Local Voices
The new upper middle grade fantasy book The Munchkinsby Cleveland-based author Candice Zee was released in paperback and ebook on October 12. This story about thirteen siblings with mysterious powers and their malevolent neighbor is already receiving five-star reviews.
In the book, Capricorn Munch and her twelve siblings suddenly appear outside a children's home. At ten years old they stop aging, and she and her siblings develop powers that give them incredible abilities, like healing wounds and manifesting objects. They strive to live a normal life, hiding their powers, until a sociopathic neighbor moves in next door. As the dangerous neighbor encourages them to be reckless with their powers, the siblings realize he’s up to something more sinister and need to find out what—before it’s too late. The book is the first in a series and is available nationally and internationally through brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers.
Candice Zee is a middle-grade and young adult (YA) fantasy writer who first dreamed the idea of The Munchkins as a child while playing make-believe with her brother in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The two siblings would make up Munchkins stories, act them out, and imagine them into being. She is an early childhood teacher and now lives with her wife and dog in Cleveland, Ohio.
Singing specters, secret passageways, unsolved clues, abandoned mansions, old photo albums and hidden motives are all found in the four stories making up this unique collection, Mysterious Tales of the Unexplained. A young sleuth solves a mystery surrounding a creepy, community theatre in Break A Leg & Knock 'Em Dead. She then goes on to investigate the apparent suicide of a wealthy factory owner in House up on the Hill. In Picture on the Wall, a mother/daughter restoration team experience ghostly encounters in an old, abandoned mansion. And six young friends go on a mystery weekend at a spooky inn, deciphering clues and exploring the mysterious property, only to find much more going on than they thought.
No Life But This: A Novel of Emily Warren Roebling, is based on the life of Emily Roebling, considered to be the first woman field engineer, and highly instrumental in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is the perfect time to bring this remarkable woman's story to light in an era when women continue to fight for equality and to be included in STEM careers.
Emily Roebling became a liaison for her husband, chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, when he fell ill in 1869. Gifted in math and science, she participated in all aspects of the construction. After the bridge she went on to stunning achievements of her own, attending law school, and traveling the world as an outspoken feminist and writer.
Marjorie Preston and her friends compiled a bunch of the best Ohio jokes and spun them into a little joke book! Some they wrote and others have been passed around for years. Old gems, new twists on old themes, plays on words and local Ohio color are all here. This book is a perfect gift for die-hard Buckeyes as well as for those who are just passing through.
