Book Review: The Journals of Petra Volare by Reece Michaelson and Pamela Jaye Smith

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Petra Volare cover image

Calice lives on the island of Crete in Minos’s palace with her mother. She knows she must keep quiet about her true identity, she is Daedalus’s daughter, but she yearns to know more about her father and her brother Icarus.

She renames herself Petra Volare and ventures around the town. As she does she meets people who teach her how to see her life differently: a sailor, a sword maker and a healer woman. Together they help her gain confidence in herself and her abilities so she can learn her true destiny.

The Journals of Petra Volare Scroll 1: From the Shadows is a reimagining of the ancient Greek story of Minos, the Minotaur, Daedalus, Icarus and other figures from the myths. Authors Reece Michaelson and Pamela Jaye Smith have created a character who is an outsider, which means she can tell the tale the way she sees it. She feels she has a role to play in protecting her brother, but she must discover what that is and how she can help. Along the way Petra Volare learns a lot about herself and the people she thought she knew well.

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

Book Review: The Short Seller by Elissa Brent Weissman

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The Short Seller cover imageWhen 12-year-old Lindy comes down with mono she’s too tired to think of doing anything but sleep. Soon she’s feeling better even though she’s still stuck at home for a while. To help her pass the time, her parents give her $100 and access to their brokerage account, so she can experiment with buying and selling stocks.

Lindy is fascinated by the stock market, and before long she’s taught herself a lot of the ins and outs of trading shares. As a bonus, math is fun for her for the first time. But she learns that the stock market can go up and down on a whim, and what looks like gains and losses on paper can have real consequences.

The Short Seller by Elissa Brent Weissman takes a look at investing in more ways that one. Lindy can’t understand why her parents are always restricting what she can buy when it’s obvious they have a lot of money. She’s not allowed to have a cell phone yet, or go to concerts without parents or buy a lot of clothes at the mall. She doesn’t understand why anyone would want to keep money growing in an account over a long period of time when it could be taken out and spent on something fun in the short term.

At the same time she’s learning about trading stocks, Lindy is also dealing with strains on the relationship she has with her two best friends, who have become close while she’s been out sick. Through it all she learns about the true meaning of friendship, solidarity between sisters, and the importance of paying attention to details. Girls between the ages of 9 and 12 should appreciate the issues Lindy faces.

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

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

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Boo ABC cover imageBoo 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

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Boy Nobody cover imageBoy 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

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Jenny Meyerhoff photo

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

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The Barftasti Life of Louie Burger cover imageBoth 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

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Standing By cover imageAlison 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

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Odette's Secrets cover imageOdette 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.

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