Announcing the WINNER of ONE AMAZING ELEPHANT by Linda Oatman High

Dear friends,

It's Valentine's Day and also the release date for Linda Oatman High's new book, One Amazing Elephant. What an outpouring of love on FaceBook and Twitter and lots of Love here for Linda and her new book. Thank you so much, dear readers, for your AMAZING support this past week!

The LUCKY WINNER of ONE AMAZING ELEPHANT is: ***Ariel Bernstein***

***Congratulations, Ariel!***

(Ariel, Please e-mail me with your mailing address and let me know for whom you'd like the book personalized: claragillowclark(at)gmail(dot)com. Or send a direct message on Twitter.)

 Review from Publishers Weekly:
       High’s (Planet Pregnancy) well-balanced novel about love, forgiveness, and the tightrope walk of friendship and family is centered in Gibsonton, Fla., “the strangest town in the nation.” Unlike the flamboyant circus side of 12-year-old Lily Rose Pruitt’s family—including her dear Grandpa Bill, dubbed “the Giant” at more than seven feet tall, and her estranged mother, Trullia, a trapeze artist—cautious Lily bottles up her emotions and avoids risks: “Keep it inside. That’s my motto.” Lily lives with her father in West Virginia, but when her grandfather dies unexpectedly, she flies to Florida alone for the funeral. There, she confronts her fear of the Amazing Queenie Grace (her grandfather’s elephant), forms friendships and makes a few enemies, tries to protect Queenie Grace from harm, and eventually comes to terms with her mother. The chapters alternate gracefully between Lily’s and Queenie Grace’s perspectives, and High effectively sketches how Lily gradually champions the elephant and recognizes larger issues around the ways performers abuse circus animals. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Feb.)

Learn more about Linda and her books: www.lindaoatmanhigh.com

Thank you, Linda, for sharing with us! 



Coming soon is a debut author and MG Historical fiction published by HarperTeen. 


Wishing you all a very happy Valentine's Day!   ~Clara

It's a Book Birthday Party with Linda Oatman High + Giveaway

Dear Readers,

Our guest today, author Linda Oatman High, shares an inside look about the story behind her NEW book from HarperCollins, ONE AMAZING ELEPHANT, released on February 14th! And, YES, Linda is generously donating a copy of One Amazing Elephant to a lucky reader who leaves a comment for her! Please help spread the word by sharing on twitter and you'll get two chances to win her book. Winner picked by Random.org. (The winner of last week's giveaway of Twice Betrayed is announced at the end of the post.)

 Writing from the Inside Out. . .  by Linda Oatman High

I wanted to write about an animal that had come from a sad place, a time of neglect or abuse, but then found a good home. I chose an elephant, one of my favorite creatures on earth.
             The first thing I heard while thinking about this book was the voice of the elephant, echoing in my head. “Bill The Giant has died and I cry,” the sorrowful voice said. “Elephants do cry.”
             I named this elephant Queenie Grace. I wanted her to be a stately and elegant elephant, royal, majestic as a queen. I gave her Grace, because I knew that she’d have much to forgive. She had to be full of dignity, able to pardon past mistreatment. Queenie Grace had to be compassionate and kind, not bitter, and she needed to be an elephant that readers could adore. I loved her from her first words.
             I decided to go with alternating chapters of the elephant’s first-person voice. I wanted not only to get inside Queenie Grace’s head, but within her soul. I hope that readers get to know Queenie Grace, too.
            Scientists know that many animals grieve much as humans do. By helping children to understand this, I believe that we assist in developing empathy for all creatures great and small, human and otherwise.

Plot Summary From HarperCollins:
     A poignant middle grade animal story from talented author Linda Oatman High that will appeal to fans of Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. In this heartwarming novel, a girl and an elephant face the same devastating loss—and slowly realize that they share the same powerful love.
     Twelve-year-old Lily Pruitt loves her grandparents, but she doesn’t love the circus—and the circus is their life. She’s perfectly happy to stay with her father, away from her neglectful mother and her grandfather’s beloved elephant, Queenie Grace.
     Then Grandpa Bill dies, and both Lily and Queenie Grace are devastated. When Lily travels to Florida for the funeral, she keeps her distance from the elephant. But the two are mourning the same man—and form a bond born of loss. And when Queenie Grace faces danger, Lily must come up with a plan to help save her friend.

Review from Publishers Weekly:
       High’s (Planet Pregnancy) well-balanced novel about love, forgiveness, and the tightrope walk of friendship and family is centered in Gibsonton, Fla., “the strangest town in the nation.” Unlike the flamboyant circus side of 12-year-old Lily Rose Pruitt’s family—including her dear Grandpa Bill, dubbed “the Giant” at more than seven feet tall, and her estranged mother, Trullia, a trapeze artist—cautious Lily bottles up her emotions and avoids risks: “Keep it inside. That’s my motto.” Lily lives with her father in West Virginia, but when her grandfather dies unexpectedly, she flies to Florida alone for the funeral. There, she confronts her fear of the Amazing Queenie Grace (her grandfather’s elephant), forms friendships and makes a few enemies, tries to protect Queenie Grace from harm, and eventually comes to terms with her mother. The chapters alternate gracefully between Lily’s and Queenie Grace’s perspectives, and High effectively sketches how Lily gradually champions the elephant and recognizes larger issues around the ways performers abuse circus animals. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Feb.)

Linda Oatman High is an author/journalist/playwright/poet who lives in Lancaster County, PA. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College, and teaches at schools and writing workshops both nationally and internationally.

Learn more about Linda and her many books: www.lindaoatmanhigh.com

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THE LUCKY WINNER of TWICE BETRAYED by Gayle C. Krause IS:

****JANET SMART**** Congratulations, Janet. I'll be in touch shortly!

Thank you, dear readers, for supporting authors and good books! You're the best!

I'll be back on Valentine's Day to announce the winner of One Amazing Elephant. 

 ~Clara

TWICE BETRAYED by Gayle C Krause + 1st Chapter critque and ARC Giveaway

Dear Friends,

Today we're celebrating a Cover Reveal along with an inside look at what inspired our guest author, Gayle C. Krause, to write about Colonial Philadelphia and the spirit of independence. Gayle is donating an ARC for Twice Betrayed or a first chapter critique of a YA or MG novel to one lucky winner who leaves a comment about the post. The winner will be chosen by random.org.  Last week's winner of the comment contest is announced at the end of the post.

Cover reveal of Twice Betrayed

Summary of Twice Betrayed:
The thread of friendship is stretched to the breaking point…
With the spark of independence crackling in Colonial Philadelphia, three girls dress as boys and head to the river to put a perilous plan into action, but only two return. The third, a young milliner’s assistant, is found drowned, with gold coins sewn into her hems, coded spy letters in her bodice, and a journal implicating another sewing apprentice in the treasonous plot.

All eyes turn toward Perdy Rogers, Betsy Ross’ thirteen-year-old apprentice. But she’s no spy!  With one friend dead and deserted by another, the thread of friendship is stretched to the breaking point, when Perdy is accused. With her life on the line, Perdy risks more than her freedom as a new nation struggles to be born.


The Inspiration for Twice Betrayed by Gayle C. Krause


I’ve always loved history and discovering how things came to be.

When I walked in Pompeii, I felt like I had been there before.
In the Coliseum, a new story blossomed, which I’ve yet to write about one of the entertainers.
In the Caribbean, I’m positive the long-lost pirates whisper to me with each crash of the waves, and so I also have a female pirate story I’m working on.

But Perdy’s story was different. I wrote it first, and when I visited the Betsy Ross House, after the story was completed, I froze in my tracks and my husband asked me what was wrong.
But nothing was wrong…it was right. I had described the shop, the kitchen, the bedroom Perdy shared with her sister and grandmother in great detail, with the only difference between Twice Betrayed and the real thing being the shape of the stairs. Mine are square with landings between floors and the real house has circular stairs within the walls. And since the whole story about Betsy Ross making the first flag is a legend, with no real proof that she actually did make it (ask any historian) it was a perfect setting for my story.

I come from a long line of seamstresses and am a certified Home Economics teacher, where I also taught sewing to my students, so you can see how the sewing bits in the story are relevant.

TWICE BETRAYED is a mix of fact and fiction stitched together to bring a new light to the fabric of our beginnings, told from the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl, who fell into a web of deceit and struggled to win her freedom, just like the country being born around her.

More about the author:  Gayle Krause was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and being the oldest girl on the block, always led the younger kids in creative dramatics, wilderness expeditions through fields, and fossil hunting in the shale piles left from the heyday of mining. Those early interactions led her to a career in teaching, where, as a Master teacher she continued to inspire teens as she prepared prospective Elementary Teachers and Early Childhood Educators at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Simultaneously, she directed an instructional Laboratory Pre-K for her students, where she worked with eager young preschoolers.

Because she taught both young adults and preschoolers, her books fall at both ends of the Children’s Literature spectrum. You can find them on her website: www.gayleckrause.com

Gayle is most comfortable in front of students, be they four years old, or forty. She loves to teach Children’s Literature and enhance literacy skills in young readers. She is a member of SCBWI, Keystone State Reading Association, KidLit, Ink, a member of the Rhyme Revolution Best Rhyming Picture Book Selection committee 2015 and 2016, and a past member of The Poets’ Garage.

Follow Gayle’s writing journey on Facebook: Gayle C Krause
Twitter @GeeCeeK, and on Goodreads.

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The LUCKY winner of The Jolly Regina is: KRISTIN !! CONGRATULATIONS!!
Kristin, Please e-mail me with your mailing address and how you'd like the book personalized: claragillowclark(at)gmail(dot)com






Thank you, dear friends, for your support of authors and good books! Happy reading!

I'll be back next week to announce the winner of Twice Betrayed.    ~Clara