I have an amazing daughter in my life, and I want there to be more books for her to read that feature strong, admirable, and good women in leading roles. That’s one of the things I keep an eye out for in the books I read as well as the books I write.
Weeks after her fifteenth birthday, Abby lost her family, her friends, and her home in one fell night. Now alone in a post-apocalyptic America, she must journey West to find civilization. But a bitter winter is setting in all around her, and violent psychopaths and hordes of the undead stand in her way.
And even if Abby can escape this lawless wild of monsters and madness, the shadows of the past are not so easily abandoned...
While The Directorate follows a fairly typical path for sci-fi thrillers, its characters are what stand out. The Earth and human colonies on the moon and Mars have united after years of war and created one military/police force. Lieutenant Theresa Gannon is a loyal, young officer suddenly thrust into stardom as the person who foiled a terrorist attack. But as a broiling rebellion heats up and Gannon is now rubbing shoulders with generals and politicians, she starts questioning where her loyalties truly lie.
The year is 2223. Under The Directorate, established after the Great War of Unification, there has been stability, tranquility, and prosperity for all the citizens of the Triad. One of the keystones of the society is the equality of all the peoples of Earth, Luna, and Mars. Lt. Theresa Gannon and her cohorts in the IDS are committed to preserving the peace throughout all the worlds of the Triad. But Gannon has seen fissures begin to appear when a group of daring Earth-Firsters seek to assert their rights as descendants of humanity's first homeworld. Follow Lt. Gannon as she is…
Growing up watching Star Wars movies, I was used to seeing the Jedi characters effortlessly slice their way through countless enemies and surmount seemingly insurmountable odds. So it was odd yet refreshing to read a Star Wars book where the Jedi character is barely capable of wielding her lightsaber properly. Etain is an aspiring Jedi, stranded on a hostile planet during a mission gone wrong. The Jedi Master accompanying her was killed, and the only reinforcements she is sent are four clone commandos. Instead of a lightsaber and The Force, this Jedi will have to rely on her wit and sheer determination to accomplish the mission, and that makes her a much more endearing character than most Jedis.
As the Clone Wars rage, victory or defeat lies in the hands of elite squads who take on the toughest assignments in the galaxy ... On a mission to sabotage a chemical weapon research facility on a Separatist-held planet, four clone troopers operate under the very noses of their enemies. The commandos are outnumbered and outgunned, deep behind enemy lines with no backup - and working with strangers instead of trusted team-mates. Matters don't improve when Darman, the squad's demolitions expert, gets separated from the others during planetfall. Even Darman's apparent good luck in meeting an inexperienced Padawan vanishes once…
So often, the ‘strong woman’ character is in fact just a really rude, self-centered person, but not here. In Julia Ash’s The ELI Chronicles series, Ruby is a kind-hearted, brilliant scientist trying to do what’s right for her family and for the world. She’s also a great mother and is in a healthy, wholesome marriage with a supportive husband. That’s wonderfully refreshing amidst the plethora of toxic relationships we see in movies and books.
“And while the zombie action is exceptional, readers will likely find themselves rooting for the messy demise of Ox, whose lechery boils from the page.” – Kirkus Reviews
Ruby thinks being a new mother and government microbiologist during a pandemic are hard enough. But then the pathogen mutates into ZOM-B and Russia kidnaps her while on assignment in Taiwan.
Somehow, Ruby is at the center of a global crisis.
Will she find out why? More importantly, can she save her family and perhaps the world?
If only she could break out of the Moscow prison and find her way back…
This one is a long, very long, fantasy epic, so be warned! Despite the length of the work, it ended up being an incredible read. Trin is one of the main characters the story follows. She’s a young woman who ‘accidentally’ unleashed a curse that has doomed the world to a future of death and destruction, and she’s desperately seeking a way to break this curse. In so doing, she gets caught up in an ancient blood feud between gods and full-blown war between mighty empires.
1200 Pages of Epic Fantasy that reviewers are comparing to Malazan and Wheel of Time.
War between gods. Mortals are pawns. Fate lays a curse to bring Death to the world. A boy makes a list of people to kill. What could go wrong?
Jem just killed his father. He should have done it five years ago, but kids don't always make good decisions. Next on Jem's list is a military tyrant. Maybe the whole Legion. With so many people to kill, Jem hopes to satisfy his hunger for vengeance... and obtain redemption too.
I was a United States Marine preparing to deploy to Afghanistan when the Taliban tried to assassinate the young Malala Yousafzai. Her crime? Daring to go to school as a Muslim girl. I’ve been inspired by her story ever since, and I feel a particular closeness to the things she stands for, like women’s rights in Muslim countries, because of my time spent in the Middle East. After seeing first-hand what life is like for women in Afghanistan, especially with the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021, it’s one of my greatest hopes that Malala’s mission is successful.
In 2009 Malala Yousafzai began writing a blog on BBC Urdu about life in the Swat Valley as the Taliban gained control, at times banning girls from attending school. When her identity was discovered, Malala began to appear in both Pakistani and international media, advocating the freedom to pursue education for all. In October 2012, gunmen boarded Malala's school bus and shot her in the face, a bullet passing through her head and into her shoulder. Remarkably, Malala survived the shooting.
At a very young age, Malala Yousafzai has become a worldwide symbol of courage and hope. Her shooting has…
Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés.
The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.
This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.
Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.
One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.
Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…
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