Book Review and Giveaway Contest

Here's someting special I'd like to share:  Michelle Fayard has a nice review of my book, The Fourth Wish on her blog, Bird's Eye View, http://michellefayard.blogspot.com/ , along with a giveaway contest, where the winner gets a free copy of The Fourth Wish.

Check it out and leave a comment for her and you could win.

Book Review Friday -- The Shadows, Volume I of The Books of Elsewhere

Oh, my goodness!  It's that time of week again.  What a busy week it has been, too!  My after school art club has an art show tomorrow, and I've been matting, and affixing artist statements with pictures, and making artist name tags, etc. -- things that always seem like they are going to be quicker work than they are.  But I'm thrilled with their work and plan to take lots of pictures tomorrow to share on a future blog.

Meanwhile, it's review time, and once again I am re-posting a review from Sacramento Book Review of a simply wonderful book, The Shadows.  This is Volume I in a series called The Books of Elsewhere, and I was so absorbed in the fantastical world Jacqueline West created, that I can hardly wait for Volume II.

The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere: Volume 1

By Jacqueline West

Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 241 pages

Olive Dunwoody’s mathematician parents are in an abstract world of their own. They don’t notice – as Olive does – that the old house they’ve moved in is creepy. Olive feels as if something in the house is watching her. One night, a large orange cat comes into her bedroom and begins to talk. In one of the paintings, Olive can see a distant figure running back and forth. Putting on a pair of spectacles she found in a dresser drawer, she sees the paintings come alive, and she can enter them. In one, she meets a frightened little boy and begins to learn of the house’s history.  Before long, Olive too, is running for her life.

I found The Shadows mesmerizing, partly due to the story itself; partly due to Jacqueline West’s remarkable writing. This is a tale of terror that makes you laugh. West’s imagery captures plot, setting and character in a simple turn of phrase. Olive’s quirky personality makes her a protagonist one can only look forward to meeting again in following books. Poly Berntene’s illustrations capture the house’s musty gloom and danger as well as Olive’s winsome spirit. A brilliant book all around.

Some Websites I'd Like to Share

As some of you know, I've been writing my brains out these past couple of weeks (and even longer, but the past two weeks have bumped my blogging to some extent, while I was meeting deadlines for contests.)

Now it's time to share: There are two travel-writing contests going on:  I've entered one: Amazing Travel Stories, with a submission deadline of August 31st, and I want to enter the second one next: Dave's Travel Corner has a travel writing essay.  The deadline for that is July 1st.  Both are no fee contests, and you can submit online.  I got these notifications via my friend Rosi Hollinbeck who is currently sharing great news about a Highlights workshop she just returned from on her great blog, The Write Stuff.  Thanks, Rosi!

I know, I know, this is a blogsite normally about writing or reviewing children's books: PBs, MGs, YAs.  But even children's writers travel, and your article doesn't necessarily have to be about traveling abroad. Check them out.

The Writer's Digest contest deadline was yesterday.  That is so famous that it didn't occur to me to post it.  Sorry.  I also made a mistake in reading the guidelines, but recovered from shock and submitted two picture books.  (They only wanted children's fiction 2,000 words or less.  Ha-ha.  My children's mystery is 24,000.)  It does pay to slow down when you read those guidelines.  But the good news is that I polished up that book so many times, getting ready to enter it, that now I'm ready to query on it.

Meanwhile, here is a contest that is still open:  Children's Writer Poetry or Verse Story Contest .  Their deadline is October 31st.  If you already subscribe to their newsletter, your first submission is free and later submissions are $15.00 each.  If you do not subscribe, then each submission is $15.00.  (You can submit more than one.)

The following website, isn't a contest, but it provides useful tools for checking your own WIP for interest level, reading level, and wordcount.  I got this from another writing friend, Teri, in one of my writing groups.  It's  Renaissance Learning.  Some of you may already know about it.  (I am often the last to know about things.)  But at the site, you can click on any children's book they have in their "library" (PB, MG, YA) and learn the reading level, the interest level, and the word count and see how your own WIP compares as you labor on.

That's it for today.  Back to work.  Happy reading.  Happy writing.  And do enter one of these contests.  (You don't even have to write the perfect query letter for any of these!)

New Book Review -- Take Me to the River

I have enjoyed many books by Will Hobbs, but Take Me to the River captivated my attention all the way.  It has everything a reader of YA novels can enjoy:   Adventure.  Mystery.  A dangerous kidnapping.  And for river rafting fans, a great river journey impossible to forget.  It's a coming of age story as well, since both Dylan and his cousin, Rio, are forced to grow up in a hurry.

This review is a reposting of my review from Sacramento Book Review.  Please visit that site, as well as San Francisco Book Review, and enjoy a reading feast of reviews in every genre by a variety of reviewers.  You'll want to bookmark those sites.

Take Me to the River

By Will Hobbs

HarperCollins,$15.99,184 pages

When Dylan heads for the tiny ghost town of Terlingua, Texas, he’s expecting a week of canoeing on the Rio Grande with his uncle and his cousin, Rio. Dylan's uncle makes his living guiding canoe trips on the river. But, on arrival, Dylan learns his uncle is in Alaska on a river job since the local economy is suffering.

Dylan stays with Rio, though, and the two boys decide to take the river trip alone. Both are experienced canoeists. Still, the part of the river they are navigating is dangerous at best, and soon after they set off, Hurricane Dolly is on her way to meet them. Even more frightening dangers await them when they meet up with a murderous gangster who has kidnapped a young boy after a deadly shoot-out.

Hobbs’s writing winds and soars and drops and crashes like the river itself, as the boys navigate rapids, rocks, and hidden debris–all while struggling against additional flooding from the storm and worrying about the gunman’s growing impatience. Every bend in the river, every cave, every cliff-side is rendered distinct. This book takes you on the ride of your life, with a guide who knows his rivers.

Still Working on Rewrite for Contest

Dear Blog Friends,

I am still working on my mystery rewrite for the contest.  Come by Friday, though, as I'll still have a new book review posted.  Then next week I'll be back to normal blogging.

Thanks, and have a great day.

Book Review Friday -- The Eyes of Pharaoh

This week I had the pleasure of reading a historical mystery by Chris Eboch, The Eyes of Pharaoh, set in ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramses the Third.  This is a fast-paced adventure, with historical details that plunge you into the era, engaging characters that feel realistic, and tension that never lets up.

Thirteen-year-old Seshta is one of the young temple dancers in the Temple of Hathor.  Her dream is to eventually leave the temple and become a renowned performer.  Her two best friends are thirteen-year-old Horus, son of her family's former maid and apprentice to a toymaker, and sixteen-year-old Reya, a conscript in Egypt's army.

When the story opens, Seshta is focused on the coming dancing contest for the temple dancers.  The Pharoah himself will see the contest, and winning could ensure Seshta's future as a performer.  Then Reya meets up with her and Horus, saying that he has information about a threat from the Libu (a tribe from what is  present day Libya).  Reya is on his way to inform the general, but wants Seshta and Horus to know something first, in case something goes wrong.   Then Reya disappears.

Since Reya is a soldier, his family assumes he is on a mission.  But Horus's blind sister dreams of Reya being trapped in a small place, alone and scared.  Seshta, too, has ominous dreams of danger, and she decides it is up to her and Horus to find and rescue their friend.  The two become spies, asking questions in the marketplace that lead them to the army garrison, a merchant's wealthy grounds, and a prince's estate, as they uncover clues about a plot to overthrow Pharaoh Ramses the Third.  Even the head of the Eyes of Horus, the secret police, seems to be involved.

This book sparkles with drama, historical accuracy, and lively characters today's young people can relate to. I wish I'd had Eboch's book when I was teaching sixth grade.  The unit on ancient Egypt is always a favorite with students, and her book brings the era to life.

For information about how to contact Chris Eboch and how to order her book, visit her website (click on her name).  You'll find other good reads by this author (including the Haunted series), information on writing, and lesson plans for her historical books.  For my own part, I want to read her Haunted books next, since I love a good ghost story!  Then again, the Mayan book looks intriguing as well . . .

Happy reading!

Busy With Rewrites for Contests

Apologies for the days of no posting.  I've been busy rewriting a mystery and a children's verse story to enter them in contests, as well as working on a travel article for a contest.

I'M ALMOST FINISHED, and I must say, there is nothing like a deadline to make one productive!

Tomorrow I will be reviewing a terrific new book by Chris Eboch, so come have a look.

Till then, happy writing -- and happy reading, too.  There's nothing like a good read to get those writing wheels turning again.