Tom Gnagey

Now to an outsider, they may just seem to be part of one more fanciful folk tale, but to those of us who grew up in the Ozark Mountains The Little People are as real as you and I. Each about as tall as a grape hyacinth, they are an altruistic clan, peaceful and loving by nature, who prefer the simple, uncomplicated, candle lit life of days gone by. They go about practicing their magic in order to bring a happier life for the mortals who live nearby. Though seldom seen, their presence is often felt by those who believe. The books are written for grown-ups who still cherish the magic of days gone by. In Book One - Ring of the Farjumpers - the lives of a mortal lad and a Little Person boy are changed forever the day the meet in the meadow and begin comparing notes on their very different Worlds. They grow to love each other, but then . . . The books are best read in order since the story continues.

A 13-year-old boy and his grandfather face Alzheimer's together. Robby, a bright boy, arranges to continue the illusion of homeschooling even after his grandmother passes on, so he can continue caring for his best friend - his grampa. As the disease progresses, Robby must become more and more creative in arranging their lives. His greatest sadness is anticipating the day grampa will have to enter the home designed to manage the devastating affliction during its final months.Robby had been orphaned as an infant, so as the time approaches for his grampa to leave the home, he and his best friend launch a search for his mother, who vanished after leaving him in his grandmother's arms. Using both the internet and lots of shoe leather, they run into dead ends at every turn. In the end, the Department of Child Services, intervenes, and proceeds to make ready to place him in the foster care system - a situation the youngster fights with every brilliant fiber of his being.The story paints a sensitive portrait of the stressful and painful day to day and moment to moment toll the disease levies on the family members. Even so, it flows from a positive point of view and is liberally sprinkled with smiles, wit, and good times. Toward the end, selfless Robby comments: "Everybody only sees one patient here, but there are two of us. When do I get my ration of support and compassion?"Intended for adults and mature young adults. (Tissues recommended.)

The year was 1863. The Civil War raged. In Book One of this growing Series of novels for 9 to 15-year-olds, Christopher Adams, almost 13, finds his life threatened at every turn as he tries to deliver an important message to a Union General - a message that could make the difference between victory and defeat for the Union Army. During his Journey from central Pennsylvania to southern Georgia, he must avoid and match wits with vicious highwaymen out to silence him, a raging storm at sea that puts the ship to the ultimate test, a ruthless pirate that captures him at sea, and a variety of other dangerous characters. In the end, he fearlessly winds his way through the cannon and rifle fire of Civil War battles, determined to deliver his message. He acquires a wonderful horse and makes several fascinating friends who help him along his way. A must read for young adventure lovers.

T.J. a teen boy's search for himself - Intended for adults and young adults 15 and older. It is best to have read the novel, DAVID: a teen boy's search for meaning, before beginning this one since it provides a wealth of essential background about the main characters in this story. In the first book, David, a brilliant, lovable, take-care-of-everybody-sort of 17-year-old had been unable to cope with his depressing concept of how life would be for him after high school and he ended his life. T.J., the main character in this new story, was one of David's two best friends. David and T.J. were as dissimilar from each other as any best friends had ever been. In this story, T.J. begins to cope with his friend's death, his loneliness, and to evaluate his own disordered, depraved, chaotic approach to living. Sue, David's best friend from preschool, and David's family members also continue in important roles in this story. It deals openly and frankly with issues that are important to teens - education, class differences, life, death, love, intimate relations, alcoholism, addiction, and its primary focus, the loss of a loved one and the guilt and emptiness that often accompany it. (Think of it as book with a PG-13 rating)

This volume holds a collection of seven of the author's finest little pieces of mystery, intrigue and suspense. They span the range from short short stories to a short novel. Many are complete with the twists and turns for which his writing is well known. The longest features a college professor who is accused of murder and is assisted via the internet and burn phones by two students from his criminal justice course. He is also guided through the ins and out of surviving in a violent slum, where he goes to hide, by a young, extremely savvy street kid. It explores his feelings about life and commitment and showcases the skills he honed as a police detective earlier in life. Other stories feature tales about committing the perfect crime, a mentally challenged man racing to call off a hit he had set up on himself, a deathbed confession from an unlikely source, and a group of high school alumni attempting to prank one of their former classmates who, as a teen, had fancied himself a detective of some skill.

In this first of two action thriller books, the reader is introduced to young Jason, who has just learned that his recently deceased parents had been foreign spies, planted in America waiting to be given their orders to do harm. With new, FBI arranged identities, an old man - a writer - and the terrified 12 year old boy, begin life together in a small resort town in the north central part of the United States. Initially strangers, Jason and the old man quickly forge a loving family bond and find they have much to learn from each other. Although Jason quickly makes new friends, a dangerous game of cat and mouse soon begins when they suspect they are the targets of foreign agents from Jason's parents' country, who seek to silence them. They find they make a very good team as they work together to capture the bad guys. Lots of humor. Lots of excitement, suspense and ever-present danger all woven together around good conversations. Flight is book one in a set of teen novels based on the same two characters. The second is, Blue Shadow, in which they move on to a new location to remain safe. For young teen readers who enjoy action adventure in a teen mystery book, these should fill the bill nicely.

Ages 15 through adult: Mark and Amy are bright college juniors, a couple since they were toddles. He is a computer major and she is pursuing the study of art. They live in separate apartments in the same building (Mark sees no reason for 2 apartments). They witness a murder, but the corpse disappears before the police even see it. Because they fear their role in the case may be leaked to the killer if they work directly with the police, they choose to collect the necessary evidence themselves. As they gather the incriminating bits and pieces over a week's time, they funnel it, anonymously, to Detective Jackson - the lead detective in the case. The plot is peppered with twists and seemingly unresolvable questions. Initially, the case they are able to build just doesn't make sense to them although eventually they make it all fall into place. They see humor even where it doesn't exist for most folks and vacillate between having a good deal of fun and fearing for their lives. They also manage a significant helping of intimate time together, even if that is mostly left to the readers' imagination.

During a span of many years, dozens of troubled youngsters had their lives turned around when, individually, they benefitted from the wise counsel Harry had to offer. He was an old man who lived alone in three rooms behind a bright yellow door in an alley in a disadvantaged area of a large city. His visitors were as diverse as the disabled lad next door to the runaway teen. Some months ahead of time, Harry selected 10 of them to each write, and read at his funeral, a story - a perspective - about their experiences with him. The novel is set at the funeral, allowing the individual stories to gradually paint a portrait of the old man's legacy of service to that sample of lives he had helped heal. Family life fiction and goodreads for young teens, and adults.

Now to an outsider, they may just seem to be part of one more fanciful folk tale, but to those of us who grew up in the Ozark Mountains The Little People are as real as you and I. Each about as tall as a grape hyacinth, they are an altruistic clan, peaceful and loving by nature, who prefer the simple, uncomplicated, candle lit life of days gone by. They go about practicing their magic in order to bring a happier life for the mortals who live nearby. Though seldom seen, their presence is often felt by those who believe. The books are written for grown-ups who still cherish the magic of days gone by. Book Two - Man of the Clan - spends its time getting the reader acquainted with the realm of the little people, the two clans (Dewgoodabees and Callbackabees) and finds Twiggs beginning his 'courtship' relationship with his betrothed - Cinnamon. Twiggs begins writing an in-depth book trying to explain 'Mortals to his fellow Little People (a less than easy task ). The books are best read in order since the story continues.

Adults/16 and older: Nineteen year old, Jacob - Jake to most and Jay to his closest - was on a mission to quiet his rage surrounding the incident during which one of four, thoughtless, if not vicious, teens had fathered him in a brutal, group taking of his mother's dignity and sanity. His plan was simple: it would be accomplished anonymously and, since, due to extenuating circumstance a DNA match would be inconclusive (the boys were identical quadruplets), he would find nefarious acts from their pasts for which justice through the courts could send them each to prison - legitimately. He was assisted by Cynthia, the love of his life and his someday to be wife, by an octogenarian gardener with his own secrets, and others with a multitude of reasons to despise the quads' super-wealthy family. Along the way a dishonest judge was taken down and Jake's mother found renewed dignity and purpose in life.

This is a collection of 32 of the author's short, short, stories - each of which offers an unanticipated twist or turn. They run the gambit from the cozy old lady tales, through a few mysteries, pure absurdity, to several feel good pieces. There are even a few entries that might be classified as science fiction. The reader will find lots of quick reads for those 'times between'. These stories represent a selection of the Author's personal favorites. He hopes they become yours.

This is a story of two romances - one is of a teenage boy and the other of his single mother. The youngster struggles with the mysteries and wonders of first love and the mother basks in the revelations and wonders of her new, but mature love. It is a story of contrasts and a story of similarities. Interwoven is a suspenseful series of events in which the woman's former man friend strikes out violently against her and her son. The new family grows strong and secure through the adversity.

A retirement age old man and a 12-year-old orphan boy - both abandoned misfits in their own ways - meet one night under a streetlight on a dingy city street during a blinding blizzard. They spend time together and gradually learn about each other as they work to form a family relationship. Over time they begin to fix each other. In the process of growing to love each other, they each gradually come to love themselves. The question of adoption surfaces. The story moves more on thoughtful conversation and the reawakening of hidden potentials than on spine-tingling action and adventure, although along the way they have run ins with the authorities, mount a mini social revolution, and enhance the lives of dozens of orphans and seniors who have been thrown away by their families. This powerful piece of family life fiction, based in compassion and family love, is one of the years truly great reads.

12 Doors to Pass is an action packed, dark story about love, hate and the disappointment of revenge, played out among a set of four young people in their mid-20s who grew up together in the slums of Chicago where teenage problems follow most youngsters into adulthood. Stark contrasts are drawn between the main characters - Jimmy and Donny - neighbors and enemies since childhood. Through flashbacks, it examines the early environmental and family forces that molded their characters and set their possibilities and limitations. To punish Donny for imagined injustices in the past, Jimmy molested Amber, Donny's fianc , while Donny was away in the Marines. It resulted in pregnancy. When, in a fit of poor judgement, Jimmy kidnaps Amber as protection against Donny, the story morphs into a frantic, cross country chase with Donny moving ever-closer. The necessity to exact vengeance begets the necessity to exact more vengeance, which begets . . . Guns are loaded and pocketed. The pursuit is on. It is that one similarity that propels the story toward its intense conclusion at the door of room # 12 in a shabby motel. Readers, 15 and older, who enjoy action adventure stories and thriller books should enjoy this one. Author, Tom Gnagey, is best known for his novels about the positive, compassionate, and helpful potential of mankind (over 100 of them under several pen names). 12 Doors to Pass, a kidnapping thriller, is one of his few explorations of man's potential for self-destruction.

At the isolated, Crossroads Cafe, Jake, a revenge-filled, retired man, meets Tommy, a troubled teenager who was recently suspended from school for continued misbehavior. Jake is searching for the teen, who, in a drunken stupor, killed his family in a car accident several years before and believes Tommy can help him find the boy. As weeks pass, the long-term focus changes for them both. New priorities blossom and although in the end the culprit is found, the original purpose of the search fades into the background. There are two interesting supporting characters - Tommy's old, sick, grandfather who owns the caf and the boy's tutor, an attractive, retirement age woman. And, of course, the caseworker from Family Services who tries her best to put Tommy into foster care.

This action adventure sequel to the book, Flight, finds Grampa and Grandson, on the move again, a part of the CIA's, new identity, program. With new names - Harry and Gary - they find themselves in another tourist town, the tiny, Arkansas, village of Blue Shadow where they are the proprietors of a shop that sells music boxes. They immediately find themselves in the midst of an international ring of 'hit men' and secret codes sent in the tunes on the music boxes. Gary works to figure out how the tiny gadgets work. They also find themselves engaged in a mystery involving the 150-year-old skeleton of a Union Army soldier and a secret stash of gold and currency hidden decades before by the Confederacy. Gary meets other young teens and finds himself interested in a very sweet girl. Two chapters contain a story - civil war historical fiction - written by Gary, about two boys during the civil war - one white and free from Illinois and one black, a slave from southern Arkansas. It traces their parallel, though separate, lives from birth to age seventeen when the white boy is a fresh, Union soldier, and the black boy is a recent runaway, trying to make his way to freedom in the north. A few scenes about battles and treatment of the slaves are a bit graphic and the younger reader is cautioned to, perhaps, read them with a parent. Blue Shadow is the second in a set of teen novels based on the same two characters. The first is, Flight, which should be read first because the story continues. For young readers who enjoy action thriller books this teen mystery book should fill the bill nicely.

Now to an outsider, they may just seem to be part of one more fanciful folk tale, but to those of us who grew up in the Ozark Mountains The Little People are as real as you and I. Each about as tall as a grape hyacinth, they are an altruistic clan, peaceful and loving by nature, who prefer the simple, uncomplicated, candle lit life of days gone by. They go about practicing their magic in order to bring a happier life for the mortals who live nearby. Though seldom seen, their presence is often felt by those who believe. The books are written for grown-ups who still cherish the magic of days gone by. IN Book Three - The Ambassador and the Touchperson - Twiggs and Jay begin their official meetings between the two realms. Their friendship continues to grow and to enhance both of their lives - both of their worlds. It follows them to Twiggs' 17th birthday, which is just one week before his wedding to Cinnamon. The books are best read in order since the story continues.