The Secret of Lies – Barbara Forte Abate

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Publisher: Halcyon Moon Books

Pages: 330

Source: Review Copy in Exchange for my honest review

Genre:  Adult, Realistic Fiction

I think one thing that  made this such a great book was the ending came first. The story begins with Stevie, the main character leaving her husband.

We are taken back in time to the events that led up to Stevie running away.

Stevie and her sister Eleanor grew up on a farm.  They spent their summers with their aunt and uncle on Long Island.  They lived for this.  This was the first place I could identify with the characters.  It wasn’t Long Island for me but the weekends in town with my cousin was time away from the farm for me to enjoy.  The camping, etc.

Like all young people Eleanor and Stevie grew up and began to get interested in boys. Stevie meets a young deaf boy who gives her even more reason to look forward to going back to her aunt and uncle’s house each summer.  The year Stevie is 17 something terrible happens.  Stevie’s aunt convinces her that it would be best if she didn’t tell her parents the truth.  She needed to just forget about what happened.  Years go by and she has withdrawn within herself.  She doesn’t trust people anymore. The lie eats away at her. 

Finally she meets Ash Waterman.  He works on her family’s farm.  He knows how to reach her and she opens her heart to him.  But, sometimes the lies we keep inside become to much to handle and the only way out is to run away from the very people who could probably help us.  This is exactly what Stevie does.  This is a book I would recommend to everyone.  We’ve all gone through something in our life where we felt no one understood us or the situation.  This is a great emotional read.

About The Author

Barbara Forte Abate grew up in Millbrook New York, and currently lives in a creaky old house in Pennsylvania, where she makes up lies, doses them with truth, and titles it fiction. She is long time married to a very fine man, and is the mother of four fabulous children.

She is the award winning author of The Secret of Lies, and the newly released, Asleep Without Dreaming.

Barbara invites you to stop over and visit her website: http://www.barbaraforteabate.com

blog: http://www.barbaraforteabate.wordpress.com

The Chest of Visions: Secrets of Caperston – Tim Ferguson

Publisher: Xulon Press

Pages: 126

Genre: Christian, Fantasy

Source: Review copy in exchange for my honest review.

From Amazon:

What secrets of Caperston does the Chest of Visions hold? What hope is offered? Secrets that are more than mysteries; they are lessons in life! • What if Jesus did not come to Earth 2,000 years ago but arrived today? How would we react? • How do Christian youth react to adversity, for example, the death of a friend? • Is saying "yes' to the Word of God, an effective definition of faith? Questions like these are answered in "The Chest of Visions, a story of a world similar, yet clearly different, to our own. The story begins fourteen million years ago when a gravity-defying force appeared and several identical universes were formed. Just as human twins mature differently so did these universes. For our story we consider two: our universe and a universe of a youth named Mattpaul. These two worlds evolved simultaneously and each is more advanced in certain ways. However, one thing is clear. Mattpaul's world of Caperston was the more orderly until emerging ideas began to challenge age old traditions. Come visit Mattpaul's world. Meet his teenage friends and their teacher, Chihaysu, in a story of faith, hope, courage and intrigue.

My Thoughts:

I think every youth group should read this book.  This makes us take a look at why bad things like death happen.  It makes us look deeply at our own faith.  Have we pulled away from God?  Are we doing enough to reach others for the Lord?  This book is the one you need to read with your teen to open those conversations.  One thing I kept thinking about when we looked at the world where they had no religion was how many nations in our own world have never heard of our God.  How do they react when we introduce them to him.  I am surprised each year when I give my autobiography to my students and I discuss my religious beliefs, the number of students who have never seen and some of them never heard of the Bible or Jesus.  This is a book that I have on my shelves at school.  It has wonderful pictures in it which will reach that kid who really enjoys the more graphic type novel.  It is a way to plant the seeds of Christianity. I definitely recommend this book to all grandparents, parents, teens and youth groups.

About the Author (from Amazon)

Tim Ferguson has been working with Christian youth since 1969. For the past eighteen years he and his wife, Linda, have led a Junior/Senior High youth program in New York. Tim is the creator of the website Christianyouthgroup.org., through which he met the illustrator, Jose Carlos Gutierrez of Mexico City. He encourages the reader to use the lessons in Appendix Two to teach young people the outcome of applying the gospel message to one's life. Tim has worked for the Department of Social Services for 38 years, primarily in Children's Services. He is currently the Director of Adult Protective Services.

Entanglement - Dan Rix

Pages: 322
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Dystopian


This author definitely created a unique world.  Soul mates are born at the same time and have a clairvoyant connection.  At age 18 they meet and the connection is complete.  Amber and Clive are considered soul mates. That is until Aaron and Amber meet. Aaron also shares the same birth date.  Aaron has never felt a connection and figured he never would since his brain has scar tissue over the area where the connection is made.  When he meets Amber he starts feeling connected.  Things are not what they seem in this world.  Amber and Clive's parents belong to a group that introduce mates early.  There is a not so nice reason behind this.  Aaron finds out. The book over all was good.  I didn't like Clive at all.  He seemed to only want to possess Amber whereas Aaron seemed to really care.  I had an issue that several things happened in the book and there were never any parents around.  That made it a little unbelievable for me.

Eight Wonderful Books by A.J. Cosmo

The Monster That Ate My Socks

When a little boys dirty socks kept disappearing and he kept getting in trouble, he decided it was time to figure out what was happening to his socks.  He stayed up one night and saw a green monster with three eyes and a mouth full of teeth eat his socks.  The boy and his friend Ryan set a trap and capture the monster.  They find out that the monster has a family to feed.  Then they make a new discovery.  There is something the monster loves more than dirty socks.  Want to find out?  Read this cute book to see what it is.

The Monster That Ate My Socks 2

In the second book we find something eating text books at the school.  The boys decide to find out
why the sock monsters are eating the text books. They learn there is another monster there eating text books and anything wood.  They have to try to save all of the monsters and keep the administration from putting in cameras.  Read to find out what happens.  Great story of friendships that last.

Monsters A-Z

Out of all of the monster books this author has written, this has to be my favorite.  He has a monster for each letter of the alphabet.  He not only tells you their name but gives their characteristics.  His drawing and names remind me of Dr. Seuss.  Two of my favorites were the Pompificus who eats compliments and the Inkbat who is responsible for leaving stains behind that no one ever admits to. This is a fun book and one my grandson loves.

Hair-Bot 3000

Jaques Ba’bur was the greatest hair dresser around.  One day an inventor came to town and challenged Jacques to compete against his Hair-Bot 3000.  Jacques was confident in his abilities.  He styled one hair after another and was defeated by the Hair-Bot.  Then he chose two twins.  They were unhappy with their hair-do.  The hair-bot tried again and again but his young girl got more and more hysterical.  The Great Jacques looked at the broken Hair-bot crumpled on the floor and handed the two girls a lollipop.  After all he knew what his customers wanted.

I Miss You

This is a simple poetic book that is reassuring in its message.  It talks about missing someone.  But, it reaffirms that they will be together again some day and that everything will be okay.

The Little Sapling

I really liked this book.  It is the story of a little sapling that is trying to grow.  As it grows it asks a bush and a sapling and taller tree to let some sunlight in.  They are mean and rude and refuse.  One day the tree is taller than all of them and they ask him to let them have some sunlight.  The Tree remembers how they treated them and must decided what to do.  Will he do the right thing and share or will he repay evil with evil. Read the book  and find out.

The Only Albatross

Annette the albatross was lonely.  Everyone around her was a sea gull.  They refused to let her join in any of their fun because she was an albatross.  She tried to disguise herself so they would let her in but it didn’t work.  One day a strange looking bird flew in.  He told Annette he was an albatross.  She recognized him as a seagull.  He told her that he had come from a place where he was the only seagull among a bunch of albatrosses.  Annette was excited.  She introduced him to the other seagulls and got directions to the other albatrosses.  Both of them were very happy and no longer lonely.

The Schmoopie

The schoopie was a very sad creature.  All he did was lay around and mope all day.  Two different children took him home to try to cheer him up.  When nothing worked he was kicked out of their homes.  A strange family took him home with them.  They sounded even more sad than the schmoopie.  Suddenly the schmoopie decided that he could find his own way in the world that it wasn’t as bad as he thought it had been.

About the Author: From Amazon
A.J. Cosmo's stories are crafted to help parents teach their children
simple everyday lessons in an easy to understand manner. By artfully
marrying beautiful illustrations and language, children are challenged to
explore his magical worlds. Written for the transitional reader, A.J.'s
stories allow your child to develop and master a new level of reading.

Final Day of Found Reviews

This is the last of the found book reviews. I know there are others I've read and not yet reviewed.  If I owe you a book review know that I will get to it.  Feel free to email me to remind me or ask me about your review.

Lesson  of the White Eagle – Barbara Hay

All 15-year-old Dusty wanted was to go to his hometown's bash for the 1893 Land Run centennial. Instead, he finds himself a witness to a hate crime, and he's the one driving the getaway car. Now a mystical white eagle has invaded his dreams, making him question everything he thought he knew about Indians and the bonds of childhood friendship. After the white eagle takes Dusty back in time to see the horrors the Ponca people endured on their forced removal from what would become Nebraska to Oklahoma Territory, Dusty must decide whether or not to act on the lesson he has learned from seeing in action one of the first American civil rights activists: the Ponca's own Chief Standing Bear.

My Thoughts: Racism, discrimination, prejudice, these are not just words whose meaning we want to teach to our children. It is the responsibility of every adult to teach our children about these issues and the proper way to handle them. Barbara Hay has found the method to address these issues through this book. Her main character is a fifteen year old teen named Dusty who must decide how to handle a situation.  It will mean he must decide to do what he knows he should and run the risk of losing his friends, or stick with his friends in something he knows is wrong. You need to read the book to see what he did.

I loaned this book to a student who seemed surprised that this happened to a Native American.  Living in Florida the only Native Americans they were familiar with were the Seminoles and they thought that all of them owned  gambling establishments. This book is the perfect way to discuss these major issues.  I applaud the author for opening the door for these conversations.

Stealing Kevin’s Heart – M. Scott Carter

Their small town saw Alex Anderson and Kevin Rubenstein as the most unlikely of best friends, but that is just what the handsome athlete and the artistic Jewish brainiac are: inseparable buddies since childhood. Then Kevin dies in a motorcycle accident, and his parents blame Alex. And Alex blames himself. His grieving derails both his studies and his football, and he is sent away to a camp for troubled youths in the wilds of southeastern Oklahoma. Borderline suicidal, Alex finds his way back to sanity among the pine trees and clear lake waters thanks to a girl with a secret, a group of misfits, and the most unselfish gift a person can give another.

My Thoughts: After seeing his best friend killed in an accident Alex is sent away to a cap for troubled teens.  He's so depressed he is suicidal.  His parents are hoping camp can help him with his depression.  Alex is not  you just automatically know how to go through. It is an uphill battle. At camp Kevin finds others who have problems as big or bigger than his.  Is it possible that this camp is the one place that can help him?  This is one of those books that touch your heart and brings out the emotions.  Be sure to read it with tissues in reach.

Patalosh: The Time Travelers

Ten-year-old Orion Spence never expected to wake up alone on the HMS Exploricusafter his birthday. After finally locating the first officer of the time-traveling airship and the rest of the crew, Orion gets the horrible news. His parents, who serve as captain and science officer, have been kidnapped by the evil Emperor Daaggerd. The emperor has taken Orion's parents in order to gain control of the Exploricus and also the Ancient Book of Spells, a powerful book Orion's family is pledged to protect.

Orion joins forces with the ship's officers and begins a desperate chase across space and time to save his family. First, Orion must unravel the clues to the seven keys on each continent needed to open the book. Then, he must pass deadly tests of strength, honesty, leadership, and everything else that is important to be the keeper of the Ancient Book of Spells.

My Thoughts:  Want a great time travel book that pushes learning about different cultures?  This is the book for you. The day after Orion’s birthday he finds himself alone.  His parents have been kidnapped.  He will have to travel to different continents, solve seven riddles and keep the evil Emperor Daaggerd, who kidnapped his parents from getting his hands on “The Ancient Book of Secrets”.  He has several trusty friends who are willing to die to help protect Orion and the book.  I know my students will find this as thrilling as I did.  Wonderful  details and the plot is pushed along at a great pace.  Definitely recommending this one to my students.

Precious Bones – Mika Ashley-Hollinger

Meet ten-year-old Bones, whose playground is the Florida swamps, brimming with mystical witches, black bears, alligators and bobcats. Bones' father, Nolay, a Miccosukee Indian, is smart and mischievous. Her Mama, practical as corn bread, can see straight into Bones' soul.

It's summer, and Bones is busy hunting and fishing with her best friend, Little Man. But then two Yankee real estate agents trespass on her family's land, and Nolay scares them off with his gun. When a storm blows in and Bones and Little Man uncover something horrible at the edge of the Loo-chee swamp, the evidence of foul play points to Nolay. The only person that can help Nolay is Sheriff LeRoy, who's as slow as pond water. Bones is determined to take matters into her own hands. If it takes a miracle, then a miracle is what she will deliver.

My Thoughts:  I love reading anything that has to do with the Florida Swamps.  I live in Florida and the Everglades is one of the most glorious swamps around. Bones and her best friend Little Man love spending their summer hunting, fishing and exploring the swamp. Her father Nolay is a Native American with somewhat of a temper.  When two yankees come offering to buy his land he scares them off with a gun. When one of them turns up dead in the swamp Nolay becomes the prime suspect. Bones knows her daddy better than anyone.  She knows he is innocent.  Since the sheriff is taking so long to prove it she figures it is up to her to find out what is really going on. This book reminded me of Carl Hiaasen's book "Flush".  I believe my students will enjoy this as much as I did.

Day 3 Found Reviews

This is day three of reviews that I had finished at the end of the school year and misplaced.  Hopefully I will feel well enough to post the last four tomorrow.  It took me forever to get these up.  I'd type one and have to lay down.

Fart Book: Farting Pirates – Samantha Foster

 Peter had a problem with farting  all the time.  He got kicked out of school.  His parents tried everything to stop his farts.  They changed his diet but nothing helped.  Peter had to go to work on a pig farm.  He lost his job because his farts scared the pits.  He was lonely.  Peter met a group of pirates who accepted them because they were dirty stinky pirates.  Peter finds a way to use his farts to help his pirate friends.

This was a real cute book.  I’m not sure how I ended up with a bunch of books  about farts , but I can tell you that my grandkids love them. Want to find out how Peter helped his friends?  Read the book.

Kaity the Clown – Samantha Foster

 Kaity lived on a farm. When she acted like the farm animals they all laughed.  At school she would make animal sounds and make her classmates and teacher laugh.  This made her really happy. There was nothing she loved more than making people laugh.  When Kaity was in fourth grade they learned all about clowns.  This would become Kaity’s passion and dream.  This is a cute book about setting goals and reaching for them.

The Boy Who Farted and Flew to the Moon – Ivan Offolbot

Tommy is a young boy who loves to fart.  He is so passionate about farting that he gives them names.  His mom doesn’t like all of the farting and takes him to the doctor, changes his diet but nothing works.  Tommy decides to see if he can produce a fart powerful enough to make him fly.  He fills up on all of the gassy foods he can find puts on his helmet for safety and lets out the biggest fart he has ever produced.  It works.  He flies all the way to the moon.  There is a problem.  He has to get back to earth.  He meets an alien on the moon who feeds him all kinds of things to help him build up gas to produce another fart.  But, Tommy forgets to aim for the earth and ends up on Mars.  Now he has an even bigger problem.  I can’t wait  to read the sequel to see what the author does with this character.  It was great reading it to my grand-daughter.  It gave us the opportunity to predict what might happen in the next book.  Very cute.

Blueberry Bubble Gum – Mahamad Ali ElFakir

 Max is a young boy who has trouble following rules.  Not only does he not follow rules, but he lies to cover it up.  One day Max’s dad brings him a bag of magic blueberry gumballs.  He tells him he can’t eat any until they read the directions together.  They eat dinner and then Max’s dad has to go back to work.  Max decides to just sniff the gumballs, but he can’t resist and before he knows it he has eaten five of them.  He believes they will give him wishes.  His mom sees him with the bag of gumballs and asks if he has eaten any.  He lies and tells her he was just holding them. He get ready for bed, feeling a little guilty for lying to his mom.  Suddenly his stomach begins to hurt.  He farts out a large blueberry bubble that rips through his pajama bottoms. He yells for his mom who comes and tries to pop the bubble.  When she is unable to pop it she runs to the garage with him, telling him to hold onto the tree while she gets a tool to pop it.  As she is getting ready to hammer a nail into the bubble he farts again and the bubble is so big he floats away.  His dad arrives at that time and reads the directions.  He yells to Max that if he didn’t follow the rules he would be taken to Blueberry Bubble Gum world where he will have to pass a test if he is to return home.  Can Max follow the rules and pass the test to get back home?  Read this fun adventure to find out.  This is a great way to teach kids about the consequences of not following rules and lying.

Tom T's Hat Rack: A Story About Paying It Forward - Michele Spry

This is a wonderful book that I plan to read to my sixth graders at the beginning of the year.  By the time they finish their first unit they will have completed a service project of their own.  This is the story of a young girl given a summer assignment to write an essay about something they did over the summer that changed their lives.  Shelby spends each afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. T.  They have taken care of her since she was a baby.  She is excited to tell them about her summer assignment.  Mr. T is excited to tell Shelby about a project he wants Shelby to help him complete.  The catch is he is not going to tell her what it is until the end.  Mr. T is a cancer survivor and while going through treatment he realized there were no hats for the patients who had lost their hair.  He plans on building hat racks, delivering them and placing hats on them for the patients to take.  Shelby helps him and then creates a project of her own to go along with his.  This should be read at the beginning of each year to students of all ages.  The reading may be simple but the message is for all ages.

Day 2: Found Reviews

Sorry about the gap in posting my found reviews.  Today I will be posting only one of them.  I seem to have caught what my grand-kids have had.  I've been in bed most of the day with my grandson laying beside me.  Naps worked wonders for both of us. Here is the only one I felt like typing up today.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Katie: The Little Girl Who Stuttered and Then Learned to Talk Fluently – Ronald L. Webster

Pages: 38

Source:  Review Copy in exchange for my honest review

This is the story of young Katie who had a stuttering problem.  Her parents took her to many doctors.  They said that her problem was because she was nervous around people, or her parents expected her to be perfect, or even claimed she stuttered because she wasn’t very intelligent.  When she started first grade she was bullied by kids

Her mom saw a news report about a doctor who helped people who stuttered.  He didn’t think the way the other doctors did.  He believed it was just something that happened.  Her parents took her to this doctor.  He did some tests then started her on the road to end her stuttering.  It was a lot of hard work.  She found out she had to learn to control certain muscles to make certain sounds  and that helped her with her stuttering problem.  She was excited to get back to school and show the kids that she could talk just like them.

This is a true story.  It doesn’t end there.  If you want to find out more about Katie when she grew up get the book.  If you have a child who stutters, get the book.  This is an inspirational story.  It points out how determined Katie was to fix this problem.  It also shows how cruel kids can be when they don’t understand the problem.  This would be a great book to give to a school speech therapist.

About the Author:

Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D. is a pioneer in the treatment of stuttering. He created the first comprehensive, behavioral stuttering therapy in 1972 and founded Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – www.stuttering.org), a leading nonprofit center dedicated to stuttering treatment innovations. HCRI has served more than 6,000 people from 48 countries. Dr. Webster’s center provides a program for parents of children who stutter and works with the National Institutes of Health in research on the genetics of stuttering.. Dr. Webster’s work has been the focus of news stories by the New York Times, Newsweek, Scientific American, Parade, Sports Illustrated, 20/20, NBC Today, Nightline, CBS Morning News, and Good Morning America. In addition to serving as HCRI president, Dr. Webster is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology (emeritus) at Hollins University. He wrote this book to offer encouragement and inspiration to children who stutter and their parents.

Student Saturday - Salty Dog - Brad Strickland

Student Saturday is a day I post reviews written by other students.  The review that follows is written by Brees.

Salty dog by Brad Strickland is a very adventurous book. My favorite part about it ws when Jim Hawkins (a.k.a. – Wishbone) meets Benn Gunn on the island and tries to run away! While at Trumbull barn the barn catches on fire with three kids in it! Brad Strickland did an amazing job connecting his book with another to make Salty Dog. I can’t wait to read another exciting book of his. Brad Strickland made this book very creative, especially by having and ordinary dog become one of the most enjoyable heroes, with human like features. But I got mixed up a lot with all the names and at the end I got it totally mixed up. I had no idea what happened.  All I knew was, treasure……took…..found…..and……pirates.

Day : 1 Found Reviews

Well I did it again.  The end of the school year came and went.  I packed things up and took some things home and left some things I needed at school.  I finally started going through things I had brought home trying to organize it.  What did I find?  A bunch of book reviews I had written with the intention of typing them into my blog, then scheduling them to be published.  Did I do this?  Oh no, I was too busy writing, babysitting and unpacking things that I had left packed until school let out to go through school things.  I was going through and figuring out what I needed to get ready for school which starts in a little over a week for me when I came across a notebook at the bottom of a box. As I flipped through its pages I came upon several book reviews I forgot to type up and post.  It saddens me to think that the last week of school when we did so much reading and relaxing that I read and wrote these reviews then forgot to type them into my blog.  That's what happens when you procrastinate.  I remember writing a list and one of the things it said was type and post review.  How do I remember the list?  It was on the same page with the first  review.  So for the next couple of days I will post the reviews of books I had read at the end of May and first week of June.  The sad thing about forgetting this is that these first two books were two of my favorite reads of the year.

Code of Silence by Tim Shoemaker

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Pages: 348

Genre:  Middle Grade, Mystery, Adventure

Source: Received a review copy in exchange for my honest review

Cooper, Hiro and Gordy are best friends who like to spend afternoons after school at their favorite handout Frank-N-Stein’s Restaurant.  One evening they decided to play one more arcade game while their friend, mentor and owner Frank locks up.  What happens next is the beginning of a nightmare.  The three friends are trapped in the restaurant and witness the robbery and beating of Frank.  When one of the robbers pulls and leaves the video that would incriminate them in the robbery, Cooper takes the opportunity to snatch it and escape.  The others get away and Cooper is caught and his house keys taken and he is left with a threat to his family.  He and his friends get away.  They make a pact to keep what they know silent.  They don’t know who they can trust because the robbers were dressed in police uniforms.  Unfortunately Cooper’s backpack left at the scene put the cops and the criminals on his trail.  His lies upon lies begin to catch up with him.  It strains his relationship with his parents, his friends and with his relationship with God.  This was one of those books that once you start you can’t put it down. The messages about doing the right thing, friendship, loyalty, honesty, lies and telling the truth can be found all through the book.  When I give my book talk about this book I’m going to ask my students up front if they believe it is ever okay to tell a lie and ask for examples.  Then I will introduce this book because people need to realize that just because you think it is okay to lie, there are consequences for each lie you tell.  This is a book I definitely recommend to my students and all adults who love to read a good mystery.

Back Before Dark – Tim Shoemaker

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Pages: 384

Genre: Mystery, Adventure

Source: Review Copy in exchange for my honest review

Cooper, Gordy, and Hiro along with Lunk are back for a second adventure in Tim Shoemaker’s second book Back Before Dark. The four teens are on their way home from a shopping trip when they spot a van with a backpack on top.  They promised they would be home before dark.  They weigh their options and decide they have time to play the role of Good Samaritan and still make it home on time.  Gordy takes off ahead of the group.  As he approaches the van the worse thing possible happens.  The side door opens and Gordy is grabbed.  His friends race to catch up.  Cooper gets the license plate number but gets it all mixed up.  Days go by.  Cooper can’t imagine being without his best friend and cousin Gordy.  He goes to school and sees a sign for a memorial to be held for Gordy.  This is really more than Cooper can stand and he decides if the police aren’t going to do anything then he will.  Their new friend Lunk supports Cooper in everything he does putting himself and his friends in danger.  This book is all about friendship and how far we will go for our friends.  There is also an underlying message of turning problems that are too big for you to handle over to God.  Cooper is like so many of us that tries to handle it first and then when all else fails turns it over to God.  Lunk is one of those who doesn’t understand why God would allow this to happen to good people.  Then we have the strong one of the bunch Hiro.  She is the one who constantly prays for her friends and the situations they get into.  She is the voice of reason in the darkness.  I can only home Tim Shoemaker keeps pumping these books out because I will keep putting them on my shelves at school and recommending them to everyone I can.

Review and Giveaway: Warpworld - Kristene Perron and Joshua Simpson

Book Summary:

How far would you go…

On his first crossing through the warps, Seg discovers a world rich in vita – fuel to save his dying world. Cold, brilliant and desperate to prove himself as a Cultural Theorist, Seg breaks away from the recon squad sent to protect him, to scout out prime vita sources. But to find his prize he must face his biggest fear: water.

Fiery and headstrong, Ama receives an ultimatum from her people’s tyrannical overlords: betray her own kind or give up the boat she calls home, forever. When a wealthy traveler hires her as a guide, Ama thinks her prayers are answered – until a violent murder reveals Seg’s true identity.

On the run, over land and water, hunted by a ruthless and relentless tracker, and caught in the schemes of a political powerhouse, Seg and Ama will have to strike an uneasy truce to survive.

The fate of two worlds is in their hands.

My Thoughts:

I was not really sure if this would be to my liking.  Don't get me wrong, I love science fiction and the premise sounded great.  You just never know until you get into the book and begin reading. This book is told from two different perspectives.   We have Ama who lives in a society that reminds me almost of a medieval caste society. Ama is part of the Kenda society.  This is just one step above the Welfs (slaves to the others)  I like Ama and her spunk.  She lives in a society where she is given freedom to own and captain her boat for a short time.  The reason?  She is female.  They have a certain place in society and it is not owning and operating a business.  She has a family full of brothers who believe she should marry and accept her place in society.  It doesn't help that she has a brother who is soon to become a part of the highest place in society.

The second main character is Seg.  He is from a world where the technology is more advanced.  His people prey on societies like Ama's.  They take what they need to survive and use the people they take back to their world as slaves.  Seg is an up and coming Theorist.  He is very gifted and so he does the unthinkable.  He decides to change the way things are usually done.  He goes undercover to get what they need to take back and meets Ama.  It is only a matter of time before the situation becomes more complex as Ama and Seg start to have feelings for each other.  I loved the world building in this book. It took me a while to get into this world.  But, once there it was a world I didn't want to leave.  I absolutely loved this book and I look forward to reading more in the books that will follow. I definitely recommend this book to all science fiction/fantasy lovers.

Kristene Perron's Bio:

Kristene is a former professional stunt performer for film and television (as Kristene Kenward) and self-described 'fishing goddess'. Pathologically nomadic, she has lived in Japan, Cost Rica, the cook Islands, and a very tiny key in the Bahamas, just to name a few. Her stories have appeared in Denizens of Darkness, Canadian Storyteller Magazine, The Barbaric Yawp and Hemispheres Magazine. In 2010 she won the Surrey International Writers' conference Storyteller Award.

Kristene is a member of SF Canada. Her novel, Warpworld, is the first in a five book adventure science fiction series, penned with her Texan co-writer, Joshua Simpson.
She currently resides in Nelson, BC, Canada but her suitcase is always packed.

Joshua Simpson's Bio:A career nomad, Josh Simpson has driven trucks through the lower forty-eight states, treated and and disposed of hazardous waste, mixed mud as a stone masonry laborer, failed abysmally in marketing, gotten on people's nerves as a safety man, and presently gets on their nerves even more using nerve release techniques in musculo-skeletal pain relief.

He lives amidst the scrub and mesquite of West Texas, cohabiting with the requisite writer's minimum of two cats. Warpworld is his first published novel.

Find out More Here:

Warpworld blog tour site:  http://warpworldblogtour.blogspot.com/

Warpworld Web Site: http://www.warpworld.ca/index.html

Warpworld Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/warpworld


Warpworld Blog:  http://www.warpworld.ca/comm/


Warpworld Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16107908-warpworld


Kristene Perron Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KristenePerron


Kristene Perron Blog:  http://the-coconut-chronicles.com/


Kristene Perron Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6558050.Kristene_Perron


Joshua Simpson Goodreads  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6564014.Joshua_Simpson

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