HANGABOUT: FAR FROM HOME — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves in your heart — your stories, visions, memories, songs: your truth, your version of things, in your voice. That is really all you have to offer us, and it’s why you were born.”
~ Anne Lamott ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Do you spend much time thinking about the syntax of your sentences? It certainly is something to consider. HERE on Writer Unboxed, Sarah Callender has a good post, Avoiding Syntax Errors, with some great examples.

Rejection is simply part of writing, but there are some important things to know about it. HERE is a good Writer’s Digest article by Clare Boyd with 10 Dos and Don’ts of Being Rejected.

I should really link to Kristen Lamb’s posts more often. She is so funny and smart and irreverent and right about things. HERE she has a wonderful post on Redemption: Can All Characters be “Saved”?

It’s a good weekend for football lovers. I don’t watch a lot of football, but I do watch most of the playoff games and, of course, the Super Bowl, which is like a national holiday here at my house. I was really looking forward to the Chiefs/Dolphins game yesterday. I really love the Chiefs. They are so fun to watch. And I was all set because Xfinity recently added Peacock to my service “without extra cost” (the same month they raised my bill!). But, boy, howdy, was it hard to get signed on! It’s a good thing my daughter came to watch the game. Between the two of us, we figured it out and only missed a little of the game. I think the NFL is lousy to put a playoff game on a streaming service a lot of people don’t have. It may come back to bite them. MLB had a lot of games on streaming services last season, and I hated that. A lot of people just don’t have the money to add such things. Anyway, that’s my sports rant for the week. Back to the blog.

Last week I offered a gently read ARC of FERRIS by Kate DiCamillo to one of you. This week’s winner is Linda Browne. Congratulations, Linda! If you don’t know Linda, she is a writer of MG and YA, Historical and SciFi Fantasy. You can learn more about her at her site HERE. Thanks for reading, Linda! I will get your book out to you soon.

I should have reviewed this book sooner. I won a copy of HANGABOUT: FAR FROM HOME, a really cute chapter book, on Kathy Temean’s wonderful blog, Writing & Illustrating, back in October. (If you aren’t reading Kathy’s blog, you really should. It has a wealth of information.) The author, Ree Augustine got it right out to me, and I read it right away, but then it got stuck too far down in a stack of books I wanted to feature on my blog. So I apologize to you, Ree, for being so tardy. But it’s never too late to review a good book. And you know, if you have been reading my blog for a while, I have a special place in my heart for chapter books. How can you resist that cute cover?

Hangabout thinks he has a pretty good life. He lives with a guy named Grifter in a little messy house with a tiny backyard. He spends almost all his time inside, waiting for Grifter to come home and feed Hangabout – usually a potato. Sometimes Grifter is gone for days. Hangabout has a pillow to play with, but that’s about it. One day he gets too excited, and before he knows it, the pillow has been destroyed. When Grifter gets home, he is mad. Grifter puts Hangabout into his car, drives a long way, and leaves Hangabout by the side of the road before driving off. Hangabout waits all day and all night and far into the next long, hot day until he has to find some shade and water. He wanders into an old barn and is attacked by three fat, mean rats. Hangabout can’t seem to get them to stop biting him until a cat shows up and saves him. Thus an unlikely friendship is born. The two set off on a long adventure trying to find their keepers, and what an adventure it is!

Ree Augustine is clearly in touch with her inner child and has written a sweet story emerging readers will find irresistible and compelling. The two main characters have a lot of heart and learn to genuinely care for each other and trust each other along the way, not an easy thing for this curmudgeonly cat. The two overcome plenty of obstacles on their adventure, but both are resilient and cooperate to reach success. With themes of friendship, collaboration, and what makes a family, this will be a satisfying book for young readers.

I have a gently-read autographed copy for one of you. All you need to do is be a follower (it’s free and easy — see the top, right corner of the post) and leave a comment. If you share the link to this post on social media, please let me know in your comment, and you will get extra chances. And please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.