Moonpenny Island -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to 
have the right ones form themselves into the proper patterns at

the right moment.”

~ Hart Crane ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends: 

Revising? Check out the post HERE from Fiction University about slashing word count.

Thinking of using song lyrics or a poem in your work? Better check out The Editor’s Blog HERE before you do.

If  you need a little inspiration to keep on keepin’ on (and who among us doesn’t?) read the post HERE on Anne R. Allen’s blog. 

Last week, I offered my ARC of The Terrible Two to one of you and our winner is Paddy Lawton! Congratulations, Paddy. I will get your book out to you this week. Fear not, readers. I have another giveaway this week.

I'm lucky to be a book reviewer for the San Francisco Book Review. I get to read a lot of great books and get most of the books I give away here from them. A couple months ago I read an enchanting novel that just came out this month. I loved it. So I want to spread the word. The book is Moonpenny Island by Tricia Springstubb. Here is the five-star review I wrote for the Review.

Flor and Sylvie are best friends. They have been forever. They live on a tiny island in the middle of a huge lake. In summer, the island teems with people, but when autumn comes, the summer people leave and Flor and Sylvie are the only two eleven-year-old girls for miles. But when this summer ends, things change. Sylvie’s parents send her to live with relatives on the mainland and go to school there. Flor and Sylvie can email and talk on the phone, but it isn’t the same. Flor’s mother also leaves to stay with her mother and sisters on the mainland because, she says, her mother is ill. In addition, Flor’s older sister, Cecelia, seems to be pulling away and just isn’t there for Flor anymore. Their father seems to work all the time. Flor is bereft and lonely.

“And now Flor feels herself shrinking too. Something whittles away at her, scraping off bits and more bits, pieces of her flying off, till all that’s left is her heart, exposed to the air and light, nothing at all to protect it.”

 

Tricia Springstubb has written an absolutely engaging and charming novel that

Tricia Springstubb

will capture the tween set and older readers as well. The writing is lively, the characters well-rounded and interesting and believable, and the story one with which young readers will fully relate and understand. Spingstubb explores friendship, young love, and family dynamics in ways specific to middle-graders.

I have a gently-read ARC of Moonpenny Island for one of you. To win, all you need do is have a US address, be a subscriber or follower and tell me that in a comment you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet, blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for each that you do.

Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.