Diversity Rocks Challenge

I am joining the Diversity Rocks Challenge. It was created by Ali from Worducpoia. This will be my first reading challenge. I don't do them because I like to be able read what I want to read when I want to and not worry about checking a book of a challenge list. Plus I am pretty lazy when it comes to keeping up with stuff like that. But I am going to give the diversity rocks challenge a go. I won't be counting books by Black authors, I would read those books anyway. I am all about a balanced reading diet and this challenge will keep me honest. Though I do suffer from non fiction deficiency.

Top of the Order John Coy

Top of the Order by John Coy Jackson, Gig and Issac are best friends. Diego, the new kid is accepted into the group. The four friends play baseball for the Panthers. A problem arises when Gig's younger sister, Sydney plays second place for the Panthers. Jackson must find a why to make everything okay with Gig, so the team can have a good season. Coy calls a great game, baseball fans will easily see the plays. Yes this book is about baseball but we also learn about the characters off the field. 10 yr old Jackson's parents are divorced. He's shuttles between two homes and must deal with his mother dating. Gig's father is in the National Guard and has been called upon to serve in the Middle East. The four friends will be going to starting middle school next year. Isaac's dad wants him to go to a different middle school from his friends. Diego must work and can't make every practice. The lunch scenes were very well done, Coy does an excellent job of showing the bond between the friends. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Jackson's learns of the futureme website. It allows people to send a message to their future self. Jackson checks it out reading different messages. It inspires him to write his own futureme message. Young sport fans will really enjoy this book. Coy has created very believable characters and dialogue that will grab hold of at least a few reluctant readers. I was pleasantly surprised at the end to discover there may be more books to come. This would be good for ages 8up. Top of the Order will be released in March 2009. Just in time for the beginning of the baseball season.

Zac Power H.I. Larry

Zac Power #01: Zac Power #1: Poison Island by H.I. Larry I read the first four Zac Power books, I absolutely loved them. This series was first released in Australia in 2007. The first book in the series was released in the States in 2008. I am always on the look out for new early chapter books especially ones boys will enjoy. Zac Power is exactly what I was looking for. 12yr Zac Power loves listening to music and playing his guitar. He wants to be a rock star when he grows up but right now he's a spy as is the whole Power family. They work for the Government Investigation Bureau (GIB). In each book Zac is sent on a new mission. He always has 24 hours to complete a mission. Zac's older brother Leon is a tech expert and is always on call for his brother at Tech Support Headquarters. Zac has some really cool gadgets. The most important is his SpyPad it looks like a video game but its a mini computer, mobile satellite telephone with voice scrambler, laser, and code breaker rolled into one. These books were really fun to read and they kept getting better. In each story Zac ends up using his Ipod to get out of a jam. Its fun trying to figure out when and how Zac will use his Ipod. The Zac Power books are a whole lot of fun with much action, and nice technology. I'll share a funny scene from book two "Deep Waters" Zac was in the amphibious submersible on the way to another mission, when he stopped to save a couple. He dropped them off on an Island. The people on the Island wouldn't let Zac land on the south side, he thought that was strange and decided to check it out. Come to find out there weren't evil people on the south side but a nudist beach for old people. I got a good laugh out of that.
Zac Power is a great series, and I am very happy they've been released in the U.S. thank you
Feiwel and Friends. This is a great recommend for age 7up, especially if the child has an older sibling. Sometimes its nice to discover a book an older brother or sister hasn't already read. Since the series doesn't read young or have too many pictures it would also work well for struggling readers. There is also a nice website Zac Power website http://www.zacpower.com/home/books.asp
Fans can do a lot of interesting things, like create their own spy name and read up on all of Zac's gadgets. You can also sample the books. So I won't be sharing today you can go to the website.

Writers Contest at Color Online

In honor of Black History Month, Color Online is hosting a contest celebrating the contributions of black women writers. Submit a book review or biography sketch of a black woman writer you admire. They're looking for YA writers, adult fiction and nonfiction writers. Writers may be contemporary or historical figures.


Submissions must be a minimum of 300 words not to exceed 750. Deadline for submissions is February 25th. Winners will be announced February 28th

If your interested in the contest click the link below.
Writers Contest

Celeste's Harlem Renaissance Eleanora E. Tate

Celeste's Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate 13yr old Celeste lives with her father and aunt Society in Raleigh North Carolina. When Celeste father is grows ill, Celeste must move to Harlem to live with her aunt Valentina, the singer. One of my favorite parts of the book, the train ride to Harlem. Celeste talks to three people. I loved these conversation, they came across as very genuine. Celeste thinks she'll be living the high life in Harlem but her aunt lost her job. Her first night in Harlem just off the train Celeste must help her aunt clean a theatre floor. I liked Celeste a lot, she adapts quickly to her situations. Celeste was quiet and timid in Raleigh but she gains some confidence and learns how to speak up for herself in Harlem. Just when Celeste is getting used to living in Harlem she must move back to Raleigh to care for her aunt Society who had a stroke. Before Celeste leaves Harlem she plays her violin in a Harlem resturant, runs into Duke Ellington and James Weldon Johnson. Also Celeste's aunt Valentina gets a part in Shuffle Along, the first African American musical to go to Broadway Sometimes family is hard to figure out, Celeste aunts definitely fall under that category. As the book ends Celeste realizes that neither aunt is all good or bad, and to simply accept them for who they are. Tate has created a great character in Celeste Lassiter Massey. The author sites all historical references in the back of the book.

Time to share

My tears mingled with the rinse water. My back and knees throbbed. I'd scrubbed floors back home but not like this. Now I knew why Aunt Valentina walked bent over. I reckoned that I would, too, pretty soon. Just like in that book of fairy tales I loved to read at school, I felt like I was poor overworked Cinderella and Aunt Valentina was both mean stepsisters.

And if you're looking for a great young adult book about Harlem Renaissance check out

Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Raban Carrick Hill . It was a National Book Award finalist.