Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

  Title: Smile Author: Raina Telgemeier Publication Info: Scholastic, 2010. 224 pages, graphic novel Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. This coming-of-age true story is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever been in middle school, and especially those who have ever had a bit of their own dental drama. My Review: I didn't get my braces until I was in my late 30s and my second son was a baby, so I didn't exactly relate to some of the issues Raina faced (though I do remember some non-trivial pain, and I didn't hav

 The chronicles of the Realms are concluded!   Princelings Revolution is out today! The day has finally come for the last in Jemima Pett's Princelings of the East series. She started writing it in the dim dark days of 2008, thanks to inspiration from some guinea pig friends. Today's post has an extract and a Giveaway, so there's a lot of reading!  In 2008, the series was just meant to be a trilogy. But the characters wouldn't accept their fate and demanded more. And so the saga of the Realms wound its way from south to north, and even into Germany before returning to the east. The Princelings of the East The Princelings and the Pirates The Princelings and the Lost City The Traveler in Black and White The Talent Seekers Bravo Victor Willoughby the Narrator The Princelings of the North Chronicles of Marsh and... ....... Princelings Revolution Jasmine's birthday party ends in disaster. George seems to have lost a phial of highly dange

I have begun reading Voyagers: The Third Ghost , and I'm excited about the stories--the ones I've read so far are great! Voyagers  is the 2019 IWSG short-story anthology, and of course I'm extra excited because my story, "A World of Trouble," is in there. This isn't a review, but there have been some reviews, and posts about and by the authors, that I want to share now that I'm reading the book and thinking about it! From the authors: https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/05/insider-writing-tips-for-iwsg-2020_27.html https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/06/insider-writing-tips-for-iwsg-2020.html https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-2020-iwsg-anthology-contest-and_20.html https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-2020-iwsg-anthology-contest-and.html https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/06/strategies-for-promoting-book-part-1.html https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/06/strategies-for-promoting-book-part-2.html Reviews o

  Title: Wish Author: Barbara O'Connor. Read by Suzy Jackson Publication Info: 2016, Recorded Books. 4:40. Hardcover 2016, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 240 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all. 
 My Review:   I enjoyed this story. It's a sweet tale, with a likeable main

  Title: The Hunt for the Mad Wolf's Daughter Author: Diane Magras; read by Joshua Manning Publication Info: Listening Library, 2019. Hardcover, Kathy Dawson Books, 2019. Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: In this Scottish medieval adventure, after attempting a daring rescue of her war-band family, Drest learns that Lord Faintree's traitorous uncle has claimed the castle for his own and convinced the knights that the lord has been slain . . . at her hand. Now with a hefty price on her head, Drest must find a way to escape treacherous knights, all the while proving to her father, the "Mad Wolf of the North," and her irrepressible band of brothers that she is destined for more than a life of running and hiding. Even if that means redefining what it means to be a warrior. My Review: I reviewed the companion to this book a few weeks ago. That I immediately went and put a hold on the sequel at the library tells you that I really liked the sto

Title: Twerp Author: Mark Goldblatt, read by Everette Plen Publication Info: 2013, Listening Library. Hardcover 2013, Random House Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: It's not like I meant for him to get hurt. . . . Julian Twerski isn't a bully. He's just made a big mistake. So when he returns to school after a weeklong suspension, his English teacher offers him a deal: if he keeps a journal and writes about the terrible incident that got him and his friends suspended, he can get out of writing a report on Shakespeare. Julian jumps at the chance. And so begins his account of life in sixth grade--blowing up homemade fireworks, writing a love letter for his best friend (with disastrous results), and worrying whether he's still the fastest kid in school. Lurking in the background, though, is the one story he can't bring himself to tell, the one story his teacher most wants to hear. Inspired by Mark Goldblatt's own childhood growing u

 Since this was the posting week for the WEP challenge, I shifted my update to Friday. Before we get to the writer's update, how about some blog updates? Regular readers may have noticed that I'm not doing very many reviews anymore. (Actually, since I haven't all year, you may not remember I ever did). For some reason--travel, moving, writing novels, and too much social media--I haven't been reading as much this year. When I do, I often don't feel like writing reviews. So I don't, unless I've committed to do so (I have books from a number of you that I need to read and review, per my promises!). For now, I'm happy to do occasional reviews, some photo posts, keep talking about writing, and maybe get back to writing flash fiction now and again. Writer's Update: With NaNo over, the temptation to just kind of stop is great. We have to resist! I have pushed on another two or three thousand words (which also involved deleting a thousand or so) to get a mor

Title: Here Lies the Librarian Author: Richard Peck Publication Info: Dial Books, 2006, 160 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: Peewee idolizes Jake, a big brother whose dreams of auto mechanic glory are fueled by the hard road coming to link their Indiana town and futures with the twentieth century. And motoring down the road comes Irene Ridpath, a young librarian with plans to astonish them all and turn Peewee’s life upside down.This novel, with its quirky characters, folksy setting, classic cars, and hilariously larger-than-life moments, is vintage Richard Peck – an offbeat, deliciously wicked comedy that is also unexpectedly moving. 
 My Review:  Richard Peck's historical fiction served in part as inspiration when I wrote my Ninja Librarian stories. I first read this one after I'd written at least the first book, which is maybe just as well, because if I'd read this first, I might have given up and left the librarians to Peck. Actuall

Title: A Stitch in Time Author: Daphne Kalmar Publication Info: Feiwel and Friends, 2018. 256 pages (hardback) Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: Donut is an eleven-year old geography buff who keeps her taxidermied mice hidden in her late mother’s hope chest. Her pops passed away, leaving her an orphan. Aunt Agnes has moved in, bringing along her lumpy oatmeal, knitting, and a plan to drag Donut off to Boston forever. Donut stands to lose everything: her friends, her village, her home, the woods, and walks where the memories of her pops are stored up. While Donut dodges the ache of missing her pops, she and her best friend Tiny plan how to keep her where she belongs. Holed up in a cabin on Dog Pond, Donut clings to the hope that Aunt Agnes will throw in the towel and leave Vermont without her. A Stitch in Time is shot through with gorgeous, evocative language, and gets right to Donut’s heart.   My Review: Maybe I never grew up, because I think my reaction

Title: Almost Paradise Author: Corabel Shofner. Read by Eileen Stevens Publication Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017. 288 pages in hardback. Audio edition by Blackstone Audio, 2017. Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb:  Twelve-year-old Ruby Clyde Henderson’s life turns upside down the day her mother’s boyfriend holds up a convenience store, and her mother is wrongly imprisoned for assisting with the crime. Ruby and her pet pig, Bunny, find their way to her estranged Aunt Eleanor's home. Aunt Eleanor is a nun who lives on a peach orchard called Paradise, and had turned away from their family long ago. With a little patience, she and Ruby begin to get along―but Eleanor has secrets of her own, secrets that might mean more hard times for Ruby. Ruby believes that she's the only one who can find a way to help heal her loved ones, save her mother, and bring her family back together again. But being in a family means that everyone has to work together to support ea

By the way, I love this cover: Title: The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate Author: Jacqueline Kelly Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 2015. 315 pages (hardback) Publisher’s Blurb: Callie’s younger brother Travis keeps bringing home strays. And Callie has her hands full keeping the animals—Travis included—away from her mother’s critical eye. When a storm blows change into town in the form of a visiting veterinarian, Callie discovers a life and a vocation she desperately wants. But with societal expectations as they are, she will need all her wits and courage to realize her dreams. Whether it’s wrangling a rogue armadillo or stray dog, a guileless younger brother or standoffish cousin, the trials and tribulations of Callie Vee will have readers cheering for this most endearing heroine. My Review: As a sequel to a Newbery nominee and winner of multiple awards (see review) , this book had quite a bit to live up to. To my mind, it did it, though it left me looking for another sequel, which

  Title: The Voice of the Xenolith Author: Cynthia Pelman Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing, 2015. 214 pages (in paperback) Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: Thirteen-year-old Amethyst does not get on with her teachers. Her classmates think she is weird. She prefers to be on her own, and she wishes she did not have to go to school. Amethyst reads detective stories, collects fossils, loves archaeology, and is writing her own dictionary. She has trained herself to become an expert in tracking, searching and following clues, and she uses these detective skills to search for someone who was murdered seventy years ago. Amethyst reaches out across time and space and in doing so finds her own voice among the many meanings of silence. My Review:  I picked up this book because it seemed to fit a theme being explored on the Goodreads group Great Middle Grade Reads; i.e., girls in science. To some degree, that is true, as Amethyst is definitely interested in a

Title: Harbor Me Author: Jacqueline Woodson Publication Info: Listening Library, 2018. Hardback by Nancy Paulson Books, 2018. 192 pages. Source:  Library digital resources My Review:  This was a book that announced from it’s opening line that it would be dealing with issues. That can be off-putting, but in this case, it worked well. A lot of the issues had to do with race, and with being Black in America (another character is dealing with fear of deportation, another hot-button race issue). Part of why it was so powerful, I’m certain, is because the author is African-American, and has had to have “that talk” with her own 10-year-old son. No, not the one we all have to have. The one where you explain why he can’t have a toy gun any more, or wear a hoodie in public, and how to act if the police come near you.  To make it more real, the cast reading the book included that son, as well as either another son or a friend (I couldn’t quite get that clear listening to the fascinating interview

Title: The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle Author: Christina Uss Publisher: Margaret Ferguson Books, 2018. 320 pages (hardback) Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way and sets off on her bike for San Francisco to meet her idol, a famous cyclist, certain he will be her first true friend. Who knew that a ghost would haunt her handlebars and that she would have to contend with bike-hating dogs, a bike-loving horse, bike-crushing pigs, and a mysterious lady dressed in black. Over the uphills and downhills of her journey, Bicycle discovers that friends are not such a bad thing to have after all, and that a dozen cookies really can solve most problems.   My Review: I didn’t know what to make of this book at first. The idea of

  Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Author: Jacqueline Kelly Publication Info: Henry Holt & Co., 2009. 344 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century. Debut author Jacqueline Kelly deftly brings Callie and her family to life, capturing a year of growing up with unique sensitivity and a wry wit. My Review: I liked this book a lot. The title ch