Shanda and Mindy interview Adam Glendon Sidwell, author of the new Middle Grade novel EVERTASTER, during his signing at The Chocolate Dessert Cafe (thechocolatedc.com). Visit the blog (ldswbr.com) to find out how you could win a copy of EVERTASTER. (Giveaway ends August 2, 2012). If you are reading this on the LDSWBR blog, see below for details.Music Attribution: Seeing The Future (Dexter Britain) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Mindy and I had a great time interviewing Adam Glendon Sidwell, author of EVERTASTER, a middle-grade novel about Guster and his quest for the ultimate taste. Adam and his brother, Jarom, are graphic artists who have worked on movies like The Avengers, Avatar and Tron. We hope you have as much fun listening to the podcast as we had recording it. Enjoy!
Watch the EVERTASTER book trailer below (click through to the blog to watch):
What would you eat first from that glorious food table?
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EVERTASTER GIVEAWAY
Enter to win a signed copy of EVERTASTER by listening to the podcast and answering the questions in the form below.
Adam Sidwell, author of the fun new middle-grade book, EVERTASTER, is in Utah this weekend for two book signing events. The first is July 20, this Friday night at The Chocolate Dessert Cafe in West Jordan from 5 to 8 PM. Desserts are 10% off with the purchase of a book.
Click for larger view.
The second signing will be Saturday morning at the Provo Farmers Market from 9 AM to 2 PM at the Waffle Love Truck, which sounds like a delicious way to start the day. Purchase a copy of EVERTASTER and get a free waffle topping.
I have been anxiously awaiting Tuesdays at the Castle since Jessica first told us what she was working on back in March 2010. A magical castle that changes every Tuesday (or more often if it feels like it) and an 11-year-old princess that can communicate with it? What a fun idea.
I have yet to read another author with Jessica’s particular talent in fairytale storytelling. Tuesdays at the Castle will appeal to girls and boys- girls because the main character is the youngest princess in a royal family, and boys because Rolf, the second oldest son and the castle’s choice for heir to the throne, must take over and rule the kingdom in the absence of his father.
Prince Rolf, Princess Delilah, and Princess Cecilia fight to keep the castle in the family once their father, mother and oldest brother are attacked on the road and are presumed dead. With the help of the castle (and sometimes the maids) the royal children must fight the evil prince from a neighboring country and the Royal Council who are trying to force Rolf into relinquishing the right to rule.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tuesdays at the Castle. Not only did it bring out the little girl in me, I also enjoyed it from an adult’s perspective. Jessica has taken the seemingly simple story of royal children in a magical castle and added layers of good vs. evil, integrity, hope, humor, obligation, faith, sorrow and loyalty.
Tuesdays at the Castle gets 5 stars out of 5 from me as a well-told story that made me smile and feel young again. I would happily recommend Tuesdays at the Castle to anyone ages eight and older.
Sheila’s Review
Tuesdays at the Castle is a great addition to the writing of Jessica Day George. This book was written for the Middle-Grade group, 8-12, but even I enjoyed it as an adult reader. As a teacher of the targeted age group, I know that they will love this book!
I have always loved castles, especially magical ones. This castle is like no other one, because it is alive. It will do things for the royal family, especially the young Princess Celie. When she wishes to go somewhere or have a door appear, the castle will honor her request.
With the King and Queen of Glower, and their oldest son, Bran, missing and presumed dead, enemies come calling and try to slowly take over the castle and the kingdom. The remaining siblings, Rolf, who will be the new King, and sister Lilah and Celie, will do what ever they can to keep their beloved Glower castle safe.
The things that happen next are exciting and also quite funny. I love the many humorous things that the castle does to protect itself and the royal siblings. It will change and add rooms, hallways and secret passageways. I especially liked when the castle was able to change where many of the rooms were located. The castle would also furnish the rooms, lavishly to almost bare, according to how well it liked the occupants.
I loved many of the characters in this novel, but especially main character, eleven-year-old Princess Celie. She is brave, spunky and downright likable. You bond with her right from the beginning. Celie is a force to reckon with and the bad guys can’t handle her.
All readers will love this new, fun-filled fantasy. It is a fast read that will leave you wanting to read more of Jessica’s work.
Mindy’s Review
Princess Celie is Castle Glower’s favorite. It does things for her that it won’t do for anyone else, opening rooms for her that even her siblings can’t find. All the rooms that open or close in the Castle are for a reason. Whether it is delighting in certain guests by putting them in the lap of luxury, or kicking out (literally) ones it does not like.
Celie takes it upon herself to get to know the in, outs, and arounds of Castle Glower by making an atlas. And after her parents and oldest brother are ambushed, there is never a greater need to know where to go. The Castle is alive, and helps Celie and her siblings escape many dangers and sneak around without being seen. The Castle and Kingdom is in danger of being overrun with the King and Queen presumed dead. In it’s own way, Castle shows Celie, her sister Lilah, and her heir to the throne brother, Rolf how to save themselves.
Jessica Day George is one of my favorite authors, and this book keeps her status very high in my eyes. TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE is very cleverly written, full of fun, and lots of heart. Celie is of course my favorite character with the Castle a close second. Celie is a caring princess who is loved by all in the Castle. I loved reading what clever things Castle would do next. What clever room was added, what book would appear for the siblings to read, or what cloak would appear that helped muffle sound.
5 out of 5 stars. I loved every page. I love that when I finished, I had a huge smile on my face. Jessica, you can write no wrong!
FTC FYI: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Mindy
Smashwords Summary: “When two vicious wolves chase fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark down a path from our world into another, his life is forever changed. He has no idea they have been sent by the Lorkon—evil, immortal beings who are jealous of powers he doesn’t know he possesses—powers they desire to control.
The inhabitants of the new world desperately need Jacob’s help in recovering a magical key that was stolen by the Lorkon and is somehow linked to him. If he helps them, his life will be at risk. But if he chooses not to help them, both our world and theirs will be in danger. The Lorkon will stop at nothing to unleash the power of the key—and Jacob’s special abilities.”
Jacob Clark is very good at basketball. He is excited and anxious for try-outs the next day. Jacob knows he will make the team, and hopes it jump starts an NBA career. His sister Amberly is playing in the sandbox, and his older brother Matt and him just finished a quick shoot out. Jacob thinks he saw something in the bushes, but pays it no mind, until Amberly starts screaming. The boys rush over and see a huge black wolf towering over their little sister. Jacob takes off after them, while yelling at Matt to get Amberly in the house. He runs and runs and winds up in a place he doesn’t recognize. Being chased by weird looking creatures, and meeting strange people is just the start of his journey. Jacob is asked to find the stolen Key of Kilenya from the evil Lorkon. He isn’t sure he wants to. What about his family? What about his future? All that won’t matter if the Lorkon use the key for evil purposes.
The Key of Kilenya struck my interest and got me excited about the story from page one. I appreciate a great fantasy book that I can pass onto my kids without hesitation. I love this unique world that the author creates. I also love the inventive character names. They are clever and imaginative. My personal favorites were Early and September, little fairy like creatures called Minyas. Another cool thing about the story is the magic that the Makalos have. It’s called Rezend, and it can many cool things. Even Jacob has special powers of his own. He just needs to figure out what it is, and hopefully before it’s too late.
Along his journey Jacob meets Aloren. A girl in need of help herself. Jacob isn’t sure about her when they first meet, and has a very funny discussion with himself about her.
He glanced at Aloren again–she was still smiling. What could be so interesting and funny it was making her smile still? Or, maybe her face never relaxed–maybe it was frozen in a smile. He almost stopped walking as this thought occurred to him. Maybe she had a muscular disorder that made her face look like that. Jacob made a mental note to check to see what her face looked like while she was sleeping. He almost laughed out loud when this thought formed in his mind, realizing how awkward it would be if she woke up with him in her sleeping area. He could only imagine what he’d say. “Uh, I’m checking to see if you have a muscle problem in your face that makes you smile all the time.”…
4 out of 5 stars. This book very enjoyable and is an action packed adventure story for all readers. The Key of Kilenya is available on Smashwords for FREE! Find it here. The sequel The Ember Gods was released in September of this year. Find that here.
FTC FYI: I purchased my own copy at Julie and Kevin’s book launch.
A guy who works in his grandfather’s magic shop expects weird things to happen. But Hap Hazzard has never had a day like this. First, a freaky old man in a cape who calls himself “Torval” visits the shop and somehow makes a trash can explode. Then Torval delivers an ominous message to Hap’s grandfather, upsetting the old man so badly that he yells at Hap for the first time ever. Next, this girl Tara shows up to apply for a job, and for reasons Hap can’t understand, his cool magic tricks send her away in tears. But that’s nothing compared to what happens next. Under orders to apologize to Tara, Hap searches for the girl. But he can barely say he’s sorry before three spaceships appear, the biggest of the three looking like a burnt slice of pizza.
The weirdness only ramps up as Hap and Tara soon find themselves aboard the pizza-shaped ship piloted by a pair of aliens. Even though they were accidentally abducted, the two humans are now forced to join an out-of-this-world mission that includes razor-toothed multilingual beetles, a psychic queen bee, manic ape frogs, a coveted crystal, and a hundred other bizarre things that just might make sense-if Hap could only remember and understand Torval’s cryptic message. Join Hap and Tara as they begin a fantastic journey into the far reaches of the universe.
As a 2nd grade teacher I try to read as many books as possible that my students may like reading. Parents always ask me, “What books should I buy for my child?” I never like to answer, “Well I’ve heard that _________ is a good book, but I haven’t read it yet.” Seriously, that is not what they want to hear.
As I read a Middle-Grade book (books written for children ages 8-12), I try to read it from their perspective. In fact, I try to do this with any genre book that I read. I focus in on the target audience and judge/critique from their standards; what they like and would want to read. So, as I read Hazzardous Universe I shifted my thinking to my students. I knew right away that they would love this book! This age group (8-12 year old crowd) is so into space (Star Wars) and aliens. The idea of traveling on a space ship and exploring the Universe is right up their alley. There are great creatures and interesting planets to explore. Wonderful characters, Hap Hazzard and his eventual friend, Tara, learn some good lessons as they take a ride on Nana, the pizza shaped ship. I especially enjoyed the character of Mosh.
I have read books written by Julie Wright before, but this was a new adventure for her writing this Middle-Grade book. It is amazing what she has done with this story. Kevin Wasden, the illustrator, came up with the sketches for Hap and his alien friends back in 1993. When he met Julie, many years later, he knew that she was the one he wanted to write Hap’s story. The illustrations are really wonderful. You can see them by watching the book trailer.
“Kevin and I are in the process of creature creation for book HU3 (that doesn’t sound as cool as HU2, does it? I’ll work on it). This is your chance to get your work in a book! Draw us a picture of an alien creature. It can be as wacky or cool as you’d like. Give us a paragraph of background description on what your creature eats, where it lives, and what its life is like. The contest will run from September 1st through February 14th of 2012. Why February 14th, you ask? Well, because it’s Valentine’s Day, and I LOVE aliens, of course!
The winner of the contest will get a totally out of this universe T-shirt featuring Hap Hazzard and his cohorts, free copies of HU1, HU2 and HU3 when they are released, and your creature featured in HU3.”
To read more about it, head on over to their website for additional details.
I also want to thank Julie for coming to my school for an author visit. The kids loved her!! She got them excited about her book and about believing in themselves. Julie gave a super presentation!
If you would like to purchase Hazzardous Universe, (and why wouldn’t you?), click here.
Last, but not least, meet Julie and Kevin.
Julie Wright has written over a dozen books, but especially loves writing about the fantastic. She enjoys speaking to writing groups, youth groups, and schools. She loves life and everything life has to offer, except mayonnaise and mosquitoes. She especially loves reading, eating (especially ice cream), writing, hiking, playing on the beach with her kids, and snuggling with her husband to watch videos. Julie’s favorite thing to do is watch her husband make dinner.
Kevin Wasden has an overactive imagination, is unable to sit through meetings without drawing, and tends to be silly at the most inopportune moments. He is an advocate of creativity in education and enjoys speaking to youth, writers, artists, and educators. He studied illustration at Utah State University and has studied figure-drawing and painting from the exceptional figure artist, Andy Reiss, in New York City. Kevin teaches visual art at DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts.
FTC FYI: We each received ARCs from the author that did not affect our reviews.
Shanda’s Review
As soon as I received the Janitors ARC, I knew I wanted to read it aloud to my 10-year-old daughter the first time through. I wanted to experience the events in the book for the first time along with her to get the perspective of the book’s intended audience. We read Janitors in just a few days, with many instances of “Mom, are you busy? When can we read more of Janitors?”
This daughter is my avid reader. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s read every Goosebumps book in the school library and three of our local libraries. She devoured all of the 39 Clues books and eagerly awaits the new series. She is currently reading Fablehaven 3 and loving it. She reads several books a week from her classroom library during silent reading. During the last school year she started a book club with two of her friends. I would guess she’s one of the more well-read 10-year-olds in her school.
Several times my daughter asked, “So, this is really the author’s first book?” When I confirmed again that it was, she would say the story was so good, it was hard to believe that it was a first book. Considering how many books she’s read, I would consider that high praise.
While older readers might find certain aspects of Janitors too silly, the humor and adventure is just right for 8-12 year olds. Taking place mostly in the elementary school makes the story highly relatable to this age group. Spencer and Daisy are enjoyable characters. Dez is highly annoying, as bullies often are, but also provides comic relief. The supporting characters are believable, with depth and personality.
One thing I love to find in middle grade novels is accountability and consequence. While it’s great to suspend belief to a degree, kids in this age group are learning a lot about consequences to their actions and they notice if the consequences are missing. Almost immediately after we finished the book, my daughter mentioned that Spencer never apologized to his brother, Max, like Daisy told him to earlier in the book. I had completely forgotten about it.
Spencer and Daisy have to face the consequences of their actions throughout the book. I love how the themes of honesty and trust are woven throughout the story. In fact, honesty and trust are integral to the success of Spencer and Daisy’s efforts.
I have included my daughter’s review of Janitors below:
For an author’s first book, it is a really good book. The book is full of adventures. It was really funny. Dez is funny because he is kind of dumb. Daisy is funny because she believes everything everyone says. I like Spencer because he is very clean and hates germs. Alice, Spencer’s mom, is an interesting character because she always likes to do things herself and does a lot at once.
My favorite character is Spencer because he does a lot of weird and funny things. I think the creatures are really gross. My favorite glopified tool is the broom. I like it because you can float in the air. I liked the beginning of the book. It was very funny and entertaining. I would read Janitors again.
I’ve heard it said that we don’t remember facts as much as feelings. While the details of Spencer and Daisy’s adventures will fade with time, I’ll always remember how I felt every time my daughter gasped and giggled as we read. I give Janitors4 stars out of 5 because my daughter and I had such a good time reading it together. Thanks for the fun read, Tyler. Best wishes to you and the Janitors series.
Sheila’s Review
Janitors is the debut novel by Tyler Whitesides. This book is a perfect read for Middle-Grade readers.
Spencer Zumbro, an awkward twelve year old, is having a hard time adjusting to life at Welcher Elementary. Spencer becomes the target of the classroom bully, Dez. With his only friend, Daisy (Gullible) Gates, they find themselves caught up in a mystery residing at Welcher Elementary.
Spencer finds out that the janitors at the school are the ones hiding the mystery. Soon Spencer and Daisy are dragged in to the excitement by the BEM (The Bureau of Educational Maintenance). They learn why so many of the students are distracted and falling asleep in class. There is a magical force working against the students and Spencer and Daisy fight to stop this from happening.
There are so many things that kids are going to love about Janitors. There is plenty of action and many funny moments, including what happens at the school-wide, PTA-sponsored Ice Cream Social. Of course, don’t forget about the magical elements that are found in this story. There is a great surprise at the end of the book for main character Spencer! This leads perfectly into the second book. I can’t wait to have my nine-year-old son read this book. I know that he is going to love it!
Mindy’s Review
Janitors is the very clever and entertaining story of Spencer and Daisy, and how they get mixed up in the world of janitors. Spencer is new in town and has been having trouble focusing in classes. He moved into his aunt’s house while she is out of town with his messy siblings and flighty mom. His room is his sanctuary, it’s the cleanest room in the whole house. Spencer likes things in order. While Spencer has trouble with the class bully, Dez, he’s especially mean to Daisy “Gullible” Gates. She is sweet girl, but too trusting. Spencer and Daisy become fast friends when they are put into a situation that calls for action.
After using a “special soap” in the bathroom, (it not only took away marker, but burned his face) Spencer starts seeing weird looking creatures. He wants to do something about it, but gets a “back-off” vibe from the school janitor. He stays after school to crash a visit from the BEM (Bureau of Educational Maintenance), and that leads him to make decisions he may not be ready for.
I really liked this book. What I liked most were the lessons learned by the characters. Some examples: telling the whole truth (even it’s about monsters), stand up for what you believe, stand up for yourself, and if something doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t. I also enjoyed the very inventive ways of using common household items as powerful weapons.
One of my favorite quotes about lessons was, “I knew she would trust you,” Daisy said. “It makes a difference when tell the whole truth. No one can trust a chameleon.” (Janitors, page 219)
4 out of 5 stars. Very fun. I enjoyed the twists that the story took, and mostly the way Spencer and Daisy grew. Daisy is a great character, too. I love how she is always on Spencer to do the right thing.
Visit Tyler Whiteside’s website to learn more about the Janitors series.
