This year we have the added bonus of seeing some great fiction come from the new publishing company, Palmyra Press. Be sure to check them out!

Hearts of the Children, Volume 5: So Much of Life Ahead by Dean Hughes

Dean Hughes has spent a lot of time with the Thomas family – 12 years, in fact, and he’s finally decided to end the saga and continue on with his own life. I’m sure he’ll feel some separation anxiety, but to tell you the truth, I think I will too. I’m a huge fan of the “Children of the Promise” and “Hearts of the Children” series, and I’m sad to see the Thomas family go.

Hughes’ latest installment, “So Much of Life Ahead” basically follows 3 of the Thomas grandchildren: Gene, Kathy, Diane, as well as Anna Thomas’s nephew, Hans Stolz. Gene struggles with the trauma of being a Vietnam veteran, Kathy looks for love, Diane adjusts to single parenthood, and Hans wants to marry Elli but feels his chances slipping away as conditions get worse in Germany.

If you love riveting historical fiction (heavy on the fiction with a little history mixed in the background), pick up not only this last installment of “Hearts of the Children” but the whole series.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

Saving Kristen by Jack Weyland

If you’re a fan of Jack Weyland, chances are, you’ll pick up his book no matter what I say. For those who have never read a Weyland book, now’s the time to start. “Saving Kristen” has all of the elements of a typical Weyland story – a good teenager who finds herself in trouble, and the people who are willing to help her out. This book also has the added element of danger, which is sure to intrigue a wider audience.

I highly recommend this book (and all of Jack Weyland’s other books, for that matter) to all teenagers. You’ll find yourself relating to the characters in the story, and it’s almost guaranteed that once you pick up “Saving Kristen”, you won’t want to put it down.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life by Julie Wright

Suzanna Quincy’s life is going nowhere in a hurry. Abused as a child, she’s grown up into an extreme partier – drugs, alcohol, and numerous one-night stands. Life suddenly changes when she finds out she’s pregnant. She has to change, but is it possible?

“My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life” is the journey of a young woman wanting to find herself, repair her relationships with her family, and move on from where she came from. It’s one of the better LDS fiction books I’ve read in a while, and that’s saying a lot considering how many I’ve read. It’s a well-written book, interesting, and is just long enough that you don’t get sick of it. There’s a good moral to the story, and the author, Julie Wright, even adds in a section in the back that lists resources for unwed, pregnant women. I would recommend this book for young women and Relief Society sisters.

You can find it for sale at DeseretBook.com.

Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

Hope Jensen hasn’t exactly had an easy life, but with her mother by her side, she’s determined she’s going to go places – especially in her writing career. After a series of tragic events, Hope becomes the recepient of a pickle jar full of money, and she sets off to find out who the donor is. She’s determined that when she “cracks the case”, her story will earn her front-page status at the newspaper where she works.

Strangely enough, as she locates other recepients of the Christmas jar, she finds that although each person is grateful for the gift that was given to them, they have no desire to find the donor. But Hope continues on in her search, eventually finding herself in the home of local business owners Adam and Lauren Maxwell. What she learns from them will change her life forever…

“Christmas Jars”, a novelette by Jason F. Wright, is a great Christmas book. As you read, you realize that true giving is really meant to go unnoticed, and that it’s not all about getting recognition. As a fan of Christmas stories, I was hoping “Christmas Jars” would live up to my expectations, and it really did. It’s a great story for the whole family, and would be a good book to read throughout the Christmas season as a family.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye

The book details the story of down-on-his-luck 14-year-old Leven Thumps. Leven lives in a world where he’s not loved and definitely not recognized, until one day, he meets up with a strange little creature named Clover who informs him that he has a mission to fulfill, although Clover isn’t able to tell him what the mission is. Shortly after he meets Clover, Leven meets a strange girl named Winter, who, like Leven, has always been down on her luck. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey to find the Gateway to Foo before it’s too late.

I have to admit, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Trying to distance Leven Thumps from Harry Potter was a huge task, and I can’t say that there weren’t ANY similarities between the two characters. However, you’ll find the differences are greater than the similarities, and if you liked Harry Potter, you’re bound to like Leven Thumps.

I’m going to have to recommend this book to kids 10 and older. The books isn’t extremely scary, but some of the plot is a little difficult to understand at first until you get everything sorted out.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

Walk Without Notice by Karin Mei Li Inouye

Brother and sister Chan and Ying are growing up in an ever-changing world. China, their country of residence, is being taken over by communism, and in an effort to save his daughter, Chan and Ying’s father decides to arrange a marriage for Ying to a Chinese-American man that will take her to the United States, far away from Communism. Yet Ying’s life in America is far from what she had planned, and Chan, back home in China, resents his sister for deserting him in an increasingly dangerous country.

“Walk Without Notice” is one of four inaugural works printed by the new publishing company, Palmyra Press, in conjunction with the Lifesong Books and Films program at BYU. Lifesong is a program dedicated to publishing stories from young and under-published authors in the LDS community, and it is clear from reading their newest works that they have something going for them.

“Walk Without Notice” isn’t written like a typical LDS novel. In fact, the only mention of something even remotely LDS is the fact that when Ying arrives in America, she lives in Orem, Utah. The novel’s themes are a bit more serious than your usual LDS fare, but that’s exactly what Palmyra Press is striving for: stories that challenge the mind.

You’ll find that the story is less about Communist China and more about dedication to family and the choices that come with being loyal to one person over another. It’s a good novel – a “thinker”, as I like to call it. It takes a while to get in to because author Karin Mei Li Inouye’s style of writing is a bit choppy, but once you’re into the heart of the book, you’ll wish that the book would continue past it’s 182 pages.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

Fire Creek by Nathan Keonaona Chai

“Fire Creek” is another work of fiction published by the new publishing company, Palmyra Press, in conjunction with Lifesong Books and Films at BYU. It seeks to answer the age-old question: Why me?

Jason Chang has long since given up his belief in God. But when his buddy Rodney reveals to him a dream that he had in which he was telling his wife and daughters good bye and asks Jason to pray for him, Jason has to reconsider just what he believes. Moments later, Jason hears a voice whispering, “Don’t stand up.” Baffled by the voice, Jason realizes just what it means when Rodney is killed in the blink of an eye and Jason miraculously survives.

Jason comes home to Utah more angry than anything else. Why him? Why did he survive when he had nothing going for him? Why was Rodney killed when he had a wife and two daughters at home?

It’s through his friendship with 11-year-old Lou and his father Paul that Jason finally realizes what life is about.

“Fire Creek” is perhaps the most impressive novel out of Palmyra Press’s four inaugural offerings (which is probably why it’s the first to be adapted into a screenplay for a motion picture). Author Nathan Keonaona Chai is a great writer and his novel flows really well. Again, it’s not an overtly LDS book, although you get some hint of it when Jason’s girlfriend gives him “Jesus the Christ” to read.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.

Go in Beauty by Michael Fillerup

When Max and Melissa Hansen arrive in Bitterwater, Arizona, it’s for Max to fulfill the simple task of teaching English at Bitterwater Junior High. However, living on a Navajo reservation is much more than they bargained for. Will this newlywed Mormon couple ever fit in with the Navajos?

“Go in Beauty” is more than just a revealing look into life on a Navajo reservation. It’s a journey through Max Hansen’s life as he struggles to fit in, teach the Navajo children, and spread the gospel. It’s a tale of what happens when things go wrong, and how it’s never too late to change your ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Go in Beauty”. Although I’m not quite sure if all of the cultural aspects of the book are completely true (I’ve never been on a Navajo reservation), the story was well written, and even more importantly, the message was thought provoking. It is also the one book out of Palmyra Press’ four inaugural books that incorporates the most LDS culture.

You can find it for sale at Amazon.com or at DeseretBook.com.