Friday, June 27, 2014

I am the Weapon: the Unknown Assassin


This is a cool young adult book that would be great for reluctant readers as well.  At 12 Zach Abram saw his dad killed by his friend Mike, and was than brought to the Program where he to was trained to be a assassin in four short years.  What boy (or girl for that matter, me included) wouldn't find that exciting, on a odd sort of level.  I was hooked from the first chapter, this is a great action spy thriller.  I'm not to sure how believable some of the things are, but the author made them work.  Zach's character is cold and calculating taking in every angle all the time, but if you look deeper Zach does have a soft side for those he gets close to.  I like how the author made the main female character, Sam, just as strong and calculating as Zach, that was awesome!  This book is filled with action, the twists and turns keep you guessing and on your toes, and you never expect the book to end the way it does, which is always a plus with me.  I really liked this book and can't wait to read the second in the series, oh and rumor has it the author is working on the third.

4 1/2 STARS


Noah Zarc Mammoth Trouble


This is a great middle grade book set in the future where the Earth has no animals , and the Zarc family is tasked with repopulating it, get it? However, this is not a religious book.  But the Zarc adventures are as exciting as it gets and as Noah and his family travel through time and space to accomplish their mission, don't think it is just normal animal and limitations that make these tasks dangerous but there is also the evil Haon who is also set on stopping them from repopulating the earth with animals.  Noah a 12 year old paraplegic must overcome a lot in this first book of the series to help rescue his mom and dad with the help of his sister Sam and brother Hamilton. 

This is a wonderful sci-fi/adventure book for any middle grader, even the reluctant reader, it has a great storyline, and awesome characters that represent a wide variety of diversity.  It is great to finally see some diversity, and in the main character for a change it is very refreshing.  Noah lives a life most 12 year olds dream of, and that is what this book will do as they read it, it will let them dream they are there in that world with the Zarc's for a while.

5 STARS




Sunday, June 22, 2014

Odin's Promise

April 20, 2014
9-12 years old
Crispin Books
 
A great historical fiction book set during the first year of the German occupation of Norway, as seen through eleven year old Mari's eyes.  Mari is a very quiet shy girl, every noise  tends to scare her, that is why on her 8th birthday she was given a very special gift, a puppy.  Odin was always there to help alleviate her fears and to help her deal with the realities of this new harsh life, he is her faithful Norwegian Elkhound, he is her best friend.  But as soon as the book begins you are plunged into the action, mystery, and secrecy.  You and Mari spend the next year with her family and some of her friends as she learns about how to fight the Germans in a way they don't always know you are fighting them.  She also learns about the resistance movement and the black market among many other things.  Including, dare I say, not all German soldiers are the horrible people she thinks they are?  Her older brother Bjorn and sister Lise help her to understand some of the realizations she will need to know to be brave and to survive the German occupation, and maybe one day save her family and friends from certain punishment.  But can she be strong enough to do it without Odin there?
 
This is a awesome book, I have loved this new genre of middle grade books called historical fiction and certainly wish it was a lot more prevalent when I was younger (it might have made history more appealing to me).  There are parts of this book you might think are predictable and some are but others will have a twist and surprise the heck out of you, and that is my favorite part.  This is going to be another go to book for those who favor Margaret Peterson Haddix's Missing series, or Marie McSwigan's Snow Treasures both of which our local school system favor for battle of the books.
 
5 STARS 

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Pince Iggy & the Tower of Decisions

November 13, 2013
9-12 year olds
Digital only
 
Prince Iggy and his friend are back and have escaped the awful kingdom of Naysayer and are now on their way so Iggy can take his rightful place as the ruler of the Rose Kingdom.  But there might be a detour in store for our travelers as it seems the Rose Star is having a emergency and needs Prince Iggy's help.  The Rose Star is the star the Rose Kingdom's people gets all its strength and hope from.  But come to find out the star is just bored and wants a break.  After getting the star back in place and happy again the Prince and his friends are once again on their way to the Rose Kingdom.  But when Iggy arrives and confronts Queen Victoria she denies Iggy is the Prince and will not give Iggy the Kingdom.  It is then decided the Tower of Decisions should decide who should rule the Rose Kingdom.  The next morning Queen Victoria and Prince Iggy enter the Tower to see who will ring the bell first and become the ruler of the Rose Kingdom, however, the Queen has sent her sisters, Beatrice and Maureen, on an secret mission to help just in case Iggy makes it first.  But you will need to read the book to see what happens to Iggy and his friends on this great and wonderful adventure.
 
This is great sequel to the first Iggy book, the action and storyline were just as exceptional.  It kept me engrossed all the way through the book, I never put it down until I was finished, and can not wait until I can read the third one and find out what happens to Prince Iggy and his friends. 
 
4 1/2 STARS


Friday, June 20, 2014

I Become Shadow



http://sohopress.com/books/i-become-shadow
 
Joe Shine
June 2014
SOHO Press
Young Adult
 

If you are going to die would you be willing to live if you knew you'd have to go through four years of torture, that you might or might not survive, but if you did, when you came through, you could still never see or talk to your family or in any way let them know you are OK, or all of you would be killed?

Well, meet Ren, and she wasn't given a choice by the mysterious F.A.T.E. (Future Affairs Training and Education) Center, she was just taken in the middle of the night only to have things explained at a later time.  During the four years she was held, she was trained to be the best bodyguard/killer a person can be that can no longer feel pain.  All in a effort to protect our worlds best assets, the children that are marked to one day become the best scientist/inventors, politicians/presidents/world leaders/ peacemakers, Nobel prize winners, ect...  the ones we can not do without.  But when Ren's assignment goes wrong and F.A.T.E. doesn't help, Ren breaks all the rules and goes to the one person she knows she can trust, her best friend from her 4 years of training, Junie.  F.A.T.E. may see and be able to change some of the future but can they change what they themselves have created?

This is a great action story, with a strong female main character that doesn't start off very strong, but does what she has to do to survive.  Ren than becomes one of the most awesome girls I would love to meet.  She is so much like the person I wish I could be, and maybe if I had all Ren's resources I would be.  This book had me captivated from the start, thank goodness I started it on a weekend because I did nothing else until I finished the book, it was so engrossing.  This is most definitely a read past your bedtime book.

5 STARS


 
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
 
Joe Shine grew up in Austin, TX (the greatest city ever), and is a graduate of Texas A&M University. He has an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California, and after brief stints in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Joe returned home to Austin (repeat: the greatest city ever). Joe has a normal human job like most everyone else but hopes to become a full-time writer one day, and this is where you, the reader, must do him a really big solid and love I Become Shadow, his first novel.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Prince Iggy & the Kingdom of Naysayer

Boa Press LLC
May 8, 2014
172 pages
8-12 year olds
 
This is a great action story for younger middle graders and reluctant readers.  Iggy is the misfit at the Naysayer Academy.  No matter what he does Teddy and the other children seek poor Iggy out to pick on and bully.  Finally, one night Teddy throws Iggy down the schools trash pit for the night and that is when both Iggy and Teddy's lives change  forever.  Iggy meets his new friends Captain Swell and Napoleon, and they take Iggy to meet others from the Rose Kingdom, Henry O'Henry, Professor Jones, and Miss. Blackfeather, and with their help Iggy finds the confidence he needs to believe in himself.  But does Iggy have enough to defeat the mean Miss. Spitfire and the evil king?  Will Iggy be able to take his rightful place as Prince Iggy Rose?
 
This is a great book filled with enough action to keep anyone reading.  It also has some wonderful illustrations spaced throughout the book that are worthy of much praise of their own.  If anything else you need to read this book just to see where the elephant fits in.  Come on you know you want too.  :)
 
4 STARS

Monday, June 16, 2014

Timmy Failure

 
                
 
Available Now
Stephan Pastis
Candlewick Press
Ages 8-12
 
Timmy is the founder, president and CEO of the detective agency Failure Inc.  He is also in elementary school.  His business partner is a polar bear named Total, who's artic home was melting so he wondered for food and, 3,101 miles later found Timmy's cat food dish.  Sadly, kitty is now in kitty heaven and the agency is now called Total Failure Inc.  These are some of the funniest mystery books for middle graders I have read in a long time.  Great for reluctant readers as Timmy provides self illustrations throughout the books, but not enough to make the books graphic novels. 
 
MEET TOTAL
 

In the first book the main mystery is that Timmy's mother's Segway is stolen, of course there are smaller cases to be solved along the way, but Timmy blames it on his arch enemy Corrina Corrina and spends the book trying to prove this and get the Segway back before his mom figures out it has been stolen.  But you will never figure out the real answer, and that is the best part about these books.

In the second book, it is a school detective contest that has Timmy seeing dollar signs, but is Corrina Corrina there to foil him again, or will his friends and Great Aunt Colander, with her Boom Boom Shoewheels, come to his rescue? You will find Timmy's ever studying friend, Rollo Tookus, with his steady head, along with tangerine smelling Molly Moskins and her perpetual Crush on Timmy, as the comic relief, balance out the book very well. 

This is a great series and just plain great reads!

4 1/2 STARS


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Codename Zero

By Chris Rylander
2/4/14
Walden Pond Press
Ages 8-12 years old
 
Who would ever suspect that North Dakota could ever be so exciting?  Definitely not Carson Fender, and he has lived there his whole life, all 12 years of it.  But in one day it all changed in the blink - hum, well actually it was the passing of a box, not a huge box, and not a tiny box, but a box about the size of a shoe box, that changed everything.  Of course this strange man that gave it to Carson also told him to give the box to Mr. Jensen and no matter what do not open the box.  Well as it turns out there are two Mr. Jensen's at Carson's school and really?  You are going to hand a 12 year old boy a box and tell him no matter what do not open this box, and you think that is going to happen? Right... anyways, I am sure you can guess how that one turns out, but it does makes it all that much more dire that Carson find the right Mr. Jensen and, FAST!  Little does Carson know that when he finds the right Mr. Jensen, he will also find out all about the secret agency working right under his nose, but they also have a important job just for Carson, a 12 year old notorious prankster that lives in a small boring town, and goes to a small boring school in North Dakota.
 
This book was awesome from the start, really, who would have thought of putting fainting goats in a kids book?  It was action filled from the start and kept going.  The humor, oh my gosh, it had me laughing  so hard at times.  The characters were well rounded and believable.  It was a book I just kept reading.  Awesome book Mr. Rylander, I hope you make into a series so my N.E.R.D.S. fans have another series to read, and, I really want to find out about Nineteen.
 
FIVE STARS  


Monday, June 9, 2014

The Curse of the Thrax

 
By Mark Murphy
June 1, 2014
YA Fantasy
 
This is a great story about a boy, Jaykriss, his best friend, Marda, and what they must do to become what they need to be, not just for their families, but for their village, and most importantly, for themselves.  It is a coming of age type story filled with sword fights, archery competitions, running and fighting for their lives, even a fierce dragon, but...  it is set in the future.
 
Jaykriss, like all the other children of Godswood grew up hearing about the mighty and terrifying Thrax.  The dragon became like the boogyman to 14 year old Jaykriss and his friends, until the day the Thrax killed Jaykriss' father, and Jaykriss swore revenge. 
One day while hunting, Jaykriss and Marda run into the Thrax, and also a new friend, when Jaykriss uses his head to find the one hiding place even a dragon won't go.  This new friend knew the ways of the time before.  The new friend, Zamarcus, helps Jaykriss see that his mind will get him farther then his absent brawn even though Jaykriss wants his fathers Bloodsword back from the Thrax, Zamarcus, helps him see there is much more at stake than just the sword.  There are prophesies and fate at work here, and watch out for the priests and the Dark King.
 
This book was very descriptive at times, but it flowed nicely with the storyline.  After I got into the swing of the story (3 or 4 chapters) I was hooked.  This was a exciting book, there are some twists and turns you don't see that will keep you on your toes, and others you will figure out right away but want to know how they turn out.  This is only the first book of the trilogy and it is one you will not want to miss out on or you will definitely be playing catch up and regret it.  This is a very action packed book, it was a lot of fun reading it.  I wanted to go pick up some of my husbands practice swords and challenge him... well maybe not, he's much better than me and would pummel me, but it sure made me believe I had a chance.
 
FOUR STARS
 
 
 

Saturday, June 7, 2014


Gypsy (The Cavy Files, #1) by Trisha Leigh
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published May 13th, 2014
This was a really cool book, and a must read  fans of YA paranormal, or fans of any paranormal fiction.  It is sort of X-menish in a way that each of the kids has a special power, however, they have been  kept in the dark about the real world and only shown select movies for entertainment.  But training their powers was the number one priority.  Until the day the law showed up and "rescues" all the kids.  The children are then thrown into the real world with powers they were only learning to control.  More important than fitting into their new schools and families was their need to not kill anyone in the process, but they also want to know how they came to be where they were, and how they got there if they were not truly orphans like they had been told.
 This was a fast paced action book that is set in the South Carolina low country around Charleston, and the surrounding areas. Like I said, the book is reminiscent of the x-men as the rescued teens including the main character Gypsy, has a power of some sort.  They use these powers to fight the government who want to make them into secret soldiers. 
You will not want to put this book down, it is that amazing of a page turner to the end, when the action is at its highest.  But you will need to read it yourself to see who wins, and if Gypsy gets the guy and the life she so desperately wants for herself.  The book is totally mesmerizing and will have you hooked to the end, I can not wait for the next part to come out and really hope I get to review that  book as well.
 FIVE STARS  
 




In the world of genetic mutation, Gypsy’s talent of knowing a person’s age of death is considered a failure. Her peers, the other Cavies, have powers that range from curdling a blood still in the vein to being able to overhear a conversation taking place three miles away, but when they’re taken from the sanctuary where they grew up and forced into the real world, Gypsy, with her all-but-invisible gift, is the one with the advantage.


The only one who’s safe, if the world finds out what they can do.
When the Cavies are attacked and inoculated with an unidentified virus, that illusion is shattered. Whatever was attached to the virus causes their abilities to change. Grow. In some cases, to escape their control.
 
Gypsy dreamed of normal high school, normal friends, a normal life, for years. Instead, the Cavies are sucked under a sea of government intrigue, weaponized genetic mutation, and crushing secrets that will reframe everything they’ve ever been told about how their “talents” came to be in the first place.

When they find out one of their own has been appropriated by the government, mistreated and forced to run dangerous missions, their desire for information becomes a pressing need. With only a series of guesses about their origins, the path to the truth becomes quickly littered with friends, enemies, and in the end, the Cavies ability to trust anyone at all.

Author



Trisha Leigh is a product of the Midwest, which means it’s pop, not soda, garage sales, not tag sales, and you guys as opposed to y’all. Most of the time. She’s been writing seriously for five years now, and has published 4 young adult novels and 4 new adult novels (under her pen name Lyla Payne). Her favorite things, in no particular order, include: reading, Game of Thrones, Hershey’s kisses, reading, her dogs (Yoda and Jilly), summer, movies, reading, Jude Law, coffee, and rewatching WB series from the 90’s-00’s.


Her family is made up of farmers and/or almost rock stars from Iowa, people who numerous, loud, full of love, and the kind of people that make the world better. Trisha tries her best to honor them, and the lessons they’ve taught, through characters and stories—made up, of course, but true enough in their way.
Trisha is the author of THE LAST YEAR series and the WHITMAN UNIVERSITY books. She’s represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

 
The Giveaway:

a $20 bookstore gift card and a signed paperback of the book, plus some swag
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Excerpt

 
The library is one of the bigger rooms in the house, converted from what used to be the upstairs parlor. The Professor looks out a window that overlooks the back lawn. Shelves, sagging with dusty books, cover every inch of the light blue, fifteen-foot walls. The morning sunlight still lingers around the front of the house, making this space dim, but motes of dust twirl and waltz like members of a royal court on the pale, reaching beams.
All at once, happiness floods my bloodstream, as though someone smacks good cheer into my chest cavity through my shoulder blades. The strange desire to burst into song hums along my nerve endings, as though I’m a Disney princess summoning her bird and varmint attendants at the window. It takes serious concentration to bite back the urge.
The abrupt change in mood announces another Cavy’s presence, but as hard as I try to glare at Pollyanna, my mouth refuses to cooperate. Her mutation, a reverse empath alternation that allows her disposition to affect the moods of people in close proximity, is more...invasive than most. Losing control of my own mind never fails to make me feel icky.
And given her insistence on cynicism and anger, she's not aptly named. Not at all.
“Feeling good, Gyspy?” She shakes out her long, blond hair and pins me with china-blue eyes. The faux-happy shroud crawling from her to me dissolves and my smile finally falls away. Polly nods. “That's better. You look weird when you smile.”
“Pollyanna, we have spoken at length about the perils of using your gifts on your fellow Cavies.” The Professor's patient, tired voice reprimands the youngest of his students, if only by several months.
The Philosopher, who runs Darley, took us in before we were three months old, and we all arrived between sixteen and seventeen years ago.
“Sorry, sir.”
She's not sorry, but his chastisement and her apology are part of our daily routine. Of all the kids here, Pollyanna is my least favorite. She's everyone's least favorite, and even though she knows it she doesn't change. I guess she doesn't care.

“Sorry for what? Fucking with people again?” The voice bleeds out of thin air before Haint shimmers into view around it, face first. She leans against one of the bookcases once her shoulder appears, examining her nails as she waits for her daily reprimand.

The Professor doesn't disappoint. “Language, dear.”

He says nothing to me, not even hello, nor does he issue a warning to Haint about using her ability to go invisible. It’s not dangerous. Pollyanna could make any one of us walk straight off a cliff if she felt particularly suicidal that day.

The twins Athena and Goose arrive together, a tornado of rough-housing elbows and flashes of reddish hair, loosing half a shelf of books onto the floor and toppling an end table before getting themselves under control. The Professor ignores them, having long ago resigned himself to their antics.

We're all here now, at least those who are expected. Mole is still enduring his weekly brain prodding and so is Reaper. They’re our lethal Cavies, and are kept for testing more often and for longer than the rest of us. We're categorized according to our level of usefulness, the details of our mutations and abilities listed in records the Philosopher hopes might convince the government we could be potential assets as opposed to threats.

Three Operationals, two Substantials, one Developmental, three Unstables, and one Inconsequential. That’s me. The one who will never be an asset to anyone but can't be locked away and forgotten like an Unstable, either. They don't know what to do with me, so I shuffle along with the group.

“Everyone sit down, please.”

The Professor's command sounds more like a genteel request, and we drop into a circle of cross-legged teenagers on the oval Oriental rug that smothers the center of the room. He paces behind us,

passing binder-clipped pages into our waiting hands.

I grab mine, excited as the title filters through my eyes and into my brain. It's a thesis, written by the Scientist back in the 1960s: Genetic Mutation and the Human Brain.

He died before any of us were born but his thoughts and experiments, his studies, help the scientists at Darley Hall figure out what might have caused the mutations that resulted in our “gifts.” Maybe one day they'll figure out how to switch off those screwy genes and I can touch another person without at least one layer in between us. Without the protection, touching someone means seeing a number in my mind.

The age the other person is going to die.

My “talent” is creepy at best, totally useless at worst, and being able to get rid of it has been a hidden desire for the whole of my life.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Open Minds Mindjack Trilogy #1


Open Minds is the first book of the Mindjack trilogy and it is blow your mind good!!!  You will stay up late and go to school or work late the next morning with red eyes because it is so good.  Kira the main character starts off thinking she is inferior because she can't read minds like everyone else, until the day she knocks Raj, her long time best friend, out for trying to kiss her.  But Simon shows her she is better, she is a Jacker, but she must keep it a secret or the government will take her away.  But when Simon goes behind her back and tries to recruit her to his clan everything goes wrong.  She must now not only fight the clan who thinks she betrayed them to the government who she refuses to work for, because they also threatened her trying to get her to become one of them, but really in her mind who would do this to kids?  She soon finds out why everyone really wants her so bad and turns it back on them.  With some help of a few well placed friends she is able to rescue some of the children the government is holding but not the others yet.  Does Kira still need to fight for all she holds dear?  Kira won't jack your mind but she might just blow it showing what a 16 year old can do when you get her mad enough, and don't forget there are two more books to go!!!

FIVE STARS

Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer

About the Book

Title: Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer | Author: Aldo Fynn | Illustrator: Richie Vicencio | Publication Date: November 5,2013 | Publisher: Boa Press, LLC. | Pages: 156 | Recommended Ages: 8 to 12 Summary: All Iggy Rose wants is for the kids at the Naysayer Academy to like him, and one special girl in particular. But instead, he gets teased and taunted. Every day, he eats alone in the cafeteria and gets beaten up after school on the playground. But when a cruel prank leads to Iggy's escape from the academy, a wild, unimaginable adventure begins. Why is King Naysayer offering a hefty reward for Iggy's capture? When Iggy joins forces with an eclectic cast of characters, he discovers the answer. But before he can escape from the kingdom of Naysayer, Iggy must first reclaim what is rightfully his. Does this sad, lonely boy have the courage to battle the biggest school bully, a mean headmistress, and a greedy, cruel king? Will Iggy finally believe in himself and discover his true destiny?  

Purchase

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Print)

 

The Buzz

“An entertaining fantasy with a quirky, inventive storyline that shows how things invariably turn out badly for bullies.” Kirkus Reviews

“The book is going to be devoured by readers of any type, whether they're looking for some fun fiction, a comical read, or a page-turner.” 5 Star Review, San Francisco Book Review

"Fynn's book reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, but he adds his own cast of characters and a boy (Iggy), fun dialogue, and an amazing story that you can't help but root for. If you are looking for a great book to get your kids hooked on, then I recommend the Prince Iggy series." 5 Star Review, The Pen and Muse Book Reviews, Amazon

“Has the flavor of a Dickens and a Harry Potter story while remaining wholly original. It just shares those characteristics that make it such an enjoyable read. This book should be on every child's must read list and if I'm to be perfectly honest it should be on every adults list too. It has enough subtle adult humor well within its boundaries to make it an entertaining read for the parents too. It certainly has a modern message. It shows just how heartbreaking bullying can be by children as well as adults. It's a story about losing yourself and finding yourself. It shows being a bully doesn't pay off but believing in yourself does." 5 Star Review, April S., Amazon

 

About the Author: Aldo Fynn

Aldo FynnAldo Fynn enjoys writing wacky, fantastical stories. Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer is his debut novel. It's the first book in the Adventures of Prince Iggy Series. He's also written two wacky, laugh-out-loud picture books. He lives under his desk and promises he won't come out until Book 3 in the series is complete. Which is a shame because his desk is based in Los Angeles, where it's sunny and 70 degrees most of the year.

Book Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

   

* $50 Book Blast Giveaway

Amazon $50 Gift Card Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest ends: July 4, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the publisher, Boa Press, LLC. and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway MDBR Book Promotion Services Copyright © 2014 Mother Daughter Book Reviews, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to participate in the Prince Iggy Book Blast. Our mailing address is: Mother Daughter Book Reviews N/A Vancouver, BC V5N2B9 Canada Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Stupid

 
 
By Kim Firmston
Published by Lorimer
May 19 2014
 
Martin has been diagnosed with ADHD, but the medicine he has been given doesn't seem to help.  The more he tries, the more he studies, it just doesn't matter, his grade just continue to drop.  His father thinks he is just lazy and stupid, and believes he just needs to focus more on his school work and not Martins one thing he is good at, film making.  Martin is awesome behind the camera, and one night while out filming some special shots, Martin gets some great film of, and makes a new friend in, Stick.  Stick is into parkour, a free running kind of sport.  Stick has his own issues in his life and parkour has helped keep him steady and centered since he was introduced.  It was when Stick was helping Martin film some parkour for a contest that Stick's foster mom saw some of Martin's things and asked about his dyslexia.  When Stick in passing asked Martin about his dyslexia, this is when Martin finally realizes all his life he has been misdiagnosed and there is a name for what he has and it isn't STUPID.  With Stick and his sisters help his grades start to improve.  Martin can finally prove to his dad through his movies how his brain sees the world and what the proper name is for what he has, dyslexia, not stupid.
 
I want to thank Lorimar Sidestreet for this wonderful, if not expensive, opportunity for me.  As I have now had to buy many more copies for distribution among different places.  Our churches pre-school, yes, I know this is a teen book, but this is a awesome book for parents with children with dyslexia, and this pre-school tends to catch a lot of children with early literacy issues among 3-5 year olds.  Also, there is a adult literacy group there as well and so I'm going to have put some copies in the church library for them, this might be the fist time some of them have been told they have dyslexia, so maybe they might want to know more about it and to know the name isn't stupid anymore.  It might help them understand some of what they are going through.  I know I wish this book had been around when I was a kid it really would have helped, if for no other reason than to know I wasn't the only one.
 
FAVE STARS