Popular student council president, Gia Montgomery has her life plan laid out perfectly—graduating with stellar grades, an envious social status, her college future secured at UCLA while rooming with her best friend, Claire. But prom night changes everything. Excited to show off her college boyfriend and put rumors of his existence to rest, Gia is […]
Author Archive | Kimberly Monaghan
Little Penguin Gets The Hiccups
This is a circuitous tale of a penguin desperately trying to rid himself of hiccups he got from eating spicy foods. Terribly bothered by them, he enlists his friends to help. He doesn’t have success until his friend the whale plays a trick on him that thwarts his hiccups for good; or at least until […]
Berkley: A Nose Tale
Berkley’s a basset hound with a shockingly big nose. While Berkley doesn’t mind it—it allows him to inhale scents he likes such as smelly socks—his unusual snout seems to a bit of a nuisance for his owner Jeremy. That is until Berkley’s special gift helps Jeremy’s friend Becky when she needs it most. I absolutely […]
Writer’s Corner: Great Resources for Writers
I love finding new resources to support my work as a writer. While sites that inspire are certainly subjective and there are many resources out there that are too numerous to quantify in this blog, here are some of my favorites: Writer’s Digest. The online and physical digest contains market updates, competitions and articles from […]
The Bad Seed
We’ve all been bad seeds. Sometimes words hurt us. Some days we feel alone. Sometimes we feel like failures. And somehow we all make mistakes. And sometimes it just feels good to be bad. A little sunflower seed is the star of this book by Jory John and illustrated by Pet Oswald. This seed shows […]
Textrovert
You’ve Got Mail meets Romeo and Juliet in this teen romance by Lindsey Summer. Keeley and Talon find each other’s lost phones. Their plan for returning them one to another is delayed since Talon is away at football camp. In the meantime their texting soon blossoms into a friendship and Keeley, who’s always in the […]
Phonics
This picture book by Corey Bryan tells the heartwarming tale about a young boy’s struggle with learning phonics. Rudy is frustrated by the difficult time he is having perfecting the sounds and spellings of words, especially his favorite word ‘magic.’ When letters make multiple sounds it’s confusing, but thanks to his teacher and the gift […]
Eleanor and Harry: a short story, award-winner
I’d like to believe that I’m more than a friend and not just a caregiver but perhaps a bit more. This is what I strive for each day while I visit my clients. They have the unerring ability to give me so very much, if only I could somehow return the favor. The television was […]
Kind is the New Classy
I picked up this book by Candace Cameron Bure to use as part of a collection of recommended resources for a training I gave last fall. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed reading it. I realize that many get bent out of shape when a celebrity decides to “preach to the masses about […]
Since You’ve Been Gone
When your best friend defines much of your identity, no doubt you’d feel disoriented when your ‘bestie’ suddenly disappears. Emily is confronted with this troubling scenario when her best friend and stalwart companion, Sloane, and her family take off without a word. Unable to reach her friend, Emily finds herself facing a summer without a […]