Tag Archive | friendship

Second Chance Summer, by Morgan Matson (book review) – can’t run away from sorrow forever

Aug4

book cover of Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson published by Simon SchusterFive years later,
nothing has changed,
yet everything has changed,
still running away from hard choices.

Should things that you did or said as a 12 year old still grab you by the gut?

After 5 summers away, middle-child Taylor is not happy to be returning to the lake house where she’ll encounter Henry and Lucy and the unfinished business they all share.

And the reason that Dad wants a final family summer together is even worse…

From the author of Since You’ve Been Gone,  another story of summer transformation, recommended here.

Who should you connect with before those “thousand moments are gone”?
**kmm

Book info: Second Chance Summer /Morgan Matson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012, paperback 2013. [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher via PulseIT.

My book talk: Stunned by her father’s sudden cancer diagnosis, Taylor must return to their lake house where her decisions as a tween alienated her from best friends…forever.

Between her genius older brother and ballet star younger sister, Taylor feels so average. But the high school junior evidently has uncommon talent for avoiding tough emotional situations, like the ones she abandoned five years ago at the lake.

Now Dad wants one last family summer together in the Poconos, to make the most of the few months he has left.  Taylor knows that she’ll run into Henry (her first kiss!) and Lucy (best friend ever, until…), but this time, there’s no running away.

Who wouldn’t embrace a second chance to mend a friendship or fall back in love?
What better time to appreciate parental strength and let them know it?
So why is it all so hard for her?

A life-changing Second Chance Summer  from the author of Since You’ve Been Gone.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone (book review) – can poetry save your life?

Aug1

book cover of Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone published by Hyperion TeensDig and dig and dig to answer a question,
Swim to the right rhythm (always in lane 3),
Keep obsessions hidden from everyone, always…

Most folks toss around “OCD” for any neat-freak behavior, but Pure-O (Purely Obsessional) OCD isn’t that at all. Reading Sam’s tumblr gives glimpses into the teen’s life, worries, and soul-searching.

This strong book was published in June, so your local library or independent bookstore should have it for you now. Stone wrote it based a young woman that she knew, then fact-checked all behaviors and responses with mental health professionals to bring us a very true Sam.

Venture down the stairs, into the Poet’s Corner – will you bare your soul and share your thoughts with others?
**kmm

Book info: Every Last Word / Tamara Ireland Stone. Little Brown, 2015. [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

My book talk: Sam keeps her obsessional OCD and her at-school persona separate until she is befriended by Caroline and dares to share in the hidden Poet’s Corner.

Her best friends are the Crazy Eights, the popular, snarky girls at their high school –  Samantha can never let them know about her obsession with 3s or the dark thoughts that careen through her head.

She could never tell the Eights about her new-found friendship with smart and unstylish Caroline or share with her therapist her growing attraction to the guitar-playing guy in the Poet’s Corner – why not?

As the poets share their deep feelings and funny reactions to life, Sam discovers her own voice and realizes that she’s grown away from the Crazy Eights – but will she be able to cope with the bullying that her long-time friends will surely unleash if she leaves them?

If only life at school were as simple as swimming to beat her best time in the summer…
If only she could control her obsessional thoughts and be normal…
If only she could glue all her worries onto a wall and leave them, as her new friends do when they paper the walls of the Poet’s Corner with their writings…

Friendship, romance, poetry, becoming your own self – Every Last Word  that Sam writes in her color-coded notebooks comes from her heart.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Magnolia, by Kristi Cook (book review) – small-town matchmaking, big-time tornado

Jul28

book cover of Magnolia by Kristi Cook published by Simon PulseShe hates him for an eighth grade prank,
He’s mad at her for taking aim at his senior class rank.
Their families have been planning their wedding since pre-kindergarten… sigh.

Neither Ryder nor Jemma want to give in to the expectations of their closer-than-family families.

But when a hurricane heads toward their tiny town (The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore lands in Gulfport, so the Mississippi coast is doomed), Ryder follows family orders to take care of Jemma, and things get crazy.

Read an excerpt from the first chapter here at the publisher’s website, then whirl away to get your own copy of Magnolia to see how stormy the relationship between Ryder and Jemma truly gets!

What crisis would you choose to live through with your not-so-best pal?
**kmm

Book info: Magnolia / Kristi Cook. Simon Pulse, 2014 (hardcover & paperback).  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Matched by their families since birth, Jemma and Ryder can’t stand each other, until a tornado rips through their Mississippi town and the teens find out how thin the line between hate and love truly is.

Ever since Corporal Cafferty saved Captain Marsden during a Civil War battle, the two families have been inseparable. When Jemma C and Ryder M were born six weeks apart, their mothers started planning the wedding. Of course, no one counted on the pair having a huge fight in junior high.

Now it’s their senior year – Ryder’s being recruited for his football skills, Jemma wants to go away to film school, and they’re still feuding. When her older sister’s brain tumor surgery takes Jemma’s parents to Houston, she stays home her short film for NYU.

As a hurricane-spawned tornado heads for Magnolia Branch, Ryder and Jemma are on their own to survive and to discover the true depth of their feelings for one another.

Football rivalry, family plans in conflict, girls in pearls – echoes of Romeo and Juliet in this story set amid moss-draped Magnolia trees. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)Mississippi

Young men a-traveling – adventure tales to read with your ears!

Jul16

Are you ready for adventure? This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC take you to the wild frontier and down the mighty Mississippi when you read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device, so save them now.

Click a title, download the audiobook, listen and wander and watch out for danger!

CD Cover of Crows & Cards by Joseph Helgerson | Read by MacLeod Andrews Published by Brilliance AudioCrows & Cards
by Joseph Helgerson
Read by MacLeod Andrews
Published by Brilliance Audio

In 1849, young Zeb would rather wander than work, so the tanner’s apprentice (allergic to fur and good advice) heads off, meeting a slippery riverboat gambler, a blind Indian medicine man who sees plenty, and a so-so cook who becomes a strong friend.

The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnCD cover of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain | Read by Robin Field Published by Mission Audio
by Mark Twain
Read by Robin Field
Published by Mission Audio

Floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with escaping slave Jim, Huck himself escapes being adopted by a well-meaning widow as the friends keep watch for dangerous characters and slave-catchers in the Mark Twain classic (as written, so not ‘politically correct’ in language).

Would you like to go a-traveling with no roadmaps or GPS like Zeb and Huck?
**kmm

Travel in the elegant age as you read with your ears

Jul9

Summertime is a great time to travel the world when you download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC and read with your ears!

Download of these two free complete audiobooks begins today (Thursday, July 9th) and continues through Wednesday. Remember that you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

Ready to travel during adventurous times? Just click on the title to go to the download page (super easy to do):

CD cover of The Explorers Club by Nell Benjamin | Read by Jack Cutmore-Scott, Carson Elrod, David Furr, John Getz, Martin Jarvis, David Krumholtz, Lorenzo Pisoni, Jennifer Westfeldt, Matthew Wolf Published by L.A. Theatre WorksThe Explorers Club
by Nell Benjamin
Read by Jack Cutmore-Scott, Carson Elrod, David Furr, John Getz, Martin Jarvis, David Krumholtz, Lorenzo Pisoni, Jennifer Westfeldt, Matthew Wolf
Published by L.A. Theatre Works
In 1879 London, the male-only Explorers Club debates admitting a woman to their ranks. Full-cast audio with music includes humor and a possible international incident.

Around the World in Eighty DaysCD cover of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne | Read by Michael Prichard Published by Tantor Audio
by Jules Verne
Read by Michael Prichard<
Published by Tantor Audio

If Phileas Fogg and his valet can journey completely around the world in a mere 80 days, Fogg keeps his fortune… however, travel in the 1870s holds its fair share of perils and adventures!

Where have you traveled through stories lately?
**kmm

Faith and challenge – stories true & terrible on free audiobooks

Jul2

Time to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

Click on a title, download a book, enter into another’s life:

CD cover of Echoes of an Angel by Aquanetta Gordon, Chris Macias | Read by Robin Miles Published by Christian Audio Echoes of an Angel
by Aquanetta Gordon, Chris Macias

Read by Robin Miles
Published by Christian Audio

A true story of faith as blind Ben masters echolocation to ‘see’ with sound, and his family sees God’s hand at work.
Buddha BoyCD cover of Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja | Read by Spencer Murphy Published by Full Cast Audio
by Kathe Koja
Read by Spencer Murphy
Published by Full Cast Audio

Justin must decide whether to bully the new Buddhist student like everyone else at his high school or learn how differences can bring harmony.

Faith in the face of unfair situations – where else have you seen this?
**kmm

Lois Lane: Fallout, by Gwenda Bond (book review) – Metropolis, new reporter, online dangers

Jun22

book cover of Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond published by Switch PressStay out of trouble,
don’t get involved…
when a friend is being bullied?
Yeah, right.

Lois Lane is a born investigator, and her Army dad’s latest move puts her into a virtual reality mystery at her newest school – yes, that Lois Lane and the Daily Planet  and an online-only friend who calls himself SmallvilleGuy.

Read the free prequel short stories here (look below the book cover on left), then head to your local library or independent bookstore to get Lois Lane: Fallout.

When have you stood up against bullying?
**kmm

Book info: Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane, book 1) / Gwenda Bond. Switch Press/Capstone, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Unnerved by the tech gang at her newest school, fledgling reporter Lois investigates its hush-hush ‘field trips’ and uncovers dangers that her online pal SmallvilleGuy and her Army general father can’t ignore.

She promised herself to fly under the radar at Metropolis High, but Lois can’t stand bullies. The Warheads move in unison, finish each other’s sentences, and work on a special virtual reality project off-campus. Now, they want to ‘assimilate’ computer whiz Anavi who feels them pressing on her mind.

Recruited by editor Perry White for the Daily Planet’s new teen reporting team, Lois investigates the Warheads, finding weird connections between the principal and a local research lab.

While new friends on the Scoop team back her up during her research, her online friend SmallvilleGuy (who is he, really?) warns Lois about ARL and its virtual reality plans.

Can Lois keep Anavi safe from The Warheads?
Are their minds truly connected?
Will she ever meet SmallvilleGuy outside the virtual reality game worlds?

A smart and subtle prequel to the Superman saga that we all know so well, Lois Lane: Fallout  balances high-tech gone wrong with friendship done right.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Tiger Boy, by Mitali Perkins (book review) – personal success or species survival?

Jun20

book cover of Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins published by CharlesbridgeHonor or money?
A chance for schooling or a chance for wild tigers?

A rich man’s under-the-table reward for a tiger cub could ensure the future for Neel and his family, but the young man must make his own choices on his beloved Sundarban island near the mouth of the Ganges River.

Where is the line between what is best for wildlife and what is easiest for people?
**kmm

Book info: Tiger Boy / Mitali Perkins; illustrated by Jamie Hogan. Clarksbridge Publishing, 2015.  [author site]  [illustrator site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Neel struggles to keep a lost tiger cub on his Bengali island away from a greedy rich man who wants its skin when the reward would pay for scholarship exam tutoring and medicine for Ma.

The headmaster has selected Neel to take the scholarship exam, despite his difficulty with math and no money for the tutor, even though the boy would rather stay in his Sunderban island village.

Rich Mr. Gupta has come to the island, hiring men like Neel’s father to cut down the special sundari mangrove trees. When rangers ask the villagers to find and return the tiger cub that escaped from a nearby island’s game preserve, the greedy man instead offers a reward for its skin.

As time for the exam gets closer and the rare tiger cub has not been found, Neel’s father reluctantly joins Gupta’s men in the search, while Neel and his big sister venture out each night, trying to find the cub before its frantic mother tears through the preserve’s fences and swims over!

Neel’s love for his home island is as strong as the sundari trees that Baba planted long ago to protect their farm from typhoons – now his appreciation for the rangers’ dedication to protecting the endangered wildlife of the Sundarbans is stronger, too.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Keeper, by Ellen Jensen Abbott (book review) – unite against evil or perish

Jun19

book cover of The Keeper by Ellen Jensen Abbott published by SkyscapeA conquered evil rises again,
former enemies must become allies,
and one teen girl must lead them.

In Watersmeet, Abisina searches for the father she never knew (my review here).

In Centaur’s Daughter, she leads creatures seeking peace in a war against the White Worm (my review here).

Now, she must convince her allies to truly trust one another, or lose their world to absolute evil!

**kmm

Book info: The Keeper (Watersmeet, book 3) / Ellen Jensen Abbott. Skyscape, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy from the author; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As evil arises with renewed powers, Abisina strives to unite centaurs, fairies, humans, dwarves, and fauns, despite their mutual distrust.

Vicious creatures streaming from the newly opened rift in the barrier mountains attack those fleeing Watersmeet and other settlements, but that’s only the beginning. If only the young woman knew what form the Worm would inhabit this time!

When Abisina requests the fairies’ help in battling the Worm and its marauding army, their queen’s daughters give conflicting reports of her mission, and one claims for herself Abisina’s necklace of power – will the folk of the land be able to overcome the evil forces without it?

Now, armed only with her faith in love, the shapeshifter and her ragtag band of friends and former opponents make a last stand against the evil trying to blight their world forever.

The tale begun in Watersmeet and The Centaur’s Daughter concludes in this finale filled with battles, intrigue and fantastic creatures. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Strong young women in WWII – free audiobooks of high prices paid

Jun18

Stories of courage, read by professionals – welcome to World War Two, through free audiobooks.

Remember that although these free complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you can listen to them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

One tale is fiction, the other is biographical, both tell stories that we must never forget.
CD cover of Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein | Read by Sasha Pick Published by Bolinda Publishing Rose Under Fire
by Elizabeth Wein
Read by Sasha Pick<
Published by Bolinda Publishing

A young American woman flying Allied transport planes is downed in Germany and must survive the infamous Ravensbrück Nazi concentration camp. A companion book to Code Name Verity.

 

Anne Frank RememberedCD cover of Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold | Read by Barbara Rosenblat Published by Oasis Audio
by Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold
Read by Barbara Rosenblat
Published by Oasis Audio

The couple who sheltered Anne Frank’s family risked their lives daily for two years. Now Mies shares the story of her own life and those dangerous days in World War II.

What other tales of bravery by “everyday people” do you recommend?
**kmm