Authors and Publishers, I am happy to receive ARCs and published children's, middle grade, and YA books for review. When I finish it, I will review it. If you need the review posted in a certain time period, please let me know and I will move it to the top of the stack. Please note: my reviews are honest, but they are my opinion. If you don't want that, please don't ask. Email Me for reviews.
Title:Kyle's Island Author: Sally Derby ARC Provided by: Charlesbridge Publishing Publishing date: February 2010
About the book: For as far back as Kyle can remember, he spent summers at Gram's cottage on the lake--fishing all day, and hanging out with the whole family. But this year is different. His father has moved out, his grandmother has died, and his mother is selling the cottage because they can't afford the upkeep.
My Review: I really enjoyed this one! Sally is an author that I was familiar with, through her children's book, No Mush Today, which I have read and reviewed. When I saw that she was releasing a middle grade book, I wanted to read it.
This is a great book for middle graders and even young teens. One thing I liked is that it had a strong male main character. Kyle knows what he wants and he will do whatever it takes to get it. Kids today could learn a lot from Kyle. He goes through his parents' separation with the same feelings that many kids have. He feels he has already lost his father, and now he is about to lose one of the other constants in his life, that he loves dearly; the cottage at the lake. But, through the story, he learns a much greater lesson. He makes a new friend that he never would have thought about and learns to forgive and go on even though life isn't happening the way he wants it to. There are just so many lessons in this book, for young kids to learn from!
Sally Derby does a great job not only telling Kyle's story, but delivering a middle grade novel that boys and girls alike will enjoy! The male point of view is not prevalent in a lot of stories today, so it was refreshing to read. Positive values and lessons in a realistic fiction story, make this a must read for tweens and an excellent addition to a school library.
Charlesbridge Publishing has a Discussion and Activity Guide to accompany Kyle's Island. What a great tool to use in the classroom!
Eventually, I guess, I will get used to writing 2010. I just noticed that on last week's edition of In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday, I dated it 1/17/09...oh well. Maybe in February I'll get it right.
Welcome to another edition of my combo meme In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday. You can find these hosted by some wonderful ladies: Kristi at The Story Siren and Marcia at The Printed Page, respectively. They host these memes so that book bloggers can share the books that come into their houses. I appreciate them both and hope that you will visit their blogs.
Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn, from Knopf
Very LeFreak has a problem: she’s a crazed technology addict. Very can’t get enough of her iPhone, laptop, IMs, text messages, whatever. If there’s any chance the incoming message, call, text, or photo might be from her supersecret online crush, she’s going to answer, no matter what. Nothing is too important: sleep, friends in mid-conversation, class, a meeting with the dean about academic probation. Soon enough, though, this obsession costs Very everything and everyone. Can she learn to block out the noise so she can finally hear her heart?
Arcadia Falls (ARC) by Carol Goodman, from Ballantine Books via Shelf Awareness
There once was a girl who liked to pretend she was lost. . . .
Meg Rosenthal is driving toward the next chapter in her life. Winding along a wooded roadway, her car moves through a dense forest setting not unlike one in the bedtime stories Meg used to read to her daughter, Sally. But the girl riding beside Meg is a teenager now, and has exchanged the land of make-believe for an iPod and some personal space. Too much space, it seems, as the chasm between them has grown since the sudden, unexpected death of Meg’s husband.
Dire financial straits and a desire for a fresh start take Meg and Sally from a comfortable life on Long Island to a tucked-away hamlet in upstate New York: Arcadia Falls, where Meg has accepted a teaching position at a boarding school. The creaky, neglected cottage Meg and Sally are to call home feels like an ill portent of things to come, but Meg is determined to make the best of it—and to make a good impression on the school’s dean, the diminutive, elegant Ivy St. Clare.
St. Claire, however, is distracted by a shocking crisis: During Arcadia’s First Night bonfire, one of Meg’s folklore students, Isabel Cheney, plunges to her death in a campus gorge. Sheriff Callum Reade finds Isabel’s death suspicious, but then, he is a man with secrets and a dark past himself.
Meg is unnerved by Reade’s interest in the girl’s death, and as long-buried secrets emerge, she must face down her own demons and the danger threatening to envelop Sally. As the past clings tight to the present, the shadows, as if in a terrifying fairy tale, grow longer and deadlier.
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, from Algonquin Books
This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy.
With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white.
Who Stole My Soul? by Vishura Prakash, from Synergy Books
If a soul is intangible and resides within our hearts and minds, can it be stolen? More importantly, who do you turn to when you feel your soul slipping away from you? In this fantastical, semi-autobiographical book, Vishwa Prakash addresses these questions. When Vishwa feels a mysterious force sweep away his soul, he embarks on a spiritual quest and appeals to an unusual being for help-the devil, who is not quite what Vishwa expected. Vishwa's dialogue with the devil takes him deep within himself, in search of answers to his dilemma. The devil has an unorthodox viewpoint, which intrigues one moment and enlightens the next.
The Bride Collector (ARC) by Ted Dekker, from Center Street for an upcoming blog tour
FBI Special agent Brad Raines is facing his toughest case yet. A Denver serial killer has killed four beautiful young women, leaving a bridal veil at each crime scene, and he's picking up his pace. Unable to crack the case, Raines appeals for help from a most unusual source: residents of the Center for Wellness and Intelligence, a private psychiatric institution for mentally ill individuals whose are extraordinarily gifted.
It's there that he meets Paradise, a young woman who witnessed her father murder her family and barely escaped his hand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Paradise may also have an extrasensory gift: the ability to experience the final moments of a person's life when she touches the dead body.
In a desperate attempt to find the killer, Raines enlists Paradise's help. In an effort to win her trust, he befriends this strange young woman and begins to see in her qualities that most 'sane people' sorely lack. Gradually, he starts to question whether sanity resides outside the hospital walls...or inside.
As the Bride Collector picks up the pace-and volume-of his gruesome crucifixions, the case becomes even more personal to Raines when his friend and colleague, a beautiful young forensic psychologist, becomes the Bride Collector's next target.
The FBI believes that the killer plans to murder seven women. Can Paradise help before it's too late?
Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, from Clarion Books
When little Mabel's bubble gets away from her, it's her baby brother who gets into trouble. Soon he's floating out of the house, above the fence, and all over town! And it's up to Mabel, Mother, and the rest of the townspeople to get him safely back down. Who knew that so much trouble could come from one little bubble?
6. Our plans are usually up in the air but sometimes we schedule things.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Ghost Whisperer, tomorrow my plans include a parent workshop at school and working on the driveway and Sunday, I want to relax with a book!
If you'd like to join in the fun, visit the Friday Fill-Ins blog!
by Shari Maurer
Publication Date: 2010 by WestSide Books
In a world where the most stressful thing seems to be winning a soccer game or what to wear in the morning, you take some really basic things for granted.
Like the love of your parents.
Or hanging with your friends.
Or the beating of your heart.
When you’re 16 years old, it never occurs to you that you might die. Emmi Miller’s got a fabulous life. She has tons of friends, does great in school and is an all-star soccer player who played in Europe last summer. It even looks like Sam Hunter, a totally cute baseball player, might be interested in her. And then she gets a virus. No biggy, right? Until the virus goes to her heart and weakens it so much that, without a transplant, Emmi will die.
Will Emmi get a heart in time? Is Sam too good to be true? What about her new friend Abe, who has also had a transplant and guides her through these scary times — is he just being supportive or is there more going on between them? And will Emmi realize it before it’s too late?
What an ordeal to be placed on the shoulders of a 16 year old! I am anticipating this one to see how the author deals with such a delicate situation. This is something that teenagers don't think about, but it happens. I'm glad to see an author putting it into a YA story for teens to read. Maybe it will make them stop and think!
Today, I have the honor of welcoming to the blog, Kim Russo. You can find her online at Book-Diva.
Reading has always been a pattern of consumption for me. The faster I could consume it, the smarter I would be. There was always so much to read and consume in high school and later in college, only to be reiterated in some term paper later on.
Recently, I heard someone say that no student should read the great works of literature before they are in college. Before that, no one would have enough of a perspective to truly appreciate the true value of literature. This is what happened to me.
As any well-read student, I read Shakespeare, Camus, and even a little Upton Sinclair. Just enough of everything to round out my academic record and literary resume. I could discuss the effects of the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare’s literature and the “cloudless climes and starry skies” of Lord Byron’s famous verses. However, many of these pieces did not appeal to me personally, nor did they inspire me to write.
I always thought good writing came from creating a story out of nothing. Personal references were too predictable and too personal. If I became a published author, too many people would try to analyze me and why I wrote what I did because of the life I had had. I’m an intensely private person about my feelings and desires. To have other people appreciate my writing would give me a connection but in a protected way. I would not have to interact with them face to face if I did not wish to.
It’s ironic, then, that the first book that really inspired in me to be a writer was That Night by Alice McDermott. During my first semester in college, I had the opportunity to read this for the very first time. Like me, the author, Alice McDermott, had grown up in the suburbs of Long Island, built after the World War II. In this book, the main characters struggled with the plot, a pregnant teenage girl, who struggles against the current of the ideal suburban life.
It’s not a long book. Not much to consume in terms of pages or words. Rather, I liked the construction and the sound of McDermott’s words in this novel. It had the pitch and rhythm of language that I experienced growing up on Long Island myself. Just like the characters in this novel, I too have struggled with many of the same themes. How to reconcile my uniqueness with the strong blandness of suburban society. How I feared ostracism despite my desire to be a part of a world that demands a certain amount of behavior conformity.
Since reading this novel, I have read two other novels by Alice McDermott, and I have delighted in the same things again and again. Long Island continues to be the backdrop for her work, but it is only where she begins the story, not where she ends it. The knowledge of where she came from does not inhibit or define her boundaries. They add authenticity to the story she created.
This book and this author reminded me that to be a good writer often means using what is a part of you, what you know. It’s not writing your lifestory. It’s about creating a legitimate and authentic story that draws the reader into a different world that’s real to you, the author. That is why, I decided, I would become an author some day.
About That Night: Recalling American suburbia of the 1960s, this is the story of a teenage boy who retaliates against his girlfriend's mother after fate severs the couple's fragile bond. In souped-up cars, he and his buddies cruise loudly through her neighborhood, wielding chains and egging on the fathers who would dare try to defend their families. The result is a night that no one will be able to forget, and a showdown not only between two generations but also between one young man and the deep-seated fears that have haunted him all his life.
Welcome to another edition of my combo meme In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday. You can find these hosted by some wonderful ladies: Kristi at The Story Siren and Marcia at The Printed Page, respectively. They host these memes so that book bloggers can share the books that come into their houses. I appreciate them both and hope that you will visit their blogs.
Since I didn't get a post in last week, the following is what came into my house over the last two weeks.
Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love by Pat Mora, from Knopf
Beloved children's book author and speaker Pat Mora has written an original collection of poems, each with a different teen narrator sharing unique thoughts, moments, sadness, or heart’s desire: the girl who loves swimming, plunging into the water that creates her own world; the guy who leaves flowers on the windshield of the girl he likes. Each of the teens in these 50 original poems, written using a variety of poetic forms, will be recognizable to the reader as the universal emotions, ideas, impressions, and beliefs float across the pages in these gracefully told verses.
Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, from Knopf
Dee, Terrence, and Hector are very excited about Author Visit Day. But something is not right about their special guest, Lewis Scribson, author of the famous Flippy Bunny books. Coach Birkby, the gym teacher, mysteriously disappears the day of his visit. What evil designs does this world-famous writer have on his agenda? Lunch Lady is going to get to the bottom of it, even if she has to kick some bunny butt!
Dream Life by Lauren Mechling, from Delacorte Press
Claire Voyante's first semester at Henry Hudson High School was eventful, to say the least. As she heads into her second semester, things are calming down a bit. But Claire has a few secrets that are getting harder to keep. Her biggest secret of all? The onyx and ivory cameo necklace her grandmother gave her for her 15th birthday. Ever since she started wearing it, her dreams have been coming to her in black and white and turning out to be oddly prophetic.
Becca’s been hanging out with her old prep school friends and never seems to have time for Claire anymore. And soon, Claire discovers why—there’s a secret group of society girls with a mysterious identity. And, turns out, a mysterious enemy who’s out to get them. The second she sniffs out trouble, Claire jumps on the case. But is it someone close to Claire who’s in danger again—or could it be Claire herself whose life is at stake?
How to Save Your Own Life: 15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places by Michael Gates Gill, from Gotham Books
Filled with new anecdotes of life with his father, New Yorker writer Brendan Gill, his mother, his children, his family and friends and the dramatic adn inspiring stories of people he has met on the road and at his local Starbucks since the publication of How Starbucks Saved My Life, Mike imparts lessons of life that we often forget in our day-to-day interactions with those around us, lessons which are at once profound as well as common sense.
Fireworks Over Toccoa (ARC) by Jeffrey Stepakoff, from St. Martin's Press
An unexpected discovery takes eighty-four-year-old Lily Davis Woodward to 1945, and the five days that forever changed her life. Married for only a week before her husband was sent to fight in WWII, Lily is anxious for his return, and the chance to begin their life together. In honor of the soldiers' homecoming, the small Georgia town of Toccoa plans a big celebration. And Jake Russo, a handsome Italian immigrant, also back from war, is responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned. But after a chance encounter in a star-lit field, he steals Lily's heart and soul--and fulfills her in ways her socially-minded, upper-class family cannot. Now, torn by duty to society and her husband--and the poor, passionate man who might be her only true love--Lily must choose between a commitment she's already made and a love she’s never known before.
Get Lucky (ARC) by Katherine Center
Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job.
So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around.
But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.
Beautiful Dead: Book 1-Jonas (ARC) by Eden Maguire, from Sourcebooks Fire
Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Phoenix is the fourth teenager to die within a year. His street fight stabbing follows the deaths of Jonas, Summer and Arizona in equally strange and sudden circumstances. Rumours of ghosts and strange happenings rip through the small community as it comes to terms with shock and loss. Darina, Phoenix's grief-stricken girlfriend, is on the verge. She can't escape her intense heartache, or the impossible apparitions of those that are meant to be dead. And all the while the sound of beating wings echo inside her head...And then one day Phoenix appears to Darina. Ecstatic to be reunited, he tells her about the Beautiful Dead. Souls in limbo, they have been chosen to return to the world to set right a wrong linked to their deaths and bring about justice. Beautiful, superhuman and powerful, they are marked by a 'death mark' -- a small tattoo of angel's wings. Phoenix tells her that the sound of invisible wings beating are the millions of souls in limbo, desperate to return to earth. Darina's mission is clear: she must help Jonas, Summer, Arizona, and impossibly, her beloved Phoenix, right the wrong linked to their deaths to set them free from limbo so that they can finally rest in peace. Will love conquer death? And if it does, can Darina set it free?
Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy, from Phenix & Phenix
The past Janeal thought had burned away is rising from the ashes.
Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend--at serious risk to her own life--or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered . . .
But the past is quickly coming back to haunt her. Both the best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There's a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there's an even greater debt she must face--and if the chaff isn't burned from her own heart, it will consume her.
All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab, from Delacorte Press
Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.
Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.
Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.
As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.
They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney, from Delacorte Press
In a busy school cafeteria, a teenage girl is confronted by a classmate who questions her identity. He explains to the students who have crowded around that the girl bears an uncanny resemblance to his cousin, who was taken away by social services five years ago. Her parents abandoned her, fleeing the country after being accused of embezzling millions of dollars. The students are intrigued, but the girl shrugs off the attention as a case of mistaken identity.
As the days pass, however, the boy refuses to relent and even brings his parents in to back him up. But they are not the only adults involved. An FBI agent who has been working the case these past five years believes that whoever this girl is, she can serve as bait to help the FBI capture the fugitives.
The Less-Dead by April Lurie, from Delacorte Press
Noah Nordstrom has been dissing the religious beliefs of his father, who hosts a popular Christian radio show and whom Noah accuses of spreading hate. When two local gay teens are murdered, Noah’s anti-evangelism intensifies—he’s convinced that the killer is a caller on his dad’s program.
Then Noah meets Will Reed, a cool guy. But when he learns that Will is gay, Noah gets a little weirded out. Especially since Will seems really into him. Noah gives Will the brush-off. Meanwhile, the killer is still at large . . . and soon Noah finds the next victim. It’s Will.
Racked with guilt, Noah decides to investigate. He knows the serial killer is targeting gay teens, but only those who live in foster homes, whose deaths are not that important to society; they are the less-dead. Noah, however, is determined to prove that someone cares. With the help of Will’s journal, which he pocketed at the scene of the crime and in which the killer has written clues, Noah closes in on an opponent more dangerous than he can guess.
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Everlasting
by Angie Frazier
Publication Date: June 1st 2010 by Scholastic Press
Sailing aboard her father’s trade ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a girl of society in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love, or condemn herself and her father to poverty.
On her final voyage before the wedding, the stormy arms of the Tasman Sea claim her father, and a terrible family secret is revealed. A secret intertwined with a fabled map, the mother Camille has long believed dead, and an ancient stone that wields a dangerous—and alluring—magic.
The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar, a handsome young sailor whom she is undeniably drawn to. Torn between trusting her instincts and keeping her promises to her father, Camille embarks on a perilous quest into the Australian wilderness to find the enchanted stone. As she and Oscar elude murderous bushrangers and unravel Camille’s father’s lies, they come closer to making the ultimate decision of who—and what—matters most.
If you are a follower of this blog, you know how I'm drawn to covers. Well, this one, in my opinion, is beautiful! I love the colors that were chosen. Very simple, yet it catches the eye. Then, I read the synopsis. Not much YA that I've read is set in the past, especially the 1800s. Not that this is historical fiction, which I love because I'm a big history fan, but the fact that it is set in the past has me highly anticipating this one! To top it off, there are secrets, magic and romance. What more could a girl want?
Write For A Reader is very pleased to welcome Maureen Hume to the blog today.
I am the author of ‘The Pizza Gang: Facing The Witch’, a crazy, fun, adventure chapter story for children ages 8-12. Visit The Pizza Gang and myself at http://www.thepizzagang.com/
Besides being a children’s fiction author I am the devoted mother to six abandoned, disabled bunnies, friend and aunt to a fantastic extended family full of children and wife to one of the nicest men on this fabulous earth of ours.
Sometimes I think I was born with a book firmly clasped in my chubby baby hands because books are such a big part of my life and the profound comfort they give me I can only put down to a genetic predisposition.
I grew up on a sheep farm in Tasmania, Australia during the 60’s and 70’s and for a young child it was a blissful existence. We didn’t have a television or even a telephone but what we did have was books, books and more books.
Money was scarce so the books I read were either very old, second hand or end of year Sunday School presentations.
‘The Case of the Missing Toff’ was a favorite not because of it’s content but more because to me it smelled like long forgotten treasure, kind of musty and damp, and the spine creaked spookily with each turn of a page. I never did quite understand what a Toff is or was but the book itself is still stuck in my mind several decades later.
As a shy loner child I completely immersed myself in books and the characters became my trusted friends, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five was actually Famous Six but seeing this wasn’t going to work as a title I graciously asked to be left in the background, included in every adventure, but never mentioned.
And then there was my beloved Trixie Belden. My niece has a full set of exactly the same stories that I treasured thirty years ago, with one small difference, the covers are soft and a clever person has given Trixie a very cool millennium makeover.
But there can only be one winner in the category of childhood books that changed my life and that book would have to be Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was presented with this book by the church as my reward for attending each and every Sunday School class for the entire year. I loathed and despised this story! Unfortunately for me every man and his dog felt obliged to tell me how lucky I was to be given such a classic book therefore making me feel obliged to fib and agree that yes I was indeed lucky and yes it was a great book.
So every birthday and Christmas for the next two years I was bestowed with a Louisa May Alcott book until I had the entire rotten series.
So, what did my childhood books teach me? Life’s too short to read books you don’t enjoy. If the first chapter doesn’t grab at least one of your senses, toss it and find a book that does.
Oh, and all that pent up childhood imagination that lingers into adulthood…channel it into writing children’s books, so growing generations can immerse themselves in your fantasy and get to know your characters so they feel like trusted friends.
About Little Women: Follow the adventures of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, in this lively retelling of a much-loved classic tale. The sisters fall into one scrape after another, as tempers flare, illness strikes and their lives are filled with new experiences and loves.
About The Pizza Gang Facing the Witch: When the neighborhood witch is out to get you, you'll do just about anything to avoid her! That's how twin brothers Joe and Ben, along with their best friend Katie, wound up volunteering to sort through the lost property at the police station. When they uncover a beautiful hat sent to a bride-to-be during a war decades ago, they find themselves in the middle of a mystery that needs solving. Determined to re-unite the hat with its owner, Joe, Ben and Katie come up with a plan involving their eccentric friend, Major Pain In The Butt and his turbo-charged wheelchair. But a series of disasters involving the witch, a cardboard cut-out of Brad Pitt, a bottle of nerve-calming sherry, a moldy theatre curtain and the theft of the hat bring a sudden end to the children's quest. Will they ever find the hat's owner?
