Books published by publisher Catalpa Press

“Set in post-apartheid Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, this realistic story traces protagonist Mercy’s quest to speak up for truth and, consequently, for herself. […] Sensitive, funny, and tender.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Mercy lives in modern-day Pietermaritzburg, South Africa with her eccentric foster aunts―two elderly sisters so poor that they can only afford one lightbulb. A nasty housing developer is eying their house. And that same house suddenly starts falling apart―just as Aunt Flora does, too. She’s forgetting words, names, and even how to behave in public. Mercy tries to keep her head down at school so nobody notices her. But when a classmate frames her for stealing the school’s raffle money, Mercy’s teachers decide to take a closer look at her home life.Along comes Mr. Singh, who rents the back cottage of the house on Hodson Road. When he takes Mercy to visit a statue in the middle of the city, she learns that the shy, nervous “Mohandas” he tells stories about is actually Gandhi, who spent a cold and lonely night in the waiting room of the Pietermaritzburg train station over a hundred years earlier. It marked the beginning of his life’s quest for truth, and the visit to his statue marks Mercy’s realization that she needs―just like Gandhi―to stand up for herself.Mercy needs a miracle. But to summon that miracle, she has to find her voice and tell the truth―and that truth is neither pure nor simple.

When the boys discover that Albert Wong has appendicitis they rsh him to Highland Hospital, but the ER will not do anything until they find an adult to sign for him. That adult is Richard Wonmg who is at Santa Cruz. Albert's parents are in Taiwan. So, the boys go to the Beach and separate to speed their search, and this leads to a bit of trouble. At klast after a few setbacks and mixes with the cops, the boys find Fichard. Days have gone by and Albert has been tucked away waiting for surgery...

Nilly is a kid no one likes, but when he is hauled off to Juvenile Hall, some boys search for his lost dog. They find Toby and care for him until Billy gets out. When the boys return Toby to Billy, Billy understands at last what love is/ Kathy is a spoiled girl who makes her Dad buy her a pony. But the pony is an old horse from the knacker's. Kathy hates that horse until an old black man shows her why the horse misbehaves. He helps Kathy care for the horse and at last Kathy learns the love an animal can bring.

When they get an assignment to find out how a girl lost her leg at a hidden lake in the Sierra, they boys discover an insurance plopt by the girl's father and his buddy. Their work takes all through the Sierra and down into the hot Central Valley of California. They enclounter people who do not want them to discover what really happened. How they did learn the truth is ....

Soshiro is a young Japanese boy who arrives at school bewildered and not too great at English. The coach assigns Jim to help him with his English. Sosh does not fit in well. He does not play tennis; he has no interest in sports. Not until the boys discover that he really is an artist and is living with his uncle who also paints, do thing begin to look up. The boys help Sosh get a job at an artists' supply store and there they solve the theft of art products. But only when Sosh finally is accepted to a juried show does he begin to feel like an American, an American Artist.

Jim and Tyrone take Jim's car into Columbia Gardens to see a man who repairs cars cheap. Drugs outsell Diet Pepsi here. Hell breaks loose and Tyrone takes two in the chest. He is rushed to Highland Hospital and lies in a come. Quentin swears revenge and starts off, Jim and David tagging behind. They go into marijuana farming country and here Quentin learns who the scum who shot Tyrone are. Back in Oakland they find the punks and Jim and David keep Quentin from tearing them apart by hand, and at last they turn them over to the cops. Tyone recovers.

Mercy lives in modern-day Pietermaritzburg, South Africa with her eccentric foster aunts―two elderly sisters so poor, they can only afford one lightbulb. A nasty housing developer is eying their house. And that same house suddenly starts falling apart―just as Aunt Flora starts falling apart. She’s forgetting words, names, and even how to behave in public. Mercy tries to keep her head down at school so nobody notices her. But when a classmate frames her for stealing the school’s raffle money, Mercy's teachers decide to take a closer look at her home life. Along comes Mr. Singh, who rents the back cottage of the house on Hodson Road. When he takes Mercy to visit a statue in the middle of the city, she learns that the shy, nervous “Mohandas” he tells stories about is actually Gandhi, who spent a cold and lonely night in the waiting room of the Pietermaritzburg train station over a hundred years ago. It marked the beginning of his life’s quest for truth…and the visit to his statue marks Mercy’s realization that she needs―just like Gandhi―to stand up for herself. Mercy needs a miracle. But to summon that miracle, she has to find her voice and tell the truth―and that truth is neither pure nor simple.

On the brink of execution, 16 year old Ebba den Eeden is unexpectedly elevated from the bunker deep in South Africa's Table Mountain where she has lived all her life, believing--as do all the other teenagers who toil daily to make their food and power the bunker--that the world "Above" is uninhabitable due to a nuclear holocaust. Instead, she is heiress to a massive fortune―one that everyone wants to control. While dealing with the machinations of the High Priest, his handsome son Hal, and the rules and regulations of a society and religion she doesn't understand, she must also try to save her three friends, still stuck in the bunker and facing execution any day.