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THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY — Review & Giveaway

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things.”

~Thomas Hardy ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Every once in a while, I struggle through reading a book that has an unlikeable character at the center of it. I think that’s really hard in MG, but it can still be workable. HERE is a great post by E. J. Wenstrom on Jane Friedman’s site about Writing Unlikeable Characters Readers Will Root For.

Any time I run across a good post on antagonists, I am interested. HERE is a really good post from Janice Hardy with 10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist.

I see so many comma errors, and they just drive me crazy. I do disagree slightly with the List Series section in this article. I am a great believer in the last comma in a list (the Oxford comma), and the writer of this article thinks it is a choice. It shouldn’t be. You can never get in trouble by using it, but you can get in real trouble not using it. Ask some of the people who have lost huge lawsuits by skipping it. Anyway, HERE is an otherwise good article by Matthew Adams from Writer’s Digest with 10 Most Important Comma Usage Rules.

I mentioned here a few weeks ago that I planned to read an actual adult book while I was on my trip. I did, and I want to mention it here. It is STILL LIFE by Sarah Winman. It is one of the best books I have read in years. The characters practically jumped off the page, they were so real to me, and the story was so compelling. The writing was superb, BUT the entire book was written without any quotation marks, and sometimes Winman had more than one person speaking within a paragraph. I don’t know when some in the publishing industry decided it was okay to forego quotation marks, but I sure wish they would get over it. Maybe there are great writers out there who are just too lazy to use proper grammar, but isn’t that what copy editors are for? Despite this, I liked the book so much, I ordered copies for both my daughters, and I ordered another book by Winman for myself. One of my daughters called me the other day and complained about me sending her a book that didn’t use quotation marks, so I know I’m not the only person bothered by this style. Have any of you noticed this happening? How do you feel about it?

Last week I offered a gently-read paperback copy of SAM by Eric Walters to one of you. This week’s winner is authorlaurablog or Laura Roettiger, a writer of picture books from Chicago. In fact, she is the author of one of my favorite picture books, AN ACCIDENTAL HERO: A MOSTLY TRUE WOMBAT STORY. You can learn more about her at her site HERE. Congratulations, Laura! I will get your book out to you soon.

I received some books from the publicist at Candlewick Press not long ago. One of them was from one of their divisions called Walker Books. It is THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY by Judith Eagle with spot illustrations by Jo Rioux. It is a really fun book and should capture a lot of middle-grade readers. Here are my thoughts.

It is 1910, and Patch, 12 years old, hasn’t found a real home. Her father is dead, and her mother ran off. She has been passed around from one relative to another relative and even to friends of those relatives. Now she finds herself shipped to a boarding school. In her room, she finds a little box with a ring inside, and she slips it onto her finger. Then she decides to look around the area a little and takes her roller skates to help her get around. She meets a boy named Turo who says he works on a cruise ship. He wants to learn to skate, so Patch loans him one of her skates. Turo asks where the candy store is, and when they find it, he steals a plate of candy! Patch chases him and ends up going up the gangway onto the ship. Before she knows it, the ship sails, and she is an accidental stowaway. She meets a rich girl, Lilian, traveling by herself on the ship, and they become friends. Lilian convinces Patch she should hide in plain sight and helps her find her way around. But Patch has trouble keeping quiet when she should, and makes a few enemies. And these enemies are pretty evil people. She runs into Turo again, and he turns out to be a good guy after all and becomes a good friend. And Patch will need good friends, because she has made the wrong people mad at her. Things get pretty dangerous for Patch and Lilian. Can they escape from the bad guys?

Judith Eagle
Jo Rioux

Judith Eagle has written a real romp of an adventure that middle-graders are sure to love. The characters are well-rounded, and each is interesting and believable. There are mysteries around every corner and plenty of red herrings to keep readers turning pages. The cute spot illustrations by Jo Rioux are a fun accompaniment to this exciting story. Readers will be excited to know this is book one in a series. No doubt, Patch is a character who has more stories in her.

I have a gently-read paperback 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 US 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

21 thoughts on “THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY — Review & Giveaway”

  1. I would get frustrated trying to read a story without quotaton marks, especially when there are two speakers in the same paragraph. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I also prefer the last comma is a series.

    I’ll pass on this week’s drawing, Rosi.

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    1. It sure was frustrating. I think the first time I ran across it with with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. I just don’t know why publishers put books out without proper punctuation. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  2. I tried to comment via WordPress, but already the post was closed for comments. It’s actually easier here 😊.

    Anyway, this sounds like a delightful book. And I loved the quote by Hardy. Wonderful.

    As for quotation marks, I’ve read a few books like that, and, oddly, seem to adjust pretty quickly as a reader. But if you add in switching voices mid paragraph, it would be too much for me.

    Sent from Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

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    1. I never close my posts for comments. I don’t know how that can happen. It is a really cute book. Glad you like the quote. Yes, we do manage to adjust to reading without quotations marks. Too bad we need to. Thanks for reading and commenting. So nice to see you here.

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  3. I’m not sure I’d like a book without quotation marks, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve been reading a lot more adult fiction these days. The Accidental Stowaway sounds great, but I’m going to pass on the giveaway.

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      1. Yes, I have lots. One book that I didn’t expect to be uplifting but was very is The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. It’s based on the real tattooist’s life. I just finished How to Read a Book by Monica Wood about how three people’s lives intersect for my book club. It was really good too. I read murder mysteries, time travel, historical novels, etc. If you let me know what you like, I could give you more recommendations.

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  4. Thanks for choosing me as the winner of SAM! I hope you saw my email response regarding my address – I moved last month!

    I truly don’t understand the use of commas so I am going to bookmark your link on that but the Oxford comma is the one I am actually keenly aware of. And why on earth would anyone forgo quotation marks when they serve the purpose of letting the reader know that someone is speaking AND who that someone is? Punctuation is like street signs and traffic signals, helping to guide the reader through the book. I say this as someone who wrote a picture book all in dialogue and know how tricky it is to make sure the reader knows who’s speaking.

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    1. I like your description of punctuation being like traffic signals. That would be a great way to get the point across to students. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.

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  5. This book sounds like it has great characters and lots of suspense to keep readers wanting to turn pages. I am with you about the quotation marks. That just seems to interrupt your reading while you try to sort out who is speaking. I shared this post on tumblr, X, and Facebook.

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  6. I agree with you about punctuation errors and the lack of quotation marks. Doesn’t seem to bother the younger crowd too much. Thanks for all the links although I haven’t had a chance to visit the sites yet. Janice Hardy is always a must. The Accidental Stowaway has an interesting plot and kid readers will appreciate the illustrations. Happy MMGM!

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  9. I also am annoyed by the lack of the use of the Oxford comma. I can’t imagine reading a novel without quote marks!

    This book sounds fun. Throw my name into the drawing for the book please. I’m a follower.

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  10. I’m completely with you on the punctuation, Rosi. I’m not sure if I could read a book without quotation marks, but it must be really good if you recommend it so highly, not withstanding the formatting issue! Thanks so much for the links. The Accidental Stowaway sounds great fun! Thanks so much for the recommendation!

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