Sunday, December 31, 2017

Review of Megan's Munchkins (Megan's World 1) by Pamela Foland

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions presented are my own. There are also affiliate links present in this post. When you click on those, I may earn a small commission to help support my websites.


Megan's Munchkins

Not everything hidden in the closet is scary, even if it’s furry and has sharp claws! 

Every teenager’s dream come true and every parent’s worst nightmare, Megan’s Munchkins is a short and sweet tale about a middle-school girl finding, quite by accident, the pet she had always wanted. Plus three more! 

It’s almost Spring break and adventurous thirteen-year-old Megan Thompson finds four tiny day-old kittens in the park and makes a decision on the spot that will turn her life upside-down. What does a young girl do who has been told by her parents over and over again that she may not have a pet? In Megan’s mind, there is no question. She must save these motherless newborns, even if it means keeping them a secret from her mom and dad. 

The next five weeks are an exhausting blur of vet visits, endless cycles of feeding schedules, household chores, homework and sneaking around, but Megan has never been happier in her whole life. The kittens grow quickly and begin to venture out into the world beyond the closet. Megan knows it is only a matter of time before she must tell her parents about her secret. Fate steps in and her secret is discovered. What will happen to her precious babies now?

http://amzn.to/2Dik8Gn


**My thoughts**

Reading this book kind of transported me back to my childhood. I was just a little bit younger than Megan when my father discovered four abandoned kittens on the woodpile at our store/house. They were older, though, and had been weaned by their mother, who did still come around on occasion to check in on them. We did eventually adopt all four of them, but they also had to live outside due to my father's allergies. 

I don't know what would have happened had they been as young as one day. I have a hard time believing a young girl would have the wherewithal to figure out how to take care of such small kittens. But Megan also does a lot of research and is resourceful to get the help that she needs. I may have been able to pull that off at that age, because I did always love to do my research.

You see a lot of growth in Megan as she strives to take care of her young munchkins. She is eager to take care of these vulnerable kittens in her care, as well as prove that she is responsible. I admit that it is questionable about how responsible she is as she lies to her parents for several weeks. But she does have some consequences for her behavior and has to make amends. The resolution is what my parents would have done for me, and likely what I would have done for my own kids.

I did learn a lot by reading this book. I think kids would also learn a lot about being caregivers for young animals by reading this book. I also think that this story would serve as a great foundation for discussions on not only animal care, but making the right decisions and owning up to your mistakes. 


http://amzn.to/2Dm6J0b


About Pamela Foland

Pamela Foland grew up in Plano, Texas. Her love of animals started at a very young age. As a child, she was constantly bringing home stray dogs, and injured birds. She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Business in 2005. As an adult, her love of animals has only grown stronger. Pamela has worked in numerous pet hotels as a dog trainer and is certified to teach pet first aid and CPR. All her experience with pets culminated four years ago when Pamela found and raised an abandoned litter of day-old kittens. Not able to part with any of these now-grown babies, Pamela enjoys going home to her "little munchkins" every night. This experience gave Pamela the inspiration for her series debut, Megan's Munchkins. Pamela will always have a special affinity with Megan because of their shared experiences. She truly believes there are few experiences in life more compelling than saving the life of another being.



Thursday, December 28, 2017

Read an excerpt from Megan's Pet Sitting Adventure by Pamela Foland

I was compensated for this post via Fiverr. I only share those books that I think my readers will enjoy. 
Affiliate links are also present within. When clicked on, they may provide me with a small commission to help support my blogs.



Megan's Pet Sitting Adventure


Bringing up four kittens is expensive, and if Megan can't come up with an idea fast, her parents will give her precious babies away. She thought pet sitting would be a fun, easy job. Getting to be around more animals - what could go wrong? Megan gets her first job watching Mrs. Driscoll's pets for the weekend. She is responsible for the enthusiastic lab named Max, a talkative African parrot named Taffy, and a finicky Burmese cat named Holly. Each pet comes with its own quirky personality, but Megan plans to look after them like her own. She enlists the help of her best friend Jill, but Jill's mind isn't focused on the pets. Is Megan in over her head? Her neighbor's pets are certainly testing Megan's pet care knowledge. She is thrown one curveball after another as she works to keep the three pets safe and happy. How will Megan fare? Will she earn the Driscoll's praise or get scolded for giving poor pet care? Find out in this exciting story of Megan's Pet Sitting Adventure!


Available on Amazon

Read an excerpt:
“There you go, babies,” Megan cooed, stroking each kitten as they ate. “We have to go to the Driscoll’s and take care of their pets. I’ll be back soon.”

Megan and Jill left the kittens and dashed back down the stairs.

When they reached the Driscoll’s house, Megan unlocked the front door, and Jill closed it quickly to prevent Max from escaping. He bounded into the entry hall and jumped up to lick first Megan and then Jill.

Megan giggled and twisted her face away from Max’s quick slurping tongue. “Hi Max, I’m happy to see you too.”

“Oh, Max, don’t lick my makeup off,” Jill squealed.

“Come on, we need to check on Holly and Taffy,” Megan said, pulling Max by his collar so he would get off Jill.

Max returned to all four paws on the floor and trotted after Megan as she crossed the living room.

After turning on the light, Megan knelt next to Taffy’s cage. “Hi, Taffy. What are you doing pretty bird? Do you want to come out and play?”

“Are you really going to let her out?” Jill asked, eyeing Taffy nervously.

“Of course. That was part of the instructions. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Taffy makes me nervous. What if she bites you?”

“She’s not going to bite me,” Megan said, rolling her eyes at her friend.

Megan reached over and started undoing the bottom latch on the cage door. Taffy hopped to the perch closest to the door and watched Megan’s fingers work.

“You’re eager to come out, aren’t you?” said Megan, as she moved her hand to undo the top lock.

Just as her fingers gripped the clasp on the door’s top lock, Taffy stepped forward and gave Megan’s pointer finger a sharp bite.

“Ouch!” Megan pulled her hand back and jumped to her feet in surprise.

“Ha ha ha. Be sweet. Ouch. Ha ha ha,” said Taffy.

“It’s not funny, Taffy. That hurt,” Megan scolded.

Taffy was undeterred by the scolding and unapologetically continued laughing, “Ouch. Ha ha ha.”

“Taffy, your parents trusted us to watch you this weekend. Now, that means I have to open your cage door. You babies aren’t getting sick or injured on my watch, so let me--” Megan pulled her hand back just in time.

Taffy squawked, “Be sweet, ouch, ha ha ha.”

“Well, if you’re going to be that way, you can stay in there for a while,” Megan retorted. She quickly redid the bottom lock on the cage door.

Megan clutched her bitten finger to her chest and examined it.

“Are you alright?” Jill asked.

“That hurt, but it didn’t break the skin,” Megan said, showing her injury to Jill.

“Looks like you will have a blood blister on your finger for a few days,” said Jill, studying the bite mark.

The girls left the living room in search of Holly.

“Holly, where are you pretty kitty?” Megan called.

Megan and Jill wandered down the hall and into the Driscoll’s bedroom followed closely by Max.

After turning on the light, they spotted Holly sprawled across the bedspread.

“Hi, Holly. Wake up sleepy head,” Megan sat on the edge of the bed and scratched behind Holly’s ears.

“Do you hear that? She’s purring,” Megan said, smiling at her friend.

Jill stood at the foot of the bed watching, “I can’t hear anything.”

“Come closer, it’s really a soft purr.”

Jill sat on the bed and reached over to scratch Holly’s head.

“I can now,” Jill said.

After a few minutes, Holly got up and stretched before moving to the middle of the pillows.

Megan jumped off the bed, “You want to play? I will find your feather toy and be right back.”

Jill said, “She looks like she wants to sleep.”

“I know, but I saw a bunch of cat toys near Mrs. Driscoll’s chair in the living room. I want to get her to play for a minute,” said Megan, disappearing from the room.

Megan smiled at Max as she turned around and walked back to Taffy’s cage. “Is that your way of apologizing? Alright, Taffy, I accept. I’ll let you out now.”

Megan kept her eyes on Taffy and slowly reached for the top lock. As soon as her fingers neared the clasp, Taffy darted forward beak open.

Megan pulled her hand back and said, “I have to undo the lock if you want to come out.”As Megan chose a toy from the basket and turned to leave the room, Taffy called, “Come here. Be sweet.”

How am I ever going to be able to feed and care for her with her biting at me?

Megan said, “Taffy be nice and let me--” Megan’s hand wasn’t even to the cage clasp yet when Taffy dove for her fingers.

Megan sighed. She grabbed the feather toy from the basket and showed it to Taffy. “Fine, I am going to play with Holly and Max who like me. I’ll care for you later”

Taffy’s eyes lit up at the toy. She hopped to the upper perch and reached her beak through the bars to get the feather.

Megan moved the cat toy to the other side of the cage and Taffy followed it.

Aha, thought Megan. I’m about to outsmart you!

So Megan left the toy just out of Taffy’s reach and with Taffy distracted, Megan was able to unlock the cage door for Taffy. Taffy hopped out of the cage as soon as Megan backed up. Once on top of her cage, Taffy puffed up her feathers and bopped up and down while saying, “Dance, Taffy, dance.”

Megan giggled and went back down the hall to find Holly and Jill.

“Jill, guess what? I got Taffy’s cage door open.”

“How? Did you get bit again?” Jill asked, climbing off the bed.

“No, Taffy likes the feather toys too. I used it to distract her and got the door open. No problem.”

“Wow, good thinking. I just hope we can get her back in her cage.”

Megan nodded, before focusing on Holly. “Here, Holly, I got you a feather toy,” Megan said, climbing on the bed and dragging the toy across the bedspread in a slow, teasing fashion. Holly reached for it half-heartedly but didn't move from her spot on the pillow to chase it.

Jill giggled, “Let me try. She isn’t interested in it that way.”

Megan handed the toy to Jill, who didn’t have any better luck enticing Holly to play.

After several attempts to get her to play, Megan and Jill gave up.

“I get it, we are interrupting your nap. Go back to sleep. We’ll go play with Max out back,” Megan said, scratching Holly’s ears.

Jill jumped off the bed and followed as Megan raced Max to the back door. Out in the yard, Max brought Jill and Megan his favorite tennis ball and dropped it at their feet expectantly.

Jill kicked the ball across the yard with the toe of her shoe, “That ball is gross. No way I’m touching it.”

Megan giggled and picked it up when Max brought it back. “It’s just muddy,” Megan said holding it in front of Jill’s face.

“Gross!” Jill squealed, stepping backwards to avoid the ball that Megan still held in the air.

Megan giggled and threw the ball all the way across the yard several times. Then, she tried a pop-up for Max.

“Good catch! Come here, boy,” said Megan.

“Catch, that reminds me. Adam is playing in a baseball game tomorrow afternoon. Want to come with me?” Jill asked, as she watched Max run.

“I told you before, baseball games are boring to me. Besides, how can you be gone that long when we are pet sitting?”

“It’s just at the school from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. I didn’t think it would be a problem,” Jill said.

“Ok, I’ll come over here by myself tomorrow afternoon,” Megan said, glancing at her watch. “Oh, no, it is already four-thirty. We have to feed you guys because we have to get home for dinner.”

Megan and Jill hurried into the house. I wish school days would go this fast.

Jill grabbed Max’s water dish and moved to the sink to dump and refill it. Megan went to the pantry and filled Max’s food bowl with kibble. He bounced up for the bowl as she moved across the room to put it down.

“Hold on a minute. You're going to make me drop it,” Megan laughed, as she placed the bowl on the floor with a thump.

“You were hungry, huh?” Megan asked, as Max scarfed his food and licked his bowl clean.

“I’m getting Holly’s bowl,” Megan said.

“No, please. Let me get Holly’s bowl, and you get Taffy’s,” Jill said.

Megan smiled and agreed.

As Jill headed down the hall, Megan easily pulled Taffy’s food and water dishes from the cage door.

Back in the kitchen, Jill mixed the wet and dry cat food together as Mrs. Driscoll had instructed.

Meanwhile, Megan changed Taffy’s water and filled one food dish with seeds and nuts. The other food dish she filled with some of the fruit mixture that Mrs. Driscoll had left for her.

Jill had finished mixing Holly's food, so Megan left Taffy’s dishes on the counter to go see Holly.

Max trotted after Jill and Megan as they carried Holly’s food to the bathroom.

“You already ate, silly. This is for Holly,” Jill explained patiently, when Max sat expectantly licking his lips.

Holly appeared on the counter as Megan squeezed the quarter inch strip of hairball medicine onto her food.

“Here you go, girl,” Megan said stroking Holly’s back. Holly rubbed against Megan and Jill as she walked to her food dish.

Holly sniffed at the food but then jumped down and left the room.

“You need to eat dinner,” Megan called after her.

Holly was stretched out on the bedroom carpet as Megan and Jill headed back down the hall.

“Holly will eat later, right?” Megan asked.

“I’m sure she will,” Jill said confidently.

Megan and Jill returned to the kitchen. Jill collected Taffy’s bowls from the counter and handed them one by one to Megan. Megan easily reattached the bowls to the cage door and added calcium shavings to the fruit dish before Taffy came down to see what she was doing.

Jill jumped backwards, and Megan pulled her hands back quickly as Taffy approached. The girls watched Taffy hop on the food dish and take a nut in her beak.

Megan carefully closed the door and latched it with Taffy inside, eating happily.

“Yes! We did it,” Megan cheered.

“We have all the pets fed, and it is barely five o’clock. I won't be late for dinner.”

“Come on, Max, I will give you a treat before we leave,” Megan said, going to the kitchen once more.

Max almost took Megan’s fingers as well as the biscuit.

“I don't think you chewed that at all,” Megan laughed, as he swallowed the biscuit in two seconds.

Jill carefully checked that the back door was locked while Megan made sure Taffy’s cage was closed.

As they headed to the front door, Megan called, “Bye guys. We'll be back later.”

Jill locked the front door behind them.

“Thanks, Jill,” Megan said, grinning at her friend.

“Sure, that was fun. What time do we need to come back tonight?” Jill asked.

“Nine o’clock.”

“Ok, see you then.”

I did it! Pet sitting is so much fun.

Megan smiled, and as she walked home, her fears about pet sitting faded. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents all about her first day pet sitting and about the quirky personalities of the Driscoll’s pets.


Also available from the website


About Pamela Foland

Pamela Foland grew up in Plano, Texas. Her love of animals started at a very young age. As a child, she was constantly bringing home stray dogs, and injured birds. She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Business in 2005. As an adult, her love of animals has only grown stronger. Pamela has worked in numerous pet hotels as a dog trainer and is certified to teach pet first aid and CPR. All her experience with pets culminated four years ago when Pamela found and raised an abandoned litter of day-old kittens. Not able to part with any of these now-grown babies, Pamela enjoys going home to her "little munchkins" every night. This experience gave Pamela the inspiration for her series debut, Megan's Munchkins. Pamela will always have a special affinity with Megan because of their shared experiences. She truly believes there are few experiences in life more compelling than saving the life of another being.



Thursday, December 21, 2017

Read an excerpt from Megan's Munchkins by Pamela Foland

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. Note that I only share those books that I think my readers will enjoy. Also note that affiliate links are present. When clicked on, I may earn a small commission to support my websites.


Megan's Munchkins

Not everything hidden in the closet is scary, even if it’s furry and has sharp claws! 

Every teenager’s dream come true and every parent’s worst nightmare, Megan’s Munchkins is a short and sweet tale about a middle-school girl finding, quite by accident, the pet she had always wanted. Plus three more! 

It’s almost Spring break and adventurous thirteen-year-old Megan Thompson finds four tiny day-old kittens in the park and makes a decision on the spot that will turn her life upside-down. What does a young girl do who has been told by her parents over and over again that she may not have a pet? In Megan’s mind, there is no question. She must save these motherless newborns, even if it means keeping them a secret from her mom and dad. 

The next five weeks are an exhausting blur of vet visits, endless cycles of feeding schedules, household chores, homework and sneaking around, but Megan has never been happier in her whole life. The kittens grow quickly and begin to venture out into the world beyond the closet. Megan knows it is only a matter of time before she must tell her parents about her secret. Fate steps in and her secret is discovered. What will happen to her precious babies now?

http://amzn.to/2Dik8Gn


Read an excerpt:

Megan continued eating her breakfast, as her mind focused on her plan.

Her dad’s question brought her back to the present, “Do you have much homework to do?”

Homework! Yes, I will say I have tons of homework! I can stay with the kittens for sure with that excuse.

Megan blurted out the first assignment she could think of, “I have a book report due after spring break, so I’ll be finishing reading the book and doing the report.”

Her mom asked, “Are you enjoying the book? What are you reading?”

Megan quickly answered with the first title she thought of and added, “It took me awhile to get into it, but now I’m enjoying it.” Her parents seemed satisfied with her responses. Megan really wanted to let the conversation end. She had to get back upstairs to her babies, but she wasn’t going to leave the table without finishing her plan.

“Can I help you with the yard work this morning, Dad?”

Her dad looked surprised, so it took him a moment before he answered, “I can’t refuse an offer like that.”

“I can clean out the garage too this week if you’d like.”

“You really are serious about a pet, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, you can do the mowing today, and clean the garage this week. We’ll see how that goes, before I give you any other chores.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll do it.”

Megan quickly cleared her plate, and excused herself from the table, before she was forced to lie again.

As Megan hurried upstairs, she thought, Alright, my parents see a change in me already. I will have them convinced I can handle a pet after this week. Not having to hide the kittens will make working during spring break worth it.

Back in her room, Megan mixed up the kitten formula, and decided it was time to settle on their names. Megan grabbed the light grey tiger-striped kitten, the only girl, to feed first. Megan glanced at her list of names as the kitten suckled. “I like Daisy and Misty for you. I almost added Pumpkin, but you are not orange so that doesn't fit you. I think I am going to name you Misty, since you are the color of a foggy morning.”

Megan kissed the top of Misty’s head gently as she replaced her in the box.

She picked up the solid gray kitten next to feed. As he suckled, she talked softly, “Now for you, little boy. I am considering Cosmo and Gizmo.” Megan stared at him thoughtfully for a minute and continued, “I am going to name you Gizmo. It’s unique, and you are unique because you don’t have tiger-stripes like your siblings.”

Megan cuddled Gizmo gently before replacing him in the box.

Megan then picked up the larger of the two black and brown tiger-striped kittens. She got him started on his bottle and said, “Now for you, little guy, I am torn between Petey and Harley. I really like both names, but I think Petey is the one that best suits you. So, you will be Petey.”

Megan finished caring for Petey and with a meow of protest, into the box he went with his siblings.

Megan lifted the tiny black and brown tiger-striped kitten onto her lap. As he started drinking, Megan said, “You are definitely the smallest. I know exactly what I am going to call you. I know I had Simba on the list for you, but that is not right. The name for you is Chip.” Chip stopped eating for a moment, and gave her a little mew, as if he was quite content with his new name.

She felt happily satisfied as she put Chip back in with the others. Yes, her kittens now had names and her parents were impressed with her initiative. Megan was pleased with the way her plan was working so far. She knew she had more obstacles to overcome, but for now, Megan focused her attention on her kittens. She spent time talking to and cuddling the kittens. It was fun to talk to them, now that she could call them by name.

If how they were raised was going to affect their personality, Megan would be the best mom she could be to her babies. She would raise these kittens to be the sweetest, friendliest cats ever.

With the kittens napping in their box next to her, Megan’s turned her attention to her research on kitten care.

The sound of the garage door going up pulled Megan away from the computer twenty minutes later. She knew her dad was expecting her outside, so she offered the bottle to each kitten before heading to the yard.

She didn't mind mowing the lawn or doing the dusting and vacuuming. She smiled to herself as she worked. I have new pets to care for. This spring break will be perfect. I just have to prove to my parents that I can handle the responsibility.

The time passed quickly and soon it was time to feed the kittens again.

After lunch, as her mom left to go shopping with Stacey, Megan retreated to her room. She pulled the kitten’s box from her closet. She researched kitten care on her laptop and spent time with her babies. Megan was grateful that her dad had brought some work home with him. The fact that he was busy in the kitchen while she was upstairs, meant she wasn’t forced to lie any more. I have only had the kittens twenty-four hours and I have had to lie during every conversation. With her parents working next week, Megan would have endless time with her babies with no sneaking around.

I just have to get through tonight and tomorrow, she thought.

At dinner that night, Megan listened to her parents talk.

“Stacey and I found the cutest onesies on sale today. We got one with a monkey and another with a dump truck. I can’t wait to take pictures of our grandson in all these clothes. Aren’t you excited to be a grandparent, honey?”

“Mm-hm,” her dad answered absentmindedly. “I still can’t believe they moved the deadline up on us. They expect us to have the same hundred-page report done two weeks earlier.”

Megan’s dad had been with the same company for as long as Megan could remember. The small amount of gray that now peppered his brown hair made him look distinguished and fit with his title of account manager.

With the conversation not focused on her, Megan’s thoughts wandered. I’ve always said I’d have a house full of pets when I grew up. Now, I don’t have to wait anymore to have pets. When dinner was over, Megan moved quickly as she helped clear the table and load the dishwasher.

Back in her room, she smiled as she fed her four hungry babies. Once they were back asleep, Megan left the box on her bed and went back to her laptop, to continue reading about raising kittens.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Megan startled, and quickly slid the kitten box under the bed.

“I’m working, come in.”

Her mom peered into her room and froze. Her mouth partially opened in disbelief. “Your room looks great, sweetie.” She came in and looked around, “Your clothes are hung up and folded. The trash is off the floor, and everything is organized. I’m very impressed.”

Megan said, “Thanks, Mom, I’m trying.” Megan’s heart pounded in her ears, and she silently prayed that the kittens would stay quiet.

Her mom nodded. “I came up here to see if you wanted to watch a movie with Dad and me.”

Megan usually would have jumped at the chance for a movie night with her parents. It meant her dad’s delicious popcorn and getting to pick a movie off pay-per-view. But tonight Megan was consumed with learning about raising the kittens, and she didn't want to stop. “I’d like to, Mom, but I just started working on my computer.”

“Okay,” her mom said, looking around the room one last time. “Come say goodnight before you go to bed.”

“I will,” Megan replied.

Her mom left the room and Megan grabbed the box from under the bed. She checked on the kittens who were still sound asleep. She sighed and collapsed on the bed, whispering to her four babies, “That was close.”

She continued working on researching kitten development for a while before taking a shower. She fed the kittens again. So cute and tiny, she thought to herself as they drank.

It was now after 9 p.m., so she ran downstairs to say goodnight to her parents.

When she returned to her room, all four kittens were awake, so she offered them all the bottle again. She put the box on the floor next to her bed, as she got up to turn off the lights. As she crawled under the covers, she whispered, “Good night, babies. See you in the morning.”


http://amzn.to/2Dm6J0b


About Pamela Foland

Pamela Foland grew up in Plano, Texas. Her love of animals started at a very young age. As a child, she was constantly bringing home stray dogs, and injured birds. She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Business in 2005. As an adult, her love of animals has only grown stronger. Pamela has worked in numerous pet hotels as a dog trainer and is certified to teach pet first aid and CPR. All her experience with pets culminated four years ago when Pamela found and raised an abandoned litter of day-old kittens. Not able to part with any of these now-grown babies, Pamela enjoys going home to her "little munchkins" every night. This experience gave Pamela the inspiration for her series debut, Megan's Munchkins. Pamela will always have a special affinity with Megan because of their shared experiences. She truly believes there are few experiences in life more compelling than saving the life of another being.




Monday, October 23, 2017

This Is Not a Werewolf Story by Sandra Evans with Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

This post contains affiliate links, which when used may help me earn a small commission.

Book Blitz for
This is Not a Werewolf Story
By Sandra Evans

This Middle Grade Fantasy is perfect for Halloween! Full of fun and mystery, and set at a boarding school where everything isn't quite as it seems. Read the excerpt and enter the giveaway below...

This Is Not a Werewolf Story

This is Not a Werewolf Story


by Sandra Evans

Middle Grade Fantasy
Hardcover & ebook, 352 pages
July 26th 2016 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

This is the story of Raul, a boy of few words, fewer friends, and almost no family. He is a loner—but he isn’t lonely. All week long he looks after the younger boys at One Of Our Kind Boarding School while dodging the barbs of terrible Tuffman, the jerk of a gym teacher. 

Like every other kid in the world, he longs for Fridays, but not for the usual reasons. As soon as the other students go home for the weekend, Raul makes his way to a lighthouse deep in the heart of the woods. There he waits for sunset—and the mysterious, marvelous phenomenon that allows him to go home, too. But the woods have secrets . . . and so does Raul. When a new kid arrives at school, they may not stay secret for long.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

This is the chapter where the new kid runs so fast, Raul decides to talk 

New kid. New kid. The words fly around the showers and sinks. I can almost see them, flying up like chickadees startled from the holly tree in the woods.

All the boys are in the big bathroom on the second floor, washing up before breakfast. The littlest kids stand on tiptoe to peek out the windows that look onto the circle driveway.

I pick Sparrow up and hold him so he can see. He’s the littlest of the littles but the kid is dense--like a ton of bricks.

I can’t believe my eyes. No kid has ever come to the school on the back of a Harley. Not in all the years I’ve been here, and I’ve been here longer than anyone. The driver spins the back wheel and a bunch of gravel flies up.

The new kid is holding onto the waist of the driver. He must have a pretty good grip because the driver looks over his shoulder and tries to peel the kid’s fingers away one by one. Then the driver takes off his helmet. We all gasp, because it turns out the driver is a lady with long straight black hair.  

Next to me Mean Jack whistles. “What a doll!”

Mean Jack thinks he’s a mobster. A made man, that’s what he calls himself. I call him a numbskull, but not out loud.

About the Author


Sandra Evans is a writer and teacher from the Pacific Northwest. Her forthcoming middle grade novel, This is Not a Werewolf Story (Simon & Schuster July 2016), was inspired by her favorite 12th century French tale, Bisclavret, by Marie de France. Born in Washington state, Sandra spent her childhood on U.S. Navy bases from Florida to Hawaii, and returned to the Northwest as a teenager. Since then, she has lived and traveled in France and Europe, but has never strayed far for long from the Puget Sound region.


Blitz Giveaway

2 winners will receive a print copy of THIS IS NOT A WEREWOLF STORY plus Swag
Open to UK and US entrants
Ends October 31st

Grab Our Button!

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Wizardry Goes Wild by Sunayna Prasad



This post contains affiliate links from which I may earn a small commission.

Wizardry Goes Wild


Middle Grade Fantasy
Date Published: February 20th, 2016
Publisher: Trafford

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

After months of living a normal life, thirteen-year-old Alyssa McCarthy faces magic again. Only this time, though, she is cursed with it, thanks to an old depressed skeleton named Errol. Alyssa's time with her godfather, Alex, will never be the same again, as she can perform sorcery, but never control it. From letting out enchantments at school to creating outdoor disasters, Alyssa is bound to face consequences. She can only get rid of her powers if she can boost her confidence levels and improve her bravery. But it's not as easy as it sounds. She must measure those abilities with a special device called a skillometer. Will she be able to get rid of her unwanted wizardry?


Purchase Links

About the Author

Sunayna Prasad is a college student studying art. In her free time, she likes to write fiction. She is also the author of From Frights to Flaws, which is the first installment of the series, Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions. Sunayna lives in New York with her family.

Contact Links





Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Win a copy of The Adventures of Merrick the Viking by Chris Davis

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those items that I think my readers will enjoy. Affiliate links are present.



The Adventures of Merrick the Viking


A young teenage Viking boy named Merrick must escape his Scandinavian homeland and ends up on a historic journey of discovering new lands while becoming a great sailor along the way he falls in love to a young Irish girl and has to defend her and her village along the sea.


Available for Kindle and in Paperback


Enter the Amazon giveaway!

Sunday, June 18, 2017

The Lazy Dog and the Quick Fox by Rebecca Rose Orton

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those books that I think will interest my readers. Affiliate links contained within.




The Lazy Dog and the Quick Fox


Children will delight in this action maze adventure based on the English pangram, "The quick sly fox jumps over the lazy brown dog." This pangram is used as a basis for extrapolating the story plots in this book. Children can make choices on how they want the story to unfold. Emotional intelligence points are awarded based on their choices. Parents will appreciate the emotional intelligence score scale focusing on friendship at the end of the book. 

One good example of an action maze adventure was showcased in the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks as the leading star. There was a scene in a boardroom at MacMillan Toy Company where the adult Josh and Susan presented a proposal for a computerized version of an action maze adventure, a story format that has existed in paperback form in real life for ages prior to this movie's debut. It is ironic that the author has done the opposite, first by composing an action maze adventure in an online blog, and then converting it into a book.


Get your own copy!


About Rebecca Rose Orton


Ms. Rebecca Rose Orton, otherwise known simply as Reba Orton, was born Deaf. She attended Cornell College with its intensive one class a month schedule for the freshman year and by the end of the academic year, she was taking computer science classes that juniors usually took. However, for the rest of her college years at the University of Northern Iowa, she wisely kept a healthy balance between general education and major courses every semester because switching between subjects while studying was equivalent to getting a mental break.

When she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science in May, 1990, she had completed every course for her major in the university catalog except one. That one class was Project Management and she never registered for it because she feared that she would not be able to interact with her hearing teammates on an assigned project that they would work on together for the entire semester. 

After she graduated, she worked for seven years as a COBOL computer programmer in the aerospace and insurance industries. During her lifetime, she took pride in having studied or worked with many computer languages such as ADA, ANSI COBOL, C+, BASIC, COBOL II, FORTRAN 77, HTML, Icon, LISP, MicroFocus COBOL, Pascal, PDP-11 assembly language, Perl, QBASIC, Turbo Pascal, and Visual Basic Applications (VBA). It is quite logical to think of computer languages as constructed languages, and indeed, a linguistics class covering government and binding theories had a familiar programmatic writing style in its textbook. 

She was one of the only two people who got top grades in this class at Gallaudet University. She graduated from Gallaudet University in May, 2000 with a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics with a specialization in non-manual signals (e.g. facial expressions used in American Sign Language grammar). She worked part-time as a tutor for about fifteen years after she graduated. While tutoring students with business administration majors and other related fields, she found that she had a penchant for business, just like her father. She took a Management and Organizational Theory class at the University of Maryland University College in Fall, 2006. She got the top score for her final exam. To finally complete that one project management class that she did not take for her undergraduate degree, she took a Project Management for Beginners professional development class in July, 2009 at Gallaudet University in a fully accessible classroom with peers who all communicated in American Sign Language. It was effortless to team up with classmates for project management assignments!

Monday, May 22, 2017

Doctor Dude Presents ... What Is God? An Introductory Guide for Young Free-Thinkers by Bryce Dodson

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those books which I think my readers might find interesting.



What Is God?


Abigail is a curious young lady who attends church for the first time. She has lots of questions, but her mom doesn't know how to respond. Luckily, Doctor Dude and his sidekick dog Dawnie come to the rescue!

"Doctor Dude" was written as a tool for parents raising their children as secular in a religious world. The book acquaints the budding reader with the roots of the deity from the Old Testament. In addition, Doctor Dude introduces the fundamental scientific theories, such as the Big Bang and Evolution, in simple to understand language for the young skeptic in your family. The brilliant illustrations will captivate readers of all ages.


Buy links





About Bryce Dodson

Bryce Dodson is a first-time author, transitioning from a 9-to-5 job in the tech sector to penning children's books. He was inspired to write "What is God?" from his own experience with religion and the growing demographic of the "Nones."

Bryce has a BS in Biology and an MA in Education, and wants to share his love of the sciences to the up-and-coming generation of skeptics. He lives in the small California town of Mammoth Lakes.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/docdudephd

Sunday, May 21, 2017

What Is a Tesseract? and Other Scientific Stuff by Rebecca Rose Orton

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those books that I think my readers will find interesting.


What Is a Tesseract?


This children's book, What is a Tesseract? And Other Scientific Stuff With Color Illustrations explains the features of a tesseract, wheels within wheels, and a sphere within a sphere all within the context of dimensions. Explore the 0th-4th dimensions with their unique points of view. Imagine what it would be like to exist in each dimension. What can you do? Where can you go? What shapes can exist? Ultimately, answering these questions can lead to a discovery of scientific concepts beyond the daily reality and above the mundane routines of life. This book is targeted for children in upper elementary grades who haven’t taken any geometry classes at school yet. The exposure to geometric concepts in this book is intended to help children get a head start on some vocabulary words and to be ready for geometry class when they do get registered for it. There is an intuitive element to the drawings where children might understand in a scaffolding manner how dimensions work. The illustrated suns are intended to draw out that intuition and show where directions go in each dimension.


Buy links


About Rebecca Rose Orton


I first discovered the world of books at the bookmobile, which parked only a block or so down the street from my home at the Catholic School playground. I started with comic books of cute characters like Mickey Mouse and Daffy Duck and studiously avoided the comics geared towards action adventure. After running out of those comics to read, I looked high and low all around the bookmobile for something to read. I found the Hardy Boys series and read book after book of this series. After consuming those novels, I complained that the bookmobile didn't have anything more to offer me. My mother told me that there was a library at my school. I was flabbergasted! I didn't know that! I started reading books voraciously at the school library. I remember reading J. R. Tolkien's books there. I was in fifth grade at the time. My grandmother told me that reading saved me, a deaf student, from a tedious, ignorant, and mundane fate in the mainstreamed educational track. In junior high school, my reading skills expanded. I still remember reading my first science fiction book there about a space cadet who had photographic memory. In one English class, I read the entire textbook full of short stories before the first week was out and spent the most of the semester immediately writing out answers to a handout full of questions about each short story because I didn't need to read the short story first during class. Needless to say, I needed to be in a more advanced English class and they placed me in a grammar class where I learned all about grammar from a little red textbook. Most of these lessons stuck with me even to this day. I also remember desperately wanting to buy Trixie Belden books at K-Mart and even tried to read a few chapters while standing in the shopping aisle. At the high school library, I explored other genres such as fairy tales, mythology, new age, etc. Even the people in my life introduced me to new genres. My mother introduced me to psychology books and my best friend introduced romance books to me. In addition, I went to the local public libraries to find more books to read during the summer time and this was where I discovered Star Trek novels and became a Trekkie. At one point, I kept track of the books I read in a year on paper and it listed over a hundred titles. I was proud to have read so many books. They opened an entirely new and completely accessible world to me. I could understand them clearly and books did not get annoyed when I need something repeated back to me because I didn't understand them the first time. Books were wonderful!

Sunday, April 30, 2017

US Geography: An Interactive Book by Amy Elizabeth Mortensen


US Geography: An Interactive Book


Help your child learn the 50 US States & Capitals and do well on their US geography test. The eBook contains an interactive US state and capital question and answer game. To aid and encourage your child to complete the game, each answer includes a positive reinforcement.

This book also includes...
• General facts about each state (nickname, motto, flag, song, flower, etc…)
• Summary reference of each of the 50 state shape, capital city’s name and state name.
• 2 digital state and capital flashcard sets which can be used by your child to help learn and to help with memorization of the 50 states and capitals.
• As a bonus, information about the US territories is also provided.

Excerpts:

Texas 

Abbreviation: TX 
Capital: Austin 
Nickname: Lone Star State 
Citizen Known As: Texan (alternative - Texian) 
Motto: Friendship 
Statehood: December 29, 1845; 28th 
State Flower: Bluebonnet 
Tree: Pecan 
Bird: Northern Mockingbird 
Song: "Texas, Our Texas" 
Largest Cities: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas & Austin 

81. What is the state capital of Hawaii? 
Annapolis 
Honolulu 
Topeka 

82. Springfield is the capital of which state? 
North Carolina 
Missouri 
Illinois




Learn more at Helijn Publishing


About Amy Elizabeth Mortensen 


The author, Amy Elizabeth Mortensen lived in Colorado during her childhood years and joined her parents in road trips to explore the rest of the country. After studying at University, she wrote training for several companies. Using the same skill set, Amy started to write books for children. She is convinced that infusing adventure and some fun in learning will transform youngsters in becoming lifelong learners.


I received compensation via Fiverr for sharing this post.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Read an excerpt from Cyberhawks Versus Storm Troopers by Mark Logie



Cyberhawks Versus Storm Troopers


Twelve-year-old Ty Monterey is no hero – or so he thinks. He’s obsessed with computers, often in trouble at school and rude to his mother. Worst of all, he has a distinctly wimpish stutter.

One day a mysterious, coded e-mail arrives in his inbox and, Ty being Ty, he sets about decoding it. At first he is excited by what he discovers, but when he is menaced by a knife-wielding thug in his own garden he realises things have become serious.

Ty finds he has stumbled across a plot to launch the worst terrorist attack the world has known, with thousands of lives at risk on the London Underground.

Dismissed at every turn by the authorities, it soon becomes clear to Ty that only he and his gang, the Cyberhawks, can prevent the devastating attack planned by the group known as “Storm Troopers TZ9”. But does he have the courage to see it through?


http://amzn.to/2onaXgM


Read an excerpt:
The street light a couple of metres from Ty’s front gate spluttered out just as he walked under it. At once the shadows multiplied and deepened. The boy’s heart skipped a beat, then speeded up to something like a horse’s trot. He stared into the shadows, trying to see if anything lurked there. A dog barked nearby and he jumped the way you do when someone creeps up behind and shouts “Boo!” What’s the matter with you, you baby? You’re like a little kid creeping through a graveyard, hoping the ghosts won’t notice you. 
Ever since Ty had left his school’s grounds and stepped onto the streets of Richmond, an inexplicable dread had descended on him. He wasn’t in the best of moods (who would be if they had just spent an hour in detention for not doing their geography homework?), but that didn’t even begin to explain it. 
Maybe the business of the strange e-mail was preying on his mind more than he realised. Perhaps, but it still didn’t explain the steadily growing feeling that something was going to happen. Something unpleasant. Detention might make him feel down, but this was a completely different feeling: it was an instinctive fear, one he couldn’t even express in words. But of who or what he had no idea. 
Something rustled underfoot and he looked down, moving his left foot back. There in front of it was an empty packet of bacon-flavoured Walker crisps. He frowned in dismay. It was strange since this wasn’t a busy street and every hour council robots cleaned the streets, as they did in all the other London boroughs, removing all rubbish. Therefore somebody must have walked past a few minutes ago. So what? Yet he felt a shiver run down his spine. 
Ty glanced at his watch and saw that it was six oh-one. Much too early to be scared, he joked to himself in a vain attempt to keep his spirits up. He realised he’d slowed down so much that he was meandering along like someone out for a stroll after a heavy Christmas lunch. 
It was quite ridiculous, he decided, someone of his age frightened of the dark – or was it something else? – and taking his time to walk home so that he didn’t have to face ... what? What could possibly be waiting for him? Still he wished that Isabel would be home from work. 
He turned into the gateway in front of his house and hesitated, staring at the grey paving stones in disbelief. Lying there was an identical crisp packet to the one he’d just seen. Of course, someone could have walked along the street, eaten two packets of crisps and just happened to fling one of them at his front gate; or they could have gone in to ring the doorbell. It didn’t mean they were still there – and even if they were, it surely didn’t matter. Nevertheless, the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling as if ants were swarming all over them. 
Ty looked up and down the street, hoping to see someone walking towards him, even a policeman. But there was no one. Apart from himself the street was deserted. He sighed and was shocked at how shaky his breath sounded. Come on, scaredy cat, get on with it. 
He took another breath, deep and long, then let it out slowly (it sounded a little less shaky than the other and that encouraged him a little). He slid the handle to the right, pushed open the gate and stepped through. 
Someone grabbed his right arm from behind; simultaneously their other hand covered his mouth as he gave vent to a gasp of terror. “Shut up, you little snotnose,” whispered his unseen assailant. “Just do as you’re told and you won’t get hurt.”

About Mark Logie


Born in Camberwell, southeast London, Great Britain, Mark Logie has always been a keen reader and from about the age of nine started writing the occasional story for his own pleasure. Over the next few years, an interest in filmmaking distracted him from writing; later on, he worked briefly as an unpaid runner for a video production company, before turning back to writing.

His first novel for young adults, "Cyberhawks Versus Storm Troopers" (a thriller for 12- & 13-year-olds about terrorism and computer-hacking), was published in 2012, the Kindle edition reaching number 15 in the Amazon UK bestseller list for its category. Also, Mark Logie's poetry and short fiction have won awards from CanYouWrite and ABC Tales.

Twitter page: @MarkLogieAuthor

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Mark-Logie-Author-1022617024509611/


I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Dragonwatch Book Giveaway Ends 3/31 3 Winners!

dragonwatch book giveaway

Welcome to the 2017 Spring Fling Gift Guide Dragonwatch Book Giveaway!

3 Winners!!!

This contest is hosted by the Social Media Gurus Network!

Michigan Saving and More

Deliciously Savvy

Tales From A Southern Mom

Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains

Welcome To My Kitchen

Life in a House of Testosterone

Bohemian Babushka

Here We Go Again ready

My Silly Little Gang

Mom Are We There Yet

Java John Z’s

Giveaway Gator

SaraLee’s Deals Steals & Giveaways

My Itzy

Everyday Gizmos Sweeps & Views

Mami’s 3 Little Monkeys

alwaysblabbing

Ronda Writes

PaulaMS’ Giveaways, Reviews, & Freebies

Missy’s Product Reviews

Stingy, Thrifty, Broke

Bargnhtress

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dragonwatch: A Fablehaven Adventure by Brandon Mull


In the long-awaited sequel to Fablehaven, the dragons who have been kept at the dragon sanctuaries no longer consider them safe havens, but prisons and they want their freedom. The dragons are no longer our allies....

Available to buy from…
Amazon and other booksellers nationwide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I would also like to say Thank You to all the promoting bloggers!

Three (3) Winners Will Each Receive One (1) hardcover copy of Dragonwatch: A Fablehaven Adventure by Brandon Mull!


This giveaway will run through 3/31/2017 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time and is open to residents of the US ages 18+ and UK residents 21+. You are not eligible if you have won a prize from the sponsor in the last 12 month. Winner is subject to eligibility verification and will have 48 hours to confirm before a new winner will be drawn. For any questions or concerns please email silvie.mslg@gmail.com (please consider adding this email to your “Safe List” as the winning email notification will be sent from this email.) Please refer to the full terms and conditions in the Giveaway Tools form. Thank You for stopping by! This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. Thank You for stopping by!

We all “love it when you like us or follow us” on social media! By following us on our social networks and by email we are able to get the best giveaways together on the internet!

Disclosure: Silvie at My Silly Little Gang received a complimentary product to facilitate the review, no other compensation was received. Hosts & participating hop bloggers are not responsible for sponsors or self-sponsoring bloggers that do not fulfill prize obligations. Smith Publicity is sponsoring this giveaway and is responsible for shipping prizes. Thank you for stopping by!

If you have any questions or are a brand/company and would like to work with My Silly Little Gang please contact us here or email Silvie at silvie.mslg@gmail.com.