Children's Books, and Other Cool Stuff

      Author Spotlight October 2022 Jeff was born in downtown Toronto.   Being the only child to two working parents, introspection came naturally to him.   As he progressed through school, he was never the popular kid, but still formed friendships that would last a lifetime. As a kid, he loved cartoons, especially the late 1970s imports from Japan.   They were leagues away from Star Wars and Star Trek and helped change the scope of his imagination. After high school, he was in the military for nearly half a decade.   Lots of long nights on observation patrol let his mind soar into the heavens.   He finished a first year in Computer Programming/System Administration at Sheridan College, and a 4-year BA at York University.     Spending nearly 20 years in security and logistics, in 2014 Jeff finally succeeded in publishing his first work “The Secrets of Solomon” which was well received.   Combining his knowledge of esoteri...

Author Spotlight " Emmy Laybourne-   is a novelist and recovering character actress. She appeared in the movies Superstar and The In-Laws, the NBC series DAG and Comedy Central's Premium Blend, among other. Emmy lives in upstate New York with her husband, their two children, and a feisty, slightly judgmental, bearded dragon named Goldie.  Monument 14  is her fiction debut." Copyrighted by Square Fish, an imprint of Macmillian New York 2012.   Monument 14- Written by Emmy Laybourne, published by Square Fish an imprint of Macmillan New York 2012. I had the honor of interviewing Emma for my blog Children Books and other cool stuff. You will find the questions and answers below. Thank You Emma for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my six questions.   I'm so delighted to be here on Children Books and Other Cool Stuff! Thank you David, for having me on your blog! 1) What kind of children books, did you read as a c...

      That Time I Joined the Circus- Written by JJ Howard, published by Scholastic Inc. New York 2013. It is a well told life story of a 17 year old girl.  After her father's untimely death and a misunderstanding with her two best friends, she is forced to run away south and join a traveling circus that her mother was a part of once. This journey enriches her with a new outlook on life, and helps her discover her passion for the arts and acting. From a circus clean up crew to a fortune teller with her own act, Lexi's character develops over the course of the book, and discovers her true passion. I highly recommend this book for the dreamers living inside everyone.     Ship Breakers- Written by Paolo Bacigalupi, published by Little Brown and Company, New York 2010. Winner of Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. National Book Award Finalist. The action ...

Welcome all to my first Author Spotlight feature where you will get a chance to meet a well known author and learn about the writing process.   Interview     1) What were your favorite children books, when you were growing up?   I read practically every Nancy Drew there was, plus Harriet the Spy, The Little White Horse, and I gobbled up all of Phyllis Whitney’s mysteries , A Wrinkle in Time, etc . I could go on, but I won’t. Basically, I read a book a day all during elementary school.Maybe that’s why I love writing for the middle-grade audience.   2) What was the inspiration behind writing your book?   Several things! The magical, mysterious world of butterflies . . . spooky Louisiana swamps, old plantation houses, islands in the South Pacific . . . and a girl who is connected to all those things through her Grammy Claire. I love mysteries; too, as you can tell from my childhood favorite books, and I wanted to try my h...

Welcome to my new update for my blog. In this post, I will be looking at three books where Teenage girls overcame large obstacles and grew into women of power. Please enjoy my reviews. Young Adult Books “Story of a Girl ”- This book was written by Sara Zarr, National book Award finalist published by Little Brown and Company 2007 New York and Boston. In this book the main character Deanna Lambert was caught by her father while she was making out with an older boy from school. She has been humiliated not only by her dad, but later by her classmates. She thought her life would be ruined forever. In this book, Deanna struggles to gain respect from others and move on with her life. Only by using the power within helped her grow into a beautiful woman. Girls can find this book very helpful in guiding them through their teenage years. The novel is realistic fiction at its best. The author succeeded making this book great, with the help of very intense emotional language, dialogue...

It has been a while since I reviewed any Young Adult books so for this update I will review Three wonderful YA books that your teens would love.  Please enjoy and grab them for the holiday season. 1) Starters - This book was written by Lisa Price and published by Delacorte Press in 2012. Imgine a world where a deadly war called the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between 20 and sixty years old. A young girl named Callie decides to rent her body to Enders-seniors who want to be young again.  Callie's world is divided and  full of danger, while teens are only second hand citizens. This book follows Callie and her survival in this detopian world full of renegades who will kill for food. As she rents her body she discovers that her renter intends to do more then just have fun. This is a great book to read. It will make you ask the question What if this can happen to us? I highly recommend this book not only for teens, but adults as well.  It wil...