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Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie


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‘Blanco and the Starry Night’ Shows Promise

Blanco and the Starry Night

By Calvin Clay

Indie author, 2023

Genre: Fiction – YA/Fantasy

Pages:  243

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blanco is a thirteen year-old graffiti artist in Los Angeles. He’s a ward of the state. In foster care. Blanco loves art. Paintings. Sculptures. And Van Gogh’s Starry Night, aka: Swirly Sky. All he’s ever really wanted, from as early as he can remember, is a family that wants him. Will a mysterious underground art community fill the bill? And what about the kids in this community who are “saving” art from the evil Master of Shadow? (Think Voldemort and Inkheart’s The Shadow.) Is the “forbidden wing” really haunted? By whom? Why? And what’s up with Smirk?

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Why THIS Debut Novel Reads Like a BOSS

Sitting on Top of the WorldSitting on Top of the World

By Cheryl King

Historical Fiction/Young Adult

Via: Reedsy/Discovery

Launch Date:  December 31, 2021

Some books just grab your attention. Slide down your throat. And wrap themselves around your heart. Sitting on Top of the World is one of those books.   

June Baker is a “girl with gumption.” The “almost fifteen year-old” has to be while she rides the rails in search of work as the family farm hangs in the balance. How she got there and why rounds out the first part of this delightful book. What’s happens next fills the second half. Both pick up steam quickly in this heartwarming, delicious read about family, faith, loss, love, desperation, betrayal, and hope during the Great Depression.

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