TUESDAY: The Sisters Grimm series

(for ages 9-12)
Fairy tales with a twist. The Grimm sisters have been on their own, moving from foster home to foster home, just trying to survive the awful situations where their caseworker places them. Their parents disappeared and they have no other family. But one day, a woman shows up, claiming to be their grandmother. While it is nice to get away from the creepy foster homes, the girls aren't sure they can trust a grandmother they have never heard of.

It turns out that the girls come from the famous Grimm family, as in the Brothers Grimm. And fairy tale characters are actually alive and living among us. Most live in Ferryport Landing where the Grimms live in order to keep the Everafters in line because fairy tale characters aren't always what you might expect.

This is a great series. Each book ends with a cliff hanger that has you hounding the bookshelves and library shelves for the next installment. The darkness of some content makes this for older readers - around 9 or 10 and up.

MONDAY: Ella Bella Ballerina

Ella is a little ballerina who loves her ballet classes. One day after class, she is transported by the music of Sleeping Beauty into the story where she gets to watch everything unfold.

When I stumbled across this title, I knew I had hit the jackpot. We have our own "Ella Bella Ballerina" in the family and this was a perfect story for her. The Illustrations are gorgeous! If we had other Ella's in our life, this would be the first book I would buy for them.

FRIDAY: Equal Rites

I stumbled onto the Discworld series in the science fiction/fantasy section of a local bookstore. Equal Rites was the first book in the series that I could find at the library. It was interesting and quirky. There is some bad language.

Eskarina is the eighth son of an eighth son, which makes Esk a wizard. The only problem is that Esk is not a son at all, but a daughter. But there's no such thing as a female wizard, is there? The story chronicles what happens to Esk as her magic starts to develop and as she seeks her place in the all-male wizard world.

I had a hard time remembering throughout the story that Esk is only supposed to be 8. I pictured her more as a young teenager. Her story was interesting and I may read more of the stories of Discworld in the future.

THURSDAY: To Infinity and Beyond

This is a large, hefty book that chronicles the development of Pixar Animation Studios. The book describes the early days as a computer hardware company, and then shows how they got into animation and how they grew to the animation giant they are today. If you are a big Disney/Pixar fan, this is a great book of stories and pictures about the company and their movies.

WEDNESDAY: I'd Be Your Hero

In this picture book, a boy tells his mother all about the adventures he would have as prince of a kingdom and his mother affirms his good character qualities. There is a version for girls called I'd Be Your Princess. Character qualities are tied to Scripture. The book is a great conversation starter about God would have us act and how to be people of character.

TUESDAY: The Tail of Emily Windsnap

(for ages 8-12)

Emily is a young woman who lives with her mom on a houseboat with some... eccentric neighbors. And the only thing Emily wants to do is learn to swim. At her first swim lesson, though, everything changes. Emily grows a mermaid tail and starts to wonder what other secrets are in her past.

Fun book about friendship and loyalty. First in a series.

BONUS BLOG: Summer Reading

My son has finished our local library's summer reading program. Two weeks into the program, and he is done! For every 5 books read, he got a prize - a kazoo, a book, a Crocs button, some other small toy and then a t-shirt with the year's theme on it. While I am proud of the volume of reading we have been doing, it does leave a lot of summer left. So we decided to start our own summer reading program.

I created a chart that lists the incentives and has lines for recording the date, the book title and whether it was something he read himself or something we read together. This is a good fit for my early-reader. Older readers might need something different - chapter books vs. comic books or hours of reading instead of finished books, etc.

Our incentives also reflect his interests. For every 25 books finished, he gets a kids meal at a restaurant of his choosing. For reading 100 books total, he will get a $10 gift card for Target. And for every 25 books he reads himself (out loud, so we can verify it and help with the reading) he gets a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble (to buy more books to read!).

He is very excited about this program and the incentives. We found a Transformers folder to keep our sheets in and he likes to look at how many he has done already. If it works, we will keep it around for summers to come... and maybe even fall and winter and spring!

MONDAY: Moo Baa La La La

We have been Sandra Boyton fans since our friends started having kids. We had to have the whole collection when my son was born. This was one of our favorites. I collect cow things, and the Boynton cow is top of the list. This is a fun board book for the littlest readers to look at and listen to.

Other favorites are But Not the Hippopotamus, Snuggle Puppy, and Hippos Go Berserk.

FRIDAY: Enchanted Inc.

Katie Chandler is a small-town girl in the big city. She finds the city a truly mysterious place because she keeps getting glimpses of things that just couldn't happen... or could they? It turns out that there really is magic in the world, but Katie is a special person who, even though she cannot do magic, she can't be influenced by it either. That makes her the perfect person to work for a magical corporation to help them see through the schemes of the unscrupulous.

This is one of my favorite series. In fact, I am keeping my fingers crossed that Ms. Swendson can get the series picked up by a new publisher so that she can keep the series going. I have seen this series categorized as "urban fantasy" but it isn't as dark as some other books in that genre.

THURSDAY: What to Read When

A great resource for reading parents. This book is organized by the age of the child. For example, for 6 year-olds, it talks about characteristics of average 6 year olds and books to go with those characteristics. This is a resource I would use over and over. It would be especially good for gathering summer-time reading ideas!

WEDNESDAY: Discovering Your Divine Assignment

Another book for those looking for their purpose in life. Readers have the opportunity to complete some assessments and questions as they consider God's Word and their interests and strengths. This would be a good book for group study so that readers could get feedback from others as they work through the assessments.

TUESDAY: Wolverine: Worst Day Ever

(for ages 9-12)
Eric Mattias is a young mutant at the Xavier School for Gifted Students who thinks he has the worst power ever. He is forgetable. Even when he's in the room, people forget he is there. It gives him free reign at the school to go into restricted areas and to listen in on private conversations, but it causes a lot of trouble, too. Plus, it is hard to make friends when people forget about you after you walk into a room. Because Eric wanders about the school so secretly, he is privy to to Wolverine's worst day.

The story is told in blog entries from Eric's experiences adjusting to the school and to his powers. It also chronicles his observations of Wolverine, someone Eric looks up to. Clever story!

GUEST BLOGGER: Dawson Vosberg

Your "regularly scheduled book review" will be here a little later today. I'll post it after 3pm. But for now I hope you will check out this post from guest blogger, Dawson Vosberg about his book, Double Life, and about using the Amazon Kindle, either as a reader or as an author.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Jaymie.

First I would like to introduce my book. The title is Double Life, and it’s an exciting science-fiction young adult adventure that takes place in an imaginary secret government agency called the BLUE. It follows Josiah Jones on his mission to defeat the evil crime syndicate, the RED Agency. It’s available in print and on the Kindle on Amazon.

Print: http://www.amazon.com/Double-Life-Dawson-Vosburg/dp/1435724283/

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Double-Adventures-Josiah-Jones-ebook/dp/B002BH4H3Q/

Today I’d like to discuss with you Amazon’s ebook reading device, Kindle, and how that can help you get your book out there. Kindle is Amazon’s wireless reading device, and if you’re an author, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of it. Kindle is currently the most popular ebook reader. Conveniently, they offer to you a free service to put your book on Kindle and have it selling in a few hours on Amazon.

If you want to do this, go to dtp.amazon.com and you can upload your file, front cover art, and whatever else they ask you for. If you’re uploading the PDF, you’re going to run into some problems because when you upload a PDF it translates it all wonky. I’d recommend going to Joshua Tallent at www.kindleformatting.com for this question. He’ll be able to guide you through the process.

Once you have it all uploaded, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND setting the price to $1. Not $.99, but $1. If you set it to $.99, it won’t discount the book, but if you set it to $1, it’ll discount 20 cents off of it and you still get the 35% royalty off the dollar, so Amazon’s taking the cut and not you. This is a HUGE selling point for a Kindle book.

It’ll take a while for Amazon to make a Kindle page for your book. Once it’s up, great. Now you have a book on Kindle. What do you do with it? I’d suggest going onto the Kindle community forums on Amazon. Just scroll down to the “Discussions” section on the book’s page and the top two should be in the Kindle forum. Click the word Kindle, and you’re ready to make a topic about your book.Make the post topic relevant to your book and state either that it’s 80 cents or under a dollar. People will be attracted to this. In the post, say who you are, give a brief description of the book, put the link there, and thank people for their time, signing your name at the end. You will probably be able to start selling books quite quickly and easily because it’s only 80 cents. That’s the benefit of having a really cheap book. When people respond to your topic, thank them and remind them to post a review. They most often will.

If you want to market further, go to www.kindleboards.com and make an account there. As a Kindle author, your home would be the Book Bazaar sub forum. There, there is a thread that I started called “Got an 80 cent book? Front it here.” There are plenty of authors who have posted for the reader’s convenience to shop around. Also I’d recommend making a similar post to the one on the Amazon forums separate of the 80 cent book thread. From there, people will read your book and often review it. There are plenty of Amazon Kindle users who read books and always review them, so keep that in mind!

It’s important to use the Kindle because people who use it are the ones who love books the most—they shelled out 400 bucks on a reader. They’re not your average Joe, read a book a year kind of people. They love to read and they are willing to read your book.

Good luck and may your Kindle sales go well!

Dawson

http://dawsonvosburg.blogspot.com

http://thepodjournal.wordpress.com

MONDAY: With a Little Help from Daddy

In honor of Father's Day we have this little gem, With a Little Help from Daddy. This is a sweet story about a boy who gets to be the best on his block - the cleanest, the fastest, the strongest, etc. - with a little help from Daddy. This is a very sweet story for the boys and Daddies in your life!

FRIDAY: Puzzle Lady series

Dead Man's Puzzle is the latest in the Puzzle Lady series (A Clue for the Puzzle Lady is the first book in the series). Cora Felton is the Puzzle Lady, known for her syndicated crossword puzzles and comercials and other publicity opportunities. But in reality, it is her niece, Sherry, who writes the puzzles. Core is hopeless at them. Unfortunately, Sherry is on her honeymoon in Africa when a man dies with a crossword next to him. Before long, Cora is surrounded by goofy heirs and more bodies than she knows what to do with!

I don't do crossword puzzles - give me a number or logic puzzle any day! But my dislike of crosswords doesn't keep me from enjoying this series. I think the final interchange in the book sums up things nicely. Sherry asks her aunt what she's been up to while theyve been honeymooning. Cora responds, "Oh. I solved three murders, a fifty-year old convenience store robbery and shot a nonagenarian. The usual."

Cora's banter and evasive answers do get old sometimes but not enough to keep me from diving in to the next book in the series as soon as it comes out! Enjoy!

THURSDAY: Which President Killed a Man

I saw this book for sale at a bookstore and it piqued my curiosity. It is filled with tons of interesting presidential trivia - like the fact that a relative of John Wilkes Booth once saved the life of the son of Abraham Lincoln. And that same son was present for the assassination of two other presidents (He stopped accepting invitations to presidential events after the second one!). After a semester of teaching history this year, and a unit on presidential biographies, this was a fun book to fill in some of the lesser known tid-bits about the presidents and their wives and families as well as their politics. As for the title question? You'll just have to check the book out!

WEDNESDAY: Cure for the Common Life

I am always on the look out for a book to help me pinpoint where to focus my energies, or discern my gifts/passions, etc. This was one of those books - I also bought the workbook, which is a nice accessory for the book. In this book. Max Lucado encourages readers to look back in life to see where the "sweet spots" have been. Then they can use that history to highlight strengths and passions for the future. I really enjoyed this book.

TUESDAY: Wuthering High

Wuthering High (geared to teens and young adults) is the first book in the Bard Academy series. Miranda has gotten herself into huge trouble - she took her step-mother's credit card and charged up $1000 and also wrecked her dad's car. Now she's being sent to a boarding school for delinquents called Bard Academy. And if that wasn't bad enough, Miranda and her new friends start having strange and supernatural experiences that seem a lot like stories from classic literature. Great premise and clever story. Some language and scary situations make this a series for older readers.

In The Scarlet Letterman, Miranda is settling into her life at Bard after surviving her first semester. Now she is dating the campus hottie, but she can't shake thoughts of the brooding Heathcliff. While she tries to sort out her feelings, her life on campus is crumbling - accusations of plagerism, missing faculty, rumors about her activities with the entire basketball team and a monster in the woods are all making her life difficult. This volume was frustrating for me because Miranda is falsely accused of things and is railroaded by nasty backstabbers. Those sorts of books stress me out. That stress aside, this was a good story that sent me right back to the library to get the third book in the series.

In Moby Clique, Miranda's little sister is now on campus and she has become a follower of Miranda's nemesis. Miranda is set up a lot in this book, too, which is stressful, but not to the extent of the last book. There were good twists and turns in what turns out to be a great "sister" story. There's no word yet if there will be a fourth book in the series.

MONDAY: If I Built a Car

I'm not sure which I like more - the creative, imaginative vehicle the boy designs or the colorful illustrations! The boy in the story, Jack, chooses all the best features of all sorts of vehicles from cars to rockets to submarines and combines them into an amazing creation. Even the book's dedication is fun. I highly recommend this picture book!

BONUS BLOG: Where are the negative reviews?

I actually do read books I don't like. Just this weekend I started a new mystery series about a crafting group. The blurb on the back cover says it is about a business owner and her relationship to the victim and her need to keep herself from being a suspect. After 16 pages, I had flipped to the back cover no less than six times to be sure that the owner was supposed to be the primary character because she isn't. The story is told from the perspective of another character (and not the victim - I get when books start that way). I was completely distracted by this and couldn't get into the story. I feel like a victim of false advertising. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it seems like a pretty easy thing to get right... I also don't like mysteries without an actual mystery or when the mystery is completely incidental to the story being told.

But I don't feel like book bashing is something readers enjoy. I have too much respect for the hard work authors do to bash a book I didn't like but someone else might love. If someone asks for my opinion on a particular book, I will tell them honestly. And I have posted negative reviews on Amazon when the book is supposed to be a mystery but isn't - that just isn't fair to someone who will shell out $16 for a book. But I won't post an unsolicited negative review here. There are just too many great books out there to talk about instead!

This week we are back to our regular review schedule. I hope you find some books you want to check out for yourself!

MAGAZINE WEEK part 5: crafts

Over the past 10 years or so, I have been a connoisseur of craft magazines. I have subscribed to several over the years. But I have become much pickier in the last year or two. I was often frustrated to get a new issue in the mail and find nothing inside that piqued my interest. So, right now I have only two favorites, Paper Crafts and a line of magazines out of Britain.

Paper Crafts is great for me because it gives a variety of ideas - cards, gifts, and scrapbooks. I think they have a great balance of information - a list of supplies, simple instructions, and pictures. Not too much information so that you get fewer projects, but also not so little that I get frustrated because I can't replicate something. I enjoy a lot of their specials issues, too, like Card Creations, Holiday Cards, etc.

The British publisher is Practical Publishing. Recently I treated myself to a couple issues of their magazines (They are $15 each - thank goodness for coupons and discounts at Barnes and Noble!) - The Complete Stamping Handbook and Quick Cardmaking. I went through each page carefully, circling products I thought I might use some day, marking projects and techniques I wanted to try. For the first time in ages, I savored a craft magazine, finding something of interest on almost every page. I will definitely be looking at more of their publications in the future!

So, that's the end of MAGAZINE WEEK. I hope you have enjoyed the change of pace. We'll be back to our normal book review schedule next week! Happy Summer!

MAGAZINE WEEK part 4: puzzles

I am a puzzle-girl. I especially like logic puzzles - traditional, Battleship, Sudoku, Kakuro.... I love them. So, I often check out the Penny Press and Dell offerings in the magazine rack! Penny/Dell offer all sorts of options for puzzlers - word searches, crosswords, math/logic puzzles, and variations on all the classic themes. You can buy the books from bookstores and grocery stores everywhere. You can also order them in bulk from the company. They offer regular sales where you can buy a set of books that have one particular kind of puzzle - like Cross Sums or Petal Puzzles. You can also sets of back issues for only a $1 or $2 per issue. The website also has sample puzzles that you can try to see what sort of puzzles appeal to you. If you want to give your brain a little stretch, try out some puzzles!

[If you are a puzzler, check out the Conceptis link on the right side of this blog! Super fun online puzzles - well, they are "super fun" if you like that sort of thing, which I do]

MAGAZINE WEEK part 3: Leadership Journal

Leadership Journal is from the folks at Christianity Today. It is my favorite magazine about faith issues. It talks about issues for pastors and other leaders in the church, trends, books and resources. It includes interviews with leaders who are trying new things (or who are making "old" things new again.) I am not a pastor, nor am I married to one. I am not currently in a major position of leadership in my local congregation. But I like knowing what is going on in the Christian community at large and I also like hearing about how pastor's are coping with their responsibilities. It helps me think about ways I can better support the pastors at our church.

MAGAZINE WEEK part 2 - LEGO Magazine and BrickMaster

My son is a LEGO fanatic! So it was a no-brainer for us to sign him up for the free LEGO magazine. Every couple months he would get a little magazine with information about new sets, directions for building something, a comic, contests, and pictures of other kids with their creations. It was a big hit at our house!

Then we discovered that we could enroll him in the BrickMaster club where he would get the magazine and a small LEGO set every couple months. It is totally worth the $40 a year! He spends as much time looking at the LEGO magazines and catalogs as he does playing with the toys! If you have a LEGO fan in your life, check these options out!

MAGAZINE WEEK part 1: HighFive and Highlights

Highlights Magazine seems to be some sort of rite of passage for kids! I remember getting it when I was little. I have a picture in my mind of me sitting on the floor of my yellow bedroom organizing my magazines. (We won't spend too much time analyzing that little memory!)

It is a great magazine for kids - it has puzzles, jokes, stories, and articles. Kids can even submit their own drawings or jokes or stories and get published in the magazine. They have even spun off some puzzle books that collect the sorts of puzzles kids have come to love from the magazine, like the Hidden Pictures.

High Five is a fairly new creation from the Highlights people, and it is geared to kids ages 4 to 7. This is a great magazine! I know my son was frustrated with the regular magazine when he was younger because it was too hard. High Five was just right for him - puzzles and stories that he could do himself. High Five is a great gift for a younger sibling who wants to feel like she gets to do what the older ones do when they get Highlights.