Are You Rich?

Though it's been almost a whole year...an entire 365 days, literally, since the incident, the memory still haunts me. Oh, the shame, the shame. Last Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2013, I missed an opportune teachable moment.

Back in 2011, I purchased my youngest sister's children their first journals. At that time, my nephew was 7 and my nieces were 5, 5, and 3. As I explained to them the many uses of a journal (creating lists, drawing, writing about their day or their feelings, etc.) my nephew, in all of his seven-year old wisdom, proudly proclaimed, "You write secrets in your diary." Then Amia, one of the twins, turned to me and said "Stephanie, let me see your secrets," rendering me momentarily speechless."

Top 10 Books For Reluctant MG And YA Readers by F.T. Bradley

Originally posted on Nerdy Book Club. Another great top 10 list!

Top 10 Books For Reluctant MG And YA Readers by F.T. Bradley

When I set out to write the Double Vision trilogy, I wasn't all that knowledgeable on reluctant readers, what books appealed to them, and why. All I wanted to do was write a fun, fast-paced thriller. The kind of book I would like to read if I was still twelve (okay, if we're honest: the kind of book I still like to read...)

But when I found myself the parent of a very reluctant tween reader, I got serious about understanding what makes kids turn away from books. More importantly: I wanted to figure out how to get those kids to pick up a book again. For fun.

Mini Review: Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2013. Ebook. 
Rating: Decent

Goodreads Summary: Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

Forbidden Book Trailer

Being the historical fiction lover that I am, I knew that I had to get my hands on Forbidden by Kimberley Griffiths Little, when I first heard about it four months ago. Not only is the book trailer beautiful, but it also contains "betrothed" one of my favorite words. (-: