Jasmine is sleeping soundly when a gentle tapping on her window awakens her. It's the sweet-smelling jasmine vine, calling her to come and find the life outside her window. As Jasmine ventures downstairs, she hears the nighttime sounds of ticking clocks and ribbiting frogs. She discovers that there is a bustling world in her own backyard. What critters will Jasmine uncover as she looks out into the night? Night Blooming Jasmine is sure to delight young readers with its enchanting illustrations, softly drawn in cool, beautiful colors that evoke the magic of the night. Written in rhythmic verse with flowing rhymes the story is fun and engaging, making it a perfect book to read aloud while introducing the night behavior of familiar animals. Interesting facts about nocturnal animal activity are included at the end of the book.

For Jasminne Mendez, pericardial effusion and pericarditis are not just an abnormal accumulation of fluid and increased inflammation around the heart. It’s what happens “when you stifle the tears and pain of a miscarriage, infertility and chronic illness for so long that your heart does the crying for you until it begins to drown because its tears have nowhere to go.” Diagnosed with scleroderma at 22 and lupus just six years later, her life becomes a roller coaster of doctor visits, medical tests and procedures. Staring at EKG results that look like hieroglyphics, she realizes that she doesn’t want to understand them: “The language of a life lived with chronic illness is not something I want to adapt to. I cannot let this hostile vocabulary hijack my story.” The daughter of Dominican immigrants, Mendez fought for independence against her overly-protective parents, obtaining a full scholarship to college, a dream job after school and a master’s degree shortly thereafter. But the full-time job with medical insurance doesn’t satisfy her urge to write and perform, so she leaves it in search of creative fulfillment. In this stirring collection of personal essays and poetry, Mendez shares her story, writing about encounters with the medical establishment, experiences as an Afro Latina and longing for the life she expected but that eludes her.

The Night Blooming Jasmine is an exquisitely designed messenger with a lovely secret to share. It inspires us to align ourselves with the still, calm wisdom of the Universe, opening our hearts to nature's beautiful instruction and inspiration.

Amber-Rose Collier had a rough childhood, and if it were not for her faith, the chains of addiction that held her parents would bind her too. She found Jesus at an early age and was blessed to be adopted by Christian parents. They take her away from the orphanage in the impoverished coal-mining town where she was born and her mother was killed during one of her father's drunken rages. Amber loves her new family but is without her older sister and younger brother, who had been adopted separately. Then, just one year after her older sister found her, she is blinded in an accident. Her sister, filled with guilt, stays out of her life. Amber pushes away her fiance, convinced it would be unfair to marry him. With the help of the Braille Institute, she sees herself in a new light and decides to marry Mason Powell. They have children, even though his mother is against it. She would endure other trials, which only served to strengthen her faith. She and her daughter, Rae, become beacons of hope in their community. Night Blooming Jasmine is the first book in the Shadow of the Steeples series. "Lisa Keck's debut novel, Night Blooming Jasmine, is hauntingly sweet, much like its title. From the first page until the last, Keck carries her readers along on a painful but positive journey, one that brings victory from ashes and triumph from heartache. I look forward to more offerings from this talented author " -Kathi Macias (www.kathimacias.com), multi-award-winning author of forty books, including Golden Scrolls 2011 Novel of the Year, Red Ink