Saturdays with Hitchcock -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat,

determination and hard work.”

~ Colin Powell ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

First I want to mention Jess Carroll to you. Jess has the most awesome service for those who write picture books, especially rhyming ones. Her critiques are AMAZING! And she will soon be starting an on-line rhyme academy. You can check out her services and other things HERE and friend her on Facebook to stay apprised of her upcoming classes. 

BookFox has an interesting post HERE on chapter lengths. It’s not something I have thought a lot about, but I think I should. 

Just for fun — an article HERE about the strange and wonderful things found between the pages of books. 

I am an over-explainer. I know it. I have to cut, cut, cut to get my over-explaining out. Janice Hardy has a great post HERE on just that topic. 

When last we met, I offered a paperback copy of the wonderfully funny book, Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage. This week's winner is cschwanke2013, who, I surmise, works at the Charlotte Mecklinberg Library in North Carolina. Congratulations to you, cschwanke2013. I will get your book out to you soon. Thanks for reading and commenting. For the rest of you, I have another fun giveaway this week, so read on!

I am a bit of a movie junkie and, as a kid, spent every possible Saturday at the movies. So when I saw a book called Saturdays with Hitchcock by Ellen Wittlinger on the list for the Manhattan Book Review, I had to grab it. This is not her first rodeo. Check out all the books listed on her website! Here is the review I wrote for them. 

Small town life is simple, especially if you are a twelve-year-old girl, right? Maybe not so much if your ne’er-do-well but favorite uncle is injured on the film set and comes home to visit just as your mother loses her job, your grandmother seems to be losing her memory, a new boy joins you and your best friend in activities and it is clear he has a crush on you, your best friend forever confides to you that he is gay and that he like-likes the new guy, and your grandmother’s old boy-friend shows up and it’s clear he is still smitten with her after all these years. Yeah, maybe not so simple. Maisie, aka Hitchcock, loves movies and wants to make them. It would be nice if it were just her and her best friend, Cyrus, as it has been forever, but life changes, and Maisie’s life is quite a balancing act.

Author Ellen Wittlinger has written a truly important middle-grade novel that

Ellen Wittlinger

addresses a lot of difficult issues today’s kids are likely to face. Her writing is strong, her dialogue pitch-perfect, and the story is compelling. Not to be missed.

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 Greg Pattridge's blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.