It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Sarah Reck, Web Publicist, Hachette Book Group for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, she has written more than eighty inspirational books, including The Secret to True Happiness, 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life, the entire Battlefield of the Mind family of books, her first venture into fiction with The Penny, and many others. She has also released thousands of audio teachings, as well as a complete video library. Joyce’s Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences. Joyce and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four grown children and make their home in St. Louis, Missouri.
Title: The Ice Cream Theory Author: Steff Deschenes Publisher: Book Surge Publishing
My synopsis/thoughts: Steff Deschenes has a theory - that people are like flavors of ice cream - you can like certain people at different times in your life, just like different flavors of ice cream appeal to you at different times. How sometimes you can't get enough of someone, and then suddenly you don't want to have anything else to do with them. Just like you can overdue flavors of ice cream (or any food for that matter) until you are sick of it. This isn't the only corollary between ice cream and food though - just one of them.
Each chapter centers on a certain flavor, with Ms. Deschenes first telling you about a person in her life, then about what flavor ice cream she associates them with, and then the reasons why she feels they are like this ice cream.
This was a very fun, light-hearted read, even though some of the chapters dealt with break-ups of people she cared a great deal about. I have tried to use her theory and think about the people in my life in relation to ice cream - but I couldn't come up with anything. While I like ice cream, I don't think that I love it as much as Ms. Deschenes does! I did like hearing about all the different ice cream flavors though like Champagne, Exploding Chocolate Extraordinaire and one that I would really like to try - Peanut-Butter Filled, Chocolate-Covered Pretzels. This is vanilla ice cream with peanut butter swirls and chocolate fudge ripples, and yep - peanut-butter filled, chocolate-covered pretzels. I love peanut butter and chocolate and I love chocolate covered pretzels - so this seems like it would be right up my alley.
Please come back tomorrow for a guest post by Ms. Deschenes!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.
GIVEAWAY!
Ms Deschenes has offered a copy of this book for one of my readers - so to enter, just tell me what is your favorite flavor of ice cream! Please leave an email address with your entry. This giveaway is open to US/Canada only and will end on December 13.
About the author:Steff Deschenes is a self-taught ice-cream maker. When she isn't conducting random social experiments or going on secret ice cream rendezvous with her younger sister, she enjoys traveling and playing guitar. She lives in Maine with her bunny, Boone, and is diligently researching her next book, The Burrito Theory. Visit her website atwww.steffdeschenes.com.
The Ice Cream Theory
Publisher/Publication Date: BookSurge, July 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4392-3005-3
270 pages
My first music review! I was so excited to be selected by the One 2 One network to review Norah Jones latest CD . . . Featuring. This CD spans her entire career and includes performances with The Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams and Dolly Parton - just to name a few. I loved it! It has a very laid back - bluesy appeal. The kind of CD you want to slip in on a cold Sunday afternoon and sit in front of the fire with your sweetheart. I must say though, that my favorite was probably Blue Bayou followed closely by Baby, It's Cold Outside. This would be a great stocking stuffer for the music lover in your life!
(~I received a complimentary copy of this CD from One 2 One Network in exchange for my unbiased review. I am entered to win a giftcard for participating.~)
TRACK LISTING:
1. Love Me – The Little Willies
2. Virginia Moon – The Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them – Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It's Cold Outside – Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider – Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart – Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part – El Madmo
8. Take Off Your Cool – OutKast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better – Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day – Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John – Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again – Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta – Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John – Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin' In – Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark – Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This – Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou – Norah Jones featuring M. Ward
Title: Christmas at Harrington's Author: Melody Carlson Publisher: Revell/Baker Publishing Group
My synopsis: Lena Markham had just gotten out of prison after serving an 8 year sentence for a crime that she didn't commit. She had been convicted of embezzling from her church's missionary fund - where she was the accountant and the pastor's wife. After being arrested, she listened to her husband when he told her that he was handling it and that she would be released soon - she even signed over her grandmother's inheritance when he said he needed it to set up the real embezzlers. Turns out he was the real embezzler and he let her take the fall - and then ran off with the church's money AND her inheritance.
Not wanting to return to her hometown - where she no longer had any family or friends, her social worker arranges for her a place to stay in New Haven, Minnesota - as well as a job at Harrington's - the local department store. Upon arriving at Harrington's, she is told there are no jobs and that people have actually been laid off. But she seems to be having some luck, as Ms. Harrington and her daughter Cassidy are just leaving. When Cassidy sees her, she thinks Lena would make a perfect Mrs. Santa - an idea she dreamed about just a few weeks before.
Things go well for about a week, and then a woman from Lena's hometown comes in with her daughter to see Mrs. Santa. She recognizes Lena and it isn't long before she has spread the word that Lena is a convicted felon and shouldn't be allowed to work with children. Ms. Harrington has no choice but to fire her, or risk loss of business due to bad publicity.
My thoughts: This is a great story for Christmastime! It is also a great story about forgiveness when someone has done something wrong - and how Jesus will forgive us also, as well as telling the truth - even if it hurts. It is a very quick read at only 167 pages, and it truly is a feel-good story. It made me so angry when people immediately were against Lena when they found out that she was an ex-con. Made me wonder how I treated people if I knew something negative about their past. I really liked the way that Lena wove together Jesus' birth with Santa during a storytime she was asked to do at the library. It was also a good lesson to not gloss over the real reason of Christmas, even for young children - that they CAN understand about Jesus' birth and that He is the reason for the season!
~I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Donna at Baker Publishing.~
Melody Carlsonis the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book,The Christmas Bus. She also writes many teen books, includingJust Another Girl,Anything but Normal, the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series. Melody was nominated for aRomantic TimesCareer Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series andFinding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon. Visit Melody's website at www.melodycarlson.com.
“Available November 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
Christmas at Harrington's Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Nov 2010 ISBN: 978-0-8007-1925-8 167 pages
Title: The Forever Queen Author: Helen Hollick Publisher: Sourcebooks
About the Book:Married to a king incompetent both on the throne and in bed, Emma does not love her husband. But she does love England. Even as her husband fails, Emma vows to protect her people-no matter what. For five decades, through love and loss, prosperity and exile, Emma fights for England, becoming the only woman to have been anointed, crowned, and reigning queen to two different kings, the mother of two more, and the great aunt of William the Conqueror. (from Shelfari)
My thoughts: I have been trying to read more historical fiction as I feel grossly ignorant of history - especially English history. I realize this is fiction - but Ms. Hollick has always done a wonderful job of sticking very closely to the facts and weaving a wonderfully rich story around them.
I had never heard of Emma (or Aethelred or Cnut) so was really interested to learn more about his young Queen. At the age of 13 she was given by her brother in marriage to Aethelred - who was 34. (and to think it upsets me when my 16 year old wants to date an 18 year old. . . ) I was very impressed by her bravery in facing this situation with her head held high. She married this man, and was not even able to speak his language! Within that first year of marriage, she lost her innocence, two close friends, suffered a lingering illness, and began to fall in love with England. It wasn't long before she had fully embraced the role of Queen and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
At the end of the book I read how Ms. Hollick had actually left out some of the characters as the roles they played in history were small ones. Whew! Am I ever thankful for that. Though I do enjoy her writing very much - as she writes about history in such a way that my non-history brain can understand it, following the people, with their often similar names, can be challenging. She does provide a family tree in the beginning and a list of pronunciations, but it wasn't after I was in the story that I was able to follow the tree. As for the pronunciations, they usually come over time.
This book is not for the light-hearted, as it is filled with political shenanigans, treachery, not-so-pleasant deaths, but a proud and fiercely loyal Queen emerges. This book is a must for historical fiction fans! Please visit some of the other stops on the tour for other reviews and some great interviews with the author!
The Forever Queen Book Club Schedule
November 1
http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/
http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/
November 2
http://www.passagestothepast.com/
http://lifeinthethumb.blogspot.com/
November 3
http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
http://www.luxuryreading.com/
November 4
http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/
http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/
November 5
http://booksbythewillowtree.blogspot.com/
http://www.historyandwomen.com/
November 8
http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/
November 9
http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/
http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
November 10
http://literatehousewife.com/
http://carpelibrisreviews.com/
November 11
http://web.me.com/quirion/Bookaddict/Welcome.html
http://bibliophile23.wordpress.com/
November 12
http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/
http://www.read-all-over.net
November 15
http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/
http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/
November 16
http://www.jennylovestoread.blogspot.com/
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/
November 17
http://bookalicio.us/
http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/
November 18
http://pushersink.blogspot.com/
http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/
November 19
http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
November 22
Book Club Chat on http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/
7pm-9pm EST
The Forever Queen
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks, Nov 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-4068-3
656 pages
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Cat Hoort, Trade Marketing Manager, Kregel Publications for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rusty Whitener is a novelist, screenwriter, and actor. His first screenplay, Touched, won second place at the 2009 Kairos Prize at the Los Angeles Movieguide Awards and first place at the Gideon film festival. That screenplay soon became A Season of Miracles. The movie version of this book is now in production with Elevating Entertainment.
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications; Reprint edition (August 3, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0825441919
ISBN-13: 978-0825441912
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
I didn’t set out to believe in miracles. Nobody does. That’s what makes them miracles.
The events of 1971 would pick me up in a tornado of changes and set me down in an amazing place of grace. As with Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, it would be a kind of homecoming, except that I would be coming home for the first time.
Around the middle of March, about the time my hometown of Silas started to escape the gray Alabama winter, Little League baseball would crowd out everything else for my attention.
I wasn’t alone. Those days, Little League in our county was akin to a small-town parade down Main Street. Everybody went, not really expecting to see the remarkable so much as the familiar. Pretty near every boy in town played the game. And most every player’s parents went to watch, clap, groan, and cheer.
Little League is a game played by Charlie Browns and Joe DiMaggios. Most children that age are Charlie Browns, still struggling with how to handle an oversized pencil, let alone how to grip a baseball and hurl it a particular direction. They are likely to throw the ball farther from their target than it was when they retrieved it. They even look like you imagine Charlie Brown would, running in preadolescent distress to recover the ball they just threw in the wrong direction. On the weaker Little League teams, Charlie Browns mosey around the outfield, and DiMaggios man the infield. Players who hit the ball over the infielders’ heads usually have an easy double. Stronger teams have a DiMaggio anchoring center field, or maybe left. If anyone better than Charlie is in right, then either the team is stacked with talent or something magical is going on. Maybe both.
I don’t remember ever not being able to hit the ball into the outfield. I didn’t think much about it, really, except for the basics: relax, breathe, don’t swing so hard, don’t pull your head. Bring the bat to the ball and drive it on a line. I was a little tall for my twelve years, but I also had something much better than size. Confidence. I knew I could hit the ball, and hit it hard. Not every time, but most of the time. And batting over .500 with power will scorch any league.
I was the best hitter I had ever seen. Until 1971.
It was a cool Saturday in mid March. I called my best friend, Donnie White, and he called Batman Boatwright and Jimmy Yarnell. I really didn’t spend a lot of time with Batman and Jimmy throughout the rest of the year. Just spring and early summer. When Little League season came into focus, so did Batman and Jimmy.
I always took the back way to the old field, cutting through woods so thick and dark it was like traveling and hiding at the same time. My wicked cool Sting-Ray, with butterfly handlebars and a fat banana seat covered in leopard spots, gave me an edge in races with the guys. But in woods that thick, I’d just get to pumping the pedals hard before I’d have to dismount and negotiate the bramble bushes and low hanging, cobwebbed pines that duped nature by growing with so little sun.
Sawdust wasn’t real keen on those woods. A hound-collie mix, he had followed me home two summers before and decided I needed him. Through these woods, along the rough path of moss and bracken, he got nervous when I had to stop the bike and walk. He looked back and forth and around, seemingly wary that something might sneak up on us. He barked his approval when we climbed the last ridge and tumbled out of the sun-spun shadows crisscrossing our wooded trek and into the sun’s soaring shine over the ancient baseball field behind Mill Creek Fire Station.
It wasn’t a real baseball diamond anymore, just a big space of worn-down grass. But it was enough of a practice field for us. There was even an outfield fence of sorts, a lot of chain no longer linked. A backstop someone put up years before helped us out. If the ball got by the hitter, it caromed off the chain links and dribbled in the general direction of the pitcher. If it didn’t get a good enough carom to send it close to the mound, the batter picked it up and tossed it back to the pitcher. Who needed a catcher?
Donnie, Batman, and Jimmy were already there, tossing the ball in a triangular game of catch.
“It’s about time, Pardner!” Donnie raised his arms in a “what’s the deal?” gesture. “We’re startin’ to take root here.” He dropped his arms and threw the ball too high in Jimmy’s direction. Jimmy threw his glove after the ball, and then turned to look at Donnie like he couldn’t believe he put up with a friend who threw that poorly.
“Sorry,” said Donnie with a big smile. “Too high, I guess.”
“Zack,” Jimmy said, turning to me, “can you tell this guy about cool?”
“What do I know about cool?” I said, not really asking.
Sawdust barked at Jimmy and Batman, darting between the two. He made quick little circles around Jimmy, like they were old friends. They weren’t.
“Whaddya always have to bring the mutt for?” Jimmy sounded seriously miffed.
“Sawdust likes chasing the balls,” I said.
“I know that,” said Jimmy. “He gets ’em all slimy.”
Batman drawled, “He’s got your glove now, Hoss.”
Jimmy gave a squawk and bounded after Sawdust, who was running in large circles back and forth across the field.
“I’ll make a glove outta you, ya mutt!” Jimmy’s threat broke us up, and I laughed pretty hard until I saw the new kid. At first, I thought something was seriously wrong he was so still. He sat at the base of a tree, his back ramrod straight against the trunk, his legs straight out from his body, arms at his sides. He looked almost unreal, not moving his head, stock-still, eyes frozen. Not moving anything.
“Whatcha looking at, Pardner?” Donnie gave nicknames to people he really liked, and people he struggled to like. Come to think of it, that’s just about everybody. He once told me it was hard to call someone by a good nickname and still not like them. Donnie wanted to like everybody.
“That boy,” I said, “over there.”
“Oh man, he don’t look so good.” Donnie stared. “He even . . . is he alive?”
“What kind of a question is that?” I said, still staring at the kid under the tree, who still had not moved. “Of course he’s alive. I mean . . . don’t you think?”
Batman jogged up to us. “Are we gonna play or what?”
“Look at that kid over there.” Donnie pointed with his gloved hand.
“I see him,” Batman said. “So what?”
“Is he alive?”
“Whaddya mean?”
“I mean he doesn’t look alive.” Donnie said the words slowly, as if he were announcing something important, like the moral at the end of a story.
“Well he’s not dead,” said Batman.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Because he sits there like that all the time. I’ve seen him before, when we come here to play.”
“Really?”
“Lots of times,” Batman said. “I think he’s a retard.”
“Come off it.” Donnie looked at Batman and shook his head, like he was disappointed in him.
“It’s the Forrester kid,” Batman said. “Everybody knows he’s touched.” Batman was blowing massive bubbles and struggling to move the gum to the side of his mouth so he could talk. “Don’t tell me ya’ll haven’t seen him at school.”
“I seen him,” said Donnie.
“I don’t think I have,” I said. “How come, you reckon?”
“Maybe ’cause you’re always looking at Rebecca Carson,” Batman joshed. “Anyway, he’s touched.”
Batman decided to pluck the wad of gum out of his mouth and hold it in his free hand, a rare move he reserved for emergencies. “Serious problems,” said Batman.
“Okay,” said Donnie, “serious problems, but we don’t have to call him—”
“Hey guys,” I said. “Guys, I think he’s coming over here.”
The Forrester kid was on his feet, walking toward us.
“Holy metropolis,” Batman whistled. “Look alert, Batfans.”
Jimmy ran up, holding his glove away from his body, between a thumb and forefinger, the leather shiny with Sawdust drool.
“This is so foul, ya’ll. I can’t play with this nasty thing. Do ya’ll . . . do ya’ll know that fella is coming over here?”
“Yeah Jimmy, we know,” I said.
“Do ya’ll . . . do ya’ll know he’s a retard?”
“He’s not a retard. He has some problems, that’s all,” said Donnie, loudly.
“His problem is he’s a retard—and his dad’s a drunk, ’cording to my folks.”
I really don’t think Jimmy meant to say anything mean. That’s just the way he was. Shoot from the lip and take no prisoners.
“Shut up, Jimmy,” Donnie’s voice was a sharp whisper now. “There’s nothing wrong with his ears.”
Rafer Forrester walked straight up to me, stepping up close, his face no more than a foot from mine. The other kids instinctively took half-steps back, clumsily trying to give me more space. Sawdust sauntered into the picture, sat down razor close to Rafer and put a paw on the boy’s shoe. Without looking, Rafer put his hand on the dog’s head and stroked it.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “How’s it going?”
I guess I hadn’t really expected an answer. But I did expect him to say something. After some long seconds he did.
“Hit.”
“You wanna hit?” I asked.
Silence.
“You wanna hit?” I said again.
“Hit. Rafer hit.” His face was still devoid of expression.
I heard Jimmy’s voice behind me. “I think the fella wants to try to hit the baseball.”
“You mean the ball?” I held it up in front of me, about six inches from his eyes.
“I don’t think he’s blind, Zack-man,” Batman said, his voice joining Jimmy’s in a nervous flutter of laughs.
“All right, guys,” said Donnie. “Hey, Pardner, why don’t you let him try?”
“Oh, come on, Donnie,” Batman said. “Jimmy and me gotta go in about thirty minutes. We don’t have time.”
“Let him try, Pardner. Just a couple of tosses.” Donnie was already walking toward home plate. “I’ll catch so we don’t have to keep fetching the balls.”
I looked right in Rafer’s eyes. “You want to hit the baseball a little?”
“Rafer hit.”
“Okay, Rafer. Do you wanna take the ball yourself”—I pressed the ball gently in his hand—“and just toss it up in the air and hit it?” I figured he could do that. Hitting a pitched ball didn’t seem plausible, no matter how slow I tossed it.
“Rafer hit.” He pushed the ball back at me.
Batman moaned and sat down on the ground. “C’mon guys, we’re wasting time.”
“Okay, I can pitch it,” I said.
Rafer walked slowly toward home plate and picked up the bat. Donnie was already crouched behind the plate calling to me. “Okay, Pardner. Toss it in, and Rafe here is gonna knock the cover off the ball. Here we go, Pardner.”
Rafer stopped in front of Donnie and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Zack pitch. No Pardner.”
Behind me I heard Jimmy’s chuckle. Batman, sitting on the ground behind the pitcher’s mound, laughed so hard his gum started slipping down the back of his throat. “Oh . . . oh, my gosh. I almost swallowed it, ya’ll,” he managed to say.
Donnie just smiled real big at Rafer. “That’s right, Rafer, my buddy. He is Zack.” Then, rocking back and forth in a low catcher’s crouch, he called to me. “Okay, Zack, just toss it in gentle-like.”
So I did. I tossed the ball underhand, as slow as I could, across the plate. As fat a pitch as I could make it.
Rafer didn’t swing. He watched the pitch the whole way and the bat never left his shoulder. Donnie threw the ball back to me, and I tossed it again. Again, no swing.
From his spot now reclining on the ground, his head resting on his glove, Batman’s groans were like a sick boy’s. “Oh, guys. We’re gonna be here all day. And we gotta go home soon.”
“Batman,” said Jimmy, “if we gotta go home soon, then we can’t be here all day.”
Jimmy crashed on the ground next to Batman, resting his head on his glove. Then an odd expression invaded his face. He bolted upright, frantically wiping dog spit from the back of his head. “Oh, that’s stinking! Oh, that’s so raw!”
Batman just groaned again.
Donnie called to me, “Maybe you need to get closer, Pardner . . . I mean Zack. You know, toss it from a shorter distance.”
As I started to step off the mound, Rafer bellowed, “No!”
I froze.
“No!” he said again. “Zack pitch. Rafer hit.”
“Okay, okay.” I got back on the mound. I tossed it again, underhanded, only this time as the ball was crossing home plate, Rafer caught it with his right hand. He dropped the bat. For several seconds he did not move. “Zack pitch,” he said again as he started moving through an elaborate windup, turning his body like Tom Seaver and kicking his leg high like Juan Marichal, coming down with his throwing hand over the top. The ball rocketed from his hand to my glove, which I reflexively raised to protect my face.
Dead silence.
Then Jimmy drawled, “Well, good night, ya’ll.”
Donnie, barely audible, said, “He wants you to pitch it fast, I guess. God help us.” I wasn’t sure what to do. I had a strong arm from playing third base.
“Come on, Zack. Fire it in here.” Donnie was suddenly confident about the situation.
“Can you catch it?” I asked him.
“Oh, come on, of course I can catch it. You’re not that fast, you know.”
That was all my adolescent ears needed to hear. I wound up and released, letting the ball spring naturally out of my grip. The ball crossed the heart of the plate in a white blur.
At least it would have.
Rafer dropped the head of the bat, quick like a cat, just in front of the ball. Coaches tell hitters to focus on getting the barrel of the bat on the ball, and let the pitched ball do all the real work, ricocheting off the bat. That’s what Rafer did. And my perfect strike was now a perfect line drive, streaking into the gap in left center field. It had just started to drop when it banged off the old outfield fence.
“Throw him another one, Pardner!” yelled Donnie.
“He Zack,” said Rafer.
“I know, I know, he Zack! I mean, he’s Zack. Throw him another one, Pardner! And put some real zip on it this time.”
I wound up and put everything I had into the pitch. Again, Rafer swung as if he were simply dropping the bat onto the ball in one quick, measured motion. The ball left his bat and left no doubt. It cleared the fence in left field, disappearing in trees ten or fifteen feet past the fence. We had never seen a ball travel that far off this field. Not even when Jimmy’s brother, a starter on the high school JV team, had tossed a few in the air and socked them as far as he could.
“Don’t throw him any more,” Jimmy hollered, climbing over the fence with Batman after the ball. “These are my brother’s balls, and he’ll kill me if I don’t bring ’em all back.”
Donnie ran out to me at the mound. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking? We can get him. I bet he ain’t on a team . . . I bet my silver dollar he ain’t. We can get him.”
I walked up to Rafer, still standing in the batter’s box, expressionless. “Rafer, how old are you?”
“Rafer twelve.”
Donnie went into a silent victory dance, a kind of jump and twirl.
“Do you wanna play on our team, on our Little League team, the Robins?”
“Yeah. I play.”
“Great,” I said, trying to stay calm. “Great, Rafer. We’re going to have tryouts, right across the street, at McInerney Elementary School. I pointed in the direction. Right on that field, this coming Monday after school. Can you be there?”
He didn’t seem to get what I said. Just when I thought he wasn’t going to say any words, he said three.
“Mack . . . and Ernie.”
“Who are they?” said Donnie. “No, no, you tell him we just want him.”
Donnie was standing right next to both of us. I didn’t know why he thought I was Rafer’s interpreter, except that I kind of felt that way too. Like I was a bridge between Rafer and Donnie and whomever.
“Who are Mack and Ernie, Rafer?” I asked.
“Mack and Ernie School.”
“Oh.” I smiled. “I get it. Hey, that’s pretty funny, Rafer.”
Only Rafer wasn’t smiling, and I worried about him not showing up for the tryouts.
“Rafer, can you be here”—I pointed to the ground—“next Saturday?” I figured I could walk across the street with him to the actual tryouts.
“Mack and Ernie,” he said without expression.
Donnie started to laugh and I gave him a sharp look. I was trying to get something important done.
“Rafer, I will meet you right here, next Saturday, by your tree.” I pointed. “Then you and me will go to tryouts . . . I mean, play some baseball together. All right? Saturday morning. Is that okay?”
“Rafer hit.”
“That’s right. Saturday morning, you’ll hit.”
“I hit Saturday.” I probably imagined it, but it looked like his mouth was turning at the corners in a small smile. Then he turned and started to walk. He passed his tree.
Watching Rafer disappear into the woods, I heard Donnie’s anxious voice. “We can’t let the other coaches see him bat. We gotta find a way to make him a Robin without, you know, without the others seeing him bat.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ll think of something.”
From a long ways off we heard Jimmy, sounding like someone you hear hollering when you’re in your house with the windows closed.
Title: A Season of Miracles Author: Rusty Whitener Publisher: Kregel Productions
About the Book: In 1971, Zack is just a 12-year-old boy dreaming about his last season of Little League and the chance to maybe win the championship game. The Robins were a good team, but they weren't All-Stars like the Hawks. But then along came Rafer.
Zack first saw Rafer just leaning against a tree at the edge of their practice field. He was sitting so stiff and so still that Zack wasn't sure he was even alive. He spoke very few words, but it was soon apparent that he wanted to hit the ball too. Zack tried to take it easy on him, but Rafer wanted the pitches to be real fast. He showed them he could really hit the ball. They brought him to try-outs the next week and even though he didn't get to really show what he could do, the coach took Zack and his friends' word and put him on the team.
Over the course of the story we learn that Rafer is autistic. He says very little, but sees much - and his words hold much meaning.
Donnie is Zack's best friend and a pastor's son. He invites the whole team to church the beginning of the season, and this sparks curiosity in Zack. He is pretty sure that his Dad doesn't believe in Heaven and Hell, but isn't sure where his Mom stands on the whole thing. Zack does have a big heart though, and quickly becomes Rafer's protector, friend, mentor. Rafer slowly begins to change as the season progresses and helps the Robins to start a winning season.
There are many lessons to be learned in this book and I think each person who reads it will take away the one that is most important to him/her. There is much talk about grace and the forgiveness of sins, and this is the most important message. I like it because it is from a boy/man's point of view. So many times those books about grace are about women and are all touchy-feely. This would be a great book to give to a young man who is a non-believer or is riding the fence.
About the author: Rusty Whitener is a novelist, screenwriter, and actor. His first screenplay, Touched, won first runner-up for the Kairos Prize at the 2009 Los Angeles Movieguide Awards and first place at the Gideon Film Festival. That screenplay soon became A Season of Miracles. The movie version of this book is now in production with Elevating Entertainment. Find out more at http://www.rustywhitener.com/ and http://www.aseasonofmiracles.com/.
~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my review.~
Title: Surrender the Heart (Book 1 - Surrender to Destiny series) Author: MaryLu Tyndall Publisher: Barbour Publishing
About the Book: Marianne Denton feels like her fate has been sealed. She is in a forced engagement to Noah Brenin, a man she has no feelings for and only bad memories of him antagonizing her as a child. With her plain looks, and plump figure, she doesn't feel she has a lot of options - and she must marry in order to receive her inheritance. This inheritance is all that her mother, baby sister and herself have left. With her mother ailing, Marianne needs the money for her medication. They have already let the entire staff go, and there really aren't any more corners left to cut.
Noah isn't thrilled with the engagement either and is bound and determined to break it off. He wants to force Marianne's hand in it so that she won't want to marry him. Even though his father wants the inheritance money to further their business, Noah doesn't want to marry this plain woman.
After a brief appearance at the engagement party, Noah hurries out, not knowing that Marianne is following him through the streets back to his ship, the Fortune. She boards his ship, gets lost in the hold, and gets knocked out when she is startled by a cat. Upon her awakening she discovers that the ship has set sail and no one realizes she is on board. Refusing to take her back to port, Noah pushes the ship onward, not believing Marianne when she tells him there is no one to care for her sick mother. All he cares about is making a quick trip, unloading his cargo, and returning home to prove to his father that he is worthy of something.
Well, Marianne, stubborn woman that she is, decides to sabotage the ship in order to get Noah to take her home. It isn't until they are pursued by a British warship that her treachery is discovered. Both Noah and herself, as well as 2 others, are taken prisoner aboard the Undefeatable, the British warship. On this warship they meet Daniel, a young boy who tells Marianne that she has been sent from God to rescue him. That God told him this in a dream. Marianne had stopped trusting God when her father died and left them almost penniless. She scoffs at the idea that she should have such a destiny.
My thoughts: This was a great beginning to this new series. I loved the scenario of 2 people really despising each other from childhood, only to be placed in such situations that they slowly begin to see the other through new eyes. What will it take to get these two people to put their trust back in God and then to be able to trust in each other? I have been hit with the message a couple of times in the past weeks to "Be still, and know that I am God," and that message was in this book as well. To trust in Him, even without seeing the big picture, without knowing what may happen tomorrow. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next 2 books in the series, Surrender the Night and Surrender the Dawn.
To read the first chapter, please visit my earlier post onSurrender the Heart.
~I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review from MaryLu Tyndall and Camy Tang.~
Surrender the Heart
Publisher/Publication Date: Barbour, Aug 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60260-165-9
367 pages
Title: Take a Chance on Me Author: Jill Mansell Publisher: Sourcebooks
My synopsis: This is the story of Cleo, a 20-something living in Channing Hill and working as a chauffeur. Happily ensconsed in a new relationship with Will, she is upset when her childhood nemesis, Johnny LaVenture, arrives back in the neighborhood and brings up bad school memories.
It isn't long after his arrival that Cleo's life starts to fall apart, beginning with Will and the secret life he has kept from Cleo. Cleo's brother-in-law Tom, has also been keeping a secret from Abbie, Cleo's sister and his wife. When Abbie discovers clues to why Tom has been acting dodgy, she reacts very uncharacteristically for her and does something she soon regrets. Fortunately Tom's secret was not as bad as Abbie thought, but she cannot change what has now happened.
Cleo, now single, keeps running into Johnny and doesn't understand why Johnny actually seems to be a nice guy. She keeps remembering the brat he was in school and is confused when she realizes that she seems to be falling for the guy. Before she can make a fool of herself, he hooks back up with an ex, Honor, and soon is seen all around town with Honor on his arm.
Then there is her best friend Ash, who is besotted with Fia, the new cook at the local pub. But for all the charm and wit he exudes as a local morning dj - when he is around a woman he likes, his words fail him and he comes off as a complete jerk.
My thoughts: I really liked Cleo. She is honest and funny and loyal, but isn't afraid to stick her nose where it doesn't always belong and gets it out of joint once in a while as well. Ash is hilarious as her friend the way he kicks himself when ever he freezes up around Fia. I love the way that Ms. Mansell writes and brings life to her characters. They have feelings and assumptions and thoughts that are real - some of which I have had myself. I can totally relate to feeling insecure like Ash and even Cleo, of hating the feelings that childhood memories evoke, and of making random mistakes due to assumptions.
For anyone who has ever had their heart broke, have been in a relationship, or is secretly yearning for the cook at the local bar, you should read this romantic comedy. It may not solve your problem, but it will definitely put a smile on your face.
~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for my review.~
by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Scottoline Serritella
The incomparable Lisa Scottoline, along with daughter Francesca, is back with more wild and wonderful wit and wisdom.
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline struck a chord with readers, book clubs, and critics with her smash-hit essay collection, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. This time, Lisa teams up with daughter Francesca to give their mother-daughter perspective on everything from blind dates to empty calories, as well as life with the feistiest octogenarian on the planet, Mother Mary, who won't part with her thirty-year-old bra. Three generations of women, triple the laughts -- and the love.
Inspired by their weekly "Chick Wit" column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lisa and Francesca spill all their family secrets -- which will sound a lot like yours. And you'll have to put this book down, just to stop laughing.
Lisa on dieting: I'm backsliding with carbohydrates, which is the food version of ex-sex.
Francesca on cutting the cord: I thought I said, "I am going to see my cousin's new apartment," but in Mom-speak that translates to: "I am going to meet certain death in New York City subway tunnels that are soon to be my tomb."
Lisa on Mother Mary: Most people have a list of Things To Do, but Mother Mary has a list of Things Not To Do. At the top is Don't Go To The Movies. Other entries include Don't Eat Outside With The Bugs and Don't Walk All Over This Cockamamie Mall.
Francesca on being single: I'm addicted to the wedding announcements. Worse, I find myself subtracting my age from the bride's. I thought I was a modern woman, turns out I'm a Cathy cartoon.
Lisa on aging gracefully: Today I noticed my first gray hair. On my chin.
Offering insight and encouragement, this devotional touches on real-life themes that include contentment, integrity, patience, joy, hope, ministry, love, and peace. Each day's devotional includes a brief Bible passage, an excerpt about that particular passage from Wiersbe's BE commentaries, and questions for personal reflection. A brief prayer ends each day's scripture meditation and purposefully commits the reader's heart and mind to God's direction.
Pause for Power is a comprehensive update of Wiersbe's original devotional and includes three additional books of the Bible as well as updated reflections and prayers. This year-long study includes thoughtful examination of the Old Testament books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, as well as the New Testament books of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John. Wiersbe's trademark voice remains the same throughout the book, and he continues to encourage readers to make personal application of God's Word to every situation of their lives.
Developing an intimate relationship with Christ is a life-long process, and the study of His Word is one of the primary avenues through which we learn and draw closer to Him. Wiersbe's ability to explore and explain the Bible serves as a foundational resource for this year-long devotional that offers bite-sized pieces of wisdom that will carry readers through a great deal of Scripture in a single year. Pause for Power will make the perfect gift for friends and family who look forward to a new devotional to strengthen their daily walks during 2011.
Based on Joyce Meyer's #1 New York Times bestseller The Confident Woman, this 365-day devotional addresses challenges women commonly face, from confidence and self-image to building strong relationships.
In her loving yet straightforward style, Joyce provides encouragement and tools to help confront and resolve problems in the areas of life that women struggle with most.
It's easy to get caught up in the ongoing demands and responsibilities of day-to-day life. But these powerful daily inspirations can help you make progress on your journey toward a confident life filled with love, laughter, and God's acceptance, one day at a time.
Have you ever wondered how off-key you are while singing in the shower? Or if your Bob Dylan albums really sound better on vinyl? Or why certain songs make you cry?
In How Music Works, scientist and musician John Powell invites you on an entertaining journey through the world of music. Discover what distinguishes music from plain old noise, how scales help you memorize songs, what the humble recorder teaches you about timbre (assuming your suffering listeners don't break it first), why anyone can learn to play a musical instrument, what the absurdly complicated names of classical music pieces actually mean, how musical notes came to be (hint: you can thank a group of stodgy men in 1939 London for that one), how to make an oboe from a drinking straw, and much more. With wit and charm, and in the simplest terms, Powell explains the science and psychology of music.
Clever, informative, and deeply engaging, How Music Works takes the secrets of music from the world of badly dressed academics and gives every one of us -- whether we love to sing or play air guitar -- the means to enhance our listening pleasure.
After 10 years, Jane's had enough of Edward Middleton, "You've let yourself go," she tells him. "So I'm letting you go too."
Determined to get her back, Edward realizes he must learn how to make women want him again. But right now, he's the kind of man who puts the "ex" in "sexy."
One thing is certain: if he's going to be Jane's Mr. Right, he needs to turn himself around. From Atkins to Waxing, Edward begins working his way through the makeover alphabet.
But is a change in appearance what Jane really wants? Can cuddly Teddy really become sexy Eddie? Or is there more to the dating game than meets the eye?
On a February morning in 2008, Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband Raymond Smith, to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce and Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week, even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge, Ray was dead from a hospital-acquired virulent infection, and Joyce was suddenly faced -- totally unprepared -- with the stunning reality of widowhood.
A Widow's Story illuminates one woman's struggle to comprehend a life absent of the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly half a century. As never before, Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial, the anguish of loss, the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of "death duties," and the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief -- the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil, the treacherous "pools" of memory that surround us, the vocabulary of illness, the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Here is a frank acknowledgment of the widow's desperation -- only gradually yielding to the recognition that "this is my life now."
Enlivened by the piercing vision, acute perception, and mordant humor that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates, this moving tale of life and death, love and grief, offers a candid, never-before-glimpsed view of this acclaimed author and fiercely private woman.
Her ex stole the jewels, but this bad boy just stole her heart. . .
After ditching the ruthless Banner Westfield, aka "the world's worst husband," sexy and fiercely guarded Janet Aims thinks the least she deserves for surviving attempted murder is a chance to cash in on her losses. Step one is hocking the wedding ring and ridiculously tacky necklace given to her by her conniving ex.
But just when Janet thinks she's buried the past, the police claim that the necklace is part of the stolen Pellinni Jewel collection. Which means that even prison can't stop Banner from dumping her smack in the middle of his evil schemes again.
With Colombian gangsters and jewel thieves hot on her trail, Janet has no choice but to turn to smoldering ex-con Rocky Hernandez, the one man who can make her fragile heart pound. Partnering up with a certified hottie who knows the ins and outs of Detroit's seedy underbelly as well as he does a woman's body might have its perks if Janet's life -- and her heart -- weren't on the line. . .
What great stuff did you get in your mailbox last week?
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, she has written more than eighty inspirational books, including The Secret to True Happiness, 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life, the entire Battlefield of the Mind family of books, her first venture into fiction with The Penny, and many others. She has also released thousands of audio teachings, as well as a complete video library. Joyce’s Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences. Joyce and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four grown children and make their home in St. Louis, Missouri.
978-0-8254-4191-2
and Surrender the Dawn.
