BOOKS
A Cool Indian Name: Fictions![]() In a striking first collection of stories, Brent van Staalduinen leads the reader through tales that echo with loss and redemption, discovery and fear, tumult and victory. Where three young children create a Christmas in July for their bedridden mother, a military wife tries to help her son answer life’s toughest questions, a homeless man convicts an entire church congregation of their prejudices, and a baby cries in the midnight hold of a smuggling ship. A boy discovers the magic in Union Station while a terminally ill girl finds magic in laughter. From the title piece, “A Cool Indian Name,” which explores the dark remnants of abuse in a residential school and the limits of friendship, to “Buddy’s Mirror,” where a medic sent on an ill-fated peacekeeping mission is forced to ask how far he will go to protect those under his care, van Staalduinen’s fictions force us into difficult places and situations and, afterwards, demand we account for ourselves. Click here for paperback, or Click here for Kindle, or Click here for Kobo. Finding December: Christmas Tales![]() A collection of six holiday stories that carry the reader to new places in search of a perfect December. In "Finding December," a lonely traveler in a strange and foreign city discovers a bit of humanity; in “Our Own Voices,” a family faces a first Christmas after unspeakable tragedy; in "To Love Everyone," a cantankerous man tries to find an argument at the local church, but discovers a greater narrative at play; a young boy discovers that even great people are humans too in "A Command Performance"; in “Next Door,” even private neighbors can shine for each other at the holidays; and "Tupperware and a Christmas Star" finds Joseph on Mary's doorstep for a first Christmas date. Click here for Paperback, or Click here for Kindle, or Click here for Kobo. Make Fire in the Desert: 1427 Days
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Make Fire in the Desert |