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The Mystics of Mile End

10/16/2015

2 Comments

 
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About the Book: 
Paperback:
 320 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 13, 2015)
Sigal Samuel’s debut novel, in the vein of Nicole Krauss’s bestselling The History of Love, is an imaginative story that delves into the heart of Jewish mysticism, faith, and family.
“This is not an ordinary tree I am making.
“This,” he said, “this is the Tree of Knowledge.”
In the half-Hasidic, half-hipster Montreal neighborhood of Mile End, eleven-year-old Lev Meyer is discovering that there may be a place for Judaism in his life. As he learns about science in his day school, Lev begins his own extracurricular study ofthe Bible’s Tree of Knowledge with neighbor Mr. Katz, who is building his own Tree out of trash. Meanwhile his sister Samara is secretly studying for her Bat Mitzvah with next-door neighbor and Holocaust survivor, Mr. Glassman. All the while his father, David, a professor of Jewish mysticism, is a non-believer.
When, years later, David has a heart attack, he begins to believe God is speaking to him. While having an affair with one of his students, he delves into the complexities of Kabbalah. Months later Samara, too, grows obsessed with the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life—hiding her interest from those who love her most–and is overcome with reachingthe Tree’s highest heights. The neighbors of Mile End have been there all along, but only one of them can catch her when she falls.
Purchase Links
Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Review: 
The Myer family lives in Montreal’s Mile End neighborhood.  The neighborhood is mostly made up of Hasidic Jews and a few random Hipsters.  Father, David is a professor of Jewish Mysticism, but no longer believes since the passing of his wife.  Samara, is thirteen and secretly planning her bat mitvah.  Lev idolizes his older sister and has found a task by helping his neighbor Mr. Katz.  Mr. Katz is attempting to build the Tree of Life out of toilet paper rolls, dental floss and green painted leaves. 
There are a lot of things going on in this book concerning each family member as they go through cycles of hope, fear and loss.  The writing is fantastically layered where details come out one by one.  The characters are what truly make this story wonderful.  Each character is searching for something, something to believe in, and something to hold on to.  Samara and Lev have a great relationship and l love that when left to their own devices for dinner they make mac and cheese with M&M’s and pizza with gummy bears.  As the Tree of Life infiltrates each of their lives, David, Sam and Lev have a chance at falling deeper.  This story is wonderfully complex, one that you will have to sit with and think about.  It combines science and religion, fantasy, heartbreak, family, and most of all, hope.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 


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About the Author: 
Sigal Samuel is a writer and editor for The Jewish Daily Forward. She has published fiction and journalism in The Daily Beast, TheRumpus, BuzzFeed, Tablet, The Walrus, Event, Descant, Grain, Prairie Fire, Room, and This Magazine, among others. She has been a featured writer atthe Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and a winner of Room’s writing contest. Her plays have been produced in Montreal, Vancouver and New York City, winning Solo Collective Theater’s Emerging Playwrights’ Competition and The Cultch’s Young Playwrights’ Competition. While pursuing her MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia, Sigal won the Laura Fowler Award for outstanding women in the fine arts. She received the Lionel Shapiro Award and the Chester Macnaghten Prize for creative writing from McGill University. Originally from Montreal, she now lives and writes in Brooklyn.
Visit Sigal at her website and connect with her on Twitter.

2 Comments

Animals Have Feelings, Too!

10/12/2015

1 Comment

 
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About the Book: 
Title
: Animals Have Feelings, Too!: Exploring Emotions From A to Z
Author: Karen Lee Stevens
Publisher: All for Animals
Pages: 32
Genre: Children’s Picture Book
Filled with humor and whimsical illustrations, this enchanting and educational A to Z guide takes young readers on a journey through the alphabet with a lovable Labrador retriever named Sandy, who shows kids that animals and people share many of the same feelings. From A is for Affectionate to Z is for Zonked, Animals Have Feelings, Too! helps children to understand and express their feelings and to treat animals with kindness and respect.
For More Information
  • Animals Have Feelings, Too!: Exploring Emotions From A to Z is available at Amazon.
  • Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.


Review: 
Sandy the Labrador Retriever has many feelings and she wants you to know all about them.  Sandy the dog has feelings like you and me.  Sandy can feel affectionate, frightened, lonely and overjoyed, emotions that we feel everyday.  As Sandy goes through an alphabet of emotions, she explains how she expresses each of these emotions as a dog and what each of these emotions means to her.  Sandy not only helps kids explore a variety of emotions, but helps them to see that animals experience these same emotions, but may show them in different ways.  With compassion and respect, Sandy the Labrador will help guide children through a range of emotions. 

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About the Author: 
​Karen Lee Stevens is the founder and president of All for Animals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a compassionate world for animals and children through humane education and literacy programs that nurture the human-animal bond.
Karen is also an author and a Certified Humane Educator who, for the past 14 years, has given presentations to thousands of elementary school children and has helped them learn how to treat animals with love and respect.
In February, 2013, Karen launched ARF! (Animals + Reading = Fun!), a unique literacy program that gives children from all walks of life an opportunity to improve their reading skills and inspire them to become life-long readers by reading aloud to specially trained therapy dogs.
Her latest children’s picture book is Animals Have Feelings, Too!: Exploring Emotions From A to Z.
For More Information
  • Visit Karen Lee Stevens’ website.
  • Connect with Karen on Facebook and Twitter.
  • Contact Karen.

Read A Book Excerpt:
Hi Kids,
 
My name is Sandy and I’m a yellow Labrador retriever. Most of the time, I’m a happy-go-lucky pup, but once in awhile, I feel lonely or grumpy, too. Just like you, I experience lots of different emotions (that’s a BIG word for feelings).
 
When I’m happy, I wag my tail and let out a soft ruff-ruff-ruff as if to say Let’s play! When I’m annoyed or frightened, I may grumble and growl, meaning Back off, buddy! Stay away!
 
My feline friend, Willow, likes to remind me that I’m not perfect, but I love her anyhow. And that’s why I’ve asked her to help me introduce you to my very favorite feeling words. I hope you’ll share them with your human family and, of course, your furry and feathered friends!
 
Love,
Sandy
1 Comment

The Assassin

10/1/2015

1 Comment

 
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About the Book: 

The Assassin by Pamela DuMond 
(Mortal Beloved, #2) 
Publication date: July 5th 2015
Genres: Time-Travel, Young Adult
Synopsis:“All the excitement of Outlander if it was a YA series.”

THE ASSASSIN IS the anticipated sequel to the YA Time Travel romantic thriller — THE MESSENGER.

The Messenger has been optioned for Film/TV.

The Assassin will be featured in Glamour UK Magazine September 2015 edition.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Time Traveler. Messenger. Beloved. Spy.

“I was a Messenger: I kept the memory of all our encounters, our lives, like a locket that brushes the skin and bones covering my heart. But Samuel was a Healer: he didn’t time travel. His kind lived, died, re-incarnated, and he didn’t retain memories from his past lives. Every year I landed in required starting our relationship over: from ashes, from scrap… Every place I journeyed had beauty as well as darkness; all my time-travels were bittersweet.” ~ Madeline.

Madeline’s a Messenger: time traveling across lifetimes and delivering messages that could change one life or many. When she discovers that her true love, Samuel, is alive in present day, but doesn’t remember her from their past, she journeys to a deadly royal conflict in medieval Portugal hoping to rekindle his memory. Mortal assassins as well as dark-souled time travelers seek to kill her. Will Madeline and Samuel be together again in life—or only in death?

THE SEEKER (Mortal Beloved, Book Three) publishes Winter 2015/2016.



Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24180925-the-assassin?ac=1

Purchase:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Assassin-Mortal-Beloved-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B01117YZI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436973576&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Assassin+by+Pamela+DuMond
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-assassin-pamela-dumond/1122248774?ean=2940150850910

Purchase book 1 - The Messenger:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Messenger-Mortal-Beloved-Romance-ebook/dp/B007T07YU8/ref=la_B0049J16NS_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388771202&sr=1-5
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-messenger-pamela-dumond/1112924256?ean=9781480038929

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About the Author: 
Pamela DuMond is the author who discovered Erin Brockovich’s life story, thought it would make a great movie and pitched it to ‘Hollywood’.

She writes romantic comedic mysteries, romantic YA time travel and New Adult romance.

Her book The Story of You and Me was a Quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakout Novel Award (ABNA) 2014 in Romance.

Cupcakes, Pies, and Hot Guys was a Quarterfinalist in ABNA 2013 in Mystery .

She’s addicted to TV shows — The Voice and Reign. The movies Love Actually and The Bourne trilogy (with Matt Damon — not that other actor guy,) make her cry ever time she watches them. (Like — a thousand.)

When she’s not writing Pamela’s also a chiropractor and cat wrangler. She loves reading, the beach, working out, movies, TV, animals, her family and friends. She lives in Venice, California with her fur-babies.

She likes her coffee strong, her cabernet hearty, her chocolate dark, her foods non-GMO and she lives for a good giggle.

Author links:
https://www.facebook.com/pameladumondauthor/timeline/
https://twitter.com/Pamela_DuMond
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4430293.Pamela_DuMond
http://www.pameladumond.com/
​

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    Hi there! I'm Stephanie and I obviously love reading.  As, the title suggests, I read at least one hundred pages a day.  I enjoy most book genres; however, my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, horror and YA.  I also read a lot of non-fiction science and gardening books for my occupation.  I enjoy reviewing books and as always, any book that I receive for free is read in return for my honest review.  

    ​https://share.simonandschuster.com/stephanierhildreth

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