Giveaways!!!

I have two giveaways that will be ending on August 1 and have no entries please enter the giveaway you have a very good chance at winning a copy of The Castaways and The Imposter's Daughter!

Giveaway - The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities (Tokyo stripper, lesbian seductress, Ambien addict). Later, she lucks into the perfect job--interviewing celebrities for a top women's magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars.



About Author
Laurie Sandell is a contributing editor at Glamour, where she writes cover stories, features, and personal essays. She has also written for Esquire, GQ, New York, and In Style, among others. In her twenties, she spent four years traveling around the world, having unsavory experiences she later justified as "material."

 GIVEAWAY DETAILS


Thanks to Anna at Hachette Books, three readers of this blog will win copies of this book. Books will be shipped direct from the publisher. US and Canada only, no PO boxes please. Contest ends on Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Rules for entry of this giveaway are very simple:

1. Leave your email address in a comment. Please give me a way to contact you, in case you are a winner!
2. For an extra entry, be a follower of this blog. (Please leave a separate entry)

Review - The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

About the Author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

My Review
I truly enjoyed this story and had a hard time putting the book down at bedtime.  Elin wove such a interesting story and had you fascinated by how all of these individuals were intertwined on so many levels.  I loved that they had a close knit group who spent so much time in one another's lives and really enjoyed each others company, they were a family through friendship.  I give this book a thumbs up and I will be on the lookout for more of Elin Hilderbrand.

I would like to thank Hatchette Book Group for providing me a complimentary copy of this book to read for my honest review.


# Paperback: 359 pages
# Publisher: First Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company and Hatchette Book Group
# Language: English
# First Edition: June 2010
# ISBN 978-0-316-04390-8

I have some exciting news I will also be giving away three copies of this great book please see details below.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Thanks to Valerie at Hachette Books, three readers of this blog will win copies of this book. Books will be shipped direct from the publisher. US and Canada only, no PO boxes please. Contest ends on Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Rules for entry of this giveaway are very simple:

1. Leave your email address in a comment. Please give me a way to contact you, in case you are a winner!
2. For an extra entry, be a follower of this blog. (Please leave a separate entry)

Review - The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield

A young woman struggles against a small town’s superstitious fears at the turn of the last century

In the summer of 1900 a meteorite lands on the day of Peg Staynor’s baptismal, barely missing the small church in rural Ontario. This, along with Peg’s almost colourless eyes, is enough to resurrect a local superstition that will haunt Peg and her family for years. Many believe Peg to be a “river child,” taken over by an evil spirit from the Magurvey river that winds its way through the town.

Feared and shunned throughout her childhood, Peg is blamed for every misfortune, from drought to ailing livestock. When her mother, her fiercest protector, dies suddenly on the same day WWI is declared, fourteen-year-old Peg must face not only the mistrust of the villagers, but of her father. His grief has driven him to take solace in drink and old superstition, leaving Peg with only her head-strong older sister for support.

It will take the terrible reality of the first World War to shake off the grip of old world beliefs. As the town’s young men begin to return mentally and physically damaged, or not return at all, the sheltered atmosphere of the town is broken. A bright flame of change will sweep through everyone’s lives, leading Peg into the future.

About the Author 

Lori grew up on a small farm in rural Ontario before moving to Toronto to be a starving artist. She was an overnight success. She went on to work as a jewelry designer before taking up her pen again, this time to write fiction. Lori currently lives with her husband in Toronto.

Lori is the host of the First Line blog, a source of inspiration for fiction writers.

My  Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book it was an easy read and the story that was told was interesting and kept me captivated through the whole book.  I wanted Peg to triumph over the naysayers in her small little town.  Peg seems to adapt to being an outcast.  She is a lovely person who's resilience is tested several times in her short life and each time, she faces challenges head on and comes out on top.  I have selected this book for my book club and I am looking forward to the response from my fellow members.  I would recommend this book to my fellow readers.  I believe that Lori Ann Bloomfield did a tremendous job in writing her first novel and I will be on the lookout for her future books.

Thank you to Annie Paikeday and Second Story Press for sending a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of my honest review.

# Paperback: 280 pages
# Publisher: Second Story Press
# Language: English
# ISBN 978-1-897187-66-1

Review - Violet by Tania Duprey Stehlik

Why am I Violet?!

Violet is happy that her father has come to pick her up after her first day at a new school. But as she races over to meet him, one of the other kids asks, “How come your Dad is blue and you’re not?” Violet has never even thought about this before. Her mother is red, and her father is blue – so why isn’t she red or blue? Why is she violet? Upset and confused, Violet goes to her mother. Using paints, her mother shows her that when you combine red and blue, you get violet! Like many people in the world, Violet is a beautiful mix of colors.

A wonderfully original story about acceptance and the beauty of being different, with illustrations that beautifully capture Violet’s off-kilter and colorful world.

About the Author
Tania Stehlik is an elementary school teacher with the Toronto District School Board. She was born and raised in Montreal, but currently lives in Toronto with her husband Rob. She is of Indian and French Canadian descent and takes great pride in her mixed heritage from which the story of Violet is inspired. This is her first book.

About the Illustrator 
Vanja is a multimedia artist and a free-lance graphic designer who has had her work displayed in several shows. She was born in former Yugoslavia and presently resides in Toronto. This is her first time illustrating a children’s book.

My Review
This book is wonderfully illustrated and the imagery is beautiful.  Not only is Violet starting at a new school where she is nervous it comes to her new classmates attention that Violet is not the same color as her parents.  Violet wonders why this is so and feels rather distraught about her situation until her mother explains to her that when you mix red and blue you get Violet.  I loved this story and will read this to my girls over and over again so that they know that we may all look different on the outside but we are all the same on the inside.  I love that this is teaching about self-confidence but in such a subtle way.

Thank you to Annie Paikeday and Second Story Press for sending a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of my honest review.

# Paperback: 26 pages
# Publisher: Second Story Press
# Language: English
# ISBN 978-1-897187-60-9

Review - Being Big by Sharen Liddell

Barbara is big. She has big hands and big feet and she is taller and weighs more than any of her friends. She is so big that normal-kid running shoes don’t fit. Learning how Barbara comes to accept herself and to like how she looks will be fun for young readers.

About the Author
Sharen Liddell is a sometime teacher, sometime librarian and full-time writer of stories for young people.  She loves storytelling and lives with her family in Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario.


About the Illustrator
Yvonne Cathcart lives in Toronto with her husband, son Spencer and their two cats.  She enjoys painting and making animal sculptures out of recycled material and teaching arts and crafts to children.


My Review
The story of Being Big is about a little girl who is larger than the rest of the children in her class and she feels that difference very much and tries to make some changes so that she won't be so big and fit in with the rest of her classmates.  After Barbara has a talk with her Mom about all the great things she can too since she is big she starts to feel much better about herself.  I think that this book helps kids look at their differences and embrace them.  It is a feel good story with a very good lesson in this physical obsessed world we live in.

Thank you to Annie Paikeday and Second Story Press for sending a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of my honest review.

# Paperback: 24 pages
# Publisher: Second Story Press
# Language: English
# ISBN 0-929005-62-7 (bound)

REVIEW - Franny and the Music Girl by Emily Hearn

Franny embraces life. She loves to move fast, play with her friends and explore her neighbourhood looking for adventure. Like other children her age, she is happy, curious and vibrant. She also uses a wheelchair.

About the Author
Emily Hearn has worked at the National Film Board, written programs on music, dance, and poetry for CBC Radio and the Polka Dot Door for TVO, and she wrote a natural history comic strip, “Mighty Mites” with artist Mark Thurman for OWL magazine. She has written several children’s books, including Franny and the Music Girl and Hattie Pearl Click Click, both published by Second Story Press. More recently, Emily has released two books of poetry: Grass of Green Moment and They look Like This To Me. She lives with her husband, Douglas Valleau, in downtown Toronto where they make music, write, walk, and entertain their grandchildren.

About the Illustrator
Mark graduated from the Central Technical School Art Program in 1966, and has been a working artist since that time. He has worked as an illustrator, a designer and has shown as a gallery artist. He has taught life drawing anatomy and illustration/design at the Toronto School of Art, anatomy/figure drawing at OCAD, and picture-book illustration and figure drawing at Central Technical School. Currently, he teaches anatomy/figure drawing in the Classical Animation department at Sheridan College.

He is best known as a children’s author illustrator. He has written and illustrated 16 books and designed and illustrated more than 25 books for other authors. He was co- creator and illustrator of the “Mighty Mites”, a scientific comic, in Owl Magazine. From 1976 to 1991, he co-authored (with Emily Hearn) and illustrated 153 episodes. He has appeared on TVO Kids, Romper Room, Mr. Dress-up, Polka Dot Door and Caribou Club.

As an author/illustrator he has toured Canada extensively, sharing his stories and ideas with children and teachers in hundreds of schools. “Constant touring means being on the road, I’m a travelling salesman — only I’m selling information, ideas and inspiration.

My Review
I thought this was a wonderful book teaching kids that even with living life in a wheelchair you can pursue all of your dreams and accomplish anything you put your mind too.  Franny is a lovely girl who lives a lovely life.  Franny faces the same challenges as children that are not in a wheelchair and she handles them wonderfully.  I would recommend reading this book to anyone with young children it is a great way to show that even with physical challenges life can be grand.

Thank you to Annie Paikeday and Second Story Press for sending a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of my honest review.

# Paperback: 22 pages
# Publisher: Second Story Press
# Language: English
# ISBN 0-929005-03-I