My Teacher is an Idiom -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?"

– Anne Lamott

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

In honor of the great David Bowie who, it turns out, was quite a reader, HERE is the list of his 100 favorite books. What an extraordinary list! 

Have you been dangling modifiers lately? If so, Janice Hardy’s post HERE will help you out. 

Do you ever struggle with setting? K. M. Weiland has an excellent post HERE to help you out. 

Now a quick report on my experience with the amber glasses from the link last week. I got mine on Monday and tried them three times this week. I got such a colossal headache from wearing them, I couldn't sleep!  8-(

Last week I offered a copy of The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall to one of you. This week's winner is Mima Docken. Congratulations, Mima! Thanks for reading and commenting regularly. I do appreciate it, and I will get your book out to you this week. For the rest of you, please keep reading for another giveaway this week. 

There are a lot of different triggers for me as I decide what books to read. When I get the list of available books for review, I'm like a kid in a candy store, but I never quite know what it is that will attract me. When I was going through one list a few months ago, I came across a book called My Teacher is an Idiom by Jamie Gilson. The word Idiom is what caught my interest. I love idioms. I love finding out about them and how they come about. We have had five exchange students over the years, and I had a boatload of students for whom English was their second language. Idioms were always part of fun conversations with them. So, when I saw the title, I had to choose that book. I'm glad I did. It's very cute. Here is the review I wrote for the Manhattan Book Review.

Richard is having lunch, but it isn’t much fun since he lost both of his front teeth just the day before. It was because Patrick tricked him into biting into a gummy octopus. Now, Patrick is back, and Richard knows not to trust him. There is no one left in the lunchroom, except the two boys and the new girl, Sophie, who just moved from France. Patrick talks Richard into eating his soft gelatin through a straw, and to say it doesn’t go well would be an understatement. Things are at their worst when the vice-principal shows up. In the discussion that follows, Sophie gets an introduction to American idioms. Things get more interesting when the boys’ punishment is meted out.

“Patrick and I were standing in the lunch line. It wasn’t

moving. Some kid threw up, and they had to call

a custodian to bring a mop and pail.”

Jamie Gilson has written a fun story for early-elementary schoolers. The first-

Jamie Gilson

person narrative is pitch perfect with details — burps, bugs, and barf —  that will make youngsters laugh. Paul Meisel’s cute, cartoonish illustrations are a perfect complement to this funny story. The lesson in idioms will have kids learning an important language lesson without them ever knowing it, and a lesson in manners is equally well-hidden. A perfect chapter book for young, independent readers.

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.

The Seventh Most Important Thing -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” 

~ Mark Twain ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

You never know what you will find on writing blogs. I have a LOT of trouble sleeping — getting to sleep, staying asleep, getting back to sleep if I wake up in the night. When I read Marilyn Knowles post on Writer’s Rumpus I knew I had to try what she has to say HERE. You might want to check this out. 

Janice Hardy at Fiction University always has such good advice. HERE you can read her suggestions on showing vs. telling. 

K. M.Weiland has a post HERE full of good examples and great reminders about the use of “said” in our writing. 

Last week I offered a copy of Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff to one of you. This week's winner is Cindy Tran. Congratulations, Cindy! I will get the book out to you this week. If you don't know Cindy, she is a 12-year-old reader and blogger who runs a lot of book reviews. Check out her blog HERE. For the rest of you, I do have another wonderful book to give away, so keep reading.

This week I want to tell you about a terrific middle-grade novel that was a real surprise to me. It is The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall. When I read the description of the book, I asked the San Francisco Book Review to hang onto it for me. Here is the review I wrote for them.

Arthur Owens loses his father the same year Kennedy is killed. Life isn’t easy. His mother works two lousy jobs to keep things going. Arthur, 13, is angry when his mother gets rid of the last of his dad’s things, but when he sees an old junk picker wearing his father’s hat, without even knowing what he is doing, Arthur picks up a brick and throws it at the old man. Facing a long time in juvenile hall, he tells the judge what set him off. The old man he had hit stands up in court and asks to speak to the judge. The next thing he knows, Arthur is working for the junk picker with very strange assignments to find particular junk each week. Still, it’s better than going back to juvenile hall. Then something extraordinary happens, and Arthur’s life is changed.

“As they stood there in the darkness, with little sunbursts 

of light from the tree shining on their clothes and faces, 

Arthur felt strangely hopeful for a minute. It was as if 

their old life had briefly flickered back on, like an old 

movie—as if none of the bad things had happened to 

them yet.”

This amazing coming-of-age story will enthrall middle-grade readers and anyone

Shelley Pearsall

else lucky enough to come across it. Shelley Pearsall’s writing is lovely and her story compelling. All the characters are fully formed and relatable. And what a delight to discover there is a strong connection to a real person with a most interesting history. 

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.