Book Giveaway: Welcome to Dog Beach

Welcome to Dog Beach (Seagate Summers series)
by Lisa Greenwald
Amulet
2014
272 pages

Lisa Greenwald's earlier books include Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes, the Pink and Green series and Reel Life Starring Us.

About the book

Eleven-year-old Remy loves Seagate, the island where her grandmother had a house and where her family spends every summer vacation. But this year’s different. Remy misses her dog, Danish, who recently passed away. The usual Seagate traditions don’t feel the same—and neither does her relationship with her two best friends, Micayla and Bennett. Micayla’s family is moving to Seagate year-round, and she’s spending more time with the year-round kids. Bennett’s doing “boy stuff” with new kid Calvin and his snobby sister Claire. Remy takes comfort in the company of Dog Beach—which is where she hatches her plan to bring her friends closer and recapture the Seagate magic. This start of a new series is filled with summer treats, activities, and the spirit of friendship and invention that are Greenwald’s trademarks.

Praise for Welcome to Dog Beach
"Remy’s quiet tale of change and growth marks a promising start to a new series."

 

I have 5 FREE copies of the ARC up for grabs! For your chance to win and read the book first, simply post a comment to the blog and be sure and include your first name, city, state and email contact. Deadline for posts is Thursday, February 27 at noon MST. Winners are chosen randomly by Randomizer. Winners will receive an email from me shortly after 12:00 noon MST on February 27. Please be sure and check your email on that date. Winners have 24 hours to respond to my email. Books will ship from New York. Good luck and start posting! Pamela

 

 

Can You Say Catastrophe? (The Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair)

Can You Say Catastrophe?
(The Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair)
Darby Creek
2013
160 pages

Available October 2013

Smart, sassy, and sparkling with wit, Can You Say Catastrophe? (The Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair)will resonate with readers. April is a normal, socially clunky tween (she's twelve in chapter one) who embarrasses easily and often with the slightest provocation. She thinks her nose is oddly shaped and her "booty" is too small and non-existent. Her sisters embarrass her, her father embarrasses her, April even embarrasses herself every time she opens her mouth. She trips over her words and says the wrong things when she talks to "hot" boys. April's best friends Billy and Brynn are her constant companions and she's lucky to have them.

Life is getting stranger and stranger this year. Suddenly, there's a special electricity between April and Billy. They've been friends forever, but now something has changed. When Billy touches April, she suddenly notices. Hot new neighbor Matt has April thinking of love, too.

April makes a terrible mistake when babysitting her sisters, and her parents lay down the law. No more summer camp! April is horrified! Imagine spending the summer with your parents and little sisters cooped up in an antiquated RV rolling down the highway while your friends are having a blast at camp--WITHOUT you! April has a meltdown and acts like a spoiled brat but her parents don't give in. It's family vacation time.

Once they get rolling and seeing the sights, April realizes that vacations with her family aren't all bad. There are fireworks and amusement parks, boat rides and playing in the ocean, hotels (after the clunker RV dies), and family fun. April can't change her situation, but she does change her attitude--for the better.

Girls (and boys) will relate with April--she is the quintessential thirteen year old on the brink of puberty. She questions her body image, guys' body image, why guys act the way they do and other issues that tweens commonly wonder about.

Recommended grade 6-up. A couple of kisses, April worries over her mismatched breasts--one being larger than the other, and her non-booty.

FTC Required disclaimer: I received the arc from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)