12/04/2025 – BREAKING NEWS: PAPER AIRPLANE, BROKEN BONES has been LONGLISTED for TWO AWARDS, the 2025 DANTE ROSSETTI YOUNG ADULT FICTION AWARD & the 2025 SOMERSET LITERARY AND CONTEMPORARY FICTION AWARD! (both awards are categories of the Chanticleer Independent Book Awards)
“A wholly absorbing…coming-of-age tale…the cast comes with myriad layers.” – Kirkus Reviews
YA historical fiction novel, PAPER AIRPLANE, BROKEN BONES, set in Fort Lauderdale in 1980, was published on MARCH 25th, 2025 by Willow River Press! In addition to the Kirkus review above, check the glowing reviews below & the link to order the book!
“A haunting and deeply evocative coming-of-age novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page, Paper Airplane, Broken Bones masterfully explores themes of guilt, loss, and the turbulent shift from adolescence to adulthood. With raw, unfiltered honesty and sharp, lyrical prose, R.B. Shifman captures the fragility of youth and the weight of secrets in a story that is both nostalgic and unsettling. This is a book that doesn’t just tell a story—it grips you in its ghostly embrace and refuses to let go.” – Kathryn Dare, Portland Book Review
“Paper Airplane, Broken Bones is a nostalgic coming-of-age story that perfectly captures the joys and tragedies of youth. R.B. Shifman expertly crafts complex characters battling for control in a world both cruel and beautiful.” – Angela Sylvaine, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Dead Spot
My corporate-horror short story, “MAYO MONDAY,” headlined the OCTOBER 2023 issue of the horror magazine, CHM (Cosmic Horror Monthly). This all-ages story is published under my given name, Richard Shifman.
Link: BUY CHM Issue 40 (Oct ’23)
As of February 16, 2022, the first editions of Everyone Leaves This Place, Love’s Heavy Spell, and Still Running Deep are no longer published. A limited number of unused free copies of the first editions of these novels can be obtained by contacting the author.
Please refer to the ‘Other Works’ page for published short stories and other exciting projects in development.
WELCOME TO R.B. SHIFMAN, AUTHOR 