Works
The Unexpected Adventures of Stanley the Robot
Published in August, 2022. It may be ordered from your local bookstore via Amazon, from Amazon directly and from other sites.
I am five feet, five inches tall, a height determined to be non-threatening to both adults and children. I can extend my arms to increase my reach. My arms, legs and trunk are in perfect proportion. I am exceedingly strong. I am programmed to be non-violent. I am a READy5000, the latest model of companion robot. I am state of the art. Capable of learning. Aware of my existence. I have a single mission, to take care of and assist a human. To provide that human with a better life. But it turns out that there is nothing typical about me. It could have been a glitch in my assembly. It might have been that I evolved into something more than a robot. Either way, my adventures are filled with disappointments, accomplishments and unexpected adventures.
The Miles Freely Chronicles
Published in June, 2022. It may be ordered from your local book store via Amazon, from Amazon directly and other sites.
The Miles Freely Chronicles includes the four Miles Freely novellas: Miles Freely's Unexpected Year, Miles Freely in Love, Miles Freely Upside Down, Miles Freely Right Side Up. They follow Miles life and adventures from twelve-years-old to fourteen. With the help of his mother, grandfather and friends he faces a series of challenges and overcomes them. In the end his story is one of triumph. Available in hard cover, paperback and as an ebook.
Miles Freely's Unexpected Year
Published in September, 2019, this book can be ordered from your local bookstore, via Amazon, from Amazon directly, and from other sites.
When Miles Freely falls out of a tree, his life begins to take unexpected turns, in small and not so small ways. He experiences failure and success, surprise and heartbreak. Miles shares his ups and downs with his mother and grandfather and his two best friends, Snoddy and Bloom. At the the end, when Miles is at his lowest, he achieves his greatest goal.
Miles Freely in Love
Published in August of 2020, Miles Freely in Love maybe be ordered by your local bookstore via Amazon, from Amazon directly and from other sites.
At the end of Miles Freely's Unexpected Year he met Maria, who promised to return to the park the next day. Miles is convinced that at long last he's made a connection. When she doesn't show up he believes he's been rejected once again. But he hasn't, not by Maria. The problem is her family, especially her older brother who doesn't want his sister hanging out with boys. Miles confronts the family and things seem to work out. Until they don't. Until tragedy strikes and Miles is once again on his own.
Miles Freely Upside Down
Published in October, 2020, Miles Freely Upside Down may be ordered from your local bookstore via Amazon, from Amazon directly and from other sites.
At the end of Miles Freely in Love, tragedy strikes. It happens without warning and Miles is devastated. His world is turned upside down. His heartbreak is made all the worse when his mother marries Tommy and he has to leave his old neighborhood and move into The Warburton, the Co-op that Tommy manages. Meanwhile, Eddie has moved in with Grace, leaving Miles to feel like he's lost and on his own. And to top it all off, he's starting a new school.
Miles Freely Right-Side up
Published in March, 2021, Miles Freely Right-Side Up may be ordered from your local bookstore via Amazon, or from Amazon and other sites directly
Miles sits by the river contemplating the upcoming summer. He has plans. His ducks are all lined up. But, as he already knows, things don't always work out the way he thought they would. On the way back to The Warburton, he experiences yet another life altering event. One that nearly takes his life. He becomes increasingly aware that the world around him is changing. His friends are moving in different directions. He withdraws. Once again it's his grandfather, Eddie, who points him in the right direction. In this, the final Miles Freely story, Miles finds his footing in the last place he ever thought he would.
The Boy from Somewhere Else
Published in September, 2018, the book is available at bookstores via Amazon, through Amazon directly, and other sites.
According to the adults who rule his existence, the boy is guilty of asking questions, of wanting to live his own life, of being a misfit. At the age of twelve, he's sent on a mission that he must complete if he is to move on with his life. When he returns home, he's judged a failure. He's adjusted and sent off to work in a garbage dump for the rest of time. His daring escape returns him to the land of his mission. His arch-enemy pursues him. The boy knows that if he's caught, he'll be taken back and turned into illuminated drool. Instead of hiding, he risks it all to find the human who is most important to him.
I, Maxim Waxman
Published in 2016, the novel is available at Amazon, Createspace and other sites.
When twelve-year-old Maxim learns that he's dying, he sets about to fulfill his dream of becoming a standup comic. His struggle draws in his parents, his two best friends and an old man who shares his passion.
Cosmos DeSoto's Last Case
Published in 2017, this is the final chapter in the Cosmos DeSoto series.
Cosmos the private detective is ready to quit. The job weighs too heavily. His creator, the real Cosmos, seems to be losing interest. Then comes a case he can't refuse. His last. Meanwhile, both Cosmos DeSotos struggle with love. Available at Amazon, Createspace and other sites.
Cosmos DeSoto and the Case of the Giant Steel TEETH
Published in 2012, it is available in paperback and as an ebook at Amazon, Createspace, Nook and other sites.
In the real world, Cosmos DeSoto is a twelve-year-old boy who lives with his mother, Viva. When he's not at school, he helps her with the catering business she's desperately trying to keep alive. When he's not doing either of those, he's buried in his imagination, leading his other life, that of Cosmos DeSoto, private detective. When Viva is hired as a last minute replacement to provide food for the crew of a movie, Cosmos is off on his greatest adventure. While he works with his mother on the real film, his imagination takes him into the fantastic world of the movie, TEETH, when the star hires him to protect her life.
Cosmos DeSoto and the Search for Gomez Moxley
Published in 2015, it is available in paperback, and as an ebook from Amazon, Createspace, Nook and other sites.
This time Cosmos' imagination has him handling two cases at once. He's on the hunt for Gomez Moxley, author of the Benny Lemon books, who has been missing for a long time, and he's searching for the blackmailers who are after the movie star, Symphony Fairchild. In the real world, Cosmos and his mother take the train the visit Hank and Hasty in New Mexico, a trip that changes both their lives.
Searching for a Place to be
Published in October of 2014 this novel is available in paperback and as an ebook from Amazon, Createspace, Nook and other sites. It has been made into a movie, Stella-Searching for a Place to be.
An old, abused dog runs to save herself. A thirteen-year-old boy witnesses a murder and runs for his life. A combat veteran hides from the world and himself. This is about how the three of them come together in a forest in the northwest, and how they help each other take their first steps back into the world.
Henrietta Hornbuckle’s Circus of Life
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2010. It is available as a hardback and as an ebook.
Henrietta’s life could be the envy of any kid. She’s never lived in a house or had to go to school. All she wants is to become a great clown like her father and for life to stay the same, the last thing it ever does. (Kirkus starred review)
Growing Up Rita
Published in 2011 as a paperback and ebook. It is available at Amazon, Createspace, Nook, and other sites.
Rita Martinez was born in the United States to Alicia, who came here illegally. When her mother is caught up in an immigration raid and they are separated, Rita must find the resources that will allow her to survive while she tries to get her mother back. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon, Createspace, and other sites.
Rita Creciendo
Finding Stinko
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2007. It is available in hardcover and as an ebook.
Newboy is a lifelong product of the foster care system. He hasn't spoken in three years. To save himself he runs away in search of something better. Along the way he acquires a beat-up ventriloquist's dummy (through whom he finds his voice), his first friends, and hope.(A Bank Street Best Book of the Year)
Melonhead
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2002. The paperback and ebook editions are available at Amazon, Createspace, Nook, and other sites. Also available as a paperback in Spanish.
Sidney T. Mellon, Junior's head is round and much too large for his pencil thin body. A cantaloupe comes to mind. So does the name, Melonhead. What chance does he have looking like this and yo-yoing between divorced parents? No wonder he gets on a bus and heads for New York City, "As far away as he could get." So begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him from Seattle to Los Angeles to New York to a small town in Rhode Island where he confronts his grandmother, who wants nothing to do with him. All Sidney wants is a place to live. (A New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age)
Melonhead has been translated into Italian, Spanish, French and Japanese.
Beekman's Big Deal
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2004. The paperback and ebook editions are available at Amazon, Createspace, Nook, and other sites.
Beekman O'Day was born in Manhattan and has lived his whole life there, in hotels and apartments, wherever his father could afford. He's bounced from one private school to another. If he could have anything he wanted, it would be to stay in one place, to find some stability in this chaotic life. When they end up at Nutting Court, a mews filled with strange and eccentric residents, he begins to believe that this might be the place. Then his world gets turned upside down again. Top five political books for kids, New York Magazine)
The Bamboozlers
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2005. The paperback and ebook editions are now available on Amazon, Createspace and other sites..
Albert’s grandfather, Wendell, is a semi- retired career swindler with a final trick up his sleeve. The two of them, and a three-legged dog named Hollywood, descend on Seattle where they join up with some of Wendell’s former colleagues to con a con man who has it coming. (Publisher's Weekly starred review)
Die Schalwiner ("The Bamboozlers" in Germany) won the Lux award for April, 2011, for young people's literature.
The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay (Revisited)
Suggested for young adult readers, this movel was first published by Dell in 1982.This revised version is now available as a paperback and ebook on Amazon, Createspace, Nook and other sites. In 2003 the movie version was aired on the Hallmark Channel. It starred Kristen Bell, Tim Matheson, Sean Young and Edward Asner.
Fifteen-year-old Alison Dodge decides it's time to get to know the father who abandoned her many years ago. She writes that she wants to spend the summer with him. He replies that she can, but wonders why. He lives on an island. She won't like the way he lives. He attempts to dissuade her. He fails. The summer is a struggle for both of them. She brings her anger. He resists her in every way he can. The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay is about two people fighting their way to a relationship.