The Unstoppable Jamie, my debut picture book, will be released by Two Lions on October 3, 2023! This uplifting story about finding the superhero inside you was inspired by my oldest child, and I can’t wait for it to fly onto bookstore shelves.
Please preorder your copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or your favorite local bookstore!
“Burnt” (flash fiction)
Awarded First Place out of 300 entries by WOW! Women on Writing, 2020
This dark, yet hopeful retelling of “Hansel and Gretel” picks up right at the end of the traditional Western folktale. Faced with the witch’s fiery demise, Gretel wonders what kind of person she has become and what kind of future she deserves.
Read it HERE!
“Illumination” (short fiction)
Selected for publication in the anthology Community of Magic Pens, Atthis Arts, 2020
In Strasbourg, France, in the summer of 1440, two nuns happen upon an invention that will change the world forever… if they choose to save it from destruction.
Pick up a copy HERE!
“Independence Day” (short fiction)
Selected for publication in the anthology Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, Atthis Arts, 2019
A socialite takes drastic action, with the help of a front-desk hostess, to escape her boorish fiance at the Hotel Stormcove on July 4, 1928. Told in five one-minute segments from alternating points-of-view.
Pick up a copy HERE!
“Smoke, Blood, Fog” (flash fiction)
Awarded Third Place out of almost 300 entries by WOW! Women on Writing, 2018
In this dark retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” Ro arrives at her grandmother’s house to find the house sealed up with plague. No one else can save her from the wolves of the kingdom; like everything else in her life, Ro will have to do it alone.
Read it HERE!
“The Tooth Fairy’s Helper” (short fiction)
Awarded First Prize in the 2018 Beach Reads contest, sponsored by Browseabout Books and Cat & Mouse Press; included in the Beach Fun anthology, Cat & Mouse Press, 2018
The first night of a sweet family vacation takes a sour turn when Kendra and Jake discover that their older daughter has learned “the truth” about the Tooth Fairy, right before their younger daughter loses her first tooth… in the Atlantic Ocean. To pull off a vacation-worthy Tooth Fairy caper, these parents will need some extra help.
Pick up a copy HERE!
“Million-Dollar Burrito” (flash fiction)
Awarded Top Ten recognition out of 300 entries by WOW! Women on Writing, 2017
Sisterly love takes on new meaning as Laurie and Meg band together to acclimate to the newest change in their family: the birth of their three-decades-younger half-sister.
Read it HERE!
“The Shot Shared Round the World” (short fiction)
Selected for publication in the Beach Life anthology, Cat & Mouse Press, 2017
Seventeen-year-old Leigh‘s photo (taken at a concert she wasn’t allowed to attend) accidentally goes “viral” on the internet right before her family’s annual vacation at Rehoboth Beach. Leigh and her net-savvy cousins try to keep her parents from finding out, and in the process their family finds new ways to bridge the generation gap.
Pick up a copy HERE!
The New SAT Handbook (nonfiction, co-authored with Andrew Cole)
A fellow tutor and I co-wrote this user-friendly guide to the dreaded standardized test. It’s a slimmed-down prep guide that incorporates multipurpose strategies, detailed review modules for grammar and mathematics, and the occasional bit of humor to keep things moving. As a veteran tutor and owner of Givens Academic and Preparatory Tutoring, I also use this text with my own students to help them efficiently learn strategies and review concepts that will be useful long after test day.
April’s Roots (young adult fiction)
I wrote this anthology of short stories to accompany my debut novel Ugly Stick, a story about a family curse passed mother-to-daughter. Each story in this collection centers around a different generation of the same family!
Ugly Stick (young adult fiction)
Fifteen-year-old April Somerfield is a shy, self-loathing misfit who would blend in with the wallpaper, if only the wallpaper were a little less attractive. But when April sees a chance to finally ditch the family curse that made her who she is, she must decide if becoming beautiful on the outside is worth giving up the person she is meant to be.
Joy Givens 