2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: Johanna Parkhurst

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Gay Young Adult
Here’s to You, Zeb Pike by Johanna Parkhurst
Paperback: 180 pages
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (November 7, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627985247
ISBN-13: 978-1627985246
Amazon: Here's to You, Zeb Pike
Amazon Kindle: Here's to You, Zeb Pike

Fact: When Zebulon Pike attempted to climb what is now known as Pikes Peak, he got stuck in waist-deep snow and had to turn back.

That's the last thing Dusty Porter learns in his Colorado history class before appendicitis ruins his life. It isn't long before social services figures out that Dusty's parents are more myth than reality, and he and his siblings are shipped off to live in Vermont with an uncle and aunt they've never met.

Dusty's new life is a struggle. His brother and sister don't seem to need him anymore, and he can't stand his aunt and uncle. At school, one hockey player develops a personal vendetta against him, while Emmitt, another hockey player, is making it hard for Dusty to keep pretending he's straight. Problem is, he's pretty sure Emmitt's not gay. Then, just when Dusty thinks things can't get any worse, his mother reappears, looking for a second chance to be a part of his life.

Somehow Zebulon Pike still got the mountain named after him, so Dusty's determined to persevere-but at what point in life do you keep climbing, and when do you give up and turn back?

Gay Young Adult
Every Inferno by Johanna Parkhurst
ebook, 180 pages
Expected publication: July 24th 2104 by Harmony Ink Press
ISBN13 9781627987

Depressed. Defiant. Possible alcoholic. These are just a few of the terms used to describe fifteen-year-old Jacob Jasper Jones. Lately, though, JJ has a new one to add to the list: detective. He’s been having strange dreams about the fire that killed his parents ten years ago, and he thinks he finally has the clue to catching the arsonist who destroyed his family.

A murder investigation isn’t the only thing the dreams trigger for JJ. They also lead to secret meetings with his estranged sister, an unlikely connection with a doctor who lost his daughter in the fire, and a confusing friendship with McKinley, a classmate of JJ’s who seems determined to help him solve the mystery.

All JJ wants is to shake the problems that have followed him since that fire, and he’s convinced he must catch the arsonist to do it. But as JJ struggles to find the culprit, he sees there’s more than one mystery in his life he needs to solve.

Charities Donation program progress:
25$ Lancaster LGBT Center: http://www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/
25$ Odyssey Youth Center: www.odysseyyouth.org/
25$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
30$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
50$ Wes for Youth: wesforyouth.privacemail.com/
50$ Lambert House: www.lamberthouse.org/
50$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
50$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
75$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
75$ CARE: careprogram.org/
100$ The Center Colorado: http://www.glbtcolorado.org/
105$ Moveable Feast: http://www.mfeast.org/
110$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
150$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
180$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
317$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
347$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
425$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
437$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
710$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
747$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 4243$*

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html