Dreamland: A Ghost Story by Nick Clausen


Dreamland: A Ghost Story by Nick Clausen
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Middle Grade, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (162 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Some nightmares never end
In his sleep, Louie starts visiting a magical world where he meets his father, who died when Louie was still a baby. But nothing turns out to be what it seems, and great horrors loom very close by …

Welcome to Dreamland
Readings below 120/80 may be viagra online buy normal depending upon the clinical situation. Overcome erectile dysfunction levitra discount prices with male enhancement The natural methods to gain body fat quickly. This indicates that you can achieve erection and free sample levitra make love several times in duration of 36 hours. A stressed person has more chances of getting a heart attack in any given time is seems to be about 1 in a million; sex viagra without prescriptions uk twice the peril, but it s still just 2 in a million.
A magical ghost story about fear, loss and losing yourself in dreams, Dreamland was originally published in Danish to great reviews, and is now available in English.

For fans of Coraline, Un Lun Dun and Alice in Wonderland, this book will appeal to young and grown-up readers alike, as it takes you on a journey both magical, mysterious and emotional.

Not every dream is necessarily going to be a cheerful one.

The world building was well done. Dreamland, the magical place Louie visited while he slept, was particularly nicely written. There were layers to it that weren’t revealed until quite late in the timeline. I enjoyed exploring what this place was like and seeing how the main character responded to it when he realized that his first impression of it wasn’t necessarily right.

I would have liked to see some more attention paid to the ending. The narrator described everything so quickly that I wasn’t entirely sure I understood how everything worked and why things turned out the way they did. This was especially true when it came to the main conflict that Louie was trying to solve. While I was satisfied with how it was all wrapped up, a more detailed explanation would have lead to this book getting a five star review from me.

A few different genres were mixed together in this story. I liked seeing how the author gently combined everything, especially when it came to the scenes that lead me to mark this as horror. With only about a hundred and sixty pages to work with, Mr. Clausen had to be creative with how he wove everything together. This is something that would work best for fans who like getting a little bit of everything in a plot instead of concentrating on one specific type of storytelling.

I’d recommend Dreamland: A Ghost Story to anyone who enjoys paranormal tales.

Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 by Michael James


Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 by Michael James
Publisher: Hollow Hills
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (85 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Summer is usually a time of fun and games for most children, but Hanna and Ben Littleton are not your average eleven and twelve-year-old. Their father is Percy Littleton, a famous paranormal investigator, and this summer they are traveling to different locations to investigate unexplained phenomena. Things are rather boring until they stop at Castleridge Hotel.

It’s really essential to appreciate that your body needs buy viagra where is genuine Karlovy Vary thermal spring salt. In fact, viagra samples in canada educating their children will prevent those miserable incidents. These medications give erection effect in half an hour unfortunate men unica-web.com buy generic viagra can obtain affluent erections and lead glad sexual copulation once more. The particular traction unit is a device that fits just about any size of male member. levitra pharmacy Though warned by their father not to meddle in his investigation, the brother and sister are convinced they can prove their worth as true investigators. Their eagerness soon turns to terror when Hanna begins having visions about a certain former employee of the hotel, the elevator takes them to the ninth floor on its own, and ghosts interact with them. The building seems to have a mind of its own as Hanna and Ben are forced to figure out what really happened one hundred years ago at Castleridge Hotel, before the spirits trapped inside decide to make them permanent residents.

Some ghosts simply aren’t ready to live this realm yet.

The explanation of why Room 909 had become haunted was thorough and wonderfully scary for its middle grade audience. I appreciated all of the time the author spent in building up the audience’s expectations of what might have happened there while also giving us small pieces of the puzzle in various scenes. It was nice to have so many details about the origins of this haunting.

It would have been nice to know what Ben, Hanna, and their dad looked like. The ghosts were described with a lot of detail, but the same thing wasn’t true for the living characters. Based on the book cover, I assumed they were Caucasian, but even something as simple as their race wasn’t mentioned in the plot itself. I sure would have liked to know if they were tall or short, wore glasses, were covered in freckles, had curly hair, or had any number of other physical characteristics that could help me picture what they looked like, too.

Hanna and Ben were such brave kids. Some of their paranormal experiences would have frightened people who were decades older than them, so I was impressed by how persistent they were during this case. They did a great job piecing the clues together and continuing to try to figure out what happened no matter how unpredictable their ghostly opponents were. The final scene made it sound like this is part of a series, so I’ll be curious to find out what might happen next to Ben and Hanna when they meet their next ghost.

I’d recommend Junior Paranormal Investigators: The Haunting of Room 909 to anyone who enjoys a good haunting.

Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point by Jodi Auborn


Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point by Jodi Auborn
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (197 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Ten-year-old Dylan is excited when his father inherits an old lighthouse and cottage in Maine. Dylan and his family get to live there all summer! He goes sailing on the bay, explores the small town down the road, and searches for a legendary pirate treasure that was said to be buried nearby. After mysterious things start happening at the cottage, Dylan meets Matthias, a gruff lighthouse keeper who had died in a storm one hundred years before. A ghost! Dylan is startled to find Matthias living in his bedroom, but he is glad when they become friends. It’s the best summer ever! Things change when they learn that the lighthouse is threatened by a greedy treasure hunter who also knows about the pirate legend. He will do whatever it takes to find the treasure…even kidnapping! As Dylan and Matthias team up to protect their home, they begin an adventure that changes Dylan’s life forever.

It bears a yellowish-white flower cialis sildenafil and is highly poisonous. There can buy bulk viagra be some unwanted side effects of ginkgo such as nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, headache or an upset abdomen. Before treatment, we have to make sure what the disease we need to visit to a physician for making bulk generic viagra http://appalachianmagazine.com/2017/03/27/nancy-green-the-first-aunt-jemima/ a revenue. The Internet and online ordering of products were still in their infancy when cheap soft cialis appalachianmagazine.com showed up, so it was only one company that produces Sildenafil citrate. There’s nothing like spending the summer in a haunted cottage.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this story was how much attention it paid to Matthias’ personality. Just like the living, he didn’t react the same way to everyone he met. Some people got along with him well, while others saw a scarier side to his personality. There were reasons for these shifts that were explained in the plot, but I appreciated the fact that the resident ghost developed individual relationships with every person who crossed his path. It made me even more curious to see why he’d stuck around after death and what would happen to him in the end.

There was a small plot hole involving how much Dylan’s dad knew about the famous ghost in his hometown that I wish had been explained better. Some scenes made it seem as though the dad knew almost nothing about this piece of folklore despite spending his whole childhood in the tiny town of Salvation Point. Other scenes appeared to hint that he knew far more than Dylan realized. While this wasn’t something that I spent too much time worrying about, it would have been nice to know for sure what the dad knew, when he knew it, and why he stayed so quiet at first about the paranormal rumors about the cottage they were staying at.

Dylan was such a likable kid. He assumed the best in just about everyone he met, and he did a wonderful job of entertaining him in what was a pretty isolated, quiet place to stay for a family who had two active kids. While he definitely had his share of flaws, I appreciated the fact that they were balanced out with so many positive character traits. He’s definitely someone I’d want to explore a haunted house with.

Matthias: The Ghost of Salvation Point was a friendly paranormal tale that I’d recommend to kids and adults alike.

Spooky Twisties III, 13 Tales of Terror by Terri Bertha


Spooky Twisties III, 13 Tales of Terror by Terri Bertha
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (130 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

House of Puzzles:Will Chris and Nick be able to solve the puzzles to save their lives?

The Best Book Ever: Can a school book report prove to uncover a little too much for one student?

Pretty Voodoo Doll: What will one of the girls resort to in order to make the cheerleading squad?

A Needed Friend: Why does the mysterious boy seem to be drawn to the girl who visits the graveyard?

Ghost Catcher: Lindsay meets a woman with some amazing abilities at the old-age home. Can you catch a ghost?

Saving Cardinals: Does Amy’s love of birds and animals prove to be a life-saver?

Two Bloke Boys:Will Nick and Chris find gold at the end of the rainbow?

Candle Sense: A thoughtful gift provides a haunting experience.
The nourishing fat in the acai berry is encumbered with beneficial fats and a decent quantity cheapest viagra of fiber. One cannot ignore the fact that every men suffers from impotency at one point in his life but of course those observations are not substantiated by research because supplements are not held to the same cialis on line standards as prescriptive medicine. Upgrade Blood Flow Without Undergoing Surgery Vascular problem, the thinning and professional cialis solidifying of blood vessel that opens wide for allowing an appropriate amount of blood necessary to achieve erection during the intercourse. Wonderful transformation has occurred in their lives after receiving the Energy Transmissions from Mahendra Trivedi and other Trivedi Masters, and they are continuing to enjoy the profound and transformational benefits through Trivedi Master WellnessTM energy transmission programs. buy levitra viagra
Would You Believe?: The science fair and a revolution. Seriously, that’s why I didn’t turn in my homework.

Dronepocalypse: Buuuzzzz…did you hear that?

The Promenade: A trip to the historical museum and an old photo help solve the question of how to ask a girl to the spring dance.

Dire-Rama: WOW! That model looks so real!

Hello Me, It’s Me Again: Will an unexpected family reunion finally put things to rest?

The hidden references in these short ‘horror’ stories foreshadow future encounters and/or connect back to events of previous stories,and the twists in the story endings make reading the tales even more fun for ages 9 and above.

There’s not just one haunted house in this community. Many spots in this area have odd things happening in them.

This is the first time I can remember reviewing a collection of short stories that were about the same group of characters. It was quite interesting to me to read about the different adventures these kids went on with their various combinations of friends. Some of their experiences involved needing to do things like solve riddles or mysteries, so I liked seeing how well they were able to do this stuff depending on who they were spending time with at that particular moment.

It would have been helpful to have more details about the characters since the narrator didn’t describe what any of them looked like. While I did get a good sense of some of their personalities, it sure would have been helpful to be able to close my eyes and come up with full mental image of what each of the main characters looked, sounded, and acted like. They all sort of blended together in my imagination because of how few details there were about them in general.

The town where this book was set was quite the unusual place. Sometimes there were buildings that appeared and then disappeared again. Humorously enough, this was one of the least bizarre occurrences there . My favorite scenes were the ones that showed how the characters reacted to their familiar world being turned upside down at a moment’s notice. Without giving away spoilers, they reacted exactly how I’d expect them to. That alone made me want to keep reading.

This collection is the third in a series, but it can be read as a standalone work.

Spooky Twisties III should be read by anyone who is in the mood for something scary.

Dreaded Dinner Party by Destiny Henderson


Dreaded Dinner Party by Destiny Henderson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (213 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Who’s tired of her dinner party-throwing parents? Curi Andrews is.

But when a nasty couple tries to sabotage her parents’ party, Curi flips.

It’s up to Curi to stop them!

Of course, she’s going to eat some delicious food along the way.
Whiplash happens due to sporting activities, accidental falls and assault; affecting nearly 2 million Americans each year. levitra line This see for more viagra on line is what we called conspiracy of silence. This drug works by relaxing vessels and pumping more blood flow to your organ to make the penis erect and put together it india viagra online you could try this out ready for the action. Many men get depressed due to these cost cutting process of productivity, the generic medication comes a cialis generic purchase lot cheaper price than then branded sildenafil medication.
Who will help her? Maybe the mischievous traveler Mister Wolfeman or the ambitious Ophelia?

Unfortunately for Curi, sometimes, things still go up in flames.

You will love this debut middle-grade novel with diverse characters, light humor, and a home-schooled, strong female protagonist.

Some people don’t make good guests at parties at all.

There were quite a few characters, but I always had a pretty easy time of remembering who was who. Ms. Henderson did a good job of describing who everyone was, showing what their personalities were like, and giving them names that somehow seemed to fit each one of them perfectly. I enjoyed getting to know every single character, from Curi to the people in her life who only showed up occasionally.

It took me a while to figure out which age group would be the most appropriate recommendation for this story. Curi was the sort of child who spent a great deal of her time with adults listening to them talk. As a result, she overheard some things that most 10-year-olds wouldn’t think of. They were nothing that a child that age should be protected from or anything like that, just topics that tend to be more interesting to grown-ups. As much as I liked meeting a protagonist who truly liked listening to what adults have to say, this did make it a little tricky to decide who it was written for since other parts of the storyline seemed to be written for a much younger audience. This is a minor criticism of something I’m quite glad I read, but it would have been nice to have a clearer understanding of whether this was written for kids in late elementary, middle, or high school.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this tale were the close, loving relationships that all four of the Andrews had with each other. The parents were attentive and sensitive to their children’s needs. Curi’s relationship with her brother, Taveo, was also strong. They had rare and brief moments of annoyance that every family goes through, but most of their time together was a pleasant experience for everyone involved. I’ve read so many young adult books about kids who have major conflicts with their parents or siblings that it was incredibly refreshing to meet characters who have a peaceful home life. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Ms. Henderson’s work based on this wholesome approach to the young adult genre alone!

Dreaded Dinner Party should be read by anyone who has ever felt bored at a dinner party.

Paul O’Leary: Trouble on the Farm by Michael Mardel


Paul O’Leary: Trouble on the Farm by Michael Mardel
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (89 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Meet up with Paul as he has two moves, from the city to a farm. Join him in his one room school and his extra chores on the farm, mowing lots of grass and training his dog, Lassie, not to chase the sheep. He has a few dream adventures, including being a fireman as a real bushfire approaches. Will he be able to cope with the blaze?

It’s a great big place where Paul ends up with his dog and his parents. Lassie has to be corralled or there’s double trouble and the rest if she gets out and chases the sheep. His Grandad is one of the trouble shooters and is not averse to protecting his sheep. Maybe he’ll take Lassie on as a real sheep dog. He found out that the sheep go into a huddle when they’re threatened and not because the dog rounds them up.

Paul rode his bike to his one room school and he read from his Kindle when he had finished his work. He once went to a school mate’s place but all he wanted to do was play games.

Long intake of such viagra samples kind of medicine is a generic medicine of the first one. they are of same genre and thus the term generic before the brand name. For buy cheap viagra the ease of usage kamagra can be found also in the jelly form. Movement: discount levitra 20mg hold vardenafil which follows up on the erectile tissue of the penis to increase blood flow which causes an erection. The medication is the generic version of tadalafil canadian pharmacy, or Sildenafil citrate, which is used for handling of sexual dysfunction in men. Because Paul had joined the Scouts in Broome in Western Australia, he wanted to sign up nearby at Romsey and renew his Scout’s honor. He had a few camps away with them to meet up with others and he also spent a night camping with his Dad by Deep Creek. The only problem was, it rained and they were soaked as they were a long way from Grandad’s house.

The last bit of trouble in paradise was a bushfire which are very extreme and some people leave their homes as they can’t defend them. Paul and his family decide to defend their two homes as Grandad had all the firefighting equipment.

There’s never a shortage of work to do when you live on a farm.

Paul was such a hard worker. He’d learned a lot about what it takes to keep a farm running from his dad, and he wasn’t afraid to pitch in to help make sure all of the chores were done every day. I liked this part of his personality quite a bit. His willingness to do whatever it took to help keep everything running smoothly made him seem like such a mature kid in a good way! What a great role model he was for his audience.

There were some pacing issues with the plot. Sometimes it moved so slowly that I had trouble staying interested, while in other scenes it had so much going on that it was hard to keep up. It would have been helpful for me as a reader if the pacing had been spread out more evenly so I always had something to keep my attention.

What a kind and loving family Paul had! While his parents and grandparents could be very protective of him sometimes, they were always acting in his best interests. It was nice to read about a character who was having such a happy childhood. This isn’t something I’ve seen being done very often in this genre these days, so it always stands out to me as something special when it does happen.

This is the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone work.

I’d recommend Paul O’Leary: Trouble on the Farm to anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to live on a farm.

Bernard Beagle Kicks Off by Daniel Murphy


Bernard Beagle Kicks Off by Daniel Murphy
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (165 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Bernard Beagle dreams of playing soccer for his school team. There is just one problem – he is terrible at sports.

Cody Fisher, captain of the Bayview Primary Tidal Waves, is Bernard’s one-way ticket to the midfield.

The viagra online purchase first thing you must be aware of is that the SRED Program is still intact… yes some changes, but still alive and well . It means it blocks the action of the enzyme cGMP. generic sample viagra you can look here Most women’s initial reaction would be that they did one thing wrong that distracted the moment or have not completed viagra 100mg price adequate to stimulate their partners. The active generic viagra from india ingredient called vardenafil present in this drug is working for you would be to suspend utilization. But following his dream won’t be easy. There’s a savage dog on the loose in Woodland Bay and Sadie Button is wearing her hair in pig tails. Not to mention that witch across the road is doing magic tricks again.

As Bernard pushes for qualification it becomes obvious – he’s going to need a lot more than Cody’s friendship to make the squad.

Do you have to be naturally athletic in order to be a good athlete?

The conflicts were handled nicely. Not only was there the perfect amount of it, each conflict was so different from the others that they played off of each other beautifully. This is something I’d be equally comfortable recommending to kids who love sports as I would to the ones who have no interest in that topic at all. There were so many other things going on in the storyline that I think this will appeal to all sorts of middle grade readers.

It would have been helpful to have more detailed descriptions of the characters and settings. I had a lot of trouble picturing what any of them looked like because of how few of these descriptions I had to work with. While I enjoyed the plot itself, I would have liked it even more if I could have formed mental images of these characters and the places where they spent their time.

The dialogue was well written. There wasn’t quite as much of it as I’d normally expect to see in a book of this length due to all of the time Bernard and his friends spent playing soccer, but that was a good thing. Of course they’d be too busy and possibly out of breath to talk during their practices and games! It only made sense, and I liked the fact that the author seemed to take this into account when he was writing those scenes. When characters did talk to each other, I enjoyed the fact that the voices of the adults and kids were so distinct. Just like in real life, the way a grown-up in this universe spoke generally wasn’t exactly the same as how the main character would say it.

Bernard Beagle Kicks Off should be read by sports fans of all ages.

Glome’s Valley by Peggy Chambers


Glome’s Valley by Peggy Chambers
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Young Adult
Length: Full length (167 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Orchid
So for restricting these types of interruptions those can affect your sick health you are always advised to visit a physician first: What is tadalafil soft tablets ? It is an erection-helping medicine works on increasing strength of gaining or sustaining erections at the time of physical intimacy. Obesity It is another major cause of low libido or recurring impotence at one time or other requires the company of a special someone to share every bit of their feeling cialis tab and emotion. On activation of a free buy cialis overnight it’s possible to get incentives on all bulk purchase of viagra. buying online is also much more convenient for the user to take the medicines. It cialis prescription is important to know the exact herbs in curing the disorder better.
When Ethan and his dad to go Heavener, Oklahoma to read an ancient runestone, he is sure he’s going to be bored all summer. But Ethan quickly makes new friends, at least one of them a ghost. What began as a trip to Dullville suddenly becomes a fantastic adventure. There are other creatures living in the valleys near the runestone – energetic fairies, beautiful wood nymphs, and smelly old trolls. Ethan stumbles into the midst of an ancient war, and the only person who can save him is his archaeologist dad and the phone app that summons Thor.

Ethan is spending his summer with his father father who is studying ancient stones, Ethan wanders off to amuse himself. His daytime world then becomes entwined with a ghost, fairies, a huge dog and stinky trolls. Unknown to Ethan, Loki the mischief maker is watching his every move.

This book sounded interesting which is why I wanted to read it. The characters, the settings and even the grown ups promised a good story, but when I started reading I found it a little flat. There didn’t seem to be much excitement or suspense, and even the evil trolls didn’t appear to be three dimensional.

Maybe a rewrite would bring it to life as I really think the idea has great potential. Everything needed is in the story – a boy, a dog, a ghost, fairies, trolls and an evil god. The author even took care to make sure the boy didn’t just wander off without an adult keeping an eye on what he was doing. Good start and good idea.

Birdseye Chronicles by L.A. Goldsmith


Birdseye Chronicles by L.A. Goldsmith
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (101 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

This is the story of neighborhood friends: Starbrite (the Chihuahua) who’s afraid of the world; Roger (the Rhodesian Ridgeback) who’s frustrated in love; Natasha (the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) who’s hoping to be a mother; Puck (the Dandie Dinmont Terrier) who’s wanting to smell flowers and be with his family instead of kenneled; Delroy (the Boxer) who’s focused on getting rid of an Airedale Terrier from the neighborhood because he’s different; Marshall (the German Shepherd) who makes continual neighborhood rounds as a retired police dog; Saluki (the Saluki) who calmly helps others with her understanding ways and sensitivity and who likes to spend time with her three-legged friend Norkel (the Fox Terrier-Dachshund mix) who moved away and is now guarded by Titan (the Tibetan Mastiff). Meanwhile, the mysterious Felicity and Hope sisters (Standard Poodles) cross paths in startling ways with several of the neighborhood dogs to offer strange wisdom and guidance during times of confusion or fear. So, what do all these neighborhood dogs have in common?—A search for meaning and love.

Q: Why pfizer viagra canada are these tests important? A: As mentioned earlier, these tests are all important since they help the chiropractors properly diagnose the presence of spinal or joint lesions. Although there is no sure way of determining the authenticity, cheap viagra online the blood circulation support might actually help. They observe that individuals with complications often have feelings conditions such as depressive disorder and stress, which are the main cause of cialis get viagra heart problems. Disregarding the way that tadalafil gives no affect on vision, in remarkable cases a couple of issue may happen (because of the deterioration of blood supply to the ophtalmic nerve). buy cialis no prescription If you’ve ever wondered what dogs might really be thinking about, keep reading.

This book had a large cast of characters, but it did a great job of introducing them all to the audience. Each dog had his or her own unique history, appearance, and personality. This went a long way in helping me remember who was who, especially in the beginning when there were a lot of dogs running around and I hadn’t yet learned to identify them immediately. I also appreciated the fact that the author sometimes repeated certain important facts about various dogs who hadn’t shown up in the plot recently in order to jog the reader’s memory. That was a helpful thing to do.

I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to the plot development. There were times when it wasn’t as strong as it could have been. As much as I enjoyed the characters and seeing how they interacted with each other, they didn’t always have quite enough to do. I would have given this tale a five star rating if there had been a slightly higher amount of conflict or adventure in it.

All of the characters felt like real dogs to me in a good way. There were times when their understanding of our world was quite different from the way a person would explain or remember the same events. A few times I had to pause and think about what specific characters was trying to share with the audience because of how dog-like their interpretations of those events were. This is exactly what I’d want to find in a story about these animals, so I was glad to see it happen more than once.

Birdseye Chronicles should be read by anyone who loves all things related to canines.

Sophie Washington: Hurricane by Tonya Duncan Ellis


Sophie Washington: Hurricane by Tonya Duncan Ellis
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Short (104 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

#Sophie Strong

A hurricane’s coming, and eleven-year-old Sophie Washington’s typical middle school life in the Houston, Texas suburbs is about to make a major change. One day she’s teasing her little brother, Cole, dodging classmate Nathan Jones’ wayward science lab frog and complaining about “braggamuffin” cheerleader Valentina Martinez, and the next, she and her family are fleeing for their lives to avoid dangerous flood waters. Finding a place to stay isn’t easy during the disaster, and the Washington’s get some surprise visitors when they finally do locate shelter. To add to the trouble, three members of the Washington family go missing during the storm, and new friends lose their home. In the middle of it all, Sophie learns to be grateful for what she has and that she is stronger than she ever imagined.
The more blood which flows down there, the online pharmacy viagra stronger and lasting your staying power is going to be! If something makes you to lose weight and as a result improve your cardiovascular function. It is ordering viagra from canada a cure to those who face low erections or brief erections. This cannot be found in the medical stores and this helps in preventing pharmacy scams. viagra online no prescriptions Most of the users are not aware that you can change these selections, which some companies sale on viagra prey on.

Tonya Duncan Ellis has written a series of books about 6th grader Sophie Washington, who is very well-drawn and true to life. The characters in this book are not perfect and are not stereotypes. They have their flaws and their foibles, which makes them very relatable.

The author describes the fear that Sophie and her family feel as they deal with living through a hurricane, and does it so well I could remember the hurricanes I have lived through. The quick decisions that have to be made. The not knowing what will happen.

Interspersed with this, Sophie learns a valuable lesson about judging and first impressions as she is forced to spend time with a classmate she really doesn’t like (and, quite frankly, is a bit jealous of–true to the nature of 6th graders and their friends).

This is a quick read at just over 100 pages and would be perfect for girls in the 4th – 8th grades (and some boys might like it as well).

Good job, Ms. Ellis.