Empty Space: Betrayal By Michael Jan Friedman - High-Powered Space Opera!

Empty Space: Betrayal by Michael Jan Friedman

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Over the years, I have come to know that when I see the name Michael Jan Friedman on the cover of a sci-fi space opera novel, it is going to be a truly great one. Empty Space: Betrayal certainly fits in as a great space opera story involving a cast of some of the most interesting characters I've read about in all my years of reading. The reason the characters are so amazing is that they differ greatly from many I can remember reading. I put a lot on the quality of the players in a tale, and, right from the beginning, the principal character is unique in my experience.

Another great part of reading Mike's stories is his outstanding plot twists. The reader never sees what comes when it comes to books by this highly experienced author.

Empty Space: Betrayal is a great story space opera fans should not miss.

While the Terran system faces threats from alien species, it falls to the men and women of the Terran Fleet to provide an adequate defense. This becomes increasingly difficult when the Terrans are suffering heavy casualties. One of those casualties is Captain Robinson Dark, an officer who dies in the line of duty. However, the Terrans have learned how to reanimate their fallen officers to fight another day, at least for a while, until they eventually suffer from madness and become a danger to their fellow crewmates.

Because of his reanimation, Captain Dark no longer qualifies to command a starship, even though he retains all his skills and knowledge from before his death. On the other hand, he can very well command a mission to retrieve alien technology to help the Terran war effort.

He has to make a deal with an enemy to get his job done. It is almost like making a deal with the Devil, but as shaky as that may appear, it goes pear-shaped unexpectedly. Nothing is assured even in what seems to be a well-planned mission.

Robinson Dark is a captain and a leader. He is also what is called an "empty," a reanimated individual who retains knowledge and experience from their previous life, but not their emotions. While devoid of emotion, Dark is not without compassion. He indeed cares about those in his command, and he also defends other empties from the bigotry they face at the hands of those who are living their "first lives." While there are those who feel animosity at being commanded by empties, Dark is highly respected by most of those he commands, and he leads them well.

My favorite point of plot involves a precarious alliance Dark forms with a Poyan Elder, Za'mogh. When Dark discovers a secret about some alien technology, he must find a way to get to it, so he makes a deal with Za'mogh to retrieve the tech and share it with the Poya. This tech could mean a huge shift in power in the galaxy. Unfortunately, Za'mogh has ambitious enemies and must watch his back. Dark doesn't know about Za'mogh's problems. This all makes for a great story full of twists and turns. It is pure literary fun!

The theme that stands out to me the most in Empty Space: Betrayal is that of betrayal and deceit. Za'mogh gets an abject lesson on that theme, but he also teaches a lesson in the consequences of it. This, for me, was the best part of the story.

My takeaway from this story is from a line uttered by Michael Corleone in the film The Godfather Part II. He said, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." The line speaks for itself and, as an aside note, the quote is commonly attributed to Sun Tsu or Machiavelli, but there is much ongoing debate on this score.

I deeply appreciated and enjoyed reading Empty Space: Betrayal. It is a great space opera with feeling. It has everything one could want from a sci-fi novel: great heroes and appalling villains, and a character who defies being either a hero or villain. There are numerous obstacles for the characters to work through. Mike's writing flows off the page and into the mind's eye to play out in an extremely entertaining way. It is an entertaining work of genius from an author who excels at writing just plain fun stuff.

Highest Recommendations!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Michael Jan Friedman is the author of 83 books, nearly half of them set somewhere in the wilds of the Star Trek universe. He has also written for the Aliens, Predator, Wolfman, Lois and Clark, DC Super Hero, Marvel Super Hero, and Wishbone licensed book universes. Eleven of his titles, including the autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Ghost Hunting (written with SciFi's Ghost Hunters), have appeared on the prestigious New York Times primary bestseller list, and his novel adaptation of the Batman and Robin movie was for a time the #1 bestselling book in Poland (really).

Friedman had worked at one time or another in network and cable television, radio, business magazines, and the comic book industry, in the process of producing scripts for nearly 200 comic stories. Among his comic book credits is the Darkstars series he created for DC Comics. He also co-wrote the story for the acclaimed second-season Star Trek: Voyager TV episode "Resistance," which guest-starred Joel Grey. In 2011, Friedman spearheaded the establishment of Crazy 8 Press, an imprint through which authors publish their purest and most passionate visions. Crazy 8 Press currently features more than 80 original titles.

As always, Friedman advises readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know, he is probably not related to any of them.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

The Immigrant And Other Tales By Michael Jan Friedman - Eight Great Stories To Fuel The Imagination

The Immigrant and Other Tales by Michael Jan Friedman

From the back of the book: "In these eight, never-before-published stories, N.Y. Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy author Michael Jan Friedman takes you on a tour of his favorite places, where the impossible is all too possible and nothing is quite as it seems."

There isn't a lot I can add to the description of this volume of short stories by one of my favorite authors. I can say though, there isn't a bad story in this book, and I enjoyed every one. I received my copy of The Immigrant directly from Mike because I backed the Kickstarter campaign for it. What I especially like about Mike's short stories is the way his sense of humor always shines through the writing and the plot twists he comes up with. When I think about him as an author, the description 'master of the plot twist’ always comes to mind. His story endings are always brilliant and unexpected.

The opening story of the book is also the title of the book, The Immigrant, which is what I will focus on for this review.

The only thing down-on-his-luck retired ghost hunter Roscoe Fay wanted to do was sit quietly and get as drunk as he could. While working on that goal, he noticed someone watching him. Despite him bidding the woman standing behind him to go away, she insisted on telling him about her troubles. Her name was Elizabeth Westerhouse, owner/operator of the Clarendon House, a place for immigrants to live while they acclimate to their new lives in the United States. She explained her tenants were being terrorized by an entity. Although Fay was not looking for a job, he agreed to look into the situation and attempt to resolve it.

Fay begins his investigation by taking up residence in Clarendon House. His first night on the job, he experiences a disturbing dream as a participant in World War I. In his experience, he has learned malevolent spirits have a tendency to attach themselves to objects. He goes in search of things that may be relevant. Meanwhile, the longer he stays in residence, the worse his nightmares become, even to the point of threatening his life.

(A side note: as I read this, I couldn't stop hearing Metallica's “Enter Sandman” in my head.)

When we first meet Roscoe Fay, he seems a curmudgeonly man who wants to be alone. As the story goes on, we learn he isn't as bad a human being as he would have others believe. He doesn't know any of the people in the home, but he appears to care about their wellbeing, and the wellbeing of his employer, Elizabeth Westerhouse. He even becomes enamored with her, somewhat, and her him.

Elizabeth is a well-to-do, independent woman who also cares about her resident’s comfort. They already have enough to handle just getting their new lives together in a new country. Her boarders do not pay rent, but the ones with skills help around the property. She seems a truly charitable person.

What Mike does best in this story is ramping up the suspense. It slowly crescendos to a climax and plot twist culminating in the scene depicted on the front cover of the book. Each experience Fay has gets more intense with each passing night in Clarendon House until the dam breaks and the true source of the terrorizing malevolence is revealed, and it gets quite personal.

I picked up on a theme from the story involving nationalism, prejudice, and bigotry. Sometimes the ghosts that haunt us are not from outside ourselves but live within. We don't even know what may shape our attitudes toward others different from ourselves. A good place to find these demons may be inside of ourselves. Beware the enemy from within.

That is my take on the opening story, a good one to start this book off with. The other seven stories are all different in plot, tone, and content. Here are very brief descriptions of the other seven stories in The Immigrant and Other Tales from the back cover...

·       In Mort, an obscure goddess of virtue finds herself on the wrong end of a decree in the City of A Thousand Gods.

·       In Unseen, a man takes advantage of a groundbreaking technology to teach a corrupt politician a lesson.

·       In Daughter of Dread, the super-powered Blowout risks his life for the daughter of his team's worst enemy.

·       In Movers, a woman finds herself in the middle of a power struggle between entities she doesn't understand.

·       In Mistaken Identity, the lives of a suburban family are placed in jeopardy by a super-hero's error in judgement.

·       In Kyniska, a mysterious woman shows up in a gym and changes the life of an over-the-hill basketball player.

·       In The Right Hand of God, the man once known as Nightsmith comes out of retirement to track down a killer.

I recommend this because of Mike's command of the writing craft. It is always of the highest quality. His characters are genuine people with human flaws (even the super-heroes have flaws), and things in his stories are often not what they seem. The Immigrant and Other Tales is some of his best work. If you let him, he will take you to other places and other times. I found this work entertaining to a high degree.

Michael Jan Friedman is the author of nearly 80 books of fiction and non-fiction, about half of them set somewhere in the wilds of the Star Trek universe.

In 1992, Friedman wrote Reunion, the first Star Trek: The Next Generation hardcover, which introduced the crew of the Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard's first command. Over the years, the popularity of Reunion has spawned a number of Stargazer stories in both prose and comic book formats, including a six-novel original series.

Friedman has also written for the Aliens, Predator, Wolf Man, Lois and Clark, DC Superhero, Marvel Superhero, and Wishbone licensed book universes. Eleven of his book titles, including the autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Ghost Hunting (written with SciFi's Ghost Hunters) have appeared on the prestigious New York Times primary seller list, and his novel adaptation of the Batman & Robin movie was for a time the #1 bestselling book in Poland (really).

Friedman has worked at one time or another in network and cable television, radio, business magazines, and the comic book industry, in the process of producing scripts for nearly 180 comic stories. Among his comic book credits is the Darkstars series from DC Comics, which he created with artist Mike Collins, and the Outlaws limited series, which he created with artist Luke McDonnell. He also co-wrote the story for the acclaimed second-season Star Trek: Voyager episode "Resistance," which guest-starred Joel Grey.

In 2001, Friedman spearheaded the establishment of Crazy 8 Press, an imprint through which he and other authors publish their purest and most passionate visions. Crazy 8 press currently features more than 60 original titles.

Presently, Friedman is working on a variety of projects, including a shared-world superhero anthology, a 21st -century Aztec civilization noir murder mystery entitled Aztlan: Investigator for The Empire, and a prose sequel to his graphic novel Empty Space.

As always, he advises readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know; he is probably not related to any of them.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

Headless - A Collection Of Brilliant Brain Droppings from Michael Jan Friedman

Headess and Other Improbable Excitations of the Muse by Michael Jan Friedman

Back in October, 2018, Michael Jan Friedman once again took to Kickstarter to get funding for a new collection of short stories. It was a difficult campaign and actually came down to the last minute, but was completely funded by the deadline. I was one of the first to back the project.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I have received my electronic and print copy (complete with the author's signature). I finally found the time to actually sit down and read the new stories in Headless and Other Improbable Excitations of the Muse.

The book contains eight short stories that have varying themes in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. No two stories are similar in nature and each one has a twist at the end, or as mike puts it, "a curve-ball when he or she (the reader) is expecting the heat." He also promises that if he didn't get it right by adding a little surprise at the end of each story, he would do it again until he gets it right.

Well, Mike, there's no need to go back to the drawing board, you hit it out of the park! But don't let that stop you from doing more of these kinds of stories. Headless is just plain fun!

Each of the eight stories in Headless is a unique story that is entertaining and somewhat thought provoking if one cares to give them some thought. The stories are titled as follows, with a very short comment on each from me:

Headless: Don't lose your head if you want to keep your job.

Anteater, Doughnut, Casino: Three people walk into a diner and find themselves competing for their lives.

Cold Case: A God hires and private investigator to look into a very cold murder case.

Connections: Can a girl find her soulmate when she is way smarter than anyone else in the world?

The Company of Surrogate Beings: Where does a super-being find a home after being rejected?

Geocatchers: A tale of a misplaced reality.

A Spirit of Lost Women: A tale of love on the rocks and a solution gone wrong.

The Garvin Street Ghost: A man goes home in search of someone he knew long ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories in the book, but I think my favorite is Geocatchers. It is a tale of a brother and sister who have been thrown out of their own universe and are on a search to get home. It just so happens that I am mentioned in this story, not as a character, but I am identified as a homeowner with a friendly dog named Buster.

Each story is fresh with interesting characters and some that a reader can find oneself caring about in pretty short order. Each story is unique and no two people are alike. This is a book full of variety and fun. What does tie all the stories together is the author's great sense of humor, which is apparent in the swerves that happen in each story. They are worth the wait.

While Headless can be read in an evening or two, I recommend that readers not go too quickly through this collection. Read slowly and savor everything that Mike has to offer. It will be worth it.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

Empty Space Comics by Michael Jan Friedman - Boosting The Signal

Empty Space #1 by Michael Jan Friedman, Illustrated by Ciao Cacau and Lettered by James Campbell

There is a new comic series available and the price is extremely reasonable! For those of you familiar with the work of Mike Friedman, there is no need to tell you that this is going to be good. Mike is the author of numerous novels both in and out of the Star Trek universe. Recently he has published a collection of his own short stories that I reviewed on this blog. That was called Cabal and Other Invocations of the Muse. At any rate, I am writing to help get the word out about this new series of comics by one of my favorite authors, and a good friend.

Normally, I try to get in on the funding of Mike's projects, but for some reason, I missed this one. Unfortunately, I don't know a great deal about the comic itself, but you can read what it is about on Mike's Kickstarter for Empty Space #1.

If you don't have time to see that, here is what is on the promo for the book...

"Empty Space #1: The Awakening

 "Captain Robinson Dark wakes up on a ship similar to his own but eerily different. He knows he can get to the bottom of the mystery if he can find this ship's captain and crew. But where are they?"

If you are intrigued, as I am, you may purchase the first installment of this story at Mike's ComiXology page.

Now, you are going to have to excuse me, I have to go an order a comic!

Well, there it is...

Qapla'!

Cabal By Michael Jan Friedman - A Collection Of Stories That Just Didn't Want To Be Novels

Cabal And Other Unlikely Invocations Of The Muse by Michael Jan Friedman

I cannot remember when I received my autographed copy of Cabal, but I am pretty sure that I was in the middle of some thousand-page fantasy story that I had to read for the podcast I am on called The Orbital Sword. So, since my reading time is very limited during the school year, Cabal was, unfortunately set aside until I could get to it. Well, summer vacation arrived and I finally picked it up and read it, and in a word, wow!

Mike Friedman has, for the last few years, gone to self-publishing his books because the big publishers believe that some writer’s stuff is too niche to have a wide appeal and that the books won’t sell. I don’t know, maybe they’re right, or maybe they are just overlooking some really good stories. At any rate, Cabal and Other Unlikely Invocations of the Muse, or just Cabal to make it easier to type, is a collection of seven short stories that are each unique, fascinating, and very entertaining. Now, Mike is not generally known for being a short story writer, rather he is known for novels and comic books. He explains in the foreword to Cabal that he wanted to write a novel about a superhero who is not popular with a small segment of the population, and a few in that small segment decide that the superhero has to be taken out of the picture. But he goes on to say that this story didn’t want to be a novel, it wanted to be something shorter, more like a novella. So, quite “flummoxed” as Mike puts it, he just gave in and made the story a novella. Apparently there were other stories running through his mind that also didn’t want to be novels, so Mike decided to take these stories and put them into a single book.

What is inside the cover are seven stories that are about various people in some situations that are from Mike’s vivid imagination. The stories are…

• Aztlan: Speaker of Verse: A short prequel to Mike’s Aztlan novels, we enter a world in which the Aztecs have survived into modern times. The main character, Max Colhua, has just become a newly minted detective and while standing in a food vendor’s line, gets a call to work his first murder case. A very high profile case and his future will depend on getting it right.

• Behind Every Great Enhanced Being: We get to peak at the mail between the moms of a some superbeings. Things get a bit heated in this one.

• Floaters: An unscrupulous old curmudgeon gets a common condition where he sees spots, the reason he gets them is uncommon as he learns from a source that he consults out of desperation. Only a change will help him.

• Flame’s Hole: A man on a quest to destroy a ring that could cause a lot of problems finds that there are more problems beyond his mission.

• The Wall: “Yeah, that Wall” is about a look at things from another point of view. You’ll just have to read it to get it. Quite thought provoking.

• The Scales of Justice: A young, but very intelligent female lawyer argues a case to try to right an old wrong during a time when women aren’t supposed to be that smart.

• Cabal: A small contingent of people work to put an end to the life of a superhero that they see as a super-menace.

What Mike demonstrates in Cabal is the masterful ability to take one through a story while at the same time, develop fascinating characters as the story is in progress. By the time one gets to the and of a tale, one knows the character well enough to have some feelings for them, and it isn’t always positive feelings. I loved the “soccer-mom” like exchange between the characters in Behind Every Great Enhanced Being. You can feel the tension rising between the moms of the superbeings as accusations and counter accusations fly back and forth. Even in this format, we get to know the moms, and the children they are discussing in some pretty fine detail.

Another aspect that I enjoy in Cabal are the emotional outcomes that I felt as I read each story. In Floaters for instance, I did not like the main character very much. He is not a very nice man, he is very self centered and not at all caring about the important position he holds, other than what he can get out of it for himself. I felt some satisfaction knowing that he might get what he has coming to him, and I laughed when I read what had happened to others in his situation. In Flame’s Hole, I truly felt bad for the main character because all he wanted to do was finish his task and go home. Things just kept getting in the way and I wonder if he will ever be allowed to go.

I have to say though, that my favorite story in the book was Aztlan: Speaker of Verse. I have read both of the Aztlan books that are available and have enjoyed reading about the exploits of Max Colhua in the 20th Century Aztec world that Mike created. While there is some background on Max in the novels, Speaker of Verse gives us a glimpse of the character before he was allowed to work on his own. Max is a relentless gumshoe detective who plods along until he solves the case. He is right out of a film noir, and is fun to read. Perhaps it is because it is familiar ground that I enjoyed this story, only just slightly, above the others. But don’t misunderstand, everything in this volume is of the highest quality as far as stories and characters are concerned.

Along with that, I gotta say that I sailed through this book wanting to read on and on. One thing I noted as I read was how the text flowed so easily along. It is seldom I read something where there is a point that I have to stop, reread, and comprehend before I move on to the next idea. There were no such places in Cabal. It is a smooth read.

I will tell you that I did contribute to the KickStarter for this book and that when Mike announces his next project, I will be on board. So Mike, what’s next?

Well, there it is…

Qapla’!

Tales Of The Dominion War Edited By Keith DeCandido - A Must Read for Deep Space Nine Fans!

Tales Of The Dominion War - Edited by Keith DeCandido

Of all of the Star Trek television series, my favorite is Deep Space Nine because of its reflection of how humanity might behave were we actually to travel to the stars. Other Star Trek series were all aboard ships that had strict command structures that depicted life in the military that was governed by a set of rules and regulations. Once in awhile, someone might step outside of the command structure, but they were usually brought back into line by the end of an episode. However, on DS9 it was a whole different idea. Set on a space station, Starfleet is invited to govern, rather than set up a normal command structure. There were all sorts of races visiting the station at any given time and events didn’t fit into Starfleet’s ideal military situation. So this left a lot of room for characters of the series to have to improvise and adapt to various situations that fell outside of the normal Star Trek trope.

During the last two seasons of Deep Space Nine, there was a struggle for control of the Alpha Quadrant of our galaxy between the Federation, the Klingons, and later, the Romulans against the Dominion from the Gamma Quadrant, the Cardassians, and the Breen.  It was an all out battle that saw the fall of many worlds and many lost their lives. Some of the best episodes of the series happened during those two seasons.

Tales of the Dominion War is a collection of stories that took place away from the main action depicted on the television show but were referred to or talked about on the main show. Keith brought together a group of authors that took those snippets of stories and fleshed them out into some of the finest Trek stories I have ever read. The titles in the book include…

• What Dreams May Come by Michael Jan Friedman
• A vorta feels secure on a world where the Jem’Hadar are setting up a supply depot, but all is not what it seems.
• Night of the Vulture by Greg Cox
• An entity that TOS fans are familiar with returns.
• The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned by Keith DeCandido
• A debate in the Romulan Senate takes a turn when news is received.
• Mirror Eyes by Heather Jarmin and Jeffrey Lang
• A Romulan agent posing as a Vulcan on DS9 is exposed.
• Twilight’s Wrath by David Mack
• Some awesome backstory on Shinzon’s rise to power.
• Eleven Hours Out by Dave Galanter
• Picard and Deanna Troi attend graduation at Starfleet Academy when things go very wrong.
• Safe Harbours by Howard Weinstein
• McCoy and Scotty find safety in an unlikely place.
• Field Expediency by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
• Sensitive information is at stake and a group of Starfleet engineers work to protect it.
• A Song Well Sung by Robert Greenberger
• Klag’s story fighting the Jem’Hadar.
• Stone Cold Truths by Peter David
• A Hero from Peter David’s New Frontier series tells his son a tale from his adventures during the Dominion War.
• Requital by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangles
• A survivor from ARR-558 cannot let go.

This is not a new collection of stories with the book being released in 2004, but don’t let the fact that I am twelve years late deter you from reading a collection of some of the best Trek writing I have ever read. Every story is preceded by where in the timeline it is set and an overview of the author’s work up to the time this volume was released. And, as a bonus, Keith includes a complete timeline of events of the Dominion War that in itself is worth the price of the book.

All of the stories in this volume are of the highest quality, as is usual with the pantheon of authors Keith gathered together.  Anyone who knows the saga of Deep Space Nine will recognize and appreciate the contents of this book and I consider it must reading for DS9 fans.

Well, there it is…

Qaplah’!

Edited by Benjamin Arrowood

Lost Days By Michael Jan Friedman - Aimed At Younger Audiences, But A Great Read For Any Age

Lost Days by Michael Jan Friedman (2015)

A few months ago, Mike Friedman announced a second Kickstarter project to raise funds to publish a new story that he explained was to be aimed at younger readers. Well, as a professional educator and science fiction fan, I immediately got on board with this. Mike explained that he is concerned that students (just to be clear, the author is also a junior high history teacher) aren’t reading enough and struggle learning history. Well, Mike thought that he would write a history lesson into an entertaining story and hopefully make learning history more palatable. After reading Lost Days, I must say that I think he has succeeded spectacularly.

The story centers around young Anthony Borelli, a pretty good student who, with the encouragement of one of his teachers, has become very interested in history, particularly that of the Italian Renaissance. He is not a large kid and is often bullied, but manages to weather the storm well. One day, after a series of small calamities, Anthony is exhausted and falls asleep on his bed. When he awakens, he finds himself in very unfamiliar surroundings. As a matter of fact, he has somehow time traveled from 2015 back to the year 1582!

For those of you that are not aware, one of the major events of that year was when the Julian calendar was adjusted by ten days to bring about the calendar that we use today, the Gregorian calendar. For many years, the calendar had the date for the Easter holiday drifting around when in the days of the early church, it was originally tied to the first day of spring. Owing to the research of Italian scientist, Aloysius Lilius (as well as others later on), Pope Gregory XIII adopted what became our modern calendar with twelve months in the year instead of ten, and made sure that Easter fell at the same time every year, in accordance with the early church. So, since there were ten days taken out of the calendar, Mike saw the opportunity for an imaginary paradox in which he would tells the story of what might have happened during those ten lost days.

Anthony has been thrust into carrying out a most daunting mission, and that is to be sure that the change in the calendar does indeed take place, because if it doesn’t, it may very well have grave consequences that reach far into the future, or perhaps the destruction of the entire human race.

Along with the story that Mike has woven, he has included a very vivid picture of what life must have been like for the common people of a small town in Italy. While conditions there might not have been ideal by our modern standards, things were much as they are today with people having to maintain their standard of living through perseverance and hard work. When disaster strikes, people pull together to help one another, kids run and play games, and community leaders work to keep everyone pulling in the same direction. The characters that Mike has created are people we might recognize as our neighbors and friends. Make no mistake though, while times are rough in the late 16th century, they only get tougher as one turns the pages. It is pretty plain that the author has done his own homework on this one as he uses words to complete what it must have been like to live in the past.

While this book is categorized as being for younger readers, say from sixth graders on up, I found that I was enjoying it and appreciating it for what it is; a great story. I think people of any age could pick this up and be entertained, or even absorbed, as I myself was. I was hooked from the start and seriously regretted having to set this book aside to take care of my own responsibilities.

If you are a teacher with students who are reluctant to read a book, or likewise a parent who struggles with children that believe reading to be boring, then I would suggest that this might be a good book to introduce those young people to, because this is one story that has characters that kids can relate to in situations that are not only interesting, but a little harrowing at times, and who knows, perhaps they will learn something along the way.

Well, there it is…

Q’aplah!