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General Preface
I am a former piano teacher who also writes children’s and teenagers’ novels, some with a Christian slant, under the label, Pianist Storyteller Novels. Free downloads are no longer available as they are now also published and being promoted by Kindle Books for electronic Readers..
They are now also published as paperbacks in an easy to read format.  Full details can be found at John Acton's Author's page in Amazon by clicking:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Acton/e/B0034Q9RD8/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Acton/e/B0034Q9RD8/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Acton/e/B0034Q9RD8/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Acton/e/B0034Q9RD8/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

The six novels featured below with brief summaries are:-
1. Jack Banks' Discovery, a novel of some 23,600 words intended mainly for boys aged 9/10 upwards (although girls could be interested). It deals with the difficulties of a shy thirteen year old boy coming in isolation to a boarding school in England. Jack's initial reception is tough, but he survives and makes new friends, especially Ginger and a comically valiant small boy known as Mickey.
Jack's troubles really begin when he is asked to take care of Themba, the extrovert son of a famous black American professor. This task takes him on a venture well outside the school walls. In the process Jack makes the biggest discovery of his life.
See more details in   http://pianist-storytellerjbd.blogspot.com  The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking :-   JACK-BANKS-DISCOVERY


2. Jack Banks on Trial is the approx., 24,000 words sequel to Jack Banks' Discovery and was written in response to the interest aroused by the first story. Ideally the first story should be read before the sequel but this is not essential.
In this new story Jack meets with a series of personal trials which put his new-found Christian faith very much in danger. He is beginning to recover from the ordeals described in the first book, when he hears that his parents and possibly his sister may have been killed in a tribal uprising in S.W.Asia. Jack is devastated. His faith is strained to breaking point and he resists the comforting efforts of his friends, Ginger who helped him in his early days as a 'new bug' at the school, Themba the muscular son of a famous black American Professor, and Mickey the smallest boy in the school.
Jack is given over to the care of a formidable strange aunt who takes him off to a remote house on the East coast, where he is kept a virtual prisoner. This becomes the starting point of another mysterious adventure. His school friends don't give up on him. They set out to trace and rescue him, but find themselves also caught up in the sinister plans of a mad doctor.
See more details in http://pianist-storytellerjbt.blogspot.com. The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking:-  JACK-BANKS-ON-TRIAL
 3. The King's Son, a novel of about 25,000 words, is written for children aged 9/10 upwards. It is set hundreds of years ago in a Middle Eastern country. My hope is that this story might be acceptable to different racial cultures. As a piano teacher I have been privileged to teach a number of children from Middle Eastern, Indian and Asian as well as English backgrounds. They are all delightful and my prayer is that they all may be allowed to grow up peacefully in a healthy environment.
David, the son of the King of Boneh, is twelve and leads a lonely guarded life. He breaks out of his father's palace in disguise at night, but gets accidentally enslaved. He also finds a friend John, an orphan farm boy, who doesn't believe at first that David is the King's son. David never thought that his daring evening out dressed in dirty plain clothes would lead to his hiding from a cruel merchant with John in a cave. But he likes John despite his teasing and puts off returning to the palace. It is a mistake that is to lead into many desperate situations, particularly when the boys become slaves of the Goaners, the King's enemies, and David dare not reveal his true identity. They meet a helpful slave girl called larna, but also come across Bern, the spoilt cocky son of Chief Sirdar of the Goaners. Then the threat of war between the tribes develops.
The futility of wars based upon a history of mistrust is exposed. David with his friend risk their lives in attempting to bring tolerance and peace. A slave girl called Larna also plays a significant role in the story.  See more details in http://pianist-storytellertks.blogspot.com. The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking:-  THE-KINGS-SON-
4. Martin Ashworth Fourteen (about 27,000 words) is written for boys and girls aged 12 upwards. The hero and heroine are both keen piano students. Music students should find this interesting , but no specialist knowledge is required to enjoy this story of teenage shyness, drug smugglers, Customs investigations, kidnap and exciting adventures on the high seas. In addition to the Christian ethos, there is an unusual musical slant to the novel in that the chapter headings follow classical music forms. To some extent the writing of the chapter follows this form, e.g. First Movement Sonata form and there is an appendix with brief notes on musical form.
Following a car accident, Martin breaks a leg and is temporarily blinded. Circumstances force him to be cared for by the parents of a girl in his form known as plain Jane Sweeting. Their traditional Christian home plus coping with his disabilities, bring comic embarrassment to Martin. Later developments concern contact with a criminal gang who were being investigated prior to the car accident by Martin's father, a Customs and Excise official. Mr Ashworth is seriously ill in hospital, so gives Martin an urgent job to try and protect a secreted document of his findings. Jane and younger brother David also get involved in this task. However, the gang make approaches: an ugly situation develops with terrifying consequences for Martin and Jane in particular.
See more details in http://pianist-storytellerma14.blogspot.com. The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking :-  MARTIN-ASHWORTH-FOURTEEN
5.Ben Bu gden Thirteen (30,460 words). A new adventure story for boys and girls aged 9/10 plus published by Pianist Storyteller Novels on 1st March 2008 in http://pianist-storytellerben13.blogspot.com/
The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking :- BEN-BUGDEN-THIRTEEN
. Because of his father's job in H.M.Revenue and Customs moving from Birmingham to London, Ben Bugden (13) has to face moving in the middle of the Summer term to a new school. He wears glasses, has a gammy knee and gets bullied in the playground by Ginger and his cronies, even before he has reached the school door. He is surprised to find a girl called Clare helping him and later makes other friends , especially Dusty and Shorty (a very tall black African boy).
With the encouragement of his friends and help from the leaders of a school drop-in luncheon club where he hears about Jesus, Ben survives the bullying and a critical wrestling fight with Ginger. However, more serious threats arise. The Bugden home is mysteriously vandalised and pet dog Buster injured. Worse things follow and it becomes clear that that Ben's father has aroused the enmity of a powerful gang of criminals.
During the troubles that ensue, Ben and his sister Nicola are given shelter by Clare's parents. This is embarrassing for Ben and Clare knowing the kind of chaffing and gossip that will occur in school. So Clare makes it clear to Ben that she is NOT his girl friend, but he can be a kind of temporary brother. This pleases Ben.
The fight against the gang of criminals results in thrilling action leading to Walton-on-Naze and the marshes and saltings behind, intersected by numerous waterways. Ben's pet dog Buster gets a starring role and gives the final epilogue.

6. Martin Ashworth Fourteen Plus. (approx.,39,000 words) This is the long awaited sequel to Martin Ashworth Fourteen in which Jane insists on writing her own account of events and putting Martin in his place. ( See http://pianist-storytellerma14plus.blogspot.com/  The Kindle version can be accessed by clicking :-
MARTIN-ASHWORTH-FOURTEEN-PLUS )
. Martin and Jane are dismayed to hear of the murder in prison of a gang member, who was going to give evidence which would convict the rest of the gang of kidnapping and drug smuggling. This suggests that their own lives and that of Martin's father may also be in danger and that somehere there is an evil Mr Big directing operations. The police are alarmed and mount a guard on all three. Then remnants of the gang slyly abduct David (Jane's younger brother) and his pal Lennie. Headstrong and maybe foolhardy, Martin ignores instructions and goes off by himself to try and rescue the boys. Maark (year11) visits Jane to offer help. Jane develops an interest in Mark as well as in Martin, a typical teenage problem. There is less time for music now but more for considering the bigger issues of life. Action develops close to home and then overseas. Both Martin and Jane give their own accounts. The pace quickens and leads to a surprising climax.

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Action. Click on the Blog or Kindle address to see details of the novel in which you may be interested . You are invited to send comments to me on Email  johngacton@googlemail.com  Copyright remains with me, John.G.Acton, 26 Holmwood Avenue, Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex CM15 8QS England, U.K. , I am willing for the time being  to sell you an A4 copy in a loose-leaf plastic folder for £5 plus current cost of postage in the UK.  16th February 2013