit the beautiful country of Ethiopia and meet the spiritual people of Bali, where it is the practice of the people to begin each new year with a day of silence. We go to Ecuador and on to six more countries, learning that we might have to live on pouches of tuna, but as Anais Nin writes: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

We get along without the internet, we ride on the back of a gentle giant elephant in Jaipur, and we say “Namaste,” which means “I bow to you.” We learn firsthand why Darien is known as one of the most dangerous places on the planet. But always we strive and seek in the words of Lord Tennyson “to find, and not to yield,” and learn to respect the simple ways of the people of the world. Chase’s descriptive words make the reader feel as if they are riding along on the water, biking in the heat to “Dragon’s Back Bone” in China, or trekking the jungle paths, reaching deep inside to find our strength along with the author.

Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Vignettes & Postcards From Morocco by Erin Byrne is an engaging and exciting read that takes readers on a journey to Morocco and will make them want to travel there and experience what the author has mentioned in the book. This is motivation to travel beyond the seas and make life worth living. As each story unfolds, readers can experience and feel the essence and spirit of all that makes Morocco an exotic place to visit! Each story is a revelation of the cuisine, the memories, traditions, vignettes, mysteries, and the timelessness of the place.

The colorful aspects of Morocco have been captured well and readers can feel the pulse of the place through the vibrant stories, poems, photographs, and sketches. The stories will definitely inspire readers to travel to Morocco as they explore the souks, mosques, and hearts of the people of this ancient land. The stories give a fascinating and insightful introduction to Morocco and its brilliance. The photographs shared in the book are wonderful, and readers get a feel of the place and its beauty. The stories leave a lasting impression and they add color and warmth in the minds of readers. Every story has magic in it, and is unique and interactive as it takes us through beauty, bewilderment, and a jumble of myriad emotions. For all those who are interested in traveling and want to discover new lands, this is a good book to read!