Mayday -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary.”
~ Boris Pasternak ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Maybe the best two minutes you will spend this month can be found HERE. 

Anne R. Allen’s Blog has a must-read post that is full of links to help you right size your book. Click HERE for this great, rich post. I will be spending a lot of time in the “Too Much of a Good Thing?” section. 

Kathy Temean at Writing and Illustrating has great stuff to share with writers. Her post HERE is about intruder words and how to avoid them. Very worthwhile.

Last week, I offered a gently-read ARC of Joyce Moyer Hostetter's Aim to one of you. I had more hits on this post than I usually get in a month and more commenters than on any other post I've written. This week's winner is Donna Earnhardt. Congratulations, Donna! I will get the book out to you soon. And thanks for spreading the word. Those extra chances always help. For the rest of you, please keep reading. I have another wonderful book to give away this week. 

I first ran across Karen Harrington early in 2014 when I read her debut novel, Sure Signs of Crazy. If you missed my review, click HERE. There is also an interview with Karen there, so if you missed that post the first time, do check it out. I loved that book and was very excited when I was able to get her second book, Courage for Beginners. I was NOT disappointed. You can find my review of that one HERE.  I had a nice email from Karen a few months ago telling me she had a new book coming out, Mayday. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear about it. More than that, she offered me an ARC. I think I liked it even better than her earlier novels. I must say, though, I would love to carve out a few days and read all her books again. They are just so good. Here is the review of Mayday I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review, although I added a little extra because their word limit is hard for me and I had a lot to say about this one.

Wayne Kovok is young, but already his life is divided into Before and After. In

Karen Harrington

Before, his mostly-absent dad is a jerk, his mom doesn’t smile much, and Wayne has learned to spout interesting facts to distract his mother, to fill in uncomfortable moments, and to dazzle pretty Sandy Showalter at school. When Wayne’s Uncle Reed is killed in Afghanistan, Wayne, his mother, and his retired drill-sergeant grandfather drive to the funeral. Wayne and his mother fly home and their plane crashes. Most passengers die and Reed’s flag is lost. Wayne and his mother survive, but After really begins when Wayne wakes up and finds an L-shaped scar across his face, his throat injured so he cannot speak, and Grandpa has come to live with them. Mom gets a new boyfriend and the scene where the boyfriend takes on Grandpa in a put-down contest is terrific. Wayne learns much about himself and his family as he searches far and wide for Reed’s flag.

“In the hour I’d known him, he’d already kept his promises. He made my mother smile and not wear her I need to watch English movies face. And he even stood boot to boot with Grandpa.”

Author Karen Harrington writes books that are full of heart with great characters readers will care deeply about and stories that are memorable and important. This is no exception. Her writing is lyrical and difficult topics are deftly handled throughout, and there are many difficult topics. This warm, wonderful coming-of-age book deserves readership far beyond a middle-grade audience. I Don't miss this one. It is simply too good. 

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.

The Paper Cowboy -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“We don’t want to feel less when we have finished a book; we want to feel that new possibilities of being have been opened to us. We don’t want to close a book with a sense that life is totally unfair and that there is no light in the darkness; we want to feel that we have been given illumination.”

~Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Every day I receive an email from A.Word.A.Day. I love this free service and I enjoy learning new words. Recently they had a series of words about words. What could be better? Anyway, I have two samples from A.Word.A.Day for you to enjoy. You can sign up for the free service and get new words every day as well. Click HERE to find out how. Here are your two words.

antimetabole
PRONUNCIATION:
(AN-ti-muh-TAB-uh-lee) 
MEANING:
noun: A repetition of words or an idea in a reverse order.
Example: "To fail to plan is to plan to fail."
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek antimetabole, from anti- (opposite) + metabole (change), from meta- (after, along) + bole (a throw). Earliest documented use: 1589.

hendiadys
PRONUNCIATION:
(hen-DY-uh-dis) 
MEANING:
noun: A figure of speech in which two words joined by a conjunction are used to convey a single idea instead of using a word and its modifier.
Example: "pleasant and warm" instead of "pleasantly warm"
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin hendiadys, from Greek hen dia duoin (one by two). Earliest documented use: 1589.

My critique partners have pointed out my protagonists are often just too good to be believed. Yup. I like my characters to be perfect. The ladies at Writers Helping Writers have a terrific post that I find particularly helpful in this area. You can find it HERE.

Kathy Temean at Writing and Illustrating has a wonderful post, 90 Things to Know About Your Character Before Writing. Click HERE to make sure you cover it all.

Last week I offered a hardcover copy of Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington. This weeks winner is Michael G-G. Michael is a middle-grade writer and shares his thoughts on two different blogs -- Middle Grade Mafioso and Project Mayhem. You can click on their titles to find them. Congratulations, Michael! I will get the book out to you this week. For the rest of you, fear not! I have another great book to give away this week.

As writers of books for young people, one piece of advice we hear with great

frequency is to make sure our main characters are likable, someone for whom readers will root. Kristin Levine took quite a risk in writing her latest book, The Paper Cowboy. Her main character, Tommy, is definitely a kid with issues -- the kind middle-graders will relate to. His mother is abusive and very likely mentally ill. His older sister is badly burned and is in the hospital for month. Tommy feels like her accident was his fault. His father is completely uncommunicative. But Tommy has trouble dealing with all this in positive ways. He is basically a bully and a pretty unlikable character a lot of the time. With Tommy's life being pretty much nothing but crap, he finds someone whose life is crappier and throws some extra crap on him. That's how he deals with his lousy life. But he isn't really comfortable with this role, and there is a chink in his bully armor that the object of his bullying and that boy's dad work away at until they find the real Tommy, who is more afraid than mean.

This is just a tiny peek into a book that is so rich with very believable, well-rounded characters set in the McCarthy era 1950s, which plays in important

Kristin Levine

role in the story. It was a time that created great vulnerability for a lot of people. The connection between the big bully Joe McCarthy and the small-town bully Tommy is a great storytelling device and works extremely well in this terrific work of historical fiction. I highly recommend this book.

I have a gently-read ARC for 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.

And don't forget to check Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways. Click HERE to visit.

Courage for Beginners -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Creativity is like washing a pig. It’s messy. It has no rules. No clear 
beginning, middle or end. It’s kind of a pain in the ass, and when you’re 
done, you’re not sure if the pig is really clean or even why you were 
washing a pig in the first place.” 
~ Luke Sullivan ~ 

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Janice Hardy has a great way to create characters with a game. Check it out HERE.

All writers know we can learn a great deal from screenwriters. Billy Wilder was one of the best. HERE you will find his tips for writers. Very interesting reading.

I just ran across a link to a Darcy Pattison post from earlier this year that discusses 29 Plot Templates. You can find it HERE. It’s chock full of good information.

  
I didn't have a chance to post last week. My hubby and I took a short trip to Minnesota for some family business. We were there at the perfect time to enjoy some beautiful autumn colors and weather and had a chance to visit with some family and friends. It was a great few days, and I enjoyed my mini-break. The last time I posted, I offered a copy of Dash by Kirby Larson. Our lucky winner this time is Myra! Congratulations to you, Myra. I will get the book in the mail to you this week. For the rest of you, I have another terrific book to giveaway, so read to the end. 

Back in February, I reviewed a book that I LOVED -- Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington. If you missed that review, you can click HERE and read it. When I saw there was another book coming by her, I snagged it for review as soon as it was listed. I was not disappointed. Courage for Beginners is a terrific book and below you can read the 5-star review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review. 

Mysti Murphy is having a difficult time. Her mother cannot leave the house. All she does is paint, grow vegetables, and bake bread. Mysti’s father tries to keep everything light and running as normally as possible. He does all the shopping, driving, working, etc., and takes care of everyone, but Mysti knows there’s nothing much normal at her house. Few things are going well in her life. Her best friend, Anibel Gomez, has decided he is becoming a new person, a hipster, when they start seventh grade, and he doesn’t want Mysti to talk to him or act like she knows him while they are in school. When Mysti’s father suffers a terrible accident, Mysti must take over while he is in the hospital.

“I just figure that ever since that tree branch snapped, change has been forcing its way into my life. It’s time to make friends with it. Do something on the outside that matches how I feel on the inside.”

Karen Harrington has written a very complex story full of interesting characters

Karen Harrington

and difficult problems. Mysti has to deal with issues including mental illness, bullying, money issues, a terrible accident, and more. She is a bright, interesting, courageous character, and readers will naturally root for her. The problems she has to face are things middle-graders will relate to. These are things they worry about. The writing is lovely and the story very satisfying. Don’t miss this one.

If you would like to have a chance to win my gently-read hardcover copy, 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. 

 

And don't forget to check Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways. Click HERE to visit.

 

Oh, and please don't ask my why the font changes in the middle of my post. I have no idea and have done everything I can to fix it. Bah!