Surprise your Kids for Passover!

"Janet Ruth Heller’s The Passover Surprise is a nicely illustrated chapbook for young readers with clear print, great chapter titles, well-placed black-and-white illustrations, and a pleasing lesson well-told. The story’s set around 1960, when civil rights hit the schoolroom and the news, fathers might have served in the Second World War, and girls were still not supposed to like the same things as boys. It’s a deceptively simple tale in which life isn’t fair, but love and trust, with a measure of kind communication, might ease the pain. 

"Readers will learn about sibling rivalry and parental mistakes, while absorbing the joys of stamp collecting, Jewish Sabbath and Passover, and family love. As Lisa learns of the world’s many faults, her own problems fall into pleasing perspective, and her mother’s advice proves wise and comforting.

"A great book to build good family relationships (complete with a neat discussion guide), and an intriguing window into the world, The Passover Surprise is highly recommended." —Sheila Deeth, author of Psalm Stories and other books

R.I.P. Ralph Hancox: A Great Loss

Ralph Hancox: 1929-2017

I am very sad to announce the passing of my dear friend and Fictive Press author Ralph Hancox. Beyond his remarkable lifetime achievements and brilliance, Ralph was an extraordinary individual—charming, funny, thoughtful and compassionate. Many have benefited from his kindness and interest—and I was fortunate enough to be one of them. He took a chance on me when I was young and virtually unskilled and offered me my first first real job, as his administrative assistant in the Reader's Digest book department in Montreal. This effectively launched my decade-long association with the Digest and my subsequent business-writing career. In the last two years, I had the privilege of working with Ralph again, this time as his editor and publisher of his three novels: Con Job, Scandalous and The Ape & the Peacock. I shall miss him greatly.