Chicken Soup for High School

The next book we’re giving away for our Grand Opening Party is a Chicken Soup book for a little bit older of an audience – the high school student. Being the mother of a high school student, we both read this book – Chicken Soup for the Soul Teens Talk: High School.

This book is much like the Middle School version from yesterday’s post, but it deals with issues that are more common to the high school age student. Some of the similar topics are being happy with yourself, teenage love, family issues, and embarrassing moments, but then there are the categories that are more focused towards the 15 to 18 year old such as love gone bad, going for it, tough stuff, and moving on.

I thought the best way to summarize this book was with an excerpt from the forward,

“These are the best days of your life!” Has anyone ever said that to you about high school? They said it to us.

We grew up watching movies and TV shows and reading books that made high school out to be such a fantasy. Great-looking prom dates! Football games with friends! Cars! Freedom!

No one ever mentioned that we might wake up the morning of the prom with a pimple the size of Mount Everest protruding from the tip of our nose, or that we would have to study like crazy, or that our parents would still tell us what to do. They also failed to tell us that the football team might continuously lose, or that the driver’s license doesn’t get placed in your hand until you pass the dreaded driver’s test. But even though high school has its blemishes, ti’s guaranteed to be a special time.

This book has inspiring stories to help make the tougher times of high school manageable and doesn’t let them prevent high school from being a special time.

I read this book more thoroughly than the Middle School edition as not only do I have that 17 year old in my house, but I also teach 9th through 12th grade.  This book is heading straight to my classroom shelf now that both Becka and I have read it because I really would like to see as many of my students as possible to read at least portions of this book.

And now, it’s your turn to win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul Teens Talk: High School. This would make a great gift for any teen you know about to go to high school or already there.  Don’t have one of these teens in your life? I can guarantee your local high school library would love to have this donated to their collection. So enter now for your chance to have your very own copy.

REQUIRED ENTRY:

We’ll do an entry similar to yesterday’s – tell me a story of a memorable experience from high school that you think would be fitting of a Chicken Soup book.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, March 30 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Note: While you are here, be sure to enter the Grand Opening contests for a

• If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny ball cap
• This Is the Day
• Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday
• Chicken Soup Teens Talk Middle School

….and more to come…check daily!

Chicken Soup for Middle School – ENDED

I decided to cover the Chicken Soup for the Soul books that I was given over the next few days.  I’ve got 4 books so I’ll start with the one geared towards the youngest reader – Chicken Soup for the Soul Teens Talk Middle School.  I have a sister in middle school so I actually skimmed the book and then passed it on to her to read and tell me about it.

The book is geared towards the 12 to 14 year old and focuses on how their bodies are changing and the peer pressure that becomes so much stronger at this age.  It also covers love, family, being happy with yourself, harder classes, and dealing with embarrassing moments.

One feature I really liked (that is a good feature of all the Chicken Soup books I’ve read), is that it was divided into the sections mentioned above so that if a teen is not a “real reader” but is struggling in one of these areas, they can just read that portion of the book.

The portions I read were great stories that I think teens today can really relate to. As a ninth grade teacher, I still think that many of these issues apply to my 9th graders and think that I’ll be adding my copy of this book to my classroom library.  I’m not sure if I can get them to read a book with “middle school” in the title, but I think a few will pick it up that are fond of the Chicken Soup series.

My sister enjoyed my copy of this book, and I can tell read it thoroughly from the wear and tear on it.  I find that as the first sign of a good book when I let students read the books in my room.

Do you know a middle school student? Or someone who will be one soon? Or maybe you would like to win it to donate it to a local middle school? Whatever the case, I have been generously offered a second copy of this book for one of you.  All you have to do is enter the contest following the guidelines below.

REQUIRED ENTRY:

In the comments below, tell me (briefly) one situation you faced in middle school that was challenging.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, March 29 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Note: While you are here, be sure to enter the Grand Opening contests for a

• If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny ball cap
• This Is the Day
• Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday

….and more to come…check daily! 

Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday – ENDED

I didn’t plan to offer two children’s books in a row, but with it being Sunday and all, I thought today was a perfect day to tell you about Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday by Mike Thaler (and illustrated by Jared Lee). Before receiving this book to review, I had never heard of the Black Lagoon Series (that this book is a part of), but after reading it with my daughter, Cameron, I feel confident that we’ll be adding a few more of these to our library.

As I mentioned, we received this book to review and I accidentally left it sitting out before I was actually ready to review it.  Cameron saw it and had to read it. So I told her she could if she sat by me and was VERY careful.  Oh, and she had to read it to me (what better way to review a book than to have it read to you, right?).  Well, she read it to me TWICE because she wanted to read it again, and then begged me to let her take it to our grandmother’s house so she could read it to her.  I decided I might as well turn our copy over to her so I said yes.  The following Sunday, she took it to Sunday School to read to the preacher.  Yes, Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday was that popular in our house.

Mike Thaler, author of the Black Lagoon series, has authored more than 200 books and sold more than 12.5 million copies of the Black Lagoon books. His newest set being the “Tales from the Back Pew” series starts with Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday. 

This book offered such an interesting view of a little boy going to church for the first time with his Mom.  In the beginning, he is not really that excited about going and would actually prefer not to, but by the end of the book, he is excited and ready to not only come back, but to bring his friends too. His first encounter at church includes the concept of sitting and standing (and sitting and standing), staying awake during the service, church hymns, and paying tithes.

Would you like to win a copy of Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday? Well lucky for you, I have a second copy for one lucky reader.  

REQUIRED ENTRY:

List 3 books (not counting the Preacher Creature book) in the Black Lagoon Series.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

But wait! I’m upping the ante. For all the contests being posted over the next week, I’ll give you TWENTY (yes you hear right) TWENTY extra entries if you head over to MomCentral and vote for my blogging friend, Trisha, to win an Electrolux washer and dryer. She’s #8 strawberryred. After you vote, come back and tell me you voted and leave your Mom Central username. You can then comment 20 times for 20 entries for each of the grand opening prizes!

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, March 29 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Note: While you are here, be sure to enter the Grand Opening contests for a

• If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny ball cap
  
• This Is the Day

….and more to come…check daily! 

This Is The Day by Nancy White Carlstrom – ENDED

Today’s review and giveaway are for your little ones, and it’s a true gem. The book is called This Is the Day! by Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey.

This is a lovely children’s book about the miracles of God’s creations and the importance of preserving them.  What I found really neat about this book is it’s divided by the days of the week so that we see 7 days of creations just like the 7 days that God took to create the Earth. 

The illustrations are beautiful in this book also.  I really enjoyed the pictures as much as the story. Richard Cowdrey deserves as much recognition as Nancy for such great illustrations.

Without any further adieu – You can win a copy of This Is The Day for your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or family friend.  This is a hard cover edition of this book worth $15.99 and it can be just for you.  So how do you win?

Required Entry:

Head over to http://www.nancywhitecarlstrom.com and tell me one thing you learned about Nancy White Carlstrom or her books.  The trick? You can’t list anything on my post or that another person enters in their comments.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment** 

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

But wait!  I’m upping the ante. For all the contests being posted over the next week, I’ll give you TWENTY (yes you hear right) TWENTY extra entries if you head over to MomCentral and vote for my blogging friend, Trisha, to win an Electrolux washer and dryer. She’s #8 strawberryred.  After you vote, come back and tell me you voted and leave your Mom Central username.  You can then comment 20 times for 20 entries for each of the grand opening prizes!

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, March 28 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Note: While you are here, be sure to enter the Grand Opening contests for a

• If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny ball cap

….and more to come…check daily! 

Blog Party Coming Soon

The design is done.  I’ve decided the first few books I want to read and write about so there’s only one thing left to do – we have to have a Grand Opening Party. Yes you heard me correctly – we’re going to have a book party.  There will be prizes for both adults and kids and maybe even one for teens (I’m working with a special sponsor and hoping things will work out).  

This party will last a week long March 14 to 21st and it promises to be lots of fun.  Stay tuned. We’ll start with some early posts between now and then, but after that week, we’ll be posting in full swing.

What books can you expect to be reviewed?  In addition to new books that I read, I’m going to go back and reread The Women’s Murder Club and Janet Evanovich’s books about Stephanie Plum so that I can post reviews of this series from the beginning as they are two that I think almost every woman will enjoy. In addition, I’m going to be reading some young adult literature and “classic” literature. 

Make sure you don’t miss the party or the wide variety of book reviews to come by subscribing now so that you are notified of each new post here at A Novel Mind.

Would you like to start earning contest credits now?

If you put our grand opening button on your site in your sidebars and come back here and post in comments the URL of your site by March 13th, you’ll earn 3 extra entries into every Grand Opening prize.

Write a post by March 13th and come back here and post the URL of the post and receive 5 extra entries.

That’s the potential of earning 8 extra entries into every contest during the Grand Opening week.

Be sure to come back and comment here after you’ve done so. Comments will be closed to this post at midnight CST on March 13th.