After the funeral Becky and her family are expected to go back to normal.  But normal doesn’t exist anymore.  No one is happy anymore.  Becky stopped playing soccer and at school her friends don’t know what to say.  By the time winter rolls around again, Becky doesn’t feel so sad when looking at pictures of John.  One morning she laughed while watching her dog roll around in the snow.  And then one day, she had so much fun at a birthday party that she came home feeling guilty for “forgetting to miss John.”

Becky’s parents help her realize that John will always be her brother and that he’d want her to be happy.  While John’s memories would always make him a part of their family, Becky comes to know that she can still enjoy the things that they used to do together.

My only regret for the book is the cover art.  I don’t care for the orange and green background with the scrapbooking type photo holders.   It feels as though it doesn’t give justice to the story.  The illustrations are lovingly and realistically portrayed in watercolor.

I’d highly recommend Always My Brother for those who are seeking a  sensitive story that doesn’t discount the memory of a loved one after death and addresses the complex subject of loss, grieving and the recovery process.  I found myself very touched with Becky’s and John’s relationship and appreciated that the journey wasn’t an easy one by any means.

Jean Reagan is able to give an authentic voice to the book as she lost her own nineteen-year-old son a few years ago and draws upon her grieving experience and that of her daughter.   Jean is a local Utah author and it’s been my pleasure to chat with her a couple of times.  It is also my pleasure to have an interview with Jean which will be posted today.  Jean’s story is fascinating and it’s an interview that you don’t want to miss.

Blog Comment Prizes: Tilbury House will draw 7 lucky winners from all of those who leave comments on any of the participating tour posts (Nov.1-13) to win one of the following prizes:

• A copy of Always My Brother signed by author Jean Reagan (5 available)*
• A set of 10 winter notecards with art by illustrator Phyllis Pollema-Cahill (2 available)

* Winners are welcome to designate a grief center, school, or library to receive their signed copy in their place.  All winners will be announced after the tour.  US/Canada addresses only, please.

Twitter Prize: Everyone that tweets about the tour using the hashtag #AlwaysTour from November 1-13 will be entered to win a set of three children’s books from Tilbury House — your choice! Winners will be announced after the tour, US/Canada addresses only, please.

Do you have any additional titles to recommend on this subject?  Jean will be sharing her own, but I’d be curious to hear yours as well.   Any other ways that literature can help ease a child’s pain?

Links of interest:  Jean Reagan website.  Always My Brother is a fiction picture book Cybil’s nominee for which I’m a panelist.
Genre:  Picture book, ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Tilbury House.  May 21, 2009.
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN  0884483134.
Always My Brother is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Ann has stayed at her friends house too long and now must walk home in the dark.  Using her wild imagination, all the odd shapes are very hairy scary animals and monsters.  The text rhymes and repeats so it’s easy for the boys to follow and to anticipate what’s next.   They loved to turn the page to see what was the very hairy scary thing on the next page.  I even heard my little four year old talking to himself in the bathroom mirror repeating the lines from this book.

It was a pleasure to read this book out loud because of the rhyming and repeating text.  We got pretty loud when we yelled out BAT, SPIDER, LION, SKUNK!  I personally, did not like the style of the illustrations at all.  I think the book could have gone up another notch with better illustrations and would have me wanting to add this to my permanent collection.  But as is, my boys enjoyed this one so much that we will continue to read it from the library until Halloween (although I wouldn’t consider this one strictly a Halloween book).

And as a side note, Rick Walton is prolific local Utah picture book writer.  We have his book Bullfrog Pops which is just adorable.

Links of interest:  Rick Walton’s website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction picture book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile. August 19, 2004.
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 0399238581
A Very Hairy Scary Story is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

A family tragedy which is slowly revealed in the story has torn her family apart.  Her father is out on an inopportune extended business trip and calls all the time but when he does Mazzy just hangs up on him.  He has no idea how bad things have gotten at home.  Her mother is severely depressed and lies in bed comatose every day.  This leaves Mazzy very much on her own with neighbors who do try to look out after her.  Social services is also suspicious and Mazzy has to deal with the stress of trying to keep her family together – at least what’s left with it.

Everything is Fine is told in a very sparse prose.  A style which I found refreshing but many might find disconcerting.  It’s also told through the random stream of conscience of Mazzy.

He calls back and I let it ring.
He calls back again and I let it ring.
He calls back again and I finally answer.
He says:  Mazzy, I am going to say one more thing and then you can hang up.nes
I pick my toenail and lie on the couch.
He says: Your mom and I love you very -
But then I hang up again.
A rerun of Judge Judy is on.

Dad and Mom used to dance.
Late at night when we were supposed to be asleep.
Mom would throw back her head and laugh and Dad would pick her up.
“Stop it, Dave,” she’d say.
“What?” And he twirled her around and around.
“You’re going to to hurt your back.”"Well, I guess I should stop, then,” he’d say, and keep twirling and twirling and twirling.
I used to lay on the floor and watch them from the hallway.
Watch them laugh.
I’d lay there until maybe Dad saw me and he’d say, “Well, looks like someone is in big old trouble,” and I’d scream “No!” and he’d put Mom on the couch, and her face.  I can see her face.
All giggly.
I’d start down the hall but he’d catch me.  He always catught me and then it was me laughing and twirling and everything was how it was supposed to be.
My mom  used to love my dad and my dad used to love my mom.
And they both used to love me.
He went for a one-week audition for ESPN 360.  One week became forever.

This book was so odd and so touching.  The whole time, I was reading it I kept thinking, this book is so weird!  But I loved it!  Ellis is an author to look out for.  She’s different.  And I love that.

Back when the book was released (March), I went to hear Ann Dee Ellis (another of our wonderful Utah authors) give a reading at The Kings English Bookshop.

I’m smiling funny but dang, she’s so cute! Can’t wait to see what she has coming up next.

Links of interest: Ann Dee Ellis website, more book blogger reviews, and Maw Books review of  This is What I Did by Ann Dee Ellis.
Genre: Young Adult
Published:  Little Brown Young Readers; March 1, 2009
Hardcover, 160 pages.  ISBN 978-0316013642
Everything is Fine is available from your independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

15-year-old Sam has always been defined as the pastor’s daughter.  But not all is well behind closed doors.  Citing the pressures of being a pastor’s wife, Sam’s mother is an alcoholic who after one too many DUI’s is now in treatment.  But it’s not a fact that Sam wants her friends (who often don’t invite her along to less questionable activities – you know – the whole being the pasture’s daughter thing) to know about nor is it something that Sam and her father openly talk about with each other.

It is during this crisis in her family, that her community faces a crisis of its own.  A young girl in the church has mysteriously gone missing and no one is free from suspicion including her own father and the girl’s older brother, whom Sam has always crushed on.  This family and community crisis shakes Sam to her inner-core where she also experiences her own personal crisis – one that questions her faith, hope, and belief in something that is bigger than she is.

Although the events of this beautiful novel are huge – alcoholic parent, missing girl – it is also so quiet.  Sam is a character that feels so real.  Does she really live in those pages?  It can’t be possible.  She’s out there somewhere.  Living.  Breathing.  The questions that she asks herself are ones that any teen struggling to learn to identify who they are in the world will relate too.  Scratch that.  Not just teens.  Heck, even I found myself relating to Sam in my life right now and supposedly I’m supposed to have it all together right now.

Sam asks herself this question:

Do I believe?

I believe just enough that Jody is alive that I think we should keep looking.

I believe just enough in my mom to try to make a garden for her to work on when she gets home.

I believe just enough in my dad that he’ll have an explanation even if that explanation is that he’s only human.

I believe just enough in myself to know that even if I start in a new school I’ll be okay.

I believe just enough in forgiveness that eventually we’ll be a family again.

I believe just enough in God that I’m praying right now that Nick means what he says.

As a side note, I loved that Sam wanted to create the perfect garden for her mother to take care of.  As a gardener myself, I understand how gardening can heal.  How the creation of something can bring one hope.  When I garden, I’m basically telling myself that I’ll be around to reap the benefits of my work.  I have faith and hope in the plants and my ability to bring forth something that will bloom into something beautiful for me to enjoy later.  Gardening is an activity that while is enjoyable in the moment is one that is always looking to the future.  Sam wants to create a xeriscape garden:  a garden which can thrive on very little care.  Which I can’t help but think is how Sam thinks of herself, her mother, and her family.

Sara Zarr lives locally to me and it’s been my pleasure to be able to chat with her on numerous occasions.  I love that blogging has bridged that gap between author and reader for me.   The beautiful thing that I loved about Once Was Lost was that the author completely disappeared in the narration.  I did worry that knowing the author behind the book would taint my reading of it.  There’s nothing worse than hearing the author’s voice instead of  the characters.  But I completely forgot about Sara except that I had to keep reminding myself that  this amazing story came out her head.  How do people do that?  Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised because Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, are very popular books for teens, but I was in awe of the talent and the story that she’s able to tell.

Once Was Lost has a little bit of it all.  A mystery to pull you along, a family in crisis, a young teen discovering her identity and even a bit of romance.  But mostly it’s a novel about faith and how to hold on to that faith when the world we know comes crumbling down around us.

I was able to attend Sara Zarr’s launch party at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City on release day for Once Was Lost.  Tons of fun as always as so many other local authors came out to attend the big day.

I captured some video to share with you! In this video Sara talks about how the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart (which happened in our SLC community) inspired the writing of Once Was Lost:

Sara talks more about the writing process for Once Was Lost including how the safe return of Elizabeth Smart and Sara’s own therapy changed the outlook of the book:

And last, Sara reads from Once Was Lost (no spoilers – she reads from beginning of book):

Sara is doing a fun video tour of current book tour, I was thrilled to catch a one second image of myself in her last video!

Links of interest:  Sara Zarr website, more book blogger reviews, Maw Books reviews of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, interview with Sara and  breakfast smoothie recipe.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher:  Little, Brown Young Readers.  October 1, 2009
Hardcover, 224 pages.  ISBN 0316036048
Once Was Lost is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

“It’s not what I expected.”

That’s the first response I keep hearing from readers of the actor and the housewife. I wondered if the title or jacket was misleading, or the jacket text. Or all. They may be. But as I’ve listened to these readers, I’ve come to realize that, at least in part, it’s something more ephemeral than all that: this book doesn’t have a genre.

This is what Shannon Hale says about her newest book The Actor and the Housewife and this is exactly the response I had when reading it.

Not. What. I. Expected.

I am not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t expecting myself to have a bawl fest over this book.  And I never cry! Just look at that cover.   Would you cry over that?

Shannon goes on to say in her blog post:

Some reviews have called it “chick lit,” because there are elements of that, I suppose, and austenland could fit that description. But I think readers who expect chick lit will be surprised, and some might be disappointed.

So if it’s not chick lit, then what? Fantasy? Sorta, but not really. There are no magical elements, no hero’s journey or perilous adventure, no mythical creatures. But if fantasy is a genre that says, “Here’s what’s possible in our world–now let’s add a little more…” then yeah, it is fantasy. Though not in the traditional sense. So again, readers expecting fantasy like my other books will be surprised, and perhaps disappointed.

So is it literary fiction? No. There are elements of that, but some of the plot and the fact that one of the characters is an A-list gorgeous British actor means that this book wouldn’t be allowed in the literary fiction club.

Romance? Sorta…but sorta not.

Wish fulfillment? Sorta…but sorta not.

Comedy? Sometimes.

Drama? Sometimes.

So, no genre. It’s just a novel. For some readers, that’s enough. But for others, that can be confusing and upsetting. This has made me look at genre, what that means, why we like it.

I absolutely love what Shannon has to say about genre being a contract between the author and the reader:

Genre is a kind of a handle to hold, a way to manage the story. Genre does tend to follow a certain formula, though I don’t think it’s fair to say that all genre fiction is formula fiction. But as a reader I can understand the desire to have an idea of what I’m reading before committing to the book. I’ve had a few experiences where I’m reading a book by a fantasy author that doesn’t turn out to be fantasy, and I’m like, Wait! We had a contract here–I read a book and you deliver some magical stuff!

Exactly!  I was expecting to laugh my way through The Actor and the Housewife.  And I did!  I totally did.  But, I was totally blindsided with the touching, sappy, cry like a baby moments.

Now, that I’ve reprinted most of Shannon’s blog post, what exactly is The Actor and the Housewife you ask?  Well, Becky is a Mormon housewife and is seven months pregnant with her fourth child.  Somewhere between keeping house and being a mom, she has managed to write a screenplay which will cause her to travel from her home in Utah down to Los Angeles.  While there, she chance meets the celebrity of her dreams:  Felix Callahan.  Felix is so out of her realm and is Becky’s complete opposite in every way, but they have instant chemistry.

Thinking nothing will come of their meeting, Becky goes back home to her family and loving husband Mike.  So it’s with complete surprise and confusion that Felix shows up on her turf and they fast become best friends.  Not crushing on each other friends.  But best friends.  Call each other all the time, playful banter, joke around best friends.

Felix has brought a whole new dimension to Becky’s life that she didn’t know she was missing.  While both of their spouses are supportive of the odd platonic relationship (because really a rich, good-looking atheist British actor and a frumpy, conservative Mormon housewife?), Becky’s extended family, friends and neighbors are not so sure.  Can Becky and Felix’s relationship really endure?

The Actor and the Housewife is a story of friendship, love, marriage, faith, family, happiness, and sorrow and ultimately a fairy tale of sorts that answers the question:  what happens when your celebrity heart throb crush walks into your life, settles down into the nearest couch?  And don’t we all need a bit of a fairy tale in our life?

I want to say that The Actor and the Housewife is really “cute” because it is, but cute is not a word that seems appropriate here.  I was touched with it’s tender moments.  I also thought it was brave of Shannon Hale to write a novel with a Mormon housewife as her main character.  I thought it was fun to see the type of community I grew up and currently live in portrayed in a mainstream novel.  Although I must admit that I don’t know a single Mormon housewife who bakes three pies a week!  (And let it be noted that there are all kinds of Mormon women just as there are all kinds of different women in different faiths.  Becky is very conservative and while she falls into the Mormon woman stereotype, one cannot judge an entire population from one member.)  Hale is in no way preachy though, Becky is simply living her life and makes no excuses for it.  The same could be said of Felix.

I believe that some people will find fault with the book – most likely along the lines of the “no way is a hot, famous British actor going to see anything in a Mormon housewife” story line, a few character quirks, and the ending not going quite like they hoped.  But really, how likely is it for a married famous actor to hook up as best friends to a married Mormon housewife?  Not likely.  But I certainly wasn’t putting this book down.  It’s not for everyone (which book is?), but it took me completely by surprise and I can’t wait to let all my neighbors borrow it.

I laughed.  I cried.  I loved it.

I was thrilled to attend a reading/party for The Actor and the Housewife at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City and take some short videos.  In this first video, Shannon talks about where the idea for The Actor and the Housewife came from:

Shannon Hale on writing The Actor and the Housewife:

Shannon Hale reading from The Actor and the Housewife:

Shannon Hale and fan mail (seriously, LOVE this letter!):

There is a karaoke scene in the book, so now way were Shannon and her husband Dean going to pass up a chance to sing:

Oh yes, and the lovely Shannon Hale and I (Shannon had a cutest Apron contest earlier – thus her adorable apron):

Is it bragging to much to say, that when I walked in to the event, Shannon looked up and said, “Hi Natasha!”  Oh yes, that would be Shannon and I on a first name basis.  Sigh . . .  I love this blogging thing  And last, I’ll end this post, with another excerpt from Shannon’s blog post:

I hope that readers can set aside ideas of genre and expectations and go on this reading adventure with me. I really hope so. Because I am terrifically proud of this book. Genre would have sucked the life out of this particular story. Maybe my publisher should put on a label: WARNING: This is notwhat you’re expecting. Contains no genre. Read at your own risk. Maybe. And then again, sometimes, maybe surprise is a good thing.

So spill it.  If you could be best friends with any famous, heart throb of an actor/actress who would it be?  And if your married, would your significant other be okay with that relationship?

Links of interest:  Shannon Hale website.  Maw Books reviews of Book of a Thousand Days, Austenland, Rapunzel’s Revenge, Princess Academy.  Maw Books interview with Shannon.  Shannon’s zuchinni soup, Rapunzel’s Revenge launch party (where I acquire the zuchinni), and Children’s Book Festival .
Genre: Fiction
Publisher:  Bloomsbury. June 9, 2009
Hardcover, 352 pages.  ISBN:  159691288X
The Actor and the Housewife is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

One.  It’s YA.  I love YA.  Need I say more?

Two.  It’s about polygamy.  Hello?  Me?  I seem to love to pick up all the books about polygamy.  For some odd strange reason, I love them all.

Three.  Carol Lynch Williams lives right here in Salt Lake City.  I love to read  my local authors.  Why am I SO lucky to live in the same valley as Shannon Hale, Sara Zarr, Brandon Mull, James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, Ann Dee Ellis, Emily Wing Smith, A.E. Cannon, J. Scott Savage, Richard Paul Evans and – wait, I could go on forever, I’ve got to stop with the names somewhere.  I told you, I’m very lucky.

Four.  That cover.  Just look at that cover.

Five.  The buzz.  The hype.  Oh my goodness, it’s getting a lot of it. I’m one of those people that if the book sounds like its one I’d enjoy anyways then the hype really does get to me.  I want to read it more!

As soon as The Chosen One arrived I had the boys down for their naps within the hour and settled myself on the couch.  When my husband came from work and I squealed that I finally got the book, he asked when I would be reading it.  But by then I was already done!  I read it in just one sitting.  And I’m pleased to say that The Chosen One lived up to all of the hype.  I had high expectations for the book and I was not disappointed.

The Chosen One will make you sad, it will make you furious, if you are a crier you will cry, and if you are easily angered  it will also make you want to bash somebody’s head in.  Even with all of that, read this book!

It is simply beautiful and courageous.  And it is a book that you will not soon forget.  It stays with you long after you have closed the last page.

But let’s begin with the first page, shall we?  The first line,

“If I was going to kill the prophet,” I say, not even keeping my voice low, “I’d do it in Africa.”

What a fantastic first line.  That first line says so much about the book.  What prophet?  If there is a prophet, there must be some type of community, followers, or group.  And why does she want to kill him?  Who is he?  What has he done to her to warrant such an expression?  And Africa?  Well, that just sounds exotic.  Especially, looking back on it because we later discover that Kyra has never even really left her small, closed community.  Africa might as well be shooting for the moon.

Simply stated The Chosen One is about thirteen year old Kyra who has grown up in a isolated and closed polygamous community.  Her loving father whom she adores has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, not including the two that are on the way.

Kyra is relatively happy, believes in her faith but is not without her curiosities.  One of her biggest kept secrets is the Ironton County Mobile Library on Wheels that makes a stop especially for her just down the road.  Hidden up in a tree she escapes into the world of The Bridge of Terabithia and Harry Potter. The prophet made them burn all their books years earlier, stating that books like Dr. Suess’s Hop on Pop and Fox in Socks are the devils words and would get them sent straight to hell.

Her other secret is Joshua, also in the community, whom she secretly meets during the night.  They aren’t supposed to be friends.  They have no right to choose each other.  Never are they to have relationships before marriage and when that time comes only the prophet himself can choose whom they will marry.  But being with him makes her feel so good.  How can it be so bad?

Kyra is holding these secrets when the Prophet announces that she has been chosen to marry.  At the age of thirteen she is expected to marry her SIXTY-THREE year old UNCLE!  Her parents don’t like it either but have no power to change it and go forth with making the wedding plans.  As the wedding day looms closer and Joshua runs away, Kyra is stuck.  Does she abandon the family that she loves and the only way of life that she knows or does she submit to her families and the prophets will and live a life of ugliness, violence, and greed?

I’ve read a fair amount of books about polygamy and it never ceases to amaze me what goes on in these closed communities.  On the surface, it appears to be about the true happiness of families and their unwavering faith in their God.  But underneath it’s dark and ugly.  The violence against women and their expectations to “keep sweet” is infuriating.

The Chosen One is simply riveting.  The more I think about it, the more I like it.  You won’t be able to put it down.

I was able to meet Carol Lynch Williams and hear her do a reading at the Provo Children’s Book Festival a couple of weeks ago (my post about LAST years festival)  The following video is one of the most gut wrenching passages in the book and it was a pleasure to hear Carol read it.  I apologize for some of the cuts, my camera only videos for three minutes at a time which didn’t make it fun when it cut at the important parts.

Carol was very gracious and I was excited to be able to meet her.  Even my little boy got into the action.

Don’t we look so nice and snuggly?!

Giveaway!  Carol signed an ARC just for you!  Surely, after my review your dying to get your hands on the book aren’t you?  And a signed one at that?!

If you’d like to enter to win a signed copy of The Chosen One you will receive one entry by answering this question (no answer, no entry):  do you think that polygamy should be legal?  Why or why not?  If you think hard about it, it’s not as easy as an answer as you might think.

An additional entry each if you subscribe either by RSS or email to this blog, tweet this giveaway post, post about the giveaway on your blog, or stumble this post.  Five additional entries if you are already subscribed to my blog.  My way of saying thank you.  Open worldwide and I’ll close the giveaway on Monday, June 1st.

Links of interest: Cynsations interview with Carol and Becky’s interview with Carol.
Genre:  Young Adult, polygamy.
Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin.  May 12, 2009.
Hardcover, 224 pages. ISBN 0312555113
The Chosen One is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

When I interviewed Sara Zarr, author of Sweethearts and Story of a Girl, I, as always, asked Sara to share a favorite recipe with us. Sara responded by saying, “I’m a breakfast lover and advocate, and think the world would be a happier, healthier place if everyone had a good breakfast.”  And so she gave us her favorite smoothie.  You can find the full recipe on my author interview (towards the end), but it really can’t get any easier.

You’ve seen this photo plenty, but what the heck, it’s always worth posting again!

Blend and enjoy!

So, if you’re participating in the 24 Hour Read-a-thon (or not) I encourage you to go make your own smoothie right now.  They are fast, easy, and a healthy choice to keep you refreshed and ready to face the fact that you are crazy enough to stay awake for 24 hours and read together with all the other crazies.

Seriously.  Now.  Go.  Make.

Sara Zarr’s website (and while you’re there check out the book cover for her upcoming novel, Once Was Lost.)

At our party, James talked about how personally knowing an author changes your opinion of the book they wrote.  And this can be a good thing or a bad thing.  Good if the book lives up to your opinion of the person behind the written pages.  Bad if the book ends up being plain awful.  What do you say then?  This is especially true of writers reading other writers books.  Thank goodness, I’m not going to say The Hunt for Dark Infinity is awful!  But I will admit that I can see so much of James’s wacky humor and personality coming through on the pages and he’s just one heck of a nice guy that I just can’t help but like it.   (And yes, James, I still have your jacket hanging in my front closet.  By the time I fork it over, the weather will be warm again.)  See how great of friends we are?  He, he.  That second picture is in my living room.  My living room.  Sorry, I’ve got to act like I’m “famous” wherever I can get it.

The Hunt for the Dark Infinity is even better than its predecessor.  After being inducted into a group known as the Realitants – an organization sworn to discover and chart all the known Realities (a separate and complete version of the world – of which twelve major branches have already been discovered) – Tick, Paul and Sofia have had a very quiet summer.  Too quiet in fact.  They are anxiously awaiting for Master George, the Realitant leader to whisk them away on another adventure.

But when that day finally comes, everything goes wrong.  Instead of being whisked away to Master George’s presence they are instead kidnapped by the evil Reginald Chu who has infiltrated the minds of people on different realities, controlling their thoughts, movements, and speech.  Tick, Paul, and Sofia are the only ones who can get close enough to destroy his new weapon.  But first they must solve Chu’s riddles and tests, all of which put their lives in extreme danger.  And if that’s not enough, Mistress Jane, a power hungry ex-Realitant wants her hands on the weapon as well.  It’s a race to see who can get their first and ends with a duel with Tick and Mistriss Jane.

The Hunt for the Dark Infinity is fast-paced.  A whirlwind of adventure.  I can’t help thinking how this would be a perfect book to read out loud with younger boys and make for a great selection for an all boys book club.  The dialogue is funny, the names are even funnier (Mothball, Muffintops, Sally – for a lumberjack or how about Hans Schitiggenschlubberheimer anyone?) and the story is just complex enough and has you guessing the direction it’s going to go to have you turning the pages for more.  The whole thing ends on a twist that makes me want to read book three right now!  I can’t wait to see where this story is going to go.

A great series for young readers who are looking for some fantastical adventure and entertaining for the stay at home mom like me too.

James Dashner website and blog.  James also has a new series coming out this fall called The Maze Runner for young adults.  I’ve enjoyed following his blog and watching this new series unfold.  I can’t wait to read it!

So what you do you think about what James said?  Do you know any authors personally?  Does that change the way you “read” their books and your opinion of them?

Set in a small town in Utah, The Way He Lived is the exploration of how the death of sixteen-year-old Joel Espen affects six of his friends and family.  Joel died for lack of water while trying to save his friends and leaders while on a church-sponsored  scouting hike.  The book opens after his death and Emily Wing Smith did a fantastic job exploring a character who isn’t even alive in the book.

Told in six loosely connecting stories, each voice deals with the aftermath of Joel’s absence and what his life meant to them.  From both his older and younger sister who each felt as though Joel were their best friend, to his debate partner in school, his almost girlfriend, his unlikely best friend, and his best friends girlfriend.  As a group, all our understandably upset but each deals with their grief in very different ways.  This is the type of book that isn’t shy to deal with adult issues yet aimed at teens.  It’s subtle yet strong.

The Way He Lived book trailer:

Emily Wing Smith is a debut author to watch for.  She’s off to a great start.  Emily Wing Smith website.

Shannon’s recipe was simple.  In total, this is what she said: Saute onions and zucchini, simmer in chicken broth, puree, then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne powder, and cream. So I had to gage all of the ingredients.  I think I used 2 cans of chicken broth when I think I probably should have used just one because it was a little thin.  And I forgot to saute the onions and zucchini first, I think I boiled them in the chicken broth instead and realized my mistake later.  Still yummy though.  Even now I don’t remember how much of what I used.

Simmering:

After pureeing:

After spices and cream has been added:

I think it turned out delicous.  My husband enjoyed it and said it was worth making again.  Thanks Shannon for making our dinner turn out.  Best part, it was easy!

Make sure to tell me if you end up making this soup!

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor author of Princess Academy, as well as Book of a Thousand Days, Goose Girl, Enna Burning,  River Secrets, a novel for adults Austenland, and the graphic novel Rapunzel’s Revenge.  Visit Shannon at her website.

Check out all of the author submitted recipes featured here.

Edited to add: My wonderful IRL friend Jessica from The Common Mommy Denominator is one of the best cooks that I know.  She saw this posted recipe and immediately made it for dinner.  She measured out the ingredients so I thought I would pass it on to those of us who need a little help.

Slice thinly 3 small-medium zucchini (unpeeled) and 1/2 of a small onion; saute in 1 T. olive oil over med-high heat w/ 1 t. chopped garlic until lightly browned. Add 2 C chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes until zucchini and onion are soft. Pour all into a blender and puree until smooth (be sure to let some steam escape as you puree, or the hot liquid will blow the top off!!!), then return to the same pot. Over medium heat, stir in 1/4 C heavy cream (or 1/2 and 1/2, or whole milk…but cream is better!), a pinch each of cayenne pepper and nutmeg, a squeeze of lemon juice if you have it (it brightens the flavor but isn’t a must), and season to taste with salt and pepper.

She says, “It’s yummy, it’s beautiful – an enchanting green with faint pale swirls of cream and earthy dark green flecks of zucchini skin complemented by the tiniest bright red flecks of cayenne – and because it’s pureed and bisque-like, uber-velvety.”

Thanks Jessica!