THE GIRLS OF SKYLARK LANE — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Writing is not like dancing or modeling; it’s not something where—if you missed it by age 19—you’re finished. It’s never too late. Your writing will only get better as you get older and wiser. If you write something beautiful and important, and the right person somehow discovers it, they will clear room for you on the bookshelves of the world—at any age. At least try.”


~ Elizabeth Gilbert ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

We all want to make our readers feel something profound with our writing. HERE is a great post from K. M. Weiland with 6 Tips to Write Deeply Emotional Fiction.

For those of you who write picture books, HERE is a great post from Emma Walton Hamilton with Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Picture Books.

D. Wallace Peach has done several punctuation posts on Story Empire Blog. HERE is a great one on the largely misunderstood ellipsis. Her examples are terrific.

I hope you are all enjoying your Mother’s Day. My daughter’s family will be coming over later, and I have had calls from my other kids. That’s all I ever want for Mother’s Day. Well, that and a good baseball game. I’m spending my afternoon watching my beloved Giants play the Minnesota Twins. The Twins were my mother’s favorite team. I think her happiest day was the one when the Twins won the World Series. So whoever wins today will be fine with me. All in all, it’s a nice Mother’s Day for me. The big news of the week was the white smoke and the new pope, an American and a White Sox fan. It’s always a surprise to me how exciting the naming of a new pope is. I’m not Catholic, but I was just as excited as everyone else. I think he will be wonderful, and I’m looking forward to watching this unfold.

Last week, I offered a gently-read paperback of FIRES BURNING UNDERGROUND by Nancy McCabe to one of you. This week’s winner is Kasey at The Story Sanctuary. Congratulations, Kasey! I’ll get your book out to you soon. If you aren’t familiar with Kasey’s blog, check it out HERE. She reviews a ton of middle-grade books.

I know I’m late to the party with this review. THE GIRLS OF SKYLARK LANE by Robin Benway came out last fall, but I gave away my copy, and it fell off my radar. But it’s never too late to review a good book, so here you are. When I was looking for review books on the list from the Seattle Book Review, it wasn’t the book title that caught my eye; it was the author’s name. You know how a few books you read just stay with you? Well, that’s how I feel about Robin Benway’s first book, AUDREY, WAIT. It is YA, which is a departure for me, but I just loved it. It has the best sidekick character I’ve ever read, and it was just a terribly funny and smart book. So when I saw her name, I had to see what else she had written. I was not disappointed. And isn’t that a gorgeous cover? Here is the review I wrote for SBR.

Jac and Aggie are twins, but for the first time, they seem to have very different feelings about things. They are moving with their two dads to Los Angeles from San Francisco. Jac is excited, but Aggie is dreading it. She is afraid Jac will make new friends without her, and she will be all alone. They meet a neighbor girl, Tink, who invites them to join a neighborhood softball team. Aggie is excited to be able to make friends with several girls, and soon both girls are practicing nearly every day with their new friends, except that practice seldom happens due to middle-grade drama. And when one of the twins begins changing, things get really tense.

Robin Benway has written a fun story that addresses a lot of issues middle-grade girls can relate to — moving, being the new kid, trying to fit in, having your body grow up before you’re ready, and so much more. The dialogue is right for the age, the characters are well-rounded and believable, and the problems the girls and their friends face will keep young readers turning the pages all the way to the end.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.