Mother Daughter Book Club.com Blog

Home - Page 82 << 1 2 … 80 81 82 83 84 … 165 166 >>

Book Review: Boo ABC: A to Z with the World’s Cutest Dog by J. H. Lee, photographs by Gretchen LeMaistre

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Boo is a cute little Pomeranian who has been called “the world’s cutest dog” and who has nearly 7 million likes on his Facebook page. He also has several books for children, including BOO ABC: A to Z with the World’s Cutest Dog.

The book combines photos of Boo (taken by Gretchen LeMaistre) being adorable in some way, with activities kids can identify with to help teach the ABCs. For instance, E is for eat, and there is a picture of Boo staring longingly at a cup of cocoa and a bone-shaped cookie with the words, “Snack time! Yum!” Boo also sports a little hat for the letter H, appears with a stuffed giraffe for G, and poses with a sand castle for S. Each letter features prominently on the page along with a dog bone that contains a word to go along with the letter.

Author J. H. Lee owns Boo and Buddy, who also appears in a couple of pages, and she knows how to put her pup in situations that really show off his cute side. Children should love coming back to Boo ABC again and again, learning the alphabet as they do.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Boy Nobody never goes by his real name. Not since he was recruited into The Program when he was 12. He also never asks about his assignments: he goes in, gets the job done, and leaves. He’s good at eliminating people The Program tells him have made the wrong choices and are a danger to our country. Yet when his next assignment has him getting close to the daughter of the mayor of New York City, he begins to question his past assumptions. This job, though, is unlike any he’s had in the past, and questioning could end up hurting more people than he needs to while putting his own life in danger.

Reminiscent of The Bourne Identity, Boy Nobody compels you on a fast-paced ride that twists and turns in unexpected ways. Boy Nobody—known as Benjamin through most of the book—shows how young teens can be effective in accessing and killing people who are dangerous to our society. It’s easier for them to get close to their targets because they raise little suspicion.

But the morality of training and using children as assassins is a good one to consider and discuss. Would it be justified if it was the best way to eliminate threats and prevent harm to our society? Would we trust the people in charge to make the right decisions and have the best information about who poses a threat?

Being inside Benjamin’s head as he calls on his training to stay out of danger and complete his missions will have you cringing at the normal things you do, and I can guarantee you’ll never look at the new kid in school the same again.

The conclusion is surprising, bringing up even more questions good for discussion. And while this was the first in a series, Zadoff did a great job of tying up this story in a satisfying manner while also sending out intriguing teasers about what may come next. I’m hooked.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Author Jenny Meyerhoff Talks About Writing Humorous Books for Children

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Jenny Meyerhoff photo by Mindy Garfinkel

Yesterday I reviewed The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger, a funny book that should resonate with anyone who’s ever been challenged to get up on a stage and perform. (Read the review and enter to win a copy here.)

Today, author Jenny Meyerhoff is stopping by as part of her blog tour. Meyerhoff is the author of a young adult novel, Queen of Secrets, and three books for young readers–Sami’s Sleepaway Summer, Third Grade Baby, and most recently, The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger, a story about an aspiring stand-up comic with an unusual catch phrase. Unlike Louie, Jenny is not a comedian, but she does know a lot about barf. After all, she’s a mom. Her three kids love fluffernutters, comedy and reading. Jenny lives in Riverwoods, Illinois with her funny kids and her delightful husband. For more information, visit her website: www.jennymeyerhoff.com.

The next stop on her tour is Geo Librarian .

From Jenny Meyerhoff:

Hello, Mother Daughter Book Club Readers. It’s so nice to be here today to chat with you as part of my blog tour. My latest book, The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger, just released, and as you might suspect from reading the title, it’s a humorous book.

Although I dreamt of writing children’s books, even when I was young enough to still be called a child, I never thought I would write funny books. I thought I would write fantasies. My first book, Third Grade Baby, actually started out as a story about the Tooth Fairy’s top secret tooth management computer system. It wasn’t very good, so I stripped away all the magical elements and I was left with the simple, realistic story of a young girl who still had all her baby teeth.

That’s when I learned a big lesson. Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same story! Being teased about your baby teeth could be tragic, but it can also be amusing. It all depends on how you look at it.

Parts of Louie’s life might sound pretty depressing. Louie’s father just lost his job. Louie seems to be growing apart from his best friend. I could have written this book in a really heart-wrenching way. And sometimes, heart-wrenching is the best fit. But even in my own life, I like to see the humor in a situation. Like the time the local paper took a picture of me nine months pregnant and blew it up to cover the entire front page in their coverage of the opening of the local pool. My maternity swimsuit had tented out around me in the water and I looked more like 27 months pregnant. My only choices were move to a new town or laugh.

Laughing is cheaper, and it’s good for you too!

A lot of people think that funny books come from packing in the zingers and the one-liners, and while those help, true humor, for me, comes from situation. I think kids really get this. I try to put Louie in as many uncomfortable and incongruous situations as I can: the non-sporty kid trying to prove his athletic prowess; the older kid trying to hide the fact that he plays unicorns with his little sister; the comedian who’s afraid to tell a joke!

And of course, it never hurts to throw in a little slapstick.

I think situational and slapstick humor is one reason classic comedians still resonate. Louie Burger is a big fan! Here’s a link to his favorite Buster Keaton moment from the book! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN2SKWSOdGM

Thanks for having me today. If you want to know more about me and Louie, visit me at www.jennymeyerhoff.com

Book Giveaway and Review: The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger by Jenny Meyerhoff

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Both boys and girls aged 9 to 12 should love to read this book about a boy who is navigating changes at home and with his friends at school while also trying to build his courage to perform. It’s a great story, and I have one copy to give away. Just leave a note in the comment section about something you love to do, and you’ll be entered to win. ~~Comment before midnight (PDT), July 1 (addresses in the U.S. and Canada only please).~~ Please note: The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Victoria on winning.You may also be interested in what author Jenny Meyerhoff has to say about the challenges of writing humor for children.

Review: The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger by Jenny Meyerhoff

Louie Burger loves stand-up comedy, but he’s more comfortable performing to the socks in his closet than to real people in an audience. When his dad suggests that he sign up to do a comedy routine for the fifth grade talent show, Louie says no way. But something about the idea sticks in his mind. Could he really make people laugh?

The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger by Jenny Meyerhoff is not just a book about a kid who loves comedy. It’s also a look at how any of us find the courage to figure out what we like to do and then do it, even if you fear you will fail. Sometimes that means you have to ignore the little voice inside your head that you’re not good enough.

Louie is not the only one in the book trying to follow his passion. Hi dad is also trying to jump start a career as an artist after he was laid off from a corporate job. Louie looks to him for inspiration, but it’s easy for his dad to get discouraged too.

Louie is also dealing with an issue with his best friend, Nick, who has discovered a new friend he wants Louie to spend time with too. If feels to Louie as though he’s being pushed out in favor of Nick’s new friend.

Although the book has lots of features that will appeal to boys (burping songs and barfing to name a couple) the book should be good for both boys and girls. Louie is a sympathetic character that anyone can relate to, and Jason Week’s illustrations do a great job of capturing the action while also being funny. Issues of friendship, sibling relationships, worries over not fitting in with classmates, performance anxiety, and more are sure to be great discussion material. I recommend The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Standing By by Alison Buckholtz

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Alison Buckholtz never imagined she’d be the wife of someone in the military, so when she fell in love with and married a navy man, she found herself navigating an alien world. And when she and her husband, Scott, began to have children, she discovered the tightly knit community of other military wives helped her through his long deployments on an aircraft carrier.

Her memoir, Standing By: The Making of an American Military Family in a Time of War, is a candid look at what life is like for couples, moms especially, who are raising children as their spouses are assigned to remote and often dangerous locations for months, sometimes even a year or more.

Buckholtz writes with honesty about her mixed feelings of war, politics, and the policies that rule how members of the military are assigned. She shares her frustrations about being a single parent while her husband is away, and the challenges she faces helping her children deal with their own separation grief.

Sprinkled in with Buckholtz’s personal narrative are stories of other women she meets, mostly during the time her family spent in Anacortes, Washington. Through her eyes readers get a glimpse of a world that is unknown to most people who are not part of the extended military family. Buckholtz weaves together a story that covers the historical role played by military wives while also talking about how their role continues to change in current times.

Standing By can provide insight to the challenges parents and families in the military face. I believe it’s a good choice for someone in a similar situation as hers, extended family members who may be wondering how to help military families, and even readers who have no personal connection to someone serving.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Odette was four years old living in Paris with her mother and father at the outbreak of World War II. Right away her father volunteered for the army and went off to fight. As time went by things got more and more difficult for Jewish families in Paris, and Odette’s mother made plans for where they would go if they needed to escape the city.

Odette’s real life story has been brought to life in fiction for young readers in Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald. After reading Odette’s autobiography, Macdonald knew her story must be told, and she tells it in a child’s voice. This makes the tale even more poignant, as we see the events in Paris and then in the countryside of France through a young person’s eyes.

While the dangers for Odette and her mother were real, we see the multitude of non-Jews who helped them escape detainment during the war years. There’s the couple she calls godmother and godfather, who own the building Odette lives in and who help her escape the city. There’s the family in southern France who welcome several children into their household, certainly at risk to themselves and their own children.

But Odette learns she must keep secrets and disguise her true identity because some people are not so willing to help. As she learns to be a good Catholic, she also questions the differences between the religion she was born into and the one she embraces in order to escape detection. The story is fascinating, and Macdonald stays true to how a child would see the issues she is facing.

Odette’s Secrets is not only a great novel to introduce young readers to the story of Jews in France during World War II, it’s also a good book to read overall. I highly recommend it.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

All her life sixteen-year-old Lucy has been told she has a gift, a special talent for the piano. Yet she no longer plays after walking off the stage at a competition the year before. Now her younger brother Gus seemed poised to take her place, both in the world of music and with her family, as her mom and grandfather put their time and effort into pursuing recognition for him.

Lucy’s conflicted about how she feels. On the one hand, she’s glad to have the pressure of always achieving, always competing gone. On the other, she misses playing the piano, but she’s not sure how to go back to it without getting entangled the way she was before.

When a new teacher begins giving her brother lessons, Lucy seems to connect with him and she starts to seek his advice. But playing again, and forging a bond with a married man, proves to be more complicated than she thought.

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr takes the reader inside the world of international piano competitions, but it’s also a look at family dynamics when everyone is so focused on what the children achieve. Lucy doesn’t feel as though she can be honest with her mom, because she feels that she’s letting her mom and grandfather down by not continuing down the path they have paved for her.

After she gets into a conflict with her best friend, Lucy also has to ask herself if some part of her likes being in the spotlight and performing. She also has to question her reasons for seeking approval from older men in her life. It forces her to think about what’s most important for her and then find a way to regain the joy she gets from music. Lucy’s journey of self-discovery is relevant for anyone, not just teens on the cusp of adulthood or those enmeshed in competitive undertakings of any kind.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Giveaway and Author Michaela MacColl Talks About Conducting Research for Novels

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Recently I reviewed Michaela MacColl’s new book Nobody’s Secret, which features a young Emily Dickinson solving a mystery that takes place in her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. Today, I’m happy to host MacColl with a guest post talking about her trip to Dickinson’s hometown to conduct research for her novel. MacColl’s meticulous research helps her historical fiction novels come alive. She especially evokes a sense of place where her stories are set. In previous books we’ve gotten a feel for London during the time when Queen Victoria was young and still a princess (Prisoners in the Palace), and the wilds of Africa where a young Beryl Markham learned to be brave (Promise the Night).

I have one copy of Nobody’s Secret to give away to a reader who leaves a comment here about what they like about historical fiction. Just be sure to chime in before midnight (PDT) on Thursday, June 13 for a chance to win (U.S. or Canadian addresses only please). And if you’d like to visit the next stop on MacColl’s blog tour, stop in at The Children’s and Teen’s Book Connection on Friday.

Author Michaela MacColl

Thanks for having me back to the Mother-Daughter Bookclub. I’m so pleased to be able to introduce my newest novel, Nobody’s Secret, a literary mystery with Emily Dickinson. I wanted to do a guest post that would particularly resonate with your readers. So let me tell you about a research trip I took with my 15 year old daughter.

When I can, I always like to visit my settings. I spent a wonderful week in London researching my first book. So when I decided to write about Emily, I had to go to Amherst Mass. She was born there, and except for a year at school in South Hadley (ten miles away) and a few trips to Boston and Washington DC, she stayed there her entire life. Her family home has been turned into a museum.

My daughter is an artist and a fan of Emily Dickinson’s. I invited her to come on my research trip so we could spend some time together–but also to show her a lovely college town. We got a room at the Amherst Inn, a bed and breakfast in a big Victorian house overlooking the museum.

(The Homestead, the Emily Dickinson Museum)

We spent several days exploring gardens and haunting bookstores. (Visiting a place is the absolute best place to find hard to find books of local interest). Both Rowan and I are particularly fond of graveyards and happily Emily’s childhood house overlooked a cool one. She is buried there with a cryptic inscription on her tombstone. And a mural honoring her.

Rowan helped me look around the tombstones finding good names I might use in Nobody’s Secret. It was at the cemetery that Rowan first noticed what would become a motif during our visit. Large black crows.

Emily wrote about a crow:

Fame is a fickle food

Upon a shifting plate

Whose table once a Guest but not

The second time is set.

Whose crumbs the crows inspect

And with ironic caw

Flap past it to the Farmer’s Corn –

Men eat of it and die.

And I memorialized our trip by dedicating the novel to Rowan, “who likes more crows in her murders.”