Shouting at the Rain — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.”
~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Place names can be challenging to create. The post HERE from Legends of Windemere can help with that.

K. M. Allen has a great post HERE on Query Letter Don’ts.

Janice Hardy of Fiction University has such an important post HERE on Raising Your Novel’s Stakes by Narrowing the Focus. Don’t miss this one. It could make all the difference.

I mentioned nary a word about poetry in April during poetry month. Don’t know what I was thinking. Anyway, I read a lot of poetry during the month, and I ran across a book of poetry I think middle-grade readers (and adults!) would really enjoy. A Suitcase of Seaweed and Other Poems by Janet S. Wong is just stunning. I love every bit of it. If you get a chance, you might want to check it out.

Several years ago I ran across a book called One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. I fell in love with her writing and became an instant fan. It is still one of my all-time favorite middle-grade books. So I make sure I know when Lynda has a new book.  I also loved her second book, A Fish in a Tree, and was very excited to hear she had a new book this spring, Shouting at the Rain. It officially comes out on Tuesday. I am happy to tell you about it today. And if you haven’t read any of her books, just click on the title and you can order it right up! This is the review I wrote of Shouting in the Rain for the Tulsa Book Review.

Delsie lives with her grandmother on Cape Cod. When Delsie’s good friend Aimee is cast as Annie in the summer musical, she asks Delsie what it’s like to be an orphan, bringing up a lot of emotions. Delsie is also faced with a new girl in town stealing her best friend, who is mean to boot. There is also a new boy, Ronan, in town, brooding and angry. These characters, along with Grammy and the neighbors, help Delsie and Ronan as they grow, change, and come to grips with losses they have both suffered. It really does take a village.

Author Lynda Mullaly Hunt writes with such authenticity, readers are immediately immersed in Delsie’s small town on Cape Cod and feel every sharp barb that comes her way, and there are many. Hunt’s characters are fully developed and completely believable. Their problems are the kind people face every day, and it’s great to watch her characters navigate the shoals of teenage life. A new book by Hunt is cause for celebration, and this book, like her earlier One for the Murphy’s and Fish in a Tree, will stay with readers long after the last page is turned. Don’t miss it!

I have a gently-read ARC of this book 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.