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Encourage, Motivate, and Empower Children
Piper’s Perfect Pick follows a young girl frustrated with trying to excel in sports who takes the advice of her cat to try out boxing. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I absolutely love to box, even though I didn’t start boxing until I was 60 years old. The first time I punched a boxing bag I felt empowered. I thought, “Oh, I like this. I want to learn this sport!” So I did! Now I box 4-5 days a week.
Before I started to box, the only thing I knew about boxing was what I saw in the Rocky or Creed movies, which was pretty scary to me!
What I didn’t realize was that boxing is really about discipline, focus, and strategy, not just about throwing punches. It’s an amazing sport that is not well understood.
I wondered, “What if I had started to box when I was younger, say 8 or 9?” I probably would have been so much stronger, both mentally and physically. I would have had much more confidence in myself.
I started to think about how I wanted kids, especially little girls, to know that boxing is a great sport for them to try.
I thought, “Why don’t I tell them?”
Then…ding, ding, ding! The idea for Piper’s Perfect Pick came to me.
My rescue cat, Camelot, was the inspiration for Piper’s cat, Tater Tot. Before Cami got comfortable living with me, he would swat at my face whenever I walked by. I called him my little boxer!
The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Penny Weber?
I loved working with my illustrator, Penny Weber. We have a great relationship – after all, we are both a Peni/Penny! I had been looking for someone who did realistic illustrations, instead of cartoony ones. When I saw her portfolio I knew she was the one.
We are each other’s biggest fan – she loves my writing and I love her illustrations.
The only direction I gave Penny was the approximate age of my main character and the desire for her and her family to be of mixed race. Other than that, she had free rein. I had complete trust and faith that she would illustrate this book superbly – which she did!
Penny is already lined up to illustrate two more upcoming books of mine.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I write books to encourage, motivate, and empower children, so my debut picture book needed to showcase all of those themes.
It was important to show that Piper’s family encouraged and supported her.
It was important that Piper showed resilience and determination to follow her own path, even though it was an unexpected choice.
And it was important that children feel personally empowered after reading Piper’s story. If she could do it, then they could too!
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book, Heart Trouble for ZZ, is due out November 3, 2024. I have three more books coming out in 2025.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
In this compelling tale of resilience and determination, Piper teaches us an invaluable lesson: true strength lies in the willingness to explore the unknown, to never surrender to failure, and to keep pushing the boundaries until we uncover our own unique path. Sometimes, what we love most is not what we expect, and Piper’s story serves as a powerful reminder that our passions are waiting to be discovered, only if we persevere and never stop searching.
In Piper’s Perfect Pick, witness a heartwarming transformation that will leave you cheering for Piper and inspire you to keep exploring until you, too, find the one thing that sets your soul on fire.
The Surprising Potential Humans Have
Noki follows a boxer with Autism, he wants to use his skills to help his father but encounters people that do not have his best interest at heart. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The story of Noki was stuck in my head for over ten years. I couldn’t shake it. I just fell in love with the character and felt I needed to share him with the world. I believe the book does a great job showing the limitations we, as a society, place on people, knowingly or not. Even more importantly, it shows the surprising potential humans have. This is something I saw in my thirty-year experience as a doctor treating autistic patients. People with autism, like Noki, may have some social and communication difficulties, but it doesn’t mean they are without aspirations, goals, love, thoughts, or purpose. I hope this book shows the reader this.
What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
We all need to be aware that when you meet one person with autism you meet one person with autism. Everyone is different. Everyone deserves basic respect and nonjudgment from others, autism or not. That being said, autism is a spectrum and this has to be acknowledged. There is a pivotal point in Noki where there is a hearing to decide whether he understands the consequences and risks of boxing. Understanding the differences between each autistic person provides a learning opportunity for characters in the book and should do the same for those who read it.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I definitely wanted to explore the deep dark secrets of the boxing world. I know it all too well. No one really talks about it and it hasn’t changed much in a century. Putting someone like Noki in that environment was exciting to me. I wanted to also make a social worker a hero (heroine) because normally they are portrayed negatively. Lastly, the surprise ending in Noki is critical in realizing what you may have just read is something you have seen many times before.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am writing another business book now but will probably start on a book about Taddy Roosevelt (yes, that is spelled right).
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
A bankrupt boxing gym, a down-on-his luck drifter, and a desperate father grapple with an opportunity that could solve all their problems, but at a tragic cost.
Noki has grown up in his father’s gym, around the seedy world of boxing his whole life, the fighters there calling him a “man-child.” A young Black man with autism with a penchant for wearing Disney t-shirts, Noki is gifted with incredible boxing skills, considered by his inner circle as unbeatable. But when the unscrupulous boxing bigwigs see dollar signs, his gym family is torn: Are they permitting Noki to pursue his passion or are they taking advantage of someone with a disability. Noki, a new young adult fiction novel by Douglas Farrago, is a masterfully written coming of age story of loyalty, grit, and self-discovery in the most heartbreaking of circumstances.
Based on a True (Traumatic) Brain History
In the blunt and honest book, Mark Allen narrates his life story Based on A True (Traumatic) Brain History: A Short Memoir. Covering topics like his struggle of living with a brain injury, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and some deep reflections about his ways of coping with difficult circumstances, Allen gives readers a look into his world with the hope that his story will help others.
The book is divided into multiple short chapters, but you can trace a clear pattern between the first and second half. The first part deals with his early life, college, experiences as a professional MMA fighter, while the second part deals with the challenges that come with TBI, feeling suicidal and mental health struggles. In the course of the memoir, you’ll learn that the author struggled with substance addictions, but he overcame them and went on to donate a kidney to his ailing mother. Likewise, the author felt heartbroken after the traumatic brain injury (TBI) because it took away his passion, but he managed to sail on.
The best part of this book is that the author never dwells on self-pity. It’s more about the journey and process, how an individual deals with unforeseen circumstances with a practical approach, and how to find a purpose in life. His positive outlook towards life gives the readers hope, rendering a universal appeal to the story. The book starts off candidly as if the author is sitting right in front of you in a coffee shop and having a casual chit-chat. He keeps this conversational tone alive throughout the book, occasionally tinged with his refreshing humor.
The storytelling is honest and easy-flowing. The language is lucid. It gives the readers a glimpse into the author’s life so far, his battles, his practical approach to move ahead in dark times, and his realizations. There is no preaching, only heartfelt expressions and actual incidents recollected from the author’s memory.
Based on A True (Traumatic) Brain History: A Short Memoir is more than just the story of Mark Allen’s life. This through-provoking book is an excellent read for those struggling with addiction, medical injuries, TBI, or anyone that just needs a quick motivational read.
Pages: 242 | ASIN : B08TQNXDPF
Noki
Noki lives an unassuming life with his father, Jip, as they struggle to make ends meet with a failing boxing gym. Noki doesn’t speak much with the other boxers or even with his father, but when Bug shows up one late rainy evening, Noki takes a shine to him and talks more than he ever has before.
At first, they are allowed to build their friendship and trust. However, everything changes for them after the gym’s main fighter and moneymaker leaves unexpectedly, causing Jip to have a stroke. Together, Noki and Bug discover ways of making money with Noki’s boxing talent, but their lies and dealings with the shady business of boxing soon threaten more than their abilities to save Jip and the gym. They must work together with those they trust, or they may lose everything they love and care about.
This exciting book written by Douglas Farrago has some fantastic commentary on the business of boxing. Readers can tell that the author knows what he’s talking about with boxing in how he describes each match, which makes those scenes especially interesting to read. It’s interesting to see a little more about what goes on behind those matches. This is a great way to expose some of the shady things boxers have to deal with and how easy it is for boxers to get sucked into financially abusive situations.
I thought the characters started out a little flat, with the focus on Noki and Bug because they were different, Noki with his autism and Bug with his small stature. For at least the first half of the book, it felt like everyone thought Noki couldn’t really understand things and only knew how to follow instructions. Bug and Jip, especially would make comments to this effect quite often. It wasn’t until Bug started getting threatened for using Noki that changed, and he started treating Noki more like a normal person. Eventually, Noki as a character-filled out as Bug began treating him as an average person.
Noki while being a work of fiction, is a great resource to learn more about the boxing system and how it makes it easy to take advantage of boxers. Young adults and teen readers will find this coming-of-age novel entertaining as it explores the life of an autistic person in the world of sports.
Pages: 172 | ASIN : B08YFDTQB5
LITERARY TITAN 