Blog Tour (Review): Little Robot by Ben Hatke #Giveaway @MacKidsBooks @01FirstSecond #kidlit #littlerobot

Welcome to my stop on the review tour for Little Robot by Ben Hatke! I'm very excited to share my thoughts on the book with you, especially because I was able to read this with my daughter. There is also a giveaway provided by our friends at First Second Books!



Title: Little Robot
Author: Ben Hatke
Publisher: First Second (Macmillian)
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Acquired Via: Publisher
When a little girl finds an adorable robot in the woods, she presses a button and accidentally activates him for the first time. Now, she finally has a friend. But the big, bad robots are coming to collect the little guy for nefarious purposes, and it's all up to a five-year-old armed only with a wrench and a fierce loyalty to her mechanical friend to save the day!

#1 New York Times Bestselling author Ben Hatke brings his signature sweetness to a simple, moving story about friendship and overcoming fears that will appeal to readers of all ages.

My Review

I could review Little Robot like I normally do, but instead I'll tell you about my little girl's reaction to it. I have an eight year old daughter who is still trying to love reading. She doesn't read often, and she is very particular about what she will pick up. That being said, I had to pry Little Robot out of her hands so I could finally read it.

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): Root Bound by Tanya Karen Gough

Root Bound Tour Schedule



Title: Root Bound (Emma & the Elementals #1)
Author: Tanya Karen Gough
Publisher: Baba Yaga Press
Acquired Via: CBB Book Promotions
Release Date: June 3, 2012
Root Bound is a fast-paced, action fantasy novel about a young girl finding her place in the world through a series of adventures involving magical creatures, and a journey to the centre of the earth. Root Bound is both a topsy-turvy riff on traditional literary children's fantasy and an allegorical coming-of-age tale.

Emma and her father, a jazz musician, are always on the move, travelling from place to place as her father’s work demands. Their new home, however, is different. There’s a frightening woman who lives down the hall: she bears an uncanny resemblance to a witch. A mysterious light comes from her apartment, and a small boy seems to be trapped inside.

School in this town is no happy place either, with an odd principal and a gang of girls who make tormenting Emma their special project. And strangest of all is the fact that there seem to be brownies - basement brownies, in the air vent in her bedroom. They are searching for the Wanderer, a powerful being who can help free the Crown Prince of Under from the black magic prison that holds him. Emma travels through the brownie burrow to the valley of Hades to visit with the goddess Ceres, following a series of clues that lead her across the sea of memory to the centre of the world. There, on an inhospitable rock floating in a sea of steaming lava, Emma must find a way to free the prince, release her mother from the sea of memory, and restore magic to both the brownie burrow and the human world above.

My Review

Root Bound is a fun-filled, middle grade fantasy novel by Tanya Karen Gough that reminded me of other children's novels, The Littles by John Peterson and The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Root Bound is different in that the magical creatures - brownies - only came to "Over" (the human realm) because "Under" (where the brownies live) was in trouble. The main character in the novel is Emma, who just moved to a new house because of her father's latest music gig.

Book Blast (Giveaway): Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams

Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire (Heroes in Training #4)
The action heats up for Zeus and his fellow Olympians in this blazing Heroes in Training tale.

Phew, it’s hot! Under the titan Hyperion’s rule, the sun is burning even brighter than normal and scorching everything in northern Greece—including the villagers! The Olympians are forced to play a sizzling “game” of Dodge the Sunbursts as Hyperion hurls giant fireballs that could fry them to pieces!

Armed with some clues, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades set out to figure out why in the world Hyperion has been making things so hot. They also need to rescue Hera, who is still missing. Battling the extreme heat—and some fantastical and scary creatures, courtesy of their old foe Cronus—the boys are off on another epic adventure…and Zeus is one step closer to discovering his destiny.

Buy Links
Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble


Praise for the Heroes in Training

Book Blast (Giveaway): Persephone the Daring by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams

Persephone the Daring (Goddess Girls #11)
Mortal rock star Orpheus steals the spotlight in this Goddess Girls tale of love and lyres!

Orpheus is a mortal rock god, and the girls at Mount Olympus Academy are wild about him! With his lyre and singing voice, Orpheus can charm pretty much anything—even things like stones and trees. But Hades and the other MOA boys aren’t charmed. In fact, they are less than thrilled that the girls are so gaga over this guy.

His fans are especially excited about his latest song about the girl he loved and lost, Eurydice. Orpheus was devastated when he lost Eurydice to the Underworld, so he asks Persephone to help get her back. Though it means breaking some very serious Underworld rules, Persephone pushes Hades to return Eurydice to the living world. But restoring Orpheus’s one true love might jeopardize Persephone’s own chances with her biggest crush...

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Praise for the Goddess Girls

“…a clever take on Greek deities…” - Booklist

"Readers familiar with Greek myths should get a kick out of this plucky restaging." - Publisher's Weekly

J is for Juvenile

I have found that there are two kinds of voracious readers - those who read from childhood on and those who read after finding a special book once they get a little older. (Don't shoot holes in this today - just roll with it.) I know if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, that I began reading when I was little. Instead of me going crazy and writing a novel-length post about great juvenile literature (I could very easily), I will list a FEW that were my favorites* as a child. Yes, I know I am leaving great ones out. It is going to hurt me to do it, but these are the ones that I found myself reading over. And over. And over. Also, the ones that I've listed which are the first in a series represent the entire series.

I am perfectly aware what a strange mixture it is that you see, but this is what I read and reread that qualifies as juvenile. (Click on the titles to find out more about them.)

Midnight in the Dollhouse by Marjorie Filley Stover
A Certain Magic by Doris Orgel
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Jennifer Murdley's Toad by Bruce Coville
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

You can fill in your favorites in the comments. It will help us both cope with this short post. I am also trying to play catch-up on returning visits and comments. I was out of town over the weekend, so I'm a little (okay, a lot) behind on All The Things. :-)


*I began reading adult level literature when I was seven or eight, so most juvenile fiction that I have read was as an adult. Yes, I know that is odd. Blame Piers Anthony.

My A to Z Master List

W1-2k12 Wrap Up

That title looks like a whole lot of stinky nonsense, doesn't it? Let me break it down for you folks that have a case of the Sundays, and the brain is on sleep mode until Monday.

W1 = Week One
2k12 = Two thousand and twelve AD, CE, or The Years The Mayans Chose For Us To Die
Wrap Up = Yeah, I think you have this one. If not, you can still party with me.

So, this is a new thing (obviously) since the blog is still new. Please, disregard the echo. Unless you like that sort of thing. I suppose this is somewhat like being isolated in the mountains. ::ponders:: Anyways, I need to stay on subject. I'm going to share with you what I read last week, as well as what released that I have read. Don't let that confuse you if you're not a blogger - that just means that I'm a lucky duck that gets a hold of some materials before they come out. Let's do this.

My Week in Review

Is this really in review? Yeah, I guess since I'm reviewing what I read with you. Okay, we'll keep this section title for now. (Don't you just love working through the kinks with me?) Anywho, let's go through what I've read.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

This book was on a lot of "Best of 2011" lists, so I decided to see what everyone was raving about. When I wrote my review, I did not go into that much detail. This book would be difficult for me not to spoil. Let me explain my version of "spoil" to you folks who think I don't put very much in my reviews - I don't want to know much about what I read. I just want to know the general idea of what the book is about. I don't even really care if people think it's good or not. I don't need to know that, I have quirky taste. I like having a really fresh perspective going in, and I want to be surprised. Hell, if the book's story revolves on someone dying in the first ten pages, I don't even want to know that much. I am perfectly happy with someone handing me a book, telling me it's about aliens, and walking away. I got this. I'm sure you are already tired of my ranting and want to hear about the book. ::sigh:: Okay.

I really respected Rhine. She was taken from her poverty-stricken home and thrust right into the lap of luxury. However, instead of making the best of a better situation (financially), she wants to go home to her twin brother. Let me say this much - I would stay where I was. Yes, it would suck to share your husband with two other women, but Rhine's brother sounded like a complete asshole. I guess DeStefano did this to fully-flesh the characters and make shades of gray (oh boy, she did), but I would have taken the restrictions on my movements in my mansion over the restrictions of some crappy brother while living in the ghetto. Am I a sell-out? You bet. If I'm going to die in four years, I want to be comfortable, and I want to know that my babies are going to be well taken care of. Think what you will, but I can't imagine preferring being hungry, sleeping with rats, and needing a male relative to walk me to my shitty job over being the lady of the manor. But that's just me, and no one has written any stories about me. Rhine, however, has a trilogy and is fun to read about. I gave this book 4.5/5 stars. Maybe you liked it or will like it, too. Let me know.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

I was lucky enough to get this book from NetGalley (I suppose I should do a disclaimer about not getting paid for reviews or whatever, but I would have a nice blog and quit my day job if I did), and I, of course, reviewed it over on Goodreads. I wrote a glowing review of this because it is an absolutely breathtaking book. That being said, it's not for me. The writing was beautiful, the story was good, and I read it in a day. I could not put it down. I want to read the sequel, but it's just not my favorite book. Honestly, I can't tell you why. To be honest, I am half terrified to say anything against it. ::looks over shoulder for angry authors:: I'm not going to beat this in the ground, but I'm sure a few of you know what I'm talking about. 

This book releases on January 24, 2012.

Glitches by Marissa Meyer

Yes, I am well aware this is not a book. It is a short story prequel to Cinder, Meyer's book that was released last week (and can be found below). Since I read it, I wrote a little review of it, but I didn't say much. It was a nice companion story, and it would have served its purpose of drawing me straight to Cinder if I had not read already. If you've read neither Cinder or Glitches, I recommend them both. And read them in whatever order you would like - I don't feel like I lost anything by reading Glitches second.

Umm, so, can I have Scarlet yet?

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

As a history major, I love historical fiction. I have absolutely no hesitation in calling Gregory's The Cousins' War series that. Yes, she is well known for writing historical romance, but her later work really doesn't have the sex and naughty bits that her books about the Tudors are known for. Anyways, this was my splurge read that was not on my "to be reviewed" list, but had been sitting on my other TBR list.

It was a fantastic adult read for me. I have been reading so much young adult stuff lately, so it was refreshing to hit one of my favorite genres. It took me a little longer to read than what I had budgeted for myself (yeah, maybe I savored it a little), but I can start fresh on my other stuff today.

Oh, here is my review.

Week One Releases (January 1-7, 2012)

These are the books that I've read previous to this week, but were not released until this week. If you click on the titles under the picture, it should take you to my reviews of that particular work. I don't think it's going to be my policy to give additional information or snark on these because hopefully they'll be on my Week in Review before coming to the Releases section. So, without any further adieu —

January 2, 2012

Skyfall (Troll Hunters) by Michael Dahl

This book was supposed to be released January 2nd, but the publisher moved the release date. Anyways, I read it and it was a fabulous example of juvenile fiction. I'll link you to my review when I'm sure of when it's coming out. Some things are saying September, so I'd hate to have my stuff up too early.

January 3, 2012

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

So that was my week in reading. I'm amazed that you made it down far enough to read this sentence. Thanks for stopping by!