“Striking First”

by Carol4 Comments
Striking First 406 words She had managed to slice him with the knife, his thigh bleeding. "Shara," he grabbed her wrist. "Stop," he said calmly, quietly. She looked up into his deep brown eyes and stilled. She dropped the blade, sank to her knees and buried her head in her hands, her golden curls reaching the ground. "I thought..." He cut her off. "I know. He's gone." He couldn't blame her for her reaction. After all, Micah was his twin, nearly identical. In the soft evening light, she could easily have mistaken them, and after what Micah had done to her last time in he was in town, he couldn't blame her for her reaction. She had nearly died then, recovering had taken months, learning to trust again even longer. He was proud of her, actually, to have the courage to strike out as she had, not to cower in fear or hide in desperation. She was a fighter, a survivor. He would...
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Thursday’s Tale: Crocodile’s Treason

by Carol2 Comments
Image: News Real Blog Today's folktale comes from South Africa and takes place during the time when animals could still talk. The Crocodile is the leader of all the water animals, so when the river dries up, he comes up with a plan to trek to another river, one that the otter assures him still has water and will be able to withstand any drought. There are a couple of problems. First, traveling across dry land is dangerous for water creatures. Second, to get to the other river they have to pass by a Boer's farm. The Crocodile comes up with the solution. He offers peace to the lion and other veldt animals. In exchange for allowing the crocodile and his friends to cross without worrying about being eaten and to escort them pass the farm, the other animals will be allowed to drink from the river unmolested whenever they wish. The Crocodile sheds tears to show his sincerity, and the Lion...
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Review: Ghost Liners by Robert D. Ballard

by Carol12 Comments
I've mentioned before that my daughter, Amber, who is 11, loves non-fiction, but it can be tough to find books perfect for her. Ghost Liners definitely fit the bill. Robert Ballard is an explorer, an adventurer whose interests lay under the water. Beginning with the famous Titanic, he tells of five great ocean liners that sunk. Amber had actually read an excerpt from the book, the chapter about the Titanic in her reading class last year, and found it fascinating, which is what made us  read the book together. Ballard doesn't just give us a dry history of the ships- when they were built, what happened to make them sink. He makes us see the ships in their glory, know what it felt like in the last minutes of the wreck, and shows us eerie underwater photos of what remains. Some of the stories of rescues and losses are touching, and for each ship Ballard gives us a personal story. The ships that...
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Teaser from Fun and Games

by Carol4 Comments
She loved the ocean air smashing into her face, the feel of the tires beneath as they struggled to cling to the asphalt, the hum of the machine surrounding her body, the knowledge that one twitch to the left or right at the wrong moment meant her brand-new car, along with her brand-new life, would end up at the bottom of a ravine, and maybe years later people would ask: Whatever happened to that cute actress who was in those funny romantic comedies a few year ago? Back then, she loved to drive Decker Canyon Road because it blasted all of the clutter out of her mind. (Tuesday Teaser from Location 21 of Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski)...
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