Ask Annie About Microbiology

Algae and fungi and bacteria—Oh my! So, you’re telling me there is a whole other ecosystem existing all around us and we can’t even see it?

Annie, a very tiny middle-school-aged girl who has been bullied for her size, is about to find out how creatures even smaller than herself can be essential to the functions of the world we live in. This book contains scientific explanations, definitions, and links to lesson plans and coloring pages for your little scientist to learn all about microbiology—the study of microbes.

Come along with Annie to discover more about the animals living on our hands, in our fish tanks, and under our pillows that are much too small for us to see! These amazing microscopic creatures are vital to the health, function, and well-being of every other animal on the planet. Every creature, no matter how big or small, has an important purpose on Earth!

Asparagus! Robbie’s Quest to Make the Team

Robbie, a determined ninth-grader in a suburban Detroit high school, is on a mission to chase his dream of earning a place on the baseball team, despite grappling with a disability. As spring unfolds, heralding the anticipation of the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit, Robbie navigates the tumultuous waters of high school life, each day bringing him closer to the trials and tryouts.

Amidst the challenges, he contends with the taunts of bullies, the complexities of family dynamics, and the quest for acceptance among his peers and potential teammates. His journey is one many young readers will find relatable, with familiar faces and scenarios playing out against the backdrop of adolescent ambition.

As Robbie perseveres, strong female figures grace his path, notably his spirited grandmother. She unveils a family secret: a hidden account of an integrated baseball game held on their family farm during the era of segregation, a monumental game featuring the stars of both Major and Negro Leagues.

With each revelation and hurdle, Robbie inches closer to his dream. The camaraderie of baseball begins to transcend the boundaries on and off the field, intertwining with Robbie’s personal quest for acceptance and achievement.

At Home Abroad: Friendship First

The authors of this book – judges, lawyers, educators, researchers, and administrators – provide personal insights into international cooperative efforts to promote the rule of law in emerging democracies throughout the world. The progress made and the challenges ahead are described with equal doses of idealism and reality. It has been said of many reform efforts that they are not for the faint of heart. Readers will soon discover that the authors of this book are of stout heart. With more than one hundred and fifty years of combined experience, the writers’ accounts serve as a roadmap for those who wish to follow in their footsteps and will truly help them to feel at home abroad.

At the Movies

In At the Movies, follow the story of Garbonzo, a young boy growing up in Vancouver in the 1970s, whose passion for movies leads him on a journey of self-discovery. As he befriends the local film critic and starts sneaking into restricted shows, he develops a love for the works of director Sam Peckinpah and a deeper understanding of the power of cinema. But when he gets caught up with the wrong crowd and ends up in jail, he loses everything, including his love interest and his job at the local theater. Years later, he returns to his hometown to find the theater industry in decline, but is given a chance to save the remaining theaters and make his dreams a reality. At the Movies is a coming-of-age tale that explores the transformative power of cinema on both an individual and a community level.

Atheists and Empty Spaces

The poems in Atheists and Empty Spaces explore the quintessential aspect of humanity – the need of having something in which to believe. Modern humanity attempts to fill the empty spaces in the psyche with emotional and psychological sustenance that was once provided by communal connections, religion, and the worship of deities or even nature.

These poems explore how, in many ways, people have all become atheists because they no longer know how to connect to natural and supernatural forces, and they simply no longer believe in them. Humanity is now lacking a connection to the impulses that once nurtured human desires.

However, the poems also suggest that art can provide a path back to those vital connections. Some poems are simple explorations of personal pain that cannot be soothed. Others are thorough considerations of how warped or misguided humanity’s attempts really are at solving an elusive and unidentified misery. Most of these poems take traditional forms of verse and song, but some find their unique rhythms in contemporary free verse. Others use examples from ancient cultures to comment on contemporary culture while some ideas spring from news headlines of today. Each poem in this collection reflects on the ways that modern humans seek to fill their empty spaces, whether atheist or not.

Attachment Patterns

Is the artist, Robert Boone, crazy? As his daughter, aspiring novelist, Isolde tells us, he sure doesn’t think so. Okay, yes, he recently found himself in the hospital loudly declaring he wanted to die, but that was a moment of unexplained weakness, of post-pandemic exhaustion. He’s fine now, calm, and self-possessed as always. Only the doctors don’t believe him. They’ve insisted he enroll in a three week, out-patient, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program. Which is? “Psychotherapy in which patterns of thought are challenged in order to address unwanted behaviour patterns.” With no choice now, Robert Boone will reluctantly look at his life. In lectures and group sessions, he will examine his past, his unspoken fears and grief and his relationships both old and new. As his daughter, Holdie says: “Anything I tell you from this moment on was disclosed to me, remembered by me, surmised by me and in some cases (okay, more than some) was totally and completely made up. (By me.) Still, all of it is the God’s honest truth.” Is Robert Boone crazy? Isn’t everybody? We’ll find out.

Augers Affair

Harvey Ace is a horseplayer and winner. Santa Anita Park, also known as the Great Race Place, is his favorite haunt. He acquires a top-notch winning filly, but his quirky trainer, John Augers, is suddenly and mysteriously assassinated. Harvey vows to find the killers. He is thrown in the middle of intrigue and madness while protecting his winning racehorse, and a motley crew follows him into the maelstrom. He thrusts deeper into the mysteries of John Augers until, at a lonely home for children, he confronts the lady on the gilded throne and saves the day, and all involved. He is a winner!

Aunt Lulu: Book One

This story is about a child who, as a six-year-old, was forced to swap his mother for another lady that he was asked to call mum – the lady that exposed him to hideous mental torture. However, on his lonely journey into adulthood, Bryce never lost his tenacity which helped him to develop his mental resilience despite the absence of nurturing love and care that a child can expect to receive. After his grandma passed away, there was nobody that guided him through the process of grief. Torn between the two women during his teen life, the story reveals the bitter reality when eventually he got to know his mum as a young man.

Not only is this story about the struggle of a father-son relationship that lasts a lifetime, but it is also about relationships in general and how we may influence them so that they may become beneficial to our lives. Much of this story takes place in Australia, the place which had become Bryce’s home, the place where he was working as an airline pilot. The book also deals with some intriguing stories and events that characterized Bryce’s life – apartheid, the end of the hippy era, Ash Wednesday as well as other compelling stories and tales that had become part of his life.

Autism Doesn't Stop Me

Gabby knows how hard it is to be different from others in the school. Sometimes her own experiences were painful and lonely. She was told she was autistic, and she felt very alone. Gabby rode a special bus to school and went to classrooms where there were few students. Other kids on the playground didn’t include her. Even most adults didn’t understand her. She wanted friends so badly, and she wanted to be included in schoolyard games! But things got better for her and it will get better for you too!

Join her on her journey through school and finally finding happiness and friends in sports with Special Olympics. Gabby grew confident as she learned to play games and she collected medals! Gabby learned that she is more like everyone else than she is different. She loves traveling, playing sports, going to Walt Disney World, and seeing Disney movies. She also enjoys cute animals, SpongeBob, holidays, activities with friends, and birthday parties. Her interests and experiences gave her more confidence to make friends. Gabby hopes everyone who feels different finds their way in the world and finds what makes them happy. 

Ava Ascending

God is tired of gluttony, tired of greed, tired of the slovenly. He is tired of hypocrisy and Santa Claus prayers, tired of the selfish, tired of the selfless seeking praise. Tired of eons of dedication, of centuries of miracles, of decades of abandonment. Tired of creating worlds, tired of enacting wrath, tired of the doubtful, tired of the diligent. Tired of making all decisions, tired of working, tired of watching, tired of answering, tired of ignoring. Tired of being the Alpha and the Omega, tired of being idolized, tired of worship, tired of requests, tired of thanks, tired of you, tired of me, tired of being the only One.

So he decided to stop. Maybe not forever, but for now, to just stop. Again, that should be where it all ends. Where the cosmos collapses and all living things shrivel and perish in the neglect of a tired God. But it isn’t. He might be tired, but he isn’t positive he is finished. Merely a working father that wants to turn off the laptop, turn off the phone and take a vacation. But how does God do this? He hadn’t ever thought of it, not until that movie where the comedian gets all the powers of God and God gets to rest. So he decides he will too…

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away is a pun on the different states of consciousness, which is open to multifactorial answers. In reality, the observations in the poems leave the readers perhaps with more questions than answers.
The three states of consciousness—awakening, sleeping, and dreaming—hint at the fine line between life and death. The entire book can be seen as a dream.

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away does not try to scientifically claim any truths, but it does attempt to question what we may hold as true. It is more important to experience the poems, rather than to actualize them in an objective manner. No doubt the meaning or truth in these poems, if any can be found, will be organic and morph with each new reader.   

Awesome, Amazing, Wonderful, Incredible, and Fantastic

Some things in the world are awesome. Others are amazing.

Some might be wonderful, or even incredible.

A few are especially fantastic.

But is there anything on the planet that is actually all of those things?

Yes, there is!

It is not ice cream or cake. It is not puppies or trees. It is not a kite or a horse.

The awesome, amazing, wonderful, incredible, and fantastic thing is actually a friend!

A best friend, to be exact, and there is nothing better than fun adventures with that special person.