Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're joining Random House Children's Books for blog tour celebrating the latest release from author Wendelin Van Draanen. It's a work of Middle Grade Fiction that deals with some heavy issues giving it much more heft than its light cover would have you believe. I'll tell you this though... you're in for one heck if a story. Ready or not, here comes today's book of choice...
Today, we're joining Random House Children's Books for blog tour celebrating the latest release from author Wendelin Van Draanen. It's a work of Middle Grade Fiction that deals with some heavy issues giving it much more heft than its light cover would have you believe. I'll tell you this though... you're in for one heck if a story. Ready or not, here comes today's book of choice...
by
Wendelin Van Draanen
9781101940440
Random House Children's Books
About the book...
In her most incisive and insightful book yet, Wendelin Van Draanen, award-winning author of The Running Dream and Flipped, offers a remarkable portrait of a girl who has hit rock bottom, but begins a climb back to herself at a wilderness survival camp in the desert.
3:47 a.m. That’s when they come for Wren Clemmens. She’s hustled out of her house and into a waiting car, then a plane, and then taken on a forced march into the desert. This is what happens to kids who’ve gone so far off the rails, their parents don’t know what to do with them anymore. This is wilderness therapy camp. Eight weeks of survivalist camping in the desert. Eight weeks to turn your life around. Yeah, right.
The Wren who arrives in the Utah desert is angry and bitter, and blaming everyone but herself. But angry can’t put up a tent. And bitter won’t start a fire. Wren’s going to have to admit she needs help if she’s going to survive.
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A moving tale that'll rip your heart out, trounce it a time or two, and help you find the scattered pieces to create a masterpiece that is all YOU.
Wren (and her family, for that matter) do not have an easy time of things. There's physical moves, social climbing, and what should have been new beginnings...that just didn't turn out the way they should of. Seeking acceptance outside of herself, Wren falls in with the wrong crowd...and without a solid support system, she's almost lost to them all. It's not that her family wasn't there, it's just that they were being "doing them" until the point of almost no return was reached for our little bird. Good thing they weren't ready to give up on her...and despite the fact she's dragged kicking and screaming into the desert to face goodness only knows what with who knows who, that lack of kid gloves may be just what the doctor ordered. The requirement of depending on herself as well as learning to say "yes, I need help" are just a few of the keys to unlocking her past, understanding her present, and realizing her future.
Wren (and her family, for that matter) do not have an easy time of things. There's physical moves, social climbing, and what should have been new beginnings...that just didn't turn out the way they should of. Seeking acceptance outside of herself, Wren falls in with the wrong crowd...and without a solid support system, she's almost lost to them all. It's not that her family wasn't there, it's just that they were being "doing them" until the point of almost no return was reached for our little bird. Good thing they weren't ready to give up on her...and despite the fact she's dragged kicking and screaming into the desert to face goodness only knows what with who knows who, that lack of kid gloves may be just what the doctor ordered. The requirement of depending on herself as well as learning to say "yes, I need help" are just a few of the keys to unlocking her past, understanding her present, and realizing her future.
In the end, it's truly a journey of heart, mind, and soul, that leads to surprising realizations for Wren (and the Grizzly Girls) ... but will also serve to spark necessary conversations in our own here and now. It reminds us that while we are traveling our own paths, we are never truly alone. Great read for Middle Grade fans and beyond for the story itself as well as the messages it brings.
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About the author...
Wendelin Van Draanen has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21st Century by SLJ, and became a Warner Brothers feature film with Rob Reiner directing. Her novel The Running Dream was awarded ALA’s Schneider Family Award for its portrayal of the disability experience.
Van Draanen is also the author of two short chapter-book series. The Gecko & Sticky books, are fun read-alouds, perfect for reluctant readers, and the Shredderman books—featuring a boy who deals with a bully—received the Christopher Award for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and became a Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie.
Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons.
Van Draanen is also the author of two short chapter-book series. The Gecko & Sticky books, are fun read-alouds, perfect for reluctant readers, and the Shredderman books—featuring a boy who deals with a bully—received the Christopher Award for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and became a Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie.
Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons.
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Special thanks to Marisa at Random House Children's Books for the ARC for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title just celebrated its BOOK BIRTHDAY September 5th, 2017, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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