13 books by local authors, from romance to sci-fi and poetry | Entertainment

Looking for some late-summer beach reads? Why not give some local authors some love? Here are 13 works by local authors, including everything from literary fiction to thought-provoking nonfiction, as well as books for kids and teens and poetry.

“Christine’s Turn”

By Merle Good

Novel.

Published March 29.

Good, publisher of Walnut Street Books, is also an author, essayist and playwright with bylines appearing in the New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere.. His first novel, “Happy as the Grass was Green,” was adapted into a film called “Hazel’s People” starring Academy Award-winning actor Geraldine Page. His latest novel, “Christine’s Turn,” is a coming-of-age love story about Christine, a senior in college, on a journey of self-discovery in Pennsylvania countryside.

“A Face in the Water”

By Kathleen Pennell.

Novel.

Published April 13.

There’s nothing like a juicy mystery to add some thrills to your vacation. “A Face in the Water,” this Lancaster novelist’s 13th book — and the first in her new A Treadwell Mystery Series — does the trick. Cynthia Treadwell, a 70-year-old amateur photographer, discovers a dead man in the water, but then she suffers a concussion in a car accident providing the murder suspects ample time to hide the body and cover up any evidence of a murder. The plot thickens from there.

“Tard”

By Del Staecker.

Novel.

Published March 17.

Lancaster author Staecker’s unconventional and multi-layered novel meditates on the repercussions following an ugly incident involving a gang of bullies, a child with mental impairments and an alcoholic reporter. The thought-provoking and imaginative novel tackles big themes from abuse, family, religion, corruption, fantasy and more.

“Stranded in Snow Shoe”

By J. Arthur Moore.

Novel.

Published June 1.

“Stranded in Snow Shoe” is this Narvon-based author’s fourth book in his Virginia and Truckee Railroad of West Virginia historical fiction series which spans 1879-1883. The plot revolves around Scot Robinson, who arrives in Snow Shoe in search of his uncle who is supposed to care for him until he can join his father out west. But Robinson doesn’t realize his uncle is a train robber.

“The Professor’s Lady”

By Holly Bush.

Novel.

Published Jan. 25.

In 1870, beautiful and ambitious Kirsty Thompson plans to import Scottish wool and yarn to sell in Philadelphia but does not count on meeting a tall, shy and quiet professor who saves her from danger. Bush weaves together an exciting love story with “The Professor’s Lady” — the third book in Bush’s The Thompsons of Locust Street series.

“A Journey Through Time: Book One: The Journey Begins”

By C.J. Hannum

Young adult novel, fantasy.

Published May 8.

Hannum is a Peach Bottom-based author and machine operator who grew up on a dairy farm and has been writing since she was a kid. In “A Journey Through Time,” Hannum’s lead character Cora is a woman in a clan full of men, but she refuses to marry the king or his heir, she is banished to the Dark Forest where she finds an unexpected friend.

“Lost Among the Stars”

By Vicky Burkholder.

Novel, sci-fi.

Published April 6.

 Burkholder, a Lititz-based science fiction author, blasts off with an otherworldly thriller and romance set aboard the Phoenix — a spaceship on a humanitarian mission to planet Xy-Three. Amanda Ki — a smart, attractive woman trained in martial arts — teams up with the ship’s captain Declan Chalmers to take on saboteurs, kidnappers and assassins. ‘Lost Among the Stars” has all the things sci-fi fans love in a good space opera, but its themes will resonate with all readers.

“The Backup Superhero”

By Kayla Hicks.

Novella.

Published March 5, 2021.

Ephrata-based author Kayla Hicks poses the question: If you had the chance to become a superhero would you take it? Even if you were doing all of the work and getting none of the credit? “The Backup Superhero” is the first book in a series of superhero novels.

“Mustache in Plain Sight”

By Michael Buckius.

Poetry.

Published March 8.

Buckius, a Lancaster native currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, crafts a poetry collection that manages to tackle big themes like childhood, family, trauma, addiction as well as the mundane minutiae of our daily routines with an entertaining comedic and absurdist slant.

“Playing through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession that Changed Baseball Forever”

By Dan Good.

Nonfiction.

Published May 31.

 Dan Good, a Lancaster native and Manheim Township graduate, focuses on the late baseball star Ken Caminiti, who passed away in 2004, and his 2002 admission of steroid use and its impact on Major League Baseball. Good interviewed more than 400 people to put together this compassionate account of baseball, addiction and the national pastime’s infamous “steroid era.” Read more in an interview with Good here.

“The N-Word in Music: An American History”

By Todd Mealy.

Nonfiction.

Published May 3.

 Penn Manor High School social studies teacher Todd Mealy explores how minstrel shows and blackface began the normalization of the N-word slur. Mealy traces the history of the explosive “atomic bomb of bigoted words” and how the music industry has channeled linguistic and cultural movements to change the meaning and spelling of the word.

“The Oddball”

By Ashley Sollenberger and illustrated by Amber Kane.

Children’s book

Published May 2022.

This is the second book from this brother-and-sister author and illustrator team. Whimsical writing and illustration tells the story of basketballs, beach balls, baseballs and other round balls coming together to play and help a differently shaped football join in.

“Saving Mr. Toad”

By Dannel Wissler.

Children’s book.

Published in Sept. 2021.

Wissler, a professor counselor and owner of Willow Oaks Counseling in Lancaster, crafted a rhyming fun children’s book following a conflicted mother and son deciding how to handle an intrusive toad. As the story unfolds, parents and children can take some time to talk about what they think the son should do.