Category Archives: Jennifer

Secret Life of Bees, Special Edition, with Giveaway

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I love giving books as gifts. There are a few ways to take giving a book up a notch: Select the perfect book. Fans of the total blockbuster The Help will love The Secret Life of Bees. That book convinced people who are generally non-readers to…

Addie on the Inside and Camo Girl — Standing Up for Others and Themselves

I really think that I might love novels in verse. This month(ish) I’ve read 4 — this one Addie on the Inside, the two by Ellen Hopkins, and another Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee (and National Book Award winner) Inside Out and Back Again. This book is written in verse (mostly unrhymed free verse), but…

The Name of the Star

The Name of the Star is Maureen Johnson’s latest YA book. The ONLY reason I got this audiobook was because it was by Maureen Johnson, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her Suite Scarlett books. The blurb of this book said it was funny, so I trusted that somehow Jack the Ripper and foggy ghostly looking covers…

On Reading: Books Make Great Gifts

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I thought that the readers over at 5 Minutes for Mom needed to be reminded that books make great gifts. I linked to a couple of our current giveaways, our gift ideas category, and of course our 5 Star Reads page. I’d love for you to…

Hunger Games Book and Movie Poster giveaway

A little while ago I was sent an email which asked if I’d be interested in helping to promote the Hunger Games movie. Since I enjoyed the series, and the Hunger Games book is one of Dawn’s 5-Star reads, and my 13-year-old daughter counts them as her very favorite books ever and is counting down…

The 39 Clues: Rapid Fire, with Box Set Giveaway

The 39 Clues is a series that just won’t quit. As a parent, I love series books, because when my child finds one he likes, he knows exactly where to go to find his next book. A series like 39 Clues that is suspenseful and action-packed is even better. The Rapid Fire stories are seven…

Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked Games

My 7-year-old son has getting down for the last half hour on the Wii with Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. He even invited me to play, and I had a 5-Star performance of “California Dreamin.’” Score!! When I was on my Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked press junket, there was a product room showcasing all…

Culture Collision, Cybils Middle Grade Fiction

I love reading multi-cultural fiction (for adults)**, specifically books that deal with 1st-generation Americans in conflict with their foreign-born parents and what they feel is their home, America. Which culture do they truly belong to? In most cases, the answer is both, which makes them all the richer (at least in my very white, very…