Archive for the ‘middle grade’ Category

The Kid’s Korner #34 ~ The Firefly

Posted: February 20, 2019 in Children's books, horror, middle grade, reviews
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Welcome to The Kid’s Korner.

I decided to do this feature as I have so many great children’s books to share. From picture books, to books for beginning readers, to middle graders, I have plenty of fun ones.

Today I’m sharing another spooky fun tale from Nancy Gray’s Spine Chillers!

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The Firefly (Spine Chillers)
by Nancy Gray

The Firefly

Genre: Horror
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: November 19, 2018

My Review

The fireflies appeared in autumn. Strange, as they’re only supposed to appear during the summer. Leila asked her mother for a net and jar to capture some in. They didn’t act like normal fireflies because… they weren’t. She spies something lurking in the woods. A bug man with skin the color of charcoal. She soon learns what it wants and has to make the toughest decision of her young life. Lives hang in the balance.

This book would have given me such shivers of delight when I was young. It did a pretty good job of doing that now. Leila was a brave little girl. Her love for her baby sister and her sense of right and wrong put her between a rock and a hard place and I admired her bravery.

The bug man was creepy as all get out. The author’s description had me visualizing a cross between a praying mantis and The Crooked Man. Once Leila confronted the thing I knew she couldn’t defeat it by herself and was excited when she discovered the Spectral Investigator’s Society. It’s supposed to be a boys club but exceptions are made. Supernatural creatures don’t distinguish between boys and girls.

The story really picks up the pace as Leila realizes she doesn’t have to fight this battle alone and a plan is formed to stop the creature.  This is fiction, but how they kids rallied together and executed their trap reminded me so much of my childhood and how my friends and I would stand by each other, even when scared.

A good campfire tale to raise the goosebumps and make you jump at those bumps in the night.

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Synopsis

Leila’s sister has come down with a terrible fever that the doctors can’t explain. It started with the fireflies that mysteriously appeared in November, and then when she was visited by “the bug man.” When Leila confronts the FIREFLY that has made her sister sick she must make a terrible choice to save her sister or offer it another victim to satiate its terrible appetite! The monster needs to feed on blood and it needs another body to inhabit. His eyes are set on Leila!

You can find The Firefly on Goodreads

You can buy The Firefly on Amazon

Nancy GrayAbout the Author:
Nancy Gray has published a number of works including her young adult fantasy series Blood Rain. Her short story “Chosen” appeared in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest: a Penguin Special from Grosset & Dunlap. Her work also appears in various anthologies.
Nancy Gray has been writing for over ten years. Gray lives in South Carolina with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys books, video games, anime, manga, and horror.

Other Works by Nancy Gray:
Blood Rain
Blood Moon
Blood God
Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow
Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf
Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond
Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes
Spine Chillers: The Firefly

You can find and contact Nancy Gray here:
– Website
– Blog
– Facebook
– Goodreads

banner Lola's Blog Tours

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

Saturday Screams #60 ~ Empty Eyes

Posted: December 29, 2018 in horror, middle grade, reviews
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Welcome to my Saturday Screams where I share books that thrill and chill!

Today I’m sharing Empty Eyes, another scary good book in the Spine Chillers Series by Nancy Gray.

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Empty Eyes (Spine Chillers)
by Nancy Gray
Genre: Horror
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: October 26, 2018

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My Review

Duane dealt with the beast of black pond. Now Ian has to deal with the creepy kids in the abandoned house in the woods. The Specter Investigator Club is going to be very busy.

It’s Halloween and Ian and Duane plan to make the most if it. Haul in a bunch of yummy candy and enjoy the school festival. Ian had promised his mom he’d not get into trouble, but trouble finds him when a pack of school bullies find him. Forced to run for it, he ducks into a ramshackle abandoned house. It’s supposed to be haunted and he figures they won’t follow him in. When someone does, he’s forced upstairs and encounters two strange kids. They say they want to be friends, but he didn’t need friends like them.

Ooh, this had some creepy atmosphere. The kids from the mirror haunt Ian. They do more harm than good. I easily pictured how creepy they looked and felt their menace.  I thought Ian handled things like any young boy would. He first doesn’t believe what they are. Then he has to figure out how to handle them with only the help of his friend, Duane. He knows anyone else he tells wouldn’t believe him. This rang true for me. I remember not telling adults about things in the dark that scared me. Sure, it was my imagination doing the scaring, but I also knew they wouldn’t take me seriously.

Things get pretty hairy between Ian and the ghostly boys. They are visiting him at night. Appear in his mirror. Then they pull him in to haunt others. He does and says things they make him do. Poor Ian. Some of things they made him do turned his friends against him. I raced to the end of the book to see how he resolved those issues and how he escaped the clutches of the strange boys.

This was creepy fun. I searched library shelves for stories like this when I was younger and still do. Never too old for some spooky adventures and the Spine Chillers Series provides plenty of that. I’ve read several of the books and plan to read any new ones that come out. No bad language or gory stuff so I’d recommend Empty Eyes to middle grade readers who like things that go bump in the night.

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Synopsis

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“You will face a difficult task in the future. The card is reminding you that every person has a part of themselves they like to hide. Even when times are hard, you must not lose yourself.”

Ian frowned as Mrs. Marcas read his fortune. The school Halloween carnival was supposed to be the highlight of Halloween, but something about the card he picked seemed ominous. As he headed for the storyteller, things quickly took a turn for the worst when the school bullies chased him into an abandoned house. Inside, the children with EMPTY EYES decided to make Ian their friend. A black living mass twisted and coiled in his chest and closed in on his heart. Time was ticking away with every infected beat, and if Ian didn’t act quickly he really would lose himself forever.

You can find the Empty Eyes on Goodreads

You can buy Empty Eyes on Amazon

About the Author:

Nancy Gray
Nancy Gray has published a number of works including her young adult fantasy series Blood Rain. Her short story “Chosen” appeared in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest: a Penguin Special from Grosset & Dunlap. Her work also appears in various anthologies.
Nancy Gray has been writing for over ten years. Gray lives in South Carolina with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys books, video games, anime, manga, and horror.

Other Works by Nancy Gray:
Blood Rain
Blood Moon
Blood God
Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow
Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf
Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond
Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes
Spine Chillers: The Firefly

You can find and contact Nancy Gray here:
– Website
– Blog
– Facebook
– Goodreads


banner Lola's Blog Tours

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Click on the covers for my reviews of other books in the Spine Chillers series.

The Beast of Black Pond  Spine Chillers Big Bad Wolf

And my reviews are coming soon for the newest releases.

43206989  43235934

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Cover Reveal and Giveaway ~ Scales by Nicole Conway

Posted: November 10, 2018 in Cover Reveal, giveaways, middle grade, YA Fantasy
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Today Nicole Conway, Owl Hollow Press, and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover and an exclusive content for SCALES, her new MG/YA Fantasy Book which releases in 2019! Check out the awesome cover and enter the giveaway!
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On to the reveal! 
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Title: SCALES (Spirits of Chaos, #1)
Author: Nicole Conway
Pub. Date: 2019
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: ?
Find it: Goodreads
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When New York City faces the threat of an ancient evil, a teenage boy must use a magical bracelet to transform into a monster-slaying dragon superhero.
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Koji Owens is the new kid … again. As the only son of an Air Force F-16 pilot, he’s learned to adapt and survive every time they move. It’s not easy starting over with new friends and schools every two
years, but when the Owens family makes their final move to New York, Koji finally has hope for a normal high school life—that is, until he finds a strange bracelet in his locker.
Transformed into a storm-summoning dragon warrior, Koji finds himself caught up in a world of ancient powers, secret identities, and colossal monsters threatening to destroy his new home. But
these awesome powers come with strings attached, and revealing his true identity could mean losing everything he loves. With his family and friends now in mortal danger and New York City in flames, Koji must find the courage to become the hero they need and face down an enemy hiding in plain sight.
A comic-obsessed teenage misfit embraces his inner hero in this action-packed adventure that will leave you ready to get your scales on!
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Exclusive Excerpt!
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Piercing light bloomed from the totem scale. It swept over me and took away my pain, molding and stretching me into my full dragon form. The instant the searing energy coursed through my body, I launched myself into the sky.
I didn’t have a single second to waste.
Now that I was a beast of comparable size, I crested the skyscrapers in a few powerful beats of my wings. From a few blocks away, the wyvern spotted me. It let out a howl of fury as it surged straight
for me. I answered with a battle cry of my own, driving more and more power into every beat of my mighty black wings.
Two F-22 fighter jets rolled in on either side, joining me in aerial formation. Their engines roared, and both pilots gave me a confirming thumb’s up. They were following me in for the attack.
I’d never felt so cool in my entire life.
I clashed with the wyvern in the air over Central Park, clamping my jaws around his throat. I prepared to give him a taste of my lightning, the same way I had the crocodile monster. One good jolt
and maybe I could bring him down.
Before I get a good grip, he swung his spiked tail and whacked me across the eyes. I let go, snatching back with a roar.

He dove at me; his toothy mandible jaws open wide to rip my throat out.
A sudden plume of fire scorched his hide and sent him reeling. I drew back, wary of the blistering flames.

Another giant dragon clashed in battle, had scales as red as fresh blood and a ridge of tall, slender black spines all the way down her back. My breath caught. Madeline? She’d gone full-form, too?
She attacked the wyvern mercilessly, pinning him under another blast of her fiery breath.

Shaking off the blow to my head, I charged headlong back into the fight, lightning sizzling and popping off my open jaws. We had to get him on the ground. If we could pin him there, he’d be within range of ground fire and an easier target for our air support. We could contain the damage to the rest of the city, too.
So I went for one of the wyvern’s wings full-force.

Fyurei had him distracted. He never saw me coming. I swooped in to break one of his wings at the shoulders with a single powerful crunch of my jaws and sharp jerk of my head. The creature screeched and kicked, floundering with his one good wing and swinging his tail like a medieval mace. The bulbous, spiky tip struck one of the F-22 jets and sent the aircraft flipping through the air end
over end. Not good. I watched the aircraft fall, waiting for the pilot to
eject.

He didn’t.

I didn’t hesitate—I dove straight after the jet, summoning every bit of speed I had. The jet spiraled, smoking and streaking toward the ground. I threw myself the final distance with a desperate cry, jaws open wide.
I caught the tail of the jet in my teeth about a hundred feet shy of the ground. As soon as my jaws clamped onto the metal, I reared back, kicked my legs out, and flared for an emergency landing
right in the middle of the park.
It took a second for the dust, snow, and trees to settle.
Picking the jet carefully out of my mouth, I held it up to my huge dragon eyeball like a little kid’s toy. Inside the cockpit, the tiny pilot was giving me a shaky thumb’s up. He was okay.
I gave him my best dragon smile, terrifying as it probably was, and placed his jet, right side up, on a grassy spot in the park. Then I turned around to get back to business. I still had some wyvern
rear end to roast and an evil headmaster in dire need of reeducation.
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About Nicole:
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MY NAME IS NICOLE CONWAY and I love to write stories! I’ve been writing books since I was very
young, and am blessed beyond measure to be able to do it now as a full time career. Although I sometimes step out into other genres, I primarily write Fantasy for teens and middle graders.
I graduated from Auburn University in 2012, which is also where I met my husband. As a military
family, we move frequently and have lived numerous places all around the world. We have one very energetic son, Ethan. We also have two dogs (French Brittanys) named Joey (currently 5 months old) and Phoebe (4 years old) and a ball python named Noodle Nagini.
For inquiries on how to book me for a school visit, presentation, or interest in my future or
current projects, please contact my amazing literary agent, FRAN BLACK, of Literary Counsel.
Subscribe to Nicole’s Newsletter!
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Pinterest | BookBub | Amazon |  Goodreads

Giveaway Details:
One lucky winner will win an ARC of SCALES, US Only.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf ~ A Middle Grade Horror Review

Posted: October 11, 2018 in horror, middle grade, reviews
Tags: , ,
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Big Bad Wolf banner

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Welcome to my stop on the tour for Nancy Gray’s Spine Chillers: Nig Bad Wolf, brought to you by Pump Up Your Book. The tour runs from September 17 – October 19th.

Spine Chillers Big Bad Wolf

Title: BIG BAD WOLF
Author: Nancy Gray
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 112
Genre: Middle Grade Horror

My Review

Big Bad Wolf was just what the doctor ordered for my Halloween reading list. Not that it has to be the spooky month for me to like creepy stories.

Little did Jane suspect that when she got the coveted role of Red Riding Hood in her school play she’d have to face off against a real big bad wolf. Well, it’s actually a moth eaten stuffed one used as a prop. Or is it.

It didn’t take long for this story to give me goose bumps. Jane had good reason to want to avoid the wolf. It seemed to become more menacing every time she faced it. When I was a young girl, I was given a stuffed mink. It seriously creeped me out and wound up spending it’s days hidden in the back of my closet.

  Jane’s nightmares gave me the willies and after strange things started happening I really felt for her. Who would believe that old stuffed wolf was out to get her? Where did it get it’s power? And why her? All of these questions were answered in some exciting and chilling events leading up to the big finish.

No matter your age, this will be one spooky read.

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Blurb

Jane is ecstatic when she gets the role of Red Riding Hood in her school play, but she didn’t realize that they’d be using the stuffed wolf prop as the Big Bad Wolf. That tattered old prop has always scared her and, lately, she has been having strange dreams about it that make it seem like it’s something more.

Jane will have to get help to save herself from the hungry spirit that has haunted her people and her nightmares before it consumes her, or worse, escapes the prison of the last creature it took to sate its horrible appetite.

Purchase on: Amazon

About Author Nancy Gray

Nancy Gray

Nancy Gray has published a number of works including her middle grade series Spine Chillers. She also published her YA fantasy series Blood Rain. Her short story “Chosen” appeared in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest: a Penguin Special from Grosset & Dunlap. Her work also appears in various anthologies.

Nancy Gray has been writing for over ten years. Gray lives in South Carolina with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys books, video games, anime, manga, and horror.

Her latest book is the mid-grade horror, Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK

Go HERE to follow the tour for more fun posts.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

31 Days Of Thrills And Chills#10 ~ The Beast Of Black Pond

Posted: October 10, 2018 in horror, middle grade, reviews
Tags: , ,
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Welcome to My 31 Days Of Thrills And Chills 2018! I did this last year and so excited to do it again. I’ll be sharing reviews and lots of extra spooky stuff every day leading up to Halloween. I hope you’ll join me!

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I’m sharing all kinds of books, movies, and other spooky stuff for every day in October. Gots to get those scares on for the 31st!

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Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond
by Nancy Gray

The Beast of Black Pond

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Genre: Horror
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: October 2018

My Review

Duane has an assignment for his creative writing class. Write about an urban legend. He chooses to write about something local, the legend of Black Pond. Several children have died in the pond and a legend has grown that something lives there and pulls kids under to their doom. Little did he know, he’d meet the legend up close and personal and he’d be in the fight of his life.

The author’s writing was spot on. The character’s read and acted their age and it took me back to when I was young. You might find yourself thinking I’d never do that when reading some of the events in these pages. Don’t be so sure. Kid’s do the darndest things and don’t stop to overthink or rationalize them.

Duane, his sister, and his best friend joined forces and faced off against something that shouldn’t be real. It got pretty hairy, and felt genuine. No adult was going to believe them so they’d deal with it their own way. I tell ya, what dwelt in the pond was very scary. I wouldn’t have wanted to meet it as an adult, let alone as a kid.

There was lots of action to keep the story moving at a fast clip. And some harrowing encounters to get those endorphins pumping. I would have ate this up as a kid and I did as an adult.

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Stop back by tomorrow. I’ll be reviewing another Spine Chillers story, Big Bad Wolf.

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Synopsis

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“Mrs. Snider,” Duane asked. “Do you know anything about Black Pond?”
“There isn’t some monster drowning children. It’s a dangerous, polluted pond,” she said.

But there is a monster that lurks silently in the water, watching and waiting; hungry for its next meal. Duane has seen THE BEAST OF BLACK POND, and the beast has his scent. The beast hunts him from the pond, to the lake by the dam, even to his own swimming pool. Duane will need all his wits, and the help of his friends if he wants to avoid being pulled under to a watery grave.

Amazon

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About the Author:

Nancy Gray

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Nancy Gray has published a number of works including her young adult fantasy series Blood Rain. Her short story “Chosen” appeared in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest: a Penguin Special from Grosset & Dunlap. Her work also appears in various anthologies.
Nancy Gray has been writing for over ten years. Gray lives in South Carolina with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys books, video games, anime, manga, and horror.

Other Works by Nancy Gray:
Blood Rain
Blood Moon
Blood God
Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow
Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf
Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond
Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes
Spine Chillers: The Firefly

You can find and contact Nancy Gray here:
– Website
– Blog
– Facebook
– Goodreads


banner Lola's Blog Tours

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

The Journal Of Angela Ashby ~ Blitz and Giveaway

Posted: September 25, 2018 in giveaways, middle grade, Paranormal or fantasy
Tags: , ,
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angela ashby ban

The Journal of Angela Ashby
by Liana Gardner
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication date: September 25th 2018
Genres: Middle-Grade, Paranormal
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angela ashby cover
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Synopsis
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A Middle Grade “Death Note”

“With great power comes great responsibility.” ~Voltaire

I have great power.
That’s what she told me. The old fortune-teller at the school carnival.
I thought I was doing the right thing … with the magic journal she gave me. But nothing could prepare me for what happened next.
Or, for what I unleashed.

At a school carnival, a mysterious fortune-teller gives twelve-year-old Angela Ashby a journal and warns her to use it wisely. Nothing prepares Angela for the journal’s power—when she pours her heart onto its pages her desires come true.

She tests the journal by conjuring a gnome, a unicorn, and a farting fairy and then uses it to stop the school bullies in their tracks. But the unintended consequences alienate her best friend and puts her favorite teacher in danger of losing her job.

After she shares her deepest desire of all—that her parents get back together—her adversary steals the journal, and Angela fears she will use it to bring mayhem to the entire school if she doesn’t get it back.

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / iBooks / Kobo
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Author Liana Gardner
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Liana
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Liana Gardner is a two-time teen choice award-winning author of the Misfit McCabe series and finalist in 2018 International Book Awards for Children’s Fiction. Daughter of a rocket scientist and an artist, Liana Gardner combines the traits of both into a quirky yet pragmatic writer and in everything sees the story lurking beneath the surface. Engaged in a battle against leukemia and lymphoma, Liana spends much of her time at home, but allows her imagination to take her wherever she wants to go.

She fostered her love of writing after reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and discovering she had a great deal in common with the character Jo. The making up of stories, dramatic feelings, and a quick temper were enough for her to know she and Jo would have been kindred spirits.

Liana volunteers with high school students through the International Trade Education Programs (ITEP). ITEP unites business people and educators to prepare students for a meaningful place in the world of tomorrow. Working in partnership with industry and educators, ITEP helps young people “think globally and earn locally.”

Her debut Middle Grade novel, 7th Grade Revolution, launched 10/24/2017 and will be followed by The Journal of Angela Ashby out 9.25.2018. Currently she is working on a chapter book series as LK Griffie, with creator Luke Matthews and co-authors Olivia Claire and Jared Cross, entitled Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin. In addition to the children’s book series, she is working on a Middle Grade series which will be released under the name Liana Gardner, with the first book titled, The Star Warriors and the Secret of the Red Key. Her most recent YA novel, Speak No Evil, will also be released under the name Liana Gardner.

Author links: Twitter / Website / Facebook / Goodreads

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giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

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