More Dark Dreamweaver lovin'

More great reviews of my husband's book, The Dark Dreamweaver have been posted:

Edwyne Rouchelle at curled up with a good kid's book said: " This is storytelling that takes us back to a time when there was real wonder in a fantasy world without the need for science-fiction based contraptions. I will wager that it will keep the young - as well as the young at heart - riveted and spellbound from beginning to end." Read the entire review

Devyn at The Faerie Drink Review said: "With a delightful array of characters The Dark Dreamweaver is a wonderful book for all ages." Read the entire review

The bloggers over at the Parent Bloggers Network have been reviewing The Dark Dreamweaver. Read what they're saying about it so far.

The Dark Dreamweaver is highlighted this week at Reader Views Kids; you can read their interview with author Nick Ruth.

Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed the book. If any bloggers would like a review copy, please email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com.

Book Review: Three Grin Salad

Today, guest blogger Nick Ruth checks in with a review of Three Grin Salad, which was written by Aja King when she was ten years old.

Title: Three Grin Salad: A Kid’s Recipe for a Happy and Healthy Life
Author: Aja King
Illustrator: Lisa Taron
ISBN10: 0-9780710-1-8
Publisher: ICAN Press
Website: www.threegrinsalad.com


A musical group named Crosby, Still, Nash & Young used beautiful harmonies over 35 years ago, pleading that we “teach our children well.” Whitney Houston echoed that theme 15 years later asking that we “teach them well and let them lead the way.” Aja King’s parents obviously believe that “children are our future” as reflected in their 10-year old daughter’s first book, “Three Grin Salad,” which lays out a path to health and happiness in a way that can only be seen through a child’s eyes.

I will gladly admit that I found myself smiling as I read “Three Grin Salad.” No one likes a lecture, and Aja wisely keeps the focus on herself as she lays out the benefits of healthy eating and exercise accompanied by Lisa Taron’s colorful illustrations. I thought about spitting out my Twinkie® as I read her observation that if something in your food has a name so long you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it.

“Three Grin Salad” was an “Indie Excellence Book Award Finalist” and I can certainly see why. Aja sprinkles the text with whimsical recipes for growing up healthy and happy, including the recipe for the book title. These little recipes serve as nice breakpoints for each chapter, and I liked the fact that at the end of the book Aja includes thought-provoking questions and space to write your own answers as she “leads the way” with her words.

But all is not peaches and cream in the observations of a child. We all know exercise and good eating go hand in hand and it’s great to see a child take that lesson to heart and want to spread the word, but in some places I find that Aja" seems to have trouble believing what she is enthusiastically teaching. When she asks, "What makes fast foods taste so good? I can’t help but imagine that she isn’t craving some french fries as she picks at her salad, and I would respectfully disagree that children who enjoy computer time should give it up for outdoor activities. My son is about Aja’s age and has his fingers glued to a keyboard a lot of the time but he still likes to ride bikes, climb trees and scale rock walls. No single recipe can please every palate.

I can’t forget to mention the “Three Grin Salad” theme song, which can be found on her website www.threegrinsalad.com. A great little marketing gimmick that I think more books should explore. It’s one more way to put a grin on your face and get your toes-a-tappin’.

Aja’s book is a great introduction to good eating and exercise that will get your kids thinking about what they put in their bodies, how it affects them, and how they can make better choices. It’s amusing and instructive, and it’s hard to bring those two things together in one book. Aja has done it. Check it out.

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Nick Ruth is my wonderful husband of over 19 years. He's also the author of The Remin Chronicles. Nick blogs about politics at purple-politics.blogspot.com/

While waiting for Harry, part 1

With only about 2-1/2 weeks to go until the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, excitement is building and speculation is rampant. While waiting for Harry Potter, you may want to read one or more of the plethora of books offering analysis, commentary, and predictions about the Harry Potter series.
Today, guest blogger Nick Ruth discusses two such books:

Title: MuggleNet.Com’s What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End
Authors: Ben Schoen, Emerson Spartz, Andy Gordon, Gretchen Stull, Jamie Lawrence with Laura Thompson
ISBN10: 1-56975-583-3
ISBN13: 978-1-56975-583-9
LOC: 2006907934
Publisher: Ulysses Press

Title: The End of Harry Potter: An Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries That Remain
Author: David Langford
ISBN10: 0-765-31934-9
ISBN13: 978-0-765-31934-0
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (TOR)

There are many ways to identify a classic work of literature such as bestseller lists, awards, Amazon.com ranking, and blogworthiness and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series certainly measures up in all these areas. How many books actually beget hundreds of other books whose sole purpose is to treat the source material like sacred texts, examining every word and scene for hidden meanings and deep philosophical underpinnings? The members of that group would be very small but I think Harry Potter fits in very nicely with the likes of the Bible and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and while the first six books generated plenty of high flying discussions, it is the 7th book titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that has kicked in the literary afterburners.

How does a fan of the series prepare for the sure to be exciting conclusion? A real fan rereads the first 6 books ( over 2800 pages) timing the last book so that the last page is read while standing in line at midnight on July 21st, 2007 when book 7 is unveiled. The two books above (410 pages) invoke their own divination spells to save the reader the heavy lifting and summarize the main plot points, while attempting to mind meld with J.K. Rowling and guess how the story will conclude. MuggleNet’s What Will Happen (WWH) and The End of Harry Potter (EHP) are literary detective novels, and while there are some similarities in their conclusions, the paths they follow are very different.

The first thing that struck me when reading these books was the tremendous amount of planning that J.K. Rowling has put into her plot, and the second thing that struck me was the tremendous amount of effort that has been expended trying to unravel those plans by WWH and EHP. Every plot point raises dozens of questions. Did Snape kill Dumbledore on the tower? Was it really Dumbledore? Is Dumbledore one of the living dead? Why does the killing curse fling Dumbledore off of the tower? Both books explore these questions and so much more that I have begun to wonder how J.K. Rowling keeps it all straight in her mind.

The MuggleNet team has been at this game for many years and puts together all the clues in a very easy to read book that lives up to its title. The authors examine each of the major characters in the series and most of the minor ones and provide all the major clues to support their theories on what will happen to them in Book 7. Who will live and who will die? It’s all here but it’s almost maddening as you read this book to make a decision for yourself. I found myself nodding my head in agreement as the book argued for a particular point of view, and then found myself nodding again as it argued the opposite point of view. The book argues that there are no easy answers and that J.K. Rowling wants the reader to walk the halls of Hogwarts with Harry Potter. I think I’m ready for Book 7.

The End of Harry Potter is a little bit more puzzling to read as it doesn’t seem very interested in how the series will end. David Langford takes a much broader view of the Harry Potter universe and examines the clues as literary devices. EHP was not as enjoyable to read, and although the author tries hard to keep the prose light and funny, I found myself skimming through it looking for interesting insights. EHP touches on many of the same areas as WWH like Horcruxes, curses and patronuses but it’s a struggle to read when you’re dealing with chapter subtitles like ‘The Wonder of Onomastics’ or ‘Infodumps and McGuffins’.

Both of these books will prime the reader for Book 7 and both of them will make you want to read the whole series again, but to my mind the MuggleNet book is the is the one to get and it will be a lot of fun to compare the predictions with the true outcome when the Deathly Hallows ties up all the loose ends. My predictions: A great read and Voldemort dies.

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Nick Ruth is my wonderful husband of over 19 years. He's also the author of The Remin Chronicles. Nick blogs about politics at purple-politics.blogspot.com/

Dark Dreamweaver news

I just wanted to share a couple of items of news about my husband's book, The Dark Dreamweaver:

• My son David created a Dark Dreamweaver calendar at Zazzle.com, using images from the book that he had colorized using Paint Shop Pro. We got an email today that his calendar was selected by Zazzle.com as one of "Today's Best!" The calendar appears on the home page for today, and after that it will stay in their "Today's Best" gallery. There's even a cool little award ribbon that appears on the product page. Click here to see the calendar.
  
• Aja King at Reader Views gave The Dark Dreamweaver a great review! Aja said, "If author Nick Ruth wanted to keep me up at night and have me spend every available moment with my nose stuck in his amazing book, “The Dark Dreamweaver,” he totally succeeded!" Read Aja's review here. 11-year-old Aja is also an author; her book is Three Grin Salad.
  
• Now you can get The Dark Dreamweaver as an ebook for free! It's available as a free, advertising supported download from Wowio.com. (If you were at BEA, they were the people on Segways outside the Javits center). Click here to download The Dark Dreamweaver.
  

Review gratitude

Two great reviews of my husband's book, The Dark Dreamweaver, have been posted during the last week:

• Carrie Spellman reviewed it for TeensReadToo. Carrie gave it five stars and called it "A great fantastic adventure that seamlessly weaves a good story in with important lessons." Read the review here.
  
• S.M.Duke reviewed it on his blog, The World in the Satin Bag (which is also the name of his YA fantasy blog novel, which can be read on his blog). Mr. Duke called it, "...a powerfully driven tale with swift and well drawn action, interesting puzzles, and a well paced plot." Read the review here.
  

Thanks so much to Ms. Spellman and Mr. Duke for your kind words and for taking the time to review it!

If any bloggers or reviewers would like a copy, I'd be glad to send you one. Just email me at sruth at wandsandworlds dot com.