Rowling, Riordan, and Sweitzer & Swanepoel – authors who GET adventure writing for young adults. Know the first two, but not the last? That’s about to change, with the new Sierra Rouge adventure series by Stormy Sweitzer & Will Swanepoel. The first in the series is entitled The Drowning Shark, and, like all the books in the series, focuses on social change, compassion for the world around us, and adventure. 

Florida Culture for the Week of February 29, 2016 by Josh Garrick

Education – in all its forms – can change the world. And education is the single most effective way to reduce poverty.  The Global Partnership for Education notes, 

Making the decision to pack up your laptop, a bag of clothes, and a heap of textbooks, and head to a completely different country in order to study can be incredibly exciting, yet daunting. The chances are you won’t know anybody at all, so how can you ensure you make the most of your time abroad? The best way, of course, is to choose your location, and educational establishment, wisely.

For American high school seniors (and their parents), the first four months of the new year ring in an especially stressful period – the final throes of the college admissions process. Deadlines for applications arrive, decisions for early action are made, campus visits are made and weighing final selection all add to the angst. “Will I get in?” is replaced by “where will I go?” in the minds of these students.
 

Blood on the station floor. Mine! Yes, another fall on the escalator as I hurried to catch the high-speed German ICE (Inter City Express) train in Amsterdam’s Centraal Station. Heavy bag deciding to go south, me following. A bang on the head and a cut finger. Police there in an instant, tissues materialised to stem the dripping, wanting me to sit and calm down … and the train to leave in two minutes. And you know how German trains leave as the second hand hits the Twelve. No, not dizzy, shaken but okay ..

Florida Culture for the Week of February 22, 2016 by Josh Garrick