A Night Divided Stole my Heart

Jennifer A. Nielsen continues to boggle my brain with how awesome her books are. Can this author write a bad book? I don’t think so. A Night Divided is awe inspiring, but it’s more than just a story of hope, family, and friendship; it’s a story about freedom and what humans will do to have it. It makes you question what would you do for your own freedom—what lengths would you go to. It’s beautifully written in a voice that will keep you reading until the last page and falling in love with Gerta and Fritz so much that you’ll see a little of yourself in them. This book seriously had me holding my breath at the end. So be prepared. Also one of my favorite things was all the lovely quotes at the beginning of each chapter, they help with the feel, and in some cases add to the tension. Over all… another amazing read by Jennifer A. Nielsen!

Summary: From NYT bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.

With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.

But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

Check out the book trailer by clicking here.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Night-Divided-Jennifer-Nielsen/dp/0545682428/

The Best Read of the Summer!!

I have to start out by staying that I am a HUGE fan of Jennifer A Nielsen. Not only because she is a fantastic author (which she is!), but she IS also a compassionate, kind, and humble person. She is real! You can tell when she interacts with you. Jennifer has taken the time to discuss with me my own path in publishing. She knows my goals and my dreams and she doesn’t hesitate to encourage me onward up the mountain. A little over a month ago I saw her at a signing. She looked at me right in the eye and asked, “You feel how close you are, don’t you? Please don’t give up.” She didn’t know but I needed that. At times I feel I am so close to my dreams I can almost touch them, at other times it feels galaxies away. I am grateful for Jennifer to take the time and say that to me. It really boosted my confidence and helped me to move forward. I started querying again and I am very optimistic. I now know that if this book doesn’t get me an agent the next one will. Jennifer, I DO feel how close I am. I am ready to grab hold of that dream and stand firm on my summit. Thank you for spurring me along!

Another fantastic read that I have the opportunity to dive into this summer is The Mark of the Thief. If you’ve read Jennifer Nielsen’s Ascendance Trilogy and were blown away by the gripping-suspenseful-action-packed story as I was, then you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into with this one. I found myself flipping through page after page devouring the compelling words that told of Nicolas Calva’s heroic life. I really liked this book because it speaks to everyone’s heart. Many people are born into different situations, some worse than others, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay there. This book is a rite of passage for Nic, but it’s also one for the reader. You will feel better about yourself when you finish this book because you will be determined to choose to be the person YOU want to be and not the person circumstance placed you. I also feel this is a great book for a reluctant reader. They will immediately identify with the main character and his struggles. Because the chapters are short and page-turny, they will find themselves taken away to ancient Rome, bulla in hand, as Nic enters the arena to fight for his life.

Summary: A fantastical alternate history set in ancient Rome. Nicolas Calva and his sister are slaves in the mines outside of Rome. When Nic is forced to retrieve treasure from Julius Caesar's cave, he assumes he is going to his death. But inside the cave he finds a bulla, a magical amulet thought to have given Caesar great power, and takes it for himself. Suddenly, Nic is the most wanted fugitive in Rome. The emperor and a powerful general are after the amulet and they will kill Nic to get it. His only help is Aurelia, a plebian girl who is searching for her own family. With no one to trust and nowhere to hide, the protagonist must decide how he is going to save his sister and get out with his life. He doesn't want the bulla or the responsibility of the magic it contains, but if the magical object gets into the wrong hands, Rome will be at war and Nic will be at the center of it all.

Book 2, The Rise of the Wolf will hit bookstores February 2016 according to Jennifer's website: http://www.jennielsen.com/archives/1452  

Link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Thief-1/dp/0545561558/

The next book I am reading is The Thickety: The Whispering Tree, by J.A. White. I am sure this one will be just as creepy as the first book. Wish me luck that I don’t get nightmares!! 

Tween the Weekends: Great Tween Books

I write middle-grade because I LOVE to read middle-grade. These are the books that I wish were around when I was young. I especially enjoy stories that find magic in the most unlikely of places or ones that take me on an adventure. Today for Tween the Weekends, a fun promotion hosted by Emblazoners.com, I thought I’d share three of my favorite middle grade books and why I think you’ll like reading them as much as I do. I also give a list of my personal recommendations.

First up is a book that has made it to the top of my list, THE FALSE PRINCE, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Why is this book at the top of my list? Because it is filled with heroic adventures, compelling conflict, and best of all it has a strong main character that makes me root for him every step of the way.  Another reason why this book means so much to me is that aside from its terrific plot and twisty ending, is that it's about a boy trying to come to terms with who he really is and accepting that. So often I see kids struggling to accept their roles in life, whether that is the role of a sibling, child, student, or prince. This book shows them how they can be true to themselves no matter the consequences. 

 

Next on my list is a super fun series. GILDA JOYCE PSYCHIC INVESTIGATOR, by Jennifer Allison. If you are in the mood for a spooky story that will have you rolling on the floor from laughing so hard I recommend these books. Gilda is a tween trying to overcome the loss of her father with herself proclaimed psychic powers. As each story leads her to solve one strange mystery after another you might wonder, like I have, if Gilda really is psychic after all. This is a fun book series about freaky ghosts and chasing after your dreams. Gilda is hilarious and will make you laugh—but be warned these books might get a little creepy if read late at night.

Last on my list today is a fun story about finding magic in everyday places, namely, grade school. In JANITORS, by Tyler Whiteside, the main character, Spencer, learns that magic is real and it’s affecting the way kids learn. This book answers the question of why kids fall asleep during math or history—yes, there is a reason. Janitors are wizard like guardians protecting education from magic gone bad. It’s a pretty cool book about finding the unexpected in the most boring of places. I really enjoyed the themes presented in this book including being true to yourself and not being a chameleon, someone who changes sides on a whim. This book is one of the books I wish I had read when I was a kid.

If these books aren’t enough, try these on as well:

• A MEASURE OF DISORDER, by Alan Tucker
• ARROW OF THE MIST, by Christina Mercer
• ANDY SMITHSON: BLAST OF THE DRAGON’S FURY, by L. R. W. Lee
• CASSIDY JONES AND THE SECRET FORMULA, by Elise Stokes
• CURSE OF THE DOUBLE DIGITS, by Lynn Kelley
• CYCLES, by Lois D. Brown
• THE DREAM KEEPER, by Mikey Brooks (that's me)
• GANGSTERLAND, by Ansha Kotyk
• JUMP BOYS: SOS, by Alex Banks
• THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS AND THE ARCH OF ATLANTIS, by Sharon Ledwith
• MAGIAN HIGH, by Lia London
• MICHAELA’S GIFT, by Cordelia Dinsmore
• MONSTER MOON: CURSE AT ZALA MANOR, by BBH McChiller
• NOAH ZARC: MAMMOTH TROUBLE, by D. Robert Pease
• PRINCESS KANDAKE: WARRIOR BY CHOICE…APPOINTED TO RULE, by Stephanie Jefferson
• THE SUPER SPIES AND THE CAT LADY KILLER, by Lisa Orchard
• TAYLOR DAVIS AND THE FLAME OF FINDUL, by Michelle Isenhoff

Find more great books for tweens at: http://emblazoners.com/

How to Write a First Chapter Worthy of a Bidding War

A while back I had the opportunity to hear Jennifer A. Nielsen teach a class on writing middle-grade books. During her instruction she shared a little about her book The False Prince and how it made every author’s dream: it got into a bidding war with publishers. Nielsen said what made the publishers so interested in this book was the opening chapter. Like any smart writer I immediately went out and got her book. I read it in about two days (which for me is amazingly fast). It was that good! The story was fresh and kept me turning page after page. However, the whole book is NOT what got Nielsen into a bidding war—it was the first chapter. So I went back and started pin pointing the things that made this chapter so compelling. Without spoiling this book for anyone who hasn’t read it I am going to try to give an analysis on some of the things Nielsen does to make a book worthy of a bidding war.

• (Write the story in the correct POV.) Every story is different and not every book should be written in the save point of view. Nielsen chose to write The False Prince in 1^st person. I thought this was a bold move considering the secrets Sage keeps from the readers throughout the book—or does he? Reading back through its amazing how many clues Sage give the reader about what is to come in the first few chapters of the book.
• (Start with questions.) The first two sentences immediately start the book by posing questions in the readers mind. “If I had to do it all over again, I would not have chosen this life. Then again, I’m not sure I ever had a choice.”  Who is this? What life are they leading? What life did he leave behind? Did he have a choice? Who forced him into this situation? These are questions that readers take on. Instantly we want to read more because we want answers.
• (Don’t start slow—start with action or suspense.) Next the reader finds themselves in a chase scene. Sage has stolen a roast and is being pursued by a meat cleaver wielding butcher. We learn that 1. Sage is hungry, 2. He is an orphan, and 3. He is a thief. The chase scene lasts a whopping four paragraphs before Sage is caught. It’s fast.
  
• (Show more character and pose more questions.) When Sage is caught, a nobleman gets him off the hook by paying for the roast. Sage is forced to follow the nobleman to the orphanage where we have a brief conversation with the caretaker, Mrs. Turbeldy. We learn that the nobleman is named Bevin Connor. We also learn that Sage wasn’t stealing this roast just for himself—he is trying to feed the other boys at the orphanage, so he is willing to risk his neck for others. Then the questions start in the readers mind. Who is Bevin Connor? What does he want with an orphan boy?  Who is Sage?
• (Give more information about the main character.) Nielsen chooses to do this by Connor giving an interrogation of Sage (which also poses the question in the readers mind: who is Connor looking for?). Sage is identified as being illiterate, no good with a sword, a thief, and a liar. We also learn that Sage is snarky and has authority issues. As readers we like this kid!
• (Create more questions and end the chapter on a cliff hanger.) Next Connor tells Sage to get his things. Mrs. Turbeldy says he’s been bought and paid for. You get another hint at Sages character as he alludes to the fact he can’t be owned by anyone. Good, so Sage is a freedom fighter too—all the more reason to like him. When Sage doesn’t come willingly, Connor’s men knock him out. Nielsen ends the chapter with Sage being taken away into the unknown by a complete strange not opposed to violence. 

Add this chapter to the fantastic hook Nielsen has and you have a book worthy of an agent or publishers interest. “An orphan is forced into a twisted game with deadly stakes. Choose to lie...or choose to die.” And that’s how you write a killer fist chapter. Let’s review just the bullets here:

1. Have the right POV.
2. Start with questions about your main character.
3. Speed it up—don’t start slow.
4. Create a character easily related to that shows us good characteristics.
5. Pose more questions.
6. End on a page turner or cliff hanger.

If you haven’t read The False Prince I invite you to go out and get the book. It is well worth your time and you will NOT be disappointed. I can’t tell you enough about how much I love this book. It will keep you turning pages and surprise you with the way it ends. Try to craft an opening chapter using the key elements I have found in the first chapter of this book. Not every story is going to be the same and not every story should start the same, but they should all start RIGHT.

Where to find The False Prince: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0545284147 and pick up its sequel The Runaway King: www.amazon.com/dp/0545284155/