Drive by Joyce Moyer Hostetter — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The way to get started is quit talking and begin doing.”
~ Walt Disney ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

One of the criticisms of my manuscript from the recent writer’s retreat I went to was that I hadn’t invoked the senses of taste and smell very often. I am going to spend this week trying to improve that. HERE is a post from K. M Allen about Invoking the Five Senses.

Building suspense is a very good thing to do in storytelling. The post HERE from Writers in the Storm will help you find ways to build the tension and keep the pages turning.

Point of view is so important when writing. I received a note on one of my manuscripts recently that said something like, “This paragraph has an omniscient point of view but it doesn’t really bother me. It’s kind of a break.” My story is written in close third-person, so when I really looked at that paragraph it bothered me! Ann Griffen has an excellent guest post on this very subject HERE on Writers in the Storm.

Last week I offered a gently read ARC of Speechless by Adam P. Schmitt to one of you. This week’s winner is Greg Pattridge, the guy who is kind enough to run MMGM for us every week. In addition, he puts up other useful posts each week, so don’t miss his posts which you can see HERE. Greg is also a writer and a brave middle-school teacher. Congratulations, Greg! I will get your book out to this week.

I want to tell you about a wonderful middle-grade book by the brilliant and prolific author, Joyce Moyer Hostetter. I have featured Joyce’s books in the past on my blog. You can see reviews of Healing Water HERE and Aim HERE. (If you click on the title, it will take you to the link to order the book, but if you click on HERE it will take you to my review.) This week I am reviewing Drive, which is one of her Baker Mountain Stories. Aim is earlier in the series, but each of the four books stands on its own. Here is the review I wrote for the book review (I don’t know yet which one it will appear in).

Twins Ida and Ellie Honeycutt are looking forward to moving on to the local high school. They have always been together — in the same classes, even sharing a bed. Nothing has ever come between them. But Ellie, the chatty one, has ideas about taking different classes than Ida, the quiet, artistic one. And when the girls meet a boy named Arne, both are interested. He chooses Ida — a surprise to both Ellie and Ida — and it complicates everything. The jealous feelings Ellie has set her on a dangerous path. The girls father is still suffering from PTSD from his time in World War II, and his problems put terrible pressure on the entire family.

Author Joyce Moyer Hostetter has written a rich, complex addition to her Baker’s Mountain series. She transports readers to the small town of Hickory, North Carolina in the 1950s with her heartfelt storytelling, realistically flawed and relatable characters, exceptional historical research, and clean, clear writing. For readers who have already discovered the Baker’s Mountain books, this will be a very welcome addition. For new readers, this book stands well on its own and will undoubtedly send them looking for more books in the series.
I wasn’t planning on giving away a copy of Drive since it has already been donated to my granddaughter’s charter school library, BUT Joyce got in touch and has generously offered to send a copy to one of you! YAY! So a giveaway after all.  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.