By: Tanya,
on 1/15/2010
YAY!!! 11 BIRTHDAYS IS IN PAPERBACK!!!! LOVE IT, READ IT, GIVE IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, TEACHERS, COUSINS!!!It's not possible to write a review of Wendy Mass' bouyant new book 11 Birthdays without comparing it to the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. Like Bill Murray, Amanda Ellerby is forced to repeat the day of her eleventh birthday, Friday, June 5th, over and over again until she gets it right.
By: Tanya,
on 9/21/2009
Every Soul a Star is now available in paperback and I would like to call it to your attention - again. My apologies to those of you who read this review when it first posted, and to those of you who haven't read it, I hope you are inspired to seek out this spectacular book!With her latest novel Every Soul a Star, Wendy Mass confirms that she is the young adult version of the literary novelist AS
By: Minh Le,
on 5/28/2008
Everyone poops... apparently even former press secretary Scott McClellan. Here's an actual excerpt from his much-hyped tell-all book (this passage refers to questions about the Valerie Plame CIA leak case):
"I could feel something fall out of me into the abyss as each reporter took a turn whacking me," he writes of the withering criticism he received as the story played out.
Can it be? Is McClellan actually admitting to $h!tting his pants during a press conference? I smell a NY Times bestseller! (No pun intended.)
"Don't worry, I washed my hands. See?"
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 3/7/2008
Reviews are trickling in. (This is the worst part of this process for me.)
Phew! I survived!
From Kirkus:
The lives of four families change when they intersect at a run-down motel in the middle of nowhere. For years Aggie and her late husband operated the Sleepy Time Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains. Alone now and facing a drawer of unpaid bills and endless repairs on the dilapidated motel, Aggie reluctantly puts a “For Sale” ad in the paper. Eager for a new life since his wife left, Clyde makes an offer on the motel and uproots his lonely daughter Willow to the Sleepy Time. A troubled kid, Kirby and his mom are en route to a special boys’ school when their car breaks down and they show up at the motel. Filled with questions about her birth mother who has recently died, Loretta and her adoptive parents arrive at the Sleepy Time on a family vacation. As these unlikely folks come together in Aggie’s tumbledown motel, they find something they need through the friendships that form.
O’Connor artfully weaves together the hopes, fears, disappointments, sorrows and joys of her multi-generational cast to produce a warm and satisfying conclusion. (Fiction. 10-14)
From School Library Journal:
O'Connor's knack for well-deveoped characters and feisty protagonists is evident, as is her signature Southern charm."
From Booklist:
"The plainspoken text is clean, direct, and honest in its portrayal of pain and hope. Another satisfying novel with a southern setting and original characters from the author of Moonpie and Ivy and Taking Care of Moses."
From the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books:
"O'Connor fans...won't be disappointed."
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 3/1/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/28/2008
Tomorrow (Feb 29) is the deadline for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing.
Win a signed copy!
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/26/2008
This is fabuloso author Kimberley Little's entry for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing:
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/26/2008
Here's the entry for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing for author Annette Gulati. The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is one of her favorite places.
Deadline is Feb. 29!
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/26/2008
Here's the entry for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing for writer, teacher and lover of children's literature, Marcie Atkins. She grew up in Thailand.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/25/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/23/2008
Here's the postcard entry for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing from author/illustrator Jennifer Thermes (who creates the most awesome and beautiful maps you ever saw):
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/22/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/21/2008
Jill is having a book give-away, too - for her brand new picture book, To the Big Top. Check it out on her blog.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/21/2008
Author Kerry Madden entered the Greetings from Nowhere book drawing by sending these two great postcards of her beloved Maggie Valley, North Carolina (the setting for her fabulous trilogy of books. The latest, Jessie's Mountain, is hot off the press and already getting rave reviews.)
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/20/2008
There's still time to e-mail me a postcard (barbaraoconnor AT mac DOT com) - deadline for the drawing for a signed copy of Greetings from Nowhere is Feb. 29.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/18/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/16/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 2/15/2008
I've gotten some cool postcards for the Greetings from Nowhere drawing.
Wanna play?
Wanna win a signed copy?
Here's all you have to do:
Email me or post on my blog a photo or link to a photo of a postcard - with a subject heading of Greetings from ______ [fill in the blank].
The postcard can be from your hometown, your favorite place, your dream place, your nightmare place, a fictional place....whatever.
Deadline: February 29
I'll be posting some postcards as they come in.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 1/31/2008
By: Minh Le,
on 1/30/2008
I found this interesting review on Amazon.com:
162 of 175 people found the following review helpful:
2.5 out of 5 stars I AM NOT A MONSTER!!! January 30, 2008
By Gonzo the Great "Creative Consultant" (Reno, Nevada) See all my reviews
First let me say that I have great respect for Ed Emberley... but as a weirdo, I felt that it is my duty to say something. People have been making this mistake for far too long... so listen up: Weirdos are not Monsters!!!!
Just look at Emberley's list of so-called "weirdos": Vampire, Goblin, Cat, Monster, Witch, Devil, etc. As you can see, these are monsters, not weirdos. (Except for the cat... because cats are most definitely weird).
Now I'm not saying that weirdos can't be monstrous, because they can. And I'm definitely not saying monsters can't be weird cause there are some doozies out there (take this guy for example).
When it comes down to it, I'm not even sure exactly what weirdos are... but that's beside the point! My point is that weirdos are not necessarily monsters! So, basically, if Emberley changed the name of his book to Ed Emberley's Little Drawing Book of Monsters (Who Also Happen to be Weirdos), then I'd have no problem with it. In fact, I'm tempted to buy it anyways because I can get a used one for only 99 cents... and offensive or not, that's a bargain!!!
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 1/8/2008
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 11/23/2007
The cover is finally up on Powell's and Amazon!
Getting closer to becoming a REAL book!
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 9/6/2007
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 9/6/2007
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 8/22/2007
Writer Alice Munro refers to the real life things that inspire us to write as "starter dough."
These things were starter dough for Greetings from Nowhere:
Thanks for yet another amazing recommendation. Ivy reeeally liked this book, although she found the ending a little unsatisfying -- she seemed to think that the main storyline wasn't entirely resolved -- but she may not have been getting into all the nuances/levels of the story either.
Excellent! I really like Wendy Mass' writing. She keeps the story based in reality, but I definitely think her work is similar to Ingrid Law's "Savvy" (the new standard bearer, for me, and maybe Ivy, too.) Her stories tend to be a bit more complex and mature than "Penderwicks," the other new standard bearer for me. See if you can find Mass' "11 Birthdays." It will be a quick read for Ivy,
We had 11 Birthdays here for three weeks and I finally brought it back -- she wasn't interested, but maybe I didn't "sell" it well enough. She was reluctant to start Every Soul a Star too, so the other one might be an easier sell now.
There is definitely a right time to read every book, whether it's sitting on your shelf at home or not...
To clarify, Ally's symbol is a crescent moon. While Bree's symbol is a star.
Thanks for pointing that out! Don't know how I mixed it up. Consider it fixed...