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Showing posts from August, 2012

Back to the Books GIVEAWAY

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Welcome to my Back to the Books Giveaway! This giveaway hop is being hosted by  I am a Reader, Not a Writer and  Buried in Books . With school starting this week, I'm not feeling real creative, so I'm giving away a... $20 Gift Card  from The Book Depository RULES Open internationally. Must be over 13 to enter. Please only enter once. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. a Rafflecopter giveaway

BLOG TOUR and Giveaway: The Star of Eldon by M.L. Hamilton

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THE STAR OF ELDON (#3 of the World of Samar series) by M. L. Hamilton Wild Wolf Publishing, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-1907954269 Grades 9 and up Copy received from author for review/blog tour. No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.  The Seven Protectorates have enjoyed years of peace under Tav’s leadership, but a growing worry has surfaced. What about the land beyond Loden’s border? Where once there had been overtures of trade, now there is nothing. Tav decides to send a diplomatic expedition to re-establish contact, but who should go? Adventure runs in the blood of Tash’s children, especially in his head-strong daughter, Shara. Shara wants nothing more than to be part of the expedition to Nevaisser, but her father will never agree. He fears for her safety, but a rash decision on his part takes the choice out of his hands and sets up a chain of events that will have far reaching consequences. Nevaisser is a land teeming wi

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday: Two Fabulous New Picture Books

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On Wild and Wonderful Wednesday's I highlight books I've read that have characters or settings or plot that strike me as wild and/or wonderful.  The Library Dragon is definitely a wild charcter and The Fantastic Flying Books has well, fantastic flying books. :) RETURN OF THE LIBRARY DRAGON by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael P. White Peachtree Publishers, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-56145-621-5 Grades K-3 Reviewed from personal copy. After 682 years of faithful service, Miss Lotty is retiring from guarding books. But before she can check out of Sunrise Elementary for good, disaster strikes. Someone has ordered all the books removed from the library and replaced with machines! It s enough to make Lotty feel a little...dragon-like. When she bursts into a fiery rage, only one thing can make her shed her scales: assurance that someone will fight to keep her precious books in the hands of Sunrise s children. Lotty is sure she ll have to stay on and do the job herself

Summer Reading Weekly Book Giveaway

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The Summer Reading Weekly Book Giveaways are hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews , a website where Mom and her daughter (and sometimes her son too!) share their opinions about some of the books they’ve read. Mother Daughter Book Reviews has been giving books away all summer and in this final week of giveaways, they’ve brought on board six other fabulous bloggers who feel as passionately about children’s books as they do! And I am participating this week! I recommend you check out these great blogs and enter the giveaway. Check out the other blogs to find out what their recommendations are. You are free to enter at any of the participating blogs and may choose from any of the recommendations or a children's book of your choice from The Book Depository . OTHER PARTICIPATING BLOGS Jaymie @ Snacks for Max Shaunna and Kim from Mudpies and Melodies Christy @ Another Step to Take  My Recommendations Click on the picture to see my review of each book. GIVEAWA

MMGM: The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger

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THE SECRET OF THE FORTUNE WOOKIEE (An Origami Yoda Book, #3) by Tom Angleberger Amulet Books, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-4197-0392-8 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from personal copy. With Dwight attending Tippett Academy this semester, the kids of McQuarrie Middle School are on their own—no Origami Yoda to give advice and help them navigate the treacherous waters of middle school. Then Sara gets a gift she says is from Dwight—a paper fortune-teller in the form of Chewbacca. It’s a Fortune Wookiee, and it seems to give advice that’s just as good as Yoda’s—even if, in the hands of the girls, it seems too preoccupied with romance. In the meantime, Dwight is fitting in a little too well at Tippett. Has the unimaginable happened? Has Dwight become normal? It’s up to his old friends at McQuarrie to remind their kooky friend that it’s in his weirdness that his greatness lies. With his proven knack for humorously exploring the intrigues, fads, and dramas of middle school, Tom Angleberger has c

Blog Tour: Millie Fierce by Jane Manning

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MILLIE FIERCE written and illustrated by Jane Manning Philomel Books, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-399-25642-4 Grades K-2 Copy provided for blog tour in return for an honest review. No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own. If Fancy Nancy got angry. Really, really angry. Millie is quiet. Millie is sweet. Millie is mild. But the kids at school don't listen to her. And she never gets a piece of birthday cake with a flower on it. And some girls from her class walk right on top of her chalk drawing and smudge it. And they don't even say they're sorry! So that's when Millie decides she wants to be fierce! She frizzes out her hair, sharpens her nails and runs around like a wild thing. But she soon realizes that being fierce isn't the best way to get noticed either, especially when it makes you turn mean. So Millie decides to be nice--but to keep a little of that fierce backbone hidden inside her. In case she ever needs

Three Giveaway Winners!

First, I must apologize for being so slow to announce these winners. With the start of school things have just been really crazy. But here are the winners: THE MAGIC WARBLE E-book GIVEAWAY Renee Cormier Deb A. Marshall Jess Haight Giedre Sliumba The WONDER by R.J. Palacio Giveaway   reading mind CHOOSING CHARITY Giveaway   Emily F   All winners have been notified.

Fantastic Friday: The Mapmaker and the Ghost by Sarvenaz Tash

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THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST by Sarvenaz Tash Walker & Company, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2340-6 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from personal copy. Goldenrod Moram loves nothing better than a good quest. Intrepid, curious, and full of a well-honed sense of adventure, she decides to start her own exploring team fashioned after her idols, the explorers Lewis and Clark, and to map the forest right behind her home. This task is complicated, however, by a series of unique events—a chance encounter with a mysterious old lady has her searching for a legendary blue rose. Another encounter lands her in the middle of a ragtag gang of brilliant troublemakers. And when she stumbles upon none other than the ghost of Meriwether Lewis himself, Goldenrod knows this will be anything but an ordinary summer . . . or an ordinary quest. Debut author Sarvenaz Tash combines an edge-of-your-seat adventure, a uniquely clever voice, and an unforgettable cast of characters to prove that sometimes the best

Blog Tour: Six Weeks to Yehidah by Melissa Studdard

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SIX WEEKS TO YEHIDAH by Melissa Studdard All Things That Matter Press, 2011 ISBN13: 9780984651702 Grades 6 and up E-Copies received from author for review. All opinions expressed are solely my own. "The thing you would notice most was the rain, how the rain fell and fell and never seemed to stop. The sky was constantly swollen with it, then birthing it, swollen, then birthing again, and the hills, like greedy babies, suckled up all that rain. They shone and glistened green as the backs of frogs on bright green lily pads. Annalise was ten then, old enough that she’d begun thinking about grown up things, like picking her own clothes out for school, yet young enough, still, to indulge in fanciful imaginings of enchanted trees and talking hills. Her best friends were the clouds that canopied her village and the verdant hills that hosted her most precious and outrageous dreams." As spunky young Annalise travels from one adventure to another, she learns ancient

Blog Tour: Pip Goes to Camp by Donna L. Peterson

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PIP GOES TO CAMP (The Misadventures of Phillip Isaac Penn) by Donna L. Peterson Bonneville Books, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-4621-1077-3 Grades 2-4 Reviewed from copy provided for blog tour. No compensation received for review. All opinions expressed are solely my own. Pip's parents are sending him to summer camp--the one place he absolutely, definitely does not want to go! Now he's in for eight whole days of torture: playing games, making crafts, and boating on the lake. But worst of all are the people! From Whiner Winston keeping him awake all night with his complaining to Corrector Cora sticking her know-it-all nose into everyplace but her own business, Pip will need to do whatever it takes to get himself kicked out of camp and sent back home where he belongs.   Pip is a rather likeable kid, despite his tendency to act first and think later. A very human tendency, especially for children. Pip has a hard time knowing how to deal appropriately with the other kids around him,

Blog Tour: Beneath the Slashings by Michelle Isenhoff

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BENEATH THE SLASHINGS by Michelle Isenhoff CreateSpace, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-1475294088 Grades 3-6 Copy provided by author for blog tour. No compensation received for review. All opinions expressed are solely my own. After four uncertain years of war, twelve-year-old Grace Nickerson is desperate to return to a sense of normalcy. But when her father returns from the army, he sells the farm and drags the family off to a lumber camp in Michigan's northern wilderness. Grace is devastated; she's never been brave. When her tears and tantrums won't change Pa's mind, she stops speaking to him altogether. Grace spends long hours working with her brother Sam and Ivan, the surly Russian cook, but at least in the kitchen she is safe from the lumberjacks. She's seen them from the window. They're rough, unkept, and terrifying. But slowly, with Sam's help, she comes to understand they're all missing home and recovering from loss, just like she is.

BLOG TOUR: Guest Post and Giveaway: Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford

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COUNT DOWN TO LOVE by Julie N. Ford Bonneville Books, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-59955-516-4 Adult Fiction Copy received from author as part of blog tour. No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are solely my own. Abandoned at the altar, Kelly Grace Pickens finds herself left holding not only the bouquet but also the exorbitant bill for an A-list wedding. Homeless, a once promising singing career floundering, and her life bearing an uncanny resemblance to one of her country music ballads, she reluctantly accepts a last minute offer to appear on a reality TV show akin to the bachelor. Pitted against silicon-enhanced supermodels in four-inch heels, Kelly feels confident that she will be among the first would-be fiancés to be excused. Only, when the mysterious bachelor from New York City, Dillon Black, invites her to stay, Kelly finds herself thrust into the vortex of a game she doesn’t have the first idea how to play. Nursing her hopelessly broken heart while avo