What people are saying about SHAPING HEROES…   

Dear E Dee

I really enjoyed SHAPING HEROES, and the way you weaved the tale of good verses evil using the characters of Mika and Clive. The aphorisms from Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson and Washington were a nice complement to the story.  I got a little choked up when Arthur is retrieving his bags from the trunk and the Demon Clive's temptations are falling on deaf ears but a business man walking by hears... YOUR BABY IS BEAUTIFUL...Nice job.

Mary Duffy

Arizona

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Dear E Dee,

I really enjoyed reading Shaping Heroes. It was a quick read and I didn’t get bogged down with a complicated plot and difficult characters to keep straight. You kept the plot moving, and I loved the quotes from the four presidents. You expressed your faith values well, I thought.

Becky Vaughn

New York

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Reader review:

As a long time active member of the American Legion, an American Legion Baseball fan, and an avid reader, I was thrilled to find a book that included both the Legion, baseball, and an entertaining story. Ms. Monnen has written a tale that many a teenage boy (and former teenage boy) can relate to. The struggles to do the right thing and the guidance we got from people who honestly cared that young men grew up with the right values was well interspaced with a story of small town life in the 1930's. I would recommend the book to anyone with a few hours to spend, and a memory of what life was like growing up in small town America.

Ron "Tank" Tancrede, Mesa, AZ
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Reader review:

Shaping Heroes makes a great summer read for baseball lovers, and really, anyone who enjoys a good story. Monnen has a wonderful way of putting the reader right in the middle of 1930s Rapid City, "in the shadow of the great monument." She knows how to write vivid, dramatic, and yes, harrowing scenes! Her characters are compelling and the story had me laughing at times, and on the edge of my seat at others. But what I really appreciate is the story's positive message and values, which I find sorely lacking in much of today's literature. Shaping Heroes is one book the whole family will enjoy reading. I highly recommend it!

SHAPING HEROES entices both baseball and Mt. Rushmore aficionados. It's set in Depression-era Rapid City and Keystone, South Dakota, near a monument-in-progress, Mt. Rushmore.

Amy Harke-Moore

Missouri

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Reader review:

Author E Dee Monnen smoothly relates the history of the monument and the importance of baseball in the area through the story of cocky Ray Matthews (20), who is hired to play ball for the Rushmore Memorials, a team sponsored by Rushmore sculptor and baseball fan Gutzon Borglum. This position guarantees Matthews can play ball while he waits to be spied by a major league scout and earns money as a driller on the monument. (It's a little known fact that ballplayers worked on Mt. Rushmore, although, given their brute strength and agility, it would make sense.)

Monnen's novel binds readers with hopes for Matthew's success and recovery after he receives a head injury during a game. It also intrigues readers when there's a double murder and two mystical characters, Clyde and Mika, appear.

Middle through adult readers will thoroughly enjoy SHAPING HEROES, and they'll hope the author is planning a sequel to this great story.

Faye Quam-Hemeryl

Colorado