Sunday, September 23, 2012

Warriors in the Crossfire, a Review and Giveaway.



Thought for the day: 

 “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
~ W. Somerset Maugham ~

For all of my readers:

Every Sunday, another writer, Shannon Messenger, gathers together a list of blogs that review middle-grade books, many of which have giveaways. If you aren't familiar with her blog, check it out. It's always worth your while. 

http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/

For my fabulous, albeit late again, giveaway, the winner is Julie DeGuia! Congratulations to you, Julia. I will be sending you a copy of Black & White. It is simply a fantastic book, and I know you’ll enjoy it. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

I just returned this evening from Editor’s Day run by the Orange County/Long Beach/Riverside/San Bernardino region of SCBWI. Francesca Rusackas is the RA there and did a FABULOUS job with the workshop. Wowee, wowee! It was so good and so helpful to me, I can’t say enough about it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. But I did drive to Seal Beach and back (about 430 miles) by myself and am feeling pretty wrung out, but I am again overdue for my post, so I will dive in and get to it.



Back in April, I reviewed the fabulous book no name baby by Nancy Bo Flood. She had contacted me and asked if I’d do a review on my blog, and I was happy to oblige. If you missed reading about that book, you can click HERE and see that review. When she sent me a copy of the book, she also sent a copy of another novel she had written, Warriors in theCrossfire. I told her at the time I didn’t know when I could get to it, and she said she hoped I would enjoy it when I did. Well, I finally got around to reading it last month and would like to talk about it here.

Nancy is an incredible writer. Her prose is so lyrical, it is easy to simply get lost in the beauty of the writing. Her research is impeccable and, consequently, she transports the reader to another time and place as if by magic. And, if you ever have a chance to meet her, do. She is a kind and generous person who is happy to share her knowledge and expertise in writing.

Nancy Bo Flood
Warriors in theCrossfire takes place during World War II on the island of Saipan, an island that had been occupied by the Japanese for over twenty years. The native people of Saipan have lived under Japanese control and know who is in power, but they have peacefully co-existed through these years. The main character is Joseph, son of a chief and someone who has been accepted into the Japanese school. He wishes he could fight against the Japanese as his forefathers had and defies them sometimes, but it is really an impossible dream for him in this time and place. As the war threatens to come to the island, the Japanese force many of the island men into labor camps. Joseph’s father shows him some caves where provisions are hidden and instructs Joseph to take the family there if and when it becomes necessary. That necessity is sooner and more demanding than he can imagine. This young boy is forced to become a man as the responsibility for his family and others falls to him as the war reaches the shores of his homeland.

I love this book. First, it taught me about a piece of history about which I knew nothing. That is always a treat. But beyond that, it is an extremely powerful coming-of-age story with well-drawn, fully-rounded characters who are completely believable as they find themselves in nearly overwhelmingly difficult circumstances. And I can’t say this enough – the writing is drop-dead gorgeous, spare, and poetic. It is hard for me to believe this was Nancy’s debut novel. This is a book well worth your time to read.

I have a lovely autographed hard-back copy of Warriors in the Crossfire to give away. If you would like this wonderful book, leave a comment. If you post a link on Facebook or your own blog or some such sharing, let me know and I’ll put your name in a second time. Good luck!

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.