Between 1943 and 1944, nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were rescued from the Holocaust, including thousands who had already been rounded up and put on trains bound for death camps in Poland. Dominic Carrillo’s suspenseful novel Acts of Resistance is based on the true story of this incredibly heroic effort by the citizens of Bulgaria. In Carrillo’s powerful account, he skillfully weaves together a thrilling tale told by three alternating teenage narrators: Misho, Peter, and Lily.

Misho, an 18-year-old Jewish boy, is a prominent archbishop’s driver, hiding his identity while helping his boss directly challenge the Bulgarian government’s pro-Nazi policies.

Peter, 17, is determined to save his Jewish neighbors by confronting parliament members in the capital, then taking up arms to fight with a partisan rebel communist group.

Lily, 19, works for the collaborationist government office in charge of evicting and deporting Jews to concentration camps. When she witnesses the evil results of her desk job, Lily becomes a spy who leaks information to Jewish community leaders in order to prevent further atrocities.

As the characters’ lives become more endangered and their unsung roles in saving Jewish citizens are revealed, the reader is treated to a tension-filled adventure surrounding one of the greatest unknown acts of heroism associated with the Holocaust. Acts of Resistance will have you on the edge of your seat as Misho, Peter, and Lily face and overcome extremely perilous situations, ultimately triumphing as they each help to lead the people of Bulgaria to rise up against the Nazis and save their nearly 50,000-strong Jewish population from extinction.

Beautiful and spirited Daniela dreams of becoming a doctor while growing up in Yedinitz, Romania in 1940, but as a Jew, she is barred from higher education. Her mother, who is the dressmaker to a local countess, hires her a tutor, the rebellious and precocious Mihail. The two soon begin a passionate romance, unable to resist the powerful love and attraction they share.

When the Nazis invade Romania, Daniela and Mihail’s lives are forever changed: Mihail escapes and joins the partisans; Daniela is captured and sent on the notorious Transnistrian Death March, where Jews are starved, murdered, and robbed. Daniela is brutally raped by Romanian soldiers, and trapped by their depravity, she watches helplessly as her people are destroyed.

Daniela’s life is spared when her beauty catches the eye of a Romanian Iron Guard commander, Major Dragulescu, who forcibly takes her as his concubine and also sends her to nurse Romanian soldiers in the field hospital, where Daniela cannot help feeling pity at the suffering that surrounds her.

One night Mihail appears with a troop of partisans on a mission to assassinate two key Nazis visiting the major. What happens next is both heroic and tragic, and results in Daniela’s escape with the partisans, who train her in sabotage and battle tactics. She throws herself into living on the run behind enemy lines, and transforms herself into an effective soldier and partisan leader until the war mercifully comes to an end.

The Dressmaker’s Daughter is an unflinching look at the horrors inflicted by the Nazis upon the Romanian Jews during the Holocaust, and one brave young woman’s ability to rise above her suffering and escape to freedom.

Click below to purchase this book:

Ray Elias is a precocious but withdrawn sixteen-year-old growing up in an affluent suburb of New York in the early sixties. Numbed by the assassination of President Kennedy, Ray chances upon a TV documentary about the most recent presidential election and is drawn to the ebullient senator from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey, who unsuccessfully challenged John Kennedy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960.

With the senator as his newfound hero, Ray fashions a mission for himself: make Humphrey Lyndon Johnson’s running mate in 1964. To the amazement of his friends and cynical father, Humphrey learns of Ray’s plan to lobby the delegates and, impressed with his sincerity and ambition, takes Ray under his wing.

Ray enters college as the senator is elected vice president, but the relationship unravels when Humphrey becomes an ardent public supporter of the Vietnam War, despite his personal belief in the war’s futility. As the tension between them grows and their bond deteriorates, Ray is devastated by his loss of faith in Humphrey. However, he finds consolation for his disappointment in Ruth, a spirited classmate from the other side of the tracks who teaches him understanding and empathy.

As Ray matures to young adulthood he reconnects with Humphrey—who has by now achieved a political revival and is mulling a fresh run at the presidency—and the two reconcile after Humphrey finally acknowledges his breach of Ray’s trust, and Ray forgives his former mentor.

Loosely based on the author’s real-life relationship with Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Humphrey and Me portrays the often highly emotional journey that comes with embracing our heroes, while set against the backdrop of the tempestuous political eras of the 1960s and ’70s.

Can surfing change your life? For Ellie, it most certainly does. Vezna Andrews’ debut novel is set in 1980s Southern California, where sixteen-year-old Ellie discovers herself through her love of surfing. Born and raised in New York City, Ellie’s world is turned upside down when her father unexpectedly dies and her mother sends her to Manhattan Beach, California to live with her Aunt Jen and her Uncle Charlie—both avid surfers.

Ellie’s new home is a sharp contrast to the loft in New York City’s garment district where she grew up. Heartbroken about her dad, and worried about her mom, who drinks too much, Ellie doesn’t fit in with the preppie girls at her new California high school, who eventually gang up on and bully her. Thankfully, with the encouragement of Aunt Jen and Uncle Charlie, Ellie discovers surfing, which becomes her passion and her refuge.

While surfing California’s wild coast, Ellie experiences surfing's spiritual, healing qualities, including magical encounters with wild dolphins, whales, and sea lions. Eventually, Ellie finds a group of like-minded souls who show her what true friendship is—and she experiences first love. Though her relationship with her mom grows strained, Ellie becomes close to Aunt Jen, Uncle Charlie, and their community of surfers. Through surfing, Ellie develops the confidence and strength needed to navigate her own path in life—surfing literally saves her.