Poet Brandon Dillon makes his debut with The Mad Ramblings of a Joker, a brutally honest collection full of metaphor and vibrant imagery. His work covers topics such as PTSD, depression, and heartbreak, and softer moments of hope and reflective peace.
His poetry is deep and unforgettable, a beacon for a dark world that needs a friend to say, “I’ve been there. I understand.”
Brandon Dillon is an award-winning poet who writes from the soul about his life as a child born into poverty, his travels around the world as a U.S. Marine, love won and love lost, and the trauma that life brings. If you ask him his biggest accomplishments thus far, he will tell you they are the laughter and tears of the audience as he reads his words on the stage for them. He is amazed when people feel his emotion and in turn show him their emotion.
He has twice performed by invitation, reading his poetry at the FASOLT Fine Arts Expo, and has participated twice in “Color: Story,” a collaboration between poets and visual artists, winning first place in 2019. When he is not working or taking care of his two sons, Brandon frequents open mic readings for poetry and all genres of writing with the group Writespace and performs at open mic and slam poetry events with the group Write About Now, at times reading something he just wrote that day.
He is never far from his notebook, fitting his writing in between shifts at work, kids and homework, and sleeping. Brandon lives in Houston, Texas.
Categories: Historical / Jewish Literature / Sibling Fiction / Holocaust
With the
cloud of the Holocaust still looming over them, twin sisters Bronka and Johanna
Lubinski and their parents arrive in the US from a Displaced Persons Camp. In
the years after World War II, they experience the difficulties of adjusting to
American culture as well as the burgeoning fear of the Cold War.
Years later,
the discovery of a former Nazi hiding in their community brings the Holocaust
out of the shadows. As the girls get older, they start to wonder about their
parents’ pasts, and they begin to demand answers. But it soon becomes clear
that those memories will be more difficult and painful to uncover than they
could have anticipated.
Poignant and haunting, The Takeaway Men explores the
impact of immigration, identity, prejudice, secrets, and lies on parents and
children in mid-twentieth-century America.
PRAISE FOR THE TAKEAWAY MEN:
“At a time when the darkness of the Holocaust is being whitewashed, Meryl Ain’s
remarkable debut novel illuminates the postwar Jewish American landscape like a
truth-seeking torch. An emotionally rich and lovingly told saga of survivors,
with great sensitivity to what was lost, buried, and resurrected.”— Thane Rosenbaum, author of The Golems of Gotham,
Second Hand Smoke, and Elijah Visible.
“The author’s
tale is sensitively composed, a thoughtful exploration into the perennially thorny
issues of religious identity, assimilation, and the legacy of suffering.”—Kirkus
Reviews
Meryl Ain’s articles and essays have appeared in Huffington Post, The New York Jewish Week, The New York Times, Newsday and other publications. In 2014, she co-authored the award-winning book, The Living Memories Project: Legacies That Last, and in 2016, wrote a companion workbook, My Living Memories Project Journal. She is a sought-after speaker and has been interviewed on television, radio, and podcasts. She is a career educator and is proud to be both a teacher and student of history. She has also worked as a school administrator.
The Takeaway Men is the result of her life-long quest to learn more about the Holocaust, a thirst that was first triggered by reading The Diary of Anne Frank in the sixth grade. While teaching high school history, she introduced her students to the study of the Holocaust. At the same time, she also developed an enduring fascination with teaching about and researching the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case. An interview with Robert Meeropol, the younger son of the Rosenbergs, is featured in her book, The Living Memories Project. The book also includes an interview with Holocaust survivor, Boris Chartan, the founder of the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, New York.
Meryl holds a BA from Queens College, an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an Ed.D. from Hofstra University. She is a lifetime member of Hadassah and an active supporter of UJA-Federation of New York. She lives in New York with her husband, Stewart. They have three married sons and six grandchildren. This is her first novel.
Cleo can tie a bow. She learned from a rabbit and a fox. They can help you learn to tie one, too. Great parent-child activity for learning to tie a bow with any ribbon or string - including shoe laces.
HALL WAYS BLOG: BOOK REVIEW: First, beware the book
trailer for Cleo Can Tie A Bow because you will not be able to get the
little jingle out of your head. But, the book trailer does give you a
delightful peek into the equally delightful book that author Sybrina Durant has
written to help kids learn to tie bows.
The illustrations in Cleo Can Tie A Bow are top-notch,
and I will look for other media illustrated by Pumudi Gardiyawasam. From the
pink-o-rama of Cleo’s bedroom and world to the lush greens of the outdoors, the
artwork is eye-catching and will completely immerse readers in the story. The
wide, expressive eyes of all the characters will also draw-in readers and help
establish a connection. The color palettes (there are really two sets since
there is a story within the story) and the skillful artistry are sure to make
the book a hit with readers young and old. Make sure those grubby hands are
washed before reading because kids will want to touch the richly-drawn pages.
Author Sybrina Durant begins the book with a direct message
to the parents, and she ends the book with a direct message to the readers. These
bookends underscore that the book shines best when an adult and child read it
together. I can imagine the giggles and hilarity of going through the steps to tie
your own bows, either by following Cleo’s model or that of the rabbit and the
fox, but that lesson is just one aspect of the book. The format lends itself to
all kinds of learning opportunities across several subjects beyond tactile
skills. Kids could count the bows or butterflies, or they could compare the
shapes, but also there are discussions that could take place about kindness,
helpfulness, and even obsession. (But truly, can you ever have too many bows?)
The school librarian in me gives high marks to a book that
would be fabulous to have on the shelves to share with young readers, and the Mimi
in me can’t wait to snuggle with my granddaughter and read Cleo Can Tie A Bow together.
(I will have to stay on my toes since she currently likes to lick all her
books!)
Thank you to the author and iRead Book Tours for giving me a
gorgeous print copy in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.
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Meet the Author:
I've been writing creative and technical works for years. Many of my songs are on YouTube and iTunes. Two of my books are available as eBooks online. They are Learn To Tie A Tie with the Rabbit and the Fox" and Sybrina's Phrase Thesaurus.