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About

I'm a poet, children's author and teacher. My aim with my writing is to try to give people joy, laughter, some food for thought, and to try and bring some inspiring messages to my readers. I like to write poetry for adults and picture books/early readers. My first two books are stories in verse and have been inspired by my professional and personal life. The first book is called It's a Teacher's Life...! and my second book is called Family and More - Enemies or Friends? which is available in paperback and Kindle, as well as Kindle apps for the iPhone, iTouch and iPad. The vision that inspired this book can be summed up as follows: every encounter we have in life can be a force for good and, if we see with the heart, we'll know that only man-made differences divide us. The fact that I come from a German/English background was a key factor in inspiring me to write this book.

My third book is a children's picture book, entitled 'Pep, Polish and Paint'. The story is set in space (I've always been fascinated by space) and it involves a sun that's lost his shine and three spaceships. It's all about taking action and discovering the power within to achieve whatever you want to achieve.

Description

Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.

Story Behind The Book

This collection of anecdotes and character sketches in free verse was inspired by my own experiences as a teacher in a girls' school in the U.K. It's a collection that's designed primarily to entertain, but also to give the reader pause for thought about whether our education system is really serving the best interests of our children. Another of my aims was to give non-teachers a better insight into what it actually means to be a teacher, so often a misunderstood profession! The book has now been republished under the imprint of Harper Books.

Reviews

A Work With Feeling. By Don Blankenship, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 5 stars "Free verse has become a universal mode for expressing thoughts, feelings, reality and unreality for many. Some writers write very bad verse (I find myself in this category), while others have mastered its form and are able to use it as a sharp tool, a soft pillow for pleasing landings and most importantly, sharing the many little pieces of their world with others. Helena Harper is quite obviously one of those with the skill and the feelings to accomplish the last mentioned... I have to admit that without exception I enjoyed each of the twenty offerings in this wonderful little book. As I read each piece, I could actually feel the happiness, frustrations, and indeed a twinge of anger and sadness here and there... This is a wonderful collection of poems that were written from the heart. This work would be an absolute wonderful gift for any teacher in your life; it would be a wonderful gift and read for anyone wishing to understand not only teachers, but all people who dedicate their lives to service. Love this small glimpse into a remarkable woman's life, and I do hope more is to follow." The Other Side of the Front Desk. By Grady Harp, Amazon Top 10 Reviewer, 4 stars "...Harper writes with disarming clarity, poems unfettered by constraints of rhyme or meter, but instead allows her thoughts and reactions to many many aspects of education to flow like a private conversation. Of particular interest is the inclusion of the many non-teacher personnel in a private girls' school - the caretaker, the cook, the matron - giving the reader not only entertainment but insights into some of the differences between public and private education. This is a fine book for teachers, for parents, and for students who strive to make sense out of the idiosyncrasies of that person in front of the white/black board in the world of the classroom. Highly entertaining, well-written poetry." A Teacher's Life in Poetry. By Robin Friedman, Amazon Top 50 Reviewer, 4 stars "...In a short, light way, Harper's book explores the frustrations of the teacher's life. Through the short term difficulty and travail, she captures something of its significance as well. This is a delightful little book." The Inside Teaching Perspective for Everyone. By T. Turner “Tiffany Turner”, 5 stars "I ordered this book on-line since I am a teacher myself. I was interested to see what a book of poetry on teaching would contain. I really found it to be a breath of fresh air in the hoopla of preparing for State Testing. Ms. Harper really gives the reader a teacher's perspective in a humorous fashion. You can really understand the everyday ups and downs a teacher goes through each day or week, and even during the school year. It was wonderful to see that in the world of teaching, you're not alone in your dedication. I really enjoyed her variation of subjects relating to the field, such as "The Workplace", "The Trips" (Field Trips), "The Staffroom", and "The Duties". Her book has you travel through the school year, experiencing all of the trials a teacher faces. Many of my students were startled by my laughter during DEAR (Drop-Everything-And-Read) time, as I chuckled again and again. For American readers, it may be a bit different from the school experiences in the States. The school setting is a girls school in England, and may describe school format and procedure different from American Schools. But it does make it interesting in the sense that you can learn what schools are like in other countries." Review in Summer 2009 edition of Attain magazine (a magazine for prep schools in the UK) "Amy, the Able - school administrator and 'Queen of Resources' - and Emilio - 'caretaker unique' - are just two of the lifelike cast of characters assembled by Helena Harper in this enjoyable, witty and insightful trip down memory lane. I hadn't read poetry since I skipped out of my A level English exams and didn't initially jump at the idea of reading a poetry book set in a girls' private school and written by a teacher. Would it be funny? Could it be, even? I wasn't aware of any of my teachers being poets and I wasn't sure that the everyday minutiae of school would make for Good Poetry, as defined by the narrow constraints of the A level curriculum. I was in for a surprise and an enjoyable reintroduction to poetry...Helena Harper's poems have a warm, conversational style, almost as if the teacher's stream of consciousness were noted down as poetry...[and the author] has an incisive, dry wit that makes you want to read on..." Link to full review: <a href="http://www.attainmagazine.co.uk/ebooks/attain9/flash.html#/28/">http://www.attainmagazine.co.uk/ebooks/attain9/flash.html#/28/</a>

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A King Under Siege: Book One of The Plantagenet Legacy

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