To Make You Smile

In the pages of To Make You Smile, you’ll discover a delightful collection of 12 humorous short stories and one captivating longer tale that will bring joy and laughter to readers of all ages.

‘Shy Brenda’ is a heartwarming autobiographical account of the author’s childhood in Fergus, Ontario, Canada, during the 1950s and 60s. It follows the journey of a shy little girl as she overcomes her timidity and blossoms into a confident young woman.

‘Arnie’ is a charming short story about an adventurous armadillo who mines for diamonds in the lush forests of Brazil, South America. This tale is sure to delight and entertain.

‘Perkins the Praying Mantis’ is a humorous short story that explores the tender love between Perkins, a mantis preacher, and Mertle Mantis, one of his devoted parishioners.

‘Fustus, The Fly’ offers a whimsical glimpse into the life of a fly, providing a day’s worth of amusing antics and escapades.

‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Snails’ takes a humorous approach to exploring the fascinating world of snails, revealing their quirky habits and endearing qualities.

In addition to these, you’ll find several more lighthearted stories that showcase the author’s unique sense of humor, guaranteed to tickle your funny bone and bring a smile to your face.

While this collection is perfect for children and young teens, parents will also find themselves chuckling along with their kids as they follow the hilarious adventures and mishaps of the characters in these short stories.

What If?

What If? is a contemporary work of magic realism that asks young adults this question, “What is it that you really seek and want from this life?”

When swimming in a primeval lake, Bridie ‘finds’ a casket that has a map and this riddle: ‘YOUR HEART’S DESIRE LIES IN THE FOREST…’

To solve the riddle, Bridie, with three other girls who attend an international boarding school in Cornwall in England, set out on a journey that leads to a series of adventures in which they meet, inter alia, HEBS (Highly Evolved Beings), ancestors who live underground on sacred ley-lines, and those who compose the Tablets of Destinies.

The girl’s quest centres on their heart’s true desire and is the thread that both sustains the narrative arc and the reader’s interest throughout.

Why Did the Cheese Cross the Road?

How many ‘wheys’ can cheese make us laugh?

A favorite food around the world, makers of cheese must have learned long ago that their work had a comedic life of its own! This is nowhere more evident than when you unite cheese with word play. For, in addition to being a marvelous product shared by cheeseheads seemingly everywhere, an increasingly valuable by-product of cheese making is whey. Indeed, when you combine cheesey cheese jokes with other word play and mix in some cheesey geography – as I do here to illustrate cheese’s international scope – you find that you soon have a chapter on ‘whey’ itself (not to mention its cousins in the name of cheese humor, ‘way’ and ‘weigh’). So as I serve up the funny side of cheese here, don’t simply “say cheese.” Rather, please remember to let yourself laugh - and laugh lots because one good cheese joke deserves another!

Christmas Witch, The Gift of the Angels

Jessica Winters is an awkward teen. She always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and bad things happen. Bullied by other kids for her appearance, she clings to the few friends she has. Nick Claus has always been protective of Jessica. Since she arrived on campus and Nick’s archenemy started to pick on her, Nick had her back. There was something else that tied these two together. They quickly discovered the reason they were at Breyerton Academy together may be more than just a coincidence. When evil arrives at the school, the truth is revealed. Forget everything you think you know about Santa Claus; this changes everything.

Melissa and Kasho

Melissa, a shy teenage girl, feels lost in a transnational high society world that drives her to the depths of despair. But her attraction to the very human Kasho, who has snippets of philosophy to impart, eventually enables her to develop her own strengths. But Kasho doesn't dwell physically on Earth. Melissa's realistic story traverses class, gender, and power dynamics. She is expected to walk, or is bullied into walking, a certain path required of her class, including marrying a certain man. It's only when she connects with Kasho, a native man whose values are in-line with hers, that she finds a kindred spirit who truly sees her. In an age of bullying and teen suicide, the resonating lesson throughout the story is "There is always a way of making your life better." But how will she and her best friend, Daisy, find it?

Miss Daisy Weed's Heat Wave Experience

Two Miss Daisy Weed flower fairies appear to love their adventures, traveling around the world at such speed. Their wings ache, and yet always they are helped by wizards and elves but mainly by the fairies that live in Fairy Glen at the bottom of Mr. Hill’s garden. The two Daisy flower fairies send messages through the power of thought, using this incredible gift to help others. Their aim is to create an understanding of wildlife, also flowers and trees. A task made difficult as they experience the dreadful destruction of their planet. Yet, amidst such cruel deeds, there appears always to be some good. The flower fairies never to give up hope, and wherever possible, find humor and love, which they share with their readers. Look close and you too will see them in your gardens.

Please... Understand My Messed Up Life - Tales from Greenwood Middle School

Greenwood Middle School has your typical hip-hop dancers battling out their best moves in the cafeteria, brownies with special surprises waiting for just the right person, and sledgehammer-wielding teachers. Oh, this doesn’t happen at your school? Even so, I guess you have your own wacky stories of what happened during your time at middle school. One thing that I know for certain is the fact that a day at a middle school without an ounce of craziness is plain crazy itself. How does someone survive this chaos? Sometimes we just need someone to come along to say that they understand. Come dive into the adventures of the students and teachers of Greenwood Middle School as they help each other understand their messed up lives.

The Adventures of Jelly Bean

What if the start to your day was falling into the toilet, that caused you to miss your carpool, that in turn caused you to get to school late, that ultimately caused you to miss getting one of the decent parts in the upcoming Thanksgiving play? That is exactly what happens to fourth-grader Jelly Bean on the day we first meet her. Things only go downhill from there and no one at home seems to have much time for her. Except Roger-Over, her beloved dog.

The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean

Join Jelly Bean in the continuation of her adventures as she seeks solutions to the challenges that confronted her in book 1. Michael, her oldest brother, has dropped out of school and joined the Marines, which usurps much of her parents’ attention. Kylie, the new girl in school, faces a medical emergency. And Jelly Bean is still forbidden from going to her best friend’s house. She has to decide how to deal with these dilemmas and more. Along the way she learns about love, death, pain, relationships, the difference between right and wrong and the value of friendship. See the world through the eyes of this forthright fourth-grader as she discovers two truths about life – that it is always complicated, and always changing.

Eyes of Eve

Black Sunday. September 7, 1940. London is burning once more as the Luftwaffe rains fire upon the city. However, London lives are not the only ones being consumed by flames. Eve Donnelly’s older brother, Christian, has been killed in Nazi-occupied France. As Eve’s world crumbles, a figure appears in a vision and the pieces of her splintered world expose a shattering truth.

Survival of the Fittest

Freak! Weirdo! Creep! These are the unnecessary names 15-year-old Matthew DiMarco had been called for a majority of his life. Struggling with schizophrenia since the incident he underwent at eight years old, he soon found many voices within his own head that weren’t there before, although two voices became the most prominent: Innocence and Deviant, and he began an unbreakable friendship with none other than Michael Rogers.

The Good, The Bad, and The Random Times of Life

This is a book full of the poetry that I have written over the years. This started as something required for school but, eventually, I fell in love with it. I have learned that I can express how I feel through the words of poetry. Life has been hard, and writing has been the way to get through it.

In this book you will find both humorous and heartfelt poems. Some are drawn from my real-life experiences, while others are purely for fun.

I never imagined that something that was required for school would turn into something so much more – something that would make me fall in love with writing poetry. It has given me a way to escape real life and tell my story through it, a way to deal with my problems without having to talk to anyone and feel judged. I can be who I want, when I want, and no one can judge me for it.