Explore a Collection of Captivating Stories

John McFadden Books

Kids and Teens

Downloadables

Mirror, Mirror

Summary

“Mirror, Mirror” is a beautifully illustrated picture book perfect for reading to young children. This lyrical story is about a generous and wise wizard named Windra who grants a group of friends each one wish. As the story unfolds, each child figures out what their one wish will be until something much more important changes their minds. “Mirror, Mirror” is a moving tale of true friendship and generosity where everyone gets their wish. “Mirror,Mirror” also features a new word introduction page, three coloring pages, a search for missing items, and a connect the dots challenge.

Age Range: 3-6 years

Note from the Author

“Mirror, Mirror” was my debut into the world of illustrated children’s books. Featuring beginning-to-end rhyming text, full-page illustrations (beautifully done by the brilliant Anastasia Hofmann), and workbook pages that had to be fun and engaging, this project certainly had its challenges. However, there was no doubt that it would be completed because I already had the last two lines, which came to me one day while riding my bike past a church. I just had to write everything else. But how could I make the story message-driven but not message-heavy or preachy? Then, Windra popped into my head, and together with my imaginary partner, we were off.

Just Like Me

Summary

Max was having a great time in school, but no one around him was. Then a new kid showed up at school, and Max’s whole world turned around. “Just Like Me” is a funny and inspiring story about how Max found a better version of himself; he just needed a little help finding it.

“Just Like Me” is a beautifully illustrated picture book and features a new word introduction page, three coloring pages, a search for missing items, and a connect-the-dots challenge.

Age Range: 5-10 Years

Note from the Author

After writing “Mirror, Mirror”, I thought I would never, ever write a rhyming story again, and I have infinite praise for those authors who do. But I wanted to write another message-driven children’s story, and the phrase “Just Like Me” kept popping up in my head as a theme or an ending for something. Since I attended twelve years of all-boys grammar and high schools, where excess testosterone and bullying were the natural order of things, I felt I was an expert on the subject. As the story and characters for a bullying theme began to take shape on paper, an “oh no, not again” realization also started to form. To make the message easily understandable, but not scary or dark, as most bullying scenarios inherently are, it would have to be in a lyrical and as light as possible rhyming format. It took me as long to write the eight stanzas in “Just Like Me” as it took to write a book, so again I say…never again…until the next time.

Five Nuts, One Banana, and a Hat.

Summary

When Joey, the Australian tree kangaroo, was preparing to move out of his mother’s pouch for good, it was obvious that he was going to need some help. One day, while wandering around the rainforest, he found a very small, very funny, and very smart partner on his road to growing up. All they had to do was not get eaten by something bigger than them…which was just about everything in the rainforest.

Note from the Author

All authors hit a wall, a dry spell. I usually hit one after I finish writing a book, and I feel like a swimmer who gave it all to finish that last lap. Out of ideas, out of words, and mentally exhausted, I have to rely on tricks to start the engine again. One trick is I think of a word, or a phrase, or a sentence, and I challenge myself to write a story using those prompts.

One morning, when I was on the checkout line at Costco, I looked under the register conveyor and saw all the stuff that people dump when they change their minds before paying. Splayed out on the floor from opened bags and fruit that had escaped from their bands were five nuts, one banana, and a frayed Long Island Ducks baseball cap that ran away from its owner. “Five nuts, one banana, and a hat” had a funny ring to it, so later that day, when I was visiting my four grandkids, evenly spaced from six to twelve years old, I tried it out – kind of a test run – and told them I was writing a new story.

“What’s it called?” The one who questioned everything asked.

“Five Nuts, One Banana, and a Hat,” I answered, and here is the transcript of the discussion.

“That’s a funny name for a book! Is it about monkeys?”

“I like stories about monkeys!”

“What about gorillas? They eat bananas, and they eat nuts too.”

“So do squirrels. Is it about squirrels?”

“Squirrels don’t eat bananas, and what about the hat? If the monkey is wearing a hat, he should probably wear pants.”

“Monkeys don’t wear pants. You’re soooo dumb.”

“And you’re a toothless doofus.”

“As soon as my teeth grow back, I’m going to bite off your nose.

“Maybe it’s about chickens.”

“WHY WOULD IT BE ABOUT CHICKENS?!!!”

And they’re off, but interested, so I had my answer. Now all I had to do was write a story about “Five Nuts, One Banana, and a Hat.”

Ladybug Ball

Summary

When the best ladybug band in the land gets bounced from playing at the Ladybug Ball, Beni and his bandmates figure out a way to get back to the main stage. Little did they know that they would wind up in the middle of a disaster that could wipe out the whole ladybug kingdom. Ladybug Ball is an exciting, fast paced story for young readers about courage,determination, and that everyone matters.

Age Range: 6-8 Years

Note from the Author

Unlike “Mirror, Mirror,” which was inspired by the last two lines, “Ladybug Ball” was inspired by the title, which I thought had a nice ring to it. So I had two words but no story; now what to do? Then, for no particular reason, I remembered an old ’70s Star Trek episode that featured a race of people where half the population was black on the right side of their body and white on the left side, and the other half of the population was the exact opposite. This singular and meaningless difference was the cause of all conflict and endless wars. The underlying message stayed with me all these years and re-emerged as “Ladybug Ball.”

Freddie’s Grapes

Summary

Freddie was a nice fox. He always shared what he had, didn’t get into fights, and was really smart. But was he smart enough to get that luscious bunch of grapes that hung way above his head? Was he smart enough to not get thrown off the farm by the huge guard dog or eaten by an alligator…and what about the raging river that washed out the bridge? Was he smart enough to figure all that out? Let’s hope so, because Fanci Fox, the prettiest fox in the forest just loves grapes, and Freddie was going all out to bring them back for her.

Age Range: 6-8 Years

Note from the Author

I have a lot of writer friends. One day, I was on a catch-up call with an illustrated children’s book writer, and she mentioned that she was involved in a project to write a modernized version of an Aesop’s Fable. That conversation brought back memories of a cartoon series on TV, “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show,” that I used to watch every Saturday when I was a kid. Within that show, there were segments called “Fractured Fairy Tales” and “Aesop & Son” that I thoroughly enjoyed and remember to this day. So, I figured I would add a few new characters, add a little romance, and write an expanded version of Aesop’s famous tale “The Fox and the Grapes.”

Jenny

Summary

A discarded doll brings a bit of magic back into a young girl’s life that had recently been turned upside down.

Age Range: 3-5 Years

Note from the Author

The origin of “Jenny” is written in the first few paragraphs of the story… because all that actually happened. It was a snowy mid-winter evening, and through my front window, I saw something pink and yellow in the roots of the big tree across the street. Curious, I went outside and saw that it was an abandoned doll that was positioned such that it was looking directly at our house. The doll was a bit disheveled but was beautifully made and the size of a small child. For no other reason than something so beautiful shouldn’t be just thrown away, I took the doll inside. My wife questioned my sanity as I shook off the snow, sat the doll in a chair, and stared at it for a while. Then I went into my office and wrote the story.And yes, I still have the doll…and my wife still thinks I’m nuts.

Treviana I – “Holiday Stories for the Young Reader”

Summary

Three wonderful stories: Patches – an Easter Bunny Story, Wings – a Mother’s Day Story, and Digger, Dug, Baxter, and Stinx – a Christmas Story. A fun and fascinating cast of characters work with Treviana to make Easter, Mother’s Day, and Christmas the fantastic events that they are. Each story adds more characters, vocabulary, and more complex ideas to gently improve the young reader’s comprehension skills. Treviana makes problem-solving fun for everyone!

Age Range: 3-8 Years

Note from the Author

My granddaughter, Treviana, was born in Diego, a long way from where I live in New York. Then COVID hit, and visiting her was not possible. My daughter, Trevi’s Mom, who can find a fix for anything, suggested that I write some stories with Trevi’s name in them and she would read them to her. So, I wrote the three stories with Trevi looking over my shoulder, and that’s how “Treviana – Holiday Stories for the Young Reader” was born.

Treviana II – “The Soaring Eagles Trilogy”

Summary

“Head, Heart, Hands” follows the title character, Treviana, aka Trevi, as a talented teenager in an elite performing arts high school. Trevi is joined by an equally gifted group of friends who share her passion for performing and her zero tolerance for bullies. So, if you want to see talent and tenacity overcome stage fright and sabotage, this is your story.

“Sofia’s Wish” features the charismatic and fun characters introduced in “Head, Heart, Hands” and welcomes an exciting and compelling new family into the series. Emotions run high as a blood feud tests the capabilities of all the characters in a life-or-death showdown. Escape Room fans are going to love this story.

“Uncle Dracula” introduces Trevi and her crew to the living nightmare of Uncle Dracula. Despicable and ruthless beyond belief, it will take everyone, and some new characters, to take down this menace. Drones, rattlesnakes, a computer genius, and gangsters all converge to make this story a monster.

Age Range: 13-17 Years

Note from the Author

After completing “Treviana I,” I had to make a decision. Do I continue to develop Trevi as a precocious child surrounded by a zoo of talking animals, or do I grow her up and lose the beasts? Bear in mind that the real Trevi was only about four months old at this point, so I couldn’t count on any biographical insights or direction from her. After multiple drafts, I decided to promote Trevi to an awesome teenager through three separate stories culminating in her first encounter with pure evil…“Uncle Dracula.”

Treviana III – “LoveTap”

Summary

“LoveTap” is the seventh story in the Treviana Series and the gloves are off. Trevi and her crew accept a seemingly simple job to find a lost cabin in the deep woods of Northern California. There was only one problem, the mob boss that hired them didn’t mention that they weren’t the only ones looking for the cabin. If you thought Uncle Dracula, Trevi’s last villain, was a nasty piece of work, just wait until you meet Amora.

Age Range: 13-17 Years

Note from the Author

This story was challenging to write because of the shifting points of view, parallel storylines, and a bullet hole punched into one of the main characters…so things were getting serious. In “LoveTap,” Trevi is only a year or so older than in “Treviana II,” so I had to grow her up enough to handle the gangster who wants to hire her, a very nasty cadre of cybercriminals who need to be stopped, and an assassin who is stalking her and her friends, all while keeping Trevi within the believable boundaries of a high school student.

Treviana IV – “Kellie McCaffery - Now Courage Has a Name”

Summary

The year is 1870. The place is Eastern Pennsylvania. The story is about Kellie McCaffery, twenty-four, widowed with three small children, who lives in a small mining town that did everything it could to destroy her—and failed.

Age Range: 13-18+ Years

Note from the Author

This book took quite a while to finish, and here’s why. Aside from all the historical details that had to be researched and the derivative assumptions that I based on verifiable facts, “Kellie” was not written from start to finish or, in literary terms, linearly. I first wrote “Now Courage Has a Name” as a stand-alone story timestamped in 1870, but when I saw how powerful a character Kellie was, I had to find a way to connect her to the “Treviana” Series. So, I added the first and last parts, which both take place in the present, and hoped the readers could follow the “book within a book” format and the time shifts. I haven’t received any “what the hell is going on here” emails, so I guess my wacky writing gamble worked.

Zora’s Compass

Summary

“Zora’s Compass” is a compelling story about the intense and possibly unsolvable conflict between a soldier’s duty to fight and a doctor’s pledge to heal. Dr. Ezra Talon’s worlds as soldier and doctor collide in an unspeakable tragedy on a battlefield in Afghanistan, leaving him exiled from both…until he finds hope in a holy woman with the power to save him. Armed only with an ancient artifact and a promise, Talon embarks on a worldwide search for redemption that ends in a life-or-death climax in the foothills of Utah.

Age Range: 13-17 Years

Note from the Author

Where did the idea for “Zora’s Compass” come from? All I knew was that I wanted
to write a story about the sacrifices of soldiers in our armed forces, even those who
were not in the cockpit of a fighter jet, or driving an attack submarine, or on the
front lines of battle. Everything in war takes its toll, and the challenge was how to
put the terrors of that reality into words and create a compelling story. After
countless false starts and meandering scenarios, three main characters began to
emerge, and I knew they could be connected, but I wasn’t sure exactly how. It was
a leap of faith to continue writing and hope everything would fall into place, and
eventually, everything did.

Adult Comedy

Frank and Adele - From Soup To Nuts

Summary

Frank and Adele fell in love and got married in a memorable ceremony where it was said by all that they were made for each other, and for the most part they were…but that’s not where the funny is. This book is about the other parts, the shaky ones, because that’s where hilarious lives.

Age Range: 18+ years

Note from the Author

Inspiration comes from everywhere and usually when you don’t expect it. One day, I was listening to my favorite country music channel, and this new song from a new artist came on. It was so good that I almost had to pull over. The lyrics tell the story of the love between a boy and his dad during different stages of life. It was so well written and poignant that I must have replayed it ten times. Naturally, as soon as I got home, I sat in front of my computer and said to myself, “I can write something funny from that,” and wrote the first Frank and Adele episode, “Even Though I’m Leavin’”. When I finished the story, I liked the characters so much that I didn’t stop, and a few months later, I had a book.