Bear Soldier Tribal Orchard

July 22nd, 2010

  Today I’m traveling to South Dakota to visit the Bear Soldier Tribal Orchard.  Edy’s Fruit Bars has partnered with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation to develop Communities Take Root, a program to provide fresh fruit orchards in dozens of communities across the United States.

This is not about just planting a few fruit trees.  We’re talking about planting and orchard and helping a community for many years down the road.

If you’re a regular reader, you know my heart is with the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.  I’ve been voting for the Bear Soldier Tribal Orchard in McLaughlin, SD, and I’m asking you to please vote for them here.  You can vote daily until August 31st.

You can read more about this orchard and their Medicine Wheel of Healing here.  If you want to help the Lakota in other ways, consider donations to The Cheyenne River Reservation.  You can read about the reservation and their needs at the Cheyenne River Youth Project site.  I belong to a group of people that want to make a difference in the lives of the Native Americans who live at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Check us out and please vote for this orchard.

Wall Street Reform

July 21st, 2010

  I received the latest piece of propaganda today regarding this wonderful new legislation signed into law by Obama today.  I rarely get very excited over e-mail from the White House, even if it does come from the vice president.  That hasn’t changed.

These are what he considers some of the highlights:

  • There’s now a single agency responsible for looking out for consumers: the Bureau for Consumer Financial Protections. Instead of seven agencies dealing with these issues part-time, one agency will be in charge of establishing clear rules of the road for banks, mortgage companies, payday lenders and credit card lenders.
  • Mortgage brokers won’t make a higher commission by selling people mortgages that they can’t afford. This was a major factor in the recent housing crisis. Now brokers and banks have to take into consideration a borrower’s ability to repay before giving a home loan.
  • You’ll be able to get a free credit score if you’re denied a loan, an apartment, or a job because of your credit, so you won’t be turned down without knowing why. Right now, you get one free credit report a year, but you can’t see your credit score for free, even if a lender or employer rejects your application because you have bad credit.
  • No more bailing out banks with our tax dollars, no more “too big to fail.” If a company’s in trouble because of risky gambles, it will have to liquidate — and do so before it can take down the rest of the financial system.
  • Regarding that third point – when did they stop allowing a free copy of your credit report if you were turned down for a credit card, etc.?  In my younger and no so financial savvy days, I received free credit reports more than once when I was turned down. 

    And the no more bailing out of banks – now they can just be hijacked by the government like the auto and insurance industries.  I’m glad most of my banking is done through a credit union.  It feels like a safer place to be.

    If you want to see more of the promotion of this law, go to the White House blog.  Of course, they don’t mention just how much deeper in debt our country will be now.  I hope China has deep pockets.

    The Gardener and the Vine

    July 20th, 2010

    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!

     

    Today’s Wild Card author is:

     

    Andrew McDonough

     

    and the book:

     

    The Gardener and the Vine

    Zondervan (January 15, 2010)

    ***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    Andrew is the creator, writer, and illustrator of the Lost Sheep series. Way back in 1989 as a young Bible college student, Andrew was asked to give the dreaded “children’s talk” at a large church. Andrew possessed one talent: he could draw sheep. He bought some overheard projector sheets and drew up the story of Cecil and the Lost Sheep. The congregation loved it, so Andrew continued to draw stories to use with kids and adults. Other student, pastors, and teachers started borrowing the stories.

    Product Details:

    List Price: $4.99
    Reading level: Ages 4-8
    Paperback: 32 pages
    Publisher: Zondervan (January 15, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 0310719461
    ISBN-13: 978-0310719465

    ISLAND BREEZES

    This “Cecil and Friends” book is based on John 15:1,5.  This happens to be part of one of my favorite sections of scripture.

    I liked the fact that Mr. McDonough named the branch.  Since the branch represents us, it’s filling that it has a name.  It’s a very good illustration of how we are grafted into the family of God.

    Okay, I have to admit that the bug-eyed characters didn’t bother me in this book. 

    PRESS THE BROWSE BUTTON TO VIEW THE FIRST CHAPTER:

    Are You Glowing Yet?

    July 19th, 2010

    I don’t know about where you live, but it’s hot and muggy down here.  I’m sweating perspiring glowing up a storm here.  Women glow or glisten.  We aren’t supposed to sweat.  That offends the Southern woman’s sensibility. 

    I don’t care.  If I go outside for 15 minutes, I come in needing a shower and change of clothes.  Now that’s a real glow!

    There are many ways to beat the heat and quit glowing quite so much. Here are some of them.

    • Line your curtains and drapes with white.  It deflects the heat.  You can buy liners separately if you aren’t handy with a sewing machine.
    • Now close those suckers to block the sun.
    • Replace your A/C filter monthly.
    • If you have a fireplace, be sure the damper is closed.
    • Keep a spray bottle of water in the fridge.  Spritz yourself.  As the water evaporates, you will cool down.
    • Turn on your ceiling fan when you’re in the room.  Off when you’re not.  Be sure it’s rotating the right direction.  No, I don’t have a clue as to which way it’s supposed to rotate in the summer.  Turn it on and stand under it.  If you don’t feel a breeze, it’s turning the wrong direction.
    • When you shower, use the vent fan.  If you turn down the hot water and take a tepid, Jamaican style shower you can save the electricity needed to run the fan and heat the water.
    • Use a table top computer or put your laptop on a table.  That sucker makes for a hot lap.  Do you really want to sweat glow all over your computer?
    • Run your dishwasher later in the evening/night when it’s cooler.
    • Wear clothes made of Coolmax or some of that other stuff that wicks the moisture away from you.
    • Forget the slacks, capris and even shorts.  Loose, billowy dresses are cooler since they allow the breeze under them.
    • Wear diabetic socks.  They wick the moisture.  When you finish being productive for the day, change to sandals or flip flops.
    • Drink lots to replace the moisture lost and prevent dehydration.  Forget the cocktails, mommy medicine and sodas.  Drink water, iced tea, lemonade, etc.
    • Eat light.  Salads and fruits help keep you hydrated and not feeling sluggish.
    • Take a vacation from the stove.  Use the microwave, slow cooker and outside grill – even George’s grill.  Of course, some of us are already on semi-permanent vacation from the stove already.
    • Make desserts that require the freezer and not the oven.
    • Hang it all. Put your dryer on vacation. 
    • Make/buy a cool tie or just fill a cotton sock with rice, tie it shut and freeze it for a couple hours for a nice cold compress.
    • Go jump into the lake or pool.  If you don’t have one, soak in a nice cool tub of water.  I learned while working on ships in dry dock (no A/C for a couple weeks) that the tub soak works much better than a cold shower.
    • Best of all, take a good book, a nice tall glass of something cold, ditch the shoes, and lounge out on the beach under the palms and enjoy the breeze coming in off the water.  Just looking at the waves makes me forget that glowing business.

    The Ways of Man

    July 18th, 2010

      Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death.

    The appetite of workers works for them; their hunger urges them on.

    Scoundrels concoct evil, and their speech is like a scorching fire.

    A perverse person spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
    the violent entice their neighbors, and lead them in a way that is not good.

    One who winks the eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses the lips brings evil to pass.

    Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

    One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.

    The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the Lord’s alone.

    Touching the Clouds

    July 17th, 2010

      

     NEW SERIES EXPLORES LOVE AND ADVENTURE
    IN THE 1930’s ALASKAN WILDERNESS

     

    Author Bonnie Leon takes readers to new heights in her latest book, Touching the Clouds, the first book in the new Alaskan Skies series.

     

    Leon introduces readers to Kate Evans, an adventurous and independent young woman with a pioneering spirit. When she leaves her home in Washington State to follow her dream of being an Alaskan bush pilot, she knows it will be an uphill battle. But she never expected it to be quite like this. As the lone woman in a man’s world, she finds that contending with people’s expectations is almost as treacherous as navigating the wild arctic storms.

     

    When she crosses paths with a mysterious man living alone in the forbidding wilderness, she faces a new challenge. Can Kate break through the walls he has put up around his heart? And will fear keep her from realizing her dreams?

     

    Book 1 in the Alaskan Skies series, Touching the Clouds

    will draw readers in with raw emotion and suspense,

    all against the stunning backdrop of the Alaskan wilds

    during the 1930s.

     

    ISLAND BREEZES

    It’s 1935 and she’s running away.  Not quite.  She’s flying away on what was supposed to be her wedding day.  Only a week before she canceled the wedding.  Now she’s following her dream of becoming an Alaskan bush pilot.

    It took courage to fly her plane from Washington to Anchorage without a job or place to live, but her determination to follow her dream drove her.  After struggling to get that dream job, she still had to struggle with acceptance as a female in a man’s world.  Added to that is an incident from her past that continues to haunt her.

    In her flights she meets people in some very remote places – one of which intrigues her greatly.  In spite of their mutual attraction, he also is running from a past which torments him.  Will they be able to overcome their pasts to enjoy the present and plan for the future?

    This is book one in Ms Leon’s Alaskan Series.  If you read this, I can assure you that you, too, will be eagerly awaiting book two.

    ***Special thanks to Donna Hausler of Revell Books for sending me a review copy.*** 

     

    Bonnie Leon is the bestselling author of more than ten historical fiction novels. She stays busy teaching women’s Bible studies and speaking at writing seminars and conventions. She and her husband, Greg, live in Oregon.

     

    Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life.  They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.

     

    For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

    Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

    Perfectly Dateless

    July 17th, 2010

     

    FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR KRISTIN BILLERBECK

    The hilarious and heartwarming story of a teen
    who just wants to be normal for once
    .

     

    The countdown to prom has begun. Daisy Crispin has 196 days to find the right date for the prom. There’s only one problem–her parents won’t let her date or even talk to a guy on the phone. Oh, and she’s totally invisible at school, wears lame homemade clothes, and possesses no social skills. Okay, so maybe there’s more than one problem.

     

    From bestselling author Kristin Billerbeck comes Perfectly Dateless, a hilariously endearing story about a regular high school girl, trying to fit in. Readers will fall in love with Daisy’s sharp wit and resourcefulness as she navigates the world of boys, fashion, family, and friendship.

     

    Can Daisy talk her parents into letting her go to the prom? Or will they succeed at their obvious attempts to completely ruin her life?

    ISLAND BREEZES

    The front cover states that this is “A Universally Misunderstood Novel.”  I’m guessing that this is the name of a series.  It certainly fits this book.

    Daisy is the epitome of misunderstood.  I vaguely remember some Daisys from my high school days.  Notice I said vaguely.  They stood out like cacti in a bouquet of roses when around the “in crowd,” but the rest of the time were mostly invisible.

    Daisy is a walking, talking fact machine who doesn’t dress like the other kids, wear make up and isn’t allowed to date.  Well, she wants a date – a big date – so that she can look back on her high school days and feel as if it hasn’t been a total waste.

    Daisy, the perfectionist, has started a count down to the prom journal.  In it she keeps track of her plans and the results (or lack thereof) until it’s almost prom time.

    The panic begins and the humorous happenings escalate.  Will it be geek without a prom date or Cinderella at the ball?

     

     

    ***Special thanks to Donna Hausler of Revell Books for sending me a review copy.*** 

     

     

    Kristin Billerbeck is the bestselling, award-winning author of several novels, including What a Girl Wants. A Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year, Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. She lives with her family in northern California.

     

     

    Praise for Kristin Billerbeck’s Perfectly Dateless

    “Billerbeck hits a home run with this warm tale about Daisy Crispin’s funny trials and tribulations as she lives with eccentric parents, prom stress, and a desire to just be a normal teen.” — Jenny B. Jones, award-winning author of Just Between You and Me and A Charmed Life series

     

    “With her brand of wit and insight, Billerbeck takes us into the life of Daisy Crispin as she aims for the perfect prom date. This story reminds us that even a geek can live out her Cinderella dreams.” — Rachel Hauck, coauthor of The Sweet By and By

     

    Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life.  They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.

     

    For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

     

    Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

    Beautiful Bandit

    July 15th, 2010

    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!

    Today’s Wild Card author is:
    Loree Lough

    and the book:

    Beautiful Bandit (Lone Star Legends V1)

    Whitaker House (August 3, 2010)

    ***Special thanks to Cathy Hickling of Whitaker House for sending me a review copy.***

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    At last count, Loree had 73 books (fiction and non-fiction for kids and adults; one novel optioned for a TV movie; and many more slated for release), 63 short stories, and more than 2,500 articles in print. Her stories have earned dozens of industry and “Readers’ Choice” awards. A frequent guest speaker for writers’ organizations, book clubs, private and government institutions, corporations, college and high school writing programs and more, Loree has encouraged thousands with her comedic approach to ‘learned-the-hard-way’ lessons about the craft and the industry.

    Visit the author’s website.

    Product Details:

    List Price: $
    Paperback: 240 pages
    Publisher: Whitaker House (August 3, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 1603742255
    ISBN-13: 978-1603742252

    ISLAND BREEZES

    Can one become a bandit by accident?  It appears so, but would anyone believe the truth?

    “Dinah” ends up on a ranch waiting for an injury to heal – one she sustained while trying to escape to Mexico.

    As the weeks pass everyone on the ranch comes to love Dinah and accept her as part of their large family.  Dinah feels the guilt and knows that the man she now loves and his family won’t want her around after they learn she’s wanted by the Texas Rangers.

    Does she ever get up the courage to be truthful, or will she go through with her plan to escape into Mexico?

    You might need that box of tissues again towards the end of this book.  I did.

    AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

    May 1888

    San Antonio, Texas

    The hot, sticky air in the banker’s cluttered office made it hard to breathe. Josh ran a fingertip under his stiff collar as the image of cows, dropping by the thousand, reminded him of why he’d come to San Antonio. Selling a couple thousand uncontaminated acres from his family’s ranch, the Lazy N, was the only way to protect the land that remained until they were able to get the anthrax infection under control.

    He did his best not to glare at the decorous Bostonian, Griffen, sitting beside him. It wasn’t the Swede’s fault, after all, that the disease had killed so many of the Nevilles’ cattle. In his shoes, Josh would have snapped up the land just as quickly. Trouble was, now this la-di-da Easterner would move to Eagle Pass, bringing his never-been-out-of-the-city wife and children with him. Worse yet, Josh had a sneaking suspicion that the former printing press operator would make a regular pest of himself by asking about the Texas climate, irrigation methods, when to plant, and only the good Lord knew what else. If that didn’t earn Josh a seat closer to the Throne, he didn’t know what would.

    Few things agitated him more than sitting in one spot. Especially indoors. Confusion at how these fancy gents managed to look so calm and cool only added to his restlessness. He hung his Stetson on his left knee, mostly to occupy his hands in some way. Now, as the banker explained the terms of the agreement, Josh stared hard at the bloodred Persian rug under his boots and searched his mind for something else to focus on, anything other than the wretched document that would transfer ownership of Neville land to this foreigner. Moving his Stetson to his right knee, he remembered the day he’d bought the hat, and how he’d purchased another just like it one year later, when business at the Lazy N had put him back in Garland. One for riding the range, one for his wedding.

    Strange, he thought, how Sadie could appear in his mind’s eye from out of nowhere, even after three long years without her. He forced her from his mind. This get-together was more than painful enough without his dwelling on the most agonizing period of his life. Josh exhaled a harsh sigh, hoping the banker and the Swede hadn’t heard the tremor in it. For his agitation, he blamed the oppressive heat. His empty stomach. The ten-day ride from Eagle Pass that had left him so bone-tired, he couldn’t sleep, even on the hotel’s pillow-soft mattress. A body would think that an establishment with Persian rugs and velvet curtains could afford to provide some cold water for its clients, he thought, loosening his string tie as Griffen asked yet another inane question. Father, give me the strength to keep from grabbing those papers and hotfooting it out of here without making the deal! he prayed silently.

    Sadly, his thoughts were doing little to distract him from the grim truth.

    He had cast the single dissenting vote at the family meeting, and the decision to sell the land had become even more odious to him when it had been decided that, as the only Neville with a law degree, Josh would be responsible for transacting the sale. He groaned inwardly at the sorry state of affairs, leaning forward to hide the tears that burned in his eyes. He loved every blessed acre—especially those acres—that made up the Lazy N. He’d built a small but solid home for Sadie and himself on that section of the ranch, and having to hand it over to someone else hurt almost as much as burying Sadie had.

    Griffen, God bless him, had been the one to suggest that Josh hold on to the precious acre where she had been buried, along with their twins, who had died at birth. When Josh had asked permission to visit their graves from time to time, Griffen’s pale eyes had darkened a shade, and he had said, “I’d be a wreck in your position. We will build a fence around the land to make sure your little family is never disturbed.” But Josh had known, even as he’d nodded in agreement, that having to cross Griffen property to reach his family would only heap one misery atop another.

    Josh grabbed his Stetson and, with his elbows propped on his knees, spun it round and round as he watched, through the window, three men and a woman dismount sweaty horses. They looked as tense and restless as he felt, and he wondered what unfortunate family business had brought them to the bank today.

    “If you’ll just sign here, Mr. Neville,” Thomas Schaeffer said, redirecting Josh’s attention to his own, unfortunate family business.

    He accepted the banker’s fountain pen. As its freshly inked nib hovered over the document, a bead of sweat trickled down his spine, and he felt a disturbing kinship with the fat hen his ma had roasted for dinner last Sunday.

    Outside, the wind blew steadily, swirling street grit into tiny twisters that skittered up the parched road before bouncing under buggies and scurrying into alleyways. Even the burning breeze would feel better than this choking heat. “Mind if I open the window? I’m sweatin’ like a—”

    “I’d much rather you didn’t,” he said, peering over the rims of his gold-trimmed spectacles. “The wind is likely to scatter our paperwork hither and yon.”

    Hither and yon, indeed. Josh had read sayings like that in literature, but what kind of person actually used that sort of language in everyday speech? His musings over the annoying situation were interrupted by the sounds of shuffling footsteps and coarse whispers from the other side of the banker’s office door.

    The commotion put a stern frown on Schaeffer’s heat-reddened face. “I declare,” he said through clenched teeth, “I can’t take my eyes off that fool assistant of mine for fifteen minutes without some sort of mayhem erupting.” Blotting his forehead with a starched white hanky, he continued grumbling, “Looks like I’ll have no choice but to replace him.” Shoving the eyeglasses higher, he lifted his chin and one bushy gray eyebrow—a not-so-subtle cue for Josh to sign the paper.

    So, gritting his teeth, Josh inhaled a sharp breath, scratched his name on the thin, black line, and traded the pen for the banknote Schaeffer handed him.

    On his feet now, Griffen grabbed Josh’s hand. “T’ank you,” he said, shaking it, “been a pleasure doing business wit’ you, Neville.”

    Unable to make himself say, “Likewise,” Josh forced a stiff smile and pocketed the check. “You bet.” God willing, the worst was behind his family now.

    The burnished, brass pendulum of the big clock behind the banker’s desk swayed left with an audible tick as the men prepared to go their separate ways.

    It swung right as gunshots rang out in the lobby.

    Schaeffer and Griffen ran for the door, but a flurry of activity outside drew Josh’s attention back to the window.

    Tick….

    It was the foursome he’d seen earlier, now scrambling up into their saddles. A lumpy burlap sack rested on the meaty rump of the biggest man’s mount, and sunlight glinted from his pistol.

    Tick….

    Now Josh knew why the bunch had looked so nervous before. They’d been just about to rob the bank! He yanked out his sidearm, pulled back the hammer with one hand, and threw open the window with the other, hoping to get off a shot or two before the robbers were swallowed up by the cyclone of grit kicked up by their horses’ hooves.

    Tick….

    Perched on the sill, Josh took aim at the shoulder of the fattest bandit, just as the woman’s pony veered right, putting her square in the center of his gun sight.

    Tick….

    She looked back as Josh released the pressure on the sweat-slicked trigger.

    Tick….

    Quick as you please, she faced front again, her cornflower blue skirt flapping like a tattered sail as she was swallowed up in a thick cloud of dust.

    Jesus and the Children

    July 14th, 2010

    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!

     

    Today’s Wild Card author is:

     

    Andrew McDonough

     

    and the book:

     

    Jesus and the Children

    Zondervan (January 15, 2010)

    ***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    Andrew is the creator, writer, and illustrator of the Lost Sheep series. Way back in 1989 as a young Bible college student, Andrew was asked to give the dreaded “children’s talk” at a large church. Andrew possessed one talent: he could draw sheep. He bought some overhead projector sheets and drew up the story of Cecil and the Lost Sheep. T he congregation loved it, so Andrew continued to draw stories to use with kids and adults. Other students, pastors, and teachers started borrowing the stories.

    Product Details:

    List Price: $4.99
    Reading level: Ages 4-8
    Paperback: 32 pages
    Publisher: Zondervan (January 15, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 031071947X
    ISBN-13: 978-0310719472

    ISLAND BREEZES

    This Cecil and Friends book is based on Mark 10:13-16.  It’s presented in a way that children ages 4-7 can understand and relate to.  Be sure to read Cecil’s page before reading the book to your child.  It’s very helpful.

    I’m sure they will also enjoy the illustrations as well, but I’m not too crazy about all the bug-eyed people.  As for the disciples, I understand the two fishermen, but who is the thug with the shades and long pointy hair? Please share who you think he is in the comment section.

    Press the browse button to view the first chapter:

    Motorcycles, Sushi, & One Strange Book

    July 13th, 2010

    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!

     

    Today’s Wild Card author is:

     

    Nancy Rue

     

    and the book:

     

    Motorcycles, Sushi, & One Strange Book

    Zondervan (April 16, 2010)

    ***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


    Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.

    Visit the author’s website.

    Product Details:

    List Price: $9.99
    Reading level: Young Adult
    Paperback: 224 pages
    Publisher: Zondervan (April 16, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 0310714842
    ISBN-13: 978-0310714842

     

    ISLAND BREEZES

    She has some major issues.  He calls the girl Crash, and I’m not going to tell you why.  You’ll have to read the book to find out.

    On top of her ADHS, she has to deal with her bipolar mother while trying to hide both these illnesses from others.  Then her “dead” father pops up and she ends up being stuck in Florida with the guy.

    During her trip to Florida, she has “the book” thrust upon her by an old geezer in the airport waiting area.

    RL once again enters the life of a teen girl trying to deal with life’s issues.  I guess I shouldn’t say once again.  This book is actually the first in the Real Life series.  I read it second, but it really doesn’t make that much difference.  Each book stands on it own.

    BTW, the pages didn’t flutter for Jessie.  If you want to know what that means, you need to read the second book.

    Press the browse button to view the first chapter: