Books published by publisher Turtle Cove Press

Can a person just decide to give up feeling scared?It’s 1933, and Dahlia Harrell lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a hand-me-down cabin built by her Grandpap’s Uncle Zeke. At eight-and-three-quarters, Dahlia knows all about being scared. She’s scared of snakes, high-up places, dark nights, and a mean ol’ sister named Celia. What she doesn’t understand is the new president’s nonsense: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Dahlia decides that enough money can buy away any reason she has for feeling afraid, and she sets her hope on the rumor of a treasure buried beneath Zeke's cabin. However, when her family is uprooted to become tenant farmers in a distant community, Dahlia’s quest for fearlessness ultimately sets her on a path of recklessness. What she fails to realize is that the secret to living a fearless life has been hers all along. And that treasure? Well, it just might hold the answer after all.

"These are stories to cherish, as brilliant and charming as the writer himself."―Olivia Laing "The sensibility of a magician, a trickster's dark humor, and a formidable musical and literary erudition."―The New York Times Joseph Keckler's signatures are his magnificent three-plus-octave operatic voice and the mesmerizing stories he tells. Combining original pieces with material from his acclaimed performances, Keckler confirms his storytelling mastery, revealing still more of himself on the page. In these tales, one can't easily draw a line between reality, embellishment, and fantasy. Odd jobs and odder employers: what is it like to work for a blind man who runs an art gallery? Or for an aging club kid who administers a university classics department? These outré characters make an artful spectacle of daily life. Some strive to be center stage and others struggle to be seen, but all soldier on in the margins. In this world, you may board a familiar bus or train and find yourself in some shady netherworld, or skipping past midnight on New Year's Eve. There is sex with ghosts. And the incessant GPS voice that mocks the last moments of a longtime love. A celebration of the ridiculous and a tour through stations of longing, this diverse collection will thrill devotees and new fans alike.

Can a person just decide to give up feeling scared?It’s 1933, and Dahlia Harrell lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a hand-me-down cabin built by her Grandpap’s Uncle Zeke. At eight-and-three-quarters, Dahlia knows all about being scared. She’s scared of snakes, high-up places, dark nights, and a mean ol’ sister named Celia. What she doesn’t understand is the new president’s nonsense: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Dahlia decides that enough money can buy away any reason she has for feeling afraid, and she sets her hope on the rumor of a treasure buried beneath Zeke's cabin. However, when her family is uprooted to become tenant farmers in a distant community, Dahlia’s quest for fearlessness ultimately sets her on a path of recklessness. What she fails to realize is that the secret to living a fearless life has been hers all along. And that treasure? Well, it just might hold the answer after all.

"Subtle thread of tension" "Emotional whitewater" ~ 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award winner for elementary/middle-grade published fiction. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, thirteen-year-old Andy Broome meets a new friend, Trudy Mitchell. Through a fun-filled summer of fishing, playing, and visiting two Belgian draft horses, Andy tries not to let Trudy learn his guilty secret about his mother’s death – and the reason he won’t go swimming at Blue Rock. As a summer storm engorges the river, Andy must rely on the skills – and the courage – he learned from his mother if he is to save the life of his friend.

Lani Morgan thinks she ended the werewolf curse that afflicted her family. But the curse lives on: Lani’s friend Lisa’s father is now a werewolf. Lani and Lisa must travel to Romania -- the source of the Roma curse -- to find a cure -- other than a silver bullet. Lisa’s brother Carson and his exotic Roma girlfriend Tatiana join the search for a cure, which takes them to the ancient Pestera cu Oase, the Cave with Bones. Not everyone they meet along the way is a friend, and some have secrets of their own.

This Collector's Edition includes full illustrated text of Elly's original 1983 edition, with its Lexicon of Symbols, Antebellum Patterns, and Baltimore Album History of the day. See how these patterns have come alive in the Revivalist Baltimore Album Quilt Gallery, including two quilts made entirely of the book's patterns. Contemporary models of the block patterns and Album Artist quotes are woven throughout the tapestry of this edition, celebrating thirty years of the Baltimore Album Revival.

Ben Tyler hates to fight and Boyd Bradshaw knows it. When Boyd makes Ben eat mud at the bus stop, Ben's father decides that it's time for him to learn to defend himself. The thought of learning to fight makes Ben's stomach hurt, but he's willing to try anything to stop Boyd's bullying. When Ben discovers that he won't have to smash boards or throw people across the room, he decides that his Kajukenbo lessons might not be so bad. But even with his new self-defense skills, Ben doesn't believe he can stand up to Boyd until the day the bully kicks Ben's dog. Not only does Ben overcome his fears, he discovers a new kind of strength, one that was inside him all along. Written for children ages 9 and up, A Bundle of Sticks is an honest, funny and sometimes painful look at how one boy overcomes his fears and stands up to the schoolyard bully. Winner of The Mark Twain Award, The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and The Washington State Governor's Award

Lani Morgan thinks she ended the werewolf curse that afflicted her family. But the curse lives on: Lani’s friend Lisa’s father is now a werewolf. Lani and Lisa must travel to Romania -- the source of the Roma curse -- to find a cure -- other than a silver bullet. Lisa’s brother Carson and his exotic Roma girlfriend Tatiana join the search for a cure, which takes them to the ancient Pestera cu Oase, the Cave with Bones. Not everyone they meet along the way is a friend, and some have secrets of their own.

Thirteen-year-old Andy is deathly afraid of the river where he almost drowned. Now, Andy’s friend Trudy is trapped in the same place, a swimming hole called Blue Rock. Andy must overcome his fears and feelings of guilt to try to save his friend with the help of a huge Belgian draft horse and the ghost voice of Andy’s mother. Trudy must overcome fears of her own if she is to survive. Who will be rescued at Blue Rock? The answer might surprise you! Blue Rock Rescue won first place in the Royal Palm Literary Awards from the Florida Writers Association.