Congratulations to Linda Andersen and Monica M., a new Twitter follower, who each won a copy of OF BETTER BLOOD on last week's blog. ******** Writing historical fiction is hard. You read shelves full of books, study documents, interview experts, ponder maps, photographs, and data. You work really hard to insert authentic details (what color… Continue reading Juba! A Novel- A Review and ARC Giveaway
Last April I reviewed Susan Moger's book, Teaching the Diary of Anne Frank. When she contacted me and asked if I would read and review her debut novel, OF BETTER BLOOD (Albert Whitman and Co. 2016), I agreed. After reading it I can tell you one thing for sure: Susan used all of her research about… Continue reading Of Better Blood: A Review and TWO Giveaways
Congratulations to Monica O' Quinn who won A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord. Thanks to so many of you for entering; this was a popular giveaway. And here's another! Last week you heard how Ohio author Kathy Wiechman, the self-proclaimed "poster child for perseverance" attended workshops and critique groups for years before stepping into the… Continue reading You Heard it Here First: Kathy Wiechman's Path to the Grateful American Book Prize- Part II
To Kathy Wiechman's Ohio, SCBWI, and Facebook friends, this two-part series will come as no surprise. But since many of my readers are from North and South Carolina, I can safely say this will be news to many of you. I hope everyone will enjoy hearing how Kathy, like Jo Hackl, persisted on her path… Continue reading You Heard it Here First: Kathy Wiechman's Path to the Grateful American Book Prize- Part I
Diary of a Waitress: The Not-So-Glamarous Life of a Harvey Girl (Calkins Creek, 2015) by Carolyn Meyer chronicles six months in 17-year-old Kitty Evans' life. The time is 1926; a time when young women were expected to marry and have children with few aspirations beyond that. Kitty, on the other hand, plans to go to college to… Continue reading Diary of a Waitress: A Review and ARC Giveaway
This is the reason I love well-written historical fiction: It draws me into a place and time that I am barely familiar with, brushes me with information and imagery, and leaves me wanting to know more. Enter Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin Group USA). Written from the points of view of two fictional… Continue reading Blue Birds and an ARC Giveaway!
The minute sixth-grader Theo Thomas gets off the bus and arrives in Destiny, Florida with his Uncle Raymond, I’m right there with him. Award winning author AugustaScattergood, uses great details to pull readers into the character and setting: Theo grabs his bags, baseball mitt and a tattered book, Everything You Want to Know About Baseball; the heat hits… Continue reading The Way to Stay in Destiny- A Review and an Audio CD Giveaway!
Congratulations to Tonya Goettl who won Wonder at the Edge of the World in last week's giveaway. Stay tuned for another great giveaway coming up soon. But first, two posts about Alan Gratz's middle grade Holocaust book. I'm going to tell you from the start this review contains spoilers. It's a story driven by a young… Continue reading Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz
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Congratulations to Sheri Levy who won an autographed copy of "Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars." The year is 1942 and for 12-year-old Tomi Itano, a second-generation Japanese-American, life is about to change. Tomi loves everything about her home: the strawberries her father grows on their farm, her Girl Scout troop, her Japanese doll,… Continue reading Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas: A Review and Giveaway