Kathryn Fitzmaurice's Wonderful New Book -- Destiny, Rewritten -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the day:

Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. 
 ~Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing~

A gift for my writer friends:
Here are some links I think you will find valuable – three great ones this week. 

For a great article on How Long You Should Keep Trying to Get Published click HERE. 

For 7 Ways to Add Subplots to Your Novel click HERE. 

Writer’s Digest Most Popular Articles on Writing of 2012 is always worth a look. Click HERE. 

For my wonderful giveaway, the winner is Barbara Watson! (Cue the spotlight!) Barbara is also a writer and a freelance editor who gives terrific feedback. I speak from experience. You can find out more about her and the services she offers by clicking HERE. Barbara, I will be sending you an ARC of Winter’sTide. Thanks for reading my blog. The book will be on its way soon. Enjoy! There will be another giveaway, so stay tuned and please leave comments to have a chance in the drawing.
 

I read the book I’ll be reviewing this week quite a while ago, but have been waiting to review it when it was due out. It's a new book by Kathryn Fitzmaurice. I've reviewed her other two books on my blog and if you missed them, please check them out. You can read about The Year the Swallows Came Early by clicking HERE and click HERE to read about A Diamond in the Desert. Her new book, Destiny, Rewritten will have its official release on February 19, but I’ll bet you can preorder it now. And you should. It’s such a delightful book. What follows is the review I wrote for the Sacramento Book Review that appears in the February issue.

Emily had been named for Emily Dickinson. She had been told it’s her destiny to be a poet, but she doesn’t like writing poetry. Can destiny be changed? Emily’s mother, a poet and professor of English, believes in destiny. She had bought a first edition of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson before Emily was born and had written Emily’s life story in the margins. She had even written the name of Emily’s father in those margins, although Emily never discovered it. Emily doesn’t find out that name is there until after something terrible happens. Emily sets the book on a box when she takes a phone call from her best friend, Wavy. The book is mistakenly donated to the local charity store when Emily’s cousin sticks the book into the box when it is picked up by the charity. When they discover the book is gone, Emily’s mother tells her that her father’s name is there, the father she has dreamed of and yearned for as long as she can remember. Her mother believes in destiny and feels that if Emily never found it, she isn’t ready to know yet.

“I stood on the platform watching the silver glint of the last car reflecting sunlight, how it curved around the track, then disappeared. I had no map, no backpack, and no plan.”

Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Emily goes on an epic search for the book that leads her through every used-book store in Berkeley and introduces Emily to a cast of characters worthy of every page turn. The journey also leads Emily to a lot of self-discovery and personal growth. She is accompanied on much of this journey by Wavy and Emily’s cousin, Mortie, an annoying and incredibly smart eight-year-old. Throughout the story, Emily keeps up a one-sided correspondence with author Danielle Steele that acts something like a cathartic diary. But can Emily find her book? And if she does, will it hold the answers she has spent so much time looking for? There are a few surprises along the way, along with a most satisfying conclusion that would make Danielle Steele proud.

Kathryn Fitzmaurice has written another wonderful book that will have her legions of young fans racing for the nearest bookstore. It is a page turner with lots of mystery, twists and turns, and fun. Young girls will love everything about this book, and so will any woman who gets her hands on it. This is just a terrific read.

I will be sending my gently used ARC to one of you. Please leave a comment to have your name in the drawing. If you Tweet the link to this post or put it on FaceBook or put it on your blog post, please let me know and I will put your name in a second time.  I will post the winner on my next post, so check back. And next week I have something even more exciting for you won’t want to miss!

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.