"Melody" by V. C. Andrews is an Oldie but a Goodie!

Melody by V. C. Andrews is very good and I am glad I read it. It is one my husband had before we were married 16 years ago and I finally got around to reading it. I am so glad I did! Melody is a 15-yr.-old girl who is part of a family with many secrets. She is a nice girl and good student, but grew up in a coal mining town and is shocked to find out family secrets after her dad dies in a mining accident and her mother drops Melody at the dad's brothers house while she goes off to try to become a model or actress. Melody moves in with her dad's relatives, which she never met, Aunt Sara, Uncle Jacob and her cousins, Cary and May, a little deaf girl.

This is such a good story with all the secrets gradually coming to light and Melody realizing that her parents never told her the truth about who she is. Melody is very pretty and she learned to play the fiddle. I did not care for her mother at all and wondered how Melody turned out so well. There lots of interesting relationships and characters in this book. I loved how Cary came around to liking Melody and how he became protective of her. This is the first book of a series and I am eager to read the next two soon! If you like family stories with interesting characters, I highly recommend this one! There are lots of surprises along the way! It would make a good book club read.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Next in Series:  Heart Song

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Lara's Gift" by Annemarie O'Brien

I prefer cat books myself, meow!

Lara's Gift by Annemarie O'Brien is a children's short story about a young girl who loves dogs and with her papa, takes care of them to give to the Tsar.  She also has a special gift.  I'm not telling you what that is; you will have to read the book to find out!  For such a short book, there is enough action that keeps the main plot moving along.  I loved it and will be looking for more from this first-time author.  
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Tuesday Teasers: Four Today

Karen's:

"Melody, if you can't decide what to leave here, I'll decide for you," she said and reached down to pluck the stuffed cat out of the suitcase.
"No!," I cried.  "That was the last thing Daddy gave me!"

From page 48 of Melody by V. C. Andrews.  (Melody is 15)

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.  And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

From I John 3:22-23 of the Holy Bible (KJV).

Gerard's:

"Then speak of this to no one," Papa said.  "Not even to Alexander."

From page 7 of Lara's Gift by Annemarie O'Brien.  (My review will be up tomorrow)

Keeping his gaze straight ahead, watching the forest, he whispered, "That's the last time.  Don't do something stupid like that again."

From page 87 of Variant by Robison Wells.



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Happy Reading!

Monday Mischief: Out Takes--Who Says Modeling Is Easy?

Thought you might enjoy so comical header outtakes:

Wait Manny!  Don't go yet!

Why do we always have to be in the background, mom?

Spunky Doodle, look at the books!

Joining in with the Monday Mischief and Cats on Tuesday blog hops.

We Both Liked "The Clock of LIfe" by Nancy Klann-Moren (Giveaway)

 The Clock of Life by Nancy Klann-Moren is about Jason Lee desiring to be as brave as his dad and do the right thing no matter what.  It shows the effects of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement on Jason Lee’s family.  Jason Lee is a southern white boy who befriends Samson Jackson, a black boy in spite of what others think.  Jason Lee’s father was actively involved in the civil rights movement and endured ridicule for joining with the blacks in the march with Martin Luther King before Jason Lee was born but died in the Vietnam war before Jason Lee was born.

Jason Lee’s coming of age story is both interesting and sad.  My favorite part was when Jason Lee and Wally went to visit Jason Lee's mom at the hospital and helped her escape!  It’s an entertaining historical fiction read that emphasizes blacks and whites are alike and should have the same rights.
(Karen's review posted 8/22/13, 4 stars)

The Clock of life by Nancy Klann-Moren is a real good coming of age story about a young white boy who befriends a young black boy in the south. This book had my attention all the way! I really enjoyed the main character and the story line was well told. Great writing that I think both young teens and older people would enjoy.
(Gerard's review posted 7/15/13, 5 stars)

August 28 will be the 50th anniversary of the 1963 civil rights March with Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.  This book would be a good one to read this week! 
Here's a teaser from the book:

     "It's a tough thing to do in these parts, but you be friends with anyone you want, Jason Lee.  Don't let nobody tell you different, you hear?"  Her tone sounded like a scolding. 
     "I won't."
     "Your daddy got himself forty-seven stitches across the back of his shoulder.  And they threw him in jail to boot, just so you and boys like Samson could be friends."

From page 8 of The Clock of Life by Nancy Klann-Moren.

We are offering this first to my friends and blogging buddies (that's you!) before releasing this book "into the wild."  Just let me know if you would like to have it.  It's too good to just sit in our bookcase--it needs to be read!

(We received a free copy of this book to review and received no compensation and did not affect our reviews.)

Visit the Author's Website here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!