[As an experiment last fall, I invited self-publishers to submit their best new titles for review. About a dozen heeded the call, and I am reviewing their books in this space.]

Mary-Ellen O’Keefe’s Word-Speaking Diet; written by Tom Neely; illustrated by Sharad Kumar. Tom Neely, 2014. 36pp. ISBN 978-1502-44425-7. Paper ed. $9.97.

Mary-Ellen has always been a big talker–at home. But why is she paralyzed into silence at school? Situational shyness is a condition known to most of us, and kids will understand why this gabby little girl seems almost like a different person once she’s in the company of her teacher and classmates. A little pep talk from Mom clears the problem right up, and, while I guess that’s nice for Mary-Anne, it doesn’t make for a plot that’s very satisfying to the rest of us. The tale is told in awkwardly rhyming couplets, many of which seem more content to mark time than move the story forward,  and the illustrations are generic cartoons.   R.S.