Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for December, 2010

ABOUT THE BOOK

Forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon returns home for Christmas but discovers Richmond, Virginia, running low on goodness and light.

Although her exemplary service in Seattle lifted her disciplinary transfer, Raleigh lands a hometown civil rights case riddled with problems that could get her sent away again. When she helps out a fellow cop, her life goes on the line, forcing her undercover in a sting operation. As Raleigh realizes the lines are crossing and double-crossing, her domestic life starts to unravel. Her mother’s mental health cracks like ice, her closest friend grows cold, and her old boyfriend DeMott comes a-calling, hoping for more than chestnuts by an open fire.

While the city glows with Christmas lights and carols, Raleigh is forced to rely on her sharpest skills to stay alive, hoping for that one clear moment when everything makes sense and the clouds roll away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR PLUS A KINDLE GIVEAWAY!

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons. Find out more about Sibella and her other books at her website.

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Clouds Roll Away by giving away a KINDLE prize pack worth over $150.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi
• $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com

To enter simply click on one of the icons below! Then tell your friends! Winner will be announced January 3, 2011, on Sibella’s blog.

MY THOUGHTS

I’ve not had the opportunity to read Sibella’s book yet. I think it’s one of the mystery packages waiting for me at the local post office. We arrived at the post office just after they closed at noon on Christmas Eve and discovered 2 package notices, so I’ve been waiting in anticipation all weekend to find out what’s in my packages!

The Clouds Roll Away is the 3rd Raleigh Harmon novel. Having not read the previous books or this one, I’m not sure if it is a good stand-alone book or better if read in order.

If you’d like to find out other readers’ thoughts on The Clouds Roll Away, visit the Litfuse blog tour schedule.

Disclosure: This book was offered to me for free via Litfuse Publicity Group. The opinions I have expressed under My Thoughts are entirely my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

ABOUT THE BOOK

Often cited as Maud Hart Lovelace’s (of Betsy-Tacy fame) best novel, Emily of Deep Valley is now back in print with a new foreword by acclaimed young adult author Mitali Perkins and new archival material about the characters’ real lives.

Emily Webster, an orphan living with her grandfather, is not like the other girls her age in Deep Valley, Minnesota. The gulf between Emily and her classmates widens even more when they graduate from Deep Valley High School in 1912. Emily longs to go off to college with everyone else, but she can’t leave her grandfather. Emily resigns herself to facing a “lost winter,” but soon decides to stop feeling sorry for herself. And with a new program of study, a growing interest in the Syrian community, and a handsome new teacher at the high school to fill her days, Emily gains more than she ever dreamed…

In addition to her beloved Betsy-Tacy books, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote three stories set in the fictional town of Deep Valley: Winona’s Pony Cart, Carney’s House Party and Emily of Deep Valley. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be delighted to find the Deep Valley books available again for the first time in many years.

If you would like to browse inside Emily of Deep Valley, go HERE.
MY THOUGHTS

I am so glad that a publisher decided to reissue Emily of Deep Valley! It’s a wonderful, wholesome, old-fashioned book that I’ll be hanging on to so my girls can enjoy it in years to come.

Emily of Deep Valley is a coming of age story. Because Emily is caring for her 80-year-old Civil War veteran grandfather, she feels that she can’t leave town and go to college like the rest of her classmates. We follow Emily through the week before her high school graduation and on through the next year. What she discovers is that she doesn’t need a college education to make something of her life. She took her situation and made the most of it. She makes friends, even better friends than her so-called “friends” from her high school class, starts a children’s club and a reading club, and learns how to be content with her situation. And in the midst of her growing up, Emily realizes her high school flame really isn’t that great of a person and instead finds true love.

Some of the issues dealt with in the story include discrimination, loneliness, and depression.

Emily of Deep Valley is a story I don’t remember reading as a child or teen. Author Maud Hart Lovelace has another series that was apparently quite popular called the “Betsy-Tacy” series. I don’t remember those books either but I’m really tempted to scour the shelves of our local library for them.

What age are these books appropriate for? They’re written about high school / college age girls. They’re coming of age stories with romance thrown in. Depending on the maturity level of your daughter and her reading level, any of the teen years, and maybe possibly younger, are appropriate. Author Maud Hart Lovelace does use some uncommon words for today’s reader so it may be helpful to read along with a younger daughter just to make sure she understands what’s happening.

P.S. – Emily of Deep Valley would make a great stocking stuffer book!

Disclosure: I received this book for free via Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. The opinions I have expressed under My Thoughts are entirely my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”