Month: November 2022

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BOOK TOUR: The Rat Queen

The Rat Queen by Pete Hautman

From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman comes a mysterious modern-day fairy tale about developing a moral compass—and the slippery nature of conscience.

For Annie’s tenth birthday, her papa gives her a pad of paper, some colored pencils, and the Klimas family secret. It’s called the nuodeema burna, or eater of sins. Every time Annie misbehaves, she has to write down her transgression and stick the paper into a hidey-hole in the floor of their house. But Annie’s inheritance has a dark side: with each paper fed to the burna, she feels less guilty about the mean things she says and does. As a plague of rats threatens her small suburban town and the mystery of her birthright grows, Annie—caught in a cycle of purging her misdeeds—begins to stop growing. It is only when she travels to her family’s home country of Litvania to learn more about the burna that Annie uncovers the magnitude of the truth. Gripping and emotionally complex, Pete Hautman’s inventive yarn for middle-grade readers draws on magical realism to explore coming of age and the path to moral responsibility.

Thank you to @candlewickpress for sending me a copy of the book and teaming up with me for a great giveaway! Check out how to enter below:

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a copy of The Rat Queen

– follow me, @candlewickpress and @storygramkids on Instagram

– tag a friend in the comments

For An EXTRA entry

– visit @busymomsreadtoo tomorrow and repeat these steps!

RULES

– Giveaway will end Nov 21st at midnight EST

– US Only

– not affiliated with Instagram

-must be 18 or have parents permission

-must be a public account

#TheRatQueenTour #TheRatQueen #PeteHautman #candlewickpress #storygramkids #booktour

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An A-Z of Jane Austen

𝐽 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑒 🤍

An A-Z of Jane Austen by Michael Greaney

This was such an interesting read! Jane Austen is my all-time fav, and I always jump at the chance to learn more about her and her life.

I took so many notes and made too many annotations, but there were so many important passages and I just wanted to highlight everything! 26 short essays highlight keywords concepts and activities that would’ve been important to Jane Austen, and discussed in her books. Some stand out chapters include B is for bath, H is for horse, D is for dance, and V is for visits. I loved these essays and learned even more about Jane and the Regency era 🤍

Thank you so much to @bloomsburypublishing for sending me a copy!

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Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

“𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒.”

Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

Domestic Fiction

This story opens with Meredith Maggs, who hasn’t left her home in 1,214 days. She likes books, jigsaw puzzles, and baking with her cat. She works remote, interacts with others online, and has a small circle of friends and delivery drivers that help her out—by bringing her groceries, taking her cat to the vet, and checking in on her. She suffers from panic attacks, struggles with anxiety and depression, and her past trauma has forced her into a self-imposed isolation. Her small circle of familiar people and predictable situations are what help her manage.

As the story unfolds we learn more about her trauma, which sheds light on why she relates to the world in the way that she does. Though she is haunted by her past, this is the story of her overcoming, and by the end of the novel Meredith is able to grow and clear the ghosts from her closet. Scary, new, unfamiliar circumstances force Meredith out of her comfort zone, and time and time again she rises and meets challenges head-on until she is able to take back control of her life.

This story is heavily character driven. It centers around Meredith, her thoughts, her fears, her pain, and her hero’s journey.

As a socially anxious introvert myself, I found her to be very relateable. The moments where she doesn’t want to leave the house, or answer the door, or have any interaction with anyone… those were some of my favorite moments.

Thank you to the author Claire Alexander and Grand Central Publishing for sending me an ARC of this title! All opinions are my own.

TW: rape, self-harm, trauma

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