Getting Caught Up: The Gathering + Giveaway

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: Harper Collins (April 12, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: For Review
Young Adult  * Paranormal

Description from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.


Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I didn't finish reading Kelley Armstrong's previous trilogy (The Darkest Powers trilogy), so this review won't strictly be a comparison of the two series. There were several things I liked about The Gathering, the first book in Armstrong's new Darkness Rising trilogy. I loved the creepy atmosphere of the novel. I loved the idea of an incredibly small town living on an island dedicated to medical research. The backdrop of the medical research community, foreign doctors flying in for annual doctor's visits, and a history of unexplained behavior and strange deaths on the island made for a great setting for the story. It was a very different environment for a story. From the prologue, where an unexplainable  accident occurs, the tone is set for a good creepy start to a new story. I also liked that some of the paranormal elements seemed to be derived from Native American folklore. There is a considerably smaller presence of Native lore in young adult novels, so it made some of the paranormal creatures/aspects that readers are familiar with seem more unique and original.

I had difficulty connecting with the protagonist, Maya, but I loved secondary characters Rafe and Annie. Their relationship was interesting and they both had very interesting character histories. I look forward to seeing more from them especially in future books in the series. Characters like Sam and Danial, among others, were fascinating, because there were so many suspicious or different behaviors that they showed, which suggests that they might not be who they seemed either.

The Gathering raised many interesting questions and conundrums, but didn't provide many answers which could leave readers either very excited or very frustrated. The ending was very much a cliffhanger. The last few chapters were fast-paced page-turners, with things building to a great climax at the end. I look forward to future books explaining all of the fantastically creepy elements. Fans of Kelley Armstrongs previous YA series and YA paranormal suspense, will not be disappointed.


Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling Women of the Otherworld paranormal suspense series and Darkest Powers young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets. You can follow her on twitter: @KelleyArmstrong

Her official website is: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/ 

Complete the form below for a chance to win a hard cover copy of The Gathering. Please read contest rules carefully.


CONTEST RULES:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2. The contest runs from August 11 to 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 15, 2011.
3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5. This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY!!


Book Review: Your Child's Writing Life

Author: Pam Allyn
Publisher: Avery Trade (August 2, 2011)
Audience: Adult (Specifically directed towards parents)
Source: NetGalley (e-book for review)

Description from GoodReads:

New educational research reveals that writing is as fundamental to a child's development as reading. But though there are books that promote literacy, no book guides parents in helping their child cultivate a love of writing. In this book, Pam Allyn, a nationally recognized educator and literacy expert, reminds us that writing is not only a key skill but also an essential part of self-discovery and critical to success later in life. Allyn offers the "the five keys" to help kids WRITE-Word Power, Ritual, Independence, Time, and Environment-along with fun, imaginative prompts to inspire and empower children to put their thoughts on the page.

A groundbreaking blueprint for developing every child's abilities, Your Child's Writing Life teaches parents how to give a gift that will last a lifetime.


 "Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out.  A child reading and writing, one from the other is building the capacity for reflection, synthesis, and inquiry." - Pam Allyn
In July, I reviewed Pam Allyn's The Best Book for Boys and have subsequently recommended it to a number of teachers, librarians, and booksellers that I know.  Pam is a teacher, author, motivational speaker, global literacy advocate, and a parent.  She is passionate about her work and is extremely knowledgeable about the field of literacy. 

Allyn's latest book is directed at parents.  Early in the book, she indicates that there are various books on helping your children to read but really no books on nurturing a child's writing life.  She sets out to provide that resource for parents.  As I read through the book, I had to remind myself of this fact, since often times I have on my educator's hat and in this case, I needed to switch gears and look at the book from a different angle.  Though the book does have useful information and reminders which can be used by teachers, the book is really directed at parents, and specifically parents who are interested in their child's writing.  I can see two groups of parents which will gravitate towards this book - the newer parent who is trying to make sure that he/she provides a solid foundation for his/her young child and the parent of an older school-age child who may be struggling with writing and wants to know more about how to support their child's writing.

Allyn makes an extensive case for the importance of early writing, as early as ages 1 to 2 years, in the role of children being better readers and more confident writers later on.  She discusses five writing pillars that are essential in this process: stamina, creativity, organization, fluency, and phonemic awareness.  Early, frequent writing exploration will stimulate and support each of these areas.  Allyn provides multiple examples from her own children's lives as well as from others about how a parent can encourage and support a very young child in this process and how to continue to nurture it as the child grows.  Additionally, Allyn share 5 Keys for Forever Writers which she connects with the word WRITE: word power, reading life, identity, time, and environment.

Two other sections parents will find particularly helpful are the developmental stages of writing and the section on how to help children when they are struggling with writing.  In the developmental section, Allyn breaks things down by a particular age of the child and focuses on the developmental characteristics of that age as connected with writing, the writing elements that are evident at this age, suggestions for writing activities, and suggestions for books.  This varies per age level and provides some additional information for parents are children become a little older.  With these sections, I can see parents scanning through the sections that are not relevant for their child at that particular time and reading more thoroughly the section relevant to where their child is at currently and then returning later to look at other sections.  I can also see teachers pulling out some of the information for a particular age child when speaking with parents about supporting their child's writing at home.

Though I am not a parent, I do have many friends with school-age children.  As I read through this book, many of them came to mind.  I tried to imagine them reading this book or picking it up.  Hence, my earlier statement that I believe this will be a book sought out more by newer parents interested in literacy development or parents of older school-age children whose child may be struggling with writing.  Most parents with pre-school or school aged children are extremely busy and though the activities provided by Allyn in this book are very practical, I am not certain I see parents sitting long enough to read the book or applying the information without some condensing of material (for example, a teacher using the book to provide a hand-out to parents on a child's writing stage, writing ideas for that age level, and some tips on how to support it at home).

Additionally, for teachers working with lower-income families, and families/parents who have limited literacy skills- especially in English, the information provided by Allyn will certainly need to be teased out and formatted in a manner that they can relate with.  Allyn is a passionate supporter of global literacy and I would love to see a companion piece to this book specifically for teachers working with families who the information in this book would be more of a challenge to access or for ideas that would not overwhelm families with limited literacy skills and different cultural values. 


Please note:  There were some formatting issues with the e-galley which were a bit distracting, and also made checking out the references or notations difficult. 

For more information about Pam Allyn, check out the following websites -

Her official website:  http://pamallyn.com/
Or her LitWorld page: http://litworld.org/
Or her LitLife page: http://litlifeinfo.com/

Friend her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamallyn

Follow her on Twitter: @pamallyn

Summer Giveaway Hop


My Summer Giveaway Hop is in celebration of YA Rising Stars Event.  Thanks to Kathy over at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Mary at Bookhounds for hosting the Giveaway Hop.

I am giving away a signed copy of each of the four books below.  Click on the covers for more information about each of the books.  There will be a total of 4 winners.  One for each book. 







Rules for the Contest:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section,you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest. Any comments with personal information WILL BE deleted.

2. The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. PDT on Monday, August 1, 2011 to 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, August 7, 2011.

3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.

4. You must be a follower of the blog.

5. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

6. International participants are welcome to enter the contest.

Please note: Participants will only be able to win one of the four books.  If your name is selected for one of the books, you will eliminated from the other 3 drawings.  







Getting Caught Up: Angelfire + ARC Giveaway

Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Published: Katherine Tegen Books (February 15, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: For Review, Also purchased a copy
Young Adult * Urban Fantasy * Paranormal

Description from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.


Although I'm quite a few months late, I finally read and enjoyed Angelfire from debut author Courtney Allison Moulton. This was highly buzzed about during the months leading up to its released and Angelfire was one of those novels that I knew I would like before I read it. I liked that it was urban fantasy -- I love paranormal stories that have more active female heroines with paranormal elements happening in big cities. I liked how the world of Angelfire seemed to coexist with the world of present-day Detroit. One of the novel's strengths I think was the world-building. I fully understood the rules and intricacies of this paranormal world. Although some of the angel mythology (one of my favorite paranormal "creatures") was familiar from religion/folklore and other novels, there was a lot of originality incorporated into Angelfire that Moulton did a great job of explaining and developing. In Angelfire, beyond just angels, Heaven, Hell, and the usual, there is a dimension called The Grim, creatures called reapers, a general creepiness that makes this probably the most unique 'angel book' I've ever read. Not to sound morbid, but I really loved the darkness and violence of this world.

The characters were also very well-developed. I'm usually attracted to the male lead in most books, but I am completely sincere when I say that Will is probably one of my new book boyfriends. I really liked his history as a character, and the quirks and characterization was really well done. Not too much brooding, not too much bravado. I loved him! Ellie, our protagonist was likable too. For the most part she was strong without being aggressive and her relationship with Will was sweet. I was mostly intrigued by the guys in Angelfire, though. Ellie's dad is a character I couldn't quite wrap my head around. His relationship with Ellie is so complex and much more dynamic than her relationship with her mother. I kept waiting for something to be revealed about him... I guess I'll have to wait for the next two books to see if I'm just being paranoid. Similarly, Will's friend, Nathaniel, and archrival, Cadan (who won't really have a large role until later in the series) were interesting and well-rounded. Even the male villain piqued my interest. Moulton just does a great job with characters, especially male characters.

The plot was also very interesting. It developed at a great pace -- I almost couldn't put the novel down -- and there are several revelations near the end that came out of left field... in a good way! I love it when I can't instantly predict the trajectory of a series after the first book, which is the case with Angelfire. There is something about Angelfire that I can't put my finger on, but I just loved. There were some small issues I had with it. I felt that once Ellie realized her feelings for Will, her character lost some of her funny sassiness and became more fragile and on-the-verge-of-tears compared to the first half of the book. Also, Ellie's human life was left unresolved many times when jumping between her reaper duties and her regular life. There were a few other hiccups that bothered me, but at the same time I was really drawn to this story and its characters. I really liked it and can't wait for the sequel, Wings of the Wicked in 2012. I'd recommend this to fans of Lauren Kate's Fallen series and Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series.


Courtney Allison Moulton lives in Michigan, where she is a photographer and spends all her free time riding and showing horses. She has always loved reading about ancient mythologies, studying dead languages, and telling scary, romantic stories. Angelfire is her debut novel. You can follow her on twitter: @CAMoulton or on her blog: http://courtney-allison.blogspot.com/

Her official website is: courtneyallisonmoulton.com


Complete the form below for a chance to win an Advanced Reader Copy of Angelfire Please read contest rules carefully.


CONTEST RULES:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2. The contest runs from July 28 to 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 8, 2011.
3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5. This contest is open in US and Canada only. (Sorry international followers!)