Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.”
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

If we want our writing to excite, we need to write brilliant sentences. Cristian Mehai has a post HERE that will help you do just that.

Anne R. Allen can help you with your novel opening HERE with six first-page no-nos. It’s good.

Writers Helping Writers has a post HERE to help you focus on the little things that make characters have a big impact.

I will be away next weekend. My granddaughter and I will be driving up to Mendocino for the weekend. It is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. If you have never been there, try to find a way to get there. We are going up for the launch party for this year’s Noyo River Review which will include the first chapter of my middle-grade novel-in-progress (also known as not-yet-published), The Incredible Journey of Freddy J. I am really excited it was chosen for this publication. I will be doing a short reading. It’s a very long drive to Mendocino, and I know I won’t be home in time to post, so I will see you here in two weeks time.

Last week I offered an ARC of Big Nate Silent but Deadly by Lincoln Peirce to one of you. This week’s winner if our own host of MMGM, Greg Pattridge. Congratulations, Greg! If you don’t know Greg, what cave have you been living in? Just kidding. You can find lots of great reviews and news article links, and, of course, the weekly list of MMGM blog posts HERE at Greg’s blog, Always in the Middle. Worth your time every time. Greg, I will get your book out to you soon. For the rest of you, please keep reading. I have another fun book to give away.

I love movies but especially old movies, so anything movie related is always of interest. When the San Francisco Book Review had Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen on their list, I was immediately attracted to the mention of the Silver Screen.Of course, seeing that Candace Fleming wrote it was a bonus. She has written a lot of terrific books. I requested it and had a fun time reading it. Here is the review I wrote for SFBR.

Larry Trimble is a film director in the days of silent films. He wants to find a great dog to star in a movie his partner, Jane Murfin, is writing. He ends up taking his search to Europe and there finds a German Shepherd that has been trained as a police dog, but Trimble sees something in him. He takes him to California, renames him Strongheart, and goes about retraining him. Strongheart, it seems, has the heart of a lion and the talent to win the hearts of audiences. But not everything goes smoothly for this dog or his new master, and evil, greedy people try to undo everything Larry, Jane, and Strongheart have worked for.

Author Candace Fleming has found an interesting set of characters and quite a story as

basis for this work of creative non-fiction that will find lots of dog-loving youngsters eager to read it. Charming pencil illustrations by Eric Rohmann populate this book generously and help to tell the story and will keep young eyes on the pages. This will be particularly popular for the eight- to ten-year-old crowd as they move from picture books and chapter books to novels. 

I have a gently-read hardback for one of you. All you need do is be a follower or subscriber (it’s free!), have a U.S. address, and leave a comment below. If you would like extra chances, please share the link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media outlet and let me know you have done that. If you are reading this in your email, please click HERE to get to my blog, then click on the title of the post, and leave a comment. And don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at the Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.