Super Middle Grade Monday #1 - Vanessa Barger

Middle Grade Mondays Blitz: Author Spotlight - Vanessa Barger with Giveaway #MGMondays

Welcome to the first Official Middle Grade Mondays Book Blitz #MGMondays

presented by Tantrum Books/Month9books!

Today, we get up close and personal in a "Would You Rather" Q & A with

Vanessa Barger

author of the upcoming book, Super Freak, from Tantrum Books.

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Review: Ward Against Destruction - Melanie Card

'No.  Save the man.  Be a physician, not a monster.'

Title: Ward Against Destruction

Author: Melanie Card

ISBN: 9781633754522

Publication Date: October 5, 2015

Publisher: Entangled: Teen

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads:

Ward de’Ath used to think that nothing could be more terrible than death. Now he realizes there are worse things. Like his never-ending hunger for blood. Even if he conquers the unbearable cravings that drive him headlong toward destruction, he’s a wanted man with a bleak future.

Assassin Celia Carlyle learns she is the only one who can protect Ward from disaster. She loves him–she wants to help him, but no one can tell her how to save him from himself. And the confusing voices in her head scream to let him go.

But Ward's dark trials keep mounting. A malevolent evil is rising in the land, threatening to unleash horror upon the world. The only way Ward can defeat it, and have the chance to marry Celia, is by accepting his fate and becoming the one thing he swore he would never become... 

Review: Never Said - Carol Lynch WIlliams

'None of us are who we say we are.'

Title: Never Said

Author: Carol Lynch Williams

ISBN: 9780310746614

Publication Date: August 25, 2015

Publisher: Blink

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads:

For as long as she can remember, Sarah’s family life has revolved around her twin sister, Annie—the pretty one, the social one, the girl who can do anything. The person everyone seems to wish Sarah—with her crippling shyness—could simply become.

When Annie suddenly chops off her hair, quits beauty pageants, and gains weight, the focus changes—Annie is still the star of the family, but for all the wrong reasons. Sarah knows something has happened, but she too is caught in her own spiral after her boyfriend breaks up with her and starts hanging out with one of Annie’s old friends.

Annie is intent on keeping her painful secret safe. But when she and Sarah start spending time together again for the first time in years, walls start to break on both sides … and words that had been left unsaid could change everything.

Book Blitz #1: Entropy by Robert Raker

Book Title: Entropy

Book Genre: Crime, drama  

Author: Robert Raker

Publisher: Wattle Publishing

Review: Choose Your Own Autobiography - Neil Patrick Harris

'The last thing you see is Joss Whedon running to you wailing, "No, Neil!  Not before we shoot Dr. Horrible 2:  The Desolation of Moist!"'

Title: Choose Your Own Autobiography

Author: Neil Patrick Harris

ISBN: 9780385347013

Publication Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Source: Blogging For Books

From Goodreads:

Seeking an exciting read that puts the “u” back in “aUtobiography”?  Look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! In this entertaining and innovative memoir, Neil Patrick Harris shares intimate and hilarious stories about everything from his early days in LA, life on the How I Met Your Mother set, secrets from backstage at award shows, and family life with David, Harper, and Gideon.  In a fresh spin on the typical celebrity narrative, he lets you, the reader, choose which path you want him to follow.  All this plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from his time as a child actor, and even a closing song!

To Be Read Pile: October

Since my TBR pile isn't getting any smaller, here are the books I want to get through this month:

Picture Books

Middle Grade

Under the Big Green Roof: September's Picture Book Reviews

Worms
Bernard Friot and Aurelie Guillerey

John-Paul is bored, bored, bored.  His dad invited a bunch of important people over for dinner, and no one's talking about anything fun.  So when John-Paul's dad asks him to go get the salads, he decides to add his own addition to the dishes.

I absolutely adored this picture book!  The vintage style illustrations, and ridiculously expressive worms were a perfect pair.  And the result of John-Paul's mischief making at the end is a wonderful example of taking your own dues.

Publication: September 1 , 2015
Publisher: Kids Can Press
-Digital ARC provided by NetGalley, in exchange for a review.

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Snap!
Hazel Hutchins and Dusan Petricic

What could be more perfect than a brand new set of crayons? Evan can't wait to use them, until Snap! the brown one breaks in two. Then one by one, the others break, get crushed, are blown away, or simply disappear. How can he possibly draw when there's no green, purple, or even black?

I love this book!  The colors are bright and eye catching, the illustrations whimsical, and the message of finding new ways to be creative is fantastically portrayed.  Both Hutchins and Petricic do a wonderful job of showing the different emotions Evan goes through in a way that will translate well to the story time audience.  If I had kids of my own, Snap! would be a staple of their library.  As it is, I still want a copy for my own library, for when I get called to read to kids, or have kids of my own. :3

Publication: September 22, 2015
Publisher: Annick Press
-Digital ARC provided by Netgalley, in exchange for a review.

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The Night Children
Sarah Tsiang and Delphine Bodet

When the streets are empty and kids are called home for dinner and put to bed, the world becomes a magical place. It's only then that the night children emerge from the shadows, ready to play. In this evocative and lyrical picture book, it is the night children who rule, taking over the world that the day children have left behind.

I really liked the whimsical illustrations Bodet created for this book; however, I can't help but think this story would fail to retain the younger set of story time audiences.  It's a whimsical and poetic picture book, but the story is quite loose and very abstract.  I found myself underwhelmed by the whole of it, and wished there'd been more to the story to pull the audience in.

Publication:
Publisher:
-Digital ARC provided by Netgalley, in exchange for a review.