Cliques, Hicks, and Ugly Sticks - Book Giveaway

Free Book! - "Cliques, hicks, and ugly sticks" by KD McCrite

Cliques, hicks and ugly sticks
Confessions of April Grace Series
Published by Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2011

“A clique of mean girls, a grandma – yes, you heard it – a grandma stuck in a love triangle, a church pageant run by a dictator, and a mom who is acting very mysterious – it all sounds like a disaster, but it’s just another day in the super funny life of April Grace Reilly.” (From the book cover)

I am giving away a signed copy of “Cliques, hicks, and ugly sticks” by KD McCrite to a GR8 RēDZ follower. To enter the giveaway send an e-mail to kendrickpub@gmail.com with the words "Cliques Giveaway" in the subject line and include your first and last name in the body of the e-mail. Entries must be received by May 28th, 2012.

The winner will be contacted soon after by e-mail. Since  GR8 RēDZ  pays for the shipping, this giveaway is limited to my readers within the US and Canada. I never distribute e-mail addresses or mailing addresses.

The Dead & The Gone

By Susan Beth Pfeffer
Published by Harcourt, Inc.
Copyright © 2008
“The Dead & the Gone” is the sequel to “Life as We Knew It”, but it is not your typical sequel. Most sequels begin where the original story left off, but “The Dead & the Gone” is a parallel story. Pfeffer takes us back to the beginning of the story when the Moon is moved closer to the earth by an asteroid. Where “Life…” tells the story from the viewpoint of a teenage girl in small town Pennsylvania, “The Dead…” gives us the same event story but from the diametric viewpoint of a teenage boy in the big city, New York, New York.

Alex has just come home from his job at the pizza shop, and the electricity has gone out. His sisters are at home, but his father is Puerto Rico for a funeral and his mother is still at her job at the hospital. This crisis could not happen at a worse time for Alex who must now take care of his younger sisters until his parents make it home. The question is though, will they make it home.

If you’ve read “Life as We Knew it” you are familiar with the type of difficulties that ensue, but how one copes in the city is just a little different. If you liked “Life…” then you should definitely check this book out. However I don’t recommend reading both books back to back, read something a little happier in between. They are great books, but they could be a little depressing if taken in large doses.

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

Published by Alfred A. Knopf

Copyright © 2006

“The Book Thief” is a dramatic and amazingly haunting story of ordinary people in Germany during World War II. The perspectives of this tale, however, are anything but ordinary.

Death, it is everywhere. Dying of old age or sickness is bad enough, but oh so often humans die at the hands of other humans. It is a wonder we haven’t exterminated ourselves. In this story we are taken to a time and a place where this had never been truer – Germany during World War II. It is in this hellish place that the personification of Death chooses to show why we (humans) are worth the effort, and it is through the story of a young girl.

Liesel is on a train with her mother and brother. They are bound for the town of Molching near Munich where the two siblings will be left with new foster parents. On the train ride Liesel’s brother dies and she and her mother are forced to get off at the next stop to arrange for his burial. It was in this place that she stole the first of many books.

After her brother is buried they board another train to finish their trip. Liesel is left with her foster parents, the Hubermann’s. Rosa Hubermann is a loud woman with a lethal mouth and Hans Hubermann is a quiet man with a kind heart. It is in this home where Liesel learns to read, and it is here that she learns that words can have great power for good and for bad. Poor Liesel will see both first hand as her life intertwines with that of a Jewish street fighter, the German Jesse Owens, various fanatical Germans, and of course her foster parents.

“The Book Thief” is a different take on an often written about time period. Many Holocaust novels seem to be written from the viewpoint of a Jewish person; however Zusak’s protagonist is a young German girl who is displayed as something of a heroine. This is interesting to me, because we generally like to pigeonhole Germans from that era as being horrible people who were rabid supporters of “the Fuhrer.” Zusak puts some cracks in that stereotype, to help us see that there were those who were likely very good people, who were caught up in a very dangerous situation. 

I also thought that the author pulled off an interesting twist in perspective, by making the narrator of this tale be the death personified, the grim reaper if you will. I don’t believe in the immortality of the soul as the author suggests it at times; however as a fictional storytelling device it works well as a way to insert an outside/otherworldly view or opinion. I’m not sure if this has been done before, but I genuinely liked it. I think the story would have been good without it, but it is such an emotional tale that it helps give the reader some distance and some foreshadowing to prepare them for what is to come.

Though this book was written for young adults, some books transcend age limitations. “The Book Thief” tells a story that portrays what is beautiful and what is ugly about the human creature, and the way in which we use words. This book should be on the must read list of anyone 13 to 113.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

Published by Razor Bill

Copyright © 2007

This is one of the most compelling books I’ve read in a long time. Suicide is certainly not a pick me up, make me feel better subject. But Asher’s use of double narrative and the mystery of motive grab you and don’t let you go.

Clay Jensen comes home from school and finds a package on his front porch addressed to him. His life has already bruised by the suicide of Hannah Baker, but what he finds in that package will shatter him.

Hannah Baker committed suicide a couple of weeks ago, and nobody knew why? She did though, and she decided to share those reasons. Not with the entire world mind you, not unless they forced her. She made a list of the thirteen people who had altered her life since she had moved to this town. She then recorded seven audio cassettes, one side per a person and told the story of their interaction. Before she kills herself she sends these tapes to the first person on her list.

At the very beginning of her recording she instructs the listener that when they are done with the tapes that they must send them on to the next person on the list or else there is a second set of tapes that will go public. Why does she do this? Because she wants everyone on the list to understand that what they do and say has an effect. Everyone and everything is connected in some way.

We see the impact of these tapes through the thoughts and reactions of Clay Jensen. Clay immediately wonders why he is on these tapes, because he can’t think of anything that he did to Hannah Baker. To the contrary he really liked her and was a bit too shy to talk to her the way he wanted. But he listens anyway and we listen along with him as Hannah narrates her story.

“Thirteen Reasons Why” is a bit mysterious and mildly disturbing. While the content of this book may be a bit mature in places, I think that this is a book that every teen (13 and up) should read at some point during their high school careers. This tale is not so much a rally against suicide as it is a rally for compassion. So many times we do and say things that we think will have no effect on others, and other times we are just outright selfish and don’t care about others. This book is begs you to think about what you are doing. This book is a call to action. If you see someone who displays suicidal tendencies show them that you care and don’t give up just because they push you away. Sometimes how hard you try shows how much you care.

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup

by Ron Koertge
Published by Candlewick Press
Copyright © 2003

I am a big baseball fan, and I just so happen to like poetry. There is something about the game of baseball that brings out the poet and writer in many men. The game has a soul. It’s contemplative. It’s youth at it’s core. Author, Ron Koertge, gives us just a little touch of that in this book.

 Kevin Boland loves baseball. Well baseball and girls – he is 14 hello. But baseball seems to be his life he is a great first baseman with a sweet stroke. But when he catches mono his baseball life is derailed. He is too sick and weak to play ball. Since he is pretty much confined to his house and tired much of the time Kevin picks one of his Dad’s books on poetry styles. He starts to write just to have something to do, but it isn’t until he gets better and he can do whatever he wants that he realizes what he really wants to do is write poetry. He hasn’t dropped baseball, but he realizes that he enjoys writing as well.

Kevin’s poetry is a reflection of his personal life. At first it is mostly about baseball, but soon he finds himself writing about the loss of his mother, his father’s coping skills, and of course girls.

This quick, but wonderful, read is especially great for tween and early teen boys. I think it really shows that while sports are fun, and to some extent important, they are not life. I also think that Kevin’s character shows that being sensitive doesn’t mean being week, it means being able to share how you feel. Great book!