Blue Birds -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things.” 

~ Thomas Hardy ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Adventures in YA Publishing has a terrific post HERE on making any scene more interesting. Check it out. 

K.M. Weiland has a terrific post HERE about writing a good character arc. It’s one of the best I’ve seen. 

HERE is a post by agent John M. Cusick about how to write the dreaded query. It’s a good one. 

First of all, a heads up. I may be taking a couple weeks off. Next Saturday, our grandson, Gehrig, and I will be flying to the east coast. There, Gehrig will attend The Ripken Experience, a week-long overnight baseball camp that will, hopefully, give him a leg up and a confidence boost as he starts high school. If you want to know more, click HERE to see the camp he will be attending. I will be able to attend his games every afternoon, but otherwise it's hands off -- let the boy breathe and grow. After his week in camp, we will attend a couple of major league games in Baltimore and Philadelphia, see Liberty Hall and Valley Forge before coming home. During the week I will be doing some touring, writing, and will have a short visit with our daughter who is in the national tour of Once, now in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center. I might get to posting for my blog, but I might just relax and not worry about it. So if you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks, please don't cross me off your list. I will be back. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Last week I promised one of you a copy of Ranger in Time: Danger in Ancient Rome by Kate Messner. Our winner this week is Jenni Enzor. Congratulations, Jenni! Jenni writes YA and MG and is a regular on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays. You can find her blog HERE. Jenni, I will get your book out to you this week. For the rest of you, I have another great giveaway, so stay tuned.

This week I will review Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose. Back in 2012, I reviewed Caroline's debut novel May B. If you missed that review, click HERE. It is a lovely book, as is her new book. I am always a little wary of books in verse, but the truth is I seem to fall in love with them as I read them. Here is the 5-star review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review. 

Alis is twelve when her family sails from teeming, dirty London to the new world. It is 1587. They land on the island of Roanoke and expect to find English soldiers, including Alis’s beloved uncle, who had come before, but there is no one. All they find is some burned buildings and bones. At the same time, Kimi, a young girl of the Roanoke tribe, sees the settlers and is reminded of the deaths of her father and sister. Both girls have lost loved ones, yet they meet in the woods and find a way to become friends, each lacking a girl her own age to befriend. As animosity heats up between the English and the Roanoke, can these two girls survive the hostility and find a way to stay friends?

“But I am like a moth

dancing near a flame.

Thought there is danger,

I’m drawn ever closer.”

Caroline Starr Rose truly has a way with words. She tells this story in the voices

Caroline Starr Rose

of the two girls written in beautiful, lyrical free verse. The voices are distinct enough to not need it, but they are set in two different fonts. The story is compelling and filled with a range of emotions from longing, to sadness, to loneliness, to hope. This book should not be missed.

I have a very gently-read hardback copy 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.

Ranger in Time:Danger in Ancient Rome -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know ten dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.” 

~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

The Editor’s Blog has a great post HERE on dialogue tags. It is full of excellent reminders. 

The Write Practice has lots of good posts. The one HERE on Why You Should Write What You DON’T Know is very good. 

Have you heard of EasyBib? If you do any research for your writing, you might want this free program. The folks at Group Blog have a great overview HERE. I’m going to check this out. 

Last week I offered a hardback copy of The Tapper Twins Go to War (with each other) by Geoff Rodkey. This week's winner is Natalie Aguirre. Congratulations, Natalie! If you don't know her, Natalie is an aspiring MG and YA fantasy writer and an attorney. She shares the blog Literary Rambles with another writer. If you aren't familiar with Literary Rambles, click HERE and check it out. They do reviews, agent and author interviews, and often have giveaways. It's a terrific blog. I do have another giveaway this week, so please keep on reading. 

This week I have a true middle-grade book that is really designed for the younger middle-graders. I tend to gravitate toward the older MG books, but when I read a good one, as this is, for the younger set, I am surprised how engaging these are and wonder why I don't pick up more of them. I love that I can read one in a couple hours and feel very satisfied. This one, Ranger in Time: Danger in Ancient Rome by Kate Messner is very engaging and I think kids will gobble it up. I mean, combining time travel and Ancient Roman history is just too good to pass up! Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Ranger has been trained as a search and rescue dog. He is a golden retriever and the family he lives with has two young children to keep him busy and happy. He found a first aid kit in the back yard that has magical powers. When it glows, Ranger pulls the strap around his neck and is transported to a place and time where someone needs his help. In this adventure, Ranger finds himself in ancient Rome at the Coliseum. There he meets a young boy, Marcus, and a new gladiator-in-training, Quintus. Ranger isn’t sure which of them needs his help, but at first he is busy dealing with the strangeness of the blood-filled sand and wild animals he finds in the underground area of the Coliseum. Can Ranger figure out his mission and safely get back to his family?

“Once, Villius stopped to watch him. Marcus thought he saw 

a flash of admiration in the manager’s eyes. But it was 

only there for a moment before he turned and walked away.”

Kate Messner has clearly done her research to make this story a good picture of a historical time and place that will be really interesting and fun for younger

Kate Messner

middle-graders. The characters are well-rounded, the story exciting, and the setting fascinating. Readers should not miss the author’s note, glossary, sources, and further readings at the end. 

I have a gently-read copy 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.

The Tapper Twins Go to War (with each other) -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.”

~ Philip Pullman ~

 Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I know some of you write picture books or want to. I have several PB manuscripts I’m working on in addition to my novels. I just ran across a series of ten short blog posts by Josh Funk that are quite good on this topic. These will be especially good for beginners, but there are always things to learn even if you’ve been at it awhile. The first one is HERE and you can click right through them at the bottom. 

Angela Ackerman has a guest post HERE at Writers in the Storm you won’t want to miss. It is What Type of Secret Does Your Character Keep? Great stuff. 

Want to punch up your action scenes? Click HERE for Alex Limberg’s guest post on Fiction University to help you with that.

Last week I promised one of you a hardback copy of Random Body Parts by Leslie Bulion. Our winner this week is Patty Hawthorne. Congratulations, Patty! Patty is a writer who works mostly in science articles for kids magazines. For the rest of you, I have another terrific giveaway this week, so please keep reading.

This week I have a really funny book for your summer reading pleasure. The book is The Tapper Twins Go to War (with each other) by Geoff Rodkey. This is not the first time I've written about Geoff Rodkey's books. He is a very prolific author and I've reviewed two of his earlier books -- Deadweather and Sunrise HERE and New Lands HERE. I think I like this one even better! Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Claudia and Reese are twelve-year-old twins who live with their parents in New York. They are bright and attend a private school. One day, someone announces a foul smell in the cafeteria. Reese tells everyone his sister farted and calls Claudia Princess Farts-a-Lot. Needless to say, she is embarrassed and angry. Claudia thinks long and hard how to get back at her brother, and what she comes up with is masterful. Let’s just say it involves a dead fish, and when Reese’s favorite backpack is ruined, it’s on. The stakes are raised, reinforcements are called in, and battles are waged.

“Unfortunately, The Cheese Incident (which, if this were French class, I would call //L’Affaire du Fromage//), had a major and completely accidental side effect: it brought Xander into The War as an enemy combatant.”

This incredibly funny story is told as an oral history by the siblings. Claudia acts as editor, and her editorial comments are worth the price of admission. Geoff

Geoff Rodkey

Rodkey, a former screenwriter, has his pacing down to a science. He seems completely and comfortably in touch with his middle-school self. The voices of the two characters telling the story are absolutely pitch perfect. The language is today and the emotions shown by the characters are perfectly pre-pubescent. The situations are believable, while at the same time outrageously funny. Kids are going to gobble up this new series. Adults will enjoy this too.

I have a gently-read hardback copy 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.