Breadcrumbs -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be a very silent

place if no birds sang except the best.”

~ Henry van Dyke, poet~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Writers Helping Writers are busy helping writers again with a guest post HERE by Warren Adler with 11 Novelist-Tested Ways to Defeat Writer's Block.

Kristin Lamb has a terrific post on adding tension. Click HERE to get some great tension tips.

Erika Wassall has a great guest post HERE about mastering kid-speak on Kathy Temean’s Writing and Illustrating blog. Check it out. 

I have two winners to announce this week. First from my post on Friday, Nov. 7 when I offered an ARC of Leisl's Ocean Rescue by Barbara Krasner, the winner is Patricia Tilton. Patricia blogs at Children's Books Heal and reviews a wide variety of children's book. Click on the title to check out her blog. Last Sunday, I offered an ARC of At Your Service by Jen Malone. Joanne Fritz is the winner of that book. Joanne blogs at My Brain on Books and also reviews middle-grade books. It's worth the trip over there (click on the title) to read the About Me and find out why her blog has such in interesting title. Congratulations, ladies. I will get your books out this week. 

I have a couple of books I'd like to recommend. I've read these recently and will

be passing them along in our family reading circle, so won't give them away here. Both are terrific, both deal with young people who have a parent with mental illness, and both are stunning books. The first for middle grade readers -- Nest by Esther Ehrlich -- has a main character, Chirp, who will absolutely steal your heart and leave you wanting the book to go on and on. Don't miss this one. The second -- Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips -- is a young adult book written in lyrical verse, yet with a great sense of reality and some surprising turns, that is also not to be missed. 

This week, I would like to tell you about a book I won from Jennifer Rumberger's blog, which you can find HERE. Jennifer is a writer and features a lot of terrific books, mostly for middle-graders, on her blog. Anyway, I had been hankerin' after a book I'd heard a lot about, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, and was lucky enough to win a signed copy from Jennifer. This is a re-told fairy tale, a form I'm falling more and more in love with.  But this one may well be the best of the bunch, certainly the most engaging I have read. 

Hazel and Jack have been best friends for, well, just about forever -- from the time they were six. Now eleven, they are still best friends until suddenly and

inexplicably they are not. Jack stops speaking to Hazel, then disappears into the woods. Jack's heart has been frozen and he has been led away by a woman all in white. She has taken him to her ice palace. Hazel must leave everything she knows and venture after Jack to save him. Will either of them survive this harrowing journey? How will it change them? 

Ursu has written an amazing story that is gripping, heart-wrenching, and brilliant. It is based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen, but as Hazel goes on her way, Ursu weaves in many other of Anderson's tales.This is a story of friendship, love, and heroism. It is a coming-of-age story as well. I can't say enough good things about this book. Find it. Read it. Soon.

It's hard for me to give this one way, but for a couple of reasons I will. First, I

Anne Ursu

want to share it; it deserves to be shared. Secondly, I know I won't have time to re-read it although I wish I had that time. It's lovely. So, I am offering this signed copy to one of you. 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.

Twerp by Mark Goldblatt -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Writing a book is like telling a joke and having to wait two years to know whether or not it was funny.” ~Alain de Botton~

Some Gifts for my Writer Friends:

For 22 Rules of Storytelling, click HERE.

HERE is a helpful post on why good people make good villains. 

Boy, do I hope this works. Click HERE for an excellent post on breaking through the creative block: 

A few weeks ago I reviewed Anna Olswanger's wonderful book Greenhorn. Anna sent me an email recently to let me know that there is a project in the works to make a film of her book. I thought you might like to take a look at what is going on with that. You can click HERE to find out more about the Greenhorn Film Project. 

I had a wonderful surprise recently. I was reading Adventures in YA Publishing, a blog run by Martina Boone and one on which I find tons of great information and more book giveaways than you can shake a stick at, and saw ME looking back at me. I was named blogger of the week! WooHoo! If you'd like to take a look, click HERE. If you aren't reading Adventures in YA Publishing regularly, you are really missing out on something wonderful.

Last post I offered a copy of Princess Academy by Shannon Hale to one of my readers. I am happy to announce Jennifer Rumberger is the lucky winner! (WootWoot!!) Jennifer is a children's writer and has a great blog. You can find about more about her by clicking HERE. Jennifer, I will be sending your book out this week.

This post will be short and (I hope!) sweet. I have been sitting in the sun most of the weekend watching my grandson in a baseball tournament. It was a lot of fun, but that much sun kind of wipes me out. So, just a short review and giveaway.

I recently read and reviewed a book called Twerp by Mark Goldblatt, not the movie guy, but the writer guy who happens to be a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology -- seriously. I have to admit that when I was choosing books for review, I was kind of fascinated to find a book for the middle-grade set written by a prof at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I had to find out if it was any good. I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite books of the year. It reminded me of a couple of books by Gary D. Schmidt -- one of my favorite middle-grade authors. Twerp brought to mind Schmidt's books The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now.  If you missed my review of Okay for Now, you can click HERE and read it. Anyway, back to Twerp.

Mark Goldblatt

Let me start by saying I LOVE this book. When I compare a book favorably with Gary D. Schmidt's books, it is high praise indeed. This book will not only transport you back to your childhood, but will transport you to the 1960s in a very palpable way. The main character, Julian Twerski, is truly a character, if you know what I mean. He was involved in a terrible case of bullying for which he and others were suspended for a week. When he comes back to school, he is told by his English teacher, Mr. Selkirk, he can keep a journal for the semester to make up for what he did and (here is the bonus) he will also be excused from the Julius Caesar essay. He does, however, have to write about the "incident." That seems easy enough until he is faced with that blank page on which he must bare his soul. We are treated to his journal for that time and see through his eyes what his life is like. But what we don't find out until the end is what the incident was. It was just too hard for him to write, so, like most of us, he puts it off until the last possible moment. With good reason. Along the way, we watch Julian fall in love, lose friends, discover the humanity of his older sister, and much, much more. I don't want to give too much away. I just want to encourage you to READ THIS BOOK! 

I kind of hate to give away my copy of this book, but I feel like I have to share it. It is that good. So I am offering my own hardcover copy in this drawing. If you are a follower and leave a comment, your name goes in the hat. If you aren't a follower yet, just look for the "Join this site" and join. That simple. Then leave a comment. If you tweet the link or post it on Facebook or on your blog, let me know and you will get extra chances.This drawing is for U.S. addresses only.

Make sure you stop by Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts and giveaways. you can find it by clicking HERE.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment. I love to hear from you.

After Eli - Review and a Giveaway

Thought for the day:

“If we had more fairy tales when we were young, we’d need less therapy as adults.” ~James Hillman~

A gift for my writer friends:

Here are some links I think you will find valuable – four this week. Just click on the word HERE after each description to be linked.

An extraordinary poem about life: HERE

Blog with some terrific writing tips from Norman Grock and Wilson Williams, Jr.: HERE

Two ways your brain is wired to undermine your story and what to do about it from Lisa Cron: HERE

Working with Archetypes: HERE

For my fabulous giveaway, the winner is Jennifer Rumberger! (Cue the cheering crowds!) Jennifer, I will be sending you a copy of The Candy Smash. Jennifer is also a children’s writer and participates in Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. You can check out her blog and a review of a brand new middle-grade book by clicking HERE. The book will be on its way soon. Enjoy! I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

I’ve just finished reading one of the best books I’ve read lately. After Eli by Rebecca Rupp was an absolutely wonderful surprise. When I read a little about it, I thought it might be pretty darned serious and maybe even a little dreary since the story deals with a young boy, Danny, who lost the big brother he idolized three years before. Well, it is a serious book, but handled very lightly and with a surprising amount of humor. And there is nothing dreary about it.

Danny’s brother Eli volunteers to go to war, but promises he will be back. Since Eli accomplished everything he’d ever set his mind to, Danny has no doubt he will return. But he doesn’t. He is killed by a roadside bomb. And that bomb doesn’t just blow up Eli, it blows up Danny’s family as well. Their father disappears into his job and only comes home to share his anger and express his disappointment with Danny. Their mother disappears into a grief so deep and debilitating that it’s hard to believe she will ever return. Danny is really left on his own. He begins to keep a binder he calls The Book of the Dead in which he lists of historical figures – how they died and, more importantly, why. Did their death have purpose? Does any death have purpose? And, of course, he spends a lot of time thinking about Eli, and the reader gets to know Eli very well and learns why he is so loved by everyone.

Danny’s father wants Danny to go to summer school, but instead Danny takes a job working on a potato farm run by Jim, former crack addict and Eli’s best friend. None of this makes Danny’s father happy, but Danny finds a wonderful satisfaction in the work and in getting to know Jim and his girlfriend, Emma. That same summer, Danny meets an incredible girl, Isabelle, with whom Danny falls in love. He also gets to know a guy from school, Walter, who is something of an outcast, but becomes a true friend. These four people have a profound effect on Danny and help him find his way through much of his grief and into the beginning of adulthood. When Isabelle leaves at the end of summer, Danny reaches a crisis in his life facing another great loss.

I loved this book. I loved the characters and wanted another book so I could spend more time with them. And I wanted a prequel so I could get to know Eli better. And I loved the concept of a book that deals with such difficult problems in such a realistic and hopeful way. And I loved the writing – simple, elegant, and profound. It is not a perfect book. A few instances in the book, Rupp loses the male voice of Danny, and her “girlness” shows through, but only a very few. Other than that, I thought it was terrific. It transcends the middle-grade label put on it, and teens and adults will enjoy this lovely story. I highly recommend it.

I am giving away my gently-read hardback copy of After Eli. If you leave a comment, your name will go into the hat. If you post the link on your blog or on Facebook or tweet it, let me know and you will have an extra entry.

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.