#Spotlight & #Giveaway: What Does God Sound Like? by #BernieDiPasquale @iReadBookTours @AuthorBernieD

Book Details:

Book Title: What Does God Sound Like? by Bernie DiPasquale
Category: Children's Fiction, 34 pages
Genre: Children's Books, Values & Virtues, Christian Books
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Release date: September 14, 2016
Tour dates: June 25 to July 20, 2018
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

We tell our kids that God is everywhere. Pray and maybe He will answer. But if God is everywhere and has created all things, then He must be talking to us all the time. This is my short story to help my Grandchildren understand they can talk with God all day, every day, everywhere.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ 

Add to Goodreads

Watch the trailer:

Meet the Author:

Bernie was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and now resides in Joppa, a small community just a bit north up the I-95 corridor. He has spent his entire professional career in Education and Financial Services. More importantly, he is a Husband, Father, and Grandfather to a beautiful family.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook 

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends July 28, 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Spotlight: The New Adventures of A.R. Achnid by Sandi Smith #SandiSmith #NewAdventuresofARAchnid

Book Details:

Book Title: The New Adventures of A.R. Achnid (Revised Edition)
Author: Sandi Smith
Illustrator: Kathy Lee
Category: Children's Fiction, 126 pages
Genre: Children's Chapter Book, Animals, Bugs & Spiders
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Release date: January 3, 2017
Tour dates: June 18 to July 13, 2018
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

Harold! There goes that spider! See, he is running on the floor! That spider has to go. He cannot live here anymore!!! Oh, no! Beth looks very, very angry. What has A.R. Achnid done now? Well, before A.R. got into big trouble with Beth, he had a lot of wonderful adventures.

There are ten different adventures in this book. There is the time he went to the circus and rode on a balloon and then had some shoo fly pie. Another day, A.R. and Rex (a Great Dane, who is A.R.’s best friend) decided to walk all the way into town, and they had such a wonderful time. Then, A.R. and his family went to New York City for the biggest craft fair ever (which was for spiders only), plus many, many other adventures.

Unfortunately, in the tenth story, A.R.’s current living situation is going to need an adjustment. Something changes in the lives of Harold and Beth (the humans) that will make things very difficult for A.R. Come along with A.R. for some fun, and find out what small bundle will cause problems for A.R. and his family.

As A.R. says, “Spiders rule!”

To follow the tour, please visit Sandi Smith's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Add to Goodreads

Watch the book trailer:

Meet the Author:

Sandi Smith spent her time as a young girl combing the shelves of the public library. She has always enjoyed the magic that books have to offer and was inspired by her high school English teacher, Mr. Coolidge to embrace the arts. The author found her calling as a writer early one morning as her first story came to her in the form of a poem. Since then she has written more than 15 children’s books, with her most popular series about the adventures of an adorable spider in the A.R. Achnid series.

Sandi is happily married to her inspiration and husband of 40 years, John. She continues to write for her two precious grandchildren. When she’s not penning a new story, Sandi and John like to camp, kayak and to enjoy the simple life in their home in Pembroke, NH.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook 

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends July 21, 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Review: You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner #Deaf #DeafCulture #StreetArt #YA

Summary:
When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off—and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.


My review:
This YA book is one of the best I have read and that I simply could not put down once I started reading it. The main character, Julia, is a street artist that is Deaf. That alone made me intrigued by the book as there are very few books written with the main character being Deaf.
In addition, Julia has two moms who are also Deaf.

Julia finds great solace in her street art and takes great pains to make her art just right. However, in a new community, she finds that someone had decided to take Julia on, and tags her art by one-upping her. Who is this person or persons? Why have they chosen her? If they are so good, why don't they do their own work?

The book drops hints throughout who the person or persons might be. However, the twist was so well done that I did not know until near the end of the book.

The author does an amazing job of immersing the reader into the Deaf culture as well. She illustrates how people often interact with Deaf people and give a peek into what it is like for the person.

The author also gives a hint what it may be like having same-sexed parents but does not make that big of a deal over it. It could, however, leave open a possible sequel to this book and a continuation of where the book left off.

I highly recommend this book for young adults and adults to read. There is certainly much discussion that could come from this book as well.

5 stars!

Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book from my local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle aka Naila Moon

Goodreads

#Review: Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan #Middlegrade #Fairytales #graphicnovel

Summary:
The scene: New York City. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words “Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL.” In a moody, cinematic new telling of a beloved fairy tale, extraordinary graphic novelist Matt Phelan captures the essence of classic film noir on the page—and draws a striking distinction between good and evil.


My Review:
This book is a terrific twist on the classic fairy tale, Snow White. 

Set in the 1920's Depression Era, Snow is the daughter of a Wallstreet tycoon. Her step-mother is a former Zigfield Follies star, and her rescuers (Seven in all) are a group of ragtag muffins that run the streets. I love this setting and it fits well with the retelling of the classic story.

 The author did the whole book in muted, black, grey, and white watercolor which to me, gave a nod to that time period. The whole book is done with pictures and very few words, which are really not needed due to the author's excellent work. Even though I generally do not read graphic novels, I would like to read more from this author. 

Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book at my local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle aka Naila Moon