That's right/write! You have one month, but if you write words every day, you will finish a novel. Here is everything you need to know nanowrimo.org You can have friends join you or meet your community. Virtual writing events and help is everywhere! Share with your friends on social media! Let's have a great month!
Deb Caletti
Simon Pulse
2020
368 pages
ISBN: 978153442697
Sixteen-year old Sydney feels on the verge of something big; she calls the something “it.” It is going to happen, and she can feel it. She’s not excited to be spending the summer with her has-been film star mother even though her vacation involves living in a fantastic mansion on the beach. Sydney knows how it will go: her mother will ignore her (mostly), go on shopping sprees, and play the femme fatale for her “fans.” Lila Shore has always been unreachable for Sydney. Worshipped by millions, Lila is enslaved by her beauty and sex appeal. When her star, youth, and beauty begin to wane, and her daughter’s beauty begins to be noticed, Lila feels threatened. To make matters worse, Lila’s living with volatile and abusive Jake, a true bad guy who deals in stolen art and has nefarious connections.
One night can change your life. One act. One action.Although this book has been marketed as a “thriller,” it does not have the fast-pace and implosion a thriller is expected to have. Sydney spends most of the book worrying about how people view her (men and boys, mostly). Her thoughts about her body filling out and maturing seem more tween than teen, although her insight is mature enough. The sweetness and swoony-ness you’d expect from a romance is lacking and falls flat. The quality of writing and the author’s prior books will insure teen readers consider this book.
Recommended for readers of Deb Caletti grade 8 and up. Mature situations.
by Deborah Underwood
Illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz
Dial Books For Young Readers
Penguin Random House
2020
40 pages
ISBN: 9780525554028
UPLIFTING! POSITIVE! A HEALING MESSAGE FOR RIGHT NOW!
What an uplifting, positive read! This is not an alphabet book although letters are the characters. In a walled city of capital H's, everyone is the same: they are happy and protected. One curious little h wonders about the world outside the walls: what do others look like? Are there others? Are they like me?
She finds a small opening in the wall and spots an i. The two letters reach through the wall, and realize: TOGETHER, we are something entirely new: HI! The big H's are not happy and wall up the hole. Soon, other letters in other cities are sending messages to each other. Little h realizes if she can't go through the wall, there may be another way.
As the smaller case letters teach the big letters to reach out and listen to others, the walls between all the letters come down. This isn't a book about letters. It's a book about reaching out to others who are different, listening to what they say, learning about them and living in harmony with them.
What a beautiful book for all times! We need this book right now! You need this book right now! The world needs this book right now!
by Janet Fox
Viking
Penguin Random House LLC
2020
371 pages
ISBN: 9780451478696
In this sequel to The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, author Janet Fox weaves history with middle grade fantasy. Set mostly in WWII, young Isaac Wolf must flee war-torn Prague, the Nazis and evil spirits who are after him. Although it is not necessary to read the first book, it is helpful. I would advise reading the books in order.
As the war threatens and Prague is falling, before Isaac's parents disappear, they give him a pendant, an eternity knot, which they are sure will keep him safe. It leads Isaac to Rookskill Castle where a band of magical kids are learning to use their powers to help the Allies win the war. Isaac soon finds himself on a quest to travel through time (with an antique watch) and find magical artifacts that will save him, his family, and the world. Trouble is: Isaac isn't the only one searching for the artifacts.
The cover has spooky Scooby Doo appeal (look at that friendly, big dog!), and middle grade readers will love all the hints they can pick up from the cover alone. Who doesn't want to read a book with dragons, wolves, creepy, evil spirits, ancient scrolls, magic potions, swords, a huge stone castle set in an eerie woods? It is refreshing to have a Jewish main character in middle grade fantasy, and I love that Janet FOX names him Isaac WOLF!
Recommended for kids who love fantasy and magic schools. Grade 5 and up. Be sure and read The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle first.
by Michael Rex
Illustrated by the author
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Penguin
2020
40 pages
ISGN: 9781984813626
Captivating comic cover art depicts a friendly-looking green monster following the kids and their dad as they go off on an adventure: a goon hunt! They wander into a forest, a swamp, a graveyard and a haunted house only to find what they came looking for: a goon! They have to run! Back through the graveyard, back through the swamp, back through the forest and back to the safety of their beds...but! Beware! (no spoilers here!)
Young readers will squeal with delight as monsters are revealed lurking on each page. Their pet dog wearing a hot dog costume is sheer genius! The dog's personality is featured in each illustration as he shakes in terror, runs in fear, holds the flashlight as if his life depended on it. Michale Rex truly knows how to tickle the young reader's (and their parents)!
A MUST HAVE for young readers who love a Halloween story: doesn't everyone???
Highly recommended!
This is a poem/song lyrics I wrote for an entry in Fall Writing Frenzy 2020
Losing the Light
--Thompson McLeod
Running scared, running fast
Path to nowhere, stepping into the past
Not giving up, not giving in
Absolution for my sins
Running fast, running scared
Only one thought, only one prayer.
Let me be the answer you see
Let me be the road to the free
Let me be what you seek: your key
Let me be your shining star, your burning sun, your turbulent sea
Losing the fight
This is the path to nowhere
Trying to make it right
Let me be the reason you care
Running fast, running scared
Not giving in, casting out sin
With only one prayer:
Let me be the answer you see
Let me be the road to the free
Let me be what you seek: your key
Let me be your star, your sun, your sparkling sea.
Losing the light,
I know this path leads to somewhere
Don’t stop, put in the fight
Wait for me, I’ll be there
I need your light
This is the road to somewhere
Wait for me to make it right.
And this is my badge of honor:
A Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery, Book 2
by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Algonguin Young Readers
2020
352 pages
ISBN: 9781616200193
Available October 6, 2020
Myrtle dreads going on an excursion with her overbearing Aunt Helena and governess Miss Judson while Father is away in Paris with a forensic science symposium. Her dad wants her far away from the gossip and newspapers about the murder she helped solve. It's embarrassing enough a twelve-year old child showed up the police, but a meddlesome GIRL!
Myrtle sets off with her governess Miss Judson, cat Peony, pushy Aunt Helena and her aunt's traveling companion (maid) Miss Highsmith. They board a fancy new train: The Empress Express to travel to the seashore. Myrtle dreads the trip, the luggage, her bathing dress, the terrible, foppish hat she's forced to wear as part of her raveling ensemble. She can't stand being imprisoned on a train with her obnoxious aunt, but one thing's for sure! Myrtle doesn't miss anything. Not even the tiniest clue.
As the train gets underway, dinner is served. After dinner, the ladies and men retire to their separate lounges. The train owner's daughter shows the ladies a fabulous tiara valued at over five thousand dollars. Suddenly, the lights go out, there is confusion, and when the lights come back on, the tiara is gone! Myrtle is thrilled to follow clues to find the thief and soon partners with insurance investigator, Mrs. Bloom.
When Mrs. Blooms fails to show up at breakfast the next morning, Myrtle is concerned. She goes by her cabin and finds no one has slept there. Worried now, Myrtle takes Mrs. Bloom's bag with her notes and papers. As the porters begin offloading baggage, a body is found. It's Mrs. Bloom! Myrtle is horrified her new friend has been murdered and even more horrified when the constable arrests her Aunt Helena whose shears were the murder weapon.
Myrtle and her governess set out to solve the murder, the theft and possible insurance fraud. Myrtle is quick-witted, worldly, wise beyond her years, well-read in law, medicine, detection and forensic science. She is a fun main character readers will not forget, and fans of book one will love this second installment. The publisher recommends ages ten and up, but younger readers may not understand the terms of insurance, fraud, and the penalties of law.
Recommended grade 6 and up and fans of Premeditated Myrtle (book 1).
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Little Brown Books for Young Readers
2020
384 pages
ISBN: 9781368052405
Cover art is CAPTIVATING and FANTASTIC. This is one cover readers won't be able to leave on the shelf!
Life is a game when you're incredibly wealthy. Not so much fun if you're incredibly poor....
Review coming soon!
Everything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures
Mystical, magical, powerful and ethereal, Dreamwalkers is a compelling tale of desert magic, dangerous government secrets, the all-in chemistry of first love and the power to control the world of dreams set in an enchanted land where rugged, often unforgivable, terrain hides danger and government secrets are safe.
Sixteen year old Vivan Night Hawk is working in her mother’s crystal and tarot shop in the tourist-friendly square of tiny Zia, New Mexico. After a worn leather jacket arrives in the shop, Vivi claims it as her own because it reminds her of her father. One lone feather in the pocket holds a special magic. Vivi begins dreaming more detailed and vivid lucid dreams. Vivi learns her power to dream is handed down from her Apache father. She practices controlling her dreams, stepping in and out of them, and seeing her (dead?) father who warns her that her genius little brother Brian is in danger. Dad tells her bad people are coming for Brian because they believe he is the dreamwalker, not VIvi. Vivi meets cute guy Lucas who also shares the power of lucid dreaming. He tells Vivi both of their fathers are MIA or presumed dead. Lucas convinces Vivi that their fathers are alive, and using their powers of lucid dreaming, they have to find out what happened to them. The closer the two get to answers, the more danger they are in. It is not only bad people trying to control them. A decades old secret government project surfaces, and the kids are in a fight for their lives.
Dreamwalkers is set in a color drenched, panoramic tourist town in the mountains of New Mexico, and brought to life with lush details: the scent of sage, mesquite, pinon, and cottonwoods.The author captures the beauty of mountain sunsets and the threatening power of a desert thunderstorm. Dreamwalkers captivates readers with enchanting imagery and the slippery magic of New Mexico as the author uses broad brushstrokes of prose and descriptive hues evocative of master painter (and New Mexico favorite) Georgia O’Keefe.
Highly, highly recommended for fans of romance, YA fans, and any reader who loves an evil and corrupt government cover-up and a great story. For middle school and older. No sexual content. A few sweet kisses.
