Congratulations to Nancy Frederick who won SHE STARTED IT ALL on last week's blog. REVIEW PURITAN GIRL, MOHAWK GIRL (Amulet Books, 2017) written by John Demos and narrated by Christina Moore, is based on the true story of Eunice Kanenstewnhawi Williams who was kidnapped (along with her family) by the Mohawks when she was seven and taken to… Continue reading Puritan Girl, Mohawk Girl– An Audio Book Review and Giveaway
Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won Behind These Hands from last week's blog. ******** Nikki Grimes' sequel to Bronx Masquerade, BETWEEN THE LINES (Penguin Random House, 2018), combines narrative and free verse in a moving book about teens whose lives are changed through poetry. The audio book published by Recorded Books is narrated by different actors; each eloquently expresses… Continue reading Between The Lines: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway
What if you’re an 8th grade football player who has built your reputation around bullying. You’re suddenly given the opportunity to rewind the clock and restart your life. Would you do it? That’s the problem that Chase Ambrose faces in Restart by Gordon Korman. After falling off his roof and going into a coma, he… Continue reading Restart by Gordon Korman: A Review and Audio CD Giveaway
Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won THE WOLF'S BOY. Please note that since this is a review of an audio CD, the following quotes might not be exactly correct; I did my best to capture the words. ********* REVIEW What do you do if you find out that your father had an affair eight years… Continue reading Just Fly Away: An Audio CD Review and Giveaway
Reminiscent of the 2010 Newbery medal winner MOON OVER MANIFEST, Barbara O'Connor's latest middle grade novel, WISH (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016) is the story of a young girl who feels abandoned by her parents, is forced to live with strangers, and searches to understand her past. Like MOON, it tugs on the reader's heart strings and shows the… Continue reading Wish: A Review and Audio CD Giveaway
Congratulations to Joyce Hostetter who won LOVING vs. VIRGINIA from last week's blog. This week's blog post comes courtesy of Recorded Books (who provided FUZZY) and Elizabeth Sims, contributing editor to Writer's Digest, whose article, "Stepping Up Your Sidekicks" in the February, 2017 issue, prompted the template for this review. Tom Angleberger, best known as the author of… Continue reading Fuzzy: A Review, A Mini-Lesson on Sidekicks, and an Audio CD Giveaway!
Congratulations to Caroline McAlister for winning TANGLED LINES on last week's blog. ******** Two soldiers, two boys. One American, one German. Prolific author Dean Hughes brings their lives, hopes, and dreams together in Soldier Boys (Simon and Schuster, 2001. Audio CD, 2016) Spencer Morgan has just turned 15 in 1941. He longs to show that he… Continue reading Soldier Boys: A Review and a Giveaway
Congratulations to Myra Dunlap who won an autographed copy of AIM from last week's blog. ***** Some books defy genres. Longbow Girl is one of them. It is well-researched historical fiction and also a meticulously crafted, time travel novel. No easy feat, but one that Linda Davies pulls off with aplomb. If you study this… Continue reading Longbow Girl: A Review and Audio CD Giveaway
Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won my Mr. Puffball Stunt Cat Across America ARC and Linda Phillips who won the hardcover book. Thanks to all of you for entering. Lots more giveaways coming up, starting right here. ****** Radioactive! is one of those books that makes you wish you had listened better during high school chemistry… Continue reading Radioactive!: How Irène Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World– A Review and a Giveaway
One of the highest compliments you can give an author is to finish their book and want to read it all over again. In the case of The Hired Girl, by award-winning author Laura Amy Schlitz, that's exactly what I did; happily spending hours on a recent car trip reliving the world of Janet Lovelace,… Continue reading The Hired Girl: A Review and an Audio Giveaway