Earlier this year, former Joplin, Missouri classroom teacher Randy Turner struck a chord with teachers across the United States in a Huffington Post essay in which he recommended that young people not become classroom teachers. That essay, which received more than 180,000 Facebook likes and was shared more than 50,000 times, is included in Let Teachers Teach, a collection of Turner's essays on today's education, his own teaching, and colleagues and students who have touched his life. In Let Teachers Teach, Turner, a former newspaper reporter and editor, offers his first collection of essays detailing the problems in American education and most of those problems, he says, start with those who are needlessly trying to reform it. Turner addresses the attacks made on teachers, the billionaire reformers, teaching to the test, and the lies that are told to make discipline statistics look better. The book also features Turner's essays on a former student's suicide, tributes to a fired principal and an inspirational teacher, and his writing on the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado and its effect and on his school and his teaching. The collection also includes Turner's updates on several of the essays. The book is Turner's sixth non-fiction work, following The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, and Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School. He has also written three novels.

The EF-5 tornado that ripped through the heart of Joplin, Missouri, May 22, 2011, killed 161 people and damaged one-third of the community. What it did not do was destroy the indomitable nature of the people who live in this city of 50,000. Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado tells the story of how Joplin residents began the rebuilding process almost immediately. The heroes of this book are many- not just the leaders whose faces became familiar on local and national news, but the volunteers from Joplin and the world. Spirit of Hope, the follow-up book to 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, is the inspirational story of the city that would not die. The book includes the following: -Original reporting from its authors, veteran newspaper reporter John Hacker and teacher and former reporter Randy Turner -First person accounts from tornado survivors and volunteers -Photos from the tornado and the major events of the following year -Complete texts of important speeches, including those given by President Barack Obama, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr, School Superintendent C. J. Huff, and radio personality Rush Limbaugh Coverage of the tornado, the memorial service one week later, the Extreme Makeover build, Habitat for Humanity, the visit of the 9-11 flag, the improbable day that school started on time only 87 days after 10 schools had been destroyed or damaged, the high school prom, the graduation and the inspiring Day of Unity on the one-year anniversary -Testaments to the important role that faith, both from within and outside of Joplin helped the city's residents recover from the nation's worst tornado in six decades -Official documents, including the final National Weather Service report on the tornado and the Center for Disease Control report on a mysterious fungus that attacked some of those who went through the tornado -A forward written by one of the heroes of May 22, 2011, and the days afterward in Joplin- Fire Chief Mitch Randles Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, is a stirring tribute to the people of Joplin and the people from across the nation and the world who offered them a hand when they needed it the most.

"They were here Friday, they were here Saturday, and those nuts were sprinkled on our Sunday."

When veteran southwest Missouri newspaper editor Randy Turner wrote those words he never dreamed he was opening the door to a $1.5 billion libel suit and the end of a storied newspaper career that saw him earn more than 100 awards, including 30 for investigative reporting.

In "Newspaper Days," Turner's follow-up to the highly successful The Turner Report, he relives his 22 years as a reporter and editor, including how:

-He encountered a gang of armed drug dealers after his editorial resulted in a police crackdown

-His failure to deal with the murder of a close friend haunted him after his first newspaper job

-One publisher fired him twice by mail, and another told him he would never work in newspapers again.

-He ran afoul of a 400-pound city marshal, and a gun-toting father during his time with the Newton County News

-His coverage of corruption in a small town police department, the Nancy Cruzan right-to-die case, and a governor's race between three Missouri legends- Mel Carnahan, Roy Blunt, and Bill Webster, catapulted him to a front-tier status among Missouri journalists.

. "Newspaper Days" is entertaining, funny, fast-moving, and a must-read for those who remember a time when a newspaper was the heart and soul of a community.

Each day, Missouri reporters and politicians, and many in our nation's capital, read "The Turner Report" to get their first glimpse at stories that later appear in the traditional media. In his first non-fiction book, Randy Turner offers a collection of some of his favorite stories, old and new, including: A minor presidential candidate fakes his death, then mounts a political comeback. Small town police officers terrorize teens and minorities until a brutal beating in the city jail brings their deeds to light. In Missouri's best-remembered gubernatorial primary race, the loser became one of the most powerful men in the country; the winner ended up in a federal penitentiary. An angry mob is ready to kill two men it believes were involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. The grieving parents of Nancy Cruzan go to the U. S. Supreme Court and back to prove their daughter has a right to die. The special interests backing Congressman Roy Blunt and his son, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, are revealed. Combine those stories with Turner's examination of the effect lobbyists and special interests are having on Missouri and Washington, and you have a must-read book as the nation prepares for the 2008 elections.

On one hot August night, 15-year-old Cassandra Harper's life is shattered. First, she becomes a victim of date rape, then the body of her beloved father, Richard Harper, is found slumped over the computer he gave Cassandra for her 15th birthday.

From that point on, Cassandra withdraws from the world, reserving her communications to her anonymously-written blog.and to instant messenger conversations with her dead father.

"Devil's Messenger, " a combination horror story and murder mystery, is the story of how Cassandra battles from the brink of despair to reclaim her life, and her evil father who attempts to continue his reign of terror from beyond the grave.

Adding to the mix is Richard Harper's murderer, who is manipulating Cassandra's family and everyone else in the small community of Westport seeking the hidden fortune that Harper left behind.

"Devil's Messenger" is a roller-coaster ride of terror from beginning to end.

It's a lousy day in Rockport. The bank was robbed, a man was killed, and in what may or may not be a coincidence, the school superintendent vanished without a trace. It couldn't have worked out any better for high school journalist Tiffany Everett. Everything happened on the first day of her one-week internship at an area television station. Tiffany has a chance to see small town journalism at its best and its worst, as she deals with an intriguing group of characters: Shannon Starbuck - the hometown girl and star reporter to whom Tiffany is assigned. Willie Taylor - her journalism teacher, who shares a past with Shannon. Kirk Robbins - the boy wonder newspaper editor who is willing to cut corners to beat the competition on the biggest story that has ever hit Rockport. During seven exciting days, Tiffany Everett sees the permanent damage that can be done when the media circus hits a small town. And if she's lucky, she may live to see football homecoming.