"The Legendary Little Joe Cook" is the biography of a man whose voice spans 5 octaves and 8 decades. Originally a Gospel singer, his 1957 hit "Peanuts" put him on the national scene as a Doo Wop performer. With blues, pop music, and R&B also in his bag, his career has included road tours, radio, TV (on Dick Clark's American Bandstand), weekly gigs, 5-year engagements, and, eventually, a 25-year reign at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, MA, where he has become a local legend. In 2006, Joe was inducted into the Doo Wop Hall of Fame of America. This year (2012) Joe turns 90.

At age five, Laurie Welsh experiences a major tragedy in her life. This collection of short stories follows Laurie as she grows up in the heartland of America in the 1950's, trying to make sense of the world around her. The life lessons that she bravely attempts to learn are all tinted, some more subtly than others, by the lingering shadow of her early tragedy. How strong does a child have to be? This is a recurring question that Laurie must face.

1955, NYC: A young black boy's mother dies, and he fends for himself as he grows up with a negligent aunt. 1970, Londonderry, Northern Ireland: A bomb explodes, killing everyone in the pub. 1980's, USA: A highly-successful Midwestern businessman becomes jobless and ends up working for the FBI. 1995, Cambridge, MA: An American novelist begins to write a novel about a small local group that is secretly aiding the IRA. Joining in her new neighbor's Scottish dance group, she finds herself caught up in an actual group of IRA collaborators that the FBI is watching. She then must try to prove her...

This collection of poetry invites the reader to partake of language that flows with equal passion through many layers of life, from the very personal to the global. Through the observation of nature, people, attitudes, political and social issues, these poems reveal a close connection between the mundane and the spiritual.

Illicit drugs, homelessness, corruption in law enforcement: Whose fault are these problems? Whose responsibility are they? Cambridge, MA, writer Jasmine Marshall runs up against these questions when drug dealing unexpectedly and suddenly penetrates her life. Working with a highly competent, intriguing black FBI agent, Malcolm Cross, she tries to extricate herself and her family from the drug world. In the process, she discovers its pervasive, destructive nature within her own city, as she sees how its dirty fingers touch the homeless, students at the high school, and the police department. As...