Heartwood Hotel: Home Again — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out is the secret of all good writing.”

~ Mark Haddon ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Writers in the Storm has a terrific post HERE with writing tips from Ray Bradbury.

Ragan’s PR Daily has a post HERE with 14 Invaluable Editing Tips. There are some good tips in this one.

If you think every story must follow the Hero Cycle, you might be interested in reading the post HERE by Veronica Sicoe that will show some other story arcs that can be quite useful.

My daughter Maggie had her double mastectomy and reconstruction on Thursday and went home from the hospital on Friday. It’s amazing to me how fast they send people home after such a thing. Anyway, she felt well enough on Saturday to walk a few blocks, so that is a very good sign. Her new album is now available on iTunes by searching for Maggie Hollinbeck or you can buy it directly from the songwriter HERE. If you want to download to your phone, I guess you have to use iTunes, but if you are downloading to a computer, you can use the other.

I had read and enjoyed the first three books of the Heartwood Hotel series, so I was happy to see a new book available for review for the Manhattan Book Review. Heartwood Hotel Book Four Home Again by Kallie George is that book. I usually don’t choose books that have personified animals as the characters, but I just fell in love with this group. I have to admit I was pretty sad when I realized it was the last in the series. You know how it is — you get to know the characters and feel like they are old friends. I had gotten to that point with the Heartwood Hotel group, and I will miss reading about their antics. Here is the review I wrote for the MBR.

Mona and her friends at the Heartwood Hotel are back for another adventure, and this may be the last. It’s summer at the Heartwood, and things are all in a tizzy. The cook, Ms. Prickles, is to be married at the hotel, and the staff is making preparations. A new guest arrives, a mouse named Strawberry, the owner of a hotel in the village. Mona feels an instant connection to Strawberry and thinks she might be a long-lost relative. Every time Mona thinks she will have time to talk to Strawberry about this, something gets in the way. After the wedding, almost all the guests leave, and only the staff and Strawberry remain. Word comes that a wildfire has started nearby. It moves toward the Heartwood and everyone must flee. Will the staff survive? Will the Heartwood survive?

Author Kallie George will not disappoint her series fans with the final book. It is more thrilling than any previous book yet maintains the sweet nature and charming characters of previous books. Enchanting illustrations by Stephanie Graegin populate enough of the pages to help early readers along. This is a most satisfying completion to the wonderful series. Don’t miss it.

There will be no giveaway this week.  I gave the nice hardbound copy I received for review to the library at my granddaughter’s charter school with a tiny budget. Check back next time. I may have a giveaway then. 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.