My Writing
Something to Teach is the pièce de résistance of the titles offered here on this site. However, I have a total of five books to offer readers. Each book comes in the form of a downloadable PDF. Or you can purchase each book on Apple Books (and some on Amazon Kindle).
For more information about each title, see below.
To purchase your copy(s), click on the Buy buttons below each product description. If you are buying the PDF directly from this site, then you will be asked to provide the proper payment details. After you have completed the purchase, you will be able to download your digital copy of the book(s). If you would like to purchase the book from Apple Books, simply click on the link and you will be taken to the store.
Happy reading.
To learn more about me, click on the Bio button below.
Something to Teach
In one perfectly choreographed moment, the young offender wrenched his arm free and swung on the officer. The man bobbed, but didn’t quite weave fast enough. The fist caught the officer on tip of his nose. There was not enough contact to break it, but there was enough to make the man’s eyes water and a splash of blood dot the walls. Just as quickly, the school sergeant drew a pepper spray canister from her belt and depressed the nozzle as she brought her arm up and around. The orange liquid arced in a graceful stream. It splashed against the retreating officer’s chest and caught his attacker in the forehead. And me. As I stood in frozen fascination, the stream stained the left sleeve of my dress shirt and traveled up and up to the exposed skin of my face.
Burning!
The liquid seared my skin wherever it touched.
_____
Something to Teach is the unforgettable journey inside the walls of a maximum-security juvenile correctional facility with a teacher who learns that teaching on the inside is not for the faint of heart.
Despite fights in the classroom, threats of violence, and being doused with pepper spray, J.D. Lavelle just wants to teach.
What does he need?
Better students?
No.
Just…something worth teaching.
Details
Length: 23,000 words, 85 pages
Genre: autobiographical fiction
Published: 2021 (Revised Edition)
Author: J.D. Lavelle
Format: digital publication – PDF format
Cost: $3.00
Do you need a brief respite from the cares of the world? A chance to escape, however briefly, to someplace new.
Love at First… is a modern fairy tale for the discerning reader.
And just long enough to be enjoyed in one sitting.
Love at First...
“Oh my God. Do you know what this is? Do you know who you are?”
Mariel stared, confused.
“You’re Cinderella.”
“Oh, please…”
“I’m right,” she said. “I know I’m right. You’re Cinderella and you’re living the story. Didn’t you meet at a dance? And you danced all night? And he left abruptly at the end? And you don’t know his name? Oh God, this is perfect. Mariel, you’re living a fairy tale romance.
_____
Mariel MacEwan was firmly grounded in reality. She had no time for fairy tales or any other such nonsense. But what happened when a stranger appeared and asked her to dance? And told her that he loved her…that very same night? Mariel learned that “love at first…” was not just the stuff of dreams.
Details
Length: 21,360 words, 82 pages
Genre: romantic fiction
Published: 2021
Author: J.D. Lavelle
Format: digital publication – PDF format
Cost: $3.00
What are you going to do when you have students who hate to read? Refuse to read. And how could I blame them? When you’ve robbed a convenience store with a semi-automatic rifle (certainly a handgun would have sufficed) or pulled a sword on a pizza delivery man then reading Bronte, Twain, or Poe is hardly going to pique their interest.
So what did I do?
I wrote them stories and books. Locked Up and Crossroads are the fruit of my labors.
These are the stories for my students.
Locked Up
The loudspeaker blared over the unit. “Everyone needs to lockdown!” as the officer yelled, “Get to your cells right now!” The officer moved rapidly towards the impending altercation, pointing and yelling. Brian watched and waited, ready to defend himself, but the attack never came. Jones waited until the officer was within two steps of him then held up his hands. It was easy for the grown man to step in between them and push Jones back.
“Move, Jones!” the officer ordered.
Jones let himself be moved as he continued to stare at Brian over the officer’s shoulder. He let himself be pushed back to his room, eyes staring the entire time.
_____
Brian arrived at Perkensville Juvenile Correctional Facility…and learned a hard lesson before he even set foot inside a cell. Freedom is one of the most precious things to lose. He is faced with learning how to survive on the inside. And more. In addition to losing his freedom, he is faced with unexpected dangers.
Locked Up is the story of one young man coming to terms with life on the inside.
Details
Length: 21,340 words, 77 pages
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Published: 2018
Author: J.D. Lavelle
Format: digital publication – PDF format.
Cost: $3.00
Locked Up is also part of the educational materials found in Something to Teach. You can read it as a stand-alone YA novel or as part of a learning unit.
Crossroads
“That if any House be Infected, the sick person or persons be forthwith removed…for the preservation of the rest of the Family…be shut up for fourty days, and have a Red Cross, and Lord have mercy upon us, in Capital Letters affixed on the door…”
King Charles II, Orders for prevention of the Plague
_____
Crossroads is the story of Donnie Hathaway. He’s just been released from a maximum-security juvenile correctional facility…into a world filled with danger and disease. He has to learn how to survive by using all of his experience from life on the inside.
Details
Length: 27,054 words, 92 pages
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Published: 2018
Author: J.D. Lavelle
Format: digital publication – PDF format.
Cost: $3.00
The first book I ever wrote – My Brother’s Keeper – is the result of my deep and abiding interest in the American Civil War.
In its pages you will find history, humanity, and a touch of humor.
My Brother's Keeper
Sergeant Claudius Sears – formerly of the Army of the West – lay on the ground, eyes closed against the pain. The heat from the sun drew beads of sweat from the man’s brow and he groaned. Vomit was caked on his lips, and his mouth was whiskey-dry. He cracked an eyelid and looked at the tiny blades of green grass that filled his vision as his head continued to pound. Another groan escaped his dry lips as he closed his mouth and tried to swallow.
A familiar sound broke the silence with its staccato popping.
Gunfire.
The man struggled to his hands and knees.
He closed his eyes as the crackle of gunfire sent sharp pains, like someone holding his head with white-hot pincers, coursing through his temple. Sears made it to his feet with considerable effort, swayed unsteadily for a moment, then sighed as the world settled.
Screams joined the crack of rifles. Not the screams of men filled with the joy and panic of war, but the screams of innocents – women and children. Sears stood still, listening to the sounds of battle. There was no trembling of excitement or fear knotting in his belly as he listened. These were familiar sounds. Sounds that he knew and remembered well. Without thinking of the consequences, the man shuffled forward, lurching towards the sounds of war which seemed to be coming from just the other side of a hill.
_____
Recently discharged from the army, retired-sergeant Claudius Sears, finds himself once more embroiled in a war he desperately seeks to leave behind. His journey west, away from the killing fields of the Civil War, only leads him into further bloodshed as he tries to protect innocents from harm. When a party of pioneers is attacked along the Kansas-Missouri border, Sears is pulled back into the War Between the States. While doing his best to avoid the soul-crushing weight of responsibility for others, Sears soon comes to realize that he is indeed his brother’s keeper.
Details
Length: 59,180 words, 142 pages
Genre: historical fiction
Published: 2021
Author: J.D. Lavelle
Format: digital publication – PDF format
Cost: $3.00