Nanny X -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the

first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better,

find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile."

~ Robert Cormier ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

If you are writing historical fiction, the Writer’s Digest post HERE is a must read.

Is this your year to find an agent? Click HERE for a good post on that topic.

Another great post on revision from Fiction University can be found HERE. Check it out. 

It's a couple hours after the Super Bowl, and I think I'm in some sort of sleep-deprived-food coma, so if I have typos, please be forgiving. Our grandson was in an out-of-town baseball tournament yesterday and the championship game, which his team lost by one run, didn't finish until nearly midnight. I was up until 3:00 am. Our daughter Sara brought our grandchildren over for the Super Bowl, and Sara cooked up a storm. We could have had one of the teams stop by and eat and would probably still have leftovers, although they would have had to fight me for the hot crab artichoke dip. Good thing this only happens once a year! 

Last week I promised a copy of My Cousin's Keeper by Australian author Simon French to one of you. Elizabeth Varadan is this week's lucky winner. Congratulations, Elizabeth! If you don't know her, you can find out more about her by visiting her blogs -- Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish and Victorian Scribbles -- and you can read about her new middle-grade book which will be out in June, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls. I have read the manuscript, and this is a terrific book. You will surely hear more about it from me after it's out! But you can pre-order it now if you want to.

This week I want to tell you about a true middle-grade book. I tend to mostly cover tween books which are at the very high end of the middle-grade category, but this one is for the third- to fifth-grade set. And it's very, very cute. The book is Nanny X by Madelyn Rosenberg. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Ali, ten, and Jake, eight, aren’t too happy about Mom going back to work, but they are even unhappier about having a nanny. When the new nanny comes in dressed in a black leather motorcycle jacket and mirrored sunglasses and announces they can call her Nanny X, they know things are going to be a little strange, but they have no idea how strange things will get. Nanny X seems to know a lot of things she has no business knowing, and she does odd things like talking into their little sister Eliza’s spare diaper. But when a really bad guy shows up on the scene, suddenly the kids realize having a nanny, especially this nanny, might not be so bad.

 “I could see the teething biscuit. Someone had stomped on it. There were crumbs, and if you looked closely, wires. Even if I hadn’t seen the wires, I would have known it was a fade: Nothing can destroy a real teething biscuit.”

Madelyn Rosenberg has written a very witty, engaging story kids of all ages will

Madelyn Rosenberg

like. Grandparents who decide to share this book with their young grandchildren (ages eight to twelve) will be reminded of the old TV show, Get Smart with all kinds of silly spy equipment. The writing is smart, the action is non-stop, and the characters are appealing. The middle-grade set will love this real romp of a read. 

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

 

My Cousin's Keeper -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is

a bad children’s story.”
~ C.S.Lewis ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Aerogramme Writer’s Studio has a post HERE on revision called Polish Your Prose: An Editorial Cheat Sheet. It’s good.

Writer’s Digest published a great article by Elizabeth Sims HERE on how to add suspense to your story.

Kathy Temean at Writing and Illustrating has a great post HERE with tips for querying agents. 

Last week I offered a gently-read hardback copy of The Secret of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall. This week's winner is Debi. Congratulations, Debi. WooHoo for you! I will get the book into the mail this week. Thanks for playing. I do have another giveaway this week, so stay tuned. 

I have an interesting book this week. I don't get a lot of books for review written by Australian authors, but I have one this week. It is My Cousin's Keeper by Simon French. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Kieran is eleven years old and wants more than anything to fit in with the cool kids at his school. His best friend Connor had moved away, and since then Kieran has made some progress working his way in with the boys he wants to hang around with. But then his weird cousin, Bon, shows up at his school. Bon dresses strangely, wears his hair in a long braid, and draws and writes all the time. Bon becomes a target for the bullies, the very boys Kieran wants to befriend. Another new student shows up around the same time. Her name is Julia. She is different and mysterious, and everyone wants to be friends with her, but she has chosen Bon. The bullies enlist Kieran to help with their campaign against Bon, and Kieran’s life is in turmoil. It’s hard to choose the right path.

“The picture became a little clearer. Bon’s mom did not want him,or else could not look after him.”

Simon French has written a book that touches on many themes that will resonate with middle-graders – bullying, jealousy, friendship, family dynamics,

Simon French

and more. The story is interesting and will keep kids turning pages, although American readers may have trouble relating to some things typical of Simon’s native Australia.

I have a gently-read hardcover 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.