Five Turner e-books on sale for 99 cents

Five of my e-books will be reduced in price to 99 cents for 48 hours beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday on Amazon Kiudle. (Those of you who do not have a Kindle can download the free Kindle app.)

The five include my novels No Child Left Alive, The Devil's on Facebook, and Small Town News and non-fiction books Let Teachers Teach and The Best of Sports Talk.

No Child Left Alive is the story of one year in a dysfunctional high school as teachers battle out-of-control students and clueless, self-absorbed administrators (Where do I come up with these ideas?). It is the book that C. J. Huff testified has nothing to say whatsoever about education and frequent Joplin Globe columnist Anson Burlingame says is pornography. After you read it, you will begin to wonder if C. J. Huff knows anything about education and if Anson Burlingame knows anything about pornography.

The Devil's on Facebook is an updated version of my 2006 novel Devil's Messenger and is a combination horror story/murder mystery. A teenage girl communicates with her murdered father on Facebook. Devil's Messenger, you may remember, is another book that Joplin R-8 Administration cited in its eventually successful effort to fire me. This vile book (according to them) was also pornographic and I allowed students to read it. That is true. Of course, it was never mentioned that the book had been on the shelves at East/South and Joplin High School for seven years.

Small Town News was my first novel, originally published in 2005, and is a fictionalized version of the events of October 31, 2001, when the bank of Diamond was robbed and Diamond R-4 Superintendent Greg Smith on the same day. The book is a satire on what happens when a small town is besieged by the media as newspaper and television reporters battle to get the story.

Let Teachers Teach is a collection of my best writing on education, including some original essays, plus ones that have been published elsewhere. Topics featured include standardized tests, the war against public education and public schoolteachers, my experiences teaching after the Joplin Tornado, remembrances of colleagues and former students, and the challenges that face classroom teachers.

The Best of Sports Talk is a collection of my best sports writing, mostly from the 1990s, including features on current Joplin City Councilwoman Miranda Lewis, about her aunt Nancy Cruzan of the Supreme Court right-to-die case, former Lamar Coach Armando DeLaRosa, who murdered his wife and then killed himself, current Carthage teacher Peggy Lucas as she watched her daughter Tysha, also a teacher now, play her final high school volleyball match, and the girl who received her first kiss at a basketball game, plus the way a swimmer who died of meningitis affected a class of first graders and much, much more.

New specials on 5:41, Let Teachers Teach, other Turner books

As of this morning, anyone who buys, or who has bought, a paperback copy of one of my most recent books from Amazon can buy an e-copy of that book for 99 cents.

The deal, which will continue for the foreseeable future, covers 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Let Teachers Teach, No Child Left Alive, Scars from the Tornado, and Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado.

Signed copies of Let Teachers Teach available at Always Buying Books Changing Hands Book Shoppe

A limited number of signed copies of my book Let Teachers Teach are on the shelves at two Joplin locations as of about two hours ago.

Let Teachers Teach is a collection of my best essays on education, ranging from material I have written about educational issues to writing about my own teaching experiences and teaching in the aftermath of the Joplin Tornado.

The books can be purchased for $10 at Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book Shoppe.

The local launch for the book and the first signing will be held sometime in February or March.

Signed copies are also available at the Randy Turner Book Store link in the upper right hand section of this page.

Books can also be purchased through Amazon.com and from other internet outlets.

Let Teachers Teach is also available for $5 in e-book format from Amazon Kindle.

Things I'm Thinking About, Monday, December 30

A few brief items and thoughts-

-No More Fox Sports Radio in Joplin- When 1450 AM suddenly junked its programming and began playing Christmas music 24 hours a day a few weeks back, I figured the days of the station being a Fox Sports affiliate were numbered. When I tuned in to the station today it was something called "The Dove" and was playing all gospel music. I enjoyed the Fox Sports programming on occasion, though I never did understand why anyone would think that the Texas Rangers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and University of Oklahoma would draw huge audiences. Those interested in Fox Sports Radio can catch it on KSEK-AM, 1340 from Pittsburg.

-Problems With East Middle School and Soaring Heights- The story I am hearing from the Joplin R-8 School District is that there are already problems with the new East Middle School and Soaring Heights Elementary School. Teachers did not receive keys to get into the building when they were supposed to (and they are scheduled to move in next week), construction is not done, and leaks have developed.

-Ronny Justin Myers in Illinois Prison- The man at the center of what should have been the scandal story of the year (except the Joplin Globe and other area media ignored it) will be spending the next 17 years at a Pekin, Illinois, prison. Ronny Justin Myers, who was pulling down $67,000 a year from the Joplin R-8 School District for his job in the technology department, has settled into the medium security prison. Myers, if you remember, is the one who was arrested when he showed up at Northpark Mall to have sex with an underage girl was was greeted by the police. He later admitted that he had pornographic photos on his laptop of 10 Joplin High School students, information that was never told to parents, students, or the Board of Education, leaving questions unanswered about whether anyone should still be concerned about student and teacher privacy.

First Copies of Let Teachers Teach Arrive- The UPS truck arrived Friday with the first shipment of copies of my book of education essays Let Teachers Teach. I am not planning on having any official signing for the book until February or March and I only ordered a few copies, but I am planning on leaving some at Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book  Shoppe in Joplin.

Autographed copies of 5:41, No Child Left Alive, three other books available

I just finished setting up an internet storefront for five of my books.  A link to the site will be featured in the upper right hand corner of all of my blogs.

Autographed copies of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, No Child Left Alive, Let Teachers Teach, Scars from the Tornado, and Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado are available and more will be added at a later date.

Anyone wanting a personalized message (if it is being presented as a gift, for instance) e-mail me at rturner229@hotmail.com and provide me with details.

I will soon begin taking orders for the paperback version of my novel, The Devil's on Facebook.