Showing posts with label Middle grade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Middle grade. Show all posts

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Book Review: Middle Grade Hawaiian Island Detective Club, book 3


Ukuleles Undercover (Hawaiian Island Detective Club, book 3)  Cheryl Martin



Middle Grade Readers
Comfort Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1938388286
Paperback, $8.99 

When threats and warnings intermingle with the melodic sounds of ukuleles at the local music school, Leilani and The Hawaiian Island Detective Club members set off to solve another case! Who could be behind the threats? Could it be Leilani's mean math teacher, Mr. Edwards, who also happens to be her mom's new boyfriend? Or, perhaps it's Chad Rivers, Mrs. Lee's former boyfriend. Can Leilani learn to balance the case with her own new-found love? Could there be a third culprit in their midst? One thing is for sure: when it comes to the Hawaiian Island Detective Club, some things aren't what they seem! 

My review:

What a delight to catch up with the Hawaiian Island Detective Club. They’ve had a busy summer, and now that Leilani’s cast is off her arm, she’s surfing again—with the cute new boy in the neighborhood who is in her grade at school.
This time pesky little brother Kimo is responsible for the new mystery, when he reports that someone is leaving nasty notes at his after-school music lessons. Leilani’s more of an outdoor girl, and the thought of playing a musical instrument, even if it was a joyful memory of her late father’s ukulele playing, makes her cringe. Worse than staying inside three times a week to be embarrassed at music is the fact that her math teacher, strict Mr. Edwards, might be romantically linked to her mom!
Join the charming group of eighth graders as they delve into their latest adventure to help Kimo’s music teacher, klutziness, hives, and dreamboat eyes included. Kids will love the humor and feel at home with these characters; grown-ups will remember all the angst and sweetness of being on the verge of teenaged.
 
Cheryl Martin is a graduate of the University of Oregon. After pursuing a successful Parks and Recreation career, Ms. Martin now focuses on her passion - writing mystery novels. The Hawaiian Island Detective Club combines her love of all things Hawaiian and her fascination with intrigue. A wife and mother of three grown children, memories of raising her spirited kids inspire many of her characters' quirks, relationships, and mishaps.

Monday, June 11, 2012


Introducing Tim Fox's new book
Journeys: An Ice-Age Adventure

Journeys; An Ice Age Adventure

About the Book
Twelve year-old Mark Jamison is a thinker and a worrier. Ten year-old Barry is attuned to nature, but his focus quickly shifts from one item to the next. The brothers’ lives are further complicated by family tragedies. Their dad’s deployment to Afghanistan and their mom’s illness both ended badly. Rather than a wonderful journey, life has been hard. But when the boys discover a mastodon tooth and a spear point in the Baraboo Hills, powerful forces are unleashed that carry them across ages and propel them onto the adventure of two lifetimes. The brothers journey with mastodons and Paleo-Indians amid the landscape of Ice Age Wisconsin. They face giant predatory mammals, as well as predators of the human variety. They witness acts of courage and sacrifice. And through it all, the boys gain more of the strength, wisdom, and hope needed to face the obstacles of life’s journey.

Journeys; An Ice Age Adventure is a story that inspires excitement, laughter, and tears. Above all, it reminds us of the importance of hope and a sense of wonder.

Links
Journeys; An Ice Age Adventure website
ISBN 978-0-9856411-0-8
*teacher guide available here  

About the Author:
After a fourteen year teaching career, I had a fierce desire not only to write, but to pass on something special to my own kids. I love the Wisconsin landscape and feel a strong pull to its Ice Age connections – glacially sculpted landforms, fossil finds, Paleo Indian artifacts. These fuel my imagination and are part of what impelled me to write Journeys; An Ice Age Adventure.

Tim Fox is a personal fitness trainer and “Olympic-style” weightlifting coach. He can’t resist picking up big, heavy things!