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TREE. TABLE. BOOK. — Review & Giveaway

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“Just because we are aware of the need for the inciting incident doesn’t mean we shouldn’t spend the time carefully crafting how we arrive at this point.”
~ Ran Walker ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Lying is on my mind these days as a certain candidate in the election goes on and on and on with one lie after another. But lying can be a useful tool for our characters in our writing. HERE is a Janice Hardy Narrative Nugget that will help you use lying in your writing.

We all need descriptions in our stories, but we need to do them well. HERE is a great post by K. M. Allan about How To Elevate The Descriptions In Your Book.

Much has been written for writers about what you need to include in your queries, but HERE is a good article from Robert Lee Brewer writing for Writer’s Digest with 13 Things You Should Not Say to an Agent or Editor in a Pitch or Query Letter.

I took last week off last minute because I had a chance to spend the day with my granddaughter. Now that she is a young woman, she is pretty busy with her own life, and I don’t get to spend as much time as I would like with her. So when she decided she wanted to spend the day with me, that was all I needed to abandon everything else. It was a lovely day. Mid-week this week, I will finally be able to take off my clunky post-op shoe and wear a regular one. Hooray! That means I can start driving again and not have to be off my feet all the time. I am supposed to stay off my feet most of the time, but I should be able to do more things. It has been almost two months, and, frankly, I am tired of sitting! I have used some of this time to watch too much TV. I had never watched the show The West Wing. I was not a big fan of Martin Sheen, and simply never watched it. But my daughters have been bugging me for years to watch it. So I spent a lot of time the last couple weeks in The West Wing. I’m almost done with all seven seasons. My goodness, the writing is spectacular. Did you know that Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC wrote many of the scripts and even made appearances on some of the shows? That was a surprise to me. And for a show that is almost 20 years old, it seems very current. I’m in the middle of season seven, which is mostly about an election year. The issues were pretty much the same then as they are today. I guess some things never change.

When I saw Lois Lowry‘s latest book on the review list for the Manhattan Book Review, I was happy to have a chance to read it. Her books are always so well crafted and have such important messages. TREE. TABLE. BOOK. is no exception. I think middle-grade teachers and parents must love having her books available. They are short and rich. They make good read-alouds and are attractive to all MG readers — reluctant, average, and advanced. This one is no exception to that. Here is the review I wrote for MBR.

Sophie and Sophie are best friends. That is surprising since they have little in common besides their names. One Sophie is eleven years old, while the other is eight times older—eighty-eight years old. But the two Sophies visit every day and have tea. The older Sophie is starting to have memory problems. She forgets she has the teakettle on and melts it. And she forgets other things more and more.

Young Sophie finds out that her friend’s son is coming and may take his mother with him to live in a place for people with memory issues. Young Sophie tries to help her friend practice memory tests so she can stay. Young Sophie hears some amazing and sad stories about her friend’s life and learns that what we want isn’t always what’s best.

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry has written a sweet story that addresses themes of family, friendship, history, love, and loyalty that will have young readers curious about their older relatives and the lives they have lived. The writing is lovely and the characters are well-developed and realistic. Readers may be fooled by the look of this slim volume, but the story is rich and complex and deserves wide readership.

I have a gently-read hardback copy of this lovely book to give to 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) with a U. S. Address, 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 an extra chance. And please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

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Published by rosihollinbeck

33 thoughts on “TREE. TABLE. BOOK. — Review & Giveaway”

  2. Lois Lowry is an amazing writer. I would expect anything of hers to be well worth reading!

    Glad you are getting the boot off and regaining some freedom. And family time is always worth taking time off for. I’m taking a lot of time off these days to spend it with my mother.

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  3. It would be a privilege to read this book. I was introduced to Lois Lowry when I was a young man in college (I’m 65 now) when I read Number the Stars. Writing books that matter is what all authors should strive for.

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  4. Pingback: MMGM for September 9, 2024 | Always in the Middle…

    I love anything Lois Lowry writes. And the topic is so timely. So many stories deal with memory loss. And, this is something that is close to home for me. Might be a great book to suggest for grandchildren. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I know I will enjoy reading this book by one of my favorite authors who never shies away from difficult subjects and ideas to get readers thinking about their own lives and world. It will be an emotional read that will also hit close to home. I shared on tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.

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  9. Happy to hear that you’ve been relieved of your boot and can move around unencumbered. Thank you for highlighting this book today. I’m going to hold off on the giveaway as I have some reviews to work on but will keep an eye out for the book at the library. Happy MMGM

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  10. Lois Lowry is one of my favorite authors and this new book adds to her impressive list. Stories that include different generations for main characters are always my favorite. I have this one in my teetering stack of books to read so no need to include me in the giveaway.

    A busy Monday has me holding off on the links until later. I’m looking forward especially to the Janice Hardy one about lying. Thanks for finding all three. Also, glad you are progressing in rehab! Happy MMGM!

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  13. Pingback: WEIRDO | Always in the Middle…

  14. It’s great that you’re getting the boot off. And it sounds like you had a fun time with your granddaughter. This sounds like a great story, but I’m literally having to return books to the library that I couldn’t get to. Please let someone who can read it now win.

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