Stories and Books.com is a showcase for a lifetime of writing that I want to share. It reflects my own work as well as that of other independent authors whose books are worthy of a wide audience. Page one of Books and Stories is dedicated to a book that is very close to my heart - one that I think can make a positive difference in the attitude of young people approaching adolescence. Let me explain:

A Novel Children's Mystery

Meow.org - a Cat-Napping caper is a children's mystery book that features four young heroes - each having a physical disability that prevents them from being part of the popular clique in school. They naturally gravitate toward each other and discover individual talents that lead to a powerful alliance. Together they solve crimes using their natural abilities and focus on their personal strengths in the face of social isolation at the school they attend. They do so with humor and confidence while facing challenges unknown by the clique leaders who taunt them.

An Entertaining Teaching Tool

As children grow older, friends become very important. By the age 8 they are keenly aware of each other. They naturally begin to pick their "tribes" - peer groups with whom they identify. Part of that dynamic is to select out people who do not match their tribal demographic and, all too often, tease and taunt them as a way to retain approval of their peers and ensure membership in the tribe. If this all sounds anthropological - it is. It's a dynamic that cuts across cultures and time. We like to think that we have evolved beyond such basic instincts but we prove, time and again, that we haven't. Too often, children with physical disabilities are the recipients of teasing and isolation. Those perceived as weak (not unlike in the animal world) are targeted and isolated. My children's mystery book is ideal for independent readers' ages 8 to 11 - when they learn about the values of friendship.

Super Heroes for Children with Disabilities

There is another young audience for whom this children's mystery is intended. Young people navigating life and managing the complexity of having a physical disability can look to Meow.org for a few literary heroes. It's my intent this children's book provides them with entertainment, confidence and an awareness that each individual has unique gifts to bring to the human experience.

An Exciting Mystery for All Children

There is no outright preaching or teaching in The Cat Napping-Caper. The book is a straight forward children's mystery book. It's fast paced, laced with humor and adventure and meets with the approval of medical and psychological professionals I've consulted throughout the process of writing this children's mystery. The adults with whom I've shared the manuscript have enjoyed it and said, "I couldn't put it down!" and the children have been equally interested.

This children's mystery book is Page One on Books and Stories.com because, in my estimation, it's the most important piece I've written after more than 30 years as a journalist for print and electronic media. I've got plenty more writing on this Website but my children's book is a simple gift to parents, and children who love to read and want to grow into good, kind citizens of a world that is decorated with diversity and distinguished by individual differences.

Free Children's Book

Since I don't want to invest the time it takes to acquire the rare formal publisher and agent, I am publishing this children's mystery book on my own - self publishing or "indie publishing," in current vernacular. Further, I am making audio copies and e-books (currently in production) available free of charge simply because I want "Meow.org, The Cat-Napping Caper" to be read and benefit children everywhere. Here is the free children's book proposition:

Meow.org - A Cat-Napping Caper is a free children's book if:

1. Your family is low income and can't afford to purchase books
2. Your child has low vision, or your child has some impairment that prevents him or her from reading a book in print.
3. You are an educator who will be sharing this book with a class of children.

Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic is currently creating an audio file for this purpose. Please CLICK HERE to visit their Website. (Available in late Sept.) I am working on a downlaodable, accessible e-book so please check back later for availability.

You may also order an affordable printed paperback copy with a full color cover HERE. In addition, Meow.org is available on Amazon.com as a Kindle book for a very nominal fee.

CLICK to read a sample of the first few chapters of Meow.org - A Cat-Napping Caper, a Mystery Book for Children.

Darby Lee Patterson