Giveaway: "You Killed Wesley Payne" by Sean Beaudoin

We received an advanced copy of "You Killed Wesley Payne" by Sean Beaudoin and will pass it along to one of our readers who would like to have it.  Here is the summary from the back cover and the book trailer:

You Killed Wesley Payne is a truly original and darkly hilarious update of classic pulp noir, in which hard-boiled seventeen-year-old Dalton Rev transfers to the mean hallways of Salt River High to take on the toughest casde of his life. The question isn't whether Dalton's going to get paid. He always gets paid. Or whether he's gonna get the girl. He always sometimes gets the girl. The real question is whether Dalton Rev can outwit crooked cops and power-hungry cliques in time to solve the mystery of "The Body" before it solves him.

If you would like this teen fiction book, please leave a comment with an email address so we can contact you should you be the winner.  We will pick the winner of this giveaway on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011.

"Up From The Blue" by Susan Henderson

I find it hard to believe that Up From The Blue is Susan Henderson’s first book.  I really liked it!  Up From The Blue is about a Colonel’s daughter who one day finds that her mom is missing.  When she finds her mother, that is when the book really picks up steam.  All the characters are portrayed very well:  the dad, the brother and the mother and daughter.  Up From The Blue is a real page turner!  I’ll be looking for Ms. Henderson’s next work for sure!  I give this 10 stars and definitely recommend it!
(Gerard's review)

Karen read this one too after Gerard finished it and didn't like it near as much as Gerard:
Up From The Blue by Susan Henderson is just a very sad book about a family who is really unconnected with each other.  The girl is 8, the boy is 12 and neither really feels loved.  The dad is a military man who is at his wits end when it comes to helping his wife.  She is depressed all the time and he just hides it from everyone, telling the kids not to talk about her.  It‘s a story of putting on an act and hiding true feelings.  I felt bad for each one in the family.  It reminded me of The Glass Castle except that was non-fiction.  Told from the little girl’s point of view, the reader doesn’t get the full story until the girl does.  Although it is an interesting read, I didn’t care for it because it was just so depressing--no one in the family felt good enough. 
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Love My Bookplates From Susan Faye!

My Book Stickers That I Won!

I happened to see a giveaway for some cute "This Book Belong To" stickers when visiting 365 Cat Ladies and Friends so decided to enter and won!  I just got these a couple days ago and today chose which books to put them into.  I picked books that I felt I may lend out sometime or that I am sure I will keep and not sell or give away.  Here are the books I put them into:

You can visit Susan Faye's Etsy shop and get some for your books too for just $5.00 or a number of other cool things too!

"Crystal Clear Triumph" by Eric LeMarque

Crystal Clear Triumph by Eric LeMarque is the true story of Eric who dreamed to become a hockey player.  He was also hooked on Meth.  When his dream to be a hockey player died, he turned to snowboarding.  He got stuck on a mountain for six days!  How he survived is an extraordinary tale.  He lost both of his feet.  What he did with the rest of his life is the story of this book.  I won't give it all away, but it is inspirational!  A good quick read.
(Gerard 5/26/09)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"The Power Of Half" by Kevin and Hannah Salwen

This video was made by the brother in the book explaining about their family project which the book is all about.

The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen is an inspirational true story about how their family lived with less to make a sizable contribution to really make a difference for a lot of people.  Hannah the teen daughter, co-author of this book, had a deep desire to help people less fortunate than her and was instrumental in getting her family to take a trip to Africa to actually see the people they were going to help with their donation to The Hunger Project.  The parents wanted to get their children to be more involved in their charitable decision making so agreed to go along with Hannah’s suggestion to down-size, sell their $1.95 million home and give half to charity. 

This book was written to encourage families to be more involved in helping others and share their story on how they did it.  It in no way recommends that everyone sell their home and move into a smaller one like they did.  Kevin, the father, summarizes the benefits their family experienced by going through the process of deciding how much to give, what charity to give it to and down-sizing by getting rid of a lot of things they didn’t need.  Through this process his family drew closer, communicated on a deeper level, enjoyed having a common goal to work towards, and an increased respect for each other.  His teens became more self-confident and developed leadership skills. 

One of the key points in the process that really gave the teens ownership of the project was to give every family member an equal vote in the decision making.  It was interesting to see the inner workings of this family and how they worked together.  I thought they should have actually sold their house first and then decided what to do with the money instead of promising the money to a charity before the house even sold.  You can visit their website at www.thepowerofhalf.com.  Some other suggested websites mentioned in the book are:  www.rebuiildingtogether.org, www.sharesavespend.com, www.handsonnetwork.org.

I liked Hannah’s heart but found myself plowing through the book to finish it.  I recommend it to parents who are looking for a way to unite their family and draw them closer or to anyone looking for help on how to get their children to be less selfish. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?