In Spite of Killer Bees is a novel about not giving in and not giving up. Aggie and her two sisters have had to move to the small village that had been their father’s childhood home. Their mother is long gone, and their father – who’d been in and out of prison – has died. Although the village holds little charm for the girls, they have hopes. It seems that their late grandfather has made them heiresses. In the small, judgmental village, Aggie must fight to keep her diminishing family together. By refusing to abandon those she loves and comes to love, she risks more than her happiness.

Teachers recognize that frequent independent reading increases student knowledge on a wide range of topics, enhances vocabulary, and improves comprehension. Ban the Book Report inspires teachers to go beyond narrow and analytical book reports by exploring the potential of book talks, alternate book covers, identifying features of informational books, newspaper headlines and articles, talk-show interviews, diary entries for characters and letters to authors. This remarkable resource offers more than twenty specific assignments with its own rubric written in student-friendly language along with student response exemplars from real classrooms. Tips to help teachers launch and manage an independent reading program complement this timely book.

In Spite of Killer Bees is a novel about not giving in and not giving up. Aggie and her two sisters have had to move to the small village that had been their father’s childhood home. Their mother is long gone, and their father – who’d been in and out of prison – has died. Although the village holds little charm for the girls, they have hopes. It seems that their late grandfather has made them heiresses. In the small, judgmental village, Aggie must fight to keep her diminishing family together. By refusing to abandon those she loves and comes to love, she risks more than her happiness.

OC Back when I was a kid growing up in South Chicago, I never dreamed that having a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother would turn out to be an asset. But my ancestry paid off big-time when I sat down across from Timothy Fisher at a San Francisco sidewalk cafe on that warm September morning. He bought my cover as a Mid-East terroristOCohook, line and sinker. Of course, being an FBI agent, IOCOd been provided with excellent cover. Even so, he was nervous and kept looking around at our neighbors, the only ones at the time being a young couple who, hands across their table, were obviously and hopelessly in love. OC IOCOve got the money, OCO I told him, assuming that might help to calm him down. It didnOCOt. He kept scanning the street. OC IOCOm not interested, OCO he said. And that surprised me. What he said next surprised me even moreOC OCO Over 50! mystery short stories by John Broussard, a prolific and compelling writer. Boson Books also offers several full length mystery novels by John Broussard. Visit our Fiction page and look under Action, Adventure and Mysteries . For an author bio, photo, and a sample read, visit bosonbooks.com."