Bøger af Tom Gnagey

An action/adventure story for nine- to fifteen-year-old readers.It was summer. The year was 1777. The three-masted ship that almost 13-year-old Zane Miller and his parents were sailing south across the Caribbean Sea, sank in a storm and Zane found himself the only survivor landing on the beach of a small, deserted island. Taking ingenious steps, he manages to survive for several months alone, before making contact with Bartholomew Legend, a pirate who takes him under his wing. A mischievous monkey - Chatter Box - joins the two of them. As their adventures grow, they become close and sail together while fending off other pirates, freeing 100 African men on a slaver boat, capturing a King's ship filled with gold and silver, sink a huge, Portuguese Man-a-War headed to fight George Washington's Army, discover a hidden treasure on an unknown island and, in the end, Zach single-handedly captures the most feared and vicious pirate of all the seven seas. The first book in the series: Bartholomew Legend: The Robin Hood of the Caribbean.

The QUEST - Book Three in the Christopher Adams Adventure series: Three young teens, a white boy raised as an Indian*, an Indian boy raised as a white boy, and a garden variety white farm boy (Chris, the series 'star') are charged by a tribal chief to locate and restore the fabled Four Eyes of the Universe, to assure the happy and productive continuance of the human family. Their search spans several States, examines basic values, and presents a lifetime of perils in an exciting few short weeks. Secret codes to break, puzzles to solve, daring challenges to complete, and dangers at every turn as they explore the World of the Ancient Tribe deep inside a huge, mystical, tower of rock. [Books should be read in order.][*the term used in 1863]

In Book Two, reporter Barry Beaumont and his young photographer, Jake, are drawn into a complex mystery created by an unknown person from Barry's past, who insists he caused great sadness for him, so much that he is requiring Barry to prove his worth by forcing him to find and rescue six innocent victims before they die. If authorities are notified, they, along with Barry will be killed. A 'person in power' will also die if they are not successful. In each of the six cases, they are provided only one esoteric clue to go on. Their quest is limited to 14 days and as it proceeds, Barry and Jake are subjected to increasingly dangerous attacks on their lives. Melanie is again there to help as the research person from the newspaper. The usual guys also show up, Jerry, the delivery boy; Al from the pizzeria; and Lieutenant Walker, friend and police presence. Suspense, danger, excitement, and always, Barry's twisted sense of humor.

Adults and young adults: The Unspeakable Secret of King's Crossing is a modern-day mystery set in a tiny town in north-central Arkansas. Jack, home from college for the summer, sets out to write the history of his village, which harbors a deep, dark, secret that the townsfolk seem determined to protect. The lives of Jack and his best friend, Mac, are threatened. His best lifelong friend, Jenny, an employee of the local newspaper, assists him, while others look on offering less than their blessing: Jackie, his mother, Mr. Perry, the editor, Mr. Jackson, a former high school teacher, Miss Baker, county records department, and others. The final twist makes it all come clear. If you love a good mystery, substance beyond a story, suspense, excitement, sprinkled with smiles and belly laughs, you are in for a treat. (The author has more than 170 novels to his credit.)

A disquieting mystery for grown-ups who have not fully set aside the frightening reality of monsters under their beds.In 1880, Pennsylvania, nine-year-old Scotty Atherton, finds himself alone in the world after his parents are killed by highwaymen. Having no close relatives, he is relocated to his delusional, great uncle's mansion, where he must begin a new life among strangers. He soon learns somebody is out to do him in - most likely because he is the only heir to his uncle's vast fortune. Could it be the cook, the housekeeper, the butler, the stable man, the gardener, or the yet to arrive private tutor? Not knowing who his would-be killer might be, he believes he dares not trust any of the new adults in his life, so he sets out to take care of things himself. Scotty is bright, resourceful, and not shy about pointing out the absurdities of life and the adults who propagate them. His takes on his circumstances are frequently humorous, even as he lives moment by moment in abject terror. Written in the first person by the youngster, but strictly for adults.

One Rule! Sound too good to be true? Not at all. This is a practical, easy to read and follow training manual for parents, stressing values and rule reduction. Parents learn how to build a family life plan based on their own personal values - not those of the author. It all boils down to one simple rule that speeds the responsibility for appropriate development among all the family members. A tried and proven, very simple, everyone wins approach to improving family happiness. It includes lots of basic psychological and educational information all parents need to be aware of and master.

For 9 to 14 year old: Three boys, 11, 12, and 13 find themselves forced together with a crew of seasoned hands on a three masted sailing ship in 1790, the golden age of piracy. Following the tale of lavish buried treasure, they fight pirates and the turbulent seas from England across the Atlantic to reach the southern, sandy shores of the uncivilized Bahama Islands in the Caribbean. Unexpectedly, they find there is a ship of ruthless cutthroats determined to beat them to the treasure - by whatever means are necessary. Good guys. Bad guys. Danger at every turn.

The year was 1867. The Transcontinental Railroad was being built across the US northwest. A fourteen-year-old orphan boy from Chicago and one from southeastern China cross paths in Wyoming along the new track. The story first sets up the life of Kim Woo and how he arrived at the Twin Peaks sailing across the Pacific as a cabin boy on a three masted cargo ship from China, and then traces Mack O'Henry's horseback trek that followed his escape from a boy's detention home and landed him at those same peaks. Chinese and Irishmen were treated badly in those days. The story shows how they were forced to cope with it while evading evil men who wanted to harm them. There is a secret code that just might lead them to a gold mine already registered to Kim by a father he never knew. As different as they are, they grow close and come to appreciate both their differences and similarities. Best for 12 to 15 year olds. (Some violence and hardship.)

Using clues stashed with him in this blanket when he was left at the foundling home as a newborn baby, Timothy James, just turned 13, undertakes a perilous search across rough and tumble 1880 Kansas to find his father. Almost before he has begun, he has to survive a ferocious storm in a small boat on the raging Missouri River. He is joined by an Indian boy a few years older than he, and together they outrun a prairie fire, reunite a lost child with his family, confront cantankerous Indians, free four kidnapped boys and time and time again, find their search running into apparent dead ends. Written from the authors' perspective of positive values, it has, nestled within its pages, numerous gentle hints about living a good life.

A 13-year-old boy and his grandfather face Alzheimer's together. Robby, a bright boy, arranges to continue the illusion of homeschooling even after his grandmother passes on, so he can continue caring for his best friend - his grampa. As the disease progresses, Robby must become more and more creative in arranging their lives. His greatest sadness is anticipating the day grampa will have to enter the home designed to manage the devastating affliction during its final months.Robby had been orphaned as an infant, so as the time approaches for his grampa to leave the home, he and his best friend launch a search for his mother, who vanished after leaving him in his grandmother's arms. Using both the internet and lots of shoe leather, they run into dead ends at every turn. In the end, the Department of Child Services, intervenes, and proceeds to make ready to place him in the foster care system - a situation the youngster fights with every brilliant fiber of his being.The story paints a sensitive portrait of the stressful and painful day to day and moment to moment toll the disease levies on the family members. Even so, it flows from a positive point of view and is liberally sprinkled with smiles, wit, and good times. Toward the end, selfless Robby comments: "Everybody only sees one patient here, but there are two of us. When do I get my ration of support and compassion?"Intended for adults and mature young adults. (Tissues recommended.)

The year was 1863. The Civil War raged. In Book One of this growing Series of novels for 9 to 15-year-olds, Christopher Adams, almost 13, finds his life threatened at every turn as he tries to deliver an important message to a Union General - a message that could make the difference between victory and defeat for the Union Army. During his Journey from central Pennsylvania to southern Georgia, he must avoid and match wits with vicious highwaymen out to silence him, a raging storm at sea that puts the ship to the ultimate test, a ruthless pirate that captures him at sea, and a variety of other dangerous characters. In the end, he fearlessly winds his way through the cannon and rifle fire of Civil War battles, determined to deliver his message. He acquires a wonderful horse and makes several fascinating friends who help him along his way. A must read for young adventure lovers.

An action/adventure story for 12 to 16-year-olds. Set on the east coast of the United States in 1870, the story follows recently orphaned, 15-year-old Ethan West, who is forced to flee his privileged life in Pennsylvania, when an evil relative wants him out of picture so he can inherit the sizeable West Family fortune. Running for his life, he gets caught up in numerous dangerous and exciting adventures to which he must find solutions if he is to survive. There are highwaymen, river pirates, jewel thieves, evil associates of his would-be assassin, and he still makes time to save a three-masted sailing ship, free an imprisoned black boy and save him from hanging. Ethan remains determined to prevail and, in the end, closes ranks with a most unlikely ally. Along the way, he also comes upon many good and helpful people who influence his life down positive paths. He is forced to come to grips with white privilege, prejudice, good and evil, hate and love, and man's resilience, inner strength, and determination to survive.

Adults/young adults: Who will buy the farm next? In the old detective's 18th outing, Raymond Masters faces a bevy of murders and near murders by an elusive bad guy - the Shadow in the Night. There are the usual suspects there in stately Miller Manor: the Maid - smarter than she lets on; the meek and mild mannered Butler; the wise-cracking Chauffeur; the 15-year-old boy genius confined to his wheelchair; and his Mother, the live-in sister-in-law of Kensington Miller, rich as blazes, best-selling mystery author and college friend, past, of Detective Masters. Venomous snakes, poisonous frogs from a South American rain forest, and a bat-wielding ball player round out the list of fascinating characters. Masters' legendary sense of humor holds them together, as the characters struggle to make the best of things until he sends the bad guy packing.

This novel for adults and young adults, set in small town, 1940s, features Craigy - a loveable boy genius, orphaned at two and raised by a remarkable older, uneducated couple, and Arnie, an elderly, quiet, unschooled, though wise and caring, mountain man. He preferred the life of the hermit and lived in his log cabin on the bend in the river with his two mules. The story explores the fascinating influences they had on each other. Craigy wanted most of all to be just a regular 9-year-old. "I prayed every night to wake up just average - a little taller and a whole lot dumber. It didn't happen." It poses a thought-provoking juxtaposition of Craigy the kid and Craigy the genius. His time with Arnie came as close to feeling normal as he would ever know. > "Applies s a permanent smile, punctuated with laughs, a few tears, and a philosophic challenge at every corner."

Barry, a reporter for a large, city, newspaper is suddenly beset by repeated attempts on his life. He searches his past to determine what he might have done to trigger such a relentless, terrifying string of events? He and Jake, his young photographer sidekick, systematically move toward the solution. It soon appears somebody has assembled a posse of intrepid, myopic, business managers to do him in - intrepid and myopic, perhaps; creative and relentless, for sure. He makes his way toward the solution with thoughtfulness and a dry, twisted, sense of humor - requests a cop-ochino from a policeman. The author propels the story along at a crisp pace, generously sprinkled with smiles, chuckles, and groans. Is it a suspenseful mystery? Is a humorous romp? Yes, it is.

As life on Planet Earth becomes less and less guided by values such as compassion, altruism, and the equitable distribution of wealth, and more inclined toward immediate gratification, bigotry, and greed, the author postulates the self-destruction of the human species. He offers but one hope; the necessary, reinvigorating of our focus on Positive Social Values, taught early in life and reviewed daily. After a short presentation of how the human mind learns, stores, and uses Values, he examines at length 26 specific pairs of values - an essential positive, constructive value contrasted with its negative, destructive opposite. He follows each to its logical conclusion - where humanity could eventually find itself if one or the other is pursued. Each set of values is illustrated, mostly with events from the author's long life as a boy, father, clinical psychologist. The presentation focuses on exploring the values and showing how parents and caregivers must thoughtfully encourage and reward the positive values over the negative ones. It is intended as an easy, if important, read for folks concerned about the topic - the survival of humanity.An early review remarked it was "difficult to determine if the book is a primer on neuropsychology, a parenting book, a philosophy of life, or a dead serous clarion call about the frightening future for humanity if it doesn't become serious about saving itself right now. The author likes to believe it is all four.

Adults and young adults 16 and older: The story follows 17 year old Jonathan Penny from his first battle as a Private in the Union army, through the next 14 months. He gains recognition as an exceptional soldier moving up the ranks rapidly and even spending time undercover as a spy in a rebel encampment. He saves the life of a Rebel Soldier and they establish a peculiar, if extraordinary, friendship. Johnny hates the war. He hates killing. He meets truly good people on both sides of the conflict and ponders the big questions and conundrums that enter his life: How can good people commit such evil acts as killing each other; how was he able, day after day, battle after battle kill other boys his age - boys he had no reason to hate; why, generation after generation, were men unable to see the folly of war - the pain, the maiming, the destruction, the death. War was a battle of ideas - killing off a generation of boys would never kill ideas. Why did love keep losing to evil? Eventually, he had an encounter with a truly evil man. It was horrendous and for him, life altering.This is a story of man's most egregious act - the perpetration of war. This is an exploration of the motivation, the execution, and the always devastating conclusion of that senseless, vicious undertaking. It is not a book for the faint of heart. It is a book that hopes to lay bare truth and stir its readers toward productive reflection and thoughtful action against the ever-present evil forces in our world. Sadly, it can offer no solution. (Understandably, not intended for readers under age 16

Book Two in the Christopher Adams Adventure Series follows almost 13-year-old Chris back from the Civil War battle zone in Georgia, to his home territory in Pennsylvania. He discovers a secret compartment in a tin box from his mother, which holds three mysterious clues. It sets him on an adventure to find an Indian boy named Jeremy Red Feather. The story involves picking up a new, handicapped, best friend, Jack, two new four-legged friends, and a long trip almost half-way across America. He has exciting adventures aboard trains, stage coaches, a riverboat, and on horseback. The highwaymen from book one return to threaten him. Along the way, he saves a 10-year-old black boy from slavers, 2 girls from kidnappers, a stage coach from being robbed, an old couple with a runaway team, a father, and his family from mounted thieves. As a result of his search he finds himself part of an Indian family that has a special tie to him. [Best if reads after Book One. For 9 to 15 Year olds.]

A story of childhood intrigue retold for grownups and young adults.Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Danny - an orphan - is a thoroughly delightful youngster determined to spend the summer scouring the city to locate his grandfather and find out why his father had refused to speak about him. His best friend, Emily, assists. Danny is a good deal brighter than most and delights in using big words and making up new ones when he finds none that fit his fancy. A second, unexpected, mystery unfolds, and Danny follows the clues that inch him ever closer to great danger as he begins putting things together - things that threaten everything he ever believed about himself. The story weaves a complex psychological drama that keeps the reader fully engaged from the boy's initial simple premise - find grampa - to the thrilling, climatic scene in which he alone must confront and outwit the psychopathic killer.

The 3rd book in the Barry Beaumont Mystery series. Adults and young adults. Quan, an adopted, Chinese/American, 16-year-old boy, living in Barry Beaumont's city, gets drawn into life and death intrigue deep within Chinatown. His uncles from his original family were being killed and his own life had been nearly cut short. Barry, the crime investigator for the Vanguard, Jake, his young photographer, and Jerry, the pizza delivery boy with whom Barry had become close, take on the double challenge of protecting Quan (Jerry's best friend), and bringing the killer to justice. The story is sprinkled with poison, knives, fire, hit and runs, and a seven-story fall onto the pavement. Barry and Quan take up temporary residence in a back-alley room in Chinatown as they go into hiding and begin working the clues. None of that quashes Barry's odd sense of humor. Familiar characters from the previous three books in the series reappear to lend their hands. A good read 14 through adult.

This is a step by step, value-based training program for parents, showing how to raise or retrain children to stay out of trouble forever. In simple terms and with abundant real-life illustrations, the book presents both the necessary philosophy and developmental psychology needed to lead youngsters toward a trouble free life. The author lists those values that seem to typically produce trouble-prone youngsters and contrasts them with those, which almost universally produce trouble-proofed youngsters. A special section is included to assist adolescents wanting to trouble-proof themselves.

Adapted from a teen's diary, this very bright, very sad, 16-year-old boy carefully chronicled the final 36 hours before swallowing the pills to end his life. "As depressing as the title may sound, this may well be the most positive and uplifting book teenagers and their parents could ever read." (So says Dr. Susan Crossman, Adolescent psychologist.) The diary is cradled between a forward that sensitively prepares the reader for what is to follow and a reassuring and inspiring epilogue that provides hope and purpose to guide and propel youngsters through life's darkest and most desperate moments. James Thurston, DD, clergyman, writes: "Few books for teens and parents, have ever made a more sensitive, convincing and honest statement about how precious life is and how fulfilling it can be." "[The book] quite convincingly makes the case the rest of life is well worth the most difficult struggles through bad times." Colleen Paulette, mother of four.

Do you want to get hired? Do you want to make more money? One simple change may really help you! How you speak will often determine how much money you will make. People who speak 'formal English' - school teacher English - tend to get promotions and raises over people who speak common English. Making just a few changes in one's common English can make a huge difference. The secret is in knowing what changes need to be made and how to make them. That is what this manual does - directs you thorough a simple step by step program toward a speaking pattern that bosses and employers want to hear in their employees. Do you have fifteen minutes a day for Six Weeks? This program will help you turn your talking around for fun and PROFIT. (Formal English speakers are also generally believed to be smarter, more dependable and better educated.) This program is intended for English speakers.

The Author presents a tried and true formula for what he describes as Deep Down Forever Happiness. He suggests that one, basic change in a person's approach to living is all it takes to make the difference - forever. He goes on to provide and demonstrate seven corollary secrets that help define and implement the main formula. Fun, entertainment, pleasure, and the like, although held as important parts of life, are shown to never be the sources of true, Deep Down Forever Happiness. The book demonstrates quite convincingly that the acquisition of stuff, money, power, prestige, and fame can never be a source of thorough-going, permanent, happiness. The author's suggestion: First create happiness within yourself and then decide what 'extra' trappings you may want in your life. Some rich folds are truly Happy, but NOT because they are rich. The book is sprinkled with wonderful examples and illustrations, mostly drawn from the author's lifetime of helping others. This is clearly intended to be a concise, to-the-point, how-to manual and as such, it provides step by step instructions rather than the hard to pin down generalizations and platitudes so often found in books on the topic. The proof of the pudding, here, is not page after page of reverences and supporting studies, but rather the single, indisputable fact that it works - forever! The reader is taught how to find mental directives that are guiding his or her life down paths toward unhappiness and how to relatively easily replace them with those that allow and promote forever happiness. In the end, the reader will understand exactly what the author has learned about happiness from his life-long, personal, experiences, and from working as a clinical psychologist with thousands of less than forever happy people of all ages. Then, it becomes your decision whether or not to implement his suggestions in your life and the lives of your loved ones.