Book Marks
By Staff
Book Marks is devoted to books by Loudoun authors, books about Loudoun and books being signed in Loudoun.Title: "The Night I Freed John Brown"
Author: John Michael Cummings, formerly of Leesburg Genre: Young adult Publisher: Philomel Books (Penguin Group) Type: Hardcover Length: 276 pages Cost: $17.99 John Michael Cummings was encouraged to write by one of his closest friends and his landlady, the well-known Loudoun artist, Dagmar Wilson. When Wilson retired from painting and moved to Maryland, she and Cummings lost touch. However, Cummings pursued his goal to become a writer and has had his first book published -- “The Night I Freed John Brown.” The book, set in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., features Josh, a young boy growing up in the historic town who knows there is something odd about the tall Victorian house on the tree-lined river near Harpers Ferry, the one his father grew up in. There’s something he can’t quite put his finger on -- ghosts he can’t name, mysteries he can’t solve. And his impossible father won’t give him any clues. He’s hiding something. And then there’s the famous John Brown -- the one that all the tourists come to hear about; the one whose statue looms over Josh’s house in town. Why does he seem to haunt Josh and his whole family? When the fancy Richmonds come to town and move right next door, their presence forces Josh to find the answers and stand up to the secrets of the house on the river, to his father -- and to John Brown. Title: “Pizza by the Numbers” Author: Jeff Shiring, Leesburg Publisher: Xlibris Type: Picture book Length: 30 pages Cost: Soft cover, $17.49; hardcover, $24.99 “Pizza by the Numbers: A Pepperoni-Filled Counting Story of Addition and Subtraction” by Jeff Shiring, of Leesburg, is a full-color, illustrated children's book that has Chase as the main character. Chase and three of his friends celebrate their graduation by having dinner at their favorite pizza restaurant. There they meet Mr. Mozzarella, the owner, who shares with them his passion for making pizzas. As they talk, Chase reveals that he did not do so well in his last math quiz and he often forgets how to add and subtract. Realizing this, Mr. Mozzarella decides to teach Chase and his friends mathematics with his pizzas. Shiring is a CPA and vice president of an environmental company in Northern Virginia. He began to write nonfiction and published his first work, “The Unraveling of America,” in 2006.
Book signing
Photographer and architecture enthusiast William Curtis Rolf will speak at the National Sporting Library, 102 The Plains Road in Middleburg on Saturday, June 14, at 2 p.m. on the topic “The Stable: Unsung Glory of British Architecture.” A book signing will follow the lecture. Admission is free, but seating is limited. To R.S.V.P., contact Judy Sheehan at 540-687-6542, ext. 10.
Title: 'Terrible Swift'
Authors: Ben Small, Betsy Allen
Genre: Steampunk; graphic novel combining elements of Victorian-era stories and science fiction Publisher: Lulu.com Type: Hardcover Length: 48 pages
Cost: $12.98
“Terrible Swift' tells the story of a deep-space explorer who discovers a Victorian flying machine hovering over a nearly dead planet's surface. Determined to find out the origin of the strange machine and fate of the ones who built it, he uncovers the tragic and violent story of the planet's end.
Ben Small, artist and co-author of the book, has more than 20 years of experience in graphic design. He lives in Cleveland.
Betsy Allen, Small's co-author and sister, is a freelance writer from Leesburg, The book is the first part of "The End of Gath" graphic novel trilogy. It represents the first collaboration of Small and Allen.
The Web site: DDE_LINKwww.allencommunicationsonline.com