Everyone has a story to tell, and some people need help telling it. Far too many stories go unpublished and unshared. We're working to help change that.
Our mission is to help authors bring their stories to light with professional editing, design, and good exposure to the marketplace. Through Belle Isle Books, we offer personal guidance and accessibility, encourage authors to actively participate in the publishing process, and produce high-quality books that exhibit editorial quality of the highest caliber.
We treat the publishing process as a partnership because when the book comes off the press, we want our authors to be confident and successful.
Our mission is to help authors bring their stories to light with professional editing, design, and good exposure to the marketplace. Through Belle Isle Books, we offer personal guidance and accessibility, encourage authors to actively participate in the publishing process, and produce high-quality books that exhibit editorial quality of the highest caliber.
We treat the publishing process as a partnership because when the book comes off the press, we want our authors to be confident and successful.
New and Upcoming Releases
One-Week Odyssey: A Blackwater Lake Cozy Mystery
Written by Carolyn Brodeur
Kat Normand, a seasoned portfolio manager of community associations, never expected to trade her busy career for the mysterious lakeside town of Blackwater Lake. But when the homeowners association offers her a six-figure salary, a cozy home, and the role of general manager, it feels too good to pass up—even if the HOA barely seems to exist online.
Soon, Kat discovers her predecessor vanished without a trace, and the residents are harboring secrets they won’t easily share. With the help of her quirky assistant Babs and Jet, her loyal English Springer Spaniel (who may be more than he seems), Kat sets out to unravel the unsettling mysteries hiding beneath the town’s polished surface—before she disappears, too.
Kat Normand, a seasoned portfolio manager of community associations, never expected to trade her busy career for the mysterious lakeside town of Blackwater Lake. But when the homeowners association offers her a six-figure salary, a cozy home, and the role of general manager, it feels too good to pass up—even if the HOA barely seems to exist online.
Soon, Kat discovers her predecessor vanished without a trace, and the residents are harboring secrets they won’t easily share. With the help of her quirky assistant Babs and Jet, her loyal English Springer Spaniel (who may be more than he seems), Kat sets out to unravel the unsettling mysteries hiding beneath the town’s polished surface—before she disappears, too.
The Trouble with Milo Minus
Written by Julie Ellis Williams
Illustrated by Bill Dussinger
Milo Minus is always negative. After all, he is a math symbol for subtraction—making something less than what it originally was. He is a bully! He has no friends and no intention of changing—until, one day, BAM! An unexpected event with another minus sign results in them becoming new math symbols, spreading positive feelings to Milo and all those around him!
Illustrated by Bill Dussinger
Milo Minus is always negative. After all, he is a math symbol for subtraction—making something less than what it originally was. He is a bully! He has no friends and no intention of changing—until, one day, BAM! An unexpected event with another minus sign results in them becoming new math symbols, spreading positive feelings to Milo and all those around him!
ABCs of Oystering on the Chesapeake Bay
Written by Susan Swift
Illustrated by Heather Cockrell
The ABCs of Oystering on the Chesapeake Bay is a fun and educational book that teaches kids and adults alike all about oysters using the alphabet. Each letter introduces a new word and idea, from how oysters grow and what they eat, to how people catch and use them. Readers learn that oysters help keep the Chesapeake Bay clean by filtering the water, and that they are an important part of the Bay's ecosystem.
The book explains how oystermen and women collect oysters using boats, dredges, and tongs, and how oysters have been used by people for thousands of years. It also shares fun facts, like how oysters grow in underwater reefs, what a pea crab is, and why oysters are “eXtra” important to the environment!
This A-to-Z guide is filled with simple facts, cool vocabulary, and other interesting information about oysters and the Bay. It’s perfect for young readers who want to learn more about nature, sea life, and how we can help protect our environment.
This is the second book in the author and illustrator’s Life of a Waterman series, following the release of The ABCs of Crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay.
Illustrated by Heather Cockrell
The ABCs of Oystering on the Chesapeake Bay is a fun and educational book that teaches kids and adults alike all about oysters using the alphabet. Each letter introduces a new word and idea, from how oysters grow and what they eat, to how people catch and use them. Readers learn that oysters help keep the Chesapeake Bay clean by filtering the water, and that they are an important part of the Bay's ecosystem.
The book explains how oystermen and women collect oysters using boats, dredges, and tongs, and how oysters have been used by people for thousands of years. It also shares fun facts, like how oysters grow in underwater reefs, what a pea crab is, and why oysters are “eXtra” important to the environment!
This A-to-Z guide is filled with simple facts, cool vocabulary, and other interesting information about oysters and the Bay. It’s perfect for young readers who want to learn more about nature, sea life, and how we can help protect our environment.
This is the second book in the author and illustrator’s Life of a Waterman series, following the release of The ABCs of Crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay.
Perfectly Polly
Written by Chandra Tracey
Illustrated by Valentina Copeland
Polly Possum aspires to be splendid. Spectacular, even! The problem is, from Polly’s point of view, she’s too plain a possum to be at all appealing. Now, Polly has a plan to put herself out there! She will put on a performance, play all the parts, and pretend she’s practically anything except her pedestrian persona. Yet as the presentation proceeds, Polly approaches an epiphany: perhaps people don’t perceive her as a plain possum after all!
Illustrated by Valentina Copeland
Polly Possum aspires to be splendid. Spectacular, even! The problem is, from Polly’s point of view, she’s too plain a possum to be at all appealing. Now, Polly has a plan to put herself out there! She will put on a performance, play all the parts, and pretend she’s practically anything except her pedestrian persona. Yet as the presentation proceeds, Polly approaches an epiphany: perhaps people don’t perceive her as a plain possum after all!
Emmy and the Moon
Written by Audra Honaker
Illustrated by Noam Levi
Emmy is two. She finds lots of things to do! This is a story of her zany day-to-day doings with her friends as she waits for her favorite friend, the Moon.
Illustrated by Noam Levi
Emmy is two. She finds lots of things to do! This is a story of her zany day-to-day doings with her friends as she waits for her favorite friend, the Moon.
Hangry the Bear
Written by Wolfgang Yuck
Illustrated by Julie Zielinski
Life is sweet in the Kingdom of Honey, and so is the food! But Prince Hangry has an appetite that honey alone can’t satisfy. And the hungrier Hangry gets, the grumpier he becomes! Desperate to fix his bad temper, Hangry embarks on a global culinary adventure, trying fantastic new foods from Italy to Acapulco in search of the meal that will fill him up for good. But no dish can delay Hangry’s hunger for long, and he worries that the minute he gets home, his grumpy mood will return. Soon though, Hangry’s adventures lead him to an important discovery: that food is about more than just filling your stomach—it’s about following your dreams!
Illustrated by Julie Zielinski
Life is sweet in the Kingdom of Honey, and so is the food! But Prince Hangry has an appetite that honey alone can’t satisfy. And the hungrier Hangry gets, the grumpier he becomes! Desperate to fix his bad temper, Hangry embarks on a global culinary adventure, trying fantastic new foods from Italy to Acapulco in search of the meal that will fill him up for good. But no dish can delay Hangry’s hunger for long, and he worries that the minute he gets home, his grumpy mood will return. Soon though, Hangry’s adventures lead him to an important discovery: that food is about more than just filling your stomach—it’s about following your dreams!
Tears of a Thousand Years
Written by G. W. Olson
On her first assignment as a Rememberer, Vega travels to Small Home, the newest planet the Race adopted. The planet’s inhabitants, the Caelings, are a friendly native species with an agrarian culture. Vega has heard reports of a native who performs miracles, and she wants to record him and other Caelings for her people because she knows that someday the Caelings will be gone. She takes her younger brother to assist her and travels into the backcountry to find this miracle worker.
The townspeople tell her amazing stories about Tantea, the teacher of miracles. When Vega meets him, she believes he is a charlatan until Tantea picks out the star she comes from in the night sky and convinces her. Yet, a miracle worker is hard to fool. When he finds out the Race's longevity and indifference always result in Vega’s people destroying the native populations with their carelessness, he becomes furious and decides to grant Vega a miracle she inadvertently asked for—one that will throw her entire civilization into chaos but gives her people a chance at redemption.
On her first assignment as a Rememberer, Vega travels to Small Home, the newest planet the Race adopted. The planet’s inhabitants, the Caelings, are a friendly native species with an agrarian culture. Vega has heard reports of a native who performs miracles, and she wants to record him and other Caelings for her people because she knows that someday the Caelings will be gone. She takes her younger brother to assist her and travels into the backcountry to find this miracle worker.
The townspeople tell her amazing stories about Tantea, the teacher of miracles. When Vega meets him, she believes he is a charlatan until Tantea picks out the star she comes from in the night sky and convinces her. Yet, a miracle worker is hard to fool. When he finds out the Race's longevity and indifference always result in Vega’s people destroying the native populations with their carelessness, he becomes furious and decides to grant Vega a miracle she inadvertently asked for—one that will throw her entire civilization into chaos but gives her people a chance at redemption.
Mabee at the Market
Written by Allen Edgar Rogers
Illustrated by Whitney Hill
Mabee at the Market is a gentle, beautifully illustrated story about a little girl facing big feelings in a new place. When Mabee’s trip to the market becomes a bit overwhelming, she learns how a simple plan, staying calm, and looking for help in the right places can get her through the gauntlet!
Illustrated by Whitney Hill
Mabee at the Market is a gentle, beautifully illustrated story about a little girl facing big feelings in a new place. When Mabee’s trip to the market becomes a bit overwhelming, she learns how a simple plan, staying calm, and looking for help in the right places can get her through the gauntlet!
The New Normal: Life After Trauma
Written by Tammi Slovinsky, PhD
A survivor of sexual trauma and intimate partner violence, Dr. Tammi Slovinsky interweaves her own experiences as a victim advocate, educator, and gender-based violence researcher in this poignant memoir that examines social and cultural factors such as the powerful influence that family and peers may have on survivors both during and after a traumatic experience. She reviews the impacts trauma can have on intimacy and commitment, substance use and dependence, parenting and pregnancy, and more. She hopes to help others understand the various ways trauma impacts us, and to find pathways to resilience, growth, and hope.
A survivor of sexual trauma and intimate partner violence, Dr. Tammi Slovinsky interweaves her own experiences as a victim advocate, educator, and gender-based violence researcher in this poignant memoir that examines social and cultural factors such as the powerful influence that family and peers may have on survivors both during and after a traumatic experience. She reviews the impacts trauma can have on intimacy and commitment, substance use and dependence, parenting and pregnancy, and more. She hopes to help others understand the various ways trauma impacts us, and to find pathways to resilience, growth, and hope.
