Orbiting Jupiter -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that makes us more alive than the others."
~ Martha Graham ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Writers Helping Writers have a terrific post on Mastering the Art of the Cliffhanger Chapter Ending HERE. Don’t miss it. 

The Editor’s Blog has a fun post HERE with lots of good reminders of how to engage readers. 

Anne R. Allen always has good advice. HERE you will find a good post on editing your first chapter. C’mon. We all have to do it! 

Just a heads up. I probably won't be here next week. My sweet sister and brother-in-law are coming to celebrate my birthday and giving me the best birthday present ever -- helping us sort out and pack up as we get closer to our move, which will happen after the world's longest renovation is done -- soon, I hope. But I will be back and when I write next, I will be seventy. Yup -- the big seven-oh! Holy smoke but I'm getting on. I'd like to thank all you young whippersnappers for sticking around and reading.

Last week I offered my gently-read copy of Nanny X Returns by Madelyn Rosenberg to one of you. This week's winner is Suzanne Warr. Congratulations, Suzanne! If you don't know her, Suzanne is a North Carolina writer and Tae Kwon Do Black Belt who blogs at Tales from the Raven. You can find her blog HERE. It's worth checking out. Suzanne, I will get your book out to you this week. For the rest of you, I have another giveaway, so please keep reading.

I cannot believe I haven't written about this book before, but it's another book I ran across as I sorted and packed books. If you have read my blog for awhile, you probably know I think Gary D. Schmidt is one of the best writers around. I have reviewed a couple of his books before, Okay for Now HERE and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy HERE. This week I'd like to tell you about Schmidt's latest book, Orbiting Jupiter. It's simply terrific. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review. 

Jack gets the news his parents are taking in a foster child, a boy Jack’s age who will share his room and chores on the farm. They will also both be going into sixth grade. But when Jack finds out Joseph had spent time in juvenile hall for trying to kill a teacher and that he is a father, Jack wonders what they’ve gotten themselves into. There are no secrets that last very long in a small-town middle school, and word about Joseph soon travels through the halls, and bullies get to work. But Jack has Joseph’s back, even though it costs him. As time goes on, Jack learns Joseph’s whole, heart-breaking story and meets his abusive father. Then everything changes.

“That was how Joseph heard for the first time that he never would see Madeleine again, never touch her again, never talk to her again, never walk through the woods with her again.”

When Gary D. Schmidt has a new book come out, it is cause for celebration in

Gary D. Schmidt

the world of middle-grade readers. His sense of story and his elegant writing carries readers through even the most difficult of subjects, and Schmidt never shies away from honestly examining the difficult things young people face. This moving coming-of-age tale is one of his finest books and deserves readership far beyond the middle-grade crowd.

I have a gently-read ARC 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.

Nanny X Returns -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than simply to reveal to them the infinite possibilities of their own souls.” 

~ Walt Whitman ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Steven Pressfield has some great stuff on his blog. HERE, HERE, and HERE you will find a three-part series on making your hero suffer. I think he may have added a couple more posts to this series after I put this in my file, so you might want to check at his blog. Enjoy! 

Writer’s Digest has a good post HERE with 10 Habits of Highly Effective Writers by Robert Blake Whitehall. 

Tara Lazar has a terrific post on Writing for Kids (while raising them) that will help explain the language in those pesky rejections. Check it out HERE. 

Last week I offered my copy of My Secret Guide to Paris by Lisa Schroeder to one of you. This week's winner is Violet Tiger. Congratulations, Violet! I wish I could tell you something about her, but she is a wee bit secretive. That said, she has a book review blog that is worth checking out. It's called Reading Violet and you can check it out by clicking HERE. She is featuring a book by one of my favorite writers this week. Violet, I will get the book out to you this week. 

About a year ago, I reviewed a book called Nanny X by Madelyn Rosenberg. If you missed that review you can see it HERE. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed this first book of a series for the younger middle-grade readers. When I had a chance to read the second in the series, Nanny X Returns, for the Manhattan Book Review, I asked for it right away. I wasn't disappointed. Here is the review I wrote.

Alison and  Jake walk home from school with Nanny X and they discover their grandmother broke her leg. The kids’s parents leave town, and before you know it, Nanny X has a new case from NAP — Nanny Action Patrol. Someone has threatened the president. If he doesn’t place a large fish sculpture on the White House lawn, national treasures will be damaged or disappear. Nanny X takes the kids fishing where they meet their friend Stinky and his nanny, Boris, also a member of NAP. When they catch a robot fish, they know they are onto the villain they have dubbed The Angler. The chase ensues through Washington D.C. and there is plenty of excitement and danger.

“Jake pulled out his stink-bomb pacifier. He 

squeezed the nub and threw it.

Hard-boiled-egg smoke poured out.”

Madelyn Rosenberg has created a fun series for the middle-grade set. This

Madelyn Rosenberg

second book doesn’t have quite the excitement of the first book since the kids have already discovered all the mysteries of Nanny X, but it is still a fun mystery for the group to figure out. Excellent writing and terrific characters carry the day. Being set in Washington D.C. has the added benefit of mixing in a little American history for readers to learn.

I have a gently-read hardback copy of this book 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.

Fish in a Tree -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The cat sat on the mat is not a story.

The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.”

~ John le Carré ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Augusta Scattergood has a wonderful guest post HERE on the Nerdy Book Club blog titled Top Ten Things I’ve Learned From Kids About Writing a Book. If you are writing for kids, don’t miss this. 

K. M. Weiland has written a stellar post on how to make your antagonist three-dimensional. Click HERE. It’s a good one.

HERE is a good post on the art of titling, in my mind a very difficult thing to master.

Last week I offered a copy of Nanny X to one of you, and this week's winner is Janet Smart! Congratulations, Janet. Janet is a writer of children's stories and books. You can learn more about her by visiting her blog, Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch. Click on the title to visit. Janet, I'll get your book out to you this week. Everyone, stay tuned. I have another giveaway this week.

I want to tell you about a book that was just released this week, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. If you don't know Lynda, you should. She's a most amazing writer. I fell in love with her writing with her debut novel, One for the Murphys. I read that book three years ago, and I still tear up when I think about it. Seriously. It is such a powerful book. You can read my review of it HERE. You can also read my interview with Lynda HERE. If you haven't read that book yet, for heaven's sake, get to it. I promise you will enjoy every word. 

Knowing how I felt about her first book, imagine how excited I was to know that she had another book. I couldn't wait to read it, and I was not disappointed. Here is my five-star review for the San Francisco Book Review.

Ally is a pretty smart cookie, although she doesn’t really believe that. But she must be. She has managed to keep her secret – she cannot read – a perfect secret for all her school years, and now she is in sixth grade. She’s great at

Lynda Mullaly Hunt

math and a true artist, but reading and writing are as painful for her as the terrible bullying and teasing she has to put up with every day at school. Ally keeps on trying to learn and goes to school every day. Everything changes when her teacher goes on maternity leave and a new teacher, Mr. Daniels, takes over. He is patient with her and finds different ways for Ally to learn. Day by day, Ally grows stronger, makes some friends, and learns to trust some people. The girl who has been bullying Ally begins to lose her power as Ally gains her own.

 “Oliver tells me that it’s cool I’m so good at this. I forget to say thank you because I’m shocked.”

Lynda MullalyHunt has written a book every bit as powerful as her first book, One for theMurphys, with engaging, well-rounded characters, a moving story, spectacular writing, and important messages that will resonate with Tween readers and anyone else lucky enough to find this wonderful book. Don’t miss this one.

I'm giving away my gently read ARC to 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.