Archive for August 14, 2013

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Getting Back to Normal By Marilyn Levinson

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We give this 4 1/2 paws and if you are looking for a book for your child, definitely check this one out! ~Storeybook Reviews

Levinson has the incredible talent of combining life’s lessons with a bit of fun too, as she incorporates boys, ghosts, a runaway little brother, and an old mystery into this well-written story. ~Cindi at Mommasez……

The author “blends the stress of family life with a touch of paranormal for a light-hearted tale that will have you smiling.” ~Thoughts in Progress

This is a fast easy entertaining read. ~readalot

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Genre: YA/Grades 6-8

 Published by: Untreed Reads Publishing

Release Date: May 29, 2013

E-Book File Size: 289 KB

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Synopsis

Sixth-grader Vannie Taylor’s mom has just died. Her father’s completely lost without his wife and brings Vannie and her younger brother to live in a dismal cottage on the estate where he manages craft fairs, dinners, and other events.

A ghost named Archie befriends Vannie, and helps her prepare a wonderful supper for her brother. After Vannie discovers Archie’s secret, he asks Vannie to help him make amends for something in his past. But helping Archie means accepting a very large change in her own life. Things get back to normal for Vannie, but not in a way she’s ever imagined.

My Review

In movies, casting makes or breaks the film. The same can be said for books.

The author has a great cast in Getting Back To Normal.

Vannie’s almost twelve when her father uproots the family and moves them into a dumpy old cottage on the grounds of Merry Mount Gardens, the estate he works for.

She’s not happy with the move and neither is her little brother Robby. He’s obsessed with a stray cat he’s been feeding, Theodore, and worries if the new people living in their old house will take care of him.

Vannie worries about who will take care of them, as her father has immersed himself in matters of the estate and is often absent.

Her father looked to his wife for comfort and support. They all did. She was the glue that held them together.

Now that she’s gone, they are quickly becoming a dysfunctional family.

Vannie’s saving grace is Aunt Mayda. She’s not really her aunt. She was her mothers best friend. She owns Merry Mount and helped them to get the cottage.

Aunt Mayda lives in the city but makes frequent visits, lending her support where needed.

One day, Vannie makes a new friend.

Archibald Heatherton is Mayda’s grandfather. He’s also the resident ghost.

Vannie is the only one who can see him, and he’s asking for her help.

He chose to stay after his “foolish death” to ensure Mayda lives happily ever after.

Vannie thinks it’s a pretty tall order. Does anyone get their happily ever after?

Vannie is a brave young lady. Her situation adds a heavy responsibility on her small shoulders. Her dad is buried in his work, her brother is obsessed with a stray cat, she’s missing her home, her school, her friends.

Now a silly ghost wants a real life fairy tale ending. Can helping Archie maybe help her own family? Will they ever get back to normal?  What is normal anyway?

Without Archie the ghost, this could have been a heavy read. Archie, with his backflips and cartwheels, and aura of mystery, lightens the mood, making this a fun story told from Vannie’s point of view.

Getting Back To Normal is for young readers. I’d say middle grade. The characters are real and the situations are true to life, well, except for Archie, and the adventures are exciting.  And I’m all for a happily ever after.

This took me back to when I was young and I spent all my time in the library. I would grab my selected books and sit in a quiet corner, reading until it was time to go home. I loved taking those books home, choosing which one to read first, and diving into a new world.

I wish I had young children to share this book with. I would love for them to meet these characters and interrupt me when I’m busy to exclaim about something that happened in the book.

4 Stars

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Marilyn Levinson

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Marilyn Levinson, a former Spanish teacher, writes mysteries, romance, and books for children and young adults.

Her romantic suspense, DANGEROUS RELATIONS, is a love story entwined with an intriguing mystery. GIVING UP THE GHOST is an entertaining ghost mystery. The first of her Twin Lakes Mysteries, A MURDERER AMONG US, was awarded a Best Indie of 2011 by Suspense Magazine. A new edition of A MURDERER AMONG US and its sequel, MURDER IN THE AIR, will be out soon.

A ghost, a mansion, and a feral Maine Coon cat feature in Marilyn’s brand new YA, GETTING BACK TO NORMAL. Three of her popular out-of-print children’s books, AND DON’T BRING JEREMY, NO BOYS ALLOWED, and RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK are now available as ebooks.

Marilyn is co-founder and past-president of the Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives on Long Island.

Links: web page: http://www.marilynlevinson.com Untreed Reads books: http://goo.gl/ktYzs Amazon page: http://amzn.to/K6Md1O Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson

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I have one ebook of Getting Back To Normal to giveaway!

To enter, please leave your email address and answer this question,

“What’s your favorite fairy tale?”

Giveaway ends August 19th.

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WWW Wednesday

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Hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?

 Trudy, Madly, Deeply 

by Wendy Delaney

Trudy, Madly, Deeply (Working Stiffs Mystery Series, #1)

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Human lie detector Charmaine Digby is having a bad year. After eating her way through a divorce, she’s out of work and up to her eyeballs in debt. In need of a life makeover Char comes home to the senior citizen haven of Port Merritt, Washington, and is ecstatic when she parlays her eye for lies into a job as the County Coroner’s new assistant. But her joy is short-lived when a hunky doctor at the hospital reports the suspicious death of Trudy, Port Merritt’s beloved Story Lady. Even more stunning, Trudy isn’t the only recent patient whose heart mysteriously stopped.
Is it mad to think that dear old Trudy could be the latest victim of a serial killer?
With no physical evidence of foul play, Char’s on the case, much to the irritation of Detective Steve Sixkiller, who doesn’t want her to stick her pretty nose for trouble in his investigation. But she’s a woman on a mission to uncover the truth, and she’d better keep her eyes open or the next body on the way to the morgue could be hers….

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What did you recently finish reading?

Marin’s Dale

by Evan Bollinger

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Something has infiltrated the quiet airs of Marin’s Dale. Something that has never been seen. Something that mere human minds will never fathom…

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What do you think you’ll read next?

Twisted

by Uvi Poznansky

Twisted

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In this unique collection, Uvi Poznansky brings together diverse tales, laden with shades of mystery and the macabre. There are four of them: I Am What I Am; I, Woman; The Hollow; and The One Who Never Leaves. Here, you will come into a dark, strange world, a hyper-reality where nearly everything is firmly rooted in the familiar—except for some quirky detail that twists the yarn, and takes it for a spin in an unexpected direction.This is the reality you will see through the eyes of a ghost of a woman, trying to reclaim her name by appealing to the devil; the eyes of a clay figure of a woman, about to be fired in the kiln, longing for her Creator; the eyes of a woman in the midst of a free fall, about to become a ghost; and the eyes of a feline creature with cracked fangs, trying in vain to resign herself, by hook and by crook, to being locked. These characters explore their identity, and challenge their fate.Inspired by her art, by quotes from literature and the bible, and by the author’s professional career, these tales come from different times and places. Yet all of them share one thing in common: an unusual mind, one that is twisted. So prepare yourself: keep the lights on.
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So, whatcha readin?

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