Wednesday, August 29, 2018

The Van Gogh Deception by Deron Hicks

A twelve-year-old boy is found loitering at Washington's National Gallery of Art.  He has dissociative  amnesia; he has no idea even what his name is.  He is placed with a temporary foster mom, and her daughter, Camille, names him Art since he was found in an art museum.  Art wants to remember and in fact, he believes that his life depends on him remembering who he is and what brought on the amnesia.  Art convinces Camille to go with him on a journey for information with the few clues that he has.  But, criminal mastermind, Dorchek Palmer, and his cronies are after them at every turn.  Why would they be after a twelve-year-old?  What does he know?  Will he figure it out in time?

Find out in The Van Gogh Deception by Deron Hicks.


Monday, August 27, 2018

Frogkisser by Garth Nix

From the Publisher:

Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother's new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own.

Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land -- and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low.

I was on the fence about reading this book.  It looked like just another fractured fairy tale.  But, I truly enjoyed reading it.  There are twists along the way, and it was fun to read how things turned out overall.  It reinforced the fact that people have good in them if given the chance to show it.

I highly recommend this good read.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Book of the Week Announcement

I have been suggesting books through a remind text once a week or thereabouts.  I took a break over the summer, but I will be starting again on Monday with a book of the week.  I will have a blog post with a description and a link to a google form.  This google form will encourage people to sign up for a copy of the book to be given away at the end of the respective week.

Our first week to begin the giveaways will be next week August 27--August 31.

I hope this will bring renewed interest into the book of the week.

Keep reading!

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Justyce McAlister is a top student at a private school.  He is on his way to success, but when he goes to help his ex-girlfriend out, things go south quickly.  His ex-girlfriend was drunk, and he was trying to get her in the car to drive her home.  She wants to drive herself, but he cannot allow that to happen because she is in no shape to do that safely.  His ex-girlfriend is biracial, but she appears to be white, so the police officer assumes that Justyce is trying to rob her or cause her harm in some way.  Justyce is an African American male, and a police officer arrests him.  Justyce has never been in trouble with the police before, and he is not sure why he is being treated this way. He knows that this has happened to guys in his old neighborhood, but he is a clean cut, smart boy who is going places.

After this incident, he decides that he is going to read the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr and do what Martin does.  He begins writing letters to Martin to get his feelings on paper.  With the incident and the readings, Justyce begins to see things a bit clearer in his life.  The boys in the private school make a lot of "jokes" at his expense under the guise of just kidding around.  He has to examine his ideas and the actions of those around him.

Justyce also comes from a poor family, so he is on scholarship at this school.  But, his best friend, Manny, who is also an African American male, comes from money. They are great friends, but Manny has many things to figure out as well.  These boys must look at what is going on around them to see things as they are and not just as they want them to be.

This book is a must-read.  I have to say that there is a twist that I did not see coming, and it carried the story to a different place than I had envisioned.  I highly recommend reading this book.

Cover image for Dear Martin