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Book Review: The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook Title: The Five Lives of our Cat Zook
Author: Joanne Rocklin

In this warmhearted middle-grade novel, Oona and her brother, Fred, love their cat Zook (short for Zucchini), but Zook is sick. As they conspire to break him out of the vet’s office, convinced he can only get better at home with them, Oona tells Fred the story of Zook’s previous lives, ranging in style from fairy tale to grand epic to slice of life. Each of Zook’s lives has echoes in Oona’s own family life, which is going through a transition she’s not yet ready to face. Her father died two years ago, and her mother has started a relationship with a man named Dylan—whom Oona secretly calls “the villain.” The truth about Dylan, and about Zook’s medical condition, drives the drama in this loving family story.

What a sweet little book! I was completely enchanted by this story and the characters within it.  As someone who just recently got a cat from the humane society, I felt a little connection to Zook and cared about him from the start.  As for Oona, the main character, I will have to say it took me a bit to warm up to her.  I’ll be honest, sometimes characters that are as precocious as she is tend to annoy me.  But what hooked me in with her was how much she cared for her little brother! Her love for him was so strong that she wormed her way into my heart.  I love how she tells these stories about Zook so her brother won’t be worried or sad – but the whole time she’s fighting the same feelings!

As far as the plot – this isn’t a story of action.  It’s a story of change and acceptance of that change.  Oona is holding onto the past with such force that she really fights what’s happening in her world right now.  She wants nothing to do with it.  It was watching her change, knowing she needed to that kept me reading.  I wanted to see how she would accept the change and accept it on HER terms.  She didn’t disappoint.

Final Thought: Heart. Growth. Love.  What better story is there?
Best stick-with-you image: When “the villain” walks into Oona’s world
Best for readers who: Have ever loved an animal

For the Guys? Possibliy.  Although the main character is a girl, she’s a tomboy.
And what she’s going through is something many kids can relate to.

Check out the book trailer and don't forget to read my interview with the author and enter the giveaway!

Labels: march of middle grade, mg, review

Author Interview: Joanne Rocklin +GIVEAWAY

I'm so very very excited to welcome Joanne Rocklin author of One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street and The Five Lives of Out Cat Zook.
I've had the pleasure of reading The Five Lives - review later today!  My daughter read One Day and One Amazing and absolutely loved it. A bit about Zook

Now welcome welcome Joanne!!!!!

Let us first start with the easy questions Point of View: 1ST

Is the main character a BOY or GIRL: GIRL

What Genre: Realistic contemporary with fantasy stories told by main character

Middle Grade or Young Adult: Middle Grade

More boy or girl book (stereotypically) – which do you think it would appeal to more?

Perhaps girls, as girls like to read about girls and boys; boys prefer to read about boys. But the plot is about a pet, there are boys featured in the story, and issues relevant to everyone’s life.


What part/character/event are you most excited/proud about In The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook?

I am excited about the stories Oona and Fred tell during the course of the novel. My book is mainly about storytelling, and how important that is for everyone—the teller and the reader or listener. Stories help us make sense of this crazy world we live in. Stories help us connect with those around us. Oona and Fred’s beloved cat, Zook, is ill. To make her little brother feel better, Oona tells Fred a big lie, which he believes. She tells him that cats live nine lives, and that Zook has lived five of them, with four more to go. Then Oona tells Fred the stories of Zook’s other lives: about Miraculo, who saved a kingdom, and Jewel the Ghost Cat, and Beau, the Flying Cat., and Mud who solved a big mystery. I loved creating those stories! They are funny and exciting and show how Oona puts pieces of her own life into their creation, just as all storytellers do. The stories help Oona deal with what’s happening to Zook, and also accept all the big changes happening in her own life.

Tell about your writing process. How long did it take you to write The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook from idea to finish? Please tell about revision is you can!

It took me about one year to complete The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook, and that includes four or five drafts! Here is what happened, and let me say right off the bat that revision is the most important part of my process, and the most fun for me, while the book “grows.” First I got a Good Idea which started the story flowing, and that’s the way my books always begin. I have always lived with cats, and I’m always wondering where they came from, since all of them were adopted from shelters. For this book, my Good Idea was to write about an ailing cat, and a girl who tells stories about his other lives in order to cheer up her little brother. But then I got an idea that complicated things much more—there’s a Villain in the story who enters Oona’s real life, and that was my second draft. (That’s all I’m telling. . . .) My third draft was simply beginning it again, from start to finish, polishing, adding, switching chapters around, thinking of a tight ending. My fourth draft was in response to my editor’s suggestion to enlarge one character (Oona’s Secret Love, if you really must know!) My fifth and sixth drafts were in response to questions from the copy editor—questions about fact, grammar, spelling and logic. I think there were other drafts, or partial drafts, but I promise you, it was all a lot of fun. The very hardest part is that first initial Good Idea, and also, creating a character to tell the story. A character I’ll want to hang out with every day for a whole year (and more)! So I decided to create someone who made me laugh, and made me experience strong feelings—and that was Oona.

I was kind of nerdy--always reading, dreaming and studying. I was terrible in sports, and shy, so I put my effort into excelling in my schoolwork. I wasn’t very well-rounded. That’s why I try to make my characters less shy and more interesting than I used to be. Writers have the power to live other lives, through their characters. I’ve always, always written stories and poems. It felt good to do that. When I was in elementary and middle school I also wrote a lot of letters to my best friend over the summers, hundreds! One day we exchanged some of those letters, so now I have them in a big box in my garage. Sometimes I use them for research!

There are so many, many wonderful writers writing for children today that I can’t possibly pick favorites—it would take up a whole page. But when I was growing up I loved Anne of Green Gables, and every single one of the books written by L.M. Montgomery. That’s because I grew up in Canada, like the author, and most Canadian kids were introduced to her books early. I also read scads of mysteries, and a bit of fantasy as well. But it was the “Anne books” that I often reread, which is what marks a true favorite. My books today always have a main character who is funny, but naive, anxiously questioning, but brave at the end. Like Anne.

The Fun Questions! (based on what 7th graders do!
Yes! I’m chewing gum right now. Trident sugarless, has to be spearmint...
I do. But only when I’m not near my computer.
It probably was, but I’m a big eater so I probably ate everything and loved it. I’m still the same.

Thank you for joining us today! I like how you took your middle school memories to create characters.  I too give my characters traits I wish I had!

Check out the book trailer.  Super cute!

I have one copy of The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook to giveaway
Must be a US or Canadian resident
Fill out the Rafflecopter below
 


The Giveways Plus TWO MORE!

The Giveaways

Now I have two new ones!!!

Enter below!!!!

Enter Below!!

Labels: giveaways, march of middle grade

Author Interview: Lory Kaufman 


Interview: Jen K. Blom +GIVEAWAY

Today I'd like to welcome Jen K. Blom! She is the author of two MG novels Possum Summer and the soon to be released Blue Appalosa. Possum Summer

a lonely kid.
a dad that says no way.
how do you keep that kind of secret?
and what happens when you’re found out?

an orphaned baby possum.

Possum Summer is a heartbreaking novel about a girl and her father whose fractious relationship is healed by the hard lessons they learn about love and letting go.

Blue Appalosa (to be released May 2013)

Abby, a girl from Virginia visits her estranged father and his feedlot in Texas for the first time ever - learning just how fleeting real affection and friendship can be when she falls in love with the wrong horse.

Welcome Jen so glad you could join on on The O.W.L.!

We'll start with some easy questions. Point of View: First !!

Boy or Girl main character: Hm. Hard to answer. Girls, mostly so far. But boy books are in the pipeline!

Genre: ANIMALS all the way, baby!

More boy or girl book (stereotypically): Hm. I guess more stereotypically girl.

Why MG instead of any other age level?
At the Middle grade age, you really truly LIVE it. All the ups and downs, and hormones, and OMG I AM GOING TO DIE feelings…that is truly the most authentic age group there is.

For you MG novel what part are you most excited about? What part do you think they'll enjoy reading the most or was the most fun to write?
For my book POSSUM SUMMER, I enjoyed the possum pooping part the best – and I’ve had feedback from readers that they loved it, too. :)

For my upcoming book BLUE APPALOOSA (Fall 2012) I really enjoy the part where Abby, our protag, touches the horse she’s dreamed of petting for the first time.

When you were in middle school kind of student were you? Did you write then? Did you read?
I read. I was a bookworm with a capital B! I was also a humungous dork. BUT – I wouldn’t change it for the world, now, because I have so much raw material I’ll be writing about it forever! (I read too. I didn’t like any other subject).

And because it's the owl my standard question always is: WHOOO do you admire when it comes to writing? OR WHOOO do you like to read or really enjoyed in HS or middle school?
I love animal books. I love Sterling North and his Rascal, and Wilson Rawls’ books are a highlight. I also love Mercedes Lackey (especially in high school). She does talking animals and hawks like no one else I’ve ever read. Anne McCaffrey, too…I wanted a fire lizard SO MUCH.

Do you chew gum?
Yes or No If yes favorite kind? Nope! Gum is icky!

I have an iPhone so I find myself emailing more now. :)

Was school lunch just as yucky then as it is now?! Worse. FAR WORSE.

Thanks Jen! I love animal books too! And the possom pooping??? Interesting :)
To learn more about Jen and her books check out her website.

Now for a giveaway.
Jen has offered up a copy of Possom Summer and  LookBook (a notebook) much like what P uses in the book!

To enter fill out the Rafflecopter below.

Labels: giveaways, interview, march of middle grade, mg, mg authors


7's Up: In the Spotlight

Today Our Spotlight Focuses On: Trevor!

I prefer hardcover or paperbacks. Hardcover


Author Interview: Charles London 

We Dine with Cannibals (An Accidental Adventure #2) Welcome Charles! We'll start with the easy questions first. 

Boy or Girl main character: Both! A brother and sister

Genre: Comedy-Adventure



Middle Grade Fantasy Classics by Charlotte from Charlotte's Library

My Son's Bookcase 

But in any event, here's mine. 


7th Grade Guest Review: The Unwanteds 


Your Name Tyler
