I'm going to share my FAVORITE book from last years Summer Book Club. This one is still in my mind and every once in a while I think I really should read it again. To me a great book is one that you want to read again and always see something new and different about it.
Be sure to join us this summer beginning June 1st for the 2nd Annual Summer Book Club where I feature 6 amazing NEW books for the Middle Grade Crowd. I'm already on the hunt and think I've found one possibly two and I've even got a couple of publishers looking for great books to share with us.... Any books you'd like to know more about?
When Yeats and his parents visit his grandmother’s creepy old house, Yeats reunites a pair of pirate bookends and uncovers the amazing truth: Years ago, Yeats’s father traveled into The Arabian Nights with a friend, and the friend, Shari, is still stuck in the tales.
Assisted by the not-always-trustworthy pirates, Yeats must navigate the unfamiliar world of the story of Shaharazad — dodging guards and tigers and the dangerous things that lurk in the margins of the stories — in order to save Shari and bring peace to his family.
My Thoughts:
Between Two Ends is the perfect rainy day or summer time book to read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fast paced, full of adventure and lots of unexpected treats that can only take place in a good book, kids (and grown ups that never grew up) will have a hard time putting this book down.
The book opens when Yeats visits his grandmother's home where many years ago an unfortunate event took place when his father was the same age as he is now. The house is creepy and dark, there is a very old man who waits upstairs, a grand library filled with books and a bookend... and when Yeats finds another bookend in the garden encrusted with dirt he cleans it off and takes inside. From there things start happening...
Follow Yeats, Skin & Bones and the old man when they cross a "sea" of books to rescue Shari, a girl Yeats father once knew as a dear friend and left in "The Arabian Nights" when he was the same age as Yeats is now. Now it's up to Yeats to save her before it's to late.
The writing is outstanding, the plot and pace wonderful and just so you know, I am definitely looking forward to the sequel to this book (the author has confirmed there is another one).....
David Ward was born in Montreal and grew up in Vancouver. He was an elementary school teacher for eleven years before completing his master's degree. He is the author of the Grassland trilogy and is a writer and university instructor in children's literature. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and their three children.
Follow David Ward for future news on upcoming books: Website
You can purchase the book on Amazon for $12.71 - click here
Questions I asked the author David Ward:
1) How many books do you think is going to be in this series? I'm really hoping it's a series and I'd love to see the series include Peter Pan along with Treasure Island that you mentioned at the end of Between Two Ends. The sequel has begun! This time as you imagined at the setting of Treasure Island. The prologue (at least in the rough draft stage) begins with Skin and Bones. Peter Pan was one of the books I considered for book one. It is still on the list.
2) I noticed you have written quite a few books - do you have any favorites? The Grassland Trilogy is close to my heart - although, I hope that as always, my favorite book must always be the one on which I am currently working.
3) Did you read a lot as a boy and who were your favorite authors? My father was a Reverend and we were not allowed to do much on Sundays other than read. We (siblings) read a lot! (Of course, we also played knee hockey, conducted mass battles with toy soldiers, and constructed many buildings with the equivelant of Legos). Top favorite authors whom I still cherish: #1 C.S. Lewis #2 Tolkein #3 Lloyd Alexander
4) Who inspires your writing now and why? Do they push you to improve the quality of your writing or do you find reading their books gives you ideas for new stories? Readers push me the most in terms of inspiration. To receive a letter or email from someone who has sojourned in the same story world is the greatest compliment and source of shared adventure. In terms of authors...I am good friends with Arthur Slade (http://arthurslade.com/
I will have to read this book!
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