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.

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.