On The Bright Side - Shelli Johannes-Wells

This Wonderful Tween Novel is set to come out Tuesday, January 31st.  


I am looking forward to reading and reviewing it at a future date, as well as her first book Untraceable.  




From Goodreads:
As if the devil’s food cake at her wake and the white fat pants she’s stuck wearing for eternity weren’t bad enough, fourteen year-old Gabby is quick to discover that Cirrus, the main rung of Heaven, is a far cry from the Pearly Gates. Here, SkyFones and InnerNets are all the rage. At her first Bright ceremony, G.O.D., the automated assignment system, spits out Angela Black, Gabby’s arch nemesis and longtime fencing rival. As a Bright, Gabby has to protect Angela, her assigned mortal, in order to move up through the training levels of heaven. 

Back on earth, Angela starts hitting on Michael, Gabby’s crush and should-have-been boyfriend. Gabby’s pranks to quell the love are harmless at first until the school dance sabotage gets completely out of control. Then, Celestial Sky Agent, Lawrence, who happens to have anger management issues of his own, steps into reveal that Angela has big problems, and what she really needs is Gabby’s help. 

Determined to right her wrong and ease her mother’s grief, Gabby steals an ancient artifact that allows her to return to earth for just one day. But if Gabby’s not careful, her well-meaning mission just might shift the very foundation of Heaven, Earth, and every place in between, causing the danger of the dark side to roam free. 

About this author:

When Shelli was younger, she spent all her time outdoors, hiking, camping and living the Girl Scout Way. 

Somewhere along the way, she got away from nature and earned an MBA in Marketing, kicking off an 18-year marketing career in Corporate America. 

Eventually, Shelli traded in her expensive suits, high heels, and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and her love of writing. She started her own marketing & communications business, www.bilaninc.com, where she worked with Spanx, Goody Hair Products, Chick Filet, and the Boys & Girls Club of America. 

In addition to juggling nap schedules and client meetings, Shelli focuses on her writing. She is a frequent speaker on marketing and book publicity at SCBWI conferences across the U.S, and runs a popular book marketing blog, Market My Words (www.faeriality.blogspot.com). 

In her spare time (yeah right!) and if the kids allow (yeah right!), Shelli obsesses over movies, reads children’s books (over and over), and still dreams of sleeping in on the weekends. But most importantly, she is finally getting back to her roots by running her own Girl Scout Troop in Atlanta, helping girls get back to nature. 

She currently lives in Atlanta with her dog (Charley), British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess that someday will change the world. 


After checking out this new book, check out her previous book Untraceable

Student Saturday: Incredible Captures - Bill Morgan

Publisher:  Scholastic
Pages:  112
Genre:  Young Adult, Non-Fiction
Reviewer:  Autumn

Incredible Captures by Bill Morgan  the characters are John List, Bobby Comfort, Brinks Gang, Lauren, and Johnny Kon.  They all are criminals.  The crimes take place in apartments, cars, streets, hotels, prison and houses.

The biggest, sweetest, richest robbery ever was in a hotel by Bobby Comfort and some of his friends.  This robbery is listed in the top 10 robberies in America.  There were thousands of boxes with jewelry, money and of course diamonds.  they only took less than half of the boxes because they knew that someone was coming.  Bobby Comfort was only seven years old when he started to steal.  His mom wanted him to steal from his father when he was sleeping.  He stole for himself took and then did even more serious things.  John List's family was about to become homeless so then he killed everybody, even his kids, wife mom and brother.  The Brinks gang started robbing store then hotels.  Lauren started to do crimes by kidnapping a girl and the mother got her back.  Johnny Kon started to do crimes by robbing stores.

This book is about good, bloody, interesting and exciting crimes.  There are a lot of details and descriptions of people and things.  What made the criminals start to do these crimes?  What made them stop?  It' so interesting that I could not put down this book.

I think that this book is good and that if you like to watch Americas Most Wanted or mysteries and crimes, then I would think that you will love this book.  I read this book in less than half a day.

Liesl & Po - Lauren Oliver

Liesl & Po – Lauren Oliver

Illustrated by Kei Acedera

Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Pages:  320

Genre:  Middle Grade, Fantasy

I have always loved ghost stories.  It never mattered if they were funny or scary.  This was a great ghost story.  This was one of those ghost stories that was full of evil people and ghosts who reach out and touch your heart.  Liesl has recently lost her father.  She misses him terribly.  Her step-mother has kept her locked in the attic for months slowly starving her while her very own daughter has been forced to play the role of Liesl. 

Will was an orphan adopted by an alchemist to be his apprentice.  The alchemist has no desire to teach him how to create magic.  His desire is to use the boy to run errands.  He too has little to eat, his clothes are too big for him and he has never heard a kind word.  Will runs errands each night for the alchemist and takes a route that allows him to gaze at a young girl in an attic.  He is worried because her light has not been on in her room for several days.  He dreams of them becoming friends.  He’s never had a friend.  On this night he has to make a delivery of a box of magic to an important lady, then he must  go to the grey mans” place to pick up some items for the alchemist.  The grey man disposes of bodies.  On this night he has sitting on his bench in a jewelry box the ashes of Liesl’s father.  Will arrives and gives the grey man his list.  The warmth from  the fire lulls him to sleep.  When he leaves he mistakenly picks up the wrong box.  From here things get interesting.

Liesl is suddenly visited by two ghosts, Po and Bundles.  She becomes friends with them.  In exchange for a picture Po agrees to go back to the other side to look for her father.  He finds him and goes back to tell Liesl of his discovery and that his father just wants to go to the willow tree.  This is where her mother is buried.  This is where her father planned on being buried one day.  Liesl decides she must  find a way to escape the attic and take her father’s ashes to the willow tree.

Because of the mix up Will, Liesl, Po and Bundles cross paths as they find themselves on the run from one kind hearted man and three evil beings.  The author’s note at the end explains how the book came about.  I could relate to her reasons.  It is a story that will touch your heart in so many ways.  The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful. 

This is a great book.  I was excited when I receive an email advertising the opportunity to read this book free until January 31st.  I had seen it listed on several blogs.  The premise made it very appealing.  I have had it on my list for quite some time.  I can’t wait to purchase this for my students so they may enjoy such a wonderful book.