Sunday, May 7, 2017

Mango Delight -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
~ Herman Cain ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Editing? Aren’t we all always? HERE are 25 Editing Tips for Tightening Your Copy.  

Anne R. Allen’s blog has a post HERE that many of us will find helpful: Rejection and Failure: Why There’s a Difference and Why Neither Means You Should Quit. 

I just love this post from Janice Hardy on “minitagonists.” I have plenty of them in my book and am glad to have them validated HERE

Last week I offered a copy of Big and Little Questions (According to Wren Jo Byrd) by Julie Bowe to one of you. Danielle Hammelef always shares the link on my blog for extra chances. This week it paid off for her. Congratulations, Danielle! I will send out your book this week. Thanks for always reading, commenting, and sharing my link. For the rest of you, please keep reading. I have another giveaway for you.

I ran across Mango Delight by Fracaswell Hyman as I perused the list of available books for review from the San Francisco Book Review. The title caught my attention and, honestly, so did the author's name. When I read a synopsis, I grabbed it off the list. Here is the review I wrote for SFBR.

Mango Delight Fuller and her best friend, Brooklyn, seem to be the only two middle-school girls without cell phones. They are BFFs and get through waiting for this great status symbol together, but Brooklyn suddenly gets a phone and moves on to a stuck-up clique Mango and Brooklyn always referred to as Cell-belles, leaving Mango in her dust. Then Mango finds out Brooklyn has broken Mango’s trust in the worst way. An unfortunate cell-phone accident occurs that changes everything — not just for Mango and Brooklyn, but for her family as well. Brooklyn signs Mango up on the audition list for the school play, probably thinking she will embarrass herself, but quite the opposite happens. Lots of fun and interesting twists and turns.

Author Fracaswell Hyman has built a fascinating story for middle-graders with
Fracaswell Hyman
well-rounded, believable characters and a story that will keep readers turning pages. Unfortunately, the voice sounds more like someone 35 than someone 12 and the slang used by the young characters throughout will make this book seems out of date in no time at all. 

I have a gently-read ARC of this book to share with 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.