Below, you will find a Synopsis of each book that I have created for the Menzuo ~ Solar Warriors Series. Two out of the seven books have been published and I am looking to move forward with a huge project in the near future. Here is what might catch your eyes:

Book #1
Menzuo in the Calling of the Sun Prince
PublishAmerica - March, 2004

At the beginning of his spring break from school, Jammal Hall finds out that his time on Earth has been more important than he could have ever imagined. Many hidden secrets about his life are revealed. Jammal’s real birth name, information about his parents, and his true identity come to light. He also comes to find that Earth is in grave danger and that it is under attack by an evil Pirate Warrior named Morbid who is in search of the energy of all good and evil.

With the help from his protector Solar and his new trainer master Renzfly, Jammal quickly realizes that he does not have to face this battle alone. He must protect planet Earth and the energy of all good and evil, while trying to live a life as a normal kid. Vidoegames, crushes and neighborhood bullies play a big role in helping to distract Jammal while he awaits his date of destiny which is his twelfth birthday.

Jammal must prepare himself for the most important test of his life, and it is not in the classroom. Jammal must succeed or the Dark Warrior will control the energy of all good and evil. His battle against Morbid will decide the fate of Earth and possibly the entire universe.

Book #2
Menzuo S.W. (Solar Warriors) Legend of the Blue Diamond
iUniverse – December 2005

When Jammal, a.k.a. Menzuo—the hero of the thrilling first book of the Menzuo S.W. (Solar Warriors) series—found out that he was adopted and from another planet, his true destiny as the new universal protector was revealed. With his guardian, Solar, and trainer, Master Renzfly, Jammal quickly gained the knowledge of the Yardanian combat style and important information about the structure of the universe. In his first mission, Menzuo saved the Earth from one very dangerous Pirate Warrior named Morbid.
Now Menzuo is ready to continue his preparation to become the true universal protector. As he trains with Solar by his side, under Master Renzfly’s watchful eye, a mysterious messenger from the outer realm interrupts his progress and begs for Menzuo’s help to save planet Bralose.
Unexpected changes occur as Menzuo finds that he’s not prepared to battle Hydrosion. This realization brings the dawn of a group called the Solar Warriors. But how will Menzuo gain the confidence and strength needed to defeat the Pirate Warrior Hydrosion? Only time will tell as Menzuo does his best to protect his universe.

Book #3
Menzuo S.W. Judgment Set Upon Earth

Our universal protector Menzuo, now has a team of allies who strongly believe in his mission. This new team of Solar Warriors, formed by Allucio (Michael Santiago), Dezmurose (Jeffery O’Connor), Princess Amiata, Nuncio, King Scoop, Wyler and Master Renzfly, have dedicated themselves to help Menzuo protect the universe. After Menzuo won a hard fought battle against Pirate Warrior Hydrosion, the people of planet Bralose are now safe from a mutated life of slavery. Because of his selflessness, our young warrior comes to find that planet Earth has now been overtaken by one of the strongest of all Pirate Warriors, queen Eaizah.

Pirate Warrior Hydrosion’s reign of terror over planet Bralose was just the distraction that queen Eaizah needed to begin her takeover of Earth. With no one to protect the planet, she does what a Pirate does best, destroy everything in sight. Gearing up for the battle of their lives, prince Menzuo and the Solar Warriors must stay focused if they are to have any chance at saving the planet along with defeating queen Eaizah.

Book #4
Menzuo S.W. A Warriors Destiny

With the stalling tactics of King Eojtaf and Ambassador Naos, our heroin, prince Menzuo and the Solar Warriors were able to successfully defeat queen Eaizah and her Pirate Drones to save planet Earth. With keeping his promise to master Budokane, Menzuo must travel back to Legerdemain to train with him. He must learn to harness all of his new found energy and to become one with the energy from the Blue Diamond. With Solar, now alive and with his old body, the two warriors must face the death world with confidence. If they survive, they will have a chance to save the universe, but if they fail…

Meanwhile, trouble has come to light within the universe with the release of the Banor’s. The poisoned warriors of Yardania and hundreds of other life forms were exiled in a black hole thousands of years ago, with just enough evil energy reviving his body, lord Fetid created a tear in the outer realm of the universe and allowed the Banor’s to re-enter the real and infect and destroy all living warriors.

With Menzuo occupied, the team of Solar Warriors must fight this battle on their own, and with planet Excervo getting stronger each and every day, it is not known how strong our warriors will be when facing such an unknown evil.

With information coming from an unlikely source, one of our warriors must make a decision that will initiate the fate of the universe. Are they up for the challenge without Menzuo by their side? Only time will tell.

Book #5
Menzuo S.W. Friend or Foe

Six years later, at the age of eighteen, Menzuo re-entered the universe just one year before lord Fetid’s true return. He finds nothing in his known universe to be like it was when he left. Because of the past events, the people of Earth now know all of the inner workings of the evil that lurks throughout the universe. The loss of ambassador Naos and mother Earth Anisa, bring about new protectors of the blue planet. With princess Amiata’s sacrifice of her life, it has left her in a coma, leaving her to rest in the warrior’s chamber until her soul rejoins with her body. Along with his new findings, the prince received the startling news of his baby brother, prince Denshuo’s kidnapping by the hands of lord Fetid. This lends Menzuo to question his decision to leave the universe to train with master Budokane. With everything falling apart around him, he cannot see himself as a true leader.

Unable to clear his mind of the thoughts of all that has taken place Menzuo fleas to a planet to rethink his position in life. While on this planet our young warrior is met and befriends another warrior who claims to have no recollection of his past. His trust in this warrior leads to a very interesting outcome in which Menzuo would never expect in his wildest dreams. What will happen with our prince and with his new found friend or foe?

Book #6
Menzuo S.W. The Universal War Begins

With Menzuo sacrificing his life to save his younger brother who is now known as Pirate Warrior Denshuo, he is lost in the black hole that once held the Banor’s. The universe is left vulnerable as lord Fetid makes his return in full form. Now more powerful than ever and with no one to match his strength, he is destined to take over the universe and possess the energy of all good and evil. Aware that their fate of losing this war is immanent, the Solar Warriors gear themselves up to face their destiny. Without their noble leader, they must think strategically as they try their best to defeat lord Fetid and his band of released Pirate Warriors.

As the lord of planet Excervo closes in on obtaining the energy of all good and evil, a sacrifice from an unlikely source may just save the universe. Will prince Menzuo ever return to face lord Fetid or will the efforts of the Solar Warriors be for not?

Book #7
Menzuo S.W. The lost Archives of Master Budokane

For thousands of years, there were stories of the first universal protector. Upon his destruction during the first universal war, his archives were never registered into the Warriors Guild. As the Naleezar was the protector of the Blue Diamond, it was also the protector of the one and only copy of master Budokane’s story. All but night time stories that were told to children, now all will know the true story of our once loved protector and most feared enemy. The archives are now released and all will finally find out the true story of how our universe survived extinction.

Working on my Master's Thesis

Trying to help our youth understand the value of their education when they are mostly fighting an uphill battle in innercity schools is one hard thing to do. As I am completing my Master's in Education, I decided to concentrate my thesis on a very disturbing topic, "The retention and graduation rate of Hispanic and African American Male Students located in the Springfield, MA and Holyoke Public Schools."

The purpose of my thesis is to study four public high schools, two located in Springfield, MA and two located in Holyoke, MA that are experiencing similar problems with retention in their educational system. I will try to compare some of the intervention programs that are implemented to help increase the retention of 16 year old African American and Hispanic male students. After researching neighboring cities, the schools that I will be gathering data from are Springfield Central and Commerce High School, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Dean Tech and Holyoke High School, located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I plan to gather information from these high schools and from the programs that they have been implemented that address the retention for this particular group of students.

Data below will show that the four schools have either experienced an increase or either a decrease in their graduation rates in 2007 – 2008. Below are the results from the previous school year:

SPRINGFIELD, MA
Central High School 78.2% Graduation Rate 3.4% Increase since 2007
Commerce High School 43.5% Graduation Rate 6.6% Decrease since 2007

HOLYOKE, MA
Holyoke High School 64.0% Graduation Rate 4.5% Increase since 2007
Dean Technical High 32.7% Graduation Rate 13.4% Decrease since 2007

I will try to prove that the focus should be placed on the existing programs that have helped with increasing the retention in the high school that have shown improvement in these two cities.

The types of data that collected will be:

The percentage of dropouts over the past three years at each public high school,

The average of dropouts for African American and Hispanic male students in each grade level, 9th – 12th at each public high school,

The percentage of 16 year old African American and Hispanic male students dropping out compared to other races,

What programs are offered in these two cities that address these at risk students,

The number of students who participate in the existing programs,

The number of 16 year old African American and Hispanic males that participate in these programs,

The retention of the students in these programs through the year,

The amount of students who reach graduation because of these programs and,

Speak to drop outs and get the reasons why they students drop out of school

I will also conduct interviews with the principals’ at these public high schools, along with several counselors, and students. The information gathered will help me and others to understand the effectiveness and or the ineffectiveness of the programs that are targeting 16 year old African American and Hispanic male students.

Journey of the Menzuo ~ Solar Warriors Series

Okay...I'm trying my best to sit patiently as I wait for word about my first book, Menzuo in the Calling of the Sun Prince. The book has been submitted to a publishing company for review and if it is accepted, my life will be changed forever.

My life would change, not because of the money that the book might bring but for the mission that I have set for myself since I wrote the book.

The book “Menzuo in the Calling of the Sun Prince” was created in 1996 at the Baystate Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. My best friend, Marcus McDowell, was diagnosed with cancer in January of that same year. While Marcus was in the hospital, I visited him daily and on many occasions. I often slept in his hospital room just to make him feel a little better about fighting his battle.

During the time that I spent in the hospital with Marcus, we kept ourselves occupied with one of our favorite pastimes, writing and drawing. Marcus imagined several characters while I created stories about them. One particular character that we created stood out the most, that special one was Menzuo. With several characters and stories written, we had no clue of what to do with them. Unfortunately before something was figured out, Marcus passed away. In just eleven months of his diagnosis, his battle ended.

Two months after his passing and while dealing with a personal battle of depression because of such a great loss, I met with his parents. During this meeting Douglas Skinner, Marcus’ father, gave me some of his son’s artwork. He told me he knew that I would find a way to use them. Still, I had no idea that each of these characters would become a part of what is now my Menzuo ~ Solar Warriors series.

With my first story, I wanted to honor Marcus because I missed him so much. I wanted him to live on. An idea came to mind and I created a character that would help Menzuo throughout his life as the universal protector. That character would always be with Menzuo in each story.

Many people have read my first book and they have quickly fallen in love with each of my characters. They have also learned about the impact that Marcus McDowell has had on my life.

In Menzuo in the Calling of the Sun Prince, the reader’s quickly come to see that the main character, Jammal Hall a.k.a. Menzuo, is Keshawn and Solar, is Marcus. This tribute of bringing Solar into the story was a way for me to always stay connected to such a great friend.

Now, as I move forward to reaching my goal to become a motivational speaker and strong advocate for eduacation, I have been honored with the opportunity to work with and inspire some great minds who have joined me on this journey. When the first book came about, I was approached by some good friends who wanted to take the book to another level. They wanted to enhance the artwork that Marcus did and bring the characters to life in each story. So, I first hooked up with my good friend Kein Bailey who created the Artwork for my second book, Menzuo S.W. (Solar Warriors) Legend of the Blue Diamond. His work is phenominal and it has been an honor to be with a person who can see my vision.

In the past couple of years, I was introduced to another artist who shares my same passion (It's funny how God brings people into your life). I was introduced to Carl Harrison and from the second that we spoke, we were on the same wavelength. As he sat in my office, he asked me to describe one of my characters. It took me about 15 seconds to explain what Menzuo looks like and his super powers. In that same time, Carl created a sketch on my character. I was blown away. It didn't take me long to know that we were meant to work together as well.

If you want to see what Carl Harrison is doing now, just go to houseofcarl.blogspot.com. You can view a 3 second clip of an animated Menzuo on his blog.

From this point on, I have two phenominal artist who share my same vision to help educate our youth and also to bring the Menzuo ~ Solar Warriors series to the next level. With us three working together, we have created "Team Menzuo" and the journey is a very long and hopefully prosperous one.

As an advocate for education, I have used my two published books to read to students in schools, libraries and community centers in many different cities. I also have the opportunity to inspire the youth the get involved with their creative side by showing off my artists artwork.

These opportunities that I have been given to reach out to young children have completely changed my life. The best thing that I get to do is to tell the story about my best friend Marcus. My story proves to people that they can overcome any adversity in life and that they can still strive for greatness. The key is to believe and to always reach for the stars.