Two Wonderful Books by Hope Irvin Marston

Sackets Harbor Powder Monkey: The War of 1812 – Hope Irvin Marston


From Goodreads:


It's 1811 and eleven-year-old Rankin McMullin has joined the warship ONEIDA to fight the British and end the laws that force New York farmers to smuggle their potash across Lake Ontario to Canada in order to survive. As a powder boy on the brig, his job is to carry gunpowder to the carronades. Eventually the shooting war begins. How the first battle ends surprises Rankin and everybody else.


My Thoughts:


This was a wonderful book.  I love reading historical fiction.  The author has done a lot of research into the War of 1812.  As a teacher I can tell you we don’t teach a lot about this war.  I was surprised at how much I learned.  I didn’t know what a powder monkey was. To think that young boys, around the age of 11 served on these war ships and gave their lives at such a young age was surprising.  A powder monkey had to be fast and agile. Their main job was to run up and down the ladders from the deck, bringing gunpowder to the cannons. For that reason alone they were often targeted.  If the person firing the cannons couldn’t get the powder from below then they couldn’t fire their cannon.


I couldn’t understand why Rankin was so set on joining the battle. He seemed almost fearless. His older brother William signed on and was trained to fire the cannon.  One reason they were both signed on was because they could read and write.  Most boys of that time, unless their parents were wealthy were unable to read and write. The bibliography and glossary helped a lot.  For those people like me who want more information the bibliography was perfect.


 
Eye on the Iditarod Aisling’s Quest

From Goodreads


'I was born to race. Born to drive a team of sled dogs. Born to follow my dream of running the Iditarod.' This is the real-life story of a young girl with a big dream. From the time she was three years old, Aisling (pronounced 'Ashley') Lara Shepherd loved watching sled dog racing on television. Inspired by the drive and determination of the dogs and the people who race them, Aisling set out on a personal quest to one day run her own dogs in the famous Iditarod race in Alaska. Follow eleven-year-old Aisling as she conquers obstacles, deals with heartbreak and loss, and achieves great victories—all while keeping her eye on the Iditarod.


 
My Thoughts


From the very beginning I had a connection with Aisling.  When she described her eye condition and surgery I understood. Thyroid disease almost cost me my vision.  I didn’t let it stop me. I wrote and finished my first book while going through my five eye surgeries.  I am not sure anything would make me brave enough to try the Iditarod.  I admire the strength, perseverance, and courage a race like this takes. The fact that Aisling was only eleven years old makes me admire her even more.  The book not only teaches you about the race and all that goes into it, but also gives you a look at Aisling’s life. I do have to mention the illustrations.  Bob Renaud has created a set of illustrations that resemble photographs. They are that good.  I look forward to reading more books by this author.  The amount of research she puts into each and every book makes this something that I really enjoy having on my shelves.  There were two other things I enjoyed in this book besides the glossary that helped me understand the terms I didn’t know. One of them was the list of books she has included that are on the subject of the Iditarod and lesson ideas for teaching about the Iditarod. Now all I need to figure out is how I can bring the Iditarod into my Florida classroom curriculum. Like always when a subject intrigues me, I’m sure I’ll find a way.  This is a definite must read for boys and girls and for shelves in all middle schools.


About the Author (From Goodreads)


Hope Irvin Marston was the founder of the Black River Valley Writers Club and the founder and director of the North Country Children's Writers and Illustrators Workshop. She has taught creative writing workshops at Jefferson Community College and the Jefferson-Lewis Teacher Center for many years. She has also been on staff at Christian Writers Conferences at Hephzibah Heights (MA), Montrose Bible Conference (PA), and a St. Davids Christian Writers Conference at Beaver Falls, Pa. Hope is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and a book reviewer for Church Libraries.


I received copies of the book in exchange for my review.  I was not compensated for it and the comments here are my own.

Two Wonderful Books by Mahamad Ali Elfakir

 The Ancient Secret of the Leprechauns

Three leprechauns, D;Arcy, Lorcan and Scully live in a hidden home on top of a mountain.  Each day they get up with the sun and greet it.  Then they get in their boat and sail to a secret island. This island is actually at the end of the rainbow.  Once there they would push a hidden button on the tree and their pot of gold would come up out of the sand. They greeted  the parrot who lived in the tree above their pot of gold, then spent the rest of the day playing in their gold. At the end of the day they would push a button and their gold would be hidden again. One day they forgot to push the button. When they got up the next day they knew something was wrong. The sea was rough, and when they got to the island their gold was gone.  A group of pirates had seen their gold and stolen it.  Now they must find a way to get their gold back so that they can once again play with it.  This was a wonderfully, cute fantasy.

Stinky Fumes King of the Wild

This story teaches children that it is a good thing to be unique and different. Every year on the first day of Spring the skunks gather for a big party.  The new young skunks get a chance to spray for the first time. Pepper is a new skunk.  He lives with his mother, father and two adopted rabbit brothers.  The rabbit brothers are not allowed to go to the party because the spray would be too strong.  They follow along behind and hide in the bushes.  When it is Pepper’s turn to spray he hears a loud noise and jumps, spraying a large blast that smells like flowers.  Pepper’s brothers new that his spray smelled like flowers but had never told him.  All of the other skunks make fun of him.  Pepper runs off. When the rest of the skunks find themselves in danger it is Pepper that they look to for help.  Read to find out how Pepper and his brothers are able to save the day.

About the Author

Mahamad Ali Elfakir was born in Detroit, Michigan, in January of 1975. He is an entrepreneur who is blessed with a wonderful wife and amazing children. Mahamad’s books also include Blueberry Bubble Gum.

You can find out moreat his website     


I received a copy of these books from the author. The review is my own opinion and I received no other compensation for it.

Life Lived Twice - Sherrie Wouters

Adult, Romance, Fantasy

I received a copy from the author in exchange for my honest review

From Goodreads:

Some promises are made to last forever...

What if you fell in love with a stranger...but that stranger had come from your past, a past you never knew existed until the moment your eyes met?

When Tess Winters locks eyes with a stranger at an airport bookstore, it ignites a feeling of passion somewhere deep inside her that she can't explain.

Although the encounter is innocent and brief, the intensity of it lingers, leaving her overwhelmed by a yearning for the mystery man now consuming her every thought.

Struggling to break the powerful hold he has over her heart, Tess starts to experience strange but familiar dreams...dreams from the turn of the twentieth century of the charming Mr Addison Taylor.

As her dreams start to materialize into reality, and past and present begin to blur, Tess is forced to put the pieces of a forgotten time together, and soon discovers that love isn't the only thing that can find you after an eternity.

Captivating, mysterious, and romantic, Life Lived Twice will leave you wondering whether love is so powerful it could last more than a lifetime.

My thoughts:

Let me tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I watch two or three shows a week.  I read through the show I normally watch.  I tuned my husband and family out.  I didn’t check email or Facebook at all once I started this book. That is how good this book was.

As I started reading this book I felt the writing was almost lyrical the way it flowed.  Tess’s dreams keep taking her back to someone named Lylah and Addison. For years she’d had dreams.  Some of them left her feeling terrified, while others left her feeling somewhat confused.  After a chance encounter at an airport her dreams return. To her the dreams seem so real.  I think that is one thing I loved about this writing.  When in the dream with Lylah, I felt like I was right there with them.  There was such a passion about that time period that the reader can feel it. 

The characters are fleshed out and very believable.  There were enough twists that kept me reading from beginning to end. I don’t read very many romances because I don’t like what I call mushy, gushy romance novels.  This definitely was not one.  There was some suspense and trying to figure things out only to realize that the author had magnificently thrown me off the trail.  Some things I was able to figure out, and I believe the author did not try to hide those things from the reader, she just delayed their discovery, which made them pleasantly like hidden nuggets of gold, that the reader discovers along the way. The small supernatural element was written so as not to offend anyone.  I won’t say what it is because I’d rather you the reader, figure it out. I have to say I did not feel like I was beaten over the head with it.

The book leads you to a wonderful place, then throws the curve of all curves at you. Everyone has read books where the ending left you unsatisfied.  This book leaves you satisfied even though you may not like the ending.  The ending set things up so if the author got enough response she could continue it on in another book, and if not she could end it nicely the way it is.  I am glad to say at this writing the author is two-thirds of the way through the sequel.   In case you can’t hear me I am squealing with delight. I would gladly read and review the second book.

I would definitely recommend this book to all romance lovers who like the addition of a little bit of the supernatural.

Yu can check out the book trailer for this book here

About Sherrie:

A qualified Homeoeopath and Kinesiologist, Sherrie lives in country Victoria, Australia with her husband, and two daughters. She is currently working on the sequel to Life Lived Twice.

You can find her on:

Website

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