Turner books available online- Christmas gifts for readers

There is a limited time left to order Christmas gifts online and naturally, I would love for you to consider a book or two for that reader in your family.

 If you are not able to make it to the signings Saturday, Dec. 14, (tomorrow) from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at Mother Road Coffee on the west side of the Carthage square and from 3 to 5 p.m. at Changing Hands Book Shop in Joplin, these books are available online.  (It should be mentioned that I will be joined by authors John Hacker, Becca Haines, and Rodney Blaukat at both of those venues.) Those wanting to order online can find the books on my Amazon page. (It should be mentioned that I will be joined by authors John Hacker, Becca Haines, and Rodney Blaukat at both of those venues.)

Let Teachers Teach- This book features 45 of my essays on education, including several on educational issues, others based on experiences centered around school and the Joplin Tornado, and essays centering on an excellent principal, a couple of inspiring teaching colleagues, one student who committed suicide, and one who considered it, but didn't. Let Teachers Teach is only available online at the present time. It will be in local stores next spring.

No Child Left Alive- This novel tells the story of one year at a dysfunctional high school where the teachers battle to survive, caught between clueless administrators and out-of-control students. As their battle plays out, an ambitious assistant superintendent, willing to do anything to get ahead, runs the school district into the ground, while her clueless boss is more concerned about public relations and doing anything possible to improve the graduation rate- even if his tactics increase the presence of a criminal element in the high school and lead a bullied student to consider taking his revenge with a gun.

Scars from the Tornado- This book offers East Middle School students and me telling stories of the Joplin Tornado and the first year in a warehouse middle school. Students write about their experiences dealing with the trauma and loss from May 22, 2011 and trying to make a warehouse into a real school. The book also features my experiences during that year and student poems about the experience.

Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado- This book has been the forgotten stepchild of the three books about the Joplin Tornado, which is too bad, because in many ways, especially for those who are looking for a history of the tornado and the first year of Joplin's recovery, this is the best of the three books. It includes first-person tornado stories, plus the complete text of many of the important speeches given during that year, plus coverage of everything from Extreme Makeover to the Joplin High School Graduation to the six-month anniversary of the tornado.

5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado- 5:41 has been the top selling book online about the Joplin Tornado ever since its publication. It features first-person stories, photos, original reporting and the obituaries of those who died during the tornado.

Small Town News- My first book, published in 2005, is a novel based on the events of October 31, 2001, when the Bank of Diamond was robbed and the school superintendent, Dr. Greg Smith, disappeared. The book is a mystery and also serves as a satire on the media as newspaper and television reporters battle to get the story.

Other paperbacks available include Devil's Messenger (which has been updated to The Devil's on Facebook, which will be out in paperback next summer), The Turner Report, a collection of my favorite stories from my newspaper career and the early years of my blog, and Newspaper Days, a memoir of my 22 years as a newspaper reporter and editor.

The books can all be found on my Amazon page.

Also available online (and can be found on the same page) in e-book format are the above books, plus this book, which is only available online:

The Devil's on Facebook- An updated version of my 2006 horror novel Devil's Messenger about a teenage girl whose murdered father communicates with her on Facebook.