Still a Work in Progress -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. 

And that’s on a good day.” 

~ Robert De Niro~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I have long been a fan of fractured fairy tales. HERE is a terrific post from Group Blog with good advice for writing them. 

Janice Hardy at Fiction University does it again. The great post HERE is about the important difference between a surprise and a trick. 

From the Mixed Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors you will find a great post HERE on subtext. 

Still having spacing problems. I can't figure it out. Someday maybe I will move to WordPress. I have heard good things.

Last week I offered a copy of The Slowest Book Ever (such a funny and good book!) by April Pulley Sayre to one of you. This week's winner is Jenni Enzor. Congratulations, Jenni! Jenni is a writer and a blogger. You can check out her blog HERE where she posts reviews of middle grade books and also posts about the writing process. Check it out. It's worth your time. I do have another giveaway this week, so stay tuned.

I don't remember where I first heard of Still a Work in Progress by Jo Knowles, but as soon as I read about it, I requested it for review. It sounded like such a good book. I was not disappointed. Here is the 5-star review I wrote for San Francisco Book Review. 

Seventh grade isn’t easy, but for Noah it’s especially hard. He has great friends—Ryan and Sam—but things are changing. Sam has a girlfriend, and Ryan seems so angry that the three of them are having trouble just being friends. And, of course, The Thing They Don’t Talk About is like a dark cloud over Noah, his sister Emma, and his parents. He worries about it all the time and wonders if it’s his fault or if he should have done more or if it will happen again. And no one, not even his best friends or his teachers or anyone else, seems to worry or care about it. And then it happens all over again, and Noah feels incredibly responsible and alone. 

Author Jo Knowles has written a beautifully crafted novel about a very tough

Jo Knowles

topic, encapsulating it in a laugh-out-loud, very real story of a young boy. Noah tells his story in the pitch-perfect voice of a boy who worries about pimples, girls, farting, a hairless cat, homework, and his best friend, his sister Emma, who seems to be disappearing. This is a profoundly important book that should not be missed.                                I know I said this last week, but it's true again. I kind of hate to give away my copy of this one, but at the same time I feel it deserves to be shared, so I have a gently-read hardback 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 Slowest Book Ever -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." 

~ Ray Bradbury ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I don’t know if you receive message from the Universe each day in your email, but I do. Sometimes they are the perfect kick-in-the-pants I need. A perfect one I received recently was this: 

Until the really "great" stuff comes along, Rosi, do the not-so-great stuff. 

The not-so-great stuff always leads to the great stuff. Whereas doing nothing pretty much leads to nowhere. 

And do it with a passion. 

Tallyho, 

    The Universe

If you need a fun, inspirational message in your email each day, sign up by emailing the Universe at theuniverse@tut.com. Isn’t that perfect for a writer?

HERE is kind of a fun chart with 33 often misused phrases from Writer’s Digest. 

Kristen Lamb has a great guest post by Alex Limburg HERE on her blog that will help you to infuse your writing with body language to show your characters state of mind. 

I found a fun list of "28 Underused Words You Really Need to Start Using." Some of them (HERE) are humdingers. Enjoy!

Still having spacing problems. Please be patient. I'm trying to find a way to fix it.

Last week, I offered a gently-read ARC of Unbound by Ann E. Burg. The winner this week is Danielle Hammelef. Congratulations, Danielle! It pays to spread the word for extra chances in the drawing. I will get your book out to you this week. If you didn't win, keep reading. I have another giveaway this week.

I love books that cover superlatives -- the biggest, fastest, strongest, etc. When I saw The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley Sayre on the list of books for review from the San Franscisco Book Review, I grabbed it right up. I'm glad I did. It is just so much fun. Here is the 5-star review I wrote for SFBR.

Everyone probably is familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare. On reading the story, one is reminded that slow and steady is often a pretty good way to go and when reading this book, it definitely pays to slow down and savor all the wonderfully slow things presented. There are nine sections including nature, animals, plants, geology, stuff, and more. There are also “Two pages on which to rest your face as you ponder the slowness of the universe.” That alone give one a flavor of the book which is a bit irreverent and fun. 

Author April Pulley Sayre has explored the world far and wide to find the slowest

April Pulley Sayre

things to talk about — everything from the expected snail to the largely unexpected cow digestion and the weathering of tombstones and the incredibly slow growth of the Atlantic Ocean. Super fun illustrations, all in black, white, and various tones of orange, help tell the stories and keep young readers interested. Sayre includes a good glossary and index which sandwich a must-be-read end notes section. The writing in this terrific tome is superb — crisp, funny, and smart. Kids will love this one.

I kind of hate to give away my copy of this one, but at the same time I feel it deserves to be shared, so I have a gently-read hardback 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.

Unbound -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Much of writing might be described as mental pregnancy with 

successive difficult deliveries.” 

~ J.B. Priestley, author ~ 

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

The Group Blog has a good post HERE with great reminders about Active vs. Passive sentences. Making the change can help get rid of extra words. Just sayin’. 

Alex Limberg did a guest post HERE on Kristen Lamb’s blog all about world building. For those of you who write fantasy and scifi, this is a must read. 

I read a self-published book recently for review and the dialogue really stood out — and not in a good way. K. M. Weiland has an excellent post HERE about the very problem this author had. 

I'm still having spacing problems around imported pictures. I hope you don't find this too distracting. I can't figure out how to fix this.

Last week, I offered a gently-read hardcover copy of The Thing About Leftovers by C. C. Payne to one of you. The roll of the dice goes to Patricia Tilton this week. Congratulations, Patricia! I will get the book out to you this week. If you don't know her, Patricia is a children's book writer with a focus on children with special needs. You can read more about her and also read some of her wonderful book reviews on her blog HERE. Not the winner this week? Stay tuned. I have another terrific book to give away. 

I have been reading a lot of novels in verse in the last couple years. They are certainly becoming more popular and there are more of them. I must admit, sometimes I wonder if some are really written in verse or if they are just short novels with an interesting use of white space. This is not that. Unbound by Ann E. Burg is surprisingly lyrical considering it is told in first person from the viewpoint of a young slave girl with a strong dialect. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Grace is only nine years old, but when one is a slave – Age doesn’t matter. Being old enough to work is old enough, especially when one has an uncaring master and a mistress who is mean as a hungry gator and vengeful as a startled skunk. Grace is ripped from her mother and brothers and taken to serve in the big house. She really has to watch herself and never let her thoughts slip out between her lips; not an easy task for a smart and headstrong girl like Grace. When she slips up, she puts her mother and brothers in great danger, and they have no choice but to go on the run. The road to freedom is fraught with peril and worry. 

Author Ann E. Burg tells this compelling tale of a little-known trail into the Great

Ann E. Burg

Dismal Swamp where some runaway slaves found refuge and freedom still within the Deep South. And she tells this tale entirely in verse, using the deeply-accented voice of her uneducated, stubborn main character, nine-year-old Grace. It is a powerful story that stands as a testament to those brave souls who survived so much. Don’t miss this one.

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.

The Thing About Leftovers -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“I like to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.”  

~ Stephen King ~`

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

HERE you will find a character name generator. This could save a lot of time. 

Writers Helping Writers has a terrific post HERE on finding story holes. Check it out. 

Sandra Havriluk has a guest post on Fiction University HERE on using the five senses in your writing. It’s worth a read. 

Something very weird is going on with spacing this week. Please just ignore the wonky spacing and forgive the distraction!

Last week, I promised a gently-read copy of Dinosaur Dictionary for Kids by Bob Korpella. This week's winner is Greg Pattridge. Congratulations, Greg! If you don't know him, Greg is a Colorado middle-grade writer and teacher who blogs twice a week (I can hardly get one post done each week) at Always in the Middle and reviews middle-grade books and sometimes has giveaways. You can check out his blog HERE. Greg, I will get the book out to you this week. For the rest of you, stay tuned. I have another great giveaway this week.

Through my work for the San Francisco Book Review, I manage to get a lot of really great middle-grade novels to read. This week I'd like to tell you about The Thing About Leftovers by C. C. Payne. It's a terrific book that just came out in July. Here is the 5 -star review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Fizzy is 12 years old, not an easy age, and after her parents divorce, she and Mom move to a new town — a town where she has no friends, the wrong clothes, and hateful teachers. Dad gets remarried, and he and his wife start a new family. Then Mom is marrying Keene, and they want kids. Fizzy just isn’t enough of a family. She doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere and is just a leftover. When Keene moves in everything changes. Fizzy no longer gets to cook—her real passion—can’t leave any of her stuff out, and doesn’t even get to watch TV with Mom. But Fizzy tries to be perfect and not bother anyone. The only things that keep her going are her new friends, Miyoko and Zach, her Aunt Liz, and her desire to win a cooking contest. 

Author C. C. Payne has written a perfect story for middle-graders. It hits a lot of

C. C. Payne

things kids worry about most. The voice of Fizzy in this first-person narrative is pitch perfect. This may capture the experience of children of divorce better than any book out there and deserves readership beyond a middle-grade audience. A winner!                                                    I have a gently-read hardback 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.

Dinosaur Dictionary for Kids -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

Just because it cracked me up. “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.” 

~ Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Adventures in YA Publishing is reposting a good post HERE with 40 Questions to Help You NAIL Your Manuscript. 

Steven Pressfield has a very useful post HERE that reminds us of the importance of the Hero Cycle in our writing. 

The Editor’s Blog has a spectacular two part posting HERE and HERE on Going Deep with Point of View. 

Last week, I promised a copy of Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko to one of you. This week's winner is Nancy! Congratulations on getting your house ready to sell. I know how hard that is! I will get your book out to you this week. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. For the rest of you, I have a fun book to offer again this week, so keep reading.

This week, I am featuring a book about dinosaurs. I mean, who does't love dinosaurs? I do. I know whenever I get a chance to review a dinosaur book, I grab it. This one did not disappoint. It is the Dinosaur Dictionary for Kids by Bob Korpella. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Probably nothing in the world fascinates kids as much as dinosaurs. There are plenty of books out there, but this may be one of the best to come along in quite a while. This should become the go-to book for middle-grade readers and above who have an interest in dinosaurs. After an excellent introduction with a note on using the dictionary and basic terms of the Mesozoic Era, it is neatly laid out in three major sections — Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Each section covers the dinosaurs in that period with an illustration, short write-up, name properly spelled with the pronunciation, when it lived, size, weight, where it lived, and what it ate. Interesting sidebars are scattered throughout, and each section has a period-specific article. But what else lived in the Mesozoic Era? Lots of things, and another section shows the fish, birds, bugs, and more with the same kinds of details. An article on how the dinosaurs became extinct is followed by an activities section, bibliography, and index. The

Bob Korpella

writing is snappy and the information fun and fascinating. Kids will love this book and will wear it out reading it over and over. A winner!

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.

Chasing Secrets -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists

of writing or thinking about writing.  

~ Eugene Ionesco ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

The post HERE from the Teaching Authors blog on female protagonists is FASCINATING and should be read by everyone who writes for young people. 

The devil is in the details and Anne R. Allen has a great post HERE on how to create memorable characters with interesting details. Check it out. 

I found this link on Fiction University, so it has to be good, eh? It is on my favorite topic — cutting words from a manuscript that is too long, and it has lots of good tips. Click HERE to check it out. 

Last week, I offered a slightly used paperback copy of Ida B by Katherine Hannigan to one of you. This week's winner is Carol Baldwin of the famous Carol Baldwin's Blog which you can find HERE. Carol is a North Carolina writer who works with author Joyce Moyer Hostetter on the wonderful newsletter for parents and teachers called Talking Story. See the latest issue HERE. Congratulations, Carol! I will get your book out to you this week. Please read on. I have another giveaway.

So here I am again a bit late to the party. Nearly a year ago I read and reviewed a wonderful historical novel by Gennifer Choldenko, and somehow I never got around to featuring it here. It's terrific. The book is Chasing Secrets and here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.

Lizzie Kennedy, thirteen years old, lives with her doctor father and older brother, Billy, in San Francisco. It is 1900 and the world is changing. Billy is saving to buy a horseless carriage and disappearing at night and coming home hurt. Lizzie has trouble making friends at the snobby finishing school her aunt insists she attend. Lizzie wants to go to medical school, not marry and raise a family, but science is not an acceptable path for a young lady. Rumors begin to fly about the plague being in San Francisco, and Jing, a favorite and most loyal servant of the Kennedy’s, disappears, and strange noises in the attic lead Lizzie to an astonishing discovery and further mysteries to solve.

“Papa is in the hall, talking to them in his soothing 

voice, but the bigger girl has a wild look in her eyes.

She won’t stop long enough to hear him. I can’t

understand a word, but her message is clear.”

Any writer who wishes to learn how to engage a reader from the first page

Gennifer  Choldenko

would do well to read this riveting historical novel by Gennifer Choldenko. The subject matter is fascinating, the characters well-drawn, the conflicts believable and compelling, and the writing is mesmerizing. Any reader who likes historical fiction and mysteries will love this book. The story is complex and completely satisfying. Though marketed to the middle-grade crowd, this deserves  to have a much larger audience.

I have a gently-read hardback 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.

Ida B -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell

myself that I’m going to do my five or ten pages no matter what, and that

I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost

nothing — writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further

behind than if I took the day off."

~ Lawrence Block ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Writer’s Digest sent me a post HERE by Robert Lee Brewer with good tips from copywriting that will help you with your novel. A l. ot of good reminders in this one. 

Kristin Lamb always entertains and edifies. HERE you will find a great post on dialogue. Enjoy! 

While at the poetry workshop at Highlights, one of the attendees spoke at length the first evening at dinner about how poets and all writers have to “put in the work.” He talked about how Jane Yolen writes a poem every day — every single day. Her stuff doesn’t just happen. She puts in the work. I found Steven Pressfield’s blog post HERE a very similar message. It’s important for us to remember that that is how it happens. 

And speaking of the poetry workshop, it was wonderful. David L. Harrison is very possibly the nicest person on the planet, and he led a wonderful workshop with plenty of stellar speakers. It was a very good workshop, group, and kickstart for me (I hope). I can't recommend the Highlights Foundation Workshops enough. They really know how to take care of their attendees and make sure they have the best experience possible. On first glance, they seem expensive, but when you realize housing and meals (spectacular meals!) and transportation to and from just about any airport in the area are included, it's really very reasonable. Click HERE to get more information. 

My daughter Maggie and I completed our cross country tour with no problems. I had a wonderful couple of days with her in NYC after the workshop. We rode the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) on a gorgeous day and followed that up with a Broadway show and late dinner. Perfect day. The show we saw is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. This is the most amazing play I think I have ever seen. So different! Wonderful performances and a terrific script. See it if you ever get a chance. But now I'm home and it is time for me to get back to work, starting with a review and giveaway here.

I took a passel of books with me on our road trip, but I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I thought I would. Maggie introduced me to Radiolab, a wonderful show that is on NPR. She had a bunch of podcasts on her phone, and we listened to all she had along the way. If you are not familiar with Radiolab, click HERE to listen to my favorite. I now have 142 podcasts of Radiolab on my computer. All I need is time. Anyway, one of the few books I took along on the trip that I actually found time to read is an oldie (published 2006), but a real goodie. It is Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan.   Isn't that a great title? I had never read it before and, since there may be a few others who missed it, here is my review.

Ida B. Applewood is a smart cookie and perfectly happy in her everyday life, but then she has to start school where the teacher refuses to call her by her real name, and the teacher has rigid rules about the silliest things, and Ida B can't be outside when she wants to. She is miserable until her parents decide to homeschool her. Then she can be where she wants with her friends the trees and the babbling brook and where her imagination thrives. After four years, her mother gets cancer and has to have treatments that make her sick and weak. Then the worst happens. Even though her parents had promised she would never have to go back to regular school, she will have to. And they need to sell part of their property with some of Ida B's favorite trees to strangers. Ida B reacts in typical, selfish-child fashion and creates some real problems for herself, her parents, and even for some others. 

I really like this book a lot. The voice of Ida B (the story is in first person PoV) is

Katherine Hannigan

pitch perfect and the story is more about learning to deal with disappointment and learning how to forgive than it is about dealing with an ill parent, which, frankly, would have been pretty predictable. The writing is terrific and the voice of Ida B is still rattling around in my head. If you missed this one, please try to find time to get to it. It's a very quick read, but worth your time. My copy isn't as gently-read as usual since it travelled to the east coast and back, but it's in good shape and I will give it 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.

More #MGGetsReal and a Fabulous GIVEAWAY!!!

Thought for the Day:

“All the best ideas come out of the process; 

they come out of the work itself.” 

~ Chuck Close, painter ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

My blogging buddy Greg Pattridge from Always in the Middle was kind enough to forward a link all about writing body language. He found useful and so do I, so I will pass it along. You can find Greg’s blog HERE and the useful link HERE.

We have all heard that one can’t be a real writer if one doesn’t write every day. Read another view HERE. 

Kristen Lamb has faced some personal problems, as have I, this year, and she has a great post HERE about ways to get your mojo back after going through such problems.

My daughter Maggie and I finished our cross country journey on Friday and arrived at The Barn, home of the Highlights Foundation's incredible workshops. I will be spending the next few days with David L. Harrison and a small group of other writers and editors working on the process of writing poetry. I thought the Thought for the Day was a good reminder of something we all need to remember as we write. 

Since I am still traveling, Shannon Wiersbitzky is stepping in with more wonderful information on middle-grade books that take on tough topics. Enjoy! And please leave a comment so Shannon knows I really do have readers. 

The group of authors working on #MGGetsReal also have a GIVEAWAY of all five of the Get Real books. Don't miss this chance. Click HERE to find out all about it. Take it away, Shannon!

Hello again The Write Stuff readers! We didn’t do too much damage last week (I took care of the pizza boxes and soda cans) so let’s give it another go! 

We were chatting about how myself and four other authors have created #MGGetsReal in an effort to get books about real (and sometimes tough) topics into the hands of kids. There are so many topics kids need to hear about today. And books continue to be a terrific way to deal with those topics. 

Now and then we hear of books being banned because the subjects are deemed inappropriate. We’ve also heard about authors being “disinvited” to schools because their novels deal with a topic the school feels unprepared to talk about. 

Hmm. My guess is that the kids wouldn’t feel the same way. Kids tend to lean into differences or unknowns, to walk right over and ask questions. For some reason, as we age, we increasingly shy away from this same behavior. We shush the conversation and try to move along. 

But we shouldn’t. Books help kids understand themselves. Understand others. Understand the world around them and all the tough and complicated topics that includes. 

This week, the five of us want to recommend another five books that fit in #MGGetsReal. And we welcome you to share more. Leveraging Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever social channel you prefer, share book titles with the tag #MGGetsReal. Together we can create a growing list for teachers, librarians, and parents. 

From Kerry Cerra comes a book with a compelling take on bullying. According to Kerry, “I've never read anything like it and when I talk about it during my school visits it is, hands down, the #1 book that most kids jot down the title of.”

CALL ME HOPE by Gretchen Olsen. 

A bully is ruining eleven-year-old Hope's life, and she doesn't know what to do. She can't even go to her mother for help, because the bully is her mother.

Kathy Burkinshaw recommends a 2016 debut Author, Melanie Conklin, and her novel COUNTING THYME, which tackles cancer and the subject of experimental drugs. 

When eleven-year-old Thyme Owen’s little brother, Val, is accepted into a new cancer drug trial, it’s just the second chance that he needs. But it also means the Owens family has to move to New York, thousands of miles away from Thyme’s best friend and everything she knows and loves. The island of Manhattan doesn’t exactly inspire new beginnings, but Thyme tries to embrace the change for what it is: temporary.

Shannon Hitchcock picked the book MARY MAE AND THE GOSPEL TRUTH by Sandra Dutton. 

Ten-year-old Mary Mae loves Sunday school and studying fossils. Trouble is her mama believes God created the earth in six days, only six thousand years ago. 

Shannon says, “Over the course of the story, Mary Mae learns that her love of science doesn't mean she can't believe in a higher power. Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth is not only a heartwarming story, it serves as a mirror for children raised in fundamental Christian homes. I can't think of another Middle Grade novel that tackles faith and science without disparaging either one.” 

From Joyce Hostetter comes EMPTY PLACES by Kathy Cannon Wiechman. 

Adabel’s mom is dead and her father is a temperamental alcoholic. 

“I believe lots of readers will relate to the story of children largely depending on each other for emotional and physical survival. Set in KY coal mine country during The Great Depression.” 

I picked a title that deals with race relations. After all the television clips in recent months my youngest son asked me, “Why are some people so afraid of others without even knowing them?” It is a great question. One that can be applied to so many topics, race, religion, nationality, disability, and the list goes on. 

I suggested we read ALL AMERICAN BOYS by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. 

Rashad is just trying to buy a bag of chips at the local corner store when things spin terribly out of control. He is beaten and arrested, accused of shoplifting, and everyone in town begins picking sides. 

This book was eye-opening to me. It highlights how the same incident can be viewed so many different ways. And it makes real for readers how complicated it can be to know what to do in this type of situation. Not only for Rashad, but for those who saw it happen. 

If you know a book on a tough topic that would fit the #MGGetsReal mission, share it with us! Add it to our Facebook page. And wherever you are on social media, join the conversation. Just use #MGGetsReal. It’s as easy as that. 

Thanks so much for having us! We look forward to connecting with you.