The Adventures of Frankie More

Parents who want their kids to be avid readers will be quite happy to pick up Frankie's Fantastic Piano (and The Time Gambler) at Bookshop Santa Cruz or on Amazon. They are fun. They are genuine page-turners. An ordinary young boy becomes a real hero under the kinds of circumstances we love to shiver over.

Founder of Santa Cruz Singers Workshops and Singers Showcases, and trainer of many Santa Cruz voice coaches, author Brunelle is still remembered as the woman who initiated an ever-growing vocal community in Santa Cruz.

Rather than give up in despair when an auto-immune condition confined her to home, Brunelle moved into writing. Her protagonist had to be a piano-playing boy named Frankie.

Three-time Las Vegas Headliner of the Year Frankie Moreno is the inspiration for both volumes of The Adventures of Frankie More. Ms. Brunelle has co-authored 100 songs with Moreno over two decades. Moreno, child piano prodigy in his native Santa Cruz, is a prodigious songwriter and performer. Three days of the year are officially Frankie Moreno Days in Las Vegas, where he's played thousands of performances.

Particularly appropriate for grades 4 and up, Frankie's Fantastic Piano puts Mozart and a living, enchanted piano together with time travel, dastardly pirates, 18th Century English ballrooms and a world-wide fundraiser at the Civic Auditorium to benefit hospitals and schools in the 21st Century! Evil characters perish, generally due to their own ignorance and greed. Heroes survive grave threats to their lives. There are lots of dialogue and character development, signs of high quality books for young people.

The Time Gambler (Volume 2 of The Adventures of Frankie More) is a most ambitious adventure. Marauding ETs from many light years distance are barreling through space in search of a particular mineral their civilization requires. They go from planet to planet, looking to harvest what they need, leaving behind bludgeoned wastelands. On the same day Frankie discovers the diabolical ETs' plan, he must perform at a national music competition in Las Vegas.

You will not be surprised to learn that he wins first place.

"Frankie’s Fantastic Piano is one of the best books we’ve ever read. It opened up a whole world of imagination and left us with an incredible experience that we’ll never forget. It felt like we were right there in the story, sometimes getting massive goose bumps and shivers all over, and often laughing so hard we couldn’t stop."--The Loutfi Sisters (Santa Cruz), Sally, Dima and Maya, ages 9, 15 and 16.