Jonathan Slovanco finds comfort and safety both in his large family that has been traumatized due to a devastating tragedy and in the Catholic Church. But as he matures, he realizes that a fundamental difference between him and other boys may alienate him from everything and everyone he holds dear.

When he is confronted with the cold truth that he is on his own, Jonathan is faced with the decision whether to leave his family and friends and his church to uncover the truth of his being. During that struggle, he realizes that his journey is his to walk and that only he can resolve the conflicts he faces: with himself, his family, society, and his church. It is only in the realm of nature that he finds himself at peace.

As a teacher of American literature, Jonathan teaches his students that great works of fiction are “more true” than non-fiction because they deal with universal truths. It is in them, particularly in the story of the “unconquering whale,” Moby Dick, he is able to sort out and make sense of the conflicting aspects of his life.

It is, thus, in those works and in nature that Jonathan begins to find his truth and to discover his innate courage.

For Jonathan, coming to self-acceptance is difficult enough. Coupling that with the courage needed to reveal his genuine self to his family feels like a Sisyphean effort.

What you don’t talk about can hold you back . . . and what you come to accept can set you free.

When a streetwise Istanbul mutt named Çiçek befriends a circle of American expats and refugees, she becomes an unlikely Internet anti-war hero in a story of surprising twists and forbidden love.

Set along the vibrant cobblestones of Dove Street in old Istanbul, the sunny beaches of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and the besieged cities of Eastern Ukraine, Love on Dove Street follows a group of exiles, war reporters, and free spirits whose lives fatefully entwine amidst the uncertainties of life abroad and the brutality of war.

At the center is Çiçek, a scrappy rescue dog whose connection to the street’s inhabitants fuels an inspiring online campaign against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Çiçek has deeper mysteries of her own to sniff out, including the concealed passions and betrayals of her newfound pack.

Let’s fight. It started like that…simple.

The embers of hate smoldered beneath the ashes of a century. When the winds of change fanned them to life, the best and the worst of us came face to face.

A story of immense courage facing intense hatred, Dying Embers paints a picture of the best of us and the worst of us. It leaves us with an important message. Love and friendship can overcome hatred.

Six young people cling to their friendship while the winds of racial bigotry blow and rage around them. They are forced to confront those whose hatred is born out of ignorance and self-loathing.

Along the way, a young man who had never known friendship finds it in an unlikely place and discovers that the bonds of friendship have no color.