Weekly Geeks( Haiti) and more

To my recollection I have not read any books about Haiti. Nor have I read any by someone from Haiti. So to remedy that fact I decided to check out books about or take place in Haiti. After checking out places like Goodreads.com and PaperbackSwap.com. I found at least three books that interested me. The first one, "Josephine's 'Magination: A Tale of Haiti" by Arnold Dobrin, was a childrens' picture book and was available for swap. The other two, "Anacaona: Golden Flower (The Royal Diaries)" and "The Magic Orange Tree : and Other Haitian Folktales", are on my wish list. So that two children books and one folklore book.


I have drawn a picture of a child that could be of Haiti holding a blanket around herself. On the blanket there is a heart and in the heart is the image that can be found on the Haitian flag.

The Tutu Ballet by Sally O, Lee

Title: The Tutu Ballet
Series: None
Author(s): Sally O. Lee
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Release Date: September 5, 2008
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: In Ms. Berry's ballet class there are a few joyful girls who have favorite ballet moves. Each one of them has a move that they just love to do. Ms. Berry creates a show that lets the children perform each of their moves.

Cute for any aspiring ballerina. Girls will love the dancing animals in their pretty tutus. Sally O. Lee creates some of the most adorable books.

About the Author: Sally O. Lee creates her own books and illustrates them. Visit her site at http://www.leepublishing.net/.

The Turkey Treat by Marie Sanderlin Metroke

Title: The Turkey Treat
Series: None
Author(s): Marie Sanderlin Metroke
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Release Date: April 22, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 24
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: Jeff Watson wants a Turkey for Christmas. Dad, Mom and Jeff stop at the food market, and low and behold, there is a live turkey. Jeff tries to capture it, but the bird ends up biting him and gets away. As they both run amok through the market, there may not be a Christmas turkey at all.

I was a little confuzzled to see a live turkey in a supermarket, but I figure it's a kids book, so I'll go with it. I can see the little ones laughing at the chaos.

About the Author: Marie Sanderlin Metroke is the author, but I couldn't find too much about her. This seems like the only book she's written.

The Sneakiest Pirates by Dalton James

Title: The Sneakiest Pirates
Series: None
Author(s): Dalton James
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Release Date: May 17, 2008
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 20
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: The father and son team is just returning from performing the greatest rock concert, and now they are pirates. They follow Peg Leg Chuck as he takes his treasure to an island. After Peg Leg Chuck leaves, father and son, Pirate Pete and Scurvy James, steal the treasure, get back on there ship and continue their adventures.

Kids are great at creating stories, and this kid author has become one of my favorites. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

About the Author: Dalton James is the author of three books. No website yet.

The Red Red Car by Manjula Naraynan

Title: The Red Red Car
Series: Color Trilogy
Author(s): Manjula Naraynan
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: Anger consumes not just people but cars too. This red red sports car is always angry and seems to get more angry with each passing second. He decides to run in a car race, but anger takes it's toll and the red red car's health goes down hill.

I have seen children who have these moments where they get so angry they can't contain themselves and act out violently. I think this an excellent book for children with hidden tempers.

About the Author: Manjula Naraynan has written two books, The Green Green Pear and The Red Red Car. She has one of the cutest sites for an author I have seen. Go to http://www.bookbloom.com/

The Heroes of Googley Woogley by Dalton James

Title: The Heroes of Googley Woogley
Series: None
Author(s): Dalton James
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Release Date: March 11, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 24
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: A short story about a father and son who are spacemen. They help save the good aliens of Googley Woogley.

To make a book like this happen, an adult like me usually try hard to keep a childhood imagination. That wasn't an isue for this author: it was written by a 7-year-old. Kids imagination have no limits, while adults always have that voice in the back of our heads saying "that can't happen". So leave it to a kid to come up with this most creative story. I look forward to more books by Dalton James.

About the Author: Dalton James is 7 years old and has written 3 books.

Davey BigHead: Dream Big by Peter J. Hayden

Title: Davey BigHead: Dream Big
Series: None
Author(s): Peter J. Hayden
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Release Date: May 14, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 26
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: Davey has a big head that gets in the way of everything. It gets in the way climbing the monkey bars and playing dodge ball. Davey just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. As we follow Davey to his perfect placement, we all see it is not that bad being different.

A little reminiscence of Johnny Big Ears, The Feel Good Friend by John Paul Padilla. This seems to be a growing epidemic: books about kids who look different, but different turns out not bad. I think it is a good message for kids having trouble with bullies in school, and could be a good one to read in classrooms.

About the Author: This is Peter J. Hayden first and only book, so far.

Cookie by Lisa Woomer

Title: Cookie
Series: None
Author(s): Lisa Woomer
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 20
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: One little girl loved to eat cookies. She ate them morning, noon and night. Her parents tried to get her to eat veggies and other healthy stuff, but the little girl did not want healthy foods, she just wanted cookies. She even ignores her mother's threat that eating too many cookies will turn her into one. Little did the girl know that she would one day change in a very different way.

Not a bad tale of a girl who does not eat healthy, which is a rapidly growing trend of all kids big and small. There should be more books like, but could be less preachy.

About the Author: This is the first book for Lisa Woomer.

Care Bears: The Care Bears' Big Wish by Sonia Sander

Title: Care Bears: The Care Bears' Big Wish
Series: Care Bears
Author(s): Sonia Sander
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: October 1, 2005
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 48
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: Wish Bear makes a new friend with a newly fallen star. His friend is a wishing star, so out of the kindness of his heart, Wish Bear tries to make the other Care Bears's lives easier by wishing things for them. Unfortunately these wishes do not turn out as planned. The unhappy Care Bears beg Wish Bear not to make more wishes. Rejected, Wish Bear wishes for friends who want more wishes ... and that's when things get complicated.

Parts of this little story hit home for me. As little Wish Bear learns that sometimes working hard for things pays off. And when you only wish, you don't get what you aimed for.

About the Author: Sonia Sander is the author of various children's books, such as Spongebob Squarepants and Strawberry Shortcake.

Miracle in Sumatra: The Story of Gutsy Gus by Jeanne McNaney

Title: Miracle in Sumatra: The Story of Gutsy Gus
Series: none
Author(s): Jeanne McNaney
Genre: Children's, Picture Book
Publisher: Ovation Books
Release Date: October 25, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: Gus is a baby orangutan who is just learning how to live in the jungle. While following his mother, he gets distracted from the trail and meets a young girl named Maya. Maya and Gus become quick friends. Then Gus's family get captured by poachers, and an angel named Gabriella asks Maya to help Gus save his family.

Cover and artwork throughout the book is gorgeous--very bright and colorful. The story was original and refreshing.

About the Author: Jeanne McNaney has written one other book, The Legend of Honey Hollow. She has no website that I know of.

Author Interview - Melanie Benjamin

After reading and reviewing Melanie Benjamin's first book Alice I Have Been. I could not wait to ask her some questions.

I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did.

1. What are some of your favorite books or authors? This is always such a hard question because I have so many favorites! I'm very much looking forward to the new book by Anne Tyler; she's an author I've loved forever. In the last year, I've read some amazing books that are new favorites; standouts include AWAY by Amy Bloom; OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout; THE MARCH by E.L Doctorow; ASH by Malinda Lo; THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley; PEOPLE OF THE BOOK by Geraldine Brooks.

2. How did you get started in writing? I had a love of reading and the written word as long as I can remember. This love of different worlds, of different people, first led me toward studying acting and wanting a career in the performing arts. One day, however, when I was long past my days as an ingenue, a friend told me, "I always thought you'd be a writer." To this day, I have no idea what prompted her to say that! But when she did, I had one of those "aha!" moments. It took me a while to find my voice and figure out what kind of things I should be writing. But I finally realized that what drew me to theater drew me to fiction; I wanted to make up different worlds myself, become different people by living vicariously through characters of my own creation.

3. Do you have any writing rituals that keep you writing or get you started? I almost always read through what I wrote the previous day, kind of like a warm up. I'll correct a few things, revise a little, then ease into the new section.

4. Your first book, Alice I Have Been, includes some very detailed history. Which takes longer, writing or research?

That's hard to say because research never stops. You may think you've researched a period or a person exhaustively before beginning the story, but there are always many times in the writing where you have to stop to go research something else. Suddenly you have to know whether or not the fifteen of April in the year you're writing was a Saturday or a Sunday - and you have to stop to go research that. So I'd say that it's probably 50/50.

5. What kind of research was involved? I had a very solid knowledge of Victorian fashions, social conventions, the different class systems of Britain of the time when Alice Liddell was living. I did not know a thing about Oxford, however, so I had to research that; fortunately there is a lot of information on the Internet and in books of the time period, as it has naturally changed a lot over the years. I also, of course, acquainted myself with the basic facts of Alice Liddell's and Charles Dodgson's lives, as these formed the structural foundation of my book. I wish I could have gone to England to research in person but I couldn't; some day, maybe I'll get to go walk the grounds Alice walked!

6. What was the hardest scene to write in Alice I Have Been? I'm afraid to give too much away, but it would have to be one of the scenes near the end of the book, when World War I intrudes upon Alice's life as all three of her sons enlist. As a mother, that was difficult to write without imposing the reactions of a 21st century woman upon those of a woman born and raised in the Victorian era.

7. If someone wrote a book with you as the inspiration, like Alice in Wonderland, what kind of adventure would you like your fictional self to have? I would love to be a brave and fearless heroine; when I was a girl, I dreamed of being Eowyn in LORD OF THE RINGS.

Thank you Melanie!!! Please check out her website http://melaniebenjamin.com/

Too Too Many Tutus by Suzanne Davis Marion

Title: Too Too Many Tutus
Series: none
Author(s): Suzanne Davis Marion
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Release Date: February 24, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: A rainbow color tutus are crowding a little girl's closet, but that is just how she likes it. The only problem is, she can't decide which color to wear for today's dance rehearsal.

Any aspiring ballerina would love this book. While it teaches kids colors, they also learn how to make choices. It's a very cute picture book for the young-uns.

About the Author: Suzanne Davis Marion is the author of two books that I know of. The second is called Donner the Western Dragon: A Hero's Tale.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Magician's Elephant
Series: None
Author(s): Kate DiCamillo
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Candlewick
Release Date: September 8, 2009
Finished: November 2009
Pages: 208
Challenges: None
Rating:








My Thoughts: A young boy named Peter was separated from sister when his parents died. The man who took him in says she died as well, but Peter doesn't believe that. Then Peter comes across a traveling gypsy who predicts some pretty crazy things: She says an elephant will lead him to his sister. Because of what the gypsy said and the small town he lives in, the prediction sounds ridiculous. But to Peter it's a rainbow of hope.

Kate DiCamillo always seems to pull that heart string by adding animals to people. This is another caring tale that proves nothing keeps family apart. A quick, touching read.

About the Author: Kate DiCamillo was born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She's written many touching stories of compassion between humans and animals. Visit her website, http://www.katedicamillo.com/index.html.

The Hope Of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall

Title: The Hope of Refuge
Series: An Ada's House Novel
Author(s): Cindy Woodsmall
Genre: Religious Fiction, Amish Fiction
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Finished: November 2009
Pages: 352
Challenges: None
Rating:










My Thoughts: Cara Moore and her daughter Lori have been running from a dangerous ex-boyfriend for most of Cara's adult life. They're running out of places to hide. Their last chance could be an Amish community that Cara remembers her mother taking her to when she was young. Not knowing anyone there, Cara and Lori hide in a barn and steal clothes and food from a nearby Amish family's house. What happens next could change their lives forever.

I couldn't get into the first chapter. The girl-runs-away-from-problems-and-joins-the-Amish story has been told often (like "Sanctuary," by Beverly and David Lewis). But as I got past the first chapter there were differences, and I became more drawn into the story and the details of the community they were touching. For example, if an unmarried male Amish man lets an outsider woman live in his house or barn, he could be shunned by the community. I did not know that kind of contact with outsiders was forbidden.

I have always found the Amish to be an interesting community. And even if Amish fiction romanticizes the culture, they are still fun to read.

About the Author: Cindy Woodsmall has written numerous novels and some of her books have hit The New York Times Bestsellers list. Visit her website, http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/.

Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Title: Have a Little Faith
Series: none
Author(s): Mitch Albom
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: September 22, 2009
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 249
Challenges: None
Rating:








My Thoughts: This is a true account of two men of god who belong to different faiths, yet have more in common than meets the eye. Albom was asked to write and deliver a eulogy for his Rabbi, who he really did not know well. So before the Rabbi's passing, Albom makes a deal to visit the Rabbi every so often to meet and talk. As the 8 years go on, he continues meeting with the Rabbi and also becomes acquainted with a Christian preacher whose church is going to pieces structurally, but its congregation has faith things with work out with time.

Mitch Albom'a writing is so carefree and open. He's not afraid to write things that are truthful about us as people of faith and all humans. While this was not my favorite of Albom's book (For One More Day is) it still has a beauty of a message.

About the Author: Mitch Albom is probably most known for sports writing and his first book, Tuesdays With Morrie. Visit his site, http://mitchalbom.com/

Signed Book Giveaway - The Rabbit And The Snowman by Sally O, Lee

SIGNED BOOK GIVEAWAY!

The first singed book of the New Year! Yay!
For this month giveaway it is a wonderful and touching story of friendship in picture book form.
If you would like to see my review of this book here.
The Book is signed by author Sally O. Lee.

This Giveaway is open to all.
To enter into the Giveaway all you have to do is post in the comments that you are interested in this book AND PLEASE LEAVE A EMAIL SO I MAY CONTACT YOU.

Giveaway Ends Saturday January 30th 2009.

Show Me 5 Saturday

This event starts at That's a Novel Idea


1 Book you read and/or reviewed this week
2 Words that describe the book
3 Settings where it took place or characters you met
4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it
5 Stars or less for your rating?



1. The Sneakiest Pirates by Dalton James
2. Great Imagination
3.There was Peg Leg Chuck on his boat, Then Pirate Pete and Scurvy James chasing Chuck to land where he laid his treasure.
4. I like the imagination that was put into the story. I loved that this was written by a 7 year old. The drawing also cute where done by the author, and Glad to know that Pete and James go on other adventures.
5.

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Title: Alice I Have Been
Series: none
Author(s): Melanie Benjamin
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Release Date: January 12, 2010
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 368
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: Once I saw that this book was about the real woman who inspired the character Alice from Alice In Wonderland, I had to read it. There were many things I did not know. For example, Lewis Carroll is a pen name for Charles Dodgson, who took pictures of children that even in his time was considered scandalous.

I know this book is going to be one of my top ten for 2010. I know, I know the year just started, but this book is good. It just captured Alice's world, heartaches, love and relationship with her family so well that I didn't want to put it down.

About the Author: This is Melanie Benjamin's first book, and she is busy writing another historical fiction. For more recent news, check out her website, http://melaniebenjamin.com/

Happy New Year and Top Ten of 2009!

Happy New Year everyone I hope everyone's holiday has been a good one.
I have much to catch up on. I counted the books I read for 2009 and it totals to about 97 books read in 2009 and 82 (so far) reviewed.

In 2009 I also read my first book to be published in 2010 and I absolutely loved this book.

In 2010 I will be active in my first Book Club that isn't on the internet. Our first book to read is The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I know a lot of people have read this book or seen the movie but I haven't done either. I have read about 4 chapters and I am enjoying the description very much.

On to the top 10 of 2009.
I read 28 book that were published in 2009 this past year but I am going to only link to the top 10 of what I like the best.

10. Slob by Ellen Potter
9. Meeting Mr. Wrong by Stephanie Snowe
8. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
7. Ladybug Girl and BumbleBee Boy by David Soman
6. The Moose With Loose Poops by Charlotte Cowan
5. The Bored Book by Michael David Slater
4. Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman
3. Bundle of Trouble by Diana Orgain
2. Ripley's Believe It Or Not: Seeing is Believing
1. It Sucked And Then I Cried by Heather Armstrong