Brimming with our deepest fears and desires, Sides’ dazzling stories examine the complexities of masculinity, home, transformation, and loss.
Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-952536-20-5
$16.95
In Sides’ tender, brilliantly-imagined collection, a young boy dreams of being a psychic like his grandmother, a desperate man turns to paper for a
miracle, a swarm of fireflies attempts the impossible, scarecrows and ghosts collide, a mother and child navigate a forest plagued by light-craving monsters, a boy’s talking dolls aid him in conquering a burning world, and a father and mother deal with the sudden emergence of wings on their son’s back. Bradley Sides is an exciting new voice in fiction. Brimming with our deepest fears and desires, his haunting debut collection of short stories examines the complexities of masculinity, home, transformation, and loss. Tenderness is illuminated by magic realism, providing rays of hope in the darkness and igniting imaginations.
Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-952536-20-5
Brimming with our deepest fears and desires, Sides’ dazzling stories examine the complexities of masculinity, home, transformation, and loss.
Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-952536-20-5
While skipping lessons at the prestigious ballet academy that her mother forced her to enroll in, 11-year-old Elinor Malcolm meets Indira, a mysterious older girl who encourages her to explore her identity and expand her world. A touch of magical realism infuses their encounters and shapes their relationship. Indira’s influence helps Elinor find a path that ultimately is satisfying for both her and her mother. Friendship, family, identity, and the importance of honest communication and being true to oneself are interwoven themes that create a fascinating tapestry and a very compelling story.
ISBN: 978-1-952536-22-9 (softcover only)
It all begins one mid-summer day. First, the Cayuga Island Kids rescue a mallard caught in the plastic rings from six-pack of cans. Litter. Moments later, a girl on a bike carelessly tosses a plastic bottle in the creek. The Cayuga Island Kids successfully retrieve it, but then they notice all the litter in the park. That’s when they decide it’s time for action. But moving from knowing something has to be done to getting it done takes determination, teamwork, and sometimes, looking in a new direction. How the Cayuga Island Kids go from fishing a plastic bottle out of the creek to bringing the community together to build a recycling bin big enough to hold plenty of plastic makes for a lively adventure. Best of all, readers will cheer on the Cayuga Island Kids as they come to realize that although we are each just one person, together we can make a BIG difference.
There’s a monster in Dave’s basement! His name is Howard and he’s very hungry. Howard invites Dave to dinner. But will Dave eat dinner or BE dinner? The thought makes Dave shake a little bit, shake a little bit, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Has Dave made a big mistake? |
The Monster in My Basement began as a song called Howard the Monster. (The author is a children’s musician too!). Visit Howard the Monster here and read along with the music and lyrics printed in the back of the book!
The Monster in My Basement Book Trailer from Heather harris on Vimeo.
Eleven-year-old Elinor Malcolm just wants to be normal. Lonely, she goes in search of her best self and a best friend.
In Elinormal, her bossy mom threatens to sue if Elinor is not granted a spot in a prestigious ballet academy. The problem is, Elinor has no interest in ballet. While sitting out the first class in an area park she meets Indira who helps her realize that she is a capable and kind individual. Elinor opens up and makes a friend at school who enjoys all the same things she does. The people in her life finally converge—secret identities are revealed, and Elinor has an epiphany about the nature of relationships and the power of love.
In the sequel, New Girl: The Further Adventures of Elinormal, Elinor is ready for the first day of seventh grade when a last-minute phone call turns her world upside down. She misses the first week of school and when she gets back she’s called “the new girl” even though she’s not. Elinor quickly learns that people are complicated and relationships take work. Lots of work. As she discovers who she is, who she wants to be, and what she wants most in life, she struggles to balance friendships, both old and new, while also unraveling her mother’s mysterious past.
Both of these delightful books explore the complexity of friendships, the reality of disappointments, and the trouble with secrets.
Click here to download Educator Guides and Activity Kits!
FOR READERS Ages 9-12 | Grades 4 – 8
FORMAT SOFTCOVER | 5″ x 8″
ISBNs 978-1-952536-22-9 | 978-1-952536-34-2
From navigating interviews and crafting résumés to effective networking and personal branding, Intern Talk is a career coach and adviser disguised as a book. It not only guides students in the pursuit of professional opportunities, but also offers a somewhat novel approach to achieving a lifetime of career success.
Meet Habiba, Aleksander, Malee, Elisa, and Dinesh. They have left everything they have ever known and arrived in a classroom in a new country. Meet Grace, Jaylyn, Cameron, Miguel, and Yu. They have never lived anywhere else. Hello! is the journey through the challenges that young refugees must navigate to find a sense of belonging in a new place. Flip it over and this two-books-in one also tells this story through the eyes of the students who receive them in the classroom. In this Welcoming Story, all discover the power of embracing differences. Young refugees have traversed the world, escaped violence, and yet still struggle with the sense of identity forged in the way they dress and the foods they eat. The youngsters in this book encourage each other to be their unique and authentic selves. It is powerful for children to imagine themselves on both sides of this shared experience. It will elicit complex and important conversations with students of any age. Share this diverse book with your children and grandchildren, with your students and their teachers, and with your new neighbors. Experience the joy of feeling accepted and remember the power of Hello!
Click here to download Educator Guides and Activity Kits!
Philip Clapper –
“The significance of emotional connection can be seen throughout the entire collection from start to finish. The losses, trials, fears, and triumphs that each of the many characters experience will resonate loud and clear in our hearts.”
Brendan Jesus –
” Each story gives us a glimpse into the lives of some really interesting people and comments on many different aspects of life and our messed-up world.”
Chelsea Risley –
In Sides’ tender, brilliantly-imagined collection, a young boy dreams of being a psychic like his grandmother, a desperate man turns to paper for a miracle, a swarm of fireflies attempts the impossible, scarecrows and ghosts collide, a mother and child navigate a forest plagued by light-craving monsters, a boy’s talking dolls aid him in conquering a burning world, and a father and mother deal with the sudden emergence of wings on their son’s back. Brimming with our deepest fears and desires, Sides’ dazzling stories examine the complexities of masculinity, home, transformation, and loss.
Josh Denslow –
Full of cinematic confections and concoctions. In deceptively buoyant prose that never sinks under the weight it carries, these stories are scary and funny and thrilling, sometimes all at the same time. I don’t know if we should take this collection as a series of warnings, but being doomed has never been so enjoyable.
Shaun Hamill –
Bradley Sides’ debut collection is a treasure chest of dark wonder, one that brings to mind the best of Joe Hill and Ray Bradbury. It’s perfect company for a stifling August night, or a rainy April morning, full of lovely places to get lost in for a little while
David Bersell –
Whether or not you consider yourself a dreamer — or a fan of magical realism — you will likely find something to believe in reading Sides’ strange, beautiful stories. Many feel like fables, without relying on simple resolution or overarching metaphors. The author balances brisk plots with lively dialogue and flashes of poetic language.
Brendan Jesus –
Bradley Sides’ new collection Those Fantastic Lives contains compelling pieces of fiction that use the speculative lens to terrify, delight, and aid us in pondering the true reality around us, and our relations to others within it. […] The significance of emotional connection can be seen throughout the entire collection from start to finish. The losses, trials, fears, and triumphs that each of the many characters experience will resonate loud and clear in our hearts
Chuck Augello –
Sides’ new collection, Those Fantastic Lives and Other Strange Stories, is bold, unsettling, and always entertaining. Anyone seeking a quick trip into the unexpected will savor these tales
Rebecca Foster –
Many of the protagonists in these 17 stories are orphans or children who have lost one parent. Grief uproots them, leaves them questing; combine their loneliness with dashes of the supernatural and you have perfect situations for strange and wonderful things to happen. […] I’d particularly recommend the book to readers of Kelly Link and Lydia Millet
Electric Literature –
Bradley Sides uses magical realism to imbue everyday moments in his stories with a sense of eeriness and dread, but the true hauntings aren’t the ghostly apparitions with sharp bared fangs, but the emotional ghosts that we’re trying to outrun.
Nashville Scene –
Whether or not you consider yourself a dreamer — or a fan of magical realism — you will likely find something to believe in reading Sides’ strange, beautiful stories. Many feel like fables, without relying on simple resolution or overarching metaphors. The author balances brisk plots with lively dialogue and flashes of poetic language.
Heavy Feather Review –
Bradley Sides’ new collection Those Fantastic Lives contains compelling pieces of fiction that use the speculative lens to terrify, delight, and aid us in pondering the true reality around us, and our relations to others within it. […] The significance of emotional connection can be seen throughout the entire collection from start to finish. The losses, trials, fears, and triumphs that each of the many characters experience will resonate loud and clear in our hearts.
Fiction Writers Review –
The collection goes beyond familiar narratives of the supernatural by asking why we are afraid of monsters and ghosts, and the things we cannot explain, illuminating the depths we as humans go to protect ourselves from what we are unable to comprehend.
Cease, Cows –
Sides’ new collection, Those Fantastic Lives and Other Strange Stories, is bold, unsettling, and always entertaining. Anyone seeking a quick trip into the unexpected will savor these tales.