Books
Mario Alvarado’s New Novel Draws on His Own Path from Boxing to College to Faith
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Mario Alvarado has published a new novel, "Walking Through the Valleys of the Shadows of Death," a work of fiction set in inner-city Los Angeles that follows a boy navigating poverty, gang violence and a system the book portrays as stacked against him. The 164-page paperback came out in September through Hawes & Jenkins and is available now in bookstores and through major online retailers.
The novel draws on Alvarado’s own background. He grew up in East and South-East Los Angeles, where, according to the announcement, boxing was less a sport than a means of survival. He trained in the sport for sixteen years, starting at age thirteen, before a conversation at his high school’s career office redirected him toward college. The announcement describes him as the first in his family to attend one. A spiritual awakening at nineteen, which he credits with helping him push past the obstacles in front of him, became the basis for the book’s central arc.
In the novel, the protagonist initially gives in to the future he believes has been written for him, then works through a period the publisher describes as spiritual rebirth. With the support of a group called the Rebels and a Christian woman named Kathy, he returns to boxing, not for his own sake alone but, per the announcement, to give the younger kids who remind him of himself something to hope for. exploring themes of faith restored, community forged through shared struggle, and the power of refusing predetermined failure.
"This book emerges from my belief that every human journey deserves to be told," Alvarado said in the announcement. "I wanted to show young people that even when society writes your ending, you have the power to rewrite it, and that faith, community, and courage can transform valleys into mountaintops."
The title echoes a 2005 book by a different author, Dr. Robert E. Kasey, though the two appear to be unrelated works. For Studio CarryOnHarry, the more interesting story here isn’t the book alone but the life behind it — a sixteen-year boxing career and a first-in-family college path that reads like material for more than one book.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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Books
Army Veteran’s New Novel “Sherry Lynn” Follows Soldiers Branded Traitors on a Years-Long Journey Home
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Maxon Widner has published a new military science fiction novel, "Sherry Lynn," about a crew of soldiers deliberately labeled traitors so they could infiltrate a fortified enemy base and destroy it from within. The book, published through Fulton Books, runs 436 pages and was released in paperback on September 16, 2026.
The novel picks up after that mission succeeds, following the crew as they attempt the long trip back to Earth through what the book calls the Basin of Lost Souls. According to the announcement, the journey spans years of hostile terrain, with the soldiers contending with remnants of the enemy they just defeated while navigating a complicated alliance with the Imperial Navy. The central question driving the story, per the announcement, is whether soldiers branded traitors can ever truly be allowed to come home, and what it costs them to get there.
Widner served in the US Army and Army Reserves for more than twenty-four years, according to the announcement, including time operating M60 and M1 Abrams main battle tanks before moving into recruitment and logistics roles. That background, the announcement states, shapes the book’s approach to tactical detail and military structure alongside its focus on the soldiers’ personal stakes.
"After spending more than two decades in uniform, I wanted to create a story that honored the sacrifices soldiers make and the personal costs of duty," Widner said in the announcement.
Fulton Books describes the novel as centered on duty, sacrifice, and the distance soldiers travel, literally and otherwise, to get back to the people waiting for them. The book is available at bookstores and through Apple iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Barnes and Noble.
Studio CarryOnHarry is curious how a career spent in actual tank crews and logistics work translates onto the page when the setting shifts to science fiction and a fictional war zone.
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Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Julie Kleinberger has released "ABC Building Blocks," a children’s book aimed at early readers that pairs each letter of the alphabet with its phonetic sound and ties both to basic vocabulary, according to the publisher’s announcement. The book is published by Fulton Books and is available in paperback and as an e-book, including through Kobo, Amazon, Apple’s iTunes Store, Google Play, and Barnes and Noble.
Kleinberger describes herself as an educator, mother, and grandmother, and the announcement credits that background with shaping the book’s approach. Rather than presenting the alphabet as a set of isolated symbols, the book links each letter to sight words and relatable concepts, an approach the listing describes as connecting alphabet letters to sounds while basic sight words build vocabulary.
"I wanted to create something that honors how children actually learn: through play, connection, and discovering that letters aren’t just abstract shapes, but keys to expressing the world around them," Kleinberger said in the announcement.
The book is illustrated throughout, and the publisher positions it as a resource for both children and the adults teaching them, pitched at the stage where kids are moving from recognizing letters to sounding out words. It joins a crowded shelf of alphabet-and-phonics titles for early readers, a category where the pitch is almost always some version of "letters made meaningful" — the real test, as with any of them, is how a child responds once the book is actually in front of them.
Studio CarryOnHarry will be curious to see how the book is received by the teachers and parents actually using it with kids, since that’s the only review that matters for a title like this.
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