"Life is Full of Wonderful Things"

From Amazon:

Magical costumes, disappearing stairs and a spooky attic filled with dusty antiques–what more could two, adventurous, young girls ask for?

Best friends, Cynthia and Gus as she prefers to be called, are as "different as bubble gum and broccoli." They are, however, equal in their ability to get into trouble without much effort.

In trying to escape the "boring summer" of 1964, the adventurous twelve-year-old girls stumble upon a trunk in Cynthia's attic that has been in her family for three generations.

They discover its mystical qualities when they are swept into the trunk and whisked back to 1914, literally into the lives of their twelve-year-old grandmothers, Clara and Bess. The mystery of a missing family locket is revealed. Their quest takes numerous twists and turns, including a life-and-death struggle on a large steamship traveling from England to America.

Along with perilous escapades, they make important, sometimes humorous discoveries about their ancestors, and even manage to change history–for the better–along the way.

From Me:

I received a free download of The Missing Locket off Smashwords from the publisher. This was a nice, quick read good for anyone looking for a light story to enjoy.  Written for tweens, the story follows Agusta Lee "Gus" and Cynthia as they explore Cynthia's amazing attic.  In the attic they discover an old, dusty steamer trunk.  When they open it, a whole world of adventure sucks them in to set right events from the past.  They must find a missing locket and reunite a family torn apart decades before.

I liked that the story developed each of the girls well.  The scene where Gus watches Cynthia perform her morning routine resonated in this former tom boy's head.  I remember watching my sister spend two hours getting ready for school in the morning.  It drove me nuts that she spent so much time primping!  I also liked that the story contained several quests.  Just like in real life, it generally takes more than one step to set a problem right.

I didn't like that the Smashwords version of The Missing Locket changes fonts several times in the pdf download.  I found it distracting as I read.  I also would have liked to see a little more dimension to supporting characters in the story.  I got to know the girls well but the rest of the actors felt more like props than people.

For my cautious readers: No swearing, very mild violence (which the guy had coming and he got off better than he deserved) and no sex makes this a full steam ahead read in my opinion.  When my daughter gets older, I think she will enjoy the story.

This blog post over on Karen Syed's blog kicked me in the rear-end.  What is it about book reviewers?  Why do we post some reviews and ignore others?  I can speak for myself and I have some theories (and heard rumors) about other reviewers.  Sit back and feel free to openly mock me to your computer screen about my thoughts.

First, a disclaimer.  I'm not a professional reviewer in the sense of I am not paid money to do reviews.  I write reviews because I love literature.  I love books that force me to think. I love curling up with a good book and immersing myself in the story.  (Although that is getting harder to do since I don't have a eBook reader so I'm tethered by cables in my reading habits.)  I started writing reviews a few years after I landed a job doing literary publicity.  As a publicist, I realized how hard it was to find reviewers and how essential they are to a book's success.  I started a blog, sent an email to a couple publicists I knew and the books began trickling in.

From Amazon:

Natalie, a self-centered girl, is dragged away by her family at the worst possible time.

Damien, a juvenile delinquent condemned as an accessory to murder.

Connor, an angry young man unable to get over the death of his father.

Three teenagers from different backgrounds, each suffering pain and loss, must now find strength, responsibility, and heroism they didn’t know they possessed when the worst disaster in American history, a 9.7 earthquake devastates the Pacific Northwest. Their struggle for survival will not only test their resolve; it will affect the lives of everyone around them.

Can they let go of their own personal issues and look beyond themselves before a massive tsunami destroys them all.

From me:

Post trauma stories fascinate me. Imagine your world falling apart. What do you do? How do you survive? Do you let yourself fall apart? Do you do whatever it takes to survive? Do you find in yourself the strength to help others or crawl over their dying backs?