Author – Page 52 – Unleashing Readers

Blog Tour with Review, Author Guest Post, and Giveaway!: The Vanishing Island by Barry Wolverton

September 25, 2015June 19, 2015 by Kellee

The Chronicles of the Black Tulip: The Vanishing Island
Author: Barry Wolverton
Published September 1st, 2015 by Walden Pond Press

Goodreads Summary: Does the Vanishing Island really exist? And if so, what treasure—or terrible secret—was hidden by its disappearance?

It’s 1599, the Age of Discovery in Europe. But for Bren Owen, growing up in the small town of Map on the coast of Britannia has meant anything but adventure. Enticed by the tales sailors have brought through Map’s port, and inspired by the arcane maps his father creates as a cartographer for the cruel and charismatic map mogul named Rand McNally, Bren is convinced that fame and fortune await him elsewhere. That is, until his repeated attempts to run away land him a punishment worse than death—cleaning up the town vomitorium.

It is there that Bren meets a dying sailor, who gives him a strange gift that hides a hidden message. Cracking the code could lead Bren to a fabled lost treasure that could change his life forever, and that of his widowed father. But to get there he will have to tie his fate to a mysterious Dutch admiral obsessed with a Chinese legend about an island that long ago disappeared from any map.

Before long, Bren is in greater danger than he ever imagined, and will need the help of an unusual friend named Mouse to survive. Barry Wolverton’s thrilling adventure spans oceans and cultures, brings together the folklore of East and West, and proves that fortune is always a double-edged sword.

My Review: Whoa! Quite a book! Part swashbuckling adventure, part historical fiction, part folklore, part fantasy, part ghost story, Barry Wolverton has given us quite an intense adventure. I couldn’t predict anything that happened in the book. There were twists and turns throughout, and I never knew who to trust (though I am happy to say my favorite sailor was trustworthy). There were some really gruesome parts (blood and guts and vomit) and there were some really beautiful fairy tales. Overall, quite an adventure! (Though I warn: by gruesome, I mean gruesome!)

Discussion Questions: How did the author use folklore throughout the story to move along the plot?; What parts of history that were shared within the book were true? Fictional?; Throughout the book, stop and try to predict what you think is going to happen next then check your predictions as you read more.; As you read, make a list of all of the seafaring vocabulary that is used within The Vanishing Islands then illustrate each of the vocabulary words as they are used in the book.; Wolverton used Marco Polo’s written works throughout the book–what allusions to Polo’s text can you find in The Vanishing Island?

We Flagged: “The summer began with the grim warning that the wolves were running again. In Britannia, this was code. It meant that Her Majesty’s navy was in need of fresh bodies to replace all of the seamen lost during the year to disease, desertion, or battle. Crimping, they called it. Men and older boys kidnapped and forced to enlist, of the good of God, queen, and country. Britannia, after all, was just one of many nations fighting for nothing less than to control the world.

One boy who didn’t have to worry about being crimped was Bren Owens of Map, the dirtiest, noisiest, smelliest city in all of Britannia. (He had heard rotten things about London, too, but he’d never been there.) Bren was what they called spindly–tall for his age, but unsteady, like a chair you might be afraid to sit on. He had been born in Map because he’d had no choice in the matter.

But that didn’t mean he had to stay here. And now, too skinny for the wolves, he had been forced to take matters into his own hands.” (p. 9-10)

Author Guest Post:

“Be Careful What You Read, or Why Books Are Dangerous” by Barry Wolverton

Beginning in 1978, when Metrocenter mall opened near my home in Jackson, Miss., my family would go to the mall every Friday night. We would have dinner at one of the fine mall establishments, and then my mother would go clothes shopping, my brother would go nerd out at Radio Shack or Spencer’s, my father would go sit somewhere and smoke (you could do that then), and I would plop myself down in an aisle at Waldenbooks. I remember exactly how it felt to have that to look forward to, which is why Black’s Antique Books and Collectibles is Bren’s home away from home in The Vanishing Island. (Although the way I describe Black’s is more like I remembered Shakespeare and Co. in Paris, the ur-bookstore.)

But for a curious, receptive mind, books can do mischievous things. As I describe it in the book, “the bookstore was a blessing and a curse for [Bren]. Every few weeks seemed to bring in new adventure books, travelogues, and epic poems of war and conquest that were so popular these days. Tales from other lands and other times. For Bren, they offered proof that all things exotic and exciting lay anywhere but here.”

Books give Bren ideas. Ideas about places he’d rather be, things he’d rather be doing, possibilities that his current life doesn’t offer. Books also give him information. For instance, information about ships and the routines of their crew, so that an enterprising young man might figure out the best time to sneak aboard a ship and the best places to hide.

And it was undoubtedly in Black’s that Bren first found a copy of Travels by Marco Polo, the book that National Geographic described as “the founding adventure book of the modern world. Polo gave to the age of exploration that followed the marvels of the East, the strange customs, the fabulous riches, the tribes with gold teeth. It was a Book of Dreams, an incentive, a goad. Out of it came Columbus (whose own copy of the book was heavily annotated), Magellan, Vasco da Gama, and the rest of modern history.”

Wow, some book. Especially considering how much of it is considered dubious. Polo dictated his stories to a fiction writer named Rustichello while both were in prison during the Venice-Genoa war, and between Polo’s possible exaggerations and Rustichello’s flare for embellishment, we can be pretty sure Marco Polo didn’t really see a unicorn. (He may have seen a Sumatran rhino, though, which is still magical.)

Given all that, I hope you’ll appreciate why the Polo legend figures prominently in The Vanishing Island, without making light of the terrible cost of exploration and colonialism.

About the Author: Barry Wolverton is the author of Neversink. He has more than fifteen years’ experience creating books, documentary television scripts, and website content for international networks and publishers, including National Geographic, Scholastic.com, the Library of Congress, and the Discovery Networks. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee. You can visit him online at www.barrywolverton.com.

Read This If You Loved: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Emerald Atlas by John Stephens, The Dungeoneers by John David Anderson

Recommended For:

Make sure to visit other stops on The Vanishing Island blog tour!
Tour information: http://www.walden.com/8039-2/

6/15/2015 Blue Stocking Thinking bluestockingthinking.blogspot.com
6/16/2015 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia    hauntedorchid.blogspot.com
6/17/2015 Small Review   smallreview.blogspot.com
6/18/2015 Maria’s Melange   www.mariaselke.com/
6/19/2015 Unleashing Readers    unleashingreaders.com
6/19/2015 The Hiding Spot   thehidingspot.blogspot.com
6/22/2015 This Kid Reviews Books thiskidreviewsbooks.com
6/23/2015 Mundie Kids mundiekids.blogspot.com/
6/24/2015 Paige in Training    pageintraining.wordpress.com
6/25/2015 Novel Novice novelnovice.com

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for having us be part of the blog tour
and for providing copies for review and giveaway!**

Links for Barry Wolverton:

Website: http://www.barrywolverton.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wolvertonhill
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bwolverton
Instagram: https://instagram.com/wolvertonhill/

Links for Walden Pond Press:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WaldenPondPress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaldenPondPress
Website/Blog: http://www.walden.com/books/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/waldenpondpress/

Blog Tour, Review, Giveaway, and Author & Illustrator Interview!: My Dog is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson, Illustrated by Paul Schmid

July 27, 2015June 12, 2015 by Ricki

My Dog is the Best
Author: Laurie Ann Thompson
Illustrator: Paul Schmid
Published: June 9, 2015 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Goodreads Summary: What do you get when you combine one energetic, enthusiastic little boy with his sleepy but tolerant dog? Unconditional love. Using simple words and spare illustrations, My Dog Is the Best celebrates the special bond that exists between a young child and a beloved family pet. It’s the heartwarming story of two best friends. . . told by a boy with a very active imagination.

Ricki’s Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This charming tale will surely win the hearts of many children. It made me feel a bit guilty that I don’t have a dog for my son! I can imagine teachers reading this story aloud to captivated audiences. Teachers might ask students to compare this story with others in their classrooms. The way the illustrator and text focuses on the two subjects makes their friendship shine. You can find an example of the text’s playfulness in the flagged page below. It made me smile! After reading this story, I would encourage my students to write their own stories about friendships that they have.

Kellee’s Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book makes me want a dog (and like Ricki said, I feel a bit guilty for not having a dog for Trent!). I loved this sweet story of a sleepy dog and a rambunctious child who is going to have fun with his dog no matter what the dog thinks about it. The play between the words and illustrations is what really made this book special and made the quiet humor really ring through. I also think that kids are really going to like the end of the book. Like Ricki, I think that this text could be a great mentor text for writing about times of imagination and friendship. What other ways could the boy have played with the dog? How do you play with your pet/toy? I also think that it is a great story to use to talk about humor and irony. Why was the ending funny?

Discussion Questions: What kinds of games do you play with your best friend/pet/toy?; Do you have a pet? How is your relationship with your pet similar or dissimilar with this story?; In what ways is it obvious that the author and illustrator worked together to create this book? How do the drawings enhance the story?; Why is the ending ironic?

We Flagged:

My Dog is the Best spread — Image from: http://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374300517

Read This if You Loved: Look! by Jeff Mack; The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey; May the Best Dog Win by Kelly Hashway; Bark, George by Jules Feiffer; Emmanuel’s Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson

Recommended For:

Interview with the Laurie Ann Thompson and Paul Schmid!

Questions to Laurie:

What inspired you to write this book?

I first wrote the text as an assignment for a course I was taking, Anastasia Suen’s Easy Reader/Chapter Book Workshop. I’ve always loved dogs, and it’s a great word for beginning readers, so I started there. I noticed that most of the time when I said, “Good dog!” to my poor old dog, Sara, she was either curling up and getting ready to go to sleep or already sleeping. She would give me this confused look that said, “What? I’m not doing anything!” She’d been a hyperactive, crazy dog in her younger years, so it was a huge relief when she finally started slowing down a little. I appreciated the humor in those interactions. At the same time, I had an awfully busy little boy at home, so both the tension between their very different energy levels and their special “best friends” relationship were natural ingredients for the story.

Did you have a specific dog when you were growing up that you were thinking of as you wrote this book?

It’s really a collection of all of them. My dogs were my best friends, and they put up with so much of my probably unwanted attention. I had one special dog named Sammy that I used to dress up in doll clothes, push in a baby swing, and take for rides in my bicycle basket. (He loved those last two activities, but I’m pretty sure he merely tolerated the first!) He was the best. When I was bit older, my dog Ripper used to wait at the end of our driveway—every single day—for the school bus to bring me home. He listened to all of my tales of teenage angst and always let me dry my tears on his fur. He was devoted and dependable. He was the best. Then, as an adult, there was Sara. She was the best, too. I think whatever dog we make room for in our lives becomes “the best,” just by virtue of us loving them.

You write both YA and children’s books. How is your writing process different for each?

It’s very different! For my YA books, I’m a rather obsessive planner. I research and outline, then research some more and revise the outline and so on, for a long time, before I’m finally ready to start writing. For my picture books, I like to just play. I just start writing and see what happens. As a result, I typically spend less time revising the YA books than the picture books, even though the picture books are much, much shorter! It usually takes a lot of revision to make a picture book work just right.

What was it like to work with an illustrator?

With my YA books, like Be a Changemaker, there is no illustrator, so the final product is the result of the collaboration between my editors and me—and we’re all primarily word people. As a picture book author, though, it’s always exciting to see what another person with a very different way of working and of seeing the world will bring to my original vision. Authors don’t usually get much say in the illustrations (and rightly so, as I surely am no art expert!). With my second book (and first picture book), Emmanuel’s Dream, I had never met the illustrator, Sean Qualls, and I didn’t see any of his stunning artwork until it was almost all finished. I was on pins and needles, but what a pleasant surprise! For My Dog Is the Best the experience was a bit unusual but every bit as special. It just happened that Paul Schmid and I live not far apart and had known each other for years. When he took on the manuscript, I was ecstatic! We kept in touch throughout the process, and I even got to spend a day collaborating with him in his studio—one of my all-time favorite writing days ever! We both ended up influencing both the art and the text, and we ended up with something we’re both really proud of.

Questions to Paul:

How did you decide what the characters would look like?

Initially, I form a clear picture of the characters personalities. Are they active? Sedentary? Outgoing or shy? The design of a character should provide solid clues to who they are. Our dog in the book just wants to nap, and I imagined an old, tolerant, comfortable Basset Hound of established habits. The boy is much more active, but young and naive. He is also sweet and loving, as the book is itself. So I felt the boy needed a kind, gullible, gentle look that was at the same time visually sympathetic to his dog, in order to form an emotional connection between the two for the reader. As a result, they both ended up round and gentle looking.

What does the artistic process look like?

Many many sketches. Then many more. Then a few more. Eventually I have to start the final art. I don’t think I ever really feel like I’m done improving things, but a deadline shows up and helps me stop.

Early sketch of the dog

Dog Poses

Dog sketch and boy sketch

Early design

Early cover design

Another early cover design

Second stage spread

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow My Dog is the Best on Tour!:

6/6/2015 Booking Mama http://www.bookingmama.net

6/8/2015 Jean Reidy http://jeanreidy.com

6/9/2015 Watch. Connect. Read. http://mrschureads.blogspot.com

6/10/2015 5 Minutes for Books http://books.5minutesformom.com

6/11/2015 KidLit Frenzy http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com

6/12/2015 Unleashing Readers https://www.unleashingreaders.com

6/16/2015 Anastasia Suen: Booktalk http://www.anastasiasuen.com

6/19/2015 Kirby’s Lane http://kirbyslane.com

7/1/2015 Library Lions http://LibraryLionsRoar.blogspot.com

Thank you to Laurie and Paul for taking part in the interview and for having us as part of the blog tour!

and

Author Guest Post!: “How Pre-Writing Made Me a Better Writer” by Melissa Hurst, Author of The Edge of Forever

September 25, 2015June 7, 2015 by Kellee

“How Pre-Writing Made Me a Better Writer”

When I started writing my first book, I was so excited. It was a shiny new story, and the possibilities were endless. The first few chapters were easy to write. After all, I had been thinking about them for several weeks while I created character profiles and sketched out the major plot points. But soon I began to lose steam. Getting words down was difficult, and I started to dread the blank page I had to face each day.

It took me over a year to write the first draft of that book. Sure, on some days it was easy to work, but more often than not I struggled to reach my daily word count goal. The really frustrating part was that I couldn’t figure out why. I knew where I wanted the story to go. So why was it so hard to write certain scenes?

I finally had a breakthrough after reading a book that suggested pre-writing each scene or chapter. Pre-writing sounds like more work, but I found it to be incredibly useful. Before I started writing for the day, I took out a notecard, labeled the chapter number, and I jotted down what was going to happen. I didn’t include many details or use dialogue, I just wrote what I wanted to happen, and I listed what characters would be in the scene. Doing this forced me to clarify my thoughts and really think about what was necessary to move the story forward. After that, writing became so much easier. I could finish each chapter more quickly instead of wasting time trying to figure out what to type. The blank page wasn’t so scary anymore.

Looking back, I should have known that pre-writing would help me. When I was still in school and received writing assignments, I’d usually procrastinate because I didn’t know what to write about. But when I started using an outline as a guide to tell me what information I needed to include in each paragraph, it wasn’t so difficult anymore. I could usually finish a paper in an hour or two, whereas before that it would take me several days.

I know a lot of people don’t like the thought of pre-writing, especially kids. But I like to think of it this way. When you have to travel to someplace new, isn’t it easier to have a guide to show you the way?

About the author: Melissa Hurst lives in the southern US with her husband and three kids. She writes YA science fiction and fantasy, which means she considers watching Star Trek and Firefly as research. She dreams of traveling around the world and maybe finding Atlantis one day. You can usually find her with a book in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other. Or consuming lots of chocolate.

The Edge of Forever is her debut novel.

About the book: In 2013: Sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea of how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146: Seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.

Thank you to Melissa for her post that I cannot wait to share with students!

and

Blog Tour with Author Guest Post, Review, Book Trailer, and Giveaway!: The Dungeoneers by John David Anderson

September 25, 2015June 5, 2015 by Kellee

The Dungeoneers
Author: John David Anderson
Published June 23, 2015 by Walden Pond Press

Publishers Summary: The Dungeoneers is an action-packed, funny, and heartbreaking middle grade fantasy-adventure from the author of the acclaimed Sidekicked and Minion, John David Anderson.

The world is not a fair place, and Colm Candorly knows it. While his parents and eight sisters seem content living on a lowly cobbler’s earnings, Colm can’t help but feel that everyone has the right to a more comfortable life. It’s just a question of how far you’re willing to go to get it.

In an effort to help make ends meet, Colm uses his natural gift for pickpocketing to pilfer a pile of gold from the richer residents of town, but his actions place him at the mercy of a mysterious man named Finn Argos, a gilded-toothed, smooth-tongued rogue who gives Colm a choice: he can be punished for his thievery, or he can become a member of Thwodin’s Legions, a guild of dungeoneers who take what they want and live as they will. Colm soon finds himself part of a family of warriors, mages, and hunters, learning to work together in their quest for endless treasure. But not all families are perfect, and even as Colm hones his skills with fellow recruits, it becomes clear that something from outside threatens the dungeoneers–and perhaps something from inside as well.

My Review: This is one of those fantasy novels that transports you to another place and throws you into an adventure that keeps you guessing and reading. In The Dungeoneers, I loved going to school with Colm and learning all about dungeoneering ways including how to be the best rogue, history of dungeoneering, swordplay, and all about monsters. This aspect reminded me a bit of Harry Potter because I got so sucked into his schooling and education, like I did with Harry’s, because I wanted to know everything I could about this world. The Dungeoneers also has some majorly suspenseful moments which makes sense in a book about stealing treasure from dungeons. In addition to his world building, he really knows how to build some characters! The three other members of Colm’s guild are such well-rounded characters and all so different. I can picture each of them, and I so want to be their friends (even Lena, who is a bit barbaric). I also loved the plot twist at the climax of the book! I did not see it coming! Just wait for it everyone!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation/We Flagged: First and foremost, if you teach middle school, you should probably buy this for your classroom. High fantasy and adventure lovers are going to eat this one up.

Also, if you want to talk to students about building characters or setting, this book can definitely be a help with either. There are specific sections in this book that could be pulled out and used to discuss imagery, word choice, and characterization:

“In the flickering torchlight it was hard to make out all of her features clearly, but he couldn’t miss the sharp chisel of her chin, like a weapon itself. Her crimson hair was cropped short in the back, falling across one eye in front, the other shining brown in the flicker of light. Her lips were pursed, pulled tight against her teeth in a determined smirk.” (p. 93)

“Except Quinn didn’t look like he could call lightning from the sky or produce fireballs from his fingers. Colm had expected the first wizard he met to be more in keeping with the descriptions from his book–white-bearded and billowing and larger than life. Quinn looked barely big enough to summon his own shadow.” (p. 96)

“In contrast to the dreary tunnel behind them, the great hall before them was filled with light. Huge chandeliers hung from chains of gold, the flicker of a thousand candles casting fiery halos against the ceiling. Giant marble pillars anchored the four corners of the room, and a hug winding staircase with gold rails led both up and down in its center like a vortex. The floors were polished marble as well, dark green and buffed to a mirror sheen. A strange clock with twenty-four separate hourglasses hung over a set of huge double doors…” (p. 115)

Discussion Questions: If you were Colm, would you have gone with Finn?; What secret do you think Wolfe is keeping?; Lena is expected by her family to do well as a barbarian because of her upbringing. How would it feel to have that type of pressure put on you?; Colm makes a decision at the end of the book–do you agree with it or not?

Book Trailer:

John David Anderson’s Top Five Dungeoneers

Obviously The Dungeoneers owes a lot to fantasy tropes and conventions that have been around since Gandalf packed his first pipe. In fact, while writing it I sometimes felt like I should roll a d20 to see what my characters would do next (here’s hoping the book is a critical hit—ah, nerd humor). Afternoons spent playing Baldur’s Gate or reading Mercedes Lackey (or in my younger days, Lloyd Alexander) coalesced into a love of sword-swinging, lock-picking, monster-bashing rogues who risk everything on the hopes of finding that fabled cache of riches at the end of the corridor. In short, I was raised by dragons. Maybe I’m a Targaryen.

Obviously popular culture is not hurting for dungeoneers of interest, but I thought I would pick five key dungeon divers that had a distinct influence on me and the book. Note: I am defining a dungeoneer as anyone who willingly enters into some dank, creature-and-trap-infested cavern, catacomb, crypt, tomb or lair with the express purpose of taking whatever shiny, valuable objects are to be had. In other words, I’m kind of liberal with my use of the word.

5. Minsc and Boo: If you’ve ever played the game Baldur’s Gate, you will know these two. Minsc, the butt-kicking, infinitely quotable ranger, and his trusty hamster, Boo. Minsc was a tank and liked to carry big swords. More than that he had a big heart and recognized a noble enterprise, especially when it required some head bashing. Favorite quote: “Make way evil! I’m armed to the teeth and packing a hamster!

4. Ellen Ripley. All right, this one is a stretch, I admit, but in Aliens she does go down into a lair and fight off monsters (lots of them, including a queen) to rescue something she treasures (the little girl, Newt). Plus ever since I saw Aliens I’ve been drawn to tough female characters. I won’t lie—there’s a little bit of warrant officer Ripley’s feistiness in The Dungeoneers’ Lena Proudmore, though Lena doesn’t get to fire a grenade launcher (much to her chagrin).

3. Bilbo Baggins. You could name several characters from Tolkien’s mythos that fought their way out of dungeons, but Bilbo gets the cake for not coming out empty-handed. In fact, it’s the Burglar’s snatching of the Precious that drives the mythology. What did you find down there in the goblin caves, Bilbo? Oh—just the makings of a gazillion-dollar franchise. Finn Argos would be proud.

2. Link. Yes, it’s another video game, but for me, Link was the start of my love affair with dungeoneering. Link never met a rupee he didn’t like and spelunking through monster-infested lairs in search of Zelda was in his spritely 8-bit blood. I can still remember playing the original Zelda and getting eaten by an undulating stack of pancakes or impaled by a triceratops all because I didn’t know I was supposed to feed it bombs. To this day I still carry around a candle and a big stick of meat. Thank you Nintendo for stimulating my imagination and sucking away my time.

1. Indiana Jones. No sword (except in the second movie, and then it’s more of a machete). No armor. No dragons or ogres or orcs (though the Nazis are monstrous enough). But Indy, for me, is the archetypal treasure-hunter. Not only was he the dashing film hero of my childhood (and what I wanted to be when I grew up until I realized that everything cool had already been dug up already), he also helped engender my love for wise-cracking, whip-smart, ruggedly-charming, and occasionally flawed protagonists. His make-it-up-as-you go philosophy and daredevil antics were often replicated by a young, eight year old boy named Dave, who would pretend the floor was made of lava as he jumped from dining room table to couch and back again. Plus Indy knew that the greatest treasures always came at a price, a lesson that struck a chord with me.

So those are my top five. I’m sure your list is different. That’s the cool thing about inspiration—there are a lot of wells, and we get to drink from whichever ones we please. Who knows, maybe in twenty years some kid will be making a list of his favorite dungeoneers and put Colm Candorly somewhere near the top.

Right behind a bald guy and his hamster.

About the Author: John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked and Minion. A dedicated root beer connoisseur in his spare time, he lives with his wife, two kids, and perpetually whiny cat in Indianapolis. You can visit him online at www.johndavidanderson.org.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anderson_author
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnDavidAndersonAuthor?ref=hl

Read This If You Loved: Hero’s Guide (series) by Christopher Healy, Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling, Foiled (series) by Jane Yolen, Giants Beware! (series) by Jorge Aguirre

Recommended For:

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to visit other stops on the blog tour:

6/2/2015 Maria’s Melange mariaselke.com

6/5/2015 Unleashing Readers unleashingreaders.com

6/6/2015 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia hauntedorchid.blogspot.com

6/7/2015 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers insatiablereaders.blogspot.com

6/8/2015 This Kid Reviews Books thiskidreviewsbooks.com

6/8/2015 Ms Yingling Reads msyinglingreads.blogspot.com

6/9/2015 Read Now Sleep Later http://www.readnowsleeplater.org/

6/10/2015 Charlotte’s Library charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com

6/11/2015 Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

6/12/2015 The Hiding Spot thehidingspot.blogspot.com

**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for providing a copy for review and giveaway!**

Links for Walden Pond Press:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WaldenPondPress

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaldenPondPress

Website/Blog: http://www.walden.com/books/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/waldenpondpress/

Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Author Guest Post!: Cast Off by Eve Yohalem

September 25, 2015June 4, 2015 by Ricki

Cast Off: The Strange Adventures of Petra de Winter and Bram Broen
Author: Eve Yohalem
Published: March 10, 2015 by Calkins Creek

GoodReads Summary: It’s 1663 and there is an extra passenger on board a Dutch merchant ship setting sail for the East Indies. Twelve-year-old Petra has stowed away to escape her abusive father. But she quickly realizes that surviving for months at sea will be impossible without help. So when Bram, the half-Dutch / Half-Javanese son of the ship’s carpenter, finds her hiding spot, Petra convinces him to help her stay hidden . . .and help disguise her as a boy.

If Petra is discovered and exposed as a girl, she could be tossed overboard, or worse . . . returned to her father. And if Bram is exposed for helping her, he could lose the only home—and family—he has. As tensions rise on the ship, with pirates attacking, deadly illness, and even mutiny, Petra and Bram face impossible decisions that test their friendship and threaten their dreams of freedom.

Told in alternating voices and filled with secrets and intrigue, this richly researched novel is historical fiction at its best.

Review: Take me away! This book whisked me off on a marvelous adventure filled with grave dangers, stow aways, tall ships, and mutiny. I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of my childhood favorites, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Petra escapes from a horribly abusive relationship with her father, and her bravery is an excellent model for young readers. She is discovered by Bram, the illegitimate son of the ship’s carpenter, and they form a very special friendship. This book delivers richly realized themes—particularly those of loyalty, heroism, sexism, and racism—that are very relevant to readers across time. I imagine a wide variety of audiences would appreciate this text because it touches on so many fascinating topics. It is clear that the author did her homework, and the result is magnificently entertaining.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book is an excellent example of a text that could be analyzed with a critical theorist lens. (See Appleman’s book about teaching critical theory to students of all levels.) I imagine rich classroom discussions would evolve from the application of gender theory or race theory, for instance, to this text. This is a compliment to the author and the depth of this book.

Discussion Questions: In what ways do gender and race play a role in this text?; How does the author weave history into the story?; What does Petra and Bram’s friendship teach us about humans in general?; How do the main characters display qualities of bravery?

Read This If You Loved: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi; Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld; Secrets of the Realm by Bev Stout; Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Recommended For:

Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a copy of CAST OFF: The Strange Adventures of Petra De Winter and Bram Broen (U.S. addresses; allow 4-6 weeks for delivery; offer ends 7/10/15).

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Guest Post from Eve Yohalem, Author of Cast Off!

In 2009 I got this great idea for a seafaring adventure about two kids who sail from Amsterdam to the East Indies in the seventeenth century. There was just one problem: I knew next to nothing about the seventeenth century. Or the Netherlands. Or the East Indies. Or sailing.

No matter. I like a challenge. I researched for a full year before I started writing, and after I started writing, I kept researching. I’m still researching. (I like researching.)

Today my Cast Off file has more than four hundred different source notes. I read lots of books: scholarly academic stuff, journalistic stuff, fiction, memoirs, journals, every first person account I could find. I spoke to people who knew much more than me—VOC scholars, maritime scholars, curators, my husband (he sails), surgeons, and dentists. I hung out in oddball museums. I traveled to Indonesia, where I slept in the jungle and held baby orangutans, and to the Netherlands, where I retraced every step of my characters that I could and explored the dark nooks of two different full-scale East Indiamen replicas.

I have no research training. It would have helped if I’d majored in history in college, but I didn’t. Mostly, I followed my nose. I knew that my story would begin in Amsterdam and take place mostly at sea on an East Indiaman bound for Batavia. I knew two of my characters: a Dutch girl and an East Indian boy, both twelve years old. That’s a lot to get started with.

What’s surgery like by candlelight below deck on a rocking ship before the invention of anesthesia? How do you fire a 4,000 pound canon without getting crushed by the recoil? These were the kinds of questions I tried to answer.

I tried to convey what it felt like to cram three hundred men onto a 150-foot long vessel for six months (damp, dark, and airless below, smelled bad, no privacy). The layout of the ship is based on actual ships of the period, as are the various jobs, daily schedule, terrible food.

For my characters’ medical knowledge, I have to thank John Woodall’s The Surgeon’s Mate, a seventeenth century medical guide no ship’s surgeon would have been without.

And in case anyone’s wondering, I got most of my slang from the always entertaining A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew: In Its Several Tribes of Gypsies, Beggars, Thieves, Cheats, &c., with an Addition of Some Proverbs, Phrases, Figurative Speeches, &c. by B. E. Gent, c 1698. In my opinion, some of these terms should be brought back into everyday use. Please help make “Kiss my blind cheeks!” go viral!

Follow Cast Off on the blog tour:

Mon, June 1	Book Monsters	http://thebookmonsters.com/
Tues, June 2	The Hiding Spot	http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com/
Wed, June 3	Books Unbound	http://booksunboundblog.com/
Thurs, June 4	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Fri, June 5	Read Now, Sleep Later	http://www.readnowsleeplater.org/
Mon, June 8	Mother Daughter Book Club	http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/
Tues, June 9	Cracking the Cover	http://www.crackingthecover.com/
Wed, June 10	The Compulsive Reader	http://www.thecompulsivereader.com/
Thurs, June 11	The Children’s Book Review	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Fri, June 12	I Read Banned Books	http://www.jenbigheart.com/

*Thank you to Barbara at BlueSlip Media for sending this book for review!*

Blog Tour with Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: “Doing It Over…and Over…and Over Again” by Pete Hautman, Author of Eden West

September 25, 2015May 29, 2015 by Kellee

Doing It Over…and Over…and Over Again

“How long does it take to write a book?”

That’s one of the top five questions* I get asked when visiting middle schools. I like that question because it can be answered any number of ways.

My answer is always different, but it always starts with, “It depends…”

I wrote the first draft of Invisible, for example, in five weeks. Even to an eighth grader, that sounds fast.

But wait, there’s more! My first revision of Invisible took eight weeks. My second revision, a month. My editor then had some suggestions, and I took another month to revise it a third time. The final revision went quickly—just two or three weeks.

Total time from first keystroke to final manuscript? Six months of active work, spread out over about a year. That’s by far the fastest I’ve ever written a novel—and 80% of that time was spent on revising.

Eden West, the story of a boy who grows up on an isolated doomsday cult compound in Montana, took twelve years. During those years of on-and-off writing and revising the setting changed, the number and names of the characters changed, the voice of the main character changed, the ending changed, and the title changed. I made two extended visits to Montana, where the book is set. I read seemingly endless pages of Biblical apocrypha, Mormon texts, and other scripture. The first few chapters I wrote were revised so often and so drastically that they are unrecognizable. Several times I had to set the book aside for a few weeks or months and let my subconscious work on it. Often, I worked on other things and simply let Eden West have a little alone time without me.

Typing a new scene, researching, revising, and dreaming are all parts of writing. Many of my best ideas come while I’m revising.

There may be writers out there who can write a publishable first draft, but I don’t know any. If there are any, I hate them. But the vast majority of us would no more forgo revision than we would eat an uncooked potato, or wear a pair of jeans that hadn’t been stitched together, or live in a home with gaping holes in the roof.

So how long does it take to write a book?

It depends…

P. S. The other four most asked questions are: 1)Where do you get your ideas?; 2) What is your favorite book?; 3) Are you going to write a sequel to (name of book they just read)?; 4) Will (name of book they just read) be made into a movie?

Pete Hautman’s newest book is Eden West published April 14th, 2015 by Candlewick Press.

About Eden West: Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the Apocalypse. But something is rotten in paradise. A wolf invades Nodd, slaughtering the Grace’s sheep. A new boy arrives from outside, and his scorn and disdain threaten to tarnish Jacob’s contentment. Then, while patrolling the borders of Nodd, Jacob meets Lynna, a girl from the adjoining ranch, who tempts him to sample the forbidden Worldly pleasures that lie beyond the fence. Jacob’s faith, his devotion, and his grip on reality are tested as his feelings for Lynna blossom into something greater and the End Days grow ever closer. Eden West is the story of two worlds, two hearts, the power of faith, and the resilience of the human spirit.

About Pete Hautman: Pete Hautman is the author of many books for young adults and adults, including the National Book Award–winning Godless and the recent Klaatu Diskos trilogy. He splits his time between Wisconsin and Minnesota. You can learn more about him at petehautman.com.

Visit the other stops on the Eden West blog tour:

Word Nerds	May 19	https://thewordnerds.wordpress.com/
Creatures ‘n’ Crooks	May 20	http://cncbooksblog.wordpress.com/
My Book Views	May 21	http://my-book-views.blogspot.com/
The Children’s Book Review	May 22	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
My Mercurial Musings	May 26	http://www.mymercurialmusings.com/
The Roarbots	May 27	http://theroarbots.com/
Unleashing Readers	May 29	https://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Hudson Booksellers	June 1	http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/

GIVEAWAY!

Candlewick is kindly offering THREE copies of Eden West for giveaway!

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Thank you to Pete Hautman for his guest post and Candlewick for having us be part of the Eden West blog tour!

**Thank you to Jamie at Candlewick Press for providing copies for review!**

Blog Tour with Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: “Be Brave!” by Charlie Alder, Author of Daredevil Duck

September 25, 2015May 17, 2015 by Kellee

“Be Brave!” by Charlie Alder, Author of Daredevil Duck

As I sit here, looking at a blank computer screen, trying to think of the right words for my first ever guest blog post I realise I need to take some advice from Daredevil Duck. What would he tell me…?

Be Brave!
Have a go!
You never know till you try!

Ok, I’ll try, here we go…

Daredevil Duck is my first author-illustrated picture book. The story actually started as a simple sketch of Daredevil Duck. Looking at the timid little bird smiling out of the page, I thought it would be funny to have a superhero that was also a bit of a scaredy-duck. As I began writing I realised this little character felt very familiar to me, he was just like my 5-year-old son! I started to think about the hopes and fears of a five year old, starting school, making friends, or playing a new sport. I thought it would be lovely to include this in the narrative.

The main premise of my story, and the most important idea that I wanted children (and adults!) to take away with them was twofold. I wanted to show them that being fearful is ok, it’s a positive emotion in some respects, but sometimes it can stop you in your tracks. The fear of failure can prevent you from embracing your hopes and dreams. Daredevil Duck wants to be brave, but time and again he gets scared. Secondly, I wanted to show the reader that the hardest step to take is often the first one. If you really want to achieve something, it’s up to you, start with the first step and you may surprise yourself.

It was also important to illustrate that the road to bravery is a bumpy one for Daredevil Duck. There are characters in the story that support and cheer him on, and there are those who mock and belittle him, much like life. However, it was vital for me to demonstrate that there is a positive resolution to this, and in the end his critics become his biggest fans!

Another key point that I wanted to convey towards the end of the book was that just because Daredevil Duck had performed one brave deed, it didn’t make him a huge invincible superhero. He was still the same Daredevil Duck, and still scared of the same obstacles in his life. Now however, he tried the things that had scared him before, sometimes with friends for support, sometimes on his own. He still looks concerned about various tasks, but at the back of your mind you know he’s going to try his Daredevil Duck best!

Summary: Meet Daredevil Duck.
He is afraid of everything. But that doesn’t stop him from DREAMING of being brave.
Then one day he is given the biggest challenge of all . . .
Can Daredevil Duck prove that he is the bravest duck in the whole wide world?

This delightful picture book is filled with bright, playful illustrations and cleverly placed interactive flaps and gatefolds. Daredevil Duck is a lovable hero who, despite having a long list of fears, isn’t afraid to dream big. Alder brings this character to life with her expressions, humorous narration, and one big adventurous story. At its heart, Daredevil Duck shows that enjoying the moment and believing in oneself can open up a whole new and exciting world.

About Charlie Alder: Charlie Alder has illustrated many books for children, including Toot! and Express Yourself! Daredevil Duck is her first authored and illustrated picture book. She lives in Devon, England, with her husband and son, whose exploits on a squeaky red tricycle inspired the creation of her feathered hero. When not drawing ducks, Charlie can be found in her studio drinking coffee, arranging her crayons, and inventing more accidental superheroes. You can visit her at charliealder.com and on Twitter @chuckie346.

Giveaway!

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Stop by another stop on Daredevil Duck‘s blog tour!

5/4 Wife Hat, Mom Hat
5/5 Geo Librarian
5/6 In The Pages
5/7 Stacking Books
5/9 Bea’s Book Nook
5/10 ReaderKidz
5/11 Coffee for the Brain
5/12 The Picture Book Review
5/13 Mrs. Brown Loves Bookworms
5/14 Mom Read It
5/15 Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books
5/16 Cheryl Rainfield
5/17 Unleashing Readers

Thank you to Charlie Alder for stopping by! We adore what Daredevil Duck stands for!

and

**Thank you for Cassie at Running Press for hosting the blog tour and giveaway!**