Category Archives: News and Fun

Review: Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo

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Irena's Children by Tilar J. MazzeoIrena’s Children: Young Readers Edition
Tilar J Mazzeo
Translated by Mary Cronk Farrell
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Available September 27, 2016

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During World War II, Irena Sendler worked with an underground network to rescue 2,500 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Poland. Her unwavering commitment to human rights began long before the war, and endured through her own incarceration and torture. She worked tirelessly to save as many as she could, and through it all insisted that she was not a hero. She’d only done what any ordinary human would do.

Though it’s nonfiction, I could not put this book down. I was so captured by the life … Continue reading →

Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

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This Adventure Ends by Emma MillsThis Adventure Ends
Emma Mills
Henry Holt & Co
Available October 4, 2016

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When Sloane’s family moves from New York to Florida before her senior year, she doesn’t feel she’s left much behind. A party brings her within the gravitational field of Vera, a social media starlet, and Gabe, her intensely serious twin brother with a justice complex. Without meaning to, Sloane falls into twins’ social circle, and ever deeper into their lives. When a beloved painting by their late mother goes missing, Sloane makes secret plans to bring it back. This is a problem she can fix, she knows it.

At home, Sloane’s family begins to feel more … Continue reading →

Author Interview and Giveaway with Monica Lee Kennedy

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The amazing Monica Lee Kennedy joins me today to talk about her series The Parting Breath in which the land itself is sentient. Check out what inspired the story and its characters here in the interview and don’t miss out on your chance to win a copy of the series opener, The Land’s Whisper! Giveaway details will be at the end of this post.

Interview with Author Monica Lee Kennedy

I find that a story was often inspired by a question. Was there a question that inspired you to write The Parting Breath series?

It wasn’t a question that drew me to write this story, but more of a sense of dissatisfaction. I was displeased by all the novels laden with sex and unappealing … Continue reading →

Author Interview and Giveaway with Cat Clarke

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Irish Banana Tours BannerAuthor Cat Clarke is here today to talk about what inspired her novel The Lost and the Found, a story about a girl abducted as a child who returns home thirteen years later. Stick around for the interview and then enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of three copies of The Lost and the Found. To start us off, here’s some more about the story:

the-lost-and-the-found-low-resThe Lost and the Found
Cat Clarke
Crown Books for Young Readers

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LOST.

When six-year-old Laurel Logan … Continue reading →

Review: Pax by Sarah Pennypacker

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Pax by Sarah PennypackerPax
Sara Pennypacker
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Balzer + Bray

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa. Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes … Continue reading →

Review: Freedom’s Just Another Word by Caroline Stellings

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Freedom's Just Another WordFreedom’s Just Another Word
Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Available September 6, 2016

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Summary (from Goodreads)

The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an … Continue reading →