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BUSTED — Review & Giveaway

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“I found my first novel difficult. I don’t want to make it sound like it’s any more difficult than driving a cab or going to any other job, but there are so many opportunities for self-doubt that you just kind of need to soldier on.”

~ Anthony Doerr ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Once in a while I run across a writing article that is so rich and so good, I’m tempted to write a blog post just to get it out there. That is the case with the Writer’s Digest article by Tanya Grant HERE called Using Setting to Create Conflict in Fiction. Don’t miss this one.

I keep thinking I would really like to write a chapter book, so I’m always on the lookout for good posts about chapter books. HERE is a great one from Writer’s Rumpus by Heather Preusser on Writing Chapter Books with Humor. Actually, her ideas are good for injecting humor into any kind of writing.

Fear is a great motivator that writers can use very well. HERE is a terrific post by Janice Hardy writing for Writers in the Storm titled The Secret Weapon Behind Every Great Character Arc. Hint. It’s fear.

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and are now home safe and sound. I had a nice, quiet day with just my two grandchildren in attendance. Both my daughters were in Seattle. Sara went there to help Maggie with her dog while Maggie was in tech rehearsals for Come From Away at Seattle Rep. For those of you who are not theatre geeks or didn’t raise one, tech week can involve rehearsals that run 20 hours a day. My son-in-law was running a freight train and didn’t get back until evening. So my grankids cooked a nice meal and then we watched movies. They always try to find something funny that I haven’t seen before. They watch far more movies than I do. Sometimes their taste isn’t quite the same as mine, but it’s always interesting. Let’s just say that I don’t think The Hangover is going to become a new holiday tradition. I don’t know why my text won’t wrap around the cartoon, but it just won’t. Weird.

Last week, I offered a gently-read hardback of SPARK by Chris Baron to one of you. This week’s winner is Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner. Congratulations, Donna! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Donna, she is a kidlit writer who had her debut picture book, NO DRAGONS, published last year. Very cute! Perfect for the little ones on your holiday shopping list. You can learn more about her and her book at her site HERE.

There have been a few books recently for middle-graders that are set in senior living centers. I love them. The ones know about are NOT NOTHING by Gayle Forman which I reviewed HERE and OLD SCHOOL by Gordon Korman, which I haven’t yet read, but it’s on my TBR list. Do you know of others? I’d love to know about them. When I saw BUSTED by Dan Gemeinhart I was excited for two reasons. First, I have read some of Gemeinhart’s books and loved them. I have reviewed THE HONEST TRUTH, COYOTE LOST AND FOUND, and THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF COYOTE SUNRISE. If you click on the titles, it will take you to those reviews. Secondly, it is a middle-grade book set in a senior living center. I claimed it from the review list for the Manhattan Book Review. This is a funny, sweet book. Here is the review I wrote for them.

Oscar Aberdeen, 12, has lived with his grandfather at the Sunny Days Retirement Home since birth. The owner of the home dies, and his son takes over, raising the rents. Oscar and Pops are likely to lose their home. But Jimmy deLuca, an old tough guy at the home, offers Oscar enough money to save their home if Oscar helps Jimmy leave the home for a day. Oscar shouldn’t, but decides he has to. As they are sneaking out, the daughter of the new owner, Natasha, also 12, tags along. Jimmy is an old gangster, and some of the places they go to are sketchy. And there’s criminal activity. Will Oscar survive the day and save his home?

Dan Gemeinhart

Dan Gemeinhart has written a real romp of a story. The characters are quirky, funny, and smart; the writing is terrific; the setting is perfect; and the story is very, very compelling. Gemeinhart has a wicked sense of humor, and that humor is splashed all over this book. Some of the situations border on the ridiculous, but somehow Gemeinhart makes the readers buy in completely. This book is too much fun to be read only by middle-graders. Everyone should get a copy.

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.

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Published by rosihollinbeck

25 thoughts on “BUSTED — Review & Giveaway”

  1. Dan is a terrific author. I’ve read several of his books. I’ve met him because he attended our children’s author festival before. He was supposed to come back two years later but then got stuck in San Francisco because our airport was closed for two days due to heavy fog. I felt so horrible for him and the children who didn’t get to have him visit their schools.

    Incidentally, I wrote a blog post yesterday about Kate DiCamillo and Lost Evangeline. I made mention of you and your blog in my post. Thanks so much, Rosi. https://petespringerauthor.wordpress.com/2025/11/29/kate-dicamillo-a-story-of-perseverance/

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  2. Pingback: Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for 12/1/2025 | Always in the Middle…

  3. I’m glad you had a good holiday. I was grateful to spend mine with my daughter, son-in-law, and his family. But since my husband died, it’s a hard time.

    I loved Not Nothing , and this sounds like another good one. Even though I have too many books to read, I’ll enter the giveaway this time.

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  4. It sounds like your holiday was great. I love the setting of a senior living facility for middle grade because you’ve immediately created an interesting juxtaposition of characters. Gayle Forman’s book NOT NOTHING was one of the books I listened to on my 2000 mile drive moving across the country this summer. I typically listen at a rate much faster than 1:1 and that book I slowed down to a normal speed because I wanted to savor the narrator’s voice and I wanted to book to last as long as possible.
    Gayle was at NCTE last mont (it’s December now!) and I wanted to tell her how much I love that book but her line was soooooo long. Dan was at NCTE too but I missed him as well. Chris Baron was there (SPARK) and I got to hang out with him a bit but I already know him and had preordered SPARK which he knew. There was a fun moment of him with Chris Barton together and a picture was taken because they are often mistaken for each other because of their names.

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  8. Happy MMGM. Glad that you had a pleasant holiday. Thanks for reviewing a humorous book. I will add it to my reading list.

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  10. Thanks for the links. Some really great ones this week. I’m also a big fan of this author, but haven’t gotten to this one yet. I’m ready for some humor so thanks for the heads up on BUSTED.

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  11. I would love to read this book–this author is very talented and this book sounds hilarious. I’m a subscriber and shared on X, Facebook, and tumblr.

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  12. This one sounds like a one-of-a-kind ride that’s right up my alley. Thanks for doing reviews and sharing all the resources for writers.

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  13. I’ve loved all of his books I’ve read so far! This sounds like another great romp.

    Thanks for the writerly links 🙂

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