An Anniversary Celebration and a Chance to Support a Valuable Mission
In March, to celebrate the anniversary of The Story Sanctuary, I held an auction to raise money for Christian World Mission in Chile to provide funds for school children. Four book boxes went up for auction on ebay. Through a combination of that ebay auction and word-of-mouth, all four boxes were sold, raising a total of $150 for Christian World Mission. Yay!
The Giving Continues…
Two of the boxes were donated back to The Story Sanctuary for use as giveaway prizes.
These boxes are packed with tasty snacks and other fun goodies as well as at least three clean YA novels. Sign up quick because this giveaway ends Sunday!
All sixteen year-old America Singer wants is to save her earnings as a musician and begin a new life with her secret love, Aspen. Her family, especially her social-ladder-climbing mother would never approve of America marrying a class beneath them, and when Aspen withdraws from the relationship because of the class difference, America despairs. Though she once considered it a nightmare, being chosen for the Selection, a group of girls spirited away to the palace from which the prince will choose a bride, now seems like America’s only escape from her heartache.
She arrives at the palace determined to stay only long enough for her family to receive enough compensation to ease their poverty. But when an unexpected friendship develops between her and Prince Maxon, America begins to rethink her rush to return home. Just as the warm feelings of friendship begin to blossom into something more, America’s past with Aspen returns to haunt her. For a member of the Selection to have a relationship with anyone besides the prince is treason.
Sort of Cinderella meets The Bachelor, The Selection is filled with high drama and sweet romance. Though her affection for Aspen seemed childish and ill-placed (other than the physical attraction, it was difficult to discern what she saw in him… he just didn’t seem remarkable,) the slow unfolding of her friendship and connection with the prince sparkled with desire, inner conflict, jealousy and romance.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild word choice, mild frequency
Sexual Content America and Aspen cultivate a secret romance, exchanging kisses and promises. No clothes are removed during these interludes, but the scenes are steamy nonetheless. As a member of the Selection, America is instructed to refuse nothing her prince asks of her. She is horrified to learn that this includes if he propositions her. However, Maxon’s sense of honor puts her more at ease.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence Rebel groups infiltrate the castle, causing one of America’s maids to relive a traumatic assault. No graphic details, but it’s clear the memories torture the girl.
Drug Content
When America joins the Selection, her body becomes property of the state, and medications such as birth control and sleeping aids become mandatory.
Viola Doyle, who rides about town on her bicycle, a feat her mother thinks unbecoming to a young lady, loses a precious jewel when she collides with a young professor’s assistant. Mikhail, the young man she plowed into, returns the jewel and offers to help Viola and her grandmother research the mysterious gem’s origins. Together they learn that the gem is more than simple jewelry and is instead a powerful stone entrusted to a long line of protectors. But its keepers aren’t the only ones interested in the stone.
Another group seeks to find the stone and use it to gain power over all others. When a mysterious accident nearly costs Violet her life, she and her grandmother realize they must learn the identity of the would-be assassin and stop them before they steal the jewel.
An ancient creature senses the location of the jewel. With only her mother’s memories to guide her, she pursues the gem’s keeper without knowing if she will find friend or foe.
Viola’s high-spirited exuberance is guided by her firm but proper mother and her twinkle-eyed, understanding grandmother. When Viola’s heart leads her to the penniless orphan scraping by as a professor’s assistant, her mother is deeply concerned. For even a chance of a future, Mikhail’s ingenuity and devotion will have to win her family’s affection as surely as her own.
In her second novel, Spitzley demonstrates power and pizzazz as a storyteller. Readers of Scrapbook of My Revolution will find in this story a stronger, brighter voice and a broad cast of fabulous characters. The tale maintains a Victorian feel and is told in a lively, upbeat voice that both promises and delivers fantasy and fun. The close of the story leaves readers with plenty of mysteries still to solve and high hopes for a sequel.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very mild and infrequent.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence A girl suffers a suspicious bicycle accident. No graphic details.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Seventeen year-old Michelle Pearce is barely scraping by. Her grades plummet. The bullying she endures at school only escalates. Even the perky high school counselor seems a bit over her head with Michelle and the fury penned inside her.
Enter Nate. He’s just about the last thing Michelle wants hanging around the gas station she works. Impossibly tall and somber, Nate is just too nice to dislike. She tries. Fails.
They begin working together and at first out of boredom, Michelle pries into Nate’s life. She finds more sadness and more compassion than she could have imagined. Through him, she learns an entirely different way of responding to the awfulness life seems to keep dishing out.
Part of a new line of teen-written novels, Paper Hearts is penned by an eighteen year-old author who writes teen angst with authenticity and power. Michelle’s fierce anger can be so intense that it’s almost off-putting. The salve is in the softer characters (Nate and his grandmother) who bring out the flighty wounded girl under the tough exterior. Next to the rest of the cast, Michelle’s mother, counselor and boss lack complexity and remain a little two-dimensional. Despite this, the novel is an impressive achievement for a debut writer.
Language Content
Extreme words, moderate frequency.
Sexual Content One character briefly recounts sexual abuse. One scene includes a jumbled description of a man sexually assaulting a woman. Several crude sexual comments.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence At school, a group of girls bully and humiliate Michelle, destroying her clothes and possessions, physically attacking her. Michelle’s mom throws a candle jar at her, and glass shatters in Michelle’s hair. See sexual content for additional details.
Drug Content
Michelle and Nate share a bottle of sparkling wine. Both are under 21. Michelle smokes cigarettes.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Henry begins his year-long trip to Nicaragua, leaving Meg behind in Chapin to finish her senior year. Henry faces the challenges of assembling a new building for his sister and brother-in-law’s orphan home in a country with limited supplies and deep distrust toward Americans. Meg meanwhile finds herself the center of affection for the new and fascinating Quinn O’Neill and the unlikely companion to a feisty elderly woman wielding a shotgun.
Meg wants desperately to secure admission to the University of Wyoming, so she and Henry can stay together through college and she can pursue a degree through the writing program there. Quinn helps Meg put together a video about the deadliness of texting and driving. She wants to believe his interest is only friendly, but she seems to be the only one who thinks so. Henry’s plans unravel quickly and governmental changes put the ministry he serves at risk of closing completely. While privately he is nearly falling to pieces, he must maintain a brave face for the children in his care. Even when his girlfriend seems to drift dangerously close to cheating on him with Quinn.
My Review
Fans of Kurk’s first novel, GLASS GIRL may find it to be a story difficult to beat. The intensity of Meg’s journey of loss and love in that novel makes it difficult to imagine creating a follow-up that can match, but PERFECT GLASS does just that. Henry continues to be the strong yet gentle man in Meg’s life, but adversity brings his flaws to the surface. Meg returns to salve the wounds of a dynamic older woman, demonstrating the beauty of character that can bloom after suffering. This is a fabulous novel and a worthy read for teens interested in missions overseas or looking for a classy romance.
Content Notes for Perfect Glass
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Sexual Content Very brief references to a past rape, very limited details.
Spiritual Content Both Henry and Meg face startling failures. Each falls back to regroup, but must learn that sometimes one’s personal strength isn’t enough, and only dependence on God can suffice. Meg befriends a boy who has many questions and little faith and a woman with deep anger toward God. Both challenge her to justify her faith.
Violence Men surround a boy in Henry’s care and threaten to attack him, until Henry gets involved. Henry witnesses a man slap a teenaged boy on the back of the head and confronts him about it. Brief references to a past murder and rape, very limited details.
Drug Content None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which do not cost anything for you to use but help support this blog.
A forest troll named Ed finds a young boy named Christian. Christian had run away from home. He did not want to go back. Ed says Christian can stay with him for one night, but Christian ends up staying in the cave with Ed and his two dogs, Bub and Cate until he grows up. One day while he was looking in his telescope, Christian saw a princess named Marigold. Christian wrote her a letter and sent it by pigeon. Marigold read the letter and p-mailed back. They became best friends. Ed was worried. Soon it was time for Christian to get a job. He got a job fixing things at the castle and had lots of adventures.
Marigold’s mom, Queen Olympia, was forcing her to get married. Marigold was upset. She did not want to get married. Christian was sad, too because he wanted to marry her, but she could only marry royalty. Christian would have to find a way to be with Marigold.
I loved everything in the story. Ed always gets idioms mixed up. It is hilarious. Bub and Cate and Marigold’s dogs (the three floor mops) are silly. Queen Mab is the Tooth Fairy. She always gets lost on her way to collect people’s teeth. That is funny, too. Queen Olympia orders everyone around. That was entertaining. It was also funny when Rollo the guard got mad because Meg kissed Christian. There is nothing about this book I do not like. It is the best book in the world!
A Review by Kasey Giard
Christian is a young inventor living in the forest with his foster father, a troll named Ed. Life is pretty sweet until the day Christian discovers the lonely Princess Marigold and decides to send her a message via carrier pigeon (p-mail). To Christian’s surprise, the princess replies to his message and the two become best friends. If only that were enough for Christian. As he comes of age and sets out to make his way in the world, Christian seeks work at the castle where Marigold lives, even though he knows he’ll never be able to have a relationship with her since he will be no more than a servant. Then Christian uncovers a vicious plot to kill Marigold, and he can’t sit by and do nothing. But how can a commoner do anything to save the princess?
Once Upon a Marigold is a spunky, cute fairytale story about having courage to do what’s right to protect the people important to you and the meaning of true friendship. Ferris cleverly weaves a whimsical world in which a forest troll wants to break the Tooth Fairy’s monopoly on collecting teeth, even though she constantly gets lost. Full of silliness and heart, this is a great story to share with middle readers.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content The princess is under a curse of uncertain origin: when someone touches her, she knows their thoughts. She and Christian briefly discuss their astrological signs, and the fact that they share the same sign is viewed as a confirmation of their relationship.
Violent Content
A flying machine crashes, causing some minor injuries. A character is struck with an arrow that must be removed. Nothing graphic.
Drug Content None
About the Bloggers Anna is a third grade student. She enjoys reading, riding her cousin’s scooter, playing with her cousins, and having adventures. She also enjoys riding bikes with her cousins. This is her first review.
Read about Kasey Giard here.
