Blogoversary giveaway #5 – Lost on Brier Island – Jo Ann Yhard

So, I have a signed copy of Lost on Brier Island up for grabs! But first, my review. You know, so you can see the awesomeness that you could win.

I hate when my brain refuses to come up with a description for a book besides “sweet” or “cute”. I always feel that it comes off as a cop-out and that I’m not doing the book – or the author – justice. But Jo Ann Yhard’s Lost on Brier Island is a sweet book. And it was cute, too. And I absolutely, positively loved it.

I really, really loved everything about this book. The writing, the premise, the setting, the characters. It was a great mix of mystery, sadness, lightness and character development.

I loved seeing the growth in Alex as she moves from a sullen, sad girl who really didn’t want to be on Brier Island to opening up to what life and the island have to offer her. And as an animal lover her relationship with Daredevil and how he helped her heal, really struck a chord with me. And I think it will with everyone who reads it.

Lost on Brier Island is the perfect summertime read regardless of your age.

Thanks so much to Nimbus Publishing for not only sending me a review copy, but for sending a SECOND one when the first one got lost.

GIVEAWAY time!!!!

So excited to me able to give one you you lucky Canadian readers a signed copy of Lost on Brier Island. Jo Ann is one of my fave authors and fave peeps in general.

To enter tell me of a close encounter of the animal kind that you’ve had. Contest closes Sept 1st 11:59 EST.

WotS – My fangirl moment

I had three very specific reasons for going to Word on the Street last week end: pitch my book, buy some great reads and meet Jo Ann Yhard. Jo Ann wrote The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines, one of my favorite reads this year. If you know me this isn’t new information, since I’ve been gushing about the book for weeks.

Living on PEI, I don’t often get a chance to meet authors I’ve read, so this had me over the top excited. I’ve been chatting with Jo Ann on Twitter and through email and was tickled pink to find out she was looking forward to meeting me, too.

Jo Ann was part of a panel on writing for YA along with Lisa Harrington and Sheree Fitch. Each author read from their book then answered questions. What I thought was cool was that half of the questions came from the authors themselves, so instead of being a simple Q & A it became more of a dialogue. Very neat.

When it came time to meet Jo Ann, I figured I’d pull my usual dork act, stammer and stutter and not make any sense at all. I went up to her, said hi and got a big hug in return. It was awesome.  Then I just concentrated on the fact that besides meeting a favorite author, I was meeting an online friend. We chatted and she introduced me to Lisa. They both signed their books and we chatted some more.

It would have been great to sit down with Jo Ann and Lisa over coffee and chat about writing and books, but of course they were on a tight schedule. But the great thing is I could totally see that happening in the future.

This is where I would normally post the pic of me and Jo Ann with her book, but I took pretty much no pictures except of the Public Garden ducks and a rat. Next time, Jo Ann, we must remember to get a picture!

Review: The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines by Jo Ann Yhard

Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
Release year: 2010
Genre: MG mystery
One sentence summary: The Nancy Drew of Canada, eh.
Rating:5 out of 5
Review copy from author through publisher

Thirteen-year-old Grace already has too much going on — grieving over her father’s mysterious death, dealing with her distraught mother’s erratic parenting, and evading her creepy nosy neighbour, Mr. Stuckless, just for starters. She and her friends Fred, Mai, and Jeeter like to get away from it all by hunting for fossils near their secret hideaway, the abandoned mine they’ve nicknamed The Black Hole. But when Grace receives a strange note regarding her father’s death, it sets off a chain of events that sees Grace and her friends turning into detectives to solve the mystery behind his suspicious accident. As the clues and suspects start piling up and the investigation becomes more and more dangerous, Grace and her friends find themselves racing against time through treacherous sinkholes and abandoned mine shafts to figure out what really happened to her father.

From Nimbus Publishing website.

I forgot how much I loved a great middle grade mystery. When I was in grade six I got into Eric Wilson’s Tom and Liz Austin mysteries and started dreaming of being a writer when I grew up. Reading The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines took me back to those days and left me with a happy, glowy feeling.

This was a smart mystery. I mean, I’m 36 and there was stuff that I didn’t figure out. But once things were resolved, it was easy to look back and go “Ah, so THAT’S what happened!”. A lot takes place in The Fossil Hunters of Sydney Mines but it was all great. I mean, getting to read about the tar ponds? My Mom lost her grade 8 math book in those tar ponds. I love reading books about local places.

Grace was a great character. In fact ALL the characters were great. Her friends were fun to read about, each bringing something different to the story. And there was much talk of chocolate. How could you not love that?

Oh, you know what else The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines reminded me of? Scooby Doo!! It totally had a “those meddling kids” kinda vibe to it. Loved that.

I know this might not be an uber helpful review, but you know how I get when I love a book. I kinda go into blathering mode. If you enjoy MG fiction or have kids that read, go out and buy The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines. Just trust me.

Oh and now I get to do a bit of a neener-neener. I get to meet Jo Ann this Sunday at Word on the Street in Halifax. If you’re reading this Jo Ann, expect a total fan-girl moment.