QUEENIE IN SEVEN MOVES — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“Think of your main characters as dinner guests. Would your friends want to spend ten hours with the characters you’ve created? Your characters can be lovable, or they can be evil, but they’d better be compelling.”
~ Po Bronson ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

I posted an article by Jan Fields of the Institute for Children’s Writing here a couple weeks ago on Building Characters from Scratch. HERE, I have another good post from her on First Steps in Character Creation. Enjoy!

Janice Hardy ALWAYS has something great for writers. HERE on Fiction University, she has a great post on The Danger of Infodumps (And How to Avoid Them). So worth your time.

HERE is a fascinating article from Writer’s Digest by Rex Ogle, author of FREE LUNCH, a great book, where he discusses Writing for Kids: The Balancing Act of Fart Jokes and Difficult Topics. Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.

I don’t have much to write about this week, and my family is going to show up shortly for family dinner, so I will leave you with two punny jokes. Try not to groan out loud.

A Scotsman named Angus painted houses for a living. Because he was a penny pincher, he often thinned down his paint with water to make it go a wee bit further. He got away with this until the day he painted the house of Brother McTavish, who was an elder in the Presbyterian church.
Just when Angus had almost finished the job, suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder and rain began pouring down, washing all the watered-down paint from the house. Then a bolt of lightning struck the ladder where Angus was standing and knocked him to the ground.
Angus knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, and he fell to his knees and cried out, “Forgive me, Lord! What should I do?” And from the thunder came a mighty voice saying, “Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!”

Late one evening a man walked into a dentist’s office.
“Can I help you?” asked the dentist.
“I keep thinking I’m a moth,” said the man.
“You think you’re a moth?” said the dentist. “You don’t need a dentist. You need a psychiatrist!”
“I know,” said the man.
“So why did you come here?” asked the dentist.
“Well,” said the man, “the light was on.”

Last week, I offered a gently-read ARC of THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Judith Eagle to one of you. This week’s winner is Susan Uhlig. Congratulations, Susan! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Susan, she is a children’s writer from the Northwest. You can read more about her and her books at her website HERE.

Sometimes I get books in the mail that I haven’t even requested. That happened recently with a book from Candlewick Press called QUEENIE IN SEVEN MOVES by Zanni Louise. I put it on my stack and thought I would get to it when I could, but that cute cover kept calling out to me, and soon I was halfway through, and the other books on my pile were waiting their turn. It is a very engaging story.

Queenie is twelve years old, and it is just her and her mom. It has been that way for a long time. They live in a rental house Queenie fondly calls Peachy, but their landlady is selling the house, and they need to move. The world has not fully recovered from the Covid pandemic, and housing is difficult to find. Queenie is devastated to have to leave her home. They end up renting space with a family that is also struggling, but Queenie has to share a room with a boy, Dorey, who is her age. AWKWARD! They have to move again soon because Queenie and Dorey get too close. Mom works at a senior living facility, and she arranges for her and Queenie to stay there for a couple of weeks while they look for a place. It is a total surprise to Queenie how much she enjoys being there as she makes friends with Audrey and some of the other residents. But their stay is only for two weeks, and then they have to move again. And again. And so it goes. Queenie always has her father’s guitar and her love of music to keep her going. This helps her connect with several people along the way.

Zanni Louise has written a story that will connect with a lot of young readers, far too many of whom will see themselves reflected here. Her writing is terrific. The characters are all really well-rounded and believable, and the dialogue is age-appropriate. Even though this is set in Australia, American readers will have no trouble immersing themselves in the story.

I have a gently read hardback 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.