BOOK NOOK By Nanette Wiser
Award-Winning “Becoming Jesse”
St. Petersburg author Patsie McCandless is an award-winning author, artist, musician, TEDx speaker and educator. Her “Becoming Jesse: Celebrating the Everyday Magic of Childhood” won the Family Choice Award and Mom’s Choice Award. “The creativity and extraordinary imagination in Becoming Jesse amazed our distinguished judges and staff,” said Family Choice Magazine.
McCandless was inspired to write this novel to encourage parents and children to put down their cell phones, turn off their screens, open a book and read it together. “It’s time for a new story,” McCandless says. “A story to change our upside-down world for the better. Families are yearning for their light… for a beautiful, beguiling, positive story.”
The CEO of the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award, Dawn Matheson, wrote, “Becoming Jesse is fueled by a passion to make a better world. It merits a place on our list of the best in engaging, family-friendly books in which parents and educators can feel inspired and confident.”
Jack Canfield, co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” said, “Becoming Jesse is a radiantly magical story… inspirational… with a very profound message, because it’s really about becoming the magic in you.”
Becoming Jesse is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and IndieBound.com.
Vintage St. Pete
St. Pete resident and author Bill DeYoung’s newest book is a gem. “Vintage St. Pete: The Golden Age of Tourism – and More” is a clever trip down the Sunshine City’s memory lane. The new full color, hardbound book from St. Petersburg Press features 22 of his “Vintage St. Pete” stories from the St. Pete Catalyst. Part of Heritage Village’s Speaking of History series.
DeYoung is the Florida-based author of “Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay’s Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down,” “Phil Gernhard Record Man” and “I Need to Know: The Lost Music Interviews.” A veteran newspaper reporter and editor whose music journalism has appeared in numerous national and international publications, he is also featured as an essayist in the liner notes of more than 100 albums, by artists ranging from Cat Stevens (the four-disc “Cat Stevens Box Set”) to Stephen Stills, B.B. King, Black Oak Arkansas, Patsy Cline and Steve Winwood.