BLOG TOUR: Eleanor Roosevelt's In My Garage by Candace Fleming

Rockstar Books Tours is hosting a two week tour for middle grade sequel by Candace Fleming.

Title: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT'S IN MY GARAGE (History Pals #2)

Author: Candace Fleming, Mark Fearing (Illustrations)

Pub. Date: September 25, 2018

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 336

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: In this hilarious follow-up to BEN FRANKLIN'S IN MY BATHROOM!, history and hijinks collide once more when Eleanor Roosevelt accidentally time travels to a ten-year-old's home in 21st-century America!

When Eleanor Roosevelt time travels to Nolan and Olive's house in modern-day Illinois, the kids don't know who she is at first. After all, she's old and wearing a hairnet. But the First Lady of the United States--some 80 years ago, that is-- isn't a mystery for long when she starts spouting things like "You must do the things you think you cannot do." Fresh off a visit from Ben Franklin, Nolan and Olive know what they're in for with this latest guest: an adventure. From drawing on ideals of civil protest to save the town park, to (almost) doing a loop-de-loop in a single-engine plane, to avoiding that know-it-all snoop Tommy Tuttle, there's one laugh after the next in this second book in the History Pals series. Fun back matter expands the story and unpacks the amazing life of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Excerpt: https://www.scribd.com/document/394202242/Chapters-1-2

About the Author: 

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel—a ten-page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It? She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since.

Today, Candace is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize honored The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of the Russian Empire; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns; the bestselling picture book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!; the Sibert-Award-winning Giant Squid; and the beloved Boxes for Katje. She contributed the chapter on Katharine of Aragon to Fatal Throne. Photo credit: Michael Lionstar.

Website |  Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a signed finished copy of ELEANOR ROOSEVELT'S IN MY GARAGE, US Only.

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2855/

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/26/2018- Oh Hey! Books.- Interview

11/27/2018- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt

11/28/2018- BookHounds YA- Review

11/29/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

11/30/2018- My Books-My World- Excerpt

Week Two:

12/3/2018- Good Choice Reading- Excerpt

12/4/2018- The BookWorm Drinketh- Review

12/5/2018- All the Ups and Downs- Excerpt

12/6/2018- Parajunkee- Excerpt

12/7/2018- Jaime's World- Excerpt

Review: First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

This is another book recommendation that I got from Readtheworld.org. It's a website that has lists of books that are sets in different countries or written by authors from different countries and they are categorized by country and continent. This is the third book I have read from that site and I have enjoyed each one so far. the books are Nonfiction and Fiction.

While in the middle of reading this book, I realized that this was turned into a movie or a documentary of sorts and it was made by Angelina Jolie. I have to watch it because she has a lot of ties to Cambodia and I think one of her sons was adopted from there.

This book is a memoir and it was written by a woman who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. A couple of days before I started reading this, two men who were some important men in the Khmer Rouge regime were given life sentences for the Genocide of the Cambodian population.

We read through the eyes of Loung who grew up in Phnom Phen. Her father was a former military personnel for the previous government and they had to conceal their identities and keep their past lives quiet because if he was found out, the whole family would be branded as traitors and killed on the spot.

The family was constantly relocated from camp to camp to work and grow crops and rice for the Khmer Rouge army and to also send to China to pay for the weapons that China was giving the Khmer Rogue to battle the Vietnamese.

They were starved, worked like dogs, raped, tortured, and killed on the spot. They made child soldiers and were brainwashing these children who were very young that the Angkar government loved them and that is the children helped protect the government, the government would in turn "not really" would love them and keep them "safe" in the future.

I will be reading books 2 and 3 very soon, because I want to know how she was able to move on.

Speechless| Dan + Shay

This song has become an instant favorite of mine. I really got into it while doing NaNoWriMo and it has been on loop. Whenever it comes on, Cayce blasts it and he starts a slow dance. He so sweet!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. May you be grateful for all the things you have, family and love. Also, eat until your stuffed and don't let anyone give you crap about enjoying and being thankful for the food. Enjoy you Turkeys, Churkeys (chicken) or Hams and all the fixins'.

NOVEMBER 2018 OWLCRATE JR UNBOXING

BLOG TOUR: How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett

Blog tour is being hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

*TRIGGER WARNINGS* RAPE, MURDER, SEXUAL ASSAULT, PHYSICAL ASSAULT, MISCARRIAGE

Title: HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED

Author: Mary Crockett

Pub. Date: November 13, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 416

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: I was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.

On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.

Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead? 

Review: We go on a journey with our name-less narrator as she tries to cope and deal and learn how to live knowing that she could have been the one killed. The guy Kyle, who killed Jamie was known as an ousider, a weirdo a loner, but yet he went around bragging that he was going to do something attention grabbing and everyone would know his name.

Our main character is trying to find a way to let go of the hate that she has towards Kyle and move on with her life. She has been living in fear and looking over her shoulder. She starts dating Jamie's boyfriend Charlie who now has violent tendencies after the rape and murder of his dead girlfriend. 

This was a very quick read and I rate it a 4 star. I feel that in some places it was written for high schoolers and then the subject matter would turn darker. 

Mary Crockett

A native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Mary grew up as the youngest of six children in a family of misfits. She has worked as everything from a history museum director to a toilet seat hand model.

In her other life, she's an award-winning poet and teaches creative writing at Roanoke College in Virginia.

If you tweet at her, chances are she will tweet back.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Pinterest |  Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 Winners will receive a finished copy of HOW SHE DIED,

HOW I LIVED, US Only.

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2844/

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/12/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

11/13/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

11/14/2018- Novel Novice- Excerpt

11/15/2018- Bri's Book Nook- Review

11/16/2018- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review

Week Two:

11/19/2018- The Desert Bibliophile- Review

11/20/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

11/21/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous- Review

11/22/2018- Savings in Seconds- Review

11/23/2018- Cindy's Love of Books- Review

BLOG TOUR: Made By Maxine by: Ruth Spiro & Holly Hatam

Rockstar Book Tours is hosting the next two weeks a tour for this cute children's picture book written by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Holly Hatam.

Title: MADE BY MAXINE

Author: Ruth Spiro (Author), Holly Hatam (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: October 9, 2018

Publisher: Dial Books

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 37

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: Meet Maxine, an inspiring young maker who knows that with enough effort and imagination (and mistakes), it's possible to invent anything.

Maxine loves making new things from old things. She loves tinkering until she has solved a problem. She also loves her pet goldfish, Milton. So when it's time for her school's pet parade, she's determined to create something that will allow Milton to march with the other animals. Finally, after trying, trying, and trying again, she discovers just the right combination of recycled odds and ends to create a fun, functional--and absolutely fabulous--solution to her predicament.

Review: Maxine is the cutest little character who has a big imagination and a lot of determination. She upcycles and repurposes old junk for her inventions. Her class is having a pet parade and she has to find a good way to be able to carry her goldfish, but she also wants to do it with style. 

I thought this little children's book taught a good moral lesson that you shouldn't give up if something doesn't work the way you want it too. Just keep trying and you can also use anything lying around, you don't need go out and buy new materials, if you have something similar already laying around the house.

My oldest daughter really enjoyed this book. She is into recycling and keeping outside clean for the animals and the earth and her favorite part was where Maxine would take old items and make them "new" again.

About Holly:

Holly Hatam’s a girl that sometimes wears something pink and sparkly and sometimes dons capes and fights dragons. Some days she’s moody, but other days she shakes her booty. Some days her heart may seek wild adventures, but other days she just wants to be a couch potato.

She is a picture book maker, greeting card designer, and a textile engineer. She is also the #1 New York Times Bestselling illustrator of Dear Girl. Her other books include, What Matters, Tree Song, Maxine the Maker, Jack (Not Jackie) and The Acadia Files.

Holly lives in Whitby, Ontario with her weird husband and even weirder son. But that’s ok, because weird is a side effect of awesome.

Client List

Harper Collins, Orca Publishers, Dial Books for Young Readers, Annick Press, Tilbury House, Lady Bird, Usborne Books, Hallmark, American Greetings, Mudpuppy, Baby Bug, Highlights, Chickadee, Little Bee Books, MacGraw Hill, Learning A-Z

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of MADE BY MAXINE, US Only.

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2852/

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/19/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

11/20/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

11/21/2018- Beagles & Books- Review

11/22/2018- Do You Dog-ear?- Review

11/23/2018- Chrikaru Reads- Review

Week Two:

11/26/2018- BookHounds YA- Review

11/27/2018- YA Books Central- Review

11/28/2018- Twirling Book Princess- Excerpt

11/29/2018- Oh Hey! Books.- Interview

11/30/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Excerpt