I don’t have reviews written up yet, but just a quick note in case you’re looking for great books.

Airman, by Eoin Colfer. Wow, what a great book! It reminded me of The Count of Monte Cristo. (Well this movie version. I confess I never read the book.) Airman had a character I loved in a gripping plot and heartbreaking circumstances, and it also had Colfer’s wonderful wit. He’s brilliant.

The next book I’d like to rave about is East by Edith Pattou. I thought her pacing was perfect. I loved the characters–all the narrators. Loved the magic and the message. I’d never read Pattou before–I only did now because I’m reading several books published by Michael Stearns–but now that I’ve discovered her I’m going to go on and try some others. I’ll start with Hero’s Song, I think.

We have a winner!

Cindi, come o-o-o-o-o-n down.

Or just email me with your snail mail address. I’ll get this puppy in the mail for you. I’m happy to give it to you because the thing I like best after reading good books is giving good books away.

And for those cryptogramically challenged among my readers, the answer was the first paragraph from the book:

The two people Ellie hated most were Adolf Hitler and Victoria Gandeck. Hitler lived in Germany, but Victoria was just across the alley. And right now, Ellie hated Victoria more.

Well, this is the end of the Jimmy’s Stars tour. It’s been a blast.

I have nothing new to add to the mix today. I’ve been reading all the blog posts instead of coming up with my own.

So I’ll send you to my three favorite posts today:

1. First go to Becky’s Book Reviews and start the playlist.

2. Next go to Maw Books Blog and mix up a cake.

3. While the cake is baking trot on over to a Christian Worldview of Fiction and consider how much joy you can let out if you read kids book with great characters, including great adult characters.

After that go and see what fun facts the rest of these bloggers have gotten from Mary Ann in their interviews and reading.

01 Charger, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Maw Books, Small World Reads, The Friendly Book Nook

I just posted my review of Mary Ann Rodman’s delightful middle grade historical, Jimmy’s Stars.

I highly recommend the book. It’s entertaining, moving, educational… it hasn’t got any car chases but short of that, it has it all–great, living, breathing characters; well-painted story world; and thought provoking, and compelling story problem.

OK, I love cryptograms so I had to make one up for this book.

If you want your own copy of Jimmy’s Stars, solve the cryptogram and mail me the answer at Sally at paraklesis dot com by Next Monday. I’ll put all the correct answers in a hat and pick a winner.

Winners have to be in the US or Canada and have to be willing to give me their mailing addresses so I can send them the book.

Easy, huh?

Here’s the cryptogram:

Uft ura vtavet Teext fbutm kalu rtqt Bgaec Fxuetq bog Dxsuaqxb Gbomtsz. Fxuetq exdtm xo Jtqkboi, wyu Dxsuaqxb rbl pylu bsqall uft beeti. Bog qxjfu oar, Teext fbutm Dxsuaqxb kaqt.

(Oh that was fun on the old spell check. )

I will also be posting a review of Jimmy’s Stars in a few hours, so check back here.

For now, go on over to KidzBookBuzz.com for a breakdown of what other bloggers on the tour are doing, or just click on the links below to go to their blogs.

01 Charger, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Maw Books, Small World Reads, The Friendly Book Nook

Today is the kick off blog tour for KidzBookBuzz.com’s children’s Book Blog Tour. And the great thing is that we have a really wonderful book to start things off with. The second great thing is that we have some terrific bloggers talking about the book.

For the next three days we’ll be talking about Mary Ann Rodman’s middle grade historical novel, Jimmy’s Stars.

Jimmy’s Stars tells the story of Ellie McKelvey and how she relates to World War II and in particular how she handles her brother Jimmy’s being drafted. I liked this book a lot. It’s a character-driven book with a plot that I found compelling. I’ll post my review on it tomorrow.

For today I want to look at what some of the other bloggers are saying about this book.

April at a Childhood of Dreams says:

This is a story geared toward the 9 - 12 age range, however, I think that anyone of any age would deeply enjoy this stirring work.

I agree. Both of my parents, 86 and 89, read the book and loved it. It brought back memories and it made them cry.

Kyle, at Book Review Maniac really loved the book, which should make Ms. Rodman proud because Kyle is a teen boy and they’re not the easiest folks to please. Besides loving the book, Kyle said:

I also got to know more about World War II, which I have studied before but after reading this book I got a unique perspective of the war from Ellie, an eleven year old girl

The story wasn’t just Ellie’s, though it’s seen through her eyes. It’s also Jimmy’s story. It’s the story of young men being called away from their homes and families to fight and die in foreign lands. Maybe that’s why Kyle, a teen boy, was compelled the read the book every chance he got.

At Dolce Bellezza we read:

It couldn’t be published at a more apros pos time; even if it is set during World War II, wars are essentially the same in their devastation

Read the next post down–August 16–and you’ll see why she really means this.

Natasha, at Maw Books said:

What made Jimmy’s Stars so great for me was the raw emotions that Ellie had. She really stepped right out of the pages of the book for me. I was also swept away into a different time and place as Mary Ann Rodman’s attention to historical accuracy and detail was superb.

OK, I can’t keep going on or we’ll be here all day. I will say this: as a homeschooling mom I’m loving this book. It’s on the list of books we’re going to read this year. This is the best way to teach history, I think. Through story. This method has been handed down for generations, from the beginning of time. In reading this book, my school kids are going to think about life, war, family, kindness, self-sacrifice, hatred, and I don’t even know what else. They are going to consider these things in the context of family, neighborhood, city, country and world. They are going to be moved as they think about history and as they consider the present world they live in. I can’t be happier with a book than I am with Jimmy’s Stars.

Please visit all the participants on the KidzBookBuzz.com tour for Jimmy’s Stars!

01 Charger, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Maw Books, Small World Reads, The Friendly Book Nook

Meanwhile the Christian publishers can’t be bothered to even publish many children’s books, let alone give them away free. Maybe some of the reason we’ve lost so much ground in this country is that our missionaries aren’t as zealous as the world’s.

Second Story Press Celebrates Gay Marriage in California With Their Classic Picture Book “Mom and Mum are Getting Married!”

Second Story Press will be giving away copies of their picture book “Mom and Mum Are Getting
Married!” to librarians at this year’s American Library Association Conference on Saturday,
June 28 in Anaheim in celebration of California’s newly legislated legalization of gay marriage.

Anaheim, CA (PRWeb via PRWeb) June 26, 2008 — Second Story Press will be giving away copies of their 2004 picture book Mom and Mum Are Getting Married! to librarians at this year’s American Library Association Conference on Saturday, June 28 in Anaheim in celebration of California’s newly legislated legalization of gay marriage. Author Ken Setterington will be on hand signing copies and available to talk about the book and its impact on the children’s literary community, from the controversy it generated when first published to the relevance it has in light of this new legal decision.

The book tells the story of young Rosie and her two mothers. When they tell her they are going to get married, Rosie can’t wait to start planning the big day. Rosie has so many questions. Will she get to be a flower girl? Can she get a new dress? Will there be food and a fabulous wedding cake? At this party, family, friends and fun come together for a joyous celebration of love in a changing world. Author Ken Setterington is the Toronto Public Library’s Children and Youth Advocate. His awards include the Ontario Library Association’s Librarian of the Year and the prestigious Toronto Arts Award for Writing and Publishing. He has authored several other children’s books, a play, and regularly reviews and recommends children’s literature. Ken has served on the Siebert, Newbery and last year’s Caldecott committees.

The American Library Conference is being held at the Anaheim Convention Centre, and Second Story Press can be found in booth #2653.

Have you all seen who is going to be at ACFW this year? I’m sure they’ll be adding many editors to the list. Meanwhile I’m floored at the number of agents lined up. Yikes! I’ve never seen so many agents in one place before.

And what does this tell us? That Christian writers are hot. I don’t know how else to interpret it.

What I find especially nice is that many of those agents are taking YA. These are folks who for the past decade have been turning up their noses at YA as if the stuff might be offensive to our holy God.

Interestingly, Steve Laube, a smart fellow (except for the lapse he had when he rejected me, ) is still not begging for YA, but he has come out of the closet on the sci-fi/fantasy issue. We all knew he liked the stuff, but he hadn’t been actively seeking it, I don’t think. Well, he is now.

Also interesting is the fact that Chip MacGregor has an associate, or an assistant, or someone, working with him. Well, she’s listed simply as agent. Sandra Bishop. Have I been in a hole somewhere? When did he add her to the agency? Did he introduce her on his blog? I must have missed it. But…here’s the deal…I’m loving this. I love that we have more agents to hound.

Yowsers. It’s feeding season at ACFW this year.

The sad thing is that I can’t go.

I did Mount Hermon in March, and I’m going to Bolivia in July. Then there’s the LA SCBWI conference in August. I just can’t see fitting in a fourth out-of-state trip this year.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll have to start praying. (Where’s the praying smiley when you need him?) With God all things are possible. My buddy Jonathan Rogers is teaching at Glorieta this year and I’d love to go there. (OK he’s not really a buddy–I’m just a crazed fan. I’d still like to go to Glorieta and stalk him. )

And then there are ALL THOSE AGENTS at ACFW!!!!

Yeah, that would be cool. ACFW from October 18-21 and Glorietta from October 22-26.

I’m such a conference junkie.

You know, where else can you hang with such intelligent, fun people? Writers conferences rule.

If any of you happen to be in a pediatrician’s office this month, be sure to check out the Highlights magazine.

The best thing was that my mom and dad (86 and 89) were in the car when I got my copies and they were so impressed with me. They think I’m quite clever. heh heh Mom’s already ordering copies to send to the relatives.

The bittersweet part is that the boy in the story is named after my husband who died last year of colon cancer. When I married him I told him, “Stick with me Sweet Cheeks, and I’ll make you famous.” He read the story and thought it was cute, and he knew Highlights bought it, but he never got to actually see his fifteen minutes of fame. (No, I’m not kidding about promising him fame and fortune–how else would I have talked the man into marrying me?)

To add to the fun yesterday, I also saw a friend’s first novel in Costco. My mom bought it, of course. Any author friends of mine are friends of hers too, by Golly!

A short video on Tara Publishing, the Indian company with the artsy books. It is so encouraging to see small companies gaining recognition for quality work.