Marvelous Middle Grade Monday!

This week's book is DESTINY REWRITTEN by Kathryn Fitzmaurice.

First off, I adore the cover! Beautiful artwork, kid and parent friendly, with a touch of mysteriousness. Of course, I also love the rising tall bookshelves AND the cat! (I mean, look at that feline's expression; makes me smile!)

The cover art is by the very talented Erwin Madrid and here is his blog where you can see other covers he's created for Middle-Grade books: http://erwinmadrid.blogspot.com/ (Erwin Madrid also did the cover art for Kathryn's first book.)

Four years ago I read THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY by Kathryn Fitzmaurice and I really enjoyed it, but I think I love DESTINY REWRITTEN even more. The MG voice is spot-on in this new novel and I loved the funny conversations our MC Emily Elizabeth Davis (named for Emily Dickinson, the famous poet) and her best friend Wavey have throughout the book. They made me laugh because we *all* have those kind of rambling, crazy conversations and it was such a kid thing to do.

I love Emily Dickinson's poetry and my son gave me the Complete Works of E.D a few years ago for Christmas so I could relate to her quest when her personal, note-written copy of the book ends up missing.

I also loved that the book is set in Berkeley California with San Francisco so close by. The Bay Area is close to my heart. I was born in S.F. and grew up in the East Bay Area from the time I was four-years-old on through college until I got married.

I loved how Emily, our MC, writes letters to the romance writer, Danielle Steel, about happy endings and how she herself longs for happy endings in her own life. Those letters she writes to Danielle Steel are hilarious. It was fun to see Emily begin to write her own work, as well as join a romance writer critique group at the local library - where she is the only child in attendance.

I loved Emily's unconventional mother, a *free spirit* sort of Mom who believes in Fate and Destiny and cautions Emily to let her life find HER. Although even Mom realizes by the end of the story that sometimes you can take your own life in your hands and make something happen - even as Destiny lurks around the corner .  . .

If you haven't read this wonderful new MG novel, run to your local bookstore or library and grab a copy.

Happy Middle-Grade Monday!

Off to read my next book . . .

xo,
~Kimberley

Here are the rest of the MMGM Linky Peeps!

- Kimberley Griffiths Little is spreading the love for DESTINY, REWRITTEN. Click HERE to see what she thought. 

- Mark Baker is featuring KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, by um... me. (meep!) Click HERE to see his review.

- Rebecca Behrens is cheering for KEEPING SAFE THE STARS. Click HERE to see why.

- Medeia Sharif is spotlighting SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL. Click HERE to why. 

- Mrs. Heise is back with a super-cool feature. She's part of the SIDEKICKED blog tour, and has an author-editor interview--with a GIVEAWAY! Click HERE for all the fun. 

- Natalie Lorenzi is cheering for HOW DO YOU BURP IN SPACE? AND OTHER TIPS EVERY SPACE TOURIST WANTS TO KNOW. Click HERE to see what she thought. 

- Susan Olson has chills for THE BLIZZARD DISASTER. Click HERE to see her review.  

- Andrea Mack is rooting for THE BOY AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Click HERE to see why.  

- 11-year-old Xander is gushing about EMBLAZON. Click HERE to see what he thought. 

- Flash, the Feline Extraordinaire, (and Professional Mews to Cindy Strandvold) recommends ZIP. Click HERE to see what that's all about.  

- Dorine White's 11-year-old daughter is reviewing KATIE KAZOO #1. Click HERE to see what she thought.

- Joanne Fritz always has an MMGM for you. Click HERE to see what she's talking about this week. 

- The Mundie Moms are always part of the MMGM fun (YAY!). Click HERE to see their newest recommendations. And if you aren't also following their Mundie Kids site, get thee over THERE and check out all the awesome!    

- The lovely Shannon O'Donnell always has an MMGM ready for you! Click HERE to see what she's featuring this week!

- Karen Yingling also always has some awesome MMGM recommendations for you. Click HERE to which ones she picked this time!

- Pam Torres always has an MMGM up on her blog. Click HERE to see what she's spotlighting this week.

- Deb Marshall is an MMGM regular. Click HERE to see what she's featuring this week.  

   

If you would like to join in the MMGM fun, all you have to do is blog about a middle grade book you love (contests, author interviews and whatnot also count--but are most definitely not required) and email me the title of the book you're featuring and a link to your blog at SWMessenger (at) hotmail (dot) com. (Make sure you put MMGM or Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in the subject line so I see it).

NOTE: I used to not have a cut-off time for adding links to the post, but with how insane my schedule is right now, if you don't email me by Sunday evening (usually around 11pm PST is when I put the links together) I can't guarantee I'll have a chance to add you. BUT, you are welcome to add your link in the comments on this post so people can find you!

*A note from Shannon: these posts are not a reflection of my own opinions on the books featured. Each blogger is responsible for their own MMGM content and I do not pre-screen posts ahead of time, nor do I control what books they choose. I simply assemble the list based on the links that are emailed to me ahead of time.