Firebelly: a journey into the heart of thinking
A young girl wishing her separated parents would live together, and a teenage girl trying to understand the difference between what she can be and what she must be, are connected through the actions of a small and unassuming Firebelly frog, who is immobilized by the choice between living a comfortable life as a pet and an adventurous life in the wild.
The arc of this poetic story introduces readers to some of the great ideas in Western philosophy, especially those of Sartre, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Dostoyevsky. The storyline, themes, and content of Firebelly offer an excellent opportunity for dialogue and discussion. Ages 12 - adult.
Firebelly website
The Search: a tetralogy about the art, god, wilderness, and family
A middle-aged man, diagnosed with a debilitating illness, explores the last years of two civilizations to understand how best to spend his last year. Should he live like the residents of Venice enjoying carnivals, sensual delights, and outward excess of every kind--ending their thousand year Republic with a show of hands to avoid Napoleon's canons. Or should he model his last year after the Byzantines, in reflection, prayer, and defiance of the inevitable--the Empire comes to a close with the last emperor, fighting on the walls of the city, sword in hand, trying to preserve Constantinople from the Ottomans? This contemporary epic is told through the eyes of his son, who is studying piano at a conservatory and must decide either to continue his pursuit of the arts or to search for the legacy of his father.
