Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Don't say it was delightful; make us say delightful when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers Please will you do the job for me.” 

~ C. S. Lewis ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I have been saving this one for closer to tax time. Bookfox has a post HERE with 21 Tax Deductions that Save Writers Money.  

I am driven crazy by grammatical errors in the books I read for review. So does The Editor and she has a great post HERE on that very topic. 

Revision is so hard. Adventures in YA Publishing has a good list HERE of 30 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Tackle the Next Phase of Your Manuscript. 

My trip to NYC was great, and I had some wonderful time with my daughter Maggie. We saw Cate Blanchette in The Present. The performances were wonderful. Ms. Blanchette was dazzling, but I think this old Chekhov play was never published for a reason. We also saw Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. It is a spectacular production. The first act is a bit taxing since they are so busy introducing a cast of characters that requires a family tree in the program. (Yup. A family tree. Seriously.) That said, the second act music and story are quite wonderful and the amazing production is worth the very hefty price of admission. If Maggie hadn't had a friend in the show, we would never have gotten tickets. It's problem the second hottest ticket on Broadway behind Hamilton.

I don't usually mention adult books here, but I read one recently that was so amazing, I have to give y'all a heads up. Some years ago, I read a wonderful book called Plainsong by Kent Haruf. (If you click HERE you can read a wonderful article about what one student learned from studying writing with Haruf.) I loved it and think of it often, but I never got around to checking out his other books. I read a lot of blogs, and I read about another book by Haruf in two or three blogs in a period of one week. I took it of a sign that I needed to read it. Our Souls at Night is a magnificent book. I don't think there is one curse word in it nor is there any sex, so I wouldn't even be worried if any teens picked this one up, but for my adult readers, this book is simply amazing. I recommend it. It's a small book that can be read in a long afternoon, and it will be a wonderful afternoon for you.

Two weeks ago, I offered a copy of Clayton Stone Facing Off  by Ena Jones. to one of you. Honestly, if I ever had time to re-read a book, I wouldn't let this one go. But my busy life is your gain. This week's winner is Nancy, who shared my link on Facebook and got an extra chance. That paid off. Congratulations, Nancy! I will get this out to you soon. For the rest of you, I have a wonderful giveaway, so stay tuned.

As I have often mentioned, I am continually fascinated by novels in verse for young people. I ran across Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles by Shari Green as a review book for San Francisco Book Review and I snagged it. What a good choice that was for me! Here is the review I wrote for them. 

Bailey and her little brother, Kevin, have been dropped off at their grandmother’s to spend a month on the island while their parents attend a marriage camp, trying to find a way to stay together. Bailey is quick to make friends, and she and a neighbor boy, Daniel, become best friends immediately, exploring, swimming, and getting to know the island prognosticator, Jasper, former minister of the church. He foretells some interesting events, and Bailey grabs onto his foretelling as the answer to many of the problems she perceives in her life — her parents’ crumbling marriage, Daniel’s cystic fibrosis, and more. But miracles are hard to come by and don’t always happen as expected. 

Author Shari Green has pulled off a terrific feat. She writes this affecting book in

Shari Green
Photo by Pedersen Arts Photography

first person point of view in young Bailey’s voice in beautiful, lyrical blank verse — and it works seamlessly. The voice is pitch perfect for a young girl, the characters are all fully developed and completely believable, and the story will leave readers deeply moved and wanting more. This lovely book deserves a far wider readership than the middle-grade audience to which it is being marketed. Don’t miss this one.

I have a gently-read paperback 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.

Clayton Stone, Facing Off -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work. … Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an

abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.” 

~ Stephen King ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

We all make mistakes, but mistakes in our writing life can be really costly. Adventures in YA Publishing has a good post HERE written by editor Emma D. Dryden that will help you avoid the most common mistakes writers make. 

Dear Editor has a tiny hint, but a powerful one, HERE. I like it! 

Alex Limburg has a guest post on Kristen Lamb’s blog HERE that will tell you How to Make EVERY Page of Your Story Interesting. 

Last week I offered a copy of Orphan Trains: Taking the Rails to a New Life by Rebecca Langston George to one of you. This week's winner is Nancy Kelly Allen. Congratulations, Nancy! If you don't know Nancy, she is a Kentucky children's writer with over thirty books out there. (My personal favorite is Barreling Over Niagara Falls. Check it out!) You can learn more about her HERE. Nancy, I will get your book out to you this week. For the rest of you, I have another giveaway, so please keep reading. 

Just a little heads up before I get to business. I am going to New York this week to spend a few days with my daughter Maggie. I seriously doubt I will get around to posting next weekend, so if I'm MIA, that's the reason. 

I have mentioned Greg Pattridge's blog before. He writes really intriguing book reviews and when he says something is worth a look, I always pay attention. You can find his blog HERE. It's always worth a look. Anyway, he reviewed and recommended the first two books of the Clayton Stone series on his blog sometime back, and they sounded like terrific books. I checked my reviewing options and was able to pick up Clayton Stone, Facing Off by Ena Jones for the Manhattan Book Review. What a fun read! Here is the review I wrote.

Clayton Stone is happy at his middle school. His lacrosse team is destined for the playoffs, and all is right with his world. But his grandmother tells Clayton he needs to go undercover at a rival middle school. It’s necessary. The president’s only child, Kyle, also a lacrosse player, goes to that school, and chatter has been picked up that is deemed to be a threat. Clayton is disguised and sent to the new school where he can play on the lacrosse team and try to make friends and stay close to Kyle. But when a bully starts making everyone’s lives miserable and a mysterious boy shows up as a new student, things get pretty interesting. 

Tweens and teens as secret agents and spies aren’t uncommon in kidlit, but, for the most part, they end up sounding and often acting like they are thirty-five. Not this time. Author Ena Jones has created a spunky young character who tells his story in a pitch perfect twelve-year-old boy’s voice. Clayton is smart and funny, with just the perfect amount of wonder at his secret-agent grandmother and all the spy toys he gets to use. Don’t miss this!

Ena Jones

I have a gently-read hardback 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.

Orphan Trains: Taking the Rails to a New Life -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“If I had nine hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the 

first six sharpening my ax.” 

~ Abraham Lincoln ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I get lots of email from Writer’s Digest and now and then they send a link to an interesting post. HERE you will find 5 Helpful Lessons for Writing a Novel. 

From Gotham Writers comes this interesting article HERE on Enlivening Passive Characters. Enjoy. 

Janice Hardy talks about the importance of context HERE. Worth your time. 

I hope you all had wonderful holidays filled with family time and love. I know I did. My two daughters and two grandchildren and I spent a few lovely days at Lake Tahoe. This was the view from the deck of our rented condo. 

Ah. It truly is God's country up there. Okay, be jealous, but not for too long. We have books to talk about. 

I hope my last-minute shopping suggestions were helpful to some of you. They were all books I thought had merit. There was no giveaway, so on to the review. 

The Orphan Trains are a fascinating chapter in our country's history. I have run across a few books about it and have enjoyed them all. Orphan Trains: Taking the Rails to a New Life by Rebecca Langston-George is a wonderful addition to the small canon of this topic. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review. 

In the mid-nineteenth century, more than 30,000 children lived alone in New York City, with no parents or other relatives to care for them. Orphanages didn’t have enough room to hold them all, and many lived on the streets, making their way by selling newspapers or apples. A local minister, Charles Loring Brace, took note of this problem and vowed to find ways to help. He founded the Children’s Aid Society, and part of their work included placing children with farm families in the Midwest and West. Over the years, into the twentieth century, thousands of children, including some babies, were loaded on railroad trains and sent west to be looked over and chosen by families looking for help working farms and filling out families. Some had great experiences, some had terrible ones. 

Author Rebecca Langston-George follows the lives of seven children, including

Rebecca Langston-George

all the good and the bad that happened to such children. Many have photographs as well. Included is a follow-up section that tells what happened to the children later in life. This well-researched and beautifully written book will be a treasure for middle-school teachers and students and any who love history.

I have a gently-read paperback 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.