Om Child: I Am Happy: Chakras, Colors, and Feelings (Om Child, 1)

Shirley J.      Early Learning      Teaches children the concept of chakras, the color associated with each chakra and the feelings (emotions) represented by each chakra.                             

Om Child: I Am Happy: Chakras, Colors and Feelings (Om Child 1) by Lisa Edwards     18 pages

Another beautifully illustrated board book.  While this is geared to the baby to 4 year old set, this is an advanced concept seems to me.  The chakras which are the bodies energy points from the top of our heads to the base of our spines are associated with colors (each chakra is a different color) and different emotions and meaning for each chakra.   

There are seven:

The crown chakra - purple,  knowledge

The third eye chakra - Indigo,  intuition 

The throat chakra - blue,  communication

The heart chakra - green, love and compassion

The solar plexis chakra- yellow, strength, power

The sacral chakra-orange, sensuality

The root chakra- red, stability

The book does teach colors, talks about emotions and the meanings of each chakra and how yoga can compliment our bodies and their energies.   A beautiful book.   I think older kids would be fine with this conceptual book.  

 

Om Child: I am calm: Yin & Yang, Opposites, and Balance (Om Child, 3) Board Book

 Shirley J.          Early Learning Book              The concept of Yin and Yang, Opposites, and Balance 

Om Child: I am calm: Yin & Yang,  Opposites,  and Balance (Om Child, 3) by Lisa Edwards    18 pages

Great book with beautiful illustrations.   The pages just pop with vibrant colors.  The concepts taught here are so well done, perfectly the yin and yang of it all.   Dark and light, night and day,  hot and cold.  How there can't be one without its opposite and how each balances out the other for a perfect world.   I really liked this book and I think it is an excellent book to read to children even older kids you could have a great discussion of opposites after and talk about what things are yin and what are yang.  Really fun teaching experience here.  It is a board book and so geared to the baby to 4 year old set, but, the concepts are so fun to play with I would go a little older.  Fun book.

Stillwater and Koo Save the World

 

Shirley J.             Children's Literature               Doing good things to make the world a better place

Stillwater and Koo Save the World by Jon J. Muth     32 pages

   A sweet story showing how any act of kindness done makes the world a better place.  Koo wants to save the world and Stillwater teaches him how to do so through one kind act at a time.   To save the world, we all must do whatever we can to help each other which brings love and compassion to a hurting world.  To save the world we can help to clean up the planet earth even through small acts of picking up trash and properly disposing of it, showing respect, love and compassion for the earth.   So many good and doable ideas for making the world a better place one small act at a time and by any one any age.   Goodness and kindness bring forth thoughtful acts that benefit one another, nature and animals.  Another beautiful book by Jon J. Muth.   I recommend this one to listeners on up.  Simple but profound.

Beyond that, the Sea

 

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash 368 pages

 

The Blitz was in high gear. Nightly the German bombs rained down upon London. Most Londoners felt as if bomb shelters were their new homes. Many families were sending their children to the English countryside or to America to keep them safe. Millie and Reginald Thompson decided to do the same for their eleven-year-old daughter Beatrix.

 

I can’t remember how, or if it was even mentioned in the story, but the Thompson’s chose America and a family in Boston. The voyage was hard on the girl, traveling alone. But the ship made it across the ocean and landed. Beatrix was relieved when her new family claimed her. She was welcomed with open arms.

 

It didn’t take long for Bea, as she was called, to make herself at home and fit into her new lifestyle. Really, the only difference was the Thompsons were upper lower class while the Gregorys were wealthy. One of the things that Bea loved most living with the Gregorys, Nancy and Ethan, and their two sons, Gerald and William, was the summers spent at their cabin in Maine. Oh, what fun they had!

 

When the war ended, Bea was sent back to London. While she had been gone, her father had died, her mother had remarried, and London was still in ruins. As she tried to pick up the pieces, her memories of the Gregorys lingered in the back of her mind. She had grown close to both boys. Nor did the Gregorys forget Bea.

 

What I really like about this story is the way it is told---in short vignettes told from seven viewpoints (those of the seven characters.) What I didn’t like was that the vignette style also allowed the author to gloss over some key moments. Regardless, I would recommend this book to others, and Beyond That, the Sea received 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Welcome Flower Child: The Magic of Your Birth Flower

Shirley J.            Children's Literature: Nature                      The flower for every birth month

Welcome Flower Child: The Magic of Your Birth Flower by Brigette Barrager     42 pages    

A charming book with beautiful illustrations denoting the flower that represents each month of the year and includes a poetry verse that tells the qualities of babies born in each month of the year and the flower that blooms in each birth month.   That is so cool.   I didn't know if the type of flower was significant because of the traits designated for babies born but turns out it is actually the flower that blooms during that month, which makes it even more significant then of course flowers each have their own meanings assigned from long ago when posies bore special romantic or poignant significant expressions to the one receiving them.  The verses are precious as are the babies they are meant for and of course even adults will smile learning the special significance of the flower just for them in their birth month.   Geared for 3-7 year olds, but, honestly, no matter what the material, doesn't everyone every age want to take a peek at something that might portend their destiny?     Good book.   I enjoyed it.   It is always fun to learn something new.                                                                                                                                           

 

April 2023 Team Totals

 In April, 3 people read 28 books with a total of 8521 pages.  Shirley was the winner with 19 books and 5294 pages!  Thanks to all of the readers for participating!

March 2023 Team Totals

 

In March, Shirley was the only reader.  She read 20 books with 5633 pages.  Congratulations, Shirley!

Dead of Winter

 "Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates   384 pp.

Christa's boyfriend Kiernan invites her to go on a trip to an exclusive lodge high in the Rocky Mountains.  The tour company suggests that everyone leave their electronics at home so they can enjoy getting away from it all.  A downed tree on the road means it needs to be moved.  While the other men in the tour group work on getting rid of it, Kiernan takes Christa on a walk.  She loses him in the snow and stumbles upon an abandoned hunting cabin.  By the time she arrives, the other members of the tour group are there, as well.  Christa has some bad frostbite and she hears someone else in the group say they might have to cut off her arm.  Kiernan is not there.  Christa wants to go out looking for him (and does a few times), but does not find him at first.  Then during the night, the tour guide disappears and other tour members soon follow.

"The Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates was described as similar to "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie.  This is true in that all the people on this trip to a remote lodge have secrets and the characters die one by one.  This story, however, is far more graphic in its violence.  The story was gripping and fast-paced.  I figured out who the bad guy was before the end, however.

It Happened One Fight

 

It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lee Lenker  384 pp.

Joan Davis and Dash Howard have made a series of movies together, but can't seem to get along.  Joan has to contend with a jealous Hollywood gossip columnist who found out something Joan herself doesn't know--Joan and Dash are married!  It seems Dash (as a joke) sent Joan the marriage license from their movie (that was performed by a real minister) and Joan's assistant sent it off to city hall not knowing what it was.  Now both Dash and Joan are off to Reno so they can get a quickie divorce while filming their latest film (written by Joan's assistant) and Joan can marry the man she's engaged to.  

With elements of old Hollywood movies (including "It Happened One Night", "It Happened One Fight" is a cute romance.  Anyone who is a Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, or Montgomery Clift/Rock Hudson fan will find the book thoroughly entertaining.

The African Kitchen: A Day in the Life of a Safari Chef

Shirley J.     Adult Non-Fiction African Cookbook     Recipe from Ethiopia and other African Nations.

The African Kitchen: A Day in the Life of a Safari Chef by Josie Stow and Jan Baldwin       144 pages

Fascinating story, photos and recipes from chefs who work out in the wild on safari tours carrying their ingredients and cooking utensils, stoves and refrigerators out in the savannah to give tourists not only the experience of being up close and personal with wild animals still living free on the continent, but, also offering up lavish meals prepared outside on the African plains to give safari goers the ultimate experience of enjoying gourmet meals and adult beverages made from recipes from Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, etc.   The authors cite many recipes from a Zulu chef friend and the recipes sound so succulent and the photos so compelling it makes the reader wish you could be out there right along with them to experience the phenomenon that is Africa, ther terrain, the animals in the wild, the culture, the spirit, the freedom of experiencing living in the wild if only for a little while and living the dream that is the essence of African cooking.    It amazed me how simple the authors make it all seem.  What all they do to provide the full safari experience while making these sometimes extremely intricate recipes that they explain in such easy to follow instructions and explain them in such down to earth ways even as they have to often race ahead of the safari tourists in order to get elaborate food stations set up that are incredible yet out in the wild among all God's creatures.    They even teach you how to find termite mounds and how to make sure they have been vacated in order to term them into pizza ovens!   They tell you how to be sure the spot you are setting up in is free of snakes, cheetahs, elephants, lions etc.  Then how to go about setting up the equipment you have brought out.    It is always a good day if the eggs make it without cracking while riding fast in the jeeps as they rush out to stay ahead of the tour in order to provide cold drinks, and delightful appetizers, entrees, fruit and vegetable recipes that are foreign to our ears but look absolutely delectable in the photos included.   And to think of hauling actual stoves (they sometimes cook over a fire, they sometimes even put things on a shovel over a fire to cook them, but they don't always use termite mounds or cooking dugouts in the ground, they actually have refrigerators and stoves that households would use - how do they do it?    Generators?   Gas?   And then the elaborate decorations and tables adorned wonderfully and bars seriously BARS where they provide adult beverages, sometimes making their own vodka from many ingredients including fermented chili peppers.    I highly recommend everyone check out this look into a world you might never know about otherwise.   When I think about safaris, I had never thought about the local people working for the safari company to put out a spread of food that would rival a 5 star restaurant in the States.  Man!  They know how to throw a party at ever sitting and to have a view of Kilamanjaro rising above the serengetti, too!   Once when I was young I asked my Mom, "If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?"   She said, "I would like to be on safari."    Having read this book with its wonderful asides telling of great experiences and repasts, along with the beauty and pureness of animals living free as they are meant to and being able to share that dream for even just a moment in time.   I am right there with you, Mom.   I recommend this book to anyone old enough to appreciate the wonder, the cuisine and the beauty and skill of bringing it all together in the outdoors in the magical continent of Africa.                                                                                                                                        

 

Not If I See You First

 Shirley J.         Teen Fiction              Auto accident, Blind, Orphaned, meeting life strong and head-on

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom       336 pages

When Parker was 4, she was in a car accident that killed her mother and left her blind.   As a teenager her father died and now her Aunt and two cousins have moved in to Parker's house (it was way nicer than theirs) to look after her.   Parker is smart and doles out sage advice and tough love to her best friend and other friends.   Her cousin Sarah, now living with her, who is the same age and now attending the highschool that Parker goes to is not her bff.   To say their relationship is testy is being generous, but, she gets along great with Sarah's younger brother at least.   Not a lot of love showing from her Aunt, but, then they were never close till her Dad died so it is a familial unit of convenience for the most part.   Parker has strict rules she has set for herself, "Don't treat me any different" because she is blind and "Never take advantage."     She puts up a good facade of being tough but secretly she gives herself a gold star for every day she doesn't cry since her Dad's death.  Oh yeah, and her guilty pleasure is running.   Turns out, blind or not, she is good at it.   Lots happens, a blast from her past reemerges along with a new love interest and a maybe who ends up being tutored in calculus by Parker and her friends thereby earning the title of being "one of the girls."   A very well told story of teen angst with a whole lot more going on besides.    I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.   A very good debut novel by Eric Lindstrom.

If I Could Turn Back Time: A Novel

Shirley J.             Adult Fiction                        Head Trauma, Time Travel, Getting a Do-Over on the past

If I Could Turn Back Time: A Novel by Beth Harbison    352 pages

Ramie Phillips gets the chance to do what so many wish we could at some point, she gets to go from her current 38 year old self who is successful, parties with the rich and famous but often feels "what if she had taken a different path?"   The universe or her fairy godmother hears her thoughts and while drinking champagne at a party on a yacht, she goes to dive off a diving board into the pool but hits her head and ends up going back in time to her 18 year old self to relive the time before graduation when she broke up with the love of her life and now she gets a do-over to see what her future would be with him in it, added bonus, she gets to see her Dad alive again and try to save him from the cancer that takes his life.   Problem: will she be stuck in the past and have to live everything over knowing what she knows now?    Very well done story unlike other similar theme fictions.   I recommend this one to high schoolers on up.
 

Woman Thou Art Loosed

 

Shirley J.                  Adult Non-Fiction                  Scriptural help for women dealing with past abuse

Woman Thou Art Loosed!: Healing the Wounds of the Past by T. D. Jakes     224 pages

In this book, T. D. Jakes addresses his teaching on the biblical scriptures telling of Jesus' encounters with the woman who had been healed by touching the hem of his cloak, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, the woman caught in the act of adultery, Tamar whose brother raped her, and more biblical scripture dealing with women who were dealing with past traumas and how God can help them to overcome and put past hurts behind them.    He addresses how to deal with low self-esteem, self-hatred, tragedy, disappointments then shows how regardless of what a woman has gone through in her past he offers hope and healing and how to achieve deliverance from past or present abuse and shows how God can make a way.    Good book,   I recommend this one to teenagers on up.

The Writing Retreat

 

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz 320 pages

 

I go on a writing retreat once a year, so when I saw this title in the library, I had to check it out!

 

For the past year, Alex has had writer’s block. She blames it on her breakup with her girlfriend, Wren. The opening chapters set up how destructive Alex’s life is since the two are no longer together.

 

Ursula, a friend, enters one of her old stories into a writing contest. The Grand Prize is a month-long writer’s retreat led by Alex’s all-time favorite, feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Of course, she gets in, otherwise there would not be a novel. Alex is one of five women invited to the retreat. In addition to working with Roza, the winner will receive a publishing contract and a one-million-dollar reward. There is a lot at stake.

 

The retreat is held at Roza’s upstate New York estate, Blackbriar. Roza is eccentric and the women who care for her and her estate are also eccentric. That leads to a few weird rules and timeframes that seem impossible to meet. Each woman must write 3,000 new words for her novel and submit them to Roza everyday by midnight. If one of the women misses the deadline, she is invited to leave. That is a tough assignment for Alex who has not written a word in over a year.

 

Alex is in a frenzy. Wren is also there, so tensions are high. During the cocktail hour at the beginning of the retreat, Roza tells the group about the people who used to own Blackbriar. This opens a portal to the spirit of Daphne, the house’s former mistress. And that portal provides Alex with her novel.

 

In addition to watching the ladies write, all sorts of weird things begin to happen. The Writing Retreat has all the elements of a great gothic mystery. It also centers on the themes of friendship, creativity, courage and ambition.

 

Th plot is a little over the top for my tastes and too many graphic sex scenes. I’m not a prude, but it got old after a while. I was also disappointed that readers never learn the topics the other women are writing about. I loved the eeriness of Blackbrair and the author’s ability not to foreshadow too many of the happenings.

 

I had to know what happened, but not sure I would recommend this to anyone. Therefore, The Writing Retreat receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner by Heather Webb 432 pages

 

Fans of Francis Albert Sinatra know he was a complicated man. He could be as loyal as man’s best friend and generous to a fault. When he loved you, he loved you, but when he hated you, he hated you.

 

Frank was a man who loved hard, who worked hard and who played hard. And so was one of Old Hollywood’s sex goddess’ and movie star Ava Gardner. It was as if the two were cut from the same cloth.

 

And when they met, oh my God, did fireworks fly. Combine all the above with the fact that his career was virtually over and hers was on the rise, well, it was instantaneous combustion. They were doomed from the first flame.

 

Author Webb divides the book into five sections, by date and with Frank’s song and movie titles and traces their relationships from 1946-1990, the comings, the going and all the in-betweens. Somehow, they were there for each other, chasing each other around the world. And drink? Those two could almost drink each other under the table! This story is the story of that chemistry, the need for each other that only they could sate.

 

However, always in the background was Nancy, Frank’s first wife, and his kids. Oh, how he loved those kiddos!

 

Frank was a notorious womanizer and only wanted the best things in life. Ava wanted a career, but she also wanted a quiet cottage surrounded by a family.

 

There were times I wanted to stop reading. I didn’t like to see who they were so cruel to each other. Frank came off worse than Ava did, and she, could be a real bitch. That broke my heart. But one thing I found sweet. Ava always called him Francis, unless she was pissed at him, then it was Frank. Only his mother got away with calling him Francis.

 

Strangers in the Night A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Return to Virgin River: A Novel (Book 21 of 22 in the Virgin River series)

 

Shirley J.              Adult Fiction/Romance                 Virgin River, population 600 nestled among the redwoods in northern California

Return to Virgin River (Book 21 in the 22 book Virgin River series.) by Robyn Carr   262 pages

A light breezy romance.   Suspense writer, Kaylee Sloan has just lost her mother to cancer, it has stunted her writing, she is totally lost in life now as her anchor, her advisor, her confidant, her best friend is now gone from her life.   Her mother left her house to Kaylee and it is a wonderful house, the one Kaylee grew up in and the one Kaylee had lived in again after coming back home to stay with her Mom after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.   Everywhere she looks there is a memory or sentimental tie to everything in the house.   Her mother died on Christmas Day and Kaylee cannot abide the thought of going through celebrating the day ever again.   She doesn't feel like writing but even if she did the constant barrage of people calling or dropping by filled with good intentions but not understanding that Kaylee just needed to be left alone so she could pour her tears out in her writing but that seemed to be going nowhere.   She couldn't concentrate for crying and missing her Mom terribly.  She  decides she needs to get away.   Nothing sounds good until an offer comes from family friends to visit a small community on a lake she and her mother used to join them at many summers as Kaylee was growing up after her father left them.  Perfect!   A getaway she could use as a writer's retreat since she still owed her editor another suspense novel and her deadline was creeping up on her.  When she gets to the cabin it is like a punch in both of her eyes!   The cabin is on fire!  The story goes from there with what action Kaylee takes next, the reaction of the community to her, how her fear of dogs plays in to it, her attitude about the holidays.  This really was a comfy book to curl up with and an easy enough story to just let your mind follow where the story takes you.  The characters are very soul soothing and I think anyone reading this story will like it.   I recommend this one to mature high schoolers on up to seniors.   It is like spending time with grown folks you really get along with. 

The Only Plane In the Sky

 Shirley J.                 Adult Non-Fiction Historical                  First Person Accounts of 9/11 Experiences   The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff  560 pages

WOW!  This book will literally take your breath away it is that impactful.  It is told in the words of the people who experienced it first hand, both those who survived it and those who did not.   It is one after the other leading up to the event,  those on the ground or in the air during the event, chillingly those trapped in the inferno with no escape and those below watching in horror as it all unfolded around them.   Readers will feel the chill of the hijackers' words as they took over the plane, feel the realization of the passengers and loved ones knowing there is no way out and the helplessness of those trying to respond to this shocking act of terror while being helpless to stop it.   The book brought up something I hadn't realized before, many people made it down and out of the building only to die during the sudden impact of the bodies of jumpers falling on top of them.    Many firefighters died in that rain of bodies from above, too.   They describe the horrid sounds this made.   The sheer thought of people running forward out of the towers in relief to what they thought was safety only to die on the ground under the body of a desperate person choosing suicide over being burned up by 1800+ degree incinerating fire, or from choking to death on the fumes from the gas leaking from the jet engine or the smoke pouring everywhere or imploding in one of the multitudinous explosions as windows blew out and pulled some victims out to their death.   Some victims lost their lives trying to help others.   Some people followed protocol and obeyed the directive, "Stay where you are, don't move, responders are on their way and know where you are."   That was the massive chaos at the twin towers before, during, then after the attack followed by the inthinkable collapsing of both towers.   But there were two more hijacked planes, one crashing into the Pentagon another stopped from its wretched mission by passengers who rose up to fight the terrorists on that plane which crashed in a field.   Oh, wow.   This book brings so much of that whole sensory experience right to the reader.    Like I said, it will literally take your breath away.   A good book, a factual encounter that the reader will not forget and a teaching experience in that everything you may have thought you knew about that awful time is only a speck on the top of what actually transpired.   It is a nightmare.  Having said that, I do feel that everyone should experience as much of this book as they can even if they cannot finish it, know as much of what really happened.  Too intense for the very young, even the young, but certainly, high schoolers on up and I would recommend this book be on every high school and college reading list.  

The Kiss Quotient

 Shirley J.                      Adult Fiction                   Asberger's, Male escorts,  Economic trend tracking

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang   352 pages

Stella Lane is an econometrician (economics expert) who researches and analyzes marketing trends to guide corporate business decisions.   She is very successful and obsesses over the math of compiling sales figures in various sectors so much so that she spends upwards of 12 hours or more a day at work and even comes in on the weekends because she so loves what she does.  This behavior necessitates little to no social life and her experience in that department is almost non-existant as in her 30+ years she has had 3 sexual encounters none of which were particularly pleasing as she was diagnosed in her childhood as autistic and suffers from asbergers.   She can hardly tolerate other people touching her.  She doesn't relate well to other people and doesn't know the norms of social interacting especially in large groups.   Her solitary work is perfect for her.   She can tabulate numbers to her heart's content and she can do it alone.   Perfect.   When her mother starts pushing her to find a boyfriend and stop working so much as her mother wants very much to be a grandmother.  Her mother starts trying to set Stella up with the boss at her firm who happens to be the son of one of her mother's acquaintances.   After a sort of stumbling get together, to which Stella turns her head when the boss goes in for a kiss, the idea of kissing him nearly makes her puke.   Prior to that Stella's sexual encounters have been 3 one night stands that neither party came away feeling particularly good about.   Stella likened French kissing to a shark having those little fish clean it's teeth.  The mere remembrance made her shudder.  She decides she needs instruction on the how of handling relationships and the intimacies that go with it.   She decides to hire a male escort to teach her what she needs to do to keep a man.    And that is what she does.   Enter Michael.   They both end up with way more than they expected!  A good book and manual on how to get and keep a man.   This one is pretty sexually explicit - it is training after all.  I recommend this one to adults through senior citizens.  

Meet Cute

 Shirley J.                  Adult Fiction                                Child Star, Lawyers, Life Upheaval

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting     384 ages

Kailyn Flowers was a huge fan of former t.v. star, Daxton Hughes.  So much so she collected every bit of memorabilia she could.   His face adorned multiple t-shirts she owned, action figures, cups, ad infinitum.  Then when she started law school,  who does she run into and has a fan-girl melt-down over, but, Daxton Hughes!   He is actually in class with her.   Him and his jerk friends.  Daxton in full star mode, turns on the smile he reserves for fan situations and is pleasant enough at the time, but, later when she asked for his help in turning in a paper, he betrays her.  Going through many hardships in her life, she can never get over the outright act of betrayal Daxton committed and her grade and her grade point average suffered because of it.   They never saw each other again until the day Dax comes walking into her law firm office with his parents to set up a trust.    Dax acts as if he doesn't remember her and nothing happened.   It is all Kailyn can do to remain professional throughout the meeting.  When a tragedy occurs, Kailyn and Dax are thrown back together.   He seeks her help and being a good person she doesn't refuse him but they will be tested throughout this new turn of events.   A good story told well.  Remember, "It ain't over till its over."   I recommend this one to high schoolers on up.              

Recommended For You

 

Shirley J.                 Young Adult Fiction                                Bookstores,  Jewish Teens, Two Moms

Recommended For You by Laura Silverman   272 pages       

Shoshanna Greenberg, teen workerbee at "Once Upon," her favorite bookstore, daughter of Mom and Mama, her two Moms, owner of Barbara Streisand, her hoopdie mobile that is always on its last leg and who she often prays to HaShem (Jewish word meaning "the Name" used to refer to God) to get her where she needs to go.   With Mom and Mama verbally sparing all the time now (Shoshanna is getting skiddish of the big D looming) the store has become her oasis.     Around the holidays, to kick up business as the store has been hit hard over the past few years from lack of sales, Shoshanna's boss announces a competition.   A cash prize for the employee selling the most books.    Shoshanna sees a way to get her car fixed, little does she know there is some steep competition for the prize money.   Good story, fun dialogue and fun characters.   I recommend this to middle schoolers on up.