“I've never known any trouble
that an hour's reading didn't assuage.”
~ Charles De
Secondat ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Shaping
sentences and choosing just the right word is explored nicely HERE in a post
from The Editor’s Blog.
There
is a great list of books HERE that every creative person should read. I have
much work to do!
K.
M. Weiland at Helping Writers Become Authors has an interesting post HERE on
bringing minor characters to life.
When we last met, I offered a signed copy of Sherrie Petersen's wonderful new book, Wish You Weren't to one of you. This week's winner is Claire M. Caterer, a writer of middle-grade fantasy and you can read about her book, The Key & the Flame, by clicking HERE. She also writes blog I try to never miss. You can find that HERE. It's worth your time. Congratulations, Claire! WooHoo for you! I will be mailing the book to you this week. If you didn't win, hang on. Read to the end. I have another great giveaway this week.
A few months ago, I received my list of books available for review for the San Francisco Book Review. I spotted one I had to read -- Screaming at the Ump written by Amy Vernick. I laughed out loud when I read the title. Now there is something I do every week of my life. And I loved the concept of the book. Believe me, this book does not disappoint. Since it's summer, I will be a little lazy here and simply reprint my five-star review they published. I hope you enjoy it.
Casey Snowden has spent his entire twelve years steeped in baseball, but not in the usual way. Sure, he played a couple years of Little League, but most of his baseball knowledge comes from growing up at Behind the Plate, an umpire school that trains umpires for the big leagues. One might think such a boy would have dreams of playing in the bigs or taking over the school, but Casey wants neither. He just wants to become the best sports reporter ever, and reporting has amazing parallels to umpiring. Casey is surrounded by interesting characters – his best friend Zeke, a bit of a geek, who is funny, smart, and a true friend; Sly, an eight-year-old girl, who is annoying, bright, and dedicated; Ibbit, Casey’s father and head of Behind the Plate and many other clever characters. There is also Casey’s mother, Mrs. Bob the Baker, who bailed on the family and the school, but now wants a relationship with Casey.
“You couldn’t say, I did it because everyone was doing it. Rules govern the fame of baseball – rules govern everything! – and you don’t get to pick which rules you want to follow. There’s integrity to the game. And the rules apply to everyone.”Audrey Vernick has written a complex, many-layered story that will satisfy readers from ten up. Both boys and girls and many grown-ups will find this a fun and heartwarming story, and if readers are baseball fans,
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| Audrey Vernick |
I am offering my gently-read hardback copy of Screaming at the Ump to one of you. All you need to is have a US address, leave a comment below, and be either a follower or subscriber to my blog and tell me that in your comment. If you spread the word by posting the link to this post on Facebook or your own blog or if you Tweet it, let me know and I will give you extra chances. Thanks for being here.
Don't forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews at Shannon Messenger's blog by clicking HERE.
