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Great story! I am impressed at how quick and easy it grabs the reader's attention. The description of both the east coast and west coast are wonderful. I hated to see the stop, I wanted to keep reading. Great story.

For a professional reviewer, this was pretty silly:

"Amazon Top Reviewer
The story meddles in Tennessee. Then, sensing the beginnings of literary stagnancy, the author decides to take the main character, Shepherd, and throw a puma at him."

Maybe you were just having a bad day or don't like Tennessee, but that was really uncalled for. In my humble opinion of course.

In any case, I thought the puma attack was very well done, as were the scenes of the hospital. I have no idea what happened in the main character's past, but with a start like this, I'd love to find out.

What an intriguing start to a book. The lion attack followed by the dream sequence portend a journey of a personal nature. I am very interested in finding out what happens. I like the author's narrative style. The lion attack was well described and the dream is vivid. I hope I get a chance to finish the whole work.

The exciting description of the mountain lion's attack was a beautifully written short story unto itself. The hint of the protagonist's mysterious background in Tennessee has me wanting to read more. What happens next? More from this author, please.

This novel grabs you from the first and holds your attention. The author seems to be a good researcher, which adds credibility to the story. Intelligent, mature style and creative concept promises a good read. No sign of a "cookie cutter" concept - for a change!

Thank you for taking the time to write a "real" novel.

Marjorie Randell's recollection of her life growing up in a close-knit family on a Michigan farm, and her subsequent heartbreak of losing her brother and the search for meaning in his death is both sentimental and memorable. She captures the innocence of the mid-West that was torn apart as her brother, and other small town boys, were thrust into the horrors of war. The story shifts with her brothers letters - both from his service days, and then more harrowing,when he was a POW. Through his letters, we see a boy turn into a man, and at age 23, we see how his death aboard a Japanese war ship at the hands of American bombers brought agony and questions to a family back home. Sweet recollections of an innocent time lost, and the loyalty of a sister that looks for answers, even 60 years later.

I just finished reading Searching for Friday's Child for the second time. Each time I couldn't put it down until I finished.
Searching for Friday's Child is more than a portrait of an intelligent sensitive young man, it is a book about warm human relationships. Although Jack, a prisoner of war being transported from one Philippine Island to another or perhaps to Japan by the Japanese aboard the Shinyu Maru, died in his early twenties (a result of the torpedoing of the Shinyu Maru by an American submarine toward the end of Second World War), he lives in this book! It is clear from his letters to his family, his girlfriend and to his friends that we all lost a person who had much to offer to those he loved and cared about and to society.
Jack's words, through his letters, show us that he had a gift for writing and storytelling, as does the author, his younger sister. Searching for Friday's Child tells us of the author's emotional journey to find her brother, to discover things about him she hadn't known before, on an intimate level that I haven't found in any other memoir, autobiography or biography about the courageous soldiers of World War II. I highly recommend this book.
Nancy Sampson, Woodbridge, VA

Marjorie Randell's recollection of her life growing up in a close-knit family on a Michigan farm, and her subsequent heartbreak of losing her brother and the search for meaning in his death is both sentimental and memorable. She captures the innocence of the mid-West that was torn apart as her brother, and other small town boys, were thrust into the horrors of war. The story shifts with her brothers letters - both from his service days, and then more harrowing,when he was a POW. Through his letters, we see a boy turn into a man, and at age 23, we see how his death aboard a Japanese war ship at the hands of American bombers brought agony and questions to a family back home. Sweet recollections of an innocent time lost, and the loyalty of a sister that looks for answers, even 60 years later.

Howard "Jack" Irish was born to Michigan farm life. His family was close, his friends were true. He was a 4H lad, strong and faithful. He went to college, joined the ROTC and was drafted after he graduated in May of 1941. He was commissioned a lieutenant after training and sent to the Philippines. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December and all of a sudden Jack's sweet duty in the tropics evaporated like steam on hot pavement.

Jack saw action on Corrigador before he was captured by the Japanese. He endured life as a POW as well as anybody could, but sadly he lost his life in September of 1944, while being transported along with 749 other prisoners of war on the Japanese freighter Shinyo Maru. The Shinyo Maru was torpedoed by the USS Paddle. The sub's commander had no way of knowing the POWs were on board.

It all happened so long ago, but Marjorie makes it seem like only yesterday, so timeless is her writing. Jack was her brother and she lovingly tells this story through the numerous letters written by Jack to his family and friends before the war, the all to brief correspondence between Jack and his family after his family discovers he has been taken prisoner and the volume of letters between Jack's mother and different officials as she relentlessly sought to find out what happened to her son.

This book is so well crafted that at times it seemed as if I was reading a novel as I read the night away. I should have read the book long ago and I'm ashamed to say that that I did not, for you see, Marjorie's Uncle Ray was my grandfather. So many of the characters in her book have passed away, as has my father, Jack's cousin, who fortunately survived the war. Soon all the people from that time will have passed this mortal coil, but thanks to people like Marjorie Randall, who can tell a story without making it seem like dry history, there will be those of us left behind who remember.

I read this book in the past few days, only days after the beginning of America's 3/03 war with Iraq, which may be a partial explanation of why I found "Searching for Friday's Child" such a compelling read.

The book begins with the author's recollection of growing up on a Michigan farm, with her parents, and her brother, "Jack", four years her senior. We are then provided with copies of her brother's letters to home, and to his girlfriend, while he attends Michigan State College, when he is called into the Army Air Corps, from bootcamp, then when he is sent to the Philippines only months prior to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and Japan's simultaneous attack on the Philippines.

As of 12/7/41, the letters from Jack stop, and we are treated with reply letters to Jack's family from U.S. military, the Red Cross, etc., as the family is desparately trying to find out what's happened to Jack, with the advent of the US/Japanese war. Subsequently, the family learns Jack is a POW in the Philippines, but they cannot find out how he is, whether he is alive, healthy, or been a victim of the myriad of attrocities committed by the Japanese solders in the Philippines upon our servicemen, as well as the Filipinos.

Jack's family is advised of the POW camp within which Jack is held, and advised they should continue to write Jack as he may receive their letters. They do continue to write, but have no way of ascertaining if Jack is receiving any of their letters. After several months, they receive the first of about four "postcards" from Jack, from the POW camp, but these tell little of Jack, as little can be said due to censorship by his captors.

Ultimately, the family is informed that Jack was aboard a Japanese ship, one of 750 POWs being transported in September 1944 by the Japanese to another island, or perhaps Japan, that on September 7, 1944, that ship is torpedoed by the US during which 83 POW's swim to shore and are rescued by Filipinos, and ultimately returned to the US. Unfortunately, Jack was not one of the lucky ones. Thereafter, he is listed as Missing In Action(MIA), and again the family has no way of knowing if Jack is alive or dead, whether he drowned, was shot by the Japanese, who were murdering all visible POWs after the torpedo struck, or whether he somehow survived.

We are then treated to many letters from several surviving POWs, some who knew Jack, were his friends at the POW camp.

This is a wonderful historical account of a family's desparate, yet compassionate, attempts to try to find out about Jack's well-being, his life during those years, anything to fill the gaps. It begins primarily with the efforts of Jack's mother, but is continued with those of the author, his younger sister, efforts which continued all the way up the late 1990's, over fifty years after WWII.

We are treated to the insights of several POW's, their own accounts of life in a Japanese POW camp, their accounts of life with Jack, Jack's excellent accomplishments in the Army Air Corps, his unique skills with operating anti-aircraft artillery, his command's success is shooting down 15 Japanese aircraft, which as I recall, was a record during the war.

By the time one completes Searching for Friday's Child, one feels one knows Jack Irish, his mother, father, and certainly his sister, the author, she who joined the U.S. Marines Reserves during WWII. One is certainly treated to a wonderful account of a close-knit family's quest during unimaginable times of the tragedies of war.

This is a wonderful read. I highly recommend it.

Regards,

Frank Rankin
Sacramento, CA

I picked this up from my library one day to read over the summer, and I'm so glad I did. It didn't take me that long to read, because I really got into it. It is the story of a girl who's family are Travelers, like gypsies. They don't have real jobs, and they don't have permanent homes. They basically make their money by ripping people off and taking their money while doing odd jobs for them or selling items to them.

The main character Bridget starts o question whether the life of a Traveler is the one for her. She has always wondered what it would be like to live in a real house and get an important job, and have a normal family. She wouldn't have to constantly be on the run, and she could go to the same school for more than a year and make real friends. The main character also feels a bit guilty sometimes about living this dishonest life of ripping people off.

Meanwhile, Bridget is engaged to her older brother's friend Patrick, which was arranged by the parents of both families. Patrick is nice enough, and he's really hot, but Bridget wants to make her own choices about who she marries.

Then, later in the book when Bridget finds out that her family has kept a secret from her, Bridget has to make an important decision about what kind of life she wants for herself.

The ending was good on one hand, but on the other hand, I was upset with it. However, this is a great book that I recommend checking out from the library. It was interesting to learn how the "Travelers" lived.

"See you Down the Road" is an interesting story about a girl named Bridget who lives as a "traveler" or person who lives in a trailer and lives on the road. This book is filled with plot twists and turns, as well as heartbreak and hope, as Bridget questions whether the traveler lifestyle is right for her. She wonders who the mysterious woman her mother is always talking on the phone with could be. Bridget also questions her families values as they shoplift and steal from various stores and people, in order to bring in their income. She also wonders if her boyfriend Patrick is the right guy for her or not. As Bridget struggles with these questions about her life, the story moves along at a very fast-paced speed and keeps the reader intrigued throughout the whole journey. I reccommend this book for readers ages 13 and up, for it has some mature themes, but is still targeted for teenagers and young adults.

I really, really loved this book. I learned a lot about another culture even while reading about characters who seemed like very real, typical teenagers. The book asks a lot of difficult and intriguing questions, and it's never predictable. There are lots of surprises throughout the book. I hope to read more by this author!

Bridget and her family are Travelers. They're a little-known group of people in America who travel around the country, making money in usually illegal ways, and keep to themselves, with their own traditions and way of life. People who aren't Travelers are called Country, and Travelers usually isolate themselves from these people. They don't trust them, and only interact with them to scam money off of them. Travelers only go to Country schools for a few years, just long enough to know what they need to.

Bridget is a little different from many Travelers in that way. She works Country jobs, as a cashier, and she's been going to Country schools years longer than most other Traveler teenagers. Still, though, she keeps to the Traveler way most of the time. She and her friend, Ann, make their money by ripping off the local K-mart in whatever town they're in. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her, with Ann's brother, Patrick. Her brother, Jimmy, has grown up helping their father fix driveways and roofs with watered-down sealant to make a better profit by scamming Country people.

Bridget doesn't always like her life as a Traveler. She isn't sure she wants to marry Patrick, even though he's a nice guy and she does like him, but she's never see any way out of it. Then her uncle, Big Jim, takes Bridget, Jimmy, and Patrick with him all the way to Arizona, where they'll pull off the biggest scam that Bridget's ever been involved in. They'll sell condos that don't meet the building codes, and then run off with the money. The beauty of it is, the contractor won't dare tell on them, as he's the one who hired them to sell condos that don't meet building codes.

In Arizona, Bridget has some time to think about a lot of things, and maybe even figure out what she wants. But then she makes a discovery about her family, one that could change everything for Bridget...The choice is hers, but what will she decide?

Before reading SEE YOU DOWN THE ROAD, I had never heard of Travelers. I don't think many people have, but they're real people, and reading about them was very interesting. Their way of life is very different from the way most of us live, and this is an eye-opening book. Many of us don't realize how differently some people live from us, not just in far away places but right here in the United States.

On top of that, SEE YOU DOWN THE ROAD is full of amazing characters, and is very well written. All of the characters are well drawn, realistic, and three-dimensional; even the very minor characters seem alive. The ending is not what we might expect from this sort of book, but it fits well, and is one that I really liked. It wasn't predictable, and it was still a happy ending. Whitney's ending, I felt, stayed true to the characters and flowed with the rest of the story wonderfully.

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

I picked up Kim Ablon Whitney's See You Down the Road on a Friday evening and didn't want to put it down until I finished it! Not really knowing anything about the Travelers lifestyle before reading the book, I was intrigued to learn about it and to witness Bridget's angst as she struggled with the choices she had to make about staying loyal to her family versus forging a different kind of life for herself. Bridget's character was so believable and I must say I was very pleased by the book's ending! I found myself hoping that there will be a sequel because I really liked these characters so much!
I found the writing to be so descriptive and realistic- I could really envision and feel each of the scenes, which made it a really fun read! I would (and did!) recommend this book to friends!

I loved this!! It reminded me of Mary Stewart: a young woman travelling abroad, almost on her own. When I was younger I used to wish for a job like Mercedes has in the story. Mercedes... what a great female character. Independent, intelligent, educated, pragmatic.

I can hardly wait to read the rest of the book!

This is a good idea, well presented, and well written. The characters are drawn well, believable, and occasionally funny.

The mystery is interesting, and I will buy this book when it becomes available.


Jeri,
in Victoria.

The author's judicious use of dialect immediately drops us into a time and place we've never visited. Quick and careful descriptions -- from the moss-encrusted well to the scent of orange cleaning agent -- provide a depth of writing that lets readers know they're in the hands of a skilled writer.

A plot twist in Chapter 2 promises more delightful twists in following pages, and the well-developed characters hint at conflicts about which I'm eager to read more. I look forward to the rest of the novel!

The protagonist looks to be shaping up as an admirable heroine, her employer as a trial, and the scenery as a meaningful component of the story. Yes, Shakespeare's Blood has all the elements to keep me reading. When can I read the rest of the story?

Theresa de Valence, Mystery Fiction Reviewer

If you are a fan of the Rei Shimura stories by Sujata Massey, you will definitely enjoy this story.

I find most of murder novel protagonists to be already involved in criminal justice, in roles where they are already investigating death, or are highly intelligent geniuses. This gets boring when you read it over and over again. However, the protagonist of this story is a young woman who just happens onto a dead body. I find viewpoints/actions of these types of characters much more interesting because I am able to identify with them easier.

From the brief description, it sounds like there will be a group of people that helps the protagonist along the way. Hopefully, there won't be so many characters that they are hard to keep track of who is doing what.

I also like the fact that we get to see what is happening via the murderer. He is unknown to the reader, which means that any one of the characters that the main character meets along the way could be the killer. From the first two chapters, only one person has been eliminated so far.

I would like to read more of this novel to see if the author can continue to keep my interest. If the story proves good, and the author does not give it a 'final' ending, this could be the start of a new mystery series.

This is a real page-turner, and absolutely fascinating. The author tells the stories of five immigrants to the U.S. and New York City around 1900, but what's amazing is the power of the voices here, plus the photos. The focus is on young people, but my adult book group read this and loved it. Everyone has seen photos of the crowded Lower East Side, but this book makes you think of the individuals and their families who lived there.

I finished this book in a spell. Hopkinson weaves the stories of young immigrants and the story of the growing city into a rich experience for the reader. Her choice of detail, her gift for story telling, and the wonderful and often poignant photographs make this (beautifully designed book) irresistible. In the end you believe-as Hopkinson clearly does-that the past has meaning because of the individuals that lived it, and that their stories must continue to reverberate. It isn't "just" the past; it's what we're made of.

If you've ever heard family stories about grandparents or greatparents who came through Ellis Island, this book is a must. Hopkinson follows the true stories of five young immigrants. She tells the story of life on the Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century using excerpts from oral histories and memoirs. Somehow the stories of the young Russian Jewish and Italian immigrants tie in seamlessly with information on coming to America, what it was like to live in a tenement, work (including conditions in the sweatshops and the Triangle factory fire), going to school, and what the future held for these young men and women. The historic photos are so evocative and powerful. Highly recommended.

My son loves history and when he brought home this book I immediately got hooked on the photos. Then I began reading the stories of the immigrants and I couldn't put it down -- I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the five young people whose stories are recounted here. Somehow the combination of the photos, the quotes and the personal stories all works together to let us into a world gone by. A wonderful book!

I hope by the time you read this review that you will be able to "take a look inside" this book on this website. Then you could really appreciate how beautifully illustrated and crafted this outstanding book is. For the time being, you'll have to take my (and other reviewers') word for it.

There are many books geared toward young readers on the subject of the immigrant/tenement experience in New York City at the turn of the last century, and many of them are quite good. But Deborah Hopkinson's "Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924" is far and above the best in recent times. The photographs are exquisite and exquisitely moving. The text is engaging, and, unlike other books aimed for this age group, Ms. Hopkinson's book doesn't dumb things down toward her audience. This is an admirable book that I would recommend to parents and teachers!

Rocco Dormarunno, author of "The Five Points"

To look at "Snow Music" you wouldn't necessarily think much of it at first. On the cover is a calming image of a snow globe sitting beside a snowy window. Inside the book, however, the author/illustrator Lynne Rae Perkins has created a collection of delicate watercolor pictures that deftly encapsulate the experience of a single snowy day. When a boy accidentally loses his dog in the snow he sets out to find it again, experiencing the sights and sounds of winter on the way.

My description of the plot is exactly the same as millions of plots about snowy days in children's picture books. There's not a word in that description that's going to convince you that this book is any better or worse. Well it IS better, gol durn it, and I fully intend to show you why. First of all, let's examine a two page spread that appears after the title page. The page is full of blue, purple, and violet circles, each containing the word, "peth". The instruction simply reads, "Everyone whisper:". A whispered "peth" is indeed the sound snow makes when it falls on a silent night. The opposite page is a single spotlight lit on the side of the road, illuminating the flakes that fall beneath it. As the book continues we read small animal poetry. One is a deer haiku (almost), the other the thoughts a squirrel may have as it hunts for food. Two kids meet up and one explains his current situation. "I just opened the door to look out and he bolted". I love this line. The kids trudge off to find the dog and we read three different kinds of snow music in a row. One is the sound a car makes when it drives with the radio playing. Another is a VERY realistic truck salting the road. The third, the dog jingling in the snow. As you may have guessed, this dog is eventually found and the last dialogue we hear is this:

"Good boy."
"Why are you saying he's good?"
"So he'll like coming home".

The snow falls again after the sun melted it during the day and we are instructed this time to whisper "fep fep fep". End of story.

Aside from the words, which are superb, the art is as evocative as it gets. Perkins lives in northern Michigan and her book is a lovely view of rural Midwest snowscapes in the wintertime. This is the best picture book I've seen that evokes what it truly feels like to watch snow covering the land during the night. As lovely to hear as it is to read, it's one of the best winter stories I've ever had the pleasure to pick up.

Living in sunny Queensland (Australia), we have very little idea what a snowy day is actually like. No more though, because this beautiful and unusually written book has let us know! It contains a couple of the most powerful lines of text that I have seen in a picture book in a long time...
"Good boy."
"Why are you saying he's good?"
"So he'll like coming home".
The illustrations are very subtle, as is the minimal text. I fear that for this reason though, this book may not have universal appeal. If you prefer books that are very bold and obvious in their illustrations and text, this may not be the book for you. It's one of those books that you have to read a few times before it can be fully appreciated. Not quite up there with Ezra Jack Keat's A Snowy Day, but nevertheless, a beautiful worthy addition to any library.

Snow Music doesn't necessarily answer the question of the bird, but its lyrical words will have you making music of your own with your children. My son's favorite page is "A Car Went By", he loves how I act it out as directed by the text. My favorite page simply says "shhhhh" but that sound takes me back to many early mornings waking up to fresh fallen snow and a city blanketed in quiet. Snow Music is a joy to read aloud and should be on every child's bookshelf, ready at a moment's notice to be pulled down and read while snuggling under a cozy quilt.

This is a wonderful book for reading aloud with small children. Beautiful illustrations, musical text, an intriguing plot about a runaway dog. Lots to talk about or think about or just absorb. Perfect for snuggling up with the little ones on a cold Christmasy day!

A superbly executed picture book for children by Lynne Rae Perkins, Snow Music emphasizes vision and sensation over plodding narrative. An elegant picture book featuring rapturous art and onomatopoeic writing, Snow Music uses color, contrast, and simple yet expressive phrases to bring alive a feeling of imagination and wonder in readers of all ages. A unique and distinguished read-aloud treasure to share with young children.

This story had me from the beginning. Of course, who can resist puppies. But even so, a very clever way to introduce Izzy's family through the way they interacted with the new puppies.

Then Izzy is abandoned by her father, and left with a cold, distant mother. At this point she seems almost oblivious to what has happened, yet at the same time she is very independent. It's an interesting mix of strength and immaturity that does well in characterizing adolesence.

I have to admit the blurb sounded a little cliche, but the writing is good enough and the characters interesting enough to keep me reading and wanting to know what will happen next.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this excerpt. The writing is terrific -- ironic, without being detached -- and the story is compelling. Leaves you wanting to read much more.

This is an endearing sentimental story about monumental loss. Izzy Chase has great spunk. She makes your heart get all fuzzy as you wish you could just hold her in your arms and say everything is going to be OK.

The opening scene with the puppy being squashed sets the stage for the impending seperation of Izzy's parents. I like the contrast between Izzy's pain over her parents spilt and the warm, wonderful relationship she has with the other puppies and her friend Jolene.

It was such an original coping mechanism when she started dying everything orange after her Dad leaves. I wonder if she'll ship him his orange clothes. I can't wait to see what other whacky and clever things she does in the wake of her parents spilt. I look forward to reading more of Elliott's endearing family story.

Izzy Chase is my favorite kind of heroine, a tomboy who toughens rather than crumbling in the face of tragedy and loss. We see glimpses of the trusting, happy girl in the young woman who's reinventing herself among performance artists, poets and drag queens in New York, but we mostly see the mask. Anne Elliott's writing has a beautiful compression and specificity, and this touching story is never sentimental or predictable. A writer who needs to be read by all!

Really love the opening scene with the dog. Izzy is very much a sympathetic character, especially as we learn more about her family background. The author's realistic style is highly readable, and we get a real sense of Izzy's thoughts and feelings although the book is written from a third person point of view.

The author's synopsis for what happens later in the book makes me want to read more--there is so much going on! I do feel bad for Izzy, though, for the "romantic disappointment" and "drunken date rapes" (Elliot)...

After reading "After the Floods" by the same Author I read this one and found it equally very enjoyable.

Fantastic book with very realistic insights into character's regrets. Each short story ends leaving the reader wanting more.

This is just the smoothest prose. I loved this book, it was a joy to read.

The storied lives of Henricksen's characters include lovers who regret their failed romances, husbands and wives who regret their failed marriages, fathers and mothers who regret how they failed their children. One, attempting to speak to his deceased wife, as "if dust could speak to smoke," says to her, "I wish that we could slip back, as on a trail of ancient starlight falling through time, and begin the story again."

Rather than wallow in self-pity, they attempt to reinvent themselves in the same manner in which one couple's old schoolhouse has become converted into a thriving commercial enterprise.

Some of Henricksen's characters appear in more than one story, giving the book a novelistic quality. In one story you see a character from his own and often delusional point of view. In a following story you see him again from the eyes of other characters.

Together, the characters form an ensemble of loveable losers who have made important bad choices while attempting to make up their lives. Their bad choices are important because they become lessons learned. But as much as they strive to invent and reinvent their lives, they often discover what they have become was not what they had intended.

These are poignant stories whose characters help us behold and feel their failures, shame, and isolation. They are poets who don't know it, poets whose innate sense of humor often helps them endure their pathetic human circumstances, poets who help us attain or regain awareness of who and where we are within the human comedy.

The book concludes with a personal essay in which Henricksen admits his characters are often aspects of himself and "choice slices of my own life." By writing short stories he discovered how "fact and make-believe are allowed to share a bed."

These are wonderful stories of longing and hope sprinkled with humor and regret. Henricksen's style is lyrical and vivid, and his depictions of New Orleans, Minneapolis, and other locales bring today's America to life. For reades who enjoy discovering a new author of real iterary power, this book is an unanticipated gem.

I put off starting to read Lynn's exerpt until I could give it my undivided attention, and I am glad I did! The first chapter pulls you in and won't let go! I want very much to know "what happens next!"

The Short is excellent and very written. The characters are believable as to what he is supposed to be.

i so love lynn v. sadler's work. lynn is elizaPress Publication's editor's pick for WRITER OF THE YEAR, 2007--and had offered this extraordinary story to our press--unless, of course, it wins here--and if it does, this prolific, award winning writer has hundreds more to choose from.... What i love about lynn's stories is that by reading them, complicated characters and rich, authentic, smart experiences are made visceral for the reader. i love that every piece of hers makes me smarter--reveals some actuality gleaned from academic research turned into something useful, inspirational and good. i love the energies between her characters, their loyalties and musings. i love the places i could never get to without the ways she creates them in words. i love the generosity of this writer--spilling out into classics of the modern kind. i love the wit and veracity of each imagined being created wholly through her words. i love the texture of time and space this well traveled author brings alive in her writing.

this is an extraordinary story as are all the ones she shared with us at elizaPress. to date, our books are sold exclusively through www.lulu.com/writressworder--and lynn has a significant body of work shared in all of them.

vote for her! pick her! she is a famous author waiting to be recognized! she is a clearly gifted storyteller--and one for OUR time.

with a wholehearted endorsement for this writer's work,

elizaBeth Benson-Udom
Founder & editor
elizaPress Publications
www.writressworder.com

First, a disclaimer, we have over the years published two of Dr. Sadler's pieces. Her novella, "Foot Ways", was published last year. And in 2006 we published her poem, Again--'Les Fleurs du Mal' in "Bardic Tales and Sage Advice". So I suppose one could say I am very familiar with her work. I feel it important to state this up front in the interest of disclosure.

The excerpt of Dr. Sadler's novel does a fine job of highlighting her strengths as a writer. Sadler has an exceptional ability to create a strong sense of place for the reader. Using both distinctive sentence construction and authentic dialogue, readers are pulled into the world of her characters and can immediate develop empathy for them.

Sadler takes a non-linear approach to plot development, often jumping between the past and present as her characters move throughout the story. As the character of Deona Martindill considers her actions, we follow her thought processes back and forth between the present and the past. Deona Martindill's memories of her childhood don't just provide background filler for the story. They are a integral part of the story.

I am a fan of Dr. Sadler's storytelling technique. She has an original style that captures the essence of her characters and the world in which they live. The excerpt provided for her entry showcases her talents. We all wish her the best of luck in this competition.

Other works by Dr. Sadler
Foot Ways
Bardic Tales and Sage Advice

Though the first paragraph was slightly complicated, I soon fell into the easy rhythm of the story and, as it went along, became increasingly intrigued as to where the author is going. The lifestyle described is interesting because it is so different from any experience I have had, yet I was easily able to become attached to the main character and be concerned for her immediate future (since her eventual future is suggested in the first paragraph). I got the feeling that this story will go backwards and forwards, from its introduction of older age back through her adolescence, then forward again to her future and hopefully to some sort of redemption or salvation, as the title suggests. In all of this I am intrigued. Also, the author clearly knows how to write, a talent that sadly is not fully shared by all entrants in this contest.

A cool, clever and thoughtful book that will have your kids insisting they find all the letters to make a word about emotions. Now how cool is that? Not a typical supermarket checkout line concept book. The sophisticated artwork manages to avoid the usual forced cliches of making faces with letters. And by having the reader focus on words and spelling and emotions there is so much that can be gotton out of this seemingly simple work. I disagree with some reviews claiming it has no repeat value. On the contrary. If your kid is bored with this book after one go, get him to watch less TV.

I am in sixth grade and we were studying picture books in my class because we are studying which books we think are most educational for younger kids. Each student brought in their favorite book from home and one of my friends brought in this one. We were all told to list the reasons why we thought each book was good or bad and this one was the favorite of every one in my class because it can be used in so many ways. you can learn your letters and search and find them and you can talk about your feelings too. Then I was surprised because my art teacher decided that we should all make our own pictures like the ones in this book so it became a great art project too. I am a big fan of this book. I love the artwork the most.

Walter was worried, alright, he had all 7 letters of the word "worried" pasted on his face! Well, that's not quite right either. Actually, walter grew worried "when the sky grew dark," and imaginative illustrator, Laura Seeger, uses the letters in his and others' emotions make facial features. Take Shirley, for example, who was "SHOCKED when lightning lit the sky." A sideways "C" and "D" are her eyes, within which we see her pupils: A capital "e" and "i." That big "O" in "shocked makes up her very shocked-looking mouth, and the remaining S and K are writ small upon her forehead as raised eyebrows.

The format consists of the person's name and emotion (including Priscilla who was puzzled, and Frederick who was frightened), and a facing page (pun intended) showing the letters of the emotion upon the person's face. Following this is a two-page spread illustrating the storm event that elicited the child's reaction. The faces are drawn fairly flat to emphasize the location of the letters, and the drawings of nature are dramatic compositions (gouache and cut-outs, perhaps) with lots of texture, and combination of bold primary colors, with seeping, slightly psychedelic background tints.

You have to give Seeger credit for managing to write a credible and interesting story around these phoneme faces. Happy children replace the frightened ones as the storm passes. For example, there's Delilah. She's the girl with the L-shaped nose who was "DELIGHTED when the rain turned to snow."
Turn the page, and you see big cut-out snowflakes against a marbleized background of blues, greens, and purples. There's also Henry, who's "HOPEFUL when the sky began to clear." Here, a somewhat more conventional picture shows 3 black birds flying against a milky-clouded sky. Still, the main story here is the pictures. Seeger's narrative, although making a nice cycle from storm to clear, is (not surprising) fairly simple. The faces and letter placement seem perfect for classroom art/reading projects. The book may inspire similar work at home, especially on a stormy, emotion-packed day.

Now this is a cool book... Not like any picture book I have ever seen before... A mixture of beautiful fine art, great graphic design, and kid-friendly story. Children will love the "search and find" aspect of this book and, what I love the most, is that it has done something so very rare in kid's books... It has encouraged children to talk about their feelings.. (My kids, at least)...
Totally recommended...

The artwork in this book is fun and interesting (described well by others on this page) but my children (almost 4 and 6) didn't really enjoy it very much the third time we read it through.

I think the problem is that while it was fun to see how the letters were used in drawing the faces, there just wasn't anything like a story to engage them.

Three Stars. Worth taking a look at the library, but there was no long term holding power (at least for my children) because of the lack of story.

Text follows so you can judge reading/read aloud potential for yourself.

Walter was worried when
the sky grew dark.
Priscilla was puzzled when
the fog rolled in.