HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“I believe that, more than anything else, this grief of constantly having to face down our own inadequacies is what keeps people from being writers. Forgiveness, therefore, is key. I can’t write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing. Again and again throughout the course of my life I will forgive myself.


~ Ann Patchett ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Jessica James wrote a great article for Writer’s Digest HERE called How to Figure Out What Your Character Wants (and Why It Matters for Your Story). You don’t want to miss this one.

Sentences are the foundation of everything we write. HERE is an excellent article by Karen Ferreira posted on The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle with Nine Ways to Make Your Sentences Instantly Better. There are some great examples in this one.

As the old saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. HERE Anne R. Allen has a great post called Are Your Fictional Characters Making the Right First Impression? It starts with a most interesting story, and is filled with good writing hints.

I’ve been watching the Australian Open tennis this weekend. I have never watched that tournament before. It happens so early in the year, that tennis isn’t even really on my radar yet. I happened to see an ad for it, put it on. It has some pretty exciting play, and they have the most amazing judge’s chairs! I got to watch my favorite, Coco Gauff, win in a very tough match last night, and stayed up way to late to do so. It is on the other side of the world, and the time difference is twice what it is between here and Europe. Thank goodness for DVRs. My grandson has gotten me back into watching hockey. I used to be a huge hockey fan. When we lived in San Jose many years ago, we had season tickets to the Sharks, but we had to give those up when we moved to the Sacramento area. I turned on a game last week, and saw a very rare sight — a goalie fight. There is something kind of majestic about seeing a goalie skate the length of the ice to take on his counterpart, but then it gets downright silly when two guys fight who are so well-padded they can’t land a punch to save their souls. You can’t help but laugh. Today are the two final playoff games in football. Go, Broncos! Should be a fun day.

Last week, I offered a gently-read hardback of THE VANISHING OF LAKE PEIGNEUR by Allan Wolf and illustrated by Jose Pimienta to one of you. The winner this week is Jenni Enzor. Congratulations, Jenni! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Jenni, she is a KidLit writer and blogs HERE. She is a regular on MMGM, and writes great reviews. Check it out.

In December, I was lucky enough to win a copy of HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE by Dusti Bowling on Natalie Aguirre’s wonderful blog — Literary Rambles. She has such helpful content and so many great giveaways. I try to never miss her posts. I had read several other books by Dusti Bowling, and I loved them all, so I was excited to get to this one. I was not disappointed.

Canyon is 13 years old, and, since his mother died, he and his father don’t really communicate. Canyon spends most of his time and energy on training for bull-riding, even though it leaves him in pain almost all the time. He feels like bull-riding may be the only way to connect with his dad, an old bull rider himself. But his dad never comes to Canyon’s events, like his grandmather and sister always do. And Dad keeps falling off the drinking wagon and losing his jobs. Canyon’s other great love is playing the fiddle, something his mother had done. His music teacher convinces Canyon to enter an music contest. Canyon sends in a tape, but when the papers come and he needs a parent signature, he throws them in the garbage and forgets about them. When Canyon’s best friend is bandly injured by a rogue bull, it moves Canyon into the running for the championship, but he draws the same rogue bull, and while he is waiting to ride, his grandmother gets a call from the music contest saying they have a spot for Canyon. What will he do?

Dusti Bowling has written another book with kids having to fight their way through very difficult circumstances. She does this very well, and this is no exception. I have reviewed two of her other books — THE CANYON’S EDGE HERE and INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS HERE. She puts her characters in arduous, but believable, situations and then throws more and more obstacles in their way. This one will connect with way too many kids as Canyon deals with an alcoholic parent and having to protect and raise his little sister. Bowling’s writing is great with realistic dialogue and compelling storytelling. This is a terrific book.

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.