A Sandy Grave by Donna McDine

 

The anticipation of summer vacation can put anyone in a great mood with the excitement of adventures to be had–especially at the beach. But what is a group of friends to do when they discover mysterious men poaching whale teeth at the beach?

The lifeguards had their arms extended and attempted to move the crowd back. The tallest lifeguard said, “People, please stay back. The authorities will arrive to examine the whale to determine the cause of death within the hour. The whale must have died at sea and washed ashore.”

Donna McDine is an award-winning children’s author, Honorable Mention in the 77th and two Honorable Mentions in the 78^th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competitions, Literary Classics Silver Award & Seal of Approval Recipient Picture Book Early Reader, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention, Global eBook Awards Finalist Children’s Picture Book Fiction, and Preditors & Editors Readers Poll 2010 Top Ten Children’s Books ~ The Golden Pathway.

Her stories, articles, and book reviews have been published in over 100 print and online publications. Her interest in American History resulted in writing and publishing The Golden Pathway. Donna’s 2013 releases of Powder Monkey and Hockey Agony and the 2014 release of A Sandy Grave will be joined by an additional book to be published by Guardian Angel Publishing, Dee and Deb, Off They Go. She writes, moms and is a personal assistant from her home in the historical hamlet Tappan, NY. McDine is a member of the SCBWI, Children’s Literature Network, and Family Reading Partnership. 
Visit Donna online at www.donnamcdine.com or her blog at www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com

Connect & Socialize with Donna!

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Donna McDine is giving you a chance to win a $50 Barnes and Noble Gift Card.

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $50 Barnes and Noble Gift Card
• This giveaway begins March 3 and ends on April 25, 2014.
• Winner will be contacted via email.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Rainbow of Birds by Janet Halfmann

Birds have their legends just like people do, and baby birds love to hear the stories. Papa Cardinal, whose job it is to pass down bird ways to his chicks, tells them the story of how birds gave the world the rainbow. It’s a tale of fun and squabbles and magic!

Here are links to the book’s pages on my and the publisher's websites:

http://janethalfmann.com/rainbow-of-birds

http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/rainbow-birds.htm

http://www.janethalfmann.com

I was so excited when Janet Halfmann contacted me about reviewing her new children's book A Rainbow of Birds.  As a teacher I love children's books, so I jumped at the chance.  This book is so bright and cheerful just what we needed to take care of the winter blues.  Halfmann brings in a colorful array of birds to introduce the colors of the rainbow.  You couldn't ask for a more adorable book to share with your children than A Rainbow of Birds.  It's a twitter of color and fun for everyone.  You  can't go wrong with any of Halfmann's books.  I haven't found one yet that I didn't like.  check out her web site you won't be disappointed. 

I love being a children's author. I write picture books, both fiction and nonfiction, and also nonfiction for older readers.
  find out about the author, the author's award-winning books, news & events, and how to contact the author.



An  ecopy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for my honest review.

Win a NEW Spring Wardrobe from @TheQuiltsofLove | “Maybelle in Stitches” Giveaway!

Book Info

About Quilts of Love: Quilts tell stories of love and loss, hope and faith, tradition and new beginnings. The Quilts of Love series focuses on the women who quilted all of these things into their family histories. A new book releases each month and features contemporary and historical romances as well as women's fiction and the occasional light mystery. You will be drawn into the endearing characters of this series and be touched by their stories. About the book: Maybelle Kazinzki can't sew. She was after all, the only girl in the seventh grade Home Economics class to sew the zipper in the neck hole of the A-Line dress they were supposed to make. But when she finds an unfinished quilt in the attic of her mother's house she gets the crazy idea to finish it---somehow, come heck or high water. She thinks it will help fill the lonely nights while her husband, Holden, is serving overseas during World War II. Her recently departed mother's quilt is made from scraps of material Maybelle traces back to her mother's childhood, her grandmother's childhood and her own childhood. She tries to add one of Holden's stripes to it but the sewing is not going well and neither is her life. After receiving some harsh news, Maybelle's faith falters and she puts the quilt away and stops trusting God. But God is faithful---no matter what. And it'll take a group of neighborhood women armed with quilting needles to help Maybelle believe that. Learn more about this book and the series at the Quilts of Love website. About the Author: Joyce Magnin is the author of the Bright's Pond novels, including the award-winning The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow. A member of the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Fellowship, Joyce is a frequent workshop leader and the organizer of the StoryCrafters fiction group. She lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Learn more about Joyce at: http://joycemagnin.blogspot.com

The quilts of Love books are such an inspiration.  Maybelle in Stitches is no exception.  Magnin mingles humor, friendship, love and hope into one tremendous story wrapped around a quilt.  I loved the WWII setting and all the aspects that were intertwined in this story.  It was such a wonderful thing to see the story and quilt come together.  Awesome warm winter-night read.  This is one book I had a hard time putting down at times.  

 

Don’t miss this month’s Quilts of Love book, Maybelle in Stitches, by Joyce Magnin. Maybelle can’t sew. But when she finds an unfinished quilt in the attic of her mother’s house, she gets the crazy idea to complete it.

Joyce is celebrating the release with a $200 Modcloth giveaway. Enter today for a chance to spruce up your spring wardrobe!

One winner will receive:

• A $200 Modcloth gift card
• Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
• A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
• Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 19th. Winner will be announced on April 21st on the Quilts of Love blog!

Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK or TWITTER.

A copy of this book was provided for in exchange for my review and hosting this tour by...

The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman by Joyce Ellis

Book Info

About the book: Strength for Today's Demanding Roles In The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman you'll find strength, purpose, and perspective to balance your many roles-and gain insight into the roles of women around you. With honesty, humor, and practicality, Joyce Ellis helps you see how your roles can fit together to make a difference in your world. Questions for reflection or discussion at the end of each chapter make this book suitable for book clubs and small-group Bible studies as well. Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/ujOPt  About the Author: Joyce K. Ellis, award-winning author of more than a dozen books, speaks for women's groups and retreats across the country and internationally. She and her husband enjoy reading by lakes and rivers and oceans, and spending time with their grown children and delightful, too-quickly-growing grandchildren. They live in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. Learn more about Joyce at: www.joycekellis.com

In Joyce K. Ellis' The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman you’ll find strength, purpose, and perspective to balance your many roles—and gain insight into the roles of women around you.

The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman by Joyce Ellis is a wonderful book.  Ellis shares with her readers the many roles that a woman plays and she doesn't even scratch the surface of 500 in the 10 chapters.  This book can be used on an individual study or as a group.  The discussion questions at the end a each chapter get the reader digging deeper into God's Word and are thought provoking.  I love the humor that Ellis uses.  The chapters are very practical and fitting for today's women.  Here are some of the roles the book covers:

• woman
• wife
• mother 
• working woman
• daughter/daughter-in-law
• aging
• family of God/church ministry

 No matter what stage in life you are in I'm sure there is some practical advice and insight for you in this book. 



A copy of this book was provided for in exchange for my review and hosting this tour by...

Riley Mae and the Ready Eddy Rapids by Jill Osborne

Book Description:

If you’re gonna run for your life, you gotta wear the right shoes.
Life is rapidly changing for pre-teen shoe spokesperson Riley Mae. After the last photo shoot and trek up the Half-Dome in Yosemite, Riley Mae and her Swiftriver friends find themselves in Northwest Montana, the perfect backdrop for a river sandal campaign. The first problem is a plane malfunction. Then the rigorous raft training for the “Ready Eddy” river sandal campaign brings more bumps and bruises. And given that she is in Montana for a shoe campaign instead of back home with her friends, Riley thinks life can’t get much worse. But then she meets Sunday, a 10 year-old boy from Kenya, who wrestles fish, battles bears, and tackles leukemia. And Riley soon learns that life is as unpredictable as the raging waters, which, if she is not careful, will sweep her away and into the hands of the enemy - who is even closer than she thinks.

This is a totally awesome book for preteens that love adventure.  It's not all about prissy girls, make-up, trying to be in fashion, boys and all the drama that goes with preteens these days.  It's about faith and living it, doing what is right.  The characters are fun and very age appropriate.  I would recommend this book and series to any middle school age child.  We need good clean Christian faith based books for our children.  Look out Babysitter club, Magic tree house and the others FaithGirlz is a super series and going to rise to the top.

About the Author:

Jill Osborne works in children’s ministry and has a passion for telling great stories. She has written plays, skits for youth groups and Sunday morning drama teams, curriculum for children’s ministry, countless articles for her church newsletter, and a blog about taking a sabbatical in a motor home. Good News Shoes is her first series for kids, and she plans to run with it! 

Find out more about Jill on her blog:  www.thegoodnewsshoesblog.com !  Tween girls can also enter to be featured on her blog!

a copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson in exchange for my honest review

A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare

A Sky Without Stars | A Quilts of Love Book In 1951, Frankie Chasing Bear is a Lakota caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she knows he will need to become as a white man to succeed. After his father’s killed in a barroom brawl, Harold and Frankie move to Arizona, where she begins a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn and prayed into it.

She distrusts Christians, as her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian School, until she meets BIA agent Nick Vandergriff, a half-Lakota who’s also caught between cultures. Nick must convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren’t all bad as he tries to win her heart in order to put the stars back into her sky.

Purchase a copy and learn more at the Quilts of Love website.

A Sky without Stars weaves a story about a quilt and the Native American culture of 1950's into a most wonderful and interesting book.  Being I live in North Dakota and among some NA culture I totally enjoyed reading Linda's book.  This book is a wonderful read from the Quilts of Love series.  All the books in this series are stand alone books and wonderful to enjoy at your own pace and pleasure.  Clare mixes a quilt, culture and romance into one awesome book.  You'll actually learn about a culture while you turn the pages of this book.  Keep the heritage going read a quilt of love book.  A good book to snuggle up with. 

 Linda S. Clare is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including "Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them" (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), "Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World," and "Making Peace with a Dangerous God" (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She is also the author of "The Fence My Father Built." She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!


Don't miss this month's Quilts of Love book, A Star Without Stars, by Linda S. Clare. Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook "Spring Fling" party on April 1st.

  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
• A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
• Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 1st. Winner will be announced at the "Spring Fling" Facebook Party on April 1st. RSVP today and connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Barbara Cameron, Linda S. Clare, and Joyce Magnin, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, prizes, and an exclusive look at the next Quilts of Love book!

So grab your copies of Scraps of Evidence, A Sky Without Stars, and Maybelle in Stitches and join Barbara, Linda, and Joyce on the evening of April 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN at the event page. Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway and party via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on April 1st!

A copy of this book was provided for in exchange for my review and hosting this tour by...

Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron

Scraps of Evidence: Tess has taken some ribbing from her fellow officer, Logan,for her quilting hobby. He finds it hard to align the brisk professional officer he patrols with during the day with the one who quilts in her off-time. Besides, he's been trying to get to know her better and he'd like to be seeing her during those couple nights a week she spends with her quilting guild.

Then one afternoon Tess and Logan visit her aunt in the nursing home and she acts agitated when Tess covers her with the story quilt. Aunt Susan seems to be communicating a message to them about Tess's uncle. There's a story behind this quilt, they realize, one that may lead them to a serial killer. Will they have a chance to have a future together or will the killer choose Tess for his next victim before they find him?

A story of a quilt that involves a crime is what Scraps of Evidence in twisted around.  A book that is hard to put down right to the end of the book.  It is bound to hold your interest right to the last page.  I love the books in this series because they are stand alone books and you don't have to read them in order.  If you miss reading a book you don't miss out on anything.  If you like suspense then Barbara will keep you in suspense thought out the book.  It isn't really a cozy mystery.  I would say your average suspense book;  Not a blood and gore chiller-thriller.  There is humor sprinkled among the mystery and suspense of the quilt and the murder.  Whether you like the quilt aspect or the mystery aspect you can't go wrong reading Scraps of Evidence. 

Barbara Cameron is the CBD, CBA, and  ECPA bestselling author of 24 books including the new Stitches in Times series for Abingdon Press. Barbara has written fiction and non-fiction books for  Abingdon Press, Thomas Nelson, Harlequin, and other publishers. She sold three films to HBO/Cinemax and is the first winner of the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award. Barbara's first two novellas won the 2nd and 3rd place in the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest from the Faith, Love, and Hope chapter of  RWA. Both were finalists for the novella category of the Carol Award of the American Christian Writers Award (ACFW).

Learn more at: http://barbaracameron.com

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Mark your calendars for April 1st and join us at the "Quilts of Love Spring Fling" Facebook party! Meet Quilts of Love authors Barbara Cameron, Linda Clare, and Joyce Magnin, chat about books, quilting, spring, win prizes, and much more! RSVP here.

A copy of this book was provided for in exchange for my review and hosting this tour by...