BEN AND SCOUT: A Review by Guest Blogger, Janelle Ekpo

REVIEW

Ben and Scout by Denise Minnerly is the story of two dogs that are best friends and are always together, despite the greatest olds. It is a story about loss written for young children. 

Ben is old and sick. Scout is young and has only a superficial understanding of Ben’s condition, so when Ben dies, Scout struggles with great loss. Will he ever see his best friend again? Is Scout all alone? In the story, Scout struggles with depression and anxiety: he eats less, and he begins to shed a lot. Then Scout starts having dreams about Ben. In them, Ben says that he will always be with him, and this encourages Scout. Soon his hair grows back - the same color as Ben’s hair was. And he sees it as a confirmation that Ben is still in his heart.

Loss is real. Anxiety and depression - the after-effects of loss - are also very real. Ben and Scout does a nice job of introducing young children to these difficult concepts. The illustrations are also well-done and fun. They are simple and reinforce the ideas in the book.

Denise with her rescue darling, Scout. Check out the color

variation on Scout's back. Scout lost his hair in grief over Ben's passing. 

But when it grew back, it was Ben's color!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ben & Scout is inspired by Denise’s pets and their enduring love for one another. It’s so painful to lose a pet we cherish and books that discuss these topics can become part of the healing process. This book is serving an animal rescue project, Pilots to the Rescue. Forty percent of the total book sales will be donated to helping rescues find their forever home.

ABOUT JANELLE EKPO

I’m a sophomore from South Carolina who is passionate about Christian fantasy, realistic fiction, and writing. I often help students with their papers and write book reviews to encourage people to read quality books. I’m working on growing my personal library!

DO YOU WANT TO BE AN ARC READER?

If you are interested in being an ARC (ARC = advanced reader copy) reader like Janelle, then I have books for you! My publisher, Monarch Educational Services, invites you to read their K-12 clean-reads books before they come out. If you feel that the books merit it (and we hope you do!) they ask that you post your positive review on Goodreads and Barnes & Noble. Save the review and when the book is published you can share it on Amazon too. 

Interested? Go to https://bit.ly/ARCMONARCH to sign up!

TEARS TO PRINCESS: A Review of "Tears of A Princess" by Guest Blogger, Mara Scudder

Tears of a Princess by Laura Thomas is the upper middle-grade sequel to the novel Tears to Dancing. It follows the main character’s best friend, Natasha, as she deals with the news of her parent's divorce and accompanies Bethany on a mission trip to Mexico that changes her perspective forever.

Although some elements of the novel were written better than the first book, there were still two persisting drawbacks. The first was the characters, all of which were one or two-dimensional. Even Natasha, who we were supposedly watching transform from a spoiled rich girl to a selfless and caring Christian, had most of her character development done throughout the year gap between the end of the first book and the start of the second. While the girl in the first book was careless, narcissistic, and vapid, in the second book Natasha has much more substance, dealing with a few emotional outbursts, which she quickly apologizes for. I was looking forward to watching the dramatic change, but instead it seemed as though she had already accomplished most of the change without God.

Another drawback was the dialogue. Rather than letting readers discover what a character was feeling and how they were changing, the author used exposition for the characters to communicate to each other. While their thoughts were more abstract and natural, their dialogue was blunt, no-nonsense, and to the point, even during very emotional scenes. This made it difficult to read, especially in scenes that were supposed to be the most powerful.

One thing that I appreciated about this work was the overarching themes that were missing from the first. Both tears, the sunrise, and the idea of Natasha being a “princess” were echoed throughout the work. Natasha’s transformation from being her father’s “princess” as a term of indulging endearment to thinking of herself as being a princess as the daughter of the King of kings had a special impact because of its intentionality. Tying in tears as her way of breaking her family’s picture-perfect facade and becoming more honest with people around her also enhanced the continuity of the work and made the resolution much more conclusive than it would have been otherwise.

Aside from this, the plot was also more coherent, allowing a more natural flow between events than the first book, and the overarching themes made the ending far more complete and satisfying. This ending made the ideas it had to offer much more impactful, creating a stronger lead-up to the trilogy’s finale, Tears, Fears, and Fame.

Hi! My name is Mara, and I’m a Christian artist, violinist, and blogger. I remember the day that I decided that I would learn something new about what makes a good story from every book I picked up — whether it was good, bad, or a mixture of both. I use my blog as a way of sharing some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned and highlighting which books, cartoons, and movies have taught me the most about writing an awesome story. I’m in eleventh grade and live in Philadelphia.  

Check out Greg Pattridge's Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday blog 

for more book recommendations.

A STUDY IN TERMINAL: A YA THRILLER BY KARA LINABURG

 Please welcome Amanda Moyer, my guest blogger for a review of Kara Linaburg's suspenseful novel, A STUDY IN TERMINAL (Monarch Educational Services, June 2022). 

REVIEW

A Study in Terminal by Kara Linaburg is a young adult novel telling the story of Sean Brogan, a young man trying to face the demons of his past that have haunted his nightmares since he was a kid. The book broaches intense topics such as self-hatred, depression, and suicide but concludes with hope, healing, and letting go.

We meet Sean first through a page of his journal and a flash-forward to the climax, where we discover that his mother ended her life ten years ago and that he intends to do the same. He has been haunted his entire life by the bad luck of watching people die because he either arrived too late or didn’t have the courage to save them.

His goal is to return to the small town he lived in with his mother before she died and finish writing his novel before following her. His plans change when his motorcycle breaks down just a few miles shy of town, and he gets picked up by the Kenzies, a family he’d known well. Throughout the book Sean reconnects with his childhood friends, Joe and Rina Kenzie, but he never explains that his mother’s death isn’t the only thing bringing him here. He is also being hunted down by his New York gang for betraying them.

Rina delivers a touching theme when she and Sean are talking about Sherlock Holmes. Sean doesn’t think much of the detective because “Sherlock only solved murders—never prevented them,” which echoes his own despair over bad luck. Rina counters: “True, but he had to learn to care for the people first before he could save them.”

When the gang members finally catch up with him, they choose to take their vengeance out on him by kidnapping and threatening Rina. Sean is terrified that she’ll just be one more person he couldn’t save, but his luck finally changes, and they all make it out alive. Despite the victory, the events solidify his determination to end his own life to prevent more people from being in danger because of him.

But this time, Rina saves him.

When she follows him into his abandoned childhood home, he suddenly remembers this wasn’t the first time. She had been there when they were kids, the day his mother died. Since then she has struggled with the same nightmares and the same guilt. She saves him by being present and caring for him. He allows her to meet him in the darkness, a darkness she knows well, and he begins to see hope and freedom he didn’t know was possible. She gives him the power to save himself by showing him that he is worth caring for.

I appreciate that the author set the tone and theme for the book from the very first page which helped me mentally prepare for the rest of the story, but also root for Sean and identify with his darkness. Sean walks out of his childhood home with a different perspective and a second chance at life. He realizes that moving forward and creating a life worth living is the only way for him to let go of the past. The story does mention Christian themes, but never directly says he found faith. In a way, it doesn’t need to. It ends with the beautiful feeling that the story isn’t over, that there is more healing to be done and that Sean will continue moving forward. 

The intense themes and vivid storytelling do warrant a caution for those who, like myself, have personally struggled with mental health, but the ending could not have held as much hope if the story had not held so much darkness. In Rina’s words: “Sunsets remind me that the darkness won’t last forever, that the light will come if I only wait for it.”

GIVEAWAY AND READER'S GUIDE

If you are interested in receiving an E-book, please leave me a comment with your email address by December 4. Remember, I need to approve your comment before it goes live. 

As you can tell from Amanda's review, this book is full of sensitive issues. Click here for the reader's guide that will help parents, teachers, or counselors use A STUDY IN TERMINAL with teen readers struggling with depression and/or suicidal thoughts.

Amanda Moyer lives in Pennsylvania where she works as an accountant. She has always had a love of young adult fiction and fantasy and enjoys writing and worldbuilding with her cousins.

Congratulations to Rebecca Dollins who won THE ORANGE HORSE.

DISCONNECTED by Riley Cross: A Book Review by Guest Blogger, Georgie Bartlett

Please welcome a new teen blogger, Georgie Bartlett. You can read about her and the giveaway below her review.

REVIEW

I thoroughly enjoyed Disconnected (Monarch: 2023) for a myriad of reasons, one of them being that it was an interesting and thought-provoking story from start to finish. Riley Cross has a way of making you feel as if you are really in Unity, Chiara’s controlled and restricted world. 

 The main character, Chiara, was born a third-generation Anomaly, meaning she was the result of her parents falling in love rather than a perfect genetic match chosen by Auto. Inside Unity are those deemed worthy of citizenship, and outside of the circular walls of this futuristic civilization live the Streamless, the social outcasts. Unity’s inhabitants have been taught that the Streamless are mindless and incapable of functioning; just one of the many lies they have been fed since birth. The all-powerful artificial intelligence, Auto, controls the virtual world (the DataStream), and essentially rules over the citizens of Unity.  

When her mother and father die under mysterious circumstances, Chiara is orphaned and put under the care of her enigmatic Grandfather. When he also dies mysteriously and Chiara’s memory is wiped, she begins her mission to collect the shattered fragments of her mind, uncover the truth, and ignore the awful headaches, nightmares, and visions plaguing her. She also needs to escape Unity. In doing this, she has to decide whether or not she can leave her childhood best friend, Silas, possibly forever.  

Something that really stuck with me throughout the book was the phrase “Always with you,” which Chiara’s Grandfather tells her. I loved that he always had something to steady her. You can actually learn a lot from Grandfather and Auto about the plethora of dangers attached to AI and the gradual development of technology, and I positively love a fiction book that can teach me something. It had me thinking, could our society get to this point eventually?  

The characters in Disconnected felt so real, sometimes I forgot they were fictional, which is certainly a distinguishing characteristic of good writing. Among the main characters, there were arguments, conflicts, and heartbreak, but they all manage to put everything aside and come together in the end. I related to Chiara’s struggle with staying true to herself in an abrasive society. 

I am still thinking about this story, which is always a good sign when it comes to a novel. I adored how the evil of Auto was combated by books and the Forbidden Library which were all preserved in Chiara’s mind. She actually quotes Robert Frost at one point, and I have to say, that only helped to raise this book in my estimation. He is by far my favorite poet, and this book is by far one of my favorites I’ve read this year.  

 I don’t often read Sci-Fi, but Disconnected had me engaged from the start. The plot always kept moving, keeping me interested and wanting to read more. I recommend this to anyone with a penchant for Science Fiction. This book is an entirely clean read, which is one of the many things I appreciated about it. It does contain some graphic imagery surrounding Grandfather’s death, so I would recommend this book for readers ages 13 and up. If you want a novel that’s suspenseful and captivating, then Disconnected is a wonderful book to add to your TBR. I believe you will love it! 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Georgie Bartlett is a teen living in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina with her family and two mischievous rescue dogs. She enjoys writing, crocheting, journaling, gardening, playing the drums, and above all, reading. 

GIVEAWAY

Monarch Publishing is giving away a paperback copy and an Ebook version for two of my blog readers. To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment by August 22 with your email address if you are new to my blog. This would make a great gift for the young Science Fiction reader in your life -- or as an addition to your library. You can also email me to enter the contest. If you share this on social media or start following my blog I will enter your name twice. U.S. addresses only for the paperback. 

SOUTHPAW SALLY: A Guest Blogger Review and Giveaway

REVIEW by Mara Scudder

As an avid reader who has no interest in baseball (and sports in general), I fell far from Steve Carman's upper middle-grade audience range. But Southpaw Sully’s characters are irresistible in any genre, and Sully and the rest of the cast pulled me in from the very first page. The author didn’t use Sully’s missing hand as an excuse for sympathy, instead developing him as a well-rounded and relatable character, despite his unusual circumstances. 

Sully was born into a family dedicated to baseball -- his father coached their town’s underdog team, and he and his twin brother, Brendan, practiced every chance they got. He and Brendan made up their minds that once they got old enough, they were going to break the losing streak that their team couldn’t seem to break. But Sully ends up having to do it alone.

After a car crash, lost Sully lost his brother and his right hand. All he cares about now is living up to the promise he and Brendan had made to end the streak. At fourteen, Sully is pitching for his team with a passion. Once he thought he could never play baseball again. Now it's all he cares about.

Although the characters are vibrant, relatable, and unique, the plot happens to be the weakest point of the work. Each chapter involves Sully facing another unforeseen and improbable obstacle (from a stolen dog to an untimely heart attack) that almost keeps him from competing in the championship. Each time, deus ex machina swoops in to make sure Sully and his friends make it to the next game.

But aside from that, I enjoyed the story immensely. The characters were especially enjoyable, from their unique personalities to the unexpected twist the author added to each character arc. The overweight bully becomes the protagonist’s loyal sidekick, and even the archenemy ends up learning to respect those he disagrees with. Each character brought something new and exciting to a unique story. 

On top of the vibrant characters, the stakes were high. We wanted Sully to win not just because he had a passion for baseball, but also because he saw his brother everywhere -- and he knew that Brendan would have loved to watch Sully take their losing team to victory. I cheered him on not because the game mattered, but because of what it represented to him and his family. Those stakes created unusual tension for a slice-of-life sports story and ensured that Southpaw Sully will stand out from other books on the shelf for years to come. 

AUTOGRAPHED GIVEAWAY!

Please leave me a comment if you want to win this book for yourself or a young reader in your life. If you share this post on social media let me know and I'll enter your name twice. You can also email me to enter. U.S. addresses only. The giveaway ends on August 2.

For other great middle-grade books, check out Greg Pattridge's Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday books!

STELLA: A Middle Grade Book Review by Guest Blogger, Josie Murdock + A Giveaway

REVIEW

Stella (Shadow Mountain, September 2022) is the story of a security service dog with trauma issues. Due to an error while sniffing out bombs at an airport, Stella’s handler was tragically killed in an explosion. Stella survived but is now afraid of everything. A kindly trainer takes her home and entrusts her to the care of her own daughter, Cloe. 

Cloe suffers from epilepsy, but she and Stella form a bond of love and trust. Stella gets a chance to help protect Cloe when some unscrupulous neighbor boys light firecrackers and start a forest fire. When Cloe has a seizure and is in severe danger, Stella comes to her rescue. She finds a new purpose in being Cloe’s medical service dog as well as her friend.  

I really enjoyed this book because the story was well paced and very exciting.  The characters were both believable and relatable. I loved how the story was told from a dog’s perspective, but it was still easy to read and never got confusing. The book deals with some very serious and intense topics without sugar-coating them. It speaks carefully and thoughtfully about these issues.    

The book was very sad. Although it does have a good and happy ending, the events described were quite serious, and might even be considered a little frightening for younger readers. It is important however  for kids to understand these grown-up topics like death, illness, bullies, forest fires, emotional pain, and loss.  I benefitted from discussing some of the issues the book brought up with my older siblings and my mom.  

I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone who wants an engaging, easy-to-read story.  Stella teaches many important lessons in words appropriately geared towards a younger audience.  This book would also make an excellent read-aloud for a group discussion or with a trusted adult. The author includes some excellent questions for further discussion.   

    

Josie Murdock is 10-years-old and lives with her family on a research farm in South Carolina.  She is homeschooled and loves reading, drawing, and foxes.  This is her first time writing a book review.   

 

 

GIVEAWAY 

I am giving away McCall Hoyle's debut lower middle grade through the July issue of Talking Story. To enter, please leave a comment with your name and email address or email me and I'll enter your name. The giveaway ends July 28. PLUS: If you leave a comment here AND through the newsletter, I'll enter your name twice! U.S. addresses only. 

Congratulations to Dannielle Hammelef who won Franz's Phantasmagorical Machine. 

PREORDER

As I mentioned before, authors really appreciate pre-orders! 

Here's the book trailer and a video of McCall speaking about empathy.

Make sure you check out other MG books on Greg Pattridge's blog.

 

 

  

JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONE-- A Book Review by Guest Blogger, Elliot Kurta

When I read Greg Pattridge's review of Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, I recognized a book that Elliott, my teen guest blogger, would probably enjoy. As you'll see in his review, I was correct.

                        

Combining aliens, middle school, and bullying, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller is an insightful book with an important message for tweens. Overall, the book handles uncharacteristically mature themes, such as bullying, being true to yourself, and making up for past misdeeds. However, this isn’t to say that the target audience won’t be able to understand or acknowledge them. Instead, Jennifer Chan is refreshingly honest while still relatable.

Mallory is the first student at Gibbons Academy to meet the new girl, Jennifer Chan. Over the summer, Mallory is drawn to Jennifer’s self-confidence and earnestness, and the two of them become friends. But once school starts, Mallory is reminded that just being yourself isn’t cool, and if she wants to stay popular she’s going to need to start acting the part. Jennifer, on the other hand, is having even more trouble fitting in. She’s made fun of for believing in aliens, copying the other girls’ haircuts, and being… well, different. As the school year is ending, Mallory and her friends decide that Jennifer needs to be put in her place, for once and for all. The next day, Jennifer has disappeared, and Mallory knows that there are only two possible explanations. Either she was abducted by aliens, or she ran away because of Mallory.

With each chapter, and alternating between the past and the present, Mallory unravels the truth. Using help from two old friends, she reads Jennifer’s journals and retraces Jennifer’s path the day she disappeared. However, finding Jennifer leads to a revelation that Mallory doesn’t want to accept. Unless Mallory can make amends and acknowledge her mistakes, the only lead as to where Jennifer might be will disappear.

Bringing to light what it’s like to be a bully—and what it’s like to be bullied—in middle school, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is packed with emotion. Mallory, both the hero and villain of this story, is unsettlingly relatable, even as she balances peer pressure and her conflicting emotions. Unlike many young protagonists, Mallory’s age is apparent, even as she struggles to bear the guilt of her actions and tries to repair her mistakes. Although the entire book is narrated from Mallory’s point of view, each chapter ends with one of Jennifer Chan’s journal entries, giving a better perspective on the eponymous character’s life and personality. Additionally, Mallory is just one of many remarkable characters, including WASPish Reagan, analytical Ingrid, and arrogant yet persuasive Pete.

Even though this middle-school novel might seem unrealistic, Tae Keller stays well within the realm of possibility. Although aliens and their existence, or lack thereof, are a central part of the book, they’re not presented in a polarizing way, but instead with a “maybe” and a shrug. By the final page, however, the surprise ending is revealed, with a conclusion that’s equally informative and open-ended. With a message of accepting and being kind to others, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is perfect for today’s modern society; especially since peer pressure and cyberbullying can make kids feel lonelier than ever.

One of the reasons why Tae Keller was able to write such a compelling story has to do with her background. Despite the scenes throughout the book, the most touching pages have to be the afterword. Tae Keller reveals that she was bullied during middle school and that this book is the cumulation of her journey of self-healing.

In conclusion, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is a stunning, multilayered book with an important message for pre-teens everywhere. Every aspect of this book is soaked with meaning—even the title—which hints at Jennifer Chan’s belief in aliens and her own subsequent alienation. Written for anyone who’s ever felt conflicted between the right or wrong thing, or for anyone who’s ever been bullied, Jennifer Chan will take you on a tumultuous, heart-wrenching journey.

                                                        

If you're not familiar with Greg's great blog, please check out his Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts.

NO CLUES, YOU LOSE: A Review by Guest Blogger Elliott Kurta and a Giveaway

 REVIEW

Perfect for any wannabe sleuth or basketball fan, No Clues, You Lose is an elementary school novel unlike any other. Josephine Jacobs, also known as Joey, is more than proud to be on her local wheelchair basketball team, the Rollin’ Hornets. After a rebranding, her team has ordered new uniforms to avoid risking disqualification from the upcoming tournament in Atlanta. However, a stolen delivery threatens to derail Joey’s dreams. How will she find the missing uniforms? None of the clues make sense, Joey can’t use her computer because of an incident with her sister, and Coach Mike, as well as most of the parents, want to forfeit the tournament. Using the help of her friends and family, Joey moves past these obstacles to discover both where the missing uniforms went and how she can be a better team-player.

Despite being a lighthearted novel, A.B. Donahue, the author, brings realism and relevance to the book. This story doesn’t shy away from showing how Joey is treated differently by some people. Still, with a combination of determination and optimism, she persists in proving that she’s just as capable as anyone else. While she solves the mystery of the disappearing uniforms, Joey also learns the importance of acceptance, sportsmanship, and taking responsibility for your actions.

Not your average children’s book, No Clues, You Lose sets itself apart from the pack with red herrings, a plot twist, and elevated vocabulary. This novel is meant for seven-to-eleven-year-olds, but it isn’t reminiscent of the writing typical of elementary school mysteries; this is a novel for readers that have progressed beyond picture and phonic books and are ready for a challenge. Even between dubious online auctions, a dangerous snoop through a landfill, and nearly getting trapped in a house with a criminal, A. B. Donahue writes an easy to follow and age-appropriate story which will leave you guessing—but not confused.

Educational yet engaging, No Clues, You Lose is perfect for read-aloud sessions. There’s a lot which young readers can learn from this novel. Managing your emotions, respecting your friends and family, and accepting others’ differences are all examples of takeaways. With writing that will challenge but not stump budding readers, it's no question that No Clues, You Lose is a parent’s first choice for any story time. Joey’s narration does not disappoint, and neither does the unexpected ending to this elementary school thriller for both boys and girls. 

Elliott is a prolific reader of various genres who is more than happy to share his opinions on books. 
In his free time, he enjoys writing, reading, and running. 
He is an 8th grade homeschool student in Charlotte, NC. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A.B. Donahue has a degree in music therapy and psychology from Queens University of Charlotte, and worked with children and youth with special healthcare needs for over 20 years. She and her husband and have four children; and all of them have some kind of special healthcare need. She also founded a nonprofit, Signposts Ministries, in 2010, to serve families that have children and youth with special healthcare needs.

GIVEAWAY

I have an autographed copy of No Clues, You Lose for one winner. Please leave a comment by April 13 along with your email address if you are new to my blog. U.S. addresses only. I will be giving away a second copy through the Talking Story newsletter which Joyce Hostetter and I co-publish. Our spring issue is on "Empowering Disability Through Kidlit" and will publish on April 13. Haven't signed up for our quarterly newsletter yet? You can do it here--great articles, activities, and most of all--more BOOKS! 

Congratulations to Esther Bandy who won A Penny's Worth.

MAKE SURE

You check out other marvelous books on Greg Pattridge's MMGM blog on Monday!