Wolf Hollow -- a Review

Thought for the Day:

“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the

beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.”
~ T.S. Eliot ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Steven Pressfield has a really interesting post HERE about writing out of sequence. I never would have thought of doing this, but now maybe I will.

The Editor’s Blog always has great stuff. The post HERE on reviving scenes with verbs is really terrific.  

HERE are writing tips from 50 famous authors. Some good stuff and some that seems silly. 

When last we met, I promised a gently-read hardback of Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee to one of you. This week's winner is books4learning. I don't know the person's real name, but you can see his/her blog HERE, and she/he is an educator and avid reader of children's books. Congratulations, books4learning! I will get your book out this week. I have no giveaway this week, but I have a review of a terrific book, so I hope you will all keep reading.

I have had some adult books from the San Francisco Book Review I had to get through so haven't anything lined up for a giveaway, but I did get to the library and finally knock one of the books off my TBR list that has been at the top for awhile. It is Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk. Goodness! What a wonderful book. I'm so glad I got to it. 

Lauren Wolk with her book Wolf Hollow

Annabelle lives with her parents, two younger brothers, her grandparents, and cranky Aunt Lily on a farm near a small town in Pennsylvania. It is 1943 with WWII raging across the ocean, but echoing even in America's small towns. These are simple people and their lives are simple and comfortable. The children walk to school each day through Wolf Hollow, the little boys spurting ahead of Annabelle and leaving her walking on her own. Sometimes she sees Toby in the fields as she's walking. He's an odd fellow who lives in the hills, seldom talks or interacts with anyone, and lives in an old smokehouse. But Annabelle has always known he is a good person and has never been afraid of him.

One day a new girl shows up as Annabelle is walking to school and threatens Annabelle. He name is Betty and she is clearly a bully. But Annabelle says nothing to anyone and decides to handle this on her own. She hears that Betty has been sent to live with her grandparents because she is incorrigible, a word new to Annabelle, but one she soon understands. Betty's behavior escalates and she curries favor with a boy named Andy to assists her in some of her more nefarious escapades. But when Annabelle's little brother James is injured by one of Betty and Andy's nasty tricks, Annabelle nows she must get help in stopping her. Betty turns everything around on Annabelle and soon the town is divided. Things get even worse as Annabelle's best friend Ruth is terribly hurt, and Betty claims the deed was done by Toby. And when Betty disappears, Toby is immediately suspected. How much worse can it get? 

This book should be very high on everyone's TBR list. It is certainly one of the best I have read in a very long time. It reminds me in many ways of To Kill a Mockingbird, and I can't think of much higher praise than that. The writing is amazing. The story and characters and setting are a perfect confluence for a most memorable book, one that should become an instant classic. Even though this is marketed as a middle-grade book, it should be much more widely read than that. Get this book. Read it. And do it soon. It's just so good!

While I don't have a giveaway this week, I will have one next week, so please come back. If you are reading this in your email, click HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. 

Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.

Maybe a Fox -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"Gather knowledge about the craft of writing. Immerse yourself in the art of it. Then write.

Write yourself silly. Write yourself mad. Write yourself blind. Trust the excitement that builds

within you when the idea is good and the writing is superb. You can do it, but that's the hell of it as well as the exultation of it. You have to do it.”

~ Elizabeth George ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Think you have a good idea for a book? Janice Hardy at Fiction University has some questions HERE you should ask yourself before embarking on that writing journey. 

Helen Pyne has a terrific post on Through the Tollbooth HERE about how to use setting to reveal much about your characters. 

Alex Limberg has a good post HERE on spiffing up your dialogue — always a good idea.

Last week I promised one of you a paperback copy of Patriot Papers: Bursting with Fun Facts about America's Early Rebels. This week's winner is Patty Hawthorne. Congratulations, Patty! I will get the book out to you this week. For the rest of you, hang on. Another great giveaway coming this week.

I found myself in a strange position this week of having nothing already reviewed and in my queue. My reading and reviewing was cut way back during my husband's long illness, so the well was pretty dry. I do have quite a TBR pile, though, books I don't seem to get to since there always seems to be a book I need to review that has a deadline. On top of the pile? Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee. I have really meant to get to this one for quite a while, but life got in the way. 

Jules and her sister Sylvie are best friends, but like best friends and sisters, sometimes they argue and want to do things differently from the other. Sylvie is a runner, the fastest runner in their school. Jules is a rock hound with a huge collection of all kinds of rocks, including several wishing rocks. They know from a neighbor woman that if they put their wish on a rock and throw it into "the Slip," a place where the river boils and disappears into the ground, their wish may come true. The girls are strictly forbidden by their father to go anywhere near the Slip. But one morning, Sylvie insists she will run quickly to the Slip and back, in plenty of time to catch the school bus. Jules tries to stop her, but Sylvie slips away, leaving Jules with only Sylvie's empty mitten in her hand. And Sylvie is gone. 

Kathi Appelt

The girls' good friend, Sam, tries to be there for Jules, but he is dealing with losses of his own besides the loss of Sylvie. Though his wishing rocks seem to have worked, bringing his brother, Elk, home from Afghanistan, Elk's best friend, Zeke, did not return, and it is a terrible loss for both the boys. And Elk is not the same, adding to Sam's loss.

At the same time, a fox is about to give birth to three kits, one of which, the mother realizes, is a Kennen, a magical being with a special connection to other Kennen beings, human and animal. The reader comes to realize that the little fox kit, Senna, is somehow connected to Jules. Can all these damaged people be helped by the magical creatures in this story? 

Alison McGhee

I am not a big fantasy reader, but this is such an enchanting book, I am really glad I picked it up. The writing is beautiful, the story is terribly sad and sweet, and the characters will grab your heart and leave an indelible impression. Keep the tissues handy, but make time to get to this one. It's lovely.

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.