Books for young adults featuring the occult (vampires, warewolves and wizards) sell tons and tons of books. And in fairness, books that get youngsters to read, are a positive thing. Still, it's refreshing when young adult readers appreciate stories that hit a little closer to home -- a little closer to reality.

Here's an excerpt from middle school student Cynthia Edwards' book review of "Where the Sky Doesn't End."

"This book has many twists and turns. I was hooked right from…

Rather than read his monthly musing, check out NPR affiliate's KBIA-FM radio's Janet Saidi's interview with "Where the Sky Doesn't End" author Ron Nichols at... http://kbia.org/post/interview-author-ron-nichols…

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is one of our nation's greatest stories about courage, perseverance, sacrifice and heroism. With the release of George Lucas’ new movie, “Red Tails,” I’m hoping that young people will be inspired to learn more about these remarkable heroes.

As an avid aviation and history buff, I’ve had the privilege to hear several of the pilots from the Tuskegee Airmen talk about their shared experiences as aviators fighting AGAINST the Axis powers and as…

While doing research for “Where the Sky Doesn’t End,” I learned that the segregated Tuskegee Airmen units included African American ground support personnel – those skilled individuals who kept the airplanes flying day-in and day-out, under the most difficult of circumstances. As the result of that research, I created a character named Mr. Washington, who served as one of those mechanics. He’s a hero in many ways – both in service to his country and later as a friend and mentor to the book’s…