''I know nothing in the
world that has as much power as a word.
Sometimes I write one,
and I look at it, until it begins to shine.''
~ Emily Dickinson ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
HERE
is an interesting listing of Top Editing and Proofreading Tools for Creative
Writers.
Kathy
Temean through her Writing and Illustrating blog led me to a really good
article HERE on the Story Question.
The
ladies at Writers Helping Writers have a great post HERE on Showing Emotion:
Moving Beyond the Face. Don’t miss this one.
With all the books I commit to reading for review, I don't often pick up other books. I read a lot of blogs and hear about a lot of books, and sometimes I find time for something beyond my review books. I do write a little poetry and read some poetry blogs regularly. I never miss Today's Little Ditty by Michelle H. Barnes. It's fun and she features a lot of poets there. She wrote recently about a novel in poems called Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Now I have to tell you, I love sports but have little interest in basketball, and this is a book about basketball. However, I was intrigued by Michelle's review of the book. I thought I'd pick it up and read a few of his poems. I got it from the library and read the first few pages and found I could not put it down. This is worth your time, whether or not you enjoy poetry, you will enjoy this book. Keep some tissues handy. It's very moving. Oh, and by the way, Michelle has featured poems by me a couple times on her blog. You can see my Clerihew HERE and my Tanka HERE.
Last week I offered an ARC of Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard to one of you. With that gorgeous cover, it got a lot of interest. This week's winner is Greg Pattridge. Congratulations, Greg! Thanks for being such a loyal reader and commenter. If you don't know Greg, check out his blog Always in the Middle by clicking on the title. He is a writer and teacher and has great insight on middle grade fiction. Greg, I will get the book out to you this week.
This week I'm featuring Finding the Worm by Mark Goldblatt. A couple years ago I read Mark's first book, Twerp, and fell in love with his main character, Julian Twerski, and his story. What a treat it was for me to find the next chapter in Julian's life in Mark's new book! I reviewed that book HERE and followed up with an interview with Mark HERE. If you haven't read Twerp yet, find a copy and read it. It is absolutely terrific. If you have read this blog for awhile, you know I am a huge fan of Gary D. Schmidt's books. Mark's books remind me of Schmidt's work and I think they are simply terrific. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.
Julian
Twerski, a.k.a. the Twerp, is back and he’s in trouble again. He’s in a new
school (he’s in 7th grade now), but trouble seems to find him. He is unjustly
accused of damaging a painting, a painting he really loves, and the principal
assigns him a 200-word essay on citizenship. This is the beginning of a
year-long duel between the two. But that isn’t all that is going on. Quentin,
one of Julian’s gang (not a bad gang) is really sick. Devlin, a 9th-grader,
seems to have it in for Julian. Beverly is acting funny and challenges Julian
to races all the time. Julian is getting ready for his Bar Mitzvah, and the
Rabbi is giving him trouble.
“It’s like when you’re
watching a baseball game on TV and your guy strikes out, and then the replay
comes up and you kind of hope he’ll foul off the pitch—even though you just saw
him strike out.”
There is
never a dull moment in this wonderful book. Mark Goldblatt has created
a cast
of characters in this sequel to //Twerp// that take the reader directly to the
Queens, New York of the 1960s and make this touching, funny story to life.
Readers will walk with Julian through his 7th-grade year as he
suffers great loss and becomes a man, as he discovers many kinds of love and as
he meets a life-long idol. Don’t miss this amazing book.
 |
| Mark Goldblatt |
I have a gently read hardcover copy of this terrific book 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.
