New Release: Here Where The Sunbeams Are Green by Helen Phillips

Released on Nov. 13th
Advanced Readers Copy Provided by Netgalley

About The Book: Mad's dad is the Bird Guy. He'll go anywhere to study birds. So when he's offered a bird-tracking job in Central America, his bags are packed and he's jungle bound.
But going bird tracking in the jungle and disappearing completely are very different things, and when the Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter arrives, Mad can't shake the terrible feeling that her father is in trouble.

Roo, Mad's younger sister, is convinced that the letter is a coded message. And their mom is worried, because the letter doesn't sound like Dad at all. But Mad is sure it's a sign of something sinister.

The only way to get to the bottom of it is to go to Lava Bird Volcano and find their dad themselves. Though they never could have imagined what they're about to discover.

From new talent Helen Phillips, Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green is the story of what can happen when two sisters make some unusual friends, trust in each other, and bravely face a jungle of trouble all to bring their family back together.
  
First Line: So here we are in the shaky little airplane above the jungle, which is kind of (very) scary.

Illustrators Are Often Elusive
 About Self Portraits

Illustrator: Jennifer Bricking
Website
Portfolio

Who: "I graduated from Ringling College of Art & Design wayyy back in 2004. I've worked as a Concept Artist for games and animation and as a Children's Book Illustrator for publishing companies like Harper Collins, Random House, and Simon & Schuster. I am currently working full time at Disney Interactive Studios in San Diego, CA. You can usually find me riding my bike around San Diego, skateboarding, and sometimes wandering around foreign countries; camera in one hand, sketchbook in the other. I love anything art, animation, technology and science related. Puppies and cupcakes, too."—Jennifer Bricking on her website.

One Great Line: That's what makes it such an awesome color—if you like the color, you gotta like the stick.

What Others Are Saying: "All middle grade readers will love the adventure. But sisters will love the story. A truly remarkable tale of survival against all odds fueled by the bonds between two young girls. Excuse me, one young girl. . . and one not-so-young girl." —Alamosa Books  Independent Book Store in Albuquerque

"More fantasy than magical realism, this eco-adventure maintains its mystery and suspense right up to the end." —Kirkus

What I Thought: From the first sentence I was whisked into and adventure that was fast moving, intense at times and yet full of humor. My kind of book. I love Mad's and Roo's relationship. Roo is everything I wish I could have been in middle grade, fearless, smart and funny. I identified, as I'm sure others will, to Mad's angst and desire to stay out of the way, avoiding any attention toward herself. When Mad has the first stirrings of attraction for Golden-Eyed Boy, the nervousness and new feelings are believable and age appropriate. This is one of those books that you want to keep reading because something happens on every single page. A great read with lots of surprises. 

About The Author: 
Helen Phillips
Website

Who:  "Before I could read, I remember feeling very jealous whenever I saw my parents reading. They could add all those confusing letters up to something magical! It made me mad, and I tried to learn to read as quickly as possible so I wouldn’t have to be jealous anymore.

I knew I wanted to be a writer from the time I was able to write my first story at the age of six." —Helen Phillips [Read entire bio here.]

Book Trailer Created by her husband, Adam Phillips.

Giveaway, Blog Tour and Interview

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I'm very excited today that Donna L. Peterson has dropped by for an interview. As a writer I'm always interested in an author's process and journey toward publishing.

The Misadventures of Phillip Isaac Penn is fast paced and will keep you laughing all the way through. I reviewed Peterson's book on April 21st. You can see the original review here.

So lets get to it, shall we?

 

1) Why do you write for children?

  
  I used to make up stories that I thought might help children at our elementary

school to deal with whatever difficult situation they were encountering.  I noticed that the humorous stories helped to make the message more entertaining, and therefore the students related better to the subtle lesson they'd learn.  I soon realized that getting children to laugh over their own shortcomings (and those of others) helped clear up a lot of problems, along with defusing some anger issues at school. 

2) Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a writer.

  I've been writing short stories since I was 7 years old.  I was quite shy when I attended elementary school, but my teachers all enjoyed the stories I'd write, and would often share them with the class.  I went on to attend college, and I always took extra writing courses.  To this day I attend evening classes at a nearby college, just for the fun of it.   One of the side jobs I enjoyed most was when I wrote a humor column for a local newspaper.  I've also written freelance stories for different magazines.  I've spent the last 12 years working full-time at an elementary school  here in Idaho.

3) How did you come up with the concept for Misadventures of Phillip Isaac Penn? 

He is a combination of many children I've known over the years.  He started out starring in the short stories that I used to make up to help our elementary school children solve their own problems. 

 4) Tell us about your process.

 I always flesh my stories out in a spiral notebook first.  That usually means that I write down the problem, and the types of characters who will be involved.  I even give them some special characteristics.  Then I start writing what will happen, without caring about punctuation and grammar until it's ready for its first edit.  Once I enter my chapters on the computer, I start the editing process.  I must edit, and re-edit at least a dozen times before I'm satisfied with how it reads.  Getting the right voice and painting a picture for the story is very important to me.

5) What does a typical writing day look like?  

I wish I had a "typical writing day".  Until summer vacation, I work full-time for Park Intermediate School.  The only writing time I have until then, is squeezed into my weekends.  I look forward to when I can dedicate more time to my writing career.

6) Where is your favorite place to write?

  In the summer I prefer either writing in my spiral notebook in my backyard, or by a lake, river, or ocean on a camping trip.  In the cooler months I'm in my boring office, plucking away on my computer. 

7) What did or do you find most challenging in creating the story and getting it published? What do you wish you would have known?

 Since my stories tend to create themselves, writing has never been much of a

challenge for me.  But keeping my stories in the correct tense and character's voice is my main concern.  My publishers at Cedar Fort have all helped guide me through the  publishing process and have been so helpful, that it has not been a difficult process at all.  I guess I wish I'd known how much fun this would be, and I would've done it a lot  sooner!

8) What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

Even though this is so very cliche', the best advice I ever received was: "Write what you know and enjoy best."

9) Are you working on a new project? Can you tell us about it?

Yes.  I've decided to write another book with some more of "Pip's" adventures (or mis-adventures).  This will have different situations and many new characters along with the main characters from the last book.   I'm also still writing my "Great American

Novel".  Ha!  But, I seriously have been working on a book that will be a completely different genre for a more mature age group. I love history and mysteries, and I'm a sucker for romance.  This book will have all of these aspects with a dash of humor and  a lot of adventure thrown into it.
   

10) What advice would you give others that write for children?

  It's important to write about subjects that children can relate to.  And, whenever possible use humor.  Children love to laugh!!!

Thanks, Donna we really appreciate the time you took to answer our questions. 

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Skipping Stones at the Center of the Earth by Andy Hueller

Be sure to check back in July and join the virtual book tour and learn more about this awesome book!!

About the Book: Calvin Comet Cobble lives at Hidden Shores Orphanage. Location: the very center of the earth. Cal's life is full of the school bully and mean teachers, but when he meets Mr. E, who can skip a stone clear across Lake Arctic, everything about Cal's life changes. Told with wit and charm, Skipping Stones at the Center of the Earth is guaranteed to excite and inspire readers of all ages. (Goodreads)

 

First Line: In the months following Bartholomew Rogers' discovery of a Flathead screw with a head as big as Rhode Island underneath the snow and ice of Antarctica, elite geologists' conceptions of Earth were forever changed.

One Great Line: "But chetah-cake definitely, irrefutably, undeniably, inariably, and inevitably has the most disgusting consistency of any food humans have yet concocted." (47)

My Favorite Line: There were many descriptions that I loved: "His thoughts rolled through and dropped off his brain like rivers rushing to a waterfall..."(67)  and  "...the pleasing percussive shushing each time it touched down..." (179) Unfortunately, many of these sentences seemed long and clunky which take the reader from the story, focusing, instead upon the words. There were several that were wonderful: "Principal Warden had a violent, volcanic temper and a mega-phonic voice." Great alliteration and vivid images, but concise enough to flow.

Andy Hueller

Writer Info  

Who:   Andy Hueller is the author of Dizzy Fantastic and Her Flying Bicycle (Cedar Fort, 2010), as well as the upcoming Skipping Stones at the Center of the Earth (Cedar Fort, TBD). He writes every day--sometimes the work is a thrilling adventure, and other times it's a slog. He always feels better, however, after he's given it a go. Mr. Hueller teaches at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. He lives in Minneapolis, MN with his wife and their dog. (Amazon) 

First Book: Dizzy Fantastic and Her Flying Bicycle

 

I love promoting great middle grade authors!