Two "Quarter Inchers" to Enjoy

Somewhat along the lines of Aesop’s Fables, “Farm of Wisdom: 25 Unforgettable Tales That Will Ignite a Wiser You” by Warren Cassell Jr. is full of tidbits of wisdom that are taught from short parables using animals one would find on or near a farm. Each of the tales tells a story which is then related to a bit of wisdom, one such is the story of the lazy chipmunk who didn’t want to go gather more berries and ended up not having anything to eat when the big storm came. Another is about the insecure grey hound who is jealous of the border collie. Still another is the story of Hapy the Chatty Toad who was all talk on the outside, but just as much of a coward as anyone else on the inside. Each of these twenty five short tales teaches a keen little piece of wisdom about living life and coping with the world around us.

The delightful collection of tales that Warren Cassell Jr. has put together in “Farm of Wisdom: 25 Unforgettable Tales That Will Ignite a Wiser You” are excellent teaching tools for young and old alike. Just like the old favorites of Aesop, the reader will be entertained by the whimsical nature of the tales, but also made wiser by the lessons that can be learned in each. Entertaining, thought provoking and often profound; “Farm of Wisdom: 25 Unforgettable Tales That Will Ignite a Wiser You,” if given enough thought is likely to change the way you look at life and the attitudes that you take in various situations.


The minute Dane McArdle bumped into her as she was leaving the doctor’s office, her whole world began to change drastically and Sophia Armitage had some significant decisions to make about how she was going to handle her future and who was going to be in control of it in “Free From the Tracks: The Teen Mayhem Series Book 1.” K T Bowes tells the story of what ought to be a somewhat normal twelfth year at an inner city New Zealand high school which is suddenly ripped apart by the disappearance of Sophia’s mother who is dying of cancer and left her and her father alone. Added to that drama, which has caused her to distance herself from her friends and her only protection from, the “plastics,” a mean set of girls who had already beaten her up in ninth year, is the new friendship that she has developed with Dane. Dane is from the “wrong side of the tracks,” but the line that the tracks forms in order to divide the two becomes more and more dim as she comes to realize the truth about Dane. The new problem that she faces is that the jealous “plastics” won’t stand for letting her and Dane be together and they have plenty of abuse laid out for her. Will she fight back or go down without a fight?

K T Bowes has written an excellent beginning to a series that is sure to be exciting and full of drama in “Free From the Tracks: The Teen Mayhem Series Book 1.” The action and drama is all too real as Dane and Sophia navigate their way through crippling circumstances that challenge the depths of their strength as they are forced to press forward practically alone. The reader will feel the depth of emotion and the struggle that each of them faces as they work out their challenges both separately and together. Deep, realistic and in many ways inspiring; “Free From the Tracks: The Teen Mayhem Series Book 1” is not only a fantastic coming of age novel on its own, but a great beginning to a promising series.