The Puzzling Piece

Hi Everyone! 


As you all may know I am raising my grandson who has autism. We are participating in the I Pad Challenge by http://www.thepuzzlingpiece.com. The Puzzling Piece was created to raise money to help children with Autism. If we can sell 60 items Junior will receive an IPad. 


The pieces for sale are:
  

  

If you would like to help please go to the website at http://www.thepuzzlingpiece.com/ and choose one of the above items. In the challengers name box please type Armando Rodriguez Jr. We really appreciate all your help.  This is an item we cannot afford but one that will help him immensely.

Here is a video made for The Puzzling Piece. Please watch and listen to the words of the song. 

I Pad Autism Challenge


IPad Autism Challenge with Armando "Junior" at 1:37 mark

Thank you all. We welcome your comments.

Review of Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry

Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry

Penumbra Publishing  ISBN 978-935563-51-8

253 pages

*I received this book from the author with a request for review. I did not promise a good review nor was one requested. I received no compensation for this review.*

From the back cover:

Life can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening – especially when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!

Jaycie Lerner’s family isn’t the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie’s mom’s MIA, but Allison, her personal live-in ‘trainer,’ is more than a mom, with her own special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And Jaycie’s godfather John is more than persuasive – he can literally convince anyone to do anything.

As far as the rest of the world’s concerned, Jaycie’s on the outside looking in. The townsfolk love Jaycie’s pediatrician father, but she doesn’t fit in with ‘normal’ kids, and she doesn’t really want to. Most of her free time is spent training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But there’s one thing she can’t control – and that’s her feelings, especially when her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable of...

Everything seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell breaks loose!

My Review: 

This was a captivating YA novel for me.  It is different from most I read.  It is a Guardian type with angels, the fae and even a family of vampires in it. I think one of the reasons why I liked this book so much is that it is unlike the books I have been reading. The story line is intriguing. Jaycie is living with her father who has supernatural powers. Her nanny/mentor is a woman with super powers. Jaycie shares the same superpowers as her father. They are training her in its use. She has the problem of balancing her supernatural powers and her normalcy. There is romance in this with a normal boy who does not know of her powers. She forms a friendship with a girl who has different powers that were unknown to her. Jaycie and the family take her in. I found the book interesting. I was fascinated by the way it unfolded and all the different superpowers in it; the way angels and the fae take part is intriguing.  The vampire family's role is a new take also.  I am really impressed that the heroine in this is an African American teenage girl who actually is like the ones I know.  Jaycie is smart, respectful and educated. I am so tired of when the main character is an African American teen girl she is (a) pregnant, (b) on drugs, (c) locked up and, well, I could go on and on but you get my drift. I love the real portrayal.  Darwin's Children was well written and fresh.  I would recommend it to anyone who likes YA paranormal books. 


There is a Good Reads giveaway going on until September 29, 2011. http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/11612-darwin-s-children


Book is available at Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.

Teaser Tuesday - 4 Teasers!

Sorry I am late putting this up. I have had some computer issues and autistic related ones going on at home.

 Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading . Pick a page and a couple of teaser sentences from that page to share.

Pure Gold  Adventures with Six Rescued Golden retrievers by Holli Pfau

Glad Dog Press LLC 

Expected release October 2011

*this snippet if from an ARC. It is not final and may or may not be included in the final copy.*

From page 16:

Her outreach was warm and genuine, and she didn't seem to be filling her own needs. Rather she seemed to sense others' interest and desires and make herself available to them. She was unlike any other dog I'd known.

The Caretakers by Shauna Nosler

Createspace

From page 8:

"Faster," she silently prayed. " Please, God, if you still exist can't you make him go faster?" The young girl lay still, all but frozen by fear, exhaustion and apprehension.

He had finished. Yet she knew he was still there - still inside the small cold and bitter space of the old trailer. She could hear his breath. She wished he would leave.

From page 12:

But if all this was worth dying for, she thought, then there must  still be something worth living for.

And so, alone and freezing, she rose and exited the trailer.

Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry

Penumbra Publishing

From page 180:

The desire in his voice drew her back in, and she felt her mind melt away when his lips found hers again. For the next ten minutes, they were only aware of each other. Jaycie was starting to think nothing could pry her out of his arms until she heard very intense brain waves crashing against her skull. Jaycie went rigid in Matt's arms. She saw red, and the usually mellow energy her godfather radiated was now spiked with fury - fury aimed straight at Matt Carter.

*A review of this book will be up later today.*

I hope you enjoyed my teaser and found a book you are interested in. Please leave me a comment!