My trip to URUGUAY!

I haven't posted anything for awhile

as I was out of the country

attending a wedding & visiting family

in Montevideo, Uruguay, South America.

While there, I saw a lot of Urban Art displays, 

including these two literary-themed examples...

...and this fairly recent street portrait of the 

famous Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano.


  
My family also indulged me with visiting various book stores,
my favorite of which was probably Más Puro Verso.
It is located in the Cuidad Vieja (Old City) area of Montevideo,
on the Sarandí pedestrian walkway, 
not far from the The Gateway of Ciudadela 
(the entrance to the old fortress of Montevideo).

The bookstore is huge, selling many products beyond books,
encompassing two floors, including a restaurant.
They also have a pretty decent selection of books in English.

We attended a lot of street fairs,
many of which had one or more displays of used books for sale.
Unfortunately for me, most or all of these were in Spanish.

We ran into this author, Bruno Salvo, a couple of different times 

at the Plaza Constitución in Montevideo, as he was promoting his book. 

Too bad it is in Spanish and I couldn't read it, or I probably would have bought a copy. 

But I did love this cool shirt of his!

LAUNCH PARTY & BOOK REVIEW for "Mustaches for Maddie" by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown

*****(5) out of 5 stars!

Mustaches for Maddie

by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown

SYNOPSIS

Maddie is a normal twelve-year-old girl. Well, except for the fake mustaches she carries in her pocket. She likes to make people laugh and slapping on a mustache, especially a fuzzy pink or neon green one, always gets a smile. Maddie hopes that the class queen, Cassie, will find her mustaches as funny as she does and want to play with her at recess. She's been self-conscious lately because her right arm only feels normal when it's curled against her chest and she's constantly tripping over her feet. But that's probably just part of growing up and not something weird, right?

When Maddie's arm continues to bother her, her parents take her to a doctor who gives them a shocking diagnosis: the cause of the abnormal behavior of her limbs is a brain tumor and she must have surgery to remove it. She's understandably afraid as he describes the procedure, but knows she must find a way to be brave and must face her fears -- all of them -- at the hospital, at home and at school.

She will need all of her courage not only to face her illness, but also to face Cassie at school. Both Cassie and Maddie are auditioning for the same role in the school play, but when Cassie accuses Maddie of lying about her tumor in order to get attention, Cassie's bossiness turns into bullying.

And as Maddie's surgery approaches, she begins to worry more and more about the outcome. What if something goes wrong? What if the doctors don't get all the tumor out of her brain? What will happen to her family? What will happen to her?

It will take all of Maddie's vibrant imagination, a lot of kindness - both given and received - and of course, the perfect mustache to overcome the tough stuff ahead of her.

REVIEW

I found this to be a wonderfully entertaining book, full of life and love and hope!

The majority of the book is a pretty ordinary tale of a relatively normal girl who has to deal with the somewhat typical life of a middle-schooler.  There are family issues to deal with (comprising a couple of parents and four rather pesky brothers), school stuff (including teachers, homework, fellow students, and one big-time bully), and all of the other day-to-day life challenges that a 12-year-old girl has to face.

But it becomes a whole new ballgame when Maddie is diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Suddenly there are a lot more things to worry about and potential outcomes a lot more serious than anything she’s had to deal with before.  The authors bring all of Maddie’s hopes and fears, triumphs and trials to light in a very unique and believable way.  The reader really becomes immersed in the story and is able to put themselves in Maddie’s shoes.

While full of humor and fun, the book is still at it’s core about a young girl facing a brain tumor.  As such, there is a lot of strong emotion to be felt, including some genuinely sad and concerning parts.  Even knowing the outcome of the story ahead of time (since this story is based on the real-life experience of the authors’ daughter, who is still alive and well), there were several times when I was overcome by the emotion of the moment, and some instances that made me breakdown and cry.

About the only part of the book I did not like was the closing scene.  I couldn’t entirely decide if this was supposed to be a dream or a conscious fantasy of Maddie’s, if it was based of actual events happening in real life or was totally fabricated in her imagination, or what.  Despite all of the made-up segments throughout the story, to me this one just didn't seem to jive with the rest.  And while I understand the authors’ reasons for ending the book on such an ambiguous note (since not all such stories have the happy ending that theirs did), I still found it very unsatisfying from a reader’s viewpoint.

Still, the book dealt wonderfully well in a realistic and yet hopeful way with some really delicate issues, including the health crisis faced by Maddie, as well as the bullying problems she faced at school.  Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it for all audiences.

~

My family was lucky enough to attend one of the launch parties for 

"Moustaches for Maddie" 

ahead of its October 3, 2017 release date.

Here's me and my son Mikey with Maddie, Chad & Shelly!

The authors also rolled out a new anti-bullying and pay-it-forward initiative of theirs titled CIA: Compassion in Action! 

You can learn more about it, and get a Compassion in Action Reader's Guide to "Mustaches for Maddie" at MustachesforMaddie.com.

Here's the rest of my family in attendance at the 
"Mustaches for Maddie" Launch Party!

~

I received a free eBook version of this title from the author 

and have willingly provided an honest review.

AUTHOR EVENT - Storymakers Conference 2017!

I met my latest favorite author!

A couple of weekends ago (Sat, May 13, 2017),

my wonderful hubby drove me down to the Storymakers Conference

so that I could meet Tamara Grantham

author of the "Olive Kennedy, Fairy World, MD" series!

I somehow even got my hubby to pose for a photo with us!

Tamara was just delightful and it was an absolute pleasure to meet her.

If you haven't read "Dreamthief," the first book in her Fairy World MD series, 

you can pick it up for FREE on Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook!

There are currently six volumes in the series, 

with Tamara working on the seventh and final book.

~

Additionally, while at Storymakers, I got
"Dead on Arrival (A Shandra Covington Mystery, #2)"
signed by the author Jeffrey S. Savage!
Did you notice that he looks amazingly like that J. Scott Savage guy?   ;-)
And even though I've had my photo taken with him about a bazillion times, 
but he always graciously agrees to pose for yet another one!

I also met Ilima Todd 
and got her to sign my copy of "Remake,"
the first book in her "Remake" duology!

The LDStorymakers Conference is sponsored by the LDStorymakers Author Guild. 

The guild consists of authors across all publishing platforms that are members of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (hence: Latter-day Storymakers) 

that have met a list of publishing benchmarks and are committed to the values of their faith.  

But the conference, however, is open to everyone.

AUTHOR EVENT - Spring Into Books 2017!

We attended the "Spring Into Books" event at the Viridian Center yesterday.

Here's my son Mikey with his name-buddy Mikey Brooks,

holding the set of the "Dream Keeper Chronicles" I had just purchased for him.

And here's my son Mikey with Jared Quan

and his newly purchases copy of "Changing Wax."

Here are all of the bookmarks and other book swag we got at the event!

This is an annual event sponsored by the League of Utah Writers - Oquirrh Chapter, 

Salt Lake County Library Services, and the West Jordan Arts Council.

The event included a huge book sale and signing by local authors and artists,

hands on workshops and presentations, book readings by local authors, 

door prizes, a children's activity area, and a book drive!

LAUNCH PARTY for "Potions in the Pizza (The W.H.O. Files, #1)" by Mikey Brooks

Over the weekend, I was priviledged to attend the Launch Party for

"Potions in the Pizza  (The W.H.O. Files, #1)" by Mikey Brooks!

Synopsis:

10­-year-­old twins Ethan and Emmy’s parents have never told their kids what they do for a living. Then just before Halloween, while their parents are away on an emergency business trip, Ethan, Emmy, and their best friend Jax discover a HUGE secret: could the twins’ parents actually be . . . witch hunters?

Meanwhile at school, a new team of glamorous lunch ladies arrives on the scene, serving meals that taste way too good to come from a school cafeteria. There’s only one logical explanation: they’re witches, and the meals they serve are spiked with a dangerous potion! Why have witches come to Roosevelt Elementary? Where have Ethan and Emmy’s parents gone? Can it be a mere coincidence that their parents left just as the witches arrived? Whether they’re ready or not, Ethan and Emmy have only one option if they want to save their school and find their parents: become witch hunters themselves.

W.H.O. Files on Goodreads!          Mikey on Facebook!

Shakespeare's First Folio!

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to see

First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death,

this is a nationwide, touring exhibition

that will visit all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico in 2016.

After Shakespeare's death in 1616, 

two of his friends and partners in the King's Men - John Heminge and Henry Condell -

assembled 36 of his 38 plays, creating the First Folio.

Currently on loan from the Folger Shakespeare Library,

this 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare, probably had a print run of 750 copies, 

of which, fewer than a third - only 233 copies - are known to be in existence today.

Of the 36 plays included in the First Folio, 18 had never been printed before.

Without it, these works could very well have been lost to history.

Below is the First Folio, open to one of Shakespeare's most famous passages,
the "to be or not to be" speech from Hamlet.

Although not on display in this exhibit, 

the image below is from the title page of the First Folio.

It is one of only two images of William Shakespeare approved by those who knew him.

(The other one is a memorial bust in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.)

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts.

-- As You Like It (2.7.146-149) 

CONGRATS to the 1st American to win Man Booker Prize!

Paul Beatty for his satirical novel “The Sellout.” 

Read the full story in this Washington Post article.

LAUNCH PARTY for Shelly Brown's "Ghostsitter"

I attended the Halloween Launch Party for Shelly Brown's "Ghostsitter" today 

with my son, and we had a delightful time. She and her hubby are both so sweet!

I have to admit that I haven't yet read "Ghostsitter," 

but my son loved it and I am looking forward to it!

I have, however, read all of the "Cragbridge Hall" series, and they were a blast!