Beautiful Sky Beautiful Sky
High school senior David Tinker is a failed former second-string linebacker, a wannabe rock star, a pothead, a writer, and a bit of a jerk. It’s his final semester at North High and he’s beyond ready to be done with school. Wendy, his once-compliant girlfriend, expects too much of him. His ever-shrinking circle of friends is testing his patience. And his insult-slinging father is increasingly impossible to endure. And then there’s the choir director, Mr. Halston, who wields the power of graduation and isn’t above a little blackmail. When David’s world suddenly spins out of control, he finds himself searching for the one thing he didn’t know he was missing: hope.
Author
Stephen Parolini
Does it look like I’m judging you in this photo? I’m not. I’m judging myself, as a writer. And here’s what I’ve determined: I’m a writer who writes whatever he wants. I’m not beholden to a particular genre or “target audience.” I just write the stories that show up in my brain. Are they for young adults? Sure. Older adults? Yup. Children? No. (Not yet anyway. Who knows what my brain will tell me to write next?)
You may not like everything I write. I’m cool with that. But if you do connect with one of my books? Well, I sure would appreciate a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews are like gold to a writer. Either way, thank you for investing some of your time in my stories. That means a lot to me.
I’ll be back to freshen up this website from time to time. Meanwhile, feel free to check out my other sites below. “Counting on Rain” is a short story/essay blog. “Noveldoctor” is all about my day job. (I’m a freelance book editor – but you knew that already didn’t you. See? You’re beautiful and smart.)
My Other Books
Stolen Things
Though her father tries to paint their sudden move to her aunt’s hill house as a grand adventure, Raspberry Lynette Granby knows the truth: with his cancer progressing and her mother long gone, he’s preparing his sister to become Berry’s caregiver. So she escapes, first into the familiar – books, and then into the unfamiliar – a storybook forest at the bottom of the hill. There she meets a mysterious girl who is something out of a fairytale herself – and not necessarily the happy-ending kind. Equally intrigued and frightened by the strange magic of the forest, Berry finds herself caught between wanting to forget, and hoping for a miracle.
Duck (and other stories)
When the ringing school bell signals an air raid drill at Hill Elementary, Thomas Lingonberry is the only student who follows protocol, climbing under his desk and curling into a ball to protect himself from the Red Menace. Everyone else races outside thinking it’s a fire drill. This wouldn’t have mattered at all, but for the fact that a Martin B-26 Marauder carrying two improperly-attached bombs was passing overhead at the very same time.
Duck is a novella-sized coming-of-age story that recalls pivotal moments in Thomas Lingonberry’s life, beginning with the events of April 16, 1957 – the day he earned the nickname “Bomb Boy.”
This expanded edition also includes seven bonus short stories.
praise for stolen things
– Jenny Lawson
Contact Me
spwriter@gmail.com